toff, toffy
»I’ve mixed a good deal with the _toffs_ in my time.» (T. T. T. 133. 21.)
_A waiter._
»a quiet, respectable _toff_.» (T. T. T. 138. 20.)
_Uneducated young man._
»There was a party of _toffs_ there.» (Novel Notes 213. 10.)
_A London ’Arry._
»a bit of a _toff_ in his off-hours.» (T. T. T. 211. 2.)
_A waiter._
»_Toffy_ enough she looked in her diamonds and furs.» (T. T. T. 140. 16.)
_The same._
_A toff_ = a fop, a swell. _Toffy_ (tofficky) = dressy, showy, smart.
At Oxford noblemen students used to wear a golden tassel (a tuft) in
their cap. Hence they were called »tufts»; so we get _toff_.
to be up a tree
»What would he do without you?»—
»Well, I’m afraid he would be a little _up a tree_, sir, if I may be
permitted a _vulgarism_.» (Woodb. Farm 31. 9.)
_A servant._
To be _up a tree_ or _treed_ means _to be cornered_, _done for_, _obliged
to surrender_. _To be up the tree_ is a phrase often used by City
tradesmen in the sense of _bankrupt_.
Probably the expression derives its origin from a cant-word _tree_ =
_gallows_.
a wet
»’Ave _a wet_?» I declined _the wet_. (Novel Notes 205. 25.)
_A young workman._
Common vulgarism for _a drink_.
swarry
»A day’s work, and then a pipe by your own fire-side with your slippers
on. That is my _swarry_.» (T. T. T. 143. 16.)
_A waiter._
_Swarry_ is here probably a vulgar corruption of the French _soirée_.
(Cf. _Dickens, Pickwick Papers_, where it is still further corrupted into
_leg of mutton_.)