Around Shakespeare's time, a toss-pot was a bar fly. If you spent a lot of time in the ale house, you might earn the nickname "Sir Toss-Pot." Steyn's piece is the first time I've seen the term used in modern-day polemics.
>> Around Shakespeare’s time, a toss-pot was a bar fly. If you spent a lot of time in the ale house, you might earn the nickname “Sir Toss-Pot.” Steyn’s piece is the first time I’ve seen the term used in modern-day polemics.<<
I (googled?) the word because I had never seen it before. When I read it I thought it was probably a Britishism for chamber pot.
By the way, when I need to verify a word’s meaning I click on a + symbol at the top of my screen. That takes me to a screen full of dictionary and other sites I can click on for the definition. Question: When I do this am I using Google or not?