Slang and its analogues past and present, volume 3 [of 7] (part 1 of 3)

Slang and its analogues past and present, volume 3 [of 7]

SLANG AND ITS ANALOGUES PAST AND PRESENT.

A Dictionary, Historical and Comparative, of the Heterodox Speech of all Classes of Society for more than Three Hundred Years.

WITH SYNONYMS IN ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, ITALIAN, ETC.

COMPILED AND EDITED BY JOHN S. FARMER and W. E. HENLEY.

VOL. III.—Fla. to Hyps.

PRINTED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.

MDCCCXCIII.

VOL. III.

A DICTIONARY OF SLANG AND ITS ANALOGUES.

Flabbergast, verb. (colloquial). To astound; to stagger, either physically or mentally. [O. E., flab = to frighten + gast = to scare.] Fr., abalober; baba (from ébahi = astounded); épater (= flatten out). Sp., quedarse de, or hecho, una pieza (= ‘knocked all of a heap’). See Floored.

1772. Annual Register, ‘On New Words.’ Now we are flabbergasted and bored from morning to night.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, etc., p. 79. His colleagues were flabbergasted when they heard of Castlereagh’s sudden death.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (‘Brothers of Birchington’). He was quite flabbergasted to see the amount.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 261. We rather just imagine they will be not a little puzzled and flabbergasted to discover the meaning or wit of some of those elegant phrases.

1864. Derby Day, p. 67. You’re sort of flabbergasted. It’s taken all the wind out of you like, and you feel like an old screw a blowing up Highgate Hill.

1889. Licensed Victuallers’ Gazette, 18 Jan. Poor Clarke was completely flabbergasted.

1891. National Observer, 1 Aug. In no other sport is the laudator temporis acti so completely flabbergasted as here.

Flabberdegaz, subs. (theatrical).—Words interpolated to dissemble a lapse of memory; gag (q.v.). Also, imperfect utterance or bad acting.

Flag, subs. (old).—1. A groat, or fourpenny piece. Also Flagg, and Flagge. For synonyms, see Joey.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65. Roge. But a flagge, a wyn, and a make. (But a groat, a penny, and a half-penny.)

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept. 1874) s.v.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 12, s.v.

1725. Jonathan Wild, Canting Dict., s.v.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 269. A tremendous black doll bought for a flag (fourpence) of a retired rag-merchant.

2. (common).—An apron; hence a badge of office or trade; cf., Flag-flasher. Equivalents are Belly-cheat and Fig-leaf.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 232 (List of patterer’s words), s.v.

1872. Dundee Advertiser, 20 April; ‘Report of Meeting of Domestic Servants.’ It was contended that they were compelled to wear what was generally known as a flag.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Straight Tip. Suppose you try a different tack, And on the square you flash your flag.

3. (obsolete).—A jade.

1539. David Lyndsay, Thrie Estaitis. Works [Ed. Laing, 1879], ii. 109. Ane fistand flag.

4. (common).—The menstrual cloth. Variants are bandage; clout; danger-signal; diaper; double clout (Durfey); gentleman’s pleasure garden padlock; periodicity rag; the red rag; sanitary towel; window-curtain.

The Flag (or Danger-Signal) is up = “The Captain’s at home” (Grose), i.e., the menstrual flux is on.

English Synonyms.—To have domestic afflictions, or the D.A.’s; to have the flowers (q.v.); to have one’s grandmother, or little friend, or auntie, with one; to have them (or it) on; to be in a state of ‘no thoroughfare’; to have the red rag on; to be road-making; to have the street up for repairs; to be at Number One, London; to have ‘the gate locked and the key lost.’

French Synonyms.—Avoir ses cardinales (literally, to have one’s reds); avoir les histoires; avoir les affaires (common); avoir ses anglais (in allusion to the scarlet of English soldiers); broyer des tomates (= tomato-crushing); avoir son marquis (Cotgrave); avoir les fleurs rouges; avoir sa chemise tachée (Cotgrave); voir Sophie; avoir les ordinaires.

Italian Synonyms.—Marchese (Florio), marchesano (= menses. Michel says, Art. marque = a month, a woman. “Il ne saurait être douteux que ce nom ne soit venu à cette division de l’année, de l’infirmité périodique qu’ont les marques, ou femmes, lors que la Lune, pour tenir sa diette et vaquer à ses purifications menstruelles, fait marquer les logis feminins par son fourrier, lequel pour escusson n’a que son impression rouge”).

To Fly the Flag, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To post a notice that ‘hands’ are wanted. See also Fly the Flag, post.

Flag of Defiance, subs. phr. (old nautical).—A drunken roysterer. For synonyms, see Elbow-crooker.

To hang out the flag of defiance (or bloody flag), verb. phr.—To be continuously drunk. [An allusion to the ‘crimson face’ (Cotgrave) and the pugnacity of certain terms of inebriety.] For synonyms, see rinks.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v. The flag of defiance is out (among the Tarrs) the Fellow’s Face is very Red, and he is Drunk.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Flag-flasher, subs. (common).—One sporting a badge or other ensign of office (cap, apron, uniform, etc.) when off duty.—Cf., Flag, sense 2.

Flag-about, subs. (old).—A strumpet. [From Flag, a paving-stone]. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

Flag-Flying.—See Flag.

Flag of Distress, subs. phr. (common).—1. A card announcing ‘lodgings,’ or ‘board and lodgings.’ Hence, any overt sign of poverty.

2. (common).—A flying shirt-tail; in America, a letter in the post-office (q.v.).

Flagger, subs. (common).—A street-walker. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1865. Daily Paper, ‘Police Report.’ She wasn’t a low sort at all—she wasn’t a Flagger, as we call it. So I replies, ‘I am well, thankee; and am happy to say I feel as such.’

Flags, subs. (common).—Linen drying and flying in the wind. For synonyms, see Snow.

Flag Unfurled, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A man of the world.

Flag-Wagging, subs. (military).—Flag-signal drill.

Flam, subs. (colloquial).—Nonsense (for synonyms, see Gammon); humbug; flattery; or, a lie: as a regular flam (for synonyms, see Whopper). Cf. FLim-flam.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, [Cf., Flim-flam.]

1647. Beaumont and Fletcher, Humourous Lieutenant, iv., 1. With some new flam or other, nothing to the matter.

1664. Butler, Hudibras, pt. II., ch. iii., p. 29. A flam more senseless than the roguery of old aruspicey and aug’ry.

1742–4. Roger North, Lives of the Norths, ch. i., p. 368. They must have known his Lordship better and not have ventured such flams at him.

1760. Foote, Minor, Act II. Had the flam been fact, your behaviour was natural enough.

1762. Foote, Liar, bk. II., ch. ii. Can’t you discern that this flam of Sir James Elliot’s is a mere fetch to favour his retreat?

1830. Sir E. B. Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 298 (ed. 1854). Harry ... told you as ow it was all a flam about the child in the bundle!

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862), p. 325. No trick nor flam, but your real Schiedam.

1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. ii. And their pockets full they crams by their patriotic flams, And then swear ’tis for the good of the nation.

1850. D. Jerrold, The Catspaw, Act II. Though the story of that scoundrel Coolcard, Augustus Coolcard—and I was never before deceived—never—is a flam—all a flam.

1870. London Figaro, 22 Sept. Is not your boasted power a flam?

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Good Night. You flymy titters fond of flam.

2. (old).—A single stroke on the drum.—[Grose, 1785.]

Adj. (old).—False.

1692. Sprat, Relation of Young’s Contrivance (Harl. Misc. vi. 224). To amuse him the more in his search, she addeth a flam story that she had got his hand by corrupting one of the letter-carriers in London.

Verb (colloquial).—1. To take in; to flatter; to lie; to foist or fob off. flamming = lying.

1658. Rowley and Ford, &c., Witch of Edm., ii., 2. Was this your cunning? and then flam me off with an old witch, two wives, and Winnifride.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, II. in wks. (1720) iv. 41. Does he think to flam me with a lye?

1830. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. v. But I’ll show him whether or not I, for one of them, am to be jeered and flammed with impunity.

1835. Marryat, Jacob Faithful, ch. xxviii. How she did flam that poor old Domine.

(American University).—To affect, or prefer, female society; to Grouse (q.v.). [A corruption of flame (q.v.)]. See Molrowing.

Flambustious, adj. (American).—Showy; gaudy; pleasant.

1868. Putnam’s Magazine. We will have a flambustious time. [Cf., Shakspeare (1608), Antony and Cleopatra, iii., 11. Let’s have one other gaudy night.]

Flamdoodle, subs. (American).—Nonsense; vain boasting. Probably a variant of flapdoodle (q.v.).

1888. New York Sun. We wasn’t goin’ to have any high falutin’ flamdoodle business over him.

Flame, subs. (colloquial).—1. A sweetheart; a mistress in keeping. Old flame = an old lover; a cast-off mistress. Also (2) a venereal disease.

b. 1664. d. 1721. Mathew Prior [in Palgrave’s “Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics,” ed. 1885]. Euphelia serves to grace my measure, but Chloe is my real flame.

1757. Foote, Author, Act I. Let’s see, Mr. and Mrs. Cadwallader, and your flame, the sister, as I live.

1846–8. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ch. xiv. On this Rebecca instantly stated that Amelia was engaged to be married to a Lieutenant Osborne, a very old flame.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Flamer, subs. (colloquial).—A man, woman, thing, or incident above the common. [Literally conspicuous to flaming point, i.e., as a light in the dark]. For synonyms, see Stunner.

1840. H. Cockton, Valentine Vox, ch. ii. Concocting a criticism on the evening’s performance, which certainly was, according to the signor’s own acknowledgment, a regular flamer.

Flames, subs. (old).—A red-haired person. Cf., Carrots and Ginger.

1823. Jon Bee, Dict. of the Turf, etc., p. 79. Who should I fling my precious ogles upon but flames—she as lived at the ‘Blue Posts.’

Flaming, ppl. adj. (colloquial).—Conspicuous; ardent; stunning (q.v.). For synonyms, see A 1 and Fizzing.

1738. Swift, Polite Conv., Dialogue II. Lord Sparkish. My Lady Smart, your ladyship has a very fine scarf. Lady Smart. Yes, my lord, it will make a flaming figure in a country church.

1776. Rubrick, The Spleen, ii. I’ll send a flaming paragraph of their wedding to all the newspapers.

1872. Besant and Rice. Ready Money Mortiboy, ch. xxx. He called one of the children, and sent her for a bill. She presently returned with a flaming poster.

Flanderkin, subs. (old).—See quot.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v. A very large fat man or horse; also natives of that country.

Flanders Fortunes, subs. phr. (old).—Of small substance.—B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew (1690).

Flanders Pieces, subs. phr. (old).—See quot.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Flanders pieces, pictures that look fair at a distance, but coarser near at hand.

Flank, verb (common).—1. To crack a whip; also, to hit a mark with the lash of one.

1830. Sir E. B. Lytton, Paul Clifford (ed. 1854), p. 18. He then, taking up a driving whip, flanked a fly from the opposite wall.

1833. ‘An Anglo-sapphic Ode’ (Whibley, Cap and Gown, p. 136). Kicks up a row, gets drunk, or flanks a tandem whip out of window.

2. (colloquial).—To deliver—a blow or a retort; to push; to hustle; to quoit (Shakspeare). Fr., flanquer: as in flanquer à la porte, and Je lui at flanqué un fameux coup de pied au cul!

A Plate of Thin Flank, subs. phr. (common).—A ‘sixpenny cut’ off the joint. See N. Twill in Fancy Too Late for Dinner.

To Flank the whole bottle, verb. phr. (American soldiers’).—To dodge, i.e., to outflank, to achieve by strategy. For synonyms, see Stick.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 286. When the men wished to escape the attention of pickets and guards by slipping past them, they said they flanked them; drill, and detail, and every irksome duty was flanked, when it could be avoided by some cunning trick. Soon, however, honesty itself was thus treated, and the poor farmer was flanked out of his pig and his poultry, and not infrequently even the comrade out of his pipe and tobacco, if not his rations. The height of strategy was employed in these various flank manœuvres, when the Commissary could be made to surrender some of his whiskey, and thus it came about, in the South at least, that to flank the whole bottle was a phrase expressive of superlative cunning and brilliant success.

Flanker, subs. (common).—A blow; a retort; a kick. Cf., Flank, sense 1.

Flankey, subs. (common).—The posteriors. For synonyms, see Blind Cheeks and Monocular Eyeglass.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, s.v.

Flannel. See Hot Flannel.

Flannels. To get one’s flannels, verb. phr. (schools’).—To get a place in the school football or cricket teams, or in the boats. Cf., ‘to get one’s colours,’ or ‘one’s blue.’

Flap, subs. (thieves’).—1. Sheet-lead used for roofing. Fr., doussin; noir. Cf., Bluey.

2. (old).—A blow.

1539. David Lyndsay, Thrie Estaitis. Works [Laing, 1879], ii. 73. And to begin the play, tak thair ane flap.

Verb (thieves’).—1. To rob; to swindle. For synonyms, see Prig and Stick.

2. (common).—To pay; ‘to fork out.’ Cf., Flap the Dimmock.

3. (venery).—To possess a woman. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

To Flap a Jay, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To swindle a greenhorn; to sell a pup (q.v.).

1885. Daily Telegraph, Aug. 18th, p. 3., col. 1. He and three others of the ‘division’ had ‘cut up’ £70 between them, obtained by flapping a jay, which, rendered into intelligible English, means plundering a simple-minded person.

To Flap the Dimmock, verb. phr. (common).—To pay. [From Flap, a verb of motion + Dimmock = money]. Cf., Flap.

Flapdoodle, subs. (colloquial).—1. Transparent nonsense; “kid.”

Also Flamdoodle and Flam-sauce, or Flap-sauce. For synonyms, see Gammon.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. xxviii. ‘It’s my opinion, Peter, that the gentleman has eaten no small quantity of flapdoodle in his lifetime.’ ‘What’s that, O’Brien,’ replied I. ‘Why, Peter, it’s the stuff they feed fools on.’

1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford. I shall talk to our regimental doctors about it, and get put through a course of fools’ diet—flapdoodle they call it, what fools are fed on.

1884. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Huck. Finn, xxv., 247. A speech, all full of tears and flapdoodle about its being a sore trial for him and his poor brother to lose the diseased [deceased].

2. (venery).—The penis. (Urquhart). For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

To talk Flapdoodle, verb. phr. (American).—To brag; to talk nonsense.

1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, Mar. 2. Possibly rich men will turn from sharp dealing, from debauchery, from flapdoodle fashion to a common-sense recognition of a situation, which clearly shows that wealth is no longer what it used to be—autocratic, absolute, the ruler of all else.

Flapdoodler, subs. (American).—A braggart agitator; one that makes the eagle squeal (q.v.).

Flap-dragon, subs. (old).—The pox or clap (q.v.). For synonyms, see Ladies’ Fever.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v. Flapdragon, a clap or pox.

Verb. (old).—To gulp down hastily, as in the game of flap-dragon.

1604. Shakspeare, Winter’s Tale, Act III., Sc. 3. But, to make an end of the ship: to see how the sea flap-dragoned it!

Flapman, subs. (prison).—A convict promoted for good behaviour to first or second class.

Flapper, subs. (common).—1. The hand; also flapper-shaker. For synonyms, see Daddle and Mauley.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. vii. My Dear Mr. Simple, extend your flapper to me for I’m delighted to see you.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogues’ Lexicon, s.v.

1866. London Miscellany, May 19, p. 235. ‘There’s my flapper on the strength of it.’ Guy shook hands with the eccentric stranger heartily.

2. (common).—A little girl. [Also a fledgling wild duck.]

3. (venery).—A very young prostitute; cf., sense 2.

4. (common).—A dustman’s or coal-heaver’s hat; a fantail (q.v.).

5. (in. pl.).—Very long-pointed shoes worn by ‘nigger’ minstrels.

6. (venery).—The penis. (For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick).

7. (colloquial).—A parasite; a remembrancer. (Cf. Swift, Gulliver, ‘Laputa.’)

Flapper-shaking, subs. (common).—Hand-shaking.

1853. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. II., ch. iv. Wondering whether ... if the joining palms in a circus was the customary flapper-shaking before ‘toeing the scratch’ for business.

Flap-sauce. See Flapdoodle.

Flare, subs. (nautical).—1. Primarily a stylish craft; hence, by implication, anything out of the common. For synonyms, see Stunner.

2. (colloquial).—A row; a dispute; a ‘drunk’; or spree. Cf., flare-up.

Verb. (thieves’).—1. Specifically to whisk out; hence, to steal actively, lightly, or delicately.

1850. Lloyd’s Weekly, 3 Feb. Low Lodging Houses of London. B. tried his pocket saying, ‘I’ll show you how to do a hankerchief; but the baker looked round and B. stopped; and just after that I flared it (whisked the handerchief out); and that’s the first I did.’

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, I., 457. Just after that I flared it (a handerchief).

2. (common).—To swagger; to go with a bounce.

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, ii., 3. Crissy Odsbuds, I’ll on with my duds, And over the water we’ll flare.

All of a flare, adv. phr. (thieves’).—Bunglingly.

1839. Brandon, Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, p. 113. Some of the girls at Milberry’s pick pockets at night: while one talks to the man, the other robs him; but they are not dextrous, they pull it out all of a flare.

Flaring, adj. and adv. (colloquial).—Excessive: e.g., a flaring lie; flaring drunk; a flaring whore; see Flaming.

Flare-up (or -Out), subs. (popular). An orgie; a fight; an outburst of temper. Also a spree.

1838. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 2 Ser. ch. x. Some of our young citizens ... got into a flare-up with a party of boatmen that lives in the Mississippi; a desperate row it was too.

1847. Punch, vol. XIII., p. 148, Address at the Opening of a Casino. In for flare-up and frolic let us go, And polk it on the fast fantastic toe.

1851. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, I., p. 160. These (hot eel) dealers generally trade on their own capital; but when some have been having a flare-up, and have ‘broke down for stock’ to use the words of my informant, they borrow £1 and pay it back in a week or a fortnight.

1879. Justin M’Carthy, Donna Quixote, ch. xvii. Paulina had a hard struggle many a time to keep down her temper, and not to have what she would have called a flare-out.

English Synonyms.—Barney; batter; bean-feast; beano; breakdown; burst; booze (specifically a drinking-bout); caper; devil’s delight; dust; fanteague; fight; flare; flats-yad (back slang); fly; gig; hay-bag; hell’s delight; high jinks; hooping up; hop; jagg; jamboree; jump; jun-ketting; lark; drive; randan; on the tiles; on the fly; painting the town (American); rampage; razzle-dazzle; reeraw; ructions; shake; shine; spree; sky-wannocking; tear; tear up; toot.

French Synonyms.—La nocerie (popular: une noce à tout casser; or, une noce de bâtons de chaise = a grand jollification); faire des crêpes (= to have a rare spree); badouiller (popular: especially applied to drinking bouts).

Italian Synonym.—Far festa alle campane.

Spanish Synonyms.—Trapisonda (a drunken revel); holgueta.

Verb (common).—To fly into a passion.

1849. Mahoney, Rel. Father Prout, I., 319. ‘Vert-Vert, the Parrot.’ Forth like a Congreave rocket burst, And storm’d and swore, flared up, and curs’d.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xii. He was in the ‘Cave of Harmony,’ he says, that night you flared up about Captain Costigan.

1871. Daily Telegraph, 8 June, ‘Paris in Convalescence.’ On this he flared up like a Commune conflagration, and cried out, ‘Shame, in the name of religion, art, and history!’

Flash, subs. (old).—1. The vulgar tongue; the lingo of thieves and their associates. To patter flash = to talk in thieves’ lingo. [The derivation of Flash, like that of French argot, is entirely speculative. It has, however, been generally referred to a district called Flash (the primary signification as a place name is not clear), between Buxton Leek and Macclesfield: there lived many chapmen who, says Dr. Aiken (“Description of Country round Manchester”), ‘were known as flash-men ... using a sort of slang or cant dialect.’]

1718. Hitchin. The Regulator of Thieves, etc., with Account of flash words, etc. (Title).

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, II., 69. Jigger, being cant or flash for door.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 25. With respect to that peculiar language called flash, or St. Jiles’ Greek, etc.

1830. Sir E. B. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. viii. Here a tall gentleman marched up to him, and addressed him in a certain language, which might be called the freemasonry of flash.

1839. Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard (1889), p. 12. ‘What does he say?’ roared the long drover. ‘He says he don’t understand flash,’ replied the lady in gentleman’s attire.

1843–4. Hood, Miss Kilmansegg. His cheeks no longer drew the cash. Because, as his comrades explain’d in flash, He had overdrawn his badger.

1827. Maginn, Vidocq’s Song. Pattered in flash like a covey knowing.

1864. Athenæum, 29 Oct. The northern village of ill-repute, and bearing that name (flash) gave to felonious high-flying the term flash.

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 278. Why, when the late Lord Lytton wrote Pelham it was brought against him that ‘his knowledge of flash was evidently purely superficial.’ Flash, my sister, is merely recondite slang or thieves’ argot.

English Analogues.—Back Slang or Kacab-Genals (the main principle consists in roughly pronouncing the word backwards, as erif for fire, dab for bad, etc.: the practice exists in most languages); Cant (q.v.); Centre Slang (the central vowel is made the initial letter, vowels and consonants being added at pleasure); Gammy (North country: mainly composed of Gypsy words); Gibberish (formed by inserting a consonant between each syllable of a word, the result being the F, G, H, M or S gibberish, according to the letter used: thus, “goming mout tom-daym,” or “gosings outs tos-days?” = going out to-day?); jargon; the Green Lingo (French thieves’); Marrowskying or Hospital Greek (manufactured by transferring the initial letters of words; plenty of rain thus becomes renty of plain: the ‘Gower St. dialect’ of Albert Smith, Mr. Ledbury); Pedlar’s French (old cant: Florio, 1598; Cotgrave, 1612); Rhyming Slang (q.v.); Slang (q.v.); St. Giles’ Greek (last century for Slang as distinguished from Cant); Thieves’ Latin; the Vulgar Tongue; Yob-gab (q.v.); Notions (q.v.); Ziph (q.v.).

French and other Analogues.—Argot or arguche; la langue verte (properly gamesters’); le langage soudardant (soldiers’ lingo); le jars; le jargon jobelin; (Cotgrave, Dictionarie, 1611. Jargon = ‘Gibridge, fustian language, Pedlar’s French, a barbarous jangling’); le langage de l’artis; langage en lem (formed by prefixing “l” and adding the syllable “em,” preceded by the first letter of the word); thus “main” becomes “lainmem.” A similar mode of dealing with words of more than one syllable is to replace the first consonant by the letter “l,” the word being followed by its first syllable preceded by “du”; thus, “jaquette” becomes “laqueite du jaq,” or if “m” be used as a key-letter, “maquette du jaq” etc.; le javanais—here the syllable “av” is interpolated; e.g., “jave l’avai vavu javeudavi” = (je l’ai vu jeudi). German.—Rothwalsch (from Roter = beggar or vagabond + walsch = foreign); Gaunersprache (= thieves’ lingo). Italian.—Lingua gerga (abbreviated into gerga; Florio, 1598 ‘gergo = Pedlar’s French, fustian, or roguish language, gibbrish’); lingua franca (Levantine: the source of some English slang); lingua furbesca. Dutch.—Bargoens. Spanish.—Germania (the Gypsies were supposed to have come from Germany); jeriganza. Portuguese.—Calaõ (Zincali or Calo = Gypsy).

2. Hence, at one period, especially during the Regency days, the idiom of the man about town, of Tom and Jerrydom.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. xxix. To the cultivation in our times, of the Science of Pugilism, the flash language is indebted for a considerable addition to its treasures.

1823. Jon Bee, Dict. of the Turf, etc. They were invariably thieves and gamblers who used flash formerly; but other kinds of persons, now-a-day, who may be rippishly inclined, adopt similar terms and phrases, to evince their uppishness in the affairs of life. These gentlemen also consider all terms of art and of science as flash; ... of course, those words and sayings which are appropriate to the turf, the ring, and field sports, are equally considered as flash by them, and the word has been applied (too generally we allow), to all this species of quid pro quo lingo.

3. (old).—See quot. and cf., with a Shaksperian gloss of flash = a burst of wit or merriment.

1748. T. Dyche, Dict. (5th ed.), flash (s.), also a boast, brag, or great pretence made by a spendthrift, quack, or pretender to more art or knowledge than he really has.

4. (old).—A showy swindler. (e.g., the Sir Petronel Flash of quot.); a blustering vulgarian.

1605. Marston, Jonson, and Chapman, Eastward Hoe! iv. 1. ‘Sir Petronel Flash, I am sorry to see such flashes come from a gentleman of your quality.’

1632. Shirley, Love in a Maze, i., 2. The town is full of these vainglorious flashes.

5. (old).—A peruke or perriwig.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. Rum flash, a fine long wig. Queer flash, a miserable weather-beaten caxon.

6. (common).—A portion; a drink; or go (q.v.). Cf., Flash of Lightning, sense 1.

Adj. (common).—1. Relating to thieves, their habits, customs, devices, lingo, etc.

1782. Geo. Parker, Humorous Sketches, p. 34. No more like a kiddy he’ll roll the flash song.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ‘Long Ned’s Song.’ And rarely have the gentry flash, In sprucer clothes been seen.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. viii. I suppose you don’t know what a beak is, my flash com-pan-i-on.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 448. I have seen Cheeks (a flash name for an accomplice).

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, II., 244. He used some flash words, and they were shown into a public room.

1864. Cornhill Magazine, ii., 336. In the following verse, taken from a pet flash song, you have a comic specimen of this sort of guilty chivalry.

2. (thieves’).—Knowing; expert; showy. Cf., down, fly, wide-awake, etc. Hence (popularly), by a simple transition, vulgarly counterfeit, showily shoddy: possibly the best understood meanings of the word in latter-day English. To put one flash to anything = to put him on his guard; to inform.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 19. Another philosopher, Seneca, has shown himself equally flash on the subject.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 17. Laying aside the knowing look, and flash air, with which he had repeated the previous anecdote.

1836. Marryat, Japhet, etc., ch. lvii. He considered me as ... a flash pickpocket rusticating until some hue and cry was over.

1839. W. H. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, p. 138 (ed. 1840). ‘Awake! to be sure I am, my flash cove,’ replied Sheppard.

1865. M. E. Braddon, Henry Dunbar, ch. v. He ... took out the little packet of bank-notes. ‘I suppose you can understand these,’ he said. The languid youth ... looked dubiously at his customer. ‘I can understand as they might be flash uns,’ he remarked, significantly.

1888. C. D. Warner, Their Pilgrimage, p. 157. The flash riders or horsebreakers, always called ‘broncho busters,’ can perform really marvellous feats.

3. (originally thieves’, now general).—Vulgar, or blackguardly; showy; applied to one aping his betters. Hence (in Australia), vain glorious or swaggering. The idea conveyed is always one of vulgarity or showy blackguardism.

1830. Sir E. B. Lytton, Paul Clifford (ed. 1854), p. 21. A person of great notoriety among that portion of the élite which emphatically entitles itself flash.

1861. A. Trollope, Framley Parsonage, ch. ix. If the dear friendship of this flash Member of Parliament did not represent that value, what else did do so?

1880. G. R. Sims, Three Brass Balls, Pledge xi. The speaker was one of the flash young gentlemen who haunt suburban billiard-rooms, who carry chalk in their pockets, and call the marker ‘Jack.’

4. (common).—In a set style. Also used substantively.

1819. Vaux, Flash Dict., p. 173. s.v. A person who affects any peculiar habit, as swearing, dressing in a particular manner, taking snuff, etc., merely to be taken notice of is said to do it out of flash.

1828. The English Spy. vol. I., p. 189. The man upon that half-starved nag Is an Ex S——ff, a strange wag, Half-flash and half a clown.

1851. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, I., p. 36. They all of them (coster lads) delight in dressing flash as they call it.... They try to dress like the men, with large pockets in their cord jackets, and plenty of them. Their trousers, too, must fit tight at the knee, and their boots they like as good as possible. A good ‘kingsman,’ a plush skull-cap, and a seam down the trousers are the great points of ambition with the coster boys.

[Hence, in combination, Flash-case, crib, drum, house, ken, or panny (see Flash-ken); flash-cove (q.v.); flash-dispensary (American = a boarding house), especially a swell brothel; flash-gentry (= the swell mob or higher class of thieves); flash-girl, -moll, -mollisher, -piece or -woman (= a showy prostitute); flash-jig (costers’ = a favourite dance); flash-kiddy (= a dandy); flash-lingo, or song (= ‘patter,’ or a song interlarded with cant words and phrases); flash-man (q.v.); flash-note (= a spurious bank-note); flash-rider (American, see broncho-buster); flash toggery (= smart clothes); flash vessel (= a gaudy looking, but undisciplined ship)].

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry, [1890,] p. 58. The rusticity of Jerry was fast wearing off ... and he bid fair, etc. ... to chaff with the flash mollishers.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 273 Soon then I mounted in Swell St. High, And sported my flashiest toggery.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, I., p. 14. The other dances are jigs—flash jigs—hornpipes in fetters—a dance rendered popular by the success of the noted Jack Sheppard.

Verb (common).—1. To show; to expose.

[Among combinations may be mentioned, to flash one’s ivories = to show one’s teeth, to grin (Grose); to flash the hash = to vomit (Grose); to flash the dickey = to show the shirt front; to flash the dibs = to show or spend one’s money; to flash a fawney = to wear a ring; to flash one’s gab = to talk, to swagger, to brag; to flash the bubs = to expose the paps; to flash the muzzle (q.v.); to flash one’s ticker = to air one’s watch; to flash the drag = to wear women’s clothes for immoral purposes; to flash the white grin = see grin; to flash it (q.v.), or to flash one’s meat (cf., meat-flasher); to flash a bit (q.v.); to flash the flag = to sport an apron; to flash the wedge = to ‘fence’ the swag, etc.]

1812. Vaux, Flash Dict. Don’t flash your sticks, don’t expose your pistols.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 2. His lordship, as usual, that very great dab At the flowers of rhet’ric, is flashing his gab.

1823. Jon Bee, Dict. of the Turf, etc. He flashed the blunt, made a show of money to dazzle the spectators.

1825. E. Kent, Modern Flash Dict. Flashing his ivory, shew his teeth.

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, (ed. 1864), p. 176.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘The Dead Drummer.’ When trav’lling, don’t flash your notes or your cash Before other people—it’s foolish and rash.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Good-Night. Likewise you molls that flash your bubs, For swells to spot and stand you sam.

1887. W. E. Henley, Straight Tip. Go crying croaks, or flash the drag.

To flash a bit, verbal phr. (venery).—To show up; to permit examination; ‘to spread’ (q.v.); to behave indecently. Said of women only.

To flash it, or to flash one’s meat.—To expose the person. [Hence meat-flasher] (q.v.). Said usually of men.

To flash the muzzle (old).—To produce a pistol.

c. 1823. Ballad (quoted in Don Juan xi.). On the high toby spice flash the muzzle In spite of each gallows old scout.

To flash it about, or to cut a flash or dash, verbal phr. (common).—To make a display; to live conspicuously and extravagantly.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 220. He flashed it about a good deal for a long time, going from one place to another. Sometimes he was a lord, at others an earl.

To go flashing it, verb. phr. (venery).—To have sexual intercourse. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

Flash-Case (or -Crib, -House, -Drum, -Ken, -Panny, etc.).—1. A house frequented by thieves, as a tavern, lodging-house, fence (q.v.).

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Flash-ken, c., a house where thieves use, and are connived at.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, ‘Glossary,’ p. 172. Flash-kain, a house for receiving stolen goods. [Haggart’s spelling, being that of the respectable Edinburgh lawyer who took down his ‘confessions’ is generally misleading and inaccurate.]

1828. Smeeton, Doings in London, p. 39. It is a game in very great vogue among the macers, who congregate nightly at the flash-houses.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 50 (ed. 1854). There is one Peggy Lobkins who keeps a public house, a sort of flash-ken called ‘The Mug’ in Thames Court.

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard (ed. 1840), p. 271. I’ve been to all the flash-cases in town, and can hear nothing of him or his wives.... Ibid, p. 135. ‘The Black Lion!’ echoed Terence, ‘I know the house well; by the same token that it’s a flash-crib.’

2. (common).—A brothel; a haunt of loose women.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum (Flash song quoted under flash-panneys). Next for his favourite mot the kiddey looks about, And if she’s in a flash-panny he swears he’ll have her out; So he fences all his togs to buy her duds, and then He frisks his master’s lob to take her from the bawdy ken.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. xvi. (ed. 1840). You know how little I frequent flash-houses.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862), p. 380. Those troublesome swells, Who come from the play-houses, flash-kens, and hells.

1840. Macaulay, Essays: ‘Lord Clive.’ The lowest wretches that the company’s crimps could pick up in the flash-houses of London.

1852. Bristed, Upper Ten Thousand, p. 34. That is Mary Black who keeps the greatest flash house in Leonard Street.

Flash-Cove (also Flash-Companion), subs. (common).—A thief; a sharper; a fence (q.v.).

1825. E. Kent, Modern Flash Dict. Flash-cove, the keeper of a place for the reception of stolen goods.

1839. H. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard (1889), p. 60.—‘Awake! To be sure I am, my flash-cove!’ replied Sheppard.

Flash-Man, subs. (old).—Primarily a man talking flash (see quots., 1823 and 1862); hence, a rogue, a thief, the landlord of a flash-case (q.v.). Also a fancy-joseph (for synonyms, see Fancy-man). In America, a person with no visible means of support, but living in style and ‘showing up’ well.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 141. A flashman is one who lives on the hackneyed prostitution of an unfortunate woman of the town.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, II., 1. Soon one is floored upon the ground. While loud her flashman cries, ‘Arise, my ladybird, arise!’

1823. Jon Bee, Dict. of the Turf, etc., p. 80. Derived from his language, and this again has its appellation (’tis suggested) from the first flash-men being highwaymen, that then generally abounded (circa 1770). He is the favorite, or protector of a prostitute, whose flash-man he is; and she is called inversely, his flash-woman.

c. 1833. Broadside Ballad. My flash-man has gone to sea.

1849. New South Wales, Past, Present, and Future, ch. i., p. 14. This man was known to Mr. Day to be what is termed a flash-man; and, seeing his own imminent danger, he instantly spoke to him and called him a cowardly rascal, and offered to give him shot for shot, while he was re-loading.

1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffrey Hamlyn, ch. v. You’re playing a dangerous game, my flashman.

1862. Smiles, Lives of the Engineers, vol. I., pt. 5, ch. i., p. 307. Those articles were sold throughout the country by pedestrian hawkers, most of whom lived in the wild country called the flash, from a hamlet of that name situated between Buxton, Leek, and Macclesfield.... Travelling about from fair to fair, and using a cant or slang dialect, they became generally known as flash-men, and the name still survives (to which may be added: They paid, at first, ready money, but when they had established a credit, paid in promissory notes which were rarely honored.)

a. 1873. Lyra Flagitiosa. [Quoted in Hotten.] My flash man’s in quod, And I’m the gal that’s willin’, So I’ll turn out to-night, And earn an honest shillin’.

Flash of Lightning, subs. phr. (old).—1. A glass of gin; a dram of neat spirit. See Go and Drinks. Latterly, an ‘American drink.’ See quot. 1862.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 164, s.v.

1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry (ed. 1890), p. 79. I have not exactly recovered from the severe effects of the repeated flashes of lightning and strong claps of thunder, with which I had to encounter last night.

1823. Jon Bee, Dict. of the Turf (quoted in). But ere they homeward pik’d it, A flash of lightning was sarv’d round to every one as lik’d it.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, (ed. 1854), p. 141. The thunders of eloquence being hushed, flashes of lightning, or, as the vulgar say, ‘glasses of gin’ gleamed about.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., p. 168. The stimulant of a flash of lightning ... for so a dram of neat spirit was then called.

1862. E. MacDermott, Popular Guide to International Exhibition, 1862, p. 185. In the vestibule of each refreshment room there is an American bar, where visitors may indulge in ... gum-ticklers, eye-openers, flashes of lightning ... and a variety of similar beverages.

2. (nautical). The gold braid on an officer’s cap.

Flash in the Pan, subs. phr. (venery).—Connection without emission. Cf. Dry-Bob (q.v.). Also verbally.

1719. Durfey, Pills, v., 340. Still hawking, still baulking, You flash in the pan.

Flashy, adj., and Flashily, or Flashly, adv. (old: now colloquial). Empty; showy; tawdry; insipid.

1637. Milton, Lycidas, 123. Their lean and flashy songs Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw.

1693. Congreve, Old Batchelor, Act I., sc. iv. It is oftentimes too late with some of you young, termagant, flashy sinners.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., ii., 12. A flashy town beau.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary, (5th ed.) Flashy (a), vain, bragging, boasting, foolish, empty; also anything waterish and unsavoury.

1755. The World, No. 149. Whose melodious voices give every syllable (not of a lean and flashy, but of a fat and plump song) its just emphasis.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 13, (ed. 1854). Vy it be ... the gemman vot payed you so flashly.

1857. Song in Ducange Anglicus, The Vulgar Tongue, p. 42. Your fogle you must flashly tie.

1863. Speke, Journal of the Discovery of the Nile, p. 154. Flashily dressed in coloured cloths and a turban, he sat down in one of our chairs.

1864. Braddon, Henry Dunbar, ch. v. But he evinced no bad taste in the selection of a costume. He chose no gaudy colours, or flashily cut vestments.

1873. Cassell’s Magazine, Jan., p. 246, col. 2. They are rather prone to dress flashily, and wear, when in full fig, no end of jewellery.

1874. Mortimer Collins, Frances, ch. xvii. That wild set of people Captain Heath picked up with—members of Parliament and flashy young women—all driving four horses, I don’t know where.

1882. Century Magazine, xxvi., 295. As stones, they were cheap and flashy.

Flash-Tail, subs. (common).—A prostitute.—See Tail.

1868. Temple Bar, xxiv., p. 538–9. Picking-up Moll ... a flashtail? a prostitute who goes about the streets at nights trying to pick up toffs.

Flasher, subs. (old).—A high-flyer; a fop; a pretender to wit. For synonyms, see Dandy. Also (quot. 2), a Bonnet (q.v.).

1779. D’Arblay, Diary, etc. (1876). vol. I., p. 185. They are reckoned the flashers of the place, yet everybody laughs at them for their airs, affectations, and tonish graces and impertinences.

1880. Derbyshire Gatherer, p. 128. Long before this date (circa 1800) the cant name of flasher was applied to the man who sat by the table in the gambling-house to swear how many times he had seen lucky gamesters break the bank.

Flashery, subs. (old).—Inferior, or vulgar, elegance, dash, distinction, display.

Flash-yad, subs. (back-slang).—A day’s enjoyment. For synonyms, see Flare-up.

Flashy Blade or Spark, subs. phr. (old).—A dandy (q.v.); now a cheap and noisy swell, whether male or female; Cf., Flasher.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., vi., 104. In youth a nauseous flashy fop, in elder days a bore.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 40. For though all know that flashy spark, etc.

Flat, subs. (colloquial).—1. A greenhorn; noddy; gull. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head; also Sammy-soft.

1762. Goldsmith, Life of Nash, in wks. p. 546 (Globe). Why, if you think me a dab I will get this strange gentleman, or this, pointing to the flat. Done! cries the sailor, but you shall not tell him.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 142. Who are continually looking out for flats, in order to do them upon the broads, that is, cards.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 59. Poor Johnny Raw, what madness could impel, So rum a flat to face so prime a swell.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘Misadventures at Margate.’ He’s been upon the mill, And cos he gammons all the flats we calls him Veepin Bill.

1841. Lytton, Night and Morning, bk. II., ch. ix. ‘Did he pay you for her?’ ‘Why, to be sure, he gave me a cheque on Coutt’s.’ ‘And you took it? My eyes? what a flat.’

1847. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ch. xiv. I won two hundred of him at the Cocoa-tree. He play, the young flat!

1847. Punch, vol. XIII., p. 148. It mayn’t precisely please the moral flat. You won’t find fault with it, kind friends, for that.

1848. Thackeray, The Book of Snobs, ch. x. When he does play he always contrives to get hold of a good flat.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, The Vulgar Tongue, p. 39. Fawney-droppers gammon the flats and take the yokels in.

1866. Yates, Black Sheep, I., p. 70. The genius which had hitherto been confined to bridging a pack of cards, or ‘securing’ a die, talking over a flat, or winning money of a greenhorn.

1880. Mortimer Collins, Thoughts in My Garden, vol. II., p. 180. Their quack medicines that will cure everything, and their sales of invaluable articles at a loss, and a thousand other devices to catch flats.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Good-night. You flats and joskins great and small.

1889. Pall Mall Gazette, Sept. 21, p. 3, col. 1 (In a London Gambling Hell). The flats who play faro (Cross-heading).

2. (American thieves’).—An honest man.

3. (American). A lover’s dismissal; a jilting.

Adj. (colloquial and literary).—Downright; plain; straightforward; as in that’s flat? a flat lie, “flat burglary,” etc.

1598. Shakspeare, 1 King Henry IV., Act I., Sc. 3. Wor.: You start away, And lend no ear to my purposes. Those prisoners you shall keep. Hot.: Nay, I will; that’s flat.

1835–40. Haliburton, The Clockmaker, p. 6, preface (ed. 1862).

1848. Lowell, Fable for Critics, p. 19. (A fetch, I must say, most transparent and flat).

[There are other usages, more or less colloquial: e.g., Insipid; tame; dull: as in Macaulay’s “flat as champagne in decanters.” On the Stock Exchange. flat = without interest: Stock is borrowed flat when no interest is allowed by the lender as security for the due return of the scrip.]

Verb (American). To jilt. Cf., subs., sense 3. For synonyms, see Mitten.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 602. To flat, in the West, means to jilt, and is probably derived from another slang phrase, ‘to feel flat,’ denoting the depression which is apt to follow such a disappointment.

To feel flat, verb. phr. (American).—1. To be low-spirited; out of sorts; off colour (q.v.).

1838. J. C. Neal, Charcoal Sketches. Not to hurt a gentleman’s feelings and to make him feel flat afore the country.

2. (American).—To fail; to give way. Also used substantively.

Flat as a flounder (or Pancake), phr. (colloquial).—Very flat indeed. Also flat as be blowed.

1882. Punch, vol. LXXXII., p. 177, col. 1.

To brush up a flat. See Brusher.

To pick up a flat, verb. phr. (prostitutes’). To find a client. Fr., lever or faire un miché (miche = bread, from michon = money. Compare Breadwinner: under Monosyllable (q.v.)).

1869. Greenwood, Seven Curses of London. On the chance that she will, in the course of the evening, pick up a flat.

To have (or do) a bit of flat, verb. phr. (venery).—To indulge in sexual intercourse. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

Flat-back, subs. (common).—A bed-bug. For synonyms, see Norfolk Howard.

Flat-broke, adj. (colloquial).—Utterly ruined; dead-broke (q.v.).

Flat-catcher, subs. (common).—An impostor.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i., 6. Cope (speaking of a horse). Well, Master Gull’em, do you think we shall get the flat-catcher off to-day?

1841. Blackwood’s Mag., l., 202. Buttoners are those accomplices of thimble-riggers ... whose duty it is to act as flat-catchers or decoys, by personating flats.

1856. Mayhew, Great World of London, p. 46. And flat-catchers, or ‘ring-droppers,’ who cheat by pretending to find valuables in the street.

1864. London Review, June 18, p. 643. ‘The Bobby’ or chinked-back horse, is another favourite flat-catcher.

1869. Whyte-Melville, M. or N., p. 110. Rather a flat-catcher, Tom? said that nobleman, between the whiffs of a cigar.

Flat-catching, subs. (common).—Swindling.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry, p. 118, The no-pinned hero, on being elevated, gave, as a toast, ‘Success to flat-catching,’ which produced roars of laughter and shouts of approbation.

1869. Greenwood, Seven Curses of London. To mark the many kinds of bait that are used in flat-catching, as the turf slang has it.

Flatch, adj. (back-slang).—A half. flatch-kennurd = half drunk; flatch-yenork = half-a-crown; flatch-yennep = a half-penny (see subs., sense 1).

Subs. 1.—A half-penny. [An abbreviation of flatch-yennep.] For synonyms, see Mag.

c. 1866. Vance, The Chickaleary Cove. I doesn’t care a flatch as long as I’ve a tach.

2. (coiners’).—A counterfeit half-crown. For synonyms, see Madza.

Flat-cap, subs. (old).—A nickname for a citizen of London. [In Henry the Eight’s time flat round caps were the pink of fashion; but when their date was out, they became ridiculous. The citizens continued to wear them long after they were generally disused, and were often satirized for their fidelity].

1596. Ben Jonson, Every Man in H., ch. ii., v. 1. Mock me all over From my flat-cap unto my shining shoes.

1602. Dekker, Honest Whore. Old Plays, iii., 304. Come, Sirrah, you flat-cap, where be those whites?

1605. Marston, Dutch Court, ii., 1. Wealthy flat-caps that pay for their pleasure the best of any men in Europe.

1613. Beaumont and Fletcher, Hon. Man’s Fort., v. 3. Trade? to the city, child: a flat-cap will become thee.

Flat-cock, subs. (old).—A female. [Grose, 1785.] For synonyms, see Petticoat.

Flat-feet, subs. (common).—Specifically the Foot Guards, but also applied to other regiments of the line. Also (generally with some powerful adjective), applied to militia men to differentiate them from linesmen. For synonyms, see Mud-crusher.

Flat-fish, (generally, a regular flat-fish) subs. (common).—A dullard. [A play upon flat = stupid, and Fish = something to hook or catch.] For synonyms, see Buffle, Cabbage-Head, and Sammy-Soft. Cf., Fr., platpied = a contemptible fellow.

Flat-footed, adj. (American).—Downright; resolute; honest. [Western: the simile, common to most languages, is of a man standing, his back to the wall, resolute to accomplish his purpose.]

1858. Harper’s Magazine, Sept. His herculean frame, and bold, flat-footed way of saying things, had impressed his neighbours, and he held the rod in terrorism over them.

1871. Philadelphia Bulletin, Mar. 23. ‘The row at St. Clement’s Church.’ Now the Committee of the vestry put their foot flatly down on auricular confession and priestly absolution.

1887. R. A. Proctor, Knowledge, June 1. When, in America, General Grant said he had put his foot down and meant to advance in that line if it took him all the summer, he conveyed ... the American meaning of the expression flat-footed.

Flat-head, subs. (American).—A greenhorn; a sammy-soft (q.v.).

Flat-iron, subs. (common).—A corner public house. [From the triangular shape.]

Flattie or Flatty, subs. (common).—A gull. [A diminutive of flat, sense 1.] Formerly ‘cheap-jacks’ = one in a new ‘pitch.’

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 232. They betray to the flatties (natives) all their profits and proceedings.

Flat-move, subs. (old).—An attempt or project that miscarries; folly and mismanagement generally.—Grose.

Flats, subs. (old). 1. Playing cards. For synonyms, see King’s Books.

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 56. We played at flats in a budging-crib.

2. (old).—False dice. For synonyms, see Fulhams.

3. (old).—Base money.

Mahogany flats, subs. phr. (common).—Bed-bugs. For synonyms, see Norfolk Howards.

Flats and Sharps, subs. phr. (old).—Weapons.

1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, ch. xxx. ‘I have known many a pretty lad cut short in his first summer upon the road, because he was something hasty with his flats and sharps.’

Flatten Out, verb. phr. (American).—To get the better of (in argument or fight). For synonyms, see Floor. Flattened-out = ruined; beaten.

Flatter-trap, subs. (common).—The mouth. Fr., la menteuse, but for synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Flatty-ken, subs. (thieves’).—See quot.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 261. Some take up their abode in what they call flatty-kens, that is, houses the landlord of which is not ‘awake’ or ‘fly’ to the ‘moves’ and dodges of the trade.

Flawed, ppl. adj. (common).—1. Half drunk; ‘a little crooked’; quick-tempered.—Grose. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

2. (venery).—‘Cracked in the ring’; i.e., deflowered.

Flay (or flay the fox), verb. phr. (old).—To vomit: ‘from the subject to the effect,’ says Cotgrave; ‘for the flaying of so stinking a beast is like enough to make them spue that feel it.’ Now, to shoot the cat. For synonyms, see Accounts and Cast up Accounts. Cf., Fox, verb, sense 1.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, bk. I., ch. xi. He would flay the fox.

2. (American).—To clean out by unfair means.

To flay or skin a flint, verb. phr. (old).—To be mean or miserly. See Skinflint.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v. He’ll flay or skinn a flint of a Meer Scrat or Miser.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, vol. II., p. 194 (ed. 1846). Report says she would skin a flint if she could.

Flaybottom or Flaybottomist, subs. (common).—A schoolmaster, with a play on the word phlebotomist = a blood-letter.—Grose. Fr., fouette-cul; and (Cotgrave) “Fesse-cul, a pedantical whip-arse.”

Flavour, to catch (or get) the flavour. verb. phr. (common).—1. To be intoxicated. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

2. (venery). To be ‘half-on’ for coition; to wax proud (q.v.): said of men and women both.

Flax, verb. (American).—To beat severely; to give it hot (q.v.). For synonyms, see Tan.

Flax-wench, subs. (old).—A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1604. Shakspeare, Winter’s Tale, i., 2. My wife’s a hobby-horse; deserves a name As rank as any flax-wench.

Flea. To send away with a flea in the ear. verb. phr. (common).—To dismiss with vigour and acerbity.

1854. Notes and Queries, 8 Apl., p. 322, col. 2. The luckless applicant is peremptorily dismissed with an imperative ‘flee!’ ... or, facetiously, with a flee in his ear.

To have a flea in the ear = (1) to fail in an enterprise; and (2) to receive a scolding, or annoying suggestion.

To sit on a bag of fleas, verb. phr. (common).—To sit uncomfortably; on a bag of hen fleas = very uncomfortably indeed.

To catch fleas for, verb. phr. (venery).—To be on terms of extreme intimacy: e.g., ‘I catch her fleas for her’ = She has nothing to refuse me. Cf., Shakspeare (Tempest, III., 2.), ‘Yet a tailor might scratch her wheree’er she did itch.’

In a flea’s leap, adv. phr. (old).—In next to no time; instanter (q.v.).

Flea-and-louse, subs. (rhyming slang). A house. For synonyms, see Ken.

Flea-bag, subs. (common).—A bed; Fr. un pucier. For synonyms, see Kip.

1839. Lever, Harry Lorrequer, ch. xl. ‘Troth, and I think the gentleman would be better if he went off to his flea-bag himself.’

Flea-bite, subs. (old).—A trifle.

1630. Taylor, Works. If they doe lose by pirates, tempests, rocks, ’Tis but a fleabite to their wealthy stockes; Whilst the poore cutpurse day and night doth toile, Watches and wardes, and doth himselfe turmoile.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Flea-biting, subs. (old).—A trifle.

1621. Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy. Their miseries are but flea-bitings to thine.

Flea- (or Flay-) Flint, subs. (old.)—A miser: Cf., Skin flint (q.v.).

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 141. The flea-flints ... strip me bare.

Flear, verb. (old).—To grin. A flearing fool = a grinning idiot.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew.

Fleece, subs. (old).—An act of theft. Cf., old proverb, ‘to go out to shear and come home shorn.’ For synonyms, see Skin.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Fleece, to Rob, Plunder, or strip.

1703. Mrs. Centlivre, Beau’s Duel, ii., 2. Had a fleece at his purse.

2. (venery).—The female pubic hair. Fr. toison (Baudelaire); It., barbiglioni (Florio). For foreign synonyms, see Mott.

English Synonyms.—Banner (Durfey); bandoliers (old); beard; bearskin; belly-bristles; belly-thicket; belly-whiskers; Boskage of Venus; broom; brush; bush; cat-skin; clover-field; cunny-skin (Durfey); Cupid’s Arbour; cunt-curtain; damber-, dilberry-, gooseberry-, furze-, quim-, or whin-bush; down; Downshire; front-doormat; feather (Prior and Moore); fluff; forest (Donne); fud (Burns); fur; fur-below (old catch); ‘grove of eglantine’ (Carew); hedge on the dyke; lower-wig (Burton); moss; mott-carpet; mustard-and-cress; nether eye-brow (or -lashes); nether-whiskers; parsley (Durfey); plush; quim-whiskers; quim-wig; scut (Shakspeare); shaving-brush (cf., Lather); scrubbing-brush; shrubbery; sporran; stubble (see Pointer); sweet-briar; thatch; tail-feathers; ‘toupee’; ‘tufted honours’; twat-rug.

Verb (now recognised).—To cheat; to shear or be shorn (as a sheep).

1593. Nashe, Christ’s Teares, in wks. (Grosart) IV. 140. Tell me (almost) what gentleman hath been cast away at sea, or disasterly souldiourizd it by lande, but they (usurers) have enforst him thereunto by their fleecing.

1598. Shakspeare, I King Henry IV., ii., 2. Down with them: fleece them!

1620. Dekker, His Dreame, in wks. (Grosart) III. 52. Catchpolles, and varlets, who did poore men fleece (To their undoing) for a twelve-peny peece.

1712. Arbuthnot, Hist. of John Bull, pt. IV., ch. ii. When a poor man has almost undone himself for thy sake, thou art for fleecing him.

1822. Scott, Fort. of Nigel, ch. xxiii. He is now squeezed and fleeced by them on every pretence.

1836. M. Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 106. He was stabbed by the Ragamuffin he had fleeced.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. xxxi. Bloundell is a professional blackleg, and travels the Continent, where he picks up young gentlemen of fashion and fleeces them.

1859. Times, 25 Oct. ‘Review of Dean Ramsay’s Reminiscences.’ I don’t know whether they are black or white sheep, but I know that if they are long there they are pretty certain to be fleeced.

1891. Licensed Victuallers’ Gazette, 16 Jan. How you would be fleeced! You’ve got a lot to learn yet.

Hence fleeced = ruined; dead-broke (q.v. for synonyms).

Fleecer, subs. (old).—A thief.

1600–69. Prynne, Breviate. Not fleecers, but feeders.

Fleece-Hunter, or -Monger, subs. phr. (venery).—A whore-master. For synonyms, see Molrower.

Fleeter-Face, subs. (old).—A pale-face; a coward. Cf., Shakspeare’s ‘cream-faced loon.’

1647. Beaumont and Fletcher, Queen of Corinth. You know where you are, you fleeter-face.

Fleet-Note, subs. (old).—A forged note.

1821. Real Life in London.

Fleet of the Desert, subs. phr. (common).—A caravan; cf., ship of the desert = camel.

Fleet-Street, subs. phr. (colloquial).—The estate of journalism, especially journalism of the baser sort.

Fleet-Streeter, subs. (colloquial).—A journalist of the baser sort; a spunging prophet (q.v.); a sharking dramatic critic; a spicy (q.v.) paragraphist; and so on.

Fleet-Streetese, subs. phr. (colloquial).—The so-called English, written to sell by the Fleet-Streeter (q.v.), or baser sort of journalist: a mixture of sesquipedalians and slang, of phrases worn threadbare and phrases sprung from the kennel; of bad grammar and worse manners; the like of which is impossible outside Fleet-Street (q.v.), but which in Fleet-Street commands a price, and enables not a few to live.

Fleg, verb. (old).—To whip. Bailey.

Flemish Account, subs. phr. (old).—A remittance less than was expected; hence, an unsatisfactory account. [Among the Flemings (the merchants of Western Europe when commerce was young) accounts were kept in livres, sols, and pence; but the livre or pound only = 12s., so that what the Antwerp merchant called one livre thirteen and fourpence would in English currency be only 20s.]

1668. T. Brown, The Accurate Accomptant, etc. Quoted in N. and Q. 1. S. I., 286. London, August 10th, 1668. To Roger Pace, Factor, etc., for 10 pieces cont. 746 Ells Fl. at 10s. Flem. per Ell is £373 Flem. Exchange at 35s. makes Sterling Money £213 2s. 10d.

1774–1826. Typ. Antiq., p. 1773. A person resident in London is said to have had most of Caxton’s publications. He sent them to Amsterdam for inspection, and on writing for them was informed that they had been destroyed by accident. ‘I am very much afraid,’ says Herbert, ‘my kind friend received but a Flemish account of his Caxton’s.’

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tong. Flemish account, a losing or bad account.

Flesh, subs. (old).—Generic for the organs of generation, male or female. Also (of women) Fleshly-part.

1604. Shakspeare, Winter’s Tale, iv., 3. She would not exchange flesh with one that loved her.

1605. Cymbeline, i., 5. If you buy ladies’ flesh at a million a dram you cannot preserve it from tainting.

1620. Percy, Folio MSS. [Hales & Furnivall, 1867]. ‘As I was ridinge by the way.’ Sweet hart, shall I put my flesh in thine?

Flesh, verb., or, Flesh It; or, to be fleshed in (venery).—To have carnal knowledge of—to be ‘one flesh with’—a woman. [For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.] An equivalent in the passive sense is to feel his flesh in one’s body (said by women only).

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, Andar in Carnafau. To go a fleshing or a wenching: (Carnafau = the brat-getting place; the hole of content).

Flesh and Blood, subs. phr. (common).—Brandy and port in equal proportions. See Drinks.

Flesh-bag, subs. (common).—A shirt or chemise.

English Synonyms.—Biled rag (American); camesa; carrion-case; commission; dickey (formerly a worn-out shirt); gad (gipsy); lully; mill tog; mish; narp (Scots’); shaker; shimmy (= a chemise, Marryat); smish.

French Synonyms.—Une liquette or limace (thieves’: from the Gypsy. The form also occurs also in the Italian lima); un panais (popular).

German Synonyms.—Kamis, Kamsel, Kemsel, or Gemsel (from med. Lat., Camisiale; Fr. camisole); Kesones, Kusones, or Ksones (also = cotton and underclothing); Staude or Stauden; Hanfstandt (Liber Vagatorum: literally hempshrub).

Italian Synonym.—Lima (see Fr., limace).

1820. London Magazine; i., 29. They are often without a flesh-bag to their backs.

Flesh-broker, subs. (old).—1. A match-maker.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Flesh-broker, a match-maker; also a bawd; between whom but little difference, for they both (usually) take money.

2. A procuress [Grose]. Cf., Flesh-fly, Flesh-monger, and Flesh-market. For synonyms, see Mother.

Flesh-fly (also, Flesh-maggot), subs. (old).—A whoremaster. For synonyms, see Molrower.

1781. Cowper, Progress of Error, 323–324. Oh! that a verse had power, and could command far, Far away, these flesh-flies of the land.

Flesh-market, or Flesh-shambles, subs. (common).—A brothel or flash-house (q.v.); also the pavement, in Piccadilly or Regent-street, for instance, where whores do congregate. Cf., Meatmarket.

1608. John Day, Humour out of Breath, II. I Asp. ... She may bee well discended; if shee be, Shee’s fit for love, and why not then for me. Boy. And you be not fitted in Venice ’tis straunge, for ’tis counted the best flesh-shambles in Italie.

Flesh-monger, subs. (old).—A procurer; a whore-master. [From Eng. Flesh + monger]. For synonyms, see Mother and Molrower. Cf., Flesh-fly, Flesh-market, and Flesh-broker.

1603. Shakspeare, Measure for Measure, V., 1. And was the duke a flesh-monger, a fool, and a coward, as you then reported him to be?

Fleshmongering. To go flesh-mongering, verb. phr. (venery).—To quest for women; to go on the prowl (q.v.)., or after meat. See Greens and Ride.

Flesh-pot. Sighing for the flesh-pots of Egypt. phr. (common).—Hankering for good things no longer at command. [Biblical].

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 131. Do you think it is a hankering after the flesh-pots, and that the canon’s cook reconciles me to the canon’s opinions?

Flesh-tailor, subs. (old).—A surgeon. For synonyms, see Sawbones.

1633. Ford, ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore, iii. Oh, help! help! help! Oh, for a flesh-tailor quickly.

Fleshy, subs. (Winchester College).—See Cat’s Head.

Fletch, subs. (prison). A spurious coin. Cf., Flatch.

Flick, or Flig, subs. (colloquial).—1. A cut with a whip-lash; hence, a blow of any sort. A flicking is often administered by schoolboys with a damp towel or pocket-handkerchief. For synonyms, see tanning.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VI., ch. ii. ‘I do know you are a woman,’ cries the squire, ‘and it’s well for thee, that art one; if had’st been a man, I promise thee I had lent thee a flick long ago.’

1787. Grose, Provincial Glossary, s.v. vlick.

2. (common).—A jocular salutation; usually old flick. Cf., Codger and My Tulip.

1883. Punch, 28 July, p. 38, col. 1. Well, last night, They’d a feet in these gardens, old flick, as was something too awfully quite.

Verb. (thieves’).—1. To cut.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Flicking, c., to cut, cutting.

1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict. (flick is given as a ‘country word’).

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. Flick me some pannam and cassan, cut me some bread and cheese; flick the peter, cut off the cloak bag or portmanteau.

1791. Carew, Life and Adventures, q.v.

1837. Disraeli, Venetia, ch. xiv. Flick the bread, cut the bread.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v. Flick the Peter and rake the swag for I want to pad my beaters.

2. (colloquial).—To strike with, or as with, a whip.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xliii. Near him, leaning listlessly against the wall, stood a strong-built countryman, flicking with a worn-out hunting whip the top-boot that adorned his right foot.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xxvii. Who ... receives this compliment by flicking Mr. George in the face with a head of greens.

1854. Our Cruise in the Undine, p. 103. It appeared to us that one of the most frequent, and therefore we supposed the principal stroke aimed at (in a Heidelberg duel), was to strike your sword low down, perhaps four inches from the handle, upon your adversary’s bandaged arm, so that the end of the weapon (the only part that is sharpened) should Flick itself against your opponent’s face.

1863. Hon. Mrs. Norton, Lost and Saved, p. 29. Drivers shouting, swearing, and flicking at the horses.

Flicker, subs. (Old Cant).—A drinking glass.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Flicker, c., a drinking-glass; Flicker snapt, c., the glass is broken; Nim the flicker, c., steal the glass; Rum flicker, c., a large glass or rummer; Queer flicker, c., a green or ordinary glass.

French Synonyms.—Une lampe (masons’); un guindal (popular); un godet (very old); une gobette (thieves’); un gobeson (thieves’).

Verb. 1. To drink.—Matsell.

2. (old).—To laugh wantonly; also to kiss, or lewdly fondle a woman.—Palsgrave. For synonyms, see Firkytoodle.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v. Flicker, to grin or flout.

Also Flicking = (1) drinking, and (2) wanton laughter.

Let her flicker, phr. (American).—Said of any doubtful issue: ‘let the matter take its chance.’

Flicket-a-Flacket, adv. (old).—Onomatopoetic for a noise of flapping and flicking.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., ii., 20. Their bellies went flicket-a-flacket.

Flier or Flyer, subs. (racing and yachting).—1. A horse or boat of great speed; also (American railway) a fast train; hence, by implication, anything of excellence. Cf., Dasher, Daisy, etc. Also adj., = keen for.

1865. Braddon, Henry Dunbar, ch. xxii. The mare’s in splendid condition; well, you saw her take her trial gallop the other morning, and you must know she’s a flier, so I won’t talk about her.

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 156. Atalanta might be a flyer, but an artist like Pycroft, with a clever colt like Newsmonger under him, was quite likely to outride whatever boy Mr. Pipes might now be able to pick up.

1888. St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 2 Mar. In spite of the strike passenger trains, what are known as the flyers, are running with reasonable regularity.

1890. Bird o’ Freedom, 19 Mar., p. 1, col. 1. Clearly the G.O.M. is no flier over this course.

1891. Licensed Victuallers’ Gazette, 20 Mar. Although he may doubtless be made a good deal better he may turn out to be no flier.

1891. Bury and Hillier, Cycling, p. 6. A moderate rider, not being an athlete or a flier ... can ... get over in an hour seven or eight miles of ground on a tricycle.

1891. Anti-Jacobin, 23 May, p. 400. When Dangerous, Plenipotentiary, Bay Middleton, and other flyers ran.

1891. Morning Advertiser, 28 Mar. In any event, he was never a flyer at breakfast. But late at night, and when, perhaps, he tumbled across something equivalent to woodcock, tripe and onions, or a hot lobster, say, why then, take my word for it, he made up for previous abstinence.

1891. National Observer, 1 Aug. It remains to be seen whether large yachts constructed on the same principle will be equally invincible: that is, if the flyers we have are one and all to disappear.

2. (football).—A shot in the air. See Made-flyer.

3. (American).—A small hand-bill; a Dodger (q.v.).

To take a flier (American trade).—1. To make a venture; to invest against odds.

2. (venery).—To copulate in haste (Grose); to do a Fast-fuck (q.v.).

Flies, subs. (rhyming).—Lies. Hence, nonsense; trickery; deceit.

There are no flies on me, on him, etc., phr. (common).—‘I am dealing honestly with you;’ ‘he is genuine, and is not humbugging.’ In America, the expression is used of (1) a man of quick parts, a man who ‘knows a thing without its being kicked into him by a mule’; and (2) a person of superior breeding or descent. Sometimes the phrase is corrupted into ‘no fleas.’ See Gammon.

1868. Diprose, St. Clement Danes, Past and Present. To Deaf Burke, the celebrated pugilist, is attributed the old story of the ‘flies and the gin and water;’ and hence the term ‘no flies’ became prevalent. Burke had ordered ... some ‘hot and strong and a dash of lemon.’ The goblet was brought ... Burke raised ... the nectar to his lips, and beheld some dissipated flies lying at the bottom of the tumbler; he placed the glass on the table, and deliberately removed the flies with the spoon, five or six in number, and laid them side by side before him, and then giving a hearty pull at the gin and water, he as deliberately replaced the flies ... and passed it to his friend. His companion stared angrily. ‘Do you dare to insult me, and in the presence of company?’ said the irate vis-à-vis. ‘Pardon me,’ replied Burke, quietly handing the glass a second time, ‘though I don’t drink flies myself, I didn’t know but what others might.’

1888. Detroit Free Press, 25 Aug. There ain’t no flies on him, signifies, that he is not quiet long enough for moss to grow on his heels, that he is wide awake.

1888. Missouri Republican, 24 Feb. People who are capable of descending to New York and Boston English are fully justified in saying that there are no flies on St. Louis or the St. Louis delegation either.

Fligger (also Flicker), verb. (old).—To grin.

1720. Durfey, Pills, etc., vi., 267. He fliggered, and told me for all my brave alls He would have a stroke.

Flim.—See Flimsy.

Flim-flam, subs. (old).—An idle story; a sham; a Robin Hood tale (q.v.). A duplication of Flam (q.v.).

1589. Pappe with an Hatchet (ed. 1844) p. 39. Trusse up thy packet of flim-flams, and roage to some countrey faire, or read it among boyes in the belfrie.

1630. Taylor, Workes. They with a courtly tricke, or a flim-flam, do nod at me, whilst I the noddy am.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. XVIII., ch. xii. I thought thou had’st been a lad of higher mettle than to give way to a parcel of maidenish tricks. I tell thee ’tis all flim-flam.

1780. Mrs. Cowley, The Belle’s Stratagem, iii., 1. Mr. Curate, don’t think to come over me with your flim-flams, for a better man than ever trod in your shoes is coming over-sea to marry me.

1805. Isaac Disraeli, Flim-flams; or the Life and Errors of my Uncle, and the Amours of my Aunt [title].

1825. C. Lamb, Munden (in London Magazine) Feb. I wonder you can put such flim-flams upon us, sir.

Adj. (old).—Idle; worthless.

1589. Nashe, Month’s Minde, in wks. Vol. I., p. 174. But to leaue thy flim-flam tales and loytering lies.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Filastroccola, flim-flam tales, old wiues tales as they tell when they spinne, a tale without rime or reason, or head or foote.

1633. T. Newton, Lennie’s Touch-stone of Complexions, p. 120. Reporting a flim-flam tale of Robin Hood.

1750. Ozell’s Rabelais, vol. V., p. 247. Glibly swallow down every flim-flam story that’s told them.

1853. Lytton, My Novel, bk. X., ch. xix. I wish you’d mind the child—it is crumpling up and playing almighty smash with that flim-flam book, which cost me one pound one.

Flimp, verb. (thieves’)—1. To hustle or rob. To put on the flimp = to rob on the highway. For synonyms, see Crack and Prig.

1839. Brandon, Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, p. 111. To take a man’s watch is to flimp him, it can only be done in a crowd, one gets behind and pushes him in the back, while the other in front is robbing him.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 445, s.v.

2. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms, see Ride.

Flimping, subs. (thieves’).—Stealing from the person.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, The Vulgar Tongue, p. 38. He told me as Bill had flimped a yack.

1862. Cornhill Mag., vol. vi., p. 651. We are going a-flimping, buzzing, cracking, etc.

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. lx. Flimping is a style of theft which I have never practised, and, consequently of which I know nothing.

Flimsy, or Flim, subs. (common).—1. A bank-note. [From the thinness of the paper.] Soft-flimsy = a note drawn on ‘The Bank of Elegance,’ or ‘The Bank of Engraving.’ For synonyms, see Soft.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1818. P. Egan, Boxiana, iv., 443. Martin produced some flimsies and said he would fight on Tuesday next.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (‘Merchant of Venice’). Not ‘kites,’ manufactured to cheat and inveigle, But the right sort of ‘flimsy,’ all sign’d, by Monteagle.

1855. Punch, XXIX., 10. ‘Will you take it in flimsies, or will you have it all in tin?’

1870. Chambers’ Journal, 9 July, p. 448. ‘What would it be worth?’ ‘A flim, Sam.’

1884. Daily Telegraph, 8 Apl., col. 3. One of the slang terms for a spurious bank-note is a soft-flimsy.

1891. Hume Nisbet, Bail Up! p. 149. Next morning when I went to the bank to collect the swag, they stopped the flimsy, and had me arrested before I could look round.

2. (journalists’).—News of all kinds; points (q.v.). [From the thin prepared paper used by pressmen for making several copies at once]. First used at Lloyd’s.

1861. Cornhill Magazine, iv., 199 ‘At Westminster,’ my lord is neither a mumbling nor a short-tempered judge; he will ... read them a great deal of his notes, which are a thousand-fold clearer, fuller, and more accurate than the reporter’s flimsy.

1865. Morning Star (‘The Flaneur’). A London correspondent, who, by the aid of flimsy misleads a vast number of provincial papers.

1870. London Figaro, 23 Sept. ‘Special Lining.’ We do not think it is altogether worthy of the high repute of the Pall Mall Gazette to publish flimsy as a special correspondence.

1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, ch. xviii. The sharpest of the reporters had his flimsy up in a minute, and took notes of the proceedings.

Flinders, subs. (common).—Pieces infinitesimally small.

1870. New York Evening Sun, 24 May. Report of Speech of Mr. Chandler. Let us knock the British crown to flinders; let us arrange for some one or two hundred thousand British graves forthwith, and cabbage the whole boundless continent without any further procrastination.

Fling, subs. (colloquial).—1. A fit of temper.

2. (common).—A jeer; a jibe; a personal allusion or attack.

1592. Shakspeare, I Henry VI., iii., 1. Then would I have a fling at Winchester.

1888. Star, 10 Oct. Those writers who had a fling at Iddesleigh after his poor running at Stockton will have to take their words back some day.

1890. Pall Mall Gazette, 24 July, p. 4. col. 2. As the disputants warmed up, little personal flings were of course introduced.

Verb (old).—1. To cheat; to get the best of; to do (q.v.) or diddle.—Grose.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. xxi. Flung the governor out of a guinea.

2. (Scots).—To dance.

1790. Burns, Tam O’ Shanter. To tell how Maggie lapt and flang (A souple jaud she was, and strang).

3. (venery).—To move in the act; to back-up (q.v.). Fr., ‘frizer la queue = to wriggle the tayle (in leachering).’—Cotgrave.

1539. David Lyndsay, Three Estaitis, Works (Ed. Laing, Edinburgh, 1879). I traist sche sal find you flinging your fill.

To Fling Out, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To depart in a hurry, and, especially, in a temper.

To fling (or flap) it in one’s face, verb. phr. (prostitutes’).—To expose the person.

In a fling, adv. phr. (colloquial).—In a spasm of temper.

To have one’s fling, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To enjoy full liberty of action or conduct. Cf., High Old Time.

1624. Beaumont and Fletcher, Rule a Wife, &c., iii., 5. I’ll have a fling.

1846–8. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ch. xiii. Hang it; the regiment’s just back from the West Indies, I must have a little fling, and then when I’m married I’ll reform.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, II., 118. I don’t want to marry until I have had my fling, you know.

1880. Gilbert, Pirates of Penzance. Peers will be peers, And youth will have his fling.

1891. Hume Nisbet, Bail Up! p. 253. If policy (police) show up, then you let me have my fling, eh?

To fling dirt.—See dirt.

Flinger, subs. (Scots).—A dancer.

1821. Scott, Pirate, ch. ix. That’s as muckle as to say, that I suld hae minded you was a flinger and a fiddler yoursel’, Maister Mordaunt.

Fling-Dust, subs. (old).—A street-walker. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

Flint, subs. (workmen’s). A man working for a ‘Union’ or ‘fair’ house; non-Unionists are dung (q.v.). Both terms occur in Foote’s burlesque, The Tailors: a Tragedy for Warm Weather, and they received a fresh lease of popularity during the tailors’ strike of 1832. See quots. Cf., Scab Soc, Snob, Snob-stick, and Knobstick.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, flints, journeyman taylors who, on a late occasion, refused to work for the wages settled by law. Those who submitted were by the mutineers stiled dungs, i.e., dunghills.

1832. P. Egan, Book of Sports, p. 34. Jack Reeve is without a rival; the throne of the flints is decidedly freehold property to him.

1834. Noctes Amb., xxxiv., vol. IV., p. 83. (The company is discussing the tailors’ strike). Tickler. The flints flash fire, and the day of the dungs is gone.

Old flint, subs. phr. (common). A miser: one who would ‘skin a flint,’ i.e., stoop to any meanness for a trifle.

1840. Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop, ch. vii., p. 34. It’s equally plain that the money which the old flint—rot him—first taught me to expect that I should share with her at his death, will all be hers.

To fix one’s flint. See Fix.

To flint in, verb. phr. (American). To act with energy; not to stand on ceremony; to pitch into; to tackle. A verb of action well-nigh as common as fix (q.v.).

Flip, subs. (common).—1. Hot beer, brandy, and sugar; also, says Grose, called Sir Cloudesley after Sir Cloudesley Shovel. See Drinks.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. flip, Sea Drink, of small beer (chiefly) and brandy, sweetened and spiced upon occasion.

1690. Ward, London Spy, part II., p. 41. After the drinking a Kan of Phlip or a Bowl of Punch.

1705. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. I., pt. 4, p. 8. So have I seen on board of ship, Some knawing beeff, some spewing flip.

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xxiv. He ... sent for a can of beer, of which he made excellent flip to crown the banquet.

1810. Crabbe, The Borough, Letter 16. Nay, with the seamen working in the ship, At their request, he’d share the grog and flip.

1875. C. D. Warner, Backlog Studies, p. 18. It was thought best to heat the poker red-hot before plunging it into the mugs of flip.

2. (popular).—A bribe or douceur.

3. (common).—A light blow, or snatch.

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 23. Barney made a very unceremonious flip at the bit.

Verb (thieves’).—To shoot.

1819. Vaux, Flash Dict., s.v.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood (ed. 1864), p. 273. Flip him, Dick; fire, or I’m taken.

To flip up, verb. phr. (American).—To spin a coin.

1879. New York Tribune, 4 Oct. The two great men could flip up to see which should have the second place.

Flip-Flap, subs. 1 (old).—A flighty creature.

1702. Vanbrugh, False Friend. 1. The light airy flip-flap, she kills him with her motions.

2. (popular). A step-dance; a cellar-flap (q.v.). Also (acrobats’); a kind of somersault, in which the performer throws himself over on his hands and feet alternately.

1727. Gay, Fables, ‘Two Monkies.’ The tumbler whirls the flip-flap round. With sommersets he shakes the ground.

1872. Braddon, Dead Sea Fruit, ch. xiv. There ain’t nothing you can’t do, Morty, from Shylock to a flip-flap.

1889. Pall Mall Gazette, 12 Nov., p. 6, col. 2. There were the clowns who danced, turned somersaults, flip-flaps, and contorted themselves.

3. (American). A kind of tea-cake.

1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, ch. xviii. The first evening I took tea with Mrs. Scrimmager. ‘It must be more than a mite lonely for you,’ she said, as we sat over her dough-nuts and flip-flaps.

4. (nautical). The arm. For synonyms, see Bender.

5. (venery). The penis.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, I., 20. I might have cleft her water-gap And joined it close with my flip-flap.

Flipper, subs. (nautical and common). 1. The hand. Tip us your flipper = give me your hand. [From the flipper or paddle of a turtle.] For synonyms, see Daddle and Mauley.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘Lay of St. Gengulphus.’ With those great sugar-nippers they nipp’d off his flippers, As the clerk, very flippantly, termed his fists.

1884. Punch, 11 Oct. ‘’Arry at a Political Picnic.’ Old Bluebottle tipped me his flipper, and ’oped I’d ‘refreshed,’ and all that.

2. (common). See Flapper.

3. (theatrical). Part of a scene, hinged and painted on both sides, used in trick changes.

Flirtatious, adj. (American).—Flighty.

1881, W. D. Howells, D. Breen’s Practice, ch. i., “Oh, you needn’t look after her, Mr. Libby! There’s nothing flirtatious about Grace,” said Mrs. Maynard.

Flirt-gill, Flirtgillian, or Gill-flirt, subs. (old). A wanton; a chopping girl (q.v.); specifically a strumpet. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1595. Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, ii., 4. Scurvy knave! I am none of his flirt-gills.

1713. Guardian, No. 26. We are invested with a parcel of flirt-gills, who are not capable of being mothers of brave men.

1729. Gay, Polly, ii. 4. While a man is grappling with these gill-flirts, pardon the expression, Captain, he runs his reason aground.

1822. Scott, Fort. of Nigel, ch. v. She is a dutiful girl to her god-father, though I sometimes call her a jill-flirt.

Flirtina Cop-all, subs. phr. (common). A wanton, young or old; a men’s woman (q.v.).

Float, subs. (theatrical).—The footlights: before the invention of gas they were oil-pans with floating wicks. Cf., Ark-floater.

1886. Saturday Review, 24 July, p. 108. To an actor the float is not what it is to a fisherman.

1889. Answers, 8 June, p. 24. He slapped me on the back, put me in a hansom, and cried, ‘We’ll have you behind the float (footlights) in a week.’

If that’s the way the stick floats. See Stick.

Floater, subs. (Stock Exchange).—An Exchequer bill; applied also to other unfunded stock.

1871. Temple Bar, XXXI., 320. On the Stock Exchange, where slang abounds, floaters is a term which would puzzle outsiders. Floaters are Exchequer bills and their unfunded stock.

2. (common).—A suet dumpling in soup.

3. (political).—A vendible voter.

1883. Graphic, 17 Mar., p. 279, col. 3. ‘How many voters are there?’ asked a candidate in one of these pure-blooded Yankee townships. ‘Four hundred.’ ‘And how many floaters, i.e., purchasable?’ ‘Four hundred.’

1888. New York Herald, 4 Nov. The Building Materials Exchange people were in line to the number of about 200, with a band, and were followed by a sixteen-horse stage of the ‘Long Tom’ shape containing a lot of floaters and some fifers and drummers.

4. (Western American).—A candidate representing several counties, and therefore not considered directly responsible to any one of them.

1853. Texas State Gazette, 16 July. J. W. Lawrence, Esq., requests us to withdraw his name as a candidate for floater in the district composed of the counties of Fayette, Bastrop, and Travis.

5. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Floating Academy, subs. phr. (old).—The hulks; also Campbell’s academy (q.v.), and floating hell (q.v.). For synonyms, see Cage.

Floating Batteries, subs. phr. (military).—1. Broken bread in tea; also slingers (q.v.).

2. (American).—The Confederate bread rations during the Secession.

Floating Coffin, subs. phr. (nautical).—A rotten ship.

Floating Hell, or Hell Afloat, subs. phr. (nautical).—A ship commanded by (1) a brutal savage, or (2) a ruthless disciplinarian. See also Floating Academy.

Flock, subs. (colloquial).—A clergyman’s congregation. Also any body of people with a common haunt or interest: e.g., a family of children, a company of soldiers, a school of girls or boys, ‘a cabful of molls,’ and such like.

To fire into the wrong flock, verb. phr. (American pioneers’).—To blunder. A variant is to bark up the wrong tree.

1858. New York Herald, 9 Nov. When Mr. Saulsbury rose and called the Speaker’s attention to the alleged blunder in the Secretary’s report, his own friends jumped up in great excitement and pulled him down; he soon found out that he had fired into the wrong flock.

Flock of Sheep, subs. phr.—1. (gaming). A hand at dominoes set out on the table.

2. (colloquial).—White waves on the sea: White horses (q.v.).

Flog, subs. (American thieves’).—1. A whip. A contraction of Flogger (q.v.). To flog (now recognised), is cited by B. E. (1690), Grose, and the author of Bacchus and Venus as Cant.

To be flogged at the tumbler, verb. phr. (old).—To be whipped at the cart’s tail. See Tumbler.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew.

To flog the dead horse, verb. phr. (common).—1. To work up an interest in a bygone subject; to try against heart; to do with no will nor liking for the job. [Bright said that Earl Russell’s Reform Bill was a dead horse (q.v.), and every attempt to create enthusiasm in its favour was flogging the dead horse.]

2. (nautical).—To work off an advance of wages.

To flog a willing horse, verb. phr. (common).—To urge on one who is already putting forth his best energies.

Flogger, subs. (old).—1. A whip; cf., Flog. Grose gives the word as Cant. Fr., un bouis.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 173, s.v.

2. (theatrical).—A mop (i.e., a bunch of slips of cloth on a handle) used in the painting room to whisk the charcoal dust from a sketch.

Flogging, ppl. adj. (old).—Careful; penurious.

Flogging-cove, subs. phr. (prison)—1. An official who administers the cat (q.v.).

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Flogging cove, c. the Beadle, or Whipper in Bridewell, or any such place.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Flogging-cove, the beadle, or whipper, in Bridewell.

2. See Flogging Cully.

Flogging Cully, subs. phr. (venery).—A man addicted, whether from necessity or choice, to flagellation; a whipster (q.v.).

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Flogging, c. a Naked Woman’s whipping (with rods) an Old (usually) and (sometimes) a young Lecher.

Flogging Stake, subs. phr. (old).—A whipping post.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

Flogster, subs. (old).—One addicted to flogging. Specifically (naval), a nickname applied to the Duke of Clarence (afterwards William IV).

Floor, verb. (colloquial).—1. To knock down. Hence to vanquish in argument; to make an end of; to defeat; to confound. See Floored and Dead-beat.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. Floor the pig, knock down the officer.

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 15. That moment the farmer let fly at the drover, which floored him.

1857. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. xxi. ‘When I saw him so floored as not to be able to come to time, I knew there had been some hard hitting going on thereabouts, so I kept clear.’

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry, p. 10. Then (apostrophising ‘Maga’) floor me not. Ibid., p. 60, The Corinthian, being no novice in these matters, floored two or three in a twinkling.

1835. Coleridge, Table Talk (published posthumously). The other day I was what you may called floored by a Jew.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 425 (Ed. 1857). Even Mr. Bob Sawyer ... was floored.

1862. Mrs. H. Wood, The Channings, ch. v. ‘So if the master is directing his suspicions to the seniors, he’ll get floored.’

1870. L. Oliphant, Piccadilly, Pt. V., p. 196. ‘Whenever the mammas object to asking her on account of that horrid Lady Wylde,’ I floor all opposition by saying, ‘Oh, Lady Jane Helter will bring her.’

1888. Sportsman, 28 Nov. Pope, who was the fresher, started at a terrific pace and drove his man all over the ring, ending by flooring him.

To floor the odds (betting men’s).—Said of a low-priced horse that pulls off the event in face of the betting.

1882. Daily Telegraph, 16 Nov. The odds were, nevertheless, floored from an unexpected quarter.

1889. Echo, 24 Jan. As the odds betted on Miss Jessie II. were easily floored by Marsden.

2. (drunkards’).—To finish; to get outside of. E.g., ‘I floored three half-pints and a nip before breakfast.’

1837. Punch, 31 Jan. Dear Bill, this stone jug.... Is still the same snug, Free-and-easy old hole, Where Macheath met his blowens, and Wylde floored his bowl.

18(?). Macmillan’s Magazine (quoted in Century Dict.). I have a few bottles of old wine left: we may as well floor them.

3. (university).—To pluck; to plough (q.v.).

To floor a paper, lesson, examination, examiner, etc., verb. phr. (university).—To answer every question; to master; to prove oneself superior to the occasion.

1852. Bristed, Five Years in an English University, p. 12. Somehow I nearly floored the paper.

1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford. I’ve floored my Little Go.

To floor one’s licks, verb. phr. (common).—To surpass one’s self; to cut-around (q.v.).

1844. Puck, p. 14. Now slowly rising, raised his pewter and floored his licks.

To have, hold, or take the floor, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To rise to address a public meeting; in Ireland, to stand up to dance; and, in America, ‘to be in possession of the House.’

1882. McCabe, New York, xxi., p. 342. A member making a bid below or an offer above the one which has the floor.

1888. St. Louis Globe-Democrat. After a half hour’s recess Mr. Glover took the floor.

1889. Pall Mall Gazette, 11 Nov., p. 6, col. 1. The Duke of Rutland, however, who ‘took the floor’ non-politically at the end of the evening, was really ‘felicitous’ in his few remarks.

Floored, ppl. adj. (colloquial).—1. Vanquished; brought under; ruined. For synonyms, see Dead-beat and infra.

English Synonyms.—Basketted; bitched; bitched-up; bowled out; broken up; buggered up; busted; caved in; choked-off; cornered; cooked; coopered up; dead-beat; done brown; done for; done on toast; doubled up; flattened-out; fluffed; flummoxed; frummagemmed; gapped; gone through St. Peter’s needle; gone under; gravelled; gruelled; hoofed out; in the last of pea-time, or last run of shad; jacked-up; knocked out of time; knocked silly; looed; mucked-out; petered out; pocketed; potted; put in his little bed; queered in his pitch; rantanned; sat upon; sewn up; shut-up; smashed to smithereens; snashed; snuffed out; spread-eagled; struck of a heap; stumped; tied up; timbered; treed; trumped; up a tree.

French Synonyms.—Mon linge est lavé (pop.: = I have thrown up the sponge); coller sous bande (= to put in a hole: at billiards, bande = cushion); avoir son affaire (pop: = to have got a ‘settler’); aplatir (fam: = to flatten out); aplomber (thieves’: = to brazen down; to bluff); être pris dans la balancine (pop.: = to be in a fix); se faire coller (familiar); envoyer quelqu’un s’asseoir, or s’asseoir sur quelqu’un (popular).

Italian Synonym.—Traboccare (= to overturn).

Spanish Synonyms.—Pesado (doubled-up: from peso = weight); aculado (from acular = to corner); arrollar (= to sweep away, as a torrent); aturrullar (= to shut up); cogite! (= ‘I’ve got you.’ or, ‘there I have you!’)

2. (common).—Drunk; in Shakspearean ‘put down’: as Sir Andrew Aguecheek, ‘Never in your life, I think, unless you see Canary put me down.’ (Twelfth Night, i., 3). For synonyms, see Screwed.

3. (painters’).—Hung low at an exhibition; in contradistinction to skyed (q.v.), and on the line (q.v.).

Floorer, subs. (common).—1. An auctioneer (q.v.); or knock-down blow; cf., Dig, Bang, and Wipe. Hence, sudden or unpleasant news; a decisive argument; an unanswerable retort; a decisive check. Sp., peso.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 20. For in these fancy times, ’tis your hits in the muns, And your choppers and floorers that govern the funds.

1839. Swinton, Trial of Wm. Humphreys, p. 297. It is a downright floorer to the Grown.

1856. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green. The Putney Pet stared.... The inquiry for his college was, in the language of his profession, a ‘regular floorers.’

1861. H. C. Pennell, Puck on Pegasus, p. 20. What a floorers to my hopes is this performance on the ropes! Miss Marianne suspensa scalis—(Would twere sus. per coll instead).

1868. Cassell’s Magazine, 4 Jan., p. 213. ‘Ah, she hasn’t told you of the strokes I have had, one arter the other—clean floorers, and left like a log of wood in my bed.’

2. (schools’).—A question, or a paper, too hard to master.

3. (bowling alley).—A ball that brings down all the pins.

4. (thieves’).—A thief who trips his man, and robs in picking him up; a Ramper (q.v.).

1809. G. Andrews, Dict. of the Slang and Cant Languages, s.v.

Flooring, subs. (pugilists’).—Knocking down. Hence, to vanquish in all senses.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. xii. Cross-buttocking ... being as indispensable an ingredient, as nobbing, flooring, etc.

Floor-walker, subs. (American).—A shop-walker.

Flop, subs. and verb. (American university).—1. A bite (q.v.); a successful dodge.

1856. Hall, College Words and Customs. Any ‘cute’ performance by which a man is sold is a good flop, and by a phrase borrowed from the base-ball ground is ‘rightly played.’ The discomfited individual declares that they ‘are all on a side,’ and gives up, or ‘rolls over,’ by giving his opponent ‘gowdy.’ A man writes cards during examinations to ‘feeze the profs’; said cards are ‘gumming cards,’ and he flops the examination if he gets a good mark by the means. One usually flops his marks by feigning sickness.

2. (common)—A sudden fall or ‘flop’ down.

3. (common).—A collapse or breakdown.

4. (For flap or flip, old).—A light blow.

1662. Rump Songs, ii., 3. The good the Rump will do, when they prevail, Is to give us a flop with a fox’s tail, Which nobody can deny.

Verb. (colloquial).—1. To fall, or flap down suddenly. A variant of ‘flap.’ Fr., prendre un billet de parterre.

1742. Fielding, Joseph Andrews, bk. iv. ch. v. She had flopped her hat over her eyes.

1859. Dickens, Tale of Two Cities, bk. ii. ch. i. If you must go flopping yourself down.

1870. Public Opinion, 12 Feb. But even if they were more numerous and greater than they are, we should hold aloof from the crowd that flops in his presence with love and awe, as the dismal wife of Jerry Cruncher flopped in pious misery.

1883. The Theatre, Feb., p. 93. She is able to call in tumbling to the aid of tragedy, and bring the plastic arts to the portrayal of the passions; to flop through four such acts as these night after night, and finish with a death-scene warranted correct, to the very last kick and quiver.

1891. Hume Nisbet, Bail Up! p. 118. He cursed under his breath each time he rose to follow, and smothered a yell of pain and horror each time he flopped down.

2. (pugilists’).—To knock down; to Floor (q.v.).

1888. Sporting Life, 15 Dec. ’E carnt flop a bloke.

Adv. (colloquial).—An onomatopœia expressive of the noise of a sudden and sounding fall. Often used expletively, as slap (q.v.) is, and the American right (q.v.)

1726. Vanbrugh, Journey to London, Act I., Sc. 2. That down came I flop o’ my feace all along in the channel.

1860. Punch, v. 38, p. 255. ’Twixt two stools, flop, he let me drop, The fall it was my murther.

1881. Jas. Payn, Grape from a Thorn, ch. vi. ‘She’ll roll down, papa, and come flop.’

To flop over, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To turn heavily; hence (in America), to make a sudden change of sides, association, or allegiance.

Flop-Up, subs. (American).—A day’s tramp, as opposed to a sot-down = half a day’s travel.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 15 Sept. ‘Stranger, did ye lope it?’ (come on foot). ‘Yes.’ ‘A mile or a sot down?’ ‘More’n that. About a dozen flop-ups.’

Flop-up-time = Bedtime.

[Flop, too, is something of a vocable of all-work. Thus to flop in = (venery) to effect intromission; to flop round = to loaf; to dangle; to flop a judy = to lay out, or ‘spread’ (q.v.), a girl; to do a flop = (colloquial) to sit, or to fall, down, and (venery) to lie down to a man; to flop out = to leave the water noisily and awkwardly; belly-flopping = belly-bumping, coition; a flop in the gills = a smack in the mouth.]

Florence, subs. (old)—‘A wench that has been touzed and ruffled.’

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, and (1785) Grose, s.v.

Floster, subs. (common).—A mixed drink: sherry, noyau, peach-leaves, lemon, sugar, ice, and soda-water. Cf., Flesh-and-blood.

Flouch. To fall (or go), flouch (or floush), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To come to pieces; to sag suddenly on the removal of a restraining influence: as a pair of stays.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 13. Old Georgy went floush, and his backers look’d shy.

Flounce, verb. (colloquial).—To move with violence, and (generally) in anger. Said of women, for whom such motion is, or rather was, inseparable from a great flourishing of flounces.

Flounder, subs. (riverside thieves’).—1. A drowned corpse. Cf., Dab, and for synonyms, see Stiff.

2. (Stock Exchange).—To sell, and afterwards re-purchase a stock, or vice versâ.

1889. Echo, 1 Feb. A third expedient offers itself—namely, to turn round and buy; but this operation goes by the name of ‘floundering’ especially when the speculator loses both ways.

Flounder-and-Dab, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A cab. For synonyms, see Growler.

Flour, subs. (American).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

Flourish, subs. (venery).—Coition in a hurry; flyer (q.v.); a fast-fuck (q.v.). Also verbally. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

1796. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v. To enjoy a woman with her clothes on or without going to bed.

Verb (colloquial.).—To be in luck: e.g., ‘I flourish’ = ‘I am well off’; ‘Do you flourish,’ or ‘Are you flourishing?’ = ‘Have you got any money?’

Flourishing, adj. (colloquial).—A retort to the enquiry, ‘How are you?’ The equivalent of ‘Pretty well, thank you?’

To flourish it, verb. phr. (venery).—To expose the person.

Flower, subs. (venery).—1. The female pudendum. Also Flower-pot. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

2. In pl. (conventional).—The menstrual flux. Cf., Flag, sense 3.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Biancure, the monthly flowers that women have.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie. Le fourrier de la lune a marqué le logis, applicable to a woman that hath her flowers.

Flower-Fancier, subs. phr. (venery).—A whore-master.

Flowery, subs. (thieves’).—Lodging; entertainment; ‘square the omee for the flowery’ = pay the landlord for the lodging. [Lingua Franca.]

Flowery Language, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A euphemism for blasphemous and obscene speech.

Flower of Chivalry, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Flowing-hope, subs. (military).—A forlorn hope.

Flub-dub-and-Guff, subs. phr. (American).—Rhetorical embellishment; high-falutin’ (q.v.).

1888. Detroit Free Press, August. Rev. Mr. Selah (to desk editor of the Daily Roarer)—‘Mr. Seezars, are you going to publish my prayer in full?’ Desk Editor—‘In full? Well, I guess not.’ (Changing his tone)—‘However, we’ll do what we can for you. By swiping out the flub-dub-and-guff, I guess we’ll have room to put in the points.’

Flue, subs. (old). 1. The Recorder of London or any large town. Bamfylde Moore-Carew.

2. (colloquial).—The filth, part fluff, part hair, part dust, which collects under ill-kept beds, and at the junctures of sofas and chairs; Beggar’s Velvet (q.v.).

1860. Dickens, Uncommercial Traveller. ‘Arcadian London.’ A power they possess of converting everything into flue. Such broken victuals as they take by stealth appear (whatever the nature of the viands) to generate flue.... Ibid. ‘Refreshment for Travellers.’ Take the old established Bull’s Head ... with its old-established flue under its old established four-post bedsteads.

3. (common).—A contraction of ‘influenza.’

Verb (common).—To put in pawn.

In (or up) the flue, phr. (common).—Pawned. For synonyms, see Pop.

1821. Real Life, etc., I., p. 566.

1851. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, II., p. 250. I’ve had sometimes to leave half my stock in flue with a deputy for a night’s rest.

Up the flue (or spout), adj. phr. (colloquial).—Dead; collapsed, mentally or physically.

To be up one’s flue, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be awkward for one. That’s up your flue = That’s a ‘facer,’ or that’s up against you.

Flue-Faker (or Scraper), subs. (common).—A chimney-sweep. [From Flue + Faker (q.v.).] Minor clergy = young chimney sweeps. For synonyms, see Clergyman.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry, p. 60. The ‘office’ has been given to ‘shove’ the poor flue-faker against Tom’s light drab coat.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

1882. Punch. LXXXII., p. 185, col. 2.

Fluff (or Fluffings), subs. (railway clerks’).—1. Short change given by booking-clerks. The practice is known as Fluffing. Cf., Menavelings. Fr., des fruges (= more or less unlawful profits of any sort).

1890. Star, 27 Jan. Many porters on this line are but getting 15s. per week, and with regard to ‘tips,’ or, as we say, ‘fluff’—well, would you not think it mean to tell your servant when you engaged him that such were strictly forbidden by punishment with dismissal, and then proclaim to the world that with good wages and tips your servant was well paid.

2. (theatrical).—‘Lines’ half learned and imperfectly delivered. Hence, To do a fluff = to forget one’s part.

1891. W. Archer, The World, p. 28, col. 1, line 34. But even as seen through a cloud of fluff the burlesque is irresistibly amusing.

3. (venery).—The female pubic hair. For synonyms, see Fleece.

Verb. (railway clerks’).—1. To give short change.

2. (common).—To disconcert, to Floor (q.v.). Cf., Fluff in the Pan = a failure.

3. (theatrical).—To forget one’s part. Also To do a fluff.

Fluff it! Intj. (common).—An interjection of disapproval: ‘Be off!’ ‘Take it away!’

Fluffer, subs. (common).—1. A drunkard. Cf., Fluffiness.

2. (theatrical).—A player ‘rocky on his lines’; i.e., given to forgetting his part.

3. (old).—A term of contempt.

Fluffiness, subs. (common).—1. Drunkenness. Cf., Fluffy and Fluffer.

1886. Fun, 4 August, p. 44. A sullen-faced, clerical-looking young man, charged with fluffiness in a public conveyance, said he was sober as a judge when taken into custody.

2. (theatrical).—The trick, or habit, of forgetting words.

Fluffy, adj. (common and theatrical).—Unsteady; of uncertain memory. Cf., Fluffer (sense 2), and Fluffiness (sense 2).

1885. Referee, July 26, p. 3, col. 2. In the last act Groves and one or two others were either what actors call fluffy in their lines, or else Mr. Cross was guilty of irritating tautology.

Fluke, subs. (common).—In billiards, an accidental winning hazard; in all games a result not played for; a crow (q.v.). In yachting an effect of chance; a result in which seamanship has had no part. Hence, a stroke of luck. Sp., bambarria.

1857. Notes and Queries, 2 S. IV., p. 208, col. 1. In playing at billiards, if a player makes a hazard, etc., which he did not play for, it is often said that he made a crow.... Another term is, ‘He made a flook (or fluke).’

1869. Whyte Melville, M or N, p. 100. ‘Only lost a pony on the whole meeting,’ answered Dick triumphantly. ‘And even that was a fluke, because Bearwarden’s Bacchante filly was left at the post.’

1873. Black, Princess of Thule, ch. xix. ‘These conditions are not often fulfilled—it is a happy fluke when they are.’

1880. Hawley Smart, Social Sinners, ch. xxxii. ‘I suppose, by your asking the question, you have become acquainted with Mr. Solamo’s past.’ ‘That’s just it, Mr. Prossiter; by an odd fluke I have.’

1891. Hume Nisbet, Bail Up! p. 144. He was now being cured only to be hanged, most likely, unless by some happy fluke he got off with imprisonment for life.

Verb (common and billiards).—1. To effect by accident.

1888. Sportsman, 20 Dec. Fortune once more assisted Mitchell, who, in trying to make a red loser, fluked a cannon, from which he got on the spot, and made forty-three winners in a break of 161.

2. (schoolboys’).—To shirk.

1864. Eton School Days, ch. xvi., p. 203. ‘By Jove! I think I shall fluke doing Verses; I should like to see Paddy drive tandem through College,’ said Butler Burke.

To cut flukes out, verb. phr. (nautical).—To mutiny; to turn sulky and disobedient.

To turn flukes, verb. phr. (nautical).—To go to bed; i.e., to bunk (q.v.), or turn in.

Fluky, or Flukey, adj. (common).—Of the nature of a fluke (q.v.); i.e., achieved more by good luck than good guidance.

1882. Standard, 3 Sept. Bonnor got a Flukey three to square leg.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gazette, 20 March. Now, Grady was a smart young Irishman who had thrashed Stevens twice in days gone by, and had won a somewhat flukey victory over Young Norley.

Hence Flukiness = abounding in flukes.

1886. Ill. Sport. and Dram. News, 20 Feb., p. 579. There is no flukiness about him: he makes his runs because he is an excellent batsman, and takes his wickets because he is an excellent bowler.

Flummadiddle, subs. (American).—1. Nonsense; flummery (q.v.).

2. (nautical).—A sea-dainty.

1884. G. A. Sala, in Ill. London News, July 19, p. 51, col. 2. I suppose that when the friendly skippers gam [q.v.], they feast on flummadiddle, a dish composed, I am given to understand, of stale bread, pork fat, molasses, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves.

Flummergasted, ppl. adj. (colloquial).—Astonished; confounded. A variant of flabbergasted (q.v.).

1849. New South Wales: Past and Present, ch. i., p. 14. This coolness so completely flummergasted the fellow, that he kept talking until Mr. Day shot him through the shoulder.

Flummery, subs. (colloquial). 1. Nonsense; gammon (q.v.); flattery.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. Oatmeal and water boiled to a jelly; also compliments: neither ... over-nourishing.

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. i. I shall ... blow off as much of the froth as I can, in order to present the residuum free of flummery.

1846. Thackeray, Yellow Plush Papers. She swallowed Lord Crabs’ flumery just as she would so many musheruims.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xii. None of the dubious, half-expressed, sentimental flummery.

2. (American nautical).—A kind of bread pudding.—Nordhoff.

3. (old).—Oatmeal and water boiled to a jelly.—Grose (1785).

Flummox, Flummocks, or Flummux, verb. (colloquial).—1. To perplex, dodge, abash, or silence; to victimize; to best (q.v.); to disappoint. Also conflummox. To flummox (or conflummox) by the lip = to outslang (q.v.), or talk down; to flummox the coppers = to dodge the police; to flummox the old Dutch = to cheat one’s wife, etc. For synonyms, see Flabbergast.

2. (theatrical).—To confuse, to queer (q.v.). Cf., Corpse.

3. (American).—Used in the passive sense = to abandon a purpose; to give in; to die.

Subs. (American University).—A bad recitation; a failure.

Flummoxed, ppl. adj. (thieves’ and general).—1. Spoilt; ruined; drunk; sent down (q.v.); boshed (q.v.); defeated; disappointed; silenced; floored (q.v.).

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxxiii., p. 283. ‘And my ’pinion is, Sammy, that if your governor don’t prove an alleybi, he’ll be what the Italians call reg’larly flummoxed, and that’s all about it.’

1840. Whibley, Cap and Gown, p. 170. So many of the men I know Were flummoxed at the last great go.

1861. H. C. Pennell, Puck on Pegasus, p. 17. I felt flummox’d in a brown (study understood) old fellow.

1864. Cornhill Magazine, Dec., p. 742. ‘I say, Tom.’ ‘Yes, mate.’ ‘If I should have a fit heave a bucket of water over me.’ Tom was too astonished, or, as he expressed it, conflummoxed to make any reply.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 25 July, p. 2, col. 1. I’ll give Tom his due, and say of him that for flummoxing a cuss (Custom House Officer) or working the weed, I don’t know any one he couldn’t give a chalk to and beat ’em.

1890. Punch, 30 Aug., p. 97. I’m fair flummoxed, and singing, ‘Oh, what a surprise!’

Flummocky, adj. (colloquial).—Out of place; in bad taste.

1891. F. H. Groome. Blackwood’s Mag., March, p. 319. ‘It is a nice solemn dress,’ she said, as she lifted a piece to examine it more closely; ‘there’s nothing flummocky about it.’

Flummut, subs. (vagrants’).—A month in prison. See flummoxed. For synonyms, see Dose.

1889. Answers, 20th July, p. 121, col. 2. If you want to get rid of an importunate tramp tell him to ‘stow his patter,’ or you will get him a flummut.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 232. He [patterer] mostly chalks a signal on or near the door. I give one or two instances.... ‘Flummut,’ sure of a month in quod.

Flump, verb. (colloquial).—To fall, put, or be set, down with violence or a thumping noise. Onomatopœic. Also to come down with a Flump. Cf., Plump and Cachunk.

1840. Thackeray, Paris Sketch Book, ch. v. Chairs were flumped down on the floor.

1865. H. Kingsley, The Hillyars and the Burtons, ch. lxii. Before my mother had been a week in the partly-erected slab-house, the women began to come in, to flump down into a seat and tell her all about it.

Flunk, subs. (American colloquial).—1. An idler, a Loafer (q.v.) or Lawrence (q.v.).

2. (Also Flunk-out).—A failure, especially (at college) in recitations; a backing out of undertakings.

1853. Songs of Yale. In moody meditation sunk, Reflecting on my future flunk.

1877. Brunonian, 24th Feb. A flunk is a complete fizzle; and a dead flunk is where one refuses to get out of his seat.

1888. Missouri Republican, 11th Feb. Riddleberger forced the presidential possibilities of the senate to a complete flunk.

Verb. (American).—To retire through fear; to fail (as in a lesson); to cause to fail. Cf., Funk.

1838. Neal, Charcoal Sketches, IV. Why, little ’un, you must be cracked, if you flunk out before we begin.

1847. The Yale Banger, 22 Oct. My dignity is outraged at beholding those who fizzle and flunk in my presence tower above me.

1853. Amherst Indicator, p. 253. They know that a man who has flunked, because too much of a genius to get his lesson, is not in a state to appreciate joking.

1871. John Hay, ‘Jim Bludso of the Prairie Bell,’ in New York Tribune, Jan. But he never flunked, and he never lied, I reckon he never know’d how.

Flunkey, subs. (nautical).—1. A ship’s steward.

2. (American.)—An ignorant dabbler in stock; an inexperienced jobber.

1862. A Week in Wall St., p. 90. A broker, who had met with heavy losses, exclaimed: ‘I’m in a bear-trap,—this won’t do. The dogs will come over me. I shall be mulct in a loss. But I’ve got time; I’ll turn the scale; I’ll help the bulls operate for a rise, and draw in the flunkies.’

3. (American University.)—One that makes a complete failure in a recitation; one who flunks (q.v.).

1859. Yale Lit. Magazine. I bore him safe through Horace, Saved him from the flunkey’s doom.

4. (colloquial).—A man-servant, especially one in livery. Hence, by implication, a parasite or Toady (q.v.). Fr., un larbin.

1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs; ch. v. You who have no toadies; you whom no cringing flunkeys or shopmen bow out of doors.

Whence, Flunkeyism = Blind worship of rank, birth, or riches. Fr., la larbinerie.

1857. J. E. Ritchie, Night Side of London, p. 23. Our trading classes, becoming richer and more sunk in flunkeyism every day.

Flurryment, subs. (common.)—Agitation; bustle; confusion; nervous excitement. [Pleonastic, from Flurry.]

1848. Jones, Sketches of Travel, p. II. Mary and all on em was in a monstrous flurryment.

Flurry One’s Milk, verb. phr. (common).—To be worried, angry, or upset; To fret one’s kidneys (q.v.); To tear one’s shirt, or one’s hair (q.v.).

Flush, subs. (gamesters’).—A hand of one suit.

Adj. (colloquial).—1. With plenty of money; the reverse of hard up (q.v.); warm (q.v.). Also abounding in anything: e.g. flush of his patter = full of his talk; flush of the lotion = liberal with the drink; flush of his notions = prodigal of ideas; flush of her charms = lavish of her person; and so forth.

1603. Dekker, Batchelor’s Banquet, ch. viii. Some dames of the company, which are more flush in crownes than her good man.

1605. The Play of Stucley, l. 538. They know he hath received His marriage money: they perceive he’s flush And mean to share with him ere all be gone.

1663. Dryden, Wild Gallant, Act II. Con. Since you are so flush, sir, you shall give me a locket of diamonds of three hundred pounds.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Flush in the pocket c. full of money. The cull is flush in the fob, the Spark’s pocket is well lined with money.

1767. O’Hara, Two Misers, Act I. What stops many an hopeful project? lack of cash—[looking archly at him]. Are you flush, Sir?

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1846. Thackeray, V. F., vol. I. ch. xxviii. The expenses were borne by Jos and Osborne, who was flush of money and full of kind attentions to his wife.

1861. A. Trollope, Framley Parsonage, ch. viii. Allow me to draw on you for that amount at three months. Long before that time I shall be flush enough.

1864. Economist, 29 Oct. The world was then, if such a very colloquial expression could be pardoned, ‘flush of cash,’ and it sent in that cash rapidly and at once.

2. (common).—Intoxicated (i.e., full to the brim); also flushed. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

3. (colloquial).—Level: e.g., flush with the top, with the water, with the road, with the boat’s edge, etc.

Verb. (common).—1. To whip.

English Synonyms.—To bludgeon; to bumbaste; to breech (Cotgrave); to brush; to club; to curry; to dress with an oaken towel; to drub; to drybeat; to dry-bob; to drum; to fib; to flap; to flick; to flop; to jerk; to give one ballast; to hide; to lamm; to larrup; to paste; to punch; to rub down; to swinge; to swish; to switch; to trounce; to thump; to tund (Winchester); to wallop. See also Tan.

French Synonyms.—Donner l’avoine (pop. = to give a feed of hay); allumer (popular); bouiser (thieves’: un bouis = a whip).

Italian Synonyms.—Smanegrare; cotillare; corillare; cerire.

2. (colloquial).—To clean by filling full, and emptying, of water: e.g., to flush a sewer; to wash, swill, or sluice away. Also to fill with water: e.g., to flush a lock.

1884. Henley and Stevenson, Admiral Guinea, i., 8. Pray for a new heart; flush out your sins with tears.

3. (shooting).—To start or raise a bird from covert: e.g., to flush a snipe, or a covey of partridges. Hence (venery) to flush a wild duck = to single out a woman for grousing (q.v.).

To come flush on one, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To come suddenly and unexpectedly (Marvell); to overwhelm (as by a sudden rush of water).

Flushed on the Horse, phr. (prison).—Privately whipped in gaol.

Flush-hit, subs. phr. (pugilistic).—A clean blow; a hit full on the mark and straight from the shoulder. For synonyms, see Dig.

1891. Lic. Vict. Mirror, 30 Jan., p. 7, col. 2. Landed a very heavy flush hit on the mouth.

Adv. (colloquial).—Full; straight; right on (q.v.).

1888. Sporting Life, 15 Dec. Both cautious, Wilson with marked frequency leading off, and getting the left flush on the face.

Fluster, verb. (old).—To excite; to confuse, abash, or flummox (q.v.); to upset, or be upset, with drink.

1602. Shakspeare, Othello, I., 3. The very elements of this warlike isle,—Have I to-night fluster’d with flowing cups.

1711. Spectator, No. 87. It is very common for such as are too low in constitution to ogle the idol upon the strength of tea, to fluster themselves with warmer liquors.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., ii., 261. When I vext proud Celia just come from my glass, She tells me I’m flustered, and look like an ass.

1731. Fielding, Letter Writers. Act II., Sc. 5. Who hath taken me to the tavern, and, I protest, almost fluster’d me.

Flustered (or Flustrated), ppl. adj. (old).—Excited by drink, circumstances, another person’s impudence, etc.; also mildly drunk. Cf., Flusticated. For synonyms, see Screwed.

1686. Common. of Women, Prol. Another to compleat his daily task, fluster’d with claret, seizes on a mask.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. flustered, drunk.

1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 3. I ... therefore take this public occasion to admonish a young Nobleman, who came flustered into the box last night.

1748. T. Dyche, Dict. (5th ed.) Flustered (a) ... somewhat intoxicated with liquor.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. XIV., ch. ix. This latter, though not drunk, began to be somewhat flustered.

1779. The Mirror, No. 57. All of them flustered, some of them perfectly intoxicated.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

Flusticated, or Flustrated, ppl. adj. (old and colloquial).—Confused; in a state of heat or excitement. Cf., Flustered.

1712. Spectator, No. 493. We were coming down Essex Street one night a little flustrated.

1766. Colman, Cland. Marriage V., in works (1777) i. 271. Your mind is too much flustrated, and you can neither eat nor drink.

1843. Maj. Jones’ Courtship, I. Somehow I was so flustrated that I tuk the rong way.

1847. Porter, Big Bear, &c., p. 98. I sot down, being sorter flusticated like, thinkin’ of that skrape, last time I was there.

Flustration, subs. (old and colloquial).—Heat; excitement; bustle; confusion; flurry (q.v.).

1771. Smollet, Humphrey Clinker, I., 126. Being I was in such a flustration.

1843. Major Jones’ Courtship, viii. The old woman’s been in a monstrous flustration ’bout the comet.

1847. Porter, Quarter Race, etc., p. 177. My wife is in a delicut way, and the frite might cause a flustration.

1848. Jones, Studies of Travel, p. 21. The old woman was in such a flustration she didn’t know her lips from anything else.

1872. Mortimer Collins, Two Plunges for a Pearl, vol. II., ch. vii. Then was this pretty little actress whom he admired in a great state of flustration.

Flute, subs. (old).—1. The recorder of a corporation.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Tibia, a flute, a recorder, a pipe.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Flute, c. The recorder of London or of any other town.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1825. Kent, Modern Flash Dict. Flute—the recorder of any town.

2. (venery).—The penis. Also the one-holed, the living, or the silent flute. To play a tune on the one-holed flute = to have connection. Cf., Dryden (Sixth Juvenal, line 107). ‘And stretch his quail-pipe till they crack his voice.’ For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

1720. Durfey, Pills, etc., vi., 31. He took her by the middle, And taught her by the flute.

1736. Cupid, p. 163. The Flute is good that’s made of Wood, And is, I own, the neatest; Yet ne’ertheless I must confess, The silent flute’s the sweetest.

Flutter, subs. (common).—1. An attempt, or shy (q.v.), at anything; a venture in earnest; a spree; a state of expectancy (as in betting). Hence gambling.

1883. Echo, 26 Feb. p. 4, col. 2. I have no stable tip, but I fancy the animal named will at any rate afford backers a flutter for their money.

1889. Licensed Vict. Gazette, 8 Feb. Of course he told her he only went in for a little flutter occasionally.

1890. Saturday Review, 1 Feb., p. 134, col. 1. They find out the addresses of people whom they see at the races—people whom they suspect to be fond of a flutter, and then an invitation is sent to a little soirée intime.

1887. Henley, Culture in the Slums, iii. I likes a merry little flutter, I keeps a Dado on the sly, In fact my form’s the blooming Utter.

2. (common).—The act of spinning a coin.

3. (venery).—Connection defloration. To have had a flutter = (1) to have been there (cf., greens); and (2) to have lost one’s maidenhead.

Verb. (common).—1. To spin a coin (for drinks); also to gamble.

2. (common).—To go in for a bout of pleasure.

To flutter the ribbons, verb. phr. (common).—To drive.

1864. Eton School Days, chap. 1, p. 11. As I was going to be saying, I used to flutter the ribands of the London Croydon and South Coast coach.

[Flutter, if not a word of all-work, is a word with plenty to do. Thus, to have (or do) a flutter = to have a look in (q.v.), to go on the spree, and (of both sexes) to have carnal connection; to be on the flutter = to be on the spree, and also (venery) to be all there (q.v.) or on the spot (q.v.); to flutter a judy—both to pursue and to possess a girl; to flutter a brown = to spin a coin; to flutter (or fret) one’s kidneys = to agitate, to exasperate; to flutter a skirt = to walk the streets; and so forth.]

Flux, verb. (old).—1. To cheat; to cozen; to overreach. For synonyms, see Stick.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

2. (old.)—To salivate. Grose, (1785).

Fly, subs. (old).—A familiar; hence, by implication, a parasite or sucker (q.v.). [In the sixteenth and seventeenth century it was held that familiar spirits, in the guise of flies, lice, fleas, etc., attended witches, who for a price professed to dispose of the power for evil thus imparted.]

1596. Lodge, Incarnate Devils. This divel prefers an Ephimerides before a Bible; and his Ptolemey and Hali before Ambrose, golden Chrisostome, or S. Augustine: promise him a familiar, and he will take a flie in a box for good paiment.

1610. Ben Jonson, Alchemist i. You are mistaken, doctor, Why he does ask one but for cups and horses, A rifling fly, none of your great familiars.

1622. Massinger, Virgin Martyr, ii., 2. Courtiers have flies That buzz all news unto them.

2. (old).—A printer’s devil; specifically a boy who lifted the printed sheets from the press. [Now the vibrating frame used for the same purpose.]

1688. R. Holme, Academy of Armory. These boys do in a printing-house commonly black and bedaub themselves, when the workmen do jocosely call them devils, and sometimes spirits, and sometimes flies.

3. (trade).—A customer.

4. (common).—The act of spinning a coin. Cf., Flutter.

5. (old).—A public wagon: afterwards (colloquial) a four-wheel hackney coach. Fr., mouche (fly) = a public boat on the Seine.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall, s.v.

6. (common).—A policeman. For synonyms, see Beak and Copper.

1857. Snowden, Magistrates’ Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 446. A policeman; a fly.

Adj. (common).—1. Knowing; artful (q.v.); up to every move; cute. Also fly to, a-fly, fly to the game, and fly to what’s what. Cf., Awake, and, for synonyms, see Knowing; fly dog (q.v.).

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, Cheese it, the coves are fly = be silent, the people understand our discourse.

1823. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act II., Sc. 2. Jerry. Charlies’ fiddles?—I’m not fly, Doctor. Log. Rattles, Jerry, rattles! Jerry rattles! you’re fly now, I see.

1838. Glascock, Land Sharks and Sea Gulls, II., 4. That’s right; I see you’re fly to every fakement.

1850. Lloyd’s Weekly, 3 Feb. ‘Low Lodging Houses of London.’ They say the fliest is easy to take in sometimes—that’s the artfullest; but I could do no good there.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 260. ‘We were too fly to send anybody to market but ourselves.’

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. xxxv. [Chas. Ravenshoe to Shoeblack]. ‘On the cross?’ said Charles. ‘Ah,’ the boy said, ‘he goes out cly-faking and such. He’s a prig, and a smart one, too. He’s fly, is Harry.’

1876. Miss Braddon, Dead Men’s Shoes, ch. lii. ‘Go and fetch the cleverest police officer in Liverpool, and let him wait outside this door till I want him.’ ‘I’m fly,’ answers the youth, brightening at the prospect of excitement and remuneration. ‘Case of ’bezzlement, I suppose, Sir?’

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. ii., p. 125. A certain prisoner, who was what is termed a very fly man, i.e., a clever, scheming fellow ... sounded him as to getting tobacco and other matters.

188(?). Jenny Hill, Broadside Ballad. I’ve cut my wisdom teeth, some at top, some underneath.... So you needn’t try it on; I’m fly.

1890. Punch, 30 Aug., p. 9. Briggs, Junior, a lobsculler called me; I wasn’t quite fly to his lay.

1891. Licensed Victuallers’ Gazette, 9 Jan. If you get among a fly lot, why they’d skin you in less than no time.

2. (common).—Dextrous.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. No dummy hunter had forks so fly.

1839. Reynolds, Pickwick Abroad, p. 223. We’ll knap a fogle with fingers fly.

3. (venery).—Wanton. Fly-girl, -woman, or -dame = a prostitute.

1888. San Francisco News Letter, 4 Feb. ‘I’m just gettin’ sick’n tired o’ the way ’t them fly dames go on, ’n the way ’t the fellahs hang round ’em ’n dance with ’em ’n so forth.’

Verb. (thieves’).—1. To toss; to raise; to fly the mags = to toss up half-pence (cf., subs., sense 4).

1857. Snowden, Magistrates’ Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 447. To lift a window, to fly a window.

2. (pugilistic).—To give way: as, china flies in the baking.

1865. G. F. Berkeley, My Life, II. 296. Heenan ... told me his right hand was worth nothing to him, and we have since seen that his left flies, or, in other words, becomes puffed, softened, or severely damaged by the force of his own blows.

To fly around, verb. phr. (American).—To bestir oneself; to make haste. Also to fly around and tear one’s shirt.

1851. Hooper, Widow Rugby’s Husband, p. 44. Old ’ooman, fly around, git somethin’ for the Squire and Dick to eat.

To fly the flag, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To walk the streets.

2. (vulgar).—To experience the menstrual flux.

See also Flag.

To fly high (or rather high).—1. verb. phr. (common).—To get, or be drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

2. (colloquial).—To keep the best company, maintain the best appearances, and affect the best aims: i.e., to be a High-flier (q.v.). Also, to venture for the biggest stakes in the biggest way.

To fly low, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To make as little of oneself as possible; to sing small (q.v.); and (among thieves) to keep out of the way when wanted (q.v.).

To fly off the handle, verb. phr. (American pioneer).—To lose temper; to fail of a promise; to jilt; to die; also to slip off the handle (q.v.); to disappoint in any way. [In pioneer life for an axe to part company with its handle is a serious trial to temper and patience.]

1843–4. Haliburton, The Attaché. You never see such a crotchical old critter as he is. He flies right off the handle for nothing.

1867. Home Journal (New York), 21 July (speaking of a man who had succeeded to a large fortune it says) he went off the handle in England rather unexpectedly.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 195. If a fair lady loses her temper, or worst of all, if she breaks the tender promise, she is said to fly off the handle, and the disappointment is as serious to the unlucky lover as a lost axe to many a settler.

1888. Pittsburg Chronicle. ‘I can’t say that I’am stuck on Sue Fitzpercy,’ remarked Amy. ‘She is liable to fly off the handle.’

To fly out, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To get angry; to scold.

1612. Chapman, Widow’s Tears, Act II., p. 317 (Plays, 1874). For wherefore rage wives at their husbands so when they fly out? for zeal against the sin?

1665–6. Pepys, Diary, 17 Jan. It is to be feared that the Parliament will fly out against him and particular men, the next Session.

1712. Spectator, No. 479. He (Socrates) has said, My dear friend, you are beholden to Xantippe, that I bear so well your flying out in a dispute.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xx. ‘And then the Colonel flies out about his boy, and says that my wife insulted him!’

To make the fur (or feathers) fly, verb. phr. (common).—To attack effectively; to make a disturbance; to quarrel noisily like two tom cats on the tiles, who are said (in American) to pull fur, or to pull wool.

1847. Porter, Big Bear, etc., p. 132. Thar, they’ve got him agin, and now the fur flies.

1888. Denver Republican, 29 Feb. ‘Wait until the National Committee assembles on February 22,’ said the organizer, ‘and you will see the fur fly from the Cleveland hide.’

To take on the fly, verb. phr. (vagrants’).—To beg in the streets; a specific usage of adverbial sense.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, II., p. 59. The ‘first move’ in his mendicant career was taking them on the fly, which means meeting the gentry on their walks, and beseeching or at times menacing them till something is given.

To fly a kite, verb. phr. (common).—To raise money by means of accommodation bills; to raise the wind (q.v.).

1812. From an old Dublin Jester. [The story, however, with slight variations, is told of other judges. See N. and Q., S. ix., 6 326–394.] In a case before the Lord Chancellor of Ireland Mr. Curran, on behalf of the suitor, prayed to be relieved from the payment of some bills for which he had not received consideration, but only lent his name as an accommodation. Mr. Curran, in the course of his pleadings, mentioned the terms kite and raising the wind several times, when his lordship requested to know the meaning of the words. ‘My lord,’ Mr. Curran replied, ‘in your country (meaning England) the wind generally raises the kite, but with us, significantly looking at the gentlemen of the bar, the kite raises the wind.’

1848. Punch, XIV., p. 226. ‘The Model Gentleman.’ He never does ‘a little discounting’ nor lends his hand to ‘flying a kite.’

1849. Perils of Pearl Street, p. 82. Flying the kite is rather a perilous adventure.

1880. G. R. Sims, Ballads of Babylon (Little Worries). You have a kite you cannot fly, and creditors are pressing.

1891. Licensed Victuallers’ Gazette, 23 Jan. Prince Alexis Soltykoff, who has been flying kites, and getting into trouble thereby, is the only son of Prince Soltykoff, the steward of the Jockey Club.

2. (thieves’).—To go out by the window.

3. (lodging-house).—To evacuate from a window.

4. (colloquial).—To attempt; to set one’s cap at.

1863. H. Kingsley, Austin Elliot, ch. xii. ‘They say that you flew your kite at that girl of George Cecil’s who has married that prig, Lord Mewstone.’

To fly the blue pigeon, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To steal lead from roofs. See Blue-pigeon. Fr., faire la mastar au gras-double, or la faire au mastar.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter. Thieves who fly the blue pigeon, that is, who steal lead off houses, or cut pipes away ... cut a hundredweight of lead, which they wrap round their bodies next to the skin. This they call a bible (q.v.), and what they steal and put in their pockets, they call a testament (q.v.).

1887. Judy, 27 April, p. 200. A burglar whose particular lay was flying the blue pigeon, i.e., stealing lead.

To let fly, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To hit out. [From cock-fighting.]

1859. Punch, vol. XXXVII., p. 54. ‘Essence of Parliament.’ Monday, 25 July. Lord Lyndhurst let fly and caught him what (if pugilistic terms be not out of place when one is alluding to so pacific a personage) may be designated an extremely neat one on the conk.

Not a feather to fly with, adv. phr. (common).—Penniless and ruined; dead-broke (q.v. for synonyms).

To break a fly on a wheel, verb. phr. (colloquial). To make a mountain of a molehill. Cf., To crack a nut with a Nasmyth hammer = to lavish force or energy.

The fly on the wheel, subs. phr. (colloquial).—One who fancies himself of mighty importance. [From the fable.]

I don’t rise to that fly, phr. (common) = I don’t believe you; you won’t catch me with such bait as that. [From fly-fishing.]

Off the fly, adv. phr. (colloquial).—On the quiet; laid up in dock; doing nothing: said of a strumpet retired from business, or a man (or woman) who has given over the pursuit of pleasure.

On the fly, adv. phr. (popular).—1. Walking the streets; out for a lark (q.v.); off work (q.v.); out on the spree (q.v.).

2. (thieves’).—In motion: e.g., ‘I got in one on the fly’ = I landed a blow while I was running.

1868. Temple Bar, xxiv., p. 538. I prigged an old woman’s poke on the fly.

Fly-blow, subs. (common).—A bastard; cf., Bye-blow. A nonce word.

1875. Ouida, Signa, vol. I., ch. viii., p. 140. No doubt that little fly-blow is his own.

Fly-blown, adj. (common).—1. Intoxicated. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1877. Judy, 18 May, p. 236. The officer assisted the pastor out, and hinted that he was slightly ‘fly-blown.’

2. (Australian).—Cleaned-out; without a rap; Hard-up (q.v. for synonyms).

1889. Star, 3 Jan. Our diggers go into Castlemaine to get their hair cut, and once there, they get on the spree, and come back fly-blown.

3. (common).—Used, or done-up; washed-out (q.v.).

4. (venery).—Deflowered. Also stale (q.v.); ‘known for a wanton.’ Also suspected of disease.

Fly-by-Night, subs. (old).—1. A sedan chair on wheels; a usage of the Regency days.

2. (common).—A defaulting debtor; one who shoots the moon (q.v.). Also applied to the act.

3. (venery).—A prostitute. See Bat, and for synonyms, Barrack-hack and Tart.

4. (common).—A noctambulist for business or for pleasure: i.e., a burglar or a common spreester (q.v.).

5. (obsolete).—A term of opprobrium.

1796. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v. An ancient term of reproach to an old woman, signifying that she was a witch, and alluding to the nocturnal excursions attributed to witches who were supposed to fly abroad to their meetings mounted on brooms.

6. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Fly-cage, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Fly-catcher, subs. (venery).—1. The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

2. (common).—An open-mouthed ignoramus; a Gapeseed (q.v.)—Sydney Smith. Fr., gobe-mouche.

Flycop, subs. (American).—A sharp officer; one well broken in to the tricks of trade. [From fly = knowing + cop, a policeman.]

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Fly-disperser Soup, subs. phr. (common).—Oxtail.

Flyer.—1. See Flier in all senses.

2. (old).—A shoe. For synonyms, see Trotter-case.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of Terms, etc., s.v.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1791. Life and Adventures of Bamfylde Moore Carew, s.v.

1851. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. II., p. 34. There is another article called a flyer, that is, a shoe sold without being welted.

3. (Winchester).—A half-volley at football. A made-flyer is when the bound of the ball is gained from a previous kick, by the same side, against canvas or any other obstacle, or is dropped, as in a ‘drop-kick.’ This is now confused with a ‘kick-up.’

Fly-flapped, adj. (obsolete).—Whipped in the stocks, or at the cart’s tail.—Grose.

Fly-Flapper, subs. (old).—A heavy bludgeon.

Fly-flat, subs. (turf).—A would-be connoisseur and authority. [From fly = knowing + flat = a fool.]

Flying.—To look as if the Devil had shit him (or her) flying (common and proverbial).—Said in derision of one odd-looking, filthy, or deformed.

Flying-angel.—See Angel.

Flying Bricklayers, subs. phr. (military).—The mounted Royal Engineers.

Flying Camps, subs. phr. (old).—Couples or gangs of beggars.

1699. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew. Beggars plying in flying camps. Beggars plying in bodies at funerals.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

Flying-caper, subs. (thieves’).—An escape from prison; leg-bail (q.v.).

1864. Daily Paper, ‘Police Report.’ The blues are always ready to spot a fellow who has tried on the flying-caper with them, and given them leg-bail.

Flying-cat.—See Cat.

Flying Country, subs. phr. (hunting).—A country where the going (q.v.) is fast and good.

1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. xii. The heavy-top hounds are an establishment such as, I am given to understand, is not usually kept in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and other so-called ‘flying counties.’

Flying Cove, subs. phr. (American thieves’).—An impostor who gets, or tries to get, money from persons who have been robbed by pretending to give such information as will lead to recovery. Formerly, Flying-porter (Grose).

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogues’ Lexicon, s.v.

Flying-dustman.—See Stiff-un.

Flying-dutchman, subs. (common).—The London and Exeter express (G. W. R.). See also Flying Scotchman and Wild Irishman. Cf., Dead-meat train and Larky subaltern’s coach.

Flying-horse (or Mare), subs. (wrestling).—The throw by which an opponent is sent over the head. Introduced, says Bee, by Parkins.

1754. Foote, Knights, Act I. But we don’t wrestle after your fashion; we ha’ no tripping; fath and soul! we all go upon close hugs or the flying-mare.

1884. Referee, 23 March, p. 1., col. 1. In the third and last bout, Klein brought his man clean over his head—holding him by his own—with a sort of flying-mare, and elicited thunders of applause.

1886. Pall Mall Gazette, 5 July, p. 4. On a Mississippi steamer he astonished a rowdy who was shocked at his unnatural objection to whisky, by performing upon him the feat known to British wrestlers as ‘the flying mare.’

Flying-jigger or Gygger, subs. (thieves’).—A turnpike gate. [Jigger = a door or gate.]

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Flying-man, subs. (football).—A skirmisher good at taking, and running with, the ball.

1864. Eton School Days, ch. 23, p. 255. He possessed good wind, and was a very good ‘kick-off,’ and he could ‘bully’ a ball as well as any one. He was a little too heavy for ‘flying-man,’ but he made a decent ‘sidepost,’ and now and then he officiated as ‘corner.’

Flying-mare. See Flying-horse.

Flying Pasty, subs. phr. (obsolete).—Excrement wrapped in paper and thrown over a neighbour’s wall. [Grose.]

Flying-porter. See Flying cove.

Flying-stationer, subs. (street).—A hawker of street ballads; a paperworker (q.v.), or running patterer (q.v.). Cf., croak. ‘Printed for the flying-stationer’ is the imprimatur on hundreds of broadsheets from the last century onwards.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. Ballad singers and hawkers of penny histories.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. I, p. 228. That order or species of the pattering genus known as flying stationers, from the fact of their being continually on the move while describing the attractions of the ‘papers’ they have to sell.

1886. Athenæum, 31 July, p. 139. Scores of tracts were issued in the Newgate region, from Giltspur Street to Blowbladder Street, whence numbers of flying stationers drew their supplies long before either of the Catnachs were born.

Flymy. Adj. (streets).—Knowing, fast (q.v.); roguish; sprightly. From Fly (q.v.).

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Good Night. You flymy titters fond of flam.

Fly-my-kite, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A light.

Flymy-mess, to be in a flymy-mess, verb. phr. (military).—To be hungry and have nothing to eat. For synonyms, see peckish.

Fly-slicer, subs. (common).—A cavalry-man: cf., Mudcrusher. French lancers are allumeurs de gaz, their weapons being likened to a lamplighter’s rod.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. Fly-slicers: Life-guardmen, from their sitting on horseback, under an arch, where they are frequently observed to drive away flies with their swords.

Fly the Garter, subs. phr. (schoolboys’).—Leap-frog.

1863. G. A. Sala, Breakfast in Bed, Essay VIII., p. 187 (1864). He has very probably been playing fly-the-garter in the gutter instead of waiting his turn at the office.

Fly-trap, subs. (common).—1. The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato trap.

2. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Foaled, adj. (hunting).—Thrown from a horse. Fr., faire parache.

Fob, or Fub, subs. (old).—1. A cheat; a trick; a swindle. To come the fob = to impose upon; to swindle; cf., come over.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew. Fob, c., a cheat trick.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, Fob, s.v.

1852. Judson, Mysteries of New York, ch. vii. He come ze fob on some of ze nobilitie, and zey invite him to go to Amerique.

2. (old: now recognised).—A breeches pocket; a watch pocket.

1678. Butler, Hudibras, III., i., 107. Had rifled all his pokes and fobs Of gimcrack whims and gingumbobs.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew. Fob, c., also a little pocket.

1703. Marvell, Poems on Affairs of State. ‘Royal Revolutions.’ When plate was in pawn and fob at an ebb. Ibid. ‘Last Instructions,’ etc. More gold in’s fob, more lace upon his coat.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

3. (common).—A watch chain or ribbon, with buckle and seals, worn hanging from the fob.

Verb. (old).—1. To rob; to cheat; to pocket; also to fob off.

1700. Congreve, Way of the World, i., 9. There were items of such a treaty in embrio; and if it shou’d come to life poor Mirabell wou’d be in some sort unfortunately fobb’d, i’faith.

1703. Mrs. Centlivre, Stolen Heiress, III., iv., wks. (1872), i., 358. I shall be fobbed of my mistress by and by. Why, Frank, why, thou wilt not fob me, wilt thou?

1731. Fielding, Grub Street Opera, i., 5. While ev’ry one else he is fobbing, He still may be honest to me.

1789. Wolcot [P. Pinder], Rowland for an Oliver, in wks. (Dublin, 1795), Vol. II., p. 159. To use a cant phrase, we’ve been finely fobb’d, Indeed, have very dext’rously been robb’d.

1840. Howitt, Visits to Remarkable Places, p. 170. Very pretty sums he has fobbed now and then.

1842. Punch, III., p. 239, col. 2. The world turns its back on you, and neither by cards nor dice can you fob your brother mortal out of a single guinea.

2. (old).—To deceive; trifle with; disappoint; to put off dishonestly or unfairly.

1598. Shakspeare, 2 Henry IV., ii., 1. A hundred mark is a long loan for a poor lone woman to bear, and I have borne, and borne, and borne, and have been fubbed off and fubbed off.

1602. Shakspeare, Othello, IV., 2. I think it is scurvy, and begin to find myself fobbed in it.

1610. Shakspeare, Coriolanus, I., 1. You must not think to fob off our disgrace with a tale.

1884. Fortnightly Review, XXXVI., p. 75. In nothing are amateur backers of horses fobbed off by professionals with less than the legitimate odds than in backing double and triple events.

1864. The Tramp Exposed, p. 7. A miserable, a job lot of humanity as had ever been fobbed off on a defrauded universe.

To gut a fob, verb. phr. (old).—To pick pockets. Cf., Fob, verbal sense 1. For synonyms, see Prig.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, 1. Diddling your subjects, and gutting their fobs.

Fobus, subs. (old).—An opprobrious epithet.

1677. Wycherley, Plain Dealer, II., 1. Ay, you old fobus.

2. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Fodder, subs. (common).—Paper for the closet, bum-fodder (q.v.).

Fœtus. To tap the fœtus, verb. phr. (medical).—To procure abortion.

Fog, subs. (old).—Smoke.—Grose. [1785]; Modern Flash Dict. [1823]; Matsell [1859]. [Cf., Fogus.]

In a Fog, subs. phr. (colloquial).—In a condition of perplexity, doubt, difficulty, or mystification: as, ‘I’m quite in a fog as to wha you mean.’

Verb (old).—1. To smoke.

2. (colloquial).—To mystify; to perplex; to obscure.

1836. W. H. Smith, ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’ There’s a nook in the boozing-ken, Where many a mug I fog.

1883. Punch, May, p. 210, col. 1. So large a picture, treated so ideally—Not that that means stricture—Fogs us to find room for it.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 29 Sept. We turns what we say into tangle talk so as to fog them.

Fogey, or Fogy, Fogay, or Foggi, subs. (old).—An invalid or garrison soldier or sailor. Whence the present colloquial usages: (1) a person advanced in life, and (2) an old-fashioned or eccentric person; generally old fogey. [Derivation doubtful; suggestions are (1) from Su. G. fogde and (2) from Eng. folk. See Notes and Queries, 1 S. vii., 354, 559, 632; viii., 64, 154, 256, 455, 652; 6 S. ix., 10, 195.]

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1812. Letter quoted in Notes and Queries, 6 S., ix., 10. My company is now forming into an invalid company. Tell your grandmother we will be like the Castle foggies.

1855. Thackeray, The Ballad of Bouillabaisse. When first I saw ye, cari luoghi, I’d scarce a beard upon my face, And now, a grizzled, grim old fogy, I sit and wait for Bouillabaisse.

1864. Tangled Talk, p. 104. An old fogey, who particularly hated being ‘done.’

1867. Nesmith, ‘Reminiscences of Dr. Anthon,’ in The Galaxy, Sept., p. 611. The adherents of ‘progress’ mostly regard classics as old fogey, and ‘see no use’ in the laborious years which youth spend upon them.

1883. James Payn, The Canon’s Ward, ch. xv. ‘He would have preferred some bookish sneak like Adair, or some old fogey like Mavors.’

1888. Sporting Life, 10 Dec. So it is with the sister art of music, for I (myself something of an old fogey in such matters).

So also fogeyish = old-fashioned; eccentric. Fogeydom = the state of fogeyishness; and fogeyism = a characteristic of Fogeydom.

1877. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, ch. i. They repaired arm-in-arm to their club—the Renaissance, now past its prime, and a little fogyish.

1883. Saturday Review, 31 March, p. 403, col. 1. Not the least among the pleasures of fogeydom, so ably depicted by Thackeray, is the confidence that it inspires in the hearts of the fairer sex.

Foggage, subs. (colloquial).—Fodder, especially green-meat.

1785. Burns, To a Mouse. And naething now to bigg a new ane o’foggage green.

Fogged, ppl. adj. (common).—1. Drunk. Cf., foggy. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

2. (common).—Perplexed; bewildered; at a loss. [From fog (q.v.), to perplex]. For synonyms, see Flabbergasted.

1883. Illust. London News, 6 Jan., p. 6, col. 3. They were all treading on one another’s heels, trying to do their best, but hopelessly fogged.

1887. All the Year Round, 30 July, 30, p. 68. An Australian says that he is bushed just as an Englishman, equally characteristically, declares that he is fogged.

Fogger, subs. (old).—1. A huckster; a cringing, whining beggar; a pettifogger.

1614. Terence in English. I shall be exclaimed upon to be a beggarly fogger, greedily hunting after heritage.

2. (old).—A farm servant whose duty is to feed the cattle; i.e., to supply them with foggage (q.v.).

Foggy, adj. (common).—1. Drunk; i.e., clinched or hazy (q.v.). For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

2. (colloquial).—Dull; fatwitted; thick (q.v.).

Fogle, subs. (thieves’).—A silk handkerchief; also generic. [Cf., Ital., foglia = a pocket, a purse; Fr., fouille = a pocket]. A cotton handkerchief is called a clout.

English Synonyms.—Bandanna; belcher; billy; clout; conch-clout; fam-cloth; flag; kent-rag; madam; muckender; mucketer (Florio); nose-wipe; pen-wiper; rag; sneezer; snottinger or snot-rag; stook; wipe. See Billy.

French Synonyms.—Un cachemire (popular); un blave or blavin (thieves’; from O.F., blave = blue); une fassolette (thieves’: It., fazzoletto); un chiffon or chiffonnion (popular = a rag); un moufion (popular); les mouchettes (popular = wipes).

German Synonyms.—Schneitzlingsschneiche (cf., Snot-rag); Flammert or Flamme (also a neckerchief and an apron); Wisch (= also clothing of any kind).

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry (1890), p. 74, Jerry’s sneezer was touched with some convulsive efforts so that his fogle was continually at work.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood bk. iii., ch. 5. Fogles and fawnies soon went their way.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xviii. ‘If you don’t take fogles and tickers——’ ‘What’s the good of talking in that way?’ interposed Master Bates: ‘he don’t know what you mean.’ ‘If you don’t take pocket-handkerchiefs and watches,’ said the Dodger.

1841. Tait’s Edinburgh Mag., viii., p. 220. Fawnies or fogles, onions gay, all were the same to me.

1849. Punch’s Almanack, ‘The Swell Mobsman’s Almanack.’ Their fogles fetch next to nothing.

1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, bk. II., ch. i., p. 60. They’re just made for hooking a fogle [handkerchief] out of a clye.

Fogle-hunter, subs. (thieves’).—A thief whose speciality is fogles (q.v.). Fr. un blaviniste or un chiffonier, but for synonyms, see Stookhauler.

1827. Maginn, in Blackwood’s Mag. ... the fogle hunters doing Their morning fake in the prigging lay.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. xvi. Who’s here so base as would be a fogle-hunter?

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, p. 44. ‘What’s the matter now?’ said the man, carelessly. ‘A young fogle-hunter,’ replied the man who had Oliver in charge.

1843. Punch, IV., p. 129. Rich charities the chapel throng. The swell mob they are there, The Bishop’s sermon is not long, The fogle-hunter ware!

Fogle-hunting (or drawing), subs. phr. (thieves’).—Stealing pocket-handkerchiefs; i.e., ‘prigging of wipes.’

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, etc., p. 82. Q. ‘Where’s Teddy?’ A. ‘He’s out a fogle-hunting.’ Sometimes ’tis said ‘drawing fogles,’ and ‘fogle-drawing.’

Fogram, or Fogrum, subs. (old).—A fussy old man. [Cf., colloquial sense of Fogey.]

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1793. Butt, Poems. We teach old maxims, neither less nor more, Than Locke, or humble Hooker taught before, Those fogrums, quizzes, treats, and bores, and gigs. Were held in some account with ancient prigs.

1798. O’Keefe, Fontainbleau, II., 3. Never mind, old fogrum, run away with me.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Adj. (old).—Fogeyish; stupid.

1777. Foote, Trip to Calais, i, Father and mother are but a couple of fogrum old fools.

Hence Fogramity = (1) Fogeyism (q.v.), and (2) the state of Fogeyishness.

1796. D’Arblay, Camilla, ii., 5. Nobody’s civil now, you know, it is a fogramity quite out of date.

Fogue, adj. (American thieves’).—Fierce; fiery.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Fogus, subs. (old).—Tobacco. [Cf., Fogus.] For synonyms, see Weed.

1671. Head, English Rogue, I., v., p. 49 (1874), s.v. 1724. Coles, English Dict., s.v. 1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue. Tip me a gage of fogus.

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 133. A hole in the roof of my cell, through which I handed her plenty of fogus.

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. Troll us a stave, my antediluvian file, and in the meantime tip me a gage [pipe] of fogus, Jerry.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Foiler, subs. (old).—A thief.

1669. Nicker Nicked, in Harl. Misc. [ed. Park], ii., 108. Given in list of names of thieves.

Foin, verb. (obsolete).—To copulate, i.e., to thrust, to poke (q.v.). Also subs.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Scazzata: A thrust, a push, a foyne, or the serving to a woman of a man’s pricke.

1598. Shakspeare, 2 Henry IV., ii., 4. Thou whoreson little tidy Bartholomew boar pig, when wilt thou leave fighting o’days, and foining o’nights, and begin to patch up thine old body for heaven?

Foist, Foyst, or Fyst, subs. (old).—1. A cheat; a swindler; a sharper.

1592. John Day, Blind Beggar (Bullen), p. 21. Your nipper, your foyst, your rogue, your cheat.

1596. Ben Jonson, Every Man in His Humour iv., 7. Prate again, as you like this, you whoreson foist you.

1607. Dekker, Jests to Make you Merie in wks. (Grosart) II., 326. Now to our foysts, alias pickpocket, alias cutpurse.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candelight, in wks. (Grosart) III., 212. A foyst nor a Nip shall not walke into a Fayre or a Play-house.

1611. Middleton, Roaring Girl, O. Pl., vi., 113. This brave fellow is no better than a foist. Foist! what is that? A diver with two fingers; a pickpocket; all his train study the figging law, that’s to say cutting of purses and foisting.

2. (old).—A trick; a swindle; an imposture. Also Foyster and Foister.

1605. Ben Jonson, Volpone or the Fox, iii., 9. Put not your foists upon me. I shall scent ’em.

3. (old).—A silent emission of wind through the anus (see quot., sense 2); a cheeser. See Fart and Fousty. [Coles has to fyst, vissio; which in his Latin part he renders to fizzle. Also fysting cur; and in Sherwood’s English Dictionary, subjoined to Cotgrave, fysting curs, and other offenders of the same class, are fully illustrated.]

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Loffa, a fizle, a fiste, a close fart.

1605. Jonson, Eastward Hoe, pl. iv., 270. Marry, fyst o’ your Ruidess. I thought as much.

1662. Rump Songs, II., 3. That a reason be enacted (if there be not one), Why a fart hath a voice, and a fyst hath none, Which nobody can deny.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew. Foyst ... also a close strong stink, without noise or report.

1785. Grose. Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. Fice or Foyse.

Verb. (old).—1. To trick; to swindle; to pick pockets.

1607. Dekker, Jests to Make You Merie, in wks. (Grosart) II., 332. But now to the manner of the foysting of a pocket, the sharing of the money, and how honest men may avoide them.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874). To foyst, to picke a pocket.

1653. Middleton, Spanish Gipsy, ii., 1. I mean fitching, foisting, nimming.

2. (old).—To fart. Also to copulate (Urquhart).

1539. David Lyndsay, Thrie Estaitis (Works, Laing, 1879), ii., 109. Ane fistand flag.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Loffare, s.v.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie, Vessir, s.v.

Foister, or Foyster, subs. (old).—A pick-pocket; a cheat.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Barattiere, a barterer, a trucker, a marter, an exchanger, a briber, a cheater, a false gamester, a cousener, a broker, a fripper, a chaffrer, a cogger, a foyster, a deceiuer, a coni-catcher, a bareter, a prowler.

(?). Mirrour for Magistrates, p. 483, When facing foisters, fit for Tiburn. fraies, Are food-sick faint.

Follower, subs. (colloquial).—A maid-servant’s sweetheart; a beau. For synonyms, see Jomer.

1838. Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, ch. xv. Five servants kept. No man. No followers.

1860. Chambers’ Journal, XIII., p. 32. No followers allowed.

1870. Spectator, 15 Jan. It is safer, unkind as it may seem, to forbid the presence of a ‘follower’ in the house. A girl is less likely to get into mischief when she is walking with her friend in the street or talking with him over the area gate, than when she receives him alone in the kitchen.

1872. The Ladies, 29 June, p. 335. If you take into consideration that ‘followers’ are in most houses strictly forbidden, what wonder is it that girls are now and then caught flirting with the butcher and the baker at the area railings?

Follow-me-lads, subs. phr. (common).—Curls or ribands hanging over the shoulder; cf., Fr., suivez-moi-jeune-homme = ribbons flying behind a lady’s dress. Also Followers.

1872. Spectator. ‘Follow-me-lads’ are not in themselves very pretty, though, like any other fashion, they become the Princess, and they are exceedingly costly.

Follow on, subs. phr. and verb (cricket).—A team eighty runs behind the other in the first innings is obliged to follow on; i.e., to take to the wickets a second time. A run more, and it saves the follow on.

1891. Pall Mall Gazette, 5 Aug. ‘Notts. v. Surrey.’ The game, with a possible prospect of the follow-on, being saved.

Follow your nose! intj. phr. (streets’).—A retort on asking the way. The full phrase is, ‘Follow your nose, and you are sure to go straight.’

1620. Percy, Folio MSS., p. 462. He went to the sea syde, and ffollowed his nose.

1854. Notes and Queries, x., p. 66. In what collection of tales published in 1834 shall I find the tale entitled follow your nose?

Foo-foo, subs. (American).—A person of no account; an insignificant idiot; a poop (q.v.).

1837. A Glance at New York (in Bartlett). Don’t know what a foo-foo is? Well, as you’re a greenhorn, I’ll enlighten you. A foo-foo, or an outsider, is a chap that can’t come the big figure.

Fool, subs. (colloquial.)—A dish of gooseberries, boiled with sugar and milk. [Fr., groseilles en foule.] Also, a gull (q.v.).

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., III., 9. ‘Praise of the Dairy Maid.’ A lady, I heard tell, Not far off did dwell, Made her husband a fool, and it pleased him quite well.

1774. Goldsmith, Retaliation. And by the same rule, Magnanimous Goldsmith’s a gooseberry fool.

No Fool, subs. phr. (American colloquial).—A phrase laudatory, applied to neuter nouns. Cf., No Slouch.

1848. Jones, Sketches of Travel, p. 33. I tell you what, Charlston ain’t no fool of a city.

To make a fool of, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To delude. Specifically (venery), to cuckold, or to seduce under promise of marriage.

To fool about (or around), verb. phr. (American).—To dawdle; to trifle with; to be infatuated with; to hang about; to defraud.

1837. A Glance at New York. Mose—Now look a-here, Liz,—I go in for Bill Sykes, ’cause he runs wid our machine; but he musn’t come foolin’ round my gal, or I’ll give him fits.

1884. Hawley Smart, Post to Finish, ch. xvii. From what I hear, you came to Riddleton, fooling after my daughter. Now, I’ll have no caterwauling of that sort.

1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody of Nowhere, p. 124. I should think you had too much ed-u-cash to fool about such a going on.

Fool-finder, subs. (obsolete).—A bum-bailiff.—Grose.

Foolish, adj. (prostitutes’).—Said of a man that pays. ‘Is he flash (q.v.) or foolish = Is he the cully or the other.’—Grose.

Fool-monger, subs. (colloquial).—A person, male or female, living by their wits, e.g., a promoter (q.v.); a betting-man; a swindler. Also Fool-catcher and Fool-trap (q.v.).

Foolometer, subs. (colloquial).—A standard, positive or neuter, whereby to gauge the public taste.

Fool’s Father, subs. phr. (theatrical).—The pantaloon or old ’un. (q.v.)

Fool-sticker, subs. phr. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick. Also Fool-maker.

Fool’s Wedding, subs. phr. (common).—A party of women. For synonyms, see Hen Party.

Fool-trap, subs. (colloquial).—1. A fool-monger (q.v.).

2. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

3. (colloquial).—A high-class harlot.

Foont, subs. (thieves’)—A sovereign [Probably a corruption of Ger. Pfund.] For synonyms, see Canary.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., XL., 502. The mob got me up a break (collection), and I got between five or six foont (sovereigns).

Foot, verb. (common).—1. To acknowledge payment; e.g., to foot a bill; cf., Foot-up.

1848. Durivage, Stray Subjects, p. 183. If our plan succeeded the landlord was to foot the bill, and stand treat.

2. (football and colloquial).—To kick; to hoof (q.v.). Cf., Merchant of Venice, I., 3, You, that did void your rheum upon my beard, And foot me, as you spurn a stranger cur.

1852. Bristed, Upper Ten Thousand, p. 223. Both teams were footing their very best.

To foot it, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To walk. For synonyms, see Pad the Hoof.

1892. Price, From Arctic Ocean to Yellow Sea. The discomfort of having to foot it.

To foot-up, verb. phr. (American colloquial).—To sum up the total (of a bill); to tot up (q.v.). Hence, to pay; to discharge one’s obligations; to reckon up (q.v.); to summarize both merits and defects, and strike a balance. Footing-up = the reckoning, the sum total. Fr., gamberger.

1865. Sala, A Trip to Barbary. The Arab abhors statistics. He won’t be tabulated if he could help it, and were you to go to Algeria, Doctor Colenso, you would find a deeply rooted objection among the people to the reckoning, or footing-up, as the Americans call it, of anything animate or inanimate.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 310. To foot a bill, by paying the amount at the bottom of the account, is a phrase equally well known abroad and with us.

1882. McCabe, New York, XXI., 333. The transactions of ‘the Street’ foot up an almost fabulous sum daily.

1884. G. A. S[ala], in Ill. Lon. News, 29 March, p. 294, col. 3. They foot up (American English) to an almost alarming amount in thousands of dollars.

To put one’s best foot (or leg) foremost, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To use all possible despatch; to exert oneself to the utmost.

1596. Shakspeare, King John, iv., 2. Nay, but make haste; the better foot before.

To put one’s foot into anything, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To make a mess of it; to get into a scrape. The bishop (i.e., the Devil) has put his foot in it (Old English proverb) is said of burned porridge or over-roasted meat.—Grose. Fr., faire une gaffe.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v.

1888. Daily Telegraph, 7 May. Faire une gaffe, in modern Parisian slang, may be best rendered as to put your foot in it.

To have one foot (or leg) in the grave, verb. phr. (common).—On one’s last legs; measured for a funeral sermon. Also as adj.

1825. English Spy, i., pp. 199–200. With one leg in the grave he’ll laugh.

1890. Globe, 15 May, p. 5, col. 2. One-foot-in-the-grave paralytic sort of people.

To pull foot, verb. phr. (American).—To make haste. Variants are to take one’s foot in one’s hand, and to make tracks; but for synonyms, see Absquatulate and Skedaddle.

1825. Neal, Brother Jonathan, Bk. I., ch. iv., How they pulled foot when they seed us commin.

1836. Michael Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. viii. ‘Why, pull foot, captain,’ promptly replied Paul.

1843–4. Haliburton, Sam Slick in England. I look’d up; it was another shower, by gosh. I pulls foot for dear life.

To take Mr. Foot’s horse, verb. phr. (old).—To walk; to go by Shank’s mare (q.v.) For synonyms, see Pad the hoof.

To know the length of one’s foot, verb. phr. (old).—To be well acquainted with one’s character.

1581. Lilly, Euphues, etc. But you shall not know the length of my foot, untill by your cunning you get commendation.

1614. Terence in English. He measures an other man’s foote by his owne last. Hee considers an other mans meaning by his owne intent.

Footer, subs. (Harrow: once common).—1. Short for ‘football.’

2. (University).—A player of football according to Rugby rules.

Foot-hot, adv. (Old English).—In hot haste; hot-foot (q.v.)

1848. Burton, Waggeries, etc., p. 65. I’m darned if I don’t streak it to the Squire’s foot-hot.

Footing, subs. (common).—Money paid on entering upon new duties, or on being received into a workshop or society: as at sea when a comrade first goes aloft. Formerly foot-ale: cf., Garnish. Fr., arroser ses galons = to christen one’s uniform.

1777. Howard, State of Prisons in England and Wales, quoted in J. Ashton’s The Fleet, p. 295. A cruel custom obtains in most of our Gaols, which is that of the prisoners demanding of a new comer garnish, footing, or (as it is called in some London Gaols) chummage.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, I., 48; I must instantly pay down two shillings for my footing.

1788. G. A. Stevens, Adv. of a Speculist, i., 211. I was drove from street to street by women of my own profession, who swore I should not come in their beats until I had paid my footing.

1830. Carleton, Collegian’s Colleen Bawn, 94. ‘Pay your footing now, Master Kyrle Daly, before you go farther,’ said one.

1840. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 3 S., ch. iii. ‘Waiter, half-a-dozen of iced champagne here, to pay for Mr. Slick’s footin’.’

1891. Clark Russell, An Ocean Tragedy, p. 86. I was going aloft and wished to pay my footing.

Footle, verb., and Footling, adj. (colloquial).—To dawdle, trifle, potter; dawdling, trifling, pottering; messing about (q.v.).

Footlicker, subs. (old).—A servant: a lickspittle.

1609. Shakspeare, The Tempest, IV., 1. Do that good mischief which may make this island Thine for ever, and I, thy Caliban, For aye thy foot-licker.

Footlights. To smell the footlights, verb. phr. (theatrical).—To acquire a taste for theatricals. [Footlights = the float (q.v.); the row of burners in front of the stage.]

To smell of the footlights. To carry theatrical concerns and phraseology into private life; to talk shop (q.v.).

Footman’s Inn, subs. phr. (old).—A poor lodging; a jail. Fr., Hôtel de la modestie = the Poor Man’s Arms.

1608. Penniles Parliament of Threedbare Poets. Those that depend on destiny, and not on God, may chance look through a narrow lattice at Footman’s Inn.

1612. Rowland, Knave of Hearts. Which at the heeles so hants his frighted ghost, That he at last in Footman’s-inne must host, Some castle dolorous compos’d of stone, Like (let me see) Newgate is such a one.

Footman’s Maund, subs. phr. (old).—An artificial sore, as from a horse’s bite or kick. The fox’s bite of schoolboys. Also the Scaldrum Dodge, or Maund (q.v.). Maund = a cadger’s sale-basket. Cf., Masons’ Maund.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v. An artificial sore made with unslacked lime, soap, and the rust of old iron, on the back of a beggar’s hand, as if hurt by the bite or kick of a horse.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Foot-riding, subs. (cyclists’).—Walking and wheeling one’s machine instead of riding it.

1887. T. Stevens, Round the World on a Bicycle. Already I realise that there is going to be as much foot-riding as anything for the first part of my journey.

Foot-scamp, subs. (old).—A foot-pad.—G. Parker.

Footstool. See Angels’ Footstool.

Foot-wobbler, subs. (old, soldier’s’).—An infantryman. For synonyms, see Mudcrusher.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Footy, adj. (old).—Contemptible; worthless. Fr., foutu.—Grose.

1836. Michael Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. v. My eye, Captain, no use to dodge from her; it is only dat footy little King’s cutter on de Jamaica station.

Foozle, subs. (common and sporting).—1. A boggle; a miss.

2. (common).—A bore; a fogey; and (in America) a fool; a green ’un. For synonyms, see Buffle, Cabbage-head, and Sammy soft.

1867. Rhoda Broughton, Cometh up as a Flower, ch. xxvi. Frumps and foozles in Eaton Square.

Verb. (common).—To miss; to boggle; to muff (q.v.).

1888. Field, 25 Feb. Park foozled his second stroke.

Foozled (or Foozley), adj. (colloquial).—Blurred in appearance and effect; fuzzy; muffed (q.v.). Often said of badly painted pictures, or parts of pictures.

Fop-doodle, subs. (old).—An insignificant man; a fool.

1689. Shadwell, Bury Fair. Come come, you brace of fop-doodle.

Fop’s Alley, subs. phr. (old).—See quot. 1883.

1782. D’Arblay, Cecilia, bk. II., ch. iv. Sir Robert Floyer, sauntering down fop’s alley.

1883. Sala, Echoes of the Year, p. 369. Fop’s alley was the gangway running parallel to the footlights, between the last row of the stalls and the first row of the pit in Her Majesty’s Theatre, and in its palmiest days it was always graced by the presence of a subaltern of the Guards in full uniform, daintily swinging his bearskin.

Forakers, subs. (Winchester College).—The water-closet. [Formerly spelt foricus and probably a corruption of foricas, an English plural of the Latin forica.] For synonyms, see Mrs. Jones.

Foraminate, verb. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

Force, subs. (colloquial).—The police; properly a body of men trained for action. For synonyms, see Beak and Copper.

1868. Braddon, Trail of the Serpent, bk. IV., ch. vi. ‘I should like to ... bring a child up from the very cradle to the police detective line, to see whether I couldn’t make that ’ere child a ornament to the force.’

1883. Daily Telegraph, 5 April, p. 2, col. 1. But in all my experience of the force, I think I never saw a policeman’s eyes so expressive of gratitude.

To force the voucher, verb. phr. (turf).—It is customary for sporting tricksters to advertise selections and enclose vouchers (similar to those sent out by respectable commission agents) for double or treble the current odds. The correspondent is informed that, in consequence of early investments, the extra odds can be laid; a remittance is requested; the voucher is forced; and then the firm ‘dries up,’ and changes its name and address.

Forcemeat Ball, subs. phr. (old)—Something endured from compulsion: as (1) a rape: (2) going to prison; (3) transportation; (4) an affiliation order; (5) abstention (from drink, pleasure, etc.) through impecuniosity.

Forceps, subs. (old).—The hands. [Properly a pair of surgeon’s pincers.]—For synonyms, see Daddle.

Fore-and-Aft, verb. (venery).—To copulate. See Greens and Ride.

Fore-and-after, subs. phr. (American).—1. See quot.

1840. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 3 S., ch. xi. ‘The way she walks her chalks ain’t no matter. She is a regular fore-and-after.’

2. (venery).—A double-barrelled (q.v.) harlot. [As in the song attributed to an eminent living man of letters: “Sing whore, sing whore, Behind and before, Her price is a shilling—She never gets more.”]

Fore-buttocks, subs. (old).—The paps.—For synonyms, see Dairy.

a. 1745. Swift, Pope, and Arbuthnot, Misc. iv., 222. Now her fore-buttocks to the navel bare.

Forecaster, subs. (venery). The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Fore-coach-wheel, subs. (common).—A half-crown. For synonyms, see Caroon.

Fore-court, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. Also Fore-hatch, Fore-castle, and Fore-room. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Forefoot, subs. (old).—The hand.

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V., II., 1. Give me thy fist; thy forefoot to me give.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

Foregather, verb. (old).—To share the sexual embrace. For synonyms, see Ride.

Forehatch, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. Also Forecastle.

Foreman, subs. (old).—1. The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick. [Cf., Forewoman.]

1647. Ladies’ Parliament (q.v.).

Foreman of the jury, subs. phr. (old).—A babbler; one with the gift of the gab (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew. Foreman of the jury, he that engrosses all the talk to himself.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

Foreskin Hunter, subs. phr. (venery).—A harlot. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

Forest, subs. (venery).—The female pubic hair. For synonyms, see Fleece.

1573–1631. Donne, Elegies, xviii. Yet ere thou be where thou would’st be embayed, Thou must upon another forest set, Where many shipwreck and no further get.

1720. Durfey, Pills, etc., vi., 146. Give me the Country lass, That trips it o’er the field, And opes her forest to the first.

Fore-stall, subs. (thieves’).—In garotting, a look-out in front of the operator, or ugly-man (q.v.); the watch behind is the back-stall (q.v.). [From fore + stall (q.v.).]

Forewoman, subs. (old).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Fork, subs. (old). 1. A pickpocket. Fr., ‘Avoir les mains crochues = to be a light-fingered or lime-fingered filcher; every finger of his hand as good as a lime-twig.’—Cotgrave.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

2. (thieves’).—A finger. The forks = the fore and middle fingers; also cf., (proverbial) ‘Fingers were made before forks.’

English Synonyms.—Claws; cunt-hooks (Grose); daddles (also the hands); divers; feelers; fives; flappers; grapplers; grappling irons; gropers; hooks; nail-bearers; pickers and stealers (Shakspeare); corn-stealers; Ten Commandments; ticklers; pinkies; muck-forks.

French Synonyms.—Les apôtres (thieves’: = the ten Apostles); les fourchettes, or les fourchettes d’Adam (popular: = Adam’s forks); le peigne d’allemand (thieves’: Rabelais).

German Synonyms.—Ezba (= the finger, especially the first or fore-finger. The names of the others are: Godel = the thumb; Ammo = the middle-finger; Kemizo = the ring-finger; Seres, i.e., ‘span’ = the little finger); Griffling (= also the hand. From greifen = to seize).

Spanish Synonyms.—Mandamiento (= a commandment: cf., Ten Commandments); tijeras (= the fore- and middle fingers; Minsheu (1599) Dictionarie, tijeras = ‘small sheares, seizers, snuffers.’).

Portuguese Synonym.—Medunhos.

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 121. My forks were equally long, and they never failed me.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood. ‘Nix my Dolly.’ No dummy hunter had forks so fly. Ibid. Jack Sheppard (1889), p. 20. I’ll give him the edication of a prig—teach him the use of his forks betimes.

1841. Tait’s Edinburgh Mag., VIII., p. 220. My forks were light and fly, and lightly faked away.

1891. Licensed Victuallers’ Gazette, 9 Feb. Up they came briskly with smiling mugs, shook hands, then stepped back a pace or two, put up their forks, and the spectators were hushed into silence, for they saw that the battle was about to begin.

3. In plural (common).—The hands.

4. (old).—A gibbet; in the plural = the gallows. [fork is often applied to anything resembling a divarication (as of a tree, river, or road), etc.: Cf., sense 2. Cf., Cicero (de Div., i., 26). Ferens furcam ductus est: a slave so punished was called furcifer.]

5. (old).—A spendthrift.

1725. New Canting Dict., s.v.

6. (tailors’ and venery).—The crutch (q.v.), nockandro (q.v.), or Twist (q.v.). [Thus, a bit on a fork = the female pudendum; a grind (q.v.).] Fr., ‘Fourcheure, that part of the bodie from whence the thighs depart.’—Cotgrave.

Verb (old).—1. To steal; specifically to pick a pocket by inserting the middle and forefinger. Also to put one’s forks down: Fr., vol à la fourchette.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew. Let’s fork him, c. Let us pick that man’s pocket, the newest and most dextrous way; it is to thrust the fingers straight, stiff, open, and very quick into the pocket, and so closing them hook what can be held between them.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. Let us fork him.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. xvi. Yet so keen was his appetite for the sport, that the veteran appropriator absolutely burst into tears at not having ‘forked more.’

1878. C. Hindley, Life and Times of James Catnach. Frisk the Cly and fork the Rag, Draw the fogies plummy.

2. (venery).—To open up, or spread (q.v.).

To fork out, or over (sometimes abbreviated to fork). Verb. phr. (common).—To hand over; to pay; to shell out (q.v.).

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. xxxi. The person fork him out ten shiners.

1836. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 84. His active mind at once perceived how much might be done in the way of ... shoving the old and helpless into the wrong buss, and carrying them off ... till they was rig’larly done over, and forked out the stumpy.

1837. Barham, I. L., The Execution. He Pulls up at the door of a gin-shop, and gaily Cries, ‘What must I fork out to night, my trump, For the whole first-floor of the Magpie and Stump?’

1840. Comic Almanack. ‘Tom the Devil,’ p. 214. ‘That’s a nate way of doin’ business, sure enough,’ was the commentary; ‘ounly I can’t larn the sinse of going to a private lodging, where, if you ordher a kidney for breakfast, you’re expected to fork out to the butcher.’

1852. H. B. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ch. viii. You’ve got to fork over fifty dollars, flat down, or this child don’t start a peg.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, Bk. III., ch. i. ‘Now,’ said Fledgeby, ‘fork out your balance in hand, and prove by figures how you make it out that it ain’t more.’

1867. Albany Argus, 5 Sept. Now, sir, you will please fork over that money to me, and pay your bill, or I’ll have the law out of you, as sure as you are born.

1887. Lippincott’s Magazine, Aug., p. 199. Just calculate my percentage of our liabilities, and allow me to fork over.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 9 Sept. The dozen screw-drivers came up C. O. D. and he had to fork over for them.

To fork on, verb. phr. (American).—To appropriate. Cf., To freeze on to.

To pitch the fork, verb. phr. (popular).—To tell a pitiful tale.

To eat vinegar with a fork, verb. phr. (common).—A person either over-shrewd or over-snappish is said to have eaten vinegar with a fork. Fr., Avoir mangé de l’oseille. See Nettle.

Forker, subs. (nautical).—A dockyard thief or fence (q.v.). [From fork = to steal + er.]

Forking, subs. (thieves’).—1. Thieving. See Fork.

2. (tailors’).—Hurrying and scamping (q.v.).

Forkless, adj. (thieves’).—Clumsy; unworkmanlike; as without forks (q.v.).

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 40. I met George Bagrie, and William Paterson, alias old Hag, two very willing, but poor snibs, accompanying a lushy cove, and going to work in a very forkless manner.

Forloper, subs. (South African).—A teamster guide.

Forlorn Hope, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A gamester’s last stake.—Grose.

Form, subs. (turf.)—1. Condition; training; fitness for a contest.

In or out of form = in or out of condition, i.e., fit or unfit for work. Better or Top form, etc. (in comparison). Cf., Colour.

1861. Walsh, The Horse, ch. vi. If it be supposed that two three-year-olds, carrying the same weight, could run a mile and a-half, and come in abreast, it is said that the form of one is equal to that of the other.

1884. Hawley Smart, Post to Finish, ch. xxxv. When fillies, in racing parlance, lose their form at three years old, they are apt to never recover it.

1868. Whyte Melville, White Rose, ch. xxxiv. That mysterious property racing men call ‘form.’

2. (colloquial).—Behaviour (with a moral significance: as good form, bad form = agreeable to good manners, breeding, principles, taste, etc., or the opposite). This usage, popularised in racing circles, is good literary English, though the word is commonly printed in inverted commas(“ ”): Shakspeare (Two Gentlemen of Verona, 4), says, ‘Can no way change you to a milder form,’ i.e., manner of behaviour.

1871. Orchestra, 13 Jan. This squabble at the Globe may most fitly, perhaps, be characterised by the words ‘bad form.’

1871. The Drawing Room Gazette, Dec. 9, p. 5. It is an open question, whether snubbing be not, like cutting, in the worst possible ‘form.’

1873. Belgravia, Feb. The demeanour and conduct which the ‘golden youth’ of the period call ‘good form’ was known to their fathers as bad manners.

1881. Jas. Payn, Grape from a Thorn, ch. xvii. It would be considered what they call ‘bad form’ in my daughter Ella if she were known to be a contributor—for pay—to the columns of a magazine.

1890. Speaker, 22 Feb, p. 211, col. 2. Still, after all, we doubt very much whether it be fair, or right, or even prudent—it certainly is not ‘good form’—to publish to a world of Gallios a lot of irreverent bar-mess and circuit ‘good stories,’ worked up about living Lord Chancellors, Lord Justices, and other present occupants of the judicial bench.

3. (common).—Habit; game (q.v.): e.g., ‘That’s my form = That’s what I’m in the way of doing’; or ‘That’s the sort of man I am.’

1884. Punch, 11 Oct. ‘’Arry at a Political Picnic.’ Athletics ain’t hardly my form.

Forney, subs. (thieves’).—A ring; a variant of fawney (q.v.).

1871. Egan, Finish of Tom and Jerry, p. 243. He sports a diamond forney on his little finger.

Fornicating-engine (-member; -tool), subs. phr. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Fornicator, subs. (venery).—1. The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

2. In pl. (obsolete),—The old-fashioned flap trousers.

Fornicator’s Hall, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Fort, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

1620. Percy, Folio MSS. [Hales & Furnivall, 1867]. ‘Come, Wanton Wenches.’ When they your ffort beleauger; grant but a touch or a kisse ffor a tast.

Fortune-biter, subs. (obsolete).—A sharper.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., ii. ‘Hey! for Richmond Ball’! Fortune-biters, Hags, bum-fighters, Nymphs of the Woods, And stale City goods.

Fortune-teller, subs. (old).—A magistrate.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew. Fortune-tellers, c. the Judges of Life and Death, so-called by the Canting Crew.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue. Fortune-teller, or cunning man; a judge who tells every prisoner his fortune, lot, or doom; to go before the fortune-teller, lambskin man or conjuror, to be tried at an assize.

1871. Egan, Finish of Tom and Jerry, p. 242. He had been werry cruelly used by the fortune-tellers.

Forty. To talk forty (more commonly nineteen) to the dozen, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To chatter incessantly; to gabble. To walk off forty to the dozen = to decamp in quick time.

1891. Farjeon, Mystery of M. Felix, p. 107. He run agin me, he did, and I ased, ‘Who are yer pushing of?’ He didn’t say nothink, but walked off forty to the dozen.

Roaring forties, subs. phr. (nautical).—The Atlantic between the fortieth and fiftieth degrees of latitude; also applied to the same region in southern latitudes.

Forty-faced, adj. (colloquial).—An arrant deceiver: e.g., a forty-faced liar, a forty-faced flirt, and so forth.

Forty-five, subs. (American).—A revolver. For synonyms, see Meat in the pot.

Forty-foot or Forty-guts, subs. (common).—A fat, dumpy man, or woman. In contempt.

English Synonyms.—‘All arse, and no body’; arse-and-corporation; all-belly (Cotgrave); all guts (idem); bacon-belly; barrel-belly; belly-god; bladder-figured; bosse-belly; Bosse of Billingsgate (Florio = a fat woman); chuff (Shakspeare); Christmas beef; double-guts; double-tripe; fat-cock; fat-guts (Shakspeare and Cotgrave); fatico; fattymus or fattyma; fubsy; fat Jack of the bonehouse; fat-lips; flanderkin; fustiluggs (Burton); fussock; gorbelly; grampus; gotch-guts; grand-guts (Florio); gulche (Florio); gullyguts; gundigutts; guts; guts-and-stomach; guts-and-garbage; guts-to-sell; hoddy-doddy; humpty-dumpty; hogshead; hopper-arse; Jack Weight; loppers; lummox; paunch; pod; porpoise; pot-guts; princod; pudding-belly; puff-guts; ribs; ‘short-and-thick-like-a-Welshman’s-cock’; slush-bucket; sow (a fat woman); spud; squab; studgy-guts; tallow-guts; tallow-merchant; thick-in-the-middle; tripes; tripes and trullibubs; tubs; waist; water-butt; walking ninepin; whopper.

French Synonyms. Un gros bajaf (popular); un bout de cul (popular); un bas de plafond, or de cul (popular); un brasset (= a tall, stout man); un berdouillard.

Spanish Synonym. Angelon de retablo (generally applied to a pot-bellied child).

Forty-jawed, adj. (colloquial).—Excessively talkative.

Forty-lunged, adj. (colloquial).—Stentorian; given to shouting; leather-lunged (q.v.).

Forty-rod or Forty-rod Lightning, subs. phr. (American).—Whiskey; specifically, spirit of so fiery a nature that it is calculated to kill at Forty Rods’ distance, i.e., on sight. Cf., Rot-gut. For synonyms, see Drinks and Old man’s milk. Cf., Florio (1598), Catoblepa, ‘a serpent in India so venomous that with his looke he kils a man a mile off.’

1884. M. Twain, Huck. Finn, ch. v., p. 36. He got powerful thirsty and clumb out on to the porch-roof and slid down a stanchion, and traded his new coat for a jug of forty-rod.

Forty-twa, subs. (Scots).—A common jakes, or bogshop (q.v.).—In Edinburgh: ‘so called from its accommodating that number of persons at once’ (Hotten). [Long a thing of the past.]

Forty Winks, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A short sleep or nap. See Dog’s Sleep.

1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, ch. xliii. She was prevented by the appearance of old Mr. Transome, who since his walk had been having ‘forty-winks’ on the sofa in the library.

1871. Egan, Finish to Tom and Jerry, p. 87. On uncommanly big gentlemen, told out, taking forty-winks.

[Forty is often used to signify an indefinite number; cf., Shakespeare’s usage, ‘I could beat forty of them’ (Cor. iii., 1); ‘O that the slave had forty thousand lives’ (Othello iii., 1); ‘forty thousand brothers’ (Hamlet, v., 1); ‘The Humour of Forty Fancies’ (Taming of the Shrew); and Jonson ‘Some forty boxes’ (Silent Woman).]

Fossed, ppl. adj. (American thieves’).—Thrown; cf., [foss = a ditch].

Fossick, verb (Australian miners’).—To work an abandoned claim, or to wash old dirt; hence to search persistently. [Halliwell: = to take trouble, but cf., fosse, a ditch or excavation.] Also fossicking = a living got as aforesaid; fossicker = a man that works abandoned claims; fossicking about = (American) shinning around, or in England ferreting (q.v.).

1870. Notes and Queries, 4 S., vi., p. 3.

1878. Fraser’s Mag., Oct., p. 449, They are more suited ... to plodding, fossicking, persevering industry, than for hard work.

1887. Sala, in Ill. Lond. News, 12 Mar., p. 282, col. 2. ‘To fossick’ in the old digging days was to get a living by extracting gold from the refuse wash-dirt which previous diggers had abandoned as worthless.

1890. Illustrations, Jan., p. 158. After some ‘fossiking’ we discover three or four huts within ‘cooee,’ all diggers, all ‘hatters,’ and mostly good fellows.

Fou, or Fow, adj. (old English and Scots’ colloquial).—Drunk; variants are bitch-fou; greetin’-fou; piper-fou; roaring-fou; fou as barty (Burns); pissing-fou; and so forth. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed. Also (Scots’) = full of food or drink, as in quot. under date 1815.

1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, III., ii. (quoted in). Then sit ye awhile, and tipple a bit, For we’s not very fou, but we’re gayly yet.

1787. Burns, Death and Dr. Hornbook, st. 3. I was na fou, but just had plenty.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xlvi. ‘Are ye fou or fasting?’ ‘Fasting from all but sin.’

1857. J. E. Ritchie, Night Side of London, p. 166. The time admits of a man getting fou between the commencement and the close of the entertainment.

Foul, subs. (nautical and aquatic).—A running into; a running down.

Verb. (idem).—To run against; to run down. Also to come (or fall) foul of.

[Foul, adj. and verb. is used in two senses: (1) = dirty, as a foul word, a foul shrew (Dickens), to foul the bed, &c.; and (2) = unfair, as a foul (i.e., a felon) stroke, a foul blow, and so forth.]

1626. Captain John Smith, Accidence for Seamen, in wks. (Arber), p. 796. Boord and boord, or thwart the hawse, we are foule on each other.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Foul, hindred or intangled with another ship’s ropes, etc.

1754. Connoisseur, No. 3. Which sailed very heavy, were often a-ground, and continually ran foul on each other.

1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xiii. Their coxswain ... had to pull his left hand hard or they would have fouled the Oxfordshire corner.

1885 Illus. London News, March 28, p. 316, col. 1. In 1849 there were two races in the course of the year; Cambridge won the first, Oxford the second, on a foul (the only time the race has been so won).

1889. Licensed Victuallers’ Gaz., 18 Jan. Dick was done out of the stakes on an appeal of foul.

To foul a plate with, verbal phr. (old, colloquial).—To dine or sup with.—Grose.

Foulcher, subs. (thieves’).—A purse.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 243. ‘A foulcher, with flimsies and couters for a score of quid in it.’

Foul-mouthed, adj. (colloquial).—Obscene or blasphemous in speech.

Found in a Parsley-bed. See Parsley-bed and Gooseberry-bush.

Fountain of Love, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Four-and-nine (or Four-and-ninepenny), subs. phr. (old).—A hat. [So-called from the price at which an enterprising Bread Street hatter sold his hats, circa 1844, at which date London was hideous with posters displaying a large black hat and ‘4s. and 9d.’ in white letters.]

1844. Advertisement Couplet. Whene’er to slumber you incline, Take a short nap at four-and-nine.

1846. Thackeray, Yellow Plush Papers, p. 152 (ed. 1887). You may, for instance, call a coronet a coronal (an ‘ancestral coronal,’ p. 74) if you like, as you might call a hat a ‘swart sombrero,’ a ‘glossy four-and-nine,’ ‘a silken helm to storm impermeable, and lightsome as the breezy gossamer;’ but in the long run it is safer to call it a hat.

1847. Thackeray, Mrs. Perkins’s Ball (The Mulligan). The Mulligan has withdrawn his custom from the ‘infernal four-and-ninepenny scoundthrel,’ as he calls him. The hatter has not shut up shop in consequence.

1849. Viator, Oxford Guide. He then did raise his four-and-nine, And scratched his shaggy pate.

1867. Jas. Greenwood, Unsent. Journeys, xxx., 229. Because he wore a four-and-nine, and had a pencil stuck behind his ear.

Four-bones, subs. (thieves’).—The knees.

1857. Punch, 31 Jan. ‘Dear Bill, This Stone-jug.’ For them coves in Guildhall and that blessed Lord Mayor, Prigs on their four bones should chop whiners I swear.

Four-eyes, subs. (common).—A person in spectacles: ‘a chap that can’t believe his own eyes.’

Four-holed Middlings, subs. phr. (Winchester College).—Ordinary walking shoes; cf. beeswaxers. Obsolete.

Four Kings. The history (or book) of the four kings. subs. phr. (old).—A pack of cards; otherwise, a child’s best guide to the gallows, or the devil’s picture books. Fr., Livre des quatre rois.

Four-legged burglar-alarm, subs. phr. (common).—A watch dog.

Four-legged Frolic, subs. phr. (venery).—The act of kind: a reminiscence of the proverb, ‘There goes more to a marriage than four bare legs in a bed.’ For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

Four-poster, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A four-post bedstead.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xliv. ‘Vill you allow me to en-quire vy you make up your bed under that ere deal table?’ said Sam. ‘’Cause I was alvays used to a four-poster afore I came here, and I find the legs of the table answer just as well,’ replied the cobbler.

Four Seams and a Bit of Soap, subs. phr. (tailors’).—A pair of trousers. See Kicks.

Four—(more commonly Three)—Sheets in the Wind, adv. phr. (nautical).—Drunk; cf., half seas over. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Fourteen Hundred, ... phr. (Stock Exchange).—A warning cry that a stranger is in the ‘House.’

1887. Atkin, House Scraps. So, help me Got, Mo, who is he? Instead of replying in a straightforward way, Mo raised his voice as loud as he could, and shouted with might and main, ‘fourteen hundred new fives!’ A hundred voices repeated the mysterious exclamation.

1890. Cassell’s Saturday Journal, 26 April. The cry of ‘fourteen hundred’ is said to have had its origin in the fact that for a long while the number of members never exceeded 1,399; and it was customary to hail every new comer as the fourteen hundredth. It has, in its primary sense, long since lost significance, for there are now nearly three thousand members of the close corporation which has its home in Capel Court.

Fourteenth Amendment Persuasion, subs. phr. (American).—Negroes. [From the number of the clause amending the Constitution at the abolition of slavery.]

1888. Times Democrat, 5 Feb. To take the law is one of the greatest privileges in the estimation of the colored folk that the fourteenth amendment conferred, and, whether offender or defendant, they take a pride in summonses beyond describing.

Fourth, subs. (Cambridge University).—A rear (q.v.) or jakes. [Origin uncertain; said to have been first used at St. John’s or Trinity, where the closets were situated in the Fourth Court. Whatever its derivation, the term is now the only one in use at Cambridge, and is frequently heard outside the university.] The verbal phrase is to keep a fourth (see Keep).

On his fourth, phr. (common).—Hopelessly drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Fourth Estate, subs. phr. (literary).—The body of journalists; the ‘Press.’ [Literally the Fourth Estate of the realm, the other three being Queen, Lords, and Commons.]

1855. Notes and Queries. 1 S. xi., p. 452.

1857. J. E. Ritchie, Night Side of London, p. 202. Let me say a word about these exceedingly seedy-looking individuals connected with the fourth estate.

Four-wheeler, subs. (common).—A steak.

2. (colloquial).—A four-wheeled cab; a growler (q.v.).

1873. Black, Princess of Thule, ch. 10. Having sent an all their luggage by a respectable old four-wheeler.

Fousty, adj. (colloquial).—Stinking [probably derived from foist, sense 3].

Fouter, verb, and Foutering, subs. (common).—To meddle, importune, waste time and tongue; the act of meddling, importunity, wasting time and tongue. E.g., ‘Don’t come foutering here!’ [From the French, foutre: the sense of which is intensified in a vulgarism of still fuller flavour].

Fox, subs. (old).—A sword; specifically, the old English broadsword. [Derivation dubious. Suggestions are: (1) from a maker’s name; (2) from the fox sometimes engraved on the blade; (3) from the Latin falx.] For synonyms, see Cheese-toaster and Poker.

1598, Shakspeare, Henry V., 4. O signieur Dew, thou dy’st on point of fox.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, ii. A fellow that knows nothing but a basket-hilt, and an old fox in’t.

c. 1640. [Shirley], Captain Underwit, in Bullen’s Old Plays, ii., 321. Un. An old fox blade made at Hounsloe heath.

1667. Shirley, Love Tricks, Act II., Sc. 1. They say your swords most commonly are foxes, and have notable metal in them.

1700. Congreve, Way of the World, Act V., Sc. 10. Sir, I have an old fox by my thigh shall hack your instrument of ram vellum to shreds, Sir.

1821. Scott, Kenilworth, ch. iv. ‘Come, come, comrade,’ said Lambourne, ‘here is enough done, and more than enough, put up your fox, and let us be jogging.’

Verb (old).—1. To intoxicate. Foxed = drunk; to catch a fox = to be very drunk; while to flay the fox (Urquhart) = to vomit, to shed your liquor, i.e., to get rid of the beast.

1611. Barry, Ram Alley, Act IV. They will bib hard; they will be fine sunburnt, Sufficient fox’d or columber’d now and then.

1633. Heywood, Eng. Travellers, IV., v., p. 266 (Mermaid Series). Rioter. Worthy Reginald. Reig. Will, if he now come off well, fox you all, Go, call for wine.

c. 1640. [Shirley], Captain Underwit, in Bullen’s Old Plays, ii. 375. Then to bee fox’d it is no crime, Since thickest and dull braines It makes sublime.

1661. T. Middleton, Mayor of Quinborough, V., i. Ah, blind as one that had been fox’d a sevennight.

1673. Shadwell, Epsom Wells, IV., in wks. (1720), ii., 248. But here’s my cup. Come on. Udsooks, I begin to be fox’d!

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 194. Come, let’s trudge it to Kirkham Fair: There’s stout liquor enough to fox me.

1738. Swift, Polite Convers., Dial. 2. Lady Sm. But, Sir John, your ale is terrible strong and heady.... Sir John. Why, indeed, it is apt to fox one.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Fox (v.) ... also to make a person drunk or fuddled.

1891. Sporting Times, 11 April. And so to bed well nigh seven in the morning, and myself as near foxed as of old.

2. (old).—To cheat; to trick; to rob (colloquial at Eton). For synonyms, see Gammon.

1631. Mayne, City Match, iii., 1. Fore Jove, the captain foxed him rarely.

1866. Notes and Queries, 3, S. x., 123. Where the tramps ... out of their gout are foxed.

3. (common).—To watch closely. Also to fox about. Cf., fox’s sleep. For synonyms, see Nose.

1880. Greenwood, Odd People in Odd Places, p. 61. ‘You keep it going pretty loud here, with a couple of policemen foxing about just outside.’

4. (colloquial).—To sham.

1880. One and All, 6 Nov., p. 296, ‘Let us look at these vagabons; maybe they’re only foxin’.’ The two men who had received such tangible mementos of the whip-handle and the blackthorn lay perfectly still.

5. (American).—To play truant.

6. (booksellers’).—To stain; to discolour with damp; said of books and engravings. Foxed = stained or discoloured.

1881. C. M. I[ngleby] in Notes and Queries (6th S., iv., 96). Tissue paper harbours damp, and in a damp room will assuredly help to fox the plates which they face.

1885. Austin Dobson, At the Sign of the Lyre, 83. And the Rabelais foxed and flea’d.

7. (theatrical).—To criticise a ‘brother pro’s’ performance.

8. (common).—To mend a boot by ‘capping’ it.

To set a fox to keep one’s geese, phr. (common).—To entrust one’s money, or one’s circumstances, to the care of sharpers. Latin, Ovem lupo commisisti.

To make a fox paw, verb. phr. (common).—To make a mistake or a wrong move; specifically (of women) to be seduced. [A corruption of the Fr. faux pas.]

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue.

Fox’s Sleep, subs. phr. (common).—A state of feigned yet very vigilant indifference to one’s surroundings. [Foxes were supposed to sleep with one eye open.]

1830. Sir J. Barrington, Personal Sketches, Vol. III., p. 171 (ed. 1832). Mr. Fitzgerald, he supposed, was in a fox’s sleep, and his bravo in another, who, instead of receding at all, on the contrary squeezed the attorney closer and closer.

Foxy, adj. (colloquial).—1. Red-haired; cf., carrotty.

1828. G. Griffin, Collegians, ch. ii. Dunat O’Leary, the hair-cutter, or Foxy Dunat, as he was named in allusion to his red head.

2. (colloquial).—Cunning; vulpine in character and look. Once literary. Jonson (1605) calls his arch-foist volpone, the second title of his play being ‘The Fox;’ and Florio (1598) defines Volpone as ‘an old fox, an old reinard, an old, crafty, sly, subtle companion, sneaking, lurking, wilie deceiver.’

d. 1536. Tyndale, Workes, p. 148. Oh, foxy Pharisay, that is thy leuen, of which Christ so diligently bad vs beware.

1849. Dickens, David Copperfield, ch. xlix., p. 429. Whatever his state of health may be his appearance is foxy, not to say diabolical.

3. (American cobblers’).—Repaired with new toe-caps. See fox, verb, sense 8.

1877. M. Twain, Life on the Mississippi, ch. lvii., p. 503. It was the scarecrow Dean—in foxy shoes, down at the heels; socks of odd colours, also ‘down.’

4. (booksellers’).—A term applied to prints and books discoloured by damp; see Fox, verb, sense 6.

5. (painters’: obsolete).—Inclined to reddishness.

d. 1792. Sir J. Reynolds, Notes on Dufresnoy. That (style) of Titian, which may be called the Golden manner, when unskilfully managed, becomes what the painters call foxy.

6. (common).—Strong-smelling. Said of a red-haired man or woman.

Foy, subs. (old).—A cheat; a swindle.

1615. Greene, Thieves Falling Out. You be crossbites, foys, and nips.

Foyl-cloy, subs. (old).—A pickpocket; a rogue—B. E. [1690].

Foyst, subs. and verb. See Foist.

Foyster. See Foister.

Fraggle, verb. (Texas).—To rob.

Fragment, subs. (Winchester College).—A dinner for six (served in College Hall, after the ordinary dinner), ordered by a Fellow in favour of a particular boy, who was at liberty to invite five others to join him. Obs. A fragment was supposed to consist of three dishes.—Winchester Word-book [1891].

Framer, subs. (American thieves’).—A shawl.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Frater, subs. (old).—A beggar working with a false petition.

1567. Harman, Caveat, s.v. Frater, a beggar wyth a false paper.

1622. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii., 1. And these what name or title e’er they bear, Jarkman, or Patrico, Cranke, or Clapper-dudgeon, Frater, or Abramman, I speak to all That stand in fair election for the title Of king of beggars.

1791. Life of Bamfylde Moore-Carew. ‘Oath of Canting Crew.’ Rogue or rascal, frater, maunderer, Irish toyle, or other wanderer.

Fraud, subs. (colloquial).—A failure; anything or body disappointing expectation; e.g., an acquaintance, a picture, a book, a play, a picture, a bottle of wine. Actual dishonesty is not necessarily implied.

1882. Punch, LXXXII., p. 177, col. 1. A fraud, Charlie!

Fraze. See Vessel.

Freak, subs. (American showmen’s). A living curiosity: as the Siamese Twins, the Two-headed Nightingale. [Short for ‘freak of nature.’]

Free, adj. (Oxford University).—Impudent; self-possessed.

1864. Tennyson, Northern Farmer, (Old Style), line 25.—But parson a coomes an’ a goos, an’ a says it eäsy an’ freeä.

Verb. (old).—To steal; cf., annex and convey. For synonyms, see Prig.

1857. Snowden, Magistrates’ Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 444. To steal a muff. To free a cat.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

1882. McCabe, New York, ch. xxxiv., p. 509. (Given in list of slang terms.)

Free-fucking, subs. (venery).—General lewdness. Also the favour gratis. Also fidelity to the other sex at large.

Free of Fumbler’s Hall, adv. phr. (venery).—Impotent; unable to do ‘the trick.’ [Fumbler’s Hall = female pudendum.]

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue s.v., A saying of one who cannot get his wife with child.

Free, gratis,—for nothing, phr. (common).—A pleonastic vulgarism. Cf., On the dead.

To make free with both ends of the busk, verb. phr. (venery).—To take liberties with a woman. Cf., Both ends of the busk.

Free of the house, adj. phr. (colloquial).—Intimate; privileged to come and go at will.

Free of the bush, adj. phr. (venery).—On terms of extreme intimacy. See Bush.

[For the rest, the commonest sense of free is one of liberality: e.g., free of his foolishness = full of chaff; free-handed = lavish in giving; free-hearted = generously disposed; free of her favours = liberal of her person: free of his patter = full of talk.]

Free-and-Easy, subs. (common).—A social gathering where you smoke, drink, and sing; generally held at a public house.

1796. (In Bee’s Dict. of the Turf, published 1823, s.v.). Twenty seven years ago the cards of invitation to that (free-and-easy) at the ‘Pied Horse,’ in Moorfields, had the notable ‘N.B.—Fighting allowed.’

1810. Crabbe, The Borough, Letter 10. Clubs. Next is the club, where to their friends in town, Our country neighbours once a-month come down; We term it free-and-easy, and yet we Find it no easy matter to be free.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Free-and-easy Johns. A society which meets at the Hole in the Wall, Fleet Street, to tipple porter, and sing bawdry.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry (ed. 1890), p. 91. Blew a cloud at a free-and-easy.

1843. Macaulay, Essays: Gladstone on Church and State. Clubs of all ranks, from those which have lined Pall-Mall and St. James’s Street with their palaces, down to the free-and-easy which meets in the shabby parlour of the village inn.

1869. Mrs. H. Wood, Roland Yorke, ch. xii. He tilted himself on to a high stool in the middle of the room, his legs dangling, just as though he had been at a free-and-easy meeting.

1880. Jas. Greenwood, Odd People in Odd Places, p. 64. A roaring trade is done, for instance, on a Saturday evening at the ‘Medley’ in Hoxton, a combination of theatre and music-hall, and serves as a free-and-easy chiefly for boys and girls.

1891. Cassell’s Saturday Journal, Sept., p. 1068, col. 3. The free-and-easy of to-day among us is a species of public-house party, at which much indifferent liquor and tobacco are consumed, songs are sung, and speeches are got rid of.

Freebooker, subs. (journalists’).—A ‘pirate’ bookseller or publisher; a play on the word freebooter.

Free fight, subs. (colloquial).—A general mellay.

1877. W. Mark, Green Past. and Picc., ch. xxx. That vehement German has been insisting on the Irish porters bringing up all our luggage at once; and as there has been a sort of free fight below he comes fuming upstairs.

Free-fishery, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Freeholder, subs. (venery).—1. A prostitute’s lover or fancyman. Cf., Free-fishery, and for synonyms, see Joseph.

2. (old).—A man whose wife insists on accompanying him to a public house.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v. 1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Free-lance, subs. (common).—An habitual adulteress.

c. 1889. (Quoted from Spectator in ‘Slang, Jargon, and Cant’). Sooner than be out of the fashion they will tolerate what should be most galling and shaming to them—the thought that by these they are put down among the free-lances.

Also said of a journalist attached to no particular paper.

Freeman, subs. (venery).—A married woman’s lover.

Freeman of bucks, subs. phr. (old).—A cuckold. [In allusion to the horn.] Grose.

To freeman, or to make a freeman of, verb. phr. (schoolboys’).—To spit on the penis of a new comer. Also To Freemason.

Freeman’s Quay. To drink, or lush, at freeman’s quay, verb. phr. (old).—To drink at another’s expense. [Freeman’s Quay was a celebrated wharf near London Bridge, and the saying arose from the beer that was given to porters, carmen, and others going there on business.]

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Freeze, subs. (colloquial).—1. The act or state of freezing; a frost.

2. (old).—Hard cider.—Grose.

Verb. (American).—1. To long for intensely; e.g., ‘to freeze to go back,’ said of the home-sick; ‘to freeze for meat.’

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West (1887), p. 129. Threats of vengeance on every Redskin they met were loud and deep; and the wild war songs round their nightly camp-fires, and grotesque scalp-dances, borrowed from the Indians, proved to the initiated that they were, one and all, half-froze for hair.

2. (thieves’).—Hence, to appropriate; to steal; ‘to stick to.’

3. (old).—To adulterate or balderdash (q.v.) wine with freeze (q.v. sense 2).—Grose.

To freeze to (or on to), verb. phr. (American).—To take a strong fancy to; to cling to; to, keep fast hold of; and (of persons) to button-hole or shadow.

1883. Graphic, 17 March, p. 287, col. 1. If there was one institution which the Anglo-Indian froze to more than another, it was his sit-down supper and—its consequences.

1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, 2 March. The competence of a juror was judged by his ability to shake ready-formed opinions and freeze on to new ones.

To Freeze Out, verb. phr. (American).—To compel to withdraw from society by cold and contemptuous treatment; from business by competition or opposition; from the market by depressing prices or rates of exchange.

Freezer, subs. (common).—1. A tailless Eton jacket; cf., Bum-perisher. For synonyms, see Monkey-jacket.

2. (colloquial).—A very cold day. By analogy, a chilling look, address, or retort.

French-elixir (cream, lace, or article), subs. phr. (common).—Brandy. [The custom of taking of brandy with tea and coffee was originally French.—Whence French Cream. Laced tea = tea dashed with spirits].

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. ix. ‘Get out the gallon punch-bowl, and plenty of lemons. I’ll stand for the French article by the time I come back, and we’ll drink the young Laird’s health.’

1821. Real Life, i., p. 606. Not forgetting blue ruin and French lace.

English Synonyms.—Ball-of-fire; bingo; cold tea; cold nantz; red ribbon.

French Synonyms.—Le parfait amour du chiffonnier (i.e., ragman’s happiness = coarse brandy); le trois-six (popular: = rot-gut); fil-en-quatre, fil-en-trois, fil-en-six (specifically, old brandy, but applied to spirits generally); le dur (= a drop of hard: common); le raide (popular = a drop of stiff): le chenique or chnic (popular:); le rude (popular: = a drop of rough, i.e., coarse brandy); l’eau d’affe (thieves’); le pissat d’âne (popular: = donkey’s piss; sometimes applied to bad beer, which is likewise called pissat de vache); l’avoine (military = hay, as who should say ‘a nose bag’); le blanc (popular = brandy or white wine); le possédé (thieves’: bingo); le raspail (popular:); le cric (popular: also crik, crique, or cricque = rough brandy:); le schnaps (popular); le schnick (common: = bad brandy); le camphre (popular: = camphor; applied to the coarsest spirit); le sacré-chien or sacré-chien tout pur (common: = the vilest sold); casse-poitrine (common: = brandy heightened with pepper; cf., rot-gut); le jaune (rag-pickers’: = a drop of yellow); tord-boyaux (popular = twist-gut); la consolation (popular = a drop of comfort); requiqui (workmen’s); eau de mort (common: = death-water); le Tripoli (rank brandy); casse-gueule (= ‘kill-the-carter’; applied to all kinds of spirits).

French Fake. subs. phr. (nautical).—The fashion of coiling a rope by taking it backwards and forwards in parallel bands, so that it may run easily.

French Gout (or Disease, Fever, etc.), subs. phr. (common).—Sometimes clap (q.v.), but more generally and correctly syphilis, Morbus Gallicus, especially with older writers. For synonyms, see Ladies Fever. Also The Frenchman. French Pox = a very bad variety of syphilis. The French themselves always refer to the ailment as the mal de Naples, for which see Marston (1598) and his ‘Naples canker,’ and Florio (1598) mal di Napoli = French pocks. Cf., Shakspeare, Henry V., v., 1. News have I that my Nell is dead i’ the spital Of malady of France.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Lue, a plague.... It is also used for the French poxe.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie. Mal de Naples, the French Pocks.

1690. B. E. Dict. of the Canting Crew. (s.v.).

1740. Poor Robin. Some gallants will this month be so penurious that they will not part with a crack’d groat to a poor body, but on their cockatrice or punquetto will bestow half a dozen taffety gowns, who in requittal bestows on him the French pox.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. He suffered by a blow over the snout with a French faggot-stick; i.e., he lost his nose by the pox.

Frenchified, adj. (old).—Clapped; more generally and accurately poxed.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. Frenchified, infected with the venereal disease; the mort is frenchified = the wench is infected.

French Leave, To take French leave. verb. phr. (colloquial).—(1) To decamp without notice; (2) to do anything without permission; (3) to purloin or steal; (4) to run away (as from an enemy). [Derivation obscure; French, probably traceable to the contempt engendered during the wars with France; the compliment is returned in similar expressions (see Synonyms) + leave = departure or permission to depart. Sense 1 is probably the origin of senses 2, 3, and 4. See Notes and Queries, 1 S. i, 246; 3 S. vi, 17; 5 S. xii, 87; 6 S. v, 347, 496; viii, 514; ix, 133, 213, 279; 7 S. iii, 5, 109, 518.]

English Synonyms.—To retire up (one’s fundament); to slope; to smouge; to do a sneak; to take the Frenchman; to vamoose.

French Synonyms.—S’escarpiner (popular: = to flash one’s pumps); escarpin = a dancing shoe; jouer de l’escarpin = to ply one’s pumps, (16th century); s’échapper, s’esquiver, filer, disparaître, s’éclipser, se dérober, se retirer, and s’en aller à l’anglaise (= to take English leave); pisser à l’anglaise (= to do an English piss, i.e., affect a visit to the urinal); prendre sa permission sous son coude (popular: literally to take one’s leave under one’s arm); ficher or foutre le camp.

German Synonyms.—Französischen Abschied nehmen (= to take French leave: from Gutzkow, R., 4, 88, etc., born 1811); französischer Abschied (Iffland, 1759–1814, 5, 3, 117); auf gut französisch sich empfehlen (Blumauer, 2, 72, 1758–1798: also Gutzkow, R., 4, 88); hinter der Thur urlaub (= to take leave behind [or outside] the door, i.e., after one has got outside it: quoted by Sanders, from Fischart, 1550–1589); hinter der Thüre Abschied nehmen (= to say good-bye outside, to take French leave); also, er beurlaubte sich in aller Stille, explained as er stahl sich, schlich sich davon, and translated ‘he took French leave’; also, sich aus einer Gesellschaft stehlen.—Hilpert’s Dict., 1845.

Spanish Synonym.—Despedirse á la francesa (= to take French leave).

1771. Smollett, Humphrey Clinker, p. 54. He stole away an Irishman’s bride, and took a French leave of me and his master.

1805. Newspaper (quoted in Notes and Queries, 5 S. xii., 2 Aug., 79, p. 87, col. 2). On Thursday last Monsieur J. F. Desgranche, one of the French prisoners of war on parole at Chesterfield, took French leave of that place, in defiance of his parole engagement.

1854. F. E. Smedley, Harry Coverdale, ch. lviii. ‘I thought I would avoid all the difficulties ... by taking French leave, and setting off in disguise and under a feigned name.’

1885 Stevenson, Treasure Island, ch. xxii., p. 178 (1886). My only plan was to take French leave, and slip out when nobody was watching.

1892. Globe, 25 Mar., p. 5, col. 1. They finally resolved to go on French leave to the place.

French- (also American, Spanish, and Italian) Letter, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A sheath—of india-rubber, gold beater’s skin, gutta-percha—worn by a man during coition to prevent infection or fruition. Usually described in print as specialities (q.v.). or circular protectors and (in U.S.A.) as safes (q.v.). See Cundum. Fr., capote anglaise.

French Pigeon, subs. phr. (sportsman’s).—A pheasant killed by mistake in the partridge season. Also moko and oriental (q.v.).

French Pig, subs. phr. (common).—A venereal bubo; a blue boar (q.v.), or Winchester goose (q.v.).

French Prints, subs. (colloquial).—Generic for indecent pictures.

1849–50. Thackeray, Pendennis II., ch. xxxi. Young de Boots of the Blues recognised you as the man who came to barracks, and did business, one-third in money, one-third in eau-de-Cologne, and one third in French prints, you confounded, demure, old sinner.

French Vice, verb. phr. (venery).—A euphemism for all sexual malpractices; Larks (q.v.). First used (in print) in the case of Crawford v. Crawford and Dilke.

Frenchy, subs. (colloquial).—A Frenchman.

Fresh, adj. (University).—1. Said of an undergraduate in his first term.

1803. Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, s.v.

1866. Trevelyan, Horace at Athens. When you and I were fresh.

2. (common).—Slightly intoxicated; elevated. For synonyms see Drinks and Screwed, (Scots’ = sober).

1829. Marryat, Frank Mildmay, ch. xiii. Drinking was not among my vices. I could get fresh, as we call it, when in good company and excited by wit and mirth; but I never went to the length of being drunk.

3. (Old English and modern American).—Inexperienced, but conceited and presumptuous; hence, forward, impudent.

1596. Shakspeare, King John, iii., 4. How green you are and fresh in this old world.

1886. Francis, Saddle and Mocassin. ‘Has Peggy been too fresh?’ Her sunburnt cheeks flushed.

4. (common).—Fasting; opposed to eating or drinking.

Fresh as paint, as a rose, as a daisy, as a new-born turd, etc., phr. (common).—Full of health, strength, and activity; fit (q.v.).

1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. xix. This is his third day’s rest, and the cob will be about as fresh as paint when I get across him again.

1880. Punch’s Almanack, p. 12.

Fresh on the graft, adj. phr. (common).—New to the work. Cf., Fresh bit.

Fresh Bit, subs. phr. (venery).—A beginner; also a new mistress. Cf., Bit of fresh = the sexual favour: meat, or mutton, or fish (q.v.), being understood.

Freshen One’s Way, verb. phr. (nautical).—To hurry; to quicken one’s movements. [The wind freshens when it rises.]

Freshen Up, verb. phr. (colloquial). To clean; to vamp; to revive; to smarten.

Fresher, subs. (University).—An undergraduate in his first term.

Freshers. The Freshers, subs. (University).—That part of the Cam which lies between the Mill and Byron’s Pool. So called because it is frequented by freshmen (q.v.).

Freshman (or Fresher), subs. (University).—A University man during his first year. In Dublin University he is a junior freshman during his first year, and a senior freshman the Second year. At Oxford the title lasts for the first term. Ger., Fuchs.

1596. Nashe, Saffron Walden, in wks. iii., 8. When he was but yet a freshman in Cambridge.

1611. Middleton, Roaring Girl, Act iii., Sc. 3. S. Alex. Then he’s a graduate. S. Davy. Say they trust him not. S. Alex. Then is he held a freshman and a sot.

1767. Colman, Oxonian in Town, ii., 3. And now I find you as dull and melancholy as a freshman at college after a jobation.

1841. Lever, Charles O’Malley, ch. xiv. ‘This is his third year,’ said the Doctor, ‘and he is only a freshman, having lost every examination.’

1891. Sporting Life, 20 Mar. The mile, bar accidents, will be a gift to B. C. Allen, of Corpus, who has more than maintained the reputation he gained as a fresher.

Adj. (University).—Of, or pertaining to, a freshman, or a first year student.

Freshmanship, subs. (old).—Of the quality or state of being a freshman.

1605. Jonson, Volpone, or the Fox, iv., 3. Well, wise Sir Pol., since you have practised thus, Upon my freshmanship, I’ll try your salt-head With what proof it is against a counter-plot.

Freshman’s Bible, subs. phr. (University).—The University Calendar.

Freshman’s Church, subs. phr. (University).—The Pitt Press at Cambridge. [From its ecclesiastical architecture.]

Freshman’s Landmark, subs. phr. (University).—King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. [From the situation.]

Freshwater Mariner (or Seaman), subs. phr. (old).—A beggar shamming sailor; a turnpike sailor (q.v.).

1567. Harman, Caveat (1869), p. 48. These freshwater mariners, their shipes were drowned in the playne of Salisbury. These kynde ... counterfet great losses on the sea.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Freshwater seamen, that have never been on the Salt, or made any Voyage, meer Land-Men.

Freshwater Soldier, subs. phr. (old).—A raw recruit.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, Biancone. A goodly, great milke-soppe, a fresh water soldier.

1603. Knolles, Hist. of the Turkes. The nobility, as freshwater soldiers, which had never seen but some slight skirmishes, made light account of the Turks.

1696. Nomenclator. Bachelier aux armes, nouveau ou jeune soudard. A freshwater souldier: a young souldier: a novice: one that is trayned up to serve in the field.

Fret, To fret one’s gizzard, guts, giblets, kidneys, cream, etc., verb. phr. (common).—To get harassed and worried about trifles; to tear one’s shirt (q.v.).

Friar, subs. (printers’).—A pale spot in a printed sheet. Fr., un moine (= monk).

Frib, subs. (old).—A stick. For synonyms, see Toko.

1754. Discoveries of John Poulter, p. 43. A Jacob and frib; a ladder and stick.

Fribble, subs. (old).—A trifler; a contemptible fop. [From the character in Garrick’s Miss in her Teens (1747)].

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1860. Thackeray, Four Georges. George IV. That fribble, the leader of such men as Fox and Burke!

Friday-face, subs. (old).—A gloomy, dejected-looking man or woman. [Probably from Friday being, ecclesiastically, the banyan day of the week.] Fr., figure de carême.

1592. Greene, Groatsworth of Wit, in wks. xii., 120. The Foxe made a Friday-face, counterfeiting sorrow.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1889. Gentleman’s Mag., June, p. 593. Friday-face is a term still occasionally applied to a sour-visaged person; it was formerly in very common use.

Friday-faced, adj. (old).—Mortified; melancholy; ‘sour-featured’ (Scott).

1592. John Day, Blind Beggar, Act iii., Sc. 2, p. 57. Can. No, you Friday-fac’d frying-pan, it was to save us all from whipping or a worse shame.

1606. Wily Beguiled (Hawkins Eng. Dr., iii., 356). Marry, out upon him! What a Friday-fac’d slave it is! I think in my conscience his face never keeps holiday.

Friend (or Little Friend), subs.—The menstrual flux or domestic afflictions (q.v.), whose appearance is sometimes announced by the formula ‘My little friend has come.’ Conventionalisms are queer; poorly; changes (Irish); ‘the Captain’s at home’ (Grose). See Flag.

To go and see a sick friend, verb. phr. (venery).—To go on the loose. See Greens.

Friend Charles. See Charles his friend.

Friendly Lead, subs. phr. (thieves’).—An entertainment (as a sing-song) got up to assist a companion in trouble (q.v.), or to raise money for the wife and children of a ‘quodded pal.’

1871. Daily Telegraph, 4 Dec. This was the secret business, the tremendous conspiracy, to compass which it was deemed necessary to act with infinitely more caution than the friends of Bill Sikes feel called on to exercise when they distribute tickets for a friendly lead for the benefit of Bill, who is ‘just out of his trouble.’

1889. Cassell’s Saturday Journal, 5 Jan. The men frequently club together in a friendly lead to help a brother in distress.

1892. Ally Sloper, 2 Apr., p. 106, col. 3. My father takes the chair at friendly leads.

Friends in Need, subs. phr. (common).—Lice. For synonyms, see Chates.

Frig, verb trans. and refl. (venery).—To masturbate. Also subs. = an act of masturbation. Known sometimes as keeping down the census. [Latin, fricare = to rub.]

English Synonyms.—To bob; to box the Jesuit [‘St. Omer’s lewdness,’ Marston, ‘Scourge’ (1598)]; to chuff; to chuffer; to claw (Florio); to digitate (of women); to eat (or get) cock-roaches; to bring up (or off) by hand; to fight one’s turkey (Texan); to finger or finger-fuck (of women); to friggle (Florio); to fuck one’s fist (of men); to fetch mettle (Grose); to handle; to indorse; to jerk, play, pump, toss, or work off; to lark; to milk; to mount a corporal and four; to mess, or pull about; to play with (schoolboys’), to rub up; to shag; to tickle one’s crack (of women); to dash one’s doodle; to touch up; to play paw-paw tricks (Grose); to wriggle (old). For foreign synonyms, see Wriggle.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Fricciare ... to frig, to wriggle, to tickle.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie. Branler la pique, To Frig.

1728. Bailey, Dict., s.v. Frig, to rub.

c. 1716–1746. Robertson of Struan. Poems, 83. So to a House of office ... a School-Boy does repair, To ... fr—— his P—— there.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

Frigate, subs. (common).—A woman.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Friggat well rigg’d, a woman well drest and gentile.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. A well-rigg’d frigate, a well-dressed wench.

Frigging, subs. (venery).—1. The act of masturbation; the ‘cynick friction’ (Marston, Scourge); otherwise simple infanticide.

2. (old).—Trifling [Grose, 1785.]

Adj. and adv. (vulgar).—An expletive of intensification. Thus, frigging bad = ‘bloody’ bad; a frigging idiot = an absolute fool. See also Foutering and Fucking.

Frightfully, adv. (colloquial).—Very. An expletive used as are awfully, beastly, bloody, etc. (q.v.).

Frig-pig, subs. (old).—A finnicking trifler.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Frigster (in fem. Frigstress) subs. (venery).—A masturbator; an indorser (q.v., also = a Sodomite).

Frillery, subs. (common).—Feminine underclothing. For synonyms, see Snowy. To explore one’s frillery (venery) = to grope one’s person.

Frills, subs. (American).—Swagger; conceit; also accomplishments (as music, languages, etc.); and culture; cf., Man with no frills.

1870. Sacramento Paper (quoted in De Vere). ‘I can’t bear his talk, it’s all frills.’

1884. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Adventures of Huck Finn. 33. I never see such a son. I bet I’ll take some of these frills out of you before I’m done with you.

To put on one’s frills, verb. phr. (American).—To exaggerate; to chant the poker; to swagger; to put on side (q.v.); to sing it (q.v.). Fr., se gonfler le jabot, and faire son lard.

1890. Rudyard Kipling, National Observer, March, 1890, p. 69. ‘The Oont.’ It’s the commissariat camel putting on his blooming frills.

2. (venery).—To get wanton or prick-proud (q.v.); in a state of must (q.v.).

To have been among one’s frills, verb. phr. (venery).—To have enjoyed the sexual favour. For synonyms, see Greens.

Frint, subs. (old).—A pawnbroker. For synonyms, see Uncle.

1821. Real Life in London, i., p. 566.

Frisco, subs. (American).—Short for San Francisco.

1870. Bret Harte, Poems, ‘Chiquita.’ Busted hisself at White Pine, and blew out his brains down in Frisco.

1890. Sporting Life, 8 Nov. The battle ... took place in the theatre, Market St., Frisco.

Frisk, subs. (old).—1. A frolic; an outing; a lark (q.v.); mischief generally.

1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, iii., 1. If you have a mind to take a frisk with us, I have an interest with my lord; I can easily introduce you.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1825. The English Spy, vi., p. 162. Dick’s a trump and no telegraph—up to every frisk, and down to every move of the domini, thoroughbred and no want of courage.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xx., p. 171. ‘When you and I had the frisk down in Lincolnshire, Guppy, and drove over to see that house at Castle Wold.’

2. (old).—A dance.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 274. Let’s have a neat frisk or so, And then rub on the law.

1782. Cowper, Table Talk, 237. Give him his lass, his fiddle, and his frisk, Is always happy, reign whoever may.

1880. Ouida, Moths, ch. xiv. And her fancy-dress frisks, and her musical breakfasts, were great successes.

3. (venery).—The act of copulation. See Greens and Ride.

Verb (thieves’).—1. To search; to run the rule over (q.v.); Especially applied to the search made, after arrest, for evidence of character, antecedents, or identity. Hence, careful examination of any kind.

1781. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 179. They frisk him? That is search him. Ibid., p. 122. Putting a lap-feeder in our sack, that you or your blowen had prig’d yourselves though we should stand the frisk for it.

1828. Jon. Bee, Pict. of London. p. 69. The arms are seized from behind by one, whilst the other frisks the pockets of their contents.

1852. Judson, Mysteries, etc., of New York, ch. vii. Vel sare, the offisare ’ave frisk me: he ’ave not found ze skin or ze dummy, eh?

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, p. 21. ‘The knuck was copped to rights, a skin full of honey was found in his kick’s poke by the copper when he frisked him’; [i.e.] the pickpocket was arrested, and when searched by the officer a purse was found in his pantaloons pocket full of money.

2. (thieves’).—To pick pockets; to rob. To frisk a cly = to empty a pocket.

1852. Judson, Mysteries, etc. of New York, ch. iv. You’re as good a knuck as ever frisked a swell.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 13 June, p. 7, col. 3. The ragged little wretches who prowl in gangs about the suburbs, who crawl on their hands and knees into shops in order to ‘frisk the till.’

3. (venery).—To ‘have (q.v.) a woman.’ For synonyms, see Ride.

To dance the Paddington frisk, verb. phr. (old).—To dance on nothing; i.e., to be hanged. [Tyburn Tree was in Paddington.] For synonyms, see Ladder.

Frisker, subs. (old).—A dancer.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., ii., 20. At no Whitsun Ale there e’er yet had been Such Fraysters and Friskers as these lads and lasses.

Frivol or Frivvle, verb. (colloquial).—To act frivolously; to trifle. [A resuscitation of an old word used in another sense, viz., to annul, to set aside].

1883. W. Black, Yolande, ch. xx. ‘Mind, I am assuming that you mean business—if you want to frivole, and pick pretty posies, I shut my door on you but, I say, if you mean business, I have told Mrs. Bell you are to have access to my herbarium, whether I am there or not.’

Frog, subs. (common).—1. A policeman. For synonyms, see Beak and Copper.

1881. New York Slang Dict., ‘On the Trail.’ I must amputate like a go-away, or the frogs will nail me.

1886. Graphic, 30 Jan., p. 130, col. 1. A policeman is also called ... a ‘frog,’ the last-named because he is supposed to jump, as it were, suddenly upon guilty parties.

2. (common).—A Frenchman. Also froggy and frog-eater. [Formerly a Parisian; the shield of whose city bore three toads, while the quaggy state of the streets gave point to a jest common at Versailles before 1791: Qu’en disent les grenouilles? i.e., What do the frogs (the people of Paris) say?]

1883. Referee, 15 July, p. 7, col. 3. While Ned from Boulogne says ‘Oui mon brave,’ The Froggies must answer for ‘Tamatave.’

3. (popular).—A foot. For synonyms, see Creepers.

To frog on, verb. phr. (American).—To get on; to prosper frogging-on = success.

Frog-and-Toad, subs. (rhyming).—The main road.

Frog-and-Toe, subs. (American thieves’).—The city of New York.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, p. 35. Coves, let us frog-and-toe, coves, let us go to New York.

Froglander, subs. (old).—A Dutchman. Cf., frog, sense 2.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v.

1852. Judson, Mysteries, etc., of New York, ch. xiv. The funny swag which they raised out of the froglander coves.

Frog-salad, subs. (American).—A ballet; i.e., a leg-piece (q.v.).

Frog’s March. To give the frog’s march, verb. phr. (common).—To carry a man face downwards to the station; a device adopted with drunken or turbulent prisoners.

1871. Evening Standard, ‘Clerkenwell Police Report,’ 18 April. In cross-examination the police stated that they did not give the defendant the frog’s march. The frog’s march was described to be carrying the face downwards.

1884. Daily News, Oct. 4, p. 5, col. 2. They had to resort to a mode of carrying him, familiarly known in the force, we believe, as the frog trot, or sometimes as the frog’s march.... The prisoner is carried with his face downwards and his arms drawn behind him.

1888. Daily Telegraph, 22 Dec. Whether the ‘bobbies’ ran the tipsy man in, treating him meanwhile to a taste of the frog’s march, and whether he was fined or imprisoned for assaulting the police, is not upon the record.

1890. Bird o’ Freedom, 19 Mar., p. 1, col. 1. And then he gets the frog’s march to the nearest Tealeaf’s.

Frog’s Wine, subs. phr. (old).—Gin. For synonyms, see Drinks and Satin.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Frolic, subs. (common).—A merry-making.

1847. Robb. Squatter Life, p. 133. At all the frolicks round the country, Jess was hangin’ onter that gal.

Frosty-face, subs. (old).—A pox-pitted man. Grose (1785).

Front, verb (thieves’).—To conceal the operations of a pickpocket; to cover (q.v.).

1879. J. W. Horsley in Macmillan’s Mag., XL., 506. So my pal said, ‘Front me (cover me), and I will do him for it.’

Front-attic (or -door, -garden, -parlour, -room, or -window). subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. To have (or do) a bit of front-door work = to copulate.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. Mrs. Fubb’s front-parlour (vide Tom Rees) is not to be mistaken for any part of any building.

Front-door Mat, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pubic hair. For synonyms, see Fleece.

Front-gut, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Frontispiece, subs. (pugilists’).—The face. For synonyms, see Dial.

1818. P. Egan, Boxiana, I., p. 221. Tyne put in right and left upon the Jew’s frontispiece two such severe blows, that Crabbe’s countenance underwent a trifling change.

1845. Buckstone, Green Bushes, i., 1. It’s a marcy my switch didn’t come in contract with your iligant frontispiece.

1860. Chambers’ Journal XIII., p. 368. His forehead is his frontispiece.

1864. A. Trollope, Sm. Ho. at Allington (1884), vol. ii., ch. V., p. 47. He said that he had had an accident—or rather, a row—and that he had come out of it with considerable damage to his frontispiece.

1891. Sporting Life, 28 Mar. It must be confessed that the ludicrous was attained when Griffiths subsequently appeared with a short black pipe in his distorted and battered frontispiece.

Front-windows, subs. (common).—1. The eyes; also the face.

2. In sing. (venery).—The female pudendum. Cf., front-attic; and for synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Frost, subs. (common).—A complete failure. Cf., Fr., un four noir. Also un temps noir = a blank interval; a prolonged silence (as when an actor’s memory fails him).

1885. Saturday Review, 15 Aug., p. 218. He is an absolute and perfect frost.

1885. Bell’s Life, 3 Jan., p. 3, col. 6. We regret we cannot write favorably concerning this matter, the affair being almost as big a frost athletically as it was financially.

1889. Star, 17 Jan. The pantomime was a dead frost.

2. (common).—A dearth of work; to have a frost = to be idle.

Froudacious, Froudacity, adj. and subs. See quots.

1888. Colonies and India, 14 Nov. The word ‘Froudacity,’ invented by Mr. Darnell Davis in his able review of The Bow of Ulysses, recently published, has reached the height of popularity in the Australasian Colonies, where it has come into everyday use. In the Melbourne Assembly the other day an hon. member observed—speaking of some remarks made by a previous speaker—that he never heard such froudacious statements in his life. The colonial papers are beginning, also, to spell the word with a small ‘f,’ which is significant.

1889. Graphic, 16 Feb. By exposing some of Mr. Froude’s manifold errors (the most dangerous is that which assumes the sour Waikato clays to be rich because they grow fern) he justifies the Australian adjective Froudacious.

Froust, subs. (Harrow School).—1. Extra sleep allowed on Sunday mornings and whole holidays. Fr., faire du lard.

2. (common).—A stink; stuffiness (in a room).

Frousty, adj. (common).—Stinking.

Frout, adj. (Winchester College).—Angry; vexed.

Frow (or Froe, or Vroe), subs. (old).—A woman; a wife; a mistress. [From the Dutch.]

1607. Dekker, Westward Ho, Act V., Sc. 1. Eat with ’em as hungerly as soldiers; drink as if we were froes.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, V. Brush to your froe and wheedle for crap, c. whip to your mistress and speak her fair to give or lend you some Money.

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2 ed.), s.v.

1789. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 119 A flash of lightning next Bess tipt each cull and frow.

Fruitful Vine, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Fruitful vine. A woman’s private parts, i.e., that has flowers every month, and bears fruit in nine.

Frummagemed, adj. (old).—Choked; strangled; spoilt.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, Pt. I., ch. v., 49 (1874). Frummagem, Choakt.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Frummigam, c. choaked.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Choaked, strangled, or hanged. Cant.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. ‘If I had not helped you with these very fambles (holding up her hands), Jean Baillie would have frummagem’d you, ye feckless do-little!’

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 21. There he lay, almost frummagem’d.

Frump, subs. (old).—1. A contemptuous speech or piece of conduct; a sneer; a jest.

1553. Wilson, Art of Rhetorique, p. 137. (He) shall be able to abashe a right worthie man, and make him at his witte’s ende, through the sodaine quicke and vnlooked frumpe giuen.

1589. Greene, Menaphon, p. 45. For women’s paines are more pinching if they be girded with a frumpe than if they be galled with a mischiefe.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Bichiacchia, jestes, toyes, frumps, flim-flam tales, etc.

1606. T. Dekker, Seven Deadly Sinnes, p. 44 (ed. Arber). The courtiers gives you an open scoffe, ye clown a secret mock, the cittizen yat dwels at your threshald, a ieery frump.

1630. Taylor, Works. But yet, me thinkes, he gives thee but a frumpe, In telling how thee kist a wenches rumpe.

1662. Rump Songs, ‘Arsy-Varsy,’ etc., ii., 47. As a preface of honor and not as a frump, First with a Sir reverence ushers the Rump.

1668. Dryden, An Evening’s Love, Act IV. Sc. 3. Not to be behindhand with you in your frumps, I give you back your purse of gold.

2. (common).—A slattern; more commonly a prim old lady; the correlative of fogey (q.v.). Fr., un graillon.

1831. J. R. Planché, Olympic Revels, Sc. i. Cheat, you stingy frump! Who wants to cheat?

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, I., p. 157. Get into the hands of the other old frumps.

1857. Thackeray, Virginians, ch. xxxi. She is changed now, isn’t she? What an old Gorgon it is! She is a great patroness of your book-men, and when that old frump was young they actually made verses about her.

3. (old).—A cheat; a trick.

1602. Rowland, Greene’s Ghost, 37. They come off with their ... frumps.

Verb (old).—To mock; to insult.

1589. Nashe, Month’s Mind, in Works, Vol. I., p. 158. One of them ... maketh a iest of Princes, and ‘the troubling of the State, and offending of her Maiestie,’ hee turneth of with a frumping forsooth, as though it were a toie to think of it.

1593. G. Harvey, Pierces Super, in Works II., 107. That despiseth the graces of God, flowteth the constellations of heaven, frumpeth the operations of nature.

1609. Man in the Moone. Hee ... frumpeth those his mistresse frownes on.

1757. Garrick, Irish Widow, I., i. Yes, he was frumped, and called me old blockhead.

Frumper, subs. (old).—A sturdy man; a good blade.

1825. Kent, Modern Flash Dict., s.v.

Frumpish, adj. (colloquial).—Cross-grained; old-fashioned and severe in dress, manners, morals, and notions; ill-natured; given to frumps. Also Frumpy.

1589. Greene, Tullies Love, in wks. vii., 131. Who were you but as fauourable, as you are frumpish, would soone censure by my talke, how deepe I am reade in loues principles.

1701. Farquhar, Sir Harry Wildair, Act. V., Sc. 5. She got, I don’t know how, a crotchet of jealousy in her head. This made her frumpish, but we had ne’er an angry word.

1757. Foote, Author, Act II. And methought she looked very frumpish and jealous.

1764. O’Hara, Midas, I., 3. La! mother, why so frumpish?

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, Bk. I., ch. xi. ‘Don’t fancy me a frumpy old married woman, my dear; I was married but the other day, you know.’

1889. Modern Society, 12 Oct., p. 1271, col. 2. Quite an elderly and superannuated look is given to the toilette which is finished off by a woollen cloud or silken shawl, and only invalids and sixty-year-old women should be allowed such frumpish privileges.

Frushee, subs. (Scots’).—An open jam tart.

Fry, verb (common).—To translate into plain English. Cf., boil down.

1881. Jas. Payn, Grape from a Thorn, ch. xxx. ‘I shall repose the greatest confidence in you, my dear girl, which one human being can entrust to another,’ was one of its sentences, which, when it came ‘to be fried,’ meant that she should delegate to her the duties of combing Fido and cutting her canary’s claws.

Go and fry your face, phr. (common).—A retort expressive of incredulity, derision, or contempt.

Frying-pan. To jump from the frying-pan into the fire, verb. phr. (common).—To go from bad to worse. Cf., ‘from the smoke into the smother’ (As You Like it, i., 2.). Fr., tomber de la poêle dans la braise.

1684. Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress, Part II. Some, though they shun the frying-pan, do leap into the fire.

To Fry the Pewter, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To melt down pewter measures.

F Sharp, subs. phr. (common).—A flea; cf., B flat.

Fuant, subs. (old).—Excrement.—B. E. Dict. of the Canting Crew.

Fub, verb. (old).—To cheat; to steal; to put off with false excuses. Also Fubbery = cheating, stealing, deception.

1598. Shakspeare, 2 Henry IV., II., 1. I have borne, and borne, and borne, and have been fubbed off, and fubbed off from this day to that day.

1604. Marston, Malcontent, i., 3. O no; but dream the most fantastical. O heaven! O fubbery! fubbery!

1619. Fletcher, Mons. Thomas, ii., 2. My letter fubb’d too.

1647. Cartwright, Ordinary. iv., 4. I won’t be fubbed.

Fubsey or Fubsy, adj. (old).—Plump; fat; well-filled. Fubsy dummy = a well-filled pocket book; fubsy wench = a plump girl.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1825. English Spy, I., p. 188. Old dowagers, their fubsy faces, Painted to eclipse the Graces.

1837. Marryat, Snarley-yow, I., ch. viii. Seated on the widow’s little fubsy sofa.

Fubsiness, subs. (common).—Any sort of fatness.

Fuck, subs. (venery).—1. An act of coition. For synonyms, see Greens.

2. (venery).—The seminal fluid. For synonyms, see Cream.

Verb. (common).—To copulate. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

c. 1540. David Lyndsay, ‘Flyting with King James.’ Aye fukkand like ane furious fornicator.

1568. Clerk, Bannatyne MSS., Hunterian Soc. Publication, p. 298. He clappit fast, he kist, he chukkit, As with the glaikkis he wer ourgane; Yit be his feiris he wald haif fukkit.

1568. Anonymous, Bannatyne MSS., Hunterian Soc. Publication, p. 399. ‘In Somer when Flouris will Smell.’ Allace! said sch, my awin sweit thing, Your courtly fukking garis me fling, Ye wirk sae weill.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, Fottere. To jape; to sarde, to fucke; to swive; to occupy.

1620. Percy, Folio MSS., p. 459. [Hales and Furnivall, 1867.] A mighty mind to clipp, kisse, and to ffuck her.

1647–80. Rochester, ‘Written under Nelly’s Picture.’ Her father fucked them right together.

1683. Earl of Dorset, ‘A Faithful Catalogue.’ From St. James’s to the Land of Thule, There’s not a whore who f——s so like a mule.

c. 1716–1746. Robertson of Struan, Poems, 256. But she gave proof that she could f——k, Or she is damnably bely’d.

1728. Bailey, English Dict., s.v. Fuck ... Feminam subigitare.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. F——k, to copulate.

c. 1790(?). Burns, Merry Muses. And yet misca’s a poor thing That fucks for its bread.

Fuckable, adj. (venery).—Desirable. Also Fucksome.

Fucker, subs. (common).—1. A lover; a fancy joseph (q.v.).

2. (common).—A term of endearment, admiration, derision, etc.

Fuck-finger, subs. phr. (venery).—A fricatrix.

Fuck-fist, subs. phr. (venery).—A frigster (q.v.); a masturbator. For synonyms, see Milkman.

Fuck-hole, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Fucking, subs. (venery).—Generic for the ‘act of kind.’

1568. Scott, Bannatyne MSS., Hunterian Soc. Publication, p. 363. ‘To the Derisioun of Wantoun Wemen.’ Thir foure, the suth to sane, Enforsis thame to fucking ... Quod Scott.

1575. Satirical Poems, etc., Scottish Text Soc. Pub. (1889–90) i., 208. ‘A Lewd Ballat.’ To se forett the holy frere his fukking so deplore.

Adj. (common).—A qualification of extreme contumely.

Adv. (common).—Intensitive and expletive; a more violent form of bloody (q.v.). See Foutering.

Fuckish, adj. (venery).—Wanton; proud (q.v.); inclined for coition.

Fuckster, subs. (venery).—A good performer (q.v.); one specially addicted to the act. A woman-fucker (Florio), but in feminine fuckstress.

Fud, subs. (venery).—The pubic hair. For synonyms, see Fleece. Also the tail of a hare or rabbit.

1785. Burns, The Jolly Beggars. They scarcely left to co’er their fuds.

Fuddle, subs. (common).—1. Drink. [Wedgwood: A corruption of fuzz.]

1621. Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy. The university troop dined with the Earl of Abingdon and came back well fuzzed.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v. fuddle, Drink. ‘This is rum fuddle, c. this is excellent Tipple.’

1705. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, I., Pt. iv., p. 18. And so, said I, we sipp’d our fuddle, As women in the straw do caudle, ’Till every man had drown’d his noddle.

1733. Bailey, Erasmus, p. 125 (ed. 1877). Don’t go away; they have had their dose of fuddle.

2. (common).—A drunken bout; a drunk.

1864. Glasgow Citizen, 9 Dec. Turner is given to a fuddle at times.

Verb. (colloquial).—To be drunk.

1720. Durfey, Pills, etc., vi., 265. All day he will fuddle.

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2nd ed.). To fuddle. 1. To make a person drunk. 2. To grow drunk.

1770. Foote. Lame Lover, iii. Come, Hob or Nob, Master Circuit—let us try if we can’t fuddle the serjeant.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. x. He boxed the watch; he fuddled himself at taverns; he was no better than a Mohock.

1889. Echo, 15 Feb. If rich, you may fuddle with Bacchus all night, And be borne to your chamber remarkably tight.

Fuddlecap (or Fuddler), subs. (common).—A drunkard; a boon companion. For synonyms, see Lushington.

1607. Dekker, Jests to make you Merie, in wks. (Grosart) ii., 299. And your perfect fuddlecap [is known] by his red nose.

d. 1682. T. Browne, Works, iii., 93. True Protestant fuddlecaps.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, fuddlecap, a drunkard.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.) Fuddlecap (S.) one that loves tippling, an excessive drinker, or drunkard.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Fuddled, adj. (colloquial).—Stupid with drink. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1661. Pepys, Diary, 8 March After dinner, to drink all the afternoon ... at last come in Sir William Wale, almost fuddled.

1713. Guardian, No. 145. It was my misfortune to call in at Tom’s last night, a little fuddled.

1730. Thomson, Autumn, 537. The table floating round, And pavement faithless to the fuddled foot.

1838. Dickens, Nich. Nickleby, ch. lx., p. 485. You’re a little fuddled to-night, and may not be able to see this as clearly as you would at another time.

1841. Punch, I., p. 74. The Sultan got very fuddled last night with forbidden juice in the harem, and tumbled down the ivory steps.

1864. Glasgow Citizen, 19 Nov. No other word has so many equivalents as ‘drunk.’... One very common and old one has escaped Mr. Hotten—fuddled.

1888. Daily News, 28 Nov. Music halls would soon decrease in numbers if drink were not sold in them, for sober people would not go to see spectacles only attractive to those who were half fuddled.

Fudge, subs. (colloquial).—Nonsense; humbug; an exaggeration; a falsehood. [Provincial French, fuche, feuche; an exclamation of contempt from Low Ger. futsch = begone; see, however, quots. 1700 and 1712.] Also as an exclamation of contempt.

1700. Isaac Disraeli, Notes on the Navy. There was, in our time, one Captain Fudge, a commander of a merchant-man; who, upon his return from a voyage, always brought home a good cargo of lies; insomuch that now, aboard ship, the sailors, when they hear a great lie, cry out fudge.

1712. W. Crouch, A Collection of Papers. In the year 1664 we were sentenced for banishment to Jamaica by Judges Hyde and Twisden, and our number was 55. We were put on board the ship Black Eagle; the master’s name was Fudge, by some called Lying Fudge.

1766. Goldsmith, Vicar of Wakefield, ch. xi. Who ... would cry out fudge! an expression which displeased us all, and, in some measure, damped the rising spirit of the conversation.

1841. Lytton, Night and Morning, Bk. II., ch. vii. Very genteel young man—prepossessing appearance—(that’s a fudge!)—highly educated; usher in a school—eh?

1850. Thackeray, Rebecca and Rowena, ch. i. Her ladyship’s proposition was what is called bosh ... or fudge in plain Saxon.

1861. Cornhill Magazine, iv., 102. ‘A Cumberland Mare’s Nest.’ ... Up jumped the worthy magistrate, And seizing ‘Burn,’ Of justices the oracle and badge, he straight Descended to his ‘lion’s den’ (a sobriquet in fudge meant) Where he, ‘a second Daniel,’ had often ‘come to judgment.’

1864. Tangled Talk, p. 108. It is fudge to tell a child to ‘love’ every living creature—a tapeworm, for instance, such as is bottled up in chemists windows.

1865. Morning Star, 1 June. Old as I am and half woor out, I would lay (too bad, Mr. Henley, this) upon my back and hallo fudge!

1882. Daily Telegraph, 5 Oct., p. 2, col. 2. Much that we hear concerning the ways and means of the working classes is sheer fudge.

Verb. (colloquial).—1. To fabricate; to interpolate; to contrive without proper materials.

1776. Foote, The Bankrupt, iii., 2. That last ‘suppose’ is fudged in.

1836. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. xviii. By the time that he did know something about navigation, he discovered that his antagonist knew nothing. Before they arrived at Malta, Jack could fudge a day’s work.

1858. Shirley Brooks, Gordian Knot. Robert Spencer was hiding from his creditors, or fudging medical certificates.

1859. G. A. Sala, in John Bull, 21 May. I had provided myself with a good library of books of Russian travel, and so fudged my Journey Due North.

2. (schoolboys’).—To copy; to crib; to dodge or escape.

1877. Blanch, The Blue Coat Boys p. 97. Fudge, verb., trans. and intrans. To prompt a fellow in class, or prompt oneself in class artificially. Thence to tell; e.g., ‘fudge me what the time is.’

3. (common).—To botch; to bungle; to muff (q.v.)

4. (schoolboys’).—To advance the hand unfairly at marbles.

Fug, verb. (Shrewsbury School).—To stay in a stuffy room.

Fugel, verb. (venery).—To possess; to have (q.v.).

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 126. Who fugelled the Parson’s fine Maid.

Fuggy, subs. (schoolboys’).—A hot roll.

Adj. (Shrewsbury School).—Stuffy.

Fugo, subs. (obsolete).—The rectum, or (Cotgrave) ‘bung-hole.’

1720. Durfey, Pills, etc., vi., 247. This maid, she like a beast turned her fugo to the East.

Fulhams or Fullams, subs. (old).—Loaded dice; called ‘high’ or ‘low’ fulhams as they were intended to turn up high or low. Cf., gourd. [Conjecturally, because manufactured at Fulham, or because that village was a notorious resort of blacklegs.] For synonyms, see Uphills.

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller, in wks. v., 27. The dice of late are growen as melancholy as a dog, high men and low men both prosper alike, langrets, fullams, and all the whole fellowshippe of them will not affoord a man his dinner.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, i., 3. Let vultures gripe thy guts! for gourd, and fullam holds, And high and low beguile the rich and poor.

1599. Jonson, Every Man out of His Hum., iii., 1. Car.: Who! he serve? ’sblood, he keeps high men, and low men, he! he has—fair living at Fullam. [Whalley’s note in Gifford’s Jonson, The dice were loaded to run high or low; hence they were called high men or low men, and sometimes high and low fullams. Called fullams either because F. was the resort of sharpers, or because they were chiefly made there.]

1664. Butler, Hudibras, Part II., C. i., 1. 642. But I do wonder you should chuse This way t’ attack me with your muse, As one cut out to pass your tricks on, With fulhams of poetic fiction. [Note in Dr. Nash’s Ed., vol. I., p. 272 (Ed. 1835). ‘That is, with cheats or impositions. Fulham was a cant word for a false die, many of them being made at that place.’]

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxiii. Men talk of high and low dice, Fulhams and bristles ... and a hundred ways of rooking besides.

2. (colloquial).—A sham; a make-believe (q.v.). [From sense 1.]

1664. Butler, Hudibras, ii., 1, Fulhams of poetic fiction.

Fulham Virgin, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A fast woman. Cf., Bankside lady; Covent Garden nun; St. John’s Wood vestal, etc.

Fulk, verb (old schoolboys’).—To use an unfair motion of the hand in plumping at taw.—Grose.

Fulke, verb (venery).—To copulate. [A euphemism suggested by Byron in Don Juan, the first and last words of which, so adepts tell you, are ‘I’ and ‘fulke.’]

Fulker, subs. (old).—A pawnbroker. For synonyms, see Uncle.

1566. Gascoigne, Supposes, ii., 3. The Fulker will not lend you a farthing upon it.

Full, adj. (colloquial).—1. Drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 15 Dec. When he was full the police came and jugged.

2. (turf). Used by bookmakers to signify that they have laid all the money they wish against a particular horse.

Full-guts, subs. phr. (common).—A swag-bellied man or woman.

A Full hand, subs. phr. (American waiters’). Five large beers. For analogous expressions, see Go.

Full in the belly, subs. phr. (colloquial).—With child.

Full in the pasterns (or the hocks), subs. phr. (colloquial).—Thick-ankled.

Full team, subs. phr. (American).—An eulogium. A man is a full team when of consequence in the community. Variants are whole team, or whole team and a horse to spare. Cf. one-horse = mean, insignificant, or strikingly small.

Full in the waistcoat, adj. phr. (colloquial).—Swag-bellied.

Full of ’em, adj. phr. (common).—Lousy; nitty; full of fleas.

Full to the bung, adj. phr. (colloquial).—Very drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

To have (or wear) a full suit of mourning, verb. phr. (pugilists’).—To have two black eyes. Half-mourning = one black eye. For synonyms, see Mouse.

To come full bob, verb. phr. (old colloquial).—To come suddenly; to come full tilt.

1672. Marvell, Rehearsal Transposed (in Grosart, iii., 414). The page and you meet full bob.

Full against, adv. phr. 1. Dead, or decidedly opposed to, a person, thing, or place.

Full-bottomed (or -breeched, or -pooped), adv. phr. (colloquial).—Broad in the hind; barge-arsed (q.v.)

Full-flavoured, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Peculiarly rank: as a story, an exhibition of profane swearing, an emission of wind, etc.

Full-fledged, adv. phr. (venery).—Ripe for defloration.

Full-gutted, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Stout; swag-bellied.

Full of emptiness, adv. phr. (common).—Utterly void.

Full on, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Set strongly in a given direction, especially in an obscene sense: e.g., full on for it or full on for one = ready and willing au possible.

At full chisel, adv. phr. (American).—At full speed; with the greatest violence or impetuousity. Also full drive; full split. Cf. hickety split; ripping; staving along; two-thirty, etc.

In full blast, swing, etc., adv. phr. (colloquial).—In the height of success; in hot pursuit.

1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 5 a.m., Part I. At five a.m. the publication of the Times newspaper is, to use a north-country mining expression, in ‘full blast.’

1884. Daily News, Feb. 9, p. 5, col. 2. If he visit New York in that most pleasant season, the autumn, he will find that the ‘fall’ trade is ‘in full blast.’

1888. Daily Telegraph, 17 Nov. By half-past ten o’clock the smoking-room was in full swing.

In full dig, adv. phr. (common).—On full pay.

In full feather, see Feather.

In full fig.—1. See Fig (to which may be added the following illustrative quotations).

1836. M. Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 178. In front of this shed—full fig, in regular Highland costume, philabeg, short hose, green coatee, bonnet and feather, marched the bagpiper.

1836. M. Scott, Cringle’s Log, ch. xi. Captain Transom, the other lieutenant, and myself in full puff, leading the van, followed by about fourteen seamen.

1838. Haliburton, Clockmaker, (2nd ed.), ch. viii. ‘Lookin’ as pleased as a peacock when it’s in full fig with its head and tail up.’

1841. Punch, i., p. 26, col. 1. Dressed in full fig—sword very troublesome—getting continually between my legs.

1874. Mrs. H. Wood, Johnny Ludlow (1st ed.), No. IV., p. 62. When our church bells were going for service, Major Parrifer’s carriage turned out with the ladies all in full fig.

2. adv. phr. (venery).—Said of an erection of the penis; prick-proud (q.v.). For synonyms, see Horn.

Like a straw-yard bull: full of fuck and half starved, phr. (venery). A friendly retort to the question, ‘How goes it?’ i.e., How are you?

Full of it, phr. (common).—With child.

Full of guts, phr. (colloquial).—Full of vigour; excellently inspired and done: as a picture, a novel, and so forth. See Guts.

Full of beans, see Beans.

Full of bread, see Bread.

Fuller’s Earth, subs. phr. (old).—Gin. For synonyms, see Satin.

1821. Real Life in London, i., 394. The swell covies and out-and-outers find nothing so refreshing, after a night’s spree, when the victualling office is out of order, as a little fuller’s earth, or dose of Daffy’s.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, iii., 3. Bring me de kwarten of de fuller’s earth.

Fullied. To be fullied, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To be committed for trial. [From the newspaper expression, ‘Fully committed.’] Fr., être mis sur la planche au pain.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, Vol. iii., p. 397. He got acquitted for that there note after he had me ‘pinched’ (arrested). I got fullied (fully committed).

1879. Horsley, ‘Autobiography of a Thief,’ in Macmillan’s Magazine, xl., 506. I ... was then fullied and got this stretch and a half.

1889. Answers, 13 April, p. 313. At the House of Detention I often noticed such announcements as ‘Jack from Bradford fullied for smashing, and expects seven stretch,’ i.e., fully committed for trial for passing bad money, and expects seven years’ penal servitude.

Fulness. There’s not fulness enough in the sleeve top. phr. (tailors’).—A derisive answer to a threat.

Fumbler, subs. (old).—An impotent man.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Fumbler, c., an unperforming husband; one that is insufficient; a weak Brother.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., vi., 312. The old fumbler (title).

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

c. 1790. Burns, ‘David and Bathsheba,’ p. 40. ‘By Jove,’ says she, ‘what’s this I see, my Lord the King’s a fumbler.’

Fumbler’s Hall, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. See, however, quot. 1690. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Fumbler’s hall, the place where such (fumblers, q.v.) are to be put for their non-performance.

Free of Fumbler’s hall, phr.—Said of an impotent man.

Fumbles, subs. (thieves’).—Gloves.

1825. Kent, Modern Flash Dict., s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

1881. New York Slang Dict., s.v.

Fun, subs. (old).—1. A cheat; a trick.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v.

2. (old).—The posteriors, or Western End (Marvell). Probably an abbreviation of fundament. For synonyms, see Blind Cheeks and Monocular Eye-glass.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. I’ll kick your fun, c., I’ll kick your arse.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Verb. (old).—1. To cheat; to trick. Also to put the fun on.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. What do you fun me? Do you think to Sharp or Trick me? Ibid. He put the fun upon the cull, c., he sharp’d the Fellow. Ibid. I funn’d him, c., I was too hard for him; I outwitted or rook’d him.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1859 Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

To poke fun at, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To joke; to ridicule; to make a butt.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, i., p. 280. O fie! Mister Noakes,—for shame, Mr. Noakes! To be poking your fun at us plain-dealing folks.

1855. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’) Human Nature, p. 124. I thought you was pokin’ fun at me; for I am a poor ignorant farmer, and these people are always making game of me.

1865. Neal, Charcoal Sketches (in Bartlett). Jeames, if you don’t be quit poking fun at me, I’ll break your mouth, as sure as you sit there.

To have been making fun, verb. phr. (common).—Intoxicated. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

To have (or do) a bit of fun, verb. phr. (venery).—To procure or enjoy the sexual favour. For synonyms, see Greens.

Functior or Functure, subs. (Winchester College).—An iron bracket candlestick, used for the nightlight in college chambers. [The word, says Winchester Notions, looks like fulctura, an earlier form of fulture, meaning a prop or stay with phonetic change of l into n.]

1870. Mansfield, School Life at Winchester, p. 68. Beside the window yawned the great fireplace, with its dogs, on which rested the faggots and bars for the reception of the array of boilers. Above it was a rushlight, fixed in a circular iron pan fastened to a staple in the wall; it was called the functior.

Fundamental Features, subs. phr. (common).—The posteriors. For synonyms, see Blind Cheeks and Monocular Eye-glass.

1818. Moore, Fudge Family, ix., Aug. 21. O can we wonder, best of speechers, When Louis seated thus we see, That France’s ‘fundamental features’ Are much the same they used to be?

Funds, subs. (colloquial).—Finances; e.g. ‘my funds are very low.’

Funeral. It’s not my (or your) funeral, verb. phr. (American).—i.e., It is no business of mine, or yours. Fr., nib dans mes blots (= that is not my affair). Also used affirmatively.

1867. Mrs. Whitney, A Summer in Leslie Goldthwaite’s Life, p. 183. ‘It’s none of my funeral, I know, Sin Saxon,’ said Miss Craydocke. ‘I’m only an eleventh-hour helper; but I’ll come in for the holiday business ... that’s more in my line.’

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 239. This is none of your funeral is heard quite frequently as an indirect rebuke for intermeddling, with the ludicrous undercurrent of thought, that the troublesome meddler has no right to be crying at a strange man’s funeral.

1877. Hartford Times, 17 Oct. Senators Blaine and Barnum passed down to New York, en route to Washington, on Wednesday last, when Barnum asked Blaine how he liked the news from Ohio. ‘Oh, that isn’t my funeral, I want you to understand,’ replied the plucky Maine Senator.

1888. Missouri Republican, 8 Apr. After a lot of slides had been exhibited the audience howled for Miss Debar. It got so noisy that Mr. Marsh reluctantly exclaimed—‘Well, is this your funeral or mine?’

Fungus, subs. (old).—An old man.

Funk, subs. (old).—1. Tobacco smoke; also a powerful stink. Cf., Ger., funke; Walloon funki.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. What a funk here is! What a thick smoke. Smoak of Tobacco is here! Ibid. Here’s a damn’d funk, here’s a great stink.

2. (vulgar).—A state of fear; trepidation, nervousness, or cowardice; a stew (q.v.). Generally, with an intensitive, e.g., a ‘mortal,’ ‘awful,’ ‘bloody,’ ‘blue,’ or ‘pissing’ funk. Fr., la guenette; le flubart (thieves’); la frousse (also = diarrhœa). It., filo = thread.

1796. Wolcott, Pindarina, p. 59. If they find no brandy to get drunk, Their souls are in a miserable funk.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 21. Up he rose in a funk.

1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry (1890), p. 91. I was in a complete funk.

1837. Barham, I. L., Look at the Clock, ed. 1862, p. 39. Pryce, usually brimful of valour when drunk, Now experienced what schoolboys denominate funk.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 9. The mules, which was a-snorting with funk and running before the Injuns ... followed her right into the corral, and thar they was safe.

1850. Literary World (New York), 30 Nov. So my friend’s fault is timidity.... I grant, then, that the funk is sublime, which is a true and friendly admission.

1856. Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-days, p. 196. If I was going to be flogged next minute, I should be in a blue funk.

1859. Whitty, Political Portraits, p. 30. Lord Clarendon did not get through the business without these failures, which result from the intellectual process termed freely funk.

1861. Macmillan’s Magazine, p. 211. I was in a real blue funk.

1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xxxvi. I was in a real blue funk and no mistake.

1870. London Figaro, 19 Oct. After the Fire. He was in a mortal funk, no doubt.

1871. Maxwell, in Life (1882), xvi., 382. Certainly χλωρὸν θéος is the Homeric for a blue funk.

1888. Cassell’s Saturday Journal, 29 Dec., p. 305. You’re always in a funk about nothing at all.

3. (schoolboys’).—A coward.

1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. v. Bosher said, ‘Let’s cut it,’ and he and Peebles bolted. (They were neither of them funks, of course, but they lost their heads.)

Verb. (common).—1. To smoke out. See Funk the cobbler.

1720. Durfey, Wit and Mirth, vi., 303. With a sober dose Of coffee funks his nose.

1578. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. funk, to smoke, figuratively to smoke or stink through fear.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii., 2. Tom. But, I say, only see how confoundedly the dustman’s getting hold of Logic—we’ll funk him. (Tom and Jerry smoke Logic), Log. Oh, hang your cigars, I don’t like it; let’s have no funking.

1841. Punch, I., p. 172. Look here ... isn’t it considerable clear they’re a all funking like burnt cayenne in a clay pipe, or couldn’t they have made a raise somehow to get a ship of their own, or borrow one to send after that caged-up coon of a Macleod.

2. (common).—To terrify; to shrink or quail through nervousness or cowardice.

1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, Bk. III., ch. vi., p. 294. Perhaps we’re only funking ourselves useless, and it mayn’t be the farm chaps at all.

3. (colloquial).—To fear; to hesitate; to shirk; and (among pugilists) to come it (q.v.).

1836. Smith, The Individual, ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’ But dearer to me Sue’s kisses far Than grunting peck or other grub are, And I never funk the lambskin men When I sits with her in the boozing ken.

1846. Punch, X., p. 163. But as yet no nose is bleeding, As yet no man is down; For the gownsmen funk the townsmen, And the townsmen funk the gown.

1848. J. R. Lowell, Biglow Papers. To funk right out o’ p’lit’cal strife ain’t thought to be the thing.

1873. M. Collins, Squire Silchester’s Whim, ch. xvii. Come along! don’t funk it, old fellow.

English Synonyms.—To come it; to lose one’s guts; to shit one’s breeches; to get the needle (athletic).

French Synonyms.—Paniquer (thieves’: Panique = sudden fright); blaguer (familiar: = to swagger: Il avait l’air de blaguer mais il n’était pas à la noce = he put on a lot of side, but he didn’t like it); avec la cœur en gargousse (sailors’ = with sinking heart); avoir une fluxion (popular: fluxion = inflammation); avoir la flemme (popular: also = to be idle); avoir le trac or trak (general); foirer (popular: foire = excrement); léziner (popular: also = to cheat).

Spanish Synonym.—Pajarear.

Italian Synonym.—Filare (= to run: Fr., filer).

4. (colloquial).—To be nervous; to lose heart.

1827. ‘Advice to Tommy,’ Every Night Book (by the author of ‘The Cigar’). Do not go out of your depth, unless you have available assistance at hand, in case you should funk.

1856. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School Days, ii., p. 5. He’s funking; go in Williams!

1857. Moncrieff, The Bashful Man, ii., 4. Ah! Gyp, hope I sha’n’t get plucked; funk confoundedly: no matter, I must put a bold face on it.

1857. Hood, Pen and Pencil Pictures, p. 144. I have seen him out with the governor’s hounds: he funked at the first hedge, and I never saw him again!

1863. Reade, Hard Cash, ii., p. 135. I told him I hadn’t a notion of what he meant! ‘O yes I did,’ he said, ‘Captain Dodd’s fourteen thousand pounds! It had passed through my hands.’ Then I began to funk again at his knowing that.... I was flustered, ye see.

1865. H. Kingsley, The Hillyars and the Burtons, ch. xxxiii. The sound of the table falling was the signal for a rush of four men from the inner room, who had to use a vulgar expression, funked following the valiant scoundrel Sykes, but who now tried to make their escape, and found themselves hand to hand with the policemen.

1871. Morning Advertiser, 11 Sept. ‘Holy Abr’ham!’ mused he vauntingly, ‘shall British sailors funk, While tracts refresh their spirits, tea washes down their junk?’

1890. Pall Mall Gazette, 17 Oct. p. 2, col. 1. They wanted badly to get one steamer loaded and sent to New Zealand. The non-union men funked loading her on account of the union men.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gazette, 13 Feb. Smith’s friends thought he was funking, and shouted to Tom to go in and punch him.

5. (schoolboys’).—To move the hand forward unfairly in playing marbles; to fudge (q.v.).

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Funk, to use an unfair motion of the hand in plumping at taw.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., p. 144. I’ve noticed them, too, playing at ring-taw, and one of their exclamations is ‘Knuckle down fair, and no funking.’

To funk the cobbler, verb. phr. (schoolboys’).—To smoke out a schoolmate: a trick performed with asafœtida and cotton stuffed into a hollow tube or cow’s horn; the cotton being lighted, the smoke is blown through the keyhole.

1698–1700. Ward, London Spy, Pt. IX., p. 197. We smoak’d the Beans almost as bad as unlucky schoolboys us’d to do the coblers, till they sneak’d off one by one, and left behind ’em more agreeable Company.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

See also Peter Funk.

Funker, subs. (old).—1. A pipe; a cigar; a fire. [From funk = to smoke + er.]

2. (thieves’).—A low thief.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, etc., s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon. Funkers, the very lowest order of thieves.

3. (colloquial).—A coward.

4. (prostitutes’).—A girl that shirks her trade in bad weather.

Funking-room, subs. (medical).—The room at the Royal College of Surgeons where the students collect on the last evening of their final during the addition of their marks, and whence each is summoned by an official announcing failure or success.

1841. Punch, I., p. 225, col. 2. On the top of a staircase he enters a room, wherein the partners of his misery are collected. It is a long, narrow apartment, commonly known as the funking-room.

Funkster, subs. (Winchester College).—A coward; one that funks (q.v.).

Funky, adj. (colloquial).—Nervous; frightened; timid.

1845. Naylor, Reynard the Fox, 46. I do seem somewhat funky.

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, I., 143. On his retiring with twenty-five, scored in eight minutes, the remaining Barkingtonians were less funky, and made some fair scores.

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheapjack, p. 237. The second round commences with a little cautious sparring on both sides, the bouncing Elias looking very funky.

1891. Hume Nisbet, Bail Up! p. 51. ‘I’ll noy funky,’ returned the Chinaman impressively.

Funnel, subs. (common).—The throat. For synonyms, see Gutter Alley.

1712. Blackmore, Creation, Bk. VI. Some the long funnel’s curious mouth extend, Through which the ingested meats with ease descend.

Funniment, subs. (colloquial).—1. A joke, either practical or verbal.

2. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Funny, subs. (nautical).—A clinker-built, narrow boat for sculls.

1837. Barham, I. L., Sir Rupert the Fearless. Sprang up through the waves, popped him into his funny, Which some others already had half-filled with money.

1882. Field, 28 Jan. The only obtainable craft, besides funnies, pair-oars, and randans, were a couple of six-oars.

To feel funny, verb. phr. (common).—To be overtaken with (1) emotion, or (2) drink: e.g., to wax amorous, or get the flavour (q.v.); to begin to be the worse for liquor.

Funny Bit, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum.

Funny Bone, subs. (popular).—The elbow, with the passage of the ulnar nerve connecting the two bones: the extremity of the humerus.

1837. Barham, I. L. (Blondie Jacke). They have pull’d you down flat on your back! And they smack, and they thwack, Till your funny bones crack, As if you were stretch’d on the rack.

1853. Thackeray, ‘Shabby Genteel Story,’ ch. ix. He had merely received a blow on that part which anatomists call the funny bone.

1870. Lowell Courier. Thanks for your kind condolence; I would write A merry rhyme in answer if I might; But then—confound the fall!—the very stone That broke my humerus hurt my funny bone!

Funny-man, subs. (common).—A circus clown. Also a joker in private life.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor., III., p. 129. What I’ve earned as clown, or the funny man.

Fur, subs. (venery).—The pubic hair. For synonyms, see Fleece.

To make the fur fly.—See Fly.

To have one’s fur out, verb. phr. (Winchester College).—To be angry. For synonyms, see Nab the rust.

Fur and Feathers, subs. phr. (sporting).—Generic for game.

Fur-below, subs. (venery).—The female pubic hair. For synonyms, see Fleece.

16(?). Old Catch. Adam caught Eve by the fur-below, And that’s the oldest catch I know.

Furioso, subs. (old).—A blusterer; Ital., furioso = raving.

1692. Hacket. Life of Archbishop Williams, ii., p. 218. A violent man and a furioso was deaf to all this.

English Synonyms.—Barker; blower; bobadil; bouncer; bulldozer (American); cacafogo; Captain Bounce; Captain Bluff; Captain Grand; Captain Hackam; cutter; fire-eater; hector; huff-cap; humguffin; gasser; gasman; mouth; mouth-almighty; pissfire; pump-thunder; ramper; roarer; ruffler; shitefire; slangwhanger; spitfire; swashbuckler; swasher; teazer; Timothy Tearcat.

French Synonyms.—Un avale-tout-cru (popular: = an eat-all-he-kills); un fendart or fendart (popular: = a cutter); un avaleur de charrettes fereés (popular); un mata (printers’: from matador = a bull-fighter); un bousineur (popular: bousin = uproar, shindy); un bourreau de crânes (military): = a scull-destroyer; un bœufier (popular: = an ugly customer); un mauvais gas (familiar: from garçon); un homme qui a l’air de vouloir tout avaler (familiar: a man who looks as though he’d swallow the world); un croquet (popular).

Spanish Synonyms.—Perdonavidas; fierabras (fiera = a wild beast); botarate; macareno cacafuoco (= a shitfire).

Furk, Ferk, Firk, verb. (Winchester College).—To expel; to send (as on a message); to drive away. Also to furk up and furk down. [Old English fercian, High German ferken, Middle English to lead or send away.]

Furmen, subs. (old).—Aldermen. From their fur-trimmed robes.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Furmity-faced, adj. phr. (old).—White-faced (furmity is described by Grose as ‘wheat boiled to a jelly’). To simper like a furmity kitten (Grose), see Simper.

Furnish, verb. (common).—To fill out; to improve in strength and appearance.

Furniture Picture, subs. phr. (artists’).—A ‘picture’ sold not as a piece of art but as a piece of upholstery, such things being turned out by the score, as pianos are, or three-legged stools; the worst and cheapest kind of potboiler (q.v.).

Furrow, subs. (venery). Also Cupid’s (or the One-ended) furrow, etc.—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. To draw a straight furrow. See Draw.

to fall in the furrow, verb. phr. (venery).—To achieve emission.

To fail (or die) in the furrow, verb. phr. (venery).—To do a dry-bob (q.v.).

Furry Tail, subs. phr. (printers’).—A non-unionist; a rat (q.v.). Specifically, a workman accepting employment at less than ‘Society’ wages. Cf., Dung, Flint, etc.

Further. I’ll see you further first, phr. (colloquial).—A denial. I’ll sooner die first (q.v.).

1861–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., p. 29. I gave a country lad 2d. to mind him (the donkey) in a green lane there. I wanted my own boy to do so, but he said, I’ll see you further first. A London boy hates being by himself in a lone country part. He’s afraid of being burked.

Fur Trade, subs. phr. (old).—Barristers.

1839. Reynolds, Pickwick Abroad, ch. xxvi. Let nobs in the fur trade hold their jaw, And let the jug be free.

Furze-Bush, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pubic hair. For synonyms, see fleece.

Fussock, and Fussocks, subs. (old).—Opprobrious for a fat woman.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Fussocks, a meer fussocks, a Lazy Fat-Arsed Wench, a fat fussocks, a Flusom, Fat, Strapping Woman.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Fust (or Fust out), verb. (American).—To end in smoke; to go to waste; to end in nothing. Cf., fizzle.

Fustian, subs. and adj. (old).—1. Bombast; bad rhetoric; sound without sense: bombastic; ranting. Now accepted.

1598. Shakspeare, 2 Henry IV., II., 4. Thrust him downstairs; I cannot endure such a fustian rascal.

1602. Shakspeare, Twelfth Night II., 5. A fustian riddle.

1602. Shakspeare, Othello, II., 3. And discourse fustian with one’s own shadow.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Fustian-verse, verse in words of lofty sound and humble sense.

1828–45. Hood, Poems, i., p. 105 (ed. 1846). The saints!—the bigots that in public spout, Spread phosphorous of zeal on scraps of fustian, And go like walking ‘Lucifers’ about These living bundles of combustion.

2. (common).—Wine; white fustian = champagne; red fustian = port.

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 51 (ed. 1864). I’m as dry as a sandbed. Famous wine this—beautiful tipple—better than all your red fustian. Ah, how poor Sir Piers used to like it!

Fustilarian, subs. (old).—A low fellow; a common scoundrel.

1598. Shakspeare, 2 Henry IV., II., 1. Away, you scullion! you rampallian! you fustilarian! I’ll tickle your catastrophe.

Fustilug (or Fustilugs), subs. (old).—A piece of grossness, male or female; a coarse and dirty Blowzalinda; a foul slut; a fat stinkard.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Fustiluggs, a Fulsom, Beastly, Nasty Woman.

1739. Junius (quoted in Encly. Dict.). You may daily see such fustilugs walking in the streets, like so many tuns.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

Futter, verb. (venery).—To copulate. Fr., foutre. [A coinage of Sir. R. Burton’s, who makes continual use of it in the Thousand Nights and a Night.] For synonyms, see Greens and Ride. Also to do a futter.

1885. Burton, Thousand Nights, II., 332. Eating and drinking and futtering for a year of full twelve months.

1890. Burton, Priapeia, Ep. xii. Thee, my girl, I shalt futter.

Future, to deal in futures, verb. phr. (Stock Exchange).—To speculate for a rise or fall.

1862. Globe, 1 Dec. He deals in futures, i.e., speculates in cotton with Stock Exchange folks, or speculates in securities.

Fuzz, verb. (old).—1. ‘To shuffle cards minutely; also to change the pack.’ [Grose.]

2. (old).—To be, or to make, drunk.

1685. Life of Amb. Wood, 14 July. Came home well fuzd.

Fuzziness, subs. (old).—The condition of being in drink. Hence blurredness; incoherence; bewilderment.

Fuzzy, adj. (common).—1. Drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed. Hence blurred (as a picture); tangled; incoherent or inconsequent.

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 324. Her husband or any other man might have drunk six glasses, with no more hurt than just making him a little fuzzy.

2. (popular).—Rough; as in a fuzzy head; a fuzzy cloth; a fuzzy bit (= a full-grown wench); a fuzzy carpet; etc.

Fuzzy-wuzzy, subs. (military). A Soudanese tribesman.

1890. Rudyard Kipling, National Observer, 8 Mar., p. 438, col. 1. So ’ere’s to you Fuzzy-wuzzy And your ’ome in the Soudan, You’re a pore benighted ’eathen but a first-class fighting man; And ’ere’s to you Fuzzy-wuzzy with your ’ay-rick ’ead of ’air, You big, black bouncing beggar, for you bruk a British square.

Fye-buck, subs. (old).—A sixpence. For synonyms, see Bender.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, II., 56. You give a shilling to buy a comb, for which he gives sixpence, so works you for another fye-buck.

1885. Household Words, 20 June, p. 155. ‘Buck’ is most likely a corruption of fye-buck, a slang name for sixpence, which is now almost, if not altogether, obsolete.

Fylche.—See Filch.

Fyst.—See Foist.

G

Gab, subs. (vulgar).—1. The mouth; also Gob. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1785. Burns, Jolly Beggars. And aye he gies the touzie drab The tither skelpin kiss, While she held up her greedy gab, Just like an aumos dish.

1820. Scott, The Abbot, ch. xiv. ‘And now, my mates,’ said the Abbot of Unreason, ‘once again digut your gabs and be hushed—let us see if the Cock of Kennaguhair will fight or flee the pit.’

1890. Rare Bits, 12 Apr., p. 347. ‘Clap a stopper on your gab and whack up, or I’ll let ’er speak!’

2. (vulgar).—Talk; idle babble. Also Gabb, Gabber, and Gabble.

1712. Spectator, No. 389. Having no language among them but a confused gabble, which is neither well understood by themselves or others.

1811. Poole, Hamlet Travestied, I., 3. Then hold your gab, and hear what I’ve to tell.

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, ch. xxxiv. ‘Hush your gab,’ said Mr. Green, roughly.

1887. Punch, 10 Sept., p. 111. Gladstone’s gab about ‘masses and classes’ is all tommy rot.

Verb. (vulgar: O. E., and now preserved in Gabble).—To talk fluently; to talk brilliantly; to lie.

1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales 1652. I gabbe nought, so have I joye or blis.

1402. [? T. Occleve], Letter of Cupid, in Arber’s Garner, vol. IV., p. 59. A foul vice it is, of tongue to be light, For whoso mochil clappeth, gabbeth oft.

1601. Shakspeare, Twelfth Night, Act II., Sc. iii. Mal. ... Have you no wit, manners, nor honesty, but to gabble like tinkers at this time of night.

1663. Butler, Hudibras, pt. I., ch. i., p. 5. Which made some think when he did gabble Th’ had heard three Labourers of Babel.

1786. Burns, Earnest Cry and Prayer, st. 10. But could I like Montgomeries fight, Or gab like Boswell.

1880. G. R. Sims, Zeph, ch. vii. An elderly clergyman ... gabbled the funeral service as though he were calling back an invoice at a draper’s entering desk.

1887. Punch, 10 Sept., p. 111. Gals do like a chap as can gab.

Gift of the Gab (or Gob), subs. phr. (colloquial).—The gift of conversation; the talent for speech. Fr., n’avoir pas sa langue dans sa poche.

d. 1653. Z. Boyd, Book of Job, quoted in Brewer’s Phrase and Fable, s.v., ‘gab. There was a good man named Job, Who lived in the land of Uz, He had a good gift of the gob.’

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Gift of the gob, a wide, open Mouth; also a good Songster, or Singing-master.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1820. Shelley, Œdipus Tyrannus, Act I. You, Purganax, who have the gift o’ the gab, Make them a solemn speech.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xliii. And we’ll have a big-wig, Charley: one that’s got the greatest gift of the gab: to carry on his defence.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, I., 250. People reckon me one of the best patterers in the trade. I’m reckoned to have the gift—that is, the gift of the gab.

1869. Whyte-Melville, M. or N., p. 29. I’ve got the gift of the gab, I know, and I stick at nothing.

1870. Lond. Figaro, 18 Sept. ‘Of all gifts possessed by man,’ said George Stephenson, the engineer, to Sir William Follett, ‘there is none like the gift of the gab.’

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 193. Others, although they have the gift of the gab when they are on the ground, as soon as they mount the cart are dumbfounded.

To blow the gab, verb. phr. (vulgar).—To inform; to peach (q.v.). Also to blow the gaff (q.v.).

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. 5. Never blow the gab or squeak.

To flash the gab, verb. phr. (common).—To show off (q.v.) in talk; cf., Air one’s vocabulary.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 2. While his Lordship ... that very great dab At the flowers of rhet’ric is flashing his gab.

Gabble, subs. (colloquial).—1. A gossip. Also Gabbler, Gabble-grinder, Gabble-merchant, and Gabble-monger.

2. (colloquial).—A voluble talker.

Gabble-mill, subs. (American).—1. The United States Congress. Also Gabble-manufactory.

2. (common).—A pulpit. For synonyms, see Humbox.

3. (common).—The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

Gable, subs. (common).—The head. Also Gable-end. For synonyms, see Crumpet.

Gabster, subs. (common).—A voluble talker, whether eloquent or vain; one having the gift of the gab (q.v.).

Gab-string.—See Gob-string.

Gaby (also Gabbey and Gabby), subs. (common).—A fool; a babbler; a boor. Icl. gapi = a foolish person, from gapa = to gape.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1856. T. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School Days, pt. 1, ch. iii. Two boys, who stopped close by him, and one of whom, a fat gaby of a fellow, pointed at him and called him young ‘mammy-sick.’

1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffrey Hamlyn, ch. ix. Don’t stand laughing there like a great gaby.

1875. Ouida, Signa, vol. I., ch. iv., p. 47. ‘You have never dried your clothes, Bruno,’ said his sister-in-law, ‘What a gaby a man is without a wife!’

Gad, subs. (common).—An idle slattern. An abbreviation of gad-about (q.v.).

Intj. (common).—An abbreviation of by Gad! Cf. Agad, Egad—themselves corruptions of by God, Lit.

On the gad, adv. phr. (old).—1. On the spur of the moment.

1605. Shakspeare, Lear, i., 2. All this is done upon the gad.

2. (colloquial).—On the move, on the gossip.

1818. Austen, Persuasion. I have no very good opinion of Mrs. Charles’ nursery maid.... She is always upon the gad.

3. (colloquial).—On the spree (especially of women); and, by implication, on the town.

To gad the hoof, verb. phr. (common).—To walk or go without shoes; to pad the hoof (q.v.). Also, more loosely, to walk or roam about.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 447. Going without shoes, gadding the hoof.

Gadabout, subs. (colloquial).—A trapesing gossip; as a housewife seldom seen at home, but very often at her neighbours’ doors. [From Gad = to wander, to stray (Cf., Lycidas: ‘the gadding vine’) + About.] Used also as an adjective; e.g., ‘a Gad-about hussey.’

Gadso, subs. (old)—The penis. Italian cazzo. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Intj. (old: still literary and colloquial).—An interjection. [A relic of phallicism with which many popular oaths and exclamations have a direct connection, especially in Neo-Latin dialects. A Spaniard cries out, Carajo! (—the member), or Cojones! (—the testicles); an Italian says Cazzo (the penis); while a Frenchman exclaims by the act itself, Foutre! The female equivalent, (coño with the Spaniard, conno with the Italian, con with the Frenchman, and cunt with ourselves), was, and is, more generally used as an expression of contempt, which is also the case with the testicles. (Cf., ante, All Balls!) Germanic oaths are profane rather than obscene; except, perhaps, in Potz! and Potztaufend! and the English equivalent Pox! which last is obsolete. See Catso. In Florio (A Worlde of Wordes, 1598), Cazzo = ‘a man’s privie member,’ and cazzo di mare = a pintle fish; while cazzica = ‘an interjection of admiration and affirming. What? Gad’s me, Gad forfend, tush.’]

1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, iii., 1. Sir? Gadso! we are to consult about playing the devil to night.

1770. Foote, Lame Lover, i. Gadso! a little unlucky.

1838. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. iv. ‘Gadso!’ said the undertaker ... ‘that’s just the very thing I wanted to speak to you about.’

Gadzooks! intj. (old and colloquial).—A corruption of Gadzo (q.v.).

Gaff, subs. (old).—1. A fair.

1754. Discoveries of John Poulter, p. 32. The first thing they do at a gaff is to look for a room clear of company.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. The drop coves maced the joskins at the gaff; the ring-droppers cheated the countryman at the fair.

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 22. We stopped at this place two days, waiting to attend the gaff.

1823. Jon. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, etc., s.v. A fair is a gaff as well as all the transactions enacted there.

2. (common).—A cheap, low music-hall or theatre; frequently penny-gaff, Cf., quot. 1823, sense 1. Also dookie. Fr., un beuglant (= a low music-hall; beugler = to bellow); un bouisbouis (boui = brothel); une guinche (popular). See also quot. 1889.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, I., p. 46. They court for a time, going to raffles and gaffs together, and then the affair is arranged.

1869. Greenwood, Seven Curses of London, p. 68. A gaff is a place where stage plays, according to the strict interpretation of the term, may not be represented. The actors of a drama may not correspond in colloquy, only in pantomime; but the pieces brought out at the gaff are seldom of an intricate character, and the not over-fastidious auditory are well content with an exhibition of dumb-show and gesture.

1870. Orchestra, 18 Feb. The absolute harm done by these gaffs does not consist in the subjects represented.

1889. Notes and Queries, 7 S. vii., p. 395. I have often heard the British soldier make use of the word when speaking of the entertainment got up for his benefit in barracks.

3. (prison).—A hoax; an imposture. Cf., Fr., gaffe = joke, deceit.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 312. I also saw that Jemmy’s blowing up of me wos all gaff. He knew as well as I did the things left the shop all right.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 227. Can you put me up to this other gaff.

4. (old sharpers’).—A ring worn by the dealer. [From gaffe = a hook.]

5. (American cock-pit).—A steel spur.

6. (anglers’).—A landing spear, barbed in the iron.

Verb. (old).—1. To toss for liquor. See gaffing.

1823. Jon Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v.

2. (theatrical).—To play in a gaff (q.v. sense 2).

To blow the gaff, or gab (q.v.), verb. phr. (common). To give information; to let out a secret. For synonyms, see Peach.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. To blow the gab (cant), to confess, or impeach a confederate.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. xliii. One of the French officers, after he was taken prisoner, axed me how we had managed to get the gun up there; but I wasn’t going to blow the gaff.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. ii., p. 122. The prisoner, burning for revenge, quietly bides his time till the chief warder comes round, then asks to speak to him, and blows the gaff.

1891. Referee, 8 Mar. Under sacred promise not to blow the gaff I was put up to the method.

Gaffer, subs. (old).—1. An old man; the masculine of Gammer (q.v.). Also a title of address: e.g., ‘Good day, gaffer!’ Cf., Uncle and Daddy. Also (see quot. 1710), a husband.

1710. Dame Hurdle’s Letter (quoted by Nares). My gaffer only said he would inform himself as well as he could against next election, and keep a good conscience.

1714. Gay, Shepherd’s Week. For Gaffer Treadwell told us, by-the-bye, Excessive sorrow is exceeding dry.

1842. Tennyson, The Goose. Ran Gaffer, stumbled Gammer.

2. (common).—A master; an employer; a boss (q.v.); (athletic) a pedestrian trainer and ‘farmer’; and (navvies’) a gang-master or ganger (q.v.).

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., iv., 123. In comes our gaffer Underwood, And sits him on the bench.

1748. T. Dyche, Dict. (5th ed.) Gaffer (S.) a familiar word mostly used in the country for master.

1885. Daily News, 24 Jan., p. 3, c. 1. They go and work at fivepence, and some on ’em as low as threepence halfpenny, an hour; that’s just half what we get, and the gaffers keep ’em on and sack us.

1888. Sportsman, 20 Dec. Comic enough were some of the stories ‘Jemmy’ told of his relations with ‘the gaffer.’

1889. Broadside Ballad, ‘The Gaffers of the Gang.’ We are the boys that can do the excavations, We are the lads for the ’atin’ and the dhrinkin’, With the ladies we are so fascinatin’, Because we are the gaffers of the gang.

3. (old).—A toss-penny; a gambler with coins. From gaffing (q.v.).

1828. Jon Bee, Living Picture of London, p. 241. If the person calling for ‘man’ or ‘woman’ is not right or wrong at five guesses, neither of the gaffers win or lose, but go again.

Verb. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

Gaffing, subs. (old).—See quot.

1821. Pierce Egan, Life in London, p. 279. Gaffing was unfortunately for him introduced. Ibid. Note.—A mode of tossing for drinks, etc., in which three coins are placed in a hat, shaken up, and then thrown on the table. If the party to ‘call’ calls ‘heads’ (or ‘tails’) and all three coins are as he calls them, he wins; if not, he pays a settled amount towards drinks.

1839. Brandon, Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, s.v.

Gag, subs. (common).—1. A joke; an invention; a hoax.

1823. Jon Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. Gag—a grand imposition upon the public; as a mountebank’s professions, his cures, and his lottery-bags, are so many broad gags.

1871. All the Year Round, 18 Feb., p. 288. You won’t bear malice now, will you? All gag of mine, you know, about old Miss Ponsonby.

1885. Daily News, 16 May, p. 5, c. 2. ‘The Mahdi sends you lies from Khartoum, and laughs when you believe them,’ said a native, lately. We need not gratify the Mahdi by believing any bazaar-gag he may circulate.

2. (theatrical).—Expressions interpolated by an actor in his part: especially such as can be repeated again and again in the course of performance. Certain plays, as The Critic, are recognised ‘gag-pieces,’ and in these the practice is accounted legitimate. Cf., Hamlet, iii., 2: ‘And let those, that play your clowns, say no more than is set down for them.’ Cf., Wheeze. Fr., la cocotte (specifically additions to vocal scores). A typical example is the ‘I believe you, my boy!’ of the late Paul Bedford. In the quot. under 1851–61, it is probable that gag = patter (q.v.)

1841. Punch, i., p. 105. I shall do the liberal in the way of terms, and get up the gag properly.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, iii., p. 148. When I go out I always do my own gag, and I try to knock out something new.

1866. W. D. Howells, Venetian Life, ch. v.... I have heard some very passable gags at the Marionette, but the real commedia a braccio no longer exists.

1889. Globe, 12 Oct., p. 4, c. 4. In a high-class music hall it is a rule that no song must be sung till it is read and signed by the manager, and this applies even to the gag.

1890. Pall Mall Gazette, 5 Mar., p. 4, c. 3. Mr. Augustus Harris pointed out that if the clause were carried the penalty would, in many cases, be incurred twenty times in one scene, for actors and singers were continually introducing gag into their business.

3. (American).—A commonwealth of players in which the profits are shared round. Cf., Conscience.

1847. Darley, Drama in Pokerville, p. 124. The artist ... merely remarking that he had thought of a gag which would bring them through, mounted a ladder, and disappeared.

4. (American).—A fool; i.e., a thing to laugh at. For synonyms, see Cabbage- and Buffle-head and Sammy Soft.

1838–40. Haliburton, The Clockmaker, p. 46. ‘Sam,’ says he, ‘they tell me you broke down the other day in the House of Representatives and made a proper gag of yourself.’

5. (Christ’s Hospital).—Boiled fat beef. Gag-eater = a term of reproach.

1813. Lamb, Christ’s Hospital, in wks., p. 324 (ed. 1852). L. has recorded the repugnance of the school to gags, or the fat of fresh beef boiled; and sets it down to some superstition.... A gag-eater in our time was equivalent to a ghoul ... and held in equal estimation.

6. (Winchester College).—An exercise (said to have been invented by Dr. Gabell) which consists in writing Latin criticisms on some celebrated piece, in a book sent in about once a month. In the Parts below Sixth Book and Senior Part, the gags consisted in historical analysis. [An abbreviation of ‘gathering.’]

1870. Mansfield, School-life at Winchester College, p. 108. From time to time, also, they had to write ... an analysis of some historical work; these productions were called gatherings (or gags).

Verb, trs. and intrs. (theatrical).—1. To speak gags (q.v.), sense 2. Fr., cascader.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, III., 149. He has to gag, that is, to make up words.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xxxix. The same vocalist gags in the regular business like a man inspired.

1883. Referee, 15 April, p. 3, c. 1. Toole ... cannot repress a tendency to gag and to introduce more than is set down for him by the author.

2. (old).—To hoax; to puff.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, II., 154. Having discovered the weak side of him he means to gag.

1823. Jon Bee, Dict. of the Turf, etc., s.v. A showman cries ‘Walk in, ladies and gentlemen, they’re all alive,’ but the spectators soon perceive ’tis all stuff, reproach Mr. Merryman, and he, in excuse, swears he said ‘they were’ and not ‘are alive’ He thus gags the public.

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 325. Then they gag the thing up, and send their bills out about the immense cost of scenery and dresses, and other expenses they are at, etc.

3. (thieves’).—To inform; to round on (q.v.); also to blow the gag. Cf., Gaff, Gab, etc. For synonyms, see Peach.

1891. Morning Advertiser, 28 Mar. She ... besought them with (crocodile) tears not to gag on them, in other words not to give information to the police.

On the high gag. adv. phr. (old).—On the whisper; telling secrets; cf., verb, sense 3.

1823. Kent, The Modern Flash Dict., s.v.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, etc., s.v.

On the low gag, adv. phr. (old).—On the last rungs of beggary, ill-luck, or despair.

1823. Kent, The Modern Flash Dict., s.v.

1848. Duncombe, The Sinks of London, etc., s.v.

To strike the gag, verb. phr. (old).—To cease from chaffing.

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard (ed. 1889), p. 43. ‘A clever device,’ replied Jonathan; ‘but it won’t serve your turn. Let us pass, sir. Strike the gag, Blueskin.’

Gage (Gauge or Gag), subs. (old).—1. A quart pot (i.e., a measure). Also a drink or go (q.v.).

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65. A gage, a quart pot.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874). Gage, a quart pot.

1622. J. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush. I crown thy nab with a gage of benbouse.

1656. Broome, Jovial Crew, Act ii., I bowse no lage, but a whole gage Of this I bowse to you.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Cant. Crew. Gage, c. A pot or pipe. Tip me a gage, c. give me a pot, or pipe.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 12. Gage, a pot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Gage, a quart pot, also a pint (cant).

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 40. We drank our gauge and parted good friends.

2. (18th century).—A chamber-pot.

3. (old).—A pipe.

1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Cant. Crew (See quot. 1690 under sense 1).

1796. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd Ed.), s.v.

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, Bk. III., ch. v. In the mean time, tip me a gage of fogus, Jerry.

4. (American).—A man. For synonyms, see Cove.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogues Lexicon. Deck the gage, see the man.

Gagers, subs. (American).—The eyes. For synonyms, see Glims.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Gagga, subs. (old).—See quot.

1796. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd Ed). Cheats who by sham pretences and wonderful stories of their sufferings impose on the credulity of good people.

Gagger, subs. (theatrical).—A player who deals in gags (q.v.), sense 2. Also Gaggist, Gagmaster, and Gagster.

1841. Punch, Vol. I., p. 169. Men with ‘swallows’ like Thames tunnels, in fact accomplished gaggers and unrivalled ‘wiry watchers.’

1887. Burnand and a’Beckett in Fortn. Review, April, p. 548. Robson ... was an inveterate gagger.

1890. Globe, 3 March, p. 1, c. 4. The low comedy was much toned down.... In other words, the gaggers were gagged.

Gaggery, subs. (theatrical).—The practice of Gagging (q.v.), sense 3.

Gagging, subs. (old).—1. Bluff (q.v.); specifically, bunco-steering (q.v.), the art of talking over and persuading a stranger that he is an old acquaintance. Cf., Gag, verb, sense 2.

1828. G. Smeaton, Doings in London, p. 28. One of the modes of raising money, well known in town by the flash name of gagging, has been practised of late to a considerable extent on simple countrymen, who are strangers to the ‘ways of town.’

2. (cabmen’s).—Loitering about for ‘fares’; ‘crawling.’

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. III., p. 366. The means used are gagging, that is to say, driving about and loitering in the thoroughfares for jobs.

3. (theatrical).—Dealing in gags (q.v.), sense 1. Also as ppl. adj.

1883. The Echo, 5 Jan., p. 2, c. 3. A protest, by no means unneeded, against the insolence or ignorance of some playwrights, and gagging actors.

1889. Answers, 27 July, p. 143, c. 2. Gagging is a thing about which the public know little.

Gaggler’s Coach, subs. phr. (old).—A hurdle.

1823. Kent, Modern Flash Dict., s.v.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, s.v.

Gail, subs. (old).—A horse. For synonyms, see Prad.

Gaily-like, adj. (American).—Showy; expensive: bang-up (q.v.).

1872. Clemens (Mark Twain), Undertaker’s Chat. Now, you know how difficult it is to roust out such a gaily-like thing as that in a little one-horse town like this.

Gain-pain, subs. (old).—A sword; specifically, in the Middle Ages, that of a hired soldier. [From Fr., gagner = to gain + pain = bread. Cf., Breadwinner (prostitutes’) and Potboiler (artists’).] For synonyms, see Cheese-toaster and Poker.

Gait, subs. (colloquial).—Walk in life; profession; mode of making a living; game (q.v.).

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum. ‘I say, Tim, what’s your gait now?’ ‘Why, you see, I’m on the crack’ (burglary).

Gaiters, subs. (American colloquial).—Half boots; shoes.

Gal, subs. (common).—1. A girl; a servant-maid; a sweetheart. Best girl = favourite flame.

2. (common).—A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, I., p. 535. Upon the most trivial offence in this respect, or on the suspicion of an offence, the gals are sure to be beaten cruelly and savagely by their ‘chaps.’

3. (American).—A female rough.

Galaney. See Galeny.

Galanty (Gallanty or Galantee) Show, subs. phr. (common).—A shadow pantomime: silhouettes shown on a transparency or thrown on a white sheet by a magic lantern. Specifically, the former. See Punch and Judy.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. III., p. 81. The galantee show don’t answer, because magic lanterns are so cheap in the shops.

1884. Cassell’s Technical Educator, pt. 10, p. 244. That reminiscence of the nursery, the galanty show.

1888. Notes and Queries, 7 S. v., p. 265. A flourish on the panpipes and a rumble on the drum was followed by the cry, galanty-show!

Gal-boy, subs. (American).—A romp; a tom-boy (q.v.).

Galen, subs. (common).—An apothecary. For synonyms, see Gallipot.

Galena, subs. (American).—Salt pork. [From Galen, Ill., a chief hog-raising and pork-packing centre].

Galeny (or Galany), subs. (old).—The domestic hen; now (West of England) a Guinea fowl. [Latin, gallina]. For synonyms, see Cackling-cheat.

1887. Temple Bar, Mar., p. 333 It’s a sin to think of the money you’d be spending on girls and things as don’t know a hen’s egg from a galeeny’s.

Galimaufrey, subs. (old).—1. A medley; a jumble; a chaos of differences. [Fr., gallimaufrée = a hash].

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse, in wks., ii., 93. Coblers, Tinkers, Fencers, none escapt them, but they mingled them all on one gallimafrey of glory.

1592. John Day, Blind Beggar, Act iv., Sc. 1, p. 75. Can. Let me be torn into mammocks with wilde Bears if I make not a gallemaufry of thy heart and keep thy Skull for my quaffing bowl.

1604. Shakspeare, Winter’s Tale, Act iv., Sc. 4. And they have a dance which the wenches say is a gallimaufry of gambols, because they are not in’t.

1690. Durfey, Collin’s Walk, ch. ii., p. 58. But, like thy Tribe of canting Widgeons, A gallimaufry of Religions.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, i., 207. A compound of Player, Soldier, Stroller, Sailor, and Tinker! An odd gallimaufry!

1860. Haliburton (Sam Slick), The Season Ticket, No. 7. This portion of my journal, which includes a variety of topics and anecdotes, some substantial like solid meat, some savoury as spicy vegetable ingredients, and some fragments to swell the bulk, which, though not valuable as materials, help to compound the gallimaufry.

2. (old).—A hodge-podge of scraps and leavings.

1724. Coles, Eng. Dict.; 1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict.; 1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue; 1811. Lexicon Balatronicum.

3. A mistress.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives, ii., 1. He loves thy gallymawfry; Ford, perpend.

4. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Gall, subs. (common).—Effrontery; cheek (q.v.); brass (q.v.); e.g., ‘Ain’t he got a gall on him?’

1789. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd Ed.), s.v. His gall is not yet broken, a saying used in prisons of a man just brought in who appears melancholy and dejected, [i.e., ‘He is not yet embittered enough to care for nothing, and meet everything with a front of brass.’]

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

a 1891. New York Sun (quoted in Slang, Jargon, and Cant, s.v.). ‘What do you think he had the gall to do to-day?’ Brown: ‘He has the gall to do anything.’ Dumley: ‘He asked me to drink with him; but he’ll never repeat the impudence.’

Gallant, subs. (old).—A dandy (q.v.); a ladies’ man; a lover; a cuckold-maker, whether in posse or in esse (Shakspeare).

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives, ii. One that is well-nigh worn to pieces with age to show himself a young gallant!

1598. Shakspeare, 1 Henry IV., ii., 4. Gallants, lads, boys, hearts of gold, all the titles of good fellowship come to you.

1663. Dryden, The Wild Gallant [Title.]

1690. B. E., A New Dict. Gallant a very fine man; also a Man of Metal, or a brave Fellow; also one that Courts, or keeps, or is Kept by, a Mistress.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., iv., 110 There’s never a gallant but sat at her hand.

1751–4. Jortin, Eccles. Hist. (quoted in Encyclopædic Dict.). As to Theodora, they who had been her gallants when she was an actress, related that dæmons, or nocturnal spirits, had often driven them away to lie with her themselves.

Adj. (old).—(1). Valiant (2) showy; (3) amorous.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 40. O London is a fine town, and a gallant city.

Verb. (old).—To sweetheart; to squire; to escort; to pursue or to enjoy.

To Gallant a Fan. verb. phr. (old).—To break with design, to afford an opportunity of presenting a better.—B. E. (1690).

Gallant Fiftieth, subs. phr. (military).—The Fiftieth Foot. [For its share in Vimiera, 1808.] Also, blind half hundred (q.v.); and dirty half hundred (q.v.).

Gallantry, subs. (1). Sparkishness (q.v.); dandyism; (2) the habit, or pursuit, of the sexual favour. A life of gallantry = a life devoted to the other sex.

Gallery, subs. (Winchester College).—A commoner bedroom. [From a tradition of galleries in Commoners.] See gallery-nymphs.

To play to the Gallery, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To act so as to win the applause of the vulgar: i.e., to abandon distinction and art for coarseness of means and cheapness of effect. Said indifferently of anyone in any profession who exerts himself to win the suffrages of the mob; as a political demagogue, a ‘popular’ preacher, a ‘fashionable’ painter, and so on.

1872. Standard, 23 Oct. ‘New York Correspondence.’ His dispatches were, indeed, too long and too swelling in phrase; for herein he was always playing to the galleries.

Hence, Gallery-hit, shot, stroke, etc. = a touch designed for, and exclusively addressed to, the non-critical.

To play the Gallery, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To make an audience; to applaud.

1870. Echo, 23 July, p. 5, c. 4. He seemed altogether a jovial, amusing sort of fellow, and as we were close by him, and constantly called in to play the gallery to his witty remarks, we asked him, when his friends left him, to join our party.

Gallery Nymph, subs. phr. (Winchester College).—A housemaid. See Gallery.

Galley—put a brass galley down your back, verb. phr. (printers’).—An admonition to appear before a principal; implying that the galley will serve as a screen.

Galley-foist, subs. (old).—The state barge, used by the Lord Mayor when he was sworn in at Westminster.

1609. Ben Jonson, Silent Woman, iv., 2. Out of my doores, you sons of noise and tumult, begot on an ill May day, or when the galleyfoist is afloate to Westminster.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Galley-growler or -stoker, subs. (nautical).—A loafer; a malingerer (q.v.); a grumble-guts (q.v.).

Galley-halfpenny, subs. (old).—A base coin, tempus Henry IV. [So called because it was commonly imported in the Genoese galleys. See Leake, English Money, p. 129; Ruding, Annals of Coinage, i., 250; and Stow, Survey (ed. 1842) p. 50.]

Galley-Slave, subs. (printers’).—A compositor. [From the oblong tray whereon the matter from the composing stick is arranged in column or page.] For synonyms, see Donkey.

1683. Moxon, s.v.

Galleywest, adj. or adv. (American).—An indefinite superlative. Cf., About-east.

1884. Clemens, (M. Twain) Huck. Finn, xxxvii., 382. Then she grabbed up the basket and slammed it across the house, and knocked the cat galleywest.

1887. Francis, Saddle and Mocassin (quoted in Slang, Jargon, and Cant). I’ll be darned if this establishment of yours, Hunse, don’t knock any one of them galley-west!—galleywest, sir, that’s what it does.

Galley-yarn (or news), subs. phr. (nautical).—A lying story; a swindle or take-in (q.v.). Frequently abbreviated to ‘G.Y.’

1884. Henley and Stevenson, Admiral Guinea, iii., 4. What? lantern and cutlass yours; you the one that knew the house; you the one that saw; you the one overtaken and denounced; and you spin me a galley-yarn like that.

Gallied, ppl. adj. (old).—‘Harried; vexed; over-fatigued; perhaps like a galley-slave’ (Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.). In Australia, frightened.

Gallinipper, subs. (West Indian).—A large mosquito.

1847. Porter, Big Bear, etc., p. 119. In the summer time the lakes and snakes ... musketoes and gallinippers, buffalo gnats and sandflies ... prevented the Injins from gwine through the country.

1888. Lippincott’s Magazine. I thought the gallinippers would fly away with me before the seed ticks had sucked all my blood.

Gallipot, subs. (common).—An apothecary.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1836. M. Scott, Cringle’s Log, ch. xiv. In truth, sir, I thought our surgeon would be of more use than any outlandish gallipot that you could carry back.

1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. xxvii. ‘Half a-dozen little gallipots,’ interposed Miss Wirt.

English Synonyms.—Bolus; bum-tender; clyster-giver; clyster-pipe; croaker; crocus; drugs; Ollapod (from a creation of the Younger Coleman’s); gage-monger; Galen (from the great physician); jakes-provider; pill-box; pill-merchant; pills; squirt; salts-and-senna; squire of the pot.

French Synonyms.—Un mirancu (obsolete: a play on mire en cul, respecting which cf., Béralde, in Molière, Malade Imaginaire: ‘On voit bien que vous n’avez pas accoutumé de parler à des visages’); un limonadier de postérieurs (popular: cf., ‘bum-tender’); un flûtencul (common); un insinuant (popular: one who ‘insinuates’ the clyster-pipe).

German Synonyms.—Rokeach, Raukeach, or Raukack (from the Hebrew).

Gallivant, verb. (colloquial).—1. To gad about with, or after, one of the other sex; to play the gallant; to ‘do the agreeable.’

1838. Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, ch. lxiv. You were out all day yesterday, and gallivanting somewhere, I know.

1862. H. Beecher Stowe, in The Independent, 27 Feb. What business had he to flirt and gallivant all summer with Sally Kittridge?

1886. Hawley Smart, Struck Down, xi. The ramparts is a great place for gallivanting.

1863. H. Kingsley, Austin Elliot, i., 112. It’s them gals, Mr. Austin. Come in afore she sees you, else she’ll not be at home. She is gallivanting in the paddock with Captain Hertford.

2. (colloquial).—To trapes (q.v.); to fuss; to bustle about.

1859. Boston Post, 10 Dec. Senator Seward is gallivanting gaily about Europe. Now at Compiègne, saying soft things to the Empress and studying despotism, now treading the battle-field of Waterloo, then back at Paris, and so on.

1871. C. D. Warner, My Summer in a Garden. More than half the Lima beans, though on the most attractive sort of poles, which budded like Aaron’s rod, went gallivanting off to the neighboring grape trellis.

1848. Ruxton, Far West, p. 145. The three remaining brothers were absent from the Mission ... Fray Jose, gallivanting at Pueblo de los Angeles.

1863. Norton, Lost and Saved, p. 255. A pretty story, if, when her services were most wanted by the person who paid for them, she was to be gadding and gallivanting after friends of her own.

1865. M. E. Braddon, Henry Dunbar, ch. x. A pretty thing it would have been if your pa had come all the way from India to find his only daughter gallivanting at a theaytre.

1870. London Figaro, 6 Dec. You’re never content but when you’re galavanting about somewhere or other.

Gallivate, verb (American).—To frisk; to ‘figure about’; cf., Gallivant.

Gallon. What’s a gallon of rum among one? phr. (American).—The retort sarcastic; applied, e.g., to those with ‘eyes too big for their stomach’; to disproportionate ideas of the fitness of things, and so forth.

Gallon Distemper, subs. phr. (common).—1. Delirium tremens; (2.) the lighter after-effects of drinking.

English Synonyms.—(1) For the former, barrel-fever; black-dog; blue-devils; blue Johnnies (Australian); B. J’s. (idem.); blues; bottle-ache; D. T.; horrors; jim-jams; jumps; pink-spiders; quart-mania; rams; rats; shakes; snakes in the boots; trembles; triangles; uglies.

2. For the latter: a head; hot-coppers; a mouth; a touch of the brewer; a sore head (Scots).

French Synonyms.—Avoir mal aux cheveux (familiar = the hair-ache); les papillons noirs (Cf., pink spiders; also = hypochondria); avoir fumé dans une pipe neuve (= sick of a new clay).

Galloper, subs. (old).—1. A blood horse; a hunter.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. The toby gill clapped his bleeders to his galloper and tipped the straps the double.

2. (military).—An aide-de-camp.

Gallow-grass, subs. phr. (old).—Hemp. [i.e., halters in the rough.]

1578. Lyte, Trans. of Dodoens History of Plantes, fol. 72. Hempe is called in ... English, Neckweede, and gallowgrass.

Gallows, subs. (old).—1. A rascal; a wretch deserving the rope.

1594. Shakspeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost, v., 2. A shrewd unhappy gallows too.

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2nd ed.). s.v. = a wicked rascal.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist. (To Oliver). Now young gallows.

1838. Jas. Grant, Sketches in London, ch. ii., p. 58. Blow me tight, young gallows, if I don’t pound your ribs to powder!

2. (common: generally in. pl. = Gallowses).—A pair of braces.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xv. Chock-full of spring, like the wire end of a bran new pair of trouser galluses.

1848. Durivage, Stray Subjects, p. 168. If I wouldn’t spile his picter bust my boots and gallowses.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 431. The braces, which in some parts of the country are called ‘gallowses.’

c. 1852. Traits of American Humor, p. 58. Hole on, dod drot you, wait till I unbutton my gallowses.

1864. James, etc., Italian-English Dict. Gallowses, batilla.

1883. G. A. S[ala], in Ill. Lond. News, Sept. 22, p. 275, c. i. Braces (which, when I was young, used, in the north of England, to be known by the expressive name of gallowses.)

Adv. (old).—Excessively; same as bloody, bleeding, (q.v.), etc. (As adj.) great; uncommon; real.

c. 1551. L. Shepherd. John Bon in Arber’s Garner, Vol. IV., p. 109. Ye, are much bound to God for such a spittle holiness. A gallows gift!

1789. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 120. Some they pattered flash with gallows fun and joking.

1827. Egan, Anecdotes of the Turf, etc., p. 44. Then your blowen will wax gallows haughty! [Also quoted in notes to Don Juan.]

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 293. (ed. 1854). Ah, Dame Lobkin, if so be as our little Paul vas a vith you, it would be a gallows comfort to you in your latter hend!

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, III., 90. I’ll be smothered if I’m going to look down that gallows long chimney.

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. xli. And the pleece come in, and got gallus well kicked about the head.

1869. Greenwood, Seven Curses of London, p. 244. Put it on your face so gallus thick that the devil himself won’t see through it.

Gallows-bird (also Newgate-bird), subs. (common).—1. A son of the rope; an habitual criminal; a vagabond or scoundrel, old or young; a crack-rope or wag-halter (Cotgrave); a gallows-clapper (Florio). Fr., gibier de Cayenne, or de potence.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. One that deserves hanging.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xi. That very gallows-bird were enough to corrupt a whole ante-chamber of pages.

2. (common).—A corpse on, or from, the gallows.

1861. Reade, Cloister and Hearth, ch. xxviii. I ne’er minced (dissected) ape nor gallows-bird.

Gallows-faced, adj. (old).—Evil-looking; hang-dog. Also gallows-looking.

1766. H. Brooke, Fool of Quality, ii. 16. Art thou there, thou rogue, thou hang-dog, thou gallows-faced vagabond?

1768. Goldsmith, Good-natured Man, Act v. Hold him fast, he has the gallows in his face.

1837. Barham, I. L. (Misadv. at Margate). A little gallows-looking chap—dear me! what could he mean?

Gallows-minded, adj. (colloquial).—Criminal in habit and idea; also, evil-hearted.

Gallowsness, subs. (old).—Rascality; recklessness; mischievousness.

1859. G. Eliot, Adam Bede, ch. vi. I never knew your equal for gallowsness.

Gallows-ripe, adj. (old).—Ripe for the rope.

1837. Carlyle, French Revolution, Pt. II., bk. v., ch. iii. Loose again, as one not yet gallows-ripe.

Gallus.—See Gallows.

Gally-foist.—See Galley-foist.

Gallyslopes, subs. (Old Cant).—Breeches. For synonyms, see Kicks.

Galoot (also galloot and geeloot), subs. (general).—A man (sometimes in contempt); also (in America) a worthless fellow (or thing, see quot. 1888); a rowdy; a cad (q.v.).

1835. Marryat, Jacob Faithful, ch. xxxiv. Four greater galloots were never picked up, but never mind that.

1869. S. L. Clemens (Mark Twain) Innocents at Home, p. 22. He could lam any galoot of his inches in America.

1871. John Hay, Jim Bludso. I’ll hold her nozzle agin the bank Till the last galoot’s ashore.

1885. Saturday Review, Feb. 7, p. 167. ‘I’ll never draw a revolver on a man again as long as I live.’... ‘Guess I’ll go for the galoot with a two-scatter shoot-gun.’

1888. New York Tribune, May 16. It is better to have a Carrot for a President than a dead beat for a son-in-law. In this way we again score a live beat on the galoot.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 137. ‘My dear boy, I may be a galoot about literature, but you’ll always be an outsider in business.’

On the gay galoot, adv. phr. (common).—On the spree.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 3. I’m off on the gay galoot somewheres.

Galoptious or Galuptious, adj. (popular).—Delightful; a general superlative.

1887. Judy, 21 Sept., p. 140. Four young ladies represented the galopshus sum of 20,000,000 dollars.

Galore (also gallore and golore), adv. (old; now recognised).—In abundance; plenty. [Irish and Gaelic go leor = in plenty.]

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p 14. Galore of alcohol to ratify the trade.

1856. C. Reade, Never Too Late, ch. lx. He found rogues galore, and envious spirits that wished the friends ill.

1891. Licensed Vic. Mirror, 30 Jan., p. 1, c. 1. Of chit-chat this week we have galore, and the difficulty is how to sift the wheat from the chaff.

Galumph, verb. (American).—To bump along (Onomatopœia).

1888. New York World, 13 May. The young man tackled the driver of a green bobtail car that galumphed through Lewis Street at a high rate of speed.

Galvanised Yankee, subs. phr. (American Civil War).—A Grey-back (q.v.) who took the oath to the North and served in its armies.

Gam, subs. (thieves’).—1. Pluck; gameness.

1888. Cassell’s Saturday Journal, 8 Dec., p. 260. I’m not so sure about his lack of cunnin’, speed, or gam.

2. (American thieves’).—Stealing (Matsell, 1859).

Verb. (American thieves’).—1. To steal.

2. (American).—To engage in social intercourse; to make a call; to have a chat. See Gamming.

Gamaliel, subs. (colloquial).—A pedant; a person curious of the letter and the form: e.g., ‘these Gamaliels of the theory’ = these ultra-puritans, to whom the spirit is nothing.

Gamaruche, subs. (venery).—See Cunnilingist and Cock-Teaser. Verb (venery).—To irrumate; to Bag-pipe (q.v.). Also to cunnilinge (q.v.). Fr., gamahucher.

Gamb (or Gam), subs. (old).—A leg. In use also in this sense as an heraldic term. [It., gambe; Fr., jambe; probably through Lingua Franca.] For synonyms, see Drumsticks and Pins.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 143. If a man has bow legs, he has queer gams, gams being cant for legs.

1796. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v.

1819. Moore, Memorial, p. 61. Back to his home, with tottering gams.

1887. Henley, Villon’s Good Night. At you I merely lift my gam.

[To flutter a gam = to dance; to lift a gam = to break wind; to gam it = to walk; to run away; to leg it (q.v.)].

Gamble, subs. (colloquial).—A venture: a flutter (q.v.).

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 250. And you know the Flying Scud was the biggest gamble of the crowd.

Gambler, subs. (old, now recognised). See quots.

1778. Bailey, Eng. Dict. Gambler, a guinea-dropper; one class of sharpers.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Gambler, a sharper; a tricking gamester.

1816. Johnson, Eng. Dict. (11th ed.). Gambler, a cant word, I suppose. A knave whose practice it is to invite the unwary to game and cheat them.

1890. Cassell’s Enc. Dict. Gambler, one given to playing for a stake.

Gambol, subs. (booking clerks’).—A railway ticket.

1882. Daily News, 6 Sept., p. 2, c. 5. ... Mr. Chance [the magistrate] asked what gambols meant. The inspector said doubtless the railway tickets.

Gam-cases, subs. (old). Stockings (Parker, Life’s Painter). [From gam = leg + case.]

Game, subs. (old).—1. The proceeds of a robbery; swag (q.v.).

1676. Warning for Housekeepers. Song. When that we have bit the bloe, we carry away the game.

2. (old).—A company of whores. A game-pullet = a young prostitute, or a girl inclined to lechery; cf., adj., sense 8.

1690. B. E., New Dictionary, s.v. ... also a Bawdy house, lewd women.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. game ... Mother, have you any game, Mother, have you any girls?

3. (old).—A gull; a simpleton. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1690. B. E., New Dictionary. Game, c. Bubbles drawn in to be cheated.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

4. (thieves’).—Specifically, the game = thieving; also (nautical), slave trading; and (venery), the practice of copulation (e.g., good at the game = an expert and vigorous bedfellow. Cf., Shakspeare, Troilus, iv., 5, ‘Spoils of opportunity, daughters of the game’). In quot. (1639) it would seem that hen of the game = a shrew, a fighting woman.

1639–61. Rump, ii., 185. ‘Free Parliament Litany.’ From a dunghill Cock and a Hen of the Game.

1640. Ladies’ Parliament. Stamford she is for the game, She saies her husband is to blame, For her part she loves a foole, If he hath a good toole.

1668. Etheredge, She Would if She Could, i., 1. A gentleman should not have gone out of his chambers but some civil officer of the game or other would have ... given him notice where he might have had a course or two in the afternoon.

17(?). Burns, Merry Muses, ‘Jenny Macraw’ (old song). Jenny Macraw was a bird of the game.

1839. Brandon, Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, Glossary. On the game—thieving.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., 263. Whether the game got stale, or Peter became honest, is beyond the purport of my communication to settle.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assist. (3rd ed.), p. 444, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v. The particular line of rascality the rogue is engaged in; thieving; cheating.

1860. Chambers’ Journal, Vol. 13, p. 281. I asked him if he meant by a trading voyage, the game.

5. (colloquial).—A source of amusement; a lark (q.v.); a barney (q.v.); as, e.g., It was such a game!

6. (colloquial).—A design; trick; object; line of conduct: e.g., What’s your little game = What are you after? Also, None of your little games! = None of your tricks! See High Old Game.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. ix. Honesty, indeed! if honesty’s the game, you’ve a right to your share, what Mrs. Kettering intended you should have.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, The Vulg. Tongue, p. 9. Game n. Intention. ‘What’s your game?’ or, ‘What are you up to?’ (very generally used).

1870. Standard, 27 Sept. If we accept the meaner game which the Times indicates for us, it can only be by deliberate choice.

1879. Justin McCarthy, Donna Quixote, ch. xiii. Come, what’s your little game?

1883. Edw. E. Morris, in Longman’s Mag., June, p. 176. A youth, who left England, and then carried on the same game in Australia.

1889. Standard, 1 May, p. 5, c. 1. The ‘game of law and order’ is not up, in Paris.

1890. Punch, 30 Aug., p. 97. Mug’s game! They’ll soon find as the Marsters ain’t going to be worried and welched.

1891. J. Newman, Scamping Tricks, p. 46. She knew how to work the game of fascination right.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 349, ‘It was the thing in your times, that’s right enough; but you’re old now, and the game’s up.’

Adj. (old).—1. Plucky; enduring; full of spirit and bottom (q.v.). [Cock-pit and pugilists’. The word may be said to have passed into the language with the rise to renown of Harry Pearce, surnamed the Game Chicken.]

1747. Capt. Godfrey, Science of Defence, p. 64. Smallwood (a boxer) is thorough game, with judgment equal to any, and superior to most.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 57. Pitying raised from earth the game old man.

1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry (ed. 1891), p. 38. Tom, however, was too game to acknowledge any sort of alarm at this slight visitation.

1823. E. Kent, Mod. Flash Dict. Game, s.v. Sturdy, hardy, hardened.

1827. Reynolds, Peter Corcoran, The Fancy. ‘The Field of Tothill.’ The highest in the fancy—all the game ones, Who are not very much beneath her weight.

1855. A. Trollope, The Warden, ch. viii. He was a most courageous lad, game to the backbone.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 19 June, p. 395. The round had lasted sixteen minutes, and no one present had ever seen gamer or more determined fighting.

2. (common).—Ready; willing; prepared. [Also from cock-fighting. See sense 1].

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, p. 99, (ed. 1857). ‘All alive to-day, I suppose?’ ‘Regular game, sir.’

1856. Reade, Never Too Late, ch. xxi. I’m game to try.

1865. Bentley, p. 182, ‘The Excursion Train.’ Again to London back we came The day the excursion ticket said, And really both of us felt game To travel round the world instead.

1880. Punch’s Almanack. Got three quid; have cried a go with Fan, Game to spend my money like a man.

1891. Farjeon, The Mystery of M. Felix, p. 103. ‘I’m game,’ said Sophy, to whom any task of this kind was especially inviting.

1891. Hume Nisbet, Bail Up! p. 51. ‘Yes, I am gamey, you bet!’ exclaimed the Chinaman, softly.

1891. J. Newman, Scamping Tricks, p. 121. It is nearly midnight. I am game for another hour, are you?

3. (old).—Lame; crooked; disabled: as in Game Leg.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary. Game-leg, a lame leg.

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. i. Catching hold of the devil’s game leg with his episcopal crook.

1851. G. Borrow, Lavengro, ch. lxvii., p. 204 (1888). Mr. Platitude, having what is vulgarly called a game leg, came shambling into the room.

1875. Jas. Payn, Walter’s Word, ch. i. Well, you see, old fellow, with a game-arm (his left arm is in a sling), and a game-leg (he has limped across the platform with the aid of his friend, and also of a crutch), one feels a little helpless.

4. (thieves’).—Knowing; wide-awake; and (of women) Flash (q.v.), or inclined to venery. E.g., Game-cove = an associate of thieves; Game-woman = a prostitute: i.e., a woman who is game (sense 2); Game-pullet (Grose) = a girl that will show sport, a female game-cock; game-ship (old) = a ship whose commander and officers could be corrupted by bribes to allow the cargo to be stolen (Clark Russell).

1676. Etheredge, Man of Mode, ii. Go on, be the game mistress of the town and entice all our young fops as fast as they come from travel.

Cock of the Game, subs. phr. (old).—A champion; an undoubted blood; a star of magnitude (cock-pit).

1719. Durfey, Pills, iii., 329. Now all you tame gallants, you that have the name, And would accounted be cocks of the game.

1822. Scott, Nigel, xiv. I have seen a dung-hill chicken that you meant to have picked clean enough; it will be long ere his lordship ruffles a feather with a cock of the game.

To make game of, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To turn into ridicule; to delude; to humbug.

1671. Milton, Samson, 1331. Do they not seek occasion of new quarrels, On my refusal, to distress me more; Or ake a game of my calamities?

1690. B. E., New Dictionary. What you game me? c. do you jeer me, or pretend to expose me to make a May-game of me?

1745. Hist. of Coldstream Guards, 25 Oct. If the militia are reviewed to-morrow by his Majesty, the soldiers of the third regiment of Guards are to behave civilly and not to laugh or to make any game of them.

To die game, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To maintain a resolute attitude to the last; to show no contrition.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. To die game, to suffer at the gallows without showing any signs of fear or repentance.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. liv. The ruffian lay perfectly still and silent. ‘He’s gaun to die game ony how,’ said Dinmont.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick (ed. 1857), p. 363. I say that the coachman did not run away; but that he died game—game as pheasants; and I won’t hear nothin’ said to the contrary.

1869. Spencer, Study of Sociology, ch. viii., p. 183 (9th ed.). Nor should we forget the game-cock, supplying, as it does, a word of eulogy to the mob of roughs who witness the hanging of a murderer, and who half condone his crime if he dies game.

1871. Times, 30 Jan. Critique on London, etc. The principal was acquitted, and though his accomplices were hung in Pall Mall at the scene of their act, they died game.

To get against the game, verb. phr. (American).—To take a risk; to chance it. [From the game of poker].

To play the game, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To do a thing properly; to do what is right and proper.

1889. Geoffrey Drage, Cyril, ch. vii. I really think he is ... not playing the game.

The first game ever played, subs. phr. (venery).—Copulation. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

Gamecock, adj. (old).—Hectoring; angry; valiant out of place.

1838. Lever, Handy Andy. Smoke and fire is my desire, So blaze away my gamecock squire.

Gameness, subs. (colloquial).—Pluck; endurance; the mixture of spirit and bottom.

1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xxiv. There was no doubt about his gameness.

1884. Referee, 23 March, p. 1, c. 4. Carter fought with great gameness, but he never had a look in.

Gamester, subs. (old).—1. A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1598. Shakspeare, All’s Well, v. 3. She’s impudent, my lord, and was a common gamester to the camp.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, ii. 1. Ay, ay, gamesters, mocke a plain soft wench of the suburbs, do.

1620. Percy, Folio MSS., p. 404. Be not att ffirst to nice nor coye when gamsters you are courtinge.

2. (old).—A ruffler; a gallant; a wencher; a man fit and ready for anything; also a player.

1639–61. Rump, i., 253, ‘A Medley.’ Room for a gamester that flies at all he sees.

1676. Etheredge, Man of Mode, v., 1. Live it also like a frank gamester, on the square.

Gamey, adj. (colloquial).—1. High-smelling; offensive to the nose; half-rotten.

2. (colloquial).—Frisky; plucky.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xi. There’s something gamey in it, young ladies, ain’t there.

1869. S. Bowles, Our New West, p. 275. Horses are fresh and fat and gamey.

Gaminess, subs. (colloquial).—The malodorousness proceeding from decay and—by implication—filthiness.

Gaming-house, subs. (old).—A house of ill-repute—hell, tavern, or stews.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie, Berlan, a common tippling house, a house of gaming, or of any other disorder.

Gammer, subs. (old).—An old wife; a familiar address; the correlative of gaffer (q.v.).

1551. Gammer Gurton’s Needle (Title).

1706. Hudibras Redivivus, Part VI. And monkey faces, yawns, and stammers, Delude the pious dames and gammers To think their mumbling guides precation So full of heavenly inspiration.

1842. Tennyson, The Goose. Ran Gaffer, stumbled gammer.

Gamming, subs. (nautical).—A whaleman’s term for the visits paid by crews to each other at sea.

1884. G. A. Sala, in Illus. Lon. News, July 19, p. 51, c. 2. When two or more American whalers meet in mid-ocean, and there are no whales in sight, it is customary to tack topsails and exchange visits. This social intercourse the whalemen call gamming ... I cannot help fancying that ‘gam’ is in greater probability an abbreviation of the Danish ‘gammen,’ sport, or that it has something to do with the nautical ‘gammoning,’ the lasting by which the bowsprit is bound firmly down to the cutwater.

1890. Century, Aug. To gam means to gossip. The word occurs again and again in the log-books of the old whalers.

Gammon, subs. (colloquial).—1. Nonsense; humbug; deceit. Sometimes gammon and spinach. No gammon = no error, no lies.

[Skeat says from Mid. Eng. Gamen = a game; but R. Sherwood (Eng. Dict., 1660), gives ‘a beggar or seller of gammons of Bacon; and in Cotgrave (1611), jambonnier = a beggar, also a seller of bacon, or gammons of bacon.’]

c. 1363. Chester Plays, i. 102. This gammon shall begin.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, I. 208. I thought myself pretty much a master of gammon, but the Billingsgate eloquence of Mrs. P. ... exceeded me.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Gamon. What rum gamon the old file pitched to the flat.

1823. Mod. Flash Dict. gammon—Falsehood and bombast.

1823–45. Hood, Poems (ed. 1846), vi., p. 96, Behold yon servitor of God and Mammon, Who, binding up his Bible with his ledger, Blends Gospel texts with trading gammon.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxvii. Lord bless their little hearts, they thinks its all right, and don’t know no better, but they’re the wictims o’ gammon, Samivel, they’re the wictims o’ gammon.

1837. Barham, I. L., Blasphemer’s Warning. When each tries to humbug his dear Royal Brother, in Hopes by such gammon to take one another in.

1839. Comic Almanack, Jan. But if you wish to save your bacon, Give us less gammon.

1849. Dickens, David Copperfield, ch. xxii., p. 199. ‘Oh, my goodness, how polite we are!’ exclaimed Miss Mowcher.... ‘What a world of gammon and spinnage it is!’

1890. Hume Nisbet, Bail Up! p. 92. I’m real grit and no gammon.

2. (thieves’).—A confederate whose duty is to engage the attention of a victim during robbery; a bonnet (q.v.) or cover (q.v.).

Verb (colloquial).—1. To humbug: to deceive; to take in with fibs; to kid (q.v.).

1700. Step to the Bath, quoted in Ashton’s Soc. Life in Reign of Queen Anne, v. ii., p. 111. We went to the Groom Porter’s ... there was Palming, Hodging, Loaded Dice, Levant, and gammoning, with all the Speed imaginable.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii., 6. Vile I can get fifteen bob a day by gammoning a maim, the devil may vork for me.

1825. Buckstone, The Bear Hunters, ii. There! that’s just the way she gammons me at home.

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. ii. Why, my lad, we shall see to-morrow morning; but you gammons so bad about the rhino that we must prove you a bit; so Kate, my dear,—to the pretty girl who had let me in.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xiii. So then they pours him out a glass o’ wine, and gammons him about his driving, and gets him into a reg’lar good humour.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Misadventures at Margate.’ And ’cause he gammons so the flats, ve calls him Veeping Bill!

1840. Hood, Tale of a Trumpet. Lord Bacon couldn’t have gammoned her better.

1890. Hume Nisbet, Bail Up! p. 70. Oh, don’t try to gammon me, you cunning young school-miss.

English Synonyms.—To bam; to bamblustercate; to bamboozle; to bambosh; to barney; to be on the job; to best; to bilk; to blarney; to blow; to bosh; to bounce; to cob; to cod; to cog; to chaff; to come over (or the artful, or Paddy, or the old soldier over) one; to cram; to do; to do brown; to doctor; to do Taffy; to fake the kidment; to flare up; to flam; to flummox; to get at (round, or to windward of) one; to gild the pill; to give a cock’s egg; to gravel; to gull; to haze; to jimmify; to jaw; to jockey; to jolly; to kid; to make believe the moon is made of green cheese (Cotgrave); to mogue; to palm off on; to pickle; to plant; to plum; to poke bogey (or fun) at; to promoss; to put the kibosh on; to put in the chair, cart, or basket; to pull the leg; to queer; to quiz; to roast; to roorback; to run a bluff, or the shenanigan; to sell; to send for pigeon’s milk; to sit upon; to send for oil of strappum, etc.; to shave; to slum, or slumguzzle; to smoke; to snack; to soap, soft soap, sawder, or soft sawder; to spoof; to stick; to stall; to string, or get on a string; to stuff; to sawdust, or get on sawdust and treacle; to suck; to suck up; to sugar; to swap off; to take a rise out of; to rot; to tommy-rot; to take in, or down; to take to town; to take to the fair; to tip the traveller; to try it on; to throw dust in the eyes; to throw a tub to a whale; to pepper; to throw pepper in the eyes; to use the pepper box; to whiffle; to work the poppycock racket (Irish-American). [Note.—Many of the foregoing are used substantively, e.g., a bam, a barney, a sell, bambosh = nonsense; deceit; a hoax, etc.]

French Synonyms.—Donner un pont à faucher (also, thieves’ = to lay a trap); dindonner (popular: from dindon = a gull, a gobbler); battre à la Parisienne (thieves’: = to cheat; to come the cockney); se ficher de la fiole, or de la bobine, de quelqu’un (popular: to get on with it, i.e., to try to fool); envoyer chercher le parapluie de l’escouade (military: parapluie de l’escouade = the squad’s umbrella: to send on a fool’s errand; cf., to send for pigeon’s milk, etc.); la faire à quelqu’un (popular); faucher (thieves’ = to best); enfoncer (familiar: to let in: also to surpass); cabasser (popular); monter des couleurs, le Job, or un schtosse (= to do up brown); faire le coup, or monter le coup, à quelqu’un (popular: = to take a rise); bouffer la botte (military: = to sell (q.v.) or bilk, as a woman refusing congress after receiving the socket-money (q.v.) in advance); bouler (popular: also to whop (q.v.)); être l’autre (popular: = to get left (q.v.)); mettre dans le sac (thieves’: = to bag, i.e., to trap); coller or poser un lapin (popular: = to make a hare of (q.v.); also more generally, to bilk (q.v.)); emblémer (thieves’: = to stick); faire voir le tour (popular: = to show how it’s done; connaitre le tour = to know the game); faire la queue à quelqu’un (popular: = to pull one’s leg); tirer la carotte (thieves’); canarder (popular: = to bring down); empaler (popular: = to stick); passer des curettes (popular: = to befool); monter une gaffe (popular: gaffe = a joke, a hoax); jobarder (popular: job = simpleton, and is the same as jobelin); mener en bateau un pante pour le refaire (thieves’: = to take a man on); monter un bateau (popular); promener quelqu’un (popular: cf., to take to town); compter des mistoufles (fam.: mistoufle = a scurvy trick); gourrer (popular: = to bosh); affluer (from flouer = to cheat, to diddle); rouster (popular and thieves’); affûter (thieves’ = to run down, also to make unlawful profits); bouler (popular); juiffer (popular = to Jew); pigeonner (popular to pluck a pigeon (q.v.)); flancher (popular = to kid (q.v.)); faire la barbe (popular = to shave (q.v.)); monter or hisser un gandin (thieves’ = literally to hoist a swell); fourrer or mettre dedans (popular = to take in and do for); planter un chou (fam.); être marron (popular); interver dans les vannes (= to let oneself be sucked-up); monter un godan à quelqu’un (popular); griller quelqu’un (popular = to cuckold); passer en lunette (popular); goujonner (i.e., to hook like a gudgeon); fourguer (thieves’ = also to fence (q.v.)); pousser une blague (popular = to cram); paqueliner (thieves’); se baucher (thieves’); balancer (popular).

German Synonyms.—Zinkennen an Almoni peloni (= to send one after Cheeks the Marine [q.v.]. Almoni and peloni are used mockingly in combination and also singly for a non-existent person); anbeulen (= to fool); jemanden arbeiten (= to haze, to cram); bekaspern, or bekaschpern, or beschwatzen (= to fool: from Heb. kosaw = to cheat).

Spanish Synonyms.—Disparar (= also to talk nonsense; to blunder); hacer á uno su dominguillo, or hacer su dominguillo de uno (colloquial: dominguillo = a figure made of straw and used at bull fights to enrage the bulls); freirsela á alguno (freir = to fry: to deceive: Cf., to roast, or have one on toast); pegar una tostada á alguno (= to put one on toast: more generally to play a practical joke); echar de baranda (= to embroider (q.v.)); bola (subs. = humbug; a hoax); borrufalla (subs. = bombast); chicolear (= to jest in gallantry); engatusar (= to rob, or hurt; also to trick without intention); candonguear (also = to jeer); abrir á chasco (also to jeer); encantar (= to enchant).

Italian Synonyms. Ganezzarre; dar la stolfa; traversare (cf., to come over); scamuffare (= to disguise oneself).

2. (thieves’).—To act as bonnet (q.v.) or cover (q.v.) to a thief.

Intj. (colloquial).—Nonsense; Skittles! (q.v.).

1827. R. B. Peake, Comfortable Lodgings, i., 3. Sir H. (aside). Gammon!

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. vii. Gammon, tell that to the marines: you’re a spy, messmate.

1854. Thackeray, The Rose and the Ring, p. 100. Ha! said the king, you dare to say gammon to your sovereign.

1861. A. Trollope, Framley Parsonage, ch. iv. Gammon, said Mr. Gowerby; and as he said it he looked with a kind of derisive smile into the clergyman’s face.

Gammon and Patter, subs. phr. (thieves’).—1. (old).—The language used by thieves; 2. (modern).—A meeting; a palaver. (q.v.). 3. Commonplace talk of any kind.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 150. Gammon and Patter is the language of cant, spoke among themselves: when one of them speaks well, another says he gammons well.

1811. Lex. Bal. s.v. Gammon and Patter. Commonplace talk of any kind.

To give (or keep) in gammon. verb. phr. (thieves’).—To engage a person’s attention while a confederate is robbing him.

1719. Capt. Alex. Smith, Thieves’ Grammar, s.v.

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 51. Bagrie called the woman of the house, kept her in gammon in the back room, while I returned and brought off the till. Ibid., p. 68. I whidded to the Doctor and he gave me gammon.

To Gammon Lushy (or queer, etc.). verb. phr. (thieves’).—To feign drunkenness, sickness, etc.

To Gammon the Twelve. verb. phr. (thieves’).—To deceive the jury.

1819. Vaux, Life. A man who has been tried by a criminal court and by a plausible defence has induced the jury to acquit him, or to banish the capital part of the charge and so to save his life, is said by his associates to have gammoned the twelve in prime twig, alluding to the number of jurymen.

Gammoner, subs. (old).—1. One who gammons (q.v.); a nonsense-monger. Fr., bonisseur de loffitudes; blagueur; mangeur de frimes.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry i. Fly to the gammoners, and awake to everything that’s going on.

2. (thieves’).—A confederate who covers the action of his chief; a bonnet, a cover, a stall, all which see.

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 66. The Doctor played the part of the gammoner so well that I made my escape without being observed.

Gammy, subs. (tramps’).—1. Cant.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Do you stoll the gammy? Do you understand cant?

2. (common).—A nickname for a lameter; a Hopping Jesus; (q.v.).

3. (Australian).—A fool.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 191. Well, of all the gammies you are the gammiest, Slowboy, to go and string yourself to a woman, when you might have had the pick of Melbourne.

Adj. (tramps’).—1. Bad; impossible. Applied to householders of whom it is known that nothing can be got. See Beggars’ Marks. Gammy-vial = a town in which the police will not allow unlicensed hawking. (Vial = Fr., Ville).

1839. Brandon, Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, Glossary, s.v.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., i., 466. No villages that are in any way gammy are ever mentioned in these papers. Ibid., i., 404. These are left by one of the school at the houses of the gentry, a mark being placed on the door post of such as are bone or gammy, in order to inform the rest of ‘the school’ where to call, and what houses to avoid.

2. Forged; false; spurious: as a gammy-moneker = a forged signature; gammy-lour = counterfeit money, etc.

1839. Brandon, Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, s.v.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant (3rd. ed.), p. 445. Spurious medicine, gammy stuff, bad coin, gammy lower, p. 446.

1889. C. T. Clarkson and J. Hall Richardson, Police, p. 321. Bad money (coin).... Gammy lower.

3. (theatrical).—Old; ugly.

4. (common).—Same as Game, sense 3: e.g., a gammy arm = an arm in dock. Gammy-eyed = blind; sore-eyed; or afflicted with ecchymosis in the region of the eyes. Gammy-leg = a lame leg. Also (subs.) a term of derision for the halt and the maimed.

Gamp, subs. (common).—1. A monthly nurse; a fingersmith (q.v.). [After Mrs. Sarah Gamp, a character in Martin Chuzzlewit (1843).] Also applied to a fussy and gossiping busybody.

1864. Sun, 28 Dec. A regular gamp ... a fat old dowdy of a monthly nurse.

1868. Brewer, Phr. and Fab. (quoted from Daily Telegraph). Mr. Gathorne Hardy is to look after the gamps and Harrises of the Strand.

2. (common).—An umbrella; specifically, one large and loosely-tied; a lettuce (q.v.). [The original Sarah always carried one of this said pattern.] Sometimes a Sarah Gamp. For synonyms, see Rain-napper.

1870. Lond. Figaro, 15 June. Though—shattered, baggy, shivered gamp!

1883. G. R. Sims, Life Boat. He donned his goloshes and shouldered his gamp.

1890. Daily Chron., 5 Mar. Sainte-Beuve insisted that though he was prepared to stand fire he was under no obligation to catch cold, and with his gamp over his head he exchanged four shots with his adversary.

1892 Ally Sloper, 2 Apr., p. 106, c. 3. I never had a brand new tile, a glossy silk or swagger brown, But I left home without a gamp, And rain or hail or snow came down.

3. (journalists’).—The Standard.

Adj. (common).—Bulging. Also Gampish.

1864. Derby Day, p. 18. I wasn’t joking, there is an air of long-suffering about you, as if you had been mortifying the flesh by carrying a gampish umbrella up Piccadilly, and back again.

1881. Mac. Mag., Nov., p. 62. Grasping his gamp umbrella at the middle.

Gamut, subs. (artists’).—Tone; general scheme; swim (q.v.). Thus in the gamut = a picture, a detail, or a shade of colour, in tone with its environment.

Gan (also Gane), subs. (old).—The mouth. [A.S., ganian = to yawn.] Occasionally = throat, lip. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1512–13. Douglas, Virgil, 250, 29. To behald his ouglie ene twane, His teribill vissage, and his grislie gane.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 64. Gan, a mouth.

1610. Rowland, Martin Mark-all, p. 38. (H. Club’s Rept., 1874). Gan, a mouth. Ibid. A gere peck in thy gan.

1656. Broome, A Jovial Crew, Act ii. This bowse is better than rombowse, it sets the gan a giggling.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, Pt. I., ch. v., p. 49. (1874.) Gan, a lip.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew. Ganns, the lips.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1881. New York Slang Dict., s.v.

Gander, subs. (colloquial).—A married man; in America one not living with his wife; a grass-widower (q.v.).

Verb. (old).—To ramble; to waddle (as a goose). Also, to go in quest of women; to grouse (q.v.).

1859. H. Kingsley, Geoff. Hamblyn, ch. x. Nell might come gandering back in one of her tantrums.

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. xlvii. She gandered upstairs to the dressing-room again.

Gone Gander.—See Gone Coon.

To see how the gander hops, verb. phr. (American.)—To watch events. A variant of To see how the cat jumps.

1847. Porter, Big Bear, p. 96. Seein’ how the gander hopped I jumped up and hollered, Git out, Tromp, you old raskel!

What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, phr. (common).—A plea for consistency.

Gander-month, subs. (common).—The month after confinement; when a certain license (or so it was held) is excusable in the male. Also Gander-moon, the husband at such a period being called a Gander-mooner. Cf., Buck-hutch and Goose-month.

1617. Middleton, A Faire Quarrell, iv., 4. Wondering gander-mooners.

1653. Brome, English Moor in Fiue New Playes. I’le keep her at the least this gander-month, while my fair wife lies-in.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Gander-party, subs. (common).—A gathering of men; a stag-party (q.v.); also Bull-dance, Gander-gang, etc. Cf., Hen-party = an assembly of women.

Gander-pulling. See Goose-riding.

Gander’s Wool, subs. phr. (common.)—Feathers.

Gang, subs. (old: now recognised).—A troop; a company.

1639–61. Rump, i., 228. ‘The Scotch War.’ With his gay gang of Blue-caps all. Ibid., ii., 104, ‘The Gang; or, the Nine Worthies, etc.’

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v. Gang, an ill knot or crew of thieves, pickpockets or miscreants; also a society of porters under a regulation.

1704. Cibber, Careless Husband, i., 1. Sir C. Who was that other? More. One of Lord Foppington’s gang.

1754. Fielding, Jonathan Wild, bk. i., c. 14. What then have I to do in the pursuit of greatness, but to employ a gang, and to make the use of this gang centre in myself? Idem. bk. iii., c. 14. But in an illegal society or gang, as this of ours, it is otherwise.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum. Gang, company, squad, mob.

Ganger, subs. (old: now recognised).—An overseer or foreman of a gang of workmen; one who superintends. For synonyms, see Governor.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., ii., 487. The ganger, or head of the working gang, who receives his orders from the inspector, and directs the men accordingly.

1884. Cornhill Mag., June, p. 614, The mother and boy do the work, while the father constitutes himself contractor for and ganger over their labour.

Ganymede, subs. (old).—1. A sodomist. For synonyms, see Usher.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. Catamito, a ganimed, an ingle, a boie hired to sinne against nature. [And in Cotgrave (1611) under Ganymedes; Any boy that’s loved for carnal abuse, an Ingle.]

1598. Marston, Satyres, ii. But Ho! What ganimede is it doth grace The gallant’s heels.

2. (popular).—A pot-boy (i.e., a cup-bearer). The masculine of hebe (q.v.).

1659. Florio-Torriano, Vocabolario. Mescitore, a skinker or filler of wine; also a mingler, a ganimede.

1841. Punch I., p. 101, c. 1. Lo! Ganymede appears with a foaming tankard of ale.

Gaol-bird, subs. (old: now recognised).—A person who has been often in gaol; an incorrigible rogue. Fr., un chevronné. For synonyms, see Wrong ’Un.

1680. Hist. of Edward II., p. 146. It is the piety and the true valour of an army, which gives them heart and victory; which how it can be expected out of ruffians and gaol-birds, I leave to your consideration.

1701. Defoe, True Born Englishman, part II. In print my panegyrics fill the street, And hired gaol-birds, their huzzas repeat.

1762. Smollett, L. Greaves, vol. II., ch. ix. He is become a blackguard gaol-bird.

1857. C. Reade, Never Too Late, ch. xi. The gaol-birds who piped this tune were without a single exception the desperate cases of this moral hospital; they were old offenders.

1882. Pall Mall Gaz., 5 Oct. Liberating the gaol-birds in Alexandria.

Gaoler’s Coach, subs. phr. (old).—A hurdle to the place of execution.

1785. Grose. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Gap, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum: also Sportsman’s gap and water-gap (q.v.). For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

d. 1746. Robertson of Struan, Poems, p. 84. O gracious Hymen! Cure this dire Mishap, Sew up this mighty rent, or fill the gap.

To blow the gap, verb. phr. (old).—The same as to blow the gaff (q.v.).

1821. Egan, Real Life, etc., i., 557. He should like to smack the bit without blowing the gap.

Gaper, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. Also, Gaper (and Gape) over the Garter. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Gapes, subs. (colloquial).—A fit of yawning; also the open mouth of astonishment.

1818. Austen, Persuasion. Another hour of music was to give delight or the gapes.

1838. Haliburton, Clockmaker (ed. 1862), p. 373. But what gave me the gapes was the scenes (at the theatre).

Gapeseed, subs. (common).—1. A cause of astonishment; anything provoking the ignorant to stare with open mouth. Also to seek a gape’s nest.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. Ansanare ... to go idly loytring vp and downe as we say, to go seeking for a halfepenie worth of gaping seede.

1600. Nashe, Summer’s Last Will, in wks. (Grosart), vi., 144. That if a fellow licensed to beg, Should all his life time go from faire to faire, And buy gapeseede, having no businesse there.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew. Gapeseed, whatever the gazing crowd idly stares and gapes after; as Puppet-shows, Rope-dancers, Monsters and Mountebanks, anything to feed the eye.

1694. Poor Robin. ’Tis plainly clear, They for their gapes-seed do pay dear.

1856. N. and Q., 2 S 1., 362. Plenty of persons were sowing gapeseed.

1870. B. F. Clark, Mirthfulness p. 24. Do you wish to buy some gapeseed?

1884. Daily News, 8 Oct. Title (at head of sporting column).

2. (common).—An open-mouthed loiterer.

1885. Sportsman, June 23, p. 2, c. 4. The yearlings bred by Messrs. Graham were offered to a rather select audience of buyers, though the ring was surrounded by a fairly strong crowd of gapeseeds.

Gapped, ppl. adj. (old).—Worsted; floored (q.v. for synonyms).

1753. Richardson, Sir Chas. Grandison. I will never meet at hard-edge with her; if I did ... I should be confoundedly gapped.

Gap-Stopper, subs. (old).—1. A whoremaster. For synonyms, see Molrower.

2. (venery).—The penis. [Gap = female pudendum]. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Gar. See by gar!

Garble, to garble the coinage, verb. phr. (old).—See quot. [Garble = to pick and choose.]

1875. Jevons, Money, etc., p. 81. A practice amongst money-lenders of picking out the newest coins of full weight for export or re-melting, and passing the light ones into circulation.

Garden, subs. (various).—1. (greengrocers’, fruiterers’, etc.) = Covent Garden Market; 2. (theatrical) = Covent Garden Theatre; 3. (diamond merchants’) = Hatton Garden. Cf., House, Lane, etc.

[The Garden (= Covent Garden) was frequently used for the whole neighbourhood, which was notorious as a place of strumpets and stews. Thus, Garden-house = a brothel; Garden-goddess = a woman of pleasure; Garden-gout = the pox or clap; Garden-whore = a low prostitute, etc.]

1733. Bailey, Erasmus. When young men by whoring, as it commonly falls out, get the pox, which, by the way of extenuation, they call the Common Garden-gout.

1782. Geo. Parker, Humorous Sketches, p. 90 No more the Garden female orgies view.

1851–61. W. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. I., p. 85. Not only is the Garden itself all bustle and activity, but the buyers and sellers stream to and from it in all directions, filling every street in the vicinity.

1884. Jas. Payn, in Cornhill Mag., Mar., p. 257. She [Miss O’Neill] talked of the Garden and ‘the Lane,’ and was very fond of recitation.

1890. Tit-Bits, 29 Mar., p. 389, c. 1. Let me describe the Garden. A long, straight street, stretching almost due north and south, from Holborn Circus to Clerkenwell Road. Ibid. c. 2. The cut stones are chiefly sold to the large dealers in the Garden.

2. (venery).—The female pudendum. [The simile is common to all nations, ancient and modern. Shakspeare, in Sonnet 16, seems to play upon this double meaning; e.g., Now stand you on the top of happy hours; And many maiden-gardens, yet unset, With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers.] Also garden of eden. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

To put one in the garden, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To defraud a confederate; to keep back part of the Regulars (q.v.), or Swag (q.v.).

Gardener, subs. (common).—1. An awkward coachman. [In allusion to the gardener who on occasion drives the carriage.] Cf., Tea-kettle Coachman.

1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock. Noon: Par. I. He can drive neither to the right nor to the left, nor backwards nor forwards.... A sarcastic saloon omnibus driver behind jeeringly bids him keep moving, accompanying the behest by the aggressive taunt of gard’ner.

2. (venery).—The penis. Garden (q.v.) = female pudendum. Also Garden-engine. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Garden-gate, subs. phr. (rhyming).—1. A magistrate. For synonyms, see Beak.

2. (venery).—The labia minora. [Garden-hedge = the pubic hair.]

Garden-Latin, subs. (colloquial).—Barbarous or sham Latin. Also Apothecaries’, Bog, Dog, and Kitchen-Latin.

Garden-Rake, subs. phr. (common).—A tooth-comb. Also scratching-rake or rake.

Gardy-Loo, subs. (old Scots).—A warning cry; ‘take care!’ [Fr. gardez’ (vous de) l’eau! Used before emptying slops out of window into the street. Hence the act of emptying slops itself, as in quotation dated 1818.]

1771. Smollet, Humphry Clinker, (British Novelists), xxxi., p. 57. At ten o’clock the whole cargo is flung out of a back windore that looks into some street or lane, and the maid calls gardy-loo to the passengers, which signifies ‘Lord have mercy on you!’

1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, ch. xxvii. She had made the gardy-loo out of the wrong window.

Gargle, subs. (formerly medical students’, now common).—A drink; also generic. Cf., Lotion, and for synonyms, see Go.

1889. Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 3, c. 1. We’re just going to have a gargle—will you join us?

Verb. (common).—To drink; to ‘liquor up.’ For synonyms, see Drinks and Lush.

1889. Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 5. c. 5. We gargled....

1891. Morning Advertiser, 2 Mar. It’s my birthday; let’s gargle.

Gargle-Factory, subs. (common).—A public house. For synonyms, see Lush Crib.

Garn, intj. (vulgar).—A corruption of Go on! Get away with you!

1888. Runciman, The Chequers, p. 80. Garn, you farthin’ face! She your neck.

1892. Ally Sloper, 19 Mar., p. 90, c. 3. Gar’n, you men ain’t got no sense.

1892. National Observer, 6 Feb. p. 307, c. 2. And so simple is the dictum, so redolent of the unlettered Arry that we long to add garn, oo’re you gettin’ at?

Garnish, subs. (old).—1. A fee or footing (q.v.); specifically one exacted by gaolers and old prisoners from a newcomer. The practice was forbidden by 4 Geo. IV., c. 43, sec. 12. Also Garnish-Money.

1592. Greene, Quip, in works, xi., 256. Let a poore man be arrested into one of the counters [prisons] ... he shall be almost at an angel’s charge, what with garnish [etc.].

1606. T. Dekker, Seven Deadly Sinnes, p. 28 (Arber’s ed.). So that the Counters are cheated of Prisoners, to the great dammage of those that shoulde have their morning’s draught out of the garnish.

1632. Jonson, Magnetic Lady, v. 6. You are content with the ten thousand pounds Defalking the four hundred garnish-money?

1704. Steele, Lying Lover, Act iv., Sc. iv. But there is always some little trifle given to prisoners, they call garnish.

1752. Fielding, Amelia, Bk. I., ch. iii. Mr. Booth ... was no sooner arrived in the prison, than a number of persons gathered round him, all demanding garnish.

1759. Goldsmith, The Bee, No. 5, p. 385 (Globe ed.). There are numberless faulty expenses among the workmen—clubs, garnishes, freedoms, and such like impositions.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xliv. [Jailor loq.] Thirty shillings a week for lodgings, and a guinea for garnish.

2. (thieves’).—Fetters; handcuffs. For synonyms, see Darbies.

Verb. (thieves’).—To fit with fetters: to handcuff.

Garret, subs. (common).—1. The head; cockloft (q.v.); or upper storey (q.v.). For synonyms, see crumpet.

1625. Bacon, Apothgm, No. 17. My Lord St. Albans said that wise Nature did Never put her precious jewels into a garret four stories high, and therefore that exceeding tall men had ever very empty heads.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1837. Barham, Ingold. Leg. What’s called the claret Flew over the garret.

2. (old).—The fob-pocket.

To have one’s garret unfurnished, verb. phr. (common). To be crazy, stupid, lumpish. For synonyms, see Apartments and Balmy.

Garreteer, subs. (thieves’). A thief whose speciality is to rob houses by entering skylights or garret-windows. Also dancer and dancing-master. For synonyms, see thieves.

2. (journalists’).—An impecunious author; a literary hack.

1849–61. Macaulay, Hist. of Eng., ch. xxv. Garreteers, who were never weary of calling the cousin of the Earls of Manchester and Sandwich an upstart.

1886. Shelley (quoted in Dowden’s Life), i., 47. Show them that we are no Grub-street garreteers.

1892. National Observer, 18 Mar., p. 453. Has proclaimed urbi et orbi that governments have no business to manufacture specious sentiment by greasing the palms of ignorant and greedy garreteers.

Garret-master, subs. (trade).—A cabinet-maker who works on his own account, selling his manufacture to the dealers direct.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., ii., p. 376. These trading operatives are known by different names in different trades. In the shoe trade, for instance, they are called ‘chamber-masters,’ in the cabinet trade garret-masters, and in the cooper’s trade the name for them is ‘small trading-masters.’

Garrison-hack, subs. (common).—1. A woman given to indiscriminate flirtation with officers at a garrison.

1889. Daily Telegraph, 14 Feb. Lord Normantower, Philip’s dearest friend, to whom she, when a garrison-hack, had been engaged, and whom she had thrown over simply because he was poor and prospectless.

1890. Athenæum, 8 Feb., p. 176, c. 1. The heroine is a garrison-hack, but the hero is an Australian.

2. (common).—A prostitute; a soldier’s trull. For synonyms, see Barrack Hack and Tart.

Garrotte, subs. (common).—A form of strangulation (see verb). [From the Spanish la garrota = a method of capital punishment, which consists in strangulation by means of an iron collar.]

Verb. (common).—1. A method of robbery with violence, much practised some years ago. The victims were generally old or feeble men and women. Three hands were engaged: the front-stall who looked out in that quarter, the back-stall at the rear, and the ugly or nasty-man who did the work by passing his arm round his subject’s neck from behind, and so throttling him to insensibility.

1869. Greenwood, Seven Curses of Lond. Committed for trial for garrotting and nearly murdering a gentleman.

1873. Trollope, Phineas Redux, ch. xlvi. In those days there had been much garrotting in the streets.

2. (cards).—To cheat by concealing certain cards at the back of the neck.

Garrotter, subs. (common).—A practitioner of garrotting (under verb, sense 1.)

1869. Greenwood, Seven Curses of London, p. 201. The delectable epistle was written by garrotter Bill to his brother.

Garrotting. 1. See Garrotte (verb, sense 1).

2. (gamblers’).—Hiding a part of one’s hand at the back of the neck for purposes of cheating.

Garter, subs. (nautical).—1. in. pl. the irons, or bilboes. For synonyms, see Darbies.

To get over the Garter, verb. phr. (venery).—To take liberties with a woman.

To Fly or Prick the Garter. See Prick the Garter.

Garvies, subs. (Scots’).—1. Sprats. Sometimes Garvie-Herring.

1845. P. Alloa, Statis. Acc., viii., 597. They are often very successful in taking the smaller fish, such as herrings, garvies or sprats, sparlings or smelts.

2. (military).—The Ninety-fourth Foot. [From the small stature of the earlier recruits.]

1869. Notes and Queries, 4 S. iii., p. 349. Garvie. The soubriquet points to the low average height of the recruits in the Fifeshire regiments, which, however, may not now be the case, since recruiting has become less local.

Gas, subs. (common).—Empty talk; bounce; bombast.

1847. Porter, Quarter Race, etc., p. 120. The boys said that was all gas to scare them off.

1867. Chambers’ Jour., 29 June. I’ve piped off Sabbath gas in my time I don’t deny, but under the woods we mostly tell the truth.

1868. Chambers’ Jour., 15 Feb., p. 110. I don’t, an’ never could splice ends with them as blow off gas about gold-digging—saying it’s plunder easy come an’ easy gone, seeking the root of evil, an’ other granny talk which hasn’t no meaning.

a. 1871. Emerson (quoted in De Vere’s Amer.). ’Tis odd that our people should have not water on the brain, but a little gas there.

1889. Globe, 31 Oct., p. 4, c. 4. It went on to state that the petitioner’s talk about a divorce was all gas, and made a further appointment.

Verb. (common).—1. To talk idly; to brag; to bounce; to talk for talking’s sake. Fr., faire son cheval de corbillard (in American ‘to be on the tall grass.’) See Long Bow.

1872. Lond. Figaro, 14 Dec. There is no good to be got out of gassing about rallying around standards, uniting as one man to resist, etc.

1875. ‘American English’ in Chambers’ Jour., 25 Sept., p. 610. To gas is to talk only for the purpose of prolonging a debate.

1885. Society, 7 Feb., p. 7. Agitators and place-seekers may gas as much as they please, but they cannot make black appear white.

2. (common).—To impose on by ‘gas’; to pill (q.v.); to splash (q.v.). For synonyms, see Gammon.

To take the gas out of one, verb. phr. (common).—To take the conceit out of; to take down a peg.

To turn on the gas, verb. phr. (common).—To begin bouncing; also to Gas (q.v.).

To turn off the gas, verb. phr. (common).—To cease, or cause to cease, from bouncing, vapouring, or Gas (q.v.).

To gas round, verb. phr. (common).—To seek information on the sly; also to Gas (q.v.).

Gas-Bag, subs. (common).—A man of words or gas (q.v.); a gasconader. Also gasometer. For synonyms, see Mouth Almighty.

1889. Referee, 6 Jan. That great gas-bag of modern days.

Gash, subs. (American).—1. The mouth. For synonyms, see potato-trap.

1878. H. B. Stowe, Poganuc People, ch. xiv., p. 122. Ef Zeph Higgins would jest shet up his gash in town-meetin’, that air school-house could be moved fast enough.

2. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Gashly, adj. (common).—A vulgarism for ghastly.

Gaskins, subs. (old).—Wide hose; wide breeches. [From Galligaskins. Johnson says, ‘an old ludicrous word.’]

Gasp, subs. (common).—A dram of spirits. For synonyms, see Go.

Verb. (common).—To drink a dram, e.g., ‘Will you gasp?’ = Will you take something neat.

Gaspipe, subs. (nautical).—1. An iron steamer, whose length is nine or ten times her beam. [At one time a ship’s length but rarely exceeded four and a half to five times the beam.]

2. (printers’).—Bad rollers.

3. (common).—A rifle; specifically the Snider.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 9 July, p. 5, col. 7. The old Snider—the despair-breeding gas-pipe of our Volunteers—continues to be used in many of the competitions.

Gaspipe-crawler, subs. phr. (common).—A thin man. Cf., Lamp-post.

Gasser, subs. (common).—A braggart. For synonyms, see Mouth Almighty.

Gassy (or Gaseous), adj. (common).—1. Likely to take umbrage or to flare-up.

1863. North American Review, cxliii., p. 220. Gassy politicians in Congress.

2. (colloquial).—Full of empty talk or gas (q.v.).

1872. Whitney, Life and Growth of Lang., p. 17. As when we call an empty and sophistical but ready talker gassy.

Gaster, subs. (nonce-word).—A fine and curious eater (Thackeray). In Rabelais = the belly and the needs thereof: a coinage adopted by Urquhart.

Gat, subs. (schoolboys’).—A quantity; e.g., a gat of grub = plenty to eat. Also gats.

1803. Every-day Life in our Public Schools. They are called up in gats of three at a time.

Gate, subs. (colloquial).—1. The attendance at a race or athletic meeting, held in enclosed grounds; the number of persons who pass the gate.

1883. Sportsman, 20 Dec. The Birmingham man, on account of the large gate that would be secured, wanted the affair to be brought off in that town, whereas Regan favoured Wolverhampton.

2. Money paid for admission to athletic sports, race course, etc.; the same as gate-money (q.v.).

1891. Telegraph, 21 Mar. The leading clubs are now commercial corporations, dependent for revenue on the gates at the matches.

3. in. pl. (University).—The being forbidden to pass outside the gate of a college. See verb, sense 1.

18(?). Bradley, Tales of College Life, p. 19. That’s the ticket; that will just land me in time for gates.

1881. Lang, xxxii Ballades, ‘Of Midsummer Term.’ When freshmen are careless of gates. Verb. (University).—To confine wholly or during certain hours within the college gate for some infraction of discipline.

1835. The Snobiad (Whibley, Cap and Gown, p. 141). Two proctors kindly holding either arm Staunch the dark blood and gate him for the term.

1853. Bradley, Verd. Green, I., ch. xii. He won’t hurt you much, Giglamps! Gate and chapel you!

1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xii. Now you’ll both be gated probably, and the whole crew will be thrown out of gear.

1865. Cornhill Mag., p. 227. He is requested to confine himself to college after a specified hour, which is familiarly termed being gated.

1870. Morning Advertiser, 23 May. The two least culpable of the party have been gated.

The gate, subs. phr. (various).—Among fishmongers, Billingsgate; among thieves, Newgate. Cf., Lane, Row, Garden, etc.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. i., p. 5. The ‘steel,’ a slang name of the large metropolitan prisons, as the gate is for Newgate.

To break gates, verb. phr.—(University).—To stay out of college after hours.

To be at Gates, verb. phr. (Winchester College).—To assemble in Seventh Chamber passage, preparatory to going to Hills or Cathedral.

1870. Mansfield, School Life, p. 149. Soon after morning chapel on a holiday or a remedy all the boys assembled at gates.

On the gate, adv. phr. (thieves’).—On remand.

Gate-Bill, subs. (University).—The record of an undergraduate’s failure to be within the precincts of his college at, or before, a specified time at night.

1803. Gradus ad Cant., p. 128. To avoid gate-bills he will be out at night as late as he pleases ... climb over the college wall, and fee his gyp well.

Gate-money, subs. (colloquial).—The charge for admission to a race-meeting. See Gate, subs., sense 1.

1885. Daily News, 25 May, p. 3, c. 2. The truth of the matter is, that so far as sport goes, open meetings like those at Bath and Salisbury cannot stand up against gate-money meetings such as Manchester.

1888. Sporting Life, 10 Dec. The comfort that is brought home at our great gate-money meetings gatherings to every visitor.

Gate-of-Horn, subs. phr. (venery). The female pudendum. Cf., Horn, and for synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Gate-of-Life, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. Also Gate-of-Horn. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Gater, subs. (Winchester College).—A plunge head foremost into a pot (q.v.).

Gate-race (or -meeting), subs. (sporting).—Formerly, a contest not got up for sport but entrance money; now a race or athletic meeting to which admission is by payment.

1881. Daily News, 14 July. Few of these athletics care to compete at gate-meetings.

Gath, subs. (colloquial).—A city or district in Philistia (q.v.); often used, like Askelon (q.v.) for Philistia itself. Hence, to be mighty in gath = to be a Philistine (q.v.) of the first magnitude; to prevail against gath = to smite the Philistines hip and thigh, as becomes a valiant companion of the Davidsbund; and so forth.

Tell it not in Gath, verb. phr. (colloquial).—An interjection of derision, signifying that the person exclaimed against has done something the knowledge of which would bring on him the wrath, or the amazement, of his friends.

Gather. To gather up, verb. phr. (American).—To lead away.

1847. Chronicles of Pineville, p. 182. ‘Gather him up, boys,’ said the judge, ‘the sentence of the law must be executed.’

To gather the taxes, verb. phr. (tailor’s).—To go from workshop to workshop seeking employment. Hence, Tax-gatherer = a man out of work and looking for a job. Cf., Inspector of public buildings.

Out of gathers, adv. phr. (colloquial).—In distress. Cf., Out at elbows.

Gatherings. See Gags.

Gatter, subs. (common).—Beer; also liquor generally. Shant of gatter = a pot of beer. Fr., la moussante. For synonyms, see Drinks.

1818. Maginn, Vidocq Versified. Lots of gatter, says she, is flowing. Lend me a lift in the family way.

1841. Punch, I., p. 243, Gatter is but threepence a pot, and that’s the price of a reasonable ’pike ticket.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. i., p. 232. They have a ‘shant of gatter’ (pot of beer) at the nearest ‘boozing-ken’ (alehouse).

Gaudeamus, subs. (colloquial).—A feast; a drinking bout; any sort of merry-making. [German students’, but now general and popular.] From the first word of the mediæval (students’) ditty. For synonyms, see Jamboree.

Gaudy (or Gaudy-day), subs. (common).—A feast or entertainment: specifically the annual dinner of the fellows of a college in memory of founders or benefactors; or a festival of the Inns of Court. (Lat. gaudere = to rejoice.)

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Gaudy days, college or Inns of Court festivals.

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict., 2nd ed. Gaudies, double commons, such as they have on gaudy or grand days in colleges.

1760. Foote, Minor, Act i. Dine at twelve, and regale, upon a gaudy day, with buns and beer at Islington.

1803. Gradus ad Cantab., p. 122. Cut lectures ... give gaudies and spreads.

1820. Lamb, Elia (Oxford in the Vacation). Methought I a little grudged at the coalition of the better Jude with Simon—clubbing (as it were) their sanctities together, to make up one poor gaudy-day between them.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxiii. We had a carouse to your honour ... we fought, too, to finish off the gaudy.

1878. Besant and Rice, By Celia’s Arbour, ch. xxxiii. Champagne ... goes equally well with a simple luncheon of cold chicken, and with the most elaborate gaudy.

Adj. (colloquial).—Good; frolicsome; festive. Cf., Shakspeare’s ‘Let’s have one other gaudy night.’—Ant. and Cleo., iii, 13.

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 176. ‘Yes,’ answered the trainer, slowly, ‘he’s right enough; but a Leger’s a Leger, and I don’t think they are likely to give him a very gaudy chance.’

Neat but not gaudy, as the devil said when he painted his bottom pink, and tied up his tail with pea-green, phr. (common).—A locution used to ancient ladies dressed in flaming colours.

Gauge. See Gage.

To get the gauge of, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To divine an intention; to read a character; to size, (or reckon) up (q.v.). Hence, That’s about the gauge of it = That’s a fair description.

Gauley. See by golly.

Gawf, subs. (costers’).—A red-skinned apple.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., i., 63. A cheap red-skinned fruit, known to costers as gawfs, is rubbed hard, to look bright and feel soft, and is mixed with apples of a superior description. Gawfs are sweet and sour at once, I was told, and fit for nothing but mixing.

Gawk, subs. (colloquial).—A simpleton, especially an awkward one, whether male or female. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head. [Scots Gowk = a cuckoo; a fool; whence, to gowk = to, play the fool. As in the ‘Derision of Wanton Women’ (Bannatyne, MS., 1567), ‘To gar them ga in gucking’ = to make them play the fool.]

1837. H. Martineau, Soc. in America, i., 299. They proved such gawks that they were unable to learn.

1882. McCabe, New York, p. 217. I wasn’t half as awkward as some of the gawks about me.

1887. H. Frederic, Seth’s Brother’s Wife, ch. iv. Girls brought up to be awkward gawks, without a chance in life.

Verb. (colloquial).—To loiter round; to play the goat. [The same verb is used by Jonson (Magnetic Lady, iii., 4, 1632) in the sense of amazed, or bamboozled, i.e., absolutely befooled: Nay, look how the man stands, as he were gowked!]

1888. F. R. Stockton, Rudder Grange, ch. xvi. That afternoon we gawked around, a-lookin’ at all the outside shows, for Jone said he’d have to be pretty careful of his money now.

Gawkiness, subs. (colloquial).—Awkwardness; silliness; greenness (q.v.).

1873. Miss Broughton, Nancy, ch. xxxvii. The crude gawkiness of the raw girl he has drifted into marrying.

Gawking, subs. (colloquial).—Loitering and staring; gathering hayseed (q.v.).

Gawky, subs. (colloquial).—An awkward booby; a fool. ‘Now squire gawky’ = a challenge to a clumsy lout. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1686–1758. Ramsay, Poems, ii., 299. Or, gentle born ye be; but youths in love you’re but a gawky.

1777. Sheridan, School for Scandal, Act ii., Sc. 2. Crab. Yes, and she is a curious being to pretend to be censorious—an awkward gawky, without any one good point under heaven.

1825. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, ii., ch. 18. Great, long, slab-sided gawkys from the country.

1878. C. H. Wall, tr. Molière, ii., 197. Our big gawky of a viscount.

Adj. (colloquial).—Lanky; awkward; stupid.

1759. Townley, High Life Below Stairs, i., 1. Under the form of a gawky country boy I will be an eye-witness of my servants’ behaviour.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xlviii. Even for his cousin Samuel Newcome, a gawky youth with an eruptive countenance, Barnes had appropriate words of conversation.

Gawney (or Goney), subs. (common).—A fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

Gay, adj. (colloquial).—1. Dissipated; specifically, given to venery: As in the French, avoir la cuisse gaie = to be addicted to the use of men. Hence gay woman, or girl, or bit = a strumpet; gay house = a brothel; to be gay = to be incontinent; gay in the legs, in the groin, in the arse = short-heeled (q.v.); gaying instrument = the penis [Lexicon Balatronicum, 1811, s.v.]; gay man = a wencher; gay ladie (old) = a mistress; gaying it = copulating.

1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 3767. What eyeleth you? Some gay girl, God it wot, Hath brough you thus upon the very trot.

1754. Adventurer, No. 124. The old gentleman, whose character I cannot better express than in the fashionable phrase which has been contrived to palliate false principles and dissolute manners, had been a gay man, and was well acquainted with the town.

1854. Leech, Pictures of Life and Character. How long have you been gay?

1857. J. E. Ritchie, Night Side of London, p. 40. Here in Catherine-street vice is a monster of a hideous mien. The gay women, as they are termed, are worse off than American slaves.

1868. Sunday Times, 19 July. As soon as ever a woman has ostensibly lost her reputation, we, with a grim inappositeness, call her gay.

2. (common).—In drink. For synonyms, see Screwed.

All Gay (or All so Gay). adv. phr. (common).—All right; first-rate; all serene (q.v.).

To feel gay. verb. phr. (colloquial).—Inclined for sport, venereal or other; To feel naughty (q.v.).

Gay Tyke Boy, subs. phr. (old).—A dog fancier.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, s.v.

Gazebo, subs. (old).—A summer-house commanding an extensive view. [Dog-Latin, gazebo = I will gaze.]

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Geach, subs. (thieves’).—A thief. For synonyms, see Thieves.

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 56. He was a tolerable geach.

Verb. (thieves’).—To steal. For synonyms, see Prig.

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 73. A small dross scout ... which I knew had been geached.

Gear, subs. (venery).—1. The private parts, both male and female. [‘Geere, besognes; aussi les parties honteuses’ (Robert Sherwood’s Dictionarie, English and French, appended to Cotgrave, 1660). ‘Besongner ... also to do or leacher with’ (Cotgrave). Anglo-Saxon: gearwe (strong feminine plural) ornaments. Skeat says original sense of gear was ‘preparation.’]

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, Mozza, a wench, a lasse, a girle. Also a woman’s geare or cunnie.

1620. Percy, Folio MSS. ‘Ffryar and Boye.’ I sweare, by night nor day thy geare is not to borrow.

1659. Torriano, Vocabulario, s.v.

2. (obsolete).—Work, business (q.v.). Thus: Here’s goodly gear = Here’s fine doings; Here’s a pretty kettle of fish. As in Romeo and Juliet (ii., 2, 106).

Gee, subs. (colloquial).—See Gee-gee.

Verb. (colloquial).—1. To go or turn to the off-side; used as a direction to horses. Cf.: It.: gio = Get on!

1480. Dialogus Creaturum. Et cum sic gloriaretur, et cogitaret cum quanta gloria duceretur ad illum virum super equum, dicendo, ‘Gio! Gio!’ cepit pede percutere terram quasi pungeret equum calcaribus.

2. (colloquial).—To move faster: as a teemster to his horses, ‘Gee up!’

1824. Blackwood’s Mag., Oct. Mr. Babb ge-hupped in vain, and strove to jerk the rein, Nobbs felt he had his option to work or play.

3. (colloquial).—To stop: as ‘Gee whoa!’

To gee with, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To agree with; to fit; to be congenial; to go on all fours with; to do.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, Gears, s.v. ... It won’t gee, it won’t hit or go.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. gee, it won’t gee, it won’t hit or do, it does not suit or fit.

1850. Seaworthy, Nag’s Head, ch. v., p. 35. It don’t seem to Gee! said Isaac, as he was trying to adjust the stove.

1888. Missouri Repub., 8 April. He and Mrs. Barnay did not gee.

Gee-gee (or Gee).—subs. (common).—1. A horse. See Gee, verb. in all senses. For synonyms, see Prad.

1888. Referee, 15 April, 1/2. In nearly all other races they see most of the gees do a canter on their way up the course.

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 14 April. He knows as much about gee-gee’s as a professional trainer.

1890. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 8 Feb. The gees were all broken to the stable.

2. (colloquial).—The nickname among journalists (of the interviewer, type) of Mr. G(eorge) G(rossmith), better known, perhaps, as the Society Clown.

Gee-gee Dodge, subs. phr. (trade).—Selling horseflesh for beef.

1884. Greenwood, Veiled Mysteries. The gee-gee dodge ... was seldom or ever practised ... it was impossible ... to bargain for a regular supply.

Geekie, subs. (Scots thieves’).—A police-station.

Geeloot. See Galoot.

Geese, All his geese are swans, phr. (colloquial).—He habitually exaggerates, or embroiders (q.v.); or, He is always wrong in his estimates of persons and things.

The old woman’s picking her geese (proverbial).—Said of a snowstorm. [The other leg of the couplet (schoolboys’) runs: ‘And selling the feathers a penny a piece.’]

Like geese on a common (colloquial).—Wandering in a body, aggressive and at large: e.g., as faddists (q.v.) in pursuit of a fad; or members of Parliament in recess, when both sides go about to say the thing which is in them.

Geewhilikens! intj. (Western American).—An exclamation of surprise; also jeewhilikens.

1888. Detroit Free Press. It is on time? No? Three hours late? Geewhilikens!

Geezer, subs. (popular).—An appellation, sometimes, but not necessarily, of derision and contempt; applied to both sexes, but generally to women. Usually, old geezer. For synonyms, see Witch.

1885. Truth about the Stage, p. 16. If we wake up the old geezers we shall get notice to quit without compensation.

1886. Broadside Ballad, ‘Her Mother’s Got the Hump.’ This frizzle-headed old geezer had a chin on her as rough—well, as rough as her family, and they’re rough ’uns.

1890. A. Chevalier, ‘Knocked ’Em in the Old Kent Road.’ Nice old geezer with a nasty cough.

1892. Anstey, Voces Populi, p. 82. Our old geeser’s perdoocin’ the custimary amount o’ sensation.

Gelding, subs. (old).—A eunuch.

1380. Wycliffe, Trans. of the Bible, Acts viii. 39. ... the spirit of the Lord ravysched Filip, and the geldynge say him no more.

1659. Torriano, Vocabolario, s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

to enter for the geldings’ stakes, verb. phr. (old).—To castrate a man; also used to describe a eunuch.

Gelt, subs. (old).—Money; gilt (q.v.). Also gelter.—(Duncombe, 1848).

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. There is no gelt to be got, Trading is very dull.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Gemini! (or Geminy! or Jiminy!) intj. (common).—An exclamation of surprise; a mild oath. [Generally referred to the Lat.: Gemini = the Twins (i.e., Castor and Pollux, the objects of an old Roman oath); but Palmer (Folk Etymology), traces the interjection to the German, O Gemine!; Dutch, Jemy Jemini!; both abbreviated from the Latin, O Jesu Domine!; or merely from Jesu meus!; Italian, Giesu mio! It seems to have come in at the Restoration.] Also O Jimminy!; O Jimminy Figs!; O Jimminy Gig! etc.: for the phrase has pleased the cockney mind, and been vulgarised accordingly.

1672. Dryden, The Assignation, Act ii., Sc. 3. Ben. O gemini! is it you, sir?

1704. Steele, Lying Lover, Act iv., Sc. 3. Sim. I stay with you? Oh gemini! Indeed, I can’t.

1731. Fielding, The Lottery, Sc. 2. Lord Lace! Oh gemini! who’s that?

1780. Mrs. Cowley, The Belle’s Stratagem, iv., 2. Oh gemini! beg the petticoat’s pardon.

1797. M. G. Lewis, Castle Spectre, iii., 3. Oh gemini! what would he use with me, lady?

1798. Morton, Secrets Worth Knowing, i., 1. A parcel of lazy chaps, I dare say—but I’ll make them stir their stumps. Well, here we are at last.—Oh gemini gig how my poor bones do ache!

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. i. ‘Gemini! what is that now?’ quoth Tip again.

1863. Reade, Hard Cash, I., 125. O, jiminy! This polite ejaculation was drawn out by the speaker’s sudden recognition of Alfred.

Gemman, subs. (vulgar).—A contraction of gentleman.

1550. Docteur Double-All (the word occurs in this play).

c. 1551. L. Shepherd, John Bon in Arber’s Garner, iv., 107. Ye be the jolliest gemman that I ever saw in my life.

1767. Colman, Oxonian in Town, I., i. I am glad to see your honour’s well. I hope you left all the gemmin well at Oxford.

1818. Byron, Beppo, st. 86. At home our Bow-street gemmen keep the laws.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. iii., ch. v. ... but knock down a gemman.

1851. Borrow, Lavengro, ch. 26. Here the gipsy gemman see.

Gen, subs. (costers’).—A shilling. Back slang, but cf. Fr., argent. For synonyms, see Blow.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. i., p. 19. I’ll try you a gen (shilling) said a coster.

1887. Saturday Review, 14 May, p. 700. The difficulty of inverting the word shilling accounts for ‘generalize.’ from which the abbreviation to gen is natural as well as affectionate.

Gender, verb. (old).—To copulate. [An abbreviation of Engender.] For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

1602. Shakspeare, Othello, iv., 2. A cistern for foul toads To knot and gender in.

1659. Torriano, Vocabolario, s.v.

1778. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1816. Johnson, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1892. Bible, Lev. xix., 19. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind.

Feminine Gender, subs. phr. (schoolboys’).—The female pudendum. [As in the old (schoolboys’) rhyme: Amo, amas, I loved a lass, And she was tall and slender, Amas, amat, I laid her flat, And tickled her feminine gender. Quoted (with modifications) by Marryat in Jacob Faithful, 1835.]

Generalize, subs. (costers’). A shilling. See Gen.

Generating Place, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum.

Generation Tool, subs. phr. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Geneva Print, subs. phr. (old).—Gin. For synonyms, see Drinks and Satin.

1584–1640. Massinger (quoted in Slang, Jargon, and Cant). And if you meet an Officer preaching of sobriety, Unless he read it in Geneva Print, Lay him by the heels.

Gen-net, subs. phr. (back slang).—Ten shillings.

Gennitraf, subs. (back slang).—A farthing.

Genol, adj. (back slang).—Long.

Gent, subs. (once literary: now vulgar).—1. A showily-dressed vulgarian. [A contraction of ‘gentleman.’]

1635. [Glapthorne], Lady Mother, in Bullen’s Old Plays, ii., 114. Hees not a gent that cannot parlee. I must invent some new and polite phrases.

1785. Burns, Epistle to J. Lapraite, st. 11. Do ye envy the city gent, Behint a kist to lie and sklent?

1843. Thackeray, Irish Sketch Book, ch. viii. The crowd of swaggering gents (I don’t know the corresponding phrase in the Anglo-Irish vocabulary to express a shabby dandy), awaiting the Cork mail.

1844. Disraeli, Coningsby, bk. IV., ch. ii. ‘Ah, not in business! Hem! professional?’ ‘No,’ said Coningsby, ‘I am nothing.’—‘Ah! an independent gent; hem! and a very pleasant thing too.’

1846. Sunday Paper, 24 May. Mr. Rawlinson (Magistrate at Marylebone Police Court). What do you mean by gent? There is no such word in our language. I hold a man who is called a gent to be the greatest blackguard there is.

1848. Punch, vol. XIV., p. 226. His aversion for a gent is softened by pity.

1869. Blue Budget. The gent indicates a being who apes the gentility without the faintest shadow of a claim to it.

2. (Old Cant).—Money. [From Fr., argent.] For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

1864. Revue des Deux Mondes, 15 Sept., p. 470. Les voleurs anglais disent gent pour ‘argent.’

3. (colloquial).—A sweetheart, a mistress: e.g., My gent = my particular friend.

Adj. (old literary).—Elegant; comely; genteel.

1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales. ‘Miller’s Tale.’ [Skeat, 1878, i., 194]. As any wesil her body gent and small.

1553–99. Spenser. He loved as was his lot, a lady gent. Idem. A knight had wrought against a lady gent.

1704. Mad. Knight’s Jour., p. 44. Law you, sais she, it’s right gent, do you take it—’tis dreadfull pretty.

Gentile, subs. (colloquial). Any sort of stranger, native or foreign; among the Mormons, any person not professing the Gospel according to Joe Smith. Hence, In the Land of the Gentiles = (1) in foreign parts; and (2) in strange neighbourhoods or alien society.

Gentle, subs. (anglers’).—A maggot; vulgarly, Gentile.

1811. Songs of the Chase. ‘The Jolly Anglers.’ We have gentles in our horns.

Gentle Craft, subs. (old).—1. The trade of shoemaking. [From the romance of Prince Crispin, who is said to have made shoes.]

1662. Rump Songs. ‘A Hymn to the Gentle Craft,’ etc., ii. 152. Crispin and he were nere akin: The gentle craft hath a noble kin.

2. (anglers’).—Angling.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 65. Sez I, gentle craft, said I.

Gentleman, subs. (thieves’).—A crowbar. For synonyms, see jemmy.

To put a churl (or beggar) upon a gentleman, verb. phr. (old).—To drink malt liquor immediately after wine.—Grose.

Gentleman of the (Three, or Four, or Five) Outs (or Ins), subs. phr. (old).—A varying and ancient wheeze, of which the following are representative:—

Out of money, and out of clothes; Out at the heels, and out at the toes; Out of credit, and in debt.

A man in debt, in danger, and in poverty; or in gaol, indicted, and in danger of being hanged.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. iv. Paul became a gentleman of three outs—out of pocket, out of elbows, and out of credit.

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, Bk. III., ch. v. Jerry Juniper was what the classical Captain Grose would designate a gentleman with three outs, and, although he was not entirely without wit, nor his associates avouched, without money, nor certainly, in his own opinion, had that been asked, without manners.

Gentleman of the Back (or Backdoor), subs. (old).—A sodomist. For synonyms, see Usher.

Gentleman of fortune, subs. phr. (common).—An adventurer.

1890. R. L. Stevenson, Treasure Island, p. 149. ‘Why, in a place like this, where nobody puts in but gentlemen of fortune, Silver would fly the jolly roger, you don’t make no doubt of that.’

Gentleman of Observation, subs. phr. (turf).—A tout.

Gentleman of the Round, subs. phr. (old).—An invalided or disabled soldier, making his living by begging.

1596. Jonson, Every Man in, etc., 2. Your decaied, ruinous, worme-eaten gentlemen of the round.

Gentleman of the Short Staff, subs. phr. (old).—A constable.

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard (1889), p. 12. In the language of the gentleman of the short staff an important caption could be effected.

Gentleman of the Fist, subs. phr. (pugilists’).—A prize-fighter.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 44. Furnish such gentlemen of the fist.

Gentleman in Brown, subs. phr. (common).—A bed bug. For synonyms, see Norfolk Howard.

1885. G. A. Sala in Daily Telegraph, 14 Aug., 5/3. Bed bugs, the convertible term for which is ‘chintzes,’ are the disagreeable insects known in modern polite English as ‘Norfolk Howards,’ or gentlemen in brown.

The Little Gentleman in Brown Velvet, subs. phr. (obsolete).—A mole. [The Tory toast after the death of William III., whose horse was said to have stumbled over a mole-hill.]

Gentleman of the Green Baize Road, subs. phr. (gamesters’).—A card sharper.

Gentleman Commoner, subs. phr. (University).—1. A privileged class of commoners at Oxford, wearing a special cut of gown and a velvet cap.

2. (common).—An empty bottle. Also fellow-commoner (q.v.). [A sarcastic allusion to the mental capacity of this class of student.] For synonyms, see Dead-man.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Gentleman-ranker, subs. (military).—A broken gentleman serving in the ranks.

1892. Kipling, Barrack Room Ballads. ‘Gentlemen Rankers.’ Gentleman-rankers out on the spree, Damned from here to eternity, God ha’ mercy on such as we, Baa! Yah! Bah!

Gentleman’s Companion, subs. phr. (common).—A louse. For synonyms, see Chates.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Gentleman’s Master, subs. phr. (old).—A highwayman.—Grose.

Gentleman’s (or Ladies’) Piece, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A small or delicate portion; a tit-bit.

Gentleman’s Pleasure-garden, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. [Hence, Gentleman’s Pleasure-Garden Padlock = menstrual cloth.]

Gentlemen’s Sons, subs. phr. (common).—The three regiments of Guards.

Gently! intj. (stables’ and colloquial).—An interjection = stand still (q.v.); hence, colloquially, = don’t get into a passion, go slow (q.v.).

Gentry Cove (or Cofe), subs. (old cant).—A gentleman; a nib-cove (q.v.). Fr., un messire de la haute.

1567. Harman, Caveat, s.v.

1656. Brome, Joviall Crew, Act ii. For all this bene Cribbing and Peck let us then, Bowse a health to the gentry cofe of the Ken.

1654. Witts’ Recreations. As priest of the game, And prelate of the same. There’s a gentry cove here.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. Tour the bien mort twiring the gentry cove.

1837. Disraeli, Venetia, p. 71. The gentry cove will be ramboyled by his dam.

Gentry Cove’s Ken (or Gentry-Ken), subs. phr. (Old Cant).—A gentleman’s house.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65. A gentry cofe’s ken, a noble or gentleman’s house. A gentry cofe, a noble or gentle man.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874). Gentry cove’s ken, a gentleman’s house.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Gentry Mort, subs. phr. (old cant).—A lady.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65. A gentry mort, a noble or gentle woman.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874). Gentry mort, a gentlewoman.

1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Genuine, subs. (Winchester College).—Praise.

Adj. (colloquial).—Trustworthy; not false nor double-faced.

Verb. (Winchester College).—To praise. ‘He was awfully quilled and genuined my task.’ [Probably from calling a thing genuine. Cf., to blackguard, to lord, etc. But fifty years ago it was a subs. only.—Notions.]

Geordie, subs. (North Country).—1. A pitman; also, a Northumbrian in general.

2. (nautical).—A North Country collier.

3. See George.

George (or Scots’ diminutive Geordie), subs. (old). 1.—A half crown. Also (obsolete), the noble = 6s. 8d., temp., Henry VIII.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, List of cant words. george, half-a-crown.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew. He tipt me Forty Georges for my earnest, He paid me Five Pounds for my Share or Snack.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

2. (old).—A guinea; also more frequently Yellow George.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1787. Burns, The Twa Dogs. The yellow-lettered Geordie keeks.

3. (old).—A penny.

1820. Reynolds, The Fancy, Glossary. A Penny-piece—a georgy.

Brown George.—See Ante.

By Fore, or By George.—See By George.

George Horne, intj. (printers’).—A derisive retort on a piece of stale news. Also G. H.! [From a romancing compositor of the name.]

Georgy-Porgy, verb (colloquial).—To pet; to fondle; to beslobber.

1883. R. L. Stevenson, The Treasure of Franchard, ch. iii., in Longman’s Magazine, April, p. 685. He must be spoken to with more respect, I tell you; he must not be kissed and georgy-porgy’d like an ordinary child.

German. The German, subs. phr. (New York).—A round dance.

German Duck, subs. phr. (obsolete).—1. Half a sheep’s head, stewed with onions.—Grose.

2. (common).—A bed bug. For synonyms, see Norfolk Howard.

German Flutes, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A pair of boots.

Germantowner, subs. (American billiards’).—A pushing shot—when the balls played with, and at, are jarred together. Cf., Whitechapeller.

Gerry, subs. (Old Cant).—Excrement.

1567. Harman, Caveat, s.v.

Gerry Gan, intj. (Old Cant).—A retort forcible. Stow it! (q.v.). [From Gerry = excrement + Gan = mouth, i.e., literally, Shit in your mouth.] The common form is: Shit (or a turd) in your teeth; as in Ben Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, 1614. Fr., Tais ta gueule ou j’te chie dedans.

1567. Harman, Caveat. Gerry gan, the ruffian cly thee.

Gerrymander (pronounced with the ‘g’ hard, as in ‘get’), verb. (political American).—To arrange the electoral subdivisions of a State to the profit and advantage of a particular party.

[The term, says Norton, is derived from the name of Governor Gerry, of Massachusetts, who, in 1811, signed a Bill readjusting the representative districts so as to favour the Democrats and weaken the Federalists, although the last-named party polled nearly two-thirds of the votes cast. A fancied resemblance of a map of the districts thus treated led Stuart, the painter, to add a few lines with his pencil, and say to Mr. Russell, editor of the Boston Sentinel. ‘That will do for a Salamander.’ Russell glanced at it: ‘Salamander,’ said he, ‘call it a Gerrymander!’ The epithet took at once, and became a Federalist war-cry, the caricature being published as a campaign document.]

1871. Boston Daily Advertiser, 6 Dec. Gerrimander was the name printed under a picture of a pretended monster, whose shape was modified from the distorted geography which Mr. Gerry’s friends inflicted on part of the State for the sake of economizing, majorities.

Gerrymandering, subs. (political American). See Gerrymander.

1872. New York Sunday Mercury, 31 March. The Legislature of Ohio intends to prove itself a veritable master in the gerrymandering business.

1890. Athenæum, 22 Feb. p. 238, c. 1. Whatever faults can be found with Sir John’s administration, it has been good and successful enough to afford excuse for all the gerrymandering with which he is charged by his critics.

1891. Belfort’s Mag., Aug., p. 439. The Democrats of Michigan have carried the art of gerrymandering to such an extent that they have thoroughly disgusted their opponents.

Gerund-Grinder, subs. (common).—A schoolmaster, especially a pedant. Also Gerund-Grinding.

1759–67. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, iv., 112. Tutors, governors, gerund-grinders, and bear-leaders.

1788. Knox, Winter Evenings, 59. A pedant, a mere plodder, a petty tyrant, a gerund-grinder.

1825–7. Hone, Every Day Book, II., p. 33. Gerund-Grinding and parsing are usually prepared for at the last moment.

Get, subs. (old).—1. A cheating contrivance; a Have (q.v.).

2. (old).—A child; the result, that is, of an act of procreation or begetting. Thus, one of his gets = one of his making; whose get is that? = Who’s the father? It’s his get, anyhow = At all events he got it.

1570. Scottish Text Society, Satirical Poems, I., 171, ‘Treason of Dumbarton’ (1891). Ganelon’s gets, relicts of Sinon’s seed.

d. 1798. Burns, Merry Muses. ‘For a’ that.’ O’ bastard getts some had a score, An’ some had mair than a’ that.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 41. This, again, is unusual for a Chester, as his get are generally quiet and docile, but a bit lazy.

Get! (or You Get!) intj. (American).—Short for Get out! Usually, Git! (q.v.).

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 176. None of your damned impertinence. Get!

To get at, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To quiz; to banter; to aggravate; to take a rise out of. Also To get back at.

1891. Sloper’s Half Holiday, 3 Jan. ‘Your family don’t seem to get on, missie.’ ‘On!’ replied the child, with dignity flashing from her great blue eyes; ‘on! I’ve got a father on the booze, a sister on the music ’all, an’ a brother on the treadmill. On! who’re ye gettin’ at?’

2. (racing and colloquial).—To influence; to bribe; to nobble (of horses), and to corrupt (of persons); applied to horse, owner, trainer, jockey, and vet. alike.

1870. Spectator, 23 April. That, of course, makes it profitable for owners to withdraw horses they have secretly betted against, and for scoundrels to get at horses.

1871. Saturday Review, 9 Sept. It is quite clear that some of the foreign working men have been got at.

1883. Graphic, 17 March, p. 262, c. 2. The House of Commons ... can also be trusted to decide in local questions without any suspicion of being got at, as is sometimes the case elsewhere.

1883. Badminton Library, Steeplechasing, p. 404. Suspicions that the mare had been got at, that is to say, drugged, were afterwards noised abroad.

1888. Daily Telegraph, 17 Nov. It was strongly suspected that he had been got at.

1890. Globe, 11 Aug., p. 1, c. 1. Fancy the professional agitator trying to get at such men as these—men who gloried in being soldiers and nothing else!

1892. Pall Mall Gazette, May 10, p. 3, c. 3. The scoundrels (verily of the lowest form) who have tried to get at Orme.

1892. National Observer, vii. 630. If the horse were got at, then a bookie who stood heavily to lose is probably assumed.

To get about, verb. phr. (venery).—To do the act of intromission. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

To get back at, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To satirise; to call to account.

1888. Daily Inter-Ocean. The newspapers are getting back at Sam.

Get back into your box! phr. (American).—An injunction to silence; stow it! (q.v. for synonyms).

To get encored, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To have a job returned for alterations.

To get even with, verb. phr. (common).—To take one’s revenge; to give tit for tat.

To get it, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be punished (morally or physically); to be called over the coals. Also (venery) to catch a clap.

To get off, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To (1) escape punishment, to be let off; (2) to utter, to deliver oneself of, to perpetrate—as to get off a joke; and (3) to get married.

To get on, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To back a horse; to put a bit on (q.v.).

2. (colloquial).—To succeed; or, simply, to fare. Thus, How are you getting on? may signify (1) To what extent are you prospering? or (2) How are you doing?

1871. Pall Mall Gaz., 29 Dec. That great Anglo-Saxon passion of rising in the world, or getting on—that is, rising into the class above him.

1892. A. W. Pinero, The Times: a Comedy, v. 1. We used to go very early to such places and stay right through, now that papa has got on, we arrive late everywhere and murmur an apology!

To get one in the cold, verb. phr. (American).—To have at an advantage; to be on the windward side (q.v.); to have on toast (q.v.).

To get one on, verb. phr. (pugilists’).—To land a blow.

To get down fine (or close), verb. phr. (American).—To know all about one’s antecedents; and (police) to know where to find one’s man.

To get into, verb. phr. (venery).—To occupy (q.v.). Also To get in and To get up. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

1620. Percy, Folio MSS., p. 197. Gett vp againe, Billy, if that thou louest me.

To get over, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To seduce, to fascinate, to dupe. Also To come over and To get round.

To get outside of, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To eat or drink; also to accomplish one’s purpose.

1892. S. Watson, Wops the Waif, p. 9. Tickle urged Wops again and again to drink, but Wops’s only reply was, ‘Yer go on, Tickle; git outside the lot, if yer can; it’ll do yer good, Cully.’

2. (venery).—To receive the sexual embrace: of women only.

To get out of bed on the wrong side, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be testy or cross-grained. [A corruption of an old saying, ‘To rise on the right side is accounted lucky’; hence the reverse meant trials to temper, patience, and luck.]

1607. Marston, What You Will. You rise on your right side to-day, marry.

1608. Machin, Dumb Knight, iv., 1. Sure I said my prayers, ris’d on my right side, Wash’d hands and eyes, put on my girdle last; Sure I met no splea-footed baker, No hare did cross me, nor no bearded witch, Nor other ominous sign.

1614. Terence in English. C. What doth shee keepe house alreadie? D. Alreadie. C. O good God!; we rose on the right side to-day.

1647. Beaumont and Fletcher, i. Women Pleased. You rose o’ your right side.

1890. Globe, 15 May, p. 2, col. 2. Some of them had—if we may employ such a vulgar expression—got out of bed on the wrong side.

To get out (or Round), verb. phr. (racing).—To back a horse against which one has previously laid; to Hedge (q.v.).

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 318. He had an idea Johnson was this time cleverly working a very well authorised commission, and that he personally had taken more than one opportunity of what is termed getting out.

To get set, verb. phr. (cricketing).—1. To warm to one’s work at the wicket, and collar the bowling; to get one’s eye well in.

To get there, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To attain one’s object; to be successful; to make one’s jack (q.v.); to get there with both feet = to be very successful.

1887. Francis, Saddle and Mocassin. He said as he’d been gambling, and was two hundred dollars ahead of the town. He got there with both feet at starting.

1888. New York Herald, 29 July. Although not a delegate he got there all the same.

2. (common).—To get drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

3. (venery).—To enjoy the sexual favour.

To get through, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To pass an examination; to accomplish.

1853. Bradley, Verd. Green, II. ch. xii. So you see, Giglamps, I’m safe to get through.

To get up and dust, verb. phr. (American).—To depart hastily. For synonyms, see Skedaddle and Amputate.

To get up behind (or get behind) a man, verb. phr. (common).—To endorse or back a bill.

1880. Life in a Debtor’s Prison, p. 87. In other cases he figured as the drawer, or simply as endorser. This, Mr. Whipper described as getting up behind.

To get up the mail, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To find money (as counsels’ fees, etc.) for defence.

1889. Clarkson and Richardson, Police, 322, s.v.

[Get enters into many other combinations. See back teeth; bag or sack; bead; beans; beat; big bird and goose; big head; billet; bit; boat; bolt; books; bulge; bullet; bull’s feather; crocketts; dander and monkey; dark; drop; eye; flannels; flint; game; grand bounce; gravel-rash; grind; grindstone; hand; hang; hat; head; hip or hop; home; horn; hot; jack; keen; length of one’s foot; measure; mitten; needle; religion; rise; run; scot, swot, or scrape; set; shut of; silk; snuff; straight; sun; ticket of leave; wool; wrong box.]

Getaway, subs. (American thieves’).—A locomotive or train; a puffer (q.v.).

Getter. A sure getter, subs. phr. (Scots).—A procreant male with a great capacity for fertilization.

Get-up, subs. (colloquial).—1. Dress; constitution and appearance; disguise. See Get-up, verb, sense 1.

1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. xiv. Is that killing get up entirely for your benefit, John? I asked.

1865. G. A. Sala, Trip to Barbary, ch. x. Altogether the get up of a Mauresque en promenade is livelier and smarter than that of a Turkish woman.

1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, ch. xii. The graceful, well-appointed Mr. Christian, who sneered at Scales about his get up, having to walk back to the house with only one tail to his coat.

1882. Graphic, 9 Dec., p. 643, c. 2. Comic gets up, which will make the house roar presently, are elaborated with the business air of a judge in banc, or a water-rate collector.

1889. Mirror, 26 Aug., p. 2, c. 1. I cannot, however, congratulate F. C. G. on his sketch of Blowitz; it isn’t much like the great man, and the get up is quite too absurd.

1890. Daily Telegraph, 25 Feb., p. 7. col. 7. Dressed as a copurchic, and, giving himself out as an Italian count—thinking to entrap some Transatlantic heiress by his title, fascinating appearance, and gorgeous get up.

Verb. phr. (colloquial).—(1). To prepare (a part, a paper, a case); (2) to arrange (a concert); (3) to dress (as got up regardless, to the nines, to the knocker, to kill, within an inch of one’s life); (4) to disguise (as a sailor, a soldier, Henry VIII., a butcher, a nun). See also Get into.

1828. L. Hunt, Essays (Camelot ed.), p. 13. The pocket-books that now contain any literature are got up, as the phrase is, in the most unambitious style.

1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. xviii. Three very gentleman-like, good-looking men, got up to the utmost extent of hunting splendour.

1864. Eton School Days, ch. xviii., p. 207. He felt confident in his power of getting up so that no one would recognise him.

1866. New York Home Journal, Jan. While that admirable old dame, Nature, has been strangely neglectful of much which might be conducive to our comfort, she has gotten up, regardless of expense, a few articles which are good for some purposes, as the witty Hood has told us.

1871. London Figaro, 11 Mar. It is got up very much in the style of the Paris journals, and is very inferior compared with any respectable journal in England.

1889. Polytechnic Magazine, 24 Oct., p. 261. He came specially got up in piebald trousers.

1892. Chevalier. ‘The Little Nipper.’ I’ve knowed ’im take a girl on six feet tall; ’E’d git ’imself up dossy, Say ‘I’m goin’ out wi’ Flossie.’

G.H. See George Horne.

Ghastly, adj. and adv. (colloquial).—Very: a popular intensitive; Cf., Awful, Bloody, Fucking.

Ghost, subs. (common).—One who secretly does artistic or literary work for another person taking the credit and receiving the price. [The term was frequently used during the trial of Lawes v. Belt in 188(?).] Cf., devil.

1890. Daily Telegraph, 8 Feb. The sculptor’s ghost is conjured up from the vasty deep of byegone lawsuits.

1892. National Observer, vii., 327. Would not the unkind describe your ‘practical man’ as a ghost?

Verb. (common).—To prowl; to spy upon; to shadow (q.v.).

The ghost walks (or does not walk) phr. (theatrical).—There is (or is not) money in the treasury.

1853. Household Words, No. 183. When no salaries are forthcoming the ghost doesn’t walk.

1883. Referee, 24 June, p. 3, c. 2. An Actor’s Benevolent Fund box placed on the treasurer’s desk every day when the ghost walks would get many an odd shilling or sixpence put into it.

1885. The Stage, p. 112. The rogues seldom appear at a loss for a plausible story when it is time for the ghost to walk. Ibid. The next day the ghost declines to walk.

1889. J. C. Colman (in Slang, Jargon, and Cant), p. 405. Ghost-walking, a term originally applied by an impecunious stroller in a sharing company to the operation of ‘holding the treasury,’ or paying the salaries, which has become a stock facetiæ among all kinds and descriptions of actors. Instead of enquiring whether the treasury is open, they generally say—‘Has the ghost walked?’ or ‘What, has this thing appeared again?’ (Shakspeare).

1890. Illustrated Bits, 29 Mar., p. 11, c. 1. And a few nights with empty benches laid the ghost completely. It could not even walk to the tune of quarter salaries.

The ghost of a chance, subs. phr. (colloquial).—The faintest likelihood, or the slightest trace: e.g., He hasn’t the ghost of a chance.

1891. Sportsman, 26 Mar. He did not give the ghost of a chance.

Ghoul, subs. (American.)—1. A spy; specifically a man who preys on such married women as addict themselves to assignation houses.

2. (journalistic).—A newspaper chronicler of the smallest private tittle-tattle.

Gib, subs. (colloquial).—1. Gibraltar. Once a penal station: whence—2. A gaol.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 221. I did a lagging of seven, and was at the gib three out of it.

1892. Pall Mall Gazette, 23 Mar., p. 6, c. 1. ‘Stormy Weather at gib.’ The weather here has been fearful; 51 inches of rain have been registered, and the land for miles round Gibraltar is submerged.

To hang one’s gib, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To pout. See Jib.

Gibberish (or Gebberish, Gibberidge, Gibrige, etc.), subs. (old: now recognised).—Originally the lingo of gipsies, beggars, etc. Now, any kind of inarticulate nonsense. [From gibber, a variant of Jabber.] See Cant, Slang, Pedlar’s French, etc.

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller, in wks., v., 68. That all cried out upon him mightily in their gibrige, lyke a companie of beggers.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. Gergare, to speak fustian, pedlers french, or rogues language, or gibbrish.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie. Jargon, gibridge fustian language, pedler’s French, a barbarus jangling.

1638. H. Shirley, Martyr’d Souldier, Act iii., Sc. 4. Feele my pulse once again and tell me, Doctor, Tell me in tearmes that I may understand,—I doe not love your gibberish,—tell me honestly Where the Cause lies, and give a Remedy.

1659. Torriano, Vocabolario, s.v.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Gibberish (s.) an unintelligible jargon, or confused way of speaking, used by the gipsies, beggars, etc., to disguise their wicked designs; also any discourse where words abound more than sense.

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xxx. He repeated some gibberish which by the sound seemed to be Irish.

1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. viii. Since that d——d clerk of mine has taken his gibberish elsewhere.

1850. D. Jerrold, The Catspaw, Act i. Odds and ends ... writ down in such a kind of gibberish that I can’t make out one of ’em.

1858. G. Eliot, Mr. Gilfit’s Love Story, ch. iv. It’ll learn to speak summat better nor gibberish, an’ be brought up i’ the true religion.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 129. It was Fo’c’s’le Jack that piped and drawled his ungrammatical gibberish.

Gibble-Gabble, subs. (colloquial).—Nonsense; gibberish (q.v.). [A reduplication of gabble (q.v.).]

1600. Dekker, Shoemaker’s Holiday, in wks. (1873) i., 21. Hee’s some uplandish workeman, hire him good master, That I may learne some gibble gabble, ’twill make us worke the faster.

1659. Torriano, Vocabolario, s.v.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Gibble-gabble (s), silly, foolish, idle talk.

Gib-cat, subs. (old).—A tom-cat. [An abbreviation of Gilbert = O. Fr.: Tibert, the cat in the fable of Reynard the Fox.]

1360. Chaucer, Romaunt of the Rose, 6204 (Thibert le Cas is rendered by gibbe, our cat).

1598. Shakspeare, 1 Henry IV., Act i., Sc. 2. I am as melancholy as a gib-cat.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, i., 1. Before I endure such another day with him, I’ll be drawn with a good gib-cat through the great pond at home.

1663. Rump Songs. ‘Rump Carbonadoed,’ ii., 71. As if they had less wit and grace than gib-cats.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Gibe, verb. (American).—To go well with; to be acceptable. See Gee.

Gibel, verb. (thieves’).—To bring.

1837. Disraeli, Venetia, bk. i., ch. xiv. Gibel the chive, bring the knife.

Gib-face, subs. (colloquial).—A heavy jowl; an ugly-mug (q.v.). Cf., to hang one’s gib.

Giblets, subs. (common).—1. The intestines generally; the manifold (q.v.). Cf. trouble-giblets.

1864. Browning, Dramatis Personæ, ‘Flight of the Duchess.’ Is pumped up briskly through the main ventricle, And floats me genially round the giblets.

2. (colloquial).—A fat man; forty-guts (q.v.). Also Duke of Giblets.

To join giblets, verb. phr. (venery).—To copulate. Also to have or do a bit of giblet-pie. For synonyms, see Ride. Hence to cohabit as husband and wife; to live tally. Cf., plaster of warm guts.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1887. Notes and Queries, 7 S., iv., 511. ‘To join giblets.’—This expression may occasionally be heard in this district, among the lowest and vulgarest, and has a very offensive meaning.

To fret one’s giblets, verb. phr.—See Fret.

Gibraltar, subs. (American).—A party stronghold: e.g., the Gibraltar of Democracy.—Norton.

Gibson (or Sir John Gibson), subs. (old coachbuilders’).—A rest to support the body of a building coach.

Gibus, subs. (colloquial).—1. An opera, or crush hat. Fr., un accordéon. [From the name of the inventor.]

1867. Jas. Greenwood, Unsent. Journeys, iii., 21. West-End aristocrats, with spotless jean coats and Gibus hats.

1871. Figaro, 2 Sept. Much fun may be made by wearing a Gibus, and collapsing it at the moment of contact with the funnel.

1885. Punch, 4 Apr., p. 160. Giving his comic, shiny, curly-brimmed hat to the swell who couldn’t by any possible chance have mistaken it for his own Gibus.

1887. Atkin, House Scraps, p. 144. Their Gibus hats are cock’d awry.

Giddy, adj. (colloquial).—Flighty; wanton: e.g., to play the giddy goat = to live a fast life; to be happy-go-lucky.

1892. Ally Sloper, 19 Mar., p. 91, c. 2. Fanny Robinson was flighty; she played the giddy ox—I mean heifer.

Giffle-gaffle, subs. (old).—Nonsense; a variant of gibble-gabble (q.v.).

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary. Giff-gaff, unpremeditated discourse.

Gif-gaf (or Giff-gaff), subs. (Scots’).—A bargain on equal terms. Whence the proverb: Gif-gaf maks guid friens. Fr.: Passe-moi la casse et je t’enverrai la senne.

Gift, subs. (colloquial).—1. Anything, lightly gained or easily won.

2. (common).—A white speck on the finger nails, supposed to portend a gift.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

3. (printers’).—See Gift-house.

As full of gifts as a brazen horse of farts, phr. (old).—Mean; miserly; disinclined to part (q.v.).

1811 Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Gift of the Gab.—See Gab.

Gift-house (or Gift), subs. (printers’).—A club; a house of call; specifically for the purpose of finding employment, or providing allowances for members.

Gig (Gigg, Gigge), subs. (old).—1. a wanton; a mistress; a flighty girl. Cf., Giglet.

1373. Chaucer, House of Fame, iii. 851. This house was also ful of gygges.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew. A young gig, a wanton lass.

1780. D’Arbley, Diary, etc., (1876), i., 286. Charlotte L—— called, and the little gig told ... of the domestic life she led in her family, and made them all ridiculous, without meaning to make herself so.

1825. Planché, Success in Extravaganzas (1879) I., 26. He! he! What a gig you look in that hat and feather!

1832. Macaulay in Life, by Trevelyan (1884), ch. v., p. 188. Be you Foxes, be you Pitts, You must write to silly chits, Be you Tories, be you Whigs, You must write to sad young gigs.

2. (old).—A jest; a piece of nonsense; anything fanciful or frivolous. Hence, generally, in contempt.

1590. Nashe, Pasquil’s Apologie, in wks. Vol. I., p. 234. A right cutte of the worde, withoute gigges or fancies of haereticall and newe opinions.

1793. Butt, Poems.... Fograms, quizzes, treats, and bores, and gigs, Were held in some account with ancient prigs.

1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. xiv. Such a set of gigs, my dear, I never saw in my life; large underbred horses, and not a good-looking man amongst them.

3. (old).—The nose. For synonyms, see Conk. To snitchell the gig = to pull the nose. Grunter’s gig = a hog’s snout.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

4. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. [Possibly from gig = a top, i.e., a toy; possibly, too, from It. giga = a fiddle (q.v.); but see post sense 8.]

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

5. (old: now recognised).—A light two-wheeled vehicle drawn by one horse.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1809. Windham, Speech, 25 May. Let the former riders in gigs and whiskeys, and one horsed carriages continue to ride in them.

6. (old).—A door. See Gigger.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. It is all bob, now let’s dub the gigg of the case: now the coast is clear, let us break open the door of the house.

7. (Eton).—A fool; an overdressed person. For synonyms, see Sammy-soft.

1797. Colman, Heir at Law, iv., 3. Dick.—What a damn’d gig you look like. Pangloss.—A gig! umph! that’s an Eton phrase—the Westminsters call it Quiz.

1870. Athenæum, 16 Apr. He would now be what Eton used to call a gig, and Westminster a Quiz.

8. (old).—Fun; a frolic; a spree. [Possibly from Fr.: gigue = a lively dance movement. Cf., gigue et jon = a Bacchanalian exclamation of sailors. In Florio, too, frottolare = ‘to sing gigges, rounds, or ... wanton verses.’] Full of gig = full of laughter, ripe for mischief.

1811. Moore, Twopenny Post-bag, Letter 3. We were all in high gig—Roman punch and tokay travelled round, till our heads travelled just the same way.

1820. Randall, Diary. In search of lark, or some delicious gig, The mind delights on, when ’tis in prime twig.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i., 3. I hope we shall have many a bit of gig together.

1888. Besant, Fifty Years Ago, p. 134. A laughter-loving lass of eighteen who dearly loved a bit of gig.

9. (old).—The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1871. Finish to Tom and Jerry, p. 175 (ed. 1872). The bit of myrtle in his gig.

10. (old).—A farthing. Formerly grig (q.v.).

11. (American).—See Policy Dealing.

Verb. (old).—To hamstring.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. To gigg a Smithfield hank, to hamstring an overdrove ox.

By Gigs! intj. (old).—A mild and silly oath. See Oaths.

1551. W. Still, Gammer Gurton’s Needle, ii., 51. Chad a foule turne now of late, chill tell it you, by gigs!

Gigamaree, subs. (American).—A thing of little worth; a pretty but useless toy; a gimcrack (q.v.).

1848. Jones, Sketches of Travel, p. 9. Byin’ fineries and northern gigamarees of one kind or another.

Ibid. I ax’d the captain what sort of a gigamaree he had got up there for a flag.

Gigantomachize, verb. (old).—To rise in revolt against one’s betters. Gr., Gigantomachia = the War of the Giants against the Gods. [Probably a coinage of Ben Jonson’s.]

1599. Jonson, Every Man Out, Act v., 4. Slight, fed with it the whoreson, strummel-patched, goggle-eyed grumble-dores would have gigantomachized their Maker.

Gigger, subs. (tailors’).—1. A sewing machine. (In allusion to noise and movement).

2. See Jigger.

Giggles-nest. Have you found a giggles-nest? phr. (old).—Asked of a person tittering, or one who laughs immoderately and senselessly.

Gig-lamps, subs. (common).—1. Spectacles. For synonyms, see Barnacles.

1848. Bradley, in Letter to J. C. H. Gig-lamps (certainly a university term. I first heard it in 1848 or 1849, long before Mr. Verdant Green was born or thought of).

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. ii., p. 140. You with the gig-lamps, throw us your cigar.

1887. Punch, 30 July, p. 45. Jack’s a straw-thatched young joker in gig-lamps.

1892. F. Anstey, Voces Populi. ‘At the Tudor Exhibition.’ Stop, though, suppose she has spotted me? Never can tell with giglamps.

2. (common).—One who wears spectacles; a four eyes (q.v.). [Popularised by Verdant Green.]

Gigler (or Giglet, Goglet, Gigle, Gig), subs. (old).—A wanton; a mistress. Giglet (West of England) = a giddy, romping girl; and in Salop a flighty person is called a giggle. Cf., Gig, sense 1.

1533. Udal, Floures for Latine Spekynge, fo. 101. What is the matter, foolish giglotte? What meanest thou? Whereat laughest thou?

1567. Harman, Caveat, leaf 22, back. Therefore let us assemble secretly into the place where he hath appoynted to meet this gyleot that is at your house.

1603. Shakspeare, Measure for Measure, v., 1. Let him speak no more: away with those giglots too, and with the other confederate companion.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie. Gadrouillette, minx, gigle, flirt.

1620. Massienger, Fatal Dowry, Act. iii. If this be The recompence of striving to preserve A wanton gigglet honest, very shortly ’Twill make all mankind pandars.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Gigglers, wanton women.

Adj. (old).—Loose in word and deed. Also giglet-like, and giglet-wise = like a wanton.

1598. Shakspeare, 1 Henry IV., Act v., Sc. 1. Young Talbot was not born To be the pillage of a giglot wench.

1600. Fairfax, Jerusalem Delivered, vi., 72. That thou wilt gad by night in giglet-wise, Amid thine armed foes to seek thy shame.

Gild, verb. (old).—To make drunk; to flush with drink.

1609. Shakspeare, Tempest, Act v., Sc. 1. This grand liquor that hath gilded them.

1620. Fletcher, Chances, iv., 3. Is she not drunk, too? A little gilded o’er, sir.

To gild the pill, phr. (colloquial).—To say, or do, unpleasant things as gently as may be; to impose upon; to bamboozle (q.v.).

Gilded Rooster, subs. phr. (American).—A man of importance; a howling swell (q.v.); sometimes the gilded rooster on the top of the steeple. Cf., big-bug; big dog of the tanyard, etc.

1888. New York Herald. We admit that as a metropolis Chicago is the gilded rooster on top of the steeple, but even gilded roosters have no right to the whole corn bin.

Gilderoy’s Kite. To be hung higher than gilderoy’s kite, verb. phr. (old).—To be punished more severely than the very worst criminals. ‘The greater the crime the higher the gallows’ was at one time a practical legal axiom. Hence, out of sight; completely gone.

Giles’ Greek. See St. Giles’ Greek.

Gilguy, subs. (nautical).—Anything which happens to have slipped the memory; equivalent to what’s-his-name or thingamytight.

Gilkes, subs. (old).—Skeleton keys.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874). Gilkes or the Gigger, false keyes for the doore or picklockes.

Gill (or Jill), subs. (old).—1. A girl; (2) a sweetheart: e.g., ‘every Jack must have his Gill’; (3) a wanton, a strumpet (an abbreviation of gillian). For synonyms, see Jomer and Titter.

1586–1606. Warner, Albion’s England, bk. vii., ch. 37. The simplest gill or knave.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, Palandrina, a common queane, a harlot, a strumpet, a gill.

1620. Percy, Folio MSS., p. 104. There is neuer a Jacke for gill.

1659. Torriano, Vocabolario, s.v.

2. (common).—a drink; a go (q.v.).

1785. Burns, Scots Drink. Haill breeks, a scone, and whisky gill.

3. in. pl. ‘g’ hard (colloquial).—The mouth or jaws; the face. See Potato-trap and Dial.

1622. Bacon, Historia Naturalis. Redness about the cheeks and gills.

1632. Jonson, Magnetic Lady, i. He ... draws all the parish wills, Designs the legacies, and strokes the gills of the chief mourners.

b. 1738. Wolcot, Pindar’s Works (1809), i., 8. Whether you look all rosy round the gills, Or hatchet-fac’d like starving cats so lean.

1820. Lamb, Elia (Two Races of Men). What a careless, even deportment hath your borrower! what rosy gills!

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. viii. Binnie, as brisk and rosy about the gills as chanticleer, broke out in a morning salutation.

1884. Punch. He went a bit red in the gills.

4. in. pl. (common).—A very large shirt collar; also stick-ups and sideboards. Fr.: cache-bonbon-à-liqueur = a stick-up.

1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 6 p., in Part 7. With a red face, shaven to the superlative degree of shininess, with gills white and tremendous, with a noble white waistcoat.

1884. Daily Telegraph, July 8, p. 5, c. 4. Lord Macaulay wore, to the close of his life, ‘stick-ups,’ or gills.

To grease the gills.—verb. phr. (common).—To have a good meal; to wolf (q.v.).

To look blue (or queer, or green) about the gills, verb. phr. (common).—To be downcast or dejected; also to suffer from the effects of a debauch. Hence, conversely, to be rosy about the gills = to be cheerful.

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. ii. Most of them were very white and blue in the gills when we sat down, and others of a dingy sort of whitey-brown, while they ogled the viands in a most suspicious manner.

1892. G. Manville Fenn, Witness to the Deed, ch. ii. You look precious seedy. White about the gills.

A cant (or dig) in the gills, phr. (pugilists’).—A punch in the face. See Bang.

Gill-flirt, subs. (old).—A wanton; a flirt. For synonyms, see Barrack Hack and Tart.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie. Gaultiere, a whore, punke, drab, queane, gill, flirt. 1690. B. E., Dict, of the Cant. Crew, s.v. A proud minx.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Gilly, subs. (American).—A fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

Gilly-gaupus, subs. phr. (Scots).—A tall loutish fellow.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Gilt, subs. (popular).—1. Money. [Ger.: Geld; Du.: Geld.]

English Synonyms.—Add to those under Actual:—Charms; checks; cole or coal; coliander seeds; corn in Egypt; crap; darby; dots; ducats; gingerbread; kelter; lowie; lurries; moss; oil of palms; palm-oil; peck; plums; rhino; rivets; salt; sawdust; scad; screen; scuds; shigs; soap; spoon; steven; sugar; tea-spoons; tinie.

French Synonyms.—Le galtos (popular); l’odeur de gousset (obsolete); l’onguent (= palm grease, Sp., unguento; the simile is common to most languages); le morlingue (thieves’); la menouille (popular); le michon (thieves’: from miche, a loaf, cf., Loaver); les monacos (popular); le monarque (prostitutes’: primarily a five franc piece); le blé (= corn or loaver); les étoffes (thieves’).

Spanish Synonyms.—La lana (= wool); la morusa (colloquial); la mosca (= the flies); lo numerario; la pelusa (= down); lo zurraco (colloquial); lo unguento de Mejico (= Mexican Grease); a’ toca teja (colloquial: ready money); caire.

Italian Synonyms.—Cucchi; cuchieri; cucchielli; lugani.

German Synonyms.—Fuchs (= fox: an allusion to the ruddy hue of gold pieces); fuxig or fuxern = golden, red; fuchsmelochener (= goldsmith); gips or gyps (Viennese thieves’, from the Latin, gypsum); hora (= ready-money: from the Hebrew heren); kall (Han: especially small change: from Heb. kal = lowly light); kis, kies, kiss (applied both to money in general and the receptacle or purse in which it is carried); lowe, love (Han.); mepaie (from the Fr., payer) mesumme, linke mesumme (= counterfeit money); moos (from Heb., mëo = a little stone); pich, picht, or pech; staub (= dust).

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V., Act ii. Chorus. These corrupted men ... have for the gilt of France (O guilt, indeed) Confirmed conspiracy.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 9. And from thence conducted (provided he has gilt) over the way to Hell.

1885. Daily News, 25 May, p. 3, c. 1. Disputatious like mobs grouped together to discuss whether Charrington or Crowder had the most gilt.

2. subs. (old).—A thief; a pick-lock; also gilt- or rum-dubber, gilter, etc.

1669. Nicker Nicked in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), ii., 108 (given in list of names of thieves).

1673. Character of a Quack Astrologer. For that purpose he maintains as strict a correspondence with gilts and lifters.

1676. Warning for Housekeepers, p. 3. The gilter is one that hath all sorts of picklocks and false keys.

1680. Cotton, Complete Gamester, p. 333. Shoals of muffs, hectors, setters, gilts, pads, biters, etc. ... may all pass under the general appellation of snobs.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1882. McCabe, New York, ch. xxxiv., 509. Gilt-dubber, a hotel thief.

3. (thieves’).—Formerly a pick-lock or skeleton key; now a crow-bar. For synonyms, see Jemmy.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, Pt. 1, ch. v., p. 50 (1874). Gilt, a pick-lock.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Gilt, c. a pick-lock.

1839. W. H. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, p. 183 (ed. 1840). We shall have the whole village upon us while you’re striking the jigger. Use the gilt, man!

To take the gilt off the gingerbread, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To destroy an illusion; to discount heavily.

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 171. You see we had a rattling good year all round last, bar the Dancing Master. He took the gilt off the gingerbread considerably.

Gilt-dubber, see gilt, sense 2.

Gilt-edged, adj. (American).—First-class; the best of its kind; a latter-day superlative. For synonyms, see A1 and Fizzing.

c. 1889. Chicago Tribune (quoted in Slang, Jargon, and Cant). He’s a gilt-edged idiot to play the game.

1891. Standard, 18 June, p. 2, c. 1. ‘Gilt-edged mutton’ is the latest of glorified and ‘boomed’ American products.

1891. Tit Bits, 8 Aug., p. 286, c. 2. Another accomplishment, peculiar to the gilt-edged academy, is learning to eat asparagus, oranges, grapes, etc.

Gilter, see gilt, sense 2.

Gilt-tick, subs. (costermongers’). Gold.

Gimbal- (or gimber-) Jawed, adj. (common).—Loquacious; talking nineteen to the dozen (q.v.). [Gimbals are a combination of rings for free suspension; hence applied to persons the joints of whose jaws are loose in speech.]

Gimcrack (Gincrack, or Jimcrack), subs. (old).—1. A showy simpleton, male or female; a dandy (q.v.).

1618. Beaumont and Fletcher, Loyal Subject, iv., 3. These are fine gimcracks; hey, here comes another, a flagon full of wine in his hand.

1637. Fletcher, Elder Brother, iii., 3. You are a handsome and a sweet young lady, And ought to have a handsome man yoked to ye. An understanding too; this is a gimcrack That can get nothing but new fashions on you.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew. Gimcrack, a spruce wench.

1706. Mrs. Centlivre, Basset Table, II., Works (1872), i., 122. The philosophical gimcrack.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

2. (colloquial).—A showy trifle; anything pretty to look at but of very little worth.

1632. Chapman and Shirley, The Ball, Act iv. Lu. There remains, To take away one sample. Wi. Another gimcrack?

1678. Butler, Hudibras, pt. 3, ch. i. Rifled all his pokes and fobs. Cf., gimcracks, whims, and jiggumbobs.

1698–1700. Ward, London Spy, pt. 7, p. 148. I suppose there being little else to lose except scenes, machines, or some such jim-cracks.

1843. Thackeray, Irish Sketch Book, ch. i. There was the harp of Brian Boru, and the sword of some one else, and other cheap old gimcracks with their corollary of lies.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 63. Such rum-looking gimcracks, my pippin.

3. (provincial).—A handy man; a jack-of-all-trades (q.v.).

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. A gimcrack also means a person who has a turn for mechanical contrivances.

4. (venery).—The female pudendum. [A play on sense 2, and crack, (q.v.).] For synonym, see Monosyllable.

Adj. (colloquial).—Trivial; showy; worthless.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. ix. No shops so beautiful to look at as the Brighton gimcrack shops, and the fruit shops, and the market.

1891. W. C. Russell, An Ocean Tragedy, p. 30. Soberly clothed with nothing more gimcrack in the way of finery upon him than a row of waistcoat-buttons.

1892. Tit Bits, 19 Mar., p. 425 c. 2. A large cabinet or wardrobe, beautifully carved, and very substantial, no gimcrack work.

Gimcrackery, subs. (colloquial).—The world of gimcrack (q.v.).

1884. A. Forbes, in Eng. Illustr. Mag., Jan., p. 230. The inner life of the Empire was a strange mixture of rottenness and gimcrackery.

Gimlet-eye, subs. (common).—A squint-eye; a piercer (q.v.). Fr.: des yeux en trou de pine.

Gimlet-eyed, adj. (common).—Squinting, or squinny-eyed; cock-eyed. As in the old rhyme: ‘Gimlet eye, sausage nose, Hip awry, bandy toes.’

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Gimmer, subs. (Scots’).—An old woman. A variant of ‘cummer.’

Gin, subs. (Australian).—An Australian native woman.

1857. Kingsley, Two Years Ago, ch. xiii. An Australian settler’s wife bestows on some poor slaving gin a cast-off French bonnet.

1890. Hume Nisbet, Bail Up!, p. 30.

2. (Australian).—An old woman. For synonyms, see Geezer.

Gin-and-gospel Gazette, subs. phr. (journalists’).—The Morning Advertiser: as the organ of the Licensed Victualling and Church of England party. Also the Tap-tub and beer-and-bible gazette.

Gin-and-Tidy, adv. phr. (American).—Decked out in ‘best bib and tucker.’ A pun on ‘neat spirits.’

Gin-crawl, subs. (common).—A tipple (q.v.) on gin.

1892. A. Chevalier, ‘The Little Nipper.’ I used to do a gin crawl ev’ry night, An’ very, very often come ’ome tight.

Gingambobs (or Jiggumbobs), subs. (common).—1. Toys; baubles.

1690. B. E. Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

2. (venery).—The testicles; also thingambobs. For synonyms, see Cods.

Ginger, subs. (common).—1. A fast, showy horse; a beast that looks figged (q.v.).

1859. Notes and Queries, 17 Dec. p. 493. A ginger is a showy fast horse.

2. (common).—A red-haired person; carrots (q.v.). [Whence the phrase (venery) ‘Black for beauty, ginger for pluck.’]

1885. Miss Tennant in Eng. Illustrated Magazine, June, p. 605. The policemen are well known to the boys, and appropriately named by them. There is ‘Jumbo,’ too stout to run; ginger, the red-haired.

3. (common).—Spirit; dash; go (q.v.). To want ginger = to lack energy and pluck (q.v.).

1888. The World, 13 May. You will remark that your spinal column is requiring a hinge, and that considerable ginger is departing from your resolution to bear up and enjoy yourself.

1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody of Nowhere, p. 124. If father objects send him to me, I’ll take the ginger out of him in short order.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker; p. 207. Give her ginger, boys.

Adj. (common).—Red-haired; foxy (q.v.); judas-haired (q.v.). Also ginger-pated, ginger-hackled, and gingery.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Red-haired; a term borrowed from the cock-pit, where red cocks are called gingers.

1839. H. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, ch. xii. Somebody may be on the watch—perhaps that old ginger-hackled Jew.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xix., p. 160. The very learned gentleman who has cooled the natural heat of his gingery complexion in pools and fountains of law, until he has become great in knotty arguments for term-time.

1878. M. E. Braddon, Cloven Foot, ch. iv. The landlady was a lean-looking widow, with a false front of gingery curls.

Gingerbread, subs. (old).—1. Money: e.g., ‘He has the gingerbread’ = he is rich.

1690. B. E. Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood. Your old dad had the gingerbread.

1864. Standard, 13 Dec. We do not find ... the word gingerbread used for money, as we have heard it both before and within the last six months. The origin of the use of the word may probably be the old fairy legends wherein the coin obtained over night from the elves was usually found in the morning to have turned into little gingerbread cakes.

2. (colloquial).—Brummagem (q.v.); showy, but worthless ware.

Adj. (colloquial).—Showy but worthless; tinsel. Fr., en pain d’épice. Gingerbread work (nautical) = carved and gilded decorations; gingerbread quarters (nautical) = luxurious living.

1757. Smollett, Compendium of Voyages and Travels. The rooms are too small and too much decorated with carving and gilding, which is a kind of gingerbread work.

To take the gilt off the gingerbread. See gilt.

Gingerly, adj. and adv. (old: now recognised).—As adj., delicate; fastidious; dainty; as adv., with great care; softly.

1533. Udal, Floures for Latine Spekynge. We stayghe and prolonge our goyng, with a nyce or tendre and softe, delicate, or gingerly pace.

c. 1563. Jacke Jugeler, p. 40 (ed. Grosart). We used to call her at home Dame Coye, a pretie gingerlie pice [piece].

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse, in Wks., ii., 32. That lookes as simperingly as if she were besmeared, and sits it as gingerly as if she were dancing the Canaries.

1611. Chapman, May-Day, Act iii., p. 294 (Plays, 1874). Come, come, gingerly; for God’s sake, gingerly.

1659. Torriano, Vocabolario, q.v.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Gently, softly, easily.

1759–67. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vol. V., ch. v. My mother was going very gingerly in the dark.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. To go gingerly to work, i.e., to attempt a thing gently, or cautiously.

1874. Mrs. H. Wood, Johnny Ludlow, 1 S. 12, p. 207. The Squire went in gingerly, as if he had been treading on a spiked ploughshare.

Ginger-pop, subs. (colloquial).—1. Ginger-beer.

2. (rhyming).—A policeman; a slop (q.v.).

1887. Dagonet, Referee, 7 Nov., p. 7, c. 3. Ere her bull-dog I could stop, She had called a ginger-pop.

Ginger-snap, subs. (American).—A hot-tempered person, especially one with carrotty hair.

Gingham, subs. (common).—An umbrella; specifically one of this material. For synonyms, see Mushroom.

1868. Miss Braddon, Trail of the Serpent, Bk. I., ch. vii. Mr. Peters therefore took immediate possession by planting his honest gingham in a corner of the room.

1889. Sportsman, 2 Feb. It would really put a premium on the many little mistakes of ownership concerning ginghams at present so common.

Gingle-boy, subs. (old).—A coin; latterly a gold piece. Also Gingler. See Actual and Canary.

1622. Massinger and Dekker, Virgin Martyr, ii., 2. The sign of the gingleboys hangs at the door of our pockets.

Gingumbobs. See Gingambobs.

Ginicomtwig, verb. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms, see Ride.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, Scuotere il pellicione. To ginicomtwig or occupie a woman.

Gin-lane (or Trap), subs. (common).—1. The throat. For synonyms, see Gutter-alley. Gin-trap, also = the mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1827. Egan, Anecdotes of the Turf, p. 67. Never again could ... he feel his ivories loose within his gin-trap.

2. (common).—Generic for the habit of drunkenness.

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], p. 8. Let me advise you on no account to fly to strong waters for consolation, Joan. One nail drives out another, it’s true; but the worst nail you can employ is a coffin nail. Gin Lane’s the nearest road to the churchyard.

Gin-mill, subs. (American).—A drinking saloon. For synonyms, see Lush-crib.

1872. Belgravia, Dec. ‘A Presidential Election.’ Then goes off to rejoin his comrades, to adjourn to the nearest gin-mill.

Ginnified, subs. (common).—Dazed, or stupid, with liquor.

Ginnums, subs. (common).—An old woman: especially one fond of drink.

Ginny, subs. (old).—A housebreaker’s tool; see quot., 1754.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v.

1754. Scoundrels’ Dict. An instrument to lift up a grate or grating, to steal what is in the window. ‘The ninth is a ginny, to lift up the grate, If he sees but the Lurry, with his Hooks he will bait.’

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Gin-penny, subs. (costermongers’).—Extra profit, generally spent in drink.

Gin-slinger, subs. (common).—A gin-drinker. For synonyms, see Lushington.

Gin-spinner, subs. (old).—A distiller; a dealer in spirituous liquors. Cf., Ale-spinner.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1827. Egan, Anecdotes of the Turf, p. 179. Just as she was about to toddle to the gin-spinner’s for the ould folk and lisp out for a quartern of Max.

1888. F. Green, in Notes and Queries, 7 S., vi., 153. I have always understood that a gin spinner is a distiller who makes gin, but could never find out why so called.

Gin-twist, subs. (common).—A drink composed of gin and sugar, with lemon and water.

1841. Comic Almanac, p. 271 What, for instance, but gin-twist could have brought Oliver Twist to light?

Gin Up, verb. (American).—To work hard; to make things lively or hum (q.v.). For synonyms, see Wire in.

1887. Francis, Saddle and Moccassin. They were ginning her up, that’s a fact.

Gip, subs. (American thieves’).—1. A thief. 2. Also (Cambridge University) a college servant. See Gyp. For synonyms, see Thieves.

Girl, subs. (common).—1. A prostitute; in. pl. = the stock in trade of a brothel. See Barrack Hack, Tart, and Gay. Fr., fille.

2. (colloquial).—A mistress; a mash (q.v.).

3. In. pl. (venery).—The sex—or that part of it which is given to unchastity—in general; hence the girls = lechery.

After the girls. He’s been after the girls, verb. phr. (common).—Said of one with clap or pox.

Girl and Boy, subs. phr. (rhyming). A saveloy.

Girlery, subs. (colloquial).—A brothel. Also a theatre for burlesque and comic opera.

Girl-getter, subs. (colloquial).—A mincing, womanish male.

Girling. To go Girling, verb. phr. (venery).—To quest for women; to go on the loose (q.v.).

Girlometer, subs. (venery).—The penis. Also, Girl-catcher. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Girl-shop, subs. phr. (common).—A brothel.

Girl-show, subs. phr. (common).—A ballet, a burlesque, a leg-piece (q.v.).

Girl Street. In Hair Court, Girl Street, subs. phr. (common).—Generic for fornication. Also the female pudendum.

Girl-trap, subs. phr. (common).—A seducer; a mutton-monger (q.v.).

Git! (or You Git!), intj. (American).—Be off with you! An injunction to immediate departure; walker! (q.v.). Sometimes a contraction of get out! Also get out and dust!

1851. Seaworthy, Bertie, p. 78. Thrue as the tin commandhers! Git aout!

To have no git up and git, phr. (American).—To be weak, vain, mean, or slow—generally deprecatory.

Give, verb. (vulgar).—1. To lead to; to conduct; to open upon: e.g., ‘The door gave upon the street.’ Cf. the idiomatic use, in French, of donner.

2. (American).—An all-round auxiliary to active verbs: e.g., to give on praying = to excel at prayer; to give on the make = to be clever at making money, etc.

To give it to, verb. phr. (old).—1. To rob; to defraud.—Grose.

2. (common).—To scold; to thrash. Also to give what for; to give it hot; to give something for oneself; to give one in the eye, etc. Fr., aller en donner. For synonyms, see Wig and Tan respectively.

1612. Chapman, Widow’s Tears, Act i., p. 312 (Plays, 1874). This braving wooer hath the success expected; the favour I obtained made me witness to the sport, and let his confidence be sure, I’ll give it him home.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 134. ‘Take that,’ exclaimed Mr. Samuel Wilkins.... ‘Give it him,’ said the waistcoat.... Miss J’mima Ivins’s beau and the friend’s young man lay gasping on the gravel, and the waistcoat and whiskers were seen no more.

1889. J. M. Barrie in Time, Aug. p. 148. When he said he would tell everybody in the street about there being a baby, I gave him one in the eye. Ibid. If it’s true what Symons Tertius says, that Cocky has gone and stolen my reminiscences about Albert’s curls, putting it into his reminiscences like as if it was his own, I’ll give him it hot.

To give in (or out), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To admit defeat; to yield; to be exhausted; to throw up the sponge. See Floored and Cave in.

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xviii. Strap, after having received three falls on the hard stones, gave out, and allowed the blacksmith to be the better man.

1760–1. Smollett, L. Greaves, vol. II., ch. viii. By this time the doctor had given out, and allowed the brewer to be the better man.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 25. Poor Georgy gave in.

1837. Lytton, Ernest Maltravers, bk. IV., ch. ix. Your time is up ... you have had your swing, and a long one it seems to have been—you must now give in.

1847. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 99. Jest about then both on our pusses gin out.

1850. Buffum, Six Months in the Gold Mines, p. 73. After working three days with the machine, the earth we had been washing began to give out.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xxiv., p. 217. I am surprised to hear a man of your energy talk of giving in.

To give away, verb. phr. (American).—To betray or expose inadvertently; to blow upon (q.v.): to peach (q.v. for synonyms). Also to give dead away. Largely used in combination: e.g., give-away = an exposure; give-away cue = an underhand revelation of secrets.

1883. F. M. Crawford, Doctor Claudius, ch. vi., p. 100. It always amused him to see sanguine people angry. They looked so uncomfortable, and gave themselves away so recklessly.

1886. A. Lang, Longman’s Mag., VII., 321. I know not whether the American phrase, to give a person away, to give yourself away, meaning to reveal your own or another’s secret, is of provincial English origin. Did it cross over with the Pilgrim Fathers in the May Flower, or is it a recent bit of slang? ‘Who giveth this woman away?’ asked the rural American parson in the wedding service. ‘I could,’ came the voice of a young man from the gallery, ‘but I’d never be so mean.’

1888. Detroit Free Press, Aug. Careful what we say, for it will give us dead away.

1889. Answers, 20 Apr., p. 326. My closely cropped hair, however, gave me away.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 195. For the sake of the joke I’ll give myself away.

To give one best, verb. phr. (schoolboys’).—1. To acknowledge one’s inferiority, a defeat. Also (thieves’) to leave, to cut (q.v.).

1887. Horsley, Jottings from Jail. But after a time I gave him best (left him), because he used to want to bite my ear (borrow) too often.

To give the collar, verb. phr. (American).—To seize; to arrest; to collar (q.v.). For synonyms, see Nab.

To give the bullet (sack, bag, kick-out, pike, road, etc.), verb. phr. (common).—To discharge from an employ.

Give us a rest! phr. (American).—Cease talking! An injunction upon a bore.

To give nature a fillip, verb. phr. (old).—To indulge in wine or women.—B. E. (1690).

To give way, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To permit the sexual embrace: by women only.

1870. Weekly Times, 1 May. She was sorry to say, she gave way to him. (Laughter.) Mr. Maude remarked she was a foolish woman, and, being a widow, ought to have known what giving way would come to.—Complainant said of course she did, but she thought he meant to marry her.

[Other combinations will be found under the following: auctioneer; back cap; bag; bail; baste; beans; beef; biff; black eye; bone; bucket; bullet; bull’s feather; clinch; double; fig; gas; go by; gravy; hoist; hot beef; jesse; kennedy; key of the street; land; leg up; lip; miller; mitten; mouth; needle; office; points; pussy; rub of the thumb; sack; sky-high; slip; tail; taste of cream; turnips; weight; white alley; word.]

Giver, subs. (pugilistic).—A good boxer; an artist in punishment (q.v.).

1824. Reynolds, (‘Peter Corcoran’), The Fancy, p. 73. She knew a smart blow from a handsome giver Would darken lights.

Gixie, subs. (obsolete).—A wanton wench; a strumpet; an affected mincing woman.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. Faina, a mincing, coie, nice, puling, squeamish woman, an idle huswife, a flurt, a gixgi. Also as Foina [i.e., ‘a pole-cat’; while Foirare = ‘to lust for beastly leacherie, to be salt as a bitch.’]

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie, s.v. Gadrouillette, a minx, gigle, flirt, callet gixie: (a fained word applyable to any such cattell). [See further, gadriller (a wench) = ‘to rump or play the rig’].

Gizzard, to fret one’s gizzard, verb. phr. (common).—To worry oneself. See Fret.

To stick in one’s gizzard, verb. phr. (common).—To remain as something unpleasant, distasteful or offensive; to be hard of digestion; to be disagreeable or unpalatable.

c. 1830. Finish of Tom and Jerry, p. 241. It had always stuck in his gizzard to think as how he had been werry cruelly used.

To grumble in the gizzard, verb. phr. (common).—To be secretly displeased. Hence, grumble-gizzard (q.v.).

Gladstone, subs. (common)—1. Cheap claret. [Mr. Gladstone, when in office in 1869, reduced the duty on French wines.] See Drinks.

1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, ch. ix. Claret certainly good, too—none of your Gladstone tap; sherry probably rather coarse.

1885. A. Birrell, Obiter Dicta, p. 86. To make him unbosom himself over a bottle of Gladstone claret in a tavern in Leicester Square.

2. (colloquial).—A travelling bag. [So named in honour of Mr. Gladstone.]

Gladstonize, verb. (colloquial).—To talk about and round; to evade or prevaricate; to speak much and mean nothing.

Glanthorne, subs. (old).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

1789. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 42. Drop the glanthorne = part with money.

Glasgow Greys, subs. phr. (military).—The 70th Foot. [Which in the beginning was largely recruited in Glasgow.]

1886. Tinsley’s Mag., Apr., p. 321. The 70th were long known as the Glasgow Greys.

Glasgow Magistrate, subs. phr. (common).—A herring, fresh or salted, of the finest. [From the practice of sending samples to the Baillie of the River for approval.] Also Glasgow Baillie.

1855. Strang, Glasgow and its City Clubs. This club ... better known by the title of the Tinkler’s club, particularly when the brotherhood changed the hour of meeting ... and when the steak was exchanged for a ‘Welsh rabbit’ or Glasgow magistrate.

English Synonyms. (for herrings generally).—Atlantic ranger; Californian; Cornish duck; Digby chicken; Dunbar wether; gendarme; Gourock ham; magistrate; pheasant (or Billingsgate pheasant); reds; sea-rover; soldier; Taunton turkey; two-eye’d steak; Yarmouth capon. Fr.: gendarme.

Glass, subs. (American thieves’).—An hour. [An abbreviation of ‘hour-glass.’]

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. The badger piped his Moll about a glass and a half before she cribbed the flat.

There’s a deal of glass about, phr. (common).—1. Applied to vulgar display = ‘It’s the thing’ (q.v.).

2. (common).—Said in answer to an achievement in assertion. A memory of the proverb, ‘People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.’

Who’s to pay for the broken glass? verb. phr. (colloquial).—See Stand the Racket.

Been looking through a glass, adv. phr. (common).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Glass-eyes, subs. (old).—A man wearing spectacles; four-eyes (q.v.); gig-lamps (q.v.).

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Glass-house. To live in a glass house, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To lay oneself open to attack or adverse criticism.

Glass-work, subs. (card-sharpers’).—An obsolete method of cheating at cards. A convex mirror the size of a small coin was fastened with shellac to the lower corner of the left palm opposite the thumb, enabling the dealer to ascertain by reflection the value of the cards he dealt.

Glaze, subs. (old),—A window.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 12. Glaze, a Window.

1754. Discoveries of John Poulter, p. 43. Undub the Jeger and jump the glaze.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant (3rd ed.), p. 445. A window, glaze.

c. 1830. Finish to Tom and Jerry [1872], p. 82. A random shot milling the glaze.

Verb (old).—To cheat at cards. See quot. and Glass-work.

1821. P. Egan, Real Life, I., 297. If you take the broads in hand in their company, you are sure to be work’d, either by glazing, that is, putting you in front of a looking glass, by which means your hand is discovered by your antagonist, or by private signals from the pal.

To mill (or star a glaze), verb. phr. (old).—To break a window.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, iii., 2. Jerry. What are you about, Tom? Tom. I’m going to mill the glaze—I’ll——(Is about to break the glass, when Kate and Sue appear as the Miss Trifles.).

1823. Jon Bee, Dict. of the Turf. Glaze, s.v., to mill the glaze, the miller may adopt a stick or otherwise, as seems most convenient.

On the glaze, adv. phr. (thieves’).—Robbing jewellers’ shops by smashing the windows. See Glazier.

1724–34. C. Johnson, Highwaymen and Pyrates, q.v.

1889. Ally Sloper, 4 May. Getting a reprieve he went to Dublin on the glaze.

Glazier, subs., in. pl. (old).—1. The eyes. For synonyms, see Glims. Fr.: les ardents.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 64. Glasyers, eyes.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874). Glasiers, eyes.

1611. Middleton and Dekker, Roaring Girl, v., 1. These glasiers of mine, mine eyes.

1656. Brome, Jovial Crew, ii. You’re out with your glaziers.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. The cove has rum glaziers, c. that Rogue has excellent Eyes, or an Eye like a Cat.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Glaziers, c. eyes.

1725. New Canting Dict. ‘Song.’ Her glaziers, too, are quite benighted.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue s.v.

2. (old).—A window thief. Cf., Glaze.

1725. New Cant. Dict. Song ‘The Twenty Craftsmen.’... A glazier who when he creeps in, To pinch all the lurry he thinks it no sin.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Gleaner, subs. (old).—A thief. Cf., Hooker, Angler, etc. For synonyms, see Thieves.

Glib, subs. (common).—1. The tongue. Slacken your glib = loose your tongue. For synonyms, see Clack.

2. (old).—A ribbon.

1754. Discoveries of John Poulter, p. 42. A lobb full of glibbs, a box full of ribbons.

Adj. (old, now recognised).—Smooth; slippery; voluble; glib-tongued or glib-gabbit (cf., Gab) = talkative; ready of speech.

1605. Shakspeare, Lear, Act i., Sc. 1. I want that glib and oily art, To speak and purpose not.

1659. Torriano, Vocabolario, s.v.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Smooth, without a Rub. Glib-tongued. Voluble or Nimble-tongued.

1890. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 31 Jan. The rest who were so glib with their promises.

Glibe, subs. (American thieves’).—Writing; specifically, a written statement.

Glim (or Glym), subs. (old).—1. A candle, or dark lanthorn; a fire or light of any kind. To douse the glim = to put out the light. Fr.: estourbir la cabande. Also short for Glimmer or Glymmar (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. A Dark Lanthorn used in Robbing Houses; also to burn in the Hand.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 12. Glim, a Candle.

1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict. Glim, s.v. A candle or light.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Bring bess and glym; i.e., bring the instrument to force the door, and the dark lanthorn.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii., 2. Tom. Then catch—here’s the gentlemen’s tooth-picker, and here’s his glim. (Throws stick and lanthorn to Jerry.)

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. 5. Every star its glim at hiding.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. 16. Let’s have a glim ... or we shall go breaking our necks.

1837. Lytton, Ernest Maltravers, Bk. I., ch. 10. ‘Hush, Jack!’ whispered one; ‘hang out the glim and let’s look about us.’

1852. Judson, Myst., etc., of New York, ch. iv. Old Jack bade Harriet trim the glim.

1883. R. L. Stevenson, Treasure Island, p. 89. Sure enough, they left their glim here.

1884. Henley and Stevenson, Admiral Guinea, ii., 6. Now here is my little glim; it aint for me because I’m blind.

2. (old).—A sham account of a fire as sold by flying stationers (q.v.).

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., 233. His papers certify any and every ‘ill that flesh is heir to’.... Loss by fire is a glim.

3. in. pl. (common).—The eyes.

English Synonyms.—Blinkers; daylights; deadlights; glaziers; lights; lamps; ogles; optics; orbs; peepers; sees; squinters; toplights; windows; winkers.

French Synonyms.—Les quinquets (popular = bright eyes, Vidocq); les mirettes (popular and thieves’; Italian: mira = sight); les reluits (thieves’: also daymans—or lightmans [q.v.]); les calots (thieves’ = marbles); les châsses or les châssis (popular = hunters’); les lampions (thieves’ = lamps (q.v.); Italian: lanterna and lampante); les apics (thieves’); les ardents (thieves’ = piercers); les œillets (popular = eyelets); les lanternes de cabriolet (popular = giglamps); les clignots (popular = winkers); les carreaux (thieves’ = windows); les clairs (thieves’ = shiners); les coquards (thieves’).

Italian Synonyms.—Lanterna (= a lamp); calchi; balchi; brunotti (= brownies); lampante.

Spanish Synonyms.—Fanal (= lantern); lanterna (= idem); visantes (vulgar); vistosos (vulgar).

German Synonyms.—Dierling (from stieren = to stare); Linzer; Scheinling (from Schein = daylights (q.v.)).

1824. P. Egan, Boxiana, iv., 417. His glims I’ve made look like a couple of rainbows.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 47 [ed. 1854]. Queer my glims, if that ben’t little Paul!

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II., 339. Harold escaped with the loss of a glim.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 56. A pooty gal, gentle, or simple, as carn’t use her glims is a flat.

4. in. pl. (common).—A pair of spectacles. For synonyms, see Barnacles.

5. (common).—Gonorrhœa or clap (q.v.). [From sense 1 = fire.]

Verb (old).—To brand or burn in the hand.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. As the cull was Glimm’d, he gangs to the Nubb, c., if the Fellow has been Burnt in the Hand, he’ll be Hang’d now.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall, p. 15. Profligate women are glimm’d for that villany, for which, rather than leave it, they could freely die martyrs.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

To puff the glims, verb. phr. (veterinary).—To fill the hollow over the eyes of old horses by pricking the skin and blowing air into the loose tissues underneath, thus giving the full effect of youth.

Glim-fenders, subs. (old).—1. Andirons, or fire-dogs.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Glimfenders, c. Andirons. Rum Glimfenders, Silver Andirons.

1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict. s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

2. (old).—Handcuffs. [A pun on sense 1.]

1823. Jon Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, s.v.

Glimflashly (or Glim-flashey), adj. (old).—Angry. See Nab the Rust and Hair.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Glimflashly, c., Angry, or in a Passion. The Cull is Glimflashly, c. the Fellow is in a Heat.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. xxxi. No, Captain, don’t be glim-flashey! You have not heard all yet.

Glim-jack, subs. (old).—A link boy; a moon-curser (q.v.); but, in any sense, a thief.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Glim-lurk, subs. (tramps’).—A beggars’ petition, based on a fictitious fire or glim (sense 2).

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 233. The patterer becomes a ‘lurker,’—that is, an imposter; his papers certify any and every ‘ill that flesh is heir to.’ Shipwreck is called a shake-lurk; loss by fire is a glim.

Glimmer (or Glymmar), subs. (old).—Fire. See quot.

1567. Harman, Caveat. These Demaunders for Glymmar be for the moste parte wemen.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38. (H. Club’s Rept., 1874). Glymmer, Fire.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 49 (1874). Glymmer, Fire.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1725. New Canting Dict., Song, ‘The Maunder’s Praise of his Strowling Mort.’ Doxy, Oh! thy Glaziers shine, As Glymmar by the Solomon.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Glimmerer, subs. (old).—A beggar working with a petition giving out that he is ruined by fire. Also glimmering mort = a female glimmerer.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Glimmerer, c., the Twenty-second Rank of the Canting Tribe, begging with Sham Licences, pretending to Losses by Fire, etc.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Glimstick, subs. (old).—A candlestick. [From glim = a light + stick.] Fr.: une occasion.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Glimstick, c., a Candlestick. Rum Glimsticks, c., Silver Candlesticks. Queer Glimsticks, c., Brass, Pewter, or Iron Candlesticks.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Glister, subs. phr. (thieves’).—See quot., glister of fish-hooks.

1889. Clarkson and Richardson, Police, p. 321. A glass of Irish whiskey ... a glister of fish-hooks.

Glistner, subs. (old).—A sovereign. For synonyms, see Canary.

Gloak (or Gloach), subs. (old).—A man. For synonyms, see Chum and Cove.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, pp. 48 and 172. Gloach, a man; cove.

Globe, subs. (old).—1. A pewter pot; pewter.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

2. in. pl. (common).—The paps. For synonyms, see Dairy.

Globe-rangers, subs. (nautical).—The Royal Marines.

Globe-trotter, subs. (colloquial).—A traveller; primarily one who races from place to place, with the object of covering ground or making a record. Fr.: un pacquelineur.

1886. Graphic, 7 Aug., 147/1. Your mere idle gaping globetrotter will spin endless pages of unobservant twaddle, and will record his tedious wanderings with most painful minuteness.

1888. Academy, 17 Mar. The inevitable steamboat, the world, and the omnivorous globe-trotter.

1889. Echo, 9 Feb. The British globe-trotter knows Japan as he knows England, and English books about Japan are turned out by the ton.

1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 27 Jan., p. 5, c. 2. This popular definition of a quick-mover has now become effete. Miss Bly is a globe-galloper or she is nothing.

Globe-trotting, subs. (colloquial).—Travelling after the manner of globe-trotters (q.v.).

1888. Academy, 22 Sept. In fact, globe-trotting, as the Americans somewhat irreverently term it, is now frequently undertaken as a mere holiday trip.

Glope, verb. (Winchester College).—To spit. (Obsolete).

Glorious, adj. (common).—Excited with drink; ‘in one’s altitudes’; boozed. For synonyms, see drinks and screwed.

1791. Burns, Tam o’ Shanter. Kings may be blessed, but Tam was glorious, O’er a’ the ills of life victorious.

1853. Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, ch. xviii., p. 252. I knew nothing of the vow, or indeed of the tipsy frolic which was the occasion of it; I was taken up glorious, as the phrase is, by my servants, and put to bed.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 9 Feb. But as they all began to get glorious, personalities became more frequent and very much stronger.

Glorious Sinner, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A dinner.

Glory, subs. (common).—The after life; kingdom come (q.v.). Usually, the coming glory.

1841. Punch, 17 July, p. 2. Clara pines in secret—Hops the twig, and goes to glory in white muslin.

In one’s glory, adv. phr. (colloquial).—In the full flush of vanity, pride, taste, notion, or idiosyncracy.

Gloves, to go for the gloves, verb. phr. (racing).—To bet recklessly; to bet against a horse without having the wherewithal to pay if one loses—the last resource of the plunging turfite. The term is derived from the well-known habit of ladies to bet in pairs of gloves, expecting to be paid if they win, but not to be called upon to pay if they lose.

1877. Hawley Smart, Play or Pay, ch. xi. One of the boldest plungers of the day, who had begun badly, was going for the gloves upon this match.

1886. Badminton Library, ‘Racing,’ p. 255. Hardly worth mentioning are the backers who come in for a hit-or-miss dash at the ring—to go for the gloves, as it is called in ring parlance.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 3 Apr. Although we frequently read in stories of the hero backing the right horse at a long price, and so getting out of sundry monetary difficulties, we rarely find the idea realised in practice. Many a bookmaker has gone for the gloves.

Glow, adj. (tailors’).—Ashamed.

Glue, subs. (common).—1. Thick soup. (Because it sticks to the ribs.)

English Synonyms.—Deferred stock; belly-gum; giblets-twist; gut-concrete; rib-tickler; stick-in-the-ribs.

French Synonyms.—La menêtre (thieves’); la lavasse (= a mess of pot liquor); la laffe (thieves’); la jaffe (popular); l’ordinaire (popular: soup and boiled beef at an ordinary); le fond d’estomac (= thick soup); la mousse; la mouillante (= the moistener).

German Synonyms.—Jauche; Polifke.

2. (common).—Gonorrhœa.

Glue-pot, subs. (common).—A parson. [Because he joins in wedlock.] For synonyms, see Devil-dodger and Sky-pilot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Glum, adj. (old: now recognised).—Sullen; down in the mouth; stern. Fr.: faire son nez = to look glum; also, n’en pas mener large.

1712. Arbuthnot, Hist. of John Bull, pt. IV., ch. vii. Nic. looked sour and glum, and would not open his mouth.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

17(?). Broadside Ballad, ‘Sam Hall, The parson he will come, And he’ll look so bloody glum.’

1816. Johnson, Dict. of the English Language. Glum, s.v., a low cant word formed by corrupting ‘gloom.’

1847. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ii., ch. vi. ‘I wonder whether Lady Southdown will go away; she looked very glum upon Mrs. Rawdon,’ the other said.

1888. Referee, 21 Oct. Who found him looking glum and gray, And thought his accent gruff and foreign.

1892. A. W. Pinero, The Times, v., i. What are you so glum about.

Glump, verb. (provincial).—To sulk. Hence glumpy, glumping, and glumpish = sullen or stubborn.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary. Glumping, sullen, or sour looking. Exm.

1835. Th. Hook, Gilbert Gurney. He was glumpy enough when I called.

1860. G. Eliot, Mill on the Floss, Bk. VI., ch. iv. ‘An’ it worrets me as Mr. Tom ’ull sit by himself so glumpish, a-knittin’ his brow, an’ a lookin’ at the fire of a night.’

Glutman, subs. (old).—See quot.

1797. Police of the Metropolis, p. 64. An inferior officer of the Customs, and particularly one of that class of supernumerary tide waiters, who are employed temporarily when there is a press or hurry of business. These glutmen are generally composed of persons who are without employment, and, being also without character, recommend themselves principally from the circumstance of being able to write.

Glutton, subs. (common).—1. A horse which lasts well; a stayer (q.v.).

2. (pugilists’).—A pugilist who can take a lot of punishment (q.v.).

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, xvi. Thus Theocritus, in his Milling Match, calls Amycus a glutton, which is well known to be the classical phrase at Moulsey-Hurst for one who, like Amycus, takes a deal of punishment before he is satisfied.

1891. Licensed Vict. Mirror, 30 Jan., p. 6, c. 3. He was known to be an awfully heavy hitter with both hands, a perfect glutton at taking punishment.

Gnarler, subs. (thieves’).—A watch dog. For synonyms, see Tike.

Gnasp, verb. (old).—To vex. For synonyms, see Rile.

1728. Bailey, English Dict. s.v.

Gnoff.—See Gonnof.

Gnostic, subs. (colloquial).—A knowing one; a downy cove (q.v.); a whipster (q.v.). [From the Gr., gnosis = knowledge.]

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 27. Many of the words used by the Canting Beggars in Beaumont and Fletcher’s Masque are still to be heard among the gnostics of Dyot Street and Tothill Fields.

adj. (colloquial).—Knowing, artful (q.v.).

Gnostically, adv. (colloquial).—Knowingly.

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. iv. He was tog’d gnostically enough.

Go, subs. (common).—1. A drink; specifically a quartern of gin. (Formerly a go-down, but Cf., quot. 1811.)

[For other combinations see abroad—all fours—aloft—aunt—baby—back on—bad—bail—baldheaded—bath—batter—bedfordshire—beggar’s bush—better—blazes—blind—board—bodkin—bulge—bungay—bury—bust—by-by—call—camp—chump—college—cracked—dead broke—devil—ding—ding-dong—dock—doss—drag—flouch—flue—gamble—glaze—glory —gloves—grain—grass—ground—hairyfordshire—hall—halves—hang—hell—high fly—high toby—hooks—hoop—jericho—jump—kitchen—man—majority—mill—murphy—pace—pieces—pile—pot—queen—raker—range—rope-walk—salt river—shallow—shop—slow—smash—snacks—snooks—spout—star-gazing—sweet violets—top—walker’s bus—west—whole animal—woodbine—woolgathering—wrong.]

English Synonyms.—Bender; caulker; coffin nail; common-sewer; cooler; crack; cry; damp; dandy; dash; dew-hank; dewdrop; dodger; drain; dram; facer; falsh; gargle; gasp; go-down; hair of the dog, etc.; Johnny; lip; liquor up; livener; lotion; lounce; modest quencher; muzzler; nail from one’s coffin; night-cap; nip or nipper; nobbler; old crow; a one, a two, or a three; out; peg; pick-me-up; pony; quencher; reviver; rince; sensation; settler; shift; shove in the mouth; slug; small cheque; smile; snifter; something damp; something short; swig; thimbleful; tiddly; top up; tot; warmer; waxer; wet; whitewash; yard.

French Synonyms.—Un bourgeron (popular = a nip of brandy); un asticot de cercueil (= a coffin-worm, a play on verre and bière); un coup d’arrosoir (popular: a touch of the watering pot); un gargarisme (popular: = a gargle [q.v.]); un galopin (= a pony [q.v.] of beer); un larme (= a tear); un mistiche (thieves’); un misérable (popular: a glass of spirits costing one sou; une demoiselle = two sous; un monsieur = four sous; un poisson = five sous); un mince de chic (popular: in contempt); une coquille de noix (popular = a thimbleful; a very small go; a drain); un jeune homme (familiar = in capacity four litres); un Kolback (popular = a small glass of brandy, or large glass of wine); une flûte (familiar); un extravagant (popular = a long drink); un fil (= a drain); un distingué (popular); une douleur (popular = a comforter or pick-me-up); un ballon (popular).

Italian Synonym.—Schioppa (= a long drink: also a large beer glass).

Spanish Synonyms.—Chisguete (colloquial); enjuagadientes (also = a mouthful of water or wine for rinsing the mouth after eating); espolada (= a long drink).

Portuguese Synonym.—Quebrado (= broken: a small glass).

1690. D’Urfey, Collin’s Walk, canto 4. And many more whose quality Forbids their toping openly, Will privately, on good occasion, Take six go-downs on reputation.

1793. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Go-shop.... The Queen’s Head in Duke’s Court.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Go-shop, s.v. The Queen’s Head, in Duke’s Court, Bow Street, Covent Garden, frequented by the under players, where gin and water was sold in three-halfpenny bowls, called goes; the gin was called Arrack.

1823. Jon. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, The Streets: Night. Chops, kidneys, rabbits, oysters, stout, cigars, and goes innumerable, are served up amidst a noise and confusion of smoking, running, knife-clattering, and waiter-chattering, perfectly indescribable.

1841. Punch, Vol. I., p. 11, c. 1. Waiter, a go of Brett’s best alcohol.

1849. Thackeray, Hoggarty Diamond, ch. ii. Two more chairs, Mary, two more tumblers, two more hot waters, and two more goes of gin!

1850. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, p. 54. Drinking alternate goes of gin and water with a dustman for the purpose of insinuating myself into the affections of Miss Cinderella Smut, his interesting sister.

1853. Diogenes, Vol. II., p. 271. Shall I spend it in theatres? shows? In numerous alcohol goes?

1870. Figaro, 28 May. Their musical performances are evidently inspired by goes of gin.

1883. Echo, 7 Feb., p. 4, c. 3. Witness asked him what he had been drinking. He replied, ‘Two half-goes of rum hot and a half-pint of beer.’

2. (colloquial).—An incident; an occurrence: e.g., a rum go = a strange affair, or queer start; a pretty go = a startling business; a capital go = a pleasant business.

1803. Kenney, Raising the Wind, i., 3. Ha! ha! ha! Capital go, isn’t it?

1820. Jack Randall’s Diary. Gemmen (says he), you all well know The joy there is whene’er we meet; It’s what I call the primest go, And rightly named, ’tis—quite a treat.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 251. A considerable bustle and shuffling of feet was then heard upon the stage, accompanied by whispers of ‘Here’s a pretty go!—what’s to be done?’

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘Misadventures at Margate.’ ‘O, Mrs. Jones,’ says I, ‘look here! Ain’t this a pretty go!’

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 162. Stating his conviction that this was rayther a rummy go.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lxxiii. Master Frank Clavering ... had only time to ejaculate the words, ‘Here’s a jolly go!’ and to disappear sniggering.

1869. Mrs. H. Wood, Roland Yorke, ch. xli. ‘I am about to try what a month or two’s absence will do for me.’ ‘And leave us to old Brown?—that will be a nice go!’

1876. George Eliot, Daniel Deronda, ch. vii. A rum go as ever I saw.

1880. G. R. Sims, Three Brass Balls, pledge xvi. He ... exclaimed, ‘Well, I’m dashed if this isn’t a rum go!’

1883. R. L. Stevenson, Treasure Island, p. 55. A pretty rum go if squire aint to talk for Doctor Livesey.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 305. ‘It was a near go,’ said Jack.

3. (common).—The fashion; the cheese (q.v.); the correct thing. Generally in the phrase all the go.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. He is quite the go, he is quite varment, he is prime, he is bang up.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry [ed. 1891], p. 35. Tom was the go among the goes.

1835. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Clockmaker, 3 S., ch. xiv. Whatever is the go in Europe will soon be the cheese here.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, I., 251. It was rather the go With Pilgrims and Saints in the Second Crusade.

1846. Punch, vol. X., p. 163. From lowly Queen’s quadrangle, Where muffins are the go.

1880. G. R. Sims, Ballads of Babylon (Beauty and Beast). And all day long there’s a big crowd stops To look at the lady who’s all the go.

4. (colloquial).—Life; spirit; energy; enterprise; impetus: e.g., plenty of go = full of spirit and dash. Fr.: avoir du chien.

1825. The English Spy, i., 178. She’s only fit to carry a dean or a bishop. No go in her.

1865. Macdonald, Alec Forbes of How-glen, II., 269. All night Tibbie Dyster had lain awake in her lonely cottage, listening to the quiet heavy go of the water.

1882. Daily Telegraph, 9 Oct. Mr. Grossmith’s music is bright and tripping, full of humour and go, as, under such circumstances, music should be!

1883. Illustrated London News, 10 March, p. 242, c. 3. There was any amount of dash and go in their rowing.

1887. Paton, Down the Islands. Barbadian may therefore be said to mean a man with go and grit, energy and vim.

1889. Sportsman, 19 Jan. It all lent a certain zest and go to the proceedings.

1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 21 Feb., p. 7, c. 1. There was so much heartiness and go (so to speak) in the work that it reminded me of what I had read about peasant proprietors labouring in Switzerland and elsewhere under a Home Rule Government.

5. (colloquial).—A turn; an attempt; a chance. Cf., No go.

To have a go at, verb. phr. = to make essay of anything: as a man in a fight, a shot at billiards, and (specifically) a woman.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers (about 1827), p. 377 (ed. 1857). Wot do you think o’ that for a go?

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. III., p. 221. I’ve twelve this go. I did a lagging of seven, and was at the Gib. three out of it.

1878. Jas. Payn, By Proxy, ch. iii. ‘I would practise that in the seclusion of my own apartments,’ observed Pennicuick; ‘and after a few goes at it, I’ll bet a guinea I’d shake the right stick out first.’

1888. Haggard, Mr. Meeson’s Will, ch. x. You have had seven goes and I have only had six.

6. (American).—A success. To make a go of it = to bring things to a satisfactory termination.

1888. Harper’s Mag., vol. LXXVII., p. 689. Determination to make the venture a go.

7. (gaming). The last card at cribbage, or the last piece at dominoes. When a player is unable to follow the lead, he calls a go!

8. (old.)—A dandy (q.v. for synonyms); a very heavy swell indeed, one in the extreme of fashion.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry [people’s ed.], p. 35. In the parks, Tom was the go among the goes.

Verb (American political).—1. To vote; to be in favour of. Cf., Go for.

2. (colloquial).—To succeed; to achieve. Cf., Go down.

1866. Public Opinion, 13 Jan., p. 51, c. 1. His London-street railway scheme didn’t go.

1870. H. D. Traill, ‘On the Watch.’ Sat. Songs, p. 22. Eh, waddyer say? Don’t it go? Ho, yes! my right honnerble friend. It’s go and go over the left, it’s go with a hook at the end.

3. (colloquial).—To wager; to risk. Hence to stand treat; to afford.

1768. Goldsmith, Good Natured Man, Act iii. Men that would go forty guineas on a game of cribbage.

1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, Prologue ii. The very dice on the counter with which the bar-keeper used to go the miners for drinks.

1877. S. L. Clemens (M. Twain), Life on the Mississippi, ch. xliii., p. 390. There’s one thing in this world which a person won’t take in pine if he can go walnut; and won’t take in walnut if he can go mahogany.... That’s a coffin.

c. 1882. Comic Song, ‘The West End Boys,’ verse 3. Another bitter I really can’t go.

1887. World, 20 Apr., p. 8. While making up his mind, apparently whether he would go ‘three’ or ‘Nap.’

4. (racing).—To ride to hounds.

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 219. There would be far too many there who had seen Gerald Rockingham go with the York and Ainstey not to at once know that he and Jim Forrest were identical.

5. (colloquial).—To be pregnant.

1561–1626. Bacon, (quoted by Dr. Johnson). Women go commonly nine months, the cow and ewe about six months.

1601. Shakspeare, Henry VIII., iv., 1. Great bellied women that had not half a week to go.

Go down, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To be accepted, received, or swallowed; to wash (q.v.).

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candle-Light, in wks. (Grosart), III., 272. For the woorst hors-flesh (so it be cheape) does best goe downe with him.

1659. Massinger, City Madam, i., 1. But now I fear it will be spent in poultry; Butcher’s-meat will not go down.

1663. Pepys, Diary, 9 Nov. The present clergy will never heartily go down with the generality of the commons of England.

1742. Fielding, Joseph Andrews, bk. II., ch. xvii. ‘O ho! you are a pretty traveller,’ cries the host, ‘and not know the Levant! ... you must not talk of these things with me, you must not tip us the traveller—it won’t go here.’

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xxi. He ... shook his head, and beginning with his usual exclamation said, ‘That won’t go down with me.’

1885. W. E. Norris, Adrian Vidal, ch. vii. In fashion or out of fashion, they always pay and always go down with the public.

2. (University).—To be under discipline; to be rusticated.

1863. H. Kingsley, Austin Elliot, i., 179. How dare you say ‘deuce’ in my presence? You can go down, my Lord.

3. (common).—To become bankrupt. Also, to go under.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 19. Some one had certainly gone down.

To go due north, verb. phr. (obsolete).—To go bankrupt. [That is, to go to White-cross Street Prison, once situate in north London]. See Quisby.

To go on the dub, verb. phr. (old).—To go house-breaking; to pick locks. See Dub.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew. Going upon the dub, c. Breaking a House with picklocks.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

To go to the dogs, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To go to ruin. [Cf., the Dutch proverb ‘Toe goê, toe de dogs’ = money gone, credit gone too.] See Demnition bow-wows.

1857. A. Trollope, Three Clerks, ch. i. The service, he said, would go to the dogs, and might do for anything he cared and he did not mind how soon.

1863. H. Kingsley, Austin Elliot, 1, 179. ‘Got a second!—bah! The University is going to the ‘——’ Deuce!’ suggested Lord Charles, who was afraid of something worse. ‘Dogs, Sir, dogs!’

c. 1879. Broadside Ballad, ‘Old Clo’.’ My line of business is played out, it’s going to the dogs.

To go off on the ear, verb. phr. (American).—To get angry; to fly into a tantrum. See Nab the rust.

To go for, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To attempt; to tackle; to resolve upon; to make for (q.v.).

1871. John Hay, Jim Bludso. He see’d his duty, a dead-sure thing—And he went for it thar and then.

1890. Athenæum, 22 Mar., p. 366, c. 1. The authors have spared neither their creatures nor the reader one iota; whenever an unpleasant effect was obtainable, they straightway seem to have gone for it with unflinching zest.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 221. Some men had gone for half a dozen, others for two or three, and very few for a single.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 118. We are strong, my boy, strong now, and are going in for the slugging of books also, as well as the immorality of trade.

2. (colloquial).—To attack with violence and directness, whether manually or with the tongue.

1871. Morning Advertiser, 2 Feb., ‘A curtain lecture.’ On ... arrival home the derelict husband is to be gone for in the most approved style of the late lamented Mrs. Caudle.

1883. James Payn, Thicker than Water, ch. xxxvii. There were occasions ... when Charley could hardly help going for the legs of that lofty philosopher, for higher he could not hit him.

1889. Polytechnic Magazine, 24 Oct., p. 261. He went for the jam tarts unmercifully.

1889. Star, 24 Aug., p. 4, c. 2. As the enlightened tailor still declined to pay the blackmail one of the anti-machinists went for him with a chopper.

1892. Tit Bits, 19 Mar., p. 424, c. 1. So it comes to much the same thing, with the exception that you cannot indulge in the sad delight of going for Master Bertie sometimes as you might do were he a member of your own household.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 123. “Well mate, go for him, and we’ll keep the cops off till you settle his hash.”

3. (colloquial).—To support; to favour; to vote for.

4. (theatrical).—To criticise; specifically, to run down. [An extension of sense 2.] For synonyms, see Run down.

To go in for (or at), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To enter for; to apply oneself to (e.g., to go in for honours). Also to devote oneself to (e.g., to pay court); to take up (as a pastime, pursuit, hobby, or principle). Closely allied to go for.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 18 (ed. 1857). This advice was very like that which bystanders invariably give to the smallest boy in a street fight; namely, ‘Go in, and win’: an admirable thing to recommend, if you only know how to do it.

1849. Dickens, David Copperfield, ch. xviii., p. 162. Sometimes I go in at the butcher madly, and cut my knuckles open against his face.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, iii., 3. Go in for money——Money’s the article.

1869. Whyte Melville, M. or N., p. 31. Long before he had reached his uncle’s house, he had made up his mind to go in, as he called it, for Miss Bruce, morally confident of winning, yet troubled with certain chilling misgivings, as fearing that this time he had really fallen in love.

1870. Agricultural Jour., Feb. Men who go in for bathing, running, etc.

1872. Besant and Rice, My Little Girl (in Once a Week, 14 Dec., p. 508). He had, after a laborious and meritorious career at Aberdeen, gone in for Scotch mission work in Constantinople.

1873. Miss Broughton, Nancy, ch. xlv. His cheeks are flushed; he is laughing loudly, and going in heavily for the champagne.

1883. James Payn, Thicker than Water, ch. xx. This is very nice, but I do wonder, Mrs. Tidman, that you never go in for curries.

1890. H. D. Traill, ‘A Noble Watchword,’ Sat. Songs, p. 58. To go in solid for the cause how noble! (though, ’tis true, We must hope at next election that you’ll go in liquid, too).

To go in unto, verb. phr. (Biblical).—To have sexual intercourse with. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

1892. Bible, Gen. xxx. 3. Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her.

To go it, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To act with vigour and daring; to advocate or speak strongly; to live freely. Also to go it blind, fast, bald-headed, strong, etc. Cf., Dash.

1689 (in Arber, Eng. Garner, vol. VII., p. 365). When these had shared her cargo, they parted company: the French with their shares went it for Petty Guavas in the Grand Gustaphus.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry [people’s ed.], p. 67. Logic, under the domino, had been going it on a few of his friends with much humour.

Ibid., p. 22. To go it, where’s a place like London?

1837. R. H. Barham, The Ingoldsby Legends (Ed. 1862), p. 375. For of this be assured, if you go it too fast, you’ll be ‘dished’ like Sir Guy.

1846–48. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, vol. I., ch. 26. ‘He’s going it pretty fast,’ said the clerk.

1849. Dickens, David Copperfield, ch. 6. I say young Copperfield, you’re going it.

1841. Dow, Sermons, vol. I., p. 176. I would have you understand, my dear hearers, that I have no objection to some of the sons and daughters of the earth going it, while they are young, provided they don’t go it too strong.

1864. Fraser’s Mag., Aug., p. 54. But what if that O, brave heart? Art thou a labourer? Labour on, Art thou a poet? Go it strong.

1880. Milliken, in Punch’s Almanack Apr. Nobby togs, high jinks, and lots o’ lotion, That’s the style to go it, I’ve a notion.

Intj. (common).—Keep at it! Keep it up!—a general (sometimes ironical) expression of encouragement. Also go it ye gripples, crutches are cheap! (or newgate’s on fire); go it, my tulip; go it my gay and festive cuss! (Artemus Ward); or (American) go it boots! go it rags! i’ll hold your bonnet! g’lang! (usually to a man making the pace on foot or horseback.) For similar expressions see Mother. Fr., hardi!

1840. Thackeray, Cox’s Diary. Come along this way, ma’am! Go it, ye cripples!

1854. Thackeray, The Rose and the Ring, p. 92. ‘Go it, old boy!’ cried the impetuous Smith.

1868. Miss Braddon, Trail of the Serpent, bk. I., ch. iii. Three cheers for red! Go it—go it, red!

1890. Tit Bits, 1 Mar., p. 325. ‘Not for Joe’ ... came from a once popular song. So did go it, you cripples.

To go out, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To fall into disuse.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 113. Pockets, ... to use the flippant idiom of the day, are going out.

To go over, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To desert from one side to another; specifically (clerical) to join the Church of Rome; to vert (q.v.).

1861. Thackeray, Lovel the Widwer, ch. ii. I remember Pye, of Maudlin, just before he went over, was perpetually in Miss Prior’s back parlour with little books, pictures, medals, etc.

1878. Miss Braddon, Open Verdict, ch. vi. Mr. Dulcimer is a horrid person to tell you such stories; and after this, I shouldn’t be at all surprised at his going over to Rome.

2. (colloquial).—To die; i.e., to go over to join the majority. Also to go off. To go off the hooks, to go under, to go aloft, and to go up.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 4. ‘A sight, marm, this coon’s gone over.’ Ibid., p. 3. Them three’s all gone under.

3. (thieves’).—To attack, rifle, and rob.

1889. Referee, 2 June. A few who had ... gone over the landlord, left him skinned.

To go off, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To take place; to occur.

1866. Mrs. Gaskell, Wives and Daughters, ch. xiv. The wedding went off much as such affairs do.

2. (colloquial).—To be disposed of (as goods on sale, or a woman in marriage).

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 208. Miss Malderton was as well known as the lion on the top of Northumberland House, and had an equal chance of going off.

3. (colloquial).—To deteriorate (as fish by keeping, or a woman with years).

1883. Pall Mall Gazette, 16 Apr., p. 3, c. 2. Shotover rather went off in the Autumn, and her Leger preparation was not altogether satisfactory.

1892. Tit-Bits, 17 Sept., p. 422, c. 3. To those ... who are apt to go off colour, so to speak, through injudicious indulgence at table.

4. (colloquial).—To die. For synonyms, see Aloft.

1606. Shakspeare, Macbeth, v., 7. I would the friends we miss were safe arrived: Some must go off.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers (about 1827), p. 368 (Ed. 1857). She’s dead, God bless her, and thank him for it!—was seized with a fit and went off.

Go as you please, adj. phr. (athletics’).—Applied to races where the competitors can run, walk, or rest at will: e.g., in time and distance races. Hence, general freedom of action.

1884. Punch, 11 Oct. ‘’Arry at a Political Picnic’ ’Twas regular go as you please.

To go to Bath, Putney, etc.—See Bath, Blazes, Hell, Halifax, etc.

To go through, verb. phr. (American).—1. To rob: i.e., to turn inside out. Hence, to master violently and completely; to make an end of.

1872. Evening Standard, 21 June. The roughs would work their will, and, in their own phrase, go through New York pretty effectually.

1888. Baltimore Sun. He was garrotted, and the two robbers went through him before he could reach the spot.

Ibid. It was a grand sight to see Farnsworth go through him; he did not leave him a single leg to stand upon.

2. (venery).—To possess a woman. For synonyms, see Ride.

To go up (or under), verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To go to wreck and ruin; to become bankrupt; to disappear from society. Also, to die. For synonyms, see Deadbroke.

1864. The Index, June. Soon after the blockade, many thought we should go up on the salt question.

1879. Jas. Payn, High Spirits (Finding His Level). Poor John Weybridge, Esq., became as friendless as penniless, and eventually went under, and was heard of no more.

1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 29 May, p. 5, c. 1. He asks us further to state that the strike is completely at an end, the society having gone under.

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