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That's a well-known folk (fake), etymology.
From the Online Etymological Dictionary:
"give a small present of money to," nominally for service and in addition to regular payment or wages; by 1706, from earlier sense of "give, hand, pass" (c. 1600), a word in thieves' cant, of uncertain origin. Perhaps it is from tip (v.2) "to tap" via a notion of "throw lightly to (another); direct toward" in expressions such as tip one a copper.
Hence the noun in this sense (1755) and the verb in the extended sense of "give private information to," which is attested by 1883. Related: Tipped; tipping.
The popularity of the tale of the word's supposed origin as an acronym in mid-18th century English taverns is attested by 1909 in Frederick W. Hackwood's book "Inns, Ales and Drinking Customs of Old England," where it was said to stand for To insure promptitude (in the form to insure promptness the anecdote is told from 1946). A reviewer of the book in The Athenaeum of Oct. 2, 1909, wrote, "We deprecate the careless repetition of popular etymologies such as the notion that 'tip' originated from an abbreviated inscription on a box placed on the sideboard in old coaching-inns, the full meaning of which was 'To Insure Promptitude.'
OB
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