book did

not belong to the set which I consider yours, but were left by some drummer of the trade upon speculation, so I must give you the trouble to return it. [In another letter on next page S. again refers to the ‘scoundrelly drummer.’

ante 1871. [in De Vere], A Country Merchant out West, p. 217. Look at that man, he’s drummer for A. T. Stewart.

1877. M. Twain, Life on the Mississippi, ch. xxxix., p. 365. It soon transpired that they were drummers—one belonging in Cincinnati, the other in New Orleans.

1885. G. A. Sala, Daily Telegraph, 14 August, 5, 3. Among whom were conspicuous sundry drummers, or representatives of American commercial firms, bound for Australasia, there to push their wares.

4. (tailors’).—A trousers’ maker, or Kickseys’-builder (q.v.).

Drumstick-Cases, subs. (common).—Trousers. [From drumstick = a leg + case, a cover.] For synonyms, see Bags and Kicks.

Drumsticks, subs. (common).—1. The legs—especially of birds.

English Synonyms. Cheese-cutters (bandy legs); stumps; cabbage-stumps; pins; gams; notches; shanks; stems; stumps; clubs; marrow-bones; cat-sticks; trap-sticks; dripping sticks; trams; trespassers; pegs; knights of the garter.

French Synonyms. Les brancards (popular, les brancards de laine = weak or lame legs); des baguettes de tambour (popular = thin legs; properly drumsticks); un bâton de tremplin (mountebanks’ = a leg; tremplin is properly a spring-board); des cotrets (popular: ‘a fagot’; jus de cotret = stirrup-oil, a ‘lathering’); des flûtes or flûtes à café (popular); des flageolets (popular); des gambettes (popular: from O. F. gambe = leg; des gambilles is of similar derivation); des fumerons (popular); des fuseaux (popular: also = a spindle or distaff); des jambes en manche de reste (popular = bandy-legs; des jambes de coq = spindle-shanks; des jambes de coton = weak legs); numéro onze (popular = Shank’s mare); des guibes, guiboles, guibolles, or guibonnes (popular and thieves’); des merlins (popular); des fourchettes (popular, literally, forks; fourchettes d’Adam = fingers); les chevaux à double semelles (popular. Cf., English Shank’s mare).

Italian Synonyms. Ramo (literally, ‘a branch’); calcha; colonna (literally, ‘a column’).

Spanish Synonym. Gamba (Cf., O. F. Gambe).

1770. Foote, Lame Lover, I. What, d’ye think I would change with Bill Spindle for one of his drumsticks.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby, ‘Lay of St. Nicholas.’ He helped his guest to a bit of the breast, And he sent the drumsticks down to be grilled.

2. In sing. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Drunk, subs. (vulgar).—A debauch; by implication, a drunkard. On the drunk = ‘on the drink,’ i.e., drinking for days on end.

1871. Philadelphia Inquirer, 6 July. It seems that Gamble went on a drunk last Monday evening.

1879. G. R. Sims, Dagonet Ballads (told to the Missionary). I was out on the drunk and caught it—lor, what a cuss is drink!

[Among other meridians are drunk as a brewer’s fart; drunk as Bacchus; drunk as Chloe; drunk as the devil; drunk as hell; drunk as buggery; drunk as a Gosport fiddler; drunk as a fly; drunk as he (or she) can stick (or hang together); drunk as a lord; drunk as an owl (American, a biled owl); drunk as a tapster; drunk as a piper; blind drunk; crying drunk; pissing drunk; dead drunk; so drunk that you can’t see a hole through a ladder; drunk as blazes; and so drunk that he opens his shirt collar to piss; tumbling drunk].

Drunk as Davy’s sow.—Excessively drunk.—See Davy’s Sow.

Drunkard. To come the drunkard, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To feign drunkenness; also to be drunk.

To be quite the gay drunkard (colloquial), verb. phr.—To be more or less in liquor.

Drunken-Chalks, subs. (military).—Good conduct badges.—See Chalk.

Drunks, subs. (colloquial).—An abbreviation of ‘drunk and disorderly.’

1883. Daily Telegraph, 26 March, p. 2, col. 8. Of the twenty-nine night charges, by far the greater number were of drunks.

1884. W. D. Howells, Lady of the Aroostook, ch. xvii. If you could see how my mother looks when I come out of one of my drunks.

1890. Globe, 26 Feb., p. 1, col. 4. ‘A Short Way with drunks.’ At Buenos Ayres it is customary to punish drunkards, ... by setting them to sweep the public streets for eight days or so.

Drury-Lane Ague, subs. phr. (old).—A venereal disease.—See Ladies’ Fever.

Drury-Lane Vestal, subs. (old).—A prostitute. Cf., Covent Garden Nun, and Bank-side ladies.

Dry as a Lime-basket.—See Lime-basket.

Dry-bob, subs. and verb (venery).—Coition without emission (said of men only).

Dry-boots, subs. (old).—A dry humorist. [Grose—1785.]

Dry-hash, subs. (Australian).—A miser; or bad egg; also, by implication, a loafer.

1887. All the Year Round, 30 July, p. 66. In Australian parlance ... a dry hash, or a stringy bark, that is, a ne’er-do-weel.

Dry-land! intj. (rhyming).—‘You understand!’

Dryland Sailor.—See Turnpike Sailor.

Dry-lodging, subs. (common).—Accommodation without board.

Dry-nurse, subs. (old).—A guardian; a bear-leader, or tutor; a junior who instructs an ignorant chief in his duties.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fayre, I. Quar. Well, this dry nurse, I say still, is a delicate man.

c. 1640. [Shirley], Captain Underwit, in Bullen’s Old Plays, ii. 322. Tho. But, sir, you must have a dry nurse, as many Captaines have. Let me see: I can hire you an old limping decayed sergeant at Brainford that taught the boyes.

1747. Walpole, Lett. to Mann, 10 May (1833), vol. II., p. 292. This curious Minister ... used to ... walk in the Park with their daughters, and once went dry nurse to Holland with them.

1852. F. E. Smedley, Lewis Arundel, ch. xxv. Oh, some poor devil old Grant has picked up cheap as dry-nurse to his pet idiot ... half valet, half tutor.

1868. Brewer, Phrase and Fable, s.v. When a superior officer does not know his duty, and is instructed in it by an inferior officer, he is said to be dry-nursed. The inferior nurses the superior as a dry nurse rears an infant.

Dry-room, subs. (thieves’).—A prison. For synonyms, see Cage.

Dry-shave, subs. (common).—Rubbing the chin with the fingers; also used as a verb. The action implies a certain effrontery.

Dry-up, subs. (theatrical).—A failure or Columbus (q.v.); contrast with draw, sense 2.

Verb (colloquial).—To cease talking; to abandon a purpose or position; to stop work. As an interjection = Hold your jaw!

1865. The Index, 2 Feb. With which modest contribution we dry up with reference to the subject.

1872. Daily Telegraph, 4 July. An audience which should cause defeated Boston to hang her diminished head, dry up, and feel small.

1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 69. I must dry up for the fellow’s bested me.

1884. Cornhill Mag., June, p. 617. Dry up! is the slangy and impatient exclamation with which he cuts short the occasional attempts of his mother to lecture him.

1887. O. W. Holmes, Our Hundred Days, p. 131. There were frequent ... interruptions, something like these: ‘That will do, sir!’ or, ‘You had better stop, sir!’... With us it would have been dry up! or Hold on!

1888. R. Haggard, Mr. Meeson’s Will [in Illus. Lond. News, Summer No. p. 3, col. 1]. He ... suddenly dried up as he noticed the ominous expression on the great man’s brow.

Dry-walking, subs. (military).—A hard-up soldier’s outing.

D. T’s., subs. phr. (common).—Delirium tremens. For synonyms, see Jim-jams. Also The D. T. = Daily Telegraph.

1864. Soiled Dove, p. 266. I wish to God I could get d. t., and then I should go mad and cut my throat, or pitch myself out of the window.

1868. Public Opinion, 1 Aug. Frightful diseases, one of the commonest of which is jocularly spoken of by tipplers as d. t.

1880. G. R. Sims, Ballads of Babylon (Beauty and Beast).—And had sold her child to a titled churl, Who had just got round from a bad d.t.

1883. Globe, 7 July, p. 1, col. 5. One of the daily papers, which boasts the largest circulation in the world, is familiar to all as the d.t.

1887. Jas. Payn, Glow-worm Tales, vol. i., p. 209. As certain as d.t. is the end of drinking.

Dub, subs. (old).—1. A key; specifically a master key. [From dup or dub, to open; to do up; see verb, sense 1.] For synonyms, see Locksmith’s daughter.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 153. A bunch of young dubs by her side, which are a bunch of small keys.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171. Dub, a key.

1839. Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], p. 39. That’s the kinchin as was to try the dub for us, ain’t it? muttered Smith.

Verb (old).—To open, ‘Dub your mummer’ = Open your mouth. Cf., Dubber; ‘Dub the jigger’ = open the door.—See quot., 1848. Also by confusion, to shut or fasten.

1567. Harman, Caveat [E.E.T. Soc., 1869], p. 85. Dup the gygger, and maund that is bene shyp.

1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, Act iv. Sc. 5. Then up he rose and donned his clothes, and dupped the chamber door.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London Laid Open, p. 106. Dub the jigger, fasten the door.

Dub at a Knapping Jigger, subs. phr. (old).—A turnpike keeper.

1812. Vaux, Flash Dict., s.v.

Dubber, subs. (old).—1. The mouth or tongue; mum your dubber = hold your tongue. (Cf., dub your mummer, under dub).

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 150. Dubber mum’d. To keep your mouth shut, or be obliged to hold your tongue.

2. (old).—A picklock. [From dub, a key + er.]—Grose, 1785.

Dub-Cove.—See Dubsman.

Dub-lay, subs. (old).—Using picklocks. [From Dub (q.v.), a key + lay (q.v.).]—Grose, 1785.

Dublin-dissector, subs. (medical students’).—A cudgel.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 154. At first he perpetually carries a Dublin dissector under his arm.

Dubs, adj. (Winchester College).—Double.

Dubsman, or Dubs, subs. (old).—A turnkey or gaoler. [From dub (q.v.) = key + man.]

1812. Vaux, Flash Dict., s.v.

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

English Synonyms. Jigger-dubber; screw.

French Synonyms.—Un gaffier (thieves’); un gaffe (thieves’ = boat hook); un oncle (thieves’ = uncle); un boye (thieves’: also an executioner at Cayenne or New Caledonia); le Duc de Guiche (thieves’: from guichettier = jailer); un artoupan (thieves’); un barbeaudier (thieves’); le Comte de Castue (thieves’: Castue = prison); un chat (thieves’ = a cat); le Comte de Canton (thieves’: Canton = prison or ‘stir’); le Comte de la Caruche (thieves’).

Spanish Synonyms.—Banastero (= basket-maker); banquero (= banker).

1839. Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], 30. Quoth a dubsman, who gazed on the shattered wall, ‘You have carved your epitaph, Claude du Val, With your chisel so fine, tra la!’

Dub up, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To hand over; pay; fork out. [Cf., provincial dubs = money.] Fr., foncer; abouler. Formerly, to lock up or secure; to button one’s pocket.

1840. Comic Almanack, p. 237. Come, dub up! roars a third: and I don’t mind telling you, in confidence, that I was so frightened that I took out the sovereign and gave it.

Ducats, subs. (theatrical).—1. Money. [Probably from Shylock and The Merchant of Venice.] For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

1853. Wh. Melville, Digby Grand, ch. vi. The Jews have always appeared to me a calumniated race. From spendthrift King John downwards, the Christian has ever pocketed the ducats, and abused the donor.

2. (thieves’).—Specifically a railway ticket; also pawnbroker’s duplicate; raffle-card, or brief (q.v.). Also ducket.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl., 501. So I took a ducat (ticket) for Sutton in Surrey.

Duce, subs. (old).—Twopence. [From the Latin.]

1812. Vaux, Flash Dict., s.v.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii., 6. If any body offers you less nor a mag, or a duce, vy, you may say with the poet, Who vou’d his farthings bear? ven he himself might his quivetus make vith a bare bodkin.

Duck, subs. (common).—1. Scraps of meat; otherwise block-ornaments, stickings, faggots, manablins, or chuck (q.v.).

2. (Winchester College).—The face. To make a duck = to make a grimace. For synonyms, see Dial.

3. (common).—A ‘draw’ or decoy. [An abbreviation of decoy-duck.]

4. (colloquial).—A term of endearment; also used in admiration; e.g., a duck of a bonnet. Also ducky: duck of diamonds being a superlative. For synonyms, see My tulip.

1837. Comic Almanack, p. 78. You won’t grudge your poor rib a few ribbons, will you, Duck?

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, i., 2. Nel. Oh, isn’t he a duck of a fellow? Bob. He’s the very flower of the flock.

1846. Punch, vol. XI., p. 164. Though somewhat out at elbows, he’s what the ladies call a ‘duck.’

5. (cheap jacks’).—A metal-cased watch; i.e., old watch movements in German silver cases.

1876. C. Hindley, Life and Advent. of Cheap Jack, p. 38. What appeared to the roughs a fine old English and valuable watch, but what in reality was an almost worthless duck.

To make a duck, or duck’s egg, verb. phr. (cricketers’).—To make no score; Cf., To crack one’s egg, and pair of spectacles. [From the shape of the ‘O.’]

1868. St. Paul’s Magazine, Aug. You see by the twitch of the hand, the glove rapidly raised to the face, and replaced on the bat-handle, the jerk of the elbow, and perhaps the uneasy lifting of the foot, that his fear of a duck—as, by a pardonable contraction from ‘duck’s-egg,’—a nought is called in cricket play—etc.

1870. London Figaro, 21 June. J. C. Shaw is a host in himself; he took six wickets, and all of them for ducks.

1872. Weekly Dispatch 9 June. The next ball from Brice sends Caffyn’s bails flying: and out comes the last man—Southerton—and he is used to duck’s eggs.

1883. Echo, 15 May, p. 4, col. 2. Out of the eleven Surrey batsmen who played against Notts yesterday, no less than five were credited with ducks.

Duck that runs, or grinds the gospel mill, subs. phr. (American).—A clergyman. For synonyms, see Devil-dodger.

1869. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’) Innocents at Home, p. 17, 18. Are you the duck that runs the gospel mill next door?

Lame Duck (q.v. post).

German Duck (q.v. post.).

To do a duck, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To hide under the seat of a public conveyance with a view to avoid paying the fare. [From duck = to bow or stoop.]

1889. Sporting Times. Doin’ a duck, macin’ the rattler, ridin’ on the cheap, on the odno, under the bloomin’ seat.

Ducket.—See Ducat.

Duck-footed, adj. phr. (common).—Said of people who walk like a duck; i.e., with the toes turned inwards.

Ducking. To go ducking, verb. phr. (common).—To go courting. [From duck (q.v.) = a term of endearment + ing.] See Goose-and-Duck.

Ducks, subs. (colloquial).—1. Linen trousers; generally white ducks. [From the material and colour.] At Eton worn only by men in the boats. For synonyms, see Bags and Kicks.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 248. There’s our man, Tom; he can have a pair of ducks of mine, and a check shirt of Bob’s.

1846. Punch, vol. X., p. 263. I wore my Russian Ducks, In their beautiful whiteness.

1888. Mrs. Musgrave, Savage London. Billy should do the thing proper, and be married in a pair of white ducks.

2. (Stock Exchange).—Aylesbury Dairy Co. shares.

3. (Anglo-Indian).—Officials of the Bombay service.

Chance the ducks (q.v., ante.)

To make ducks and drakes of one’s money, verb. phr. (common).—To squander money as lavishly as stones are squandered at ‘ducks and drakes.’ [In allusion to the childish game. Lemprière (Art. Scipio Africanus the Younger) refers to Scipio and Lælius taking to ‘ducks and drakes’ as a supplementary recreation to shell-gathering, and an early notice of the game occurs in Minucius Felix (Octavius cap. iii.):—From the beach they choose a shell, thin and polished by the waves; they hold it in a horizontal position, and then whirl it along as near the surface of the sea as possible, so as to make it skim the surge in its even motion, or spring up and bound from time to time out of the water. That boy is conqueror whose shell both runs out farthest and bounds oftenest.] Variants are To Blue One’s Pile; to Sweat (q.v.). Fr., galvauder; manger sa légitime.

1605. Chapman, etc., Eastward Hoe! Act i. Do nothing, be like a gentleman, be idle ... make ducks and drakes with shillings.

1664. H. Peacham, Worth of a Penny, in Arber’s Garner, vol. VI., p. 259. I remember, in Queen Elizabeth’s time, a wealthy citizen of London left his son a mighty estate in money; who, imagining he should never be able to spend it, would usually make ‘ducks and drakes’ in the Thames, with Twelve pences [= 5/– now], as boys are wont to do with tile sherds and oyster shells.

d. 1680. S. Butler, Character of a Miser, in Remains, vol. II., p. 343 (ed. 1759). And he that made Ducks and Drakes with his Money enjoyed it every way as much.

1698. Ward, London Spy, pt. xvi., p. 372. They hook in the old fool again to make ducks and drakes with his money.

1700. Gentleman Instructed, p. 18. I would neither fawn on money for money’s sake, nor duck and drake it away for a frolick.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lviii. We’ve tied up the property, so that he can’t make ducks and drakes with it.

1858. Marian Evans (G. Eliot), Janet’s Repentance, ch. xxv. They say Mrs. Dempster will have as good as six hundred a year at least.... It’s well if she doesn’t make ducks and drakes of it somehow.

Duck’s-Bill, subs. (printers’).—A tongue cut in a piece of stout paper and pasted on at the bottom of the tympan sheet. [From the shape.]

Ducky or Duck of Diamonds.—See Duck, sense 4.

Dudder, Dudsman, or Duffer, subs. (old).—A pedlar of so-called smuggled wares—gown-pieces, silk waistcoats, etc. The term and practice are both obsolete, though in a few seaports, London especially, they survived till recently in a modified form. [From duds (q.v.) = clothes.] Fr., un marottier (thieves’). See also Whispering Dudder and Barrow-man.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, II., 160. A dudder happened some time ago to meet a countryman in a dark lane, and sold him a waistcoat-piece for two guineas and a half, which stood himself in only four-and-sixpence.

Dude, subs. (American).—A swell; fop; ‘masher.’ For synonyms, see Dandy. [From Scots duds = clothes; Cf., quot., 1870.] Derivatives are Dudette and Dudinette = a young girl affecting the airs of a belle; Dudine = a female masher.

1870. Putnam’s Magazine, Feb. Think of her? I think she is dressed like a dud; can’t say how she would look in the costume of the present century.

1883. Graphic, 31 March, p. 319, col. 1. The one object for which the dude exists is to tone down the eccentricities of fashion.... The silent, subfuse, subdued ‘dude’ hands down the traditions of good form.

1889. Puck’s Library, April, p. 3. For the front rows two styles are recommended—dude, No. 16, and Bald-headed Man, No. 41—both original in design and exquisite in finish.

Dude Hamfatter, subs. phr. (American).—A wealthy pig-jobber. [From Dude, a swell + Hamfatter, in allusion to occupation.]

1888. New York National Police Gazette. It seems that the dude hamfatters, after trying various games to skip unseen, conceived the idea of making up as a couple of well-dressed women.

Duds, subs. (colloquial).—Clothes; sometimes old clothes or rags. [Scots dud, Dutch todde, a rag; O.E. dudde = cloth. Duddery = a clothiers’ booth (De Foe’s Tour of Gt. Brit., p. 125).] In America applied to any kind of portable property (Cf., quots., 1622, 1780, and 1884). To angle for duds, see Anglers; To sweat duds = to pawn (see Sweat).

1440. Prompt. Parv., ed. Way, i, 134. Dudde, cloth.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1869), p. 86. When we byng back to the deuseauyel, we wyll fylche some duddes of the Ruffemans.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). Dudes, clothes.

1622. Head and Kirkman, English Rogue. ‘Canting Song.’ For all your duds [goods] are binged avast.

1780. R. Tomlinson, Slang Pastoral, IX. No duds in my pocket, no sea-coal to burn.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary. Dudds, rags. Also clothes.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 20. Doubled him up, like a bag of old duds!

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. v. A ragged rascal, every dud upon whose back was bidding good-day to the other.

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, ii. 3. Crissy, odsbuds! I’ll on with my duds.

1871. New York Tribune, 23 Jan. The three [railway] Commissioners, in whose appointment you had no choice, decide that you must get out, leave your house, bundle out your duds, and be off.

1881. A. Trollope, Marian Fay, ch. iii. To see her children washed and put in and out of their duds was perhaps the greatest pleasure of her life.

1884. Athenæum, 19 July, p. 74, col. 2. A writer in 1784 [in Gent. Mag., Gomme, vol. II.] says, for instance, that duds signifies rags, tatters, and that it comes from the Celtic. We do not believe in the derivation, but will not at present endeavour to refute it; we are sure the meaning is given wrongly, though it has the authority of Halliwell and Wedgwood in recent times. Duds, in the northern dialects means small things, or things of little account, whether articles of clothing, trade, or merchandise. We have frequently heard the word applied to workmen’s tools; and in an unprinted churchwarden’s account of an eastern shire we find in the year 1501 mention of ‘clocke-dudes.’ From the context it is evident that the small wheels belonging to the town clock are meant.

Dudsman.—See Dudder.

Dues, subs. (old).—Money. To tip the dues = to pay; to hand over a share. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt. [A colloquial extension of due = toll, tribute, fee, etc.]

1812. Vaux, Flash Dict. So a thief, requiring his share of booty from his palls, will desire them to bring the dues to light.

1839. Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], p. 13. Will he come down with the dues.

Duff, verb (thieves’).—1. Specifically, to sell flashy goods as pretended contraband or stolen; hence to cheat. Duffers, or Men at the duff = pedlars of flash. (Cf., Dudder). Duffing = the practice; used as an adjective = spurious.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, II., 158. ‘The Duff’ [smuggled goods, so named and described in.]

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Duffers: cheats who pretend to deal in smuggled goods, stopping all country people, or such as they think they can impose on; which they frequently do, by selling them Spital-fields goods at double their current price.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. II., p. 23. They have been regularly ‘duffed’ out of the streets, so much cheap rubbish is made to sell.

1888. G. R. Sims, in Cass. Sat. Journal, 31 March, p. 7. The man at the duff palms off false jewellery as real.

2. (common).—To rub up the nap of old clothes so as to make them look almost as good as new.

Duffer = one who performs this operation, whilst the article operated upon is also a duffer by virtue of the fact itself. Cf., Duffer.

Duffer, subs. (old: now recognised).—1. A pedlar; specifically a hawker of Brummagem (q.v.), and so-called smuggled goods (hence senses 2 and 3). In the population returns of 1831 duffer = one who gets a living by cheating pawnbrokers.—See Dudder and Duff.

1796. Colquhoun, Police of the Metropolis, p. 176. A class of sharpers who are known by the name of duffers, who go about from house to house, and attend public-houses, inns, and fairs, pretending to sell smuggled goods.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xxxvii., p. 361. Nor did it mark him out as the prey of ring droppers, pea and thimble-riggers, duffers, touters, or any of those bloodless sharpers, who are, perhaps, a little better known to the police.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lx. Now it is a fact that Colonel Altamont had made a purchase of cigars and French silks from some duffers in Fleet Street about this period.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 413. An intelligent street-seller, versed in all the arts and mysteries of this trade, told me that he understood by a duffer, a man who sold goods under false pretences, making out that they were smuggled, or even stolen, so as to enhance the idea of their cheapness.

2. (colloquial).—Anything (or person) worthless; anything sham. [From sense 1.]

d. 1845. Hood [quoted in Annandale]. Duffers (if I may use a slang term which has now become classical, and which has no exact equivalent in English proper) are generally methodical and old. Fosset certainly was a duffer.

1869. Mrs. H. Wood, Roland Yorke, ch. xi. Don’t you think, Hamish, he must have been a great duffer to go and marry before he knew how he could keep a wife?

1872. Standard, 12 Sept. ‘Who is to blame?’ we ask, in the interests of our government, and natural curiosity. ‘That duffer in feathers’ is the curt reply, pointing with the finger of scorn at one hero whom we had mistaken for something little short of a field marshal.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 264. I’d several sovs.—good ones—with me, and also a whole lot of duffers.

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 10. He made no bones about calling her stupid, and was more apt to call her a little duffer than to sympathise with her when she got into trouble.

1889. Answers, 29 June, p. 66, col. 1. If the note is a genuine one the water-mark will then stand out plainly. If a duffer it will almost disappear.

3. (nautical).—A female smuggler.

Duffer-out, verb. phr. (Australian miners’).—To get exhausted.

1887. Finch-Hatton, Advance Australia. He then reported to the shareholders that the lode had duffered out, and that it was useless to continue working.

Duffing, ppl. adj. (colloquial).—False; counterfeit; worthless; Cf., Duff and Duffer.

1862. London Herald, 27 Dec. ‘Answers to Correspondents.’ Houses burdened with ninety years’ repairing leases and heavy ground rents are run up by the ‘duffing’ builder, merely for sale.

1873. Times, Jan. We know now that so-called ‘duffing’ jewellery is scattered far and wide over the land.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 239. A ‘shise’ half-bull and a ‘duffing’ tanner: half-a-crown and a sixpence quietly palmed off on this man out of his half-sovereign.

Dugs, subs. (old).—The paps; once used without reproach of women; now only in contempt, except of animals. [From same stem as ‘daughter.’] For synonyms, see Dairy.

Duke, subs. (old).—1. Gin. For synonyms, see Drinks.

1859. Sala, Gaslight and Daylight, ch. xxiii. The stuff itself, which in the Western gin-shops goes generally by the name of ‘blue ruin,’ or ‘short,’ is here called ... duke.

2. (cabmen’s).—A horse. For synonyms, see Prad.

3. (thieves’).—Any transaction in the shape of a burglary; e.g., ‘I was Jemminy to their duke’ = ‘I was privy to the robbery.’

Duke Humphrey. To dine with Duke Humphrey.—See Dine.

Duke of Limbs, subs. phr. (common).—An awkward, uncouth man; specifically one with ungainly limbs. [Grose, 1785.]

Duke of York, verb. phr. (rhyming slang).—To walk; also, to talk.

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

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl., 501. So I said I would not go at all if he put his dukes (hands) on me.

1888. Lic. Vict. Gazette, 27 Jan., p. 55, 3. The men ... put up their dukes to fight for supremacy.

To grease the dukes, verb. phr. (common).—To bribe; also to pay.

1883. J. W. Horsley, Jottings from Jail. I went to him and asked him if he was not going to grease my duke.

To put up the dukes, verb. phr. (common).—To put up one’s hands for combat.

1885. Home Tidings, p. 369. ‘Boxing Club Report.’ The two contestants put up their dukes, and soon warmed up to their work.

Dukey.—See Dookie and Gaff.

Dulcamara, subs. (colloquial).—A quack-doctor. [From the name of a character in Donizetti’s l’Elixir d’Amour (1845).]

Dull in the Eye, adv. phr. (common).—Intoxicated. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Dull-swift, subs. (old).—A sluggish messenger.

Dumb-fogged, ppl. adj. (common).—Confused.

Dumb-foozled, ppl. adj. (common).—Confounded; puzzled.

1883. Hawley Smart, At Fault, I., x., 240. Considering you built the theatre, it struck me you weren’t very good at finding your way about, you seemed regularly dumbfoozled.

Dumbfound, Dumfound, verb (Also Dumbfounding, subs., Dumbfounded or Dumfoundered [Scots], adj. [Old Slang, now colloquial]).—To perplex; to confound.

1690. Dryden, Prologue to Prophetess. Then think on that bare bench my servant sat. I see him ogle still, and hear him chat. Selling facetious bargains, and propounding That witty recreation called dumbfounding.

1703. Ward, London Spy, pt. xvi., p. 379. This unexpected retort of the parsons, quite dumb-founded the Quaker.

1706. R. Estcourt, Fair Example, Act. III., Sc. i., p. 30. And if I can but dumb-found my husband with a dream, I shall be able to make my word good.

1714. Spectator, No. 616. They grew a little mutinous for more liquor. They had like to have dumfounded the justice; but his clerk came in to his assistance.

1766. Mortimer, Falstaff’s Wedding, I., ii. They let fly their jests so thick at me, and peppered me so plaguily with small wit, that I was dumfounded.

1855. A. Trollope, The Warden, ch. xi. At any other time how exquisitely valuable would have been that touch! but now he was distraught, dumb-founded, and unmanned.

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. v. He utterly dumfoundered Charley, by asking abruptly ‘How’s Jim?’

1880. G. R. Sims, Three Brass Balls, Pledge xx. White as a ghost, dumbfoundered, and trembling, Dan attempted to explain that he was innocent.

1882. Democracy, ch. vii. She lost her command of thought, and sat dumbfounded.

1883. W. E. Norris, Thirlby Hall, ch. ix. I was too dumbfoundered to speak.

Dumb-glutton, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Dumb-squint, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Dummacker, subs. (old).—A knowing person. For synonyms, see Downy Cove.

Dummerer.—See Dommerar.

Dummock, subs. (common).—The posteriors. For synonyms, see Monocular Eye-glass.

Dummy, subs. (colloquial).—A deaf mute; also an idiot; sometimes a Duffer, sense 2.

c. 1884. G. R. Sims, Dagonet Ballads (Mott Jarvis). And she left us like open-mouthed dummies a-waggin’ our heads at the moon.

2. (colloquial).—Generic for sham substitutes for real objects: e.g., empty bottles and drawers in an apothecary’s shop; wooden half-tubs of butter, bladders of lard, hams, cheeses, and so forth; Dummies in libraries generally take the form of works not likely to tempt the general reader. Hence, by implication, anything sham.

1846. Punch, vol. XI., p. 185. A Dummy list of Causes has long since been preferred, to enable Thompson to ascertain whether ‘we are retained on the other side’ when a brief is brought on behalf of either party.

1856. H. Mayhew, Gt. World of London, p. 112. The doorway is set round with sprucely-dressed ‘dummies’ of young gentlemen that have their gloved fingers spread out like bunches of radishes.

1869. Mrs. H. Wood, Roland Yorke, ch. ix. The large imposing stock turned out to be three parts dummies.

1871. Daily News. ‘Leader,’ 28 April. The Bill is not yet in the hands of members or public, the document placed on the table of the Lords being what is, in parliamentary slang, called a ‘dummy.’

3. (cards’).—The open hand at an imperfect game of whist.

1853. Lytton, My Novel, bk. XI., ch. iv. We might cheer the evening with a game at whist—double dummy.

4. (thieves’).—A pocket book.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. Frisk the dummee of the screens = take all the bank notes out of the pocket book: Ding the dummee, and bolt, they sing out beef = Throw away the pocket book, and run off, as they call out ‘stop thief.’

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. He is caught—he must ‘stand and deliver’; Then out with the dummy, and off with the bit [money].

1878. Charles Hindley, Life and Times of James Catnach. (Chorus)—Speak to the tattler, bag the swag, And finely hunt the dummy.

[Other colloquial usages are: (1) = dumb-waiter; (2) = a locomotive furnished with condensing engines, and hence without the noise of escaping steam; (3) = a fireman’s term for a jet from the main or chief water pipe; (4) = a hatter’s pressing iron: Cf., tailor’s Goose; (5) = a piece of cloth rolled tight and saturated with oil, for rubbing hard places to be cut; (6) = an actor or actress who has nothing to say, etc.]

Dummy-Daddle Dodge, subs. phr. (thieves’).—Picking pockets under cover of a sham hand or daddle (q.v.).

1883. Greenwood, in Daily Telegraph. Asked by the friendly warder what he thought of the dummy-daddle dodge, Mr. Mobbs said he rather thought that game was played out. A woman, he proceeded to explain, can work with a dummy-daddle in an omnibus or a railway carriage much better than a man, because, without appearing conspicuous, she can wear any kind of loose shawl or cloak as concealment for her real hand.

Dummy-hunter, subs. (old).—A pickpocket who confined his operations to pocket-books. [From dummy (q.v.) = a pocket book + hunter.]

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

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood [ed. 1884] p. 89. No dummy hunter had forks so fly, No knuckler so deftly could fake a cly.

1843. Punch, vol. IV., p. 129. While ears are cramm’d with humbug, boys! The dummy-hunters ply An easy trade.

Dump, subs. (old).—A metal counter.

Verb (colloquial).—1. To throw down so as to produce a heavy noise: e.g., to dump down coals.

2. (Winchester College).—To put out. ‘Dump the tolly!’ = Extinguish the candle!

Dump Fencer, subs. (old).—A button-merchant.

Dumpies, subs. (military).—The Nineteenth Hussars. [From the diminutive size of the men when the regiment was first raised.] Obsolete. Dumpy = squat or undersized.

Dumpling-depôt, subs. (common).—The stomach. For synonyms, see Bread-basket.

Dumpling-Shop, subs. (common).—The paps. For synonyms, see Dairy.

Dumps, subs. (common).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (Sir Rupert). May I venture to say when a gentleman jumps In the river at midnight for want of the dumps He rarely puts on his knee-breeches and pumps.

In the dumps, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Cast down; ill at ease; unpleasantly situate.

1592. Greene, Groatsworth of Wit, in wks. xii., 115. Whence spring these dumps?

1596. Jonson, Every Man in His Humour, III., iii. How now, Master Knowell, in dumps, in dumps! Come, this becomes not.

1600. Shakspeare, Much Ado about Nothing, ii., 3. Sing no more ditties, sing no mo Of dumps so dull and heavy.

1711. Spectator, No. 176. When I come home she is in the dumps, because she says she is sure I came so soon only because I think her handsome.

1717. Mrs. Centlivre, Bold Stroke for a Wife, v., 1. What art thou in the dumps for?

1771. Foote, Maid of Bath, II. She seems got quite i’ the dumps.

1847. W. B. Rhodes, Bombastes Furioso, p. 19. My happiness is chang’d to doleful dumps, Whilst, merry Michael, all thy cards were trumps.

1855. Trench, English, Past and Present (2nd ed.), p. 131. In the great ballad of Chevy-Chase a noble warrior, whose legs are hewn off, is described as being in doleful dumps. Holland’s translation of Livy represents the Romans as being in the dumps after the battle of Cannæ. It was in elegant use then.

1885. Daily Telegraph, 19 Jan., p. 5, col. 2. Everybody who suffers now and then from a fit of the dumps is counselled to read amusing books.

Dun, subs. and verb (originally slang: now recognised).—An importunate creditor; to persist in demanding payment. [A.S. dynian = to clamour, to din; possibly influenced by the memory of a certain Joe Dunn, a famous English bailiff, temp. Henry VII.] Fr., un loup (= wolf); un Anglais (= an Englishman). Also dunner and dunning.

1663. T. Killegrew, Parson’s Wedding, III., v., in Dodsley, O.P. (1780), xi., 452. We shall have the sport, and be revenged upon the rogue for dunning a gentleman in a tavern.

1675. Wycherley, Country Wife, I., in wks. (1713), 136. The most insatiable sorts of duns, that invade our lodgings in a morning.

1677. Wycherley, Plain Dealer, Act V., Sc. ii. Man. No, no. Those you have obliged most, most certainly avoid you, when you can oblige ’em no longer; and they take your visits like so many duns.

1678. C. Cotton, Scarronides, bk. i., p. 43 (ed. 1725). Have what you want, nor will I dun ye, But pay me when you can get mony.

1707. Farquhar, Beaux Stratagem, Act III., Sc. iii. I remember the good days when we could dun our masters for our wages, and if they refused to pay us, we could have a warrant to carry ’em before a Justice.

1712. Spectator, No. 454. Though they never buy, they are ever talking of new silks, laces, and ribbons, and serve the owners, in getting them customers as their common dunners do in making them pay.

1731. Daily Journal, 9 Jan. [‘List of the officers established in the most notorious gaming-houses.’] 9th.: A dunner, who goes about to recover money lost at play.

1742. Fielding, Joseph Andrews, bk. III., ch. iii. Poverty and distress, with their horrid train of duns, attorneys, bailiffs, haunted me day and night.

1777. Sheridan, Trip to Scarborough, Act I., Sc. ii. What, hast spent all, eh? And art thou come to dun his lordship for assistance?

1821. Scott, Kenilworth, ch. xv. I refused him admittance as flatly, Blount, as you would refuse a penny to a blind beggar; as obstinately, Tracy, as thou didst ever deny access to a dun.

1838. Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, ch. ix., p. 66. To fetch three new boys, and dun the relations of two old ones for the balance of a small account.

1888. C. J. Dunphie, The Chameleon, p. 6. Dunning for payment which may not be convenient to them, and which would in no sense conduce to the honour of the dunners.

Dunaker, subs. (old).—A cattle-lifter.

16(?). Poem of 17th Century (quoted by Nares). The seventeenth a dun-aker, that maketh his vows To go i’ the country and steal all their cows.

1693. Herrick (‘Poor Robin’). Mercury is in a conjunction with Venus, and when such conjunctions happen, it signifies a most plentiful crop that year, of hectors ... donnakers, cross-biters, etc.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Dunderhead, subs. (old).—A fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

Dundreary, subs. and adj. (colloquial).—Specifically, a stammering, foolish, and long-whiskered fop—the Lord Dundreary of Our American Cousin (1858)—generally, a foppish fool. Cf., Jubilee Juggins.

1876. Jas. Grant, One of the Six Hundred, ch. iii. His whole air had the ‘used up’ bearing of those miserable dundrearys who affect to act as if youth, wealth, and luxury were the greatest calamities that flesh is heir to, and that life itself was a bore.

Dundrearies, subs. (colloquial).—A pair of whiskers cut sideways from the chin, and grown as long as possible. A fashion (now obsolete) suggested by Sothern’s make-up in Our American Cousin.

1882. F. Anstey, Vice-Versâ, ch. xvii. Bushy black whiskers, more like the antiquated dundreary type than modern fashion permits.

Dung, subs. (workmen’s).—An operative working for less than ‘society’ wages. Formerly, according to Grose, ‘a journeyman taylor who submits to the law for regulating journey-men’s taylors’ wages, therefore deemed by the flints (q.v.) a coward.’

Dung-Fork (also Dung-Cart), subs. (colloquial).—A country bumpkin. For synonyms, see Joskin.

Dun-in-the-Mire, subs. phr. (obsolete).—An antiquated game.

1595. Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, i., 4. Mercutio. If thou art dun we’ll draw thee from the mire Of this (save reverence) love, wherein thou stick’st Up to the ears.

Dunnage, subs. (nautical).—Baggage; clothes. Cf., Duds. [Properly wood or loose fagots laid across the hold of a vessel, or stuffed between packages to keep cargo from damage by water or shifting.]

1849. J. F. Cooper, The Sea Lions, ch. v. Not only was the chest more than half empty, but the articles it did contain were of the coarsest materials.... ‘There is little here to pay a man for crossing from the Vineyard,’ observed Roswell Gardiner.... ‘What is to be done with all this dunnage, deacon?’

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. i., p. 262. If they can meet with ... the young ladies, they ‘put it on them for dunnage’ (beg a stock of general clothing.)

Dunnakin or Dunnyken, subs. (old).—A privy; in U.S.A., a chamber-pot. For synonyms, see Bury and Mrs. Jones.—[Grose—1785.]

Dunop, subs. (back-slang).—A pound.

Dup, verb (old).—To open.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 66. To dup ye gyger, to open the dore.

1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, iv. And dupped the chamber door.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight. If we ... dup but the gigger of a country-cove’s ken, from thence at the chats we trine in the Lightmans.

1665. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 49 (1874), s.v.

1691. Academia, quoted in Notes and Queries, 6 S., xii., 416. Beside, it cost me twopence more, To one that sits to dup a dore.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Dup = enter (the house).

Durham-Man, subs. (old).—A knock-kneed man.

Duria, subs. (old).—Fire.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, The Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

Durrynacker, subs. (thieves’).—A female hawker of lace; generally practised as an introduction to fortune-telling. Also Durrynacking. [Described in H. Mayhew’s London Labor and London Poor, vol. i., p. 472, 1851.]

Dust, subs. (common).—Money. [Said to be from ‘gold-dust,’ but this is a mere guess.]

1655. Fuller, Ch. Hist., vi., 299. My lord, quoth the king, presently deposit your hundred pounds in gold, or else no going hence all the daies of your life.... The abbot down with his dust; and glad he escaped so, returned to Reading.

1671. Eachard, Observations. If they did intend to trade with Christ they must down with the dust instantly, for to his knowledge the Papists did offer a vast sum of money for England’s Christ.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Dust ... also a cant name for money, as down with your dust, put, pay, or lay down your money, etc.

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. xiii. You have thrown away a second chance. Play or pay, all the world over.... Down with the dust.

1840. Comic Almanack. ‘The Dust about the Gold Dust,’ p. 217. She cried, ‘Come, down, now, with your dust!’

1890. Welfare, March, p. 5, col. 1. ‘Strange Sermons.’ It is related of Dean Swift that, preaching of charity, he comprised his sermon within a single short sentence. His text was from Proverbs xix., 17: ‘He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord.’ His treatment of the subject consisted of the words: ‘If you approve the security, down with your dust!’

To dust one’s jacket, cassock, or coat, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To thrash; metaphorically, to criticise severely.—See quot., 1557, and cf., Baste.

1557. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. 49, st. b., p. 107 (E.D.S.). What fault deserves a brushed cote.

1612. Passenger of Benvenuto. Observe, my English gentleman, that blowes have a wonderfull prerogative in the feminine sex; for if shee be a bad woman, there is no more proper plaister to mend her, then this: but if (which is a rare chance) she be good, to dust her often hath in it a singular, unknowne, and as it were an inscrutable vertue to make her much better, and to reduce her, if possible, to perfection.

1698. Farquhar, Love and a Bottle, Act v., Sc. ii. Tell me presently where your master is, sirrah, or I’ll dust the secret out of your jacket.

1771. Smollet, Humphry Clinker, l. 26. Prankley, shaking his cane, bid him hold his tongue, otherwise he would dust his cassock for him.

1837. Barham, I. L. (M. of Venice). Old Shylock was making a racket, and threatening how well he’d dust every man’s jacket, Who’d help’d her in getting aboard of the packet.

1865. Saturday Review, Ap. If he will turn to Theocritus, v., 119, he will learn that there is a good and respectable Greek ancestry for the cant phrase, to dust one’s jacket:—ὅκα μάνποκα τεῖδέτυδάσας Εὐμάριδας ἐκάθηρε, where ἐκάθηρε means, ‘purgavit te,’ ‘dressed you,’ ‘gave you a dressing,’ dusted your jacket. So great is the similarity of ideas in all nations and languages, of which, indeed, there is abundant illustration in other passages of Theocritus.

1872. Fun, Sept. The difference is I dusts his [coat] off his back, and he dusts mine on my back.

To get up and dust, or To dust out of, verb. phr. (American).—To move quickly; to leave hurriedly. For synonyms, see Absquatulate.

To have dust in the eyes, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be sleepy; to draw straws (q.v.). Said mainly of children: e.g., ‘The dustman is coming.’

To kick up, or raise a dust, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To make a disturbance, or much ado.

1759. Smollett, Letter to Wilkes, quoted in D. Hannay’s Smollett (1887), p. 132. If the affair cannot be compromised, we intend to kick up a dust, and die hard.

1766. H. Brooke, Fool of Quality, ii., 41. Our lay and ecclesiastical champions for arbitrary power ... have raised such a dust, and kept such a coil about the divine, hereditary, and indefeasible right of kings.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxxiii. ‘Is there not a strong room up yonder in the old castle?’ ‘Ay, is there, sir; my uncle the constable once kept a man there for three days in Auld Ellangowan’s time. But there was an unco-dust about it—it was tried in the Inner-house afore the feifteen.’

To throw dust in the eyes, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To mislead; to dupe.—See Bamboozle.

To bite the dust, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To knock under; to be mortified, or shamed.

Dust-bin, subs. (common).—A grave.

Dusted, ppl. adj. (colloquial).—Drubbed; severely criticised.—See Dust one’s jacket and Tanning.

Duster, subs. (tailors’)—A sweetheart. For synonyms, see Jomer.

Dust-hole, subs. (theatrical).—1. The late Prince of Wales’ Theatre in Tottenham Court Road. [From the fact that, fifty years ago, under the management of Mr. Glossop, the sweepings of the house were deposited and suffered to accumulate under the pit.]

1886. John Coleman, in Temple Bar, Feb., p. 225. During his management of the dusthole (since known as ‘The Prince of Wales’s’), in Tottenham Court Road.

2. (University).—Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Obsolete.

Dustman, subs. (common).—1. A personification of sleep: ‘the dustman’s coming’ = you are getting sleepy. Cf., dust in the eyes.

1821. Pierce Egan, Tom and Jerry, p. 111. A social glass of wine beguiled an hour or two, till the dustman made his appearance and gave the hint to Tom and Jerry that it was time to visit their beds.

2. (old).—A dead man.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Dusty. Not so dusty, adv. phr. (common).—A term of approval; ‘not so bad’; ‘so-so.’

1854. F. E. Smedley, Harry Coverdale, ch. xlii. ‘Why is the fact of the contents of a backgammon-board having been thrown out of the window like Milton’s chef d’œuvre?’ Do you give it up? ‘Because it’s a pair o’dice lost.’ None so dusty that—eh? for a commoner like me?

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 28. ‘Well, my dear,’ said Butters in the most patronising way, ‘I know I’m not so dusty, and if it wasn’t for my disgusting weight I’d pretty soon let ’em see at Newmarket what I can do.’

Dusty-Bob, subs. (common).—A scavenger.

Dustypoll or Dusty-nob, subs. (old).—A miller. [Dusty, = floury, + poll, or nob = the head.]

Dutch. An epithet of inferiority. A witness, no doubt, to the long-standing hatred engendered by the bitter fight for the supremacy of the seas between England and Holland in the seventeenth century.

Subs. (common).—A wife. [Probably an abbreviation of Dutch clock.]

English Synonyms.—Mollisher; rib; grey-mare; warming-pan; splice; lawful blanket; autem-mort; comfortable impudence; comfortable importance; old woman; evil; missus; lawful jam; yoke-fellow; night-cap; legitimate, or legiti; weight-carrier; mutton-bone; ordinary; pillow-mate; supper-table; Dutch clock; chattel; sleeping-partner; doxy; cooler; mount; bed-fagot.

French Synonyms.—Une marque de cé (thieves’); une légitime (fam. = legitimate); mon gouvernement (pop. = my old woman); mon associée (printers’ = my partner); mon bien (popular, bien = chattel); une gerce (thieves’: also a mattress).

German Synonyms.—Keibe, Keibel, Keife (also = woman or concubine: from O.H.G. Chebisa, M.H.G. Kebese, Kebse = illegitimate); Krönerin (literally a ‘horneress’; Kröne = to be provided with horns); Rammenin (Hanoverian: from the gypsy romnin).

To do a dutch, verb. phr. (military).—To desert; to run away. For synonyms, see Amputate.

That beats the Dutch, phr. (common).—A sarcastic superlative.

1775. Revolutionary Song [New Eng. Hist., Reg. Ap. 1857], p. 191. And besides all the mortars, bombs, cannons, and shells, And bullets and guns, as the newspaper tells, Our cargoes of meat, drink, and cloaths beat the dutch; Now who would not tarry and take t’other touch?

To talk Dutch, Double-Dutch, or High-Dutch, verb. phr. (common).—To talk gibberish; by implication, nonsense.

1604. Marlowe, Faustus, Sc. iv. Wag. Villain—call me Master Wagner, and let thy left eye be diametarily fixed upon my right heel, with quasi vestigiis uostris insistere. Clown. God forgive me, he speaks dutch fustian.

1790. Dibdin, The Sweet Little Cherub. And, my timbers! what lingo he’d coil and belay, Why ’twas just all as one as high dutch.

1876. C. H. Wall, trans. Molière, vol. I., p. 116. He never taught me anything but my prayers, and though I have said them daily now these fifty years, they are still double dutch to me.

The Dutch have taken Holland, phr. (common).—A quiz for stale news. Cf., Queen Bess (or Queen Anne) is dead; the ark rested on mount Ararat, etc.

Dutch-Auction or Sale, subs. (cheap-jacks’).—A sale at minimum prices; a mock-auction.

1872. Daily Telegraph, 30 Nov. So thoroughly corrupt and vicious has the existing system become that it would be well-nigh a relief to fall back on the old dutch auction, by which an article was put up at a high price, and, if nobody accepted the offer, then reduced to a lower, the sum first required being gradually decreased until a fair value was attained.

1885. Punch, 21 Feb., p. 93. Gives up India to Russia, Africa to Germany, puts up garrisoned fortresses and coaling stations at dutch auction, and lets colonies run loose.

Dutch-Bargain, subs. (old).—A bargain all on one side.

‘In matters of commerce the fault of the Dutch, Is giving too little and asking too much!’

Dutch-Clock, subs. (music-hall).—1. A wife. Cf., Dutch and sense 2.

2. (common).—A bed-pan.

Dutch-Concert or Medley, subs. (common).—A sing-song whereat everybody sings and plays at the same time as everybody else; a hubbub.

1814. Scott, Waverley, ch. xi. And now the Demon of Politics envied even the harmony arising from this dutch concert, merely because there was not a wrathful note in the strange compound of sounds which it produced.

1871. Daily Telegraph, 23 Mar. ‘Lord Derby on Pauperism.’ It happens that instead of the harmony which should exist where good men and good women are, working together for a common object, you have something like what is popularly known as a dutch concert, or in other words, every man playing his own tune on his own instrument.

Dutch Consolation, subs. (common).—Job’s comfort; unconsoling consolation.

1888. All the Year Round, 9 June, p. 542. The expression often heard, ‘Thank Heaven, it is no worse,’ is sometimes called dutch consolation.

Dutch-Courage, subs. Pot-valiancy. Cf., Fielding’s Dutch-defence = sham-defence.

1872. Spencer, Study of Sociology, ch. viii., p. 185 (9th ed.). A dose of brandy, by stimulating the circulation, produces dutch courage, as it is called.

1887. Mrs. Lovett Cameron, Neck or Nothing, ch. iv., p. 50. Bob waited half a second for an answer, glancing uneasily at his friend’s face, and then he dashed on again with a sort of dutch courage, for, to tell the truth he wasn’t quite sure how Jack would take it.

Dutch-Feast, subs. (old).—See quot.

1888. All the Year Round, 9 June, p. 542. Dutch feast is a phrase now obsolete; it was formerly applied to an entertainment where the host got drunk before his guests.

Dutch-Gleek, subs. (old). Drinks.

1654. Gayton, Fest. Notes, p. 96. Nor could be partaker of any of the good cheer, except it were the liquid part of it, which they call dutch gleek, where he plaied his cards so well, and vied and revled so often, that he had scarce an eye to see withall.

Dutchman. I’m a Dutchman if I do, phr. (common).—A strong refusal. [During the wars between England and Holland, Dutch was synonymous with all that was false and hateful; therefore, ‘I would rather be a Dutchman’ = the strongest term of refusal that words could express.]

1855. Earl Russell, Memoirs of Thomas Moore. Cope mentioned a good specimen of English-French, and the astonishment of the French people who heard it, not conceiving what it could mean—‘Si je fais, je fais; mais si je fais, je suis un Hollandais.’ ‘If I do, I do; but if I do, I’m a Dutchman.’

Dutchman’s-Breeches, subs. (nautical).—Two streaks of blue in a cloudy sky.

Dutchman’s-Drink, subs. (common).—A draught that empties the pot.

Dutch-treat, subs. (common).—An entertainment where everyone pays his shot.

1887. Lippincott’s Mag., Aug., p. 191. ‘You’ll come along too, won’t you?’ Lancelot demanded of Ormizon! Dutch treat, vous savez!

Dutch Uncle. I will talk to you like a Dutch uncle, phr. (common).—I will reprove you smartly. [The Dutch were renowned for the brutality of their discipline. Uncle is the Latin notion of pat’ruus, ‘an uncle,’ ‘severe guardian,’ or ‘stern castigator.’ Hence Horace, 3 Od. xii. 3, Metuentes patruæ verbera linguæ (dreading the castigations of an uncle’s tongue); and 2 Sat. iii. 88, Ne sis patruus mihi (Don’t come the uncle over me). A Dutch uncle = therefore, an uncle of peculiar fierceness.]

1853. Notes and Queries, 1 S., vii., 65. In some parts of America, when a person has determined to give another a regular lecture, he will often be heard to say, I will talk to him like a dutch uncle; that is, he shall not escape this time.

1869. East Anglian, vol. III., p. 350. [In list of Suffolk sea words]: ‘There were the squires on the bench, but I took heart, and talked to ’em like a dutch uncle.’

Dutch-widow, subs. (old).—A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and cf., Grass-widow.

1608. Middleton, Trick to Catch the Old One, III., iii. Dra. Yes, a dutch widow. Hoa. How? Dra. That’s an English drab, sir.

Dutch-wife, subs. (common).—A bolster.

Dying in a Horse’s Nightcap. Dying by the rope; cf., Horse’s Nightcap.

E

Eagle-takers, subs. (military).—The Eighty-Seventh Foot. [The title was gained at Barossa (1811), when it captured the eagle of the 8th French Light Infantry. Its colours also bear ‘the plume of the Prince of Wales’ and ‘the harp and crown,’ an eagle with a wreath of laurel.] It was also nicknamed ‘The Old Fogs’; also ‘The Faugh-a-Ballagh Boys,’ from Fag an bealac! = ‘Clear the Way,’ the regimental march, and the war-cry at Barossa.

Ear. To send away with a flea in the ear, verb. phr. (common).—To dismiss peremptorily and with a scolding. Fr., mettre la puce à l’oreille = to get angry.

1764–1817. J. G. Holman, Abroad and at Home, ii., 1. I could not think of Miss Hartley being troubled with such a brute of a fellow ... so, an’t please you, my lady, I sent him away with a flea in his ear.

1841. Comic Almanack, p. 280. One thing is very clear, If they ain’t off of their own accord, the Lord Mayor will soon help ’em off with a flea in their ear.

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 202. Her husband had with difficulty restrained her from sending Forrest away with what in homely language is denominated a flea in his ear.

To bite the ear.—See Bite and Break Shins.

To get up on one’s ear, verb. phr. (American).—To bestir oneself; to rouse oneself for an effort.

1870. Richard Grant White. Words and their Uses. They called me bully boy, altho’ I’ve seen nigh three-score years, And said that I was lightning when I got up on my ear.

1888. Puck’s Library, May, p. 15. A man who walked on his ear out of a store said ‘he came out on the Erie route.’

Earl of Cork, subs. phr. (Irish).—The ace of diamonds.—[See quots.]

1830. W. Carleton, Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry. ‘What do you mean by the Earl of Cork?’ asked Mr. Squander. ‘The ace of diamonds, your honour. It’s the worst ace, and the poorest card in the pack, and is called the Earl of Cork, because he’s the poorest nobleman in Ireland.’

1864. Athenæum, 29 Oct. The ace of diamonds acquired the name of ‘the earl of cork’ because his lordship happened to be the poorest nobleman in Ireland.

Earl of Mar’s Grey Breeks, subs. phr. (military).—The Twenty-First Foot. [In allusion to the colour of the men’s breeches and to the original title of the regiment, The Earl of Mar’s Fuzileers.] Obsolete.

Early. To get up early, verb. phr. (common).—To be astute; ready; wide-awake. Cf., ‘It’s the early bird that catches the worm.’

1738. Swift, Polite Convers., Dial. 3. They must rise early that would cheat her of her money.

c. 1869. Vance, Broadside Ballad. For to get me on the hop, or on my ‘tibby’ drop, You must wake up very early in the morning.

1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. xlvi. It was said of him that ... if you wished to take him in you must get up early.

Early-riser, subs. (common).—An aperient. Cf., Custom-house officer and Two gunners and a driver.

Early-worm, subs. (common).—A man who searches the streets at daybreak for cigar stumps.

Earth-bath, subs. (old).—A grave. To take an earth-bath = to be buried; cf., ground sweat.

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

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

Earthquake. Bottled earthquake, subs. phr. (American).—Intoxicating drinks.

Earth-stoppers, subs. (old).—Horse’s feet.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i., 6. There’s action for you—there’s one to tip ’em the go-bye at a mill,—there’s earth-stoppers—quiet to drive, quiet in harness, trots fifteen miles in less than an hour.

Earthy, adj. (colloquial).—Gross; common; devoid of ‘soul.’

Ear-wig, subs. (old).—A private prompter or flatterer; also (thieves’) a clergyman. [From the popular delusion that the earwig lodges itself in the ear with a view to working its way into the brain when it causes death.]

1639. Beaumont and Fletcher, Bloody Brother. Dram. Personæ, Latorch Rollo’s Earwig.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter p. 77. And the court, mercy on us! there are no words equal to the just painting of its ear-wigs, its sycophants, pensioners, placemen, scouters, masters of the ceremonies, etc.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, A pack of mouthers, and flatterers, and ear-wigs.

Verb (common).—To prompt; to influence by covert statements; to whisper insinuations.

1842. Marryat, Percival Keene, xiii. And by way of a hint, make him your friend if you can, for he earwigs the captain in fine style.

1879. Jas. Payn, High Spirits (Confiscated Weeds). He is a sound divine and politician, but a little apt to be led away by specious arguments on the subject of education; and Carker was in the habit ... of earwigging him.

Ease, verb (common).—1. To rob; Fr., soulager. Cf., Annex and Convey. To ease a bloke = to rob a man.

1630. Jonson, New Inn, I. Ease his pockets of a superfluous watch.

1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. viii. ‘The law’s hard—very severe—hanged poor Jack Winterfield at York, despite family connexions and great interest, all for easing a fat West-country grazier of the price of a few beasts.’

1840. Thackeray, Paris Sketch Book, p. 109. His was the place at the écarté table, where the Countess would ease him nightly of a few pieces.

1849. Punch, November, ‘The Swell Mobsman’s Almanack.’ Remember, wen you’ve eased a cove in a fogg, never cut away in an ’urry, or crushers stop you.

2. (venery).—To content a woman.

1861. A. C. Swinburne, Poems and Ballads. ‘Hermaphroditus.’ Hath made him man to ease a woman’s sighs.

To ease oneself, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To ‘rear.’ For synonyms, see Bury a Quaker.

2. (venery).—To ejaculate.

Eason, verb (American thieves’).—To tell.

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

East-and-South, subs. (rhyming slang).—The mouth. Also Sunny South. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, The Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

Eastery, subs. (cheap-jacks’).—Private business.

1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 107. At one eastery Aaron Jessell was going to cry the place.

Easy, To make easy, verb. phr. (old).—To gag or kill. [Grose, 1785.]

Easy as damn it, (or as my eye), adj. phr. (popular).—Excessively easy: ‘easy as lying’ [Shakspeare].

Easy does it! verb. phr. (popular).—An exclamation of encouragement and counsel = ‘Take your time and keep your coat on.’

Easy over the pimples, (or over the stones), verb. phr. (popular).—An injunction = ‘go slow,’ or ‘mind what you’re about.’

Easy Virtue.—See Lady of Easy Virtue.

Eat, verb (American).—To provision: e.g., a steamer is said to be able to eat 400 passengers and sleep about half that number.

ante 1871. Pickings from the Picayune, p. 47. Hoosier—‘Squire, what pay do you give?’ Contractor—‘Ten bits a day.’ Hoosier—‘Why, Squire, I was told you’d give us two dollars a-day and eat us.’

1887. R. A. Procter, on ‘Americanisms’ in Knowledge, s.v. Sometimes a host may eat his guests in another sense. I once, when staying at an hotel, found a finely coloured motto rather unfortunately spelt; it ran, ‘Watch and Prey.’ Its owner carried out the idea.

Eat coke.—See Coke.

Eat crow.—See Crow.

Eat a fig, verb. phr. (rhyming slang).—To ‘crack a crib’; to break a house.

To eat one’s head off, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be retained for service and stand idle; also (quot., 1850) to cost more in ‘keep’ than one is worth.

1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. xiv. I’d rather keep her for a week than a fortnight, I can tell you; she’d eat her head off in a month, and no mistake.

1872. Times, 27 Aug. ‘The Autumn Manœuvres.’ The country never would stand the maintenance all the year round of some 1,500 horses which would have nothing to do for nine months out of the twelve but eat their heads off.

1874. Mrs. H. Wood, Johnny Ludlow, 1 S., No. xxv., p. 446. And I fit to eat my head off with having nothing to do.

Eat one’s head, hat, boots, etc., verb. phr. (common).—A locution of emphatic asseveration. [Probably Dickensonian, influenced by the proverbial saying, ‘To eat one’s heart out’—to undergo intense struggle, and also To eat one’s head off (q.v.).]—See Notes and Queries, 7 S., iii., 7, 94, 197, 352, 433.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, xlii., 367. ‘Well, if I knew as little of life as that, I’D eat my hat and swallow the buckle whole,’ said the clerical gentleman.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xiv. This was the handsome offer with which Mr. Grimwig backed and confirmed nearly every assertion he made; and it was the more singular in his case because, even admitting, for the sake of argument, the possibility of scientific improvements being ever brought to that pass which will enable a man to eat his own head in the event of his being so disposed, Mr. Grimwig’s head was such a particularly large one that the most sanguine man alive could hardly entertain a hope of being able to get through it at a sitting, to put entirely out of the question a very thick coating of powder.

1887. E. E. Money, Little Dutch Maiden, II., viii., 148. And if you don’t run up against him next day in Bond Street, you may eat your hat!

To eat one’s terms, verb. phr. (legal).—To go through the prescribed course of study for admission to the bar. [In allusion to the dinners a student has to attend in the public hall of his inn.]

To eat one’s words, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To retract a statement; to own a lie.

To eat up, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To vanquish; to ruin. [Originally Zulu.]

1890. National Observer, 13 Dec, p. 88, col. 2. But buttons tarnish, hot gospelling palls, the eating-up of white men is in strictest consonance with regal tradition and the regal habit.

Eaves, subs. (American).—A hen-roost.

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

Eavesdropper, subs. (American).—A chicken thief; also generally, any petty pilferer.

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

Ebenezer, subs. (Winchester College).—A stroke at fives: when the ball hits ‘line’ at such an angle as to rise perpendicularly into the air.

Ebony, subs. (common).—1. A negro; otherwise Blackbird (q.v.) and Black Ivory. Thomas Fuller (1608–1661) spoke of the negro race as ‘God’s images cut in ebony.’ For synonyms, see Snowball.

2. The publisher of Maga.: i.e., Blackwood.—(See Noctes Ambrosianæ passim.)

Ebony-optics, subs. (old).—Black eyes. Ebony-optics albonized = black eyes painted white.

Edgabac, subs. (back slang).—Cabbage.

Edge. Stitched off the edge, phr. (tailors’).—Said of a glass not filled to the top.

Side-edge, subs. (tailors’).—Whiskers.

Short top edge, subs. phr. (tailors’).—A turn-up nose or celestial (q.v.).

Edge in, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To slip in; insinuate: e.g., To edge in a word (or a remark).

Edge off (or out of), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To slink away; to gradually desist. To take the edge off [a thing, or person, or idea] = to become acquainted with; to enjoy to satiety. Cf., Hamlet, iii., 2. ‘It would cost you a groaning to take off my edge.’

Edgenaro, subs. (back slang).—An orange.

Edge-ways. Not able to get a word in edge-ways, phr. (colloquial).—Having but the barest opportunity of taking part in a discussion.

Eel-Skins, subs. (old).—Tight trousers. For synonyms, see Bags and Kicks.

1827. Bulwer Lytton, Pelham, ch. xlix., p. 190. He only filched a twopenny halfpenny gilt chain out of his master, Levy, the pawnbroker’s window, and stuck it in his eel-skin to make a show.

E-fink, subs. (back slang).—A knife.

Efter, subs. (thieves’).—A theatre thief.

Egg.—See Bad Egg.

Egg on, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To encourage.

Eggs. Sure as eggs is eggs, phr. (popular).—Of a certainty; without doubt. [From the formula, ‘x is x.’]

To teach one’s grandmother to roast or suck eggs, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To lecture elders and superiors; Fr., les oisons veulent mener les oies paître = the goslings want to drive the geese to pasture.

Egham, Staines, and Windsor, subs. phr. (common).—See quot.

1886. G. A. Sala, in Ill. Lon. News, 23 Oct., 418, 2. Is not the three-cornered hat of an English gentleman’s coachman in gala livery known as an ‘Egham, Staines, and Windsor’?

Egyptian-Hall, subs. (rhyming slang).—A ball.

Eighter, subs. (prison).—An eight-ounce loaf.

Ekame, subs. (back slang).—A make (q.v.), or swindle.

Ekom, subs. (back slang).—A moke (q.v.), or donkey.

Elbow, verb (American thieves’).—To turn a corner; to get out of sight.

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

To shake the elbow, verb. phr.—To play dice. [From the motion of the arm in ‘casting.’]

1680. Cotton, Compleat Gamester [gaming is compared to] a paralytical distemper which, seizing the arm the man cannot chuse but shake his elbow.

1705. Vanbrugh, Confederacy, Act i. He’s always shaking his heels with the ladies and his elbows with the lords.

1709. Mrs. Centlivre, Gamester, I. (1872), i., 134. He is at shaking his elbows over a table ... courting the dice like a mistress, and cursing them when he is disappointed.

1713. Guardian, No. 120. But what would you say, should you see the Sparkler shaking her elbow for a whole night together, and thumping the table with a dice-box?

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xvii. To eke out your living By the wag of your elbows.

To crook the elbow, verb. phr. (common).—To drink.—See Elbow-crooker. [From the action of the arm.] For synonyms, see Lush.

Elbow-Crooker, subs. (common).—A hard drinker. See infra and Drinks.

English Synonyms.—Borachio; boozington; brewer’s horse; bubber; budger; mop; lushington; worker of the cannon; wet-quaker; soaker; lapper; pegger; angel altogether; bloat; ensign-bearer; fiddle-cup; sponge; tun; toss-pot; swill-pot; wet subject; shifter; potster; swallower; pot-walloper; wetster; dramster; drinkster; beer-barrel; ginnums; lowerer; moist ’un; drainist; boozer; mopper-up; piss-maker; thirstington.

French Synonyms.—Un louave (thieves’); un litronneur (popular: litre = 1·760 pint); une grosse culotte (popular = big-breeches or fat-arse); un gavé (thieves’: gaver = to stuff); une lampe à mort (pop.: a confirmed drunkard; = a death-lamp); un zingueur (popular); un boyau rouge (pop. = red-guts); un marquant (thieves’: = conspicuous, striking, etc.); un canonneur (pop.: canon = a glass of wine; cf., English cannon); un camphrier (pop.: a dram-drinker; also = a camphor-tree); un fioleur (pop.: fiole = phial: cf., toss-pot and swill-pot); une éponge (pop.: = a sponge; also a paramour, a fool, an attorney); un bibard (thieves’: biberon = sucking-bottle); un buvard (popular: = blotting book); un pochard (colloquial); adroit du coude (pop. = artful elbowed); un artilleur (pop.: = a cannoneer; cf., cannon); un boissonneur (pop.: boisson = drink); un buvailleur or buvaillon (pop.: a man easily drunk); un chocaillon (pop.: a female drunkard); un poivrot (familiar); un sac à vin (pop. = a wine butt).

German Synonym.—Mattobolo (matto balo = a drunken pig: from the gypsy matto = drunk).

Italian Synonyms.—Fransoso (= a Frenchman); chiaritore; chiaristante.

Spanish Synonyms.—Cuero (= a goat-skin bag for wine or oil); coladra (= a wooden pail in which wine is measured and retailed); cuba (= a measure for wine); difunto de taberna (lit., a public-house corpse); odre (= a wine-skin); pellejo (= a liquor skin dressed and pitched); peneque; potista; odrina (= an ox-hide bottle).

Elbower, subs. (American thieves’).—A runaway. [Cf., elbow.]

Elbow-Grease, subs. (colloquial).—Energetic and continuous manual labour: e.g., ‘Elbow-Grease is the best furniture oil.’ Fr., huile de bras or de poignet; du foulage.

1779–1839. Galt [quoted in Imperial Eng. Dict.]. He has scartit and dintit my guid mahogany past a’ the power o’ beeswax and elbow-grease to smooth.

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

1859. G. Eliot, Adam Bede, bk. I., ch. vi. Nowhere else could an oak clock-case and an oak table have got to such a polish by the hand: genuine elbow-polish, as Mrs. Poyser called it, for she thanked God she never had any of your varnished rubbish in her house.

1870. London Figaro, 31 Oct. Often have I been ... frequently admonished to put some elbow-grease into my work.

1876. M. E. Braddon, Joshua Haggard’s Daughter, ch. xi. There’s no such polish in Devonshire, I should think, as poor Phœbe’s elbow-grease.

Elbow-scraper, or Jigger, subs. (common).—A fiddler.

Elbow-shaker, subs. (old).—A gambler.—See Elbow.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Elbow-shaker (s.) a gamester, one that practises dice-playing.

Elbow-shaking, subs. (common).—Gambling.—See Elbow.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lx. ‘It’s been doosedly dipped and cut into, sir, by the confounded extravygance of your master, with his helbow shakin’, and his bill discountin’.’

Electrified, ppl. adj. 1. (American).—Moderately drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

2. (colloquial).—Violently startled.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘The Lay of St. Gengulphus.’ Pig, pudding, and soup. The electrified groups, Pop under the sofa.

Elegant, adj. (colloquial).—Excellent.

Elegant-Extracts, subs. (military).—1. The Eighty-Fifth Foot. [This regiment was remodelled in 1812, after a long sequence of court-martials: when the officers were removed, and others set in their room.]

1871. Chambers’ Journal, 23 Dec., p. 803. ‘Elegant Extracts’ was the name given to the 85th on its being reformed with officers picked out from those of other regiments.

2. (Cambridge University).—Students who, though ‘plucked,’ were still given their degrees. A line was drawn below the poll-list, and those allowed to pass were nicknamed the elegant extracts. [There was a similar limbo in the honour-list, called the Gulf: for ‘Between them (in the poll) and us (in the honour lists) there is a great gulf fixed.’]

Elephant, subs. (American thieves’).—A wealthy victim. Cf., To see the Elephant.

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

To see the Elephant, verb. phr. (American).—1. To see the world; to ‘go out for wool and come home shorn’; by implication, to ‘go on the loose.’ Sometimes, To see the King.

b. 1533, d. 1592. Montaigne, Arrien. Hist. Ind., ch. 17. Aux Indes Orientales la chasteté y estant en singulière recommandation, l’usage pourtant souffroit qu’une femme mariée se peust abandonner à qui luy presentoit un ÉlÉphant, et cela avec quelque gloire d’avoir esté estimée à si hault prix.

1841. Kendall, Narrative of the Texan Santa Fé Expedition, i., p. 109. When a man is disappointed in any thing he undertakes, when he has seen enough, when he gets tired and sick of any job he may have set himself about, he has seen the elephant.

1870. L. Oliphant, Piccadilly, pt. ii., p. 39. So had Mr. Wog, who went up to town to see what he called the elephant,—an American expression, signifying ‘to gain experience of the world.’

1872. Besant and Rice, R. M. Mortiboy, ch. xxxiv. Just like the Americans, when they go to see a great sight, say they are going to see the elephant.

1888. Boston Globe, 4 March. It was in a Hanover Street dispensary, where the tillers of the soil love to congregate, when they are down to Bosting, inspecting the Athenian white elephant.

1889. Puck’s Library, Ap., p. 25. Forepaugh says that elephants have a natural liking for whiskey. We have often wondered, when a man went out to see the elephant, why he always brought back such a strange odour with him. This seems to explain it.

2. (common).—To be seduced; Fr., avoir vu le loup. For synonyms, see Leg.

Elephant-dance.—See Cellar-flap and Double-Shuffle.

Elephant’s-trunk, subs. (rhyming slang).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Elevate, verb (colloquial).—To make or become slightly drunk.—See Elevated.

Elevated, ppl. adj. (colloquial).—Slightly drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1664. Etherege, Comical Revenge, IV., iii. in wks. (1704), 51. The wine makes the rogue witty.... I will keep him thus elevated ’till he has married Grace.

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xvii. The liquor mounted up to our heads, and made us all extremely frolicsome. I, in particular, was much elevated.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Elevated (a.) ... sometime spoke of a person that has drank a little too freely.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. l., p. 434. Except when he’s elevated, Bob’s the quietest creature breathing.

1837. Disraeli, Venetia, p. 274.

Elevation, subs. (colloquial).—1. A phase of drunkenness.—See Elevated.

1823. Scott, Peveril, ch. iii. The unwonted agitation of her voice attracted the attention of the refractory steward, notwithstanding his present state of elevation.

2. (common).—Opium.

1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ‘What’s elevation?’ ‘Opium, bor alive.’

Elfen, verb (American thieves’).—To walk lightly; to go on tiptoe.

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

Ellenborough Lodge, or Spike, or Park, subs. phr. (old).—The King’s Bench. [From Lord Chief-Justice Ellenborough.] For synonyms, see Cage. Ellenborough’s Teeth = the chevaux de frize round the prison wall.

Elrig, subs. (back slang).—A girl.

Elycampane or Elecampane.—See Allacompain and quot.

1823. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii., 4. Go and get a pennyworth of elycampane. Jerry. There’s a pair of men-milliners.

Emag, subs. (back slang).—Game: e.g., ‘I know your little emag.’

Embroider, verb (common).—To exaggerate; to add to the truth.

1877. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), The Mississippi Pilot. Tom tried to make himself appear to be a hero too, and succeeded to some extent, but then he always had a way of embroidering.

Embroidery, subs. (common).—Exaggeration; the American sass and trimmin’s (q.v.).—[See Embroider.]

1890. Standard, 5 April, p. 2, col. 1. Fanny Burney had many good qualities, no doubt, but we fancy that when she tells us with such evident unction how great folks loved and admired her she puts a good deal of embroidery into her narrations.

Emma.—See Whoa Emma and Street-cries.

Emperor, subs. (American thieves’).—A drunken man. [An intensification of ‘drunk as a lord’; whence ‘drunk as an emperor.’]

1881. New York Slang Dict. ‘On the Trail.’ A pinch for an Emperor’s slang.

Drunk as an Emperor, phr. (common).—An intensitive of ‘drunk as a lord.’ Fr., saoul comme trente mille hommes, or un âne.

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

Empty the Bag.—See Bag.

Encumbrances, subs. (common).—Children.—See Certainties and Uncertainties.

End. To be all on end, verb. phr. (American).—To be very angry; irritated. Also expectant.

At loose ends, adv. phr. (common).—Neglected; precarious.

End on, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Straight; full-tilt.

To be end on, verb. phr. (venery).—To have an erection.

To keep one’s end up, verb. phr. (American).—To rub along.

End of the Sentimental Journey, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Enemy, subs. (common).—Time: e.g., ‘How goes the enemy’ = what’s o’clock? ‘To kill the enemy’ = to kill time.

1839. Dickens, Nich. Nickleby, ch. xix., p. 149. ‘How goes the enemy, Snobb?’ asked Sir Mulberry Hawke. ‘Four minutes gone.’

1864. Glasgow Citizen, 19 Nov. The swell who is bored by his efforts to ‘kill the enemy.’

English Burgundy, subs. phr. (old).—Porter.—See Drinks.

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

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

Enif, adj. (back slang).—Fine.

Enin Gen, subs. phr. (back slang).—Nine shillings. Enin Yanneps = Ninepence.

Enjoy, verb (old).—To ‘possess’ a woman.

1594. Shakspeare, The Rape of Lucrece, st. 74. ‘Lucrece,’ quoth he, ‘this night I must enjoy thee; if thou deny, then force must work my way.’

Eno, adj. (back slang).—One.

1850. Lloyd’s Weekly, 3 Feb. ‘Low Lodging Houses of London.’ There’s people there will rob their own brother. There’s people there talk backward—for one they say eno, for two owt, for three eerht, for four ruof, for five evif, for six exis. I don’t know any higher.

Ensign-Bearer, subs. (old).—A drunkard; especially one with a red nose and blotchy face.—See Elbow-crooker.

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

Ephesian, subs. (old).—A boon companion; a ‘spreester.’ Cf., Corinthian.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, iv., 5. Art thou there? it is thine host, thine Ephesian, calls.

1598. Shakspeare, 2 Henry IV., ii. 2. P. H. What company? Page. Ephesians, my lord, of the old church.

Epip, subs. (back slang).—A pipe.

Epsom-races, subs. (rhyming slang).—A pair of braces.

Equal to the Genuine Limburger.—See Limburger.

Equipped, ppl. adj. (American thieves’).—Rich; well-dressed; in good circumstances. Cf., well-ballasted.

Erif, subs. (back slang).—Fire.

Eriff, subs. (American thieves’).—A young thief.

1881. New York Slang Dict. ‘On the Trail.’ It’s the gait all them eriffs dances, observed the one-eyed man.

Errand. To send a baby on an errand, verb. phr. (common).—To undertake what is pretty sure to turn out badly.

Error.—See No Error.

Erth (back slang).—Three. Erth Gen = Three shillings. Erth-pu = Three-up, a street game, played with three halfpence. Erth Sith-Noms = Three months’ imprisonment; a ‘drag.’ Erth Yanneps = Threepence.

Esclop (back slang).—A police-constable; esclop is pronounced ‘slop’ the c is never sounded. For synonyms, see Beak and Copper.

Es-roch (back slang).—A horse. For synonyms, see Prad.

Essex-Lion, subs. (old).—A calf: e.g., ‘as valiant as an essex-lion.’ Cf., Cotswold Lion, Cambridgeshire Nightingale, etc.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary, s.v. Essex lions. Calves, great numbers of which are brought alive in carts to the London markets.

Essex-Stile, subs. (old).—A ditch.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary. Explained to be either real stiles which, because of the very small enclosures in Essex, are very frequent or the ‘narrow bridges, such as are laid between marsh and marsh in the hundreds of this county, only jocularly called stiles, as the loose stone walls in Derbyshire are ludicrously called hedges.’

Esuch (back slang).—A house. For synonyms, see Ken.

Eternity-Box, subs. (common).—A coffin.

English Synonyms.—Cold meat box; wooden surtout; coffee-shop; deal suit.

French Synonyms.—Boîte à dominos (popular); étui à lorgnette (popular); boîte à doche (thieves’); redingote de sapin (popular).

German Synonyms.—Pron (from the Hebrew); Teba (Hebrew leba).

Evaporate, verb (common).—To run away; to disappear. For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xxii., p. 191. Upon which the young man, looking round, instantly evaporates.

1854. Ainsworth, Flitch of Bacon, pt. I., ch. x. You may evaporate if you think proper, Sir G.; but split me if I stir a step.

1857. Cuthbert Bede, Verdant Green, pt. II., ch. ix. Mr. Bouncer evaporates with a low bow, leaving the Ladies to play with their parasols, and converse.

Evatch, verb (back slang).—To have: e.g., ‘Evatch a kool at the elrig’ = Have a look at the girl.

Everlasting-Shoes, (also Everlastings), subs. (common).—The naked feet. For synonyms, see Creepers.

Everlasting-staircase, subs. (thieves’).—The treadmill. For synonyms, see Wheel of Life.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. i., p. 300. Why we should be very soon taking reg’lar exercise on Colonel Chesterton’s everlasting staircase. We has a great respect for the law—O, certainly!

1874. H. Mayhew, London Characters, p. 349. I had ‘done’ my quarter of an hour on the everlasting staircase (treadmill).

Everton-toffee, subs. (rhyming slang).—Coffee.

Everything is lovely and the goose hangs high, phr. (American).—Everything is going swimmingly. [An allusion to the ‘sport’ of gander pulling. A gander was plucked, thoroughly greased, especially about the head and neck, and tied tight by the feet to the branch of a tree. The game was then to ride furiously at the mark, catch it by the head or neck, and attempt to bear it away. With every failure the fun would get more uproarious].

1867. Round Table, 30 July. I am not aware that any one has asked you the meaning of the slang phrase, everything goes lovely and the goose hangs high; but doubtless ... it is derived from the Southern sport(!) of ‘Gander-pulling.’

Eve’s Custom-House, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum.

Evif, adj. (back slang).—Five Evif-gen = A crown, or five shillings. Evif-yanneps = five pence.

Evil, subs. (old).—A wife. For synonyms, see Dutch.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon. Evil. A wife; a halter; matrimony.

Evlenet-gen, (back slang).—Twelve shillings. Evlenet sith-noms = twelve months: generally known as a ‘stretch.’

Ewe.—See White Ewe and Old Ewe.

Ewe-mutton, subs. (common).—An elderly strumpet or ‘piece.’

Exalted, ppl. adj. (old).—Hanged. For synonyms, see Ladder. Cf., elevated = drunk.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 226. Your great-grandfather was exalted, was he?—that is hanged, I suppose?

Exam, subs. (school).—An abbreviation of ‘Examination.’

1883. James Payn, Thicker than Water, ch. xxi. It’s a mere question of political economy; I read all about it for my exam.—the supply will exceed the demand.

Exasperate, verb (common).—To over-aspirate the letter H.

1857. Cuthbert Bede, Verdant Green, pt. II., ch. ix. Mr. Bouncer replies, with a footman’s bow, and a footman’s hexasperation of his h’s.

Excellers, subs. (military).—The Fortieth Foot. [A pun upon its number, xl + ers.]

Excruciators, subs. (common).—Tight boots; especially with pointed toes.

Execution-day, subs. (common).—Washing day.

Exes, subs. (common).—1. An abbreviation of ‘expenses.’

1871. Fun, 4 Nov. ‘The Policeman’s Complaint.’ Nay oft I’m told I’ve been deceived, And of my x’s I’m bereaved; So on the whole I muchly grieved By information I received.

1883. Referee, 18 March, p. 3, col. 3. The piece was ready, but the ‘pieces’ were not, and without the exes Morton would not allow the gas to be lighted or the curtain to go up. It was a case of no pay no play.

1890. Montagu Williams, Leaves of a Life, I., p. 153. He was out for a spree at the races, and I suppose he thought he’d like to pay his exes.

2. (colloquial).—An abbreviation of ‘ex-officials,’ ‘ex-ministers,’ and so forth. As in Tom Moore’s ‘We x’s have proved ourselves not to be wise.’

Exis-evif-gen, (back slang).—Six times five shillings, i.e., 30s. All monies may be reckoned in this manner, either with yanneps or gens. Exis-evif-yanneps, literally, ‘sixpence and fivepence = elevenpence.’ Exis gen = six shillings. Exis sith-noms = six months. Exis yanneps = Sixpence.

Expecting, ppl. (colloquial).—With child.

Experience Does it, phr. (common).—A dog-English rendering of Experienta docet.

Explaterate, verb (American).—To hold forth; explain in detail. [From O.E. Explate = to unfold.]

Explosion, subs. (common).—A delivery.

Exquisite, subs. (common).—A fop. For synonyms, see Dandy.

Extensive, adv. (common).—Formerly applied to a person’s appearance or talk; ‘rather extensive that!’ intimating that the person alluded to is showing off, or ‘cutting it fat.’

Extinguisher, subs. (common).—A dog’s muzzle.

1890. Standard, 12 May, p. 5, col. 4. I had to appear before Mr. Curtis-Bennett, at West Kensington, to answer the charge of the dog being at large without his extinguisher en évidence.

Ex Trumps, adv. phr. (Winchester College).—Extempore. To go up to books ex trumps = to go to class without preparing one’s lesson.

Eye.—See All My Eye.

To pull wool over the eyes.—See Pull Wool.

To keep the eyes clean, skinned, or peeled, verb. phr. (American).—To be watchful; alert; with all one’s wits about one.

1837. C. Gilman, Negro Domestic’s Recollections. Mans Ben ax ’em for sing one hymn for ’em, cause he eye clean.

1865. New York Herald. My son, afore you leave yer home, I want ter say ter you, Thar’s lots of pitfalls in the world ter let young roosters through; So keep a padlock on yer mouth and skin yer weather eye, But never advertise yerself as being monstrous fly.

To have a drop in the eye, verb. phr. (common).—To be drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1738. Swift, Pol. Convers., Dial. 1. You must own you had a drop in your eye; when I left you, you were half seas over.

1837. Barham, I. L. (Black Mousquetaire). In vain did he try With strong waters to ply His friend, on the ground that he never could spy Such a thing as a ghost with a drop in his eye.

In the twinkling of an eye.—See Bedpost.

To bet one’s eyes.—See Bet.

My eyes! intj. phr. (common).—An expression of surprise.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. viii. ‘My eyes, how green!’ exclaimed the young gentleman. ‘Why a beak’s a madgst’rate.’

Eyelashes. To hang on by the eyelashes or eyebrows, verb. phr. (common).—To be very tenacious; also, by implication, to be in a difficulty. Cf., Hang on by the splash-board.

Eye-limpet, subs. (common).—An artificial eye.

Eye-opener, subs. (American).—1. Drink generally; specifically, a mixed drink.

2. (general).—Anything surprising or out of the way.

1879. Notes and Queries, 5th S., xi., 140. His lecture must have been a lively and profitable eye-opener for the somnolence of a cathedral town.

1888. Cornhill Mag., March, p. 228. If Joanna was ever so blessed as to hear her sing ‘Houp la!’ it would be a regular eye-opener to her.

1889. Answers, 23 Feb., p. 194, col. 1. No doubt the enclosed will be an eye-opener for you.

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

Eyeteeth. To have cut one’s eyeteeth, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To have learned wisdom.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed). Eye-teeth (s.), those immediately under the eye; also quickness or sharpness of understanding and parts, are sometimes so called.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker 1 S., ch. xvi. Them ’ere fellers cut their eye-teeth afore they ever sot foot in this country, I expect.

Eye-water, subs. (common).—Gin. For synonyms, see Drinks.

1869. Whyte Melville, M. or N., p. 66. On this minnit, off at six, Buster; two bob an’ a bender, and a three of eye-water, in?

1886. Judy, 4 August, p. 58. He imbibed stupendous quantities of jiggered gin, dog’s nose, and Paddy’s eye-water.

F

Face, subs. (colloquial).—1. Confidence; boldness; also (more frequently) impudence: e.g., ‘I like your face’ = I like your cheek. Once literary; Cf., Cheek, Jaw, Gab, Brow, Mouth, Lip, etc.

1610. Ben Jonson, The Alchemist. ‘Dramatis Personæ.’—face.

1617. Middleton, A Faire Quarrell, II., ii. I that had face enough to do the deed, Cannot want tongue to speak it.

1668. Etherege, She Would if She Could, I., i. (1704), p. 95. I admire thy impudence, I could never have had the face to have wheadled the poor knight so.

1676. Etherege, Man of Mode, V., i., in wks. (1704), 265. I am amazed to find him here! How has he the face to come near you?

1702. Defoe, Shortest Way, in Arber’s Garner, vol. VII., p. 590. You have butchered one king! deposed another king! and made a mock king of a third! and yet, you could have the face to expect to be employed and trusted by the fourth.

1714. Spectator, No. 566. A man has scarce the face to make his court to a lady, without some credentials from the service to recommend him.

1854. F. E. Smedley, Harry Coverdale, ch. liii. I can hardly suppose even Phil Tirrett would have the face to throw me over and ride for O’Brien.

1870. London Figaro, 3 June. ‘Look at that girl in pink, Sancho,’ he said; ‘that’s Lord Rubric’s daughter. Ran away with the family organist—that’s he with her. I like their face, though, to come here; it’s awfully good.’

2. (common).—Credit. To push one’s face = to get credit by bluster.—[See sense 1 and cf., Face-Entry.]

1765. Goldsmith, Essays, VIII. There are three ways of getting into debt: first, by pushing a face; as thus: ‘You, Mr. Lutestring, send me home six yards of that paduasoy, damme; but, harkee, don’t think I ever intend to pay you for it, damme.’ At this the mercer laughs heartily; cuts off the paduasoy, and sends it home; nor is he, till too late, surprised to find the gentleman had said nothing but the truth, and kept his word.

1865. Bacon, Handbook of America, p. 365. To run one’s face, to make use of one’s credit, to run one’s face for a thing is to get it ‘on tick.’

1875. American English in Chamb. Journal, 25 Sept., p. 610. To run your face, which means, to go upon credit.

3. (common).—A qualification of contempt: e.g., ‘Now face! where are you a-shoving of?’

Verb (old).—To bully.—See all senses, especially To Face with a card of ten.

1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, iv., 3. Face not me; thou hast brav’d many men; brave not me; I will neither be fac’d nor brav’d.

To face or out-face with a card of ten, verb. phr. (old).—To browbeat; to ‘bluff.’ [Nares: derived from some game (possibly primero) wherein the standing boldly upon a ten was often successful. The phrase originally expressed the confidence of one player who with a ten, as at brag, faced or outfaced one who had really a faced card against him.]

1460–1529. Skelton [quoted by Nares.] First pycke a quarrel and fall out with him then, And so out face him with a card of ten.

1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, ii. A vengeance on your crafty wither’d hide, Yet I have fac’d it with a card of ten.

1630. B. Jonson, New Inn, i., 3. Some may be coats, as in the cards; but then Some must be knaves, some varlets, bawds, and ostlers, As aces, duces, cards o’ ten to face it Out, i’ the game which all the world is.

To face the knocker, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To go begging. For synonyms, see Cadge.

To have no face but one’s own, verb. phr. (old).—To be penniless; or (gamesters’) to hold no court cards. Fr., n’avoir pas une face = ‘not to have a sou.’

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

To make faces, verb. phr. (prison).—1. To go back, or ‘round’ upon a friend. [In allusion to the convicts’ habit of distorting their features under the lens.]

2. (old).—To beget children. Cf., Face-making.

To face the music, verb phr. (American).—To meet an emergency; also to show one’s hand. [J. Fenimore Cooper derived it from the green-room, whence actors go on the boards and literally face the music. Another traces it to militia musters, where every man is expected to appear equipped and armed, when in rank and file, facing the music. A third derives it from drumming out of the army.]

1857. Worcester Spy, 22 Sept. Although such reverses would seem to fall with crushing weight upon some of our most substantial citizens, a strong determination to face the music is everywhere manifested.

1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, 20 Feb. I am sure Fred can explain everything satisfactorily. I hope he hasn’t read the newspaper stories about him, for it might scare him, and he’d very foolishly skip out. That would be the worst thing he could do. He must face the music.

Face-entry, subs. (theatrical).—Freedom of access, the personal appearance being familiar to attendants.

Face-making, verb. subs. (old).—Begetting children. Cf., making feet for children’s stockings.

Facer, subs. (pugilistic).—1. A blow in the face.

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

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 24. In short, not to dwell on each facer and fall, Poor Georgy was done up in no time at all.

1834. Harrison Ainsworth, Rookwood. ‘The Double Cross.’ No claret flows, No facers sound—no smashing blows.

1837. Barham, I. L. (The Ghost). Whom sometimes there would come on A sort of fear his spouse might knock his head off, Demolish half his teeth, or drive a rib in, She shone so much in facers and in ‘fibbing.’

1862. Athenæum, 1 Nov., p. 557, col. 1. Before his unknown adversary well knew what was coming, the skilled fist of the Professor had planted such a facer as did not require repetition.

1868. C. Reade, Foul Play, ch. ii. This was followed by a quick succession of staggering facers, administered right and left, on the eyes and noses of the subordinates.

2. (common).—A sudden check; ‘a spoke in one’s wheel.’ [By implication from sense 1.]

1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xl. In the battle of life every man must meet with a blow or two, and every brave one would take his facer with good humour.

1869. Whyte Melville, M. or N., p. 189. Dick Stanmore took his punishment with true British pluck and pertinacity. It was a facer.

3. (Irish).—A dram.

4. (old).—A bumper. [Grose, 1785.]

5. (common).—A tumbler of whiskey punch.

6. (American thieves’).—An accomplice; a stall (q.v.) or fence (q.v.).

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

1881. New York Slang Dict., s.v.

Facey, subs. (tailors’).—A fellow workman vis-à-vis. Facey on the bias = one in front either to right or left; Facey on the two thick = one working immediately behind one’s opposite.

Facings.—To be put, or go, through one’s facings, verb. phr. (popular).—To be called to account or scolded; to exemplify capacity; to ‘show off.’ [Military.]

Silk-facings, subs. (tailors’).—Stains upon work caused by droppings of beer. [In allusion to the ‘watered’ silk trimmings in front of a regimental jacket or coat.]

Fad-cattle, subs. (old).—Easy women. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart. [Cf., Faddle = to toy + cattle (q.v.).]

Faddist (also Fadmonger), subs. (colloquial).—A person (male or female) devoted to the pursuit of public fads: as ‘social purity,’ moral art, free-trade in syphilis, and so-forth.

Faddle, verb (obsolete).—To toy or trifle: as a subs. = a busybody; a ‘nancified’ affected male. Also Faddy = full of fads.

Fadge, subs. (common).—A farthing.

English Synonyms.—Fiddler; farden; gig, or grig; quartereen.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 178, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

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

Verb (old).—To suit; to fit; to agree with; to come off. [A.S., fégan, fégean, to join, to fit. Nares says, ‘probably never better than a low word: it is now confined to the streets.’]

1593. Nashe, 4 Lett. Conf., in wks. (Grosart) II., 215. They haue broght in a new kind of a quicke sight, which your decrepite slow-mouing capacitie cannot fadge with.

1594. Shakspeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost, V., i., 154. We will haue, if this fadge not, an Antique.

1599. Massinger, Old Law, IV., ii. Clean. My Lord! Sim. Now it begins to fadge.

1636. T. Heywood, Love’s Mistress, Act IV. Vulcan ... I keep a dozen journeymen at least, besides my Ciclops and my Prentises, yet ’twill not fadge.

1639. Beaumont and Fletcher, Wit without Money, III., iv. Clothes I must get; this fashion will not fadge with me.

1678. Quack’s Academy; in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), ii., 32. That could never make their untoward handicrafts fadge to purpose.

1750. Walpole, Lett. to Mann, 18 Oct. (1833), vol. II., p. 485. Alack! when I came to range them, they did not fadge at all.

1819. Scott, in C. K. Sharpe’s Correspondence (1888), ii., 197. Pray let me know ... how matters fadge in the great city of Edinburgh.

1830. Scott, Doom of Devorgoil, Act II., Sc. 1. If this same gear fadge right, I’ll cote and mouth her, And then! whoop! dead! dead! dead!

1851. G. Borrow, Lavengro, ch. lv., p. 173 (1888). Any new adventure which I can invent will not fadge well with the old tale.

Fadger, subs. (glaziers’).—A glazier’s frame; otherwise a ‘frail.’

Fadmonger, subs. (colloquial).—A Faddist (q.v.). Fadmongering, verb. phr. (colloquial) = dealing as a Faddist (q.v.) with fads.

Fag, subs. (public schools’).—1. A boy who does menial work for a schoolfellow in a higher form. [From Fag, to grow weary.]

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xviii. Bob Trotter, the diminutive fag of the studio, who ran on all the young men’s errands, and fetched them in apples, oranges, and walnuts.

1857. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. i. Is still enumerated among the feats of the brave days of old, by the fags over their evening small beer.

2. (Christ’s Hospital).—See quot.

1850. L. Hunt, Autobiography, ch. iii. Fag, with us [at Christ’s Hospital], meant eatables. The learned derived the word from the Greek phago, to eat.

3. (American thieves’).—A lawyer’s clerk.

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

Verb (public schools’).—1. To do menial work for a schoolfellow in a higher form. Cf., Fag, subs., sense 1.

1884. Temple Bar, August, p. 514. He must have completely marred his chance of happiness at the school when he refused to fag and took countless thrashings, snivelling.

2. (old).—To beat.

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2nd ed.).

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Fag the bloss, beat the wench.

Fagger, Figger, or Figure, subs. (old).—A boy thief whose duty is to enter houses by windows and either open the doors to his confederates (as Oliver Twist with Bill Sykes), or hand out the ‘swag’ to them; also little snakesman (q.v.); cf., Diver.

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

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

Fagging, or Faggery, subs. (public schools’).—Waiting upon and doing menial work for a school-fellow in a higher form. Also used adjectively.

1853. De Quincey, Autob. Sketches, i., 210. Faggery was an abuse too venerable and sacred to be touched by profane hands.

1873. Pall Mall Gazette, 17 May. The Winchester ‘tunding’ system, with all its faults, is hardly less objectionable than the fagging system pursued in the Scotch endowed hospitals.

Faggot, subs. (common).—1. A term of opprobrium applied to women; a ‘baggage.’ [At one time a faggot was a popular symbol of recantation of opinions thought worthy only of burning (Bailey, 1728), and heretics who had thus escaped the stake were required either to bear a faggot and burn it in public, or to wear an imitation on the sleeve as a badge.] Also used in combination: e.g., Bed- (or Straw-) Faggot = a wife, or mistress; Tumble-faggot = a whoremaster; Carry-faggot = a mattress; and Spike- (or Tickle-) faggot (obsolete) = the penis.

1820. Reynolds (‘P. Corcoran’), The Fancy, p. 16. I have got a faggot here, Aye, and quite a bad one; Were I married, p’rhaps my dear Might think that he too had one.

2. (common).—See quot., 1851.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. ii., p. 255. He then made his supper, or second meal, for tea he seldom touched, on fagots. This preparation ... is a sort of cake, roll, or ball, a number being baked at a time, and is made of chopped liver and lights, mixed with gravy, and wrapped in pieces of pig’s caul. It weighs six ounces, so that it is unquestionably a cheap [it costs 1d. hot] and, to the scavager, a savoury meal, but to other nostrils it’s odour is not seductive.

1870. London Figaro, 2 July. Have you more than a penny? A glorious perspective opens out before you of all the delicacies of the season, commencing with trotters—the harmless mutton, or the succulent swine; ‘faggots,’ etc.

1884. Cornhill Mag., June, p. 615. They can obtain hot faggots, hot baked potatoes, hot fried fish, or a cut of pork with hot pease-pudding.

3. (old).—A ‘dummy’ soldier; one hired to appear at a muster to hide deficiencies. Many names of dummies would appear on the muster-roll: for these the colonel drew pay, but they were never in the ranks.

1672–1719. Addison [quoted in Imperial Dict.]. There were several counterfeit books which were carved in wood, and served only to fill up the number like fagots in the muster of a regiment.

1728. Bailey, Dict., s.v.

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

Verb (old).—1. To bind hand and foot; to tie [as sticks into a faggot]. Fr., un fagot = a convict, because bound to a common chain on their way to the hulks.

1728. Bailey, Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Faggot the culls, bind the men.

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

2. (venery).—To copulate; also to frequent the company of loose women.

Faggot-briefs, subs. (political).—Bundles of dummy papers sometimes carried by briefless barristers. [Cf., Faggot, sense 3.]

1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 10 a.m. Par. 10. The counsel chat and poke each other in the ribs; the briefless ones, in the high back rows, scribble caricatures on their blotting-pads, or pretend to pore over faggot briefs.

1887. Cornhill Mag., June, p. 627.

Faggot briefs ... those bundles of dummy papers sometimes carried by the briefless ones.

Faggoteer, (also Faggot-master), subs. (venery).—A whoremonger. For synonyms, see Molrower.

Faggot-vote, subs. (political).—A vote secured by the purchase of property under mortgage, or otherwise, so as to constitute a nominal qualification without a substantial basis. [Derived by some from Faggot, sense 3; by others from the mode of manufacture, i.e., by the purchase of property which is divided into as many lots as will constitute separate votes, and given to different persons.]

1854. Notes and Queries, vol. X., p. 403. Faggot-vote.—Can you inform me of the origin of the term used to denote a spurious or fictitious vote, formed usually by the nominal transfer of a sufficient qualification to an otherwise unqualified man; this is called a faggot vote.

1879. Gladstone, 1st Midl. Speech, 25 Nov. Why, gentlemen, quite apart from every question of principle, nothing, I venture to say, can be so grossly imprudent as that which is familiarly known in homely but most accurate phrase as the manufacture of faggot votes.

1887. Cornhill Mag., June, p. 627. Faggot votes ... the name is probably taken from an old military term.

Fains! Fainits! Fain it! intj. (schoolboys’).—A call for truce during the progress of a game without which priority or place would be lost; generally understood to be preferred ‘in bounds,’ or when out of danger. [Thought to be a corruption of ‘fend.’]—See Bags!

Fair-gang, subs. (old).—Gypsies. [From their habit of visiting fairs.]

Fair-rations, subs. (sporting).—Fair dealings.

Fair-shake, subs. (American).—A good bargain. [From a measure well shaken down.] Cf., Shake.

Fair-trade, subs. (nautical).—Smuggling.

Faithful. One of the faithful, subs. phr. (old).—1. A drunkard. For synonyms, see Elbow-crooker.

1609. The Man in the Moone. This fellow is one of the faithfull, as they prophanelie terme him, said Opinion; no Heliogabalus at meat, but he will drinke many degrees beyond a Dutchman.

2. (common).—A tailor giving long credit.

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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon. Faithful. A tailor that gives long credit. ‘I say, Sam, what kind of crib was that you cracked?’ ‘Oh! it belonged to one of the faithful.’

Faithful Durhams, subs. phr. (military).—The Sixty-Eight Foot.

Fake, subs. (common).—An action; a proceeding; a manœuvre; a mechanical contrivance—an affair of any kind irrespective of morals or legality: generally used in a sense specifically detrimental. In America, a swindler. [Origin dubious: Barrère says, ‘a very ancient cant word,’ but gives no evidence. Fakement (q.v.) appears to be the older subs. form (1785), while the verbal usage is traced to Ainsworth’s ‘fake away’! in Rookwood (1834). Conjecturally derived from the Latin facere, to make, to do: compare to which the French slang use of faire.]

1827. Maginn, in Blackwood’s Mag. ... the fogle-hunters doing Their morning fake in the prigging lay.

[Circa 1850, but date uncertain.] ‘Bates’ Farm.’ I’m up to every little fake, But in me there’s no harm.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 237. After that we had a fine fake—that was the fire of the Tower of London—it sold rattling.

1871. London Figaro, 21 Oct. Yet they’ve been known for many a fake To coolly set a trap.

1883. Greenwood, Tag, Rag, and Co. Naming the house in the ridiculous way it was named was merely a fake to draw attention to it.

1888. New York Mercury. Both ladies then came to the conclusion that the fortune-teller was a fake, and they decided to notify the police.

1889. Globe, 23 July, p. 2, col. 2. Good Gladstonites, flock up and take One bottle of the Parnell fake.

Verb (common).—1. To do anything; to fabricate; to cheat; to deceive, or devise falsely; to steal; to forge. A general verb-of-all-work. In America fix (q.v.) is employed much in the same way, whilst the French slang has faire; maquiller; aquiger or quiger; and goupiner.

[In combination to fake a screeve = to write a begging letter; to fake one’s slangs = to file through one’s fetters; to fake a cly (q.v.) = to pick a pocket; to fake the sweetener = to kiss; to fake the duck = to adulterate, to dodge; to fake the rubber = to stand treat; to fake the broads = to pack the cards, or to work the three-card trick; to fake a line (theatrical) = to improvise a speech; to fake a dance, or a step, or a trip (theatrical) = to perform what looks like, but is not, dancing.]

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 390. The ring is made out of brass gilt buttons, and stunning well: it’s faked up to rights, and takes a good judge even at this day to detect it without a test.

1861. Reade, Cloister and Hearth, ch. lv. There the folk are music-bitten, and they molest not beggars, unless they fake to boot, and then they drown us out of hand.

2. (sporting).—To hocus; to nobble; to tamper.

1872. Morning Post, 7 Nov. Since the faking of the scales in Catch-’em-alive’s year the oldest habitué of Newmarket cannot recall so sensational a Cambridgeshire week as the last one.

3. (theatrical).—Also to fake up. To paint one’s face; to make up a character.

1885. Sporting Times, 23 May. ‘The Chorister’s Promise.’ The landlady left, and the chorister fair Faked herself up, and frizzed her hair.

4. (American thieves’).—To cut out the wards of a key.

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

Fake away! intj. phr. (common).—An ejaculation of encouragement.

1834. Harrison Ainsworth, Rookwood. The knucks in quod did my schoolmen play, Fake away!

1846. Punch’s Almanack, ‘Song of September.’ The partridge on its tender wing Is up at break of day, But down the bird my gun shall bring: Bang! fizz, boys! fake away!

Fake-boodle.—See Boodle.

Faked, ppl. adj. (common).—Counterfeit; sometimes faked-up. Fr., lophe.

1889. Answers, 15 June, p. 41, col. 1. In order to prevent any chance of a dishonest person winning by means of a faked puzzle we shall provide a number of puzzles ourselves, and these will be used by all competitors.

Fakement, subs. (old).—1. A counterfeit signature; a forgery; specifically a begging letter or petition. Fr., brasser des faffes = to forge documents, i.e., ‘to screeve fakements’; un fafiot (also a bank note, or shoe); and une luque or un luquet.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. Tell the macers to mind their fakements, desire the swindlers to be careful not to forge another person’s signature.

1856. H. Mayhew, Gt. World of London, p. 46. Dependents of beggars; as screevers or the writers of ‘slums’ (letters) and fakements (petitions).

1857. Ducange Anglicus, The Vulgar Tongue, p. 39. Lawyer Bob draws fakements up; he’s tipped a peg for each.

1889. Answers, 27 July, p. 137, col. 1. I have drawn up fakements for sham members of almost every trade, always using a leading name at the head of the list of donors.

2. (common).—Generic for dishonest practices; but applied to any kind of action, contrivance, or trade.—See Fake, subs., of which it is an older usage. Cf., Kidment.

1838. Glascock, Land Sharks and Sea Gulls, II., 4. That’s right; I see you’re fly to every fakement.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, The Vulg. Tongue, p. 44. For every day, mind what I say, Fresh fakements you will find.

1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffry Hamlyn, ch. v. I cultivated his acquaintance, examined his affairs, and put him up to the neatest little fakement in the world.

1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 232. Stow your gab and gauffery, To every fakement I’m a-fly. Ibid., p. 233. I have got a pair of highly polished steel spring snuffers with extra fakement; they will either snuff a candle out or snuff a candle in.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 254. You worked that little fakement in a blooming quiet way, ... said my late neighbour.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 7 Aug., p. 6, col. 2. Pair of moleskins [trousers], any colour ... with a double fakement down the sides, and artful buttons at the bottom.

3. (theatrical).—Small properties; accessories.

Fakement-Charley, subs. phr. (thieves’).—An owner’s private mark.

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

Faker, subs. (common).—1. One who makes, does, or ‘fakes’ anything; specifically a thief. Found in many combinations: e.g., Bit-faker; Flue-faker; Grub-faker; Sham-faker, Twat-faker, etc.

1851. G. Borrow, Lavengro, ch. xxxi., p. 112 (1888). We never calls them thieves here, but prigs and fakers.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, Vulg. Tongue. Faker, a jeweller (theatrical).

1869. George Macdonald, Robert Falconer, pt. III., ch. x. Them pusses is mannyfactered express for the convenience o’ the fakers.

1885. Daily Telegraph, 1 August, p. 2, col. 1. ‘I’ve turned faker of dolls and dolls’ furniture; like what you see us working on now.’ ‘And when you say faker you mean—‘Renowater,’ struck in Miss Menders.’

1887. Baumann, Londonismen, p. 5. Piratical fakers Of bosh by the acres.

2. (circus).—A circus rider or performer.

3. (venery).—A prostitute’s Fancy-man (q.v.).

Fakes and Slumboes, subs. phr. (theatrical).—Properties; accessories of any kind.

Faking, verb. subs. (common).—The act of doing anything. [From fake (q.v.) + ing.] Fr., le maquillage or le goupinage.

Fall, verb (thieves’).—1. To be arrested.

1883. Horsley, Jottings from Jail [in Echo]. A little time after this I fell again at St. Mary Cray for being found at the back of a house.

2. (venery).—To conceive. For synonyms, see Lumpy.

Fall of the Leaf, subs. phr. (old).—Hanging. [In allusion to the fall of the drop.] For synonyms, see Ladder.

1789. G. Parker, Variegated Characters. He was knocked down for the crap the last sessions. He went off at the fall of the leaf at Tuck’em Fair.

False-hereafter, subs. (American).—A bustle. For synonyms, see Bird-cage.

Fam.—See Fambling-cheat and Famble.

Famble, Fam, or Fem, subs. (old).—The hand. Cf., Fambling-cheat. For synonyms, see Bunch of fives and Daddle. [German slang has Fehm, Vehm, or Vehn, and is apparently the same word as the English Fam. A likely etymon is the Swed. and Dan. fem, five.]

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 64, s.v.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). Fambles. handes.

1662. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii., 1. We clapt our fambles.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. If I had not helped you with these very fambles (holding up her hands).

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 28. Allowing for delicate fams, which have merely Been handling the sceptre, and that, too but queerly.

1878. C. Hindley, Life and Times of James Catnach. So kiddy is my famble.

Verb (old).—To touch; to handle; especially with a view to ascertaining the whereabouts of valuables. Also termed to fam for the plant, and to run a rule over. To fam a donna = to take liberties with a woman; to firky-toodle (q.v.); to cross-fam (q.v.).

Famblers, Fambling-Cheats (q.v.) or Fam-snatchers (q.v.), subs. (old).—Gloves.

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

Fambling-cheat, Famble, or Fam, subs. (old).—A ring; also (about 1694) gloves, which later still were also called Fam-snatchers (q.v.). [From Famble, a hand + a.s. chete (q.v.), a thing.]

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 64. A fambling chete, a ring on thy hand.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). Fambling Cheates, Rings.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, II., in wks. (1720), iv., 47. Look on my finger, sirrah, look here; here’s a famble.

1694. Dunton, Ladies’ Dict., s.v. Famble-cheats, rings or gloves.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Famble cheats, rings or gloves.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 180. Fam, A gold ring.

Fam-grasp, verb (old).—To shake hands. Also substantively, hand-shaking.

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

Familiars, subs. (common).—Lice. For synonyms, see Chates.

Familiar-way, subs. (common).—With child.

Family Disturbance, subs. (American).—Whiskey. For synonyms, see Drinks.

Family-hotel, subs. (old).—A prison. For synonyms, see Cage. [Cf., Family-man.]

1857. Punch, 31 Jan. In a ward with one’s pals, Not locked up in a cell, To an old hand like me its a fam-ly hotel.

Family-man, subs. (old).—A thief; specifically, a fence (q.v.). [In allusion to the fraternities into which thieves were at one time invariably banded.]—See Thieves.

1749. Bamfylde Moore-Carew., ‘Oath of the Canting Crew.’ No dummerar, or romany; No member of the family.

1788. G. A. Stevens, Adv. of a Specialist, i., 221. Let the people say what they will against gamesters, gamblers, Or family-men.

1838. Glascock, Land Sharks and Sea Gulls, II., 100. This house ... was a favourite resort of the family, or, to speak with less reserve, it was a thieves’ house.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, [3rd ed.], p. 444. Thieves: Family-men.

Family of Love, subs. phr. (venery).—A company of prostitutes.

Family-plate, subs. (common).—Silver money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

Family-pound, subs. (common).—A family grave.

Fam-lay, subs. (thieves’).—Shop-lifting. [From fam, a hand + lay, a performance.]

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

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

Fam-snatchers, subs. (old).—Gloves. Cf., Fambling-cheat.

c. 1824. Pierce Egan, Finish to Life in London. To Jerry Hawthorn, Esq., I resign my fam-snatchers, i.e., my gloves.

Fam-squeeze, subs. (old).—Strangulation.

Fam-struck, adj. and adv. (thieves’).—Baffled in ascertaining the whereabouts of valuables on the person of an intended victim; also handcuffed.

Fan, subs. (thieves’).—A waistcoat; said by Hotten (1864) to be a Houndsditch term, but quoted in Matsell (1859) as American.

English Synonyms.—Ben; benjie; M.B. waistcoat; Charley Prescot.

French Synonyms.—Un gilmont (thieves’); un georget (popular: = a breast-plate); un casimir (popular); une camisole (popular: properly, a kind of petticoat-bodice worn by women); un croisant (popular).

German Synonyms.—Brustmalbisch; Kreuzspanne (Hanoverian); Nefesch (Ave-Lallement suggests identity with the Fischness of Zimmermann, a word said to be derived from the English ‘fashion.’ Probably, however, the true etymon is the Hebrew nephesch, in allusion to a waistcoat covering the chest and heart, the seat of life. German ladies call a scarf or shawl [which protects the same region] Seelenwärmer; i.e., a soul-warmer); Zwängerling (= fitting closely to the body; cf., Weitling, Hanoverian Weitchen, the trousers = wide).

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 444, s.v.

Verb (old).—1. To beat; to be-rate. For synonyms, see Baste and Tan.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. I fannd him sweetly, I beat him heartily.

1887. W. O. Tristram, in Eng. Ill. Mag., v., 228. The coachman now has recourse to all the dark arts of persuasion and the whip, fanning them, which, in the tongue of coachmen, is whipping them.

2. (thieves’).—To feel; to handle (with a view to ascertain if a victim has anything valuable about his person). [Cf. Fam, of which it is possibly a corruption.] Also to steal from the person.

1851–1861. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 319. Before Joe said anything to me, he had fanned the gentleman’s pocket, i.e., had felt the pocket and knew there was a handkerchief.

Queen Anne’s Fan.—See Anne’s Fan.

Fancy, subs. (old).—The fraternity of pugilists: prize-fighting being once regarded as THE fancy par excellence. Hence, by implication, people who cultivate a special hobby or taste. Cf., Fancy-bloke.

1818. P. Egan, Boxiana, vol. I., p. 355. The various gradations of the Fancy hither resort, to discuss matters incidental to pugilism.

1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. xiv. Mr. William Ramm, known to the Fancy as the Tutbury Pet.

1860. Chambers’ Journal, vol. XIII., p. 153.

Fancy-bloke, subs. (common).—1. A sporting man. [From Fancy (q.v.) + Bloke, a man.]

2. (venery).—See Fancy-man.

Fancy-house, subs. (venery).—A brothel; also a house of accommodation (q.v.). For synonyms, see Nanny-Shop.

Fancy-Joseph, subs. (venery).—A prostitute’s boy, or apple-squire, or cupid (q.v.). For synonyms, see Bully and Fancy-man.

Fancy-lay, subs. (old).—Pugilism. [From Fancy (q.v.) + Lay (q.v.) = an undertaking or pursuit.]

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 36. We, who’re of the fancy-lay, As dead hands at a mill as they, And quite as ready, after it, To share the spoil and grab the bit.

Fancy-man or Bloke, subs. (venery).—A prostitute’s lover, husband, or pensioner. [There are two suggested derivations; (1) that fancy here bears its face value; (2) that it is a corruption of the Fr. fiancé.] Fancy-woman = a mistress or keep (q.v.). For synonyms, see Bully and infra.

1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry, p. 20. Although ‘one of the fancy,’ he was not a fancy man.

1839. Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], p. 70. ‘And me,’ insinuated Mrs. Maggot. ‘My little fancy man’s quite as fond of me as of you, Bess. Ain’t you, Jacky darling?’

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 186. The women of the town buy of me, when it gets late, for themselves and their fancy men.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant. (3rd ed.), p. 446, s.v.

1885. Indoor Paupers, p. 38. The most degraded are the men who subsist by fastening upon street harlots and sharing their wretched earnings. When their mistresses come to grief, and are placed under lock and key, which happens frequently, the fancy man generally manages to skulk out of the mischief and escape scot-free.

English Synonyms. Apple-squire; faker; bully; ponce; pensioner; Sunday-man; fancy-Joseph; squire of the body; fucker; apron-squire; cunt-pensioner; petticoat pensioner; prosser; twat-faker; twat-master; stallion; mack; bouncer; bruiser; buck.

French Synonyms. Un Des Grieux (popular: the hero of Manon Lescaut); un aquarium (pop.: an assembly of fancy-men; cf., maquereau = a mackerel); un cousin de Moïse (pop.: a ‘fast’ man who has married a demi-mondaine; Delvau says, ‘dans l’argot du peuple, qui fait allusion aux deux lignes de feu dont sont ornées les tempes du législateur des Hébreux’); un caprice (pop.: un caprice sérieux = a man who keeps a mistress); un paillasson (pop.: = a mattress); un dos; un marlou.

German Synonyms. Balhoche (from Hebrew baal, a man + hocho, here, there. Literally, one in possession but removable); Strichler or Strichbube (Strich = a fast locality); Strawes; Straweszunder (Viennese: from strizeln = to run quickly).

Italian Synonym. Bramoso.

Spanish Synonyms. Comblezado (obsolete: applied to a married man whose wife lives in adultery with another); mandilejo (vulgar).

Fancy-piece, subs. (venery).—A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

Fancy-work. To take in fancy work, verb. phr. (popular).—To play the prostitute on the sly; in the language of venery, ‘to work for one’s living and do the naughty for one’s clothes.’ Said of women (as milliners, dressmakers, shop girls, and so forth) in receipt of low wages yet dressing well and having plenty of money. ‘How does she do it?’ ‘Oh! she takes in fancy-work!’ Cf., Fancy-house and Ride.

Fang-faker, subs. (common).—A dentist. [From Fang, a long pointed tooth + Faker (q.v.).] Fang-chovey = a dental establishment.—See Chovey.

Fanning, verb. subs. (thieves’).—1. Stealing; Cross-fanning = robbery from the person, the arms of the manipulator being folded.

2. (old).—A beating. [From Fan (q.v.), to beat + ing.]

Fanny (also Fanny-Artful and Fanny-fair), subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Fanny Adams, subs. phr. (naval).—Tinned mutton.

Fanny Blair, subs. phr. (rhyming slang).—The hair. For synonyms, see Top-dressing.

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

Fantail, subs. (common).—A sort of round hat with a long leathern fan-shaped flap at the back; worn by coal-heavers and dustmen; a sou’-wester (q.v.).

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. II., p. 199. He had good strong lace boots, gray worsted stockings, a stout pair of corduroy breeches, a short smockfrock and fantail.

1877. J. Greenwood, Dick Temple, ch. xiii. I fancy I see you, for example, with knee breeches and calves and a fantail, shouldering an inky sack and shooting its contents into a hole in the pavement.

Fanteague. On the fanteague, adv. phr. (colloquial).—On the ‘burst,’ or on the ‘loose.’

Far-back, subs. (tailors’).—An indifferent workman; an ignoramus.

Farden, subs. (common).—A farthing. For synonyms, see Fadge.

1880. Milliken, Punch’s Almanack, May. Otherwise don’t care one brass farden, For the best ever blowed in Covent Garden.

Farm, subs. (common).—1. An establishment where pauper children were lodged and fed at so much a head; also for illegitimate children. Also verbally = to contract to feed and lodge pauper or illegitimate children.

1838. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. ii. The parish authorities magnanimously and humanely resolved, that Oliver should be farmed, or, in other words, that he should be despatched to a branch workhouse some three miles off, where twenty or thirty other juvenile offenders against the poor-laws, rolled about the floor all day, without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing, under the parental superintendence of an elderly female, who received the culprits at and for the consideration of sevenpence-halfpenny per small head per week.

1869. Greenwood, Seven Curses of London. There can be no question that he has a better chance ... though his treacherous ‘adopter’ deserts him on a doorstep, than if he were so kindly cruel as to tolerate his existence at the farm.

2. (prison).—The prison infirmary. To fetch the farm = to be ordered infirmary diet and treatment.—See Fetch.

Farmer, subs. (old).—1. An alderman.

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

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

2. (common).—One who contracts to lodge and feed pauper or illegitimate children.

1869. Greenwood, Seven Curses of London. These are not the farmers who append to their advertisements the notification that children of ill-health are not objected to.

Fart, subs. (vulgar).—An eruption of wind through the anus. [A.S. feort.] By implication a contemptible person. Also verbally = to discharge wind through the anus. Fr., lâcher une pastille.

1383. Chaucer, The Miller’s Tale. This Nicholas anon let fleen a fart As gret as it had been a thonder dint.

1610. Ben Jonson, The Alchemist, i., 1. Thy worst! I fart at thee.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones. ‘I don’t give a fart for ’n,’ says the squire, suiting the action to the word.

1785. Burns, Death and Dr. Hornbook. But Dr. Hornbook with his art And cursed skill, Has made them baith no worth a f—t.

Fart-catcher, subs. (vulgar).—A footman. [That is, one who follows another closely; cf., Fart.] Other names are flunkey; John Thomas; James; catch-fart; and Calves (q.v.).

Fart-daniel, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Farthing. Not to care a brass farthing, phr. (common).—To care nothing. Chaucer uses the expression ‘no farthing of grease’ as equivalent to a small quantity. [James II. debased the coinage and issued brass pence, halfpence, and farthings.]

Fartick (also Fartkin), subs. (vulgar).—A diminutive of Fart (q.v.).

Farting-crackers, subs. (old).—Breeches. For synonyms, see Bags and Kicks.

Farting-trap, subs. (Irish).—A jaunting car. [An allusion to the effects of the rough-driving character of these vehicles.]

Fartleberries, subs. (vulgar).—Excrement on the hair about the anus; also dilberries (q.v.) or clinkers (q.v.).

Fart-sucker, subs. phr. (common).—A vile parasite; an ‘arse-hole creeper.’

Fast, adj. and adv. (colloquial).—1. Embarrassed; ‘hard-up’; ‘in a tight place.’

2. (colloquial).—Dissipated; addicted to going the pace (q.v.): e.g., a fast man = a rake-hell, or spendthrift; a fast woman = a strumpet; a fast life = a life of debauchery; a fast house = a brothel, or a sporting tavern; to dress fast = to dress for the town; to live fast = to ‘go the pace,’ and so forth.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle ch. lxxxviii. He returned to his former course of fast living among the bucks of the town.

1846. Thackeray, V. F., vol. 1., ch. xxvi. ‘He’s going it pretty fast,’ said the clerk. ‘He’s only married a week, and I saw him and some other military chaps handing Mrs. Highflyer to her carriage after the play.’

1860. The Atlas, 7 July. Lord William belongs to the genus fast and we presume to the species soft—contradictions more apparent than real.

1870. Daily Telegraph, 11 July. Having a delightful air of being mildly fast and decorously on the loose.

1880. G. R. Sims, Three Brass Balls, Pledge xi. She knew he could not afford to gamble and keep fast company night after night.

3. (common).—Impudent; ‘cheeky’: e.g., ‘Don’t you be so fast’ = Mind your own business.

To play fast and loose, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To be variable; inconstant; to say one thing and do another. [From the ancient game now known as prick the garter (q.v.).]

1557. Tottel’s Miscellany, p. 157 (Arber’s ed.), ‘Of a new maried studient that plaied fast or lose’ [Title of Epigram].

1593. G. Harvey, New Letter, in wks., i., 274 (Grosart). If he playeth at fast and loose (as is vehemently suspected by strong presumptions) whom shall he cunny catch, or cros-bite, but his cast-away selfe?

1599. Jonson, Ev. Man out of his Hum., I. Nor how they play fast and loose with a poor gentleman’s fortunes, to get their own.

1632. Chapman and Shirley, The Ball, Act ii. Fr. Is’t come to this? if lords play fast and loose, What shall poor knights and gentlemen?

1710. Ward, Vulgus Britannicus, ch. iv., p. 50. On second Thoughts, we should excuse, The People’s playing Fast and Loose.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. lvii., p. 477. I’m a practical one, and that’s my experience. So’s this rule. Fast and loose in one thing, Fast and loose in everything.

Fastener, or Fastner, subs. (old).—A warrant.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.; 1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Fast-fuck, subs. (prostitutes’).—An act of trade done standing, or at least in quick time: as opposed to trade with an all-night lodger.

Fat, subs. (thieves’).—1. Money; Fr., de la graisse (= grease or tallow). For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

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

2. (printers’).—Composition full of blank spaces or in many lines. Verse is fat, while this dictionary, with its constant change of type, is lean (q.v.). Hence, work that pays well. Fr., une affaire juteuse = a ‘fat job.’

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Fat amongst printers means void spaces.

1856. Notes and Queries, 2 S., I., 283, s.v.

1868. O. W. Holmes, Guardian Angel, ch. xxiv., p. 203 (Rose Lib.). If collected and printed in large type, with plenty of what the unpleasant printers call fat ensuring thereby blank spaces upon ... thick paper.

1885. Athenæum, 27 June, p. 817, col. 1. With the aid of wide margins and a liberal amount of fat, as the printers call it, the text is doled out in pages of but nineteen lines each, and thus the three articles are successfully expanded into a booklet of over two hundred pages.

3. (theatrical).—A good part; telling lines and conspicuous or commanding situations. [Cf., sense 2.] Fr., avoir des côtelettes = to have a bit of fat (Dictionnaire Historique et Pittoresque du Theâtre. Paris, 1884).

1883. Referee, 18 March, p. 2, col. 4. They look miserable because they have nothing to do, all the fat having been seized by Terry.

1888. Referee, 15 April, 3, 1. I don’t want to rob Miss Claremont of her fat, but her part must be cut down.

Adj. (general).—1. Rich; abundant; profitable.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Fat cull, a rich fellow.

1888. Puck’s Library, May, p. 25. This would make the labour so much lighter, that every time a girl went to set a pound of candy she would consider that she had a good fat take.

2. (Australian).—Good. [An old English usage.]

d. 1626. Middleton [works, II., 422]. O, for a bowl of fat canary, Rich Aristippus, sparkling sherry! Some nectar else from Juno’s dairy, O, these draughts would make us merry.

1890. Speaker, 22 Feb., p. 212, col. 2. As ‘good’ in English is fat in Australian, the story is probably true about the missionary—not a story of Dr. Lumholtz’s. After many years of work in the field, this good missionary was taken apart by some anxious but meagre inquirers in his flock. Sir, said they, must a man be very fat to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? He was able to reassure them.

Cut it fat.—See Cut.

Cut up fat.—See Cut up.

Bit of fat, subs. phr. (popular).—See subs., senses 2 and 3; also adj. in both senses: and (venery) connection with a stout woman.

All the fat’s in the fire, phr. (common).—Said of failures and of the results of sudden and unexpected revelation; disappointments: i.e., it is all ‘over’ or ‘up’ with a person or thing. A late equivalent is, ‘And then the band played.’

Fat as a hen’s forehead, adv. phr. (old).—Meagre; skinny (q.v.).

Fat- (also Barge-, Broad- and Heavy-) Arsed, adj. phr. (common).—Broad in the breech; and, by implication, in Richard Baxter’s Shove to Heavy Arsed Christians, thick-witted and slow to move.

Fat- (also Thick-) Chops, subs. (common).—A contumelious epithet.

Fat-Cock, subs. (common).—An epithet rather jocular than derisive for a stout and elderly man; also (venery) a double-sucker (q.v.).

Fater, Faytor, or Fator, subs. (old).—A fortune-teller. Lexicon Balatronicum [1811]. In Spencer = a doer; in Bailey = an idle fellow; a vagabond. [From Fr. faiteur.]

Fat-Fancier, (or -Monger,) subs. (venery).—An amateur of stout women.

Fat-flab, subs. (Winchester School).—A cut off the fat part of a breast of mutton.—See Cat’s Head.

Fat- (or Full-) Guts, subs. (common).—An opprobrious epithet for a fat man or woman.

Fat-head, subs. (common).—A dolt.

Fat-headed, -skulled, -thoughted, -pated, -brained, and -witted (colloquial) = dull; stupid; slow.

1885. Mrs. J. H. Riddell, Mitre Court, ch. xix. He is a fathead—a great blundering John Bull.

Father, subs. (thieves’).—1. A receiver of stolen property; a fence (q.v.).

2. (general).—A chief in authority; an elder: e.g., the father of the house = the oldest member of the House of Commons (cf., Babe); among printers, the chairman of the chapel, the intermediary between master and men; in naval circles, the builder of a man-of-war or Government ‘bottom.’

Father Derbies’ Bands.—See Darbies.

Father’s Brother, subs. phr. (common).—A pawnbroker; my uncle (q.v.).

Fat Jack of the Bone-house, subs. phr. (common).—A contumelious epithet for a very stout man.

Fat-mutton, subs. (venery).—A fat bit (see Bit of Fat), i.e., a stout bed-fellow.

Fatness, subs. (common).—Wealth. Cf., Fat = rich.

Fatten-up, verb (theatrical).—To write fat (subs., sense 3) into a part.

Fat-un, subs. (common).—An emission of wind from the anus of peculiar rankness; a ‘roarer’ (Swift).

Fatty (or Fatymus, or Fattyma), subs. (colloquial).—A jocular epithet for a fat man; a comic endearment for a fat woman.

Faugh-a-Ballagh Boys, subs. phr. (military).—The Eighty-Seventh Foot; also known as the eagle-takers (q.v.), and the old fogs (q.v.). [From Fag an bealac = ‘Clear the Way,’ the name of the regimental march.]

Faulkner, subs. (old).—A tumbler; juggler. Lex. Balat. [1811] and Duncombe’s Sinks of London [1848].

Fawney, or Fauney, subs. (common).—1. A ring; Fr., une brobuante; une broquille; un chason; Fourbesque, cerchiosa.

2. A swindle (also called Fawney-dropping, or rig), worked as follows:—A ring (snide) is let drop in front of a passer-by, who picks it up, and is confronted by the dropper, who claims to share. In consideration of immediate settlement he offers to accept something less than the apparent value in cash. Also done with pocket-books, meerschaum pipes, etc. Fawney-dropper = one that practices the ring-dropping trick; Fawney-bouncing = selling rings for a pretended wager; Fawnied = ringed.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 174. Fawny. An old, stale trick, called ring-dropping.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 471. He wears a stunning fawny (ring) on his finger.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 389. I do a little in the fawney dropping line; (fawneys are rings).

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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, p. 124. And where ... The Chips, the fawneys, Chatty-feeders, The bugs, the boungs, and well-filled readers.

Feager, subs. (old).—See quot. and cf., Feaker.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). A Feager of Loges, one that beggeth with counterfeit writings.

Feague, verb (old).—To send packing; to whiff away.

1826. Scott, Journal [pub. 1890], I., 205. Though this be Monday, I am not able to feague it away, as Bayes says—[The reference, as furnished by Dr. Murray to Mr. David Douglas, editor of the Journal (1890), is to certain editions of Buckingham’s farce, The Rehearsal: ‘I lay my head close to it with a snuff-box in my hand, and feague it away.’]

Feak, subs. (old).—The fundament. Lex. Balat. [1811].

Feather, subs. (colloquial).—1. Kind; species; company; cf., Birds of a feather. For synonyms, see Kidney.

1608. Dekker, Belman of London, in wks. (Grosart), III., 140. And he delivers it either to a Broker or some Bawd (for they all are of one feather).

1609. Shakspeare, Timon of Athens, Act i., Sc. 1. I am not of that feather, to shake off My friend when he must need me.

2. in pl. (common).—Money; wealth.—[See Feather one’s nest.] For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

3. (venery).—The female pubic hair (Prior and T. Moore). For synonyms, see Fleece.

In full feather, adv. phr. (colloquial).—1. Rich.—[See sense 2.]

1871. Mrs. H. Wood, Dene Hollow. ch. xxx. And now things went on swimmingly. Captain Clanwaring, in feather as to cash, at least temporarily, was the gayest of the gay.

1886. Graphic, 30 Jan., p. 130, col. 2. On these generally convivial occasions, Watty, by reason of his office [butler], was of course always in full feather.

2. (colloquial).—In full costume; ‘with all one’s war paint on.’

In high or full feather, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Elated; brilliant; conspicuous.

1852. H. B. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ch. viii. Sam was in the highest possible feather, and expressed his exultation by all sorts of supernatural howls and ejaculations.

1856. T. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-Days, pt. II., ch. iv. Martin leads the way in high feather; it is quite a new sensation to him, getting companions, and he finds it very pleasant, and means to show them all manner of proofs of his science and skill.

To feather one’s nest, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To amass money; specifically to enrich oneself by indirect pickings and emoluments. [From birds collecting feathers (see also sense 2) to line their nests.]

1590. Greene, Francesco’s Fortunes, in wks., viii., 138. She sees thou hast fethred thy nest, and hast crowns in thy purse.

1662. Pepys, Diary, 7 June. Mr. Coventry had already feathered his nest in selling of places.

1700. Congreve, Way of the World, Act v., Sc. 1. You have forgot this, have you, now you have feather’d your nest.

1705. Vanbrugh, Confederacy, I., ii., 25 (1734). If I don’t feather my nest, and get a good husband, I deserve to die.

1858. G. Eliot, Janet’s Repentance, ch. xiii. Dempster must have feathered his nest pretty well; he can afford to lose a little business.

To feather an oar, verb. phr. (aquatics).—In rowing, to turn the blade horizontally, with the upper edge pointing aft, as it leaves the water, for the purpose of lessening the resistance of the air upon it.

d. 1814. Dibdin, The Waterman. He feathered his oars with such skill and dexterity, Winning each heart and delighting each eye.

Whence High or Low in the feather.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 5. The swells in high feather.

1878. Lang, Ballad of the Boat-race. They catch the stroke and they slog it through, With Cambridge heavy and low in the feather, The standing sin of the fair Light Blue.

To show the white feather, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To turn cur; to prove oneself a coward. [Among game cocks a cross-bred bird is known by a white feather in the tail. Of old the breed was strictly preserved in England, for though birds of all descriptions were reared in the farm-yard, special care was taken that game fowls did not mix with them; but this would occasionally happen, and while the game birds were only red and black, white feathers would naturally appear when there was any cross. The slightest impurity of strain was said to destroy the bird’s courage, and the half-breeds were never trained for the pit. It became an adage that any cock would fight on his own dunghill, but it must be one without a white feather to fight in the pit.]

1842. Comic Almanack, p. 306. Precluding the possibility of anyone, at any time, showing a white feather.

Feather-bed and Pillows, subs. phr. (venery).—A fat woman.

Feather-bed Lane, subs. phr. (old).—A rough or stony lane.

Feather-bed Soldier, subs. phr. (old colloquial).—A practised and determined whoremonger.

Feck, verb (old).—To discover the safe way of stealing or swindling.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, p. 106, s.v.

Feed, subs. (colloquial).—A meal; spread (q.v.), or blow-out (q.v.). Fr., une lampie (from lamper = to gulp down). [From the stable usage = an allowance of provender. An analogue, however, is found in Milton: ‘For such pleasures till that hour At feed or fountain never had I found.’]

1830. Bulwer Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 22, ed. 1854. Like most single men, being very much the gentlemen so far as money was concerned, he gave them plenty of feeds, and from time to time a very agreeable hop.

1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘C. Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. III., p. 90 (q.v.).

1861. A. Trollope, Framley Parsonage, chap. iii.... It’s deuced shabby of him, not hunting here in his own county. He escapes all the bore of going to lectures, and giving feeds to the neighbours; that’s why he treats us so.

1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. xxxiii. He had been accustomed to describe Mr. Schröder as ‘a good old cock, sir; a worthy old party; kind-hearted, and all that, and giving no end of good feeds.’

18(?). Bret Harte, The Man of no Account. When the ‘Skyscraper’ arrived at San Francisco we had a grand feed.

1883. G. A. S[ala], in Illustr. L. News, 7 July, p. 3, col. 1. To be able to escape from a large public feed is, indeed, a sweet boon; but there are some big dinners at which attendance is a case of ‘must.’

Verb (football).—1. To support; back up.

2. (theatrical).—To prompt.

3. (university).—To teach or cram (q.v.) for an examination.

At feed, subs. phr. (colloquial).—At meat.

1890. National Observer, V., p. 138, col. 1. Statesmen at feed.

d. 1674. Milton. For such pleasures till that hour At feed or fountain never had I found.

To be off one’s feed, verb. phr. (common).—To have a distaste for food. [From the stable.]

1836. M. Scott, Cringle’s Log, ch. ix. Shall I fill you a cup of coffee, Obed?... Why, man, you are off your feed.

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, ii., 218. No, doctor; I’m off my feed for once.

1881. Jas. Payn, Grape from a Thorn, ch. liii. I won’t take a rasher this morning, thank you; nor yet any pigeon pie. I’m rather off my feed.

To feed the dummy or the dumb-glutton (q.v.), verb. phr. (venery).—To have connection. For synonyms, see Ride.

To feed the fishes, verb. phr. (common).—To be sea-sick; also to be drowned.

1884. Home Tidings, 22 Nov., p. 398. Although I fed myself shortly before arriving abreast of Eddystone, I fed the fish shortly afterwards.

To feed the press, verb. phr. (journalistic).—To send up copy slip by slip.

Feeder, subs. (common).—1. A spoon; among thieves a silver spoon. To nab a feeder = to steal a spoon.

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

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, s.v.

2. (university).—A tutor; crammer (q.v.); coach (q.v.).—(See Dr. Blimber’s Mr. Feeder in Dombey and Son).

1766. O. Goldsmith, Vicar of Wakefield, chap. vii. (ed. 1827), p. 41. Mr. Thornhill came with a couple of friends, his chaplain and feeder.

1864. Glasgow Herald, 9 Nov. [Review of Hotten’s Slang Dictionary.] Feeder is given here as ‘old cant’ for a spoon.

Feeding-bottle, subs. (colloquial).—The paps. For synonyms, see Dairy.

Feel, verb (venery).—To take liberties with a woman. For synonyms, see Firkytoodle.

Feel a Thing in One’s Bones.—See Bones.

Feele, subs. (common).—A girl or daughter. For synonyms in the former sense, see Titter. [Fr., fille; It., figlia.] Feeles = mother and daughter.

Feeler, subs. (colloquial)—1. A device or remark designed to bring out the opinions of others.

1841. Tait’s Mag., Sept. ‘Political Register.’ The Times is putting out feelers on the corn-law question.

1889. Pall Mall Gazette, 29 Nov., p. 6, col. 3. The efforts made to purchase the Halliwell-Phillips collection by private subscription in Birmingham, have (says the local Times) utterly failed. A feeler was sent out by the Free Libraries Committee.

2. (common).—The hand. For synonyms, see Bunch of fives and Daddle.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 259. I one day asked a man ... if the hard work of prison did not spoil his hands for delicate manipulations. ‘Oh, bless you, no!’ he replied;... ‘In a week or two a man can bring his hooks and feelers into full working trim again and no mistake.’

Feet. Making feet for children’s stockings, verb. phr. (old).—Begetting or breeding children.

Officer of feet, subs. phr. (old military).—An officer of infantry.—Grose [1785].

How’s your poor feet? phr. (common).—A street catch phrase in the early part of the sixties. [For suggested derivation cf., quot., 1890.]—See Street cries.

1863. All the Year Round, p. 180, col. 1. ‘How’s your poor feet?’ a year ago cheated half the natives of Cockaigne into the belief that they were gifted with a special genius for repartee.

1890. Town and Country (Sydney), 11 Jan., p. 19, col. 4. Henry Irving’s revival of ‘The Dead Heart’ has revived a bit of slang.... When the play was brought out originally, where one of the characters says, ‘My heart is dead, dead, dead!’ a voice from the gallery nearly broke up the drama with ‘How are your poor feet?’ The phrase lived.

To lie feet uppermost, verb. phr. (venery).—To ‘take’ a man.

Feet-Casements, subs. (common).—Boots or shoes. For synonyms, see Trotter-Cases.

Feeze [also Feaze, Feize, and Pheeze], verb (old).—1. To copulate. For synonyms, see Ride.

1612. Beaumont and Fletcher, The Coxcomb (q.v.).

2. (old).—To beat.

Feint, subs. (old).—A pawnbroker. For synonyms, see My Uncle.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, s.v.; 1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Feker, subs. (American thieves’).—Trade; profession; cf., Feck.

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

Fell a Bit on, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To act craftily; in an underhand manner.

Fell-and-didn’t, phr. (tailors’).—Said of a man walking lame.

Fellow.—See Old fellow.

Fellow-Commoner, subs. (university).—An empty bottle. For synonyms, see Dead man.

1794. Gent. Mag., p. 1084. One [student at Cambridge] was a Harry Soph; another a fellow-commoner and senior Soph, and occasionally jocularly called an empty bottle, whilst è contrà, a bottle decanted was, from time to time, denominated a fellow-commoner.

Felt, subs. (old).—A hat of felted wool. For synonyms, see Golgotha.

1609. Dekker, Gul’s Horne-Booke, chap. iv. For, in my opinion, ye braine that cannot choose his Felt well (being the head ornament) must needes poure folly into all the rest of the members.

1614. J. Cooke, Green’s Tu Quoque, in Anc. Brit. Drama (1810), ii., 567. Sir Lion. Aye, but son Bubble, where did you two buy your felts? Scat. Felts! by this light mine is a good beaver.

1823. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act ii., Sc. 5. Don’t nibble the felt, Jerry.

1841. Thynne, Deb. between Pride and Lowliness. A faire cloke on his backe, and on his head a felt.

Fem.—See Famble.

Fen, subs. (thieves’).—A prostitute or procuress.—Grose [1785].

Verb (schoolboys’).—(also Fend, Fain, Fainits, etc.). A term of warning, or of prohibition: as to prevent any change in the existing conditions of a game; e.g., at marbles, Fen-placings = no alteration in position of marbles is permissible; fen-clearances = removal of obstacles is forbidden. [Fend = M. E. defend in sense of ‘to forbid.’] Fain, Fain I, (with which cf., Bags I) are corruptions. At Winchester, Fingy you or Fingy that are analagous; but at Christ’s Hospital Fin = ‘I won’t have,’ the reverse of Bags I.

ante. 1815. E. C. Harrington, in N. and Q., 5 S., vii., 98. Respecting the word fen ... I can testify to the use of the term by schoolboys prior to the battle of Waterloo ... meaning that we protested against an exceptional action.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House. ‘I’m fly,’ says Jo. ‘But fen larks, you know.’

1877. Notes and Queries, 5 S., vii., 178. A comical application, was, I remember well, ‘Fen live lumber’! which, if pronounced in time, would disable your opponent from moving a bystander out of the way of his shot.

Fence, subs. (common).—1. A purchaser or receiver of stolen goods.—See verbal sense, and Thieves.

English Synonyms. Fencing master, or cully; billy-fencer; angling cove; stallsman; Ikey; family-man; father.

French Synonyms. Une crosse (thieves’); un carreur (thieves’); un attriqueur or une attriqueuse (thieves’); un franc de maison (also = landlord of a thieves’ lodging-house or ‘flash ken’); un fourgue, fourgat, or fourgasse (thieves’); une nourrice (a female fence; = nurse); un meunier (= a miller; porter au moulin = to fence the swag); un ogre (thieves’).

German Synonyms. Pascher or Verpascher (from paschlnisenen = to peddle illegally); Sarser, or Sasser (= a go-between); Tschorrgoi (gypsy).

Portuguese Synonym. Entrujão.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 3. The Fence and he [a thief], are like the Devil and the Doctor, they live by one another.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Fence (s.) ... and in the Canting Language, signifies one who receives and disposes of stolen goods for the robbers.

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 171 (ed. 1864). The fence and he are like the devil and the doctor, they live by one another; and, like traitors, ’tis best to keep each other’s counsel.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, p. 60. What are you up to? Ill-treating the boys, you ... insatiable old Fence.

1851. Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, vol. II., p. 106. In one of my inquiries among the young thieves and pickpockets in the low lodging-houses, I heard frequent accounts of their selling the metal goods they stole to fences, and in one particular instance to the mistress of a lodging house, who had conveniences for the melting of pewter pots (called ‘cats and kittens’ by the young thieves according to the size of the vessels).

1883. Daily Telegraph, 13 June, p. 7, col. 2. The criminal who, without the aid of the professional fence, would experience much difficulty in disposing of his booty.

1885. Indoor Paupers, p. 73. The articles bore the workhouse stamp, were much worn, and would not have brought the thief more than a couple of pence, even supposing that he could find a fence, who would venture to purchase.

2. A place where stolen goods are purchased or received. [From sense 1.] Also a Dolly-, leaving-, or swag-shop—(q.v.); Fencing-crib. Fr., un moulin.

1847. Illus. Lon. News, 2 May. The keeper of the fence loves to set up in business there [Clerkenwell]—low public-houses abound, where thieves drink and smoke—Jew receivers work the corners.

1848. Punch, vol. xiv., p. 149. If Citizen Blanc hold to his opinions of 1839, we may expect no law of international copyright from the Republic. Let M. Galignani rejoice; and let his Bibliotheque in the Rue Vivienne still remain the greatest literary fence in Europe.

Verb (old).—1. To purchase or receive stolen goods.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). To fence property, to sell any thing that is stolen.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 153. Fenced. Is disposing of anything stolen for a quarter of the value.

1828. Jon Bee, Picture of London, p. 212. Even though he be a thief himself, or more harmfully engaged in fencing others’ thefts.

1830. Bulwer Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 298, ed. 1854. Vell, ven ve came out, you minds as on the voman had a bundle in her arms, and you spake to her, and she answered you roughly, and left us all and vent straight home; and ve vent and fenced the swag that wery night, and afterwards napped the regulars.

1885. Chamb. Journal, 21 Feb., p. 126. Moreover, he was strongly suspected of fencing—that is, purchasing stolen property.

2. (common).—To spend money.

1728. Bailey, Dict., s.v.

To be, sit, or ride on the fence, verb. phr. (American).—To be neutral; to be ready to join the winning side; to wait ‘to see how the cat will jump.’ Also, To sit on both sides of the hedge. [Cf., Latin prævaricato = straddling with distorted legs.]—See Jumping Cat.

1862. J. Russell Lowell, Biglow Papers, II., p. 97. A kind o’ hangin’ round an’ settin’ on the fence, Till Providence pinted how to jump an’ save the most expense.

1887. ‘Political Slang,’ in Cornhill Mag., June, p. 626. Those who sit on the fence—men with impartial minds, who wait to see, as another pretty phrase has it, ‘how the cat will jump.’

1888. Texas Siftings, 7 July. While Democratic papers will claim that Judge Thurman is as hearty and well at seventy-five as he was at fifty-five, journals on the other side of the fence will represent him to be a weak, feeble old man, much better fitted for the invalid than the vice-presidential chair.

Those who thus seek to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds are called fence-men. The operation is fence-riding, which sometimes qualifies for rail-riding (q.v.).

1848. New York Herald, 14 Oct. All the fence-men, all the doubters, all the seekers after majorities, will now bustle up, come out, and declare that General Taylor is the most popular man in the country, and that he was always their first choice.

1868. Congressional Globe, 17 July. This question is one of clear right and wrong, and there can be no fence-riding, when the rights of four millions of men are at stake.

Fencer, subs. (tramps’).—A hawker of small wares; a tramp: generally used in connection with another word; thus, driz-fencer (q.v.) = a pedlar of lace.

Fencing-Crib or Ken, subs. (thieves’).—A place where stolen goods are purchased or secreted.—See Fence, subs., sense 2.

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

1839. W. H. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, p. 277, ed. 1840. ‘It only leads to the fencing crib,’ replied Wild. ‘There’s no outlet that way.’

Fencing-Cully, subs. (thieves’).—A receiver of stolen goods.—See Fence.

1720. Bailey, Dict., s.v.

Fen-Nightingale, subs. (common).—A frog. Also Cambridgeshire, and Cape Nightingale.

Ferguson. You can’t lodge here, Mr. Ferguson, phr. (street).—A street cry, popular about 1845–50; used in derision or denial. [Mr. J. H. Dixon, writing to Mr. John Camden Hotten, under date Nov. 6, 1864, says the phrase originated thus:—A young Scotsman, named Ferguson, visited Epsom races, where he got very drunk. His friends applied to several hotel keepers to give him a bed, but in vain. There was no place for Mr. Ferguson. He was accordingly driven to London by his companions, who kept calling out, Ferguson, you can’t lodge here. This was caught up by the crowd, repeated, and in a week was all over London, and in a month all over the kingdom. Mr. Dixon states he was introduced to Mr. Ferguson, and that two of his companions were intimate friends.]—See Street-cries.

Ferm, subs. (Old Cant).—A hole; with Spencer = a prison.

1632. Dekker, English Villanies. He [an angler for duds] carries a short staff in his hand which is called a filch, having in the nab or head of it a ferme (that is to say a hole).

Ferret, subs. (thieves’).—1. A barge-thief.

2. (old).—A dunning tradesman.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

3. (common).—A pawnbroker. For synonyms, see My Uncle.

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

Ferreting, subs. (venery).—The act of connection.

Ferret Out, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be at pains to penetrate a mystery of any kind by working underground.

Ferricadouzer, subs. (pugilist).—A knock-down blow; a thrashing. [From the Italian fare cadere, to cause to fall + dosso, back.] For synonyms, see Dig.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 244. Then there wasn’t no risk with Haynan ... no fear of a ferricadouzer for the butcher.... What does it mean? It means a denskitch (a good thrashing).

Fess, verb (colloquial).—To confess; to own up. Fr., norguer.

Adj. (school).—Proud.

Festive, adj. (colloquial).—Loud; fast; a kind of general utility word. Gay and festive cuss (Artemus Ward) = a rollicking companion.

Fetch, subs. (old).—1. A stratagem; indirectly bringing something to pass.

1576. J. Skelton, Merie Tales, xiii. Yea sayde Skelton, if thou have such pretie fetchis, you can dooe more then thys; and therefore if thou dooeste not one thynge that I shel tell thee, I wil folowe the lawe on thee. What is that sayde the Myller. If that thou dooeste not stele my cuppe of the table when I am sette atte meate thou shalt not eskape my handes.

1727. John Gay, Beggar’s Opera, Act II., Scene 2. Mac. Be pacified, my dear Lucy; this is all a fetch of Polly’s, to make me desperate with you, in case I get off. If I am hanged, she would fain have the credit of being thought my widow. Really, Polly, this is no time for a dispute of this sort; for whenever you are talking of marriage, I am thinking of hanging.

1780. Mrs. Cowley, Belle’s Stratagem, v. 1. Why, my illness was only a fetch, man, to make you marry Letty.

1848. Lowell, Fable for Critics, p. 19. But as Cicero says he won’t say this or that (a fetch, I must say, most transparent and flat), After saying whate’er he could possibly think of.

2. (colloquial).—A success.

3. (old).—A likeness: e.g., the very fetch of him = his very image or spit (q.v.). Also an apparition.

Verb (colloquial).—1. To please; to excite admiration; to arouse attention or interest.

1607. Dekker, Westward Ho! Act ii., Sc. 2. Earl. Ha! Bird. O, I thought I should fetch you: you can ‘ha’ at that; I’ll make you hem anon.

1610. Jonson, Alchemist, II. This will fetch ’em, And make them haste towards their gulling more. A man must deal like a rough nurse, and fright Those that are froward, to an appetite.

1727. Gay, Beggar’s Opera, Act I., Sc. 8. Polly. Give her another glass, Sir; my Mama drinks double the quantity whenever she is out of order. This, you see, fetches her.

1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. v., p. 48 (1873). But now he was certainly fetched, as his friends would call it, and began to feel an interest in Miss Townshend, which he had never felt for any other person.

1867–70. C. G. Leland, Hans. Breitmann’s Ballads. Dot fetched him. He shtood all shpell-bound.

1879. Justin McCarthy, Donna Quixote, ch. xvii. She was quite clever enough to take on any part that might best commend her to the people she sought to please; and she thought she had hit upon the best way to fetch Gabrielle, as she would herself have put it.

1882. Besant, All Sorts and Cond. of Men, ch. xxx. You shall be my assistant: you shall play the piano and come on dressed in a pink costoom, which generally fetches at an entertainment.

1883. Referee, 1 April, p. 2, col. 4. There were scenes, though, wherein she fairly fetched her audience.

1884. S. L. Clemens (‘M. Twain’), Huckleberry Finn, xxi., 205. Hamlet’s soliloquy, you know; the most celebrated thing in Shakespeare. Ah, it’s sublime, sublime! Always fetches the house.

1884. G. A. Sala, in Ill. Lon. News, 17 May, p. 470, col. 3. The maritime conflagration fetched the audience, especially the pit and gallery.

2. (colloquial).—To get; to do.

[Some combinations are To fetch the farm = to get infirmary treatment and diet; To fetch a stinger (colloquial) = to get in a heavy blow; To fetch a lagging (thieves’) = to serve one’s term; To fetch a howl = to cry; To fetch a crack = to strike; To fetch a circumbendibus = to make a detour; To fetch the brewer = to get drunk.]

To fetch away, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To part; e.g., ‘a fool and his money are soon fetched away.’

To fetch up, verb. phr. (common).—1. To stop; to run against.

2. (popular).—to startle.

3. (American).—To come to light.

4. (common).—To recruit one’s strength after illness.

Fetching, ppl. adj. (colloquial).—Attractive (as of women); pleasing (as of a dress or bonnet).

c. 1882. Broadside Ballad. ‘You May Lay Odds on That.’ Some most fetching dresses the ladies now wear, You may lay odds on that.

1889. Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday, 17 August, p. 262, col. 2. How can they show off a pretty figure and a fetching bathing costume if they go in further than knee deep?

1889. Bird o’ Freedom, 7 Aug., p. 3. Quite delighted at being at last understood and appreciated by one of the fetching sex, Stewart made the running so fast that I couldn’t see the way he went.

Fettle. In good or in proper fettle, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Drunk. [From provincial English fettle = a state of fitness.]

Few. A few, or Just a few, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Originally (cf., quot., 1778) a little. Hence, by implication, on the lucus a non lucendo principle, considerably; e.g., ‘Were you alarmed?’ ‘No, but I was astonished a few!’ i.e., ‘I was greatly surprised.’ Cf., rather = a good deal.

1778. D’Arblay, Diary, etc., 6 July, vol. I., ch. i., p. 15 (1876). So I trembled a few, for I thought, ten to one but he’d say: ‘He?—not he—I promise you!’

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xx., p. 173. I appeal to our mutual friend, Smallweed, whether he has or has not heard me remark, that I can’t make him out. Mr. Smallweed bears the concise testimony, a few.

Fib, verb (Old Cant).—1. To beat; specifically (pugilism) to get in a quick succession of blows, as when you get your man round the neck (i.e., into chancery) and pommel his ribs or face.

1665. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 49 (1874). Fib, to beat.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Fib, to beat.

1811. Southey, Letters (ii., 236). I have been taking part in the controversy about ‘Bell and the Dragon,’ as you will see in the Quarterly, where I have fibbed the Edinburgh (as the fancy say) most completely.

1853. Thackeray, Men’s Wives, Frank Berry, ch. 1. For heaven’s sake, my boy, fib with your right, and mind his left hand!

1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘C. Bede’). Verdant Green, pt. I., p. 106. His whole person put in chancery, stung, bruised, fibbed, propped ... and otherwise ill-treated.

1865. G. F. Berkeley, My Life, etc., I., 311. As there was no room to hit out, in the phraseology of the ring, I fibbed at half a dozen waistcoats and faces with all my might and main.

2. (colloquial and recognised).—To lie.

1694. Congreve, Double Dealer, Act iv., Sc. iii. You fib, you baggage, you do understand, and you shall understand.

1712. Arbuthnot, Hist. of John Bull, pt. IV., ch. iv. Whereby one may know when you fib, and when you speak truth.

1755. Johnson, Dict. of Eng. Lang., s.v. Fib, a cant word amongst children.

1863. Alex. Smith, Dreamthorp, p. 11. Could I have fibbed in these days; Could I have betrayed a comrade?

Also, used substantively = (1) a lie; (2) a liar; see quot., 1862.

1738. Swift, Polite Convers., Dial. 2. If I had said so I should have told a fib.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. III., ch. iv. Those who will tell one fib will hardly stick at another.

1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act iii. Ask me no questions, and I’ll tell you no fibs.

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, chap. 58. ‘Oh! you dreadful fib,’ said Flora.

1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. xix. Mrs. Charrington saw no harm ... in the utterance of a pretty fib; but she refused to place a deliberate lie upon paper.

Fibber, subs. (colloquial).—A liar. [From Fib.]

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Fibber (s.) a liar, one who speaks falsely, etc.

1785. Wolcot, Lyric Odes, No. 6, in wks. (1809), i., 67. Your royal grandsire (trust me, I’m no fibber) Was vastly fond of Colley Cibber.

1882. Jas. Payn, For Cash Only, ch. xxvi. For one’s lover to be a fibber is bad enough, but to be a forger

Fibbery, subs. (colloquial).—Lying.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, Vulg. Tongue. ‘The Leary Man.’ And if you come to fibbery You must mug one or two.

Fibbing, subs. (pugilist).—1. Pummelling an opponent’s head while ‘in chancery’; a drubbing. Fr., bordée de coups de poings. [From Fib (q.v.).]

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Mem. to Cong., p. 2. And if the Fine Arts Of fibbing and loving be dear to your hearts.

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 268 (ed. 1864). Resolved his fibbing not to mind.

1837. Barham, I. L. (The Ghost). Whom sometimes there would come on a sort of fear his Spouse might knock his head off, Demolish half his teeth, or drive a rib in, She shone so much in ‘facers’ and in fibbing.

2. (colloquial).—Lying.

Fibbing-Gloak, subs. (Old Cant).—A pugilist. For synonyms, see Hittite. [From Fib, sense 1 + Gloak, a man.]

Fibbing-Match, subs. (thieves’).—A prize-fight.—See Fib, sense 1.

Fibster, subs. (colloquial).—A liar. [From Fib, verb, sense 2.]

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. xx. You wicked old fibster! Didn’t you hesitate, stammer, and blush, when you said that?

Fiddle, subs. (common).—1. A sharper; sometimes old fiddle. For synonyms, see Rook.

2. (American).—A swindle. For synonyms, see Sell.

3. (thieves’).—A whip.

4. (thieves’).—See quot.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. i., p. 44. The taskmaster warder came in, bringing with him the fiddle on which I was to play a tune called ‘Four pounds of oakum a day.’ It consisted of nothing but a piece of rope and a long crooked nail.

5. (Stock Exchange).—One-sixteenth part of a pound.

1887. Atkin, House Scraps. Done at a fiddle.

6. (old).—A watchman’s or policeman’s rattle.

1832. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act II., Sc. 2. There’s one! go it, Jerry!—Come, Green. Log. Aye, come, Jerry there’s the Charlies’ fiddles going. Jerry. Charlies’ fiddles?—I’m not fly, Doctor. Log. Rattles, Jerry, rattles! you’re fly now, I see. Come along, Tom! Go it, Jerry!

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

7. (colloquial).—A sixpence; also a fiddler; Cf., fiddler’s money.

8. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Verb (colloquial).—1. To trifle, especially with the hands.

1663. Pepys, Diary, 13 July. Where all the ladies walked, talking and fiddling with their hats and feathers, and changing and trying one another’s by one another’s heads, and laughing.

1738. Swift, Polite Convers., Dial. 2. He took a pipe in his hand, and fiddled with it till he broke it.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Fiddle (v.) ... also to spend a person’s time about matters of small or no importance.

1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. iii. That second charger of Mr. Harperley’s is smart, but they’ve had him fiddling about so long in the school, he’s most likely forgot how to gallop.

2. (thieves’).—To cheat; specifically, to gamble.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 140. She is supposed to bring in all the money she has taken, but that we don’t know, and we are generally fiddled most tremendous.

3. (common).—To earn a livelihood by doing small jobs on the street.—See Fiddling.

4. (American).—To intrigue.

5. (common).—To take liberties with a woman; for synonyms, see Firkytoodle.

6. (pugilistic).—To strike.

Scotch-fiddle, subs. (common).—The itch.

To hang up the fiddle.—To abandon an undertaking.

To play first or second fiddle, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To take a leading or a subordinate part. Among tailors second fiddle = an unpleasant task.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xii., p. 122. To say that Tom had no idea of playing first fiddle in any social orchestra but was always quite satisfied to be set down for the hundred and fiftieth violin in the band, or thereabouts, is to express his modesty in very inadequate terms.

1847. Thackeray, Letter, 2 Jan., to W. E. Ayton in Memoirs. If my friend will shout, Titmarsh for ever, hurrah for etc., etc., I may go up with a run to a pretty fair place in my trade, and be allowed to appear before the public as among the first fiddles.

1886. Jas. Payn, Grape from a Thorn, ch. xi. She had inherited from her mother an extreme objection to playing, in any orchestra whatsoever, the second fiddle.

Fit as a fiddle, phr. (colloquial).—In good form or condition.

1886. Jas. Payn, Heir of the Ages (Ry. ed. 1888), p. 63.

Intj.—See Fiddle-de-dee.

Fiddle-bow, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Fiddle-faced, adj. (colloquial).—Wizened, also substantively.

1885. W. Westall, Larry Lohengrin, ch. v. Tell me how far, in your opinion, I answer to this flattering description of yours—white-chokered, strait-laced, and fiddle-faced?

Fiddle-faddle, subs. (colloquial).—Twaddling; trifling; ‘little nothings’; rot (q.v.). Fr., oui, les lanciers!

1593. G. Harvey, Pierces Super. in wks. II., 98. Or who of judgment, will not cry? away with these paultringe fidle-fadles.

1657. Political Ballads (ed. Wilkins, 1860), vol. I., p. 139. After much fiddle-faddle The egg proved addle.

1712. Spectator, No. 299. Their mother tells them ... that her mother danced in a ball at Court with the Duke of Monmouth; with abundance of fiddle-faddle of the same nature.

1876. C. H. Wall, trans. Molière, vol. i., p. 157. I see nothing about here but white of eggs, milk of roses, and a thousand fiddle-faddles that I know nothing about.

Adj. Trifling; fussing; fluffing.

1712. Arbuthnot, Hist. of John Bull, pt. III., ch. viii. She was a troublesome, fiddle-faddle old woman, and so ceremonious that there was no bearing of her.

b. 1811, d. 1863. Thackeray, Character Sketches (Fashionable Authoress). She interlards her works with fearful quotations from the French, fiddle-faddle extracts from Italian operas, German phrases, fiercely mutilated, and a scrap or two of bad Spanish.

Verb. To toy; to trifle; to talk nonsense; to gossip; to make ‘much cry and little wool.’

1761. Dr. Hawksworth, Edgar and Emmeline, I., ii. Here have I had a young, tempting girl fiddle-faddling about me these two hours to dress me.

1873. Miss Broughton, Nancy, ch. xxxvii. I am idly fiddle-faddling with a piece of work.

Also Fiddle-faddler, one inclined to fiddle-faddles.

Fiddle-head, subs. (nautical).—A plain prow as distinguished from a figure-head. Hence fiddle-headed = plain; ugly.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, III., i., 316 (ed. 1846). She has a d——d pretty run; but I hope Captain O’Brien will take off her fiddle-head and get one carved: I never knew a vessel do much with a fiddle-head.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. v. ‘Zounds! you’ve broke it, you fiddle-headed brute!’ exclaimed a choleric voice ..., startling the ladies most unceremoniously, and preparing them for the spectacle of a sturdy black cob trotting rebelliously down the farm-road.

Fiddler, subs. (old).—1. A trifler; a careless, negligent, or dilatory person. [From Fiddle, to trifle.]

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.) s.v.

2. (common).—A sharper; a cheat; also fiddle (q.v.).

3. (pugilistic).—A prize-fighter; one who depends more on activity than upon strength or ‘stay.’

4. (common).—A sixpence. [From the old custom of each couple at a dance paying the fiddler a sixpence. Cf., Fiddler’s money.]

1885. Household Words, 20 June, p. 155. Why a sixpence should be a ‘magpie’ it would be hard to say. A more easily explained name ... is a fiddler. This probably from the old custom of each couple at a dance paying the fiddler sixpence, and, moreover ‘fiddler’s money’ is generally small money.

5. (common).—A farthing. For synonyms, see Fadge.

1885. Household Words, 20 June, p. 155. fiddler. This same word also does duty as an equivalent for a farthing.

Fiddlers’-Fare, subs. (old).—Meat, drink, and money—Grose, 1785.

Fiddlers’-Green, subs. (nautical).—A sailor’s elysium (situate on the hither and cooler side of hell) of wine, women, and song.

1837. Marryat, Snarley-Yow, ch. ix. At Fiddler’s Green, where seamen true, When here they’ve done their duty, The bowl of grog shall still renew, And pledge to love and beauty.

1842. Lover, Handy Andy, ch. xii. ‘He would as soon go into Squire Egan’s house as go to Fiddler’s Green.’ ‘Faith, then, there’s worse places than Fiddler’s Green,’ said Andy, ‘as some people may find out one o’ these days.’

1884. Henley and Stevenson, Admiral Guinea, iv., 4. Jack Gaunt, ... it’s thanks to you I’ve got my papers, and this time I’m shipped for Fiddler’s Green.

Fiddlers’-Money, subs. (old).—Sixpences. [From the custom at country merry-makings of each couple paying the fiddler sixpence.] Also generically, small silver.

Fiddlestick! intj. (colloquial).—Nonsense; sometimes fiddle-stick’s end and fiddle-de-dee.

1600. Nashe, Summer’s Last Will, in wks. (Grosart) VI., 130. A fiddle-sticke! ne’re tell me I am full of words.

1701. Farquhar, Sir Harry Wildair, Act IV., Sc. ii. Golden pleasures! Golden fiddlesticks—What d’ye tell me of your canting stuff?

1834. Southey, The Doctor, ch. clxxxix. At such an assertion he would have exclaimed, a fiddlestick! Why and how that word has become an interjection of contempt I must leave those to explain who can.

Subs.—1. See quot.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 172. Fiddlestick, a spring saw.

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

3. (old).—A sword.

1595. Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, iii., 1. Here’s my fiddlestick: here’s that shall make you dance.

Fiddling, subs. (streets’).—1. A livelihood got on the streets, holding horses, carrying parcels, etc.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 211. A lad that had been lucky fiddling (holding horses, or picking up money anyhow).

2. See quot. and cf., quot., subs., sense 1.

1850. Lloyd’s Weekly, 3 Feb. ‘Low Lodging Houses of London.’ I live on 2s. a week from thieving, because I understand fiddling—that means, buying a thing for a mere trifle, and selling it for double, or for more, if you’re not taken in yourself.

3. (colloquial).—Idling; trifling.

4. (gamesters’).—Gambling.

Adj. (colloquial).—Trifling; trivial; fussing with nothing.

b. 1667, d. 1745. Swift [quoted in ‘Annandale’]. Good cooks cannot abide what they call fiddling work.

1802. C. K. Sharpe, in Correspondence (1888), i., 152. He is a mighty neat, pretty little, fiddling fellow, and exceedingly finely bred.

1880. Hawley Smart, Social Sinners, ch. xiii. I will look in at that time, and trust to find you have settled all these fiddling preliminaries.

Fid-fad, subs. (old).—A contracted form of fiddle-faddle (q.v.); also applied to persons.

1754. The World, No. 95. The youngest, who thinks in her heart that her sister is no better than a slattern, runs into the contrary extreme, and is, in everything she does, an absolute fidfad.

1874. E. L. Linton, Patricia Kemball, ch. xvi. The fidfads, called improvements, which were not wanted and seldom properly managed.

Fidlam-Bens or Coves, subs. (thieves’).—Thieves who steal anything they can lay hands on. Also St. Peter’s Sons.

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

Fie-for-shame, subs. phr. (schoolgirls’).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Field. To chop the field, verb. phr. (racing).—To win easily [Field = the horses taking part in a race.]

Fielder, subs. (betting).—A backer of the field [i.e., the ruck (q.v.). as against the favorite]. At cricket, a player in the field as against the team at the wickets.

1853. Wh. Melville, Digby Grand, ch. vi. I accommodate a vociferous fielder with 6 to 4 in hundreds as my concluding stake.

1883. Graphic, 11 August, p. 138, col. 2. As a batter, bowler, and fielder combined ... he has yet no equal.

Field-lane Duck, subs. phr. (common).—A baked sheep’s head.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

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

Fient, intj. phr. (Scots colloquial).—An expression of negation: e.g., fient a hair care I = Devil a hair I care.

Fieri Facias. To have been served with a writ of fieri facias, verb. phr. (legal).—Said of a red-nosed man. [A play upon words.]

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller, in wks. v., 44. Should I tell you how many pursenants with red noses, and sargeants with precious faces, shrunke away in this sweat, you would not belieue me ... a pursenant or a sargeant at this present, with the verie reflexe of his firie facias, was able to spoile a man a farre of.

1608. Penniles Parl, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), I., 182. They that drink too much Spanish sack, shall, about July, be served with a fiery faces.

1663. Dryden, Wild Gallant, Act ii. Vour. You are very smart upon one another, gentlemen. Fail. This is nothing between us; I was to tell him of his title, fiery facias; and his setting dog, that runs into ale-houses before him.

Fiery Lot, subs. phr. (common).—Fast (q.v.); rollicking; applied to a hot member (q.v.).

Fiery Snorter, subs. phr. (common).—A red nose.

Fifer, subs. (tailors’).—1. A waistcoat ‘hand.’

2. (Scots’ colloquial).—A native of the Kingdom (q.v.), i.e., the county of Fife.

Fi-fi or fie-fie, adj. (common).—Indecent; ‘blue’ or ‘smutty.’ [From Fie = an exclamation signifying contempt, impatience, or disapproval.] A Thackerayean term.

1861. A. Trollope, Framley Parsonage, ch. vi. And then Mrs. Proudie began her story about Mr. Slope, or rather recommenced it. She was very fond of talking about this gentleman who had once been her pet chaplain, but was now her bitterest foe; and, in telling the story, she had sometimes to whisper to Miss Dunstable, for there were one or two fie-fie little anecdotes about a married lady, not altogether fit for young Mr. Robart’s ears.

1874. M. Collins, Frances, ch. xviii. Flood was a gay bachelor, with a few fie-fie stories floating through club atmosphere about him.

Fifteener, subs. (bibliographical).—A book printed in the 15th century.

1890. ‘Grangerising’ in Cornhill Mag., Feb., p. 139. Some of them torn from fifteeners, or ‘incurables,’ books of the fathers of printing.

Fifth Rib. To hit, dig, or poke one under the fifth rib, verb. phr. (common).—To deliver a heavy blow; to dumbfound.

1890. Globe, 26 Feb., p. 1, col. 5. It strikes the man who has been dallying with strange tailors ... under the fifth rib.

Fig, subs. (colloquial).—1. A gesture of contempt made by thrusting forth the thumb between the fore and middle fingers: whence the expression ‘I do not care, or would not give, a fig for you.’ Fr., je ne voudrais pas en donner un ferret d’aiguillette. Cf., Care, and for other similes of worthlessness, see Curse, Straw, Rush, Chip, Cent, Dam, etc. [Italian: When the Milanese revolted against the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, they set his Empress hind before upon a mule, and thus expelled her. Frederick afterwards besieged and took the city, and compelled all his prisoners, on pain of death, to extract with his (or her) teeth a fig from the fundament of a mule and, the thing being done, to say in announcement, ‘ecco la fica.’ Thus far la fica became an universal mode of derision. Fr., faire la figue; Ger., die Feigen weisen; It., far le fiche; Dutch, De vÿghe setten.

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V., iii., 6. Pistol. Die and be damned and fico for thy friendship. Fluellen. It is well. Pistol. The fig of Spain.

1610. Ben Jonson, The Alchemist, i. 1. Subtle. What to do? Lick figs out of mine arse.

1821. Pierce Egan, Tom and Jerry [ed. 1890], p. 106. A fig for each bum.

1861. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. vi. A fig for Poll Ady and fat Sukey Wimble; I now could jump over the steeple so nimble; With joy I be ready to cry.

1882. Punch, vol. LXXXII., p. 185, col. 2 (q.v.).

2. (common).—Dress. [From Fig, verb. sense = that which shows off a man or woman, as a fig of ginger shows off a horse. Cf., quot., 1819, in Fig up.] In full fig = in full dress.

1861. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. i. He waits on me in hall, where we go in full fig of cap and gown at five, and get very good dinners, and cheap enough.

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

3. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Verb (stable).—To ginger a horse. [For origin, see subs. sense.]

To fig out, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To show off; to dress; to don one’s war paint (q.v.). [From the verb.]

1825. The English Spy, vol. 1, p. 177. Eglantine (to the ostler). Well, Dick, what sort of a stud, hey? Come, fig out two lively ones.

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. vi. He began to inveigh against the waiter’s costume, as he styled the dress I had figged myself out in.

To fig up, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To restore; to reanimate (as a gingered horse).

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 24. In vain did they try to fig up the old lad, ’Twas like using persuaders upon a dead prad.

Figaro, subs. (common).—A barber. [From Le Nozze di Figaro.]

1886. Globe, 18 March, p. 3, col. 2. [Referring to recent order of French War Minister permitting soldiers to wear their beards.] There is wailing and weeping among a certain section of that army, the figaros, which has been despoiled at one fell swoop.

Figdean, verb (old).—To kill. For synonyms, see Cook one’s goose.

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

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

Figged.—See Jigged.

Figger or Figure.—See Fagger.

Figging- or Fagging-lay, subs. phr. (old).—Pocket-picking: cf., Fagger.

Fight, subs. (common).—A party; e.g., Tea fight, Wedding-fight, etc. Cf., Scramble, and Worry: also Row (q.v.).

To fight or play cocum.—See Cocum.

To fight or buck the tiger.—See Buck and quots., infra.

1870. London Figaro, 20 July. The other day a gentleman of San Francisco, hitherto only noted for deeds of daring in fighting the tiger, was seated asleep in the smoking-car of the evening train from Sacramento on the Vallejo route.

1886. Daily Telegraph, 18 Oct., p. 5, col. 3. If they subsequently fight the tiger at the games of faro or roulette.

One that can fight his weight in wild cats, subs. phr. (American).—A brilliant desperado.

1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly. John Halkett, as I learned afterwards, could fight his weight in wild cats.

Fighting-Cove, subs. phr. (tramps’).—A professional pugilist: specifically one who ‘boxes’ for a livelihood at fairs, race-meetings, etc.

1880. Greenwood, Odd People in Odd Places, p. 56. You see them two there, sitting on t’other end of the table and eating fried fish and bread. That’s their mittens they’ve got tied up in that hankercher. They’re fighting coves.

Fighting Fifth, subs. phr. (military)—The Fifth Foot. [So distinguished in the Peninsular.] Other nicknames were the shiners (in 1764 from its clean and smart appearance); the old bold fifth (also Peninsular); and Lord Wellington’s body guard (it was at head-quarters in 1811). Cf., Fighting Ninth.

1871. Chambers’ Journal, 23 Dec., p. 802, col. 2. The Fighting Fifth was distinguished by its men wearing a white plume in the cap, when the similar ornament of the other regiments was a red and white tuft.

1890. Standard, 25 April, p. 3, col. 4, ‘St. George’s Day.’ With the exception of the annual observances by the Northumberland Fusiliers, better known as the Fighting Fifth, and a concert at the Crystal Palace, there does not seem to have been the smallest notice taken of what was, not a hundred years ago, a recognised popular festival throughout the length and breadth of once merrie England.

Fighting Ninth, subs. phr. (military).—The Ninth Foot. [Also Holy Boys (Peninsular), from its selling its Bibles for drink.] Cf., Fighting Fifth.

Fighting Tight, adv. phr. (American).—Drunk and quarrelsome. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Fig-leaf, subs. (common).—An apron. In fencing, the padded shield worn over the lower abdomen and right thigh. Fr., une petite bannette. Cf., Belly-cheat and Flag.

Figs (also Figgins), subs. (colloquial).—A grocer.

Figure, subs. (colloquial).—1. Appearance; conduct; e.g., to cut a good or bad figure, a mean figure, sorry figure, etc.

1712. Spectator, No. 479. Men cannot, indeed, make a sillier figure, than in repeating such pleasures and pains to the rest of the world.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xvii. Peradventure our youth is fast, and aspires to be a man of figure.

2. (colloquial).—Price; value; amount.

d. 1863. Thackeray [quoted in Annandale]. Accommodating the youngster, who had just entered the regiment, with a glandered charger at an uncommonly stiff figure.

1864. London Society, Oct., p. 480. She had saved ... about four hundred a year out of the wreck ... and so, on the whole, did not do badly in life. Happiness has been found at even a lower ‘figure.’

1883. Sala, Living London, p. 184. The ‘figure’ to be paid to Madame Adelina Patti for her forthcoming season.

1886. Cornhill Mag., March, p. 304. ‘About what is their figure?’ asked Mr. Corder. ‘Slim and graceful,’ answered the lady. ‘I don’t mean that,’ said the ex-smoked-mother-of-pearl-button manufacturer; ‘I mean, what is each of them worth in money?’

3. (colloquial).—Paps and posteriors; said only of women. No figure = wanting in both particulars.

Verb (billiards’).—To single out; to spot (q.v.).

[Figure, like fetch, comes in for a good deal of hard work in America. It is colloquially equivalent to ‘count upon’; as, ‘you may figure on getting a reply by return mail’; also = to strive for. To figure on [a thing] = to think it over; to figure out = to estimate; to figure up = to add up; to cut a figure, see cut; to go the whole figure = to be thorough; to go the big figure = to launch out; to miss a figure = to make a mistake.]

Figure-dancer, subs. (thieves’).—A manipulator of the face value of banknotes, cheques, and paper security generally.—Grose [1785].

Figure-fancier, subs. (venery).—An amateur of large-made women.

Figure-head, subs. (nautical).—The face. For synonyms, see Dial.

Figure-maker, subs. (venery).—A wencher. [In allusion to the enlarged ‘figures’ of pregnant women.] For synonyms, see Molrower.

Figure (or Number) Six, subs. phr. (thieves’).—A lock of hair brought down from the forehead, greased, twisted spirally, and plastered on the face. For synonyms, see Aggerawator.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, v. I., p. 36. As for the hair, they [coster-lads] say it ought to be long in front, and done in figure-six curls or twisted back to the ear, ‘Newgate-knocker style.’

Filbert. Cracked in the filbert, adv. phr. (common).—Crazy; a variant of wrong in the nut (q.v.) or upper storey. For synonyms, see Apartments to let and Tile loose.

Filch, verb (Old Cant: now recognised).—1. To steal: specifically to pilfer in small ways [Dekker: from the ‘filches’ or hooks used by thieves in stealing out of open windows; Skeat: for filk from O.E. fele, Icel. fela, to steal, like talk and tell, stalk (verb) and steal where k is a formative element.—See Phil. Soc. Trans., 1865, p. 188.] For synonyms, see Prig. Filch, properly filchman (q.v.), = a hooked staff; on the filch or filching = stealing.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 66. To fylche, to robbe.

1580. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. 63, st. 13, p. 143 (E.D.S.). The champion robbeth by night, And prowleth and filcheth by day.

1611. Middleton, Roaring Girl, Act iv., Sc. 1. What she leaves Thou shalt come closely in and filch away.

1729. Swift, Intelligencer, No. 4, p. 35 (2nd ed.). The servants having all that time to themselves to intrigue, to junket, to filch and steal.

1830. Marryat, King’s Own, ch. x. I could filch a handkerchief as soon as I was high enough to reach a pocket, and was declared to be a most promising child.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 246. She were an out-and-outer in going into shops on the filch.

2. (old).—To beat. For synonyms, see Baste and Tan.

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

Subs. (old).—A thief. [From the verb.] Also Filcher (q.v.). For synonyms, see Area-sneak.

1810. Poole, Hamlet Travestie, II., iii. A very filch, that more deserves to hang, Than any one of the light-finger’d gang.

Filcher or Filch (q.v.). subs. (Old Cant: now recognised). A thief. [From filch (q.v.) = to steal + er.] For synonyms, see Area-sneak and Thieves.

1580. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. 10, st. 54, p. 25 (E.D.S.). Purloiners and filchers, that loveth to lurke.

1596. Jonson, Every man in his Humour, IV., ix. How now, Signior Gull! are you turned filcher of late? Come, deliver my cloak.

1636. Davenant, The Wits, Act. V., The old blade Skulks there like a tame filcher, as he had New stolen ’bove eggs from market-women, Robb’d an orchard, or a cheese-loft.

1887. J. W. Ebsworth, Cavalier Lyrics (In Alsatia, etc.). Filchers, who grabble at other folks’ chink.

Filchman or Filch, subs. (old).—A thief’s hooked staff used as described in quot., 1632.

1567. Frat. of Vacabondes, p. 3. The trunchion of a staffe, which staffe they cal a filtchman.

1589. Nashe, Countercuffe to Martin Junior, in wks., vol. I., p. 80. Pasquill met him ... with a Hatte like a sawcer vppon hys crowne, a Filch-man in his hande.

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

1632–48. Dekker, English Villanies. He carries a short staff in his hand, which is called a filch, having in the nab or head of it a ferme (that is to say a hole) into which, upon any piece of service, when he goes a filching, he putteth a hooke of iron, with which hooke he angles at a window in the dead of night for shirts, smockes, or any other linen or woollen.

1665. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 49 (1874), s.v.; 1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

File, subs. (old). 1. A pickpocket. Also file cloy or bung-nipper; cf., Buttock. Fr., une poisse à la détourne.

1754. Fielding, Jon. Wild, bk. IV., ch. xii. The greatest character among them was that of a pickpocket, or, in truer language, a file.

1837. C. Dickens, Oliver Twist, p. 123. You’ll be a fine young cracksman afore the old file now.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon. The file is one who is generally accompanied by two others, one of whom is called the ‘Adam tyler,’ and the other the ‘bulker,’ or ‘staller.’ It is their business to jostle or ‘ramp’ the victim, while the file picks his pocket, and then hands the plunder to the ‘Adam tyler,’ who makes off with it.

2. (common).—A man: i.e., a cove (q.v.). Thus silent file (Fr., un lime sourde) = a dumb man; close-file = a miser, or a person not given to blabbing; Hard-file = a grasper (q.v.); old file = an elder; and so forth.

1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry (ed. 1890), p. 54. He was one of the deepest files in London; indeed, he was ‘awake’ on every suit.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 360 (ed. 1857). ‘Wot a perverse old file it is!’ exclaimed Sam, ‘always agoin’ on about werdicks and alleybis, and that. Who said anysthings about the werdick?’

1837. C. Dickens, Oliver Twist, p. 233. The Dodger ... desired the jailer to communicate the names of them two files as were on the bench.

1849. Thackeray, Hoggarty Diamond, ch. xi. ‘You beat Brough; you do, by Jove! for he looks like a rogue—anybody would swear to him: but you! by Jove, you look the very picture of honesty!’ ‘A deep file,’ said Aminadab, winking and pointing me out to his friend, Mr. Jehoshaphat.

1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, ch. xiii. If you were not such a steady old file I should think you were in love with her.

Verb (old).—To pick pockets.

Filing-lay, subs. (thieves’).—Pocket-picking. [From file = to steal from the person + lay = business, occupation.]

1754. Jon. Wild, bk. IV., ch. ii. I am committed for the filing-lay, man, and we shall be both nubbed together.

Filling at the Price, adv. phr. (common).—Satisfying.

1870. London Figaro, 28 May. ‘Penny Pleasures.’ We believe that baked taturs are accepted as Penny Pleasures, and as being filling at the price.

Fill One’s Pipe, verb. phr. (obsolete).—To attain to easy circumstances.

1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry (ed. 1890), p. 32. It has often been the subject of sincere regret that such persons, with very few exceptions, have lived just long enough, according to a vulgar phrase, to fill their pipe, and leave others to enjoy it.

Fill the Bill, verb. phr. (theatrical).—To excel in conspicuousness: as a star actor whose name is ‘billed’ to the exclusion of the rest of the company. Hence, by implication, out of the common run of things; e.g., That fills the bill = ‘that takes the cake,’ for a lie, an effect, an appearance—anything.

Fill the Bin, verb. phr. (American).—To be beyond question; to come up to the mark; e.g., ‘Is the news reliable?’ Yes, it fills the bin. Cf., To Fill the Bill.

1862. Speech of W. G. Brownlow of Tenn. in N. Y. Herald, 16 May. ‘Sir,’ said he,—and he [W. L. Yancey] is a beautiful speaker and personally a very fine-looking man,—‘are you the celebrated Parson Brownlow?’ ‘I’m the only man on earth,’ I replied, ‘that fills the bin.’

Fillupey, adj. and adv. (obsolete).—Satisfying. [From fill + up + y.]

1853. Diogenes, II., 195. Champagne is fillupey, so is Auber’s music.

Filly, subs. (common).—A girl; specifically a wanton. Among thieves, a daughter.

1668. Etherege, She Would if She Could, II., ii. (1704), p. 112. I told you they were a couple of skittish fillies, but I never knew ’em boggle at a man before.

1846. Thackeray, V. Fair, ch. xi. Well, I heard him say, ‘By jove, she’s a neat little filly!’ meaning your humble servant, and he did me the honour to dance two country dances with me.

Filly-hunting, subs. (venery).—Questing adventures; grousing (q.v.).

Filth, subs. (old venery).—A prostitute.

1602. Shakspeare, Othello, v., 2. Iago, Filth, thou liest!

1609. Shakspeare, Timon of Athens, iv., 1. To general filths Convert, o’ the instant, green virginity.

Fimble-Famble, subs. (common).—A lame excuse; a prevaricating answer.

Fin, subs. (common).—1. The arm; also the hand. [Fr., nageoire, but for synonyms, see Daddle. To tip the fin = to shake hands.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, Fin, an arm.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 116. I wagged my head at this one, and nodded to another, and salaam’d with my fins with all the grace of a wounded turtle, to a third.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxxvii., p. 323. ‘Smauker, my lad, your fin,’ said the gentleman with the cocked hat. Mr. Smauker dovetailed the top joint of his right hand little finger into that of the gentleman with the cocked hat, and said he was charmed to see him looking so well.

1844. Puck, p. 134. The sun shines fair in Carey Street, And eke in Lincoln’s Inn, When Brown and Johnson gaily meet And shake the friendly fin.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lv. The young surgeon ... succeeded in getting the General’s dirty old hand under what he called his own fin.

1850. F. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, p. 152. I’ll drive you there instead; it will be better for your scorched fin (pointing to my injured arm), than jolting about outside a horse.

2. Also Finn or Finnie.—See Finnup.

Intj.—See Fain.

Find, subs. (Harrow).—A mess of three or four upper boys which teas and breakfasts in the rooms of one or other of the set. Find-fag = a fag who provides for or ‘finds’ upper boys.

Finder, subs. (thieves’).—1. A thief; specifically a meat-market thief.

2. (Oxford University).—A waiter; especially at Caius’.

Fine, subs. (thieves’).—Punishment; a term of imprisonment. For synonyms, see Dose. To fine = to sentence. [From the payment of money imposed as a punishment for an offence.]

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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon. The cove had a fine of two stretches and a half imposed upon him for relieving a joskin of a load of cole.

To cut it fine.—See Cut fine.

To get one down fine and close, verb. phr. (American).—To find out all about a man; to deliver a stinging blow.

All very fine and large, adj. phr. (common).—An interjection of (1) approval; (2) derision; and (3) incredulity. [The refrain of a music-hall song excessively popular about 1886–88.]

Fine as fivepence.—See Fivepence.

Fine day for the young ducks, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A very wet day.

Fine words butter no parsnips, phr. (colloquial).—A sarcastic retort upon large promises.

Fine-drawing, subs. (tailors’).—Accomplishing an end without discovery.

Fineer, verb, Fineering, subs. (old).—See quot.

1765. Goldsmith, Essays, VIII. The second method of running into debt is called fineering; which is getting goods made in such a fashion as to be unfit for every other purchaser, and if the tradesman refuses to give them on credit, then threatens to leave them upon his hands.

Fine-Madam, subs. phr. (common).—An epithet of envy or derision for a person (feminine) above her station.

Finger, subs. (American).—A ‘nip’; usually applied to spirituous liquors. Thus, Three fingers of clear juice = Three ‘goes’ of whiskey.

1888. Newport Journal, 25 Feb. ‘Which is correct, spoonfuls or spoons-ful, uncle?’ Denver uncle—‘Um—er—the fact is I don’t know, my boy. In Denver, we don’t use either, we say fingers.’

Verb (venery).—To take liberties with a woman. For synonyms, see Firkytoodle.

To put the finger in the eye, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To weep. For synonyms, see Nap a bit.—[Grose, 1785.]

A bit for the finger, phr. (venery).—A lascivious endearment.

Finger and Thumb, subs. phr. (rhyming slang).—A road or highway, i.e., ‘drum.’ For synonyms, see Drum.

Finger-Better, subs. (American).—A man who bets on credit; also one who points out cards.

Finger-fucking, subs. phr. (venery).—Masturbation (said of women only). For synonyms, see Frig.

Finger-post, subs. (common).—A clergyman. For synonyms, see Devil-dodger.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. A parson: so called, because.... Like the finger-post he points out ... the way to heaven.

Finger-Smith, subs. (thieves’).—1. A pickpocket.

1883. Horsley, Jottings from Jail [in Echo], 25 Jan., p. 2, col. 4. The delicate expression fingersmith, as descriptive of the trade which a blunt world might call that of a pickpocket.

2. (common).—A midwife. Fr., Madame tire-monde or tire-pouce (Rabelaisian); Madame tire-mômes (môme = ‘kid’); une mômière (thieves’); Madame tâte-minette, Madame guichet or Madame portière du petit guichet (17th century phrases). Cf., Carver and Gilder.

Finish, verb (common).—To kill. For synonyms, see Cook one’s goose.

Finisher, subs. (colloquial).—Something that gives the last, the settling touch to anything. Cf., Corker, Clincher, etc.

1788–1841. Th. Hook [quoted in Annandale]. ‘This was a finisher,’ said Lackington.

Finjy! intj. (Winchester College).—An exclamation excusing one from

## participation in an unpleasant or unacceptable task, which he who says

the word last has to undertake.

Finnuf.—See Finnup.

Finnup, (also finnip, finnuf, finnif, finnie, finn, or fin), subs. (thieves’).—A five-pound note or flimsy (q.v.). [A Yiddish pronunciation of German fünf = five.] Also finnup-ready (ready = money). In America finnup = a five dollar bill. Double finnup = a ten pound note.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 396. The notes were all finnies (£5 notes), and a good imitation.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 444. Five-pound notes, Finnips, ten-pound notes, Double finnips.

1883. Horsley, Jottings from Jail. When we got into the rattler they showed me the pass. Yes, there it was, fifty quids in double finns.

Fippenny, subs. (Australian thieves’).—A clasp knife. For synonyms, see Chive.

Fire, subs. (thieves’).—Danger.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon. This place is all on fire; I must pad like a bull or the cops will nail me.

Like a house on fire, adv. phr. (common).—Easily and rapidly. Cf., house, winking, one o’clock, cake, brick, etc.

To fire a shot, verb. phr. (venery).—To emit. Fr., tirer un coup.

To fire a slug, verb. phr. (old).—To drink a dram. [Grose, 1785.]

To fire in the air, verb. phr. (venery).—To shoot in the bush (q.v.).

To fire a gun, verb. phr. (old).—To introduce a story by head and shoulders; to lead up to a subject.—[Grose, 1785.]

To pass through the fire, verb. phr. (venery).—To be clapped (q.v.), or poxed (q.v.).

To set the Thames on fire, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be clever, or the reverse; used in sarcasm.

Fire and Light, subs. phr. (nautical).—A master-at-arms.

Fired, adj. (American).—Arrested; turned out; and (among artists) rejected.

Fire-eater, subs. (common).—In Old Cant a quick-worker; and in modern English, a duellist or bully. Also Fire-eating.

1841. Savage, Dict. Art. of Printing, s.v. A quick compositor.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xii. Sir Ascot was none of your sighing, despairing, fire-eating adorers.

1868. Ouida, Under Two Flags, ch. xv. A soldier, who ... was one of the most brilliant fire-eaters of his regiment.

Fire-escape, subs. (common).—A clergyman. For synonyms, see Devil-dodger.

Fire-prigger, subs. (old).—A thief whose venue is a conflagration.—Grose [1785].

Fireship, subs. (old).—A tainted whore. For general synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

Fire-spaniel, subs. (military).—A soldier who ‘nurses’ the barrack-room fire. Some English synonyms are, fire-dog; fire-worshipper; chimney-ornament; fender-guard; and cuddle-chimney.

Firewater, subs. (American).—Ardent spirits.

1861. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xiv. Yes. And awful firewater we used to get. The governor supplied me, like a wise man.

Fireworks, subs. (common).—A state of disturbance; mental excitement: e.g., fireworks on the brain = to be in a fluster.

Firk, verb (old).—To beat.

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V., iv., 6. Pistol. I’ll fer him, and firk him, and ferret him.

Firkytoodle, verb (common).—To indulge in sexual endearments. Also Firkytoodling = preliminary caresses.

English Synonyms.—To canoodle; to fiddle; to mess (or pull) about; to slewther (Irish); to spoon; to crooky; to fam; to dildo; to caterwaul; to feel; to finger; to fumble; to grope; to clitorize; to touch up; to tip the long (or middle) finger; to guddle (Scots.)

French Synonyms. Mignoter (popular); jouer de la harpe (familiar: Leroux, in Dict. Comique, says: ‘Jouer de la harpe signifie jouer des mains auprès d’une femme, la patiner, lui toucher la nature, la farfouiller, la clitoriser, la chatouiller avec les doigts’); la petite oie (= preliminary favours); faire des horreurs (popular: des horreurs = broad or ‘blue’ talk; dire des horreurs = to talk bawd); bécoter (popular: = to make hot love); chouchouter (familiar: chouchou = darling).

Spanish Synonyms. Garatusa (= an act of endearment); caroca (generally used in plural, carocas = endearments); amoricones (vulgar).

Firmed.—See Well-firmed.

First-chop, adj. (common).—First rate. [From Hind., chaap, a stamp, an official mark on weights and measures; hence used to signify quality.] Also second-chop (q.v.).

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. iv. ‘As for poetry, I hate poetry.’ ‘Pen’s is not first-chop,’ says Warrington.

1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. lxviii. Old Beeswax thinks that if he can get me up to swear that he and his crew are real first-chop hands, that will hit the governor hard.

First Flight. In the first flight, subs. phr. (sporting).—Those first in at the finish; in fox-hunting those in at the death.

1852. F. E. Smedley, Lewis Arundel, ch. xxxix. Then you promise you will dine with me at Lovegrove’s, on Thursday, and I’ll pick up half-a-dozen fellows that I know you’ll like to meet, regular top-sawyers, that you’re safe to find in the first flight, be it where it may.

First-nighter, subs. phr. (journalistic).—An habitué of first performances.

1886. G. Sutherland, Australia, p. 125. The first-nighter is almost unknown in the colonies.

First-Night Wrecker.—See Wrecker.

Fish, subs. (common).—1. A man; generally in contempt or disparagement as odd fish, loose fish, queer fish, scaly fish, shy fish (all of which see). Cf., Cove.

2. (tailors’).—Pieces cut out of garments to make them fit close.

3. (venery).—Generic for the female pudendum: e.g., a bit of fish = a grind (q.v.); fish-market = a brothel; and to go fishing = to go grousing (q.v.).

Verb (colloquial).—To attempt to obtain by artifice; to seek indirectly; to curry favour.

Pretty kettle of fish, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A perplexing state of affairs; a quandary.

To have other fish to fry, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To have other business on hand.

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

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 90. He shouted to us, and pointed to his cargo; but we had other fish to fry, and accordingly never relaxed in our pulling.

To be neither fish nor flesh, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be neither one thing nor another; said of waverers and nondescripts; sometimes extended to neither fish, flesh, fowl, nor good red herring.

1598. Shakspeare, II. Henry IV., iv., 3. Falstaff. Why, she’s neither fish nor flesh; a man knows not where to have her.

1631–1700. Dryden [quoted in Annandale]. Damned neuters in their middle way of steering, Are neither fish, nor flesh, nor good red herring.

Fish-Broth, subs. (common).—Water. For synonyms, see Adam’s ale, to which may be added: Fr., le bouillon de canard (thieves’); l’agout (thieves’): Four. vetta.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe. The churlish frampold waves gave him his belly-full of fish-broath.

Fisher, subs. (common).—A lickspittle; only used contemptuously.

Fishhooks, subs. (common).—The fingers. For synonyms, see Forks.

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

Fishmarket, subs. (gaming).—The lowest hole at bagatelle; Simon (q.v.).—See also Fish, subs., sense 3.

Fishy, adj. (common).—Effete, dubious, or seedy (of persons); unsound, or equivocal (of things). Also Fishiness = unsoundness.

1858. Shirley Brooks, The Gordian Knot, p. 14. Highly fishy they were. Something about breach of trust, and the embezzling his brother’s money—a man in India.

1859. Punch, vol. XXXVI., p. 82. The affair is decidedly fishy. However somebody must have the place, and so our friend Sam Warren ... takes the mastership, resigning his seat.

1868. Orchestra, 29 Feb., p. 365. When he commented on the words in the libel of Greek derivation, he professed to have forgotten all he ever learnt at school, said that ichthyophagous meant fishy, a word that thoroughly described the plaintiffs case.

1870. London Figaro, 31 Oct. Captain Spratt is the right man in the right place, though his appointment to such a post is certainly, on the face of it, fishy.

1884. F. Anstey, Giant’s Robe, ch. xxii. There’s something fishy about it all, and I mean to get at it.

1890. St. James’ Gazette, 9 April, p. 3, col. 1. Unfortunately the Bill is fishy; and there are ‘very awkward and stiff considerations about it.’

Fist, subs. (common).—1. Hand-writing. Fr., la cape.

1864. Derby Day, p. 8. Must say though that your friend writes a tolerable fist.

2. (tailors’).—A workman. Good fist = a good workman.

3. (printers’).—An index hand.

Verb. 1.—To apprehend.

1598. Shakspeare, II. Henry IV., ii., 1. Fang. An I but Fist him once! An a’ come but within my vice.

2. (colloquial).—To take hold, e.g., Just you fist that scrubbing-brush, and set to work.

3. (venery).—To fist it = to take a man by the penis, for intromission or masturbation.

To put up one’s fist, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To acknowledge a fact; cf., fill the bin and acknowledge the corn.

Fist-fucking, subs. phr. (venery).—Masturbation. For synonyms, see Frig.

Fit, adj. and adv. (colloquial).—Suitable; in good form.

1882. Punch, vol. LXXXII., p. 155, col. 1, (q.v.).

1884. A. Lang, in Longman’s Mag., IV., 140. The really best moment in life is that which finds us young and fit, bowling on a lively wicket, and conscious that we have considerable command of the ball.

1889. Evening Standard, 25 June. ‘Sir C. Russell’s Speech in Durham-Chetwynd Case.’ Now, Mr. Lowther, I am not suggesting—and I wish to be perfectly understood—that to run a horse that is not perfectly fit does not stand alone as an offence against the honourable conduct of any man on the turf.

Fit as a fiddle, adj. phr. (colloquial).—Awfully fit, i.e., in perfect condition.

To fit like a ball of wax, verb. phr. (common).—To fit close to the skin.

To fit like a sentry box, verb. phr. (common).—To fit badly.

To fit like a glove, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To fit perfectly.

To fit to a T, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To fit to a nicety. [In reference to the T square used in drawing.]

1791. Boswell, Johnson. You see they’d have fitted him to a T.

To fit up a show, verb. phr. (artists’).—To arrange an exhibition.

To fit ends (or end to end), verb. phr. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms, see Ride.

Fitch’s Grenadiers, subs. phr. (military).—The Eighty-Third Foot. [From the small stature of the men and the name of the first colonel.]

Fits. To beat into fits, verb. phr.—See Beat and Creation.

Fitter, subs. (thieves’).—A burglar’s locksmith.

Fit up, subs. phr. (theatrical).—A small company. Also used adjectively; see Conscience.

1889. Answers, p. 40. One young fellow, who had come down with me, shook his head when he found that the company was one known as a fit up, that is to say, one where the stage is really carried about with the company.

Five-Fingers, subs. phr. (cards).—The five of trumps in the game of ‘Don’ or ‘Five Cards.’

1611. Chapman, May-Day, V., ii., in wks. (1873), ii., 401. For my game stood, me thought, vpon my last two tricks, when I made sure of the set, and yet lost it, hauing the varlet and the fiue finger to make two tricks.

1674. Cotton, Compleat Gamester [at the game of five-cards]. The five fingers (alias, five of trumps) is the best card in the pack ... the Ace of Hearts wins the Ace of Trumps, and the Five Fingers not only wins the Ace of Trumps, but also all other cards whatever.

Fiver, subs. (colloquial).—Anything that counts as five; specifically a five-pound note. Cf., Finn.

1853. Wh. Melville, Digby Grand, ch. i. Spooner ... loses a five-pound note, or, as he calls it, a fiver, to my antagonist.

1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. xxv. Wouldn’t lend me a fiver to save me from gaol.

1871. Daily News, 26 Dec. ‘Workhouse Xmas Depravity.’ Why, there’s Jemima Ann ... has ... been bleeding me of a fiver to send to some Christmas Dinner Fund for juvenile mudlarks.

1872. Fun, Sept. I lent a fiver unto a friend—He managed somehow that to spend.

1890. Tit-Bits, 8 Feb., p. 273, col. 2. Lend me a fiver, will you, Gus?

Five over Five, adv. phr. (common).—Said of people who turn in their toes.

Fivepence. As fine, (or as grand), as fivepence (or as fippence), phr. (colloquial).—As fine as possible. Cf., As neat as ninepence.

1672. Wycherly, Love in a Wood, V., wks. (1713), 421. Whilst his mistress is as fine as fippence, in embroidered sattens.

1720. Gay, New Song of New Similes. As fine as five-pence is her mien.

1738. Swift, Polite Convers., Dial. 3. Pray how was she drest? Lady Sm. Why, as fine as fi’pence.

1857. A. Trollope, Barchester Towers, ch. xxxix. There’s ... the lot of ’em all sitting as grand as fivepence in madam’s drawing-room.

1866. G. A. Sala, Trip to Barbary, ch. xiii. They [the Jews] continue to sit ‘all of a row’ with their daughters dressed ‘all in green,’ or all in pink or salmon-colour, and as fine as fivepence on their ceremonial days, waiting, waiting, always waiting, for the restoration of the Temple and the end of the dolour.

Fives, subs. (common).—1. The fingers. Bunch of fives = the fist. Formerly also = the feet. For synonyms, see Forks.

c. 1629. Ballad in Arber’s English Garner, vol. VII., p. 13. Her cheeks were like the cherry.... Her waist exceeding small. The fives did fit her shoe.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ii., 7. Smart chap that cabman—handled his fives well.

1887. Judy, 18 May, p. 236. Both the men of sin handled their fives with almost professional dexterity.

2. (streets’).—A fight. [From sense 1.]

Fix, subs. (common).—A dilemma; frequently in conjunction with awful (q.v.) and regular (q.v.), e.g., an awful fix = a terrible position. Variants are cornered; up a tree; up a close; under a cloud; in a scrape. Fr., avoir des mots avec les sergots = to run amuck of the police.

1837. R. H. Barham, The Ingoldsby Legends, (ed. 1862), p. 405. But, alas! and alack!—He had stuffed her sack So full that he found himself quite in a fix.

1840. Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop, ch. lxi. It can’t be helped you know. He ain’t the only one in the same fix.

1858. Shirley Brookes, The Gordian Knot, p. 88. John Claxton, what a fix I am in. That Mrs. Spencer will never go out of town.

1864. Tangle Talk, p. 271. Just as you are in a capital fix, exquisitely placed for being made a laughing stock, your friend will turn round upon you.

1869. Mrs. H. Wood, Roland Yorke, ch. xxi. Oh, but I could tell you of worse fixes than that.

Verb (old).—1. To arrest. For synonyms, see Nab and Cop.

1789. G. Parker, Variegated Characters. If any of us was to come in by ourselves and should happen to take a snooze you’d snitch upon us and soon have the traps fix us.

2. (American colloquial).—A general verb of action. Everything is fixed except the meaning of the word itself. The farmer fixes his fences, the mechanic his work-bench, the seamstress her sewing-machine, the fine lady her hair, and the schoolboy his books. The minister has to fix his sermon, the doctor to fix his medicines, the lawyer to fix his brief. Dickens was requested to ‘un-fix his straps’; eatables are fixed for a meal; a girl unfixes herself to go to bed, and fixes herself up to go for a walk. At public meetings it is fixed who are to be the candidates for office; rules are fixed to govern an institution, and when the arrangements are made the people contentedly say, ‘Now everything is fixed nicely.’ [This use is thought by Proctor to have arisen from some confusion between ‘fingency’ and ‘fixation’: as if the word had the meaning of the Latin fingo, fingere, instead of that of the Latin figo, figere. At least there is no use of fix in American which would not fairly represent the meaning of both.—See Philol. Soc. Trans. for 1865, p. 188.] The universality of the verb is only equalled by its antiquity, for, as J. R. Lowell points out, as early as 1675, the Commissioners of the United Colonies ordered ‘their arms well fixed and fit for service.’

To fix the ballot box = to tamper with returns.

1842. Dickens, American Notes, ch. x., p. 86. You call upon a gentleman in a country town, and his help informs you that he is fixing himself just now, but will be down directly: by which you are to understand that he is dressing. You inquire, on board a steamboat, of a fellow-passenger, whether breakfast will be ready soon, and he tells you he should think so, for when he was last below, they were fixing the tables; in other words, laying the cloth. You beg a porter to collect your luggage, and he entreats you not to be uneasy, for he’ll fix it presently, and if you complain of indisposition, you are advised to have recourse to Doctor so and so, who will fix you in no time.

1888. Scribner’s Mag. I do hope you’ll like everything; it’s the first time we ever took boarders, but we try to fix things nice.

Anyhow, or nohow, you can or can’t fix it.—See Anyhow.

To fix one’s flint, verb. phr. (American).—‘To settle one’s hash.’ For synonyms, see Cook one’s goose.

1835–40. Haliburton, Clockmaker, S., ch. xii. Their manners are rude, overbearin’, and tyrannical. They want their flints fixed for ’em as we did last war.

Fixings, subs. (American).—A noun of all work. Applied to any and everything.

1842. Dickens, American Notes, ch. x., p. 86. ‘Will you try,’ said my opposite neighbour, handing me a dish of potatoes, broken up in milk and butter, ‘will you try some of these fixings.’

1872. Daily Telegraph, 30 Sept. Still stoutly asserted by some sceptical Down-Easter to have been an itinerant dealer in hardware and kitchen fixings from Salem, Mass.

Fix up, verb. phr. (American).—To settle; to arrange. Cf., Fix.

Fiz, or Fizz, subs. (common).—Champagne; sometimes lemonade and ginger-beer. For synonyms, see Boy.

1864. Punch, vol. XLVII., p. 100. So away we went to supper For hungry we had grown, And ordered some fizz, which the right thing is, With a devilled turkey bone.

1869. St. James’ Mag., July. Her great object is to get one of these fellows to order the champagne. On each bottle of this stuff disposed of she has a percentage. She terms it fizz, and will pretend to fall into ecstacies at the prospect of a glass of the chemical essence of gooseberry sweetened up with tartaric acid and sugar of lead.

1871. Morning Advertiser, 11 Sept. Shall the Admirals of England now their former prowess drop, All courage ooze from tarry hands, like fiz from uncorked ‘pop?’

1879. Justin McCarthy, Donna Quixote, ch. xvii. I can open a bottle of soda or fizz ... and never as much as wink.

1883. Referee, 22 April, p. 3, col. 3. I have seen you wince when it has come to your turn to stand treat, and you have been called upon to pay twelve shillings for a bottle of fizz.

Fiz-Gig, subs. (schoolboys’).—A firework.

Fizzer, subs. (common).—Anything first-rate. Cf., fizzing.

1866. London Miscellany, 19 May, p. 235. If the mare was such a fizzer why did you sell her?

Fizzing, adj. (common).—First-rate.

English Synonyms.—A1; cheery; clean wheat; clipping; crack; creamy; crushing; first chop; first class; first-rate, or (in America) first-rate and a half; hunky; jammy; jonnick; lummy; nap; out-and-out; pink; plummy; proper; real jam; right as ninepence; ripping; rooter; rum; screaming; scrumptious; ship-shape; slap-up; slick; splendacious; splendiferous; to rights; tip-top; true marmalade; tsing-tsing.

French Synonyms.—Aux oiseaux (pop.: very fine, very good); bath or bate (pop.: tip-top; for origin see under A1); c’est du flan (thieves’: it is excellent); c’est hurf (general: = true marmalade); c’est un peu ça (popular); c’est bath aux pommes (cf., bath ante); chenátre (thieves’); chic or chique (chique is literally a quid of tobacco); chicard, chicancardo or chicandard (superlatives of chic); chocnoso, chocnosof, chocnosogue or kosenoff (= crushing; nobby); chouette, chouettard, or chouettaud (chouette = literally a screech-owl); épatarouflant or êpatant (general = stunning); farineux (lit. farinaceous); flambant (lit. blazing, flaming); frais (used ironically); grand ’largue (largue = offing); mirobolant (fam. and pop. = slap-up); muche (= bully or ripping); numéro un (i.e., A1); obéliscal or obélisqual (common); ruisselant d’inouisme (familiar); rup (popular); schpile (popular); sgoff (popular); snoboye (fam. and pop.); superlificoquentieux (= splendiferous).

1885. Daily Telegraph, 1 August, p. 2, col. 2. ‘She’ll do fizzing,’ remarked Mr. Menders, regarding the transformed effigy admiringly, ‘to stick up at the head of the barrer.’

Fizzle, subs. (American).—A ridiculous failure; a flash in the pan. [The figure is adapted from wet powder which burns with a hiss, and then goes out.] In many of the United States colleges, the term = a blundering recitation. To hit just one third of the meaning constitutes ‘a perfect fizzle.’—Hall’s College Words. The ‘Brunonian,’ Feb. 24, 1877, defines the word to mean ‘where the student thinks he knows, but can’t quite express it,’ or ‘he tries to express it, and the professor thinks he doesn’t quite know.’

1849. Tomahawk, November. Here he could fizzles mark, without a sigh, And see orations unregarded die.

1851. National Intelligencer, 8 Dec. The speech was as complete a fizzle as has ever disgraced Congress, and we hope sincerely the honourable member from Massachusetts will take the lesson to heart.

1865. Letter in the D. Telegraph, 30 March. The famous ‘Jack o’ Clubs,’ from which so much was expected, is a dead fizzle. The half of the men had to leave the mines and go to the low country for want of work; and wages, which always were $10 a-day, were reduced to $80 per month, with board.

1883. Echo, 16 March, p. 4, col. 1. What promised at first to be a magnificent Parliamentary ‘row’ ended in a mere unsensational fizzle.

1890. St. James’ Gaz., 1 May, p. 4, col. 2. Altogether it begins to look as though the terrible demonstrations of down-trodden labour which were to shake society to its foundations would end in something like fizzle.

Verb (American).—To fail in reciting; to recite badly. Also (said of an instructor) to cause one to fail at reciting. At some American colleges flunk (q.v.) is the common word for an utter failure. To fizzle = to stumble through at last. In the ‘Yale Literary Messenger,’ ‘Fizzle = To rise with modest reluctance, to hesitate often, to decline finally; generally, to misunderstand the question.’ Also to flat out (q.v.). Four. Far une yappa.

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

1850. Yale Lit. Mag., p. 321. Fizzle him tenderly, Bore him with care; Fitted so slenderly, Tutor, beware.

END OF VOL. II.

NOTES

[1] The Sunday men, as they are facetiously called in the fashionable world, are not now so numerous as formerly; the facility of a trip across the channel enables many a shy cock to evade the eye ... of the law.