what is the origin of paddy jock taffy and limey?

Answer 1

"Paddy" refers to an (any) Irishman, and is a shortened form of "Patrick", which is a common first name among Irishmen. "Patty" would be the obvious way to say it, but the Irish accent renders it as "Paddy". "Jock" is a corruption of "Jack", and "Jack" is a way of addressing a male person whose name is not known. "Jock" is "Jack", but with a Scottish accent, thus "Jock" has become a generic name for all Scotsmen. "Taffy", similarly, is a name that is often applied to a Welshman. "Dafydd" is a common first name for many Welshmen, but when an Englishman hears it pronounced by a Welshman, it sounds like "Taffy". "Limey" (a rather derogatory American name for an Englishman) comes from the days of wooden ships. Scurvy was a disease that afflicted sailors who were on long voyages, and is partly caused by a diet that is deficient in Vitamin C. Once the cause was identified, ships' captains made sure that their vessels carried fruit that was rich in Vitamin C, and a fruit that was popular on British ships was the lime fruit, hence the term "Limey".

Answer 2

Paddy comes from the Irish Padraig (which I may not have spelt correctly), Jock is a Scotsman and I've no idea how that came about. Taffy was a Welshman and stole a lump of beef. I'm part Welsh and presumably the name came from the way the Welsh pronounce David, the patron saint of Wales. Limey is easy. On long sea journeys, to avoid scurvy, (caused by lack of vitamin C) British sailors were given limes to eat

Answer 3

Limey Origin

Answer 4

Would agree with Magpie 68, for 'paddy', 'taffy' and 'limey', but unsure about 'jock'.

Answer 5

Paddy is derived from the common Irish name Padraig (Patrick)

Jock is from the nickname of the Scottish division of the British Army

Taffy is derived from the common Welsh name Daffyd (David) and is also sometimes said to refer to the river Taff

Limey is from the British Navy's practice of issuing lime juice to the men to stave off scurvy.

Answer 6

Jock derives from the Gaelic phrase "deoch an doris" (jock an doris) which means "drink at the door" i.e. one for the road. Invariably ,this would be Scotch whisky and as Scotch and Scot are similar then deoch came to refer to both in the common vernacular. It `s just one of the slang phrases that derive from some food or drink.