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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.

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. The Old English word "toforan" has a meaning of "superiority".

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 (as in the adjective "toffee-nosed").

Hoorah Henry has a similar meaning.

See also

• Nobby
• Plebs
• Toffs and Toughs

References

1. Creasey, John (22 April 2014). The Toff on Fire. House of Stratus. p. 101. ISBN 9780755146390. Retrieved 4 April 2019 – via Google Books. On the other , 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. "toff". Online Etymology Dictionary.
4. "toff". The Free Dictionary.
5. "toff". WordReference.com.
6. "toff". Dictionary.com.
7. Albert Jack. (2011.) It's a Wonderful Word: The Real Origins of Our Favourite Words, Random House, p. 151.
8. Kelly, Ian (23 July 2013). Beau Brummell: The Ultimate Man of Style. Simon and Schuster. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-4165-3198-2.
9. Ayto, John; Simpson, John (11 February 2010). "Thematic Index". Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang. Oxford University Press. p. 377. ISBN 9780199232055. Retrieved 4 December 2019 – via Google Books.

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