Mindless toe rags

Posted by ESC on September 04, 2003

MINDLESS TOE RAGS -- "LONDON, England -- The steam train used in the Harry Potter films has been damaged by paint-wielding vandals, police said . . . James Shuttleworth, from the West Coast Railway Company which operates the train, said the graffiti was 'heartbreaking.' 'The people who did this are mindless toe rags,' he said. 'This will horrify the millions of Harry Potter fans.'" From "Vandals damage Hogwarts Express," Thursday, September 4, 2003.

TOERAG - noun, British. "a contemptible person, a scrounger, ne'er-do-well, tramp or thief. Toe-rags were the bindings wound around the feet of convicts or tramps in the 19th century. The word had taken on its present meaning by early in the 20th century in both Britain and Australia. During the 1950s and 1960s toerag was an obscure cockney term; it was given wider currency in the 1970s by TV programmes such as 'The Sweeney' and the pop songs of Ian Dury. From the mid-1980s it has been revived by working-class Londoners. In Britain toerag is often used factiously or slightly dismissively, in Australia it can sometimes indicate approval of one who acts like a (natural, rather than social) gentlemen." From the "Dictionary of Contemporary Slang" by Tony Thorne (Pantheon Books, New York, 1990).

• Scrotes! Lewis 05/September/03
  • Tuareg Brian from Shawnee 05/September/03
    • Tuareg Wes 19/September/03
    • Tuareg Lewis 08/September/03
      • Tuareg Brian from Shawnee 10/September/03
        • Touareg/Toerag in U.S. VW Commercial Brian from Shawnee 16/September/03
          • Natural gentleman? Lotg 10/October/03