Toff. A vulgar corruption of the University term “Tuft,” a young nobleman who pays high fees and is distinguished by a golden tuft or tassel on his cap.
Toggery. A term derived from the same source as “Togs.”
Togs. Slang for clothes, but originally derived from toga, the characteristic male garment of the Romans.
Tokay. An excellent white wine produced in the district of the same name in Upper Hungary.
Tokenhouse Yard. Marks the site of the ancient Token-House, which came into existence through the insufficiency of small copper coinage. A number of Nuremberg “tokens” having been introduced into this country, tradesmen imported large quantities of them for purposes of small (halfpenny and farthing) change, but instead of being kept in circulation such tokens were afterwards exchanged by the inhabitants of the city for their face value at the Token-House. About the same time various municipalities throughout the country manufactured their own tokens. The London Token-House was swept away by the Great Fire and never rebuilt.
Toledo. From the Hebrew H’toledoth, “generations,” “families,” relative to the Jewish founders of the city.
Tom Folio. The sobriquet of Thomas Rawlinson, the bibliomaniac.
Tommy Atkins. This general designation of an English soldier arose out of the hypothetical name, “Thomas Atkins,” which at one time figured in the Paymaster-General’s monthly statement of accounts sent to the War Office. So much money claimed by “Thomas Atkins” meant, of course, the regular pay for the rank and file.
Tom Tidler’s Ground. A corruption of “Tom the Idler’s Ground.”
Tontine. The name given to a system of reducing the State Loans in France in 1653 after Lorenzo Tonti, a Neapolitan protegé of Cardinal Mazarin, its projector. According to this system, when one subscriber dies, the money accredited to him passes to the others, until the last survivor inherits the whole amount.