Welsher
Posted by ESC on September 16, 1999
In Reply to: Welsher posted by Joanne Taylor on September 15, 1999
: does anyone know the origin of "welsher" or "to welsh on a bet?"
From Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins:
"welsh -- to anyone with Welsh blood in his or her veins, the old
nursery rhyme 'Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief' is an outrage
and a slander. There is no objection to the first statement: 'Taffy'
is a generic name for Welshman, a corruption of 'David,' the patron
saint of Wales. But we greatly resent the implied slander on an
entire nation in the second line...Even worse is the verb 'to welsh,'
meaning 'to renege on a bet,'...The term welsher became common in
Britain during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the argot
of race-track bettors. But from a reader came a comforting word
for all Welshmen, one which gives a touch of logic to the use of
the term: 'It was ENGLISH bookies who, having too many long shot
winners against them, fled over the border to 'boondock' Wales to
become the original welshers and escape irate bettors looking for
their payoff.' Signed 'Taffy' Hoxie. 'P.S. You guessed it. I, too,
had Welsh ancestors.'"