22/09/2006 – Leeds's Singing Organ-Grinder

A riffraff in the Rif

We all know, don’t we, that riffraff is from Middle English riffe raffe, from rif and raf, one and all, from Anglo-Norman rif et raf, rifle et rafle : Old French rifler, to rifle; see rifle2 + Old French raffler, to carry off (from raffle, act of seizing; see raffle1). So, nothing whatsoever to do…