different between taffy vs toffy

English

Alternative forms

• toffee (see usage notes)

Etymology

Probably related to tafia (“kind of rum”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?tæ.fi/
• Rhymes: -æfi

Noun

taffy (countable and uncountable, plural taffies)

1. (US) A soft, chewy candy made from boiled sugar, molasses, or corn syrup and butter.
2. (informal) Flattery.
   • 1881, Mark Twain, Unfinished Burlesque on Books of Etiquette:

     ... if these statistices should seem to fail to tally with the facts, in places, do not nudge your neighbor, or press your foot upon his toes, or manifest, by any other sign, your awareness that taffy is being distributed.

Usage notes

• Taffy is a soft candy invented in the United States and known as "chews" or "chewy sweets" in the United Kingdom. It is not to be confused with toffee.

Derived terms

Translations

References

• “taffy”, in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary, (Please provide a date or year).

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

toffy (countable and uncountable, plural toffies)

1. Alternative spelling of toffee

Etymology 2

toff +? -y

Adjective

toffy (comparative toffier, superlative toffiest)

1. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand, derogatory) Posh, upper-class; snooty.
   • 2007, Craig Sherborne, Muck, Victoria University Press (2007), ?ISBN, page 16:

     As for that accent of his, his speaking in a toffy English way, it's got toffier since we've known him.

   • 2008, "The king of Corfu", The Economist, 23 October 2008:

     Rather it lurks in the now-republished photos of Mr Osborne in the Fauntleroy outfit of the Bullingdon club, a toffy Oxford society of which he was a member at the same time as Mr Rothschild (and of which David Cameron, the Tory leader, is also an alumnus).

   • 2012, Paddy O'Reilly, The Fine Color of Rust, Washington Square Press (2012), ?ISBN, page 44:

     She heaves an exasperated sigh that would do a shop assistant in a toffy dress emporium proud.

See also

• toffee-nosed