Where Does Toffee Nosed Come from?

Toffee-nosed is an English and Australian term, derived from the Victorian slang, toff, used by the lower classes to describe the upper classes. The word toff is a corruption of the term tuft, which was a gold tassel worn on an Oxford cap by the sons of those peers who had a vote in the House of Lords.

Where does the phrase toffee nose come from?

After taking their expensive snuff, wealthy people in the old days developed an unsightly brown drip from their noses which looked like toffee. Wealthy types of the 19th century were known as toffs, who turned up their "toff noses" at the lower classes. The rest is history.

What is the expression toffee-nosed mean?

adjective British Slang. stuck-up; conceited; pretentious: a toffee-nosed butler; a toffee-nosed shop.