taffy

[ACM4]

Why are the Welsh called taffy?

[jno]

From their (supposed) pronunciation of David - St David is their patron saint and hence a not uncommon name.

[Chillum]

Doesn't it have something to do with the River Taff, the river that runs through Cardiff.

[Marsh]

The OED supports jno.

[jno]

yes, googling around, I've also found that as an explanation Chillum as well as the one I offered. Not sure now which is correct.

[Quizmonster]

Here's what The Oxford English Dictionary (TOED) actually says about the word, 'Taffy'...the earliest reference is to the year 1700, where TOED quotes an earlier dictionary: "Taffy, a Welshman or David. Taffy's Day, the first of March." The next reference is from 1709. It reads: "1708 Brit. Apollo No. 98. 2/2 Welch-men are called Taffies from the corruption of the word David."
So, the corruption of 'David' has been the reason for 'Taffy' for some 300 years! Jno is perfectly correct and the name has nothing whatever to do with the River Taff. I think you should come back, ACM4 and specifically award Jno a bonus of three stars!

[jno]

... but I'd settle for 2 stars and a slice of chocolate cake. The River Taff must just be a coincidence, I suppose, but a striking one.

[brachiopod]

Just to muddy the waters a little - 'Dafydd' is the Wesh equivalent of David.

In Welsh, a single 'f' is pronounced as a 'v' so perhaps you English should be calling us 'Tavvys' ?!!!

However, Saint David is known as Dewi Sant !!

[ACM4]

I'd heard the river taff version and was just interested to see what others come up with.  I'm a welsh speaker so the dafydd (said davith) is only a little similar to taffy.  The river name in welsh is Teifi ( said tayvee) but it may seem more likely to be said teffy by english speakers.

[Quizmonster]

As I said in my earlier response, The Oxford English Dictionary - generally regarded as the 'bible of etymology - explains that the nickname 'Taffy' is ascribed to a corruption (probably an English mis-hearing) of the Welsh name 'Dafydd'. The dictionary scholars do not even give house room to the notion that it is connected with the similar river-name.
In precisely the same way, the nickname 'Paddy' for Irishmen is a corruption of the name 'Patrick' or 'Padraig'. It's just as well, I suppose, that there is no River Padra or somesuch anywhere in Ireland!