09 February 2011

Water or candy, it don't matter

Rico says that Google isn't sure if Taffy (slang for a Welsh person) comes from Dafydd (the Welsh for David) or from the river Taff, in South Wales, but it doesn't matter. (Though that you should call someone from North Wales a 'Gog' was a new one to Rico.)
The point being that there's a bunch of Taffys in Rico's life, starting with the entire Jones clan (his grandmother's people on his father's side), and the Price clan (his cousin Deborah's ex-husband's people), and now the Hughes clan (the people of the new gentleman friend of Rico's ladyfriend's daughter Maureen).
There's also the fact that Rico lives in the old Welsh Tract, west along the Main Line out of Philadelphia, with many stations along the line having Welsh or Welsh-sounding place-names:
Berwyn
St. Davids
Radnor
Bryn Mawr
Ardmore
Narberth
Tnat's a lot of Taffy, and sweet, though certainly not this anti-Welsh (and therefore English) nursery rhyme:
Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief;
Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of beef;
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy wasn't in;
I jumped upon his Sunday hat and poked it with a pin.
Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a sham;
Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of lamb;
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was away,
I stuffed his socks with sawdust and filled his shoes with clay.
Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a cheat,
Taffy came to my house, and stole a piece of meat;
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was not there,
I hung his coat and trousers to roast before a fire.
But we're coming up on St. David's Day, and we should all have some Welsh whisky to celebrate...

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