THE SLANG DICTIONARY. (continued 4)

Goose, to ruin, or spoil; to hiss a play.—Theatrical. To be “sound on the GOOSE” is in America to be orthodox in one’s political creed.

Gooseberry, to “play up old GOOSEBERRY” with any one, to defeat or silence a person in a quick or summary manner.

Gooseberry-pickers, sharp children, who are ostensibly placed in charge of their elder sisters, when the latter go out shopping, but who are in reality a check on any chance of flirtation.

Goosecap, a simpleton, a booby, or noodle.—Devonshire.

Gooser, a settler, or finishing blow.

Go over, in clerical slang, signifies to join the Church of Rome.

Gorge, to eat in a ravenous manner. “Rotten GORGERS” are those hungry lads who hang about Covent Garden Market, and devour the discarded fruit.

Gorger, a swell, a well-dressed, or gorgeous man—probably derived from the latter adjective. Sometimes used to denote an employer, or principal, as the manager of a theatre.

Gormed, a Norfolk corruption of a profane oath. So used by Mr. Peggotty in David Copperfield.

Gospel grinder, a City missionary, or tract-distributor.

Gospel Shop, an irreverent term for a church or chapel of any denomination. Mostly in use among sailors.

Goss, a hat—from the gossamer silk of which modern hats are made.

Goss, “to give a man GOSS,” to requite an injury, to beat, or kill. This is an Americanism, and is applied variously. A steamboat captain on the Mississippi, determined to pass his rival, called out, so the story goes, to the fireman, “Give her GOSS and let her rip, as I mean to pass that boat, or bust.”

Goth, an uncultivated person. One who is ignorant of the ways of society.

Go the whole pile, to put all one’s bank on a solitary chance. An Americanism which had its origin in the PILES of gold dust used as circulating medium by gambling miners.

Gourock ham, a salt herring. Gourock, on the Clyde, about twenty-five miles from Glasgow, was formerly a great fishing village.—Scotch.

Government sign-post, the gallows. This is necessarily almost obsolete.

Governor, a father, a master or superior person, an elder; “which way, GUV’NER, to Cheapside?”

Gowler, a dog.—North Country Cant. Query, GROWLER.

Gownsman, a student at one of the universities, as distinguished from a TOWNSMAN.

Grab, to clutch, or seize; GRABBED, caught, apprehended.

Grace-card, the six of hearts, so termed in Ireland. A Kilkenny gentleman, named GRACE, being solicited, with promises of royal favour, to espouse the cause of William III., gave the following answer, written on the back of the six of hearts, to an emissary of Marshal Schomberg’s, who had been commissioned to make the proposal to him:—“Tell your master I despise his offer; and that honour and conscience are dearer to a gentleman than all the wealth and titles a prince can bestow.” This would have been a much better story had James II. been a better King, and had he not earned for himself, even among Catholic Irishmen, a disgraceful name, through his craven conduct at the Battle of the Boyne.

Graft, work; “where are you GRAFTING?” i.e., where do you work? “What GRAFT are you at?” what are you doing? Perhaps derived from gardening phraseology; or a variation of craft.

Granny, a knot which will not hold, from its being wrongly and clumsily tied.—Sea.

Granny, to know, or recognise; “do ye GRANNY the bloke?” do you know the man?

Grappling irons, fingers.—Sea.

Grass, “gone to GRASS,” dead,—a coarse allusion to burial; absconded, or disappeared suddenly; also, gone to waste; it is said of wasted limbs that they have “gone to GRASS;” “oh, go to GRASS,” a common answer to a troublesome or inquisitive person,—possibly a corruption of “go to GRACE,” meaning, of course, a directly opposite fate.

Grass, to knock down. Also to throw in a wrestling-match. “He GRASSED his man with a heavy righthander,” or “He brought his man to GRASS by means of a swinging hipe.”

Grass-comber, a country fellow, a haymaker.

Grasshopper, a waiter at a tea-garden.

Grass widow, an unmarried mother; a deserted mistress. In the United States, during the gold fever in California, it was common for an adventurer to put both his wife (termed in his absence a GRASS-WIDOW) and his children to school during his absence. Also a married woman, resident in England, whose husband is in India or the colonies.

Gravel, to confound, to bother; “I’m GRAVELLED,” i.e., perplexed or confused.—Old. Also, to prostrate, to beat to the ground.

Gravel-rash, a scratched face,—telling its tale of a drunken fall. A person subject to this is called a GRAVEL-GRINDER.

Gravesend sweetmeats, shrimps. Gravesend twins are solid particles of sewage.

Gray, a halfpenny, with either two “heads” or two “tails”—both sides alike. They are used for cheating the unwary at “Tommy Dodd,” or pitch and toss. They are often “rung in” with a victim’s own money, so that the caller of “heads” or “tails” cannot lose. Thus if A has to call, he or a confederate manages to mix the selected GRAYS with B’s tossing halfpence. There are various and almost obvious uses for them.

Gray-coat parson, a lay impropriator, or lessee of great tithes.

Gray mare, a wife who “wears the breeches.” From an old story in which the point is to show that the “GRAY MARE,” the wife’s choice, “is the better horse,” and by parity of reasoning that the wife is superior to the husband.

Grays, or Scotch grays, lice. These pretty little things are called by many names, among others by those of GRAY-BACKS, and GOLD-BACKED UNS, which are popular among those who have most interest in the matter.

Grease spot, a minute remnant, humorously the only distinguishable remains of an antagonist after a terrific contest.

Greasing, bribing. Sometimes called “GREASING the palm” of a man’s hand.

Grecian bend, modern milliner slang for an exaggerated bustle, the effect of which is generally assisted by unnaturally high-heeled boots.

Greek, a wide-awake fellow, a sharper.

Greek kalends, an expression signifying an indefinite period; never. Term used in making promises never intended to be carried out. The Greeks had no KALENDS.

Greeks, the low Irish. St. Giles’s Greek, slang or cant language. Cotgrave gives merrie Greek as a definition for a roystering fellow, a drunkard. The Greeks have always been regarded as a jolly, luxurious race; so much so, that the Latins employed the verb Græcari (lit. to play the Greek) to designate fine living and free potations, a sense in which Horace frequently uses it; while Shakspeare often mentions the merry Greeks; and “as merry as a grig” (or Greek) was long a favourite allusion in old English authors. It is said by some that grig is in this sense intended to represent the small eel of that name which from its lively movements is supposed to be always merry; while others incline to the belief that the cricket, which is also in some parts of the provinces known as a grig, is meant. Readers may take their choice.

Green, ignorant, not wide-awake, inexperienced.—Shakspeare. “Do you see any GREEN in my eye?” ironical question in a dispute.

Greenbacks, the paper money issued in the United States during the war. The term was at first applied only to the notes for small amounts, which were backed with green, but eventually the one word represented all descriptions of what is now known in America as “currency.”

Green-horn, a fresh, simple, or uninitiated person.

Greenlander, an inexperienced person, a spoon. Sometimes an Irishman.

Greenwich goose, a pensioner of the Naval Hospital.

Griddler, a person who sings in the streets without a printed copy of the words.—Seven Dials.

Gridiron, a County Court summons. Originally a summons to the Court of Westminster only; from the GRIDIRON arms. The Grafton Club is nearly always known as the GRID or GRIDIRON, that instrument being brought into requisition whenever possible in the cuisine.

Gridiron and dough boys, the flag of the United States, in allusion to the stars and stripes.—Sea.

Grief, “to come to GRIEF,” to meet with an accident, to be ruined.

Griffin, in India, a newly-arrived cadet; general for an inexperienced youngster.

Grind, “to take a GRIND,” i.e., a walk, or constitutional. The daily grind is a term representing employment containing much routine. At Oxford college sports are called sometimes the GRIND.

Grind, to work up for an examination, to cram by oneself, or with a private tutor.

Grinder, private tutor, a coach.—University.

Grinder, a tooth.

Grindoff, a miller. From The Miller and his Men.

Gripes, the stomach-ache. See TRIPES.

Grist to the mill, money to the pocket, food to the family; anything which is supposed to add to a man’s immediate prospects, to his income, or to his benefit in any way, is said to “bring GRIST TO THE MILL.”

Grizzle, to fret or cry continuously.

Grog blossoms, pimples on the face, caused by hard drinking. Of such a person it is often said, “He bears his blushing honours thick upon him.”

Grog-fight, a drinking party.—Military.

Groggy, tipsy; when a prize-fighter becomes “weak on his pins,” and nearly beaten, he is said to be GROGGY. The same term is applied to horses that are overworked and unsteady. From similarity of appearance to the peculiarity of gait consequent on imbibing too much GROG.

Grove of the Evangelist, a facetious name for St. John’s Wood.

Growler, a four-wheeled cab. It is generally supposed that drivers of these vehicles take a less favourable view of life than do their Hansom brethren.

Grub and bub, victuals and drink of any kind,—GRUB signifying food, and BUB, drink.

Grubbing ken, or SPINIKIN, a workhouse; a cook-shop.

Grubby, musty, or old-fashioned.—Devonshire.

Gruel, “to give a person his GRUEL,” to kill him. An expression in all probability derived from the report of a trial for poisoning, or from the easiest manner of administering a dose of poison. In the old days a similar phrase was “to drug a posset.” Compare “to settle his hash,” and “cook his goose.”

Guardevine, a cellaret.—Scotch.

Guinea pigs, habitual directors of public companies; special jurymen; and engineer officers doing civil duty at the War Office, and paid a GUINEA per diem.

Guinea to a goose, a sporting phrase, meaning long odds in favour of, or against, anything under notice. In the City this state of things is represented by the phrase, Lombard Street to a China orange. There are also other colloquialisms on this subject, but their power is, as a rule, mainly dependent upon their indecency.

Gulfed, originally a Cambridge term, denoting that a man is unable to enter for the classical examination from having failed in the mathematical. These men’s names appeared in the list of “Degrees Allowed.” The name GULF for this list is said to have arisen from the boast of a former “wooden spoon.” “I would have you to know there is a great GULF between me and the captain of the poll.” Candidates for classical honours were compelled to go in for both examinations. From the alteration of the arrangements, the term as thus applied is now obsolete. The expression is common now in Oxford as descriptive of a man who goes in for honours, and only gets a pass. An Honorary Fourth is when a candidate who only tries for a pass does so well that he is raised to the honours’ list.

Gull, to cheat, to deceive; also one easily cheated. From the easy manner in which the bird of that name is deceived.

Gullyfluff, the waste—coagulated dust, crumbs, and hair—which accumulates imperceptibly in the pockets of schoolboys.

Gully rakers, cattle thieves in Australia, the cattle being stolen out of almost inaccessible valleys, there termed GULLIES.

Gulpin, a weak, credulous fellow, who will GULP down anything.

Gummy, thick, fat—generally applied to a woman’s ankles, or to a man whose flabby person betokens him a drunkard.

Gumption, or RUMGUMPTION, comprehension, capacity. From GAUM, to comprehend; “I canna gauge it, and I canna GAUM it,” as a Yorkshire exciseman said of a hedgehog.

Gun, a magsman or street thief. Diminutive of gonnuf or gunnof. A GUN’S practice is known as GUNOVING.

Gunner’s daughter, a term facetiously applied to the method of punishing boys in the Royal Navy by tying them securely to the breech of a cannon, so as to present the proper part convenient for the cat, and flogging them. This is called “marrying” or “kissing” the GUNNER’S DAUGHTER.

Gup, gossip.—Anglo-Indian.

Gurrawaun, a coachman, a native Indian corruption of the English word coachman. For another curious corruption of a similar kind, see SIMPKIN.—Anglo-Indian.

Gusher, one overflowing with sentiment, a rhapsodizer. Romance-reading young ladies are generally described as GUSHING, and of late years the word GUSH has done duty as representing the newspaper work necessary for a continuance of the “largest circulation.”

Gut scraper, a fiddler.

Gutter blood, a low or vulgar man.—Scotch.

Gutter lane, the throat. Probably from GUTTUR.

Guttle, see GUZZLE.

Guy, a fright, a dowdy, an ill-dressed person. Derived from the effigy of Guy Fawkes carried about by boys on Nov. 5. “Hollo, boys, another GUY!”

Guy, to get away. Same as HEDGE in street phraseology, which see.

Guzzle, to eat or drink to excess; to eat loudly, hastily, and clumsily.

Gyp, an undergraduate’s servant at Cambridge. Popularly derived by Cantabs from the Greek, GYPS, (γύψ), a vulture, from the dishonest rapacity peculiar to GYPS. At Oxford servants are called scouts.

Hackle, pluck; “to show HACKLE,” to be willing to fight. Hackles are the long feathers on the back of a cock’s neck, which he erects when angry,—hence the metaphor.

Hackslaver, to stammer in one’s speech, like a dunce at his lesson.

Haddock, a purse.—See BEANS.

Hair of the dog, a “modest quencher,” taken the morning following a debauch. Originally a “HAIR OF THE DOG that bit you.” This is very old, and seems to show that homœopathy is by no means new, so far as topers, at all events, are concerned.

Half-a-bean, half-a-sovereign.

Half-a-bull, two shillings and sixpence.

Half-a-couter, half-a-sovereign.

Half-a-hog, sixpence; sometimes termed HALF-A-GRUNTER.

Half-and-half, a mixture of ale and porter, much affected by medical students; occasionally Latinized into “dimidium dimidiumque.” Cooper is HALF-AND-HALF, made of stout and porter. The term of HALF-AND-HALF is also applied to the issue of marriages between gipsies and “white people.”

Half-a-stretch, six months in prison.

Half-a-tusheroon, half-a-crown.

Half-baked, soft, doughy, half-witted, silly. Half-rocked has a similar meaning.

Half-foolish, ridiculous; means often wholly foolish.

Half Jack. See JACKS.

Half-mourning, to have a black eye from a blow. As distinguished from “whole-mourning,” two black eyes.

Half-rocked, silly, half-witted. Derived from a vulgar idea that in the Westcountry children are nursed in a peculiar manner, which in afterlife affects their wits. They are said to be nursed bottom upwards, so as to sleep without much rocking. If this is inconsequent it is the fault of the saying and not of the dictionary. Compare HALF-BAKED.

Half-seas-over, reeling drunk.—Sea. Used by Swift.

Hall, THE, Leadenhall Market, among folk who get their livings there, in the same way as “The Garden” refers to Covent Garden.

Hand, a workman or helper, a person. “A cool HAND,” explained by Sir Thomas Overbury to be “one who accounts bashfulness the wickedest thing in the world, and therefore studies impudence.”

Hander, a second, or assistant. At some schools blows on the hand administered with a cane are so called.

Handicap, an arrangement by which, in any description of sport, every competitor in a race is supposed to have a chance of winning equal to the chances of his opponents. Handicapping, in horse-racing signifies the adjudgment of various weights to horses differing in age, power, and speed, so as to place them as much as possible on an equality. At other sports this equalization is managed by means of starts.

The old game of HANDICAP (hand i’ the cap) is a very different affair; and, as it is now almost obsolete, being only played by gentlemen in Ireland, after hunting and racing dinners, when the wine has circulated pretty freely, merits a description here. It is played by three persons, in the following manner:—A wishes to obtain some article belonging to B, say a horse; and offers to “challenge” his watch against it. B agrees; and C is chosen as HANDICAPPER to “make the award”—that is, to name the sum of money that the owner of the article of lesser value shall give with it, in exchange for the more valuable one. The three parties, A, B, and C, put down a certain stake each, and then the HANDICAPPER makes his award. If A and B are both satisfied with the award, the exchange is made between the horse and watch, and the HANDICAPPER wins, and takes up the stakes. Or if neither be satisfied with the award, the HANDICAPPER takes the stakes; but if A be satisfied and B not, or vice versâ, the party who declares himself satisfied gets the stakes. It is consequently the object of the HANDICAPPER to make such award as will cause the challenger and challenged to be of the same mind; and considerable ingenuity is required and exhibited on his part. The challenge having been made, as stated, between A’s watch and B’s horse, each party puts his HAND into a CAP or hat [or into his pocket] while C makes the award, which he purposely does in as rapid and complex a manner as possible. Thus, after humorously exaggerating the various excellences of the articles, he may say—“The owner of the superior gold lever watch shall give to the owner of the beautiful thoroughbred bay horse, called Flyaway, the watch and fifteen half-crowns, seven crowns, eighteen half-guineas, one hundred and forty groats, thirteen sovereigns, fifty-nine pence, seventeen shillings and sixty-three farthings. Draw, gentlemen!” A and B must instantly then draw out and open their hands. If money appears in both, they are agreed, and the award stands good; if money be in neither hand, they are also agreed, but the award is rejected. If money be only in one hand, they are not agreed, the award is off, and the stakes go as already stated. Very frequently, neither A nor B is sufficiently quick in his mental calculation to follow the HANDICAPPER, and not knowing on the instant the total of the various sums in the award, prefers being “off,” and, therefore, “draws” no money. As in this event the HANDICAPPER gets the stakes, the reason for the complex nature of his award is obvious.

When HANDICAPPING has once commenced in a convivial party, it is considered unsportsmanlike to refuse a challenge. So when the small hours draw on, and the fun becomes fast and furious, coats, boots, waistcoats, even shirts are challenged, HANDICAPPED, and exchanged, amidst an almost indescribable scene of good humoured joviality and stentorian laughter. This is the true HANDICAP. The application of the term to horse-racing has arisen from one or more persons being chosen to make the award between persons, who put down equal sums of money, on entering horses unequal in power and speed for the same race. So that the HANDICAP has ultimately come to be regarded as an arrangement of a purely business-like nature, by which means affairs, no matter how much they may differ in degree, may be arranged satisfactorily by all parties. The use of the word is spreading rapidly, and it has already a sense beyond that of mere sporting.

Handicap, to make even, as a Roland for an Oliver. Not long since in a pedestrian enclosure, a pugilist who had been specially retained on one side struck a member of the other party, who not being a fighting-man received the blow with apparent contentment. The injured person had, however, determined on being revenged, and about an hour afterwards he knocked the professional down with a big stick, using the words at the same time, “that HANDICAPS us” (that makes us even). The word is often used thus also: A man finding himself inferior to another at fisticuffs will, seizing a weapon, exclaim, “I’ll HANDICAP you,” i.e., I’ll bring you to my level (or “level myself up”) with this.

Handle, a nose; the title appended to a person’s name; also a term in boxing, “to HANDLE one’s fists,” to use them against an adversary.

Handling, a method of concealing certain cards in the palm of the hand, or in fashionable long wristbands; one of the many modes of cheating practised by sharpers.

Hand-me-downs, second-hand clothes. See REACH-ME-DOWNS.

Hand-saw, or CHIVE FENCER, a man who sells razors and knives in the streets.

Handseller, or CHEAP JACK, a street or open-air seller, a man who carries goods to his customers, instead of waiting for his customers to visit him.

Hanging, in difficulties. A man who is in great straits, and who is, therefore, prepared to do anything desperate to retrieve his fortunes, is said, among sporting men, to be “a man HANGING,” i.e., a man to whom any change must be for the better.

Hangman’s wages, thirteenpence halfpenny.—Old. 17th century.

“’Sfoot, what a witty rogue was this to leave this fair thirteenpence halfpenny, and this old halter,” intimating aptly—

The clothes of the culprit were also the hangman’s wages. See one of Lord Bacon’s aphorisms, beginning “A cursed page.”

Hang out, to reside,—in allusion to the ancient custom of hanging out signs.

Hang up, to rob with violence, to garrotte. Most likely from throttling associations in connexion with the practice of garrotting.

Hannah, “that’s the man as married HANNAH,” a Salopian phrase to express a matter begun or ended satisfactorily. Meaning actually, “that’s the thing.”

Hansel, or HANDSEL, the lucky money, or first money taken in the morning by a pedlar.—Cocker’s Dictionary, 1724. “Legs of mutton (street term for sheep’s trotters, or feet) two for a penny; who’ll give me a HANSEL? who’ll give me a HANSEL?” Hence, earnest money, first-fruits, &c. In Norfolk, HANSELLING a thing is using it for the first time, as wearing a new coat, taking seisin of it, as it were. Danish, HANDSEL; Anglo-Saxon, HANDSELEN.

Ha’porth o’ coppers, Habeas Corpus.—Legal slang.

Ha’porth o’ liveliness, the music at a low concert, or theatre. Also a dilatory person.

Happy-go-lucky, careless, indifferent as to the favours or reverses of fortune.

Haramzadeh, a very general Indian term of contempt, signifying base-born.—Anglo-Indian.

Hard lines, hardship, difficulty. Soldiers’ term for hard duty on the lines in front of the enemy. Lines was formerly synonymous with Lot, see Ps. xvi. 6.—Bible version—“The LINES are fallen unto me in pleasant places;” Prayer-Book do.—“The LOT is fallen unto me in a fair ground.”

Hard mouthed un, any one difficult to deal with, a sharp bargainer, an obstinate person. Derivation obvious.

Hard tack, ship biscuits. This is a term used by sailors to distinguish their ordinary sea-bread from that obtained on shore, which is called soft TACK, or soft tommy. Hard tack is also a phrase used by the London lower classes to signify coarse or insufficient food.

Hard-up, a cigar-end finder, who collects the refuse pieces of smoked cigars from the gutter, and having dried them, smokes them, or sells them as tobacco to the very poor. See TOPPER.

Hard-up, in distress, poverty-stricken.—Sea.

Hardy, a stone.—North.

Harebrained, reckless, unthinking.

Harry, or OLD HARRY, (i.e., Old Hairy?) the Devil; “to play OLD HARRY with one,” i.e., ruin or annoy him.

Harry-soph, (ἐρίσοφος, very wise indeed), a student of law or physic at Cambridge who, being of the same standing as the students in arts in his year, is allowed to wear a full-sleeved gown when they assume their B.A. gowns, though he does not obtain his actual degree so soon. An undergraduate in his last year is a Senior Soph, in his last term a Questionist.

Harum-scarum, wild, dissipated, reckless; four horses driven in a line. This is also called SUICIDE. See TANDEM, RANDEM, UNICORN, &c.

Hash, a mess, confusion; “a pretty HASH he made of it;” to HASH UP, to jumble together without order or regularity. The term also occurs in the phrase “to settle his HASH,” which is equivalent to “give him his gruel,” or “cook his goose,” i.e., to kill him.

Hatchet, “to throw the HATCHET,” to tell lies. Same as “to draw the long bow.”

Hatchet, “to sling the HATCHET,” to skulk.—Sea.

Hawbuck, a vulgar, ignorant, country fellow, but one remove from the clodpole.

Hawse holes, the apertures in a ship’s bows through which the cables pass; “he has crept in through the HAWSE-HOLES,” said of an officer who has risen from the grade of an ordinary seaman, whose original position in the vessel was forward—before the mast.—Navy.

Hay bag, a woman.

Haymarket Hectors, bullies who, in the interest of prostitutes, affect the neighbourhood of Leicester Square and the Haymarket.

Haze, to confuse and annoy a subordinate by contradictory, unnecessary, and perplexing orders.

Hazy, intoxicated, also dull and stupid.

Head-beetler, the bully of the workshop, who lords it over his fellow-workmen by reason of superior strength, skill in fighting, &c. Sometimes applied to the foreman.

Header, a plunge head foremost into water, or a fall in the same posture from accident. Nowadays a theatrical expression for any supposedly daring jump of hero or heroine in sensational dramas.

Head or tail, “I can’t make HEAD OR TAIL of it,” i.e., cannot make it out. Originally a gambling phrase.

Head-rails, the teeth.—Sea.

Head-serag, a master, overseer, or other important personage; from SERANG, a boatswain.—Bengalee, and Sea.

Heap, “a HEAP of people,” a crowd; “struck all of a HEAP,” suddenly astonished.

Heat, a bout, or turn, in horse or foot racing. By means of heats the field is gradually reduced.

Heavy dragoons, bugs, in contradistinction from fleas, which are “light infantry.”—Oxford University.

Heavy wet, malt liquor—because the more a man drinks of it, the heavier and more stupid he becomes.

Hedge, to get away from any dangerous spot. “We saw the slop coming, and HEDGED at once.”

Hedge, to secure oneself from loss over one bet by making others. HEDGING, as a system of betting, is entirely dependent upon what happens in the market after a horse has been backed. From information, or good judgment, a backer selects, say, three horses, A, B, and C, whom he thinks likely to advance in the betting, and takes 50 to 1—say £1000 to £20—against each of them. As the race-day approaches the horse A may fall out of the betting, from accident or other cause, and have to be written off as a dead loss of £20. But the other two horses, as anticipated, improve in public favour, and the backer, who now becomes a HEDGER, succeeds in laying 5 to 1—say £500 to £100—against B, and 2 to 1—say 500 to £250—against C. The account then stands thus:—A is a certain loss of £20; but if B wins, the HEDGER will receive £1000 and pay £500; balance in favour, £500. If B loses, the HEDGER will receive £100 and pay £20; balance in favour, £80. If C wins, the hedger will receive £1000 and pay £500; balance in favour, £500. If C loses, the HEDGER will receive £250 and pay £20; balance in favour, £230. Deducting, then, the loss of £20 on A, the HEDGER’S winnings will be considerable; and he cannot lose, providing his information or judgment lead to the required result. It must be borne in mind that very often a man who feels inclined to go in for a HEDGING speculation, may back half a dozen horses, not one of which sees a short price or goes to the post; besides which it must never be forgotten, that, however well turf speculations may look on paper, they are subject to the contingency of the bets being honourably paid on settling-day—the Monday after a race—when unfortunately there are often more “receivers” than “payers” at the clubs. However, turf transactions are among professionals conducted at least as honourably as are any other business matters; and it is only the fledgling swell, to whom the Legislature gives special opportunities of losing his money, who is generally non est when paytime comes. “The Druid” in Post and Paddock has remarked:—

“The term HEDGING has been quite superseded by “laying off;” and we had, in fact, quite forgotten it till we saw it stated in the papers lately, by a clergyman, who did not answer a question on doctrine as the Bishop of Exeter exactly liked, that his lordship addressed him to this effect: ‘You are HEDGING, sir; you are HEDGING!’”

Usually correct as “The Druid” was, he seems to have fallen into an error here, as HEDGING, and “laying off,” have been exchangeable terms, as far as the oldest turfite can say. It should be remembered that HEDGING is generally done with the man who has originally laid the odds; for as a natural consequence, when the backer finds it convenient to hedge, the layer finds it equally so to back the horse back,—the first loss being considered always the best by bookmakers who are bookmakers. Besides which, the layer has generally a lot of “dead money”—money to the good over horses he has laid against, which have since been struck out—and this he profitably expends in backing certain horses back for the purpose of levelling up the book.

Hedge-popping, shooting small birds about the hedges, as boys do; unsportsmanlike kind of shooting.

Heel-tap, the small quantity of wine or other beverage left in the bottom of a glass, considered as a sign that the liquor is not liked, and therefore unfriendly and unsocial to the host and the company. See DAY-LIGHT.

Heigh-ho! a cant term for stolen yarn, from the expression used to apprize the dishonest shopkeeper that the speaker had stolen yarn to sell.—Norwich Cant.

Hell, a fashionable gambling-house. Small places of this kind are called “silver hells.” Reason obvious.

Hell and Tommy, utter destruction.

Helter-skelter, anyhow, without regard to order or precedence.

Hempen cravat, the hangman’s noose.

Hen and Chickens, large and small pewter pots.

Hen-pecked, said of one whose wife “wears the breeches.” From the action of the hen in paired cage-birds.

Herring-pond, the sea; “to be sent across the HERRING-POND,” to be transported.

Hiding, a thrashing. Webster gives this word, but not its root, HIDE, to beat, to flay by whipping. Most likely from the part attacked. The threat of thrashing is sometimes conveyed thus:—“I’ll tan (or dress) your HIDE.”

Higgledy-piggledy, confusedly, all together,—as pigs lie.

High and dry, an epithet applied to the soi-disant “orthodox” clergy of the last century, for whom, while ill-paid curates did the work, the comforts of the Establishment were its greatest charms.

Though often confounded with, they are utterly dissimilar to, the modern High Church or Anglo-Catholic party, who now receive the title at times; while their opponents receive the corresponding appellation of “Low and Slow,” and the so-called “Broad Church” is defined with equal felicity as the “Broad and Shallow.” Humourists have divided these three portions of one Church into Attitudinarians, Platitudinarians, and Latitudinarians.

High Church, term used in contradistinction from “Low Church.”

Highfalutin’, showy, affected, tinselled, affecting certain pompous or fashionable airs, stuck up; “come, none of yer HIGHFALUTIN’ games,” i.e., you must not show off or imitate the swell here.—American slang, now common in Liverpool and the East-end of London. From the Dutch, VERLOOTEN. Used generally now in the sense of fustian, high-sounding, unmeaning eloquence, bombast.

High-flier, anything above the common order. Apt students, fast coaches, and special trains are sufficient instances of the extreme openness of the qualification.

High-fly, “ON THE HIGH-FLY,” on the genteel or letter-bearing begging system.

High-flyer, a genteel beggar or swindler. A begging-letter impostor.

High-flyer, a large swing, in frames, at fairs and races. The first fast coaches were called high-flyers on account of their desperate speed.

High jinks, “ON THE HIGH JINKS,” taking up an arrogant position, assuming an undue superiority. Scott explains this game in Guy Mannering. Nowadays HIGH JINKS is often used to mean a jollification.

High-lows, laced boots reaching a trifle higher than ankle-jacks.

High-strikes, corruption of Hysterics.

Hipped, bored, offended, crossed, low-spirited, &c. This may have been originally hypped, and have had some connexion with hypochondriacal affections.

Hitched, an Americanism for married. From the word HITCH, used in America in the sense of to harness.

Hittite, a facetious sporting term for a prize-fighter. Derived from the Bible.

Hivite, a student of St. Begh’s College, Cumberland, which is pronounced and generally written St. Bee’s. Literally, Hive-ite.

Hoax, to deceive, or ridicule,—Grose says this was originally a University cant word. Corruption of HOCUS, to cheat.

Hob and nob, to act in concert with another; to lay “heads together;” to touch glasses in drinking; to fraternize in a convivial meeting or merry-making. Originally meaning “foot and head,”—the touching of the top of one glass with the bottom of another, and then reversing the order. Nowadays it means simply to clink glasses together as a salutation before imbibing.

Hobbadehoy, a youth who has ceased to regard himself as a boy, and is not yet regarded as a man.

Hobble, trouble of any kind. A man is said to be in a HOBBLE when he has offended the proprieties in any way, “from pitch and toss to manslaughter.”

Hobbled, committed for trial; properly said of animals fed by the wayside, with their forelegs fastened together. Hence people who gather burdens about them are said to get into HOBBLES.

Hob Collingwood, according to Brockett, a north country term for the four of hearts, considered an unlucky card.

Hobson’s choice, “this or none.” Hobson was a carrier at Cambridge, and also a letter-out of horses for hire; and is said to have always compelled his customers to take the horse that stood in the stall next the stable-door or none at all. He was a benefactor to the town, and Hobson’s Conduit still stands as a memorial of him.

Hock-dockies, shoes.

Hocks, the feet and ankles; CURBY HOCKS, round or clumsy feet and ankles. Term originating with horsey men.

Hocus, to drug a person for purposes of robbery. The potion generally consists of snuff and beer among rogues of the lowest class, and is by them called “snuffing a bloke;” or sometimes, when the drug is administered to a woman for purposes other than those of robbery, “snuffing a blowen.”

Hocus pocus, gipsy words of magic, similar to the modern “presto fly.” The gipsies pronounce “Habeas Corpus,” HAWCUS PACCUS (see Crabb’s Gipsies’ Advocate, p. 18); can this have anything to do with the origin of HOCUS POCUS? Turner gives OCHUS BOCHUS, an old demon. Pegge, however, states that it is a burlesque rendering of the words of the Roman Catholic Church service at the delivery of the host, HOC EST CORPUS, which the early Protestants considered as a species of conjuring, and ridiculed accordingly.

Hodge, a countryman or provincial clown. Most country districts in England have one or more families in the name of HODGE; indeed, GILES and HODGE appear to be the favourite hobnail nomenclature. Hodge is said to be simply an abbreviation of Roger.

Hog, a shilling.—Old Cant.

Hog, “to go the whole HOG;” “the whole HOG or none,” to do anything with a person’s entire strength, not “by halves;” realized by the phrase “in for a penny in for a pound.” Bartlett claims this to be a pure American phrase; whilst Ker, of course, gives it a Dutch origin.—Old. “To go the whole HOG” is frequently altered by those people who believe there is wit in circumlocution, into “the entire animal,” or “the complete swine!”

Hoga, do. “That wont HOGA,” i.e., that wont do, is one of the very commonest of the Anglo-Indian slang phrases.

Hogmagundy, the process by which the population is increased.

Hogmany night, New Year’s Eve, when presents are solicited by the young folk.—Scotch.

Hogo, a tremendous stench. From haut goût. Now often pronounced FOGO.

Hoisting, shoplifting.

Hold hard, an exclamation made when a sudden stoppage is desired. Originally an expression used in riding or driving, now general.

Hollow, “to beat HOLLOW,” to excel.

Holy Joe, a sea-term for a parson.

Holy Land, a very old term for the Seven Dials,—where St. Giles’s Greek is spoken.

Homo, a man. Lingua Franca; but see OMEE, the more usual Cockney pronunciation.

Hondey, a Manchester name for an omnibus, and the abbreviation of HONDEYBUSH, the original Lancashire pronunciation of the word.

Honest Shilling, a shilling earned by a process actually immoral, but not positively illegal. The money earned by a prostitute is said to be honest, as distinguished from that obtained by a thief. Probably from the story of the converted burglar, who determined to sin no more himself, and who lectured against dishonesty, but sent his wife out regularly every evening with instructions to earn an HONEST SHILLING.

Honey blobs, a Scotch term for large ripe, yellow gooseberries.

Honour bright, an asseveration which means literally, “by my honour, which is bright and unsullied.” It is often still further curtailed to “HONOUR!” only.

Hook, an expression at Oxford, implying doubt, either connected with Hookey Walker, or with a note of interrogation (?) “Yes, with a HOOK at the end of it!” i.e., with some reservation, generally that of doubt, by the speaker.

Hook, to steal or rob. See the following.

Hook or by crook, by fair means or foul—in allusion to the hook with which footpads used to steal from open windows, &c., and from which HOOK, to take or steal, has been derived. Mentioned in Hudibras as a cant term.

Hook it, “get out of the way,” or “be off about your business;” generally varied by “take your HOOK.” “To HOOK it,” to run away, to decamp; “on one’s own HOOK,” dependent upon one’s own exertions. Originally connected with the preceding, but now perfectly “on its own HOOK.”

Hookey walker! ejaculation of incredulity, usually shortened to WALKER!—which see.

Hooks, “dropped off the HOOKS,” said of a deceased person—possibly derived from the ancient practice of suspending on hooks the quarters of a traitor or felon sentenced by the old law to be hung, drawn, and quartered, which dropped off the hooks as they decayed.

Hook um snivey (formerly “HOOK and SNIVEY”), a low expression, meaning to cheat by feigning sickness or other means. Also a piece of thick iron wire crooked at one end, and fastened into a wooden handle, for the purpose of undoing from the outside the wooden bolt of a door. Sometimes used as an irrelevant answer by street boys. As, “who did that?”—“HOOK UM SNIVEY”—actually no one.

Hop, a dance.—Fashionable slang.

Hop merchant, a dancing master.

Hop o’ my thumb, an undersized person. From the story of that name. Portion of a set of phrases established for the benefit of the small, in which Tomtit, Little Breeches, Daniel Lambert, Sixfoot, Twentystun, &c., play a prominent part.

Hopping Giles, a cripple. St. Ægidius or Giles, himself similarly afflicted, was the patron saint of lazars and cripples. The ancient lazar houses were dedicated to him.

Hoppo, custom-house officer, or custom-house. Almost anything connected with custom-house business.—Anglo-Chinese.

Hop the twig, to run away; also, a flippant expression meaning to die. Many similar phrases are used by the thoughtless and jocose, as “laying down one’s knife and fork,” “pegging out,” from the game of cribbage, and “snuffing it.” A new form of this phraseology is to say that a man has “given up” or “given in.”

Hornswoggle, nonsense, humbug. Believed to be of American origin.

Horrors, the low spirits, or “blue devils,” which follow intoxication. Incipient del. trem.

Horse, contraction of Horsemonger-Lane Gaol, also a slang term for a five-pound note.

Horse, to flog. From the old wooden horse or flogging-stool.

Horsebreaker. See PRETTY HORSEBREAKER.

Horse chaunter, a dealer who takes worthless horses to country fairs and disposes of them by artifice. He is generally an unprincipled fellow, and will put in a glass eye, fill a beast with shot, plug him with ginger, or in fact do anything so that he sells to advantage. See COPER.

Horse marine, an awkward person. In ancient times the “jollies,” or Royal Marines, were the butts of the sailors, from their ignorance of seamanship. “Tell that to the MARINES, the blue jackets wont believe it!” was a common rejoinder to a “stiff yarn.” A HORSE marine (an impossibility) was used to denote one more awkward even than an ordinary “jolly.” Nowadays the MARINES are deservedly appreciated as one of the finest regiments in the service.

Horse nails. At the game of cribbage, when a player finds it his policy to keep his antagonist back, rather than push himself forward, and plays accordingly, he is sometimes said “to feed his opponent on HORSE NAILS.”

Horse nails, money.—Compare BRADS.

Horse’s nightcap, a halter; “to die in a HORSE’S NIGHTCAP,” to be hanged.

Horsey, like a groom or jockey. Applied also to persons who affect the turf in dress or conversation.

Hot coppers, the feverish sensations experienced in the morning by those who have been drunk over-night.

Hot tiger, an Oxford mixture of hot-spiced ale and sherry.

House of Commons, a humorous term for the closet of decency.

Houses; “safe as HOUSES,” an expression to satisfy a doubting person; “Oh! it’s as safe as HOUSES,” i.e., perfectly safe, apparently in allusion to the paying character of house property as an investment. It is said the phrase originated when the railway bubbles began to burst, and when people began to turn their attention to the more ancient forms of speculation, which though slow were sure.

Housewarming, the first friendly gathering in a new or freshly-occupied house.

How-came-you-so? intoxicated.

How much? A facetious way of asking for an explanation of any difficult or pedantic expression. “Why don’t you cook your potatoes in an anhydrohepsaterion?” A waggish listener might be excused for asking, “An anhydro—HOW MUCH!”

How’s your poor feet? an idiotic street cry with no meaning, much in vogue a few years back.

Hoxter, an inside pocket.—Old English, OXTER. Probably the low slang word HUXTER, money, is derived from this. Oxter is, among the Irish, an armpit.

Hubble bubble, the Indian pipe termed a hookah is thus designated, from the noise it makes when being smoked.

Huey, a town or village.—Tramps’ term.

Huff, a dodge or trick; “don’t try that HUFF on me,” or “that HUFF wont do.” Also a term in the game of draughts,—the penalty for failing to take an opponent’s piece when an opportunity occurs.

Huff, to vex, to offend; a poor temper. Huffy, easily offended. Huffed, annoyed, offended. Some folk are tersely and truly described as easily HUFFED.

Hugger-mugger, underhand, sneaking. Also, “in a state of HUGGER-MUGGER” means to be muddled.

Hulk, to hang about in hopes of an invitation. See MOOCH.

Hulky, extra-sized.—Shropshire. From this and from hulk we probably get our adjective HULKING, as applied to the great lazy ruffians who infest low neighbourhoods.

Hum and haw, to hesitate, or raise objections.—Old English.

Humble pie, to “eat HUMBLE PIE,” to knock under, to be submissive. The UMBLES, or entrails, and other unprime parts of a deer, were anciently made into a dish for servants, while their masters feasted off the haunch.

Hum-box, a pulpit. This is a very old term.

Humbug, an imposition, or a person who imposes upon others. A very expressive but slang word, synonymous at one time with HUM AND HAW. Lexicographers for a long time objected to the adoption of this term. Richardson uses it frequently to express the meaning of other words, but, strange to say, omits it in the alphabetical arrangement as unworthy of recognition! In the first edition of this work, 1785 was given as the earliest date at which the word could be found in a printed book. Since then HUMBUG has been traced half a century further back, on the title-page of a singular old jest-book—“The Universal Jester; or a pocket companion for the Wits: being a choice collection of merry conceits, facetious drolleries, &c., clenchers, closers, closures, bon-mots, and HUMBUGS,” by Ferdinando Killigrew. London, about 1735-40.

The notorious Orator Henley was known to the mob as ORATOR HUMBUG. The fact may be learned from an illustration in that exceedingly curious little collection of Caricatures, published in 1757, many of which were sketched by Lord Bolingbroke—Horace Walpole filling in the names and explanations. Halliwell describes HUMBUG as “a person who hums,” and cites Dean Milles’s MS., which was written about 1760. In the last century, the game now known as double-dummy was termed HUMBUG. Lookup, a notorious gambler, was struck down by apoplexy when playing at this game. On the circumstance being reported to Foote, the wit said—“Ah, I always thought he would be HUMBUGGED out of the world at last!” It has been stated that the word is a corruption of Hamburgh, from which town so many false bulletins and reports came during the war in the last century. “Oh, that is Hamburgh [or HUMBUG],” was the answer to any fresh piece of news which smacked of improbability. Grose mentions it in his Dictionary, 1785; and in a little printed squib, published in 1808, entitled Bath Characters, by T. Goosequill, HUMBUG is thus mentioned in a comical couplet on the title-page:—

Gradually from this time the word began to assume a place in periodical literature, and in novels written by not over-precise authors. In the preface to a flat, and most likely unprofitable poem, entitled, The Reign of HUMBUG, a Satire, 8vo, 1836, the author thus apologizes for the use of the word:—“I have used the term HUMBUG to designate this principle [wretched sophistry of life generally], considering that, it is now adopted into our language as much as the words dunce, jockey, cheat, swindler, &c., which were formerly only colloquial terms.” A correspondent, who in a number of Adversaria ingeniously traced bombast to the inflated Doctor Paracelsus Bombast, considers that HUMBUG may, in like manner, be derived from Homberg, the distinguished chemist of the court of the Duke of Orleans, who, according to the following passage from Bishop Berkeley’s Siris, was an ardent and successful seeker after the philosopher’s stone!

“§194.—Of this there cannot be a better proof than the experiment of Monsieur Homberg, who made gold of mercury by introducing light into its pores, but at such trouble and expense that, I suppose, nobody will try the experiment for profit. By this injunction of light and mercury, both bodies became fixed, and produced a third different to either, to wit, real gold. For the truth of which fact I refer to the memoirs of the French Academy of Sciences.”—Berkeley’s Works, vol ii. p. 366 (Wright’s edition).

Another derivation suggested is that of AMBAGE, a Latin word adopted into the English language temp. Charles I. (see May’s translation of Lucan’s Pharsalia), and meaning conduct the reverse of straightforward. Again, in the (burlesque) Loves of Hero and Leander (date 1642), we find “Mum-bug, quoth he, ’twas known of yore,” a cant expression, no doubt, commanding a person to “shut up,” or hold his tongue, and evidently derived from the game of mum-budget or silence, upon which Halliwell (Dict. Arch.) has descanted.

AMBAGE is also used in the sense of “circumlocution.” “Without any long studie or tedious AMBAGE.”—Puttenham, Art of Poesie.

“Umh! y’ are full of AMBAGE.”—Decker’s Whore of Babylon, 1607.

De Quincey thus discourses upon the word:—

“The word HUMBUG, for instance, rests upon a rich and comprehensive basis; it cannot be rendered adequately either by German or by Greek, the two richest of human languages; and without this expressive word we should all be disarmed for one great case, continually recurrent, of social enormity. A vast mass of villany, that cannot otherwise be reached by legal penalties, or brought within the rhetoric of scorn, would go at large with absolute impunity were it not through the stern Rhadamanthean aid of this virtuous and inexorable word.”—Article on “Language.”

The original collater of these notes purchased the collection of essays known as the Connoisseur at the sale of Thackeray’s library. At the end of vol. i. he found a memorandum in the great humourist’s handwriting—“p. 108, ‘HUMBUG,’ a new-coined expression.” On referring to that page (in the 3rd edition, 1757) this paragraph was noted:—

“The same conduct of keeping close to their ranks was observed at table, where the ladies seated themselves together. Their conversation was here also confined wholly to themselves, and seemed like the mysteries of the Bona Dea, in which men were forbidden to have any share. It was a continued laugh and whisper from the beginning to the end of dinner. A whole sentence was scarce ever spoken aloud. Single words, indeed, now and then broke forth; such as, odious, horrible, detestable, shocking, HUMBUG. This last new-coined expression, which is only to be found in the nonsensical vocabulary, sounds absurd and disagreeable whenever it is pronounced; but from the mouth of a lady it is ‘shocking,’ ‘detestable,’ ‘horrible,’ and ‘odious.’”

The use of this term is almost universal; in California there is a town called Humbug Flat—a name which gives a significant hint of the acuteness of the first settler.

Humdrum, monotonous, tedious, tiresome, boring; “a society of gentlemen who used to meet near the Charter House, and at the King’s Head, St. John’s Street, Clerkenwell. They were characterized by less mystery and more pleasantry than the Freemasons.”—Bacchus and Venus, 1737. In the West the term applies to a low cart.

Humming, strong as applied to drink. Extra strong ale is often characterized as “HUMMING October.” Maybe from its effect on heads not quite so strong.

Hump, low spirits. A costermonger who was annoyed or distressed about anything would describe himself as having “the HUMP.”

Hump, to botch, or spoil.

Hump up, “to have one’s HUMP UP,” to be cross or ill-tempered—like a cat with its back set up. See BACK and MONKEY.

Humpty-dumpty, short and thick; all of a heap; all together, like an egg.

Also a hunchback. Humpty is an abbreviated form of the expression.

Hunch, to shove, or jostle.

Hunks, a miserly fellow, a curmudgeon.

Hunky, an American term which means good, jolly, &c. As, “a HUNKY boy,” a good jovial fellow; and “everything went off HUNKY.”

Hunter pitching, the game of cockshies—three throws a penny.—See COCKSHY.

Hurdy-gurdy, a droning musical instrument shaped like a large fiddle, and turned by a crank, used by Savoyards and other itinerant foreign musicians in England, now nearly superseded by the hand-organ. From the peculiar noise made by the instrument, which in Italy is called “viola.”

Hurkaru, a messenger.—Anglo-Indian.

Husbands’ boat, the Saturday afternoon packet to Margate during the summer season. So called for obvious reasons. The passengers by this boat come in for an unusual share of attention from the cads peculiar to this watering-place.

Husbands’ tea, very weak tea. See WATER BEWITCHED.

Hush-money, a sum given to quash a prosecution or stay evidence. Money given to any one for the purpose of quieting him.

Hush-shop, or CRIB, a shop where beer and spirits are sold “on the quiet”—no licence being paid.

Huxter, money. Term much in use among costermongers and low sharpers. Probably from OXTER or HOXTER.

Hyps, or HYPO, the blue devils. From HYPOCHONDRIASIS.—Swift.

Hy-yaw! an interjectional exclamation of astonishment.—Anglo-Chinese.

Ikey, a Jew “fence.” Corruption of Isaac, a common Hebrew name.

Imperence, servant-girl currency for impudence or impertinence. “Now, then, Mr. Imperence, leave off now, do,” seems, however, to have faded away with Greenwich, Bartlemy, and kindred fairs.

Improve the occasion, a slang term much in use among Chadbands and Stigginses, who never lose an opportunity of IMPROVING the condition of either pockets or stomachs at the expense of the credulous.

In, “to be IN with a person,” to be even with, or up to him; also, to be on intimate terms, or in partnership, with him.

Inexpressibles, UNUTTERABLES, UNMENTIONABLES, UNWHISPERABLES, or SIT UPONS, trousers, the nether garments. All affected terms, having their origin in a most unpleasant squeamishness.

Infantry, nursery term for children; LIGHT INFANTRY, fleas.

In for it, in trouble or difficulty of any kind. As, “You’re IN FOR IT, I wouldn’t stand in your shoes for a trifle.”

In for patter, waiting for trial, referring to the speeches of counsel, the statements of witnesses, the summing up of the judge, &c.,—the fuss of which the prisoner sets down as “all so much PATTER.”

Innings, earnings, good fortune; “he’s had a long INNINGS,” i.e., a good run of luck, with plenty of cash flowing in. From the distinction between INNINGS and outings at cricket and kindred games.

Inside lining, dinner, &c.

Interesting, “to be in an INTERESTING situation,” applied to females when enceinte.

Interview, to inspect privately with a view to obtaining information which shall be afterwards published. Both the verb and its use have their origin with our Transatlantic cousins, and “interviewing” by means of special reporters, who question most minutely, is of frequent occurrence,—of occurrence whenever opportunity offers. Should a man be found guilty of murder, or start as a candidate for the Presidency, he will be INTERVIEWED by “our special correspondent,” and there are already signs of this objectionable form of newspaper work finding its way here. Should a visitor of importance arrive in New York, the conversation which passes, or is supposed to pass, between him and the reporter will be found minutely described, with an elaborate introduction. It is but fair to Americans, however, to say that the gentleman to whom the credit, or discredit, of the invention of this system belongs was a native of Great Britain, who invented many other startling Americanisms during his residence in New York.

Into, “hold my hat, Jim, I’ll be INTO him,” i.e., I will fight him. In this sense equivalent to pitch INTO, or slip INTO.

Invite, an invitation—a corruption used by stuck-up people of mushroom origin. Often used, also, by people who know better, from their desire for slang of any kind.

Ipsal dixal, Cockney corruption of ipse dixit—said of one’s simple uncorroborated assertion.

Irish American, an Irishman who has been for some time resident in the States; sometimes a man born in America of Irish parents. The Irish American body is a power in the United States, and is the fount-spring as well as the maintaining power of all Fenianism.

Irish apricots, potatoes.

Irish Cockney, a child born of Irish parents in any part of the southern counties of England. It is a singular fact that Irishmen born profess great abhorrence of Irish Cockneys, while the latter despise all Irish, and use the word as one of reproach. Irish Cockneys were originally only Cockneys born of an Irish strain, but the term has proved very elastic, and threatens soon to mean any English-born person whose descent is Hibernian. Liverpool will, however, always prove an exception to the rule, as the name “Liverpool Irishmen” is given to those who would in any southern part be called Cockneys.

Irish theatre, the temporary prison, guard-room, or lock-up in a barracks. The fond fancy of the soldier supplies it with other figurative appellations, as “the mill,” “the jigger,” “the house that Jack built.” In Edinburgh Castle it is termed “the dryroom.”

Irons in the fire, a man is said to have too many IRONS IN THE FIRE when he turns his attention to too many occupations or enterprises at once.

Isthmus of Suez, the covered bridge at St. John’s College, Cambridge, which connects the college with its grounds on the other side of the river.—See CRACKLE.

Ivories, teeth; “a box of IVORIES,” a set of teeth, the mouth; “wash your IVORIES,” i.e., “drink.” The word is also used to denote dice.

Jabber, to talk, or chatter. A cant word in Swift’s time. Probably from GIBBER.

Jack, the knave of trumps, at the game of all-fours.

Jack-at-a-pinch, one whose assistance is only sought on an emergency. Jack-in-the-water, an attendant at the watermen’s stairs on the river and sea-port towns, who does not mind wetting his feet for a customer’s convenience, in consideration of a douceur.

Jacked-up, ruined, done for. To JACK-UP is to leave off doing anything suddenly. See CHUCK-UP.

Jacket, the skin of a potato which has not been pared before cooking. In Ireland potatoes are generally served “with their JACKETS on.”

Jacketing, a thrashing. Similar term to leathering, cowhiding, &c.

Jackey, gin. Seven Dials originally. Nearly general now.

Jack-in-the-box, a small but powerful kind of screw, used by burglars to break open safes.

Jack Ketch, the public hangman.—See KETCH.

Jack Nasty-face, a sailor.—Sea. Nasty-face is a term applied often in London streets to an ugly or unpleasant-looking person.

Jacks, AND HALF-JACKS, card counters, resembling in size and appearance sovereigns and half-sovereigns, for which they are occasionally passed to simple persons. In large gambling establishments the “heaps of gold” are frequently composed of JACKS. Jacks are not, as they are sometimes supposed to be, counterfeit coins; they are simply little medals, and so “magsmen” and “street muggers” carry them with less concern than they would feel were their pockets loaded with spurious money.

Jack Sprat, a diminutive boy or man.

Jack Tar, a sailor.

Jacob, a ladder. Grose says, from Jacob’s dream.—Old Cant.

Jacob’s ladder, a longitudinal flaw in the leg of a ballet-girl’s tights.

Jagger, a gentleman. German, Jager, a sportsman.

Jail-bird, a prisoner, one who has been in jail.

James, a sovereign, or twenty shillings. From Jacobus, the James II. guinea.

Jannock, sociable, fair dealing.—Norfolk. Generally now JONNICK, which see.

Japan, to ordain. Having evident reference to the black clothes which follow ordination.—University.

Jark, a “safe-conduct” pass.—Oxford. Old cant for a seal.

Jarvey, the driver of a hackney-coach; “Jarvey’s upper Benjamin,” a coachman’s overcoat, with many capes. An ingenious etymology has been found for Jarvey, thus:—Jarvey, vernacular for Geoffrey, which was often written Geo. (gee-ho), hence Jarvey. This is open to considerable objection, as George is shortened in similar manner to that shown above. Still it is worthy of record, independently of its ingenuity, being as exact as many accepted derivations.

Jaw, speech, or talk; “hold your JAW,” don’t speak any more; “what are you JAWING about?” i.e., what are you making a noise about?

Jaw, to talk without cessation, to scold vehemently.

Jawbone, credit.

“We have a few persons whose pockets are to let—men who have more complaints than dollars—individuals who, in digger’s parlance, live on JAWBONE (credit), and are always to be found at saloons; a class of men who, when they are here, wish themselves yonder, and when yonder, wish themselves back.”—Times Correspondent, San Francisco, Oct. 21, 1862.

Jaw-breaker, a hard or excessively long word. Also, in pugilistic sense, a hard blow on the side of the face.

Jaw-twister, a hard or many-syllabled word. Elaboration of preceding.

Jazey, a wig. A corruption of JERSEY, the name for flax prepared in a peculiar manner, of which common wigs were formerly made; “the cove with the JAZEY,” i.e., the judge.

Jeames (a generic for “flunkeys”), the Morning Post newspaper—the organ of Belgravia and the “Haristocracy.”

Jehu, old slang term for a coachman, or one fond of driving.—Biblical.

Jeminy O! a vulgar expression of surprise.

Jemmy, a sheep’s-head.—See sanguinary James.

Jemmy, a short crowbar, which generally takes to pieces, for the convenience of housebreakers.

Jemmy ducks, the man whose business it is to look after the poultry on board a ship.—Sea.

Jemmy Jessamy, a dandy.

Jemmy-John, a jar for holding liquor; probably a corruption of demi-gallon, by means of DEMI-JOHN.

Jeremiad, a lament; derived, of course, from the Book of Lamentations, written by the Prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremy Diddler, an adept at raising the wind, i.e., at borrowing, especially at borrowing with no intention of repaying. See the farce of Raising the Wind.

Jericho, an improper quarter of Oxford. A lady visitor once writing her name down in the visitors’ book at the Bodleian or elsewhere, for a joke put down her residence as “Jericho,” to the no small disgust of her undergraduate friend.—University.

Jerry, a chamber utensil; abbreviation of JEROBOAM.—Swift.

Jerry, a watch. “Jerry nicking” or “JERRY sneaking” is watch-stealing, which is a distinct form of street robbery, and requires both courage and dexterity; for it is done, as the thieves say, “right afore a bloke’s face.”

Jerry, to jibe or chaff cruelly. Development of jeer.

Jerry-go-nimble, the diarrhœa. Derivation apparent.

Jerry Lynch, a pig’s head pickled. Term usually applied to the long Irish heads which are sent over here for sale in the poorer districts of London, and which are vastly different from the heads of “dairy-fed” porkers.

Jerry shop, a beer-house. Contraction of “Tom and Jerry.”

Jerry Sneak, a hen-pecked husband,—a character in the Mayor of Garret. Also, a stealer of watches.

Jerusalem pony, a donkey.

Jessie, “to give a person JESSIE,” to beat him soundly. See GAS.

Jew fencer, a Jew street salesman.

Jew’s eye, a popular simile for anything valuable. Probably a corruption of the Italian, GIOJE; French, JOAILLE, a jewel. In ancient times, when a king was short of cash, he generally issued orders for so many Jews’ eyes, or equivalent sums of money. The Jews preferred paying the ransom, although often very heavy. It is notorious that in this country the order often went forth to draw Jews’ teeth in the event of their refusing to contribute so much to the Exchequer. A probable idea is, that as a Jew’s teeth brought in so much money, the value of a Jew’s eye must be something fabulous. Possibly, also, from the lex talionis so strongly believed in by Jews,—an eye for an eye, and nothing less. The term is used by Shakspeare.

Jezebel, a showily-dressed woman of suspected character; derived, of course, from 2 Kings ix. 30, but applied in this sense from the time of the Puritans. Also, a hot-tempered female.

Jib, a first-year man.—Dublin University.

Jib, or JIBBER, a horse that starts or shrinks. Shakspeare uses it in the sense of a worn-out horse.

Jib, the face, or a person’s expression; “the cut of his JIB,” i.e., his peculiar appearance. That sail of a ship, which in position and shape, corresponds to the nose on a person’s face.—Sea. A vessel is often known by the cut of the JIB sail; hence the popular phrase, “to know a man by the cut of his JIB.”

Jibb, the tongue.—Gipsy and Hindoo. (Tramps’ term.) Thence extended to mean language.

Jiffy, “in a JIFFY,” in a moment.

Jigger, a door; “dub the JIGGER,” shut the door. Ancient cant, GYGER. In billiards, the bridge or rest is often termed the JIGGER. Also, the curtain of a theatre. Jigger has many meanings, the word being applied to any small mechanical contrivance. Printers use the word for a little machine which guides the eye when copy is minute.

Jigger, a secret still for the manufacture of illicit spirits.

Jigger, “I’m JIGGERED if you will,” a common form of mild swearing. See SNIGGER.

Jigger-dubber, a term applied to a gaoler or turnkey.

Jiggot o’ mutton, a leg of mutton. From Fr. GIGOT.

Jilt, a crowbar or house-breaking implement.

Jingo, “by JINGO,” a common form of oath, said to be a corruption of St. Gingoulph. Vide Halliwell.

Jo, Scotticism for a man or lover. As “John Anderson, my JO, John.”

Job, “a JOB lot,” otherwise called a “sporting lot,” any miscellaneous goods purchased at a cheap rate, or to be sold a bargain. Frequently used to conceal the fact of their being stolen, or otherwise dishonestly obtained.

Job, a short piece of work, a prospect of employment. Johnson describes JOB as a low word, without etymology. It is, and was, however, a cant word; and a JOB, two centuries ago, was an arranged robbery. Even at the present day it is mainly confined to the streets, in the sense of employment for a short time. Amongst undertakers a JOB signifies a funeral; “to do a JOB,” conduct any one’s funeral; “by the JOB,” i.e., piece-work, as opposed to time-work. A JOB in political phraseology is a Government office or contract, obtained by secret influence or favouritism. Any unfair arrangement is now called a JOB.

Job, a sudden blow, as “a JOB in the eye.” Also used as a verb, “I’ll JOB this here knife in your ribs.”

Jobation, a chiding, a reprimand, a trial of the hearer’s patience.

Jobbery, the arrangement of jobs, or unfair business proceedings.

Job’s comfort, reproof instead of consolation.

Job’s comforter, one who brings news of additional misfortunes. Both these words are of Biblical origin.

Job’s turkey, “as poor as Job’s turkey,” as thin and as badly fed as that ill-conditioned and imaginary bird.

Jocteleg, a shut-up knife. Corruption of Jacques de Liège, a famous cutler.

Joe, a too marvellous tale, a lie, or a stale joke. Abbreviated from Joe Miller. The full name is occasionally used, as in the phrase “I don’t see the Joe Miller of it,” i.e., I don’t perceive the wit you intend, or I don’t see the fun of doing it,—whatever may have been the request.

Joey, a fourpenny piece. The term is derived (like Bobby from Sir Robert Peel) from Joseph Hume. The explanation is thus given in Hawkins’s History of the Silver Coinage of England:—

“These pieces are said to have owed their existence to the pressing instance of Mr. Hume, from whence they, for some time, bore the nickname of Joeys. As they were very convenient to pay short cab fares, the hon. M.P. was extremely unpopular with the drivers, who frequently received only a groat where otherwise they would have received a sixpence without any demand for change.”

The term, therefore, was originated by the London cabmen, who have invented many other popular phrases. Fancy offering a modern hansom cabman a Joey!

Jog-trot, a slow but regular trot, or pace.

Jogul, to play up, at cards or other game. Spanish, JUGAR.

John Blunt, a straightforward, honest, outspoken man.

Johnny, half-a-glass of whisky.—Irish.

Johnny Darbies, a nickname for policemen, an evident corruption of the French GENSDARMES. Also, a term applied to handcuffs.—See DARBIES.

Johnny Raw, a newly-enlisted soldier.

John Orderly, the signal to shorten the performance at a show. Whenever the master, who remains on the platform outside to take the money and regulate the performance, desires to refill the booth, he pokes his head inside and shouts, “Is John Orderly there?” The actors instantly cut the piece short, the curtain falls, and the spectators are bundled out at the back, to make room for the fresh audience. According to tradition, John Orderly was a noted showman, who taught this move to the no less noted Richardson. This is like the old story of the publican who used to call out to his waiter, “A pot of ale, Robert,” when he wished his customers to be served with the best; but “A pot of ale, Bob,” when they had been drinking long enough not to distinguish good stuff from the bad the latter order meant. One day after calling for Bob many times, he reluctantly, at the request of a visitor, tasted the ale, and found it was the best. Rushing out immediately afterwards, and calling for Bob with all his voice, he was answered by his wife, who said, “Why, Bob’s been out these three hours.”

John Thomas, a generic for “flunkeys,”—more especially footmen with large calves and fine bushy whiskers.

Jolly, a Royal Marine.—See HORSE MARINE.

Jolly, a word of praise, or favourable notice; “chuck Harry a JOLLY, Bill,” i.e., go and praise up his goods, or buy of him, and speak well of the article, that the crowd standing around his stall may think it a good opportunity for laying out their money. This is called JOLLYING. “Chuck a JOLLY,” lit. translated, is, throw “a shout” or “good word.”

Jolly, to abuse or vituperate, sometimes to “bear up” or “bonnet.” To JOLLY a man often means to give him a piece of one’s mind. To JOLLY “for” any one is another phase of the business mentioned in the foregoing paragraph.

Jomer, a sweetheart, or favourite girl. See BLOWER.

Jonnick, right, correct, proper. Said of a person or thing.

Jordan, a chamberpot. To throw the contents of a chamberpot over any one is to christen him.

Jorum, a capacious vessel from which food is eaten, as broth or stew.

Joskin, a countryman.

Jossop, the syrup or juice in a fruit pie or pudding. Also, sauce or gravy.—School.

Jow, be off, be gone immediately. If the word Jehanum be added, it forms a peremptory order to go to a place unmentionable to ears polite.—Anglo-Indian. Our phrase, “Go to Jericho,” is probably a modification of the Jehanum business.

Judas, a deceitful person; JUDAS-HAIRED, red-haired, deceitful. It is generally believed that Judas Iscariot was red-haired. Painters seem to have accepted this idea, with modifications as to the exact amount of colour.

Jug, a prison of any kind. Contraction of “stone jug.”

Julep, one of a set of drinks peculiar to America. Generally prepared with mint, and called a MINT-JULEP. Originally JULEP was a pleasant liquid, in which nauseous medicines were taken. Its literal meaning is rosewater, and it is derived from the Arabic.

Jump, to seize, or rob; to “JUMP a man,” to pounce upon him, and either rob or maltreat him; “to JUMP a house,” to rob it.

Jumped-up, conceited, arrogant, setting full value on oneself.

Jump-up-behind, to endorse an accommodation-bill.

Juniper, gin. Derivation obvious.

Junk, salt beef.—See OLD HORSE.

Juwaub, literally, in Hindostanee, an answer; but in Anglo-Indian slang signifying a refusal. If an officer asks for leave and is refused, he is said to be JUWAUBED; if a gentleman unsuccessfully proposes for the hand of a lady, he is said to have got the JUWAUB.—Anglo-Indian.

Karibat, food, literally rice and curry; the staple dish of both natives and Europeans in India.—Anglo-Indian.

Keel-hauling, a good thrashing or mauling, rough treatment,—from the old nautical custom of punishing offenders by throwing them overboard with a rope attached, and hauling them up from under the ship’s keel. See full description of this barbarous practice in Marryat’s Snarleyyow.

Keep a pig, an Oxford University phrase, which means to have a lodger. A man whose rooms contain two bedchambers has sometimes, when his college is full, to allow the use of one of them to a Freshman, who is called under these circumstances a PIG. The original occupier is then said to KEEP A PIG.

Keep it up, to prolong a debauch, or the occasion of a rejoicing,—a metaphor drawn from the game of shuttlecock. People suffering from the effects of drink are said to have been KEEPING IT UP.—Grose.

Kelter, coin, money. Probably from GELT.

Ken, a house.—Ancient cant. KHAN, Gipsy and Oriental.

⁂ All slang and cant words which end in KEN, such as SPIELKEN, SPINIKEN, or BOOZINGKEN, refer to houses, and are mainly of Gipsy origin.

Kennedy, a poker; to “give Kennedy” is to strike or kill with a poker. A St. Giles’s term, so given from a man of that name being killed by a poker.

Kent rag, or CLOUT, a cotton handkerchief.

Kervorten, a Cockneyism for QUARTERN or quarter-pint measure. “Kervorten and three houts,” a quartern of liquor and glasses, each holding a third of the quantity.

Ketch, or Jack Ketch, the popular name for a public hangman; derived from a person of that name who officiated in the reign of Charles II.—See Macaulay’s History of England.

Kettle of fish, a mess or muddle of any kind. As, “Here’s a pretty KETTLE OF FISH!”

Key of the street, an imaginary instrument said to be possessed by any one locked out of doors.

Kibosh, nonsense, stuff, humbug; “it’s all KIBOSH,” i.e., palaver or nonsense; to “put on the KIBOSH,” to run down, slander, degrade, &c. To put the KIBOSH on anything is, latterly, to put an effectual end or stop to it.

Kick, a moment; “I’ll be there in a KICK,” i.e., in a moment.

Kick, a pocket; Gaelic, CUACH, a bowl, a nest; Scotch, QUAIGH.

Kick, a sixpence; “two and a KICK,” two shillings and sixpence.

Kick the bucket, to die.—Norfolk. According to Forby, a metaphor taken from the descent of a well or mine, which is of course absurd. The Rev. E. S. Taylor supplies the following note from his MS. additions to the work of the East-Anglian lexicographer:—

“The allusion is to the way in which a slaughtered pig is hung up—viz., by passing the ends of a bent piece of wood behind the tendons of the hind legs, and so suspending it to a hook in a beam above. This piece of wood is locally termed a BUCKET, and so by a coarse metaphor the phrase came to signify to die.”

Another correspondent says the real signification of this phrase is to commit suicide by hanging, from a method planned and carried out by an ostler at an inn on the Great North Road. Standing on a bucket, he tied himself up to a beam in the stable; he then KICKED THE BUCKET away from under his feet, and in a few seconds was dead. The natives of the West Indies have converted the expression into “kickeraboo.”

Kick over the traces, to be over-extravagant. Any one who has come to grief by fast living is said to have KICKED OVER THE TRACES.

Kick up, a noise or disturbance.

Kick up, “to KICK UP a row,” to create a tumult.

Kickeraboo, dead. A West Indian negro’s phrase. See KICK THE BUCKET, of which phrase it is a corruption.

Kickseys, or KICKSIES, trousers.

Kickshaws, trifles; made, or French dishes—not English or substantial. Anything of a fancy description now. Corruption of the French QUELQUES CHOSES.

Kicksy, troublesome, disagreeable. German, KECK, bold.

Kid, an infant, or child. From the German kind; or possibly from the name for the young of a goat. Also, a shallow dish in which sailors receive their portions of food.

Kid, to joke, to quiz, to hoax anybody. “No KID, now?” is a question often asked by a man who thinks he is being hoaxed.

Kidden, or KIDKEN, a low lodging-house for boys.

Kiddier, a pork-butcher.

Kiddily, fashionably or showily; “KIDDILY togg’d,” showily dressed.

Kiddleywink, a small shop where are retailed the commodities of a village store. Originally KIDDLE-A-WINK, from the offer made, with a wink, to give you something out of the kettle or kiddle. In the west country an alehouse. Also, a woman of unsteady habits.

Kiddy, a man, or boy. Formerly a low thief.

Kiddyish, frolicsome, jovial.

Kidment, humbug, coarse chaff or jocularity.

Kidnapper, originally one who stole children. Now applied without reference to the age or sex of those stolen. From “kid,” a child, and “nab” (corrupted to “nap”), to steal, or seize.

Kidney, “of that KIDNEY,” of such a stamp; “strange KIDNEY,” odd humour; “two of a KIDNEY,” two persons of a sort, or as like as two peas, i.e., resembling each other like two kidneys in a bunch.—Old. “Attempt to put their hair out of KIDNEY.”—Terræ Filius, 1763.

Kid-on, to entice or incite a person to the perpetration of an act.

Kidsman, one who trains boys to thieve and pick pockets successfully.

Kilkenny cat, a popular simile for a voracious or desperate animal or person, from the story of the two cats in that county, who are said to have fought and bitten each other until a small portion of the tail of one of them alone remained.

Killing, bewitching, fascinating. The term is akin to the phrase “dressing to death.”

Kilt, an Irishism for badly beaten, but by no means equivalent with killed.

Kimbo, or A-KIMBO, holding the arms in a bent position from the body, and resting the hands upon the hips, in a bullying attitude. Said to be from A SCHIMBO, bandy-legged, crooked, Italian; but more probably from KIMBAW, the old cant for beating or bullying. See Grose. Celtic, CAM, crooked.

Kimmer, a gossip, an acquaintance, same as CUMMER.—Scotch.

“What’s a’ the steer, KIMMER?”

Kinchin, a child.—Old Cant. From the German diminutive, KINDCHEN, a baby.

Kinchin cove, a man who robs children; a little man.—Ancient Cant.

Kincob, uniform, fine clothes, richly embroidered dresses. Really, cloth of gold or silver.—Anglo-Indian.

Kingsman, a handkerchief with yellow patterns upon a green ground, the favourite coloured neckerchief of the costermongers. The women sometimes wear KINGSMAN kerchiefs thrown over their shoulders. A coster will often imagine his caste, or position, is at stake, if his KINGSMAN is not of the most approved pattern. When he fights, his KINGSMAN is tied around his waist as a belt. This partiality for a peculiar-coloured neckcloth is part of the fondness for gaudy colours which at all times and in all countries has been shown by the uncultivated. A strange similarity of taste for certain colours exists amongst the Hindoos, Gipsies, and London lower classes. Red and yellow (or orange) are the great favourites, and in these hues the Hindoo selects his turban and his robe; the gipsy his breeches, and his wife her shawl or gown; and the costermonger, his plush waistcoat and favourite KINGSMAN. Among either class, when a fight takes place, the greatest regard is paid to the favourite coloured article of dress. The Hindoo lays aside his turban, the gipsy folds up his fancy breeches or coat, whilst the pugilistic costermonger of Covent Garden or Billingsgate removes his favourite neckerchief to a part of his body, by the rules of the “ring,” comparatively out of danger.

King’s pictures (now, of course, QUEEN’S PICTURES), money.

Kisky, drunk, fuddled.

Kiss-curl, a small curl twisted on the temple. See BOWCATCHER.

Kisser, the mouth.—Pugilistic term.

Kissing-crust, the soft crust which marks where one loaf has been broken from another.

Kiss-me-quick, the name given to the very small bonnets which have of late years become fashionable.

Kit, a person’s baggage. Also, a collection of anything, “the whole KIT of ’em,” the entire lot. Anglo-Saxon, KYTH.—North.

Kite,—see FLY THE KITE.

Kitmegur, an under-butler, a footman.—Anglo-Indian.

Kitna, how much?—Anglo-Indian.

Knacker, an old horse; a horse-slaughterer. Originally Gloucestershire, but now general.

Knap, i.q., NAP, to break.—Old English, but nearly obsolete. See Ps. xlvi. 9 (Prayer-book version), “He breaketh the bow, and KNAPPETH the spear in sunder;” probably sibilated into “snap.”

Knap, to receive, to take. Generally applied to the receipt of punishments; “oh, my! wont he just KNAP it when he gets home!”

Knap, to steal.—Prison Cant.

Knapping-jigger, a turnpike gate; “to dub at the KNAPPING-JIGGER,” to pay money at the turnpike.

Knark, a hard-hearted or savage person. The word is now usually spelt NARK, and is applied to the lowest class of informers.

Knife, “to KNIFE a person,” to stab; an un-English custom, but a very common expression.

Knife-board, the seat running along the roof of an omnibus.

Knife it, “cut it,” cease, stop, don’t proceed.

Knight, a common and ironical prefix to a man’s calling—thus, “KNIGHT of the whip,” a coachman; “KNIGHT of the thimble,” a tailor.

Knobstick, a non-society workman. One who takes work under price.

Knock about the bub, to hand or pass about the drink. Bub is a very old cant term for drink.

Knock-down, or KNOCK-ME-DOWN, strong ale.

Knocked-up, tired, jaded, used up, done for. In the United States, amongst females, the phrase is equivalent to being enceinte, so that Englishmen often unconsciously commit themselves when amongst our Yankee cousins.

Knock-’em-downs, the game of skittles.

Knocker, “up to the KNOCKER,” means finely or showily dressed, in the height of fashion; proficient, equal to the task.

Knocker-face, an ugly face, i.e., like an old-fashioned door-knocker.

Knock-in, the game of loo.

Knocking-in, coming into college after time. A habit of KNOCKING-IN late generally leads to some unpleasantness.—Oxford University.

Knocking-out. All visitors, on leaving a college after time, have to state in whose rooms they have been, that his gate-bill may be scored up for them. When a rackety party takes place, the visitors, or “out college men,” are generally supplied with a list of the names of the quietest men in college, so that the whereabouts of the party may not be betrayed.—Oxford University.

Knock-it-down, to show, in the “free and easy” style, approval of a song or toast, by hammering with pot or glass on the table.

Knock off, to give over, or abandon. A saying used by workmen in reference to dinner or other meal times, for upwards of two centuries.

Knock out, in racing parlance, to drive out of the quotations; as a KNOCKED-OUT favourite. Also to make bankrupt; as a KNOCKED-OUT backer or bookmaker. When a man cannot meet his engagements on the turf, he is said to be KNOCKED OUT.

Knock-outs, or KNOCK-INS, disreputable persons who visit auction rooms and unite to purchase the articles at their own prices. One of their number is instructed to buy for the rest, and after a few small bids as blinds to the auctioneer and bystanders, the lot is knocked down to the KNOCK-OUT bidders, at a nominal price—the competition to result from an auction being thus frustrated and set aside. At the conclusion of the sale the goods are paid for, and carried to a neighbouring public-house, where they are re-sold or KNOCKED-OUT among the confederates, and the difference between the first purchase and the second—or tap-room KNOCK-OUT—is divided amongst the gang. As generally happens with ill-gotten gains, the money soon finds its way to the landlord’s pocket, and the KNOCK-OUT is rewarded with a red nose and a bloated face. Cunning tradesmen join the KNOCK-OUTS when an opportunity for money-making presents itself. The lowest description of KNOCK-OUTS, fellows with more tongue than capital, are termed BABES. Within the past few years a few respectable auctioneers, assisted much by one or two just and admirable magisterial decisions, have succeeded in considerably limiting the efforts of the KNOCK-OUT fraternity.

Knock-under, to submit.

Knowing, sharp, shrewd, artful; “a KNOWING codger,” or “a KNOWING blade,” one who can take you in, or cheat you, in any transaction you may have with him. It implies also deep cunning and foresight, and generally signifies dishonesty.

Know, in this sense, enters into several slang phrases. “I KNOW something,” expresses that I am not to be taken in by any shallow device. “He KNOWS a thing or two,” i.e., he is a cunning fellow.

Knowledge-box, the head.—Pugilistic.

Knuckle, to fight with fists, to pommel.

Knuckle-duster, a large, heavy, or over-gaudy ring; a ring which attracts attention from its size.

Knuckle-duster, an iron or brass instrument which covers the knuckles so as to protect them from injury when striking a blow, adding force to it at the same time. Sometimes a KNUCKLE-DUSTER has knobs or points projecting, so as to mutilate and disfigure the person struck. This brutal invention is American, but has been made familiar here.

Knuckle to, or KNUCKLE UNDER, to yield or submit.

Knuller, old term for a chimney-sweep, who solicited jobs by ringing a bell. From the Saxon, CNYLLAN, to knell, or sound a bell. See QUERIER.

Kootee, a house.—Anglo-Indian.

Kotoo, to bow down before, to cringe, to flatter. From a Chinese ceremony.

Kubber, news.—Anglo-Indian.

Kudos, praise; KUDIZED, praised. Greek, κύδος.—University.

Kye, eighteenpence.

Kypsey, a basket. A term generally used by gipsies.

La! a euphuistic rendering of LORD! common amongst females and very precise persons; imagined by many to be a corruption of LOOK! but this is a mistake. Sometimes pronounced LAW, or LAWKS.

Lac, one hundred thousand.—Anglo-Indian.

Laced, strengthened with ardent spirits. Tea or coffee in which brandy is poured is said to be LACED.

Lacing, a beating. From the phrase, “I’ll lace your jacket.”—L’Estrange. Perhaps to give a beating with a lace or lash. Perhaps, also, a figurative phrase for ornamenting the article in question with stripes.

Ladder, “can’t see a hole in a LADDER,” said of any one who is intoxicated. It was once said that a man was never properly drunk until he could not lie down without holding, could not see a hole through a LADDER, or went to the pump to light his pipe.

Ladies’ mile, that part of Hyde Park where the feminine beauty, rank, and fashion most do congregate during the airing hours of the London season.

Lag, a returned transport, or ticket-of-leave convict.

Lag, to void urine.—Ancient Cant. In modern slang to transport, as regards bearing witness, and not in reference to the action of judge or jury.

Lagged, imprisoned, apprehended, or transported for a crime. From the Old Norse, LAGDA, “laid,”—laid by the leg.

Lagger, a sailor. Also, one who gives evidence; an informer.

Lagging gage, a chamber-pot.—Ancient Cant.

Lambasting, a beating. Perhaps LUMB-BASTING, from the lumbar-regions.

Lamb’s wool, spiced ale, of which the butler at Brasenose every Shrove Tuesday supplies as much as is required at Hall, with a copy of verses on the subject, generally written by a Brasenose man. One of these poems began:—

Antiquum et vetus est{Ale Æn Nas alienas}dicere laudes.

Oxford University.

Lamb’s wool is also a hot drink, well known to the community for centuries. Supposed by some to be derived from Lammas, at which time it was drunk, and by others to be derived from the similarity between the foam of the drink and the white wool obtained from lambs.

Lame duck, a stockjobber who speculates beyond his capital, and cannot pay his losses. Upon retiring from the Exchange he is said to “waddle out of the Alley.”

Lamming, a beating.—Old English, LAM; used by Beaumont and Fletcher. Not as Sir Walter Scott supposed, from one Dr. Lamb, but from the Old Norse, LAM, the hand; also, Gaelic.

Lammy, a blanket.

Land-lubber, sea term for “a landsman.” See LOAFER.

Land-shark, a sailor’s definition of a lawyer.

Lane, a familiar term for Drury Lane Theatre, just as Covent Garden Theatre is constantly spoken of as “the Garden.”

Lap, liquor, drink. Lap is the term invariably used in the ballet girls’ dressing-room for gin.

Lap, one circuit of a pedestrian enclosure. In running a race of any distance one man is said to LAP another when he is one entire circuit in front.

Lap. Lap the gutter, to get beastly and helplessly drunk. Lap means to drink. Lap the gatter, to drink up the beer; a “rare LAPPER,” a hard drinker.

Lark, a frolic, a joke; “let’s have a jolly good LARK,” let us have a piece of fun.—Anglo-Saxon, LAC, sport; but more probably from the nautical term SKYLARKING, i.e., mounting to the highest yards and sliding down the ropes for amusement, which is allowed on certain occasions.

Lark, to sport boisterously, to show a disposition for “going on the spree.”

Larrence, an imaginary being, supposed by the Scottish peasantry to have power over indolent persons. Hence laziness is often called LARRENCE.

Larrup, to beat or thrash.

Larruping, a good beating or hiding.—Irish.

Lashins, large quantities; as, “LASHINS of whisky.” An Irishism in common use.

Latchpan, the lower lip—properly a dripping-pan; “to hang one’s LATCHPAN,” to pout, be sulky.—Norfolk.

Lavender, “to be laid up in LAVENDER;” to be in pawn; to be out of the way for an especial purpose. From the practice among housewives of placing LAVENDER in drawers in which linen and clothes are to be kept for any period.

Law, “to give LAW to an animal” is a sporting term signifying to give the hare or stag a chance of escaping, by not setting on the hounds till the quarry has run some distance. Also, used for giving any one a chance of succeeding in a difficult undertaking by allowing him so much grace or preliminary notice.

Lay, a pursuit or practice, a dodge. Term in this sense much used by thieves.

Lay, in wagering, to bet against a man or animal. Betters are divided in racing slang into layers and takers; they are otherwise known as bookmakers and backers.

Lay, some, a piece. “Tip me a LAY of pannum,” i.e., give me a slice of bread.—North.

Lay, to watch; “on the LAY,” on the look-out.—Shakspeare.

Lay down the knife and fork, to die. Compare PEGGING-OUT, HOPPING THE TWIG, and similar flippancies.

Lead, or FRIENDLY LEAD, a gathering at a low public-house, for the purpose of assisting some one who is “in trouble” (in these cases trouble always means imprisonment), who has just “come out of trouble,” or who is in want of a “mouthpiece.” A LEAD is different from a raffle, inasmuch as no article is put up or thrown for, but in the course of the evening some friend of the troubled one LEADS OFF by putting a certain sum in a plate, and the remainder of the party follow the LEAD with whatever they can spare. Sometimes people pay as they enter the room, but this does not alter the title or character of the meeting. In every other respect a LEAD is similar to a raffle; songs, dances, drinking, and a general desire to increase the bastardy averages being the most conspicuous features of the entertainment. Irish LEADS and raffles are characterized by less vice and more quarrelling than those of the lower orders of English people.

Leary, flash, knowing, artful, sly.

Leary bloke, a clever or artful person.

Leather, to beat or thrash. Probably from allusion to the skin, which is often called LEATHER. Some think the term is from the LEATHER belts worn by soldiers, which are often used as weapons in street rows. Most likely from there being “nothing like LEATHER” with which to administer a thrashing.

Leathern conveniency, a carriage. A Quaker being reprimanded by the Society of Friends for keeping a carriage, “contrary to the ancient testimonies,” said, “it is not a carriage I keep, but merely a LEATHERN-CONVENIENCY.” See under Simon Pure, in the Introduction.

Leaving shop, or DOLLY SHOP, an unlicensed house where goods are taken into pawn at exorbitant rates of interest.

Led captain, a fashionable spunger, a “swell” who by artifice ingratiates himself into the favours of the master of the house, and lives at his table. Probably from the fact that a real captain leads, but that a sham one is led—to the dinner-table.

Leer, empty.—Oxfordshire. Pure German, as is nearly so the next word.

Leer, print, newspaper. German, LEHREN, to instruct; hence Old English, LERE, “spelt in the LEER.” See SPELL.—Old Cant.

Leg, a part of a game. In some old games there are so many LEGS to the chalk, and so many chalks to the game. Sometimes the LEGS are called chalks, and the chalks LEGS—one word is as good as another, provided an agreement is made beforehand.

Leg, or BLACKLEG, a disreputable sporting character and racecourse habitué; that is, one who is disreputable among sporting men.

Leg-and-leg, the state of a game when each player has won a LEG. In Ireland a LEG is termed a horse, LEG-AND-LEG being there termed “horse-and-horse.”

Leg bail, the bail or security given by absence. To give LEG BAIL is to run away.

Leg it, to run; “to give a LEG,” to assist, as when one mounts a horse; “making a LEG,” a countryman’s bow,—projecting the LEG from behind as a balance to the head bent forward.—Shakspeare.

Leg-of-mutton, humorous street term for a sheep’s trotter, or foot.

Leg of mutton fist, a large, muscular or bony hand.

Length, forty-two lines of a dramatic composition.—Theatrical.

Length, six months’ imprisonment. See STRETCH.

Let alone, an expression which signifies “much less” as used in comparative statement or argument. “I cannot afford five shillings, LET ALONE five pounds.” Barham, in one of the Ingoldsby Legends, says:—

Let drive, to strike at, or attack with vigour.

Let in, to cheat or victimize. “He let me in heavily.”

Let on, to give an intimation of having some knowledge of a subject. Ramsay employs the phrase in the Gentle Shepherd. Common in Scotland.

Let the cat out, or LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG, a common phrase, which implies that a secret is to be or has been let out.

Letty, a bed. Italian, LETTO.—Lingua Franca.

Levanter, a card-sharper, or defaulting gambler. It was formerly the custom to give out to the creditors, when a person was in pecuniary difficulties, and it was convenient for him to keep away, that he was gone to the East, or the Levant; hence, when one loses a bet, and decamps without settling, he is said to LEVANT. The Levant was also a notorious place for queer customers, who would do anything rather than pay. Its reputation is not particularly odorous even now.

Levy, a shilling.—Liverpool. Among labourers a LEVY is a sum obtained before it is due, something to keep a man going till Saturday-night comes, or his task is finished.

Liberty, ground let in parts of Yorkshire for shooting purposes.

Lick, a blow; LICKING, a beating; “to put in big LICKS,” a curious and common phrase, meaning that great exertions are being made.—Dryden; North.

Lick, to excel, or overcome; “if you ain’t sharp, he’ll LICK you,” i.e., be finished first. Signifies, also, to whip, chastise, or conquer. Ancient cant, LYCKE. Welsh, LLACHIO, to strike.

Lickspittle, a coarse but singularly expressive term for a parasite, who puts up with indignities for the sake of advantages.

Lifer, a convict who is sentenced to imprisonment for life.

Lift, to steal, pick pockets; “there’s a clock been LIFTED,” said when a watch has been stolen. The word is as old as the Border forays, and is used by Shakspeare. Shoplifter is a recognised term. Old Gothic, LLIFAN, to steal; Lower Rhenish, LÖFTEN.

Lig, a lie, a falsehood.—Lancashire. In old ballads the word “lie” is often spelt “LIG.” In old Saxon, LIG is to lie, but to lie as in a bed.

Light, credit, trust; “to get a LIGHT at a house” is to get credit. When a man’s credit is stopped, his LIGHT is said to be put out. Light also means life. “I’ll put your LIGHT out” is a murderous threat.

Light Bob, a light infantry soldier.—Military.

Light Feeder, a silver spoon.

Lightning, gin; “flash o’ LIGHTNING,” a glass of gin.

Lights, a worthless piece of meat; applied metaphorically to a fool, a soft or stupid person.

Lights, the eyes. Also, the lungs; animals’ lungs are always so called.

Lil, a book, generally a pocket-book.—Gipsy.

Lily Benjamin, a great white coat. See Benjamin.

Limb, a troublesome or precocious child.

Limb of the law, a lawyer, or clerk articled to that profession.

Limbo, a prison, from LIMBUS or LIMBUS PATRUM, a mediæval theological term for purgatory. The Catholic Church teaches that LIMBO was that part of hell where holy people who died before the Redemption were kept.

Line, a hoax, a fool-trap; as, “to get him in a LINE,” i.e., to get some sport out of him.

Line, calling, trade, profession; “what LINE are you in?” “the building LINE.”

Liner, a casual reporter, paid by the line. Diminutive of “penny-a-liner.”

Lingo, talk, or language. Slang is termed LINGO amongst the lower orders. Italian, LINGUA.—Lingua Franca.

Lint-scraper, a young surgeon. Thackeray, in Lovel the Widower, uses the phrase, and gives, also, the words “Æsculapius,” “Pestle-grinder,” and “Vaccinator,” for the same character.

Lionesses, ladies visiting an Oxford man, especially at “Commemoration,” which is the chief time for receiving feminine visitors at the University.

Lion-hunter, one who hunts up, and has a devout veneration for, small celebrities. Mrs. Leo Hunter, in Pickwick, is a splendid specimen of this unpleasant creature.