tipster; tipper.
tipster; tipper.
Both mean “a person who gives a critical piece of information (i.e., a ‘tip’).” “Tipster” often refers to one who gives tips to police in criminal investigations or sells tips relating to speculative or gambling subjects {an anonymous tipster called the police and implicated Mr. Kryder}.
“Tipper” shares with “tipster” the meaning of an informer who tips off police on illegal activities. But more commonly it signifies (1) “one who gives a gratuity” {at restaurants, he’s a lousy tipper}, or (2) in business parlance, “one who gives or sells tips to securities and other investors” {we invested in the stock after talking to our tipper}.
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Quotation of the Day: “I write every paragraph four times — once to get my meaning down, once to put in anything I have left out, once to take out anything that seems unnecessary, and once to make the whole thing sound as if I had only just thought of it.” Margery Allingham (as quoted in Paul R. Reynolds, The Writing and Selling of Non-Fiction 31 (1963)).
