Green’s Dictionary of Slang

arfy-darfy n.

In phrases

on the arfy-darfy [? a nonce-coinage by Nelson Algren (1909–81); ? SE artful dodger]

wandering the roads as a tramp.

1935		N. Algren Somebody in Boots Intro. 5: Fired, dead, absconded or gone on the arfy-darfy, Buddy wasn’t there any more.
1964		N. Algren in Sat. Eve. Post 26 Sept 44: [title] ‘The Moon of the Arfy-Darfy’ .
2006		yochicago.com 28 Aug. 🌐 Wither [sic] ‘Polish Broadway?’ Gone on the arfy-darfy, as one-time Wicker Park chronicler Nelson Algren would say.
2011		(ref. to 1951) Time Out (Chicago) 2 Nov. 🌐 he language is so steeped in local slang that it occasionally needs a translator. Case in point, Algren fought with his editor to title the afterword to the book ‘Ode to Kissassville: Or, Gone on the Arfy-Darfy’.