It would not be easy to describe the odd look of surprise and perplexity of the parson, at this proposal; or the difficulty the Squire had in making the general comprehend, that though a jovial song of the present day was but a foolish sound in the ears of wisdom, and beneath the notice of a learned man, yet a trowl, written by a Tosspot several hundred years since, was a matter worthy of the gravest research, and enough to set whole colleges by the ears.
"Bracebridge Hall, or The Humorists"
Washington Irving
I whisked away zigzag among the booths as fast as possible, from the claws of this rude Tosspot; yet he still hobbled after me.
"The Campaner Thal and Other Writings"
Jean Paul Friedrich Richter