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#137951 01/24/05 10:54 AM
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Can’t {do that} for toffee!

How familiar is the phrase or a variant to all y’all?

Does anyone know the origin? ~ I haven’t had a mo to check the normal sources, but if any ace researcher has a chance please feel free ;)



#137952 01/24/05 11:00 AM
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Ain' never heard it, mav.

Hope I'll see this on wordorigins.




#137953 01/24/05 11:34 AM
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I heard it recently for the first time. Some television programme, I think. That's all I can remember of it.


#137954 01/24/05 11:38 AM
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Can't [do that] for toffee

Maybe it started out as "coffee", Maverick.

As in:

Can't do that for all the coffee in Arabia.

The English drink Tea so they made a "toffee" out it.

History of Coffee: [from Wikipedia]

The crop first became popular in Arabia around the 13th century, and Islam's prohibition against alcoholic beverages probably enhanced its popularity. Before 1600, coffee production was a jealously guarded secret, and fertile beans were not found outside Arabia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee#History


#137955 01/24/05 11:45 AM
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aaahhh. I had no idea it might not be obvious. OK Fong, WO it shall be, if required, but I shall have to do my homework first or Liz'll spank me ;)

Coffee > toffee - could be I suppose, though I'd have to check it out for some example.

Anyone else heard this commonplace of my Kent (SE UK) childhood? Dang, I really need to find my OEDipus disk...


#137956 01/24/05 12:05 PM
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I'd never heard the expression before. There are thousands of Google hits, however, for people who can't act, can't sing, can't write, can't dance, can't interface (!), etc., for toffee. A phrase origin ref. here at home doesn't list it. I'm now as curious about the origin as you, Mav'...


#137957 01/24/05 12:49 PM
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From my childhood in Kent, (S/E UK) a common phrase was “S/he can’t X for toffee” where X was the activity of the moment – substitute almost any verb! I haven’t yet done exhaustive searches but find it’s well represented on right-pond references:

can't do sth for toffee British, informal

if you say that someone can't do something for toffee, you mean that they are extremely bad at doing that thing
Annie couldn't act for toffee, but she still got a part in the school play.


(from Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms)

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=83528&dict=CALD


Toffee’s AHD entry gives: ETYMOLOGY: Alteration of taffy

taffy

SYLLABICATION: taf•fy
PRONUNCIATION: tafe
(with diacritics missing)
NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. taf•fies
1. A sweet, chewy candy of molasses or brown sugar boiled until very thick and then pulled with the hands or by machine until the candy is glossy and holds its shape. 2. Informal Flattery.
ETYMOLOGY: Origin unknown.


http://www.bartleby.com/61/77/T0247700.html


So if anyone has any comments on this phrase’s currency where you live, or any information on its origins....

I'd be flattered to hear from you!

#137958 01/24/05 08:47 PM
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no useful comments, only that I've never heard it before.

but I do like toffee.



formerly known as etaoin...
#137959 01/24/05 08:49 PM
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I know that expression: 'can't do XXX for toffee'. You don't hear many people use it these days, but it's certainly familiar from my youth and childhood.

I was brought up in the UK, in London and the Midlands. I now live in Manchester, in the NW. Perhaps it's a very British phrase that never travelled.

Can't help much, apart from recognising it, I'm afraid.


#137960 01/25/05 04:53 AM
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Add me to the list of those who've heard it. Maybe from toffee apples as prizes perhaps?

Welcome aboard, Millymax.

Bingley


Bingley
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