Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also towrag) a general term of abuse [Puxley, Cockney Rabbit: A Dick‘ n’ Arry of Rhyming Slang (1992), suggests rhy. sl. = slag n.¹ (1)].

1856		Huddersfield Chron. 5 Apr. 6/1: On the complainant replying that he had no wish to fight, the defendant called him a ‘tow rag,’ and struck him twice on the face.
1875		T. Frost Circus Life and Circus Celebrities 278: Toe rags is another expression of contempt ... used ... chiefly by the lower grades of circus men, and the acrobats who stroll about the country, performing at fairs.
1888		J. Runciman Chequers 37: He sits with the watchmen and all sorts of tow-rags.
1894		Midland Trib. 1 Sept. 3/3: ‘If i didn’t [‘take the pledge’] I would be [...] a regular tow-rag’.
1899		Derbyshire Times 27 May 3/6: He called her a ‘toe-rag’.
1901		Bulletin (Sydney) 3 Aug. 24/1: Toe-rag Mo.’s at Sydney coursing meets are killing the game. [...] The penniless and bagless Moseses won’t take any risk.
1904		Portsmouth Eve. News 7 Apr. 3/5: ‘A dirty old toe-rag’ is her description of me and she threatens to dash my brains out.
1914		R. Tressell Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (1955) 489: You’re only a dirty toe-rag! That’s all you are – a bloody rotter!
1923		P. MacGill Moleskin Joe 132: Well, it’s a mangy gatherin’ of toe-rags.
1934		Nottingham Jrnl 1 Sept. 3/7: ‘I don’t blame my wife [...] I blame the dirty tow-rags she has got mixed up with’.
1938		T. Burns ‘Street Corner’ in New Writing 73: ‘Bunch o’ toerags,’ said the tall girl....‘Ah, eff ’em,’ said Walter.
1941		Baker Popular Dict. Aus. Sl.
1942		(con. 1890s) S. O’Casey Pictures in the Hallway 124: You’re a decent lad, a real decent lad [...] not like th’ rest o’ them, nose-rags, toe-rags, flittin’ afther Mr. Anthony here.
1957		G. Kersh Fowlers End (2001) 5: The salt of the earth, the toe-rags!
1960		H. Pinter Caretaker Act I: All them toe-rags, mate, got the manner of pigs.
1978		F. Norman Dead Butler Caper 86: You are beginning to get on my nerves, you little toe-rag.
1983		J. Sullivan ‘Thicker than Water’ Only Fools and Horses [TV script] It means there’s someone at the door you lazy little toe-rag!
1989		B. Bryson Lost Continent 73: [O]ur principal, Mr. Toerag, would file the whole school into the auditorium and make us spend a tedious day answering multiple-choice questions.
1992		Age (Melbourne) 16 Feb. 19/6: Donaghue responded by calling his colleague [...] ‘a small-minded, vituperative toe-rag’.
1999		K. Sampson Powder 106: You’ve got no fucking respect you, you little toe-rag!
2006		D. Mitchell Black Swan Green 257: Which of you [...] toe-rags have the guts to insult me face to face?
2013		K. Sampson Killing Pool 47: I’m not talking about the [...] toerags on the corners and council estates.
2017		V. McDermid Insidious Intent (2018) 92: Swift access to the motorway [...] mad for an easy getaway for any toerag.
2020		A. Parks Bobby March Will Live Forever 66: ‘Sure that toerag’s been up here a few times’.

2. a second-rate, inferior newspaper [rag n.¹ (4)].

1890		Sporting Times 22 Mar. 1/5: The Crouch End Toe Rag asserts that the rupture was entirely due to the strong expressions used by the Prince.
1893		Derbyshire Times 1 July 6/3: A detestable Tory rag (Hear, hear and cheers, uproar). he did not mean a toe-rag [...] but a tory rag.

3. (Aus.) a £1 note.

1893

P.H. Emerson Signor Lippo 81: ‘Bah!’ says Blower, ‘my pippin, I wouldn’t give a toe-rag for all the photos in the windows. I wouldn’t give a shanty to have my name in all the papers.’.

4. (N.Z.) a handkerchief.

c.1938		informant in DNZE (1998).
1943		(con. 1880s) J.B. Hislop Pure Gold 78: Out came my toe rag as we called ur handkerchiefs [DNZE].

5. attrib. use of sense 4.

1900

Bulletin (Sydney) 19 May 24/1: This system of cold-blooded robbery is the hottest thing the punter has to fight, and is an every-day occurence; the toe-rag section are not by any means the biggest offenders either.

6. a tramp.

1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era.
1950		S. Murphy Stone Mad (1966) 18: She knew he was a tramp stonie. ‘Ah-ah! ye toe rag,’ she said, ‘I’d know ye were one of them a mile away.’.