[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: British vs. US spelling/phrases (SPOILER)

[Shaun Hately]

On 1 Jul 2003 at 0:11, Anne wrote:

> Yes, well, but, mild though it may be, what exactly does it mean? It 
> sounds ... like...flapping skin or something. Better to be called a 
> toerag than to be hit by Stinksap, though.

Reportedly, toerag doesn't mean much at all. Basically, it first became prominent on 
BBC television in the 1960s - broadcast rules meant that certain insults couldn't be used 
in scripts, so a list of acceptable insults were created and distributed to writers. Toerag 
appeared prominently in that list, and was therefore used a lot on BBC productions. As 
writers often wrote for other programs as well, it spread to ITV, etc.

>From there the word moved into common language.

I'm unclear as to whether the word was made up as a generic insult, or simply gained 
prominence in this way.

(You learn all sorts of interesting things by being a fan of the great Frank Burnside!).

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately |webpage: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       |email: drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They
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