The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #172604   Message #4189576
Posted By: MaJoC the Filk
31-Aug-23 - 10:17 AM
Thread Name: Origins: Valparaiso / Paddy Lay Back
Subject: RE: Origins: Valparaiso / Paddy Lay Back
> "toad" in English

.... "Borrowed from French", quoth Wictionary. My hardcopy Collins's* agrees, and adds "(Caribbean)", which suggests a migration route for the word as a pejorative.

* That's not definitively helpful, as it's the first edition of the computer-sorted version, complete with the interesting errors (eg confusing Sardinia with Sardos as the origin of "sardonic").