[Facts] Re: Toal
in reply to a message by Ambiversion
The modern pejorative term is too recent to have any impact on historic Anglicization. My not very old Shorter Oxford and Merriam Collegiate list "one manipulated by another" first recorded 1863 (Tool/Toole is older), only the Shorter Oxford adds the older "workman" from around 1700 (similar to the use of "toolie" for a tradesman, as one who works with tools), and the latter was most often a term of pity, not disparagement.