Date:  Sun, 7 Dec 1997 10:45:58 -0500
From:  Gregory {Greg} Downing <downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IS2.NYU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Welsher (Welcher)

Sorry -- I didn't quite see from your discussion below how you cleared up
for sure that "welsh/welch" comes from the nationality. What I thought I saw
was that one published source speculates about that possibility, and many
others that are aware of the same speculations say "origin obscure". In
etymology, the most vivid and detailed account is not always necessarily the
most accurate one. Anyway, as for use or nonuse of the word, those of us who
don't bet with people probably don't find ourselves tempted to use it much
from year to year anyway -- passive knowledge and all that....

Greg D./NYU

At 10:28 AM 12/7/97, you (Peggy Smith <dj611[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]cleveland.Freenet.Edu>) wrote:
>Thanks to all of you who sent me whatever you could find on the etymology of
>this phrase. None of the definitions were really what I was looking for,
>so while I was out braving our first snowstorm of the year yesterday to begin
>my holiday shopping, I stopped at Barnes and Noble to check out what was
>available in the reference section. (Closer than the nearest college library)
>The Oxford Dictionary of Etymology said that the phrase welsh or welch on a
>bet originated in England in the 1850's as racetrack slang and meant to
>reneg on a bet. According to Oxford the origin is unknown. The Barnhart
>Dictionary of Etymology said pretty much the same thing. The Morris
>Dictionary of Words and Phrase Origins said that the origin stems from
>the lines of a British nrusery rhyme, "Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a
>thief". Apparently, "Taffy" is local slang for a Welshman, and is an
>acceptable one, as it is a derivative of David and St. David is the patron
>saint of Wales. However, the Welsh people resent being called thieves and
>cheats, which is the British stereotype. According to those in Wales,
"Welsher"
>was (in the 1850's) a British bookie who had overplayed longshots at the track
>and couldn't pay his bets off, and so fled across the border to Wales, which
>was the boondocks then, to hide out, thus, reneging on bets. He then became
>a Welsher or Welshman.
>
>THIS is what I was looking for--- the stereotype implied in the ethnic
>reference. I guess I won't use the expression anymore, hey?
>
>Peggy Smith
>
Greg Downing/NYU, at greg.downing[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]nyu.edu or downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]is2.nyu.edu