Aha, as a kid I heard "welch" but thought I had misheard it. The origin as Mr. Welch pleading out getting turned into welsh makes an awful lot of sense. Taffy may have been a thief, but not a welcher.

When I first heard the stereotype of the Jewish American Princess I thought people were being insulting to the Japanese, since I didn't know what JAP stood for, but I *did* know some women, whom I hadn't noticed were Jewish and wouldn't have cared if I had, were annoying...