† shoppinessn.
Obsolete.
1. Tendency to converse about one's business or profession; speech or behaviour characteristic of a shop worker. Cf. shop n. 7.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > conversation > [noun] > topic of or subject for conversation or gossip > one's trade or profession > discussion of
shoptalk1683
shoppiness1848
talk shop1958
1848 J. Hannay Biscuits & Grog 18 The shoppiness of seaport social conversation!
1865 Cornhill Mag. Apr. 492 The followers of literature should be less tainted with the vice of ‘shoppiness’ than the members of any other profession.
1893 Guardian 21 June 988/3 Many of our readers must have noticed what, for want of a more expressive word, we may be pardoned for calling the ‘shoppiness’ of the clergy.
1914 W. Owen Let. 10 May (1967) 249 The fact of being employed in a shop does not matter; but shoppiness does matter.
1927 Manitoba Free Press 11 May 1/4 Leads to nothing worse than what is sometimes called shoppiness in life and conversation.
2. Abundance of shops. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading place > place where retail transactions made > [noun] > shop > abundance of shops
shoppiness1880
1880 M. E. Braddon Asphodel xvi, in All Year Round 13 Nov. 77/1 So delighted with Torquay, in its increased towniness and shoppiness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2020).
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n.1848