Cockney: ‘Arc to bruise a tato. - What that 'Arc' may be? The meaning is clear: 'Arc to bruise a tato - don't allow them to bruise even one potato. But I cannot make my mind what that " 'Arc " could be? 'Harken", 'harsh' or something else? The description dates to 1911. https://yadi.sk/d/aAftEb3X3M9qsL "By the time I was ten, Granpa allowed me to lay out the morning wares on the barrow before going off to school for the day. Potatoes on the front, greens in the middle and soft fruits at the back was his golden rule. “Never let ‘em touch the fruit until they’ve ‘ended over their money,” he used to say. “‘Arc to bruise a tato, but even ‘arder to sell a bunch of grapes that’s been picked up and dropped a few times.” By the age of eleven I was collecting the money from the customers and handing them the change they were due. That’s when I first learned about palming..."