Could somebody explain to me what a "taffer" is?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

Does somebody know the appropriate German word for it?
I looked up several dictionaries with no success.
Some English have a nickname for the Welch : "Taffy"-
has probably nothing to do with "taffer".
Why is everybody calling everybody else "taffer" in this
"thief- community"?

 

[MOS]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

"flupp" <w.haederle.takethataway@t-online.de> wrote in
message news:4p8g41hikm58sauqdu953d5a8b2seuupud@4ax.com
> Does somebody know the appropriate German word for it?
> I looked up several dictionaries with no success.
> Some English have a nickname for the Welch : "Taffy"-
> has probably nothing to do with "taffer".
> Why is everybody calling everybody else "taffer" in this
> "thief- community"?

More than likely it was a translation problem.
Far, far ago, in a galaxy long long away, when
written, lower case Ps looked a lot like modern Fs.
Thiefs were called "tappers" becasue they
tapped people on the head.
Anyway, somebody saw tapper written where the
Ps looked like Fs and thought the word was "taffer".
Check out some of the older manuscripts and you
can see words like "peffer" (pepper) and you'll
understand how it could have gotten confused.

This educational moment was brought to you by
the Olde English Letters "P" and "F".

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 15:35:32 GMT, flupp
<w.haederle.takethataway@t-online.de> wrote:

>Does somebody know the appropriate German word for it?
>I looked up several dictionaries with no success.
>Some English have a nickname for the Welch : "Taffy"-
>has probably nothing to do with "taffer".
>Why is everybody calling everybody else "taffer" in this
>"thief- community"?

Invented word for the most part. There is a long commentary from Looking
Glass somewhere explaining it. The only real world similarity is to a
children's rhyme to make them go to sleep otherwise "someone taffing at my
door" would get them. Something like that. Sorry, I don't have an URL
for you. Might do a search on "taffer" and "meaning" at TTLG or The
Circle and find the LG quote that way.

--
Michael Cecil
http://home.comcast.net/~macecil/
http://home.comcast.net/~safehex/

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

flupp wrote:
> Does somebody know the appropriate German word for it?

It's almost certainly an invented word -- much like 'glark'.
An article in Scientific American many years ago about
language comprehension noted that most people can glark the
meaning of unknown verbs from the context they appear in.

Why not just taff up a verb? It has to have a corresponding
noun, of course.

How about something that is almost, but not entirely, unlike
'schlumpf'?

--
Anders Thulin ath*algonet.se http://www.algonet.se/~ath

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

OK. Thanks, got it- more or less.
Looking for some meaningful context
to lighten it up even more.

On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 15:35:32 GMT, flupp
<w.haederle.takethataway@t-online.de> wrote:

>Does somebody know the appropriate German word for it?
>I looked up several dictionaries with no success.
>Some English have a nickname for the Welch : "Taffy"-
>has probably nothing to do with "taffer".
>Why is everybody calling everybody else "taffer" in this
>"thief- community"?

 

[Gez]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

I live in the UK (Midlands). When I was a kid (30+ years ago)
"Taff" meant, to steal, and "Taffer" was a thief.
I've always thought it was a companion to "Tatter", someone who
collects junk, or stole lead off church roofs to sell.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

"Gez" <gez.gtr@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:d29iq5$os5$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
> I live in the UK (Midlands). When I was a kid (30+ years ago)
> "Taff" meant, to steal, and "Taffer" was a thief.

I think in the Thief universe it started off meaning thief but evolved into
a general purpose insult.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

Paul Harris wrote:
> "Gez" <gez.gtr@btinternet.com> wrote in message
> news:d29iq5$os5$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
>
>>I live in the UK (Midlands). When I was a kid (30+ years ago)
>>"Taff" meant, to steal, and "Taffer" was a thief.
>
>
> I think in the Thief universe it started off meaning thief but evolved into
> a general purpose insult.
>
>

Here's what I know (almost) for sure about the word "Taffer".

1) It was invented by someone at Looking Glass. This has been stated by
LGS employees, and the guilty party named. I forget who it was, however.

2) An unused conversation that can be found in the resource files for
one of the games (the first one, I think) explains that it is a
euphemism for "Trickster".

3) Though (re-)invented for the game, the word seems to have been in use
before that. It may have originated with an old rhyme that begins
something like "Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief". Some accounts
do say that it means "Thief" or "Welshman". As far as I know, the common
theme is just coincidence (though possibly the "inventor" of the word
had heard it used in this context at some point).

-Kevin
--
My email address is valid, but changes periodically.
To contact me please use the address from a recent posting.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 05:37:15 GMT, Kevin Goodsell
<usenet3.spamfree.fusion@neverbox.com> wrote:

>Paul Harris wrote:
>> "Gez" <gez.gtr@btinternet.com> wrote in message
>> news:d29iq5$os5$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
>>
>>>I live in the UK (Midlands). When I was a kid (30+ years ago)
>>>"Taff" meant, to steal, and "Taffer" was a thief.
>>
>>
>> I think in the Thief universe it started off meaning thief but evolved into
>> a general purpose insult.
>>
>>
>
>Here's what I know (almost) for sure about the word "Taffer".
>
>1) It was invented by someone at Looking Glass. This has been stated by
>LGS employees, and the guilty party named. I forget who it was, however.
>
>2) An unused conversation that can be found in the resource files for
>one of the games (the first one, I think) explains that it is a
>euphemism for "Trickster".
>
>3) Though (re-)invented for the game, the word seems to have been in use
>before that. It may have originated with an old rhyme that begins
>something like "Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief". Some accounts
>do say that it means "Thief" or "Welshman". As far as I know, the common
>theme is just coincidence (though possibly the "inventor" of the word
>had heard it used in this context at some point).
>
>-Kevin

From a FAQ on GameFAQS:

3.10.1: The True Meaning Of "Taffer"
====================================
Lastly, someone sent me an email with the following information:

"I got this one from PC Accelerator. They interviewed Steve Pearsall,
project designer of Thief. The question, "What is a Taffer and where did
it
come from?" The Answer, "One of our level designers, Laura Baldwin, made
it up.
Taffer was meant to be a slang word that meant a common criminal, but
has
evolved into meaning any sort of low life." So basically it is a
fictitious
word. Hey, maybe it will become real if we use it enough."

http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/game/198996.html
from the user named 'Taffer'

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

"Kevin Goodsell" <usenet3.spamfree.fusion@neverbox.com> kirjoitti
viestissä:f0M2e.1191$44.907@newsread1.news.atl.earthlink.net...
>
> Here's what I know (almost) for sure about the word "Taffer".
>
> 1) It was invented by someone at Looking Glass. This has been stated by
> LGS employees, and the guilty party named. I forget who it was, however.

Laura 'Boojum' Baldwin.

- Mika L

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

Kevin Goodsell wrote:

(snip)"Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief".(snip)
> -Kevin

I like that explanation best. Even though Ms. Baldwin would probably
like to go through life thinking she "made up" a word. The explanation
would go with other names/words we do have.
Such as: Sign your John Hancock on a line. John Hancock wrote most of
the signatures on the Declaration of Independence.
Albert

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

On the 31 Mar 2005, Albert Conklin <aconklin@satx.rr.com> wrote:

<snip>

> Such as: Sign your John Hancock on a line. John Hancock wrote most of
> the signatures on the Declaration of Independence.

Ah ha! So, the Declaration of Independence is based on forgery?
It's invalid, then! Welcome back to the British Empire! ;-)

--
Jades' First Encounters Site - http://www.jades.org/ffe.htm
The best Frontier: First Encounters site on the Web.

nospam@jades.org /is/ a real email address!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

Graham Thurlwell wrote:
> On the 31 Mar 2005, Albert Conklin <aconklin@satx.rr.com> wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>>Such as: Sign your John Hancock on a line. John Hancock wrote most of
>>the signatures on the Declaration of Independence.
>
>
> Ah ha! So, the Declaration of Independence is based on forgery?
> It's invalid, then! Welcome back to the British Empire! ;-)
>
So true. That is why on occasions when you have to sign something they
say put your "John Hancock" on it.
Alber

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

Graham Thurlwell wrote:
> On the 31 Mar 2005, Albert Conklin <aconklin@satx.rr.com> wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>>Such as: Sign your John Hancock on a line. John Hancock wrote most of
>>the signatures on the Declaration of Independence.

My understanding is that he was the first to sign, and was notable for
making his signature rather large. I recall being told once that others
made their signatures small and difficult to identify out of fear. I
don't know if there's any truth to this, nor do I know for sure whether
what you said is incorrect.

>
>
> Ah ha! So, the Declaration of Independence is based on forgery?
> It's invalid, then! Welcome back to the British Empire! ;-)
>

For the record, the Declaration wasn't what made America independent. It
was just the way that they informed King George. Independence was
achieved simply by choosing it, and being willing to fight for it.

I point this out not out of some great sense of nationalism or because I
don't appreciate the joke, but because it reflects a principle that I
believe in: that freedom cannot be granted or taken away. It is only
lost through concession and reclaimed through assertion. The founders of
this country understood this, but it seems few people do these days.

-Kevin
--
My email address is valid, but changes periodically.
To contact me please use the address from a recent posting.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

>this out not out of some great sense of nationalism or because I
> don't appreciate the joke, but because it reflects a principle that I
> believe in: that freedom cannot be granted or taken away. It is only
> lost through concession and reclaimed through assertion. The founders of
> this country understood this, but it seems few people do these days.

Hell, I'm British and I agree with you entirely.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

On Thu, 7 Apr 2005 18:19:01 +0100, "Paul Harris"
<paul@NO-SPAMmonkeyland.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>>this out not out of some great sense of nationalism or because I
>> don't appreciate the joke, but because it reflects a principle that I
>> believe in: that freedom cannot be granted or taken away. It is only
>> lost through concession and reclaimed through assertion. The founders of
>> this country understood this, but it seems few people do these days.
>
>Hell, I'm British and I agree with you entirely.

To get back to the bogus assertion that John Hancock signed a lot of the
signatures - well, I have one of those faux copies of the Declaration and
if it matches the real thing, then I don't think he did. The signatures
are all different and in different areas and angles. If he signed a lot
of them, they would be in the same place/angle and look similar. Also,
these were learned men, proud of their ability to read and write. They
were also probably considering signing to be somewhat a show of bravado.
Do you think they're going to sit back and say, "um, you just sign for
me"? I don't think so.

--
Michael Cecil
http://home.comcast.net/~macecil/
http://home.comcast.net/~safehex/

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.thief-dark-project (More info?)

Michael Cecil wrote:

> On Thu, 7 Apr 2005 18:19:01 +0100, "Paul Harris"
> <paul@NO-SPAMmonkeyland.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
>>>this out not out of some great sense of nationalism or because I
>>>don't appreciate the joke, but because it reflects a principle that I
>>>believe in: that freedom cannot be granted or taken away. It is only
>>>lost through concession and reclaimed through assertion. The founders of
>>>this country understood this, but it seems few people do these days.
>>
>>Hell, I'm British and I agree with you entirely.
>
>
> To get back to the bogus assertion that John Hancock signed a lot of the
> signatures - well, I have one of those faux copies of the Declaration and
> if it matches the real thing, then I don't think he did. The signatures
> are all different and in different areas and angles. If he signed a lot
> of them, they would be in the same place/angle and look similar. Also,
> these were learned men, proud of their ability to read and write. They
> were also probably considering signing to be somewhat a show of bravado.
> Do you think they're going to sit back and say, "um, you just sign for
> me"? I don't think so.
>
Okay, maybe I have confused my learning over the years. Sorry!
Albert