Toff

[boatman]

Further to the question 'nausea rhymes' (below), does the word toff come from toffee-nosed, or did the latter arise as a pun on the former. Reference sources seem divided on this. Any opinions?

[bobsailer]

The Shorter Oxford Dictionary seems to think that toffee-nosed is a pun on toff. The latter may have come about as a variation of tuft in the now defunct sense of an Oxford graduate (from the tuft on the mortar board headgear), especially an aristocratic one, hence snob, etc.