Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. something attractive.

1913

J. London Valley of the Moon (1914) 441: This Russian River’s some nifty.

2. (US) a joke, a funny story, a clever plan.

1918		Chicago Sun. Trib. 10 Feb. n.p.: I am not given to recital of my own utterances which might be classed as ‘nifties’ .
1925		Wodehouse Carry on, Jeeves 135: Every time I started to pull a nifty, Sir Roderick swung round on me with such a piercing stare.
1929		J. Lait Broadway Melody 7: All one needs to make a fortune in the song business is to get one ‘nifty’ adaptable to broad exploitation (comic, tragic, romantic).
1939		W. Winchell On Broadway 26 Jan. [synd. col.] Henny Youngman’s nifty: ‘You can make a killing betting on horses – but never a living!’.
1940		R. Chandler Farewell, My Lovely (1949) 19: Let’s go on up and throw a couple of nifties at him. Always good for a laugh, Nulty is.
1954		Wodehouse Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit 186: With His Worship getting off those nifties of his which convulsed all and sundry.
1970		T. Southern Blue Movie (1974) 18: ‘All right, Teeny,’ he continued impatiently, ignoring the nifty, ‘come on now.’.
1992		G. Vidal Live from Golgotha 129: Not a bad line but pretty pale stuff compared to some of the nifties my predecessor, Pontius Pilate, got off.

3. something useful, convenient.

1939

J. Weidman What’s In It For Me? 245: I’d get a good chance to pick up some nifties.

4. a pretty young woman; an attractive object.

1932		J.L. Kuethe ‘Johns Hopkins Jargon’ in AS VII:5 334: a nifty—n.—an attractive girl. (The answer to a he-man’s prayer.) Anything attractive.
1938		J. Weidman I Can Get It For You Wholesale 143: Ast with his six blond nifties, and me with Ruthie Rivkin of the Bronx!
1942		D.X. Manners ‘Fifty-Grand Funeral’ in Ten Detective Aces Dec. 🌐 He observed a quick sleight of hand by the little nifty who had ushered him in.
1952		Lait & Mortimer USA Confidential 94: Its rear dining room is the ritziest in town with El Morocco pretensions and inflation prices; its cocktail lounge attracts the niftiest nifties.
1970		T. Southern Blue Movie (1974) 12: ‘Why, that’s our delightful hostess,’ he said, taking the nifty by the arm.

5. (US campus) a well-dressed man.

1967–8

Baker et al. CUSS.

6. (also bit of nifty) sexual intercourse.

1989		J. Morton Lowspeak.
2000		Sex-Lexis 🌐 a bit of nifty. Or: do a (bit) nifty, a Britishism for sexual intercourse. See copulation for synonyms.

7. a commission.

2000

anon. market trader (London) 27 Aug. [personal communication] Fifty quid to you, and I’ll want a drink, I’ll want a nifty.