Toss/toss off

Origin of: Toss/toss off

Toss/toss off

As in ‘not give a toss’ meaning could not give a damn, derives from the vulgar slang meaning of toss or toss off, meaning to masturbate. The up and down or to and fro movements implicit in the ordinary English verb to toss gave rise to this slang meaning of toss off, which is first recorded from the early 18th century.