Volume 2 — A · Dictionary · of Slang · and · its · Analogues. (continued 6)

1858. G. Eliot, Mr. Gilfil’s Love-Story, ch. iv. ‘We shall be poisoned wi’ lime an’ plaster, and hev the house full o’ workmen collogeing wi’ the maids, an’ makin’ no end o’ mischief.’

1861. G. Eliot, Silas Marner, ch. ix. ‘And how long have you been so thick with Dunsey that you must collogue with him to embezzle my money?’

Colly-Molly, adj. and adv. (old).—Melancholy. [A jocular corruption of the word. Cf., Solemoncholy and (in Dr. Marigold’s Prescriptions) lemon-jolly.]

17(?). Decl. of Pop. Imp. sign. Q. 3. (quoted in Nares). The devil was a little colli-mollie and would not come off.

Colly Wobbles, subs. (common).—The stomach-ache; also the rumblings of flatulency; figuratively, the stomach.

English Synonyms. Wiffle-waffles; gripes; mulligrubs.

French Synonyms. Mal au bréchet; also gargouillade.

1853. Cuthbert Bede, Verdant Green, pt. I., ch. viii. ‘Peakyish you feel, don’t you, now, with a touch of the mulligrubs in your collywobbles?’

c. 1880. Broadside Ballad, ‘Complaints’ or ‘The Ills of Life.’ Then I’ve had the colic, spasms, dizziness, and swimmings, Mullygrubs and collywobbles, with delicious trimmings.

Colour, subs. (sporting).—1. The handkerchief worn as a badge by prize-fighters and other professional athletes. Each man chooses his own, and it was once a practice to sell them to backers to be worn at the ring-side. The present rules of the Ring provide as follows:—‘That every man shall be provided with a handkerchief of a colour suitable to his own fancy, and that the seconds proceed to entwine these handkerchiefs at the upper end of one of the centre stakes of the ring; that these handkerchiefs shall be called the colours, and that the winner of the battle at its conclusion shall be entitled to their possession as the trophy of victory.’ For a description of various ‘fancies,’ see Billy. In racing circles the colours are the owner’s and are shown in the jockeys’ caps and jackets.

1818. P. Egan, Boxiana, vol. I., p. 170. The Chicken now sported the blue-spotted silk handkerchief, as the champion’s colour.

1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, bk. II., ch. xii., p. 189. Each of the men had, previous to the fight, done a little profitable business by selling pocket-handkerchiefs, which they called their colours.

2. (popular).—Used of money; e.g., ‘I have not seen the colour of his money’ = I have not received payment.—See quots.

1736. Fielding, Don Quixote, I., iii. If I have seen the colour of gold this fortnight, may I never see Teresa Pancha again.

1836. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. xix. The padrone informed them that he should like to see the colour of their money before they went on board.

Coloured on the card, phr. (racing).—Having the colours in which a jockey is to ride inserted on the card of the race.

Off colour, adv. phr. (common).—Exhausted; run down; ‘seedy.’

c. 1876. Broadside Ballad, ‘That’s Where The Money Goes.’ London’s Police will be made up of men, Cold Rabbit Pie will be off colour then.

Colour One’s Meerschaum, verbal phr. (common).—To get brandy-faced; to drink one’s nose into a state of pimples and scarlet.

Colquarron, subs. (old)—The neck. For synonyms, see Scrag.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. colquarron: a man’s neck (cant), his colquarron is just about to be twisted, he is just going to be hanged.

1830. Sir E. B. Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 5 (ed. 1854). ‘’Tis a rum business, and puzzles I! but mum’s the word, for my own little colquarren.’

Colt, subs. (popular).—1. A person new to office, or, to the exercise of any art; e.g., a professional cricketer during his first season; a first-time juryman; a thief in his novitiate. [Properly a colt is a young male horse.]

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

1885. Daily News, 28 August, p. 3, col. 7. A match arranged for the benefit of the young players of the county was commenced yesterday at Manchester, when the Lancashire Eleven were opposed to Twenty-six colts.

2. (nautical).—See quots.

1830. Marryat, King’s Own, ch. viii. He always carried in his pocket a colt (i.e., a foot and a half of rope, knotted at one end, and whipped at the other), for the benefit of the youngsters, to whom he was a most inordinate tyrant.

1836. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. xii. ‘He knocked me down—and when I got up again he told me that I could stand a little more—and then he took out his colt, and said he was determined to ride the high horse.’

3. (thieves’).—A thief’s weapon; otherwise known as a billy (q.v.). For synonyms, see Neddy.

4. (thieves’).—A man who hires horses to burglars. In America he is called a colt-man. [Quoted by Grose, 1785.]

5. (legal).—See quot.

1887. Sir F. Pollock, Pers. Remembr., vol. I., p. 212. In April I accompanied the newly-made Chief Baron [of Exchequer] as his colt (the so-called attendant on a serjeant at his making) to the Lord Chancellor’s private room at Westminster.

Verb (nautical).—1. To thrash; [From colt, sense 2.] Cf., Baste, and for synonyms, see Tan.

1836. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. xii. ‘Then he colted me for half-an-hour, and that’s all.’

2. (common).—To cause a person to stand treat by way of being ‘made free’ of a new place; to make one ‘pay one’s footing.’ Cf., subs., sense 1.

Coltage, subs. (old).—The footing paid by colts (q.v., subs., sense 1) on their first appearance.

Colting, verbal subs. (common).—A thrashing. For general synonyms, see Tanning and Baste.

Colt-Man.—See Colt, subs., sense 4.

Colt’s Tooth. To have a colt or colt’s tooth, verbal phr. (old).—To be fond of youthful pleasures; in the case of elderly persons, to have juvenile tastes; to be of wanton disposition and capacity. [In allusion to a supposed desire to shed the teeth and see life over again.]

1500. Marlowe, 2 Tamburlaine, iv., 4. Nay, we will break the hedges of their mouths, And pull their kicking colts out of their pastures.

1606. Sir Gyles Goosecappe, v., 2, in Bullen’s Old Plays, iii., 87. I shood doe my country, and Court-ship good service to beate thy coalts teeth out of thy head, for suffering such a reverend word to passe their guarde.

1637. Fletcher, Elder Brother, II., iii. He should love her now, As he hath a colt’s tooth yet.

1753. Walpole, Lett. to Mann, 27 April (1833), vol. III., p. 89. I hear that my Lord Granville has cut another colt’s tooth—in short, they say he is going to be married again … there are not above two or three-and-forty years difference in their ages.

1770. Colman, The Portrait, in wks. (1777) IV., 215. Tho’ not in the bloom of my youth, Yet still I have left a colt’s tooth.

1812. C. K. Sharpe, in Correspondence (1888), II., 5. Tyndall and I always fought about noblemen, tho’ I suspected his colt’s tooth with regard to Lord Apsley, who is a mighty good sort of man, but only captivating.

Columbine, subs. (theatrical).—A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

Columbus, subs. (theatrical).—Failure. A regular Columbus = an utter failure; ‘dead frost.’ Fr., Il pleut! = the play is a failure.

Comb-Brush, subs. (old).—A lady’s maid. [A word compounded from the names of two familiar toilet requisites. Cf., whip = a coachman.]—See Abigail.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones. The maid who at present attended on Sophia was recommended by Lady Bellaston, with whom she had lived for some time in the capacity of a comb-brush.

Comb Cut. To have one’s comb cut, verbal phr. (popular).—To be mortified; disgraced; down on one’s luck. [A simile drawn from cock-fighting.]

Comb Down.—See Comb one’s hair.

Combie, subs. (university).—A familiar abbreviation for ‘Combination room,’ the parlour in which college dons drink wine after Hall. Also a garment; see Combination.

Combination, subs. (general).—A woman’s undergarment, shift and drawers in one. Also combie, and (American) chemiloon (q.v.), itself a combination of ‘chemise’ and ‘pantaloon.’

Comb One’s Hair, verbal phr., trs. and intr. (common).—To take to task; to scold; to keep in order. Sometimes to thrash, and generally ill-treat. Variants are to comb down; to comb one’s noddle with a three-legged or joint stool. [A.S. cemban; O.E. kemben; German, kämmen = to comb. Halliwell gives kemb (a Border form) = to comb; also comb = to cut a person’s comb, to disable him. The word seems to have always involved the idea of personal castigation, either physical or figurative. In this connection, cf., quot., 1593.] Fr., donner une peignée and laver la tête; but for synonyms in the sense of ‘to scold,’ see Wig; and in the sense of ‘to thrash,’ see Tan.

1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, i., 1. Kath … doubt not her cares should be to comb your noddle with a three-legg’d stool, And paint your face, and use you like a fool.

1769. John Wallis, Antiquities of Northumberland. [Speaking of Wark Castle.] On the west side are the outworks, now called the Kemb, i.e., the camp of the militia designed to kemb or fight an enemy; kemb being a word often used by the borderers when they threaten in a passionate tone to beat an assailant,—they will kemb him, i.e., drub him heartily.

1836. W. Kidd, London and all its Dangers. ‘Magistrates,’ p. 12. The Magistrate of Hatton Garden has lately had his ‘hair combed’ by the Home Secretary for his brutal conduct.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xxvii., p. 236. ‘If you had only settled down, and married Joe Pouch’s widow when he died in North America, she’d have combed your hair for you.’

1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, ch. xliii. ‘But you see, these riots—it’s been a nasty business. I shall have my hair combed at the sessions for a year to come.’

1869. … Ino (played at Strand Theatre). ‘Since Ino’s combed my wool it’s ceased to grow.’

Comb the Cat, verbal phr. (nautical).—See quot.

1867. Smyth, Sailors’ Word Book. Combing the Cat: the boatswain, or other operator, running his fingers through the cat-o’-nine tails to separate them.

Come, verb (venery).—1. To experience the sexual spasm; to achieve emission; to Spend (q.v.). The expression (which applies to the agents only: never to the proof, or effect, of their activity) is common to both the sexes. Cf., Cream (q.v.); Spendings; q.v.; and Letch-water (q.v.).

2. (general).—To practice; to understand; to act the part of. Cf., Come over and Come tricks.

1883. Greenwood, Tag, Rag, and Co. We ain’t two by ourselves as comes that dodge.

3. (old).—To lend.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. Has he come it? i.e., has he lent it?

To make drunk come, phr. (American).—To become intoxicated. For synonyms, see Screwed.

Come about [One], verbal phr. (old).—1. To circumvent. Cf., Come over and Come round.

1755. Johnson, Dict. Eng. Lang. (11 ed., 1816), s.v. ‘About’ in common language they say to come about a man, ‘to circumvent him.’

2. (venery).—To copulate. (Said only of men by women).

Come a Buster.—See Buster (subs., sense 3).

Come a Cropper.—See Cropper.

Come and See your Pa, phr. (common).—An invitation to drink. For synonyms, see Drinks.

Come Captain Armstrong.—See Captain Armstrong.

Come-Down, subs. (popular).—A fall, whether of pride or worldly prospects; an abandonment of something for something else of less value or moment.

Verb.—[Used either independently or in combination: e.g., To come down; to come down handsome, or to come down with the dust, dues, dibs, ready, oof, shiners, blunt, needful, etc.] (common).—1. To pay, i.e., to ‘part’; or to lay down (as in payment); to ‘fork out.’ For synonyms, see Shell out.

1701. Steele, The Funeral, Act ii., Sc. 1. I must do according to my orders … except you’d come down a little deeper than you talk of:—You don’t consider the charges I’ve been at already.

1727. Gay, Beggar’s Opera, Act iii., Sc. 1. Did he tip handsomely?—How much did he come down with?

1842. Punch, vol. III., p. 136. ‘Bolt!’ she falter’d, ‘from the gov’nor? Oh, my Colin, that won’t pay; He will ne’er come down, my love, nor Help us, if we run away.’

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lxix. My uncle augurs everything from the Begum’s generosity, and says that she will come down very handsomely.

1889. Barrère, Sl., Jar., and Cant, (quoted in). Do you keep the gentleman in discourse while I speak to the prisoner, and see how he can come down.

2. (trade).—To abate prices.

Come down from the Walls, verbal phr. (American).—To abandon a position. Cf., Back seat.

Comedy-Merchant, subs. (common).—An actor. For synonyms, see Cackling-cove.

Come it, verb (colloquial).—1. To proceed at a great rate; to make a splash and dash (in extravagance); to ‘cut a figure.’ Cf., Come it strong and Go it.

1840. Thackeray, Paris Sketch Book, p. 22. ‘I think the chaps down the road will stare,’ said Sam, ‘when they hear how I’ve been coming it.’

2. (thieves’).—To inform. For synonyms, see Peach.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3 ed., p. 444. To inform = to come it.

1864. Hotten, Slang Dict., p. 126. The expression come it (to inform, tell, or disclose) is best known to the lower and most dangerous classes.

1889. Daily Telegraph. He heard one of the others say in reply, ‘come it,’ meaning to tell—to be quiet.

3. (pugilistic).—To show fear.

4. (American).—To succeed. Especially in you can’t come it, i.e., you cannot succeed: an expression of disbelief in the ability of another. Probably a survival of old English usage. Cf., Come over.

Come it Strong, verbal phr. (popular).—To exaggerate; to ‘lay it on thick’; to carry to extremes. For synonyms, see Longbow. Cf., Come it.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 356 (ed. 1857). ‘Vell, sir,’ rejoined Sam, after a short pause, ‘I think I see your drift; and if I do see your drift, it’s my ’pinion that you’re a comin’ it a great deal too strong, as the mail-coachman said to the snow-storm, ven it overtook him.’

1837. Barham, I. L. (Lay of St. Gengulphus), ed. 1862, p. 157. He here shook his head,—Right little he said, But he thought she was coming it rather too strong.

1846. W. M. Thackeray, Yellowplush. ‘Mr. Deuceace at Paris.’ Now, though master was a scoundrill and no mistake, he was a gentleman and a man of good breeding; and miss came a little too strong (pardon the vulgarity of the expression), with her hardor and attachmint for one of his taste.

1869. Bret Harte, The Heathen Chinee. In his sleeves, which were long, He had twenty-four packs. Which was coming it strong.

Come John, or Lord, Audley.—See John Audley.

Come off, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To happen; to occur; to result from.—See also Come, sense 1.

1609. Jonson, Case is Altered, IV., iii. His muse sometimes cannot curvet, nor prognosticate, and come off as it should; no matter, I’ll hammer out a paraphrase for thee myself.

1857. Dickens, The Detective Police, in Reprinted Pieces, p. 239. In consequence of which appointment the party came off, which we are about to describe.

1870. Wilkie Collins, Man and Wife, in Cassell’s Mag., p. 292, col. 1. ‘The betting’s at five to four, my dear. And the race comes off in a month from this.’

1872. Civilian, 10 Aug. Unfortunately, the event, to use the language of the turf, did not come off, and considerable disappointment was manifested.

1883. Graphic, August 11, p. 138, col. 2. Batting is his forte, though he does not always come off.

Come off the Grass, or the Tall Grass! phr. (American).—‘None of your airs!’ ‘Don’t put it on so!’ ‘Don’t tell any more lies!’ The French say, As-tu fini tes manières or magnes? ne fais donc pas ta Sophie; and ne fais donc pas ton fendart.

Come out, verbal phr. (common).—1. To make an appearance; to display oneself; to express oneself vigorously; to make an impression (especially in sense 2). Sometimes in an intensified form to come out strong. cf., Come it strong.

[The first quot. is doubtful, but it looks like an anticipation.]

1637. Sl. Rutherford, Letters, No. 167, vol. I., p. 390 (ed. 1862, 2 vols.). Christ … who hath given you eyes to discern the devil coming out in his whites.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, II., 14. The more he [Clive] worked, the more he was discontented with his performance, somehow; but J. J. was coming out very strong; J. J. was going to be a stunner.

1865. G. F. Berkeley, Life, etc. II., 135. Our inclination to quiz him [Lord Wm. Lennox] on the subject increased when in later years he came out strong in magazines and reviews, as a sporting writer.

1865. Cornhill Magazine, IV., 218. ‘A county ball.’ The native comes out strong in waistcoats—his array in that respect being gorgeous.

1870. Good Words, April. ‘The Hand Nailer.’ In the nailing communities, as elsewhere, woman manages somehow to come out extensively on Sundays.

18(?). Aytoun, The Dreepdaily Burghs, p. 2. Let me confess it. I had of late come out rather too strong. When a man has made money easily, he is somewhat prone to launch into expense.

2. (common).—To turn out; to result; e.g., How did it come out? Cf., Come off.

3. (colloquial).—To make a first appearance in society.

To come out of the little end of the horn, phr. (American).—To fare badly; in allusion to the thin end of the Cornucopia.

Come Over, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To influence; to overreach; to cheat. (If the quots. are compared chronologically it will be seen that there has been a gradual deterioration in the meaning of this colloquialism.) Cf., come round; get over.

1609. Dekker, Gul’s Horne-Booke, ch. ii. Care not for those coorse painted cloath rimes, made by ye University of Salerne, that come ouer you, with … sweete candied councell.

1667. Shirley, Love Tricks, Act ii., Sc. 1. I do not see what fault she can find with me; and if I had some good word to come over her—but I must help it out, an need be, with swearing.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. To come over any one: to cheat or overreach him.

1794. Gent. Mag., p. 1085. I lately came over him for a good round sum.

c. 1860. Broadside Ballad, I’m a young man from the country, But you don’t get over me.

c. 1879. Music Hall Song (sung by Jenny Hill, the ‘Vital Spark’). You may get over water-butts, You may get over fountains, But I’ll take particular notice that you don’t get over Sal.

1884. Daily Telegraph, March 11, p. 2, col. 1. ‘But don’t you try and come it over me, or you’ll find yourself in the wrong box.’

Come [the old Soldier, or any person or thing] Over One, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To imitate; to overbear; to wheedle; to rule by an assumption of authority. Fr., essayer de monter un bateau à quelqu’un; or monter le coup or un battage.

1713. C. Shadwell, Humours of the Army, Act iii. The Devil a Farthing he owes me—but however, I’ll put the old soldier upon him.

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. xviii. Were it not that I think he has scarce the impudence to propose such a thing to succeed, curse me but I should think he was coming the old soldier over me, and keeping up his game.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick Papers (about 1827), p. 369 (ed. 1857). ‘Ah, by jove, he has!’ replied Smangle. ‘Hear him come the four cats in the wheelbarrow—four distinct cats, sir, I pledge you my honour. Now you know that’s infirnal clever!’

1839. The Druid. ‘Post and Paddock.’ The only way his crime to cover, To hide his shame from children’s eye, Is not to try and come the lover, But stable-wards at once to fly.

1855. W. M. Thackeray, The Newcomes, II., 253. ‘I had a letter this morning from my liberal and punctual employer, Thomas Potts, Esquire, of the Newcome Independent, who states, in language scarcely respectful, that Sir Barnes Newcome Newcome is trying to come the religious dodge, as Mr. Potts calls it.’

1877. W. Black, Green Past. and Picc., ch. i. ‘She’s rather serious, you know, and would like to come the maternal over you.’

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 167. To hear him speak, one might imagine him as innocent as a lamb, and as green as a schoolboy, but just try to come the hanky-panky and play the old soldier with him.

1877. J. Greenwood, Dick Temple. Permit me, if you and your two friends think of coming what is vulgarly called the old soldier over me, to make you understand that you had better abandon the intention.

Come Round, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To influence; to circumvent; to persuade. Cf., Come over, and come about, sense 1.

1846. Thackeray, V. Fair, ch. xi. Finally, the reports were that the governess had come round everybody, wrote Sir Pitt’s letters, did his business, managed his accounts—had the upper hand of the whole house.

Come Souse, verbal phr. (pugilistic).—To fall heavily. Also Cosouse.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Mem. to Cong. As it was, Master Georgy came souse with the whack, And there sprawled, like a turtle turned queer on its back.

Come the Gum Game, verbal phr. (Western American).—To overreach by concealment. [From the preference shown by hunted opossums and racoons for gum trees as places of refuge.]

1869. Kansas City Advertiser, 7 May. You can’t come that gum game over me any more; I’ve been to the land-office and know all about the place.

Come Through a Side Door, verbal phr. (common).—To be born illegitimately.

c. 1880. Broadside Ballad, ‘The Blessed Orphan.’ I don’t think I was born at all, No parents own I came here; I was left at a house of call, Close by a Pickford’s van here, Some wicked wretches say, but I My indignation smother, That I came through a side door In this world from the other.

Come to Stay, verbal phr. (American).—To be endowed with permanent qualities. Thus the New York Morning Journal announces that earth fuel, a new material for cooking and firing purposes, has come to stay, i.e., its commercial success is assured.

1888. Pittsburg Bulletin. In the realm of advertising, the illustration has evidently come to stay. It attracts and retains the eye, and so serves a double purpose.

Come To, or Up To, Time, verbal phr. (pugilistic).—To answer the call of ‘Time!’ after the thirty seconds’ rest between round and round; hence, by analogy, to be on the alert; to be ready.

1869. Whyte Melville, M. or N., p. 11. The surprise staggered him like a blow. From such blows, however, we soon come to time, willing to take any amount of similar punishment.

Come Tricks.—See Come, sense 2.

Come up Smiling, verbal phr. (pugilistic).—To laugh (or grin) at ‘punishment’; hence (generally) to be superior to rebuff or disaster; to face defeat without flinching.

1887. John Strange Winter, That Imp, p. 67. And yet come up smiling at the end of it.

Come up to the Chalk.—See Scratch.

[Some other slang uses of the verb To Come are To Come the Artful = to essay to deceive; To Come the Heavy = to affect a vastly superior position; To Come the ugly = to threaten; To Come the Nob, or The Don = to put on airs; To Come the Lardy-Dardy = to dress for the public and ‘look up to your clobber’; To Come the Serjeant = to issue peremptory orders; To Come the Spoon = to make love; To Come the Gypsy = to try to defraud; To Come the Rothschild = to pretend to be rich; and To Come the Traviata (prostitutes’, now obsolete) = to feign consumption, to put on ‘the Traviata cough’ (q.v.) with a view to beguiling charitable males.]

Comflogisticate, verb (American).—To embarrass; put out of countenance; confuse; or hoax.—See Bamblustercate.

Comfoozled, adj. (rare).—Overcome; exhausted.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxxix., p. 340. ‘Well,’ said Sam, ‘he’s in a horrid state o’ love; reg’larly comfoozled, and done over with it.’

Comfortable Importance or Comfortable Impudence, subs. (old).—A wife; also a mistress in a wife’s position. Fr., Mon gouvernement. For synonyms, see Dutch.

Comical, subs. (common).—A napkin.

To be Struck Comical, verb. phr. (popular).—To be astonished.

Coming, ppl. adj. (old).—1. Wanton; forward; sexual.—See Come, sense 1.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, ch. xii. I dares to swear the wench was as willing as he, for she was always a forward kind of body. And when wenches are so coming, young men are not so much to be blamed neither, for to be sure they do no more than what is natural.

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

2. (old).—Sexually capable.—See Come, sense 1.

Commercial, subs. (thieves’)—See quot.

1886. Tit-Bits, 31 July, p. 252. He is one of the cleverest commercials (this is the polite name for rogues and vagabonds generally) on the road.

2. (common).—An abbreviation of ‘commercial traveller.’

Commission or Mish, subs. (old).—A shirt. [From the Italian.—See Camesa.] For synonyms, see Flesh bag.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65, s.v.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 37 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874), s.v.

1622. John Fletcher, The Beggar’s Bush. I crown thy nab with a gag of benbouse, And stall thee by the salmon into clowes To maund on the pad and strike all the Cheats To mill from the Ruffmans, and commission, and slates.

1630. Taylor (‘The Water Poet’), wks. quoted in Nares. As from our beds we doe oft cast our eyes, Cleane linnen yeelds a shirt before we rise, Which is a garment shifting in condition, And in the canting tongue is a commission; In weale or woe, in joy or dangerous drifts, A shirt will put a man unto his shifts.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 48 (1874), s.v.

Commister, subs. (old).—A clergyman. The same as camister (q.v.). For synonyms, see Devil-dodger.

Commodity, subs. (old).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

1596. Shakspeare, King John, ii., 2. Tickling commodity; commodity—the bias of the world.

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

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Common-Bounce, subs. (low).—One using a lad as a decoy to prefer a charge of unnatural intercourse.

1886. M. Davitt, Leaves from a Prison Diary, p. 109. The common bounce Of all the scoundrels that stalk abroad in the world unhung for undetected enormities, this is the most infamous.

Common-Doings, subs. (American).—Every-day fare. [A phrase of Western origin, at first restricted in its meaning, but now including ordinary transactions as compared to those either large or peculiarly profitable; applied to men, actions, and things. ‘What shall we do?’ says a poor frontiersman’s wife, when she hears of a Federal Officer who is to take up his quarters at her cabin for a day; ‘I can’t give him common-doings.’]

1835. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Clockmaker, 3 S. I guess I’ll order supper. What shall it be? Cornbread and common doins, or wheatbread and chicken fixins?

Commoner-Grub, subs. (Winchester College).—A dinner formerly given by Commoners to College after cricket matches. [Commoners are boys not on the foundation.]

Commoney, subs. (schoolboys’).—A clay marble. Cf., Alley.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers (about 1827), p. 28 (ed. 1857). On one occasion he patted the boy on the head, and after inquiring whether he had won any alley tors or commoneys lately (both of which I understand to be a particular species of marbles much prized by the youth of this town), made use of this remarkable expression—‘How should you like to have another father?’

Common-Jack, subs. (military).—A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

Common-Plugs, subs. (American).—Ordinary members of society.

Commonsensical, adj. (colloquial).—Marked with common sense.

1880. Frazer’s Magazine, Sep., p. 308. The manner in which he (Alexander Russell) begins must have delighted the commonsensical mind of old Charles Maclaren.

Common Sewer, subs. phr. (common).—1. A drink; dram; or ‘go.’ [From common sewer = ‘a drain.’] For synonyms, see Go.

2. (venery).—A prostitute.

Communicator. Agitate the communicator, verbal phr. (common).—To ring the bell.

Comp, subs. (printers’).—A compositor. [An abbreviated form of ‘companion’ now peculiar to compositors, but originally applied to pressmen who work in couples, as well as to compositors who work in a ‘companionship,’ or ship (q.v.).] Galley-slave (q.v.) is a variant; so are ass (q.v.) and donkey (q.v.). Cf., Pig.

1870. Sportsman, 17 Dec. ‘A Chapel Meeting.’ I stood before the world a journeyman comp.

1886. Tit-Bits, 31 July, p. 252. At provincial newspaper offices and other establishments applications for work from travelling comps are frequent.

1888. W. Blades, in Notes and Queries, 7 S., vi., 365. The printers who work together in one room are to this day called comps.

Company. To see company, verbal phr. (prostitutes’).—To live by prostitution; to take in fancy work (q.v.).

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Competition Wallah, subs. phr. (Anglo-Indian).—One who enters the Indian Civil Service by examination. [From competition + Hindustani wallah, ‘a man’ or ‘person.’]

1863. G. O. Trevelyan, Title, The Competition Wallah.

1886. Ill. Lon. News, 9 Jan., p. 31, col. 3. It is quite certain that, if justice is ever to be done to India, our competition wallahs must not be encouraged to look upon it as a mere Tom Tidler’s ground, where they are to remain just so long as they require for picking up gold and silver (in the form of pension and savings).

Compo, subs. (nautical).—A sailor’s term for his monthly advance of wages.

Compy-Shop, subs. (workmen’s).—A truck-shop. [Probably a corruption of ‘company-shop’: workmen before the passing of certain Truck Acts, having been frequently compelled to make their weekly purchases at shops either kept by, or worked to the profit of, their employer.]

1870. Globe, 24 Sept. The Acts of Parliament which have been passed from time to time in reference to truck are easily evaded, for as a rule no workman is told that he must buy at the compy-shop, but the workmen well know that if they did not resort thither they would soon be dismissed their employment.

Con, subs. (Winchester College).—A rap on the head with the knuckles, or with anything hard, such as a cricket ball. [For suggested derivations, see verbal sense.]

Verb.—To rap with the knuckles. [The derivation formerly accepted at Winchester was from κονδυλον = a knuckle, but the editors of the Wykehamist suggest its origin in the North Country con, ‘to fillip,’ with which the French se cogner exactly corresponds.]

Concaves and Convexes, subs. phr. (cardsharpers’). Cards prepared for cheating. All from the eight to the king are cut convex, and all from the deuce to the seven concave; so that by cutting the pack broadwise you cut convex, and by cutting them lengthwise you cut concave. Sometimes they are shaped the reverse way, so that, if suspicion arise, a pack so treated may be substituted for the other to the same effect. In this trick the sharper has less in his favour than in others, because the intended victim may cut in the usual way, and so cut a low card to the dealer. But the certainty of being able to cut or deal a high or low card at pleasure, gives him an advantage against which skill is of none avail. Other modes of sharping are by means of reflectors (q.v.); longs and shorts (q.v.); pricked cards (q.v.); the bridge (q.v.); skinning (q.v.); weaving (q.v.); the gradus or step (q.v.); palming (q.v.); and the telegraph (q.v.). A French term for prepared cards is les aiguilles à tricoter les côtes (Anglicé = old gentlemen, q.v.); also une cartouchière à portées (a pack of prepared cards); and les harnais = stocked broads (q.v.).—See also stock broads.

Concern, subs. (general).—The pudenda, male or female.—See Creamstick and Monosyllable respectively for synonyms.

Concerned, ppl. adj. (old).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Screwed.

1686. Magdalen College and King James II. (Oxford Hist. Soc.), quoted in Athenæum, 8 Jan., 1887, p. 56. When Mr. Anthony Farmer came to the Lobster about eleven at night, he came much concerned in drink.

17(?). Swift. [Quoted in Davies’ Supp. Lex.] (Mary, the cook-maid to Dr. Sheridan.) Which, and I am sure I have been his servant four years since October, And never call’d me worse than sweetheart, drunk or sober; Not that I know his Reverence was ever concern’d to my knowledge; Tho’ you and your come-rogues keep him out so late in your wicked college.

1834. Taylor, Ph. van Art., pt. II., iii., 3. Oh, she’s a light skirts! yea, and at this present A little, as you see, concern’d with liquor.

Conchers, subs. (Australian).—Tame or quiet cattle.

Condiddle, verb (old).—To purloin or steal. [From Latin con, a pleonastic prefix, + diddle, ‘to cheat.’ Condiddled is quoted by Grose in the Provincial Glossary, 1787, as signifying ‘dispersed.’]

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. iv. ‘Twig the old connoissœur,’ said the Squire to the Knight, ‘he is condiddling the drawing.’

Condog, verb (common).—To agree with. [A facetious variation of ‘concur’; ‘cur’ = dog.]

Confab, subs. (colloquial).—Familiar talk. [A contraction of confabulation; Latin confabulatio.]

1778. D’Arblay, Diary, etc. (1876), vol. I., p. 37. We had a very nice confab about various books.

1789. Wolcot (‘P. Pindar’), Subjects for Painters, in wks. (Dublin, 1795), vol. II., p. 26. For lo, with many a King and many a Queen, in close confab the gentleman is seen.

1841. Punch, vol. I., 75. Sibthorp, meeting Peel in the House of Commons after congratulating him on his present enviable position, finished the confab with the following unrivalled conundrum.

1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. xxv. ‘Mr. Harry … called Mr. Archer into his own room, and they had a confab.’

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. viii. This ended our confab and half an hour afterwards I stood in the hall shaking hands all round.

Verb.—To talk in a familiar manner; to chat.—See subs., sense.

1778. D’Arblay, Diary, etc. (1876), vol. I. p. 85. Mrs. Thrale and I were dressing, and, as usual, confabbing.

Confectionery, subs. (American).—A drinking bar. An analogous term is grocery, but for synonyms, see Lush-crib.

Confidence Trick, Dodge, or Buck, subs. phr. (common).—A process of swindling, the basis of which consists in obtaining trust with the deliberate intention of betraying it to your own advantage. A greenhorn meets (or rather is picked up by) a stranger who invites him to drink. The stranger admires him openly, protests his confidence in him, and to prove his sincerity hands him over a large amount of money [snide] or valuables [bogus], with which to walk off and return. The greenhorn does both, whereupon the stranger suggests that it is his turn next, and being favoured with certain proofs of ‘confidence,’ which in this case are real, decamps and is no more seen. This is the simplest form of the trick, but the confidence man is inexhaustible in devices. In many cases the subject’s idiosyncrasy takes the form of an idiotic desire to overreach his fellows; i.e., he is only a knave, wrong side out, and it is upon this idiosyncrasy that the operator works. He offers a sham gold watch at the price of a nickel one; he calls with presents from nowhere where none are expected; he writes letters announcing huge legacies to persons absolutely kinless; and as his appeal is addressed to the sister passions of greed and dishonesty he seldom fails of his reward. Fr., mener en bateau un pante pour le refaire = ‘to stick a jay and flap him.’

Conflabberated, ppl. adj. (common).—Bothered; upset; ‘flummoxed.’

Conflabberation, subs. (common).—A confused wrangle; a ‘hullabaloo.’

Confounded, adj. (colloquial).—Excessive; odious; detestable; e.g., a confounded nuisance, lie, humbug, etc. [Confound is properly ‘to mistake one for another,’ or ‘to throw into consternation.’ In its colloquial sense confounded is misused much as are ‘awful,’ ‘beastly,’ and other ‘strumpets of speech.’]

1766. O. Goldsmith, Vicar of Wakefield, ch. vii. (ed. 1827), p. 42. Mr. Thornhill, loq.: ‘For what are tythes and tricks but an imposition, all confounded imposture.’

Confubuscate, verb (popular).—See quot., and Cf., Confusticate.

1880. Broadside Ballad, ‘You mustn’t tickle me.’ I hope I don’t confubuscate, I’se Topsy from the Georgia State.

Confusticate, verb (American).—To confuse.

Coniacker, subs. (thieves’).—A counterfeiter; smasher; or ‘queer-bit’ faker. [Obviously a play upon coin, money, and hack, to mutilate.] Fr., un mornifleur tarte.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 296. False coins, the makers of which are curiously called coniackers.

Conish, adj. (old).—See quot.

1830. Sir E. B. Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 29 (ed. 1854). ‘Paul, my ben cull,’ said he with a knowing wink, and nudging the young gentleman in the left side, ‘vot do you say to a drop o’ blue ruin? or, as you likes to be conish (genteel), I doesn’t care if I sports you a glass of port.’

Conk, subs. (popular).—The nose. [Hotten says: possibly from the Latin concha, a shell. Greek, κόγχη—hence anything hollow. A parallel is testa = an earthenware pot, a shell, in Latin; and in later Latin = a skull; whence the French teste or tête = head. Cf., quot., 1838.]

English Synonyms. Boko or boco; proboscis; smeller; bowsprit; claret-jug; gig; muzzle; cheese-cutter; beak; snuff-box; snorter; post-horn; paste-horn; handle; snout; nozzle; smelling-cheat; snotter; candlestick; celestial; snottle-box; snuffler; trumpet; snorer; peak.

French Synonyms. Une bouteille (popular: literally ‘a bottle’); un Bourbon (popular: an abbreviated form of nez à la Bourbon. In allusion to the thick, prominent, and almost aquiline Bourbon nose); un blair or blaire (popular); un caillou (popular: properly ‘a flint.’ In allusion to a Bardolphian, a light-giving, quality); un tubercule (familiar: applied to a big nose. In medicine ‘a tumour,’ ‘swelling,’ or ‘protuberance’); un pivase (popular: a nose of large dimensions. Michel derives the word from pive = ‘a grog-blossom’ or ‘pin-point,’ properly a fir-apple); un piton (popular: literally a geographical term meaning ‘a peak.’ Un piton passé à l’encaustique, a red or ‘copper-nose’); un pif or pifre (general); une trompe (literally ‘a horn’ or ‘trumpet’); une truffe (popular: literally ‘a truffle,’ for which pigs are trained to search. Hence a Frenchman when he wants to call a man a pig, says il a un nez à chercher des truffes); une trompette (popular: literally ‘a trumpet’); un naze (popular and thieves’: a Provençalism); un nazaret (popular); un chandelier (popular); une tasse (popular); un sabot (popular); un os à moelle (thieves’: literally ‘a marrow-bone.’ Faire juter l’os à moelle = to use the fingers as a handkerchief); un éteignoir (popular: a large nose; literally, ‘an extinguisher’); un nazonnant (popular); un minois (thieves’: obsolete); un mirliton (popular); un morviau (popular).

German Synonyms. Muffer or Muffert (from muffen, muffeln, or murfeln = ‘to smell’); Schneitzling or Schnäuzling; Schnut (a North German form of Schnauze. Schnut is a favourite nickname among thieves, especially for those who possess long noses; also a pet name for a sweet-heart or doxy. Schnutenmelech or Schnutenkönig: the nosey king, or nosey one); Schniffling.

Italian Synonyms. Soffiante (this exactly corresponds to the English ‘snorter’; it signifies literally ‘blowing’ or ‘breathing’); fiauto or flauto (properly ‘a flute’); maremagno (literally ‘the great sea’).

1838. Comic Almanack, p. 158. I have inserted a small item from my surgeon’s bill, for repairs of his companions’ noses, damaged by his passion for Conchology.

1840. H. Cockton, Valentine Vox, ch. xxviii. He fancied it proper to put on his nose before he alighted from the cab. ‘Oh! oh! there’s a conk! there’s a smeller! Oh! oh!’ exclaimed about fifty voices in chorus.

1859. Punch, vol. XXXVII., p. 54. ‘Essence of Parliament.’ July 25, Monday. 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.

1860. Chambers’ Journal, vol. XIII., p. 348. His nose is his conk.

1887. Atkin, House Scraps. His ‘dexter ogle’ has a ‘mouse’; His conk’s devoid of bark.

1889. Answers, 9 Feb. That portion of his countenance which is euphemistically described in the language of lower London as a conk.

Conoodle.—See Canoodle.

Conscience, subs. (theatrical).—Thus explained in Slang, Jargon, and Cant: A kind of association in a small company for the allotment of shares in the profits, etc. The man who is lucky enough to have a concern of his own, generally a very small affair, however badly he may act, must be the leading man or first low comedian, perhaps both. He becomes the manager, of course, and thus has one share for ‘fit-up,’ one for scenery, one and a half for management, one for wardrobe, one and a half as leading man; and the same is given to the wife, who, of course, will not play anything but the juvenile lead, but who at any other time would be glad to play first old woman.

Considerable Bend. To go on the Considerable Bend, verb. phr. (common).—To go in for a bout of dissipation.

Consonant-Choker, subs. (common).—One that clips his G’s and muffles his R’s.

Constable. To out or over-run the constable, verbal phr. (common).—To live beyond one’s means and get into debt; also, in a figurative sense, to escape from a bad argument; ‘to change the subject’; to talk about what is not understood.

1663. Butler, Hudibras, pt. I., canto iii., l. 1367. Quoth Hudibras, Friend Ralph, thou hast Out-run the constable at last; For thou art fallen as a new Dispute, as senseless as untrue, But to the former opposite, And contrary as black to white.

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xxiii. He inquired, ‘how far have you overrun the constable?’ I told him that the debt amounted to eleven pounds.

1766. Anstey, New Bath Guide, letter vii. And some people think with such haste he began, That soon he the constable greatly outran.

1782. Wolcot (‘P. Pindar’), Rights of Kings, ode xi. Got deep in debt, the constable out-ran.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xli., p. 357. ‘He run a match agin the constable, and vun it.’ ‘In other words, I suppose,’ said Mr. Pickwick, ‘he got into debt.’ ‘Just that, sir,’ replied Sam.

Constician, subs. (theatrical).—A member of the orchestra.

Constitutional, subs. (colloquial).—A walk undertaken for the sake of health and exercise [i.e., for the benefit of the constitution]. Tronchiner, from Doctor Tronchin, is French for the verb, tronchinade for the act.

1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. xxix. One evening, about a week before the examinations were to begin, I was taking my usual constitutional after Hall.

1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. II., p. 41. At one time he was a great friend of Cocky Palmer’s, and used to go with him to the Cock fights at Wheatley—that Village just on the other side Shotover Hill—where we did a constitutional the other day.

1871. City of London Directory. ‘Facts and Anomalies.’ The valetudinarian has not much choice in the city for a constitutional, seeing that it possesses but three walks, and ‘Long Walk’ is the shortest.

Contango, subs. (Stock Exchange).—A fine paid by the buyer to the seller of stock for carrying over the engagement to another settling day, and representing a kind of interest for a fourteen days’ extension. [Thought to be a corruption of ‘continuation.’]

1853. Notes and Queries, 17 Dec., p. 586, col. 2. Contango: a technical term in use among the sharebrokers of Liverpool, and I presume elsewhere, signifying a sum of money paid for accommodating either a buyer or seller by carrying the engagement to pay money or deliver shares over to the next account day.

1871. Daily News, 27 Feb. A large amount of money was offered in the Stock Exchange, in connection with the fortnightly settlement, which began this morning, and the contangoes on British railway securities were light, while the supply of stock was small.

1872. Evening Standard, 11 Dec. ‘City Intelligence.’ Erie Shares are steady; the contango is 3d. to 9d.

1884. Daily News, Nov. 13, p. 5, col. 1. City shop is not less baffling, and it is perhaps impossible for laymen to understand what contango means. Contango, by the way, would be a proud motto for an ennobled stockbroker, and would look well under a crest.

1887. Atkin, House Scraps. B stands for broker, for bull and for bear, C’s the contango that’s paid by the bull.

Content, adv. (old).—Dead. For synonyms, see Aloft and Hop the twig.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. The cull’s content: the man is past complaining (cant), saying of a person murdered for resisting the robbers.

Continent, adv. (Winchester College).—Ill; on the sick list. [From continens cameram vel lectum, keeping one’s room or bed.]—See Abroad.

1870. Mansfield, School Life at Winchester College, p. 146. When a boy felt ill, or inclined to quit school for a period, he had to get leave continent which was done by sending a boy in the morning first to get leave from his tutor, and then from the Head Master.

1878. Adams, Wykehamica, p. 224. We suggested the ‘continent room’; and on being required to say what was to become of the sick boys? replied, that it was notorious that there was never anything the matter with them!

Continental. Not to care or be worth a continental or continental damn, phr. (American).—To be worthless; not to care in the least degree. [Continental was the common qualification at the time of the Revolution of whatever concerned the American Colonies before they were united into a confederacy; hence continental congress, continental money, continental troops; while the people themselves were generally spoken of as continentallers or continentals. Continental damn, a term almost universally applied to the worthless continental paper money of those days is, nevertheless held by James Grant White (Words and their Uses) to be a counterpart, if not a mere modification, of other phrases of the same kidney—a tinker’s or trooper’s damn, etc.—and as the colonial troops were called continentallers or continentals during the war, and for many years afterwards, it is probable that it began as a continental’s damn. Passing to the general phrase ‘not worth a damn’ Mr. White thinks that the ‘damn’ = A.S. cerse = watercress. Piers Ploughman (1362) says ‘wisdom and witt nowe is not worth a kerse’ and transition, by reason of identity of sound and a love of variety, from ‘not worth a curse’ to ‘not worth a damn’ is easy.]—See Care and Curse.

1869. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), The Innocents at Home, p. 20. He didn’t give a continental for anybody. Beg your pardon, friend, for coming so near saying a cuss-word.

1888. Missouri Republican, 16 Feb. I am not worrying about the nomination, though. I don’t care a continental if I don’t receive it.

Continuations, subs. (general).—Trousers. [Of analogous derivation to inexpressibles; unmentionables; musn’t-mention’ems; untalkaboutables, etc.] For synonyms, see Bags and Kicks.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 4, col. 1. Like the London dustmen, the Newmarket jockeys, the peripatetic vendors, or buyers of ‘old clo’,’ or the Albert continuations at one pound one, they appear to be made to measure for the same.

1853. Whyte Melville, Digby Grand, ch. xx. To whose wonderfully-fitting continuations, ‘pants’ he calls them, the ‘Ananyridians’ themselves are but as a Dutchman’s drawers.

Contraptions, subs. (American).—Small articles; tools; and so forth.

1838. J. C. Neal, Charcoal Sketches. For my part, I can’t say as how I see what’s to be the end of all of them new-fangled contraptions. [de v.]

Control Fortune, verbal phr. (card-sharpers’).—To cheat at cards.—See Rook.

Convenience, subs. (common).—A water-closet or chamber-pot.

Convenient, subs. (old).—A mistress. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1676. Etherege, Man of Mode, III., iii., in wks. (1704), 233. Dorimant’s convenient, Madam Loveit.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, II., in wks. (1720), iv., 47. But where’s your lady, captain, and the blowing, that is to be my natural, my convenient, my pure? Ibid, I., iv., p. 22. Shamwell. Thou art i’ th’ right; but, captain, where’s the convenient, the Natural? Hackum. Why, at my house; my wife has brought her into a good humour; she is very pretty.

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

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Convexes.—See Concaves.

Convey, verb (old).—To steal. [In law, to transfer from one person to another; by which it will be seen that there is a certain humour in the expression.] For synonyms, see Prig. Cf., Annex.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, Act i., Sc. 3. Nym. The good humour is, to steal at a minute’s rest. Pist. Convey, the wise it call.

1607. Marston, What You Will, II., 260. But, as I am Crack, I will convey, crossbite, and cheat upon Simplicius.

1883. A. Dobson, Old World Idylls, p. 237. If they hint, O Musician, the piece that you played Is nought but a copy of Chopin or Spohr; That the ballad you sing is but merely conveyed From the stock of the Arnes and the Purcells of yore.

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 31 Oct., p. 3. col. 1. Three great works of research and collaboration have been projected and partially or wholly executed in England within the lifetime of the present generation. They are the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Dictionary of National Biography, and the New English Dictionary. Each of these, but especially the last (from which the Century crew have conveyed freely) is as perfect in its way as any human undertaking can be.

1890. Scots Observer, 14 June, p. 98, col. 1. Lest this may seem an ungenerous suspicion, I hasten to say that it would never have crossed my mind had not so many of the other characters in this remarkable production (?) been obviously conveyed (delicious word!) from well-known novels.

Conveyance, subs. (old).—A theft.—[See Convey and Conveyancer.]

1592. Shakspeare, I. Hen. VI., i., 3. Since Henry’s death, I fear there is conveyance.

1712. Spectator, No. 305. Provided the conveyance was clean and unsuspected, a youth might afterwards boast of it.

Conveyancer, subs. (old).—A thief. [From convey, to steal. In law, one whose occupation is to draw conveyances or transfers of property, deeds, etc.]—See Conveyer.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant (3 ed.), p. 445. To pick pockets: to buzz, buzzmen, clyfakers, conveyancers.

Conveyancing, verbal subs. (common).—Thieving. [In law, the act or practice of drawing up deeds, leases, etc., for transferring the title to property from one person to another. Cf., Convey, to steal.]

1865. Mr. Smollett, in House of Commons, 14 March. ‘Speech on the Nawab of the Carnatic.’ Pickpockets in London, when they appropriated purses or watches, called the transaction conveyancing.

1889. Modern Society (quoted in S., J. and C.), p. 269. The green youth who attempted to decamp with ——’s watch … was properly punished for his verdancy in the art of conveyancing.

Conveyer, subs. (old).—A thief. [One who conveys or steals.] Fr., emposteur.

1597. Shakspeare, Richard II., iv., sub. fin. O good convey! Conveyers are you all, That rise thus nimbly by a true king’s fall.

Cony or Tom Cony, subs. (old).—A simpleton. [From the proverbial simplicity of the rabbit or cony.]—See Cony-catch, verb, and for synonyms, Buffle-head and Cabbage-head.

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

Cony-Catch, verb (old).—To cheat; deceive; trick; or ‘bite’ (q.v.). [Literally ‘to catch conies.’] Dekker, in his English Villainies, describes the system which is obviously the equivalent of the modern confidence trick (q.v.). A society of sharpers of this type was called ‘a warren,’ and their dupes ‘rabbit-suckers’ (that is, baby rabbits), or conies. At other times the gang were ‘bird-catchers,’ and their quarry was ‘a gull,’ etc. For synonyms, see Stick.

1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, v., 1. Take heed, signor Baptista, lest you be conny-catched in this business.

1596. Nashe, Saffron Walden, in wks. III., 158. Hereby hee thought to conny-catch the simple world.

1604. Dekker, Honest Wh., in wks. (1873) II., 12. Why, sister, do you thinke He conny-catch you, when you are my cozen?

Cony Catcher, subs. (old).—A cheat; sharper; or trickster. [From cony-catch, verb (q.v.), + er.] For synonyms, see Rook.

1592. John Day, Blind Beggar, Act iii., Sc. 3, p. 57. We’ll go seek out those cony-catchers; and ere I catch them, I’ll make them pay soundly all for their roguery.

1599. Minshew, Dict., s.v. A conie-catcher: a name given to deceivers, by a metaphor, taken from those that rob warrens, and conie-grounds, using all means, sleights, and cunning to deceive them, as pitching of haies before their holes, fetching them in by tumblers, etc.

1602. Rowlands, Greene’s Ghost, p. 3. (Hunterian Club’s Repr.) And the name of conicatchers is so odious, that now a dayes it is had vp, and vsed for an opprobrious name for euerie one that sheweth the least occasion for deceit.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxiii. Marry, thou hast me on the hip there, thou old miserly cony-catcher!

Cony-Catching, verbal subs. (old).—Cheating; trickery; swindling after the manner of cony-catchers (q.v.). Shakspeare, says Nares, has once used it to express harmless roguery, playing jocular tricks, and no more [see quot., 1593]. For synonyms, see Sell.

1592. Greene, Groundwork of Conny-Catching, p. 2. … this booke, wherein thou shalt find the ground-worke of Conny-catching.

1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, iv., 1. Come, you are so full of conycatching.

1608. Middleton, Trick to Catch the Old One, III., iv. Thou hast more cony-catching devices than all London.

1703. Ward, London Spy, pt. XI., p. 260. And being almost Drunk, their Brains ran on coney-catching.

1884. Daily News, Jan. 5, p. 5, col. 2. Coney-catching, or its modern equivalent, the confidence trick.

Ppl. adj. (old).—Mutatis mutandis, the same as the substantive (q.v.).

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, i., 1. Marry, sir, I have matter in my head against you; and against your Coney-catching rascals, Bardolph, Nym, and Pistol.

1596. Ben Jonson, Every Man in His Humour, iii., 1. Whoreson coney-catching rascal! I could eat the very hilts for anger.

Coo-e-e-e, or Coo-ey, subs. (Australian).—A signal cry of the Australian blackfellow, adopted by the invading whites. The final ‘e’ is a very high note, a sort of prolonged screech, that resounds for miles through the bush, and thus enables parties that have lost each other to ascertain their relative positions.

1883. Graphic, July 7, p. 6, col. 3. Coo-e-e is the Australian cry for help. When the two hands are used, and the coo properly pitched, it can be heard a wonderful distance. Whenever a coo-e-e is heard in the bush it is a matter of conscience to answer it and see what is amiss.

1887. G. L. Apperson, in All the Year Round, 30 July, p. 67, col. 1. A common mode of expression is to be ‘within cooey’ of a place. Originally, no doubt, this meant to be within the distance at which the well-known cooey or bush cry, could be heard; now it simply means within easy reach of a place. To be ‘within cooey’ of Sydney is to be at the distance of an easy journey therefrom.

1889. E. S. Rawson, In Australian Wilds. ‘A Queensland Mystery.’ It is solely on this, or the mad theory, that one could account for the startling effects of Jim’s cooee or otherwise to the belated wanderer it would have been a revelation of joy and rescue.

Cook, verb (colloquial).—1. To tamper with, garble, or falsify. Accounts are cooked when so altered as to look better than they are. Pictures are cooked when dodged-up for sale. Painters say that a picture will not cook when it is so excellent as to be beyond imitation.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. xcviii. Some falsified printed accounts, artfully cooked up, on purpose to mislead and deceive.

1856. Punch, vol. XXXI., p. 189. ‘Advertisement of Bubble Bank Book-keeping,’ by Prof. McDooall. It is remarkable especially for the facilities it offers for cooking the accounts, as it entirely prevents any possibility of checking them.

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, II., p. 19. When A has been looking up to B for thirty years, he cannot look down on him all of a sudden, just because he catches him falsifying accounts. Why, man is a cooking animal; commercial man especially.

1871. The Athenæum, 4 Feb. The great work of art of Ivan Turgeneff, the Notes by a Sportsman had been what is vulgarly called cooked for the French markets.

1872. Spencer, Study of Sociology, ch. vi., p. 119 (9 ed.). The dishonesty implied in the adulterations of tradesmen and manufacturers … in cooking of railway accounts and financial prospectuses.

1888. Grant Allen, This Mortal Coil, ch. v. Where Warren Relf was seated cooking a sky in one of his hasty seaside sketches.

1890. Saturday Review, 1 Feb., p. 134, col. 1. We referred, in our last article upon this [gambling] subject, to the Paris Mutuels, and explained their working. Now money has to be found somehow for the poorer classes to get to the Mutuel and back their fancies, and the clerk cooks his books, and the shop-boy ‘fingers the till.’

2. See Cook one’s goose, of which it is an abbreviation.

3. (colloquial).—To swelter with heat and sweat. In this sense the Fourbesque has ansare; literally ‘to be out of breath.’

To cook one’s goose, verbal phr. (common).—To ‘settle’; ‘worst’; kill; or ruin.

English Synonyms. To anodyne; to put to bed; to snuff out; to give, or cook one’s gruel; to corpse; to cooper up; to wipe out; to spiflicate; to settle, or settle one’s hash; to squash; to shut up; to send to pot; to smash; to finish; to do for; to bugger up; to put one’s light out; to stop one’s little game; to stop one’s galloping; to put on an extinguisher; to clap a stopper on; to bottle up; to squelch; to play hell (or buggery) with; to rot; to squash up; to stash; to give a croaker. For synonyms in the sense of circumvention, see Floored.

French Synonyms. Avoir son affaire (familiar: this also means to have got ‘a settler,’ and ‘to be absolutely drunk’); buter (thieves’ = ‘to kill’ or ‘execute’); escarper (thieves’); envoyer essayer une chemise de sapin (military: literally ‘to send one to try on a deal shirt.’ Cf., ‘wooden surtout’ = coffin); faire suer un chêne (popular: suer = to sweat; chêne = cove); faire passer le goût du pain (familiar = ‘to give one his gruel’); coffier (thieves’: an abbreviation of escoffier, to kill); conir (thieves’); ébasir (thieves’: formerly esbasir; Fourbesque sbasire and Germania esbasir); mettre à l’ombre (general = to put in the shade); endormir (thieves’); entailler (thieves’); abasourdir (thieves’: properly ‘to astound’); chouriner or suriner (thieves’: ‘chourin’ or surin = a knife); estourbir (thieves’); scionner (thieves’: from scion = a knife); faire un machabée (thieves’: in cant machabée = a drowned corpse. Michel thinks the expression originated either in the reading of II. Macabees, ch. xii., which is still retained in the Mass for the Dead, or through la danse macabre, the Dance of Death shown in the engravings of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries); faire flotter un pante (popular = to cook one’s goose by drowning. Flotter = to float. i.e., like a corpse); crever la paillasse (popular: literally ‘to rip open the mattress’); laver le linge dans la saignante (thieves’: to wash linen in blood): dévisser le trognon à quelqu’un (popular); entonner (popular: see Michel); estrangouiller (popular = ‘to strangle’; from a veterinary term étranguillon = ‘the strangles’); tortiller la vis, or le gaviau (thieves’); terrer (thieves’: to ‘guillotine’); faire la grande soulasse (thieves’: soulas, Old French = ‘solace’ or ‘comfort’); rebâtir un pante (thieves’); sonner (popular); lingrer (popular); envoyer ad patres (popular = ‘to send to one’s fathers’); envoyer en paradis (general = ‘to send to kingdom-come’); envoyer en parade (thieves’ = ‘to send on parade’); capahuter (thieves’ = to get rid of an accomplice to secure his share of the booty; sometimes rendered by refroidir à la capahut); décrocher (military: literally ‘to unhook,’ ‘to take down’); descendre quelqu’un (popular = to bring down); couper le sifflet (popular = to cut one’s whistle); watriniser (popular: in reference to M. Watrin, who was murdered by the Decazeville miners in 1886. Cf., the English ‘to burke’); moucher le quinquet (popular: ‘to snuff the lamp’); faire saigner du nez (thieves’ = ‘to give a bloody nose’); sabler (thieves’); faire banque (common); suager (thieves’: from suer, ‘to sweat’).

German Synonyms. Abfetzen (to kill by cutting or stabbing); abmeken, abmacken (Hebrew mocho = to put aside, to destroy, or to give ‘tit for tat.’ North German afmurksen); bekern machen (from the Hebrew peger. Used of animals it is the equivalent of krepieren); hargenen or horeg sein (‘to kill’ or ‘murder.’ Horeg, the murderer; Horug, the murdered; nehrog, murdered; nehrog werden, to be murdered; Hereg or Harigo, the murder); heimthun, or heimerlich spielen (heim, a corruption of the Hebrew chajim = life); Kappore machen or fetzen (literally ‘to make purified.’ From the Hebrew kophar); memissen or memissren; die Neschome nehmen (Hebrew neschomo, the soul or life); pegern or peigern; rozechenen or rozchenen (Hebrew, rozach = to kill); schächten (Hebrew, schochat).

Italian Synonym. Sbasire (literally ‘to cause to faint’ or ‘swoon.’ Sbasire su le funi = to swoon on the rope, i.e., to be hanged).

Spanish Synonyms. Apretar á uno la nuez (properly to clutch the Adam’s apple, i.e., the throat); apiolar (properly ‘to gyve a hawk’ or ‘to tie game together by the legs’; and metaphorically, ‘to seize’ or apprehend); despabilar (literally ‘to snuff a candle.’ Cf., Fr. moucher le quinquet and the Eng. ‘to put on an extinguisher’); apercollar (also, ‘to seize one by the collar’).

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 360. When the clarences, the cabs that carry four, came in, they cooked the hackney-coachmen in no time.

1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Adventures of Verdant Green, p. 270. Billy’s too big in the Westphalia’s gig-lamps, you’re the boy to cook Fosbrooke’s goose.

1861. A. Trollope, Framley Parsonage, ch. xlii. Chaldicotes, Gagebee, is a cooked goose, as far as Sowerby is concerned. And what difference could it make to him whether the Duke is to own it or Miss Dunstable.

1865. G. A. Sala, Trip to Barbary, ch. v. The first Napoleon … once nearly killed himself by his addictedness to Provençal cookery. Yes; a mess of mutton and garlic—’tis said it was poisoned—very nearly cooked the goose of Achilles.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. ii., p. 128. Seeing how the fellow was acting he sent him two ‘shise’ notes, which gave him a dose that cooked him. I saw the man myself, serving his time at Dartmoor.

1888. Puck’s Library, May, p. 10. When the chromo first emerged from chaos, the producers of that kind of picture insisted that the goose of the artist was cooked.

Cookey or Cookie. To bet a cookie, verbal phr. (American).—The custom of preparing the cakes still known in Scotland as cookies was part and parcel of American life. [The cookey, like the English pancake on Shrove Tuesday, and the hot cross bun on Good Friday, forms a special old-fashioned dainty at Christmas-tide and New Year. From the Dutch koekje, dim. of koek, a cake.]

1870. Bret Harte, Luck of Roaring Camp, p. 227. Don’t know what he is! He lost every hoof and hide, I’ll bet a cookey!

1872. Lloyd’s Weekly, 28 April. ‘Probate Court Report.’ Might have said she would bet a cookey that the will was in America. (Laughter.)

1888. Detroit Free Press, 31 March. A book has just been published to instruct reporters in the use of proper phrases. We bet a cookey no reporter will ever read it.

Cookeyshine, subs. (old Scots).—An afternoon meal at which cookies (q.v.) form a staple dish. Cf., Tea-fight, Muffin-worry, etc. (q.v.). [From cookey, a small cake, + shine (q.v.), an entertainment.]

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, I., 103. Dr. Sampson, loq.: We shall see whether we are on the right system: and if so, we’ll dose her with useful society in a more irrashinal forrm; conversaziones, cookeyshines, et cetera. And if we find ourselves on the wrong tack, why then we’ll hark back.

Cook-Ruffian, subs. (old).—A bad or indifferent cook, ‘who would cook the devil in his feathers.’

Cool, adj. (colloquial).—1. Impertinent; audacious; calmly impudent.

1870. Figaro, 22 May. It is considered to be cool to take a man’s hat with his name written in it, simply because you want to get his autograph.

Cool as a Cucumber, phr. (common).—Without heat; also, metaphorically, calm and composed.

2. (In reference to money; e.g., a cool hundred, thousand, etc.) Commonly expletive; but sometimes used to cover a sum a little above the figure stated.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VIII., ch. xii. Mr. Watson, too, after much variety of luck, rose from the table in some heat, and declared he had lost a cool hundred, and would play no longer.

1771. Smollet, Humphry Clinker, l. 41. I’ll bet a cool hundred he swings before Christmas.

1825. Miss Edgeworth, Love and Law, i., 2. Suppose you don’t get sixpence costs, and lose your cool hundred by it, still it’s a great advantage.

1841, Lytton, Night and Morning, bk. II., ch. x. Borrowed his money under pretence of investing it in the New Grand Anti-Dry-Rot Company; cool hundred—it’s only just gone, sir.

1890. Illustrated Bits, 29 March, p. 8, col. 2. I made three thousand last year, but if I have good luck this year I shall make a cool fifty thousand.

3. (Eton College).—See Cool kick and the following.

Verb (Eton College).—To kick hard.

Cool-Crape, subs. (old).—A shroud, or winding sheet.—Grose.

Cooler, subs. (old).—1. A woman.—Grose [1785]. For synonyms, see Petticoat.

1742. Charles Johnson, Highwaymen and Pyrates, p. 293. ‘Not I,’ replied Jones, very readily, ‘I neither know nor care who you are, tho’ before you spoke I took you for a brewer because you travel with your cooler by your side.’

2. (American thieves’).—A prison. For synonyms, see Cage.

3. (common).—Ale or stout after spirits and water. Sometimes called ‘putting the beggar on the gentleman’; also damper (q.v.).

1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry (ed. 1890), p. 76. Many persons … in order to allay the heat or thirst arising from the pernicious use of such quantities of ardent spirits, frequently take a glass of porter, which is termed a cooler, ‘a damper,’ etc.

Cool-Kick, subs. (Eton College).—When a behind (q.v.) or ‘back’ gets a kick with no one up to him.

Cool-Lady, subs. (old).—A female follower of the camp who sells brandy.—Grose [1785].

Cool-Nantz, subs. (old).—Brandy. For synonyms, see Drinks.

Cool one’s Coppers, verbal phr. (popular).—To allay the morning’s thirst after a night of drink. Cf., Hot-coppers and Dry as a lime basket.

1861. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. iii. We were playing Van John in Blake’s rooms till three last night, and he gave us devilled bones and mulled port. A fellow can’t enjoy his breakfast after that without something to cool his coppers.

1870. Sportsman, 17 Dec. ‘A Chapel Meeting.’ Bring me a mouthful, George, shouted a grasping Typo one day to his chum, who, at the trough in the furthest corner of the room, was cooling his coppers with cold water.

Coon, subs. (American).—1. A man. [Coon, a curtailment of ‘racoon’ (Procyon lotor), is thought to be of Indian origin (Algonquin, aroughcun, the scratcher), though some trace it to the French raton. The contraction dates from about 1840, when the racoon was used as a kind of political totem.]

1860. Punch, vol. XXXIX., p. 227. ‘The Baby in the House.’ I sign him, said the Curate Howe, O’er Samuel Burbott George Bethune, Then baby kicked up such a row As terrified that reverend coon.

2. (American).—A nigger, e.g., a coons’ bawdy house = a house where none are kept but girls of colour.

Gone coon, subs. phr. (American).—One in a serious or hopeless difficulty. A Scots equivalent is gone corbie, i.e., a dead crow. Cf., Gone goose. [The explanation generally given is that during the American War a spy dressed in racoon skins ensconced himself in a tree. An English rifleman (the nationalities are reversible) levelled his piece at him, whereupon the American exclaimed: ‘Don’t shoot, I’ll come down. I know I am a gone coon.’]

1845. Mr. Giddings, in Congress (quoted in De Vere). Besides the acquisition of Canada, which is put down on all sides as a gone coon.

1857. Dickens, Lying Awake, in Reprinted Pieces, p. 192. I must think of something else as I lie awake; or, like that sagacious animal in the United States who recognised the colonel who was such a dead shot, I am a gone coon.

1864. Derby Day, p. 51. We shan’t get to your advice till the crack’s hocussed and done for, and we’re all ruined as safe as coons.

1867. London Herald, 23 March, p. 221, col. 3. ‘We’re safe to nab him; safe as houses. He’s a gone coon, sir.’

1883. Calverley, Fly Leaves, p. 83. ‘On the Brink.’ She stood so calm, so like a ghost, Betwixt me and that magic moon. That I already was almost A finished coon.

To go the whole coon, verbal phr. (American). = ‘To go the whole hog.’

Coon’s Age, subs. phr. (American).—A long time; ‘a blue moon.’ The racoon is held to be a long-lived animal.

b. 1780, d. 1851. Audubon, Life, I., p. 178. ‘Wall, Pete, whar have you been? I hav’n’t seen you this coon’s age.’

Coop, subs. (thieves’).—A prison. For synonyms, see Cage.

1866. London Miscellany, 3 Mar., p. 58, col. 3. I don’t think that’s no little let-down for a cove as has been tip-topper in his time, and smelt the insides of all the coops in the three kingdoms.

1877. J. Greenwood, Dick Temple. You say that you have been in the coop as many times as I have.

Cooped-up, ppl., adj., phr. (old).—Imprisoned. [From coop (q.v.), a place of detention.] For synonyms, see Limbo.

Cooper or Cooper up, verb (thieves’ and vagrants’).—1. To destroy; spoil; settle; or finish.

2. (thieves’).—To forge.

3. (American).—To understand. For synonyms, see Twig.

Coopered, ppl. adj. (racing, thieves’, and vagrants’).—Hocussed; spoiled; ruined; e.g., a house is said to be coopered when the importunity of many tramps has caused its inmates to cold-shoulder the whole fraternity; a coopered horse is a horse that has been ‘got at’ with a view to prevent its running.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 232. ‘Cooper’d,’ spoiled by the imprudence of some other patterer.

Coored, adj. (old).—Whipped.—D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171 [1821].

Coot, subs. (American).—A stupid fellow; generally ‘a silly’ or ‘mad old coot.’ Stupid as a coot is a common English provincialism. [The fulica altra, the bald or common coot, like the ostrich, is said to bury its head when pursued, thinking none can see it, as it cannot see itself.] For synonyms, see Buffle-head and Cabbage-head.

Cooter.—See Couter.

Cop, subs. (common).—A policeman. [From cop, verb, sense 1.] For synonyms, see Beak, sense 1, and Copper.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, p. 124. Oh! where will be the culls of the bing … And all the cops and beaks so knowin’, A hundred stretches hence?

1879. Punch, 3 May, p. 201, col. 1. I suppose if the Toffs took a fancy for chewing a stror or a twig, Like a tout or a hostler, or tumbled to carryin’ a bludgeon as big As a crib cracker’s nobby persuader, Pall Mall would be jolly soon gay With blue-blooded blokes a green cop might mistake for foot-pads on the lay.

Verb (common).—1. To seize; steal; catch; take an unfair advantage in a bet or bargain. [Cop has been associated with the root of the Latin cap-io, to seize, to snatch; also with the Gypsy kap or cop = to take; Scotch kep; and Gallic ceapan. Probably, however, its true radix is to be found in the Hebrew cop = a hand or palm. Low-class Jews employ the term, and understand it to refer to the act of snatching.]

[Cop like Chuck (q.v.), is a sort of general utility verb. Thus to Cop the Needle = to get angry; to Cop the Bullet or the door = to get the sack; to Cop it Hot = to be severely clapped; to Cop it (said of women) = to be got with child; and to Cop the Brewer = to be drunk.]

For synonyms in the sense of to steal, see Prig; and in the sense of to seize, see Nab.

1864. Manchester Courier, 13 June. ‘Copper’ … a slang name for a policeman derived from cop, which is a well known and generally used vulgarism for ‘catch.’

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., XL., p. 500. I was taken by two pals (companions) to an orchard to cop (steal) some fruit.

1883. Punch, Sept. 29, p. 146, col. 2. ‘Bill’s not such a fool as you think; He’ll cop my truncheon, pat, Jam the whistle into my mouth, And stretch the Peeler flat.’

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Straight Tip to all Cross Coves. Booze and the blowens cop the lot.

2. trs. and intrs. (thieves’).—To arrest; imprison; betray; ensnare.

English Synonyms. To give the clinch; to make one kiss the clink; to accommodate; to nobble; to bag; to box; to fist (old); to scoop; to take up; to victimize; to run in; to give or get one the boat; to buckle; to smug; to nab; to collar; to pinch; to nail; to rope in; to shake; to pull up.

French Synonyms. Empioler (thieves’); tomber au plan (thieves’ = to be apprehended); étre mis au plan (thieves’ = to be imprisoned); enfourailler (thieves’); bâcler or boucler (thieves’: literally to buckle, put a ring to); bloquer (military: properly to blockade); étre le bon (popular = to be arrested; also to be the right man); boulotter de or coucher à la boîte (military = to get frequently locked up. La grosse boîte = a prison; boîte aux refléxions = a prison cell); mettre quelqu’un dans la blouse (familiar = to ‘pocket,’ as at billiards); se faire cuire (popular = to be arrested); clouer (popular: clou = guard-room or cell); coller au bloc (popular: coller is properly to stick, as with glue, but in a slang sense it carries the meaning of to place or put; bloc = prison); piper (familiar); poisser (popular and thieves’); grimer (popular); coquer (thieves’: also, to peach or inform); enflacquer (thieves’); mettre or fourrer dedans (familiar: literally to put inside); mettre à l’ombre (common: literally to put in the shade); mettre au violon (popular: see violon under Cage); grappiner (popular); poser un gluau (thieves’ = to lime, as in snaring birds); empoigner (popular = to fist; possibly a dictionary word); piger (popular); emballer (popular and thieves’; properly to pack up); gripper (this has passed into the language); encoffrer (popular = to ‘box up’); encager (familiar = to cage); accrocher (properly to hook); ramasser de la boîte (military: also ramasser quelqu’un and se faire remasser); souffler (thieves’); faire tomber malade (popular = to make one ill); agrafer (literally to hook or clasp; avoir son linge lavé (thieves’ = to have one’s linen washed).

German Synonyms.—Bekaan scheften (from the Hebrew kaan); im Kühlen sitzen (literally to sit in the cold. Cf., Fr., mettre à l’ombre); krank werden (literally to fall ill; equivalent to the Fr. faire tomber malade); ins Leck baun (Viennese thieves’ M.H.G. luken = to lock up); millek sein (to be imprisoned); trefe fallen (to be apprehended under grave circumstances; e.g., with burglar’s instruments or stolen goods); versargen (to imprison for a long time); abfassen (students’ slang); ankappen (popular colloquialism); klemmen (M.H.G. klembern = to press heavily); taffen, tofes nehmen, tofes lokechnen, or tofes lekichnen (from the Hebrew tophas); vercheweln, vercheifeln or verheifeln (from the Hebrew chobal; also to bind or gag).

Copbusy, verb (thieves’).—See quot.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3 ed., p. 445. To hand over the booty to a confederate or girl—to copbusy.

Copper, subs. (popular).—A policeman. [From cop, verb, senses 1 and 2, (q.v.), to catch, + er; literally a catcher.] Equivalents are robin or robin-redbreast; m.p. (i.e., member of police); copperman (an Australian prison term); but for synonyms, see Beak, to which may be added the following.

French Synonyms. Un chasse-coquin (popular: also = a ‘beadle’ and ‘bad wine.’ Literally ‘a beggar-driver’: Cf., chasse-chien = a beadle employed to drive away dogs); un chasse-noble (thieves’); le cadratin (police; a term applied to the detective force; properly what printers call an ‘em quad’); l’enplaque (thieves’); une fauvette à tête noire (thieves’: literally ‘a black-cap’); un bricul or briculé (thieves’: an inspector of police); une casserole (thieves’ = a detective; also a prostitute. Properly ‘a saucepan’ or warming-pan); un emballeur (thieves’: properly ‘a packer’); un ficard (thieves’); un arnacq or arnache (thieves’); un vesto de la cuisine (thieves’ = a detective. Vesto = haricot bean; cuisine = detective force); rabatteur de pantes (thieves’ = a beater of game, man being the quarry); un bigorneau (properly a periwinkle); un cognac (thieves’); un quart (pop: faire son quart = to be on the watch); un radis noir (common: also = a priest or devil-dodger); un renifleur (thieves’: renifler = to sniff); mari Robin (thieves’); un marchand or solliceur de lacets (thieves’: lacets = hand-cuffs); lapin ferré (a mounted policeman); un liêge (thieves’).

German Synonyms. Blaukragen (Viennese thieves’: for an armed policeman; literally ‘a blue collar,’ in allusion to the uniform); Blitzableiter (literally ‘the lightning conductor’); Bosser-Isch (a play upon words is involved in this term. It is derived from the Hebrew bosar = meat. Bosser-Isch signifies literally ‘meat-man,’ i.e., a butcher, or translated into literary German, Fleischmann. In the first half of the last century a certain Lieutenant Fleischmann was especially zealous in ‘persecuting’ the robber gangs infesting the district between Frankfurt and Darmstadt. Every hunter of rogues and vagabonds has since then been called a Bosser-Isch or Fleischmann. Hence its application to the police); Greiferci (specially applied to the ‘criminal’ police); Hadatsch or Hatschier (Viennese thieves’); aie Herren (the police force generally; literally ‘the gentlemen’); Husche, Huscher, Husskiefel or Husskopf (a mounted policeman); Iltis or Iltisch (thieves’); Kapdon (from the Hebrew kophad: literally ‘to draw together,’ or intransitively ‘to cut off’; applied to a clever policeman); Karten (the police. Cf., Garden = guards); Koberer (the officer in charge of the regulations over registered prostitutes; Koberer = ‘fancy-man,’ or ‘protector’); Klisto (a mounted policeman; from the Hanoverian gypsy glisto); Kreuzritter (Viennese thieves’ = a policeman who is also a soldier; more correctly, a police-soldier); Laileschmir (a night policeman; from the Hebrew lailo, ‘the night’); Laterne (Viennese thieves’); Lederzeug (a mounted policeman); Mischpoche (a Hebrew word signifying ‘the family,’ ‘the relations’; gang of robbers; the inmates of a prison; the police force taken as a whole); Polenk or Polente (Hanoverian slang for the police; possibly from the Gypsy polontschero = ‘the night-watchman’ or ‘herdsman’); Poliquetsch (a term applied either to the force or to a single member); Quetsch (Cf., foregoing); Schin (an abbreviation, being the Hebrew letter ‏ש‎, for the turnkey of a prison, a policeman, etc.; ein platter Schin, a policeman who makes common cause with a burglar; miser Schin, a policeman who is hated); Spinatwächter (soldiers’ for a police-soldier; in allusion to the green uniform); Spitz or Spitzl (a vigilant policeman, from Spitz = pointed, from which is derived Spitz-bube, a thief); Teckel (Hanoverian for foot-police); Zaddik (from the Hebrew signifying ‘the just’ or ‘pious one’; used sarcastically as a nickname for the guardians of the right); Zenserei (Viennese thieves’: Zenserer = a police superintendent. Apparently the modern form of the old Sens, Sins, Söns, Sims, or Simser, of which the derivation is clearly to be found in Zent or Cent, from the Centenæ of the Frankish kings, who divided the counties into Centenæ and Decaniæ for the purposes of administration).

Italian Synonyms. Falcon de draghetti (literally ‘a hawk preying on schoolboys’); sbirre.

Spanish Synonym. Abrazador (m; literally ‘one who embraces’; abrazar = to hug, or clasp).

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.

1864. Manchester Courier, 13 June. The professors of slang, however, having coined the word, associate that with the metal, and as they pass a policeman they will, to annoy him, exhibit a copper coin, which is equivalent to calling the officer copper.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 237. I daresay the coppers quite expected us the next night, and looked out for us.… Coppers, I may inform the reader, is slang for police.

1889. Punch, 3 Aug., p. 49, col. 2. Young ’Opkins took the reins, but soon in slumber he was sunk—(Indignantly) When a interfering copper ran us in for being drunk!

Copperheads, subs. (American).—A nickname applied to different sections of the American nation: first to the Indian; then to the Dutch colonist (see Irving, Knickerbocker); lastly, during the Civil War, to certain Northern Democrats who sympathised with the South. [Properly the Trigonocephalus contortrix.]

1864. Walt Whitman, Diary, 10 April [in Century Mag., Oct., 1888]. Exciting times in Congress. The copperheads are getting furious, and want to recognise the Southern Confederacy.

1872. Daily Telegraph, 29 Aug. Should he [Mr. Greeley] be elected, he will owe his victory to … the copperhead ring of the Democratic party.

1881. W. D. Howells, Dr. Breen’s Practice, ch. ix. He lived to cast a dying vote for General Jackson, and his son, the first Dr. Mulbridge, survived to illustrate the magnanimity of his fellow-townsmen during the first year of the civil war, as a tolerated copperhead.

1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, 2 March. Gay was executed, I think, in November, 1862, at Indianapolis. He was … a virulent copperhead.

Copperman, subs. (Australian prison).—A policeman. Cf., Copper.

Copper-Nose, subs. (old).—The swollen, pimply nose of habitual drunkards. A ‘jolly’ or ‘bottle’ nose; in Fr., une bette-rave, i.e., a beetroot; also un piton passé à l’encaustique. Cf., Grog-blossom. For synonyms for the nose generally, see Conk.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. x. ‘The stoutest raven dared not come within a yard of that copper nose.’

Copper’s Nark, subs. (thieves’).—A police spy; one in the pay of the police. [From copper (q.v.), a policeman, + nark, a spy; used as a nark signifies to watch or look after.]

1879. Thos. Satchell, in Notes and Queries, 5 S., xi., 406. Copper’s Nark: A police spy.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Good Night. Likewise you coppers’ narks and dubs What pinched me when upon the snam.

1889. Answers, 20 July, p. 121, col. 1. He instructed me … on no account to appear to be anxious to pry into their secrets, lest I should be mistaken for a copper’s nark, i.e., a person in the pay of the police.

Copperstick, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Copus, subs. (Univ.).—A wine or beer cup, which was commonly imposed as a fine upon those who talked Latin in hall or committed other breaches of etiquette. Dr. Johnson derives it from episcopus, and if this be correct it is doubtless the same as bishop.

Copy of Countenance, subs. phr. (old).—A sham; humbug; pretence.

1579. Gosson, Apol. of the Schoole of Abuse, p. 64 (Arber). They have eaten bulbief, and threatned highly, too put water in my woortes, whensoeuer they catche me; I hope it is but a coppy of their countenance.

1607. Dekker, Westward Ho, Act ii., Sc. 1. I shall love a puritan’s face the worse, whilst I live, for that copy of thy countenance.

1637. Fletcher, Elder Brother, V., i. Nor can I change my copy, if I purpose to be of your society.

1754. Fielding, Jonathan Wild, bk. III., ch. xiv. This, as he afterwards confessed on his death-bed, i.e., in the court at Tyburn, was only a copy of his countenance; for that he was at that time as sincere and hearty in his opposition to Wild as any of his companions.

1756. Foote, Englishman from Paris, Act i. And if the application for my advice is not a copy of your countenance, a mask; if you are obedient, I may set you right.

Coral Branch, subs. phr. (venery).—The penis.

Core, Coreing, verb and verbal subs. (old).—See quot.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171. Coreing: picking up small articles in shops.

Corinth, subs. (old).—A brothel. For synonyms, see Nanny-shop. Cf., Corinthian and Corinthianism.

1609. Shakspeare, Timon of Athens, Act ii., Sc. 2. Would we could see you at Corinth!

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

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

Corinthian, subs. (old).—1. A rake; a loose liver; sometimes specifically, a fashionable whore. Shakspeare has it, ‘a lad of mettle,’ but in another place he uses corinth as above. In the slang sense an allusion to the notoriety of Corinth as a centre of prostitution, i.e., the temple-city of Aphrodite. Κορινθάεσθαι, = to Corinthianise was Greek slang. Hence the proverb—Οὺ παντὸς ἀνδρὸς εἰς Κόρινθον ισθ’ ὁ πλοῦς: and Horace, Epist. lib. 1, xvii., 36—

‘Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum.’

Also used as an adjective, a verbal form being to corinthianize. Cf., Shakspeare’s use of Ephesians in II. King Henry IV., ii. 2. For synonyms, see Molrower.

1598. Shakspeare, I Henry IV., Act ii., Sc. 4. And tell me flatly I am no proud Jack, like Falstaff; but a Corinthian, a lad of mettle, a good boy.

b. 1608. d. 1674. Milton, Apology for Smect. And raps up, without pity, the sage and rheumatic old prelatess, with all her young Corinthian laity.

1890. Daily Telegraph, 25 Feb., p. 4, col. 7. Is it not curious that hotel proprietors [at Monte Carlo] should countenance, if not encourage, a Tom and Jerry tone and a wild Corinthian element, even in well-conducted restaurants?

1890. Henley and Stevenson, Beau Austin, iii., 1. I assure you, Aunt Evelina, we are Corinthian to the last degree.

2. A dandy; specifically applied in the early part of the present century to a man of fashion; e.g., Corinthian Tom, in Pierce Egan’s Life in London. For synonyms, see Dandy.

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

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 9. ’Twas diverting to see, as one ogled around, How Corinthians and Commoners mixed on the ground.

1832. Pierce Egan, Book of Sports, p. 210. ‘I would be a Corinthian to the end of the chapter if I could—but the truth is, I was not lucky enough to be born a swell.’

1853. Wh. Melville, Digby Grand, ch. iv. Where the hospitable ‘Jem’ received his more aristocratic visitors, and to which, as Corinthians, or ‘swells,’ we were immediately admitted.

1854. Thackeray, Leech’s Pictures in Quarterly Review, No. 191, Dec. Corinthian, it appears, was the phrase applied to men of fashion and ton … they were the brilliant predecessors of the ‘swell’ of the present period.

Corinthianism, subs. (old and modern).—See Corinthian, in both senses of which, mutatis mutandis, corinthianism is employed.

Cork, subs. (common).—1. A bankrupt. For analogous terms, see Quizby.

2. (Scotch).—The general name in Glasgow and neighbourhood for the head of an establishment, e.g., of a factory, or the like.

To draw a cork, verbal phr. (pugilistic).—To draw blood. A variant is to tap one’s claret.

1818. P. Egan, Boxiana, vol. I., p. 136. Several blows exchanged, but no corks were drawn.

1819. Thos. Moore, Tom Crib’s Mem. to Cong., p. 25. … This being the first Royal claret let flow, Since Tom took the Holy Alliance in tow, The uncorking produced much sensation about, As bets had been flush on the first painted snout.

1837. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. xii. Tap his claret cask—draw his cork!

Cork-brained, adj. phr. (old).—Light headed; foolish.

Corker, subs. (common).—1. That which closes an argument, or puts an end to a course of action; a settler; a finisher (q.v.); specifically a lie. Cf., whopper.

2. Anything unusually large, or of first-rate quality; remarkable in some respect or another; e.g., a heavy blow; a monstrous lie.—See Whopper.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xix. ‘Then I lets him have it, right, left, right, jist three corkers, beginning with the right hand, shifting to the left, and then with the right hand ag’in.’

To play the corker.—To indulge in the uncommon; to exhibit exaggerated peculiarities of demeanour; specifically in school and university slang to make oneself objectionable to one’s fellows.

1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. vii. ‘Why, you’re sticking up for him now!’ said Tom … astonished at this apparent change of front. ‘If you choose to come back and play the corker like this, it’s your look-out.’

Corks, subs. (general).—1. A butler. [An allusion to one of the duties of the office.] Cf., Burn-crust, a baker; Master of the mint, a gardener; Cinder-Garbler, a maid-of-all-work, etc.

2. (nautical).—Money. [A facetious allusion to money as the means of ‘keeping afloat.’] For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

Corkscrewing, verbal subs. (common).—The straggling, spiral walk of tipsiness.

Corkscrews, subs. pl. (general).—Very stiff and formal curls, once called bottle-screws.

1890. Notes and Queries, 5 April. Bottle-screws—Dr. Murray has this word in the N.E.D. as obsolete, meaning cork-screws, as we now call them.

Corky, adj. (colloquial).—Sprightly; lively. [An allusion to the buoyancy of a cork.] Shakspeare uses it in King Lear, iii., 7. Com., ‘Bind fast his corky arms’; but with him (1605) it = ‘withered.’

Corn, subs. (American).—1. Food; sustenance; grub. [A figurative usage of the legitimate word.]

1870. Green Bay (Wis.) Gaz., Oct. I therefore take thus to forewarn You not to trust her with a straw, For I will never pay her corn Unless compelled to by the law.

2. (American).—An abbreviated form of corn-juice (q.v.), i.e., whiskey.

1843. John S. Robb. ‘The Standing Candidate.’ ‘Ef you war a babby, just new born, ’Twould do you good this juicy corn!’

To acknowledge the corn, phr. (American).—See Acknowledge, and the following quote:

1846. New York Herald, 27 June. The Evening Mirror very naïvely comes out and acknowledges the corn, admits that a demand was made, etc.

Corned, ppl. adj. (common).—1. Drunk. [Hotten: ‘possibly from soaking or pickling oneself like salt-beef.’ Barrère: ‘almost beyond doubt … an Americanism from corn, a very common name for whisky.’ Both are wrong; the verb ‘to corn’ is a common provincialism and Scotticism signifying ‘to be drunk.’] For synonyms, see Screwed.

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

1808. Jamieson, Etymolog. Dict. Scottish Lang. The lads are weel corned.

1835. Haliburton, The Clockmaker, p. 257 (ed. 1862). ‘I was pretty well corned thet arternoon, but still I knew what I was about.’

2. (sailors’).—Pleased.

Corner, subs. (colloquial).—1.—See verbal sense.

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 309. Mr. Bill Greyson thought it much more likely that a syndicate of bookmakers had plotted to make a good thing out of the horse by working him in the betting-market like any other corner on the Stock Exchange.

2. (sporting).—Tattersall’s Subscription Rooms once situate at the top of Grosvenor Place, near Hyde Park Corner; now removed to Albert Gate, but still known by the old nickname.

1848. W. M. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. x. He is a regular attendant at the corner, where he compiles a limited but comfortable libretto.

1874. G. A. Lawrence, Hagarene, ch. v. She heard how—without anticipating the stable commission, or making any demonstration at the corner—the cream of the long odds against the Pirate had been skimmed.

3. (sporting).—Short for Tattenham Corner, a crucial point on the Derby course on Epsom Downs.

4. (thieves’).—A share; an opportunity of ‘standing in’ for the proceeds of a robbery.

Verb (colloquial).—To get control of a stock or commodity and so monopolize the market; applied to persons, to drive or force into a position of difficulty or surrender, e.g., in an argument. [Probably American, being a simple extension of the legitimate meaning of the word to drive or force into a corner or place from which there is no means of escape.] French equivalents are être en fine pégrène, and se mettre sur les fonts de baptême. Tailors speak of a man as cornered who has pawned work entrusted to him, and cannot redeem it. Also used as a ppl. adj.

1848. Lowell, Fable for Critics, p. 24. Such [books] as Crusoe might dip in, altho’ there are few so Outrageously cornered by fate as poor Crusoe.

1851. Hawthorne, House of Seven Gables, ch. v. A recluse, like Hepzibah, usually displays remarkable frankness, and at least temporary affability, on being absolutely cornered, and brought to the point of personal intercourse.

1883. Graphic, April 21, p. 406, col. 2. Chief member of a ring which has cornered colza oil this winter to such an extent that the price has been very considerably enhanced during the last few months.

To be round the corner, verbal phr. (common).—To get round or ahead of one’s fellows by dishonest cuts, doublings, twists, and turns. For synonyms, see Knowing.

To turn the corner, phr. (common).—To get over the worst; to begin to mend in health or fortune.

To be cornered, verbal phr. (common).—To be in a ‘fix.’ Fr., être dans le lac.

Corner-Man or Cove, subs. (common).—1. A loafer; literally a lounger at corners.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 445. I mean by corner-coves them sort of men who is always a standing at the corners of the streets and chaffing respectable folks a-passing by!

1885. Chamb. Journal, Feb. 28, p. 136. Curley Bond was well known in the district as a loafer and corner-man.

2. (music hall).—The ‘Bones’ and ‘Tambourine’ in a band of negro minstrels.

Corn In Egypt, subs. phr. (colloquial).—Plenty of all kinds. [Biblical.]

Cornish Duck, subs. (trade).—A pilchard. Cf., Yarmouth capon.

Corn-Juice, subs. (American).—Whiskey. For synonyms, see Drinks.

1888. Detroit Free Press, May. … Don’t be for ever loafing whar the corn-juice flows.

Cornstalk, subs. (Australian).—Generic for persons of European descent, but especially applied to girls. The children of Anglo-Australians are generally taller and slighter in build than their parents. Originally a native of New South Wales; now general. Cf., Bananalander.

1885. Chambers’ Journal, March 21, p. 191. The stockman—a young six-foot Cornstalk (or native of New South Wales).

1887. G. L. Apperson, in All the Year Round, 30 July, p. 67, col. 2. A native of New South Wales is known as a cornstalk.

1888. Colonies and India, 14 Nov. Auld Jamie Inglis has written ‘anither buik, ye ken’ … for the delectation of the youthful Cornstalk’s mind.

Cornstealers, subs. (American).—The hands. For synonyms, see Bunch of fives and Daddle.

1835. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Clockmaker. ‘How is you been, my old bullock?’ and he squeezed his cornstealers till the old gineral began to dance like a bear on red-hot iron.

Corny-Faced, adj. (old).—Red and pimply with drink. [From corn, to render intoxicated, + faced.]

Coroner, subs. (common).—A severe fall. [Literally a fall likely to produce a coroner’s inquest.]

Corporal, To mount a corporal and four, verbal phr. (old).—To practice masturbation.—See Frig.

Corporation, subs. (colloquial).—A protuberant stomach. For synonyms, see Bread-basket and Victualling office.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue.

1849. C. Bronté, Shirley, ch. xvi. The former, looming large in full canonicals, walking as became a beneficed priest, under the canopy of a shovel hat, with the dignity of an ample corporation.

1887. W. P. Frith, Autobiog., i., 49. Very stout men … each possessing larger corporations than are commonly seen.

Corpse, subs. (sporting).—A horse in the betting for market purposes alone; otherwise a stiff’un.—See Cock, subs., sense 4.

Verb (theatrical).—1. To confuse; ‘to queer’; to blunder and so ‘put out’ one’s fellows: to spoil a scene.—See Regular corpser.

1864. Hotten, Slang Dict., s.v.

1886. Graphic, April 10, p. 399. An actor who forgets his words is said to ‘stick,’ or be ‘corpsed.’

1886. Cornhill Mag., Oct., p. 436. He expressed a hope that Miss Tudor ‘wouldn’t corpse his business’ over the forge-door again that evening.

2. (common).—To kill (literally to make a corpse of one). A Fr. equivalent is parler sur quelqu’un. For synonyms, see Cook one’s goose.

1884. Editor of Notes and Queries [in ‘Answers to Correspondents’ (6 S., ix., 120), says that]. ‘To corpse … is one of many customary and coarse ways of menacing the infliction of death. It is horribly familiar in London.’