I've heard this term a good bit lately, referring to Etonians primarily, but also to any of the so-called privileged class. Would you Brits be so kind as to provide us on the other side of the pond with a history lesson regarding its origins?
lower-class British slang for "stylish dresser, member of the smart set," 1851, probably an alteration of tuft, formerly an Oxford Univ. term for a nobleman or gentleman-commoner (1755), in ref. to the gold ornamental tassel worn on the caps of undergraduates at Oxford and Cambridge whose fathers were peers with votes in the House of Lords.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
