I heard it once again as I listened to the local weather forecast- “Boy is it gonna be nippy tonight”. I also, once again, immediately started thinking of nipples- woman’s nipples.
I’ll assume my heads in the gutter and the two are not linked together, but I can’t find an explanation on the origin of the word.
Nippy doesn’t meant what I think it does, does it?
Well, a nip is a little bite; as when a dog nips you. You’ve heard of “biting cold”? If it’s “nippy”, then it’s not extremely cold (i.e., not “biting”); just cold enough for a little bite.
Perhaps as a dog might nip at your heels, so the frost nips and bites at your nose and other extremities…
Perhaps. of course, being a guy, I go with your initial instinct.
You beat me to it Johnny
Little bite… Nipples… 
I think it comes from “Jack Frost nipping at your nose”.
Hmm. I guess that makes sense. Thanks.
By the way, looking around for other definitions for nipple, I found this nugget- ‘NIPPLE’- “A natural or geographic projection resembling a nipple, as a mountain crest.”
I can’t wait to use that one next time I’m skiing.
Well, if you go to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to ski, you can gaze on the Grand Tetons and see whether they have nipples.
As a matter of fact, it is rather nippley out right now where I live. D)
D), Sorry
Offensive old vaudeville joke coming in for a landing:
Pat: “Why is autumn like a Japanese tumbling act?”
Mike: “Because there’s always a little nip in the air!”
[they dance off to the tune of “Has Anybody here Seen Kelly?”]
Lest you think it’s just male fascination with words like ‘nip’ and ‘tit’, I used to have a girlfriend who would always say “CWI” (Cold Weather Indicators) or “HAT” (Hard-Ass Titties) when she went outside in the cold. Made me think twice about the origin of nippy.
Dammit! Shouldn’t Jimmy Nipples be posting here???