Literary notes about Chuff (AI summary)
Writers employ "chuff" with remarkable flexibility, using it both as a surname and as a word rich in sound and nuance. In some narratives, characters bearing the name—such as Bishop Chuff or Tom Chuff—embody qualities ranging from bumbling authority to understated resilience, adding a distinctive flavor to their characterization [1][2][3]. In other instances, "chuff" appears onomatopoetically to evoke the rhythmic sound of machinery or locomotives, as in the repetitive "chuff-chuff" of a train or a motor-launch [4][5][6]. Meanwhile, its use as an adjective—even in colloquial expressions that describe a person’s demeanor—infuses dialogue with a casual, almost vernacular tone that highlights social and personal traits [7][8]. Together, these varied uses illustrate the term’s unique ability to bridge character, sound, and style in literary works.
- CHAPTER XI IT'S A LONG WORM THAT HAS NO TURNING Bishop Chuff sat sourly in his office and sighed for more worlds to canker.
— from In the Sweet Dry and Dry by Bart Haley - "And the first thought that comes to my mind, candidly, is this, that we must give Bishop Chuff credit for a quality we never imagined him to possess.
— from In the Sweet Dry and Dry by Bart Haley - Bishop Chuff rode out into the middle of the street on his famous coal-black charger, John Barleycorn.
— from In the Sweet Dry and Dry by Bart Haley - Then came the sound of a train slowing down in the station, and directly the quick 'chuff-chuff-chuff' of its drawing out.
— from The Trespasser by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence - "I'll——" The chuff-chuff of the moving engine drowned the rest of the sentence.
— from Shadows of Flames: A Novel by Amélie Rives - Slowly, with two engines, we grunt and chuff and twist to get over the break-neck heights that shut Messina in from the north coast.
— from Sea and Sardinia by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence - 'Your fare from the Clarendon, Bond-street,' said I, quite stiff and chuff.
— from Bentley's Miscellany, Volume I by Various - “I cannot see why she should be rude and chuff and disagreeable.
— from A Very Naughty Girl by L. T. Meade
