07-07-2020, 11:27 PM
1
Toe rag
I have just learned the origin of this expression .It’s actually Tow rag
Look away now if you are of delicate sensibilities.
In days of yore on ships the loos were a bit basic .
Ie you hung precariously over the edge or used a bucket .
Then they progressed to the heads - the front of the ship ( this is very important ) -the wind for obvious reasons must come from the back of the ship or else .
So the heads were sort of planks with little sit on boxes at the front of the ship which were straight over the sea.
A rag was attached to a tow rope which one pulled up and used and then let go in the sea to self clean for the next person .
This was called the tow- rag and is still used to today as a derogatory term .
Well you learn something new every day !
08-07-2020, 09:37 AM
4
Re: Toe rag
I am surprised at that explanation Muddy, because I have always thought it something to do the street shoe shine men.But here is yet another explanation of the term too, so take your pick.
"Toe rag is a prime example. It comes from a time when men wore stockings instead of socks, and is used as an insult, to describe someone who is the lowest of the low.
The toe rag, from which the term comes, was an item of clothing worn by men who were either too poor to afford stockings, or were criminals. They would wrap their feet up in scraps of cloth, which, unwashed, would end up in a very poor state indeed. It’s a relatively common situation among the homeless even today.
The first recorded use is in Experiences of a Convict, an 1864 book by J F Mortlock in which he says: “Stockings being unknown, some luxurious men wrapped round their feet a piece of old shirting, called, in language more expressive than elegant, a ‘toe-rag’”
You choose.
(And then there is always the charming ' snot rag ' too, but I don't think we need to go there. )
08-07-2020, 10:28 AM
7
Re: Toe rag
Originally Posted by spitfire
->
I wonder if the Rag had a Puppy embossed on it?
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