I was watching a rerun of the Lucy Show , and Wally Cox was guest starring as Vivian’s cousin Wally. Wally was a concert musician and staying with Lucy and Viv
Anyway Lucy says, (in a mock posh voice) “Well I didn’t realize our company was so tony.”
And I Googled it and sure enough came up with:
Tony = Stylish, high-toned, upscale
I’ve never heard of this before? Have you? Where do you think the word comes from?
I’ve heard it used, I know what it means, but I never thought about where it comes from. Now I have to go look it up…
Of the “ton” - read enough Regency romances and you’ll know exactly where it comes from
Originally used in the context of upper class English society, ton meant a fashionable manner or style, or something for the moment in vogue. It could also (generally with the definite article: the ton) mean people of fashion, or fashionable society generally. A variant of the French bon-ton, a now-archaic expression designating good style or breeding, polite or fashionable society, or the fashionable world, ton's first recorded use in English was according to the Oxford English Dictionary in ...
ExTank
March 14, 2010, 9:19pm
4
I’ve heard it used, but know nothing of its origin.
And I always thought it was “toney.” As in, “high-toned,” or somesuch.
ETA: on-line dictionary shows tony and toney to be used interchangeably.
Zeldar
March 14, 2010, 9:28pm
5
Before anybody starts thinking otherwise the Tony Award is named after a person and is not meant as an adjective.
Perhaps it is toney not tony but if you look up in Google
[define: tony](define: Tony)
You can get this result on tony
ExTank:
And I always thought it was “toney.” As in, “high-toned,” or somesuch.
ETA: on-line dictionary shows tony and toney to be used interchangeably.
Both spellings are acceptable, sayeth the OED and M-W.