I love learning the origins of phrases and words. It's almost always interesting and not infrequently makes me laugh. Witness:

"'Swash' was a 16th century term that referred to the noise braggarts made to simulate the sound of swishing weapons when pretending to swordfight. A buckler was a small round shield, usually fixed to the forearm. So, a 'swashbuckler' was a swaggering ruffian; someone very likely to swash his buckle." - The Phrase Finder, Derring-do

I'm *so* going to walk around making swishing noises now, just so I can call myself a swashbuckler...or, alternately, a "swaggering ruffian."

.........................