THE USE OF the word ‘toff’ to deride anyone of a certain peculiar breeding seems to have gained an unopposed currency. Popular newspapers positively encourage it. One day it might be fun to go through a week’s editions of The Guardian replacing every instance of the word with ‘yid’, ‘towel-head’ or ‘prole’ just to see how it reads. Of course these terms will always stir up hornets’ nests but it is interesting – is it not? – that ‘toff’ should be the only such term of abuse to have passed through the great filtering machine of political correctness without the raising of a single media editor’s eyebrow. Perhaps the reason for this is that toffs don’t particularly mind what they are called and, even if they did, would be too well mannered to complain about it. How many generations of toffs were brought up on Nanny’s old mantra, ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones but names can never hurt me’?

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