Toff Explained

In British English slang, a toff is a stereotype for someone with an aristocratic background or belonging to the landed gentry, particularly someone who exudes an air of superiority. For instance, the Toff, a character from the series of adventure novels by John Creasey, is an upper class crime sleuth who uses a common caricature of a toff – a line drawing with a top hat, monocle, bow-tie and cigarette with a holder – as his calling card.^[1]

The word "toff" is thought to come from the word "tuft", which was a gold tassel worn by titled undergraduates at the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge.^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]} The Old English word "toforan" has a meaning of "superiority".^[7]

Ian Kelly's book, Beau Brummell: The Ultimate Dandy, page 159, says it derives from the brown liquid that dripped from an upper class gentleman's nose after taking snuff.^[8]

Hoorah Henry has a similar meaning.^[9]

See also

• Nobby
• Plebs
• Toffs and Toughs

Notes and References

1. Book: Creasey, John . The Toff on Fire . 22 April 2014 . 4 April 2019 . Google Books . House of Stratus . 9780755146390 . 101 . On the other [side of the Toff's calling card], in pencil, was a sketch of a faceless man – a top hat, a monocle, a dot for one eye, a cigarette jutting from a holder, and beneath all this a neat bow tie..
2. Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford 1969
3. Web site: toff. Online Etymology Dictionary.
4. Web site: toff. The Free Dictionary.
5. Web site: toff. WordReference.com.
6. Web site: toff. Dictionary.com.
7. Albert Jack. (2011.) It's a Wonderful Word: The Real Origins of Our Favourite Words, Random House, p. 151.
8. Book: Kelly . Ian . Beau Brummell: The Ultimate Man of Style . 23 July 2013 . Simon and Schuster . 978-1-4165-3198-2 . 159 . en.
9. Book: https://books.google.com/books?id=KT-cAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA377 . Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang . Thematic Index . John . Ayto . John . Simpson . . 9780199232055 . 377 . 2010-02-11 . 2019-12-04 . Google Books.