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 DICTIONARY OF AMERICANISMS 
 
 A GLOSSARY 
 
 WORDS AND PHRASES 
 
 USUALLY REGARDED AS PECULIAR TO 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN RUSSELL BARTLETT. 
 
 SECOND EDITION, 
 
 GEEATLY IMPROVED AND ENLARGED. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY, 
 
 LONDON: TRUBNER AND COMPANY. 
 1859.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by 
 
 JOHN RUSSELL BARTLETT, 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Rhode Island. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE : 
 ALLEN AND FARNHAM, STEREOTYFERS AND PRINTERS.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 THE first edition of this Dictionary was published in New York in 1848. 
 It met with a quick sale, and soon passed out of print. Aware of its many 
 imperfections, I began my preparations for a new edition before it had fully 
 left the press. From that time to the day the last sheets of this edition left 
 my hands for the printer, now ten years, I have been more or less occupied 
 in its preparation. Nearly three years of this period I spent in the interior 
 of the country, in the service of the United States as Commissioner on the 
 Mexican Boundary ; but even there, I failed not to note the peculiarities of 
 the familiar language of the frontier, and carefully recorded the words and 
 phrases I met with for future use. This experience enabled me to collect 
 the singular words occurring in prairie and frontier life as well as those com- 
 mon to Texas, New Mexico, and California. Most of these have come from 
 the Spanish, and are now fairly engrafted on our language. 
 
 The other alterations and improvements made in this edition, consist in 
 the addition of a very large number of words and phrases peculiar to the 
 United States ; so that it now contains probably twice as many as the first 
 edition. The examples or illustrations from authors, showing the use of 
 words, have also been greatly multiplied. This seemed desirable, as exam- 
 ples convey a far more correct idea of their meaning and use than a simple' 
 definition. The histories of words and their definitions have also been 
 corrected and improved. 
 
 In the additions to this work, I have to acknowledge valuable contribu- 
 
 (iii)
 
 IV PREFACE 
 
 tions from several friends, who took an interest in the subject. To the Rev. 
 WM. S. MURPHY, President of the University of Missouri, I am indebted 
 for many words and phrases peculiar to the "West. To Mr. JOHN GIL- 
 MARY SHEA for New York words; to Dr. A. L. ELWYN of Philadelphia, 
 for the use of a manuscript vocabulary of Americanisms collected by him ; 
 to Mr. JAMES MITCHELL, of Nantucket, for words in use in that island; 
 to Professor GEO. C. SCIIAEFFER of Washington, for many terms of nat- 
 ural history, words relating to the arts, and Westernisms ; and to Dr. FRANCIS 
 LIEBER, of Columbia College, New York, for many sound remarks, of which 
 I have availed myself in the pages of the work. 
 
 Large additions have been made to the common terms of plants, trees, and 
 fruits of the United States, as well as of those which enter into our com- 
 merce. These, being familiar words of our language, seem as worthy of 
 being noted and explained as others. For valuable contributions to this 
 class of words I am indebted to Dr. EDWARD FOREMAN, of Washington ; 
 while Mr. ALEX. J. COTHEAL, a merchant of New York, and well known 
 in the field of Oriental literature, has kindly furnished me the common 
 names of the trees, fruits, nuts, etc. which enter into our commerce. 
 
 In preparing the first edition of this work, I was at a loss what to include 
 in the collection of words ; and, preferring to err on the side of copiousness, 
 admitted many words common to the colloquial language of England and 
 this country, which have now been rejected to make way for pure Ameri- 
 canisms. Of the words so rejected there are nearly eight hundred ; the fol- 
 lowing are examples : above-board, Adam's ale, to advocate, afeard, afore, 
 afterclaps, bamboozle, to bark one's shins, bobtail, bogtrotter, bolt-Upright, 
 boozy, bo-peep, to bore, born days, bran new, brown study, by-the-by, to hold 
 a candle, to catch a Tartar, caterwaul, catspaiv, to chalk out, chink, chouse, 
 chujfy, circumbendibus, clap-trap, clincher, clout, cool, cosey, cowlick, 
 crambo, criss-cross, cross-grained, crotchety, crowsfeet, curmudgeon, curry 
 favor, to cut one's acquaintance, cut and run, cut a dash, dabster, dead 
 alive, dawdle, demijohn, duds, Dick's hatband, dilly-dally, dog cheap, 
 down in the mouth, driving at, dumpy, elbow grease, to feather one's 
 nest, etc., etc. 
 
 A good many such words have nevertheless been retained, on the princi- 
 ple that a word now used only in some out-of-the-way locality in England, 
 but quite general here, may be regarded as a peculiarity of the English
 
 TO THE SECOND EDITION. V 
 
 language as spoken in America, i. e. an Americanism ; but as it is often 
 impossible to know with exactness to what extent a word is used in 
 England, it is likely that many of these should properly have been 
 omitted. 
 
 Many words common to the colloquial language both of England and 
 America have been allowed to remain because they have not yet been hon- 
 ored with a place in the current standard Dictionaries. Of these there are 
 many which in the glossaries are ascribed to " various dialects," and which 
 should be inserted in any general Dictionary of the English language which 
 aims at completeness. Were such a work as the new English Dictionary 
 projected by the Philological Society of London already in existence, the 
 insertion of a large number of words of this class could have been dispensed 
 with. 
 
 From what has been said it will be seen that the present edition, while it 
 does not wholly reject words of English origin, claims to be more strictly 
 American than the first. At the same time, the first edition will still have 
 a value of its own, as showing more fully how much of the colloquial lan- 
 guage of England is retained in use in this country. 
 
 Due attention has been given to some valuable criticisms on the first edi- 
 tion, in a paper by the late Dr. Felix Flugel, entitled " Die englische Pld- 
 lologie in Nordamerika" which appeared in Gersdorf's Repertorium for 
 1852 ; also, to criticisms which appeared in the " Western Continent " news- 
 paper of Philadelphia, and the " Literary World " of New York, soon after 
 the publication of the volume. Some excellent illustrations have been ob- 
 tained from a paper on " Canadian English," by the Rev. A. Constable Gei- 
 kie, read before the Canadian Institute 28th of March, 1857, and printed in 
 its Journal. 
 
 The first edition was translated into the Dutch language under the title 
 of " Wbordenboek van Americanismen, etc. Bewerkt door M. Keijzer. Gorin- 
 chem, 1854," leaving out the quotations which illustrate the use of words. 
 It was hoped that this work would furnish assistance in settling the etymo- 
 logy and meaning of some of the old Dutch words still used in Xew York ; 
 but it has proved of little use. 
 
 At the close of the book will be found a small collection of American 
 similes and proverbs, together with the abbreviations of the names of States, 
 etc., which were inserted in the body of the first edition. 
 
 A*
 
 VI PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 To my friend, Mr. WILLIAM W. TURNER, of Washington, I take pleasure 
 in again making my acknowledgments for the valuable aid furnished me 
 in the present as well as in the former edition, not only for the contribution 
 of numerous words and illustrations, but for his correction and supervision 
 of the whole work. 
 
 J. R. B. 
 
 PROVIDENCE, K. I., March, 1859.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 IN venturing to lay before the public a Vocabulary of the colloquial lan- 
 guage of the United States, some explanation may be necessary for the 
 broad ground I have been led to occupy. 
 
 I began to make a list of such words as appeared to be, or at least such 
 as had generally been called, Americanisms, or peculiar to the United States, 
 and, at the same time, made reference to the several authors in whose writ- 
 ings they appeared ; not knowing whether, in reality, they were of native 
 growth, or whether they had been introduced from England. "When this 
 list had expanded so as to embrace a large number of the words used in 
 familiar conversation, both among the educated as well as among the unedu- 
 cated and rustic classes, the next object was to examine the dialects and 
 provincialisms of those parts of England from which the early settlers of 
 New England and our other colonies emigrated. 
 
 The provincialisms of New England are more familiar to our ears than 
 those of any other section of the United States, as they are not confined 
 vithin the limits of those States, but have extended to New York, Ohio, 
 Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan ; which States have been, to a great extent, 
 settled by emigrants from New England. 
 
 On comparing these familiar words with the provincial and colloquial 
 language of the northern counties of England, a most striking resemblance 
 appeared not only in the words commonly regarded as peculiar to New 
 England, but in the dialectical pronunciation of certain words, and in the 
 general tone and accent. In fact it may be said, without exaggeration, that 
 nine tenths of the colloquial peculiarities of New England are derived 
 
 (vii)
 
 Vlll PREFACE 
 
 directly from Great Britain ; and that they are now provincial in those 
 parts from which the early colonists emigrated, or are to be found in the 
 writings of well accredited authors of the period when that emigration took 
 place. Consequently it is obvious that we have the best authority for the 
 use of the words referred to. 
 
 It may be insisted, therefore, that the idiom of New England is as pure 
 English, taken as a whole, as was spoken in England at the period when 
 these colonies were settled. In making this assertion,' I do not take as a 
 standard the nasal twang, the drawling enunciation, or those perversions of 
 language which the ignorant and uneducated adopt. Nor would I acknow- 
 ledge the abuse of many of our most useful words. For these perversions 
 I make no other defence or apology but that they occur in all countries 
 and in every language. 
 
 Having found the case to be as stated, I had next to decide between a 
 vocabulary of words of purely American origin, or one in which should be 
 embraced all those Avords usually called provincial or vulgar all the words, 
 whatever be their origin, which are used in familiar conversation, and but 
 seldom employed in composition all the perversions of language, and 
 abuses of words into which people, in certain sections of the country, have 
 fallen, and some of those remarkable and ludicrous forms of speech which 
 have been adopted in the Western States. The latter plan seemed the 
 most satisfactory, and this I determined to adopt.* 
 
 With so broad a ground, many words must necessarily be embraced which 
 arc to be found in the dictionaries of Drs. Johnson and Webster, with the 
 
 * The term " Americanisms," as used in this Dictionary, may then be said to include 
 the following classes of words : 
 
 1. Archaisms, i. e. old English words, obsolete, or nearly so, in England, but retained 
 in use in this country. 
 
 .2. English words used in a different sense from what they are in England. These 
 include many names of natural objects differently applied. 
 
 3. Words which have retained their original meaning in the United States, although 
 not in England. 
 
 4. English provincialisms adopted into general use in America. 
 
 5. Newly coined words, which owe their origin to the productions or to the circum- 
 stances of the country. 
 
 6. Words borrowed from European languages, especially the French, Spanish, Dutch, 
 and German. 
 
 7. Indian words. 
 
 8. Negroisms. 
 
 9. Peculiarities of pronunciation. [Note to Second Edition.]
 
 TO THE FIRST EDITION. ix 
 
 remark that they are low or vulgar, or only to be heard in familiar conver- 
 sation. Another class, not in the dictionaries referred to, is contained in 
 the provincial glossaries of England. A third class, entirely distinct from 
 the preceding, consists of slang words which are not noticed by lexicogra- 
 phers, yet are so much employed as to deserve a place in a glossary. 
 
 Such is the plan which I have thought most advisable to adopt, and 
 which I hope will give satisfaction. In carrying out this plan, I have 
 endeavored to give the most accurate definitions, citing the authorities in all 
 cases where I have been enabled to find any. Except as regards words of 
 purely American origin (e. g. those derived from the Indian languages and 
 from the Dutch), I have generally kept aloof from etymologies and etymo- 
 logical discussions. These the reader will find in abundance such as they 
 are in the works of Johnson, Todd, Webster, and others. 
 
 Words of a provincial character, and such as have become obsolete in 
 composition, are often of doubtful signification. Illustrations, from well- 
 known authors, wherein such words are employed, are of service in arriving 
 at their true meaning. These have been employed in the present glossary, 
 and serve the double purpose of illustration, and of rendering the book 
 more readable than if confined to a dry collection of definitions. This 
 mode of showing the sense in which words have been employed by authors, 
 was first practised on a comprehensive scale by Dr. Johnson, whose labors 
 are thereby greatly enhanced in value to the philologist ; and has since been 
 carried out more completely in Mr. Richardson's dictionary. 
 
 The class of words which are purely American in their origin and use, I 
 have also attempted to illustrate, by extracts from American authors whose 
 writings relate to that class of people among which these words are chiefly 
 found. These books contain descriptions of country life, scenes in the back- 
 woods, popular tales, etc., in which the colloquial or familiar language of 
 particular States predominates. The humorous writings of Judge Halibur- 
 ton of Nova Scotia give a tolerably correct though exaggerated specimen 
 of the provincialisms of New England. The letters of Major Downing are 
 of the same character, and portray the dialect of New England with less 
 exaggeration.* There are no books in which the Western words and ! 
 
 * Among other books from which I have quoted examples of the use of words com- 
 mon to New England and the Northern States, are Judd's "Margaret," the "Widow 
 Bedott Papers," " The Bigelow Papers," and the Sermons of Dow, Junior. [Note to- 
 Second Edition.]
 
 X PREFACE 
 
 phrases are so fully exhibited ; though all the works which aim to illustrate 
 Western life contain more or less of the idioms peculiar to the people. 
 Judge Hall, Mrs. Kirkland (Mary Clavers), the author of the New Pur- 
 chase, Charles F. Hoffman, and various tourists, have displayed in their se- 
 veral works the peculiarities of the "people of the West, and occasionally 
 their language. Mr. Crockett, however, himself a native of that region, 
 associating from infancy with its woodsmen, hunters, and farmers, whose 
 language is full of quaint words and figures of speech, has unintentionally 
 made us better acquainted with the colloquial language of the West than 
 any other author. 
 
 I am also indebted to a series of books published by Messrs. Carey and 
 Hart, called the " Library of Humorous American Works," which consist 
 of a series of tales and adventures in the South-west and West, by Win.' T. 
 Porter, editor of the New York Spirit of the Times ; John S. Robb and 
 J. M. Field, Esquires, of St. Louis, Missouri ; the editor of the New Or- 
 leans Picayune ; and some anonymous writers. In these several works the 
 drolleries and quaint sayings of the West are admirably incorporated into 
 tales of the settlers, their manners and customs, vivid descriptions of West- 
 ern scenery, political and dramatic scenes, etc. We have no books which 
 present so graphic an account of Western life, related in the exaggerated 
 and metaphorical language peculiar to the people of that region. 
 
 In Southern provincialisms I find myself most deficient, having seen no 
 books except Major Jones's " Courtship " and " Sketches," " Georgia 
 Scenes," and " Sherwood's Gazetteer of Georgia," in which, however, a 
 considerable number of local words are to be found. 
 
 The newspapers have afforded me many illustrations of the use of words, 
 which I have not failed to make use of. These illustrations, it will be seen, 
 are chiefly from the New York papers, viz. the Commercial Advertiser, the 
 Tribune, and the Herald, for the simple reason that I have been in the prac- 
 tice of reading them daily. When I met with a word or phrase peculiarly 
 American, or one which was employed in a sense differing from the use of 
 the same in England, it was at once noticed and secured. All our news- 
 papers contain more or less colloquial words ; in fact, there seems no other 
 way of expressing certain ideas connected with passing events of every-day 
 life, with the requisite force and piquancy. In the English newspapers the 
 same thing is observable, and certain of them contain more of the class
 
 TO THE FIRST EDITION. XI 
 
 denominated slang words than our own. The "Whig papers throughout the 
 United States employ certain political terms in advocating the principles of 
 their party, and in denouncing those of their opponents. The Democratic 
 papers pursue a similar course. The advocates and opponents of Abolition, 
 Fourierism, etc., invent and employ many words peculiar to themselves. 
 So with the religious sects ; each new-fangled notion brings into existence 
 some addition to our language, though that addition is. not always an im- 
 provement. 
 
 The value of this Glossary would have been greatly enhanced, if, as is 
 usual in the compilation of similar works, I had been able to avail myself 
 of the assistance of persons residing in various parts of our country. No 
 collection of words, professing to contain the colloquial language of the en- 
 tire country, can approach any degree of completeness or correctness, with- 
 out the aid of many hands and heads. None but a native of New Eng- 
 land, educated on her soil, and who has mingled with all classes of society, 
 has the requisite familiarity with the words and phrases peculiar to her 
 people. So with the Western and Southern provincialisms. One born 
 and brought up where they are spoken, who has heard and used them when 
 a boy, and grown up in their midst, can alone portray them in their true 
 sense. The aid of such persons it was impossible to procure, and the 
 words here brought together have been, with very few exceptions, collected 
 by myself. The deficiencies and imperfections are such, therefore, as could 
 not be avoided under the circumstances. 
 
 The words of Dutch origin, most if not all of which are used or under- 
 derstood in the city of New York and those portions of its vicinity colo- 
 nized by natives of Holland, were furnished by Mr. ALEXANDER J. Co- 
 THEAL, a gentleman born and educated in New York, whose learning in 
 other branches of philological science is well known to many. A few 
 other words have been given me from time to time by other friends, who- 
 knew that I was making this collection. To all of these I am happy to ex- 
 press my acknowledgments. 
 
 "When the work had advanced far towards completion, and one half had 
 been put in type, the occurrence of some terms common in political language, 
 the exact meaning of which was not clear, led me to apply to my friend JOHN 
 IXMAN, Esq., editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser, for aid. He 
 readily complied with my request, and kindly furnished the definitions of
 
 XU PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 several terms of daily occurrence in the political language of the day. I 
 regret that I did not have his valuable aid in defining and illustrating the 
 use of words and phrases which occur in the early part of this Glossary. 
 The contributions of Mr. Inman are acknowledged where they appear. 
 
 To rny friend Mr. WM. W. TURNER I am under great obligations for aid 
 rendered me in preparing this work for the press. Mr. Turner's extensive 
 acquaintance with the European and Oriental languages, together with an 
 unusual sagacity in philological criticism, have peculiarly fitted him to give 
 aid in the preparation of a work like this. I have, therefore, submitted 
 the whole to his supervision, and adopted his views in all my conclusions- 
 At his suggestion I have struck out many etymologies taken from standard 
 dictionaries, which it was evident were wholly erroneous. 
 
 In noticing the words embraced in this Glossary, the reader will probably 
 think that many have been admitted which ought not to have a place in a 
 Dictionary of American Provincialisms. From what has alf eady been said, 
 it will be seen that it is very difficult to draw the line between what should 
 be admitted and what excluded ; and I have thought it better to err on the 
 side of copiousness, than by too rigid a system of selection to run into the 
 opposite extreme. 
 
 A careful perusal of nearly all the English glossaries has enabled me to 
 select what appeared most desirable to embrace, and what to avoid, in an 
 American book of a similar kind. Cant words, except such as are in gen- 
 eral use, the terms used at gaming-houses, purely technical words, and those 
 only known to certain trades, obscene and blasphemous words, have been 
 discarded. 
 
 For a better understanding of the subject, as well as to show the impor- 
 tance of collecting and preserving the colloquial dialects of our country, I 
 have prefixed to the Vocabulary some remarks on language, in which the 
 reader will find that the study of dialects and provincialisms is considered 
 as worthy the attention of philologists, as the investigation of the language 
 
 of literature. 
 
 J. R. B. 
 
 NEW YORK, 1848.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 DIALECTS OF ENGLAND. 
 
 THE most recent investigations in which the science of philology has 
 been brought to bear on the English language, have shown that it is of 
 purely Gothic origin, descended through languages, of which sufficient re- 
 mains to make grammatical as well as etymological comparisons practicable. 
 It is true that some have regarded it as a perfect mongrel, without any nat- 
 ural parent, compounded of various languages and dialects, Greek, Latin, 
 Saxon, French, "Welsh, etc., etc. But although the language is very much 
 mixed, it is a question whether it is not as pure, and as closely allied to the 
 Anglo-Saxon and Mosso- Gothic, as the languages in the south of Europe 
 are to the Latin. Or, in other words, it is probable that the English is not 
 more impregnated with words of the Latin stock, than the Italian, French, 
 Spanish, and Portuguese are with words of the Teutonic stock. 
 
 The natural tendency of language is to improve ; and when a people can- 
 not express in a comprehensive manner a particular idea or shade of mean- 
 ing, they either form a word to denote it from a root or roots already in the 
 language, or borrow a word from other languages which expresses it 
 already. 
 
 "With regard to the English language this last-mentioned process has 
 been adopted to an extent which, while it has enriched our vocabulary with 
 a vast number of terms, has, it must be confessed, greatly impaired its re- 
 productive power. The original substratum of Anglo-Saxon speech has 
 been overlaid with multitudes of common and conversational words from the 
 French, literary and ecclesiastical terms from the Latin, and technicalities 
 from the Greek ; and the process is constantly going on. Yet in spite of 
 these immense accessions to its vocabulary, the structure of the English has 
 remained in all essential respects the' same from the period when it first 
 became a language. Moreover, the number of foreign importations con- 
 
 B
 
 XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tained in our dictionaries, gives by no means a correct idea of the number of 
 such words which we actually make use of. The greater part of our house- 
 hold, colloquial, and poetical expressions are Saxon, and so are all those im- 
 portant words called particles, on which the whole structure of speech hinges ; 
 whereas an immense number of the words derived from other sources belong 
 exclusively to the language of books, and many even to particular sciences. 
 
 There is another fact to be observed, which is, that these different classes 
 of words are not used in the same proportion by all members of society. 
 Persons without education, and who are consequently not familiar with the 
 language of literature, employ almost exclusively in their conversation the 
 simple and expressive Saxon terms ; while persons belonging to the more 
 favored classes of society, supply the place of many of these terms by 
 others derived from the language of books. The old words thus discarded, 
 which are often far more expressive and more consonant to the genius of 
 the language than the apparently more elegant novelties by which they are 
 supplanted, are from that time considered as the exclusive property of the 
 common people, and receive the name of provincial, colloquial, or vulgar. 
 
 But notwithstanding all this, the common speech often enters largely into 
 composition, and in some instances constitutes the chief excellence of a 
 writer. In dramatic composition the colloquial language predominates. In 
 Shakespeare we find every variety of diction of which the English language 
 is susceptible, from the loftiest nights of the statesman and philosopher to 
 the familiar language of the lowest .of the people. In Ben Jonson, Beau- 
 mont and Fletcher, Shirley, and the other dramatic authors, we find the 
 familiar idiom to be the most prevalent. 
 
 If we examine the literature of other countries, we shall find that the 
 colloquial tongue has been employed in written compositions of a similar 
 kind and with equal success. In addition to Aristophanes and Plautus 
 among the ancients, Cervantes may be mentioned as an example in Spain, 
 and the writings of Rabelais and Moliere in France. The colloquial dia- 
 lect is generally more ancient than the literary language ; as the latter is 
 constantly changing, while the former remains nearly stationary. 
 
 If any person will take the trouble to examine the early dictionaries of 
 the English language, or the dictionaries of which English forms a part, he 
 will be surprised at the large number of words which have become so com- 
 pletely obsolete as to be undeserving a place in modern compilations. 
 Even the English dictionary of Bailey, which, at the time Dr. Johnson pub- 
 lished his, was the standard, abounds in words which are now never used in 
 composition. This class of words was employed by authors from Chaucer's 
 time, or about the year 1400, to the beginning of the seventeenth century. 
 By the middle of that century they had ceased to be used in books, but 
 were preserved in dictionaries for a century longer. The great mass of
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 them, however, are found in one or more of the numerous provincial dia- 
 lects of England to the present day. 
 
 The dialects of the English language now spoken in England have ex- 
 isted from a very early period. It is not pretended by writers on the sub- 
 ject that any are of recent origin. " In early times," says Dr. Boswortb, 
 " there was clearly a considerable dialectic variety in the writings of men 
 residing in different provinces. The differences observable in the language 
 of the most cultivated classes would be still more marked and apparent in 
 the mass of population, or the less educated community. These, from 
 their agricultural pursuits, had little communication with the inhabitants of 
 other provinces ; and having few opportunities and little inducement to 
 leave their own neighborhood, they intermarried among each other, and, 
 from their limited acquaintance and circumscribed views, they would nat- 
 urally be much attached to their old manners, customs, and language. The 
 same cause operating from age to age would keep united the greater part 
 of the population, or the families of the middle stations of life ; it may, 
 therefore, be well expected that much of the peculiarity of dialect prevalent 
 in Anglo-Saxon times, is preserved even to the present day in the provin- 
 cial dialects of the same districts. In these local dialects, then, remnants of 
 the Anglo-Saxon tongue may be found in the least altered, most uncorrupt, 
 and therefore its purest state." * 
 
 In an ethnological point of view the English dialects afford important 
 materials for elucidating that portion of English history which relates to the 
 early colonization of Great Britain ; for, if history were silent on the sub- 
 ject, a philological test applied to the dialects of the country would show 
 what nations contributed to its colonization. 
 
 The Edinburgh Review for April, 1844, in an article on the Provincial- 
 isms of the European Languages, gives the following results of an inquiry 
 into the number of provincial words which had then been arrested by local 
 glossaries : 
 
 Shropshire, . . . 1,993 
 
 / Devonshire and Cornwall, . 878 
 
 ) Devonshire (North), . . 1,140 
 
 CExmoor, . . . 370 
 
 Herefordshire, . . . 822 
 
 Lancashire, . . . 1,922 
 
 Suffolk, .... 2,400 
 
 Norfolk, . . . 2,500 
 
 Somersetshire, . . . 1,204 
 
 Sussex, 
 
 Essex, , 
 
 Wiltshire, . 
 
 Hallamshire, 
 
 Craven, 
 
 North County, . 
 
 Cheshire, 
 
 Grose and Pegge,t 
 
 30,687 
 
 * Preface to Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, p. xxvi. 
 t Set down as Metropolitan.
 
 XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " Admitting that several of the foregoing are synonymous, superfluous, or 
 common to each county, there are nevertheless many of them which, al- 
 though alike orthographically, are vastly dissimilar in signification. Mak- 
 ing these allowances, they amount to a little more than 20,000 ; or, accord- 
 ing to the number of English counties hitherto illustrated, to the average 
 ratio of 1478 to a county. Calculating the twenty-six unpublished in the 
 same ratio (for there are 'supposed to be as many words collected by per- 
 sons who have never published them), they will furnish 36,428 additional 
 provincialisms, forming in the aggregate 59,000 words in the colloquial 
 tongue of the lower classes, which can, for the chief part, produce proofs of 
 legitimate origin." 
 
 Since the above was written, a most important contribution to this de- 
 partment of literature has been made in the publication of " A Dictionary of 
 Archaic and Provincial Words, Obsolete Phrases, Proverbs, and Ancient 
 Customs, from the fourteenth century. By J. 0. Halliwell. 2 vols. 8vo, 
 London, 1847." This admirable work actually contains 50,000 words, a great 
 portion of which are illustrated by extracts from manuscripts. It will be found 
 by most persons to amply supply the place of the numerous separate glos- 
 saries for studying the dialects of England, while it affords indispensable 
 assistance for the correct understanding of the early writers. A still later 
 publication of the same description, and which has constantly been con- 
 sulted with advantage in preparing the second edition of the present 
 work, is the "Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English, containing 
 words from the English writers previous to the nineteenth century, which 
 are no longer in use, or are not used in the same sense, and words which 
 are now used only in the provincial dialects. Compiled by Thomas Wright, 
 Esq. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1857." 
 
 As it does not fall within the scope of these inquiries to discuss the lan- 
 guages to which the English bears a relationship, we shall pass over these, 
 and come at once to the Anglo-Saxon. This forms the basis of the English 
 language, and is to be considered as the mother-tongue, upon which many 
 words and phrases from other languages, at successive periods, during a 
 space of fourteen centuries, have been engrafted. 
 
 The Saxons brought their language into Britain in the year 449, when 
 the invasion under Hengist took place. What the language was at this 
 period it is impossible to show, as no writings of the time have come down 
 to us. It probably approached nearer to its immediate progenitor, the 
 Low German and Mceso-Gothic, than the form it assumed several centuries 
 later, when we first find written documents.* 
 
 * It is true that the celebrated Anglo-Saxon poem of Beowulf is considered to be 
 contemporary with Hengist. But its editor, Mr. Kemble, states that the poem as contained
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV11 
 
 The large number of invaders who followed Hengist compelled the an- 
 cient inhabitants to retire ; and in about a century the whole country was 
 formed into a Saxon kingdom, wherein their language took the place of the 
 Celtic. This language, thus introduced and so firmly established, has been 
 called pure Saxon by the learned Dr. Hickes in his " Thesaurus Veterum 
 Linguarum Septentrionalium." 
 
 The languages of the Angles and Saxons were closely allied to each other 
 In fact, from a comparison of the earliest specimens that have come down 
 to us, it is evident that they were merely dialects of the same tongue, spoken 
 by people living contiguous to each other. The other Gothic invaders, or 
 colonists of Britain, who have left traces of their language, are the Jutes of 
 Jutland and the Friesians of Friesland. 
 
 The Danes made their first descent on the English coast in 787, and 
 were soon repelled. Successive invasions followed, and when Charlemagne 
 compelled them to retreat before his victorious armies, they sought a* refuge 
 in Britain, laying waste the country and plundering wherever they came. 
 The Saxons always got rid of them as soon as possible, either by force of 
 arms or contributions of money. Yet in many instances they established 
 colonies, and after 230 years of warfare they succeeded in raising a Danish 
 king to the throne of England in the year 1017. His reign, however, was 
 short ; for in twenty-four years the Danish dynasty was extinct, and a 
 Saxon king again succeeded. 
 
 This is the period where Dr. Hickes places the second stage of the 
 Anglo-Saxon language, being that in which it was affected by the Danish 
 invasions, receiving new words or dialectical changes. Mr. Forby, in his 
 remarks on the dialect of East Anglia, says that no part of England was 
 more completely overrun or longer occupied than this ; but he denies that a 
 number of words sufficiently large was imported to give a new color and 
 character to the Saxon tongue.* 
 
 " The French element appeared in our language with the battle of Hast- 
 ings (A. D. 106G), perhaps in a slight degree during the reign of Edward 
 the Confessor." f It is the dialect spoken in the northern parts of France, 
 and denominated Norman French, which has had the greatest influence 
 upon the English language. 
 
 Those parts of Great Britain which have contributed most to our pro- 
 vincialisms are the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, and the Scottish Bor- 
 ders. It was chiefly from these counties that New England was colonized ; 
 hence their peculiarities of language are most numerous in the New Eng- 
 
 in the Cottonian MS., British Museum, is not so old ; and there occur in it Christian 
 allusions which fix this text at least at a period subsequent to A. D. 597. 
 
 * Forby's lutrod. to the Vocab. of East Anglia, p. 31. 
 
 t Latham on the English Language, p. 45. 1st edit.
 
 XV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 land States. The provincialisms used in the districts referred to have been 
 collected and published in Forby's Vocabulary of East Anglia, 2 vols. 12mo. 
 London, 1830; Moor's Suffolk Words and Phrases, 12mo. London, 1823; 
 Brockett's Glossary of North Country Words, with their etymology, 3d edi- 
 tion, 2 vols. 12mo. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1846 ; and Carr's dialect of Cra- 
 ven in the West Riding of York, 2 vols. 12mo. 2d edition, London, 1828. 
 
 AMERICAN DIALECTS. 
 
 DIALECTS originate in various ways. First, by the proximity of nations 
 speaking different languages, in which case many words and phrases are 
 borrowed from one into the other ; witness the Scotch and Irish dialects of 
 the English. Secondly, by migrations. This is the most fruitful and per- 
 manent source of dialects. We see its effects in the language of England ; 
 for the immigrations of various nations into Great Britain from the Saxons 
 down to the period of the Norman conquest are yet distinctly marked in the 
 dialects of that country. 
 
 In the United States it is easy to point out causes, which, in the course 
 of a few generations, will materially affect the English language in the par- 
 ticular districts of country where those influences are at work. Dialects will 
 spring up as marked as those of Great Britain. A free intercourse may in 
 some cases check the permanency of these dialects ; but in those parts of 
 the country aside from the great thoroughfares, where a dialect has once 
 become firmly established, a thousand years will not suffice to eradicate it. 
 
 The State of New York was originally settled by the Dutch. The num- 
 ber of their colonists was never large, nor did they extend their settlements 
 beyond the valley of the Mohawk and lands adjacent ; yet we find even in 
 this thickly settled State, after a lapse of two hundred years, that they have 
 left evident traces on our spoken language. In the cities of New York and 
 Albany many Dutch words have become incorporated into the common 
 speech. In some of the inland villages of Dutch origin, the inhabitants still 
 use the language of their fathers ; and there are even individuals who never 
 spoke any other. 
 
 The words so adopted by us embrace geographical names, a class of 
 words which the first colonists of a country or the primitive inhabitants 
 themselves generally leave to their posterity or to the subsequent occupants. 
 Many of the other words which the Dutch have left us are terms belonging 
 to the kitchen. These have been preserved and handed down by cooks 
 and domestic servants, until from constant use they are become familiar to
 
 INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 all. Among these terms are cookey, cruller, olykoke, spack and applejees, 
 noodlejees, rullichies, koolslaa, pit. 
 
 The terms for various playthings, holidays, etc., preserve among chil- 
 dren their original Dutch names ; as scup, snore, hoople, peewee, pile, pinkster, 
 paas. Other words confined to children are pinky, terawchy. 
 
 Articles of wearing apparel in some instances retain their Dutch names ; 
 as barraclade, clockmutch. 
 
 Besides these there are terms, the use of which is not confined to the dis- 
 tricts originally colonized from Holland, but has been extended to New 
 England and several of the Northern States, and even to Canada ; such as 
 stoop, a porch, boss, a master-workman, etc. 
 
 If a few Dutch colonists mingled with the English have been able to en- 
 graft so many words on our language, what may we not expect from the hun- 
 dreds of thousands of Germans in the State of Pennsylvania ? There the 
 German language will doubtless exist for centuries ; for, although they are 
 situated in the midst of an English-speaking population far more numerous 
 than themselves, and although the government and laws are conducted 
 through the English language, still the tendency of a people of com- 
 mon origin to cling together, the publication of newspapers, almanacs, 
 and books in German, and the .cultivation to some extent of German 
 literature, will tend to preserve the idiom and nationality of the people. It 
 is true the language is already much con'upted, and in the course of time 
 it must give way to the English ; but it will leave behind it an almost im- 
 perishable dialect as a memento of its existence. In the States of Ohio 
 and Texas, where there are large settlements of Germans, a similar result 
 must follow. 
 
 In the State of Illinois is a colony of Norwegians. These people before 
 coming to America sent out an agent, who selected and purchased for them 
 a large tract of land in one section of that State. They were accompanied 
 by their clergyman and schoolmaster. They are thus kept together, and 
 will for a long time preserve their language and nationality. But it must 
 also eventually give way, after engrafting on the English language in that 
 vicinity a Norwegian dialect. 
 
 There are large settlements of Welsh emigrants in the States of Penn- 
 sylvania and New York. In the latter, in Oneida county, one may travel 
 for miles and hear nothing but the Welsh language. These people have 
 their newspapers and magazines in their native tongue, and support many 
 churches wherein their language alone is preached. The Welsh, however, 
 are not in sufficient numbers, nor are they sufficiently isolated, to retain 
 for any length of time their native form of speech ; neither can they pro- 
 duce any sensible dialectical change in qur language, owing to the great 
 difference between it and their own. They will, however, add some words 
 to it.
 
 XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In the State of Louisiana, which was colonized by the French, and in 
 Florida, which was colonized by the Spaniards, there are many words of 
 foreign origin, scarcely known in the Northern States. The geographical 
 divisions, the names of rivers, mountains, bays ; the peculiarities of soil and 
 climate ; all that relates to the cultivation of the earth, the names of fishes, 
 birds, fruits, vegetables, coins, etc., etc., retain to a great extent the names 
 given them by the first possessors of the country. The same classes of words 
 are preserved in Lower Canada, where they were originally given by the 
 French. We have adopted them into our own tongue, where they will for- 
 ever remain in use. Among the words of French oi-igin are bagasse, ban- 
 quette, cache, bodette, bayou, sault, levee, crevasse, habitan, portage, voyageur* 
 
 The Spanish colonists in Florida, and our intercourse with Mexico and the 
 Spanish main, were the means of introducing a few Spanish words. Since 
 the annexation of Texas, New Mexico, and California, our vocabulary has 
 received numerous additions from this source. These consist of geograph- 
 ical terms ; as, arroyo, acequia, barranca, canyon, cienega, dene gidta, far alo- 
 nes, loma, mesa, mesilla, playa, ojo, sierra, Jornada ; of names of articles of 
 food, as tortilla, frijoles, atole, pinole, chile; and of various other terms, as, 
 arriero, adobe, chaparal, pistareen, rancho, ranchero, lariat, lasso, fandango, 
 stampede, scrape, vamos. 
 
 The Indian terms in our language, as might be supposed, are numerous. 
 First, as to geographical names. These abound in every State in the 
 Union, though more in some States than in others. In New England, par- 
 ticularly on the coast, Indian names are very common. Nearly all the 
 rivers, bays, and prominent landmarks bear them, as Housatonic, Connecti- 
 cut, Quinnebaug, Pawcatuck, Merrimack, Kennebec, Penobscot, Narragan- 
 set, Passamaquoddy, etc. In other parts of the country, too, the rivers 
 retain their aboriginal names, as the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Susque- 
 hanna, Roanoke, Altamaha, Chattahoochie, Alabama, etc., etc. And the 
 same may be said of the great lakes ; as, Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan, 
 as well as the lesser ones of Seneca, Gayuga, Canandaigua, Oneida, Winni- 
 peg, Winnebago ; and also of nearly all the bays, mountains, and numerous 
 geographical divisions and localities. Many of the aboriginal names, however, 
 have been discarded for others less appropriate. In New England the towns 
 and villages were chiefly named after the towns in England from which the 
 early colonists emigrated. In the State of New York there is a strange 
 discrepancy in the names of places. Before the Revolution the people 
 seemed to prefer the aboriginal names ; not only the rivers, lakes, hills, etc., 
 but many of the towns, received them. After the war, the names of dis- 
 tinguished statesmen and soldiers were applied to the new counties and 
 towns. Besides geographical najBes, the Indian languages have supplied 
 us with 1st, Many names of beasts and fishes, as caribou, cayman, chipmuk,
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 moose, ocelot, opossum, raccoon, skunk, manitee, squeteague, menhaden, pau- 
 haugen, scuppaug, quahaug. 2d, Of plants ; as, persimmon, chincapin, 
 pecan, tuckahoe, maize, kinnikinnik, tobacco ; particularly preparations of 
 them for food, as samp, hominy, succotash, supawn from Indian corn ; and 
 from the cassava plant, mandioca and tapioca. 3d, Names of articles 
 known to and used by the Indians, and which the Europeans did not possess ; 
 as, canoe, hammock, moccasin, wampum, wigwam, tomahawk, pemmican ; 
 and 4th, names applied by Indians to themselves in their various relations ; 
 as, inca, cazique, cockarouse, mingo, sachem, sagamore, squaw, pappoos. 
 
 The greatest perversions of the English language arise from two opposite 
 causes. One of them is the introduction of vulgarisms by uneducated peo- 
 ple, who not having the command of proper words to express their ideas, 
 invent others for the purpose. These words continue among this class, are 
 transmitted by them to their children, and thus become permanent and 
 provincial. They are next seized upon by stump-speakers at political 
 meetings, because they are popular with the masses. Next we hear 
 them on the floor of Congress and in our halls of legislation. Quoted 
 by the newspapers, they become familiar to all, and take their place in the 
 colloquial language of the whole people. Lexicographers now secure them 
 and give them a place in their dictionaries ; and thus they are firmly en- 
 grafted on our language. The study of lexicography will show that this 
 process has long been going on in England, and doubtless other languages 
 are subject to similar influences. 
 
 But the greatest injury to our language arises from the perversion of 
 legitimate words and the invention of hybrid and other inadmissible expres- 
 sions by educated men, and particularly by the clergy. This class is the 
 one, above all others, which ought to be the conservators rather than the 
 perverters of language. It is nevertheless a fact which cannot be denied, 
 that many strange and barbarous Avords to which our ears are gradually be- 
 coming familiar, owe to them their origin and introduction ; among them 
 may be mentioned such verbs as to fellowship, to difficult, to eventuate, to 
 doxologize, to happify, to donate, to funeralize, etc., etc. 
 
 Political writers have made', and are constantly making large additions 
 to our stock of words and phrases. Alex. Hamilton's writings abound in 
 newly coined expressions ; many of which have been adopted by Dr. Web- 
 ster, and have a place in his dictionary. But few, however, have come 
 into general use, as his writings have not been widely diffused, and there is 
 nothing to recommend them for adoption by scholars. Mr. N. P. Willis,, 
 also, has the reputation of inventing many new words, some of which, 
 though not yet embodied in our dictionaries, are much used in familiar lan- 
 guage. Judge Story has contributed his share of new words ; but as they.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 are confined to legal treatises and works on the Constitution, they can never 
 seriously affect the language. 
 
 Writers of political articles in the newspapers, stump-orators, and the 
 members of legislative bodies, have added much to the English vocabulary. 
 This class of words, though not remarkable for their elegance, are often highly 
 expressive, and become more widely known than other classes. In many in- 
 stances, however, their existence is but short. They often spring up with 
 a party ; and as the parties become extinct, or give place to new ones, the 
 terms which express their peculiar ideas or doctrines likewise fall out of 
 use. In this class may be included such terms as Old Hunker, Bucktail, 
 Federalist, Barnburner, Loco-foco, Young Democracy, Democratic Republi- 
 can, Know-nothing, Native American, Nullifier, Nullification, Coon, Coon- 
 ery, Fire-eater, Black Republican, Silver-gray, Wire-puller, etc. 
 
 There are words, however, in this class, which, having grown out of our 
 peculiar institutions, are of a permanent nature. The origin of some of 
 these is involved in obscurity, while that of others is well known. Some- 
 times a little incident trivial in itself has brought into existence words 
 which are extremely expressive, and which will remain as long as our insti- 
 tutions exist. In this class we find caucus, mass-meeting, buncombe or 
 bunkum, to lobby, mileage, gubernatorial, senatorial, squatter sovereignty, 
 stamping ground, stump, etc. 
 
 The peculiar physical features of the country its animals, productions, 
 aborigines, forest-life, etc. have been a most fruitful source, from which 
 have sprung perhaps the largest number of new words, as necessary and useful 
 to ourselves as any derived from our Saxon ancestors. These terms are not 
 used in England, for the simple reason that there they are not wanted. 
 Although I cannot agree with Dr. Webster, that " we rarely find a new 
 word introduced into a language which is entirely useless," for there are 
 unquestionably thousands of words encumbering our dictionaries which 
 might well be dispensed with ; yet there is no doubt that, in most instances, 
 " the use of new terms is dictated by necessity or utility ; sometimes to 
 express shades of difference in signification, for which the language did 
 not supply a suitable term; sometimes to express a combination of 
 ideas by a single word, which otherwise would require a circumlocu- 
 tion. These benefits, which are often perceived, as it were, instinc- 
 tively by a nation, recommend such words to common use, till the cavils 
 of critics are silenced by the weight of authority." Letter to J. Picker- 
 ing, p. 7. 
 
 Were we to classify the periods when names were applied to places in 
 the State of New York, for example, we would call that in which the In- 
 dian names were applied, the aboriginal period. This is as far back as it
 
 INTRODUCTION. Xxiii 
 
 would be safe for ordinary mortals to go, leaving the "antediluvian" period 
 to the second sight of such seers as Mr. Rafinesque.* 
 
 The Indian names seem to have prevailed till the Revolution. Then 
 came a burst of patriotism among the settlers, many of whom doubtless had 
 served in the war, and every new place was christened with the names of 
 the warriors and statesmen of the day. Thus arose Washington county, 
 Washington village, and Washington hollow ; Jefferson county, village, lake, 
 etc. The State of New York has thus perpetuated, in her towns and vil- 
 lages, the names of Adams, Jay, Lafayette, Hamilton, Madison, Pinckney, 
 Putnam, Pulaski, Schuylcr, De Kalb, Steuben, Sullivan, Gates, Wayne, etc. 
 This may well be styled the patriotic period. The names of statesmen and 
 generals, however, did not suffice for the patriotism of our early pioneers, for 
 we find interspersed among them the names of Freedom, Freetown, Freeport, 
 Independence, Liberty, Victory, Hopewell, Harmony, Concord, Union, etc. 
 
 Next comes the classical period ; for by what other term could we desig- 
 nate a period when towns were christened by the names of such men as Ho- 
 mer, Virgil, Solon, Ovid, Cato, Euclid, Brutus, Pompey, Tully, Cicero, Aure- 
 lius, Scipio, Ulysses, Seneca, Hannibal, Hector, Romulus, Lysander, Manlius, 
 Camillus, and Marcellus ; or of such places as Athens, Sparta, Marathon, 
 Troy, Corinth, Pharsalia, Palmyra, Utica, Smyrna, Rome, and Carthage. 
 
 Testimony to the piety (to say nothing of the good taste) of our fore- 
 fathers is also afforded by the occurrence of such names as Eden, Babylon, 
 Sodom, Jerusalem, Jericho, Hebron, Goshen, Bethany, Bethpage, Bethlehem, 
 Sharon, etc. There are towns named after nearly every country in Europe, 
 as Norway, Sweden, Denmark (with a Copenhagen adjoining), Russia, 
 Greece, Italy, Sardinia, Holland, Wales, as well as after their principal 
 cities. There is a town of Mexico, Chili, Peru, Delhi, Canton, Cairo, Egypt, 
 China, Cuba. Distinguished men in English history, as Milton, Addison, 
 Clarendon, Dryden, Scott, Byron, Chesterfield, Hume, Marlborough, Junius, 
 have towns christened with their names. But little fondness is exhibited 
 for dramatic authors, as the name of the greatest of them all has been for- 
 gotten : not even a pond, a hollow, or a swamp has been honored with the 
 name of Shakspeare. If we were to classify all the names of places in the 
 State of New York, we should be puzzled to find a place for the names of 
 Painted Post, Oxbow, Half moon, Owl Pond, Oyster Bay, Mud Creek, Cow 
 Neck, Mosquito Cove, Oblong, Pitcher, Red Jacket, Rough and Ready, Suc- 
 cess, and the like. The name of Penn Tan is said to have been manufactured 
 by the first settlers, part of whom were from Pennsylvania and the rest 
 from New England, by taking the first syllable from " Pennsylvania," and 
 the last from " Yankee." 
 
 * See Introduction to History of Kentucky.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Strangely formed factitious words are much affected at the "West, abskize, 
 absquatulate, catawampously, exflunctify, obscute, slantendicidar, etc. etc. ; 
 and in the South such onomatopees as keslosh, kesouse, keswollop, kewhol- 
 lux, etc. 
 
 The battle fields of the Mexican war are commemorated in eighteen 
 Buena Vistas, sixteen Montereys, nine Palo Altos, and two Resacas. And 
 the names of its heroes have given birth to a host of Taylors and Taylor- 
 villes, Worths and Worthvilles, Pierces and Piercevilles, besides Piercetown, 
 Pierceland, and Pierce Point ; also several Polks and Polkvilles, together 
 with Polktown, Polk City, Polk Patch, Polk Precinct, and Polk Run ; and 
 two additional Quitmans. In California many places have been absurdly 
 named from some trifling incident connected with the first settlement ; such 
 as Hangtown, Fiddletown, Shirt-Tail Canyon, Whiskey Gulch, Port Wine 
 Diggings, Humbug Flat, Murderer's Bar, Flapjack Canyon, Yankee Jim's, 
 Jackass Gulch, Red Dog, Traveller's Rest, Fair Play, with many others 
 equally ridiculous. 
 
 In consequence of the variety of origin of the names of States and towns, 
 the formation of nouns from them to denote the native or citizen of such 
 State or town is sometimes difficult and even impossible. Thus New Yorker, 
 Vermonter, Rhode Islander, will do well enough ; and so will Virginian, 
 Georgian, Philadelphian, Bostonian, Mobilian ; but Buffalonian, Illinoian, 
 Ohioan, are hardly admissible ; while Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Ar- 
 kansas refuse to yield to the process at all. 
 
 The class of new words and new meanings of old wo'rds which owe their 
 origin to circumstances or productions peculiar to the United States, such 
 as ark, backwoods, backwoodsmen, breadstuff's, barrens, blaze, bottoms, broad- 
 horn, bujfalo-robe, cane-brake, cypress-brake, clearing, corn broom, corn- 
 shucking, deadening, diggings, dug-out, flat-boat, hog-wallow, husking, inter- 
 val, location, pine-barrens, prairie, preemption, reservation, salt lick, savan- 
 nah, snag, sawyer, squatter, etc., are necessary additions to the language. 
 
 The metaphorical and other odd expressions used first at the West, and 
 afterwards in other parts of the country, often originate in some curious 
 anecdote or event, which is transmitted from mouth to mouth, and soon 
 made the property of all. Political writers and stump speakers perform a 
 prominent part in the invention and diffusion of these phrases. Among 
 these may be mentioned, to cave in, to acknowledge the corn, to flash in the 
 pan, to bark up the wrong tree, to wake up the wrong passenger, to pull tip 
 stakes, to be a caution, to jizzle out, to flat out, to flx his flint, to be among 
 the missing, to give him Jessy, to see the elephant, to fly around, to spread 
 oneself, to tucker out, to use up, to walk into, to cotton, to hifer, to chisel, 
 to slope, to lobby, to gerrymander, to splurge, etc. etc. 
 
 Our people, particularly those who belong to the West and South, are
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 fond of using intensive and extravagant epithets, both as adjectives and 
 adverbs, as awful, poiverful, monstrous, dreadful, mighty, almighty, all-fired, 
 etc. ; while euphemistic oaths are one of the characteristics of the Yankee 
 dialect. 
 
 The words bankable, boatable, dutiable, mailable, mileage, are well formed 
 and useful terms, which have been generally adopted by those who have oc- 
 casion to make use of them. But the words dubersome, disremember, dece- 
 dent, docity, and the like, can hardly be called necessary additions to our 
 language. 
 
 There is a diversity in the pronunciation of certain words in different 
 parts of the United States, which is so perceptible that a native of these 
 particular districts may be at once recognized by a person who is observant 
 in these matters. Residents of the city of New York are perhaps less 
 marked in their pronunciation and use of words than the residents of any 
 other city or State, the reason of which is obvious. The population is so 
 fluctuating, so many people from every part of the country, as well as from 
 England, Scotland, and Ireland, are congregated there, who are in daily con- 
 tact with each other, that there is less chance for any idiom or peculiarity of 
 speech to grow up. Nevertheless, grammatical inaccuracies are far from 
 uncommon in the speech of the Avealthier classes, and slang is cultivated to 
 an increasing extent by the " rowdy " portion of the population. 
 
 The large number of educated men in New England, her admirable 
 schools and higher institutions of education, have had a powerful influence 
 in moulding the language of her people. Yet, notwithstanding this fact, in 
 Boston and other towns in Massachusetts, there exist some glaring errors in 
 the vulgar speech. There are peculiarities also to be observed in the lite- 
 rary language of the Bostonians. The great extent to which the scholars 
 of New England have carried the study of the German language and lit- 
 erature for some years back, added to a very general neglect of the old 
 masterpieces of English composition, have had the effect of giving to 
 the writings of many of them an artificial, unidiomatic character, which 
 has an inexpressibly unpleasant effect to those who are not habituated 
 to it. 
 
 The agricultural population who live in the interior of New England 
 have a strongly marked provincial dialect, by which they may be distin- 
 guished from the people of every other part of the Union. The chief pecu- 
 liarity is a drawling pronunciation, sometimes accompanied by a speaking 
 through the nose, as eend for end, dawg for dog, Gawd for God, etc. Be- 
 fore the sounds ow and oo, they often insert a short i, which we will repre- 
 sent by the letter y ; as kyow for cow, vyow for vow, tyoo for too, dyoo for 
 do, etc. etc. The numerous words employed in New England which 
 are not heard in other parts of the country, are mostly genuine old words 
 
 c
 
 XXVI 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 still provincial in the North of England ; very few are of indigenous 
 origin. 
 
 Among some of the Western people there are strange ideas regarding the 
 use of certain words, which has led the mock-modest to reject them and 
 substitute others. Thus, to speak of the names of animals only, the essen- 
 tially English word bull is refined beyond the mountains, and perhaps else- 
 where, into cow-creature, male-cow, and even gentleman-cow ! A friend 
 who resided many years in the West has told me of an incident where a 
 gray-headed man of sixty doffed his hat reverently and apologized to a 
 clergyman for having used inadvertently in his hearing the plain Saxon 
 term. Male sheep, male hog, etc., are of a piece with the preceding, to which 
 we may add rooster, he biddy, game chicken, etc. 
 
 The chief peculiarity in the pronunciation of the Southern and Western 
 people is the giving of a broader sound than is proper to certain vowels ; 
 as whar for where, thar for there, bar for bear. Ear and here are both pro- 
 nounced like year ; house, about, etc., have a pronunciation approaching to 
 hoose, aboot, etc. ; and the final r is omitted, as, you, do, for your, door, etc. 
 
 In the following table of words incorrectly pronounced, such as belong 
 to New England are designated by the letters N. E. ; those exclusively 
 Western, by the letter W. ; the Southern words, by S. ; the rest are com- 
 mon to various parts of the Union. In this attempt at classification 
 there are doubtless errors and imperfections ; for an emigrant from Ver- 
 mont to Illinois would introduce the provincialisms of his native district 
 into his new residence. Many of these inaccuracies are also heard in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 actilly 
 
 for actually, 
 
 aim 
 
 " earn, 
 
 airy 
 
 " area, 
 
 allers 
 
 " always, S. W. 
 
 arethmetic 
 
 " arithmetic, 
 
 arrant 
 
 " errand, 
 
 arter 
 
 " after, 
 
 ary 
 
 " e'er a, 
 
 attackted 
 
 " attack'd, 
 
 anywheres 
 
 " anywhere, 
 
 bachelder 
 
 " bachelor, 
 
 bar 
 
 " bear, W. 
 
 becase 
 
 " because, 
 
 bellowses 
 
 " bellows, 
 
 ben 
 
 " been, N. E. 
 
 bile 
 
 " boil, 
 
 bimeby 
 
 " by and by, 
 
 bust 
 
 " burst, 
 
 caired 
 
 " carried, N. E. 
 
 caze 
 
 cheer 
 
 chimbly 
 
 chist 
 
 clar 
 
 closte 
 
 considable 
 
 cotch'd 
 
 critter 
 
 cunnle 
 
 curous 
 
 cupalo 
 
 curchy 
 
 cuss 
 
 dar 
 
 darter 
 
 deef 
 
 dew 
 
 deestrict 
 
 for because, 
 chair, 
 chimney, 
 chest, N. E. 
 clear, W. 
 close, 
 
 considerable, 
 caught, W. 
 creature, 
 colonel, 
 curious, 
 cupola, 
 curtesy, 
 curse, 
 dare, W. 
 daughter, 
 deaf, 
 do, N. E. 
 district, N. E.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XXV11 
 
 desput 
 
 for desperate, N. E. 
 
 mash 
 
 for marsh, 
 
 dooz 
 
 " does, N. E. 
 
 million 
 
 " melon, 
 
 drap 
 
 " drop, S. 
 
 mischievious 
 
 " mischievous, 
 
 dreffle 
 
 " dreadful, N. E. 
 
 mountanious 
 
 " mountainous, 
 
 dribble 
 
 " driblet, 
 
 naaink 
 
 " nothing, L. I. 
 
 drownded 
 
 " drown'd, 
 
 nary 
 
 " ne'er a, 
 
 druv 
 
 " drove, 
 
 nigger 
 
 " negro, 
 
 dubous 
 
 " dubious, 
 
 offen 
 
 " often, 
 
 eend 
 
 " end, 
 
 ole 
 
 " old, 
 
 everywheres 
 
 " everywhere, 
 
 only 
 
 " only, S. 
 
 forrerd 
 
 " forward, N. E. 
 
 pint 
 
 " point, 
 
 fust 
 
 " first, 
 
 pooty 
 
 " pretty, 
 
 gal 
 
 " gW, 
 
 punkin 
 
 " pumpkin, 
 
 gin 
 
 " given, 
 
 pus 
 
 " purse, N. E. 
 
 gineral 
 
 " general, 
 
 racket 
 
 " rocket, 
 
 git 
 
 " get, 
 
 rale 
 
 " real, 
 
 go \vnd 
 
 " gown, 
 
 rayther 
 
 " rather, 
 
 grievious 
 
 " grievous, 
 
 rench 
 
 " rinse, 
 
 gwine 
 
 " going, S. 
 
 rheumatiz 
 
 " rheumatism, 
 
 bar 
 
 " hair, W. 
 
 ruff 
 
 " roof, N. E. 
 
 hath 
 
 " hearth, S. 
 
 sarce 
 
 " sauce, 
 
 hankecher 
 
 " handkerchief, 
 
 sarcer 
 
 " saucer, 
 
 hender 
 
 " hinder, 
 
 sarve 
 
 " serve, 
 
 hist 
 
 " hoist, 
 
 sartin 
 
 " certain, N. E. 
 
 holt 
 
 " hold, 
 
 sass 
 
 " sauce, N. E. 
 
 huff 
 
 " hoof, 
 
 sassy 
 
 " saucy, 
 
 hull 
 
 " whole, N. E. 
 
 scass 
 
 " scarce, W. 
 
 hum 
 
 " home, N. E. 
 
 schollard 
 
 " scholar, S. W. 
 
 humbly 
 
 " homely, N. E. 
 
 sen 
 
 " since, 
 
 idea 
 
 " ide'a, S. 
 
 shet 
 
 " shut, S. 
 
 ile 
 
 " oil, 
 
 shuk 
 
 " shook, W. 
 
 injine 
 
 " engine, 
 
 sich 
 
 " such, 
 
 innards 
 
 " inwards, 
 
 skeart 
 
 " scared, S. W. 
 
 inter 
 
 " into, 
 
 sorter 
 
 " sort of, 
 
 innemy 
 
 " enemy, 
 
 smaart 
 
 " smart, S. 
 
 janders 
 
 " jaundice, 
 
 spettacle 
 
 " spectacle, 
 
 jidge 
 
 " judge, N. E. 
 
 spile 
 
 " spoil, 
 
 jest 
 
 " just, 
 
 spose 
 
 " suppose, 
 
 jine 
 
 " join, 
 
 squinch 
 
 " quench, 
 
 jiste 
 
 " joist, 
 
 Stan 
 
 " stand, 
 
 keer 
 
 " care, 
 
 star 
 
 " stair, "VV. 
 
 ketch 
 
 " catch, 
 
 steeple 
 
 " staple, "W. 
 
 kin 
 
 " can, 
 
 stiddy 
 
 " steady, 
 
 kittle 
 
 " kettle, 
 
 stun 
 
 " stone, N. E. 
 
 kiver 
 
 " cover, 
 
 streech 
 
 " stretch, W. 
 
 larn 
 
 " learn, 
 
 stupenduous 
 
 " stupendous, 
 
 larnin 
 
 " learning, 
 
 suthin 
 
 " something, N. E. 
 
 lawth 
 
 " loath, 
 
 tech 
 
 " touch, 
 
 leetle 
 
 " little, 
 
 tend 
 
 " attend, 
 
 lieves 
 
 " lief, 
 
 tell'd 
 
 " told, N. E.
 
 XXVm INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tew for to, N. E. varmint for vermin, W. 
 
 thar " there, W. wal " well, N. E. 
 
 tole " told, whar " where, W. 
 
 tossel " tassel, want " wont, N. E. 
 
 tuck " took, wunst " once, W. 
 
 torectly " directly, S. wtts " worse, 
 
 tremenduous " tremendous, yaller " yellow, 
 
 twiste " twice, year " ear, S. 
 
 umberell " umbrella, yere " here, S. 
 
 valeation " valuation, yourn " yours. 
 
 Americanisms exhibit themselves, not in the use of peculiar words and 
 pronunciations alone, but also in some points of grammar. Thus, to men- 
 tion a few : 
 
 The termination -ity for abstract nouns is preferred in many cases to the 
 English -ness ; so that we have, for instance, such words as accountability, 
 instead of accountableness ; obtusity, for obtuseness, etc. Of a like nature 
 are rendition, for rendering ; reservation, for reserve. 
 
 The terminations -er and -est, which indicate the degrees of comparison 
 of adjectives, are often discarded for the adverbs more and most, even be- 
 fore monosyllables, contrary to good English usage. And the possessive 
 relation is often denoted by the preposition of, where the termination -s 
 would be neater and more idiomatic. 
 
 The influence of the French language seems to be visible, not only in the 
 preceding instances, but also in the use of the definite article before the 
 names of diseases ; as, the gout, the consumption, the headache, the erysipe- 
 las, etc. 
 
 It may be owing to the influence of the German language, in which the 
 adverbs are nothing but apocopated adjectives, that the adjectival ending is 
 so often omitted by vulgar speakers ; as, " I have got wet bad ; " " See that 
 you do it good; " " He '11 take cold sure" 
 
 On the other hand it seems owing to the teachings of some priggish 
 pedagogue, who had learned that " adverbs qualify verbs," and knew no- 
 thing beyond it, that adverbs are now often employed where idiomatic usage 
 requires an adjective ; as, " I feel very badly ; " " you look charmingly" 
 etc. So that we may expect soon to hear, " She seems ignorantly ; " " He 
 became quite crazily," etc. ; and to be unable any longer to make the distinc- 
 tion between " He feels warmly," and " he feels warm" The ladies seem 
 more especially to affect this form of speech, which is more common at 
 the South than at the North ; whence it is likely that it originated in a 
 Southern boarding-school. The persons who use it are not aware that it is 
 really the person or thing which is qualified in these cases, and not the action 
 or state of being. 
 
 Among the American peculiarities of style one of the most remarkable is
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXIX 
 
 a tendency to exaggeration. " The use of extravagant terms," says Dr. 
 Lieber, in one of his letters to me on the subject, " is very common. These 
 are often used by deficiently educated persons who edit newspapers, and 
 more frequently by the same class of people when speaking in public. In 
 the South and West this custom prevails to a greater extent than at the 
 North. ' This is the finest cow in the State of South Carolina,' observes one. 
 ' The handsomest woman south of the Potomac,' says another. And a man 
 who kept a country school with ten small scholars was said to be making 
 ' bushels of money ' by it." 
 
 This sort of exaggeration frequently assumes the form of what in Eng- 
 land is very appropriately termed " fine writing," but which with us is bet- 
 ter known as " highfaluten." Thus a Western critic, speaking of the acting 
 of a Miss Logan, says the way in which she chanted the Marseillaise was 
 " terrible in its intensity," and that the impression made " must create for 
 her a name that will never die." This, however, " does not begin " with 
 Miss Wyatt, whose performances at Springfield, Illinois, are thus described 
 in a criticism in one of the papers of that city : 
 
 " Illumined by the lyric muse, she is magnificent. All nerve, all palpita- 
 tion, her rounded form is the fittest setting for her diamond soul ! She has 
 grace which is more than beauty, and distinction which adorns still more 
 than grace. She appears the incarnation of genius ! it struggles within 
 her ! inspiration quivers down her snow-white arms, and trembles on her 
 fingers' ends, passion wrestles in her quivering frame, and shudders through 
 her limbs. Her soul flickers in every accent, and looms up in every panto- 
 mime, while serene smiles play about her mouth. Her drapery follows her 
 gestures, her gestures her passions. Every attitude is a model, every pose 
 is a classic statue." 
 
 " The very opposite," says Dr. Lieber, " is the case at present in Eng- 
 land. There has been no period and no country in which perspicuity, sim- 
 plicity, and manliness of style are so general as at present in English Re- 
 views ; even newspapers, e. g. the London Spectator, are models of these 
 attributes of a good style. Monkton Milnes, M. P., told me he had not the 
 least doubt but that the House of Commons of the present day would not 
 stand the eloquence of Fox, Sheridan, or Burke. I asked, ' What would 
 they do ? ' ' The members would instantly leave their seats,' was the 
 reply. Mr. Milnes also spoke of several American writers whose style 
 was correct; still, he could always detect some florid expression char- 
 acteristic of their people." 41 
 
 Before closing these observations on American provincialisms, I should 
 do injustice to previous writers on the same subject, not to speak of their 
 works. The earliest of these, as far as my knowledge extends, is that of 
 Dr. Witherspoon. In a series of essays entitled " The Druid," which ap-
 
 XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 peared originally in a periodical publication in 1761, he devotes numbers 
 5, 6, and 7 of these essays, about twenty pages in all, to Americanisms, per- 
 versions of language in the United States, cant phrases, etc. They were 
 afterwards published in his collected works, in 4 vols. 8vo., Philadelphia, 
 1801, and may be found in the fourth volume. 
 
 The most important work of the kind is that of the late Hon. John Pick- 
 ering. He began with an article in the " Memoirs of the American Aca- 
 demy of Arts and Sciences," Boston. This was soon after enlarged and 
 published in a separated volume entitled " A Vocabulary, or Collection of 
 Words and Phrases which have been supposed^to be peculiar to the United 
 States of America. To which is prefixed an Essay on the present state of 
 the English Language in the United States." Boston : 1816. pp. 206. 
 (Containing about 520 words.) This valuable and interesting work re- 
 ceived much attention, and in the following year appeared a pamphlet, en- 
 titled " A Letter to the Hon. John Pickering, on the Subject of his Vocabu- 
 lary, or Collection of Words and Phrases supposed to be peculiar to the 
 United States" By Noah Webster. 8vo. Boston : 1817. pp. 69. 
 
 In the Transactions of the Albany Institute, 1830, Vol. I., is an article en- 
 titled " Notes on Mr. Pickering's Vocabulary, etc., with Preliminary Obser- 
 vations." By T. Romeyn Beck. In Mr. Sherwood's " Gazetteer of Geor- 
 gia" is a glossary of words provincial in the Southern States. The latest 
 work on provincialisms, but chiefly of errors in grammar, is " A Grammat- 
 ical Corrector, or Vocabulary of the Common Errors of Speech ; alphabeti- 
 cally arranged, corrected, and explained for the Use of Schools and Private 
 Individuals." By Seth T. Kurd. 12mo. Philadelphia: 1847.* 
 
 Since the publication of the first edition of this work, there have been pub- 
 lished two additions of a work entitled " A Collection of College Works and 
 Customs" By B. H. Hall. 12mo. Cambridge. The last edition in 1856. 
 This is a very complete work in its way, and contains many Americanisms 
 which originated at Colleges. The illustrations are excellent. 
 
 As the charge has been frequently made against us by English critics of 
 perverting our vernacular tongue, and of adding useless words to it, it will 
 not be out of place to state here that, in the belief of the author, the English 
 
 * In preparing this work, I have examined all the English provincial glossaries, and the 
 principal English dictionaries ; which it was necessary to do in order to know what words 
 and phrases were still provincial in England. Many of the facts in that portion of the In- 
 troduction which treats of English dialects, have I>c4i drawn from similar essays ap- 
 pended to the several glossaries. But I am chiefly indebted to the enlarged Preface to 
 Dr. Bosworth's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, which presents the hest historical analysis ex- 
 tant of the English language ; and to the admirable and later work of Professor Latham, 
 "The English Language," London, 1841, which is unquestionably the most valuable 
 work on English philology and grammar which has yet appeared.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXxi 
 
 language is in no part of the world spoken in greater purity by the great 
 mass of the people than in the United States. In making this assertion he 
 does not depend wholly on his own observation ; it has repeatedly been 
 made by intelligent Englishmen who have travelled in the United States, 
 and had an opportunity of judging. On this subject, the author of an Eng- 
 lish work, entitled the " Backwoods of Canada," has the following judicious 
 remarks : 
 
 " With the exception of some few remarkable expressions, and an at- 
 tempt at introducing fine words, the lower order of Yankees have a decided 
 advantage over our English peasantry in the use of grammatical language ; 
 they speak better English than you will hear from persons of the same class 
 in any part of England, Ireland, or Scotland ; a fact that we should be un- 
 willing to allow at home." p. 83. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Witherspoon, President of Princeton College, born and 
 educated in Scotland, made a similar remark in 1784. In an essay on the 
 language he says : 
 
 " The vulgar in America speak much better than the vulgar in Great 
 Britain, for a very obvious reason, namely, that being much more unset- 
 tled, and moving frequently from place to place, they are not so liable to 
 local peculiarities either in accent or phraseology." Works, Vol. IV. p. 
 281. 
 
 The London Quarterly Review, in noticing Silliman's Travels in Eng- 
 land, quotes his remark on the use of the English language in England and 
 in America, wherein the Professor insists that it is " more correctly spoken 
 at this time (1805) by the mass of the Americans, than by the mass of the 
 English nation." " This assertion," adds the reviewer, " is founded upon a 
 common and very easy mistake as to the nature of provincial dialects, and 
 upon a curious fact in the history of language. There are no provincial 
 dialects in America ; emigrants from all parts of Great Britain have met 
 there, and intermixed with each other, and with natives of the country. 
 The peculiarities of dialect have necessarily been melted down into the 
 general speech, which is common English ; and this is the language, there- 
 fore, which all children learn as their mother tongue. The low-bred Lon- 
 doner does not transmit his vulgar shibboleth, and the child of the Northum- 
 brian is free from the burr which sticks in the throat of his father. Dia- 
 lects can only be preserved by collective bodies speaking the language 
 which they acquired in their youth ; they cannot therefore continue hi pro- 
 miscuous colonies." Vol. 15, p. 61. 
 
 We cannot say as much, however, in favor of our literary dialect. The 
 ripest scholars among us acknowledge the fact, that in the best authors and 
 public speakers of Great Britain, there is a variety in the choice of expres- 
 sions, a correctness in the use of the particles, and an idiomatic vigor and
 
 XXX11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 raciness of style to which few or none of our writers can attain. The un- 
 fortunate tendency to favor the Latin at the expense of the Saxon ele- 
 ment of our language, which social and educational causes have long tended to 
 foster in the mother country, has with us received an additional impulse from 
 the great admixture of foreigners in our population. It is not likely that the 
 pure old idiomatic English style can ever be restored in this country ; but 
 there is no good reason to doubt, that the fusion of the present rather hete- 
 rogeneous elements of which our society is composed, will result in the pro- 
 duction of a style and a literature which will also have their beauties and 
 .cierits, although fashioned after a somewhat different model.
 
 DICTIONARY 
 
 O F 
 
 AMERICAN WORDS AND PHRASES, 
 
 A. 
 
 A No. 1. The highest classification of a vessel on Lloyd's list. Years 
 ago it was common to see the mark appended to the name of a vessel in 
 an advertisement for freight or passengers. So far the term and its use 
 are English ; but in a commercial country, the use of such terms is often 
 extended beyond their original application. 
 
 It is well known to those who are in turn well known to Stewart, and who stand 
 on his books rated A No. 1 for the length of their bills, that the fitting out a young 
 lady nowadays for a winter season in town, or a summer season at a watering- 
 place, assimilates more nearly to preparing a vessel for a voyage around the world 
 than any other analogous undertaking. N. Yi Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 The Niagara, New Orleans, and Louisville packet is one of the most magnificent 
 steamers now running the river. Her interior arrangements are complete, and her 
 officers A No. 1. Western Paper. 
 
 Got a prime nigger, said the slave-dealer ; an A number one cook and no mistake ! 
 picked her up cheap. Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. I. p. 313. 
 
 ABERGOIN. The term " aborigines " is corrupted by some of the illiterate 
 people of the West into Abergoins or Abrogans. 
 
 ABISSELFA. A, by itself, A. It will be recollected by many, that in the 
 olden time the first letter of the alphabet was denominated " abisselfa " 
 when it formed a syllable by itself, as in the word able. The scholar, in 
 spelling the word, was taught to say, " a, by itself, a, (rapidly, abisselfa,) 
 b, I, e, ble, able" We derive this word and the use of it from England, 
 where it is used in Suffolk county. See Moor's Glossary. 
 
 To ABOLITIONIZE. To convert to the doctrines of the abolitionists. 
 
 1
 
 2 ABO ACE 
 
 ABOUT RIGHT. To do a thing about right is to do it well. 
 
 I fell foul of the old marc ; and if I did n't give it to her about right, then there 's 
 none o' me, that 's all. New England Storis. 
 
 ABOVE PAR. A term originally applied to stocks, but often transferred 
 to other things which are superior ; as, " this horse is above par ; " " these 
 goods are above par ; " meaning that they are above the ordinary stand- 
 ard, better than common. 
 
 ABOVE ONE'S BEND. Out of one's power. A common expression in the 
 "Western States. Above one's huckleberry is a vulgarism of the same 
 signification. 
 
 I shall not attempt to describe the curiosities at Peale's Museum ; it is above my 
 bend. Crockett, Tour Down East. 
 
 To ABSQUATULATE. To run away, to abscond. A factitious vulgarism. 
 
 W was surrendered by his bail, who was security for his appearance at court 
 
 fearing he was about to absquatulate. N. Y. Herald, 1847. 
 
 A railroad station-master at Oakdale has absquatulated with funds belonging 
 to the railroad and various individuals. N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 Hope's brightest visions absquatulate with their golden promises before the least 
 cloud of disappointment, and leave not a shinplaster behind. Dow's Sermons, Vol. 
 I. p. 309. 
 
 ACCORDING TO GUNTER. Gunter was a distinguished arithmetician, and 
 the inventor of a chain and scale for measuring. The Laws of Rhode 
 Island, both colonial and recent, referring to measures, say, " All casks 
 shall be gauged by the rule commonly called ' gauging by Gunter.' " 
 Hence any thing correctly and properly done is said to be " according to 
 Gunter." 
 
 Mr. K , a respected citizeji of Detroit, has published a letter entirely exoner- 
 ating General Cass from the charge of having defrauded his association in the land 
 speculations. He is positive that all was done according to Gunter. N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 ACCOUNT. " These hogs are of no account," meaning of no value. The 
 word is used in the West to the exclusion of other shades of meaning. 
 See No Account. 
 
 ACCOUNTABILITY. The state of being accountable. In England, the form 
 accountableness is used. The same difference is observable in a number 
 of words. 
 
 ACEQUIA. (Span.) The irrigating ditches used in Texas and New 
 Mexico are called Acequias ; the larger or principal one, which supplies 
 the smaller, is called the Acequia Madre, or main ditch. The word is 
 sometimes spelt azequia or zequia. 
 
 As the mustang sprang over the zequia, the flowing skirt of the manga was puffed 
 forward. Mayne Reid, The War Trail.
 
 ACK ADM 3 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGE THE CORN. An expression of recent origin, which has 
 now become very common. It means to confess or acknowledge a 
 charge or imputation. The following story is told as the origin of the 
 phrase: 
 
 Some years ago, a raw customer, from the upper country, determined to try his 
 fortune at New Orleans. Accordingly he provided himself with two flat-boats, one 
 laden with corn and the other with potatoes, and down the river he went. The 
 night after his arrival he went up town, to a gambling-house. Of course he com- 
 menced betting, and, his luck proving unfortunate, he lost. When his money was 
 gone, he bet his " truck ; " and the com and potatoes followed the money. At last, 
 when completely cleaned out, he returned to his boats at the wharf; when the evi- 
 dences of a new misfortune presented themselves. Through some accident or other, 
 the flat-boat containing the corn was sunk, and a total loss. Consoling himself as 
 well as he could, he went to sleep, dreaming of gamblers, potatoes, and corn. It 
 was scarcely sunrise, however, when he was disturbed by the " child of chance," 
 who had arrived to take possession of the two boats as his winnings. Slowly 
 awakening from his sleep, our hero, rubbing his eyes and looking the man in the 
 face, replied : " Stranger, / acknowledge the corn take 'em ; but the potatoes you 
 can't have, by thunder ! " Pittsburgh Com. Advertiser. 
 
 The Evening Mirror very naively comes out and acknowledges the corn, admits that 
 a demand was made, etc. New York Herald, June 27, 1846. 
 
 Enough, said the Captain. I 'm hoaxed, I'm gloriously hoaxed. I acknowledge 
 the corn. Pickings from the Picayune, p. 80. 
 
 None of my enterprises, however, have been omitted, and, though a portion of my 
 " Confessions " may by some be considered injudicious, I prefer frankly to 
 acknowledge the corn, wherever I have had a hand in plucking it. P. T. 
 Barnum. 
 
 ACROSS LOTS. By short cuts, in the quickest manner. 
 
 I swore in Nauvoo, when my enemies were looking me in the face, that I would 
 send them to hell across lots if they meddled with me. Speech of Brigham Young, 
 1857. 
 
 ACTION. An amusing article appeared in the National Intelligencer, 
 Washington, in 1846, on the abuse of this word. The writer says : 
 
 " The proceedings of Congress ; the decision of Congress ; or either House ; the 
 vote of the Senate or of the House, preliminary or final ; the consideration of a bill 
 or measure ; the signature of the President after a bill has passed both Houses ; or 
 the sanction or approval of the President these are modes of expression no longer 
 known. The words I underscore have disappeared gone for ever, it would seem. 
 Nobody hears of them more. It is the action of the House, or the House taking 
 action ; the action of the Senate, or the Senate taking action ; or what action will the 
 House take, or what action will the Senate take ; or both Houses arc waiting for the 
 action of the President." 
 
 ADAM AND EYE. (Aplectum hyemale.} Putty root, so called from the 
 bulb of the preceding year being always connected with the new 
 one. 
 
 To ADMIRE. 1. To wonder at ; to be affected with slight surprise. Ray.
 
 4 ADO ALB 
 
 In New England, particularly in Maine, the word is used in this sense. 
 Some of the old English writers so employed it. 
 
 I perceive these lords 
 At this rencontre do so much admire, 
 That they devour their reason. Shakspeare. 
 
 2. To like very much. This verb is often and very absurdly used in 
 New England in such expressions as, " I should admire to see the Presi- 
 dent." 
 
 ADOBIES. (Span, adobes.) Sun-baked brick used for building houses, for- 
 tifications, and making inclosures, in Texas, New Mexico, etc. 
 
 The large and economical adobe brick, hardened in the sun and without fire, super- 
 sedes other materials for walls and fences in this dry atmosphere [that of the great 
 Plains], and, as in Syria and Egypt, resists decay for centuries. W. Gilpin, in 
 Nat. Intell, 1857. 
 
 To AFRICANIZE. To place under Negro domination. 
 
 AFRICANIZATION. The act of placing under Negro domination. This 
 and the preceding are words of recent introduction by Southern political 
 writers. 
 
 AFTER NIGHT. After nightfall ; in the evening ; as, " A meeting will be 
 held in the court-house after night." This expression is said to be 
 peculiar to the Middle States. Hurd's Grammatical Corrector. 
 
 AGGRAVATE. Used improperly for maltreat, etc. 
 
 AGUARDIENTE. (Span.) A kind of brandy distilled from red wine, in 
 Mexico and Cuba. 
 
 AGUR-FORTY. Aqua-fortis, vulgarly so called at the South-west. 
 
 The doctors fed me on lodlum tea and epecac, washed down with myrtle tea 
 'twan't of no manner of use; they then tried agur-forty if it had been agur-hun- 
 dred, 't would n't have done. N. Y. Spirit of the Times, Frontier Tale. 
 
 AGTJY, for ague ; fever-an'-aguy, for " fever and ague ; " common among the 
 uneducated, wherever this distressing disease is known. The word ague 
 is pronounced in some localities so as to rhyme with plague. 
 
 AHEAD. Forward, in advance. This word, originally a sea term, is now 
 in very common use by all classes of speakers and writers. 
 
 Our banks, being anxious to make money for their stockholders, are probably 
 right to drive ahead, regardless of consequences, etc. N. Y. Com. Adv., Nov. 29, 
 1845. 
 
 AJEE. Askew ; as " to have one's hat ajee" 
 ALAMO, (Span.) See Cotton-wood. 
 
 ALBANY BEEF. Sturgeon; so called because it abounds in the Hudson 
 River, and is much eaten in the city of Albany.
 
 ALB ALL 5 
 
 ALBANY HEMP. ( Urtica canadensis.} Canada nettle, so called from the 
 use made of its fibrous bark. 
 
 ALDER. Beside the true alders, various shrubs belonging to quite differ- 
 ent families are so called, generally on account of a resemblance in 
 the leaves ; thus, Rhamnus alniflorius (alder-leaved buckthorn) is 
 " dwarf alder ; " Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepper bush) is " spiked " or 
 
 " white alder ; " Prinos verticillatus (winter berry) is " black alder." 
 
 ALEWIFE, plur. Alewives. (Indian, aloof. Alosa vcrnalis, Storer, Massa- 
 chusetts Report.) A fish of the herring kind, abounding in the waters of 
 New England. 
 
 The name appears to be an Indian one, though it is somewhat changed, as ap- 
 pears by the earliest account we have of it. In former times, the Indians made 
 use of these fish to manure their lands, as the menhaden are now used. Mr. Win- 
 throp says : " Where the ground is bad or worn-out, they put two or three of the 
 fishes called aloofes under or adjacent to each corn-hill ; whereby they had many 
 times a double crop to what the ground would otherwise have produced. The Eng- 
 lish have learned the like husbandry, where these aloofes come up in great plenty." 
 Philosophical Trans., 1678. 
 
 ALGIC. Relating to the Algonkin tribes. Formed by Mr. Schoolcraft 
 from the word Algonkin. 
 
 ALIENAGE. The state of being an alien. Webster. Neither this nor the 
 following word is to be found in the English dictionaries, except the 
 recent one of Mr. Knowles. They are common, however, in professional 
 books. 
 
 Where he sues an executor, etc., the plaintiff's alienage is no plea. Laires's 
 Pleading on Assumpsit, p. 687. 
 
 To restore estates, forfeitable on account of alienage. Judge Story. 
 
 ALIENISM. The state of being an alien. Webster, Knowles. 
 
 The prisoner was convicted of murder ; on his arraignment he suggested his 
 alienism, which was admitted. 2 Johnson's Reports, 381. 
 
 The law was very gentle in the construction of the disability of alienism. 
 Chancellor Kent. 
 
 ALL ANY MORE. A common expression in Pennsylvania among the illi- 
 terate to mean " all gone." Thus a servant will say, " The potatoes is 
 all any more" i. e. are all gone ; or she will say simply, " They 's all." 
 
 ALL-FIRED. Enormous, excessive ; enormously, excessively. A low ex- 
 pression ; probably a puritanical corruption of hell-fired, designed to 
 have the virtue of an oath without offending polite ears. 
 
 I was wokcd up by a noise in the street ; so I jumps up in an all-fired hurry, ups 
 with the window, and outs with my head. Sam Slick. 
 
 I 'in dying I know I am ! My mouth tastes like a rusty cent. The doctor will 
 charge an all-fired price to cure me. -- Knickerbocker Mag., 1845. 
 1*
 
 6 ALL ALL 
 
 The first thing I know'd, my trowsers were plastered all over with hot molasses, 
 which burnt all-fired bad. Major Jones's Courtship, p. 87. 
 
 Old Haines sweating like a pitcher with ice-water in it, and looking all-fired tired. 
 Porter's Tales of the South-west, p. 50. 
 
 You see the fact is, Squire (said the Hooshier), they had a mighty deal to say up 
 in our parts about Orleans, and how all-fired easy it is to make money in it ; but it 's 
 no ham and all hominy, I reckon. Pickings from the Picayune, p. 67. 
 
 ALL-FIREDLY. Enormously, excessively. 
 
 Rum does every thing that is bad ; wonder if it is rum that makes potatoes rot 
 so all-firedly. Milne, Farm Fence, p. 8. 
 
 ALL-POSSESSED. Affected by evil spirits, or demons ; possessed. 
 
 Bill Jenkins was a dreadful mean man ; used to get drunk every day, and swore 
 like all-possessed when he got mad. Widow Bedolt Papers, p. 30. 
 
 ALL SORTS OF. A Southern expression, synonymous with expert, acute, 
 excellent, capital. It answers to the English slang term bang-up or out- 
 and-out. It is a prevalent idiom of low life, and often heard in the col- 
 loquial language of the better informed. A man who in New England 
 would be called a curious or a smart fellow, would in the South be called 
 all sorts of a fellow. 
 
 She was all sorts of a gal there warn't a sprinklin' too much of her : she had 
 an eye that would make a fellow's heart try to get out of his bosom, her step 
 was light as a panther's, and her breath sweet as a prairie flower. Robb, Squatter 
 Life. 
 
 If you can only get Kit rid of them little failings [blindness and deafness], you '11 
 find him all sorts of a, horse. Traits of Amer. Humor. 
 
 ALL-TO-PIECES. 1. Excessively ; as " I beat him last night at poker all- 
 to-pieces." 
 
 2. Excessive, out and out. 
 
 Miss G sot down in a rocking-chair, hauled out her snuffbox, (for she was 
 
 an all-to-pieces snufftaker,) and began to rock and snuff and rock as hard as ever 
 she could. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 124. 
 
 ALL-TO-SMASII. Smashed to pieces. This expression is often heard in 
 low and familiar language. It is an English provincialism. Mr. Halli- 
 well says, that a Lancashire man, telling his master the mill-dam had 
 burst, exclaimed, " Maister, maister, dam's brossen, and aw's-to-smash." 
 Archaic and Prov. Dictionary. See Smash. 
 
 ALLEY. 1. A place where the game of nine or ten pins is played; 
 usually called a nine or ten pin alley, and sometimes simply an alley. 
 
 2. An ornamental marble, used by boys for shooting in the ring, 
 etc. ; also called in England, a taw. It is made of marble or of painted 
 clay. 
 
 ALLIGATOR. 1. A large American reptile, resembling the Egyptian cro-
 
 ALL ALO 7 
 
 codile, having a wide, obtuse muzzle and unequal teeth. Though still 
 numerous in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas, they are no longer regarded 
 as very dangerous. The name, according to Cuvier, is a corruption of 
 the Portuguese lagarto, equivalent to the Latin lacerta. 
 
 2. In the Western States, the name is applied also to the Menopoma 
 alleglteniensis, a salamandroid animal. 
 
 ALLIGATOR GAR. The gar-fish of the South, so called from the resem- 
 blance its long jaws bear to those of the alligator. 
 
 ALLIGATOR PEAR. (Laurus persea.) A West Indian fruit, resembling a 
 pear in shape. It contains within its rind a yellow butyraceous substance, 
 which, when the fruit is perfectly ripe, constitutes an agreeable food. 
 Also called Avocado or Avigato Pear. In England it is sometimes 
 called Vegetable Marrow. 
 
 To ALLOT UPON. To intend, to form a purpose ; as, I allot upon going to 
 Boston. Used by uneducated people in the interior of New England. 
 
 To ALLOW. To declare, assert, maintain. 
 
 The lady of the cabin seemed kind, and allowed we had better stop where we 
 were. Carlton, The New Purchase. 
 
 Gentlemen from Arkansas allowed that California was no better than other coun- 
 tries ; and the proof of it was, that they could only get twenty dollars a week and 
 board offered them for driving an ox-team. Farnham, California. 
 
 He 'lowed he'd ge me half a crown, 
 
 An treat me wud some beer, 
 If I wud make it up wud him, 
 
 An let un goo off clear. 
 
 Tom Cladpole's Journey to Lunnun. 
 
 ALLSPICE. 1. The aromatic berry of the Eugenia pimenta, the Allspice 
 Pimento or Bayberry Tree, a native of South America and the West 
 India Islands. From being cultivated in Jamaica it is often called Ja- 
 maica Pepper. 
 
 2. The " sweet-scented shrub " ( Calycanthus floridus) is also known 
 as Carolina Allspice, the bark and wood having a somewhat spicy flavor. 
 
 ALMIGHTY DOLLAR. A term applied to money as " the root of all evil." 
 
 The almighty dollar, that great object of universal devotion throughout our land, 
 seems to have no genuine devotee in these peculiar [Creole] villages. W. Irving, 
 Wolfert's Roost, p. 40. 
 
 The almighty dollar exerted a more powerful influence in California than in the old 
 States; for it overcame all preexisting false notions of dignity. Borthwick's Cali- 
 fornia, p. 165. 
 
 ALONG. Forward, on. Mrs. Trollope has the following words: "We 
 must try to get along, as the Americans say." Lover also was puzzled 
 to discover what the young American lady meant by saying that she was
 
 8 ALT AME 
 
 so unwell that she " could not get along." An Englishman would say, 
 get on. 
 
 To ALTER. To geld ; as horses, swine, etc. 
 
 ALONSENEL. The Mexican name for Cowania stansburiana, a plant 
 growing extensively in the vicinity of Salt Lake, and held in great 
 esteem as a styptic in hemorrhages, and as a general astringent. 
 
 ALUM-ROOT. {Henchera americana.) A plant so called from its astrin- 
 gency. 
 
 To AMALGAMATE. This word, which properly denotes the uniting of 
 mercury with other metals, is universally applied, in the United States, 
 to the mixing of the black and white races. 
 
 AMALGAMATION. The mixing or union of the black and white races. 
 
 AMAZING. Amazingly, wonderfully, exceedingly. A vulgarism. 
 
 Every thing in New York on a May-day looks amazln' different, and smells amazin' 
 different, I can tell you. Major Downing, p. 43. 
 
 Mr. Magwire is a steady, well-meanin' man and has got along amazin' pros- 
 perous in the world ; but he has dreadful curious notions. Widow Bedott Papers, 
 p. 49. 
 
 AMBIA. Used in the South and West for tobacco juice. It is a euphemism 
 for the spittle produced by this voluntary ptyalism. More commonly 
 spelled and pronounced Ambeer, probably from Ambre denoting its color. 
 
 AMBITION. In North Carolina this word is used instead of the word 
 grudge ; as, " I had an ambition against that man." I am credibly in- 
 formed, that it is even employed in this manner by educated men. 
 
 AMBITIOUS. Angry, enraged. A native of Georgia was heard to say, " I 
 was powerful ambitious and cussed snortin'." The word is used in the 
 West in a similar sense. Thus, they say an " ambitious horse," meaning 
 thereby a horse that is fiery and unmanageable. 
 
 AMENABILITY. State of being amenable or answerable. Judge Story. 
 Webster. Not in the English dictionaries. 
 
 AMERICANISM. A way of speaking peculiar to this country. Wither- 
 spoon. 
 
 " By Americanism" says Dr. Witherspoon, " I understand a use of 
 phrases or terms, or a construction of sentences, even among persons of 
 rank and education, different from the use of the same terms or phrases, 
 or the construction of similar sentences, in Great Britain. In this sense 
 it is exactly similar in its formation and signification to the word ' Scotti- 
 cism.'" Works, Vol. IV.
 
 AME ANT 9 
 
 To AMERICANIZE. To render American ; to naturalize in America. 
 Webster. 
 
 AMERICANIZATION. The act of rendering American, or of subjection to 
 the laws and usages of the United States. 
 
 AMONG THE MISSING. To be among the missing, is to absent one's self. 
 
 If a person inquires if you are at home, the servant is directed to say, No, if you 
 don't want to be seen, and choose to be among the missing, S. Slick, Nature and 
 Human Nature, p. 17. 
 
 The crowd of office-seekers in Washington will be among the missing, when they 
 learn the President's decision. New York Herald. 
 
 AMONG, for between. This word is often used when reference is made only 
 to two persons. Ex. " The money was divided among us two." 
 
 AMOST. Almost. A vulgarism alike common in England and the United 
 States. E'en amost is often heard in New England. 
 
 ANAN. How ? What do you say ? It is made use of in vulgar discourse 
 by the lower class of persons addressing a superior, when they do not 
 hear or comprehend what is said to them. It is going out of use now. 
 Halliwell. The word is common in Pennsylvania. 
 
 ANCHOVY PEAR. ( Grias cauliflora.) A fruit of Jamaica. It is large, 
 contains a stone, and is esculent. 
 
 ANNEXATION. Often used in the restricted sense of the addition of new 
 territory to that of the United States, and often with the accessory idea 
 of unlawful acquisition. 
 
 ANNEXATIONIST. One who favors the policy of annexation. 
 
 AN'T or AIN'T. A common colloquial abbreviation, both in England and 
 America, for am not and are not. It is, however, often used among us, 
 both by speakers and newspaper writers, instead of the proper abbre- 
 viation is n't for is not ; as, " Is Sam a Know-nothing ? " " He ain't 
 nothing else." 
 
 To ANTI. To risk ; to venture a bet ; as, " I '11 anti all I 'm worth on that" 
 This term is derived from the game of poker the amount placed in the 
 pool by each player being called the anti. South-western. 
 
 ANTI-FEDERALIST. " This word was formed about the year 1788, to de- 
 note a person of the political party that opposed the adoption of the Con- 
 stitution of the United States, which was then always spoken of by the 
 name of the Federal Constitution. The word is not now much used ; 
 having been superseded by various other names, which have been suc- 
 cessively given to the same party." Pickering's Vocabulary. 
 
 ANTI-MASON. One hostile to masonry or free-masonry. Worcester.
 
 10 ANT APP 
 
 ANTI-MASONIC. Hostile to masonry. 
 ANTI-MASONRY. Hostility to masonry. 
 ANTI-SLAVERY. Hostile to slavery. 
 
 ANY THING ELSE. A hyperbolical phrase, denoting a strong affirmation, 
 which has recently sprung up and become quite common, is given in the 
 following quotation : 
 
 Loco Foco. Did n't Gen. Cass get mad at Hull's cowardice, and break his sword 1 
 Whiff. He did n't do any thing else. Newspaper. 
 
 ANY HOW YOU CAN FIX IT. At any rate whatever. 
 
 ANXIOUS MEETING. A religious meeting consequent on a revival. 
 
 ANXIOUS SEAT. A term used in revival phraseology. A seat occupied 
 by those who feel anxious about their spiritual welfare. 
 
 APARAJO. (Span., pron. apardho.) A pack-saddle. The word is em- 
 ployed in the countries acquired from Mexico, where pack-saddles are 
 used. 
 
 APISHAMORE. A saddle-blanket, made of buffalo-calf skins, used on the 
 great prairies. 
 
 Wolves are a constant annoyance on the plains, creeping to the camp fires, and 
 gnawing the saddles and apishamores. Ruxton, Far West. 
 
 APPELLATE. Relating to appeals. 
 
 In all cases affecting ambassadors, etc., the supreme court shall have original 
 jurisdiction : In all other cases before mentioned, the supreme court shall have appel- 
 late jurisdiction. Constitut. of the United States, Art. 3. 
 
 The king of France is not the fountain of justice ; the judges, neither the original 
 nor the appellate, are of his nomination. Burke, Revolution. 
 
 For a fuller account of this word, about which there has been much 
 discussion by lexicographers, see Mr. Pickering's Vocabulary, where 
 many authorities are cited. It was first given by Mason, in his supple- 
 ment to Johnson's Dictionary, and was afterwards adopted by Todd. 
 
 APPLE. This name is given in the tropics to fruits of various kinds 
 which are not apples ; as the Bel-apple, Cashew-apple, Custard-apple, 
 Conch-apple, Ground-apple, Mamma-apple, Monkey-apple, Pine-apple, 
 Sugar-apple, Wood-apple, etc. 
 
 APPLE BUTTER. A sauce made of apples stewed down in cider. This is 
 generally made in- quantity, and kept for use during the winter. The 
 manufacture occupies a whole night, and is made the occasion of a frolic 
 among the young folks. 
 
 APPLE BRANDY, ") A liquor distilled from fermented apple-juice ; also 
 APPLE JACK. j called Cider Brandy. 
 
 It was feared that the conquerors of Goed Hope, flushed with victory and apple
 
 APP ARG 11 
 
 brandy, might march to the capital, take it by storm, and annex the whole province 
 to Connecticut. W. Irving, Knickerbocker. 
 
 APPLE TODDY. A favorite mixture resembling punch, in which roasted 
 apples take the place of lemons. 
 
 APPLICANT. One who applies himself closely to his studies. A sense 
 of the word common in New England. 
 
 The English appear to use the word only in the sense of " one who ap- 
 plies for any thing," in which sense it is most commonly employed by us. 
 
 APPOINTABLE. That may be appointed or constituted; as officers are 
 appointed by the Executive. Federalist, Webster. 
 
 To APPRECIATE, v. a. To raise the value of. Webster. This sense 
 of the word is not in any English dictionary except Knowles's, which is 
 quite a recent work. 
 
 Lest a sudden peace should appreciate the money. Ramsay. 
 
 Also, v. n. to rise in value; as, "the currency of the countiy 
 appreciates." Webster. The common acceptation of the word, however, 
 with us, as in England, is to value, estimate. 
 
 APPRECIATION. A rising in value ; increase of worth or value. Webster. 
 This noun, like the verb from which it is derived, is commonly used by 
 us in its appropriate meaning of estimation, valuation ; and this will 
 hereafter be understood of all similar words where a peculiar meaning 
 is assigned to them, unless an express statement is made to the 
 contrary. 
 
 To APPROBATE. (Lat. approbo, to approve.) This word was formerly 
 much used at our colleges, instead of the old English word approve. 
 The students used to speak of having their performances approbated by 
 their instructors. It is now in common use with our clergy as a sort of 
 technical term, to denote a person who is licensed to preach ; they would 
 say, such a one is approbated, that is, licensed to preach. It is also com- 
 mon in New England to say of a person who is licensed by the county 
 courts to sell spirituous liquors, or to keep a public-house, that he is 
 approbated; and the term is adopted in the law of Massachusetts on 
 this subject. Pickering's Vocabulary. 
 
 Dr. "Webster observes, that this is a modern word, but in common use 
 in America. Mr. Todd introduces' it in his edition of Johnson, from 
 Cockeram's old vocabulary, the definition of which is, " to allow, to like." 
 Mr. Todd says it is obsolete. 
 
 All things contained in Scripture is approbate by the whole consent of all the 
 clergie of Christendom. Sir T. Elyot's Governor, fol. 226. 
 
 To ARGUFY. To argue ; also to import, signify. This word has a place
 
 12 ARG ARR 
 
 in several of the English glossaries. In this country it is only heard 
 among the most illiterate. 
 
 ARGUFYING. Arguing. 
 
 I listen to a preacher, and try to be better for his argufying. Sam Slick, Human 
 Nature. 
 
 ARISTOCRATIC. Strangely misapplied in those parts of the country where 
 the population is not dense. The city, in the surrounding country towns, 
 is deemed " aristocratic." The people in the villages consider the inhabi- 
 tants of the towns " aristocratic," and so on. The term is not applied so 
 much to those who make pretensions as to those who live in better style, 
 and have more of the comforts and refinements of life about them ; it is 
 very common in small country newspapers and in political speeches in 
 out of the way places. 
 
 There have been more than one hundred steamboat arrivals here since our last 
 issue. We believe that the aristocratic Mayflower was among them. Illinois 
 Paper. 
 
 ARK. A large boat, employed on our rivers before the introduction of 
 steamboats, to transport merchandise. See Fiat-Boat. 
 
 ARKANSAS TOOTHPICK. A bowie knife of a peculiar kind, the blade of 
 which shuts up into the handle. 
 
 Straightway leaped the valiant Slingsby 
 
 Into armor of Seville, 
 With a strong Arkansas toothpick, 
 
 Screwed in every joint of steel. 
 
 Bon Gaultier, American Ballads. 
 
 ARMORY. A place or building where fire-arms are manufactured ; as, the 
 " Springfield Armory." 
 
 AROUND. About, near ; as, " Sam is around in New York." 
 I was standing around when the fight took place. Police Gazette. 
 
 A friend assures me he has heard a clergyman in his sermon say of 
 one of the disciples, that " he stood around the cross." 
 
 ARRIERO. (Span.) A muleteer. The Mexicans, who are the most ex- 
 pert in this business, are invariably employed in Texas, and for all mule 
 trains used in the commerce of the prairies. 
 
 ARROW HEAD. (Sagittaria variabilis.} A common and very variable 
 aquatic plant, so called from the shape of its leaf. 
 
 ARROW WOOD. ( Viburnum dentatum.) It is from the long and straight 
 stems of this shrub that the Indians between the Mississippi and the 
 Pacific make their arrows. 
 
 ARROYO. (Span.) See Gulch.
 
 ART ASS 13 
 
 ART or AIRY. A common corruption of e'er a ; as " Lend me a dime." 
 " I have n't got ary one." See also Nary, 
 
 The Court do declare, that if R. S arrest or molest any member of this 
 
 colony, in airy other jurisdiction for lawfully obstructing him, this colony will 
 stand by such. Rhode Island Col. Records, 1659. 
 
 As, for that, which ; as " nobody as I ever heard on." This vulgarism is 
 confined to the illiterate. It is noticed in the Craven and Hereford- 
 shire Glossaries. 
 
 As GOOD AS. In the phrase, I 'd as good 's go to New York, instead of 
 " I might as well go to New York." Only heard among the illiterate. 
 
 As LONG AS. Because, since. " "We '11 come, as long as it 's pleasant." 
 New York. 
 
 ASH-CAKE. A corn-cake baked in the ashes. Southern. 
 ASH-CART. A cart that goes from door to door to collect ashes. 
 
 ASH-HOPPER. A lye cask, or an inverted pyramidal box to contain ashes, 
 resembling a hopper in a mill. They are common in the country, where 
 people make their own soap. 
 
 ASHL ANDERS. A club of Baltimore rowdies, so named probably from 
 Henry Clay, of Ashland. 
 
 ASSOCIATED PRESS. A number of newspaper establishments in New 
 York and elsewhere, which have entered into a joint arrangement for 
 procuring telegraphic and other news to be equally furnished to them all, 
 have assumed the name of " The Associated Press." 
 
 ASSOCIATION. 1. In ecclesiastical affairs, a society of the clergy, consist- 
 ing of a number of pastors of neighboring churches, united for promot- 
 ing the interests of religion and the harmony of the churches. Web- 
 ster. 
 
 2. In civil affairs, this word is much used at the present day, to denote 
 the principle of uniting the producing classes in societies, for the purpose 
 of obtaining for themselves a larger share of the fruits of their labor. 
 
 We do not claim that our rules are perfect, but we wish to make them so ; being 
 firmly convinced that the science taught by Fourier will ultimately lead us into true 
 Association, if we follow it as a science, and that we must have some correct rules 
 of progress to govern us during the transition period from civilization to Associa- 
 tion. N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 ASSOCIATION AL. Pertaining to an association of clergymen. Webster. 
 
 In order to obtain a license, and afterwards to be admitted to ordination, they 
 (the students in divinity) must, in each case, pass through the Associational or Pres 
 byterian examination. Quarterly Review, 1815. 
 
 ASSOCIATIONIST. One who advocates the Fourier doctrine of association. 
 
 2
 
 14 AT AVA 
 
 AT, for by. Used in the expression, " Sales at auction." 
 
 The English say, " Sales by auction," and this is in analogy with the 
 expressions, Sales by inch of candle ; Sales by private contract. Pick- 
 ering's Vocab. 
 
 Ax, for in. The very common expressions " at the North," " at the West," 
 instead of " in the North," " in the "West," offend an English ear. 
 
 AT is often used superfluously in the South and West, as in the question, 
 Where is he at ? " 
 
 AT THAT. A cant phrase, which has recently become popular. It is used 
 to define more nearly or intensify something already said ; as, " He's got 
 a scolding wife, and an ugly one at that." 
 
 " Liquor up, gentlemen." We bowed. " Let me introduce you to some of the 
 most highly esteemed of our citizens." We bowed again. " Now then, Mister," 
 turning to the man at the bar, " drinks round, and cobblers at that." Notes on the 
 N. Western States, Blackwood, Sept., 1855. 
 
 ATAJO. (Span., pron. atdho.) A drove of pack-mules. 
 
 ATAMASCO LILT. {Amaryllis atamasco.) A small one-flowered lily, held 
 in like esteem, in Virginia and North Carolina, with the daisy in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 ATLANTIC STATES. States bordering on the Atlantic. 
 
 ATOLE. In the Spanish portions of North America, gruel, generally of 
 corn-meal. 
 
 ATTITUDINIZE. To assume affected attitudes. Worcester. 
 AUNTT. A familiar term, often used in accosting an elderly woman. 
 
 AUTHORITY. In Connecticut the justices of the peace are denominated 
 the civil authority. Webster, 
 
 Mr. Pickering says : " This word is also used in some of the States in 
 speaking collectively of the professors, etc., of our colleges, to whom the 
 government of those institutions is intrusted." 
 
 The authority required him to give bonds for his good behavior. Miss H. 
 Adams's Hist, of New England, p. 64. 
 
 AVAILABLE. That may be used with success or advantage. Worcester. 
 
 For some months past, a regular system of crying down Mr. Clay as unavailable, 
 has been prosecuted with indefatigable energy and adroitness throughout the Union. 
 Mr. Clay is a great man able statesman all of us prefer him to any- 
 body else if he could be elected, but I'm afraid he is n't available. Letter in N. Y. 
 Tribune, May, 1848. 
 
 AVAILABILITY. Quality of being available. Worcester. That qualifica- 
 tion hi a candidate which implies or supposes a strong probability of his 
 success, apart from substantial merit, a probability resulting from mere
 
 AVA AVE 15 
 
 personal or accidental popularity. The thing has long existed in the 
 papal government, where the advanced age of a candidate for the triple 
 crown has often been the motive of his election ; the idea being that he 
 would soon die out of the way, and leave the chair vacant for a new trial 
 of strength under more favorable auspices, perhaps, for some of the elect- 
 ing cardinals. Inoffensiveness exemption from strong hostility hi any 
 quarter is a frequent element of availability. J. Inman. 
 
 As this word is not noticed by any lexicographer except Dr. Worcester, 
 and is now much used, it is thought advisable to give several examples 
 of its use. 
 
 These political conventions are certainly becoming more odious and objectionable 
 from year to year, and availability, not merit or qualifications, is the only requisite 
 to secure a nomination. Baltimore Cor. of the N. Y. Herald, May, 1848. 
 
 The .only possible motive for the choice of Mr. Cass, that we can imagine, is his 
 presumed availability, the elements of this being his known predilection, real or 
 assumed, for territorial acquisition in all quarters, by warlike means as well as 
 others, and his avowed devotion to the Southern or slave-holding interest. N. Y. 
 Com. Adv., May 26, 1848. 
 
 The whigs, within the last few days, have presented candidates for the highest 
 office in the gift of the people, who are without any principles. . . . What do they 
 mean by this in thus presenting candidates who have no principles ? They proceed 
 on the principle of mere availability, and nothing else. They are again going to in- 
 sult your judgments, and tarnish the character of the nation, by their exhibitions of 
 coon-skins and hard cider, and their midnight debaucheries, as they did in 1840. 
 Spttch ofJ. Bowlin, N. Y. Herald, June 12, 1848. 
 
 AVAILED. Dr. "Witherspoon notices this word as used in the following ex- 
 ample : " The members of a popular government should be continually 
 availed of the situation and condition of every part." Works, Vol. 
 IV. p. 296. 
 
 The newspapers sometimes say, " an offer " (for instance) " was made 
 but not availed of" 
 
 AVAILS. Profits, or proceeds. It is used, in New England, for the pro- 
 ceeds of goods sold, or for rents, issues, or profits. Webster. 
 
 Expecting to subsist on the bounty of government, rather than on the avails of their 
 own industry. Stoddard's Louisiana. 
 
 It is used in other parts of the country in like manner. 
 
 AVALANCHE. A Texan corruption of the French Ambulance. A spring 
 waggon. 
 
 AVERSE. On the use of this word, Mr. Pickering has the following re- 
 marks : " American writers, till within some years past, generally em- 
 ployed the preposition to instead of from with this adjective." Dr. Wither- 
 spoon thinks, that " as averse properly signifies turned away, it seems an 
 evident improvement to say averse from ; " and the Scottish writers
 
 16 AVO AXE 
 
 generally seem to have preferred this. Dr. Campbell, however, observes, 
 that " the words averse and aversion are more properly construed with to, 
 than with from. The examples in favor of the latter preposition are, 
 beyond comparison, outnumbered by those in favor of the former. The 
 argument from etymology is here of no value, being taken from the use 
 of another language. If, by the same rule, we were to regulate all nouns 
 and verbs of Latin original, our present syntax would be overturned." 
 Dr. Webster remarks to the same effect. Mr. Todd says many examples 
 may be brought to show the prevalent use of the word from in con- 
 nection with averse, before Clarendon ; but now the usage of to pre- 
 vails. 
 
 AVOCADO PEAR. See Alligator Pear. 
 
 AWFUL. 1. Disagreeable, detestable, ugly. A word much used among 
 the common people in New England, and not unfrequently among those 
 who are educated. The expression, "an awful-looking woman," is as 
 often heard as "an ugly woman." 
 
 The country people of the New England States make use of many quaint expres- 
 sions in their conversation. Every thing that creates surprise is awful with them : 
 " What an awful wind ! awful hole ! awful hill ! awful mouth ! awful nose ! " etc. 
 Lambert's Travels in Canada and the United States. 
 
 The practice of moving on the first day of May, with one half the New-Yorkers, 
 is an awful custom. Major Downing, May-Day in New York. 
 
 2. Very great, excessive. This sense of the word is peculiar to the 
 
 West. 
 
 Pot-pie is the favorite dish, and woodsmen, sharp set, are awful eaters. Carl- 
 ton, The New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 182. 
 
 It is even used in this sense adverbially, and with still greater impro- 
 priety, like many other adjectives. Thus we not unfrequently hear such 
 expressions as " an awful cold day." 
 
 There was Old Crane pokin' round among the gals, and mighty particular to 
 Kezier Winkle. Ain't it ridiculous ? I don't see what he could fancy about her. 
 I never thought she was so awful handsome as some folks does. Widow Bedoll 
 Papers. 
 
 AWFULLY. Exceedingly, excessively. 
 
 The chimneys were awfully given to smoking. Carllon, New Purchase. 
 
 To AXE. (Ang. Sax. acsian, axian.) To ask. This word is now con- 
 sidered a vulgarism ; though, like many others under the same censure, 
 it is as old as the English language. Among the early writers it was 
 used with the same frequency as ask is now. In England it still exists 
 in the colloquial dialect of Norfolk and other counties. "A trueborn
 
 BAB BAG 17 
 
 Londoner," says Pegge, " always axes questions, axes pardon, and at 
 quadrilles, axes leave." 
 
 And Pilate axide him, Art thou Kyng of Jewis ? And Jhesus answeride and 
 seide to him, Thou seist. Wiclijf, Trans, of the Bible. 
 
 A pooi- lazar, upon a tide, 
 
 Came to the gate, and axed meate. Gower, Con. Anc. 
 
 Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby, in a letter to her son, 
 Henry VII., concludes with 
 
 As herty blessings as ye can axe of God. Lord Howard. 
 
 In the next reign, Dr. John Clarke writes to Cardinal Wolsey, and 
 tells him that 
 
 The King axed after your Grace's welfare. Pegge's Anecdote. 
 The word is much used by the uneducated in the United States. 
 
 Day before yesterday, I went down to the post-office, and ax'd the postmaster if 
 there was anything for me. Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 172. 
 
 I have often axed myself what sort of a gall that splendiferous Lady of the Lake 
 of Scott's was. Sam Slick in Eng., ch. 30. 
 
 B. 
 
 BABES. The name of a set of Baltimore rowdies. 
 BACK, v. To back a letter, is Western for to " direct " it. 
 
 BACK is often used for ago ; as in the phrase, " a little while lack" i. e. 
 " a short time ago." 
 
 BACK AND FORTH. Backwards and forwards, applied to a person in walk- 
 ing ; as, " He was walking back and forth" A common expression in the 
 familiar language of New England. 
 
 BACKBONE. Moral stamina, strength of will, firmness of purpose. A 
 figurative expression recently much used in political writings. 
 
 Infirmity of purpose is the cause of more serious lapses of infirmity of principle. 
 Men do not know how to resist the small temptations of life, from some deficiency 
 in their dorsal arrangements ; and the natural result is a departure from the right. 
 Backbone is the material which is designed to make an upright man ; and he must 
 be firm on all points, if he would pass scatheless through the struggle of life. 
 The Republic, 1857. 
 
 To BACK DOWN. To withdraw a charge, eat one's own words; as, "I 
 asked Jenkins, before witnesses, if he had called me a cheat ; and he 
 backed right doivn." 
 
 BACK-HOUSE. A necessary house, privy ; so called from its position. In 
 some parts of England it is called the Backward. Comp. the Lat. posti- 
 cum. 
 
 2*
 
 18 BAG BAG 
 
 To BACK OUT, v. To retreat from a difficulty, to refuse to fulfil a promise 
 or engagement. A metaphor borrowed from the stables. Equivalent 
 expressions are to back water, to take the back track. 
 
 Mr. Bedingcr, in his remarks in the House of Eepresentatives on the Mexican 
 war, January 25, 1848, said : " He regretted the bloodshed in Mexico, and wished 
 it would stop. But, he asked, would gentlemen be willing to back out, and forsake 
 our rights ? No, no. No turning back. This great country must go ahead." 
 
 The whigs undertook to cut down the price of printing to a fair rate, but at last 
 backed out, and voted to pay the old prices. New York Tribune. 
 
 To all appearance, we are on the eve of a bloody contest, if not a revolution. 
 What will be the consequence ? One or the other party must back out, or no one 
 can tell what will be the result. National Intelligencer. 
 
 'T would save some whole cartloads of fuss, an' three or four months o' jaw, 
 
 If some illustrious patriot should back out and withdraw. 
 
 Bigelow Papers, p. 124. 
 BACK OUT. A backing out, retreating. 
 
 Well, boys, you know Hoss Allen no lack out in him, anyhow ! Hoss Allen, 
 of Missouri. 
 
 BACK TRACK. To take the back track is to retrace one's steps, to retreat ; 
 and hence is equivalent to to back out. Western. 
 
 To BACK WATER, v. To retreat, or withdraw; a Western metaphor, 
 derived from steamboat language. / 
 
 BACKING AND FILLING. Advancing and retreating, shilly-shally, inde- 
 cision. A nautical metaphor, used also, it is believed, in England. 
 
 There has been so much backing and filling not only upon the Cuba question, but 
 upon every other, that no confidence can be placed in the declaration which either 
 Gen. Pierce or his cabinet may make. N. Y. Herald, June 15, 1854. 
 
 A backin' andjillin' and wrigglin' policy will never fetch any thing about. Maj. 
 Downing. 
 
 BACKWARD. Is sometimes used in the West for bashful, unwilling to 
 appear in company, on the same principle as " forward " in correct lan- 
 guage means the very contrary. 
 
 BACKWOODS. The partially cleared forest region on the western frontier 
 of the United States, called also the back settlements. This part of the 
 country is regarded as the back part or rear of Anglo-American civiliza- 
 tion, which fronts on the Atlantic. It is rather curious that the English 
 word back has thus acquired the meaning of western, which it has in 
 several Oriental languages, and also in Irish. 
 
 BACKWOODSMAN. In the United States, an inhabitant of the forest on the 
 Western frontier. Webster. 
 
 The project of transmuting the classes of American citizens and converting sail- 
 ors into backwoodsmen is not too monstrous for speculators to conceive and desire. 
 Fisher Ames's Works, p. 144.
 
 BAD BAL 19 
 
 I presume, ladies and gentlemen, it is your curiosity to hear the plain, unedu- 
 cated backwoodsman in his home style. Crockett's Tour, p. 126. 
 
 BAD. Badly; greatly, very much. Examples: "That bile hurts me 
 bad" " I want to see him bad." 
 
 BAGASSE. (Fr.) Stalks of sugar-cane, from which the juice has been 
 expressed. It is used as fuel under the sugar-kettle. Called also Cane, 
 trash. 
 
 BAGASSE FURNACE. A furnace arranged to burn the sugar-cane stalks. 
 
 BAGGAGE. Literally, what is contained in a bag or bags ; the clothing or 
 other conveniences which a traveller carries with him on a journey. The 
 English appear to have discarded the word altogether for the less ap- 
 propriate term luggage. 
 
 Having despatched my baggage by water to Altdorf. Coxe. 
 This is sometimes called more fully bag and baggage. 
 
 Seventeen members of Congress -arrived to-day with their bag and baggage. 
 Washington Paper. 
 
 BAGGAGE-CAR. The car on a railroad in which the baggage is stowed. 
 It is placed next behind the tender. 
 
 BAGGAGE-SMASHER. A man who transfers baggage to and from railroad 
 cars, steamboats, etc. So called from the reckless manner in which these 
 persons handle the property of travellers. 
 
 BAGGING. See Cotton-Bagging. 
 
 BAKE-OVEN. This term is often used in the West for the simple word 
 oven in a bakery. It is also applied to the iron bake-pan. 
 
 BALANCE. A mercantile word originally introduced into the ordinary lan- 
 guage of life by the Southern people, but now improperly used through- 
 out the United States to signify the remainder of any thing. The bal- 
 ance of money, or the balance of an account, are terms well authorized 
 and proper ; but we also frequently hear soich expressions as the " bal- 
 ance of a speech ; " " the balance of the day Avas idly spent j " "a great 
 many people assembled at the church: a part got in, the balance re- 
 mained without." 
 
 The yawl returned to the wreck, took ten or eleven persons and landed them, and 
 then went and got the balance from the floating cabin. Albany Journal, January 7, 
 1846. 
 
 Most of the respectable inhabitants held commissions in the army or government 
 offices ; the balance of the people kept little shops, cultivated the ground, etc. 
 Williams' s Florida, p. 115. 
 
 The boats of the South Ferry forced their way through the ice, and kept up their 
 communication for the balance of the day. New York Tribune.
 
 20 BAL BAN 
 
 BALD FACE. Common (penny) whiskey, particularly when it is new; 
 also figuratively and appropriately called Red Eye. 
 
 BALLOT-BOX STUFFING. A new name for a new crime. This consists in 
 the use of a box for receiving ballots at an election, so constructed with a 
 false bottom and compartments as to permit the introduction of spurious 
 ballots to any extent by the party having it in charge. In California the 
 most outrageous frauds have been committed by this means. 
 
 BALLYHACK " Go to Ballyhack ! " a common expression in New England. 
 I know not its origin. It savors in sound, however, of the Emerald Isle. 
 
 " You and Obcd are here too." 
 
 "Let Obed go to Ballyhack. Come along out." Margaret, p. 55. 
 
 BALM OF GILEAD. (Populus caudicans.} A tree, which extends from 
 New England to Wisconsin and Kentucky. It is rare in a wild state, 
 but common in cultivation. Gray, 
 
 BALSAM FIR. (Abies balsamea.) A slender tree growing in cold, clamp 
 woods and swamps, from New England to Pennsylvania and north- 
 wards. The blisters under the bark furnish the well-known " Canada 
 Balsam ; " hence its name. It is also called Canada Balsam and Gilead 
 Fir. 
 
 BALSAM POPLAR. (Populus balsamifera.) A tall tree growing from 
 New England to Wisconsin and northwards. Its large buds are var- 
 nished with a fragrant, resinous matter. Gray. 
 
 BANANA. The fruit of the Musa sapientium, a well-known tropical fruit, 
 imported into the United States from the West Indies. 
 
 BAND. A troop or herd of bisons is called, in prairie parlance, " a band 
 
 of buffalo." 
 
 BANDED DRUM. See Grunter. 
 BANCO ! A common exclamation among the negroes both North and 
 
 South. 
 BANJO. A rude sort of guitar, a favorite instrument with the negroes. 
 
 The term itself is probably of negro origin. 
 
 How oft when a boy, with childish joy, 
 
 I 've roam'd at the close of day, 
 When our work was done, to have some fun, 
 And hear the banjo play. Negro Melody. 
 Ole Nashville dey say is a very nice town, 
 Dar do niggers pick do cotton till do sun goes down ; 
 Dcy dance all night to do ole banjo, 
 Wid a corn-stalk fiddle and a shoe-string bow. Negro Melodies. 
 
 BANKABLF.. Receivable at a bank, as bills ; or discountable, as notes. 
 Webster.
 
 BAN BAE 21 
 
 Among the great variety of bank-notes which constitute our circulating 
 medium, many are below par, and consequently are not received at the 
 banks. Those only which are redeemed with specie or its equivalent 
 are received at the banks, and are of the class called bankable. 
 
 BANK BILL. A promissory note issued by a banking company. This is 
 the term generally used in the United States ; while in England bank 
 note is as regularly employed. 
 
 BANKER. A vessel employed in fishing on the Banks of Newfoundland. 
 " There were employed in the fisheries 1,232 vessels, namely, 584 to the 
 Banks, 648 to the Bay and Labrador ; the bankers may be put down at 
 36,540 tons." 
 
 The vessels that fish at the Labrador and Bay are not so valuable as the bankers, 
 more particularly those from Maine, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. J. Q. Adams 
 on the Fisheries, p. 219. 
 
 BANNOCK. (Gaelic, bonnach. Irish, boinneag.} In Scotland, a cake of 
 oatmeal, baked on an iron plate. 
 
 Behind the door a bag of meal ; 
 
 And in the kist was plenty 
 
 Of good hard cakes his mither bakes ; 
 
 And bannocks were nae scanty. Scotch Songs, II. 71. 
 
 In New England, cakes of Indian meal, fried in lard, are called ban- 
 nocks. 
 BANQUETTE. The name for the side-walk in some of our Southern cities. 
 
 To BANTER. To challenge, defy ; namely, to a race, a shooting-match, etc. 
 Southern and Western. 
 
 BANTER. A challenge. Southern and "Western. " There will be a banter 
 on the bare ground," meaning a shooting-match. 
 
 BAR, for bear. The common pronunciation in certain parts of the South- 
 ern and Western States. 
 
 BARBECUE. A term used in the Southern States and in the West Indies 
 for dressing a hog whole ; which, being split to the backbone, is laid flat 
 upon a large gridiron, and roasted over a charcoal fire. Johnson. 
 Webster. 
 
 A writer in the Westminster Review supposes the word to be a cor- 
 ruption of the French barbe-a-queue, i. e. from snout to tail ; comp. cap- 
 a-pie, from head to foot. 
 
 Oldfield, with more than harpy throat endued, 
 
 Cries, "Lend me, gods, a whole hog barbecued." Pope. 
 
 Now the festive board with viands is stored. 
 
 Savory dishes be there, I ween ; 
 Rich puddings and big, and a barbecued pig, 
 And ox-tail soup in a China tureen. Ingoldsby Legends.
 
 22 BAR BAR 
 
 This word is now much used in the South and West for a public 
 meeting in the open air with a dinner or other refreshments. 
 
 A genuine Virginia barbecue, whether of a social or a political character, is a rural 
 entertainment which deserves more praise than censure ; and we know of none which 
 affords the stranger a better opportunity of studying the character of the yeomanry 
 of the Southern States. Lanman's Adventures, Vol. II. p. 259. 
 
 To BARBERIZE. A term among country hairdressers. " I can shoemake 
 through the week, and barberize on public days ; " that is, on days of 
 public business, which call farmers to the country town. To barber is so 
 used in old writers. 
 
 BARGE. A vessel of burden, employed on the Mississippi and its tribu- 
 taries before the introduction of steamboats. It is thus described by 
 Flint : " The barge is of the size of an Atlantic schooner. It had sails, 
 masts, and rigging, not unlike a sea vessel, and carried from fifty to an 
 hundred tons. On the lower courses of the Mississippi, when the wind 
 did not serve and the waters were high, it was worked up stream by the 
 operation that is called ' warping ' a most laborious, slow, and difficult 
 mode of ascent, in which six or eight miles a day was good progress." 
 Hist, and Geogr. of Miss. Valley. 
 
 Thirty years ago safety barges were introduced upon the Hudson, soon 
 after several serious disasters by the explosion of boilers these were 
 large and comfortable vessels, solely for the accommodation of passengers, 
 and were towed by a steamboat. Making their trips but slowly, they 
 soon went out of fashion and the word barge was then applied to 
 freight vessels towed by steamboats of these, however, several were 
 towed by one boat. 
 
 To BARK A TREE. To make a circular incision through the bark so as 
 to kill the tree. See Girdle. 
 
 To BARK OFF SQUIRRELS. A common way of killing squirrels among 
 those who are expert with the rifle, in the Western States, is to strike 
 with the ball the bark of the tree immediately beneath the squirrel ; the 
 concussion produced by which kills the animal instantly without mutilat- 
 ing it. Audubon, Ornithology, Vol. I. p. 294. 
 
 To BARK UP THE AVROXG TREE. A common expression at the West, 
 denoting that a person has mistaken his object, or is pursuing the wrong 
 course to obtain it. In hunting, a dog drives a squirrel or other game 
 into a tree, where, by a constant barking, he attracts its attention until 
 the hunter arrives. Sometimes the game escapes, or the dog is deceived, 
 and barks up the wrong tree. 
 
 If you think to run a rig on me, you have made a mistake in the child, and 
 barked up the wrong tree. S. Slick, Human Nature, p. 124.
 
 BAR BAR 23 
 
 "When people try to hunt [office] for themselves, and seem to be larking 
 
 up the wrong sapling, I want to put them on the right trail. Crockett's Tour, p. 
 205. 
 
 BARM. (Ang. Sax. beorm.) Yeast. This old English word is preserved 
 in New England. 
 
 BARNBURNERS. A nickname given in the State of New York to the more 
 radical and progressive section of the Democratic party, otherwise called 
 the Young Democracy, as opposed to the conservative tendencies of old 
 Hunkerism. See Hunker. 
 
 This school of Democrats was termed Barnburners, in allusion to the story of an 
 old Dutchman, who relieved himself of rats by burning down his barns which 
 they infested, just like exterminating all banks and corporations, to root out the 
 abuses connected therewith. N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 BARRACH. A straw-thatched roof supported by four posts, capable 
 of being raised or lowered at pleasure, under which hay is kept. Also 
 called, in New York, hay-barrach, probably from the Dutch. 
 
 BARRACLADE. (Dutch, barre Hedeeren, cloths undressed or without a 
 nap.) A home-made woollen blanket without nap. This word is 
 peculiar to New York city, and those parts of the State settled by the 
 Dutch. 
 
 BARRANCA. (Span.) A deep break or ravine, caused by heavy rains or 
 a watercourse. The banks of such are always steep and abrupt, like a 
 wall, owing to the tenacity of the soil, and the suddenness with which 
 they are made. A sloping bank by a river's side, or a similarly formed 
 ravine, is not a barranca. These perpendicular walls of earth are found 
 in Texas and New Mexico, and are a marked feature in their topogra- 
 phy. The Barrancas which bound on one side the battle-field of Buena 
 Vista are very remarkable. 
 
 BARRENS. Elevated lands or plains upon which grow small trees, but 
 never timber. They are classed as Pine-barrens, Oak-barrens, etc., ac- 
 cording to the kind of tree which prevails upon them. In Kentucky, 
 the term is applied to certain regions in the carboniferous limestone for- 
 mation, the soil of which is really very fertile. Hence Barren county 
 and Barren river. In these places the water flows in subterranean chan- 
 nels ; and hence a dryness of the surface, which, according to some, has 
 permitted annual fires to sweep off the timber, while, according to others, 
 it has not permitted its growth. 
 
 BARREN GROUND REINDEER. (Tarandus arcticus, Rich.) A species 
 of Caribou confined almost entirely to the " Barren Grounds," the north- 
 eastern corner of North America. It occurs also in Greenland. *S. F. 
 Baird.
 
 24 BAS BAY 
 
 BASE. A game of ball much played in America, so called from the three 
 banes or stations used in it. That the game and its name are both Eng- 
 lish is evident from the following article in Halliwell's Dictionary of 
 Archaic and Provincial Words : " Base-ball. A country game mentioned 
 in Moor's Suffolk Words, p. 238." 
 
 BASKET MEETING. In the West a sort of pic-nic, generally with some 
 religious " exercises." 
 
 BASS. A name applied to several species of excellent sea and lake fish. 
 See Black Bass, Sea Bass, Striped Bass. 
 
 BASSAVOOD. (Tilia americana.) A tree resembling the European lime 
 or linden ; from the use of its inner bark for making mats or cordage, 
 the tree is also called bast or bass. The name, however, is now obsolete 
 in England. In the United States it is also called White-wood. 
 
 From the idea of pliability (both in the bark and wood), the name 
 of the tree is made a reproach in the following extract from one 
 of Brigham Young's " sermons ! " 
 
 I say, as the Lord lives, we are bound to become a sovereign State in the Union, 
 or an independent nation by ourselves ; and let them drive us from this place if they 
 can, they cannot do it. I do not throw this out as a banter. You Gentiles and 
 hickory and basswood Mormons can write it down, if you please ; but write it as I 
 speak it. 
 
 To BAT. To bat the eyes, in Southern parlance, is to wink. 
 
 BATTERY. A sort of boat used for duck-shooting in the Chesapeake, in 
 which the shooter lies below the surface of the water. It is also called, 
 among other local names, a Surface-boat, Coffin-boat, Sink, or Box. 
 Lewis, American Sportsman. 
 
 BAY. 1. An arm of a prairie extending into, and partly surrounded by, 
 woods. 
 
 2. A piece of low, marshy ground, producing large numbers of Bay- 
 trees. North Carolina. 
 
 BAYBERRY. (Myrica cerifera.") A shrub, with fragrant leaves, having an 
 odor resembling that of the bay. The berries, when boiled in water, 
 yield a fragrant green wax, known as " bayberry tallow," used for mak- 
 ing candles, etc. 
 
 BAY RUM. A liquor obtained by distilling the leaves of the bay-tree. It 
 is chiefly used for the purposes of the toilet. 
 
 BAY LAUREL. See Bay-tree. 
 
 BAY STATE. The State of Massachusetts. The original name of the 
 colony was Massachusetts Bay. Hence among the New England peo- 
 ple it was usually called the Bay State.
 
 BAY BEA 25 
 
 BAYOU. (Fr. boyau, a gut.) In Louisiana, the outlet of a lake ; a chan- 
 nel for water. 
 
 BEACH-COMBERS. The long waves rolling in from the ocean. 
 
 BEAKEK. A large drinking-glass, a tumbler. The word is used in the 
 north of England and in Scotland, and by old persons in New England. 
 In what may be called bacchanalian poetry, it is still used by us precisely 
 as it was in England centuries ago. 
 
 Fill him his beaker, he will never flinch 
 To give a full quart pot the empty pinch. 
 
 Rowland's Humors Ordinarie. 
 
 Then fill up your beaker ! A bumper I claim 
 For the toast that each heart will respond to. 
 Rough and Ready Songs. 
 
 Every one is familiar with the chorus in the beautiful song of C. F. 
 Hoffman, entitled " Sparkling and Bright." 
 
 Then fill to-night with hearts as light, 
 
 To loves as gay and fleeting 
 As bubbles that swim on the beaker's brim, 
 
 And break on the lips while meeting. 
 
 BEAR. A word to denote a certain description of stockjobbers. John- 
 son. 
 
 The same term is used among the brokers and stockjobbers of Wall 
 street, New York. Then- plans of operation are as accurately described 
 in the annexed extract from Warton as they can be at the present 
 moment : 
 
 He who sells that of which he is not possessed is proverbially said to 
 sell the skin before he has caught the bear. It was the practice of stock- 
 jobbers, in the year 1720, to enter into a contract for transferring South 
 Sea stock at a future time for a certain price ; but he who contracted to 
 sell had frequently no stock to transfer, nor did he who bought intend to 
 receive any in consequence of his bargain ; the seller was therefore 
 called a bear, in allusion to the proverb, and the buyer a bull, perhaps 
 only as a similar distinction. The contract was merely a wager, to be 
 determined by the rise or fall of stock ; if it rose, the seller paid the dif- 
 ference to the buyer, proportioned to the sum determined by the same 
 computation to the seller. Dr. Warton on Pope. 
 
 There has been a very important revolution made in the tactics of a certain exten- 
 sive operator in Wall street. The largest bull in the street has become a bear, and 
 the rank and file have been thrown into the greatest confusion and left without a 
 leader. New York Herald. 
 
 BEAR-BERRY. See Kinnikinick. 
 
 3
 
 26 BEA BEA 
 
 BEAR-GRASS. ( Yucca Jilamentosa.) Sometimes called Silk Grass, from 
 the fibres which appear on the edges of the leaves. It is not a grass. 
 
 To BEAR A HAND. A seaman's phrase. To go to work ; to assist ; to 
 make haste. 
 
 BEAR STATE. A name by which the State of Arkansas is known at the 
 West. I once asked a Western man if Arkansas abounded in bears, 
 that it should be designated as the " Bear State ? " " Yes," said he, " it 
 does ; for I never knew a man from that State but he was a bar, and in 
 fact the people are all barish to a degree." 
 
 BEAR- WALLOW. See Hog-Wallow. 
 
 BEAST. A common name for a horse in the Southern and Western States. 
 It is quite common to see in villages the invitation to travellers, " Enter- 
 tainment for man and beast ; " and in the Bible we read, " A certain 
 Samaritan ... set him on his own beast" 
 
 To BEAT. 1. To excel, surpass in a contest. Thus we say, one racer or 
 steamer beats another. So too, "It beats all creation," i. e. surpasses 
 every thing. 
 
 The widow Bedott is the brazen-facedest critter t'ever lived, it does beat all. 
 I never see her equal. Bedott Papers, p. 77. 
 
 2. To overcome with astonishment, to amaze, astound. We sometimes 
 hear, especially from the mouths of old people, such expressions as, " I 
 felt beat" "I was quite beat" i. e. utterly astonished. 
 
 BEAT, n. One who excels or surpasses another, a superior. 
 
 Sam Slick was a queer chap. I never see the beat of him. Yankee Hill's Sto- 
 ries. 
 
 BEAT OUT. Tired or fagged out. 
 
 BEAU. This word, nearly obsolete in England, is in common use with us 
 to mean a lover, sweetheart. 
 
 To BEAU. To act in the capacity of a gallant or beau. 
 
 "Well, I got to beauin' Miss Patience about a spell ; and kept my eye on Nance, to 
 see how the cat was jumpin'. Yankee Hill's Stories. 
 
 BEAUTIFUL. Excellent, applied to articles of food ; as, " beautiful butter," 
 " beautiful rolls." This absurd use of the term is by no means confined 
 to the illiterate. The word elegant is less frequently abused in the same 
 manner. 
 
 BEAVER. ( Castor americanus.) This well-known animal, of which natu- 
 ralists enumerate several varieties, is said to extend over the North 
 American continent from the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi to
 
 BEA BEG 27 
 
 about 68 north latitude, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with the 
 exception of the barren districts. 
 
 BEAVER-DAM. The obstruction placed across a stream by beavers. 
 
 BEAVER-TREE. (Magnolia glauca.} Called also Beaver-wood, and some- 
 times Castor-wood, probably from the preference shown by the beavers 
 for the bark as food, or for the wood as useful in their structures. 
 
 BED-SPREAD. In the interior parts of the country, the common name for 
 a bed-quilt, or coverlet. See Spread. 
 
 BEE. An assemblage of people, generally neighbors, to unite their labors 
 for the benefit of an individual or family. The quilting-bees hi the inte- 
 rior of New England and New York are attended by young women, 
 who assemble around the frame of a bed-quilt, and in one afternoon ac- 
 complish more than one person could in weeks. Refreshments and beaux 
 help to render the meeting agreeable. Apple-bees are occasions when the 
 neighbors assemble to gather apples or to cut them up for drying. Husk- 
 ing-bees, for husking corn, are held in barns, which are made the occa- 
 sion of much frolicking. In new countries, when a settler arrives, the 
 neighboring farmers unite with their teams, cut the timber, and build him 
 a log-house in a single day ; these are termed raising-bees. 
 
 BEE-GUM. In the South and West, a term originally applied to a species 
 of the gum-tree from which beehives were made ; and now to beehives 
 made of any kind of boards. See Gum. 
 
 BEE-LINE. Bees, after having loaded themselves with honey, always fly 
 back to the hive in a direct line. Hence, a bee-line is the straightest 
 course from one point to another. It is sometimes called an air-line. 
 
 This road is one of nature's laying. It goes determinedly straight up and straight 
 down the hills, and in a beeJine, as we say. Mrs. Clovers. 
 
 The sweetened whiskey I had drank made me so powerful thick-legged, that when 
 I started to walk, my track warn't any thing like a bee-line. The Americans at 
 Home, Vol. I. 
 
 We moved on like men in a dream. Our foot-marks, seen afterwards, showed 
 that we had steered a bee-line for the brig. Kane, Arctic Explorations, Vol. I. p. 
 198. 
 
 Sinners, you are making a bee-line from time to eternity; and what you have 
 once passed over you will never pass again. Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 215. 
 
 BEE-TREE. In the South and West a tree, often found hollow, in which 
 the wild honey-bee makes its hive or nest. See Gum-tree. 
 
 BEGGAR-TICKS. A species of JZidens whose seeds (fruit) adhere to the 
 clothes. The term is also applied to a species of Desmodium whose pods 
 break at the joints ; the latter is sometimes called Beggar-Lice.
 
 28 BEE BEL 
 
 BEECH-DROPS. A term applied to various plants without green foliage, 
 parasitic on the roots of the beech. 
 
 BEEF. In Louisiana, Texas, and some other parts of the South-west, an 
 ox is called a beef, and oxen, beeves. 
 
 BEEF-DODGER. Meat biscuit. Comp. Corn-dodger. 
 
 It is a small party, but great in the requisite qualifications, and goes unincum- 
 bered with superfluities : no wheels, two or three mules apiece, and pinole, pcmmi- 
 can, and beef-dodyers for their principal support. Speech of Col. Benton, May 7, 
 1853. 
 
 BEING. Pres. part, of the verb to be, equivalent to because. 
 
 This word is noticed by Boucher, as much in use in the Middle States 
 of America, and as an idiom of the Western counties of England. It is 
 also heard among the illiterate in New England. 
 
 I sent you no more peasen, been the rest would not have suited you. Boucher's 
 Glossary. 
 
 And beinge that a barrell of furs was lost in the shippe, the collonie hath taken 
 order for the recruitinge of that loss. Rhode Island Records, 1C58. 
 
 The charge of the matter shall be borne by the towue of Warwick, beinge they 
 have been at some charges already. Ibid., 1659. 
 
 " Got a prime nigger," said the slave-trader ; " an A number one cook, and no 
 mistake! Picked her up real cheap, and I'll let you have her for eight hundred 
 dollars, being as your'e a minister." Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. I. p. 313. 
 
 The mug cost fifteen pence when 't was new ; but bein' it had an old crack in it, I 
 told her she need n't pay but a shilling for it. Maj. Downing. 
 
 Bein' ye '11 help Obed, I'll give ye the honey. Margaret, p. 20. 
 
 BELIKED. Liked, beloved. A Western term. 
 
 I do believe me and Nancy was beliked by the Indians ; and many 's the venison 
 and turkey they fotch'd us as a sort of present, and may be a kind of pay for bread- 
 stuffs and salt Nancy used to give them. Carlton, The New Purchase. 
 
 This gentleman is generally beliked by his fellow-citizens. Baltimore Cor. of the 
 N. Y. Herald. 
 
 BELITTLE. To make smaller, to lower in character. Webster. 
 
 Mr. Pickering says : A well known English Review, in enumerating 
 the faults of our writers, thus mentions this, among other words : 
 " President Jefferson talks of belittling the productions of nature." 
 Quart. Rev., X. 528. 
 
 "We fear men's minds grow really belittled, where they ought to be enlarged. 
 Brook Eastford, p. 124. 
 
 Mr. Goodrich, in his " Reminiscences," says, when he returned to his 
 native place, after many years' absence in Europe : 
 
 Every thing looked belittled, degenerated in dimensions. The church seemed small, 
 the galleries low, the pulpit mean. Vol. I. p. 309.
 
 BEL BEN 29 
 
 " I won't stand that," said Mr. Slick, " I won't stay here and see you belittle 
 Uncle Sam for notliin'. He ain't worse than John Bull, arter all." Sam Slick in 
 England, ch. 19. 
 
 An article in the New York Times, relative to Congressional corrup- 
 tion's being made the subject of discussion in the House of Representa- 
 tives, says : 
 
 Upon a motion being made for a committee of investigation, the usual efforts 
 were made to belittle the press, and treat its censures with contempt. New York 
 Times, Jan. 10, 1857. * 
 
 BELLOWS FISH. See Sea-Devil. 
 
 BELONGINGS. In the " Washington Union " is an advertisement headed 
 " Gentlemen's belongings ; " from which it appears that this term means 
 the under garments of gentlemen, such as shirts, drawers, stock- 
 ings, etc. 
 
 BELLY-GUTS. More commonly Belly cutter or gutter. 1. A term ap- 
 plied by boys to the manner of sliding down hill on their sleds, when 
 lying on their bellies. 
 
 2. In Pennsylvania, molasses candy is so called. 
 
 BELLWORT. The popular name of plants of the genus Uvularia. 
 
 BENDER. In New York, a spree, a frolic. To " go on a lender" is to 
 go on a spree. 
 
 The friends of the new married couple did nothing for a whole month but smoke 
 and drink metheglin during the bender they called the honeymoon. Sam Slick, 
 Human Nature, p. 276. 
 
 A couple of students of Williams College went over to North Adams on a bender. 
 This would have been a serious matter under the best of circumstances, but each 
 returned with "a brick in his hat," etc. Newspaper, April, 1857. 
 
 I met her at the Chinese room ; 
 
 She wore a wreath of roses, 
 She walked in beauty like the night, 
 
 Her breath was like sweet posies. 
 I led her through the festal hall, 
 
 Her glance was soft and tender ; 
 She wluspered gently in my ear, 
 
 " Say, Mose, ain't this a bender ? " 
 
 Putnam's Monthly, Aug., 1854. 
 
 BENCH. Besides the usual English acceptation of this word, it is applied 
 to a long seat without a back, such as is used in schools, and which in 
 England is called a. form. 
 
 BENCH and BENCH MARK. In civil engineering a permanent, level 
 mark on a rock, or the root or stump of a tree, upon which a levelling- 
 staff can be placed. 
 
 3*
 
 30 BEE BET 
 
 BERMUDIAN VINE. See Chicken Grape. 
 
 BESTOWMENT. 1. The act of giving gratuitously; a conferring. Webster. 
 This word, which is much used by our theological writers, is not in the 
 English dictionaries. 
 
 God the Father had committed the bcstowment of the blessings purchased to his 
 Son. Edwards on Redemption. 
 If we consider the bestowment of gifts in this view. Chauncey, U. Lab. 
 
 2. That which is conferred or given. Webster. 
 
 They strengthened his hands by their liberal bestowmcnts on him and his family. 
 Christian Magazine, III. 665. 
 The free and munificent bestowment of the Sovereign Judge. Theodey. 
 
 Mr. Todd has bestowal in his edition of Johnson, but cites no authority 
 for its use. Dr. Webster thinks bestowment preferable on account of the 
 concurrence of the two vowels in bestowal. 
 
 BETTER, for more ; as, " It is better than a year since we met." This use 
 of the word is provincial in England. 
 
 BETTERMENTS. (Generally used in the plural number.) The improve- 
 ments made on new lands, by cultivation and the erection of buildings. 
 Pickering's Vocabulary. 
 
 " This word," adds Mr. 'Pickering, " was first used in the State of Ver- 
 mont, but it has for a long time been common in the State of New Hamp- 
 shire ; and it has been getting into use in some parts of Massachusetts, 
 since the passing of the late law, similar to the Betterment Acts (as they 
 are called) of the States above mentioned. It is not to be found in Mr. 
 Webster's nor in any of the English dictionaries that I have seen, except 
 Ash's ; and there it is called ' a bad word.' It is thus noticed by an Eng- 
 lish traveller in this country, in speaking of those people who enter upon 
 new lands without any right, and proceed to cultivate them : 
 
 These men demand either to be left owners of the soil or paid for their betterments ; 
 that is, for what they have done towards clearing the ground. Kendall, Travels in 
 the United States, Vol. III. p. 160." 
 
 BETTERMOST. The best. The word, which is provincial in England, is 
 used in New England. 
 
 The bettermost cow, an expression we do not find in Shakspeare or Milton. Mrs. 
 Kirkland. 
 
 Sometimes is heard the expression bettermost best ; as, " These girls are 
 dressed in their bettermost best." 
 
 BETTY. (Ital. boccetta.) A pear-shaped bottle wound around with straw, 
 in which olive oil is brought from Italy. Called by chemists a " Florence 
 flask." 
 
 BETWEEN HAY AND GRASS. Between boyhood and manhood.
 
 BHO BIG 31 
 
 B'HOTS. i. e. Boys, a name applied to a class of noisy young men of the 
 lower ranks of society in the city of New York. 
 
 The New York Commercial Advertiser, April 12, 1847, in speaking 
 of the approaching election, uses the following language : 
 
 All the b'hoys will vote, aye, more than all. Let every Whig do his duty. Ano- 
 ther year with a democratic mayor and such a mayor as the b'hoys would force 
 upon the city ! Who can tell what the taxes will be ? 
 
 Then come every friend of the Union, 
 
 Come old men, and come ye b'hoys ; 
 
 Let 's go it for old Rough and Ready, 
 
 Who never was scared at a noise ! Political Song. 
 
 BIBLE CHRISTIANS. The Philadelphia Mercury thus gives a summary of 
 the creed of this new sect : " This denomination abstain from all animal 
 food and spirituous liquors, and live on vegetables and fruits. ,They 
 maintain the unity of God, the divinity of Jesus, and the salvation of 
 man, attainable only by a life of obedience to the light manifested to his 
 mind and a grateful acknowledgment of his indebtedness to the great 
 Giver of ah 1 . The congregation numbers about seventy members." 
 
 BIDDABLE. This Irish word is in use in the West. "White servants are 
 not biddable" that is, manageable, obedient to order. 
 
 BIG. Great, fine, excellent. The " Ug bell," the " Ug altar," and the 
 " big desk " of a church, are assuredly big vulgarisms. The " big horn," 
 for the last trumpet, is almost profane. 
 
 " Hello ! " sez he, " what 's that ? " 
 
 " That ere," sez I, " 's some o' the biggest whiskey that ever slipped down a fel- 
 ler's throat, without smellin o' the customs." N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 BIG BUGS. People of consequence. 
 
 Then we '11 go to the Lord's house I do n't mean to the meetin' house, hut 
 where the nobles meet, pick out the big bugs, and see what sort o' stuff they 're made 
 of. Sam Slick in England, ch. 24. 
 
 These preachers dress like big bugs, and go ridin' about on hundred-dollar horses, 
 a-spungin' poor priest-ridden folks, and a-eaten chicken-fixens so powerful fast that 
 chickens has got scarce in these diggins. Carlton's New Purchase, Vol. II. p. 140. 
 
 The free-and-easy manner in which the hair-brained Sir Robert Peel described 
 some of the big bugs at Moscow has got him into difficulty. N. Y. Times, Feb- 
 ruary, 1857. 
 
 Miss Samson Savage is one of the big bugs that is, she 's got more money than 
 a'most anybody else in town. Bedott Papers, p. 301. 
 
 BIG DOG. In some parts of the country the principal man of a place or 
 in an undertaking is called the big dog with a brass collar, as opposed 
 to the little curs not thought worthy of a collar. 
 
 BIG DRINK. 1. A large glass of liquor. 
 
 2. A cant term applied, at the South-west, to the Mississippi River.
 
 82 BIG BIL 
 
 "Well, as I was sayin', off I sot, went through Mississippi, crossed the big drink, 
 come too now and then, when the chill come it too strong, but could n't git shut of 
 the ager. N. Y. Spirit of the Times, Frontier Incident. 
 
 BIG FIGURE. To go the big figure or do things on the big figure, means 
 to do them on a large scale. This vulgar phrase is used at the West and 
 South. 
 
 Well, I glory in her spunk, but it 's monstrous expensive and unpleasant to do 
 things on the big figure that she 's on now. Maj. Jones's Courtship. 
 
 BIG HEAD. 1. A swelling of the head in cattle. 
 
 2. A term used in the "West to denote that affection in youth which 
 has recently found a more elegant designation in the term " Young 
 America." It is applied to boys who smoke cigars, chew tobacco, drink 
 strong liquors, gamble, and treat their parents and superiors as their in- 
 feriors. Of such a boy it is said, " he has got the big head." Also called 
 swell head. 
 
 BIG HORN. (Ovis montana.) Another name for the Rocky Mountain 
 Sheep, an animal extensively distributed through North America along 
 the highlands of the Rocky Mountains from California to the parallel 
 of 68. S. F. Baird. 
 
 BIG MEETING. Common in the West for " protracted meeting." In 
 country towns where there are no churches and where preachers are sel- 
 dom seen, the arrival of one is a matter of importance to the whole 
 surrounding region. The people assemble in great numbers and from a 
 distance, and having come so far, one sermon will not suffice ; so for 
 several days together religious services are held. This has originally no 
 reference to any especial interest in the hearers, but the transition to the 
 ordinary " protracted meeting " is natural. 
 
 BIGGEST. Greatest, finest, most excellent ; as, " He 's the biggest kind 
 of a musician." 
 
 The thermal springs are regarded by the trappers as the breathing-places of his 
 Satanic majesty ; and considered, moreover, to be the biggest kind of medicine to 
 be found in the mountains. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 129. 
 
 BILBERRY. ( Vaccimum.) The popular name of shrubs belonging to dif- 
 ferent species of whortleberry. 
 
 BILING. A vulgar pronunciation of boiling. The phrase the whole (or 
 more commonly hull) kit and Ulin, means the whole lot, applied to per- 
 sons or things. 
 
 BILL-FISH. (Belone truncata.) A small sea-fish fond of running up into 
 fresh water during the summer, and often taken a considerable distance 
 from the ocean. Also called Sea-pike, Silver Gar-fish, etc.
 
 BIL BIT 33 
 
 BILLY. A weapon used by desperadoes, and sometimes carried by police- 
 men. See Slung-shot. 
 
 A day or two since a poor German was taken to prison, and, on examining him, 
 it was discovered that he was a victim to the billy. N. Y. Herald. 
 
 BIME-BY. A popular contraction for by-and-by. According to Halliwell, 
 it is used in the county of Somerset, England. 
 O Miss Nancy, do n't you cry ; 
 Your sweetheart will come bime-by. 
 When he comes, he 's drest in blue ; 
 That 'a a sign he '11 marry you. Children's Sony. 
 
 BINDWEED. The popular name in Massachusetts for the convolvulus. 
 Bigelow's Flora. This term is preferable to the provincial English 
 " Robin run the hedge." 
 
 BINDERY. A place where books are bound. Webster. 
 
 A writer in the Penny Cyclopedia thinks this a new but not a bad 
 
 word. 
 BIRDS-EYE LIMESTONE. The name of a formation in the New York 
 
 system of Geology. 
 
 BISHOP. An appendage to a lady's wardrobe, otherwise called a Bustle. 
 
 I sing the bishop, alias the bustle, 
 
 A theme transcendant for a human tongue ; 
 Prepare, my muse, for a heroic tussle ! 
 
 Let every nerve with energy be strung ! 
 
 The Bustle, a Philos. Poem. 
 
 Mr. Saxe, in his poem on "Progress," says that Imperial Fashion 
 decides the gravest questions which divide the world. 
 
 If wrong may not, by circumstance, be right, 
 If black cravats be more genteel than white, 
 If, by her bishop, or her " grace," alone, 
 A genuine lady, or a church, is known. 
 
 BISON. See Buffalo. 
 
 BIT. (Span, pieza.) The name, in some Southern States, of a silver coin 
 of the value of one eighth of a dollar, the Spanish real (de plata). 
 It is called also an eleven-penny bit or a levy. See the article Federal 
 Currency. 
 
 BITTERS. A liquid or spirituous liquor, containing an infusion of bitter 
 herbs and roots. Worcester. 
 
 Bitters, before the temperance reform, were much in fashion, taken 
 before breakfast to give an appetite. The custom is now confined to 
 professed tipplers, or to where fever and ague abounds. 
 
 What was that I saw you taking for your bitters, a little while ago ? Cooper, 
 Satanstoe, p. 68.
 
 34 BLA BLA 
 
 BLACK BASS. 1. A favorite game fish, found in abundance in most of our 
 Northern lakes and "Western rivers. 
 
 2. On the Jersey coast, this name is also given to the Sea Bass 
 ( Centopristes nigricans.) 
 
 BLACKBERRY. This term is universal in the United States for the Eng- 
 lish Bramble-berry. 
 
 BLACKBERRY BUSH. Bramble-bush. 
 
 BLACKFISH. See Tautaug. 
 
 BLACKGUJI. ( Genus Nyssa.) A tree common to the Middle States. 
 
 BLACK JACK. The Quercus nigra, or Barren oak. 
 
 BLACK MAIL. Formerly, money paid to men allied with robbers to be 
 protected by them from being robbed. CowelL 
 
 In the United States it usually means money extorted from a person 
 by threatening to accuse him of a crime or to oppose him in the public 
 prints. This is called " levying black mail" 
 
 BLACKSTRAP. Gin and molasses. The English sailors call the common 
 wines of the Mediterranean, blackstrap. Falconer s Marine Dictionary. 
 
 Come, Molly, dear, no blackstrap to-night, switchel, or ginger pop. Margaret, 
 p. 300. 
 
 Mister, I guess you never drink'd no blackstrap, did you ? Why, bless you, it 'a 
 the sweetest drink that ever streaked down a gullet. Hill's Yankee Stories. 
 
 Blackstrap in old times was the common beverage of engine companies 
 at fires in Boston, and is thus poetically alluded to by one of her writers : 
 
 But oh ! let blackstrap's sable god deplore 
 Those engine-heroes so renowned of yore ! 
 
 Harvard Register, q. 235. 
 
 BLACKWOOD. Hemlock, pine, spruce, and fir. Maine. 
 
 BLADDER-TREE. (Straphylea.) A handsome shrub, from six to ten feet 
 high, remarkable for its large inflated capsules. Bigelow's Flora Bos- 
 toniensis. 
 
 BLADDER- WORT. (TJtricularia vulgaris.) The popular name of an 
 aquatic plant, appearing above water only with its stalk and flowers. 
 Ibid. 
 
 BLANKET. A term used distinctively for the clothing of an Indian. To 
 say of one's father or mother that they " wore the blanket," implies that 
 they were but half civilized Indians. "Western. 
 
 BLANKET COAT. A coat made from a blanket, common in the West, and 
 often seen with the black stripe of the border of the original blanket
 
 BLA BLA 35 
 
 crossing various parts of the garment. Such a coat, of a bright blue, 
 would be deemed a great oddity in the Atlantic States ; in the West, a 
 green one would be considered equally ridiculous. See Mackinaw 
 Blanket. 
 
 BLANKET INDIAN. A wild Indian, whose principal article of dress is the 
 blanket. 
 
 BLATHER. The Irish pronunciation of bladder ; figuratively, idle, windy 
 talk. Western. 
 
 BLATHERSKITE. A blustering, noisy, talkative fellow. Though of Scotch 
 origin, the term is much used in the West. 
 
 BLATJSER. (Dutch, blazer, a blower.) The name given by the Dutch set- 
 tlers to the hog-nosed snake, from its habit of distending or blowing up 
 the skin of its neck and head. The other popular names in New York 
 are Deaf- Adder and Buckwheat-nosed Adder. Nat. Hist, of New York. 
 
 BLAZE. In traversing the dense forests of the West, a person would soon 
 lose his way and find it difficult to retrace his steps, without some land- 
 mark. This is made by cutting a piece out of the side of trees at a 
 sufficient distance from each other to enable the traveller readily to dis- 
 cover them, and thus follow the direct path or road. Such a mark is 
 called a blaze, and trees thus marked are said to be blazed. " That horse 
 has a blazed forehead," meaning a white spot on it. 
 
 Three blazes in a perpendicular line on the same tree indicating a legislative road, 
 the single blaze, a settlement or neighborhood road. Carlton, The New Purchase. 
 
 After traversing a broad marsh, however, where my horse seemed loth to venture, 
 I struck a burr-oak opening, and soon found my way by the blazed trees back to the 
 mail trail. Hoffman, Winter in the West. 
 
 I kept the banks of the bayou, and determined to mark the tre with a blaze. A 
 Stray Yankee in Texas, p. 63. 
 
 Do you see that blaze in the hemlock tree ? Well, he up and as quick as a wink 
 fired and hit it in the centre. S. Slick, Human Nature, p. 112. 
 
 To BLAZE, or BLAZE OUT. To designate by blazing (see the preced- 
 ing article) ; to mark out. 
 
 Champollion died in 1 832, having done little more than blaze out the road to be 
 travelled by others. Nott's Chronology, Ancient and Scriptural, p. 36. 
 
 BLAZES. Like blazes, that is, furiously. Moor's Suffolk Words. 
 
 As they cut away, the company 
 
 Stil kep upon the glare ; 
 
 An' when comin' in, the bosses ded 
 
 Along like blazes tear. Poem in Essex Dialect, p. 21. 
 
 This expression is common in low language with us. At the South it 
 seems to be used as a euphemism for devil, etc.
 
 36 BLA BLO 
 
 I 've been serving my country like a patriot, goin' to town-meetings, hurraing my 
 daylights out, and getting as blue as blazes. J. C. Need. 
 
 All the hair was off his head, and his face was as black as the very old blazes. 
 Chron. of Pineville, p. 49. 
 
 BLAZING STAR. ( Aletris farinosa.) A plant, the root of which is greatly 
 esteemed by the Indians and people of the West for its medicinal virtues. 
 It is also called Devil's Bit. Both names are also applied to other and 
 very different plants. 
 
 BLICKEY. (Dutch, llik, tin.) In New York, a tin pail. 
 
 To BLIND A TRAIL. To conceal a person's foot-prints, or to give them the 
 appearance of going in a different direction ; and, figuratively, to deceive 
 a person by putting him on the wrong track. 
 
 BLIZZARD. A poser. This word is not known in the Eastern States. 
 
 A gentlemen at dinner asked me for a toast ; and supposing he meant to have 
 some fun at my expense, I concluded to go ahead, and give him and Ms likes a 
 blizzard. Crockett's Tour, p. 16. 
 
 BLOCK. A term applied in America to a square mass of houses included 
 between four streets. It is a very useful one. The term is used in the 
 London Quarterly Review, Vol. 88, p. 477, in an article on " Sanitary 
 Consolidation." 
 
 Such an average block, comprising 282 houses and covering nine acres of ground, 
 exists in Oxford street. It forms a compact square mass, or " insula," to borrow a 
 term from the Romans, favorably situated for military engineering. 
 
 BLOOD ROOT. (Sanguinaria canadensis.} The plant is so called from 
 the blood-red juice which exudes from a fresh root when broken. See 
 Puccoon. 
 
 BLOOD-TUBS. A set of rowdies in Baltimore. 
 
 BLOODED. Blooded cattle, or stock, is a term applied to horses, horned 
 cattle, swine, etc., of choice breeds. 
 
 BLOUSE. (French.) A loose frock, made of 'brown linen, fastened round 
 the waist with a belt ; worn by men and boys in France, and lately intro- 
 duced partially into this country. 
 
 To BLOW. To boast, brag ; to " talk big." " You blow behind my back, 
 but dare not say any thing to my face." 
 
 BLOWER. 1. A plate of sheet iron, used to partially stop the opening of a 
 grate or furnace, and thus increase the draft. 
 
 2. A braggart ; a teller of incredible anecdotes, feats, and hairbreadth 
 escapes. 
 
 BLOW OF COTTON. In the South, the bursting of the pods.
 
 BLO BLU 37 
 
 To BLOW OUT. To talk violently or abusively. The pious Uncle Tiff, as 
 related by Mrs. Stowe, wonders how people get to heaven among the 
 conflicting doctrines : 
 
 Dere 's de Methodists, dey cuts up de Presbyterians ; de Presbyterians pitch into 
 de Methodists, and both are down on de Episcopals ; while de Baptists tink dey 
 none on dem right ; and while dey 's all blowing out at each other dat ar way, I's 
 wondering what 's de way to Canaan. Dred, Vol. I., p. 276. 
 
 BLUE. Gloomy, severe ; extreme, ultra. In the former sense it is applied 
 especially to the Presbyterians, to denote their severe and mortified ap- 
 pearance. Thus, beneath an old portrait of the seventeenth century, in 
 the Woodburn Gallery, is the following inscription : 
 
 A true blue Priest, a Lincey Woolsey Brother, 
 One legg a pulpit holds, a tub the other ; 
 An Orthodox grave, moderate Presbyterian, 
 Half surplice cloake, half Priest, half Puritan. 
 Made up of all these halfes, hee cannot pass 
 For any thing entirely but an ass. 
 
 In the latter sense it is used particularly in politics. 
 
 The bluest description of old Van Rensselaer Federalists have followed Col. Pren- 
 tiss (in Otsego county). N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 BLUE. A synonyme in the tippler's vocabulary for drunk. To drink " till 
 all 's blue," is to get exceedingly tipsy. 
 
 BLUE-BERRY. ( Vacinium tenettum.) A fruit resembling the whortleberry 
 in appearance and taste. 
 
 BLUE-BOOK. A printed book containing the names of all the persons 
 holding office under the government of the United States, with their place 
 of birth, amount of salary, etc. It answers to the Red-Book of Eng- 
 land. This distinction in color was made at the suggestion of Peter 
 Force, Esq., of Washington. 
 
 BLUE CURLS. (Trichostema dichotomum.) From the shape and color of 
 its flowers. A common plant resembling pennyroyal, and hence called 
 bastard pennyroyal. 
 
 BLUE-FISH. (Temnodon saltator.) A salt-water fish of the mackerel 
 order, but larger in size. It is one of the most voracious fishes on the 
 Atlantic coast. It bites readily at any object drawn rapidly through the 
 water ; as a bone squid or metal spoon, a minnow, white rag, and in fact 
 any conspicuous bait. On the Jersey coast, they are called Horse-Mack- 
 erel ; and in Virginia, Salt-water Tailors. Another name is the Skip- 
 jack. On the Jersey coast, the name Blue-fish is applied to the Weak- 
 fish, or Squeteauge. 
 
 4
 
 38 BLU BLU 
 
 BLUE-GRASS. The name of the grass of the rich limestone land of Ken- 
 tucky and Tennessee. It affords pasture for ten or eleven months in the 
 year, and flourishes in the partial shade of the woods in which there is 
 no undergrowth. The change from the fertile soil upon which this grass 
 flourishes to that which is poorer is sudden and well marked. Hence 
 the term " Blue- Grass " is applied both to the region and its inhabitants. 
 " Grape-vine," for similar reasons, is used in opposition to " Blue-grass," 
 although not with equal propriety, as the vine does grow well on either 
 soil, while the blue-grass does not. Sometimes, in opposition to " Blue- 
 grassmen," we have " Mountain men." See Owen's Geological Survey 
 of Kentucky. 
 
 BLUE LAWS. Where and how the story of the New Haven Blue Laws 
 originated is a matter of some curiosity. According to Dr. Peters, the 
 epithet blue was applied to the laws of New Haven by the neighboring 
 colonies because these laws were thought peculiarly sanguinary ; and he 
 says that blue is equivalent to bloody. It is a sufficient refutation of this 
 account of the matter, to say, that if there was any distinction between 
 the colony of New Haven and the other united colonies of New Eng- 
 land in the severity of their punishments, New Haven was the last 
 of the number to gain this bad preeminence. Others have said, that 
 certain laws of New Haven, of a more private and domestic kind, 
 were bound in a blue cover ; and hence the name. This explana- 
 tion has as little probability as the preceding for its support. It is well 
 known, that, on the restoration of Charles II., the Puritans became the 
 subject of every kind of reproach and contumely. Not only what was 
 deserving of censure in their deportment, but their morality, was 
 especially held up to scorn. The epithet blue was applied to any one 
 who looked with disapprobation on the licentiousness of the times. The 
 Presbyterians, under which name all dissenters were often included, as 
 they still dared to be the advocates of decency, were more particularly 
 designated by this term ; their religion and their morality being marked 
 by it as mean and contemptible. Thus Butler : 
 
 For his religion, it was fit 
 
 To match his learning and his wit ; 
 
 'T was Presbyterian true blue. Hudib. Canto I. 
 
 That this epithet of derision should find its way to the colonies was a 
 matter of course. It was here applied not only to persons, but to cus- 
 toms, institutions, and laws of the Puritans, by those who wished to ren- 
 der the prevailing system ridiculous. Hence probably a belief with 
 some, that a distinct system of laws, known as the Blue Laws, must have 
 somewhere a local habitation. Prof. Kingsley's Hist. Discourse. 
 
 BLUE LAW STATE. Connecticut.
 
 BLU BLU 39 
 
 BLUE LIGHTS. During the war of 1812, while the British fleet lay off 
 New London, blue lights were often seen at night near the shore, which 
 were attributed by Commodore Decatur (whose vessels lay there for 
 security) to persons who were friendly to the British, and hence traitors. 
 The conclusion was an unjust one, as no American was ever discovered 
 or even suspected of burning them. Hence, says Mr. Goodrich, " Blue 
 lights, meaning treason on the part of Connecticut Federalists during the 
 war, is a standard word in the flash dictionary of democracy." " Even 
 to this day," he says elsewhere, " Connecticut Blue Lights are the grizzly 
 monsters with which the nursing fathers and mothers of democracy 
 frighten their children into obedience just before elections !" Recol- 
 lections, Vol. I., p. 439 and 484. 
 
 Horace Greeley, and a train of real Hue light Clayites from your State, have ar- 
 rived this morning, and make their head-quarters at the Franklin. Horace has 
 fastened on his armor with rivets and hammer, and the Taylor men will find him a 
 regular " barnburner ! " New York Herald. 
 
 BLUE-NOSE. The slang name for a native of Nova Scotia, 
 
 " Pray, sir," said one of my fellow passengers, " can you tell me why the Nova 
 Scotians are called ' Blue-Noses ? ' '' 
 
 " It is the name of a potatoe," said I, " which they produce in great perfection, 
 and boast to be the best in the world. The Americans have, in consequence, given 
 them the nickname of Blue-Noses." Sam Slick. 
 
 Do you know the reason monkeys are no good 1 Because they chatter all day 
 long, so do the niggers, and so do the Blue-Noses of Nova Scotia. Sam 
 Slick. 
 
 After a run [in the steamer] of fourteen days, we entered the harbor of Halifax, 
 amid the hearty cheers of a large number of Blue-Noses. Sir George Simpson's 
 Overland Journey, Vol. I. p. 19. 
 
 BLUE PERCH. See Burgall. 
 
 BLUE-SKINS. A nickname applied to the Presbyterians, from their alleged 
 grave deportment. 
 
 BLUE-STOCKING. The American avocet (Recurvirostra americana.) A 
 common bird in the Northern States. 
 
 BLUETS. (Oldenlandia ccerulea.) A delicate little herb, producing in 
 spring a profusion of light-blue flowers fading to white, with a yellowish 
 eye. Gray. 
 
 BLUFF, n. A high bank, almost perpendicular, projecting into the sea. 
 Falconer's Marine Die. 
 
 In America it is applied to, 1. A high bank, presenting a steep front 
 along a river, in the interior of the country. Hence it is also used as a
 
 40 BLU BOA 
 
 geological term to denote the lacustrine formation where these high banks 
 occur. 
 
 Here you have the advantage of mountain, bluff, interval, to set off the view. 
 Margaret, p. 282. 
 
 2. A game of cards. 
 
 BLUFF, adj. Steep, bold ; as a hill. 
 
 Its banks, if not really steep, had a bluff and precipitous aspect, from the tall 
 forest that girded it about. Margaret, p. 7. 
 
 To BLUFF OFF. To put off a troublesome questioner or dun with a 
 gruff answer ; to frighten a person in any way, in order to deter him 
 from accomplishing his ends. 
 
 " I goes you five dollars, this time," says Jim, posting at the same time the 
 tin. 
 
 " I sees dat, and I goes you ten better," said Bill ; "you ain't agoin' to bluff dis 
 child, no how you can fix it." 
 
 " I sees you again," said Jim, " and goes you forty better ; dis Orleans nigger 
 won't stay stumped, dat I tells you, sartin." N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 In the course of the dispute Jim let out some offensive remark, which brought a 
 rejoinder from Joe. The former tried the bluffing system ; but Joe said he had stood 
 enough, and would put up with no more insults from his bullying neighbor. South- 
 ern Sketches, p. 137. 
 
 BLUMMECHIES. (Dutch.) This Dutch word for small flowers is still pre- 
 served in the New York markets. 
 
 BLUMMIES. (Dutch.) Flowers. In the State of New York, and particu- 
 larly in the city and along the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. 
 
 A gentleman, ruralizing along the banks of the Hudson, stopped to 
 pick some wild flowers near where sat an aged man, and said : 
 
 " These flowers are beautiful, it is a treat for one from the city to gaze on 
 them ! " 
 
 x " Flowers ? " replied the old man, with an air of bewilderment. " Flowers ! what 
 be they ? " 
 
 " Why, these ! " replied I, stooping and picking some. 
 
 " O, the blummies ! Yes, the blummics be very thick hereabouts ! " he replied. 
 
 Newspaper. 
 
 BOARDS. In the South-west, boards are strips of wood from two to four 
 feet in length riven from blocks, and differing only in size from shingles. 
 All sawed stuff, which at the North is called boards, is here called 
 plank. 
 
 BOATABLE. Navigable for boats or small river-craft. Webster. This 
 useful word has only recently been adopted into the English Diction- 
 aries. 
 
 The Seneca Indians say, they can walk four times a day from the boatable waters 
 of the Alleghany to those of the Tioga. Morse's Geography.
 
 BOA BOB 41 
 
 This word, says Dr. Webster, though of modern origin, is well formed 
 according to the English analogies, like fordabk, creditable, etc. The 
 advantage of using it is obvious, as it expresses an important distinction 
 in the capacity of water to bear vessels. Navigable is a generic term, 
 of which boatable is the species ; and as the use of it saves a circumlo- 
 cution, instead of being proscribed, it should be received as a real im- 
 provement. Letter to J. Pickering on his Vocabulary, p. 6. 
 
 The objection to this word is, that it is a hybrid, composed of a Saxon 
 noun and a Latin ending. It is like fordable, but not like creditable, 
 which is all Latin. We would hardly use the word trustable. 
 
 BOATING. Transporting in boats. Webster. 
 
 BOB. A knot of worms or chicken-guts on a string, used in fishing for 
 eels, and in the South for trout. The bob is frequently made of colored 
 rags, red, black, etc. ; and for large trout, it is a bait equivalent to the 
 artificial fly. 
 
 To BOB. 1. To fish for eels with a bob. This word is common in New 
 England, and is used in the same sense in England. 
 These are the baits they 606 with. Beaumont and Fletcher. 
 Let others hend their necks at sight 
 
 Of fashion's gilded wheels, 
 He ne'er had learned the art to bob 
 
 For any thing but eels. Saxe, The Cold Water Man. 
 
 2. To cut short, as the hair. You have been bobbed, expresses famil- 
 iarly that your hair has been cut. This recalls Shakspeare's " bob-tail," 
 "bob-wig." 
 
 BOBOLINK. (Icterus agripennis.} A lively little bird, so called from its 
 notes, which in the fall frequents the wild rice of shallow rivers and 
 marshes, where it becomes very fat. It is highly esteemed by epicures. 
 Other popular names by which it is known in different parts of the country 
 are Rice-bird, Rice-bunting, Reed-bird, Meadow-bird, May-bird, Butter- 
 bird, American Ortolan, and, lastly and most inappropriately Skunk 
 Blackbird. 
 
 The happiest bird- of our spring is the Bobolink. This is the chosen season of 
 revelry for him. He comes amidst the pomp and fragrance of the season ; his life 
 seems all sensibility and enjoyment, all song and sunshine. W. Irving, Wolfert's 
 Roost. 
 
 Philosophers may teach thy whereabouts and nature, 
 
 But wise, as all of us, perforce, must think 'em, 
 The school-boy best has fix'd thy nomenclature, 
 
 The poets, too, must call thee Bob-o-Linkum. Hoffman, Poems. 
 
 BOB-SLED. A sled prepared for the transportation of large timber from 
 the forest to a river or public road. Maine. 
 
 4*
 
 42 BOG BON 
 
 BOCKEY. (Dutch, bokaal.) A bowl or vessel made from a gourd. A 
 
 term peculiar to the city of New York and its vicinity. 
 BOOKING. A kind of baize or woollen cloth, either plain or stamped with 
 colored figures, used to cover floors or to protect carpets. It is also called 
 floor-cloth. 
 
 B ODETTE. (Fr. beaudette.) In Canada the common name for a cot- 
 bedstead. 
 
 BOGUS, n. A liquor made of rum and molasses. 
 BOGUS, adj. Counterfeit, false. 
 
 The Boston Courier of June 12, 1857, in reporting a case before the 
 Superior Court in that city, gives the following as the origin of this word : 
 " The word bogus is a corruption of the name of one Borghese, a very 
 corrupt individual, who, twenty years ago or more, did a tremendous 
 business in the way of supplying the great West, and portions of the 
 South-west, with counterfeit bills and bills on fictitious banks. The 
 Western people fell into the habit of shortening the name of Borghese 
 to that of Bogus ; and his bills, as well as all others of like character, 
 were universally styled by them " bogus currency." By an easy and 
 not very unnatural transition, the word is now applied to other fraudulent 
 papers, such as sham mortgages, bills of sale, conveyances, etc. 
 
 " Look at these bank-bills," said the stranger ; " keep those that are good, and 
 return me the bad." 
 
 " I guess the whole pile are bogus," said Confidence Bob, as he turned over his 
 roll. North, The Slave of the Lamp, p. 33. 
 
 The wide-awake citizens of Boston have been sadly bitten by a bogus issue of the 
 old " Pine-Tree Shilling currency," got up by a smart Gothanutc. American Notes 
 and Queries, July, 1857. 
 
 The Know Nothings of Massachusetts must behave themselves better than they 
 'did in their visit to the Catholic nunnery, or they will be repudiated by their 
 brethren in other States, as bogus members of the order. New York Herald. 
 
 Not one cent should be given to pay the members of the bogus legislature of Kan- 
 sas, or for the support of the bogus laws passed by them. Boston Atlas. 
 
 Sois DE VAGUE. See Buffalo Chips. 
 
 BOLIVAR HAT. A Leghorn bonnet with a broad brim, worn a few years 
 
 since. 
 
 BOMBO. An animal of North Carolina, said to resemble the hedgehog, and 
 by some called a Badger. 
 
 When the people [of North Carolina] entertain their friends, they fail not to set 
 before them a capacious bowl of Bombo, so called from the animal of that name. 
 Westover Papers, p. 28. 
 
 BONES. Substitutes for castanets, so called from the substance from which 
 they are made. Among " negro minstrels," one is always a performer 
 on these instruments, whence he is styled " Brudder Bones"
 
 BON BOO 43 
 
 'T was the finest place for miles around, 
 
 And ole galls would n't all come down. 
 And they 'd so light on every night 
 
 To the old banjo's sweet sound. 
 The fiddle there, and den do bones, 
 
 And do merry tambourine, 
 Oh wish dat I could see again 
 
 De ole plantation green. Negro Melody. 
 
 BONESET. (Eupatorium perfoliatum.) The popular name of a medicinal 
 plant. Its properties are sudorific and tonic. 
 
 BONNY-CLABBER. (Irish, baine, milk, and clabar, mud.) Milk turned 
 sour and thick. It is sometimes called simply clabber. The etymology 
 shows that the sense in which the term is used in America is the true 
 and original one, although it is usually explained in dictionaries as mean- 
 ing " sour buttermilk." 
 
 We scorn, for want of talk, to jabber 
 
 Of parties o'er our bonny-clabber ; 
 
 Nor are we studious to inquire 
 
 Who votes for manors, who for hire. Swift. 
 
 BONY-FISH. See Menhaden. 
 
 To BOO-HOO. To cry aloud, to bawl, bellow, roar. 
 
 The little woman boo-hoo'd right out, threw herself incontinently full on his breast, 
 hung around his neck, and went on in a surprising way for such a mere artificial as 
 an actress. Field, Drama in Pokerville. 
 
 ye rash and inconsiderate children of iniquity ! You will go down to your 
 graves boo-hooing like a kicked booby, soul-shattered, body-tattered, looking as 
 though you had made your escape from a regiment of wild cats. Dow's Sermons, 
 Vol. II., p. 277. 
 
 BOOBY HUT. A carriage body put upon sleigh runners. New England. 
 It is a slight alteration of the term booby hutch, used in the east of Eng- 
 land to denote a clumsy, ill-contrived covered carriage or seat. 
 
 BOODLE. " The whole boodle of them," i. e. all, the whole. New Eng- 
 land. 
 
 BOOKSTORE. A place where books are kept and sold. It is the common 
 term in the United States for what is called, in England, a bookseller's 
 shop. Worcester. 
 
 BOONDER OR BOUNDER. A scrubbing-brush. New York. 
 
 To BOOST. To lift or raise by pushing. Webster. Chiefly used by 
 Northern boys, who apply it to the act of shoving a person by the poste- 
 riors up a tree or over a fence. " Boost me up this tree, and I '11 hook 
 you some apples." 
 
 He clambered back into the box (in the theatre), the manager assisting to boost 
 him with the most friendly solicitude. Field, Drama in Pokerville.
 
 44 BOO BOS 
 
 I have often noticed the alacrity with which the policemen of New York pilot un- 
 protected females across the street and boost them into stages. Doesticks. 
 
 It is just as difficult to boost a sinner up to heaven without corresponding effort on 
 his part, as it would be for a child to shoulder a sack of Turk's Island salt. Dow's 
 Sermons. 
 
 Office-seekers ask you to give them a boost into the tree of office. And what do 
 they do ? They eat the apples, and then throw the cores at your heads. Dow's 
 Sermons. 
 
 Lord Palmerston was boosted into power by the agricultural interest of England. 
 New York Herald. 
 
 BOOT-LICK. One who cringes to and flatters a superior for the purpose of 
 
 obtaining favors ; a lickspittle, a toady. 
 BOOTEE. A kind of short or half boot. Worcester. 
 BORN IN THE WOODS. To say that one was not born in the looods to be 
 scared by an owl, means that he is too much used to danger or threats to 
 be easily frightened. 
 
 I just puts my finger to my nose, and winks, as much as to say, " I ain't such a 
 cursed fool as you take me to be ! " Guess he found that was no go ; for I warn't 
 born in the woods to be scared by an owl. Sam Slick. 
 
 BOSAAL. A peculiar kind of halter, used in breaking and riding unruly 
 horses. 
 
 Boss. The o pronounced like a in all. (Dutch, baas.) A master, an 
 employer of mechanics or laborers. Hence we hear of a Joss-carpenter, 
 a 6oss-bricklayer, Joss-shoemaker, etc., instead of master-carpenter, etc. 
 The word probably originated in New York, and is now used in many 
 parts of the United States. The blacks often employ it in addressing 
 white men in the Northern States, as they do massa (master) in the 
 Southern States. 
 
 At a meeting of the journeymen boot and shoemakers in New York, 
 April 9, 1850, it was 
 
 " Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting that it is very desirable that the 
 boot and shoemakers form an incorporated company for the purpose of securing to 
 its members constant employment and direct patronage of shoe-buyers, and inde- 
 pendence from the tyrannical dictation of intermediate capitalists or bosses." 
 
 It is n't saying much for your boss politiciancr that he chose you, when I was oil 
 his list for promotion. J. Neal, Peter Brush. 
 
 The Eternal City is in a very curious position. The Pope has returned to his 
 ancestral home ; but he has nothing in his pocket, and Rothschild refuses to let him 
 have any more money. A thousand years ago and the boot would have been on 
 t'other leg To-day it is very different. The Father of Holiness is the de- 
 pendent of the Jew, and Rothschild is the real Pope and boss of all Europe. New 
 York Herald, May 24, 1850. 
 
 Boss. (Lat. bos.) Among the hunters of the prairies, a name for the 
 buffalo.
 
 BOS BOU 45 
 
 To Boss. To rule over ; to direct. 
 
 Let Ms Woman's Eights companion 
 
 Boss the house and take the money 
 
 Boss them and cut off the dead-heads 
 
 When she made it pay expenses. Pluribustah. 
 
 " What detains you at court ? " said a lawyer to an unsophisticated countryman 
 attending in a court-room in Arkansas. 
 
 " Why, sir," said the countryman, " I 'm fotched here as a jury, and they say if I 
 go home they will, have to find me, and they mout n't do that, as I live a good 
 piece." 
 
 " What jury are you on ? " asked a lawyer. 
 
 "What jury?" 
 
 " Yes, what jury ? Grand or traverse jury ? " 
 
 " Grand or travis jury ? Dad-fetched if I know." 
 
 " Well," said the lawyer, " did the judge charge you ? " 
 
 " Well, squire," said he, " the little fellow that sits up in the pulpit and kinder 
 bosses it over the crowd gin us a talk, but I do n't know whether he charged any thing 
 or not." 
 
 The crowd broke up in a roar of laughter, and the sheriff called court. Nat . 
 Intelligencer, Nov. 3, 1856. 
 
 BOSSY. A familiar name applied to a calf. In Dorsetshire, England, a 
 spoilt child is called a bossy calf. 
 
 BOTTOM. Low land with a rich soil formed by alluvial deposits, and for- 
 merly the bottom or bed of a stream or lake. This is an old use of the 
 word. Dr. Johnson defines it, A dale ; a valley ; a low ground. The 
 distinction is also, made between the lowest alluvial lands and those 
 reached only by the highest floods ; the latter are known as the " second 
 bottoms." 
 
 He stood among the myrtle-trees that were in the bottom. Zech. i. 8. 
 In the purlieus stands a sheep-cote, west of this place, down hi the neighboring 
 bottom. ShaJcspeare. 
 
 On both shores of that fruitful bottom are still to be seen the marks of ancient 
 edifices. Addison on Italy. 
 
 Both the bottoms and the high grounds are alternately divided into woodlands and 
 prairies. Stoddard's Louisiana, p. 213. 
 
 BOTTOM-LANDS. In the "Western States, this name is given to the rich flat 
 land on the banks of rivers, which in New England is generally called 
 ' interval land,' or simply ' interval.' Pickering's Vocdb. Webster. 
 
 Our sleigh, after winding for some tune among this broken ground, and passing 
 over one or two small but beautiful pieces of bottom-land among the ravines, reached 
 at last the top of the bluff. Hoffman. 
 
 BOTJGHTEN. Which is bought. This is a common word in the interior of 
 New England and New York. It is applied to articles purchased from
 
 46 BOU BOW 
 
 the shops, to distinguish them from articles of home manufacture. Many 
 farmers make their own sugar from the maple-tree, and their coffee from 
 barley or rye. West India sugar or coffee is then called boughten 
 sugar, etc. " This is a home-made carpet ; that a boughten one ; " i. e. 
 one bought at a shop. In the north of England, bakers' bread is called 
 Nought-bread. 
 
 To BOUGE. (Old Fr. bouge, swelling. Cotgrave.) To swell out, to 
 bulge. This old word is noticed by Dr. Johnson. It is nearly obsolete 
 in England, but is preserved in the interior of New England. 
 
 When the sun gets in one inch, it is ten o'clock ; when it reaches the stone that 
 boitges out there, it is dinner-time. Margaret, p. 6. 
 
 BOUND. Determined, resolved. A vulgarism of recent origin. 
 
 A handsome nigger 's bound to shine, 
 Like dandy Jim of Caroline. Song. 
 
 I 'm on the way to be as sombre and solemn as you are, put I 'm bound to have a 
 good time first. Mrs. Stowe, Dred. 
 
 You see, my buck brethren, that the women are bound to get the better of us. If 
 they can't do it in one way, they will in another. In them you behold the wild cat, 
 the lamb, and the dove. They first let loose their untamed feline propensities ; next 
 they give the juvenile sheep a trial ; and if that fail, they rely upon the loving 
 pigeon. Dow's Sermons. 
 
 BOURBON. Whiskey from Bourbon county, Kentucky. A term generally 
 used to distinguish the better kinds of whiskey, which are mostly made 
 from corn instead of rye. 
 
 BOW-DARK TREE. (Fr. bois d' arc.) A western tree, the wash of which 
 is used to make bows with. 
 
 BOWIE-KNIFE. (Pron. boo-ee.) A knife from ten to fifteen inches long, 
 and about two inches broad, so named after its inventor, Colonel Bowie. 
 They are worn as weapons by persons in the South and South-western 
 States only, and concealed in the back part of the coat or in the sleeve. 
 Bon Gaultier, in his American Ballads, describes a scene in Congress 
 where a young member turning to Mr. Clay asks, " What kind of a 
 Locofoco 's that ? " alluding to a conspicuous character who had just en- 
 tered. 
 
 " Young man," quoth Clay, " avoid the way of Slick of Tennessee, 
 Of gougcrs fierce, the eyes that pierce, the fiercest gouger he ; 
 He chews and spits as there he sits, and whittles at the chairs, 
 And in his hand, for deadly strife, a bowie-knife he bears." 
 
 I advise you, one and all, to enter every election district in Kansas, and vote at 
 the point of the bowie-knife and revolver. Neither give nor take quarter, as our 
 case demands it. Speech of Gen. String/fellow in the Kansas Legislature.
 
 BOW BRA 47 
 
 There 's some men here as I have got to shoot, 
 There 's some men here as I have got to stick, 
 
 Let any on you jest my words dispute, 
 I '11 put this bowie-knife into him, slick. 
 
 Song of the Border Ruffian. 
 
 BOWLING-ALLEY. A place for playing at bowls, or ten pins. In England, 
 long bowling, as described by Strutt, was played on the ground ; 
 our game is played on a plank flooring. There were other differences, 
 which it is not necessary to specify, as the American bowling-alleys and 
 games are now well known in England. 
 
 BOWMAN. A term used La Virginia for a military body-servant. 
 
 Each captain and lieutenant was entitled, and I believe is so now, to select from 
 the rank of his company a soldier to wait on him, to carry messages, to cater for 
 him, and to cook for him ; and the soldier thus selected was called bowman. The 
 term is very ancient, and traces as far back as before the invention of gunpowder 
 and muskets. Sketches of Virginia. 
 
 BOWMAN'S ROOT. ( Gillenia trifoliata.) A medicinal plant ; also called 
 Indian physic. 
 
 Box. A boat for duck-shooting. See Battery. 
 
 Box ELDER. (Negundo aceroides.) Sometimes ash-leaved maple. 
 
 BOY. At the South, the universal name for a black male servant. In Ire- 
 land, the word denotes an unmarried man hi any menial employment, 
 whatever his age. In many languages, as in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and 
 French, the same word expresses a male child and a serving-man ; just 
 as " girl " and " maid " denote a female servant. 
 
 BRACK. A break or crack, a flaw. HalliwelL This old word is still 
 used in New England, as it is by early English authors, of a break or 
 flaw in a piece of cloth. 
 
 Having a tongue as nimble as his needle, with servile patches of glavering flat- 
 tery to stitch up the bracks, etc. Antonio and Mellida, 1602. 
 
 The calico was beautiful, while not a brack could be found in it. New England 
 Tales. 
 
 BRANCH. A brook. Almost every stream in the South is known either 
 as a river, a bayou, or a branch ; bayou being synonymous with creek, 
 and branch with brook. " .Zfranc^-water " is distinguished from " well- 
 water." 
 
 The pasturage of the prairies was scanty and parched ; and most of the branches, 
 or streams, were dried up. W. Irving's Tour on the Prairies. 
 
 BRAN-DUSTER. A sort of bolt in which the bran is freed from adhering 
 flour.
 
 48 BRA BEE 
 
 BRASH. Brittle. In New England this word is used in speaking of wood 
 or timber that is brittle. In New York it is often heard in the markets, 
 applied to vegetables. Ex. " These radishes are brash" i. e. brittle. In 
 many parts of England, twigs are called brash. 
 
 BRAVE. An Indian warrior ; a term borrowed from the French. 
 
 The Count promised himself many hardy adventures and exploits in company 
 with his youthful brave, when we should get among the buffaloes in the Pawnee 
 hunting-grounds. Irving' s Tour on the Prairies. 
 
 BREACHY. A term applied to unruly oxen in New England, particularly 
 to such as break down fences or through inclosures. It is provincial in 
 the south of England in the same sense. 
 
 BREAD-STUFF. Bread-corn, meal, or flour; bread. Webster, Pickering. 
 This very useful word is American. Mr. Pickering says, " It was first 
 used in some of the official papers of our government, soon after the 
 adoption of the present Constitution. ... It has probably been more 
 readily allowed among us, because we do not, like the English, use the 
 word corn as a general name for all sorts of grain, but apply it almost 
 exclusively to Indian corn, or maize." He cites the following authori- 
 ties : 
 
 The articles of exports .... are breadstuff's, that is to say, bread-grains, meals, 
 and bread. Report of the Secretary of State (Mr. Jefferson) on Commercial Restric- 
 tions, Dec. 16, 1793. 
 
 One great objection to the conduct of Britain was her prohibitory duty on the 
 importation of breadstuff, etc. Marshall, Life of Washington, Vol. V. p. 519. 
 
 In Jamaica, the term bread-kind is applied to esculent roots, etc., sub- 
 stituted for bread. 
 
 BREAD-ROOT. (Psoralea esculenta.) A plant resembling the beet in 
 form, which is found near the Rocky Mountains, sometimes growing from 
 twenty to thirty inches in circumference. It contains a white pulpy sub- 
 stance, sweet and palatable. Scenes in the Rocky Mountains, p. 50. 
 
 BREAK. A regular sale of tobacco at the " breaking " or opening of the 
 hogsheads. Local in Virginia. 
 
 BREAK-BACK. A term applied to a peculiar roof, common in the country, 
 where the rear portion is extended beyond the line of the opposite side, 
 and at a different angle. The addition thus acquired is used as a wash- 
 room, a storehouse, or for farming implements. 
 
 The house of neighbor B was a low edifice, two stories in front ; the rear 
 
 being called a break-back, that is sloping down to a height of ten feet. Goodrich's 
 Reminiscences, Vol. I. p. 78. 
 
 BREAK DOWN. 1. A riotous dance, with which balls are often terminated 
 in the country.
 
 BRE BRO 49 
 
 Take up the carpet move the bed call the fiddler, and let 's have a regular 
 break down. Southern Sketches, p. 60. 
 
 Come, hold on, hoys, do n't clear out when the quadrilles are over, for we are 
 going to have a break down to wind up with. New England Tales. 
 
 2. A dance in the peculiar style of the negroes. 
 
 BREAK-BONE FEVER. A term commonly used to denote the " Dengue," a 
 malarious fever of the South. It is so called either from the " pain in 
 the bones," of which the patients complain, or from the great debility 
 which follows the attack ; both reasons have been assigned for the appel- 
 lation. 
 
 BREWIS. In the North of England, a pottage made of slices of bread 
 with fat broth poured over them. Halliwell. 
 
 In New England the term is applied to crusts of rye and Indian 
 bread softened with milk and eaten with molasses. 
 
 BRICK IN THE HAT. " He has got a brick in his hat" is an expression 
 applied to an intoxicated person ; meaning he is top-heavy, and cannot 
 walk steady. 
 
 BRICKLEY, for brittle. Used in Georgia. Sherwood's Gazetteer. 
 
 BRIEF. Rife, common, prevalent. This word is provincial in England, 
 and is much used by the uneducated in the interior of New England and 
 in Virginia, when speaking of epidemic diseases. It is probably a cor- 
 ruption of rife. 
 
 BRIGHT. Intelligent, quick, having an active mind. A term often applied 
 to children ; as, " Although he has had but little schooling, our Jonathan, 
 is a bright lad." 
 
 BROADBILL. (Anas marila.) The common name of a wild duck, which 
 appears on our coast in large numbers in October. On the Chesapeake 
 it is called Black-head ; and in Virginia, Raft-duck. 
 
 BROAD-HORN. A name by which the flat-boats on the Mississippi were 
 formerly known. See Flat-boat. 
 
 At Wheeling I embarked in a flat-bottomed family boat, technically called a broad- 
 horn, a prime river conveyance. W. Irving, Wolfert's Roost, p. 258. 
 
 " Been boating, Ben, since I met you ? " I inquired, after a short pause. 
 
 " Well, yes, mostly," answered Ben, deliberately. " Drove a pretty fair business 
 last year ; only sunk one broad-horn, and that war snagged on the Mississippi." 
 Ben Wilson's Jug Race. 
 
 I 'm the man that, single-handed, towed the broad-horn over a sand-bar, the 
 identical infant who girdled a hickory by smiling at the bark ; and if any one denies 
 it, let him make his will and pay the expenses of a funeral. Thorp, in Harper's 
 Mag. 
 
 5
 
 50 BRO BRO 
 
 BROGUES. (Dutch, IroeJc.) Breeches. 
 
 [General Von Poffenburgh'sJ men being thus gallantly arrayed, those who 
 lacked muskets shouldering spades and pickaxes, and every man being ordered to 
 tuck in his shirt-tail and pull up his brogues, etc. Knickerbocker, N. Y. 
 
 BROOM-CORN. (Sorghum saccharatum.) A species of corn which grows 
 from six to eight feet high, from the tufts of which brooms are made. 
 Very different plants are used for this purpose in Europe, and the Eng- 
 lish broom is as unlike ours as possible. 
 
 BROTHER JONATHAN. The origin of this term, as applied to the United 
 States, is given in a recent number of the Norwich Courier. The editor 
 says it was communicated by a gentleman now upwards of eighty years 
 of age, who was an active participator in the scenes of the Revolution. 
 The story is as follows : 
 
 When General "Washington, after being appointed commander of the army of the 
 Revolutionary war, came to Massachusetts to organize it and make preparations for 
 the defence of the country, he found a great want of ammunition and other means 
 necessary to meet the powerful foe he had to contend with, and great difficulty to 
 obtain them. If attacked in such condition, the cause at once might be hopeless. 
 On one occasion, at that anxious period, a consultation of the officers and others 
 was had, when it seemed no way could be devised to make such preparation as was 
 necessary. His Excellency Jonathan Trumbull the elder was then governor of the 
 State of Connecticut, on whose judgment and aid the general placed the greatest re- 
 liance, and remarked : " We must consult ' Brother Jonathan ' on the subject." 
 The general did so, and the governor was successful in supplying many of the 
 wants of the army. When difficulties afterwards arose, and the army was spread 
 over the country, it became a by-word, We must consult Brother Jonathan. The term 
 Yankee is still applied to a portion, but Brother Jonathan has now become a desig- 
 nation of the whole country, as John Bull has for England. 
 
 BROWN. To do a thing up brown, is to do it to perfection. A common 
 vulgarism. 
 
 Well, I think Ellen's a doin' it up brown! There '11 be another weddin' soon, I 
 guess. Southern Sketches, p. 57. 
 
 BROWN STONE. A dark variety of the red sandstone, now so fashionable 
 as a building material, that its imitations in paint and mastic outdo the 
 original in darkness, and rows of houses in some of our cities are now to 
 be seen almost black. 
 
 BROWN THRASHER. (Turdus rufus.) The popular name of the Ferru- 
 ginous Thrush, called also the Brown Thrush. It is also called the 
 Ground Mocking-bird. 
 
 I love the city as dearly as a brown thrasher loves the green tree that sheltered its 
 young. C. Mathews, Works, p. 125. 
 
 BROUGHTINS UP. Bringing up, educating. A vulgar corruption, often 
 used jocosely.
 
 BKU BUG 51 
 
 I 'm a Yankee, said Slick, and I ain't above ownin' to it, and so are you ; but you 
 seem ashamed of your broughtens up, and I must say you are no great credit to 
 them. S. Slick, Human Nature, p. 83. 
 
 BRUNG, for brought. Used by ignorant persons, especially by blacks, at 
 the South. 
 
 BRUSH, for brushwood, is an Americanism, and moreover is not confined to 
 undergrowth, but comprises also branches of trees. 
 
 BUB and BUBBT. Contractions for brother, often applied to small 
 boys. 
 
 BUBBLER. A fish found in all the waters of the Ohio River. Its name is 
 derived from the singular grunting noise which it makes, a noise which is 
 familiar to every one who has been much on the Ohio. Flint's 
 Mississippi Valley. 
 
 BUCK. A frame or stand of peculiar construction, on which wood is sawn 
 for fuel. In New England it is called a Saw-horse. 
 
 BUCK. A " buck nigger " is a term often vulgarly applied to a negro man. 
 "Western. So in London, a " buck sweep," among the populace. 
 
 To BUCK. Used instead of butt, applied to animals pushing with their 
 head and horns, and metaphorically of players at football and such 
 games, pugilists, etc. Comp. Bunt. 
 
 BUCK BEER. (German, lock Her.) The strongest kind of German beer, 
 said to be so called from causing the drinker to caper like a goat (bock). 
 It is, of course, intoxicating. 
 
 BUCKET. The term is applied, in the South and "West, to all kinds of pails 
 and cans holding over a gallon. 
 
 BUCKEYE. 1. (^Esculus glabra.) A small tree growing on the river 
 banks from "West Pennsylvania and Virginia to Michigan and Kentucky, 
 the bark of which exhales an unpleasant odor. Other species have the 
 same name. 
 
 2. A native of the State of Ohio, in which the ^iEsculus glabra 
 abounds. 
 
 BUCKEYE STATE. The State of Ohio ; so called from the Buckeye-tree, 
 which abounds there. 
 
 BUCK FEVER. Agitation of inexperienced hunters, caused by seeing a 
 deer, or other large game. 
 
 Smith blazed away at the deer; but where the ball went, mercy knows. The ani- 
 mal dashed forward and went crashing up the hill-side. Smith acknowledged to a 
 severe attack of the buck fever. Hammond, Wild Northern Scenes, p. 127.
 
 52 BUG BUF 
 
 BUCK-FLY. An insect which torments the deer at certain seasons. 
 
 BUCKRA. A white man. A term universally applied to white men by the 
 blacks of the African coast, the West Indies, and the Southern States. 
 In the language of the Calabar coast, buckra means devil ; not, however, 
 in the sense we apply to it, but that of a demon, a powerful and superior 
 being. The term swanga buckra, often used by the blacks, means an 
 elegantly dressed white man or dandy. I am indebted to the Rev. J. L. 
 Wilson, who is familiar with the African language alluded to, for the 
 etymology of this word. 
 
 Which country you like best ? Buckra country very good, plenty for yam (food), 
 plenty for bamboo (clothing). Buckra man book larn. Buckra man rise 
 early, he like a cold morning; nigger no like cold. Carmichad's West Indies, 
 Vol. I. p. 311. 
 
 Great way off at sea, 
 
 When at home I binny, 
 
 Buckra man take me 
 
 From de coast ob Guinea. Song. 
 
 BUCKSKINS. A term applied to the American troops during the Revolu- 
 tionary war. 
 
 Cornwallis fought as long 's he dought, 
 An' did the buckskins claw him. Burns. 
 
 BUCKTAILS. The name of a political party in the State of New York, 
 which sprung up about the year 1815. Its origin is thus described by 
 Mr. Hammond : " There was an order of the Tammany Society who 
 wore in their hats, as an insignia, on certain occasions, a portion of the 
 tail of the deer. They were a leading order, and from this circumstance 
 the friends of DeWitt Clinton gave those who adopted the views of the 
 members of the Tammany Society, in relation to him, the name of Buck- 
 tails ; which name was eventually applied to their friends and supporters 
 in the country. Hence the party opposed to the administration of Mr. 
 Clinton were for a long time called the " BUCKTAIL PARTY." Polit. 
 Hist, of New York, Vol. I. p. 450. 
 
 That beer and those bucktails I never forget ; 
 But oft, when alone and unnoticed by all, 
 I think, Is the porter-cask foaming there yet, 
 Are the bucktails still swigging at Tammany Hall ? 
 
 Halleck's Fanny. 
 
 BUFFALO. 1. (Bison americanus.) This, the most gigantic of the 
 indigenous mammalia of America, once overspread the entire Northern 
 half of the American continent. At the time of the discovery by the 
 Spaniards, an inhabitant even down to the shores of the Atlantic, it has 
 been beaten back by the westward march of civilization, until, at the 
 present day, it is only after passing the giant Missouri and the head-
 
 BUF BUF 53 
 
 waters of the Mississippi, that we find the American Bison or Buffalo. 
 S. F. Baird. 
 
 The term buffalo is often used independently for "buffalo robe," 
 whence a story is told of two Englishmen just arrived at Boston. 
 They ordered a sleigh, having heard of such a thing in a general way, 
 without being conversant with the particulars. " Will you have 
 one buffalo or two ? " asked the hostler. " Why," said the Cockney, 
 looking a little frightened, " we '11 have only one the first tune, as we 're 
 not used to driving them ! " 
 
 He tears along behind him a sleigh of the commonest construction, furnished with 
 an ancient and fragmentary buffalo, which serves for robe and cushion both. The 
 Upper Ten Thousand, p. 17. 
 
 2. A sort of fresh water fish resembling the Sucker. It is found in 
 the Mississippi and other Southern rivers. 
 
 BUFFALO CHIPS. The dry dung of the buffalo, used for fuel on the 
 prairies, and hence called by the French bois de vache. The dung of 
 cattle is extensively used for the same purpose in other parts of the 
 world. In Armenia, according to Mr. Curzon, it is collected from the 
 cattle-yards and mixed with chopped straw by tramping on it with the 
 naked feet while it is in a moist state. It is then cut into square blocks 
 and treasured up for winter's use, forming the exclusive fuel, under the 
 name of tezek, for all classes. In Thibet it is used under the name of 
 arghoL Hue, in his travels in Mongolia, describes its use there. In fact, 
 throughout all Tartary or Turkestan, where there is a deficiency of wood, 
 this article is in universal use for fuel. On the woodless plains of Texas, 
 New Mexico, and Chihuahua we were compelled to use dry cattle-dung 
 for fuel, gathering it up near the springs where we encamped. I saw 
 the Pueblo Indians using it in large heaps in baking their pottery, 
 although wood was accessible. It makes no smoke, gives out a great 
 heat, and lasts longer than wood. 
 
 BUFFALO CLOVER. (Trifolium reflexum and. stoloniferum.} The Western 
 species of clover. 
 
 BUFFALO GRASS. (Sesleria dactyloides.) A species of short grass from 
 two to four inches high, covering the boundless prairies on which the 
 buffaloes feed. A- remarkable characteristic of some varieties of this 
 grass is that " the blade, killed by the frost of winter, is resuscitated in 
 spring, and gradually becomes green from the root up, without casting 
 its stubble or emitting new shoots." 
 
 BUFFALO NUT. (Pyrularia oleifera.) Oil nut. Western. 
 
 BUFFALO-ROBE. The skin of the buffalo, dressed for use. 
 
 5*
 
 54 BUF BUL 
 
 Not having time to robe myself exactly for a daylight street walk, I donned a 
 buffalo-robe, slipped on my boots, and put out. Life on the Prairies. 
 
 BUFFALO WALLOW. A term used on the prairies to designate a sink 
 made by the buffalo's pawing the earth for the purpose of obtaining a 
 smooth, dusty surface to roll upon. Gregg, Com. of the Prairies, Vol. II. 
 p. 37. 
 
 BUFFET. This name is still applied, in the rural parts of New England, to 
 a three-cornered cupboard. 
 
 BUG. In the United States, coleopterous insects are generally called bugs ; 
 thus May bug, June bug, Golden bug, etc. In England they are called 
 beetles, and the word bug is restricted to the species found in bedding. 
 The Spanish word chinch is in more general use at the South. 
 
 BUGGY. A light waggon for one or two horses. 
 
 Lend me a hundred and buy yourself a buggy, why do n't you get a buggy, to 
 begin with ? J. C. Need's Sketches. 
 
 The day is warm, and very muggy, 
 
 And Mr. Sled he has a notion 
 That he will take the horse and buggy 
 
 And Mrs. Sled, to see the ocean. 
 
 Shillaber, Poems. 
 
 BUGLE- WEED. (Lycopus virginicus.) A plant which has much reputa- 
 tion for its medicinal properties. It is also known as the Virginian 
 Water-horehound. 
 
 To BUILD A FIRE, instead of to make afire, is a common phrase, originat- 
 ing, probably, in the backwoods, where large fires are made of logs 
 piled one above the other. 
 
 To BUILD UP. To erect ; and metaphorically, to establish. 
 
 In this manner it was thought we should sooner build up a settlement, as the phrase 
 goes. In America, the reader should know, every tiling is built. The priest builds 
 up a flock ; the speculator, a fortune ; the lawyer, a reputation ; and the landlord, a 
 settlement. Cooper, Satanstoe, 
 
 Mr. E. has never done any thing to the Courie^ and Enquirer to make them hunt 
 him down or cast ridicule on him, while endeavoring to build up for himself an un- 
 sullied character among his fellow men. N. Y. Tribune, 1848. 
 
 BULGER. Something uncommonly large, a whopper. "Western. 
 
 We soon came in sight of New York ; and a bulger of a place it is. Crockett, 
 p. 37. 
 
 BULL. A stock-exchange term for one who buys stock on speculation for 
 time, i. e. agrees with the seller, called a " bear," to take a certain sum of 
 stock at a future day at a stated price ; if at that day stock fetches more 
 than the price agreed on, he receives the difference ; if it falls or is
 
 BUL BUM 55 
 
 cheaper, he either pays it, or becomes a " lame duck." This description 
 of a bull, from Grose's Slang Dictionary, corresponds precisely with the 
 bulls of Wall street, who speculate hi stocks in the same manner. See 
 Lame Duck and Bear. 
 
 There was a sauve qui pent movement to-day in the stock market, and the clique 
 of bulls, finding it impossible to stem the rush, gave up the attempt to sustain the 
 
 market, and let things go down with a run Such a state of the market as is 
 
 now exhibited is nearly as bad for the bears as the bulls. N. Y. Tribune, Dec. 10, 
 1845. 
 
 BULL-BAT. Night-hawk ; whippoorwill. A gang of blackguard boys in 
 Washington City have adopted this very appropriate name. 
 
 BULL BRIAR, BAMBOO BRIAR. A large briar in the alluvial bottoms of 
 the South-west, the root of which contains a farinaceous substance from 
 which the Indians make bread. 
 
 BULL-NUT. A large kind of hickory-nut. 
 
 BULLION STATE. The State of Missouri ; so called in consequence of the 
 exertions made by its Senator, Mr. Benton, in favor of a gold and silver 
 currency, in opposition to banks and a paper currency. The honorable 
 Senator was hence often nicknamed Old Bullion, and the State he repre- 
 sented, the Bullion State. 
 
 At the Democratic meeting in New York, June 12, 1848, to ratify the 
 nomination of Gen. Cass, the Hon. James Bowlin, of Missouri, hi de- 
 nouncing the Whig party, said : 
 
 I deny that the election of 1 840 was carried by the people. It was carried by 
 duplicity. It was carried by the unfortunate state of the times, which was not the 
 result of democratic rule, and by false charges against the American democracy ; 
 and, thank God, in my own State, in the Bullion State, they did not succeed in de- 
 preciating our majority. N. Y. Herald, June 13, 1848. 
 
 BULL'S-EYE. A small and thick old-fashioned watch. 
 
 BULLY, adj. Fine, capital. A low word, used iri the same manner as the 
 English use the word crack ; as, " a bully horse," " a bully picture." 
 
 The bully " Crystal Palace " passed up to St. Louis on Monday. "We have no 
 doubt she left papers. Cairo City Times. 
 
 BUMBLE-BEE. An old English name applied to all the species of Bombus, 
 which are very numerous in the New as well as in the Old World. 
 
 Mr. Goodrich, hi his " Reminiscences," describes a religious meeting 
 in a field, where his attention was attracted to the extraordinary evolu- 
 tions of a man, who was jumping and slapping himself with a ferocious 
 agony of exertion, and adds, 
 
 At first I thought he was mad ; but the truth flashed upon me that he had but- 
 toned up a bumble-bee in bis pantaloons ! Vol. I. p. 185. 
 
 ti*..
 
 56 BUM BUN 
 
 Disappointment carries a sting in its tail as well as a bumble-bee. Dow's Sermons, 
 Vol. I. p. 203. 
 
 BUMPER. That part of the frame of a railroad car which is provided 
 with springs for an elastic material to meet the shock of the similar part 
 of the next car. In England they use the words buffer and bunter. 
 
 BUNCH GRASS. A species of Festuca which grows on the plains of New 
 Mexico. 
 
 To BUNDLE. Mr. Grose thus describes this custom : " A man and woman 
 lying on the same bed with their clothes on ; an expedient practised in 
 America on a scarcity of beds, where, on such occasions, husbands and 
 parents frequently permitted travellers to bundle with their wives and 
 daughters." Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. 
 
 The Rev. Samuel Peters, in his " General History of Connecticut," 
 (London, 1781,) enters largely into the custom of bundling as practised 
 there. He says : " Notwithstanding the great modesty of the females is 
 such, that it would be accounted the greatest rudeness for a gentleman to 
 speak before a lady of a garter or leg, yet it is thought but a piece of 
 civility to ask her to bundle" The learned and pious historian endeav- 
 ors to prove that bundling was not only a Christian custom, but a very 
 polite and prudent one. 
 
 The Rev. Andrew Barnaby, who travelled in New England in 
 1759-60, notices this custom, which then prevailed. He thinks that 
 though it may at first " appear to be the effects of grossness of character, 
 it will, upon deeper research, be found to proceed from simplicity and 
 innocence." Travels, p. 144. 
 
 Van Corlear stopped occasionally in the villages to eat pumpkin-pies, dance at 
 country frolics, and bundle with the Yankee lasses. Knickerbocker, New York. 
 
 Bundling is said to be practised in Wales. Whatever may have been 
 the custom in former times, I do not think bundling is now practised any- 
 where in the United States. 
 
 Mr. Masson describes a similar custom in Central Asia : " Many of 
 the Afghan tribes have a custom in wooing similar to what in Wales is 
 known as bundling-up, and which they term namzat baze. The lover 
 presents himself at the house of his betrothed with a suitable gift, and 
 in return is allowed to pass the night with her, on the understanding that 
 innocent endearments are not to be exceeded." Journeys in Belochistan, 
 Afghanistan, etc. Vol. III. p. 287. 
 
 BUNCOME, ) Judge Halliburton, of Nova Scotia, thus explains this very 
 
 BUNKUM. ) expressive word, which is now as well understood as any in 
 
 our language : " All over America, every place likes to hear of its 
 
 member of Congress, and see their speeches ; and if they do n't, they
 
 BUN 57 
 
 send a piece to the paper, inquirin' if their members died a natural death, 
 or was skivered with a bowie knife, for they hante seen his speeches 
 lately, and his friends are anxious to know his fate. Our free and en- 
 lightened citizens do n't approbate silent members ; it do n't seem to them 
 as if Squashville, or Punkinsville, or Lumbertown was right represented, 
 unless Squashville, or Punkinsville, or Lumbertown makes itself heard 
 and known, ay, and feared too. So every feller, in bounden duty, talks, 
 and talks big too, and the smaller the State, the louder, bigger, and 
 fiercer its members talk. Well, when a crittur talks for talk sake, jist to 
 have a speech in the paper to send to home, and not for any other airthly 
 puppus but electioneering, our folks call it Bunkum" 
 
 The origin of the phrase, " talking for Buncombe," is thus related in 
 Wheeler's History of North Carolina : " Several years ago, in Congress, 
 the member from this district arose to address the House, without any ex- 
 traordinary powers, in manner or matter, to interest the audience. Many 
 members left the hall. Very naively he told those who remained that 
 they might go too ; he should speak for some time, but * he was only 
 talking for Buncombe.' " 
 
 Mr. Goodrich, in his pleasant " Reminiscences," in describing his 
 native valleys, says : 
 
 On every side the ear was saluted by the mocking screams of the red-headed 
 woodpecker, the cawing of congresses of crows, clamorous as if talking to bun- 
 combe. Vol. I. p. 101. 
 
 Mr. Saxe, in his poem on " Progress," speaking of the Halls of Con- 
 gress, says : 
 
 Here, would-be Tullys pompously parade 
 Their tumid tropes for simple buncombe made, 
 Full on the chair the chilling torrent shower, 
 And work their word-pumps through the allotted hour. 
 Come on, ye stump men eloquent, in never-ending stream, 
 Let office be your glorious goal, and bunkum be your theme ; 
 The vast and vaulted capital shall echo to your jaws, 
 And universal Yankeedom shall shout in your applause. 
 
 Am. Rejected Addresses, The American Congress. 
 
 The House of Representatives broke down upon the corruption committee's bill 
 to protect the integrity of members of Congress, having first passed it for buncombe. 
 N. Y. Tribune, March 2, 1857. 
 
 Here is an amusing biography of Gen. Houston, bulky in size, capital in paper, 
 and evidently got up for buncombe. New York Tribune. 
 
 Our people talk a great deal of nonsense about emancipation, but they know it 'a 
 all buncombe. Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 175. 
 
 BUNGO. A kind of boat used at the South. 
 
 The most urgent steps were being taken to press every bungo and canoe to the
 
 58 BUN BUR 
 
 immediate relief of the people along the coast, in order to embark them without 
 delay. N. 0. Picayune, 
 
 BUNGTOWN COPPER. A spurious coin, of base metal, a very clumsy coun- 
 terfeit of the English halfpenny or copper. It derived its name from 
 the place where it was first manufactured, then called Bungtown, now 
 Barneysville, in the town of Rehoboth, Mass. The Bungtown copper 
 never was a legal coin. The British halfpenny or copper was. The 
 term is used only in New England. 
 
 These flowers would n't fetch a Bungtown copper. Margaret, p. 19. 
 Anti-slavery professions just before an election ain't worth a Bungtown copper. 
 Biglow Papers, p. 147. 
 
 The last thing I remember [having been tipsy] was trying to pay my fare with a 
 Bungtown-copper. Doesticks, p. 62. 
 
 BUNK. 1. (Ang. Sax. benc, a bench, a form.) A wooden case, used in 
 country taverns and in offices, which serves alike for a seat during the day 
 and for a bed at night. The name is also applied to the tiers of standing 
 bed-places used in the lowest class of lodging-houses. 
 
 Dr. Jamieson has the word bunker, a bench or sort of low chests, that 
 serve for seats also, a seat in the window, which serves for a chest, 
 opening with a hinged lid. Etym. Diet. Scottish Language, 
 
 Ithers frae off the bunkers sank, 
 
 We e'en like the collops scor'd. Ramsay's Poems, Vol. I. p. 280. 
 
 In some parts of Scotland, a "bunker or bunkart, which Dr. Jamieson 
 thinks to be the same word, means an earthen seat in the fields. In the 
 North of England, a seat in front of a house, made of stones or sods, is 
 called a bink. 
 
 2. A piece of wood placed on a lumberman's sled to enable it to sus- 
 tain the end of heavy pieces of timber. Maine. 
 
 To BUNK. To retire to bed in a bunk. 
 BUNKUM. See Buncome. 
 
 To BUNT. To push with the horns, to butt. Used also hi the "West of 
 England. 
 
 BUREAU. 1. The name commonly given, in America, to a chest of drawers. 
 2. A subdivision of one of the government departments, as the " Indian 
 Bureau," the " Pension Bureau," etc. 
 
 BURGALOO. (Fr. Virgalieu?) A superior kind of pear. 
 
 BURGALL. (Clenolabrus ceruleus.) A small fish, very common in New- 
 York ; also found on the coast of New England, and as far south as 
 Delaware Bay. The usual length is about six inches, though they are 
 sometimes found twelve inches. Other names for the same fish are Nib-
 
 BUR BUS 59 
 
 bier, from its nibbling off the bait when thrown for other fishes ; Chogset, 
 the Indian name; and in New England, those of Blue Perch and 
 Conner. 
 
 BURGEE. A large flag at the mast-head of a merchant-man. 
 
 Her masts were lofty, with sails furl'd, and a large burgee was streaming out from 
 the topmast-head. Southern Sketches, p. 73. 
 
 To BURN UP. In correct English, papers, haystacks, briars, etc., are 
 burned up. The grass is also said to be burned up by drought ; but it is 
 hardly proper to say, that such a man was ruined by being burned up. 
 " Mr. Smith's factory was burned up," it should be " burned down ; " and, 
 applied to a man, " burned out." 
 
 BURR-OAK. ( Quercus macrocarpa.) A beautiful tree, more than sixty 
 feet in height, laden with dark tufted foliage. It is found mostly beyond 
 the Alleghanies, in the fertile districts of Kentucky and West Tennessee, 
 and in Upper Louisiana near the Missouri. It is also called Overcup 
 White Oak. Michaux. 
 
 The trees, with very few exceptions, were what is called the burr-oak, a small 
 variety of a very extensive genus ; and the spaces between them, always irregular 
 and often of singular beauty, have obtained the name of " openings." Cooper, The 
 Oak Openings. 
 
 BURR-STONE. A species of silex or quartz occurring in amorphous masses, 
 partly compact, but containing many irregular cavities. It is used for 
 mill-stones. Cleveland's Mineralogy. 
 
 BURSTED. A form of the past tense and participle frequently employed 
 instead of the correct form, burst. 
 
 BUSH. (Dutch, bosch, a wood.) The woods, a forest, or a thicket of trees 
 or bushes. This term, which is much used in the Northern States and 
 Canada, probably originated in New York. 
 
 BUSH-BEAN. (Phaseolus vulgaris.) The useful vegetable, brought origi- 
 nally from Asia and long cultivated in Europe, called in England Kid- 
 ney-bean and French Bean. With us they are also called String-beans 
 and Snap-beans, or Snaps. 
 
 BUSHWHACKER. 1. One accustomed to beat about or travel through 
 bushes; a clod-hopper, raw countryman, green-horn. 
 
 Do you think all our eastern dignitaries combined could have compelled young 
 bushwhackers to wear coats and shoes in recitation rooms ? Carlton, New Purchase, 
 Vol. H. p. 87. 
 
 The Van B s of Nyack were the first that did ever kick with the left foot; 
 
 they were gallant bushwhackers, and hunters of raccoons by moonlight. Knicker- 
 bocker's New York.
 
 60 BUS BUT 
 
 Every bushwhacker and forest ranger thought he knew where to find the trees. S. 
 Slick, Nature and Human Nature, p. 15. 
 
 2. A scythe or othei instrument used for cutting brush or bushes. 
 I know not the victim soon destined to fall before the keen-edged bushwhacker of 
 Time, or I would point him out. Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. 
 
 BUSHWHACKING. Travelling or pulling through bushes. 
 
 The propelling power of the keel-boat is by oars, sails, setting-poles, the cordelle, 
 and, when the waters are high and the boat runs on the margin of the bushes, bush- 
 whacking, or pulling up by the bushes. Flint's Hist, and Geogr. of Miss. Valley. 
 
 BUST. 1. A burst, failure. The following conundrum went the rounds of 
 the papers at the time the Whig party failed to elect Mr. Clay to the 
 presidency : " Why is the Whig party like a sculptor ? Because it takes 
 Clay, and makes a bust" 
 
 2. A frolic ; a spree. Vulgar. 
 
 And when we get our pockets full 
 
 Of this bright, shinin' dust, 
 "We '11 travel straight for home again, 
 
 And spend it on a bust. California Song. 
 
 To BUST. To burst ; to fail in business. This vulgar pronunciation of 
 the word burst is very common. 
 
 I was soon fotch'd up in the victualling line and I busted for the benefit of my 
 creditors. J. C. Neal, Dolly Jones. 
 
 When merchants fondly trust to paper, 
 
 And find too late that banks betray, 
 What art can help them through the scrape, or 
 
 Suggest the means wherewith to pay ? 
 
 The only way to stop each croaker, 
 
 And pay the banks to whom they trust ; 
 To bring repentance to the broker, 
 
 And wring his bosom, is " to bust." N. Y. Evening Post. 
 
 BUSTER. 1. A roistering blade, a dashing fellow. 
 
 I went on, laming sometliing every day, until I was reckened a buster, and 
 allowed to be the best bar-hunter in my district. Thorpe, Big Bear of Arkansas. 
 
 2. A frolic, a spree. 
 BUTCHER-BIRD. See Nine-killer. 
 
 BUTT. 1. The small pipe affixed to the hose of a fire-engine. 
 
 2. The buttocks. The word is used in the West in such phrases as, 
 " I fell on my butt," " He kick'd my butt" In the West of England it 
 denotes a buttock of beef. 
 
 To BUTT. To oppose. South-west. 
 
 BUTTE. (French.) This word is of frequent occurrence in books that
 
 BUT BUY 61 
 
 relate to the Rocky Mountain and Oregon regions, " where," says Col. 
 Fremont, " it is naturalized, and if desirable to render into English, there 
 is no word which would be its precise equivalent. It is applied to the 
 detached hills and ridges which rise abruptly, and reach too high to be 
 called hills or ridges, and not high enough to be called mountains. Knob, 
 as applied in the Western States, is their most descriptive term in Eng- 
 lish ; but no translation or paraphrasis would preserve the identity of 
 these picturesque landmarks." Exped. to the Rocky Mountains, p. 
 145. 
 
 Sir Geo. Simpson, in his " Overland Journey round the World," when 
 traversing the Red River country, west of Hudson's Bay, speaks of a 
 conspicuous landmark in the sea of plains, known as the Butte aux 
 Chiens, .... towering with a height of about four hundred feet over a 
 boundless prairie as level and smooth as a pond. Vol. I. p. 54. 
 
 On entering the broken ground, the creek turns more to the westward, and passes 
 by two remarkable bitttes of a red conglomerate, which appear at a distance like 
 tables cut in the mountain side. Ruxton's Mexico and Rocky Mountains, p. 241. 
 
 BUTTER-BIRD. See Bobolink. 
 
 BUTTERNUT. (Juglans cinerea.} The tree resembles the black walnut, 
 yet the wood is sometimes called white walnut. 
 
 BUTTONING UP. A Wall street phrase. When a broker has bought 
 stock on speculation and it falls suddenly on his hands, whereby he is a 
 loser, he keeps the matter to himself, and is reluctant to confess the 
 ownership of a share. This is called buttoning up. A Walk in Wall 
 Street, p. 47. 
 
 BUTTON BUSH. (Cephalanthus occidentalism) A shrub which grows 
 along the water side, its insulated thickets furnishing a safe retreat for 
 the nests of the blackbird. Its flowers appear at a distance like 
 the balls of the sycamore tree ; hence its name. Bigelow, Flora 
 Bostoniensis. 
 
 BUTTONWOOD or BUTTON TREE. (Platanus occidentalism) The popular 
 name, in New England, of the sycamore tree ; so called from the balls it 
 bears, the receptacle of the seeds, which remain on the trees during the 
 winter. Michaux's Sylva. Sometimes called Button-ball tree. 
 
 BUYER'S OPTION. A purchaser of stocks at the broker's board, buyer's 
 option, thirty, sixty, or ninety days, can call for the stock any day within 
 that time, or wait until its expiration. He pays interest at the rate- 
 of six per cent, up to the time he calls. A purchase on buyer's 
 option is generally a fraction above the cash price. Hunt's Merchants 
 Mag., Vol. 37. 
 
 6
 
 62 BUZ CAC 
 
 BUZZARD. A name given to several kinds of hawks indigenous to America, 
 as the Black-Buzzard (Falco harlani), the Red-tailed Hawk or Buzzard 
 (Falco borealis), and the Short- winged Buzzard, or Great Hen-Hawk 
 (Falco buteoides). See also Turkey-Buzzard. 
 
 BY AND AGAIN. Occasionally, now and then. A Southern expression. 
 
 BY-BIDDER. A person employed at public auctions to bid on articles put 
 up for sale, to enhance the price. 
 
 BY THE NAME OF. Some persons will say, " I met to-day a man by the 
 name of Smith." An Englishman would say " of the name," etc. ; ex- 
 cept in such phrases as " He went by the name of Smith." 
 
 C. 
 
 CABBAGE-TREE. (Palma altissima.) A palm tree found in East Florida. 
 From its pith very good sago is made, and its long trunks serve for pipes 
 to convey water underground. Bartram's Florida Journal. 
 
 CABERES. (Span, cabestro, a halter.) A rope made of hair, used for 
 catching wild horses and cattle. It is used in the same manner as the 
 " lariat," which is made of raw hide. These two words are in common 
 use in Louisiana and Texas, and imply what is, at the North, termed a 
 lasso. 
 
 Bill Stone had his rifle for himself and a strong caberos for his horse, and so did n't 
 bother anybody about feeding. N. Y. Spirit of the Times, Western Tale. 
 
 CABOODLE.. The whole caboodle is a common expression, meaning the 
 whole lot. I know not the origin of the word. It is used in all the 
 Northern States and New England. The word boodle is used in the 
 same manner. 
 
 They may recommend to the electors of Hamilton county to disregard so much 
 of the law as constitutes two election districts of Hamilton county. Having done 
 this, Medary will be looking out for a job ; Olds will be often in Fairfield cozening 
 for a nomination to Congress ; and the whole caboodle will act upon the recommen- 
 dation of the Ohio Sun, and endeavor to secure a triumph in the old fashion way. 
 Ohio State Journal. 
 
 CACAO. The fruit of the cacao-tree (Theobroma cacao), of which choco- 
 late is made ; hence also called Chocolate-nuts, commonly spelled and pro- 
 nounced Cocoa. 
 
 CACHE. (French.) A hole in the ground for hiding and preserving pro- 
 visions which it is inconvenient to carry. Travellers across the prairies, 
 hunters, and the settlers in the far "West, often resort to this means for 
 preserving their provisions. In the author's journey to California, owing
 
 CAC CAL 63 
 
 to the loss of animals, the contents of a wagon were cached on the banks 
 of the Gila, and camp-fires built over the opening, that the Indians might 
 not discover it. It was opened the following year, and every thing found 
 in good order. 
 
 I took advantage of a detached heap of stones, to make a cache of a bag of pem- 
 mican. Back, Journal of an Arctic Voyage. 
 
 The cache, which I had relied so much upon, was entirely destroyed by the bears. 
 Dr. Kane, Arctic Explorations, Vol. I. 
 
 To CACHE. To hide or conceal in the ground. 
 
 We returned to camp and cached our meat and packs in the forks of a cotton-wood 
 tree out of reach of wolves. Ruxton's Adventures in New Mexico. 
 
 "When Dr. Hovey's party reached Mann's Fort, they were wellnigh exhausted. 
 The fort was vacant, but after much search they found plenty of salt pork, which had 
 been cached by its former occupants. New York Tribune. 
 
 CACHUNK ! A word like thump ! describing the sound produced by the 
 fall of a heavy body. Also written kerchunk! A number of fanciful 
 onomatopoetic words of this sort are used hi the South and West ; in all 
 of which the first syllable, which is unaccented, is subject to the same 
 variety of speUing. These words are of recent origin. 
 
 CACIQUE, or CAZIQUE. (W. Ind. cazic, cachic.} A chief, or king, among 
 the aborigines of the West India Islands. This, like other terms of the 
 sort, has been extended by the whites beyond its original limits. 
 
 CACOMITE. A name for the bulbous root of a species of Tigridia from 
 which a good flour is prepared, in Mexico. 
 
 CAHOOT. (Perhaps Fr. cohorte, a company, band.) It is used in the 
 South and West to denote a company, or partnership. 
 
 Pete Hopkins aint no better than he should be, and I would n't swar he was n't in 
 cahoot with the devil. Chronicles of Pineville. 
 
 I 'd have no objection to go in cahoot with a decent fellow for a character, but 
 have no funds to purchase on my own account. New Orleans Picayune. 
 
 The hoosier took him aside, told him there was a smart chance of a pile on one 
 of the [card] tables, and that if he liked he would go in with him in cahoot ! 
 Field, Western Tales. 
 
 To CAHOOT. To act in partnership. 
 
 Commodore Morgan sells out his interest to Com. Garrison in the Nicaragua 
 line, and Garrison settles his difficulties with Com. Vanderbilt, and they all agree to 
 cahoot with their claims against Nicaragua and Costa Rica. New York Herald, 
 May 20, 1857. 
 
 CALABASH. 1. A large gourd, the fruit of the Cucurbita lagenaria, or 
 calabash vine. 
 
 2. (Crescentia cujete.*) A gourd that grows upon trees in Spanish 
 America and the West Indies. The fruit is large and round, and serves
 
 64 CAL CAL 
 
 for bowls. That of another species or variety is oval, and furnishes 
 drinking-cups and chocolate-cups. In South America, the name is To- 
 tuma ; in Central America, Jicara ; and in Cuba, Guira. 
 
 3. A humorous name for the head, generally implying emptiness ; as, 
 " he broke his calabash" 
 
 CALABOOSE. (Fr. calabouse. Span, calalozo.) In the South-western 
 States, the common jail or prison. 
 
 There 's no peace in a steamer, it is nothing but a large calaboose chock full of 
 prisoners. Sam Slick, Human Nature. 
 
 To CALABOOSE. To imprison. South-western. 
 
 We have a special telegraphic despatch from St. Louis, giving the information 
 that Col. Titus, late of Nicaragua, now claiming to be of Kansas, was calaboosed on 
 Tuesday for shooting at the porter of the Planters' House. Cincinnati Commer- 
 cial, 1857. 
 
 CALASII. (Fr. caleche.') 1. A two-wheeled carriage, resembling a chaise, 
 used in Canada. 
 
 2. A covering for the head, usually worn by ladies to protect their 
 headdresses when going to evening parties, the theatre, etc. It is formed 
 of hoops after the manner of a chaise-top, and is in England, very appro- 
 priately, called an ugly. 
 
 To CALCULATE. This word, which properly means to compute, to esti- 
 mate, has been erroneously transferred from the language of the count- 
 ing-house to that of common life, where it is used for the words to 
 esteem ; to suppose ; to believe ; to think ; to expect ; intend, etc. It is 
 employed in a similar way to the word guess, though not to so great an 
 extent. Its use is confined to the illiterate of New England. 
 
 Mr. Cram requested those persons who calculated to join the singin' school to 
 come forward. Knickerbocker Mag. Vol. XVII. 
 
 CALF-KILL. (Kalmia angustifolia.) A plant, so called from its poisonous 
 properties, which are, however, not so great as the name imports. Also 
 called Lamb-kill and Sheep Laurel. 
 
 CALIBOGUS. Rum and spruce-beer. An American beverage. Grose. 
 
 CALICO. The word was originally applied to white cottons from India. 
 In England, white cotton goods are still called calicoes. In the United 
 States, the term is applied exclusively to printed cotton cloth. 
 
 CALL. An invitation from the vestry of a church to a clergyman to oc- 
 cupy their pulpit is technically termed a call, the loudness of which call 
 is considered to be in a direct ratio to the salary offered. 
 
 The renowned Mr. Dow, Jr., at the close of one of his sermons, 
 said:
 
 CAL CAL 65 
 
 I have observed that a great many country people have lately joined my congre- 
 gation. Let the good work go on ! I hope to coax a few more such sheep into my 
 fold before I preach my farewell sermon ; and that may be pretty soon, as I have 
 had a loud $600 call elsewhere. Sermons, Vol. I. p. 317. 
 
 CALLITHUMPIANS. It was a common practice in New York, as well as 
 other parts of the country, on New Year's eve, for persons to assemble 
 with tin horns, bells, rattles, and similar euphonious instruments, and 
 parade the streets, making all the noise and discord possible. This party 
 was called the Callithumpians, or the Callithumpian land. Fortu- 
 nately the custom has now fallen almost, if not entirely, into disuse. 
 
 CALL-LOANS. Loans on call are loans of money where the borrower 
 obligates himself to pay at any moment when called for. Banks having 
 large deposits which are liable to be called for any day, often loan money 
 at less than the ordinary rates in this way to brokers. 
 
 To speculate in fancy stocks on call loans is simply to put your hand in the 
 lion's mouth, or yourself in the hands of a Shylock, with the expectation of getting 
 out without being fleeced. New York Herald. 
 
 CALLS. Operations of this kind are made generally by those " curb-stone 
 brokers " who are under the impression that higher prices will soon rule 
 in certain stocks. A speculator is desirous of making a little operation, 
 and he offers to give $50 for the privilege of calling for 100 shares New 
 York Central Railroad stock at 91 per cent, in ten or fifteen days. The 
 price fixed on the part of the buyer is always a fraction above the cash 
 price. If the stock goes down ten, twenty, or thirty per cent., the party 
 buying the call can only lose $50. If it goes up to 91^, he gets his 
 money back, and all above that is so much profit. This business is con- 
 fined almost entirely to the curb-stone brokers it is a species of betting 
 about on a par with " roulette." Hunt's Merchant's Mag., 1857. 
 
 CALUMET. (Old Fr.) Among the aboriginals of America, a pipe, used 
 for smoking tobacco, whose bowl is usually of soft red marble, and the 
 tube a long reed, ornamented with feathers. The calumet is used as a 
 symbol or instrument of peace and war. To accept the calumet is to 
 agree to the terms of peace ; and to refuse it is to reject them. The 
 calumet of peace is used to seal or ratify contracts and alliances, to re- 
 ceive strangers kindly, and to travel with safety. The calumet of war, 
 differently made, is used to proclaim war. Webster, Die. 
 
 As soon as we sat down, the Illinois [Indians] presented us, according to custom, 
 their calumet, which one must needs accept, or else he would be looked upon as an 
 open enemy or a mere brute. Marquette, 1673. 
 
 The savages make use of the calumet in all their negotiations and state affairs ; 
 for when they have a calumet in their hand, they go where they will in safety. La 
 Houtan. 
 
 6*
 
 66 CAM CAN 
 
 CAMP-MEETING. A meeting held in the wood or field for religious pur- 
 poses, where the assemblage encamp and remain several days. These 
 meetings are generally held by the Methodists. The Mormons call it a 
 Wood-meeting. 
 
 CAMP OUT. To encamp out of doors for the night. 
 
 The surveying party did not always return to the hut at night, but it camped out, 
 as they called it, whenever the work led them to a distance. Cooper, Satanstoe, 
 Vol. II. p. 88. 
 
 CAMPBELLITE. A follower of the doctrines of Alexander Campbell. See 
 Christian* 
 
 CANADA BALSAM. See Balsam Fir. 
 CANADA NETTLE. See Albany Hemp. 
 
 CANADA RICE. (Zizania aquatica.) A plant which grows in deep 
 water along the edges of ponds and sluggish streams, in the Northern 
 States and Canada. It is called, in some places, Wild Rice and Water 
 Oats. 
 
 CANCER ROOT. A species of orobanche of Linnaeus. Yellowish plants, 
 famous as ingredients in " cancer powders." 
 
 CANE-BRAKE. A thicket of canes. They abound in the low lands from 
 South Carolina to Louisiana. 
 
 Did you ever hear of a bar bustin' in through a cane-brake, and know how near a 
 hurrycane it is ? Story of the Bear Hunter. 
 
 CANE-MEADOW. The Carolinian name for a cane-brake. Bartram. 
 CANE-TRASH. See Bagasse. 
 
 CANEY. Caney Fork or Branch is a frequent name for streams in Ken- 
 tucky and Tennessee, undoubtedly from canes having grown there for- 
 merly, although now extirpated. 
 
 CANKER-RASH. The disease called Scarlatina. 
 
 CANOE. (West Indian, canahua, canoa.) An Indian boat made of bark or 
 skins. 
 
 CANT -HO OK. A wooden lever with an iron hook at one end, with which 
 heavy articles of merchandise or timber are canted over. Sometimes 
 called Can-hook. 
 
 CAN'T COME IT, is a vulgar expression for cannot do it. " You can't come 
 it over me so," i. e. you cannot take such an advantage of me. Mr. 
 Hamilton notices this expression among the provincialisms of Yorkshire. 
 Nugce Literarice, p. 353.
 
 CAN CAP 67 
 
 The following dialogue is reported to have occurred in a crowded New 
 York omnibus : 
 
 Old Gent. Let me take you on my lap. 
 Woman. No, you can't come that, old chap ; 
 He that takes that task to do 
 Must be some likelier one than you. 
 
 CANTELOPE, CANTELUPE, or CANTELEUPE. (Ciicumis melo.) A species 
 of muskmelon. 
 
 CANTICOY, or C ANTIC A. An Iroquois Indian word, denoting a social gather- 
 ing or dancing assembly. It is still used by aged people in New York 
 and on Long Island. 
 
 At their canticas, or dancing matches, where all persons that come are freely en- 
 tertained, it being a festival time. Denton's Description of New York, 1670. 
 
 CANVAS-BACK. (Anas valisneriana.) A wild duck, found chiefly in the 
 Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and highly esteemed for the delicacy 
 of its flesh. It derives its name from the color of its back. 
 
 CANYON. (Span, canon.) A narrow, tunnel-like passage between high 
 and precipitous banks, formed by mountains or table-lands, often with a 
 river running beneath. These occur in the great Western prairies. In 
 New Mexico and California they are very common. 
 
 The Platte forces its way through a barrier of table-lands, forming one of those 
 striking peculiarities incident to mountain streams, called a canon. Scenes in the 
 Rocky Mountains, p. 111. 
 
 The river Gila comes in [to the Colorado] nearly at right angles, and the point of 
 junction, strangely chosen, is the hard butte through which, with their united forces, 
 
 they cut a canon, and then flow off due west, etc The walls' of the canon are 
 
 vertical, and about fifty feet high, and 1,000 feet long. Emory's New Mexico and 
 California, p. 95. 
 
 To CAP ALL. To surpass all ; to cap the climax. 
 
 Well, the horse got stuck in one of them snowbanks, and there we sot unable to 
 stir ; and to cap all, Deacon Bedott was took with a dreadful crick in his back. 
 Widow Bedott Papers. 
 
 To CAP THE CLIMAX is to surpass every thing. Old English. A letter 
 from Mexico, in speaking of the excesses of the American soldiers, says : 
 
 Several robberies were committed by them at Jalapa, but at Cantepec they robbed 
 almost every house, "and, to cap the climax, robbed the church. Alexandria Gazette. 
 
 The western hunter, when he wishes to cap the climax of braggadocio with respect 
 to his own prowess, says, " he can whip his weight in wild-cats." Thorpe's Back- 
 woods. 
 
 CAP-SHEAF. A small sheaf of straw forming the top of a stack. Dorset 
 Glossary. Figuratively used, in the United States, to denote the highest 
 degree, the summit.
 
 68 CAP CAP 
 
 Of all the days that I ever did see in this 'ere world, moving-day in New York ia 
 the capsheaf. Maj. Downing, May-day in New York, p. 43. 
 
 There 's one manufacture in New England that might stump all Europe to pro- 
 duce the like the manufacture of wooden nutmegs. That 's a capsheaf that bangs 
 the bush. Sam Slick. 
 
 Sam Pendergrass's wife has been tellin' me about the party ; and of all the strains 
 ever I heard on, I should think that the capsheaf. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 88. 
 
 CAPE MAY GOODY. The name given, on the Jersey coast, to the Lafayette 
 fish. 
 
 CAPTAIN'S BEAT. The limits within which the members of a military 
 company reside. Within the same limits the votes are received on elec- 
 tion days. Southern. 
 
 CAPTION. This legal term is used in the newspapers in cases where an 
 Englishman would say title, head, or heading. 
 
 To CAPTIVATE, v. a. (Lat. captivo ; Fr. captiver.) To take prisoner ; to 
 bring into bondage. Johnson. To seize by force; as an enemy in 
 war. Webster. 
 
 How ill-becoming is it in thy sex, 
 
 To triumph like an Amazonian trull 
 
 Upon their woes, whom fortune captivates. Shakspeare. 
 
 They stand firm, keep out the enemy, truth, that would captivate or disturb 
 them. Locke. 
 
 The unnatural brethren who sold their brother into captivity are now about to be 
 captivated themselves, and the binder himself to be bound in his turn. Dr. Adam 
 Clarke, Reflec., 4th Genesis. 
 
 I have an English engraving published in 1756, entitled " A Prospec- 
 tive Yiew of the Battle fought near Lake George, 8th September, 1755," 
 .... in which the English were victorious, captivating the French 
 general with a number of his men, and putting the rest to flight. 
 
 In his remarks on this word, Mr. Pickering says it was new to him, 
 and that he had never seen it in the newspapers. Subsequently, how- 
 ever, he discovered it in two or three of our authors. It cannot be said 
 to be in use among writers at the present day. It is well known, that 
 Congress, in adopting the Declaration of Independence, prepared by Mr. 
 Jefferson, omitted certain passages contained in the original draft. 
 Among these was the following paragraph relating to the slave-trade : 
 
 He has waged crnel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred 
 rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, 
 captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to more miser- 
 able death in transportation thither.
 
 CAR CAE 69 
 
 In noticing the above passage, Lord Brougham says : The word capti- 
 vating will be reckoned an Americanism (as the Greeks used to say 
 of their colonists, a Solaecism). But it has undoubted English au- 
 thority Locke, among others. Statesmen of George 111. 
 
 Twenty-three people were killed in this surprisal, and twenty-nine were capti- 
 vated. Belknap, Hist. New Hampshire, Vol. I. ch. 10. 
 
 The singularly interesting event of captivating a second Royal army [Lord 
 Cornwallis's] produced strong emotions. Ramsay, History American Revolution, 
 Vol. II. p. 274. 
 
 CAR. The carriages that compose a railway train are, with us, called " rail- 
 road cars" These are of various kinds : such as the passenger-cars, one 
 of which is the smoking-car, for those who must needs indulge hi that 
 luxury ; the baggage-car ; and the mail-car. Sometimes a whole train 
 is composed of freight-cars. The English travel by " rail," or take the 
 "train" from one place to another. We go by the cars, or take the 
 cars. 
 
 CAR-BRAKE. A lever which, acting by friction on the wheels, helps to stop 
 the train. 
 
 CAR-HOUSE. A building in which railroad cars are kept. 
 
 CARIBOU. The American reindeer, of which there are two species, the 
 Barren Ground, and the Woodland, Caribou. 
 
 Harts and caribous are killed, both in summer and winter, after the same manner 
 with the elks ; excepting that the caribous, which are a kind of wild asses, make an 
 easy escape when snow is at hand, by virtue of their broad feet. La Hontan, North 
 America. 
 
 CARLICUES, or CURLTCUES. Boyish tricks, capers. To cut or cut up 
 carlicues is to cut capers. 
 
 " Sally," says I, " will you take me for better or worse ? " 
 
 This put her to considering, and I gave a nourishing about the room, and cut a 
 curlycue with my right foot, as much as to say, " Take your own time." McClin- 
 tock's Tales. 
 
 It is generally supposed that nature is perfect in all her works, except when 
 she gets odd freaks in her head, and cuts up carlicues by way of experiment. Dow's 
 Sermons, Vol. III. p. 48. 
 
 CAROLINA ALLSPICE. See Allspice. 
 
 CAROLINA POTATO. The sweet potato (Convolvulus batata), so called in 
 the Eastern States. 
 
 CARPET WEED. A small spreading plant, common in cultivated ground 
 (Mollugo). Bigelow's Plants of Boston. 
 
 To CARRY AWAY. To move to ecstacy, to transport. A puritanical deacon,
 
 70 CAR CAS 
 
 shocked at the idea of introducing an organ into a church, getting much 
 excited, exclaimed : 
 
 Organs of wood and brass seem like idolatry, as if we could n't praise the Lord 
 
 with our natural voices ! I got carried away, and am certainly afraid all this care 
 
 for the outer portion will only make it worse for the better part of us. Eastford, 
 
 or Household Sketches. 
 
 " Do you remember old Jabe Green's wife up to Wiggletown ? " said the Widow 
 
 Bedott. " She was always carried away with every new thing. Two or three years 
 
 ago, when Millerism was makin' such a noise, she was clear killed up with it. 
 
 Again she was wide awake against Sabbath-breakin then 't was moral reform." 
 
 Widow Bedott Papers, p. 123. 
 
 CARRY- ALL. A four-wheeled pleasure carriage, capable of holding several 
 persons or a family ; hence its name. Some, however, consider it a cor- 
 ruption of the French carriole. The name is common in the Northern 
 States. In Canada it is applied to a sleigh. 
 
 CARRY-LOG. A set of wheels used for transporting timber. 
 
 One day, 'bout two weeks after I commenced workin' for the Squire, I was drivin' 
 'long, settin' straddle of a stock on my carry-log, when I sorter druv over a little 
 stump, and the durned log come unfastened. N. Y. Spirit of the limes. 
 
 To CARRY ON. To riot ; to frolic. 
 
 We notice some young scapegraces, who get up their wild freaks at night and 
 continue them till morning. Sometimes they carry on even longer than this. 
 N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 CARRYINGS-ON. Riotings, frolickings. 
 
 There is good authority for the use of this term by English writers of 
 the seventeenth century. 
 
 Is this the end 
 To which these carryings-on did tend ? 
 
 Butler's Hudibras, Pt. 1, Cant. 2. 
 
 Everybody tuck Christmas, especially the niggers, and sich carryins-on sich 
 dancin' and singin' and shootin' poppers and sky-rackets you never did see. 
 Maj. Jones's Courtship. 
 
 When he reflected that wherever there were singin' schools, there would be carry- 
 ings-on, he thought the cheapest plan would be to let them have their fun out. 
 Peter Cram, in Knickerbocker Mag. 
 
 "Jeff, let them seminary galls alone," said his aunt; "they are a wild set; and 
 do n't have such carryins-on with them." Widow Bedott Papers. 
 
 CARTMAN. (Pron. carman.) One who drives a cart. 
 
 CASE. A character, a queer one ; as, " That Sol Haddock is a case" 
 " What a hard case he is," meaning a reckless scapegrace, mauvais sujet. 
 
 " I say, Jekyl," said Tom Gordon, " this sister of mine is a pretty rapid little 
 case, as you saw by the way she circumvented us this morning." Mrs. Stowe, Dred, 
 Vol. I. p. 203.
 
 CAS CAT 71 
 
 CASHAW, sometimes spelt kershaw. A pumpkin. Western. 
 
 CASSAREAP. The juice of the bitter yuca-root boiled down to a sauce. 
 Heat dissipates the poisonous property of the fresh juice. West Indies. 
 
 CASSAVA, or CASSADA. (W. Ind. casavi.J The native name of a shrub 
 of Central and South America, from the root of which Tapioca and Man- 
 dioca are extracted. See Tapioca. 
 
 CASTANAS, or CHESTNUTS, in tropical America, is the name given some- 
 times to the Jack Fruit (Artocarpm integrifolia), and sometimes to the 
 edible fruit of the Screw Pine (Pandanus). 
 
 CASWASH ! Dash ! splash ! The noise made by a body falling into the 
 water. See Cachunk. 
 
 CATALPA. ( Catalpa cordifolia.*) An ornamental tree ; a shade-tree with 
 large flowers, common in the Middle States. The aboriginal name. 
 
 CATAMOUNT. A name applied synonymously with Panther and Painter to 
 several wild, fierce animals analogous to Felis concolor, but not specially 
 employed to designate that species. 
 
 CATAWAMPOUSLY, or CATAWAMPTIOUSLY. Fiercely, eagerly. To be ca- 
 tawamptiously chawed up is to be completely demolished, utterly de- 
 feated. One of the ludicrous monstrosities in which the vulgar language 
 of the South-western States abounds. 
 
 In this debate Mr. B. was catawamptiously chawed up; his arguments were not 
 only met, but his sarcasm returned upon himself with great effect. Charleston 
 Mercury. 
 
 There is something cowardly in the idea of disunion. Where is the wealth and 
 power that should make us fourteen millions take to our heels before three hundred 
 thousand slaveholders, for fear of being catawamptiously chawed up? Speech of 
 Fred. Douglass, 1857. 
 
 Citizens and fellers ; on the bloody ground on which our fathers catawampously 
 poured out their claret free as oil, let the catamount loose, and prepare the 
 engines of vengeance. S. H. Hill, Speech on the Oregon Question. 
 
 CATAWBA GRAPE. A cultivated variety of Vitis labrusca. It is the great 
 wine-grape of the United States. 
 
 CATCH. A term used among fishermen to denote a quantity of fish taken 
 at one time. 
 
 It is said that the catch of blue fish in the inlet and river is greater than ever 
 known so early in the season, and that they are served up secundem artem at Mr. 
 Williston's. N. Y. Courier and Enquirer, June 24. 
 
 To CATCH A WEASEL ASLEEP. It is supposed that this little animal is 
 never caught napping, for the obvious reason that he sleeps in his hole 
 beyond the reach of man. The expression is applied to persons who are
 
 72 CAT CAU 
 
 watchful and always on the alert, or who cannot be surprised ; as, " You 
 cannot deceive me, any sooner than you can catch a weasel asleep" or, 
 " You can't catch a weasel asleep" The expressions are common. 
 
 To CATCH UP. Among travellers across the great prairies, the phrase 
 means, to prepare the horses and mules for the march. 
 
 The mule must have been there seven or eight hours, by the grass she had eat ; 
 a pony had been hitched there too, and after the mule had been catched up. N. 
 Y. Spirit of the Times, Frontier Tale. 
 
 They travelled all night, and when day broke took to the bush, camped down a 
 smart piece off the trail, stayed till about noon, catched up their fresh horses, took a 
 bee line through the timber, and, when night came, pushed for the trail agin. 
 Ibid. 
 
 Come, boys, it 's daylight, we 've a long march before us ; so catch up, and we '11 be 
 off. Prairie Scenes. 
 
 CATFISH. (Genus Prinelodus. Cuvier.) This fish, in several varieties, is 
 common throughout the United States under different popular names. It 
 is also called by the name of Horned-pout, Bull-head, Mud-pout, Minis- 
 ter, or simply Cat. There is a very large species called the Channel Cat- 
 fish, which is noticed by Dr. Kirtland in his Report on the Geology of 
 Ohio. 
 
 CATSTICK. A bat, or cudgel, used by New England boys hi a game at ball. 
 It is known by the same name in England, though used for a different 
 play. In Pennsylvania, Maryland, and further south, the term is applied 
 to small wood for burning. 
 
 "When the cat is laid upon the ground, the player with his cudgel or catstick strikes 
 it smartly, it matters not at which end, and it will rise high enough for him to beat 
 it away as it falls, in the same manner as he would a ball. Strutt, Sports and 
 Pastimes. 
 
 CAT-TAIL GRASS. Herds-grass, or timothy. 
 
 CATTING. Fishing for " cat." Thus, a story is told of an old negro, who 
 while fishing was seen to keep only the catfish and throw all others, 
 even of the better kinds, back into the water. On being asked the reason, 
 he replied, " Lilly massa, when I goes a cattin, I goes a cattm" 
 
 CATTLE-RANGE. In Kentucky, a park. 
 
 CAUCUS. A private meeting of the leading politicians of a party, to agree 
 upon the plans to be pursued in an approaching election. 
 
 Gordon, in his History of the American Revolution, 1788, says : " The 
 word is not of novel invention. More than fifty years ago, Mr. Samuel 
 Adams's father, and twenty others, one or two from the north end of the 
 town, where all ship business is carried on, used to meet, make a caucus, 
 and lay their plan for introducing certain persons into places of trust
 
 CAU CAW 73 
 
 and power. When they had settled it, they separated, and used each 
 his particular influence within his own circle," etc. Vol. I. p. 240. 
 
 " From the above remarks of Dr. Gordon on this word," says Mr. 
 Pickering, "it would seem that these meetings were in some measure 
 under the direction of men concerned in the ' ship business ; ' and I had 
 therefore thought it not improbable that caucus might be a corruption of 
 caulkers', the word ' meetings ' being understood. I was afterwards in- 
 formed that several gentlemen in Salem and Boston believed this to be 
 the origin of the word." 
 
 The earliest mention of this word, that has come under my notice, is in 
 John Adams's Diary, under date of February, 1763, where he says : 
 
 This day learned that the caucus club meets, at certain times, in the garret of Tom 
 Dawes, the adjutant of the Boston regiment. Works, Vol. II. p. 144. 
 
 I '11 be a voter, and this is a big character, able to shoulder a steamboat, and 
 carry any candidate that the caucus at Baltimore may set up against the people. 
 What 's the people to a caucus 1 Nothing but a dead ague to an earthquake. 
 Crocket's Tour, p. 206. 
 
 To BE A CAUTION. To be a warning. A common slang expression. 
 
 The way the Repealers were used up was a caution to the trinity of O'Connell, 
 Repeal, and Anti-Slavery, when they attempt to interfere with true American citi- 
 zens. New York Herald. 
 
 There 's a plaguy sight of folks in America, Major, and the way they swallow 
 down the cheap books is a caution to old rags and paper-makers. Maj, Downing, 
 May-day in New York, p. 3. 
 
 Moses wound up his description of the piano, by saying that the way the dear 
 creeturs could pull music out of it was a caution to hoarse owls. Thorpe's Myste- 
 ries of the Backwoods, p. 24. 
 
 A large portion of Capt. Marryatt's " Travels of Mons. Violet," is stolen from 
 the New Orleans Picayune ; and it will not be surprising if Kendall [the author] 
 lets his sting into this trans-Atlantic robber. He can do it in a way that will be a 
 caution. Providence Journal. 
 
 Our route was along the shore of the lake in a northerly direction, and the way 
 the icy blast would come down the bleak shore was a caution. Hoffman, Winter 
 in the West, p. 234. 
 
 CAVERN LIMESTONE. The carboniferous limestone of Kentucky, so called 
 from the innumerable caves which its hard strata contain. In the softer 
 limestone of the West, the roof of the cavern falls in and forms on the 
 surface a " sink " or " sinkhole," a funnel-shaped depression, which, if the 
 opening is not closed, sometimes proves fatal to animals, and even to 
 man. 
 
 CAWHALUX ! Whop ! The noise made by a box on the ear. 
 
 I hadn't sot no time before, cawhalux! some one took me the right side o' the head 
 
 7
 
 74 CAV CED 
 
 with a dratted big book. The fire flew out of my eyes like red coals. Mdj 
 Jones's Courtship. 
 
 CAVORTIN. A corruption of the word " curvetting," applied to horses and 
 their riders when prancing about in order to show off; and then figura- 
 tively to any person capering about. A word chiefly used in the South- 
 ern States. 
 
 A whole gang of fellers, and a heap more of young ladies, came ridin' up and 
 reinin' in, and prancin' and cavortin'. Mdj. Jones's Courtship, p. 41 . 
 
 He tossed himself into every attitude which man could assume on horseback. In 
 short, he cavorted most magnanimously. Georgia Scenes. 
 
 Old Alic had a daughter, that war a most enticin' creatur ; and I seed Tom Set- 
 tlers cavortin' round her like a young buffalo. Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 There 's some monstrous fractious characters down in our beat, and they mus n't 
 come a cavortin' about me when I give orders. Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 20 
 
 CAVALLARD. (Span, caballada?) A term used, in Louisiana and Texas, 
 by the caravans which cross the prairies, to denote a band of horses or 
 mules. 
 
 The chef d'oeuvre of this Indian's rascality was exhibited in his stealing our whole 
 cavallard, consisting of ten head of horses and mules, which he drove to the moun- 
 tains. Scenes in the Rocky Mountains, p. 80. 
 
 Two or three were mounted, and sent into the prairie in search of the caviarde 
 of horses. A Stray Yankee in Texas, p. 97. 
 
 To CAVE IN. Said of the earth which falls down when digging into a 
 bank. Figuratively, to break down ; to give up. 
 
 He was a plucky fellow, and warn't a goin' to cave in that way. S. Slick, Human 
 Nature, p. 55. 
 
 At the late dinner, Mr. W arose to make a speech, but soon caved in. Wash- 
 ington Paper. 
 
 The South-western and "Western Locos, it is thought, will cave in, and finally go 
 for the Treaty [of peace with Mexico], though they talk loud against it now. New 
 York Tribune, March 4, 1848. 
 
 Dr. Kane, in alluding to the weak state of his companions, says, Morton felt so 
 much better that he got up at six ; but he caved in soon after. Arctic Explorations, 
 Vol. II. p. 94. 
 
 CAVESON. (Fr. cavegon.) A muzzle for a horse. New England. 
 
 There, Chilion, it is just as I told you. The rake-shame put a cavcson on him. 
 Margaret, p. 304. 
 
 CAYMAN. (West Indian.) This native name for the alligator is still re- 
 tained in the West Indies. 
 
 CAZIQUE. See Cacique. 
 
 CEDAR. A name applied, in the United States, to different genera of the 
 Pine family. The Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is a juniper.
 
 CEN CHA 75 
 
 The White Cedar ( Gypressus thyoides) is a cypress, which is found in the 
 " Cedar Swamps." 
 
 CENSUS. In the United States, an enumeration of the inhabitants of all 
 the States, taken by order of Congress, to furnish the rule of apportion- 
 ing the representation among the States, and the number of representa- 
 tives to which each State is entitled in the Congress ; also the enumera- 
 tion of the inhabitants of a State, taken by order of the Legislature. 
 Webster. 
 
 CENT. A copper coin of the United States, whose value is the hundredth 
 part of a dollar. Webster. 
 
 CERTAIN, for certainly. " He 's dead certain." " I '11 go to-morrow sure 
 and certain" Very common. 
 
 CHAINED LIGHTNING. Western, for forked lightning, 
 
 CHALK. A long chalk vulgarly means a great distance, a good deal. 
 When a person attempts to effect a particular object, in which he fails, 
 we say, " He can't do it by a long chalk." 
 
 'Twas about calf-time, and not a hundred year ago, by a long chalk, that the 
 biggest kind of rendezvous was held to Independence, a mighty handsome little 
 location away up on old Missouri. Ruxton, Far West, p. 14. 
 
 Put on your hat, or you may get a sun-stroke, which will cause you more pain 
 than the helmet did by a long chalk. Sam Slick, Human Nature. 
 
 If Nova Scotia is behind in intelligence, it is a long chalk ahead on us in other 
 respects. Sam Slick. 
 
 CHANGE. To meet with a change is to have change of heart, to experience 
 religion. 
 
 " Do you mean to insinuate that ye 've met with a change ? " said the Widow 
 Bedott to Jim Clarke, the peddler. 
 
 " I think I may confidently say I hev," said Jim. 
 " How long since ? " 
 
 " Wall, about a year and a half. I experienced religion over in Varmount, at a 
 protracted meetin'. I tell ye, Widow, them special efforts is great things; ever 
 sence I've come out, I've felt like another critter." Widow Bedott Papers, p. 108. 
 
 CHAPARRAL. In Spain, a chaparral is a bush of a species of oak. The 
 termination al signifies a place abounding in ; as, chaparral, a place of 
 oak-bushes ; almendral, an almond orchard ; parral, a vineyard ; cafetal, 
 a coffee plantation, etc., etc. 
 
 This word^chapparal, has been introduced into the language since our 
 acquisition of Texas and New Mexico, where these bushes abound. 
 It is a series of thickets, of various sizes, from one hundred yards 
 to a mile through, with bushes and briars, all covered with thorns, 
 and so closely entwined together as almost to prevent the passage of any 
 thing larger than a wolf or hare. 

 
 76 CHA CHE 
 
 "We had, too, a lieutenant of His Majesty's Royal Marines, another of Nature's 
 noblemen, who preferred a camp to the toils of field sports, when a scrub was to be 
 crawled under or forced through at the risk of tattered garments, scratched hands, 
 and bleeding noses, to say nothing about a basking rattlesnake or so, as formidable 
 as the chapparal of Palo Alto, defended by gigantic cactus here, sharp-pointed 
 yuccas there, and cat-claw briars everywhere. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 To CHAW. To champ between the teeth ; to masticate; to chew. John- 
 son. Webster, This, according to all lexicographers, is the legitimate 
 word. Although found in good authors, it is retained, in this country as 
 in England, only by the illiterate. 
 
 I home returning, fraught with foul despite, 
 
 And chawing vengeance all the way I went. Spenser, F. Queen. 
 
 The man who laught but once, to see an ass 
 Mumbling to make the cross-grained thistles pass 
 Might laugh again, to see a jury chaw 
 The prickles of unpalatable law. Dry den. 
 
 To CHAW UP. To demolish, discomfit. 
 
 I heerd Tom Jones swar he 'd chaw me up, if an inch big of me was found in 
 them diggins in the mornin'. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 63. 
 
 Miss Patience smiled, and looked at Joe Cash. Cash's knees trembled. All 
 eyes were upon him. He sweat all over. Miss Patience said she was gratified to 
 hear Mr. Cash was a musician; she admired people who had a musical taste. 
 Whereupon Cash fell into a chair, as he afterwards observed, chawed up. Thorpe's 
 Backwoods, p. 28. 
 
 To CHAW UP ONE'S WORDS. To eat one's words, to retract. 
 
 Do you want me to tell a lie by chawing up my own words? Southern Sketches, 
 p. 34. 
 
 CHEBACCO BOAT. A description of fishing vessel employed in the New- 
 foundland fisheries. They are also called Pinksterns, and sometimes 
 Tobacco Boats. The word is doubtless a corruption of Chedabucto, the 
 name of a bay in Nova Scotia, from which vessels are fitted out for 
 fishing. 
 
 CHECKERS, i. e. Chequers. The common name for the game which is 
 called draughts in England. Mr. Todd, in his edition of Johnson's 
 Dictionary, has the word, " Checker, a chess-board, or draught-board." 
 
 The checkers, at this time a common sign of a public-house, was originally 
 intended, I should suppose, for a kind of draught-board, called tables, and showed 
 that there the game might be played. Brand, Popular Antiquities. 
 
 CHEQUER BERRY. (Mitchella.) A handsome little creeping plant, the 
 only species of its genus, more commonly known as the Partridge Berry. 
 Also called Chickberry.
 
 CHE CHI 77 
 
 CHESS. (Bromus secalinus.) A troublesome weed, often found in wheat 
 fields, which gave rise to the erroneous opinion that it was degenerated 
 wheat. It is also called Cheat. 
 
 CHESSTCAT. (Cheshire Cat.) Although Charles Lamb's query as to the 
 reason why cats grin in Cheshire has not yet met with a satisfactory solu- 
 tion, still the fact itself seems to remain undisputed. A correspondent of 
 the New York Tribune, discussing the distinctive quality that separates 
 man from the brute creation, observes, " Rabelais, forgetting the hyena 
 and the Chessycat, says it is laughter." 
 
 CHEWINK. The ground robin ; so called from its pecuh'ar note. On Long 
 Island it is called the Towhee Goldfinch ; and in Louisiana, from its 
 plumpness, Grasset. Natural History of New York. 
 
 CHICHA. (West Ind.) A fermented liquor made of Indian corn. 
 
 CHICKADEE. The black-cap titmouse, a very common little bird, so called 
 from its peculiar note. Audubon, Ornith. 
 
 CHICKAREE. (Sciurus hudsonii.) The popular name of the Red Squir- 
 rel. 
 
 CHICKASAW PLUM. (Prunus chicasa.') A plum growing on the bank" 1 
 of the Red River, Arkansas, upon small bushes from two to six feet 
 high. They are very large and sweet, and vary in color from a light 
 pink to a deep crimson. Capt. Marcy's Report, p. 19. 
 
 CHICKEN SNAKE. A name popularly applied to various species of snakes 
 which are considered as particularly destructive to chickens and eggs. 
 
 CHICKEN FIXINGS. In the Western States, a chicken fricassee. 
 
 The remainder of the breakfast table [in New York] was filled up with some 
 warmed-up old hen, called chicken fixings. Rubio, Travels in the U. S. 
 
 We trotted on very fast, in the assurance of rapidly approaching a snug breakfast 
 of chicken fixins, eggs, ham doins, and com slap-jacks. Carlton, New Purchase, 
 Vol. II. p. 69. 
 
 I guess I '11 order supper. What shall it be ? corn-bread and common doins, or 
 wheat-bread and chicken fixins ? Sam Slick, 3d Ser., p. 118. 
 
 CHICKEN GRAPE. The River Grape, or Vitis riparia ; also called Frost 
 Grape. The sterile vine is cultivated for its sweet-scented blossoms, 
 and is then called Bermudian Vine. 
 
 CHIGOE, spelt also chigre, chigger, jigger, etc. (Pulex penetrans.) Sand- 
 fleas, which penetrate under the skin ' of the feet, particularly the toes. 
 As soon as they accomplish this, an itching sensation is felt ; when the 
 chigre ought to be removed by means of a needle breaking the skin. No 
 uneasiness follows ; but should this precaution be neglected, the insect 
 breeds in the toe, and sometimes produces dreadful sores. These insects 
 
 7*
 
 78 CHI CHI 
 
 are found in the West Indies, and the adjacent shores of the Gulf of 
 Mexico. Car michael's West Indies, Vol. I. p. 189. 
 
 In Kentucky the term is apph'ed to a minute red acarus, or tick, which 
 buries itself in the skin, while the true chico of the South (a pulex) 
 causes torment by the growth of the eggs which it deposits under the 
 skin. 
 
 CHILD. This child is a common expression in the "West for " this person," 
 i. e. myself. 
 
 Human nature can't go on feeding on civilized fixings in this big village ; and 
 this child has felt like going West for many a month, being half froze for burner 
 meat and mountain doins. Ruxton, Far West. 
 
 CHILLS AND FEVER. A name for fever and ague. 
 
 CHINCAPIN. (Powhatan Ind.) (Castanea pumila.) A diminutive spe- 
 cies of chestnut, shaped like a boy's top, common south of Pennsylvania. 
 
 They have a small fruit growing on little trees, husked like a chestnut, but the 
 fruit most like a very small Acorne. This they call Chechinquamins, which they 
 estecme a great daintie. Smith's Virginia. 
 
 CHINCH, or CHINTS. (Span, chinche.) The name given in the Southern 
 and Middle States to the Bed-bug (cimex). 
 
 Chinches are a sort of flat bug, which lurks in the bedsteads and bedding, and 
 disturbs people's rest a-nights. Beverly's 'Virginia, 1705. 
 
 CHINCH-BUG. A fetid insect, destructive to wheat, maize, etc., in the 
 Southern and Western States. Farm. Encyclop. 
 
 CHINESE SUGAR-CANE. A name given to the Sorghum Saccharatum. 
 
 To CHINK. To fill up chinks, or interstices. The process of filling with 
 clay the interstices between the logs of houses in the new countries, and 
 then plastering them over with the same material, is called chinking and 
 daubing. In the north of England it is called daubing and filing. 
 Moor. 
 
 Our log-house quarters, however, were closely chinked and daubed, and we passed 
 & comfortable night. Kendall's Santa Fe~ Exp., Vol. I. p. 28. 
 
 The interstices of the log wall were " chinked " the chinking being large chips 
 and small slabs, dipping like strata of rocks in geology ; and the daubing, yellow 
 clay ferociously splashed in soft by the hand of the architect. Carlton, The New 
 Purchase, Vol. I. p. 61. 
 
 A huge pair of antlers occupied a conspicuous place in the little cabin, and upon 
 its unchincked walls many a coon and deer skin were drying. The Fire Hunt. 
 
 I met with a lot of these the other day in Southern Illinois ; and as it can have no 
 bearing upon the election now, perhaps you would like to have it to use for chinking 
 in among your election returns. N. Y. Spirit of the Times.
 
 CHI CHO 79 
 
 CHIPMUK, or CHIPMOXK. The popular name for the Striped Squirrel 
 (Sciurus striatus). Probably an Indian word. 
 
 The children were never tired of watching the vagaries of the little chipmonk, as 
 he glanced from branch to branch. Mrs. Clovers' s Forest Life. 
 
 CHIRAMOYA. (Annona chirimoya.) The Custard Apple of the more 
 temperate part of the tropics. 
 
 CHIRK. Lively, cheerful, in good spirits, in a comfortable state ; as 
 when one inquires about a sick person, it is said, he is chirk. The word 
 is wholly lost, except in New England. Webster. It is doubtless de- 
 rived from the old verb to chirk (Ang. Sax. cercian), i. e. to chirp, which 
 is found in old English writers. 
 
 Afore I had mixed a second glass of switchel, up they came, and the General 
 looked as chirk and lively as a skipper. Maj. Downing' s Letters. 
 
 To CHIRRUP. To cheer up ; to quicken or animate a horse by a peculiar 
 sound or chirping. It is not noticed by Johnson, though it is common in 
 England. 
 
 The mustang needs but a chirrup to arouse him, and set him off at a gait which 
 an Eastern horse can hardly attain. Prairie Scenes. 
 
 To CHISEL. To cheat, to swindle. Comp. To gouge. A Western word. 
 
 The banking-house of have, by their recent failure, chisetted the people of 
 
 California out of a million of dollars. Alia Califarnian. 
 
 To those who are in the habit of being chiselled by their butchers and grocers, we 
 would advise a visit to the governor's room and examine the standard of weights 
 and measures. New York Herald. 
 
 " State your case," said a Western lawyer to a " sucker," who had applied for 
 advice. 
 
 " It 's an infarnal mean case of woman-swindling ; it sets my teeth a gritten to 
 think on it. I 've been owdaciously chiselled, dan darn my foolish pictur ! I might 
 have known that puke war n't to be trusted. St. Louis ReveiUe. 
 
 CHITLINS. (A contraction of chitterlings.) Rags, tatters. 
 
 While I was in this way rolling in clover, they were tearing my character all to 
 chitlins up at home. Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 They did all they could to tear my reputation to chitlins. Sam Slick, Human 
 Nature, p. 188. 
 
 I told you it wur a sorrowful story, but you would hev it out, and jest see how it 
 makes parfect chitlins of your feelins. Western Tales. 
 
 CHIVALRY. A cant term for the people of the South. 
 
 Had the Free States been manly enough, true enough, to enact the Wilmot Pro- 
 viso as to all present or future territories of the Union, we should have had just about 
 the same didoes cut up by the chivalry that we have witnessed, and with no more 
 damage to the Union. N. Y. Tribune, April 10, 1851. 
 
 To CHOCK. (A corruption of check.) To put a wedge under a thing to 
 prevent its moving ; thus to " chock " a barrel or cart-wheel, is to put a 
 piece of wood or a stone under it to keep it steady.
 
 80 CHO CHO 
 
 CHOCOLATE. (Mexican, chocolatl.) The paste, or cake, made of the 
 roasted kernel of the cacao. When prepared in foreign countries, it is 
 mixed with sugar, cinnamon, or vanilla. 
 
 CHOCK UP. Close, tight; said of a thing which fits closely to another. 
 
 CHOCK-FULL. Entirely full ; see also Chuck-full. 
 
 I 'm chock-full of genius and running over, said Pigwiggin. Need. 
 By this time we got into a shabby-looking street, chock-full of hogs and boys. 
 Maj. Downing, May-day in New York. 
 
 CHOGSET. See Bur gall. 
 
 CHOKE BERRY. (Pyrus arhdifolia.) A plant having astringent proper- 
 ties. 
 
 CHOKE CHERRY. The popular name of the Prunus virginiana, so called 
 from its astringent properties. 
 
 To CHOKE OFF. To stop (a person) in the execution of a purpose. A 
 figurative expression, borrowed from the act of choking a dog to make 
 him loose his hold. To arrest a public speaker when growing tedious, is 
 called choking him off. This is done by shuffling the feet, applauding 
 where applause is uncalled for, by putting questions of order, etc. 
 
 I spent a couple of hours in the House, amused by watching the dignified pro- 
 ceedings of our Representatives. The operation of " choking off" a speaker was 
 very funny, and reminded me of the lawless conduct of fighting school-boys. New 
 York Express, Feb. 21, 1848. 
 
 To CHOMP. To chew loudly, to champ. This pronunciation is common 
 to the North of England and to New England. (Also used in the West 
 and South.) 
 
 CHOP. A Chinese word signifying quality ; first introduced by mariners 
 in the China trade, but which has now become common in all our sea- 
 ports. Originally the word was applied only to silks, teas, or other goods 
 from China ; now the phrase first chop is an equivalent to " first-rate," 
 and applied to every thing. 
 
 A smart little hoss, says I, you arc a cleaning of; he looks like & first chop article. 
 Sam Slick in England, ch. 2. 
 
 I went to board at a famous establishment in Broadway, where sundry young 
 merchants of t\\Q first chop were wont to board. Perils of Pearl Street. 
 
 CHORE. A small piece of domestic work, a little job, a char. 
 
 In England, the word char is used both as a noun and as a verb. The 
 pronunciation also varies ; in some of the southern counties it is pro- 
 nounced cheure, or choor. 
 
 In America, the noun only is employed, and generally in the plural. 
 The pronunciation is uniformly chore. It is mostly confined to New 
 England.
 
 CHO CHU 81 
 
 Hunting cattle is a dreadful chore, remarked one of our neighbors, after threading 
 the country for three weeks in search of his best ox. Mrs. Clavers's Forest Life. 
 
 Radney comes down and milks the cow, and does some of my other little chores. 
 Margaret, p. 388. 
 
 Girl hunting is certainly among our most formidable chores. Mrs. KirTdand, 
 Western Clearings. 
 
 The editor of the Boston Daily Star, in recently relinquishing his 
 charge, gives the following notice : 
 
 Any one wishing corn hoed, gardens weeded, wood sawed, coal pitched in, para- 
 graphs written, or small chores done with despatch and on reasonable terms, will 
 please make immediate application to the retiring editor. 
 
 CHOWDER. A favorite dish in New England, made of fish, pork, onions, 
 and biscuit stewed together. Cider and champagne are sometimes added. 
 Pic-nic parties to the sea-shore generally have a dish of chowder, pre- 
 pared by themselves in some grove near the beach, from fish caught at 
 the same time. Grose describes the same as a sea-dish. 
 
 CHRISTIAN (pron. with the first i long). A name assumed by a sect which 
 arose from the great revival in 1801. 
 
 CHRISTIANIZATION. This substantive is to be found occasionally in our 
 religious publications. The verb to christianize, which is in the dic- 
 tionaries, is in use among the English writers ; but the substantive is 
 never employed by them. Pickering, Vocabulary. 
 
 CHUB. A name sometimes given to the Blackfish. 
 
 CHUB SUCKER. A sea-fish, otherwise called the Horned Sucker. 
 
 CHUCK-FULL. Entirely full. Common in familiar language, as well as 
 chock-full, which see for other examples. 
 
 [At dinner] the sole labor of the attendants was to keep the plates chuck-full of 
 something. Carlton, The New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 181. 
 
 I '11 throw that in, to make chuck-full the " measure of the country's glory." 
 Crockett, Tour, p. 86. 
 
 CHUCK- WILL'S-WIDOW. The common name of a bird of the whippoor- 
 will family. ( Caprimulgus carolinensis.) Mr. Audubon says : " About 
 the middle of March, the forests of Louisiana are heard to echo with the 
 well-known notes of this interesting bird. No sooner has the sun dis- 
 appeared, and the nocturnal insects emerge from their burrows, than the 
 sound ' Ghuck-wiWs-widow] repeated with great clearness and power 
 six or seven times in as many seconds, strike the ear." Ornithology, 
 Vol. I. p. 273. 
 
 CHUFA. (See Earth Almond.)
 
 82 CHU CHU 
 
 CHUCK-A-LUCK. A Western game, played with dice. 
 
 At Holly Fork, Tennessee, any one can be accommodated. Cards or chuck-a~ 
 luck, old corn or cider, a fight or a foot-race, mattered not, it was to be had at a 
 moment's notice. Southern Sketches, p. 160. 
 
 CHUK ! A noise made in calling swine. Always repeated at least three 
 times. 
 
 CHUNK. A short, thick piece of wood, or of any thing else ; a chump. The 
 word is provincial in England, and colloquial in the United States. 
 
 I rode an all-fired smart chunk of a poney real Creole cane raised walk six 
 miles an hour, and run like a scared deer in a prairie a-fire. N. Y. Spirit of the 
 Times, Frontier Incident. 
 
 It is true that now and then a small chunk of sentiment or patriotism or philan- 
 thropy is thrown in awkwardly among the crudities and immoralities [of the stage] 
 but it evidently has no business there. New York in Slices, The Theatre. 
 
 To CHUNK. To throw sticks or chips at one. Southern and Western. 
 
 CHUNK- YARD or CHUNKEE-YARD. A name given by the white traders to 
 the oblong four-square yards adjoining the high mounts and rotundas of 
 the modern Indians of Florida. In the centre of these stands the obe- 
 lisk, and at each corner of the further end stands a slave post, or strong 
 stake, where the captives that are burnt alive are bound. Bartram. 
 
 The pyramidal hills or artificial mounts, and highways or avenues, leading from 
 them to artificial lakes or ponds, vast tetragon terraces, chunk-yards, and obelisks or 
 pillars of wood, are the only monuments of labor, ingenuity, and magnificence, that 
 I have seen worthy of notice. Bartram, Travels in Florida, (1773,) p. 518. 
 
 This is doubtless an Indian term, and the enclosure a place where the 
 natives played a game called chunkee, as will appear by the following 
 extract from Du Pratz : 
 
 " The warriors practise a diversion which they call the game of the 
 pole, at which only two play at a time. Each pole is about eight feet 
 long, resembling a Roman f, and the game consists in rolling a flat, round 
 stone, about three inches in diameter and one inch thick, and throwing 
 the pole in such a manner, that when the stone rests the pole may be at 
 or near it. Both the antagonists throw their poles at the same time, and 
 he whose pole is nearest the stone counts one, and has the right of roll- 
 ing the stone." History of Louisiana, 1720. 
 
 CHUNKED. Any person who is impudent or bold, at the South-west, is 
 said to be chunked. 
 
 CHUNKY. Short and thick. Often applied to the stature of a person, as 
 " he is a chunky little fellow." 
 
 CHURCH. Mr. Pickering has the following remarks on this word: "A 
 church, as a body of persons, is distinguished, in New England, from a
 
 CID CIT 83 
 
 congregation, by the privileges which the former in general reserve to 
 themselves of receiving exclusively in that church the sacrament and 
 baptism, in consequence of their having publicly declared their assent to 
 the creed which that church maintains. Marriage, burial, and public 
 worship, are open to the members of the congregation at large, according 
 to the forms and methods employed in each church ; as are also cate- 
 chizing for children and visits to the sick." Vocabulary. 
 
 CIDER. All talk and no cider is a phrase equivalent to " great cry and 
 little wool." 
 
 CIDER BRANDY. See Apple Brandy. 
 
 CIDER OIL. Cider concentrated by boiling, to which honey is subsequently 
 added. 
 
 CIENEGA. (Span.) A marsh. New Mexico and Texas. A small marsh 
 is called a cieneguita. 
 
 IMLIN. A squash, so called in the Middle and Southern States. 
 
 To CIRCULATE. To travel. Used in this sense many times in a pam- 
 phlet on the " Frauds, Extortions, and Oppressions of the Railroad Mo- 
 nopoly in New Jersey." In comparing the rates of travel in various 
 States, by which it is shown that the rates in New Jersey are the highest 
 in the world, the author says of the traveller : 
 
 Arriving in Maryland, a slave State, he circulates at a cost of from three to five 
 cents per mile. 
 
 CIRCUMSTANCE. Not a circumstance, in the sense of a thing of no account, 
 nothing in comparison, is a vulgarism which has become popular within 
 the last few years. 
 
 I never saw so lean and spare a gall as Miss A since I was raised. Pharaoh's 
 
 lean kine war n't the smallest part of a circumstance to her. I had to look twice be- 
 fore I could see her at all. Sam Slide, Human Nature, p. 184. 
 
 Cisco. The popular name of a fish of the herring kind which abounds in 
 Lake Ontario, particularly in Chaumont Bay at the east end, where 
 thousands of barrels are annually caught and salted. I do not find this 
 name mentioned by Dr. DeKay, in his work on the fishes of New York, 
 in the Natural History of the State. 
 
 To CITIZENIZE. To make a citizen, to admit to the rank and privileges 
 of a citizen. Webster. Rarely used. 
 
 Talleyrand was dtizenized in Pennsylvania, when there in the form of an emi- 
 grant. T. Pickering. 
 
 CITESS. This word, as well as citizeness, was used in America during the 
 first years of the French Revolution, as a translation of the revolutionary
 
 84 CIV CLA 
 
 title, citoyenne ; but it has, for several years, been wholly disused. 
 Pickering's Vocabulary. 
 
 It is unnecessary to recite the discussions on this word by the British 
 critics, the Quarterly Review, etc., as it was never adopted into our lan- 
 guage. Dr. "Webster and the English lexicographers have the word 
 citess in their dictionaries, but only in the sense of " a city v, oman." 
 
 CIVISM. Love of country ; patriotism. Webster. This, like the preced- 
 ing word, is one of the productions of the French Revolution; and, 
 though frequently used several years ago, is now obsolete here as well as 
 in France. Pickering's Vocabulary. 
 
 CIVILIZEE. A civilized man ; one advanced in civilization. The word 
 has never obtained currency. 
 
 The barbarian likes his seraglio ; the civilizee admires the institution of marriage. 
 The barbarian likes a roving, wandering life ; the civilizee likes his home and fire- 
 side. New York Observer. 
 
 CLABBER. See Sonny- Clabber. 
 
 CLAIM. A piece of public land which a squatter marks out for himself and 
 settles upon, Avith the intention of purchasing it when the government 
 will offer it for sale. 
 
 CLAIM-JUMPER. One who violently seizes on another's land claim. 
 CLAIM-JUMPING. Violently seizing on another's claim. 
 
 CLAM. The popular name *f certain shell-fish, highly esteemed for food. 
 They are of two principal kinds : 
 
 1. The Hard Clam (Venus mercenaria), a very common mollusk, 
 found buried in the sand or shores of marine districts at half-tide. 
 
 2. The Soft Clam, or Mananosay (Mya arenaria), obtained from the 
 shores of tidal rivers by digging one or two feet in the loose sand. It 
 has a long, extensible, cartilaginous snout, or proboscis, through which it 
 ejects water; whence it is also called Stem-clam and Piss-clam. 
 
 CLAM-BAKE. Clams, baked in the primitive style of the Indians, furnish 
 one of the most popular dishes on those parts of the coast where they 
 abound, and constitute a main feature in the bill of fare at pic-nics and 
 other festive gatherings. The method of baking is as follows : A cavity 
 is dug in the earth, about eighteen inches deep, which is lined with 
 round stones. On this a fire is made ; and, when the stones are suffi- 
 ciently heated, a bushel or more of hard clams (according to the number 
 of persons who are to partake of the feast) is thrown upon them. On 
 this is put a layer of rock-weed gathered from the beach, and over this a 
 second layer of sea-weed. Sometimes the clams are simply placed close 
 together on the ground, with the hinges uppermost, and over them is
 
 CLA CLE 85 
 
 made a fire of brush. This is called an Indian led of clams. Clams 
 baked in this manner are preferred to those cooked hi the usual way hi 
 the kitchen. 
 
 Parties of ten or twenty persons, of both sexes, are the most common. 
 Often they extend to a hundred, when other amusements are added ; and 
 on one occasion, that of a grand political mass-meeting hi favor of Gen. 
 Harrison on the 4th of July, 1840, nearly 10,000 persons assembled hi 
 Rhode Island, for whom a clambake and chowder were prepared. This 
 was probably the greatest feast of the kind that ever took place in New 
 England. 
 
 CLAM-SHELL. The lips, or mouth. There is a common though vulgar 
 expression hi New England, of " Shut your clam-shell" that is, " Shut 
 your mouth, hold your tongue." The padlock now used on the United 
 States mail-bags is called the " Clam-shell padlock." 
 
 CLAPBOARD. A thin, narrow board, used to cover the sides of houses, and 
 placed so as to overlap the one below it. In England, according to 
 Bailey's Dictionary, a clapboard is a thin board formed ready for the 
 cooper's use, hi order to make casks or vessels. 
 
 To CLAPBOARD. To cover with clapboarding. 
 
 The house was neat and comfortable. It was a small frame building, dapboarded 
 on the sides and roof. Margaret, p. 18. 
 
 CLAPE. The common name of the Golden-winged Woodpecker, in the 
 State of New York. Dr. DeKay thinks it " a provincial word, intro- 
 duced by the early English colonists." It is elsewhere called High-hole, 
 Yucker, Flicker, "Wake-up, and Pigeon Woodpecker ; hi Louisiana, Ptque- 
 boisjaune. Nat. Hist, of New York. 
 CLATTERWHACKING. A clatter, racket. 
 
 When we went a bar hunting, I heard the darndest datterwhacking and noise in 
 the road behind us. Southern Sketches, p. 32. 
 
 CLAY-EATERS. A miserable set of people inhabiting some of the Southern 
 States, who subsist chiefly on turpentine whiskey, and appease their 
 craving for more substantial food by filling their stomachs with a kind of 
 aluminous earth which abounds everywhere. This gives them a yel- 
 lowish, drab-colored complexion, with dull eyes, and faces whose idiotic 
 expression is only varied by a dull despair or a devilish malignity. They 
 are looked down upon by the negroes with a contempt which they return 
 by a hearty hatred. Ida May. 
 
 THE CLEAN THING. A low expression, denoting propriety, or what is 
 honorable. 
 
 It is admitted, that sending out ships to plunder your neighbor or adversary is as 
 much as mere words in making war. I do n't like it. It is n't the clean thing. 
 Crockett, Tour, p. 193. 
 
 8
 
 86 CLE OLE 
 
 A man may be the straight thing, that is, right up and down like a cow's tail ; but 
 hang me if he can be the clean thing any how he can fix it. S. Slick, Human 
 Nature, p. 53. 
 
 CLEAN TICKET. The entire regularly nominated ticket at an election ; a 
 ticket without any erasures. " He went the clean ticket on the Whig 
 Nominations." 
 
 CLEARING. A place or tract of land cleared of wood for cultivation ; a 
 common use of the word in America. Webster. 
 
 After we reached the boundaries of the clearing and plunged into the timbered 
 land, this heat was exchanged for a grotto-like coolness. Mrs. Clavers, Forest Life, 
 Vol. I. p. 64. 
 
 CLEARING HOUSE. An establishment recently organized in the city of 
 New York, where clerks from the various banks daily meet to settle 
 the balances of their respective institutions. 
 
 To CLEAR OUT. To take oneself off; to depart, decamp. A vulgar ex- 
 pression. 
 
 This thing of man-worship I am a stranger to ; I don't like it ; it taints every 
 action of life ; it is like a skunk getting into a house long after he has cleared out, 
 you smell him in every room and closet from the cellar to the garret. Crockett's 
 Speech, Tour, p. 74. 
 
 I turned round, and was going to clear out. But, says he, Stop, Mister! Major 
 Downing's May-day in New York. 
 
 CLEAR SWING. Good opportunity. See Full Swing. 
 
 As soon as civilization arrives at years of discretion, we expect to see our cities 
 purged of rowdyism, incentives to vice abated, and a clear swing and ample reward 
 granted to labor and intelligence. N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 To CLERK, or TO CLERK IT. To act in the capacity of a clerk. In 
 common use at the West, and occasionally heard in New York. 
 
 Teaching, clerking, law, etc., are so very precarious except to men of established 
 reputation and business, that it is next to madness for a youth to come here relying 
 upon them. N. Y. Tribune, April 19, 1849. 
 
 Young Soublette had been clerking down to the fort on the Platte, so he know'd 
 something. Ruxton, Far West, p. 17. 
 
 I was struck with the original mode in which the young gentleman who was 
 clerking it managed, his spelling. A Stray Yankee in Texas, p. 197. 
 
 CLEVER. The following are the English senses of this word as given by 
 Dr. Worcester: Dexterous, skilful (Addison); just, fit, proper, com- 
 modious (Pope~) ; well-shaped, handsome (Arbuihnof). 
 
 In the United States, clever is much used as a colloquial word in the 
 sense of good-natured, well-disposed, honest; and the phrase "clever 
 man " or " clever fellow," is employed to denote a person of good-nature, 
 good disposition, or good intention. Worcester's Dictionary.
 
 OLE CLI 87 
 
 The landlord of the hotel was a very clever man, and made me feel quite at home 
 in his house. Crockett's Tour Down East, p. 22. 
 
 It is related that an English lady arriving in New York, being recom- 
 mended to take a servant girl who was described to her as clever but not 
 smart, answered, that such a maid would suit her admirably. But she 
 soon learned that her new acquisition was merely inoffensive and dull ; 
 whereas, she had expected one brisk and intelligent, without being showy 
 or dressy. We sometimes hear the expressions " English clever " and 
 " Yankee clever " used to indicate the sense in which the word is to be 
 taken. 
 
 CLEVERLY. This is much used in some parts of New England, instead 
 of well or very well. In answer to the common salutation, " How do you 
 do ? " we often hear, " I am cleverly" It is also used in the sense 
 of fairly, completely. 
 
 The landlord comes to me, as soon as I was cleverly up this morning, looking full 
 of importance. Sam Slick in England, ch. 8. 
 
 CLEVERNESS. Mildness or agreeableness of disposition ; obligingness ; 
 good nature. Used in New England. Webster. 
 
 CLEVIS, or CLEVY. An iron, bent to the form of an ox-bow, with the two 
 ends perforated to receive a pin, used on the end of a cart-neap, to hold 
 the chain of the forward horse or oxen ; or, a draft-iron on a plow. 
 Webster. 
 
 CLIFF. A part of the Silurian limestones of the West have been called 
 " Cliff limestone," from the bold cliffs found on the banks of streams. 
 The word much used in this way is usually pronounced cliffs and 
 hence the adjective cliffy, frequently applied to streams as a proper 
 name. Thus, " a cliffy country " is one abounding in cliffs. 
 
 CLIMB DOWN. To climb, is to ascend, to mount, to rise ; but in no sense 
 to descend. Yet we sometimes find it used with the latter signification. 
 Thus, Mr. H. Ward Beecher, in describing his visit to Oxford, says : 
 
 To climb down the wall was easy enough, too easy for a man who did not love 
 wetting. 
 
 And again 
 
 I partly climbed down, and wholly clambered back again, satisfied that it was 
 easier to get myself in, than to get the flowers out. Star Papers, p. 41. 
 
 CLINCKER BUILT. A term applied to a class of boats in which the lower 
 edge of every plank overlays the next under it, like clapboards on the 
 side of a house. It is a variation of the English term clincher-built. 
 
 CLING, or CLINGSTONE. A variety of the peach in which the flesh ad- 
 heres, or clings, firmly to the stone. When the stone readily separates
 
 88 CLI CLU 
 
 from the flesh, they are called free-stones or open stones. The word 
 peach frequently designates the free-stone, while the others are called 
 clings. 
 
 CUP. A blow or stroke with the hand ; as, " He hit him a clip" Webster. 
 Provincial in England and the Northern States. 
 
 To CLIP. To cut, to run. Probably from the motion of a bird's wings, 
 which strike or beat the air as it flies or runs. 
 
 Some falcon stoops at what her eye designed, 
 
 And, with her eagerness the quarry missed, 
 
 Straight flies at check, and clips it down the wind. Dryden. 
 
 I had n't much time left, so I ran all the way, right down as hard as I 
 
 could clip. Sam Slick in England, ch. 8. 
 
 CLIPPER. A cutter ; a small schooner with raking masts, built and rigged 
 with a view to fast sailing. Larger vessels are sometimes built after the 
 same model, when they are said to be clipper-built. 
 
 CLIPPER-SHIP. Ships built in the clipper style, with a special view to 
 quick voyages ; clipper-built ships. They owed their origin to the im- 
 mensely profitable trade which sprang up between the Atlantic sea-ports 
 and San Francisco, soon after the occupation of California by Americans 
 from the United States. 
 
 CLITCHY. Clammy, sticky, glutinous. Pickering's Vocab. Mr. Picker- 
 ing says, he has " heard this word used in a few instances by old people 
 in New England; but it is rarely heard." In Devonshire, England, 
 they use the verb to ditch, meaning to stick, to adhere, to become thick 
 or glutinous. From this our word is evidently derived. 
 
 CLOCKMUTCH. (Dutch, klcipmuts, a night-cap.) A woman's cap com- 
 posed of three pieces, a straight centre one, from the forehead to the 
 neck, with two side pieces. A New York term. 
 
 CLOTHIER. A man whose occupation is to full and dress cloth. Webster. 
 In England, a clothier is one who makes or deals at wholesale in cloth. 
 Mr. Pickering observes, that " although we use clothier for fuller, yet 
 the place where the cloth is cleansed and dressed is called a fulling- 
 mill." 
 
 To CLOUD UP. To grow cloudy ; to cloud over. 
 
 Although the morning was fine and pleasant, it clouded up before eight o'clock and 
 commenced raining. Bryant's Journey to California, p. 43. 
 
 CLUB-TAIL. The common shad, the fatter portion of which have the tail 
 swollen, and on the coast of Carolina, where they are taken, are called 
 club-tails. Nat. Hist. N. Y.
 
 CLU COB 89 
 
 To CLUTTER UP. To crowd together in disorder, to fill with things in con- 
 fusion ; as, " to clutter up a room." 
 
 COAL. The English generally use the plural coals ; and we as generally 
 use the singular collectively. Coals with us may mean charcoal, in 
 England, never. 
 
 COAL-HOD. A kettle for carrying coals to the fire. More frequently 
 called, as in England, a coal-scuttle. Mr. Halliwell, in his Die. of Prov., 
 has coal-hood, a wooden coal-scuttle, a term which is used in the eastern 
 part of England. 
 
 To COAST. To slide down hill with sleds on the snow ; a term used by 
 boys in New England. 
 
 COASTING. The amusement of sliding down hill with sleds on the snow. 
 
 I guess aunt Libby never broke one of the runners of her sled some Saturday 
 afternoon, when it was prime coasting. Fanny Fern. 
 
 COAT. Used in the South for petticoat. Formerly common, and still pro- 
 vincial, in England. 
 
 COB. The spike on which the kernels of maize, or Indian corn, grow. 
 When the corn is attached to it, it is called an " ear." The old English 
 word cob, the top or head (from the Saxon cop), is doubtless the origin 
 of the term. 
 
 The following short but pithy dialogue is represented as passing be- 
 tween two Virginia negroes soon after the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, 
 at the siege of Yorktown : 
 
 Mingo. Halloo, brudder Sam ; how you do 1 
 Sam. O, don't know, brudder Mingo ; mighty poorly. 
 Mingo. Poorly ! indeed ! you no hear de news ? 
 Sam. No. What sorter news ? 
 
 Mingo. Why, don't you know dat are great man dey call Cornwallis ? 
 Sam. Yes, I hera nuff 'bout him shooting after white folks all over de coun- 
 try. 
 
 Mingo. Well, I spose yon know Gin'ral Washington ? 
 Sam. O, yes ! I know ole masser. 
 
 Mingo. Well, I tell you what : he no Cornwallis now, he Coiwallis ; Gin'ral 
 Washington shell all de corn off him too slick. Cherokee Phoenix, May 21, 1828. 
 
 COBB. A blow on the buttock. Wright, in his Dictionary of Obsolete and 
 Provincial English, explains the word as follows : " A punishment used 
 among seamen for petty offences or irregularities, by bastinadoing the 
 offender on the posteriors with a cobbing-stick or pipe-staff." 
 
 Should any negro be found vending spirituous liquors, without permission from 
 his owner, such negro so offending shall receive fifteen colbs or paddles for every 
 such offence, from the hands of the patrollers of the settlement or neighborhood in 
 which the offence was committed. Cherokee Phoenix, April 10, 1828. 
 
 8*
 
 90 COB COF 
 
 COBBLER. 1. A drink made of wine, sugar, lemon, and pounded ice, and 
 imbibed through a straw or other tube ; as, a " sherry cobbler" 
 
 2. A sort of pie, baked in a pot lined with dough of great thickness, 
 upon which the fruit is placed ; according to the fruit, it is an apple or a 
 peach cobbler. Western. 
 
 COBBLE-STONE. A roundish stone ; a small boulder, such as is used for 
 paving. Mr. Halliwell informs us that the word cobble is used in this 
 sense in the North of England ; and cites from old authors the terms 
 cobbled stones and cobbling stones, which last suggests that the origin 
 of the word is the use of such boulders by cobblers for a lapstone. 
 
 COCKAROUSE. A title of honor among the Indians of Virginia, and long 
 afterwards used by the English settlers as a term for a person of conse- 
 quence. 
 
 A cockarouse is one that has the honor to be of the king or queen's council, with 
 relation to the affairs of government. Beverly 's Virginia, 1705, Book III. 
 
 With spur of punch which lay in pate 
 E'er long we lighted at the gate ; 
 Where, in an ancient cedar house, 
 Dwelt my new friend, a cockerouse. 
 
 The Sot-weed Factor ; or, Along up to Maryland, 1708. 
 
 COCKTAIL. A stimulating beverage, made of brandy or gin, mixed with 
 sugar and a very little water. 
 
 In the American's Apostrophe to Bon Gaultier, addressed to Dickens, 
 after his visit to the United States, he says : 
 
 Did we spare our brandy cocktails, stint thee of our whiskey-grogs ? 
 Half the juleps that we gave thee would have floored a Newman Noggs. 
 
 Book of Ballads. 
 
 Coco GRASS. An insidious grass or weed much dreaded by Southern 
 planters, as it will speedily overrun and ruin any field in which it takes 
 root. 
 
 COCOA-NUT. The well-known fruit of the Cocos nucifera, a kind of palm 
 which is a native of the West Indies and South America, as well as of 
 the other parts of the world. 
 
 Cocos, or EDDOES. The tuberous root of the Arum esculentum, the prin- 
 cipal dependence for a supply of food among the laboring population 
 of the West Indies. 
 
 CODDING. Fishing for codfish. A common term in New England sea- 
 ports, where vessels are fitted out for the purpose. 
 
 COFFEE-HOUSE. At the South and in some parts of the West, this term is 
 used to signify a bar-room.
 
 COF COL 91 
 
 COFFEE-TREE, or KENTUCKY COFFEE-TREE. (Gymnocladus canadensis.) 
 An ornamental tree with valuable wood, the seeds of which were once 
 used as a substitute for coffee. 
 
 COFFIN-BOAT. See Battery. 
 
 COHOSH, sometimes called Black Cohosh or Black Snake-root (Cimicifuga 
 racemosa), a well-known medicinal plant. There are also White and 
 Blue Cohosh, other allied plants. 
 
 White cohush will bring out the whelk in less than no time ; and brook lime will 
 break any fever. Margaret, p. 375. 
 
 COLD, adj. Applied in a peculiar way to those who do not engage in some 
 particular undertaking, e. g. a revival in a church (this seems to be the 
 original use), a railroad company, a bank, or even a conspiracy to cheat 
 some one. He who does not earnestly engage in it is said to be cold. 
 
 How many shares in the Bank have been subscribed to-day ? Why, Smith 
 
 took ten and Jones twenty. And how many did Jackson take ? Oh, he 's cold, 
 he 'd only take one, provided I 'd swap horses with him. 
 
 COLD AS PRESBYTERIAN CHARITY. I know not the origin of this saying, 
 and am not aware that there is less charity in this sect than in any other. 
 They are cold as Presbyterian charity, and mean enough to put the sun in eclipse, 
 are the English. Sam Slick in England. 
 
 Why, Colonel, the river is pretty considerable for a run ; but the water is cool as 
 Presbyterian charity. Crockett's Tour. 
 
 It was common in England, particularly during and after Cromwell's 
 time, to ridicule the Presbyterians ; thus Hudibras says : 
 
 When thou at any thing would'st rail 
 Thou mak'st Presbytery thy scale. 
 As if Presbytery were a standard 
 To size whatever 's to be slandered. 
 
 Part I. Canto 3. 
 
 COLD FLOUR. A preparation made of Indian corn (maize) parched and 
 pulverized, mixed with one third its quantity of sugar. Two or three 
 teaspoonfuls of this compound stirred in a glass of water will answer for 
 a meal when food is scarce. See Nocake and Pinole. 
 
 COLLECTOR. There are three principal officers in each of the large Cus- 
 tom Houses in this country, the Collector, Naval Officer, and Surveyor. 
 
 It is the duty of the collector to receive all manifests, reports, and documents re- 
 quired to be made or exhibited on the entry of any vessel or cargo ; record all 
 manifests, and, together with the naval officer, estimate the amount of duties paya- 
 ble on imports, indorsing the same on the respective entries ; receive, or secure by 
 bond, payment of duties ; grant permits for the unlading or delivery of imports ; 
 and, with the approbation of the Secretary of the Treasury, employ persons as 
 inspectors, weighers, gaugers, measurers, and clerks. Act March 2, 1 797. 
 
 C t>-Cn~: At
 
 92 COL COM 
 
 COLORED. A term applied to persons who have negro blood in their veins. 
 
 To COME. To make come, in Western parlance, applied to game, means to 
 bring it down with your rifle. 
 
 Well, them English are darned fools, they can't fix a rifle any ways ; but that 
 one did shoot " some ; " leastwise he made it throw plumb-centre. He made the 
 buffer come, he did, and fout well at Pawnee Fork too. N. Y. Spirit of the 
 Times. 
 
 To make drunk come, means to produce intoxication. 
 
 To COME AROUND. To coax, wheedle, entice. To get around is used in 
 the same sense. 
 
 Mrs. Truxton, besides doing the washing for a number of families, and making 
 shrouds on funeral occasions, was a great stickler for equal marriages ; and observed 
 that " it was onaccountable to her that such a proper nice young man as Mr. Pad- 
 delford could be pervailed on to go and marry sech a gal as that Sally Ann Lynes." 
 "But yet," she continued, as though she had reflected further on the subject, "I 
 can tell you how it 's all been brought about ; they 've come around that young man, 
 they 've come around him. Oh, don't I know that old Mrs. Lyons," (she meant 
 Sally Ann's mother,) " she 's cunning as a shark." A Wedding at NutmegviUe. 
 
 To COME OUT. 1. An expression used among certain religious enthusi- 
 asts, meaning to make an open profession of religion. 
 
 I experienced religion at one of brother Armstrong's protracted meetin's. Them 
 special efforts is great things ever since I come out, I 've felt bike a new critter. 
 Widow Bedott Papers, p. 108. 
 
 2. " How did you come out ? " means, how did you fare in your under- 
 taking ? Come off would be more agreeable to English usage. To 
 come out at the little end of the horn, means to fare badly, to fail. 
 
 Can you wonder that the blue noses who keep such an unprofitable stock came 
 out at the small eend of the horn in the long run. 5am Slick, 1st series. 
 
 COME-OUTERS. This name has been applied to a considerable number of 
 persons in various parts of the Northern States, principally in New Eng- 
 land, who have recently come out of the various religious denominations 
 with which they have been connected ; hence the name. They have not 
 themselves assumed any distinctive organization. They have no creed, 
 believing that every one should be left free to hold such opinions on re- 
 ligious subjects as he pleases, without being held accountable for the 
 same to any human authority. 
 
 They hold a diversity of opinions on many points some believing in 
 the divine inspiration of the Scriptures, and others that they are but 
 human compositions. They believe Jesus Christ to have been a divinely 
 inspired teacher, and his religion, a revelation of eternal truth ; that 
 according to his teachings, true religion consists in purity of heart, holi-
 
 COM CON 93 
 
 ness of life, and not in opinions ; that Christianity, as it existed in 
 Christ, is a life rather than a belief. Evans's History of Religions, 
 with Additions by an American Editor. 
 
 I am a Christian man of the sect called come-outers, and have had experience ; and 
 when I meet the brethren, sometimes I speak a word in season. S. Slick, Human 
 Nature. 
 
 To COME OVER. To come over, or come it over one, means to get the ad- 
 vantage of one. Vulgar. 
 
 To COME UP TO THE CHALK. To come up to the mark, i. e. to do one's 
 duty, fulfil one's promises. 
 
 COMMISSIONER. A government officer, the next in rank to a Secretary. 
 Thus the Commissioner of Patents, the Commissioner of the Land Office, 
 and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, are subordinates of the Secre- 
 tary of the Interior. 
 
 COMMON. " As well as common" is an expression much in use for " as 
 well as usual." 
 
 COMMON DOINGS. Originally employed in the "West to designate plain or 
 common food in opposition to dainties ; but now applied to persons, ac- 
 tions, or things in general of an inferior kind. See Chicken Fixings. 
 
 COMMONER. " The great Commoner" is an epithet often applied to Henry 
 Clay. 
 
 COMPLECTED. Of a certain complexion, colored in the face. Western. 
 
 That lady is mighty pale complected. I 'm afeard she 's consumpted ; she 's always 
 complaining of some misery. Western Sketches. 
 
 You 're rather dark complected, and blue is a trying color for dark skins. Widow 
 Bedott Papers. 
 
 COMPLIMENT. A present. South- Western. 
 
 CONCAGEER. A name applied to the small lizards and salamanders of the 
 United States. 
 
 CONCERN. In mercantile usage, an establishment or firm for the transac- 
 tion of business. It is provincial in England and Ireland, where it de- 
 notes a small estate ; business. 
 
 CONCERNED. (Pron., consumed.) A euphonistic Yankeeism, equivalent 
 to deuced, devilish, i. e. very, greatly. 
 
 You can keep your money. I 'm consarned sorry for it, but I must take that ar 
 yaller gal back with me. A Stray Yankee in Texas, p. 51. 
 
 To CONDUCT, instead of " to conduct oneself; " leaving out the reflexive
 
 94 CON CON 
 
 pronoun. This offensive barbarism is happily confined to New England, 
 where it is common both in speech and writing. Like some other ex- 
 pressions in the same predicament, it has received the tacit sanction of 
 Dr. Webster, himself a New England man. 
 
 CONDUCTOR. The man who takes the fare, and has charge generally of a 
 railroad train. 
 
 CONESTOGA HORSE. A heavy draught horse well known in the States of 
 New York and Pennsylvania. Before the introduction of railroads, they 
 were the great carriers of produce from the interior of Pennsylvania to 
 the sea-board. Six and sometimes more of these noble animals attached 
 to a huge white-topped waggon were a marked feature in the landscape of 
 this State. They originated in Pennsylvania, towards the close of the 
 last century, and are believed to have descended from a mixture of the 
 Flemish cart-horse with an English breed. Herbert, Horse and Horse- 
 manship. 
 
 CONESTOGA WAGGON. A waggon of the kind described in the preceding 
 article, first made in Conestoga, a township of Lancaster county, Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 CONFECTIONARY. In the South-west and some parts of the West, a bar- 
 room. 
 
 CONGRESS. This term is applied by us especially to three differently con- 
 stituted bodies of representatives of the people that have succeeded each 
 other in the government of the country. The first is the Continental 
 Congress, assembled in 1774, and which conducted the national affairs 
 until near the close of the Revolution. The second is the Federal Con- 
 gress, which met under the Articles of Confederation, adopted March, 
 1781, and ruled the country till 1789. The third is the Congress of the 
 United States, which first met under the Constitution, on the 4th of 
 March, 1789. 
 
 Mr. Pickering remarks, that English writers, in speaking of American 
 affairs, generally say, "the Congress," using the article. Such was for- 
 merly our own practice ; but in the course of time it has acquired with 
 us the force of a proper name, so that we now speak of Congress, as the 
 English speak of Parliament. When the present Constitution was 
 adopted, the usage was still fluctuating, as the following examples will 
 show: 
 
 The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year ; and such meeting shall 
 be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different 
 day. Art. 1. Sec. 4. 
 
 Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the
 
 CON CON 95 
 
 other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which 
 the two Houses shall be sitting. Art. I, Sec. 5. 
 
 CONGRESSIONAL. Pertaining to a congress, or to the Congress of the 
 United States ; as, congressional debates. Webster. 
 
 The congressional institution of Amphictyons, in Greece. Barton. 
 The conflict between congressional and State authority, originated with the crea- 
 tion of those authorities. Marshall, Life of Washington. 
 
 CONGRESSMAN. A member of Congress. 
 
 Our congressmen, my dear hearers, what are they 1 ? Nothing but bloodsuckers 
 upon the cheek of the United States. They talk and drink for eight dollars a day, 
 and you have to stand the treat. Dow's Sermons, Vol. 3, p. 137. 
 
 CONIACKER. A counterfeiter of coin. 
 
 CONNECTICUT. One of the New England States, and the name of a river. 
 It was variously spelled by the early colonists, Quonectacut, Quonaugh- 
 tlcut, Conecticot, etc. ; and is said to mean, in the Mohegan language, a 
 long river. 
 
 CONNER. See Sure/all. 
 
 CONNIPTION FIT. This term is exclusively used by the fair sex, who can 
 best explain its meaning. Ex. " George, if you keep coming home so 
 late to dinner, I shall have a conniption." As near as I can judge, con- 
 niption Jits are tantrums. 
 
 Sam Slick, in his visit to a " female college," made proposals to the " presi- 
 dentress," which she at first imagined was for her hand. On discovering her error, 
 she fainted and fell into a conniption fit. Nature and Human Nature. 
 
 CONSIDERABLE. 1. A good deal. This word is frequently used in the 
 following manner in the Northern States : " He is considerable of a sur- 
 veyor ; " " Considerable of it may be found in the country." Pickering. 
 
 Parson Tuttle 's considerable of a man ; but in my opinion he won't never be able 
 to hold a candle to Elder Sniffles. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 128. 
 
 2. Pretty, considerably. A common vulgarism. 
 
 A body has to stir about considerable smart in this country, to make a livin', I tell 
 you. Sam Slick in England, ch. 6. 
 
 To CONSOCIATE. To unite in an assembly or convention, as pastors and 
 messengers or delegates of churches. Webster. 
 
 CONSOCIATION. Fellowship or union of churches by their pastors and 
 delegates ; a meeting of the pastors and delegates of a number of congre- 
 gatiojjjal churches, for aiding and supporting each other, and forming an 
 advisbry council in ecclesiastical affairs. Webster. Consociation of 
 churches is their mutual and solemn agreement to exercise communion 
 in such acts as aforesaid, amongst themselves, with special reference to 
 those churches, etc. Besidt of the Synod, 1662.
 
 96 CON CON 
 
 CONSTABLE. Mr. "Webster notices the following distinction between the 
 application of this word in England and in the United States : " In Eng- 
 land there are high constables, petty constables, and constables of Lon- 
 don. In the United States constables are town or city officers of the 
 peace, with powers similar to those possessed by the constables in Great 
 Britain." Mr. Pickering says that " in many of the cities, boroughs, 
 and other local jurisdictions in England, they have peace officers called 
 constables, whose powers are not materially, if at all, different from those 
 of our constables." 
 
 CONSTITUTED AUTHORITIES. The officers of government collectively, in 
 a kingdom, city, town, etc. This expression has been adopted by some 
 of our writers from the vocabulary of the French Revolution. Picker- 
 ing. 
 
 Neither could he perceive danger to liberty except from, the constituted authorities, 
 and especially from the executive. Marshall's Washington. 
 
 CONSTITUTIONALITY. Used chiefly in political language, to signify the 
 state of being agreeable to the constitution of a State or of the United 
 States. 
 
 The argument upon this question has naturally divided itself into two parts, the 
 one of expediency, the other of constitutionality. Debates in Congress in 1802. 
 
 The judges of the Supreme Court of the United States have the power of deter- 
 mining the constitutionality of laws. Webster. 
 
 To CONTEMPLATE. To consider or have in view, in reference to a future 
 act or event ; to intend. Webster. This sense of the word is not found 
 in Johnson or Richardson. 
 
 If a treaty contains any stipulations which contemplate a state of future war. 
 Kent's Commentaries. 
 
 CONTEMPLATION. Mr. Pickering considers that the phrase, "I have 
 it in contemplation to do such a thing," for " I intend to do such a thing," 
 is used both in England and in this country, but more frequently in the 
 latter. 
 
 CONTINENTAL. A word much used during the Revolution to designate 
 what appertained to the Colonies as a whole. This originated before the 
 Declaration of Independence, when the term " United States " was em- 
 ployed ; yet, continental, variously applied, was used during the war, as 
 " continental troops," " continental money," etc. Mr. Irving, in his Life 
 of Washington, in speaking of the organization of the American army, 
 says : " Many still clung to the idea, that in all these proceedings they 
 were merely opposing the measures of the ministry, and not the authority 
 of the crown ; and thus the army before Boston was designated as the
 
 CON COO 97 
 
 Continental army, in contradistinction to that under General Gage, which, 
 was called the Ministerial army." 
 
 This word will remind every one of the famous reply of Col. Ethan 
 Allen, when asked by what authority he summoned Fort Ticonderoga tO' 
 surrender. " I demand it," said he, " in the name of the great Jehovah 
 and of the Continental Congress ! " 
 
 CONTRAPTION. Contrivance, device. A factitious word local in England. 
 
 To CONVENE. This is used in some parts of .New England in a very 
 strange sense ; that is, to be convenient, fit, or suitable. Ex. " This road 
 will convene the public," i. e. will be convenient for the public. The 
 word, however, is used only by the illiterate. Pickering. I have never 
 heard the phrase. 
 
 CONVENIENT, used to signify "near at hand," "easy of access," is an 
 Irishism frequently pointed out by English critics, which found its way 
 even into President Folk's last message, where it is applied to timber 
 for ship-building in the neighborhood of San Francisco. 
 
 CONVENTION. The general or diocesan synod of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church in the United States. 
 
 GOODIES. The name of a political sect in the State of New York, which 
 originated in the year 1814. At that time a series of well- written arti- 
 cles appeared in a New York paper, signed Abimeleck Goody. He pro- 
 fessed to be a mechanic. " He was a federalist, and addressed himself 
 principally to the party to which he belonged. He endeavored to show 
 the impropriety of opposing the war, and urged them to come forward in 
 defence of their country. He also attacked De Witt Clinton with great 
 severity." The writer was ascertained to be Mr. Gulian C. Verplanck, 
 then, as now, distinguished for his talents. He was replied to by a 
 writer under the signature of " A Traveller," said to be De Witt Clinton, 
 who thus speaks of this party : " The political sect called the Goodies, 
 of hybrid nature, is composed of the combined spawn of Federalism and 
 Jacobinism, and generated in the venomous passions of disappointment 
 and revenge, without any definite character ; neither fish nor flesh nor 
 bird nor beast, but a nondescript made up of ' all monstrous,, all pro- 
 digious things.' " Hammond's Polit. Hist, of N. Y. 
 
 COOKET. (Dutch, koekfe.) A little cake. ,Used in New York. A New- 
 Tear's Cookey is a peculiar cake made only in New York, and at the 
 Christmas holidays. In the olden time, each visitor, on New- Year's day, 
 was expected to take one of these cakes. The custom is still practised 
 to a considerable extent. 
 
 Mrs. Child thinks it best to let the little dears have their own way in every thing, 
 9
 
 98 COO COO 
 
 and not to give them more cookies than they, the dear children, deem requisite. 
 Sunday Mercury, N. Y. 
 
 COOLING-BOARD. The board on which a dead body is laid out. Pennsyl- 
 vania and Maryland. 
 
 COOLWORT. (Tiarella cordifolia) The popular name of an herb, the 
 properties of which are diuretic and tonic. It is prepared for sale 
 by the Shakers. 
 
 COON. 1. A popular contraction of raccoon, the name of an animal. 
 
 2. A nickname applied to members of the Whig party, which adopted 
 the raccoon as an emblem. 
 
 Democrats, freemen ! keep your council-fires brightly burning. Let no one remain 
 listless, or doubt, or hesitate ; " push on your columns," rout the coons, beat them, 
 overwhelm them, and let the welkin ring with the soul-stirring tidings that Massa- 
 chusetts is safe free from the curse of whiggery. Boston Post. 
 
 COON'S AGE. A long time ; as, " I have not been there in a coon's age" 
 
 The backwoodsman jumps from his horse, and, slapping the grave-looking gen- 
 tleman on the back, says : " Hallo, old hoss, whar have you been this coon's age? " 
 and they go in and wood up [i. e. drink]. A Stray Yankee in Texas. 
 
 This child haint had much money in a coon's age. Southern Sketches. 
 COONER. A common term, at the South, for a canoe. 
 
 Co ONER Y. Whiggery. See Coon, No. 2. 
 
 Democrats of the old Bay State, one charge more and the work is thoroughly 
 done. " Once more to the breach," and you will hear the shouts of Democratic 
 victory, and the lamentations of the vanquished. We must achieve a victory the 
 people must be free coonery must fall with all its corruptions and abominations, 
 never more to rise. Boston Post. 
 
 COONTIE ADKA, or COONTIE CHATTA. The name of an arrow-root prepa- 
 ration obtained from the root of Zamia integrifolia by the Indians in 
 Florida, where the plant is indigenous. 
 
 COOPING OF VOTERS. Collecting and confining them, several days previous 
 to an election, in a house or on a vessel hired for the purpose. Here 
 they are treated with good living and liquors, and at a proper day are 
 taken to the polls and " voted," as it is called, for the party. 
 
 COOT. The name of a small water-fowl which lives in marshes, and, when 
 closely pursued, buries its head in the mud. It is often applied by us to 
 a stupid person ; as, " He is a poor coot" Mr. Halliwell notices the old 
 proverbial saying, " As stupid as a coot" 
 
 Little coot ! don't you know the Bible is the best book in the world ? Margaret, 
 p. 134.
 
 COP COR 99 
 
 COPPER. A copper coin, especially a British halfpenny or American 
 cent. 
 
 My friends filled my pockets with coppers. Franklin. 
 
 COPPERHEAD. (Trigonocephalus contortrix.} A poisonous serpent, whose 
 bite is considered as deadly as that of the rattlesnake. Its geographical 
 range extends from 45 north latitude to Florida. It has various other 
 popular names, as Copper-belly, Red Viper, Red Adder, Deaf Adder, 
 Dumb Rattlesnake, Chunk-head. 
 
 CORAL BERRY. (Symphoricarpus vulgaris.) The Indian Currant of 
 Missouri. 
 
 CORD. A large quantity. "Western. 
 
 CORD ELL E. (French.) A tow-line. Western. 
 
 The propelling power of the keel-boat is by oars, sails, setting-poles, the cordeile, 
 etc. Flint, Hist, of Miss. Valley. 
 
 To CORDELLE. To drag by a tow-line. 
 
 We were obliged to cordeile the boat along the left shore. Fremont's Report. 
 
 CORDUROY ROAD. A road or causeway constructed with logs laid together 
 over swamps or marshy places. When properly finished, earth is thrown 
 between them, by which the road is made smooth ; but in newly settled 
 parts of the United States they are often left uncovered, and hence are 
 extremely rough and bad to pass over with a carriage. Sometimes they 
 extend many miles. They derive their name from their resemblance to 
 a species of ribbed velvet, called corduroy. 
 
 CORKED. A term applied to wine which has acquired a taste of the 
 cork. 
 
 CORN. (Zea mays.} Maize, throughout the United States, is called 
 Indian corn, or simply corn. 
 
 In England the term corn is applied generically to wheat, barley, and 
 other small grains. For this we use the term grain. 
 
 CORN AND COB MILL. A mill for grinding the entire ear of Indian corn. 
 CORN-BASKET. A large basket for carrying the ears of maize. Webster. 
 
 CORN-BLADE. The leaf of the maize. Corn-blades are collected and used 
 as fodder in some of the Southern States. Webster. 
 
 CORN-BREAD. Unleavened bread made from the meal of Indian corn. 
 
 CORN-BROOMS. Brooms made from the tops of a species of corn, called 
 Broom- Corn. 
 
 CORN-COB. See Cob. 
 
 Byron is said to have remarked, that " the greatest trial to a woman's beauty is
 
 COK COR 
 
 the ungraceful act of eating eggs." Some Yankee rejoices that the poet could never 
 have seen a lady hanging on by the teeth to a blazing hot corn-cob. Bait. Sun. 
 
 CORN-CRACKER. The nickname for a native of Kentucky. 
 
 CORN-CRIB. A structure raised some feet from the ground, and with sides 
 made of slats some distance apart, or of lattice-work, to admit the air. 
 In it the dried ears of maize are kept. 
 
 CORN-DODGER. A kind of cake made of Indian corn, and tfaked very 
 hard. It is sometimes simply called dodger. Much used in the South. 
 
 The universal food of the people of Texas, both rich and poor, seems to be corn- 
 dodger and fried bacon. Olmstead, Texas. 
 
 The Sucker State, the country of vast projected railroads, good corn-dodgers, 
 splendid banking-houses, and poor currency. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 28. 
 
 He opened a pouch which he wore on his side, and took from thence one or two 
 corn-dodgers and half a broiled rabbit, which his wife had put up for hunting pro- 
 visions. Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. II. p. 170. 
 
 CORN-FIELD. A field where maize, or Indian corn, is growing. 
 
 CORN-HUSK, or CORN-SHUCK. The coarse outer leaves which enclose 
 the ear of Indian corn. 
 
 CORN-HUSKING, or CORN-SHUCKING. An occasion on which a fanner 
 invites the young people of the neighborhood to his house or barn, to aid 
 him in stripping the husks from his corn. See Husking. 
 
 There was a corn-husking, and I went along with Sal Stebbins. There was all the 
 gals and boys settin' round, and I got sot down so near Sal Babit, that I '11 be 
 darned if I did n't kiss her afore I know'd what I was about. Traits of American 
 Humor. 
 
 CORN-JUICE. Whiskey. A Western term. 
 
 I informed the old fellow that Tom wanted a fight ; and as he was too full of 
 corn-juice to cut carefully, I did n't want to take advantage of him. Robb, Squatter 
 Life. 
 
 Old Monongahela whiskey. 
 
 Whiskey made of Indian corn-juice. Pluribustah. 
 
 CORN PONE. A superior kind of corn-bread, made with milk and eggs and 
 baked in a pan. 
 
 CORN-SHUCK. The Southern term for corn-husk, which see. 
 
 You can have a mattress of bar-skin to sleep on, and a wild-cat skin pulled off 
 whole, stuffed with corn-shucks, for a pillow. Thorpe, Big Bear of Arkansas. 
 
 CORN-SHUCKING. The Southern term for corn-husking, which see. 
 
 The young people were all gibberin' and talkin' and laughin,' as if they 'd been 
 to a corn-shuckin' , more 'n to a meetin' house. Major Jones. 
 
 CORN-SNAKE. The Coluber guttatus of the Southern States. 
 
 CORN-STALK. A stalk of corn, particularly the stalk of the maize. 
 
 9*
 
 COR COR 101 
 
 Webster. Mr. Pickering says, " The farmers of New England use this 
 term, and more frequently the simple term stalks, to denote the upper 
 part of the stalks of Indian corn (above the ear), which is cut off while 
 green, and then dried to make fodder for their cattle." Vocabulary. 
 
 CORN-STALK FIDDLE. A child's plaything, made by loosening the ex- 
 ternal fibre of a corn-stalk, and placing a bridge under each extremity. 
 
 There is no more sentiment in the soul of an old bachelor, than there is music in 
 a corn-stalk fiddle. Dow's Sermons. 
 
 CORNED. Drunk. (Low.) Grose. 
 
 CORNER. When a party is made up to buy a large amount of stock, a 
 larger quantity than is known to be at the time in the market, it is called 
 a corner. The plan is generally kept very private. As soon as the 
 clique is formed, the brokers purchase gradually large lots of stock on 
 time, " buyer's option." After this has been fixed, they sell on time, 
 " seller's option," if possible nearly to the extent of their purchases on 
 buyer's option. The object of this is to provide a market for this stock 
 after the corner has run out. This having been all arranged, the clique 
 commence buying for cash, and in so doing put up prices rapidly. Hav- 
 ing inflated the market pretty well, they make a sudden call for several 
 thousand shares of stock on their buyer's option, and then there comes a 
 sharp time among the sellers, who are generally all short. This creates 
 an active demand, and the clique sell their cash stock to the bears or 
 shorts, who purchase at high rates for delivery at much lower prices to 
 the very parties selling. Hunfs Merchant's Mag., Vol. 37. 
 
 To CORNER. 1. To corner a person is to get the advantage of him in an 
 argument, as though he were physically placed in a corner from which 
 he could not escape. This use of the word can hardly be an American- 
 ism ; yet it is not found in the English dictionaries. 
 
 2. A Wall street word, which means to artificially raise the price of 
 stock in the manner described in the article Corner. 
 
 There is a large class of brokers in Wall street, who sometimes control a good 
 deal of money, and who make speculation their business. These generally unite in 
 squads for the purpose of cornering, which means, that they first get the control 
 of some particular stock, and then, by making a great many contracts on time, 
 compel the parties to pay whatever difference they choose, or rather what they can 
 get ; for they sometimes overrate the purse of those they contract with. A Week 
 in Wall Street, p. 81. 
 
 The remarkable fluctuations in the stock-market are chiefly the result of a suc- 
 cessful cornering operation. N. Y. Journal of Com. 
 
 The Erie Eailroad cornering has been a very unfortunate affair for many members 
 of the board. N. Y. Herald. 
 
 CORNER-GROCERY. A grocer's shop on the corner of two streets, a favor- 
 ite location for such establishments hi American towns.
 
 102 CO K COT 
 
 CORNER-TREES. See Witness-trees. 
 
 CORP. A corpse is so called in Pennsylvania. 
 
 CORRAL. (Spanish.) A pen or place of security for horses and cattle in 
 the form of a circle, often temporarily made with waggons, etc., by par- 
 ties of emigrants crossing the prairies. The area of this circle is suffi- 
 ciently large to permit the horses and cattle to graze during the night. 
 On the outside of the corral the tents are pitched, with their doors out- 
 ward; and in front of these the camp-fires are lighted. Texas and New 
 Mexico. This is evidently the same as the Dutch Kraal, which in 
 Southern Africa is used, like the Spanish, both as a noun and a 
 verb. 
 
 Among the trees, in open spaces, were drawn up the waggons, formed into a cor- 
 ral, or square, and close together, so that the whole made a most formidable fort, and, 
 when rilled with some hundred rifles, could defy the attacks of Indians or Mexicans. 
 Ruxton's Mexico and Rocky Mountains, p. 177. 
 
 I lost a portion of my cattle, which broke through the kraal in the night, and 
 were never again heard of. Anderson's Lake Ngami, p. 360. 
 
 The hyenas were in the habit of harassing the goat-kids, which for security were 
 kraalled against the wall of the house. p. 356. 
 
 To CORRAL. To corral cattle is to secure them in an enclosure, to pen 
 them. 
 
 .During the stay of the Indians, the animals were all collected and corralled, as 
 their penchant for horse-flesh might lead some of the young men to appropriate a 
 'horse or a mule. Ruxton's Adventures, p. 238. 
 
 Well, as soon as the animals were unhitched from the waggons, the governor 
 sends out a strong guard, seven boys, and old hands at that. It was pretty nigh 
 upon sundown, and Bill had just sung out to corral. The boys were drivin' in the 
 animals, and we were all standin' round to get 'm in slick, when " howgh-owgh- 
 ,owgh-ough" we hears right behind the bluff, and 'bout a minute and a perfect 
 Injuns gallops down upon the animals. Western Adventures. 
 
 COTBETTY. A man who meddles in the woman's part of household affaire. 
 North and East. It is probably of English origin. Halliwell and 
 Wright give both cot and cot-quean with the same meaning. 
 
 COTCH, for, caught. A Negro vulgarism. 
 
 Snake baked a hoe-cake, 
 
 Left a frog to watch it ; 
 
 Frog went to sleep, 
 
 Lizard come and cotch it. Virginia Negro Song. 
 
 COTTON-BAGGISFG. A coarse hempen cloth, chiefly manufactured in Ken- 
 tucky, for packing cotton in. Sometimes called simply Bagging. 
 
 .COTTON-MOUTH. A poisonous snake of Arkansas.
 
 COT COU 103 
 
 COTTONOCRACY. A term applied to the Boston manufacturers, especially 
 by the " Boston Whig " newspaper. 
 
 COTTON ROCK. A variety of Magnesian limestone, of a light buff or 
 gray color, found in Missouri. It is very soft when fresh from the 
 quarry, and can be easily wrought for building purposes. Swallow's 
 Geology of Missouri. 
 
 COTTONWOOD. (Populus monilifera.) A species of poplar, so called from 
 the cotton-like substance surrounding the seeds, which grows on the mar- 
 gins of lakes and streams from New England to Illinois and southward, 
 especially westward. In Texas and New Mexico it is called Alamo. 
 
 COUGAR. See Puma. 
 
 COULEE. (French.) A narrow rocky valley of great depth, with inclined 
 sides, and from ten to fifty miles in length, distinguished from a canon, 
 which has precipitous sides. They occur in Oregon. 
 
 COUNCIL FIRE. The sacred fire kept burning while the Indians hold their 
 councils. 
 
 To COUNT. To reckon ; suppose ; think. 
 
 Newman. You '11 pass muster ! a proper fine fellow. 
 Doolittle. I calculate I be. 
 Newman. Ready to enter on duty 1 ? 
 
 Doolittle. I should be glad to know what kind of way you count to improve 
 me. D. Humphreys, The Yankee in England. 
 
 Count St. Luc. Read the superscription. Yon can read 1 
 Doolittle. I count I can, and spell, too. Ibid. 
 
 To COUNTER-BRAND. To destroy a brand by branding on the opposite 
 side. In the prairie regions of the South-west the calves are marked by 
 cropping their ears, the cross as well as the brand of each stock-owner 
 being recorded in the county records. When cattle are a year old, they 
 are branded ; and if afterwards sold, the same brand is burnt in on the 
 opposite side, thus destroying the original title. 
 
 COUNTER-JUMPER. A clerk hi a retail " store," whose place is behind a 
 counter. 
 
 With physical forces developed in the school of slavish endurance, and mind un- 
 tasked and neglected, what wonder the farmer's boy deems the life of a city counter- 
 jumper close upon the confines of heaven ! Essay by L. P. Harvey, 1852. 
 
 COUNTY. "In speaking of counties" says Mr. Pickering, "the names 
 of which are composed of the word shire, we say the county of Hamp- 
 shire, the county of Berkshire, etc. In England they would say either 
 Hampshire or Berkshire simply, without the word county ; or, the county 
 of Hants, the county of Berks, etc. The word shire of itself, as every-
 
 104 COU COW 
 
 body knows, means county ; and in one instance (in Massachusetts), this 
 latter word is used instead of shire, as a part of the name : ' The county 
 of Duke's County. ' " Pickering's Vocabulary. 
 
 COUPLE. A couple of any thing sometimes means a few ; as, " Shall I go 
 to market and get a couple of cherries ? " Pennsylvania. 
 
 COUPON. A financial term, which, together with the practice, is borrowed 
 . from France. In the United States, the certificates of State stocks draw- 
 ing interest are accompanied by coupons, which are small tickets attached 
 to the certificates. At each term when the interest falls due, one of these 
 coupons is cut off (whence the name) ; and this being presented to the 
 State treasurer, or to a bank designated by him, entitles the holder to 
 receive the interest. The coupons attached to the bonds of some of the 
 Western States have not been cut off for several years. They are also 
 called Interest Warrants. 
 
 COURT. In New England this word is applied to a legislative body com- 
 posed of a House of Representatives and a Senate; as, the General 
 Court of Massachusetts. 
 
 COURT-HOUSE. The county towns of Virginia are often called so without 
 regard to their proper names. Thus Providence, the county town 
 of Fairfax, is unknown by that name, and passes as Fairfax Gourt-House ; 
 Culpepper Gourt-House has superseded its proper name of Fairfax, more 
 common in Lower Virginia. The same practice has existed to some ex- 
 tent in Maryland. Thus, after the battle of Bladensburg, and the dis- 
 persion of our forces, they were ordered to assemble at " Montgomery 
 Gourt-House." 
 
 COVE. A strip of prairie extending into the woodland. 
 
 COVERCLIP. (Genus Achius. Lacepede.) The popular name of the sole, 
 a fish common in the waters of New York. Calico is another name for 
 it. Nat. Hist, of New York. 
 
 COVERLID. A corruption of coverlet. (Fr. couvre-lit.J A bed-quilt, 
 counterpane. 
 
 Her bed consisted of a mattress of beech-leares spread on the floor, with tow and 
 wool coverlids. Margaret, p. 12. 
 
 COWBIRD, or COWPEN BIRD. (Icterus pecoris.) A bird allied to the 
 Crow Blackbird and Orchard Oriole. So called from its often alighting 
 on the backs of cattle and searching for worms in their dung. 
 
 COWBERRY. ( Vaccinium vitisidcea.) A plant resembling the common 
 cranberry, but larger. It is found on certain mountains in Massachu- 
 setts. Bigelow's Flora Bostoniensis.
 
 COW CRA 105 
 
 COWBOYS. A contemptuous appellation applied to some of the tory par- 
 tisans of Westchester Co., New York, during the Revolutionary war, 
 who were exceedingly barbarous in the treatment of their opponents 
 who favored the American cause. ^ /f / 
 
 COW-CATCHER. A contrivance fixed in front of a locomotive to eake up 
 cattle or other obstacles, and prevent them from getting beneath the 
 wheels and throwing the cars off the track. 
 
 COWHIDE, or COWSKIN. A particular kind of whip made of twisted strips 
 of raw hide ; it is also called a Raw Hide. 
 
 To COWHIDE. To flog with a cowhide, or cowskin. 
 
 To be out of office and in for a cowhiding is not a pleasant change from eight 
 dollars a day and all sorts of nice pickings. [Alluding to an ex-member of Con- 
 gress.] N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 COW-LEASE. A right of pasturage for a cow in a common pasture. 
 Used in some towns of New England. Pickering's Vocabulary. 
 Provincial in the West of England. Grose's Glossary. 
 
 Cow PARSNIP. (Heracleum latanum.) The popular name of a plant, 
 classed among the herbs prepared by the " Shakers," as containing 
 properties carminative and diuretic. 
 
 COYOTE. (Mexican, coyotl.) The prairie-wolf (Canis latrans). 
 
 COYOTE DIGGINGS. Small shafts sunk by the gold miners in California, 
 so called from their resemblance to the holes dug or occupied by the 
 coyote. This animal lives hi cracks and crevices made in the plains by 
 the intense summer heat. 
 
 The coyote diggings require to be very rich to pay, from the great amount of labor 
 necessary before any pay-dirt can be obtained. Borthwick's California, p. 138. 
 
 CRAB GRASS. (Gen. Digitaria.) A species of grass which grows spon- 
 taneously in the cultivated fields of Louisiana and Texas, is very injurious 
 to the crops, and yet makes excellent fodder, being equal to the best 
 English hay. In appearance it resembles the Orchard grass of the 
 North. 
 
 CRACKER. 1. A little paper cylinder filled with powder, imported from 
 China ; called also a Fire-cracker. It receives its name from the noise 
 it produces in exploding. In England it is called a squib. 
 
 2. A small water biscuit. So called also in the North of England. 
 
 3. A nickname, applied to the poor white people of Georgia and South 
 Carolina, otherwise called Sandhillers, which see. 
 
 " I was amused enough," said Nina, "with Old Hundred's indignation at having
 
 106 CRA CRA 
 
 got out the carriage and horses to go over to what he called a Cracker funeral." 
 Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. I. p. 152. 
 
 CRACKLINGS. 1. Cinders, the remains of a wood fire ; a word used in the 
 
 Southern States. 
 
 \ , 
 
 When it lightened so, she said t' other eend of the world was afire, and we 'd all 
 be burnt to cracklin's before morning. Mdj. Jones's Courtship. 
 
 2. The crisp residue of hog fat after the lard is fried out. It is 
 kept for kitchen use. Crackling-bread is corn-bread interspersed with 
 cracklings. In England, crackling is the crisp rind of roast pork. 
 
 Well, fetch up your nag. I am perhaps a leetle, just a leetle, of the best man at 
 a horse swap that ever stole cracJclins out of his mammy's fat gourd. Where's your 
 boss ? Traits of American Humor, Vol. I. 
 
 CRADLE-SCYTHE. Called also simply a cradle. It consists of a common 
 scythe with a light frame-work attached, corresponding in form with the 
 scythe. It is used for cutting grain, instead of the sickle ; and enables 
 the farmer to perform treble the work that could be accomplished with 
 the latter implement. On large farms it is now superseded by the still 
 more efficient Reaping Machine. 
 
 To CRADLE. To cradle grain is to cut it in the same manner that grass 
 is cut or mowed with the implement above described. 
 
 The operation of cradling is worth a journey to see. The sickle may be more 
 classical ; b ut it cannot compare in beauty with the swaying, regular motion of the 
 cradle. Mrs. Clavers, Western Clearings. 
 
 CRADLE. A machine resembling a child's cradle used in washing out the 
 auriferous earth of California. Also called a Rocker. 
 
 CRAMP-BARK. ( Viburnum oxycoccus.) The popular name of a medicinal 
 plant ; its properties are anti-spasmodic. It bears a fruit intensely acid. 
 In New England it is called the Tree Cranberry. 
 
 CRANK. Sure, confident. 
 
 If you strong electioners did n't think you were among the elect, you would n't 
 be so crank about it. Mrs. Stowe, I>red, Vol. I. p. 317. 
 
 CRANKY. 1. Unsteady, as the gait of a tipsy man. 
 2. Queer, crotchety. 
 
 CRASH. (Germ. Greas.) A coarse kind of linen cloth used for towels. 
 
 Margaret was up early in the morning. She washed at the cistern, and wiped 
 herself on a coarse crash towel. Margaret, p. 17. 
 
 CRAWFISH. (Astacus bartonii.) 1. The popular name of the fresh- 
 water lobster.
 
 CRA CRE 107 
 
 2. A political renegade. In English parliamentary phrase, " a rat." 
 
 To CRAWFISH. To back out from a position once taken ; particularly ap- 
 plied to politicians, evidently from the mode of progression of the animal. 
 Western. The English term is to rat." 
 
 We acknowledge the corn, and retreat, retrograde, crawfish, or climb down, in as 
 graceful a style as the circumstances of the case will admit. Cairo Times. 
 
 CRAWFISHT. A term applied to wet land, because inhabited by crawfish. 
 See Spouty. 
 
 CREATURE. In the plural number this word is in very common use among 
 farmers as a general term for horses, oxen, etc. Ex. " The creatures will 
 be put into the pasture to-day." Pickering. In the South, a horse is 
 generally called a critter ; while, to other animals, the term stock is ap- 
 plied. 
 
 The owners or claimers of any such creatures [i. e. " swine, neat cattle, horses, or 
 sheep"], impounded as aforesaid, shall pay the fees, etc. Provincial Laws of 
 Mass. Statute 10, Wm. III. 
 
 To CREASE. To shoot an animal so that the bullet will cut the skin on 
 the upper part of the neck, without doing any serious injury. When a 
 horse cannot be caught, he is frequently creased. Although he is not 
 much hurt, he will fall at the touch of the bullet, and remain quiet and 
 powerless until his pursuers secure him. Used only in the West. 
 
 Finding it impossible to get within noosing distance [of the wild horse], and seeing 
 that his horse was receding and growing alarmed, Bearte slid down from the saddle, 
 levelled his rifle across the back of his mare, and took aim, with the intention of 
 creasing him. Irving's Tour on the Prairies. 
 
 CREEK. A small river or brook. In New York, the Middle and Western 
 States, and in Canada, a small stream is called a creek. The term is in- 
 correctly applied ; as its original signification, according to the diction- 
 aries, is a small port, a bay or cove ; from which it has gradually been 
 extended to small rivers. 
 
 CREOSOTE PLANT. (Larrea mexicana.) This plant abounds from the 
 Arkansas to the Rio del Norte, and in the sandy deserts of California, 
 It is characterized by a resinous matter of powerful odor. Animals refuse 
 to eat it. It is employed as an external application hi rheumatism. 
 
 CREEPERS. Pieces of iron, furnished with sharp points and strapped under 
 the feet, to prevent one falling when walking upon ice. The term is said 
 to mean " low pattens " in Norfolk, England. 
 
 CREOLE. In the West Indies, in Spanish America, and in the Southern 
 States, one born of European parents ; but as now used in the South 
 it is applied to every thing that is native, peculiar to, or raised there.
 
 108 CRE CRO 
 
 In the New Orleans market one may hear of creole corn, Creole chickens, 
 Creole cattle, and creole horses. In that city, too, a creole is a native of 
 French extraction, as pure in pedigree as a Howard ; and great offence 
 Ijas been given by strangers applying the term to a good-looking mulatto 
 or quadroon. 
 
 CREVASSE. (French.) The breaking away of the embankments or le- 
 vees on the lower Mississippi by a pressure of the water. 
 
 CRISS-CROSS. A game played on slates by children at school; also called 
 Fox and Geese. 
 
 CRITTERS, for creatures, is a common vulgarism in pronunciation. 
 
 You hear folks say, such a man is an ugly grained critter, he '11 break his wife's 
 heart ; just as if a woman's heart was as brittle as a pipe-stalk. Sam Slick. 
 
 CROAKER.- A small and very beautiful fish, found in great abundance in 
 the bays and inlets of the Gulf of Mexico. It derives its name from a 
 peculiar croaking sound, which it utters when taken. 
 
 CROCK. (Ang. Sax. crocca.) 1. An earthern vessel, a pot, or pitcher, a 
 cup. Webster. This old English word is still used in many parts of the 
 country. 
 
 Therefore the vulgar did about him flocke, 
 Like foolish flies into an honey crocke. 
 
 Spenser, F. Queen, V. 2. 33. 
 
 2. The black of a pot; smut, the dust of soot or coal. This word is 
 provincial in various parts of England, and is there used precisely as in 
 the United States. 
 
 At one of our frolics, there was one long-haired fellow looked as though he 'd 
 been among the pots and kettles, and got a great gob of crock on his upper lip. 
 Lafayette Chron. 
 
 3. (Fr. croc.) A large moustache turned up (i. e. hooked) at the 
 ends. 
 
 To CROCK. To black with soot or other matter collected from combus- 
 tion, or to black with the coloring matter of cloth. Webster. 
 Provincial in Norfolk and Suffolk, England. 
 
 CROOKED STICK. A cross-grained, perverse person. 
 
 So as I ain't a crooked-stick, just like, like old (I swow, 
 
 I do n't know as I know his name) I '11 go back to my plough. 
 
 Biglow Papers. 
 
 The widow R must have been dreadfully put to it for a husband, to take up 
 
 with such a crooked stick as Elder B . Major Downing.
 
 CRO CRO 109 
 
 To CROOK. 2. To crook one's elbow or one's little finger, is to tipple. 
 
 CROOKED AS A VIRGINIA FENCE. A phrase applied to any thing very 
 crooked; and figuratively to persons of a stubborn temper who are diffi- 
 cult to manage. 
 
 CROPPING. This term, in the South and "West, means devoting the chief 
 attention to the cultivation of one article. 
 
 CROSS-FOX. (Vulpes fulvus?) A fox whose color is between the common 
 reddish-yellow and the silver-gray, having on its back a black cross. 
 These animals are rare, and their skins command a high price. 
 
 To CROSS ONE'S TRACK. To oppose one's plans ; synonymous with the 
 nautical phrase, " to run athwart one's hawse." 
 
 CROSS TIMBERS. A belt of forest or woodland, from five to thirty miles in 
 width, which extends from the Arkansas River hi a southwesterly direc- 
 tion to the Brazos, a distance of four hundred miles. The wood is 
 chiefly post-oak and black-jack. The forest is passable for waggons, and 
 is a marked feature in the region where it is found, being the boundary 
 between the cultivable and the desert portions. 
 
 The whole of th,e cross timber abounds in mast. There is a pine oak which pro- 
 duces acorns pleasant to the taste. Irving' s Tour on the Prairies. 
 
 CROTCHICAL. Crotchety. A common colloquial word in New England. 
 
 You never see such a crotchical old critter as he is. He flies right off the handle 
 for nothin'. Sam Slick in England. 
 
 CROWD. Any number of persons together is called, in Western parlance, a 
 crowd ; so that the word is often equivalent to " company." 
 
 The conveniences of the toilette were wanting as in all far "Western places. A 
 couple of tin basins, filled with muddy water from the Missouri, stood on a board, 
 while a square foot of mirror, with a brush and comb attached by means of a string, 
 hung upon the wall for the use of the crowd. Description of a Hotel in Kansas. 
 
 Here, boys, drink. Liquors, captain, for the crowd. Step up this way, old hoss, 
 and liquor. Gladstone, Englishman in Kansas, p. 43. 
 
 In a discussion pending the election of chaplain in the House of Rep- 
 resentatives, Washington, Mr. Elliott, of Kentucky, nominated the Rev. 
 John Morris : 
 
 " He is," said Mr. E., " a regular member of the Hardshell Baptist Church, a 
 very pious man, not of very eminent ability, but just the man to pray for such a 
 crowd as this." 
 
 The New York Tribune, in speaking of Walker's party of fillibusters 
 from Costa Rica, says : 
 
 Commodore Erskine has signified his intention not to carry any more of this 
 crowd to Aspinwall, out of deference to the New Granadian authorities. June 1, 
 1857. 
 
 10
 
 110 CRU CUR 
 
 I recognized a man as one of my fellow-passengers from New York to Chagres. 
 I was glad to see him, as he was one of the most favorable specimens of that crowd. 
 Borthwick's California, p. 195. 
 
 CRUEL. One of the numerous substitutes for very, exceedingly. A man 
 who had been seriously ill with cramp, or something of the kind, sent for 
 the doctor, who arrived after the painful paroxysm had ceased, and when 
 weakness had succeeded to pain. 
 
 " How are you, my friend ? " said the Doctor. " Oh, Doctor, I 'm powerful weak, 
 but cruel easy." 
 
 CRULLER. (Dutch kruller, a curler.) A cake, made of a strip of sweet- 
 ened dough, boiled in lard, the two ends of which are twisted or curled 
 together. Other shapes are also employed. The New Yorkers have 
 inherited the name and the thing from the Dutch. 
 
 To CRY. To publish the banns of marriage in church. New England. 
 I should not be surprised if they were cried next Sabbath. Margaret. 
 
 CUCUMBER TREE. (Magnolia acuminata.) A tree, so called from a slight 
 resemblance of its young fruit to a cucumber. As it grows, the resem- 
 blance is lost, and the fruit becomes pinkish red. 
 
 CUFFY. A very common term for a negro. 
 
 GUNNER, or CONNER. See Burgatt. 
 
 Two fishermen had been despatched at daybreak to procure a supply of cod for a 
 chowder and cunners for a fry, and we were expecting a rare supper. Lee, Merri- 
 mack, p. 133. 
 
 CUNNUCK, or K'NUCK. A name applied to Canadians by the people in the 
 Northern States. 
 
 Missus did n't affection Yankees much ; and Cunnucks she hated like poison, 
 'cause they enticed off negroes. Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 180. 
 
 CURB-STONE BROKERS. Stock-operators, whose place of business is on 
 the edge of the pavement in the vicinity of the Merchants' Exchange, 
 and whose account-books are said to be kept in their hats. " This is a 
 very large class of speculators, and is composed of the oldest and 
 most experienced operators in the street [Wall street, New YorkJ. 
 Many of them have been members of the Stock-Exchange ; but from 
 having failed to fulfil their contracts, during some of the numerous ups 
 and downs of the market, have been compelled to vacate their seats, and 
 lost their membership. The curb-stone brokers have leased a large 
 room directly under that occupied by the regular board ; and during 
 the session of the board a communication is kept up between the rooms, 
 so that any transaction is known below as soon as made. Upon infor- 
 mation derived in this way, the curb-stone brokers operate among them- 
 selves, and frequently with, and for the account of, the outsiders. This
 
 CUE CUT 111 
 
 class of speculators are particularly fond of operating in 'puts' and 
 ' calls,' and in fact resort to all the different methods of doing a large 
 business on a small capital." Hunts Merchants Mag. Vol. 37. 
 
 CURLEYCUES. See Carlicues. 
 
 CURIOUS. " This word is often heard in New England among the com- 
 mon farmers, in the sense of excellent, or peculiarly excellent ; as in these 
 expressions : ' These are curious apples ; ' ( this is curious cider,' etc. 
 This use of the word is hardly known in our seaport towns." Pickering. 
 
 CUPALO, for cupola, is a common error of pronunciation. It is also a very 
 old one, as appears from the following passage : 
 
 Whose roof of copper shineth so, 
 
 It excells Saint Peter's cupello. Political Ballads, 1660. 
 
 Cuss. A vulgar pronunciation of the word curse. 
 CUSTARD APPLE. See Sweet Sap. 
 
 CUSTOMABLE. Subject to the payment of duties called customs. (Law of 
 Massachusetts?) Webster. 
 
 The word dutiable is much used among merchants in New York, but I 
 never heard the word customable. 
 
 To CUT DIDOES. Synonymous with to cut capers, i. e. to be frolicksome. 
 
 Who ever heerd them Italian singers recitin' their jabber, showin' their teeth, and 
 cuttin' didoes at a private concert ? S. Slick in England. 
 
 Watchman ! take that 'ere feller to the watch-house ; he conies here a cutting up 
 his didoes every night. Pickings from the Picayune. 
 
 On, on he splurged, until not two ounces of vital air filled his breathing apparatus ; 
 over the fence of his relative's grounds Nick flew, and up the lane he travelled, 
 bustled into the house, foamed, fumed, and cut up such wondrous strange didoes, 
 that his wife and friends believed he had gone stark mad. N. Y. Spirit of the 
 Times. 
 
 To CUT DIRT. To run ; to go fast. Synonymous with " to cut one's 
 stick." A vulgar expression, probably derived from the quick motion of 
 a horse or carriage over a country road, which makes the dirt fly. 
 
 Well, the way the cow cut dirt was cautionary ; she cleared stumps, ditches, wind- 
 falls, and every thing. Sam Slick in England. 
 
 Now cut dirt ! screamed I ; and, Jehu Gineral Jackson ! if he did n't make a 
 straight shirt-tail for the door, may I never make another pass. Field, Western 
 Tales. 
 
 To CUT A SWATHE. The same as to cut a dash. 
 
 The expression is generally applied to a person walking who is gaily 
 dressed, and has a pompous air or swagger in his or her gait, in allusion 
 to the sweeping motion of a scythe.
 
 112 CUT CUT 
 
 The Miss A s cut a tall swathe, 1 tell you, for they say they are descended 
 
 from a governor of Nova Scotia, and that their relations in England are some pun- 
 kins too. Sam Slick, Human Nature. 
 
 Awake ! arouse ye, Sinners ! Know that you are but a notch or two lower than 
 the angels ; that you are not only put here to make money, kiss the women, and 
 cut a swathe, but to fill a higher and more important destiny. Dow's Sermons. 
 
 To CUT A SPLURGE. The same as the foregoing, to make a show or dis- 
 play in dress. 
 
 Since Miss C has got a hyst in the world, she tries to cut a splurge, and make 
 
 folks think she 's a lady. Widow Bedott Papers. 
 
 CUTE. (An abbreviation of acute.) Acute, sharp, keen. It is provin- 
 cial in various parts of England. In New England it is a common collo- 
 quialism, though never used by educated people. 
 
 Now, says I, I 'm goin' to show you about as cute a thing as you 've seen in many 
 a day. Maj. Downing's Letters, p. 214. 
 
 Mr. Marcy was a right cute, cunning sort of a man ; but in that correspondence 
 General Taylor showed himself able to defend himself against the fire in the 
 rear. Mr. Gentry's Remarks at the Taylor Meeting in N. Y. 
 
 Miss AUin, in her " Home Ballads," in describing the Yankee, says : 
 
 No matter where his home may be 
 
 What flag may be unfurl'd ! 
 He '11 manage, by some cute device, 
 
 To whittle through the world. 
 
 CUTENESS. Acuteness, keenness. 
 
 He had a pair of bright, twinkling eyes, that gave an air of extreme cuteness to his 
 physiognomy. Knickerbocker Mag., Aug. 1845. 
 
 CUT-GRASS. (Leer&ia oryzoides?) The common name of a species of 
 grass, with leaves exceedingly rough backward, so as to cut the hands if 
 drawn across them. Bigelow's Flora. 
 
 To CUT IT TOO FAT. To overdo a thing, synonymous with "going it too 
 strong." 
 
 It 's bad enough to be uncomfortable in your own house without knowing why ; 
 but to have a philosopher of the Sennaar school show you why you are so, is cutting 
 it rather too fat. Potiphar Papers, p. 131. 
 
 CUT-OFF. Passages cut by the great Western rivers, particularly the 
 Mississippi, affording new channels, and thus forming islands. These 
 cut-off's are constantly made. 
 
 When the Mississippi, in making its cut-off's, is ploughing its way through the vir- 
 gin soil, there float upon the top of this destroying tide, thousands of trees, that 
 covered the land and lined its curving banks. Thorpe's Backwoods, p. 172. 
 
 The settlement was one of the prettiest places on the Mississippi a perfect loca- 
 tion; it had some ddfects, until the river made the cut-off" at Shirt Tail Bend, which 
 remedied the evil. Thorpe, Big Bear of Arkansas.
 
 CUT CYP 113 
 
 To CUT ROUND. To fly about, to make a display. 
 
 The widow made herself perfectly ridiculous. She was dressed off like a young 
 gal, and cut round, and laughed, and tried to be wonderful interesting. Bedott 
 Papers, p. 91. 
 
 Instead of sticking to me as she used to do, she got to cuttin' round with all the 
 young fellows, just as if she cared nothin' about me no more. N. Y. Spirit of the 
 Times. 
 
 To CUT STICK, or To CUT ONE'S STICK. To be off; to leave imme- 
 diately, and go with all speed. A vulgar expression, and often heard. 
 It is also provincial in England. 
 
 Dinner is over. It 's time for the ladies to cut stick. Sam Slick in England. 
 If ever you see her and she begins that way, up hat and cut stick double quick. 
 Ibid. 
 
 To CUT UNDER. To undersell in price. New York. 
 To CUT UP SHINES. To cut capers, play tricks. 
 
 A wild bull of the prairies was cutting up shines at no great distance, tearing up 
 the sod with hoofs and horns. Knickerbocker Mag. 
 
 " What have these men been doing ? " asked the Kecorder. 
 
 " Oh, they were cutting up all kinds of shines ; knocking over the ashes barrels, shy- 
 ing stones at lamps, kicking at doors, and disturbing the peace of the whole city." 
 Pickings from the Picayune, p. 61. 
 
 CUTTER. A light one-horse sleigh. 
 
 Sleighs are swarming up and down the street, of all sorts and sizes, from the huge 
 omnibus with its thirty passengers to the light, gaily painted cutters, with their soli- 
 tary fur-capped tenants, etc. The Upper Ten Thousand, p. 4. 
 
 And then, we '11 go sleighing, in warm raiment clad, 
 
 With fine horses neighing as if they were glad. 
 
 The shining bells jingle, the swift cutter flies : 
 
 And if our ears tingle, no matter ; who cries ? N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 CUTTOES. (French couteau, a knife.) A large knife, used in olden times 
 in New England. 
 
 There were no knives and forks, and the family helped themselves on wooden 
 plates, with cuttoes. Margaret, p. 10. 
 
 CYPRESS-BRAKE. A basin-shaped depression of land near the margin 
 of shallow, sluggish bayous, into which the superabundant waters find 
 their way. In these places are vast accumulations of fallen cypress- 
 trees, which have been accumulating for ages. These are called cypress- 
 brakes. Dickeson on the Cypress Timber of Louisiana. 
 
 10*
 
 114 DAD DAR 
 
 D. 
 
 DADDOCK. The heart or body of a tree thoroughly rotten. Ash. 
 
 This old word is not noticed by Johnson, Todd, or Webster. It is in- 
 troduced by Mr. Worcester in his new dictionary. 
 
 The great red daddocks lay in the green pastures, where they had lain year after 
 year, crumbling away, and sending forth innumerable forms of vegetable life. 
 Margaret, p. 215. 
 
 DAMAGED. Intoxicated. 
 
 DAMSON PLUMS, of the West Indies. See Star-apple. 
 
 DANDER. 1. Scurf at the roots of the hair ; dandruff. 
 
 2. To get one's dander up, or to have one's dander raised, is to get into 
 a passion. Here, it would seem, the dandruff is ludicrously put for the 
 hair itself, which is represented as being raised on end, like the fur 
 of some animals when enraged. This as well as the preceding use of the 
 word is found in English dialects. 
 
 The Department of State did not keep back the letters of Mr. Eives, in which 
 he boasts that he had outwitted the French. Well, this sort of put up the dander of 
 the French. Crockett, Tour, p. 198. 
 
 The fire and fury that blazed in her eye gave ocular evidence of her dander being 
 up. Pickings from the New Orleans Picayune, p. 163. 
 
 As we looked at the immense strength of the Northumberland's mast, we could 
 not help thinking that Neptune must have his dander considerably raised before he 
 could carry it away. N. Y. Com. Adv. 
 
 I felt my dander risin' when the impertinent cuss went and tuck a scat along-side 
 of Miss Mary, and she begun to smile and talk with him as pleasin' as could be. 
 Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 77. 
 
 DANGEROUS. Endangered, being in danger. Forty. This sense is local 
 in England, and colloquial in the United States. Worcester. 
 
 DANDYFIED. Dandyish ; like a dandy. 
 
 DARKY. A common term for a negro. 
 
 I wish de legislator would set dis darkle free, 
 
 Oh ! what a happy place den de darkle land would be. 
 
 We 'd have a darkle parliament, 
 
 An' darkle codes of law, 
 An' darkle judges on de bench, 
 
 Darkle barristers and aw. Ethiopian Melodies. 
 
 DARK MOON. The interval between the old and the new moon. Western. 
 
 I always alter my colts and plant my 'taters during the dark moon. Letter from 
 a Western Farmer.
 
 DAE DEA 115 
 
 DARN. A substitution for damn, generally considered a Yankeeism. It is 
 used, however, in England. In the South the form ding is used, which 
 comes near to the English dang. 
 
 If e'er their jars they 've made yu feel, 
 
 This gude adwise you '11 call ; 
 For sich warmin's gripe or I '11 be darned 
 
 'T wood soon make ye sing small. Essex Dialect, Noakes and Styles. 
 Now let me see, that is n't all ; I used 'fore leaving Jaalam, 
 To count things on my finger-ends, but something seems to ail 'em. 
 Where 's my left hand ? 0, darn it, yes, I recollect what 's come on 't : 
 I haint no left arm but my right, and that's got jest a thumb on 't. 
 
 Poetical Epistle from a Volunteer. 
 DARNATION. A euphemism for damnation. 
 
 "Buttermilk, by Jingo," exclaimed the disappointed pedagogue. Saint Jingo 
 was the only saint, and a darnation, or darn you, were the only oaths his puritan 
 education ever allowed him to use. Cooper, Satanstoe, Vol. I. p. 68. 
 
 DARSENT, for dares not. It is vulgarly used in all persons and numbers. 
 
 To DEACON A CALF is to knock it in the head as soon as it is born. 
 Connecticut. 
 
 To DEACON OFF. To give the cue to ; derived from a custom, once uni- 
 versal but now extinct, in the New England Congregational churches. 
 An important part of the office of deacon was to read aloud the hymns 
 given out by the minister, one line at a time, the congregation singing 
 each line as soon as read. Lowell. In some of the interior parts of 
 New England the custom of deaconing off hymns is still continued. It 
 probably arose in the early colonial days from a scarcity of psalm 
 books. 
 
 When all was ready [to commence the religious exercises], a prayer was made 
 and the chorister deaconed the first two lines. Goodricli's Reminiscences, Vol. I. 
 p. 77. 
 
 To funk right out o' p'lit'cal strife aint thought to be the thing, 
 Without you deacon off the tune you want your folks should sing. 
 
 The Bigelow Papers. 
 
 To DEADEN. 1. In newly settled parts of the West, where it is designed 
 to make a " clearing," some of the trees are cut down ; the others are gir- 
 dled, or deadened, as they say, i. e. deprived of force or sensation. If 
 the majority of trees are thus girdled, the field is called a deadening, 
 otherwise it is a clearing. Carlton, The New Purchase, Vol. I. 240. 
 
 2. A political candidate at the West deadens his competitor's votes in a 
 district by doing away with false impressions, misstatements, etc., orig- 
 inating with the other party. 
 
 DEADENING. A piece of land the trees on which have been deadened by 
 girdling.
 
 116 DEA DEA 
 
 DEAD BROKE. Utterly exhausted of cash, penniless. 
 
 Damphool squared up his board bill and paid his washer-woman, which left him 
 dead broke. Doesticks, p. 141. 
 
 To be dead broke was really, as far as a man's comfort was concerned, a matter of 
 less importance in the mines than in almost any other place. Borthwick's California, 
 p. 255. 
 
 DEAD HEADS. Persons who drink at a bar, ride in an omnibus or railroad 
 car, travel in steamboats, or visit the theatre, without charge, are called 
 dead heads. These consist of the engineers, conductors, and laborers on 
 railroads ; the keepers of hotels ; the editors of newspapers, etc. 
 
 " The principal avenue of our city," writes a learned friend in Detroit, " has a 
 toll-gate just by the Elmwood Cemetery road. As the cemetery had been laid out 
 some time previous to the construction of the plank-road, it was made one of the 
 conditions of the company's charter that all funeral processions should go back and 
 forth free. One day, as Dr. Price, a celebrated physician, stopped to pay his toll, 
 he remarked to the gate-keeper : 
 
 " ' Considering the benevolent character of our profession, I think you ought to 
 let us pass free of charge.' 
 
 " ' No, no, doctor,' the keeper readily replied, ' we could n't afford that. You 
 send too many dead heads through here as it is.' 
 
 " The doctor paid his toll, and never asked any favors after that." Wash. Even. 
 Star, Oct. 1857. 
 
 DEADHEADISM. The practice of travelling with free tickets. 
 
 As I had never experienced the blessed privilege of deadheadism, I could not natu- 
 rally resist the opportunity of enjoying so new a sensation ; and I beg to assure you 
 that it is by no means so unpleasant as you might imagine. It was a pleasure simi- 
 lar to that which Lucretius describes as enjoyed by standers on the shore when they 
 see ships tossed about on the sea, to behold wretches crowding to the ticket-offices 
 and disbursing their money, when you have nothing to do but to take your scat and 
 be carried through the air without money and without price. Letter in 2V. Y. Tribune, 
 June, 1857. 
 
 DEAD HORSE. Work for which one has been paid before it is performed. 
 When a printer, on Saturday night, includes in his bill work not yet fin- 
 ished, he is said, on the following week, to " work off a dead horse" 
 Also used in England. 
 
 DEAD RABBITS. A name recently assumed by the Irish faction in the city 
 of New York. 
 
 If the Dead Rabbit think he slays, 
 
 Or the Plug Ugly think he 's slain, 
 They do but pave the subtle ways 
 I 've trod, and mean to tread again. 
 
 Parody on Emerson's Brahma, N. Y. Even'g Post. 
 
 DEAF ADDER. See Blauser. 
 
 DEAF NUT. A nut the kernel of which is decayed. Pennsylvania. 
 Provincial in England.
 
 DEA DEM 117 
 
 DEARBORN. A kind of light covered waggon, so named from its inven- 
 tor. 
 
 DEATH. To be death on a thing, is to be completely master of it, a capital 
 hand at it, like the quack doctor who could not manage the whooping- 
 cough, but was, as he expressed it, " death on fits." Vulgar. 
 
 Did you ever Learn tell of the man they calls Chunkey ? horn in Kaintuck and 
 raised on the Mississippi; death on har, and smartly in a panther fight? .ZV. Y. 
 Spirit of the Times. 
 
 "Women, I believe, are horn with certain natural tastes. Sally was death on lace, 
 and old Aunt Thankful goes the whole figure for furs. Sam Slick, Human Nature, 
 p. 225. 
 
 DECEDENT. A deceased person. Laws of Pennsylvania. 
 
 DECK. A pack of cards. 
 
 " Waiter," cried out an Arkansas traveller, "bring down my baggage." " What 
 is it, sir ? " "A bowie-knife, a pair of pistols, a deck of cards, and one shirt." 
 
 Deck is defined by Ash, " a pack of cards piled one upon another." 
 
 DECLENSION. "We sometimes see this word used in the newspapers, in 
 speaking of a person's declining to be a candidate for office. Ex. IK 
 consequence of the declension of our candidate, we shall be obliged to vote 
 for a new one. Pickering. 
 
 DECLINATION. Used in the same sense as the preceding word. It is said 
 to have been first employed by Mr. John Pintard, when he declined a 
 reelection as president of the American Bible Society. 
 
 To DEED. To convey or transfer by deed. A popular use of the word in 
 America ; as, " he deeded all his estate to his eldest son." Webster. 
 
 DEED OF TRUST. An instrument of writing under seal, conveying prop- 
 erty from A to B, to hold or use for the benefit of C, under the agree- 
 ment of A and C. Middle States. 
 
 DELAWARE. This State was so called in the year 1703, from Lord De la 
 War, whose name was previously given to the Bay. 
 
 To DEMORALIZE. To corrupt and undermine the morals of; to destroyer 
 lessen the effect of moral principles on. Webster. Professor Lyell, 
 who visited Dr. Webster, says, " When the Doctor was asked how many 
 words he had coined for his Dictionary, he replied, only one, ' to demor- 
 alize ; ' and that not for his Dictionary, but in a pamphlet published hi the 
 last century." Travels in the U. States, p. 53. Mr. Jodrell, in his 
 " Philology of the English Language," gives the word a place, and cites 
 as an example, a passage from a speech by Lord Liverpool, in the House 
 of Lords, March 11, 1817:
 
 118 DEN DES 
 
 They had endeavored to guard and protect the people against the attempts which 
 were made to corrupt and demoralize them. 
 
 The native vigor of the soul must wholly disappear, under the steady influence 
 and the demoralizing example of profligate power and prosperous crime. Walsh, 
 Letters on France. 
 
 DENGUE. See Break-bone Fever. 
 
 DEPARTMENT. (Fr. departement.) The principal offices of the federal 
 government at Washington, at the head of each of which is a Secretary, 
 are styled departments. Thus we have the State Department, Interior 
 Department, Treasury Department, etc. This expression and also the 
 following are borrowed from the French. 
 
 DEPARTMENTAL. Pertaining to a department, or division. Webster. 
 
 The game played by the revolutionists in 1 789 was now played against the depart- 
 mental guards, called together for the protection of revolutionists. Burke, Pref. to 
 Brissot's Address. 
 
 "Which it required all the exertion of the departmental force to suppress. H. M. 
 Williams, Letters on France. 
 
 DEPOT. (Pron. dee'-po.) A railroad station-house. 
 
 To DEPUTIZE. To depute ; to appoint a deputy ; to empower to act for 
 another, as a sheriff. Webster. 
 
 This word is not in any of the English dictionaries except one of the 
 early editions of Bailey, where it appears in the Preface among words in 
 modern .authors, collected after the Dictionary was printed. Mr. Picker- 
 ing remarks, that " the word is sometimes heard in conversation, but 
 rarely occurs in writing, and has always been considered as a mere vul- 
 garism." 
 
 They seldom tliink it necessary to deputize more than one person to attend to 
 their interests at the seat of government. Port Folio, January, 1811. 
 
 DESEKET. A name given by the Mormons to the Territory of Utah, 
 which they occupy. 
 
 DESK. The pulpit in a church, and figuratively, the clerical profession. 
 " The Rev. Mr. Poundtext appears well at the desk." " He intends one 
 son for the bar, and another for the desk" This New England word is 
 not generally used in other parts of the country. 
 
 The pulpit, or as it is here [in Connecticut] called, the desk, was filled by three, if 
 not four, clergymen ; a number which, by its form and dimensions, it was able to 
 accommodate. Kendall's Travels, Vol. I. p. 4. 
 
 They are common to every species of oratory, though of rarer use in the desk, 
 etc. Adams's Lecture on Rhetoric. 
 
 DESPERATE, commonly pronounced despert, and used to denote exceed- 
 ingly ; as " I 'm despert glad to see you." Bad as this use and pronuncia-
 
 DES DIF 119 
 
 tion of the word are, they are both to be found in England. Mr. Ham- 
 ilton notices the word among the provincialisms of Yorkshire ; as, 
 " Thou 's desperate hopeful ! " Nugce Literarice, p. 353. 
 
 " Waes me ! what 's this that lugs sae at my heart, 
 And fills my breast with such a despert smart ? " 
 
 Poems in Westmoreland and Cumberland Dialect, p. 117. 
 
 DESSERT. This term, which properly signifies the fruits and nuts brought 
 on the table after the substantial parts of a dinner, is often improperly 
 applied in the United States to the puddings and pies. 
 
 To DESULPHURIZE. To take the sulphur out of vulcanized Caoutchouc. 
 
 DEVIL'S DARNING-NEEDLE. A common name for the Dragon-fly. In 
 England, according to Wright, it is called the Devil's Needle. 
 
 Now and then a long-legged spider would run across our track with incredihle 
 rapidity, or a devil's darning-needle would pertinaciously hover above our heads, and 
 cause me, impressed with an old nursery caution, to duck and dodge, and hold 
 my hands over my ears, until the winged spectre would fly away across the garden. 
 Putnam's Monthly, June, 1854. 
 
 DEVIL-FISH. (Genus, Sophius. Cuvier.) The common name of the 
 American Angler, so called from its hideous form. It is also known by 
 the names of Sea-devil, Fishing-frog, Bellows-fish, Goose-fish, Monk-fish, 
 and others. Storer's Fishes of Mass. 
 
 DEVILTRY. Mischief; devilry. Provincial in England. 
 
 The office-holding gentry at Washington will meet with their match in an indig- 
 nant people, when they come to find out their deviltry. Crockett's Speech, Tour, 
 p. 106. 
 
 Peter Funk is ready to be employed in all manner of deceit and deviltry. He 
 cares not who his employers are. Perils of Pearl Street, p. 51. 
 
 DEWBERRY. (Hubus Canadensis.) A low-trailing species of Blackberry. 
 
 DICKER. Barter ; also articles received in barter. Western. 
 
 Grant that the North 's insulted, scorned, betrayed, 
 
 O'erreached in bargains with her neighbor made, 
 
 When selfish thrift and party held the scales 
 
 For peddling dicker, not for honest sales, 
 
 Whom shall we strike ? Whittier. The Panorama. 
 
 To DICKER. To barter. Used in New York and New England. 
 
 The white men who penetrated to the semi-wilds [of the West] were always 
 ready to dicker and to swap, and to trade rifles and watches, and whatever else they 
 might happen to possess. Cooper. The Oak Openings. 
 
 DIFFERENT FROM. We say one thing is " different from " another. In 
 England the expression is " different to" and so the old English writers 
 quoted in Richardson's Dictionary. Comp. Averse.
 
 120 DIF DIG 
 
 DEFFICULTED. Perplexed. Mr. Sherwood has this among the words pe- 
 culiar to Georgia, and there are examples of its use to be found in some 
 of our well-known authors. It is in common use at the bar : " The gen- 
 tleman, I think, will be difficulted to find a parallel case." 
 
 There is no break in the chain of vital operation ; and consequently we are not 
 difficulted at all on the score of the relation which the new plant bears to the old 
 Bush on the Resurrection, p. 57. 
 
 Dr. Jamieson has the verb to difficult in his Scottish Dictionary. 
 
 DIG. A diligent student, one who learns his lessons by hard and long con- 
 tinued exertion. Hall's College Words. 
 
 There goes the dig, just look ! 
 How like a parson he eyes his book ! 
 
 N. Y. Literary World, Oct. 11, 1851. 
 
 By this 't is that we get ahead of the dig, 
 
 'T is not we that prevail, but the wine that we swig. 
 
 Amherst Indicator, Vol. II. p. 252. 
 
 DIGGING. 1. A word first used at the Western lead mines, to denote a 
 place where the ore was dug. Instead of saying this or that mine, the 
 phrase in vogue is these diggings, or those diggings. 
 
 Mr. Charles F. Hoffman visited the Galena lead-mines, and while there 
 was shown about to the various estates, where the people were digging 
 for ore. The person who accompanied him said : 
 
 Mr. , from your State, has lately struck a lead, and a few years will make 
 
 him independent. We are now, you observe, among his diggings. Winter in the 
 West, Let. 25. 
 
 The principal diggings near Haugtown were surface diggings, but, with the excep- 
 tion of river diggings, every kind of mining was seen in full force. Borthwick's 
 California, p. 120. 
 
 The phrase these diggings is now provincial in the Western States, 
 and is occasionally heard in the Eastern, to denote a neighborhood, or 
 particular section of country. 
 
 Boys, fellars, and candidates, I am the first white man ever seed in these diggings. 
 I killed the first bar [bear] ever a white skinned in the county, and am the first 
 manufacturer of whiskey, and a powerful mixture it is too. Robb, Squatter Life 
 
 I ain't a vain man, and never was. I hante a morsel of it in my composition. I 
 do n't think any of us Yankees is vain people ; it '& a thing don't grow in our dig- 
 gings. Sam Slick in England, ch. 24. 
 
 2. The act of studying hard ; diligent application. Hall. 
 
 I 've had an easy time in college, and enjoyed the " otium cum dignitate," the 
 learned leisure of a scholar's life, always despised digging, you know. Harvard 
 Reg. p. 194. 
 
 3. Dear, or costly ; as, " a mighty digging price." A Southern word. 
 Sherwood's Georgia.
 
 DIL DIP 121 
 
 To DILL. (Probably the same as to dull.) To soothe. The word is used 
 in the north of England. 
 
 I know what is in this medicine. It '11 dill fevers, dry up sores, stop rheumatis, 
 drive out rattlesnake's bite, kill worms, etc. Margaret, p. 140. 
 
 DIME. (Fr. dixme or dime, tenth.) A silver coin of the United States, 
 in value the tenth of a dollar, or ten cents. 
 
 This term, peculiar to our decimal currency, is now in common use at 
 the South and "West ; but in the Eastern and Northern States, whence 
 the Spanish real and half-real, which long formed a large portion of the 
 circulation, have only recently been banished, it is usually called a ten- 
 cent piece, and the half-dime a Jive-cent piece. 
 
 Small articles are sold in the New Orleans markets by the picayune or dime's 
 worth. If you ask for a pound of figs, you will not be understood ; but for a dime's 
 worth, and they are in your hands in a trice. Sketches of New Orleans. N. Y. 
 Tribune. 
 
 The currency [in New Orleans] is more truly national than that of any other part of 
 the United States. Everything sells by dimes and half-dimes, "bits "and "pica- 
 yunes " being the same value ; and as for copper money, I have not seen the first 
 red cent. Bayard Taylor, Letter from N. 0., July, 1849. 
 
 DIMES. Common in the West and South for money. " She 's got the 
 dimes" i. e. she is an heiress. 
 
 DING. Very, excessively. A Southern word. See Darn. 
 
 It was ding hot; so I sot down to rest a bit under the trees. Chron. ofPine- 
 vitte. 
 
 DINGED. Very, excessively. An expletive peculiar to the South, the 
 equivalent of the Northern darned. 
 
 You know it 's a dinged long ride from Pineville, and it took me most two days 
 to get there. Maj. Jones's Courtship. 
 
 DINGLING. Tottering, insecure ; prob. i. q. dangling. 
 
 We have been telling our readers that federalism is just now in a very dingling 
 way, while the Express insists that the democracy is in the same condition. 2V". Y* 
 True San, Aug. 26, 1848. 
 
 DINING-ROOM SERVANT. A male house-servant or waiter. 
 
 To DIP SNUFF. A mode of taking tobacco, practised by women in some 
 parts of the United States, and particularly at the South, may be thus 
 described : A little pine stick or bit of rattan about three inches long, 
 split up like a brush at one end, is first wetted and then dipped into snuff; 
 with this the teeth are rubbed, sometimes by the hour together. Some 
 tie the snuff in a little bag, and chew it. These filthy practices, which 
 originated in the use of snuff for cleansing the teeth, seem to be rapidly 
 going out of use, at least at the North. 
 
 11
 
 122 DIP DIS 
 
 DIPPER. A small aquatic bird, common throughout the United States; 
 also called the Water-witch and Hell-diver. (Horned grebe. Nuttall, 
 Ornith.) Nat. Hist, of New York. 
 
 DIPSY. A term applied, in some parts of Pennsylvania, to the float of a 
 fishing-line. 
 
 DIRT. This word is used more commonly and frequently with us than in 
 England, to denote earth, clay, etc. An English traveller in the United 
 States observes, that he heard a man speak of his having wheeled dirt to 
 repair a road. A " dirt road," as distinguished from a turnpike-road, is 
 often heard in the "West. The " dirt-cart" or cart which removes street 
 sweepings, would, in London, be called a " dust-cart." 
 
 In California, " dirt " is the universal word to signify the substance dug ; earth, 
 clay, gravel, or loose slate. The miners talk of rich dirt and poor dirt, and of strip- 
 ping off so many feet of " top dirt " before getting to " pay dirt," the latter mean- 
 ing dirt with so much gold in it that it will pay to dig it up and wash it. Borth- 
 ivick's California, p. 120. 
 
 To DISFELLOWSHIP. To dispossess of church-membership. A monstrous 
 word. See To Fellowship. 
 
 No person that has been disfellow shipped, or excommunicated from the church, will 
 be allowed to go forth in the dance that is conducted by the sanction and authority 
 of the church. Mormon Regulation, published in the Frontier (Iowa) Guardian, 
 Nov. 28, 1849. 
 
 DISGUISED IN LIQUOR, or simply disguised. Intoxicated. 
 
 To DISREMEMBER. To forget. Used chiefly in the Southern States. 
 
 " Well, I disremember about that," said the Widow Bedott, " but I do remember 
 o' hearin' you blow the Elder up for goin' to Baptist mcetin'." Bedott Papers, p. 
 129. 
 
 It 's a curious story, and I '11 tell you all of it I can think on. But some things 
 perhaps I may disremember. Western Tale, N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 I '11 thank you, when we meet again, not to disremember the old saying, but let 
 every man skin his own skunks. David Crockett. 
 
 To DISSIPATE. To practise dissipation, to live idly or irregularly ; to dis- 
 perse. Colloquial in the United States. Worcester. 
 
 DISTRESSED. (Pron. dis-tress'-ed.) Miserable, wretched. "Distressed 
 man ! " was, and perhaps is, a favorite exclamation with ladies at the 
 North. 
 
 "Why," said the peddler to the Widow Bedott, who had selected an article for 
 her wedding dress, " a body 'd think 't was some everlastin' old maid, instead of a 
 handsome young widder that had chosen such a distressed thing for a wcddin' 
 dress." Widow Bedott Papers, p. 113. 
 
 DISTRICT COURTS. In American law. Courts held in each of the thirty- 
 five districts into which the United States are divided, consisting each of a
 
 DIV DOC 123 
 
 single judge, and which act both as courts of common law and as courts 
 of admiralty. 
 
 DIVIDE. The name applied by Western hunters and guides to a ridge of 
 land which divides waters running in different directions ; a dividing 
 ridge. 
 
 We commenced to ascend another divide ; and as we approached the summit, the 
 narrow valley leading to it was covered with timber and long grass. Emory's New 
 Mexico and California, p. 105. 
 
 The eastern fork [of the Arkansas] skirts the base of the range, coming from the 
 ridge, called the divide, which separates the waters of the Platte from the Arkan- 
 sas. liuxton's Adventures, p. 241. 
 
 Continued our route towards an opening in the elevated ridge which stretched 
 across our path in a direction from north to south, called the divide. Bartlett's Per- 
 sonal Narrative, Vol. I. p. 73. 
 
 DIVOKT. This word expresses fully what no word at present does. The 
 word " divide " is not etymologically applicable, as it does not "convey the 
 idea of altitude as the cause of separation ; while the word divort implies 
 elevation, the cause of the divortia aquarum whence its derivation 
 also. Dr. Antisett, Geolog. Rept. Pacific R. R. Survey, Vol. VII. 
 
 On crossing the divort between the small stream, a tributary of the Salinas, and 
 the waters of the San Antonio, this bed was found to occupy a large surface and to 
 be the uppermost rock. Dr. Antisell, ibid. p. 40. 
 
 Do DON'T, for do not or don't, is a common expression in Georgia and 
 South Carolina, and not by any means confined to the uneducated 
 classes. 
 
 Do TELL ! A vulgar exclamation common in New England, and synony- 
 mous with really ! indeed ! is it possible ! 
 
 A bright-eyed little demoiselle from Virginia came running into the dairy of a 
 country-house in New Hampshire, at which her mother was spending the summer, 
 with a long story about a most beautiful butterfly she had been chasing ; and the 
 dairy-maid, after hearing the story through, exclaimed, Do tell ! The child imme- 
 diately repeated the story, and the good-natured maid, aflcr hearing it through a 
 second time, exclaimed again, in a tone of still greater wonder, Do tell ! A third 
 time the story was told, and the third time came the exclamation of wonder, Do tell! 
 The child's spirits were dashed, and she went to her mother with a sad tale about 
 Ruth's teasing her ; while poor Ruth said that " those daown country gals were so 
 strange ; keep telling me the same thing over and over, I never see any thing 
 like it ! " N. Y. Com. Adv. 
 
 DOBBER. A float to a fishing-line. So called in New York. 
 
 The most singular luck attended Ten Broeck, who, falling overboard, was mirac- 
 ulously preserved from sinking by his nether garments. Thus buoyed up, he floated 
 on the waves like an angler's dobber, etc. Irving, Knickerbocker. 
 
 Docious. A corruption of docile, as " a docious young man," " a dociom 
 horse."
 
 124 DOC DOG 
 
 I was so mad that I swore just nigh on to half an hour, right straight on eend. I 
 can hardly keep my tongue docious now to talk about it. Western Life. N. Y. 
 Spirit of the Times. 
 
 DOCITT. (Pron. dossity.) A low word, used in some parts of the United 
 States to signify quick comprehension. It is only used in conversation, 
 and generally with a negative, thus : " He has no docity" It is a pro- 
 vincial word in England. Pickering. 
 
 DOCK. We often apply the term to the "slip" or space between two 
 piers for the reception of vessels. It is believed to be restricted in 
 England to an enclosed basin. " Balance dock" " sectional dock" 
 " screw dock," are none of them really docks, but contrivances by which 
 vessels are raised from the water for repair. 
 
 DOCKMACKIE. ( Viburnum acerifolium.} Probably named by the Dutch, 
 among whom the plant wa's used for external applications in tumors, etc., 
 a practice learned by them from the Indians. 
 
 DOCK WALLOPER. A loafer that hangs about the wharves. New York. 
 DOCTOR. The cook on board a ship ; so called by seamen. 
 
 DOD FETCHED. A euphemistic form of swearing. 
 
 Liddy, do n't be so pesky starch, I '11 be dod fetched if I meant any harm. 
 Southern Sketches. 
 
 DOD ROT IT. ) -, f , .. A , 
 
 Confound it. A euphemistic oath. 
 
 DOD DRAT IT. 
 
 He began cussin' like all wrath, and says he, dod rot that old Mike Shouter. 
 Southern Sketches, p. 31. 
 
 Here 's the old man agoin' to give you another wallopin'. I '11 cut and run, and 
 dot drot me if I don't. Sam Slick. Human Nature, p. 60. 
 
 DODGER. A hard baked cake or biscuit. See Corn-dodger and Beef- 
 dodger. 
 
 To DOG. To hunt with dogs. 
 
 What is to be the fate of Soulouque and his subjects ? How long will it take to 
 pick a quarrel with them, and when will regiments from the South, trained at home 
 to the hunting and dogging of fugitive slaves, achieve what Bonaparte could not, the 
 reenslavement of Hayti, and wipe out in blood " the horrors of St. Domingo," the 
 standing bugbear of emancipation ? N. Y. Tribune, Nov. 8, 1854. 
 
 DOG GAUNED. An anagrammatic form of swearing. Southern. 
 
 If there 's a dog-goned abolitionist aboard this boat, I should like to see him. I 'm 
 the man to put a chunk o' lead into his woolly head right off. Gladstone. English- 
 man in Kansas, p. 46. 
 
 No, says I, I won't do no sich dog on thing ; for when I likes a chap, I likes him. 
 But if you want to fight, I 'm your man. Southern Sketches, p. 33. 
 
 DOGGED. A euphemistic oath ; as, " I '11 be dogged if I do it."
 
 DOG DON 125 
 
 DOGGERY. A low drinking-hotise. West and South. The " Cleveland 
 Plaindealer," in speaking of the riotous proceedings connected with the 
 Erie Railroad troubles, says : 
 
 The mob crowded the sheriff on, and drove him into the Key Stone Saloon, a 
 small doggery, where they kept him for half an hour. 
 
 DOINGS. (Pron. doins.) Prepared food ; victuals. A Western vulgarism. 
 See Chicken Fixings. 
 
 If thar wasn't cold doins about that time (in the mountains), this child wouldn't 
 say so. Thar was no buffalo and no meat, and we had been livin' on our moccasins 
 for weeks ; and poor doins that fecdin' is, Ruxton's Life in the Far West, p. 17. 
 
 DOLLAR MARK ($). The origin of this sign to represent the dollar has 
 been the cause of much discussion. One writer says it comes from the 
 letters U. S. (United States), which, after the adoption of the Federal 
 Constitution, were prefixed to the federal currency, and which after- 
 wards, in the hurry of writing, were run into one another ; the U being 
 made first and the S over it. Another, that it is derived from the con- 
 traction of the Spanish word pesos, dollars, x>r pesos fuertes, hard dollars. 
 A third that it is a contraction for the Spanish fuertes, hard, to distin- 
 guish silver or hard dollars from paper-money. The more probable 
 explanation is, that it is a modification of the figures f , formerly used 
 to denote a piece of eight reals, or, as a dollar was then called, a piece 
 of eight. 
 
 As to my boat, it was a very good one ; and that he saw, and told me he woxild 
 buy it of me for the ship's use ; and asked me what I would have for it 1 I told 
 him that I could not offer to make any price of the boat, but left it entirely to him ; 
 upon which he told me he would give me a note of hand to pay me eighty pieces of 
 eight for it in Brazil. He offered me also sixty pieces of eight more for my boy 
 Xury, which I was loath to take ; not that I was not willing to let the captain have 
 him, but I was loath to sell the poor boy's liberty, who had assisted me so faithfully 
 in procuring my own. Robinson Crusoe, sec. 4. 
 
 A variety of other theories will be found in the Historical Magazine, 
 Vol. I. pp. 122, 186, 245. 
 
 DOLESS. Inefficient. " He 's a doless sort of a fellow." 
 DOLITTLE. A drone ; an idle person. 
 
 DOMESTICS. (Used only in the plural.) Domestic goods, i. e. cotton goods 
 of American manufacture. 
 
 DONATE. To give as a donation ; to contribute. This word is not yet in 
 the dictionaries, but has only reached the newspapers and reviews. 
 
 There have been received from the Foreign Bible Society $7,000, not including 
 $1,000 recently donated. Baptist Missionary Herald, Rep. 1846. 
 
 The display of articles exhibited [at the Fair in Albany] was very tasteful and 
 11*
 
 126 DON DON 
 
 attractive ; and the friends of the cause in Massachu setts and other places donated 
 liberally. .ZV. Y. Tribune, Nov. 6, 1846. 
 
 Mr. Peabody donates to the city of Baltimore an institute for the moral and intel- 
 lectual culture of the inhabitants. N. Y. Herald, Feb. 19, 1857. 
 
 DONATION. That which is given or bestowed ; a gift, a grant. Donation 
 is usually applied to things of more value than presents. Webster. 
 
 Webster says that donation is usually applied to things of more value than pres- 
 ents ; but while such may be true in the States, I have known it applied here to a 
 basket of musty cakes. I suppose that donation has a certain meaning in law. Its 
 most ordinary English application is to a single gift in money, in contradistinction to 
 the periodical payments of a fixed sum or subscription. When applied to a present, 
 public or private, I apprehend such an application of the term has its origin in mere 
 pomposity. The language stands in no need of such an expression so long as we 
 have our old Saxon (/{/h Rev. A. C. Geikie, Canadian Journal, Sept. 1857. 
 
 DONATION PARTY. A party consisting of the friends and parishioners of a 
 country clergyman assembled together, each individual bringing some 
 article of food or clothing as a present to him. Where the salary of a 
 clergyman is small, the contributions at a donation party are very ac- 
 ceptable. It is also called a giving party. 
 
 In the " Bedott Papers " is an amusing description of a donation party 
 given to a country minister who had a salary of but $400 a year. On 
 this occasion the visitors were very numerous, and the articles presented 
 so very few that the minister's family were compelled to contribute the 
 larger portion of the refreshments. The poor clergyman sent in his res- 
 ignation immediately after, and, on being asked by a deacon for the rea- 
 son of his sudden withdrawal, answered : 
 
 I 've been your pastor two years, and you 've had the kindness to give me two 
 donation parties. I 've stood it so far, but I can't stand it any longer ; brethren, I 
 feel convinced that one more donation parti/ would completely break me down. 
 p. 271. 
 
 DONE, instead of did; as, "I done it," "They done the business." A 
 common vulgarism in the State of New York, also heard in the province 
 of Leinster, Ireland. An officer wrote to his general in the late war, that 
 his troops " done their duty ; " and in certain letters purporting to be 
 from the " upper ten " in praise of Dr. Townsend's medicines, we read 
 that " they done the writers great good." 
 
 DONE Avith a past participle, as " He 's done come, done gone, done said, 
 done did it," etc., is a negro vulgarism frequently heard at the South. 
 
 Oh ! she waked me in the mornin', and it 's broad day ; 
 I look'd for my canoe, and it 's done gone away. 
 
 Porter's Tales of the Southwest, p. 133. 
 
 I 'm mighty easy on the trigger, and the next mornin' I was done gone. I kissed 
 the old woman, spanked the children, threaten'd the niggers, promised the overseer
 
 DON DOT 127 
 
 a new covering and demijohn of red eye if all went straight, got all my little fixins 
 together, and off I set. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 " Why, Tomtit, what upon earth is this for ? " said Nina. 
 
 " Laws, missis, there 's been a gentleman waiting for you these two hours. And 
 missis, she's done got on her best cap, and gone down in the parlor for him." 
 Mrs. Stowe, Drcd, Vol. I. p. 139. 
 
 " How d'y Miss Kate," returned Bob grinning ; " Uncle Pete is done dead and 
 buried." 
 
 " Is that a fact ? " asked Mr. Mitchell, looking out. 
 
 " Fac truf, Mas'r ! an what 's more, Aunt Milly is like to die too ; she 's gruv 
 herself nearly to death 'bout it." Emma Bartlett. 
 
 DONOCK. A stone ; a term almost peculiar to Arkansas, though used more 
 or less throughout the South. 
 
 Then bring me a couple of donocks, 
 
 Place them at my head and my toe, 
 
 And do not forget to write on it 
 
 The name of old Eosin-the-bow. Song, Rosin the Bow. 
 
 DON'T. The proper colloquial contraction for do not ; and which should 
 therefore be used only in the first person singular and in the plural. Yet 
 we very often hear it instead of doesn't for does not ; as, " He don't tell 
 the truth." 
 
 Here is the source of all the trouble and dissatisfaction in what may be called the 
 country life of gentlemen amateurs or citizens in this country, it don't pay. 
 Downing's Rural Essays. 
 
 I DON'T KNOW AS I SHAN'T, for I don't know but I shall. This uncouth 
 expression, Mr. Hurd says, is very common in the eastern towns of Mas- 
 sachusetts, near Cape Cod. Grammatical Corrector. 
 
 To DOOM. To tax at discretion. A New England term. 
 
 When a person neglects to make a return of his taxable property to 
 the assessors of a town, those officers doom him ; that is, judge upon, and 
 fix his tax according to their discretion. Pickering. 
 
 The estates of all merchants, shopkeepers, and factors, shall be assessed by the 
 rule of common estimation, according to the will and doom of the assessors. Mas- 
 sachusetts Colony Laws, p. 14, ed. 1660. 
 
 DOOMAGE. A penalty, or fine, for neglect. Laws of New Hampshire. 
 Webster. 
 
 DOKEE. A fish commonly called John Dory with us as in England. This 
 last name is a corruption of the French jaune doree, golden yellow, 
 which is the color of the fish. 
 
 DORY. A kind of canoe. 
 
 DOTED. Changed, or half rotten ; as " doted wood." "West and South.
 
 128 DOU DOU 
 
 DOUBLE. A flower the number of whose petals is increased by cultivation 
 is said to be double ; when the increase is very great, it is termed very 
 double ! 
 
 DOUGH-FACES. A contemptuous nickname, applied to the Northern 
 favorers and abettors of negro slavery. This term may be regarded 
 as nearly or quite synonymous with the English " nose of wax." Gen- 
 erally it means a pliable politician, one who is accessible to personal 
 influences and considerations. It was first applied, however, by John 
 Randolph of Roanoke to such Northern members of congress as mani- 
 fested especial willingness to fall in with the views and demands of the 
 South on questions involving the " peculiar institution." Speaking of the 
 Northern Democrats, he bitterly said : 
 
 I knew that these men would give way. They were scared at their own dough- 
 faces yes, they were scared at their own dough-faces. We had them, and if we 
 had wanted more, we could have had them. 
 
 The truth is, that while the Southerners need and are willing to pay for the ser- 
 vices of the dourjh-faces, they dislike their persons and despise their discourse. N. 
 Y. Tribune, April, 1848. 
 
 Thanks to a kind Providence, and the manly straightforwardness of John C. 
 Calhoun, the great question of extension or non-extension of human slavery under 
 the flag of this republic is to be pressed to a decision now. Desperate, idolatrous, 
 and blind as is his devotion to slavery, we would sooner see him President to-mor- 
 row than any dough-face in the Union. Ibid., June 29, 1848. 
 
 This term has also been applied to Southern men who are false to the 
 principles of slavery, as Northern dough-faces are to the principles of 
 freedom. 
 
 There was a disposition in the senate to evade the question to slip a bill for the 
 establishment of the Oregon territory through the senate, without calling attention 
 to the slavery question, and under the immediate pressure of the demand made for 
 the military defence of the territory from the Indians. The whigs of the North and 
 of the South were silent. The democratic Cass men of the North and of the South 
 were mum. Two thirds of the senate were dough-faced. There are Southern as 
 well as Northern doiif/h-faces ; men looking to the spoils care not for principles, 
 whether they be of the North or of the South. Washington Cor. N. Y. Com. Adv., 
 June 4, 1848. 
 
 DOUGH-FACISM. Truckling to the slave power. 
 
 The slaveholders will cling to the institutions of slavery as long as new markets 
 arerbeing opened for their slaves. Let the people of the free States see to it that it 
 is circumvented by every reasonable means. If they are firm, the dough-facism of 
 their representatives will be cured. Letter of J. C. Snodgrass, of Baltimore, 1849. 
 
 DOUGH-HEAD. A soft-pated fellow, a fool. 
 
 DOUGH-HUT- A small roundish cake, made of flour, eggs, and sugar, 
 moistened with milk, and boiled in lard. Webster. According to Halli-
 
 DOV DOW 129 
 
 well, the term donnut is used in Hertshire, to denote a pancake made of 
 dough instead of batter. In speaking of the preparations for a picnic, 
 Mr. Shillaber says : 
 
 And then he lays in lots of pickings, 
 
 Mammoth dough-nuts, legs of chickens ; 
 
 For prices down at Hampton Beach 
 
 Are very much beyond his reach. Poems. 
 
 Mr. Elliott, in describing the manners and customs of the olden time 
 in New England, says : 
 
 At the supper table many a sweet thing was whispered behind a dough-nut, and 
 many a sentiment tucked in a pie. New England History, Vol. I. p. 468. 
 
 Hannah is a smart, willin' gall, and a rael worker, and a prime cook into the bar- 
 gain ; but let her alone for in the dough-nut line and for pumpkin pies. McClin- 
 tock's Tales. 
 
 DOVE. Dived. Very common among seamen, and not confined to them. 
 The Eev. A. C. Geikie says: In England, when a swimmer makes 
 his first leap, head foremost, into the water, he is said to dive, and is 
 spoken of as having dived, in accordance with the ordinary and regular 
 construction of the verb. Not so, however, is it with the modern re- 
 finements of our Canadian English. In referring to such a fact here, it 
 would be said, not that he dived, but that he dove. Even Longfellow 
 makes use of this form so harsh and unfamiliar to English ears in 
 the musical measures of his Hiawatha : 
 
 " Straight into the river Kwasind 
 Plunged as if he were an otter, 
 Dove as if he were a beaver," etc. 
 
 Canadian Journal, Sept. 1857. 
 
 DOWD. A woman's night-cap, composed of two pieces of cloth, the seam 
 running from the forehead to the neck. It is sometimes called a " squaw- 
 shaped cap." New York. The word is used in the same sense in 
 Devonshire, England. 
 
 DOWN UPON. To be down upon is to seize with avidity, as a bird of prey 
 would pounce down upon its victim. Alluding to the state of the poultry 
 market, the New York Tribune says : 
 
 The boarding-house keepers are down upon geese. 
 
 This phrase is also used to express disapprobation, dislike, or enmity ; 
 as, " 1 '11 be down upon you," i. e. I '11 come up with you, or pay you off 
 for some injury or insult, etc. A common expression at the West is, 
 " I '11 be down upon you like a thousand of brick." 
 
 DOWN CELLAR, for down in or into the cellar, is a common New England 
 expression. So too is " up garret."
 
 130 DOW DRA 
 
 DOWN EAST. In or into the Eastern States, i. e. New England. 
 
 We have never heard of better missionary ground than down East ; the people 
 intelligent, the climate healthful, the villages numerous and wealthy. N. Y. Chris- 
 tian Enquirer, Sept. 9, 1848. 
 
 Mr. Hill, in one of his visits down East, was belated one evening, and was com- 
 pelled to seek shelter in a farm-house. G. H. Hill, Tales. 
 
 DOWN EASTER. A New Englander. 
 
 To DOXOLOGIZE. To give glory to God, as in doxology. Webster. 
 
 No instance is to be found in which primitive Christians doxologized the spirit of 
 God as a person. Christian Disciple, Vol. II. p. 295. 
 
 Mr. Pickering says lie " never met with the word in any other Ameri- 
 can work, nor in any English publication ; but that it may possibly be a 
 part of the professional language of divines." Mr. P. further observes, 
 that he found it in the early editions of the dictionaries of Ash and Bai- 
 ley, from which it was afterwards discarded. Mr. Worcester has inserted 
 the word in his new dictionary. 
 
 DRAG OUT. A " knock down and drag out " is a fight carried to extremi- 
 ties. The term drag out seems to be also used, at the South, to denote a 
 bully, a tearer. 
 
 Set to your partner, Dolly, Cut him out, Jim, Sal does put her foot down 
 good. The yallow roan 's up ! He 's a rael stormer, ring clipper, snow belcher, and 
 drag out. Southern Sketches. 
 
 DRAGGED OUT. Fatigued, exhausted, worn out with labor. 
 
 To DRAW A BEAD. To take aim with a rifle, by gradually raising the 
 front sight, called the bead, to a level with the hind sight. 
 
 One look from the Colonel brought White's rifle up to his cheek ; he drew a bead 
 on him mighty quick, and the lawyer stopped his lumbering and moved off. N. Y. 
 Spirit of the Times, Western Tale. 
 
 The Missourians, with their long five foot barrel rifles, which were their constant 
 companions, could draw a bead on a deer, a squirrel, or the white of an Indian's eye, 
 with equal coolness and certainty of killing. Borthwick's Californian, p. 151. 
 
 The moon rose, .... and rifle in hand we approached the trees where the uncon- 
 scious birds were roosting. Creeping along the round, I raised my rifle and 
 endeavored to obtain a sight, but the light was too obscure to draw a bead. Rux- 
 ton's Adventures in Mexico, p. 181. 
 
 To DRAW A STRAIGHT FURROW. A metaphor taken from the ploughman. 
 To live uprightly or decorously. 
 
 Governor B. is a sensible man ; 
 
 He stays to his home and looks arter his folks ; 
 He draws his furrow as straight as he can, 
 
 And into nobody's tater-patch pokes. The Biglow Papers.
 
 DRE DRI 131 
 
 DBEADFUL. Very, exceedingly. This and the words awful, terrible, des- 
 perate, monstrous, etc., are indiscriminately used by uneducated people 
 for the purpose of giving emphasis to an expression. 
 
 There was a swod of fine folks at Saratoga, and dreadful nice galls. Maj. 
 Downing's Letters, p. 35. 
 
 It's a fact, Major, the public has a dreadful cravin' appetite for books. Ibid. 
 May-Day in N. Y., p. 4. 
 
 The young ladies thought Mr. Harley's new storekeeper a dreadful nice young 
 man, if he had n't such a horrid nose. Chronicles of Pineville. 
 
 She was a dreadful good creature to work. Mrs. Clovers. 
 
 It is used in the same way in England, in the Westmoreland and 
 Cumberland dialects : 
 
 I send to this an, to tell thee amackily what dreadful fine things I saw i' th' road 
 tuv at yon Dublin. Poems and Glossary, p. 125. 
 
 To DRESS. To dress to death, dress to kill, dress to the nines, and, in the 
 South, to dress tip drunk, are women's phrases, which signify to overdress, 
 dress to excess. 
 
 When you see a gentleman tipteering along Broadway, with a lady wiggle-wag- 
 ging by his side, and both dressed to kill, as the vulgar would say, you may say 
 that he looks out for himself and takes care of A. No. 1. Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. 
 p. 208. 
 
 DRINK. A river. " The Big Drink " is a common term applied by South- 
 Western people to the Mississippi River. 
 
 The old boat was a rouser the biggest on the drink, had the best officers, and 
 paid the best prices. Maj. Bunkum, in N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 He kept shoving the boat out, and the first thing I knowd, down I went, kerwash 
 into the drink. Southern Sketches, p. 36. 
 
 About evenin' I got my small dug-out, and fixin' my rifle in the fore eend, I jest 
 paddled over the drink. A Night on the Missouri. 
 
 DRINKING. " He 's a drinking man," i. e. a toper. 
 
 DRIVE. In Texas, the annual gathering of large herds of cattle for the 
 purpose of branding. This is provided for by law in California. See 
 Rodeo, and Judges of the Plain. 
 
 When a regular drive is made, a dozen neighbors, from twenty miles or more 
 about, assemble at a place agreed upon, each man bringing two or three extra 
 horses. These are driven before the company, and form the nucleus of the cattle 
 herd collected. They first drive the outer part of the circuit, within which their cat- 
 tle are supposed to range, the radius of which is here about forty miles. All cattle 
 having their marks, and all calves following their cows, are herded and driven to 
 pens which have been prepared. They are absent from two to three weeks upon the 
 first drive, usually contriving to arrive by night at a pen in which the stock are 
 enclosed, otherwise guarding them in the open prairie. When the vicinity of a
 
 132 DRI DRU 
 
 house is reached, the cattle are divided. The calves are branded, and all turned 
 loose again. Olmsted's Texas, p. 369. 
 
 DRIVER. 1. He or that which drives; a coachman, a carman. Worces- 
 ter. In England, the driver of a carriage is called a " coachman." 
 2. A negro-driver, an overseer of slaves on a plantation. 
 
 To BE DRIVING AT. " What are you driving at ? " that is, what are you 
 about ? what object have you in view ? A colloquial expression, in very 
 common use. 
 
 "We confess that we are exceedingly puzzled to know exactly what our long-cher- 
 ished friend is driving at, in his repeated discussions of the question above involved. 
 N. Y. Com. Advertiser. 
 
 People ludicrate my situation, and say they do n't know what the deuce I 'm driv- 
 ing at. Neal's Charcoal Sketches. 
 
 " I have heard enough now," said the recorder, " to know what you and he would 
 be driving at." Pickings from the Picayune, p. 135. 
 
 DROGER, or DROGHER. Lumber droger; cotton droger, etc. A vessel 
 built solely for burden, and for transporting cotton, lumber, and other 
 heavy articles. 
 
 DROP GAME. A trick practised by the light-fingered gentry of New York 
 and other eastern cities on their country cousins. One drops a pocket- 
 book containing a large roll of bank-notes a short distance before an 
 approaching stranger, which a confederate picks up just as the stranger 
 is about to do so. He opens the roll, affects surprise at his discovery, 
 manifests sympathy for the loser, and tells the stranger, that, being about 
 to leave town, he will surrender it to him for $10 or $20, on condition 
 that he will advertise it and endeavor to find the owner. Greenhorn 
 eagerly snaps at the tempting bait ; but on reaching his hotel finds, of 
 course, that he is the possessor of a package of spurious money. 
 
 DROP-LETTER. A letter dropped into the post-office for a resident of 
 the same place, and which is therefore not to be mailed. 
 
 DRUMMER. A person employed by city houses to solicit the custom of 
 country merchants. See Drumming. 
 
 DRUMMING, in mercantile phrase, means the soliciting of customers. It is 
 chiefly used in reference to country merchants, or those supposed to be 
 such. Instead of patiently waiting for these persons to come and pur- 
 chase, the merchant or his clerk goes to them and solicits their custom. 
 In this manner the sale of goods is often expedited ; and though the 
 practice of drumming is held by some to be neither very modest nor 
 very dignified, still it must be owned to add very largely, in certain 
 cases, to the amount of goods sold. Indeed, without drumming, it is sus-
 
 DUB DUM 133 
 
 pected that sundry houses which make a remarkable show and noise 
 would do very little business. 
 
 The expenses of drumming amount to no small sum. Besides em- 
 ploying extra clerks and paying the extra price for their board at the 
 hotels, the merchant has to be very liberal with his money in paying for 
 wine, oyster suppers, theatre tickets, and such other means of conciliating 
 the favor of the country merchant as are usually resorted to by drum- 
 mers. Perils of Pearl Street, ch. 9. 
 
 DUBERSOME. Doubtful. A vulgarism common in the interior of New 
 England. Duberous is used in England. 
 
 I have been studyin' Tattersall's considerable, to see whether it is a safe shop to 
 trade in or no. But I 'm dubersome ; I do n't like the cut of the sporting folks here. 
 Sam Slick in England, ch. 28. 
 
 Before noon, rain came, and then the pilot muttered that he felt dubersome about 
 the appearances. Lieut. Wise, Scampavia, p. 18. 
 
 DUBOUS. A mispronunciation of dubious. 
 
 DUG-OUT. The name, in the Western States, for a canoe or boat hewn or 
 dug out of a large log. They are common in all the rivers and creeks 
 of the United States and Canada. In the latter country they are called 
 log canoes. 
 
 A cyoress suitable for a canoe, or dug-out, was selected, and in two days shaped, 
 hollowed out, and launched. A Stray Yankee in Texas, p. 35. 
 
 After a fashion I got to my dug-out, with no weapon along but the paddle. Snags 
 were plenty. I felt strong as a boss too ; and the dug-out had n't leaped more 'n 
 six lengths afore co-souse I went ! the front eend jest lifted itself agin a sawyer 
 and emptied me into the element. Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 DULL Music. A term applied to any thing tedious. 
 DUMB. Stupid. 
 
 DUMB CHILL, or DUMB AGUE. An expression common in malaria regions 
 to denote that form of intermittent fever ^jsliich has no well defined 
 " chill." 
 
 To DUMP. To unload wood, coal, etc., from a cart by tilting it up. The 
 word is used in Devonshire in the sense of to knock heavily, to stump. 
 Hence, probably, its American application. 
 
 You would have thought it ridiculous, my fair friends, if your parents had told 
 you that you were to love such a one, and nobody else, as though the heart's affec- 
 tions were a load of wood as easily dumped at one door as another. Dow's Ser- 
 mons, Vol. I. p. 254. 
 
 I once got twenty dollars from an omnibus driver for running into my carriage,- 
 knocking off a wheel, and dumping my wife and child into the street. The Upper 
 Ten Thousand, p. 149. 
 
 12
 
 134 DUM DYE 
 
 DUMPING-GROUND. A low piece of ground where earth, etc., is to be de- 
 posited for the purpose of raising its level. 
 
 There is much difficulty in getting dumping grounds for the dirt from the streets ; 
 but the contractors say they can and will do the work. N. Y. Tribune, May 18, 
 1857. 
 
 DUNFISH. Codfish cured in a particular manner, by which they acquire a 
 dun color. They command a higher price, and are much superior to 
 those cured in the ordinary way. 
 
 DUNNING. A peculiar operation for curing codfish. Webster. Fish for 
 dunning are caught early in the spring, and often in February. At the 
 Isles of Shoals, off Portsmouth, in New Hampshire, the cod are taken in 
 deep water, split, and slack-salted ; then laid in a pile for two or three 
 months, in a dark store, covered, for the greatest part of the time, with 
 salt hay or eel-grass, and pressed with some weight. In April or May 
 they are opened and piled as close as possible in the same dark store till 
 July or August, when they are fit for use. J. Haven. 
 
 DURHAM BOAT. A large, open, flat-bottomed boat formerly used on the St. 
 Lawrence, Mohawk, and other rivers. They were used as freight boats 
 only, and were propelled against the current by -means of poles. 
 
 DUTCH. It beats the Dutch is an expression often applied, in New York 
 and New England, to any thing astonishing. The earliest instance of its 
 occurrence that I have met with is in a revolutionary song written during 
 the siege of Boston, in 1775 : 
 
 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 ? 
 
 New Eng. Hist. Register, April, 1857, p. 191. 
 
 DUTCHMAN. A flaw in a stone or marble slab, filled up by an insertion. 
 
 DUTIABLE. Subject to the imposition of duties or customs. Webster. 
 This is a very convenient word, and is in common use, both by the 
 officers of the customs, and by merchants having transactions with them. 
 
 The dutiable imports this year amount to about two hundred and ten million dol- 
 lars, nearly one half of which were imported the first quarter of the year. Speech 
 of Senator Wilson, May 24, 1858. 
 
 DYED IN THE WOOL. Ingrained; thorough. 
 
 The democrats, on the authority of Mr. Cameron's letter, are beginning to claim 
 General Taylor as a democrat dyed in the wool, as a democrat of the Jeffersonian 
 order of 1798. N. Y. Com. Adv., May 24, 1847.
 
 EAG EDU 135 
 
 E. 
 
 EAGLE. A gold coin of the United States, of the value of ten dollars, so 
 called from its bearing, on the reverse, the figure of the American eagle. 
 There are also double-eagles of twenty dollars, as well as half and quar- 
 ter-eagles. 
 
 EAR-BOB. An ear-drop. 
 
 EAR-MARK. The mark made on a sheep's ear by its owner ; and hence 
 the token or signal by which a thing is known. So used also in the 
 north of England. 
 
 EARLY CANDLE-LIGHT. Used to denote the beginning of the evening ; as, 
 " The meeting will begin at early candle-light" 
 
 EARTH ALMOND. (Cyperus esculentus.) A perennial, indigenous to 
 southern Europe, growing in the form of a rush, some three feet high, 
 producing small tubes the size of a common bean, and called by the 
 Valencians " Chufas." It is one of the plants distributed by the Patent 
 Office in 1854. White, Gardening for the South. 
 
 EASY. A word in common use among merchants and bankers. " Our 
 bank is easy" meaning that its loans are not extended, or that money is 
 plentiful. " The money market is easy ; " or " money is easy" i. e. loans 
 of money may easily be procured. 
 
 EAST. About east is about right, in a proper manner. A common slang 
 expression in New Englaud. 
 
 I went into the dining-room and sot down afore a plate that had my name writ on 
 a card onto it ; and I did walk into the beef and 'taters and things about east. H. 
 Bigelow's Letters in Family Comp. 
 
 To EAT, v. a. To supply with food. A Western use of the word. 
 
 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. Pickings from the Picayune, p. 47. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL. Pertaining to education ; derived from education ; as, edu- 
 cational habits. Webster. The authority cited by Webster for the use 
 of this word is " Smith," a rather indefinite one. Mr. Pickering says 
 the word was new to him until he saw it in the following extract : 
 
 It is believed that there is not an individual of the college who would, if ques- 
 tioned, complain that he has, in any instance, felt himself pressed with opinions 
 which interfered with his educational creed. Dr. Grant's Report to the Trustees of 
 New Jersey College, 1815.
 
 136 EEL EMP 
 
 EEL-GRASS. (Zostera marina.) A plant, thrown ashore in large quantities 
 by the sea. It is also called Sea-wrack. 
 
 EEL-SPEAR. A sort of trident for catching eels. Called, in England, an 
 Eel-shear. 
 
 To EGG. To pelt with rotten eggs. 
 
 W. S. Bailey, the abolition editor of the Newport (Ky.) News, was egged out of 
 Alexandria, Campbell county, in that State, on Monday. Bolt. Bun, Aug. 1, 
 1857. 
 
 ELEPHANT. To see the elephant is to gain experience of the world, gener- 
 ally at some cost to the investigator. The phrase doubtless originated 
 from some occurrence at a menagerie. 
 
 E'EN A'MOST, for almost. A vulgarism. 
 
 He knows the catechism, and has got the whole Bible e'eny most by heart. Mar- 
 garet, p. 113. 
 
 The village boys would raise a party of gals, and start off early in the morning 
 for Toad Hill, where the blackberries was e'en a'most as plentiful as mosquitoes in 
 these diggings. Lafayette Chronicle. 
 
 O, 't is a dreadful thing to be 
 
 In such distress and misery ! 
 
 I 'm e'en a'most a nateral fool, 
 
 All on account o' Sally Poole. Widow Bedott Papers. 
 
 EEND, for end. A vulgar pronunciation of the word, which is also common 
 in various parts of England. 
 
 EGYPT. A nickname given to southern Illinois ; according to some, on ac- 
 count of its fertility ; according to others, because of the mental darkness 
 of its inhabitants. 
 
 To ELECT. To choose, to prefer, to determine in favor of. Webster. 
 The Americanism consists in the construction of this verb with a follow- 
 ing infinitive. 
 
 In pursuance of the joint resolution of congress "for annexing Texas to the 
 United States," my predecessor, on the third day of March, 1845, elected to submit 
 the first and second sections of that resolution to the republic of Texas, as an over- 
 ture, on the part of the United States, for her admission as a State into our Union. 
 This election I approved. Message to Congress, Dec. 1, 1845. 
 
 If it be said that all travellers will not elect to go by the express train, and that 
 there should be further time and greater allowance than five days, many travellers 
 will take other routes, etc. Report on Pacific Railroad. 
 
 ELEGANT, for excellent, applied to articles of food and drink, is very com- 
 mon ; as, elegant water, elegant beef, elegant butter ! See Beautiful. 
 
 EMPIRE STATE. The State of New York ; so called from the enterprise 
 of its people, its wealth, population, extent of canals, railroads, etc.
 
 EMP ESQ 137 
 
 The Empire State is your New York ; 
 
 I grant it hard to mate her ; 
 Yet still give me the Nutmeg State, 
 
 Where shall we find a greater 1 Allin, Yankee Ballads. 
 
 EMPTYINGS. (Pron. emptins.) The lees of beer, cider, etc. ; yeast, or 
 any thing by which bread is leavened. 
 
 'T will take more emptins, by a long chalk, than this new party 's got, 
 To give such heavy cakes as these a start, I tell ye what. 
 
 The Biglow Papers. 
 
 To ENGAGE. To promise or pledge one's self to perform certain duties. 
 In the State of Rhode Island all civil or military officers, instead of being 
 sworn to perform the duties which appertain to their offices, and to obey 
 the laws, are engaged so to do. 
 
 From the formation of this colony in 1647, no person was compelled to take an 
 oath, for the reason, probably, that it involved an act of worship ; nor has any per- 
 son since, under any circumstances, been obliged to take one. An affirmation, on 
 penalty of perjury, has been received with as full effect as an oath. Persons ap- 
 pointed to office, were, in the technical language of Rhode Island, engaged to the 
 faithful performance of their duties ; and the appointing power at the same time en- 
 tered into a reciprocal engagement to the officer, wherein they engage themselves to 
 the utmost of their power to support and uphold the officer in the lawful perform- 
 ance of his duties. Colonial Records of Rhode Island. 
 
 ENGINE. (Pron. injine, the last syllable rhyming with line.) A Fire- 
 engine. See Machine. 
 
 ENGINEER. The engine-driver on our railroads is thus magniloquently 
 designated. 
 
 To ENJOY. To enjoy bad health is a whimsical yet by no means uncom- 
 mon expression. 
 
 My husband enjoyed miserable health for a number of years afore he died. Widow 
 Bedott, p. 143. 
 
 ENTRY. The fee paid to the State upon entering an action in the Supreme 
 Court or Court of Common Pleas in Rhode Island. 
 
 ERIE. Hennepin (ch. xix.) says, " the Havens called this Lake Erige, or 
 Erilke, that is, the Lake of the Cat ; " but the inhabitants of Canada 
 have softened it into Erie. In ch. LXIX. he again mentions it as 
 " Lake Erie, or of the Cat." 
 
 ESQUIPOMGOLE. Another name for Kinnickinnick, or a mixture of tobacco 
 and cornel bark. 
 
 ESQUIRE. In England this title is given to the younger sons of noblemen, 
 to officers of the king's courts and of the household, to counsellors at law, 
 justices of the peace while in commission, sheriffs, and other gentlemen. 
 
 12*
 
 138 EUC EXC 
 
 In the United States the title is given to public officers of all degrees, 
 from governors down to justices and attorneys. Indeed, the title, in 
 addressing letters, is bestowed on any person at pleasure, and contains no 
 definite description. It is merely an expression of respect. Webster. 
 
 In our own dear title-bearing, democratic land, the title of esquire, officially and 
 by courtesy, has come to include pretty much everybody. Of course everybody in 
 office is an esquire, and all who have been in office enjoy and glory in the title. And 
 what with a standing army of legislators, an elective and ever-changing magistracy, 
 and almost a whole population of militia officers, present and past, all named as 
 esquires in their commissions, the title is nearly universal. N. Y. Com. Advertiser. 
 
 EUCRE. A sort of game played with cards, very much in vogue at the 
 West. 
 
 EVENING. In the South and West there is no afternoon. From noon till 
 dark is evening. It is strange to an unaccustomed ear to be accosted with 
 " Good evening" at two or three o'clock in the day. Where this usage 
 prevails, immediately after sunset it is " night." 
 
 To EVENTUATE. To happen, to issue, to take effect. A word not unfre- 
 quently used in the United States, but rarely used by English writers. 
 Worcester. 
 
 EVERGLADES. Tracts of land covered with water and grass ; peculiar to 
 the Southern States. In Florida the term is applied to portions of the 
 land lower than the coast, and but little above the level of the sea, cov- 
 ered with fresh water. The islands elevated above this swamp are called 
 '" hummocks." 
 
 EVERLASTING. Very; exceedingly. 
 
 New York is an everlasting great concern. Maj. Downing, May-day in New York. 
 
 EVERLASTING. Life Everlasting. (Gnaphalium.) So called from its 
 medicinal properties (so the books say), but much more likely from the 
 French " Immortelle," a similar plant, so named from the endurance of 
 its flowers when dried. 
 
 EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE. A singular though very common expression, 
 signifying the same as every now and then. It is probably English. 
 
 EXCELLENCY. A title given by courtesy to governors of States and to 
 ministers of foreign countries. 
 
 EXCHANGEABILITY. The quality or state of being exchangeable. Web- 
 ster. 
 
 The law ought not to be contravened by an express article admitting the ex- 
 changeability of such persons. Washington. 
 
 EXCURSIONIST. A person who goes on a pleasure trip. A common news- 
 paper term.
 
 EXE EYE 139 
 
 At a few minutes past seven o'clock, on Saturday evening, the steamer Powhatan 
 was loosed from her moorings, and, with some two hundred excursionists on board, 
 steamed down the Potomac River. Wash. Evening Star, July 6, 1858. 
 
 THE EXECUTIVE. The officer, whether king, president, or other chief 
 magistrate, who superintends the execution of the laws ; the person who 
 administers the government ; executive power and authority in govern- 
 ment. Webster. 
 
 THE EXECUTIVE CITY. Washington. 
 
 EXPERIENCE. To give, tell, or relate one's experience, are phrases in use 
 among certain sects, and meaning, to relate before a meeting of the church 
 the progress of one's mind in becoming an ardent believer in the doc- 
 trines of Christianity. 
 
 Now brethren and sisters I 'm going to give my experience, to tell how I got 
 religion. Western Pulpit. 
 
 At these meetings there was praying and exhorting, and telling experiences, and 
 singing sentimental religious hymns. Goodrich's Reminiscences, Vol. I. p. 214. 
 
 To EXPERIENCE KELIGION. To become converted. 
 
 I experienced religion at one of brother Armstrong's protracted meetings ; and I 
 tell ye, them special efforts is great things ever since I came out I 've felt like a 
 new critter. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 108. 
 
 EXPRESS. A rapid conveyance of packages and goods, which in the 
 course of the last twenty years has grown up into an enormous business 
 in the United States. 
 
 To EXPRESS. To transmit by a special messenger or by telegraph in an- 
 ticipation of the regular mail. 
 
 The President's message will be expressed through to Boston, by order of the Post- 
 master-General. Washington Republic. 
 
 EXPRESS-MAN. A man belonging to an express office who calls for and 
 brings parcels with a wagon. 
 
 EXPRESS OFFICE. An establishment which rapidly transmits parcels and 
 goods. 
 
 EXPRESS WAGON. The wagon in which packages, boxes, etc., are taken 
 to and from an express office. 
 
 EYES SKINNED. To keep one's eyes skinned is to be on the alert. 
 
 Keep your eyes skinned and your rifles clean; and the minute you find I'm back, 
 set off. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 Keep your eye skinned for sign, and listen to my horn. Traits of American 
 Humor, Vol. 2. 
 
 Now, Mr. Arch, I 've got you, and if you don't keep your eye skinned, I '11 lick 
 you till your hide won't hold shucks, Mike Hooter, by a Missourian.
 
 140 F A C F A L 
 
 F. 
 
 To FACE THE Music. To meet the emergency. It corresponds to the 
 English slang phrase, " to come up to the scratch." 
 
 The Worcester Spy, in commenting upon the commercial failures, says : 
 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 man- 
 ifested. Sept. 22, 1857. 
 
 FACTORY COTTON. Unbleached cotton goods, of domestic manufacture. 
 
 FAIR. Real, genuine ; as, " This is not a chalk egg, it is a. fair one." New 
 York ; a word mostly used by children. 
 
 FAIR SHAKE. A fair trade ; a satisfactory bargain or exchange. A New 
 England vulgarism. 
 
 To FAIR OFF, FAIR UP. To clear off, clear up. South-western. 
 
 He quitted the boat at Natchez, moved to the North, and whenever he see a fog 
 risin', took to his bed and kept it till it fair'd off. Western Tales. 
 
 There 's going to be a nasty fog to-night, and you had best run the boat till nine, 
 and then tie up have the steam kept up, and call me if it fairs up. Major Bunk- 
 um, N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 To FALL. Often improperly used for fell in the United States, and in 
 some parts of England ; as, " to fall a tree," instead of " to fell a tree." 
 Worcester. 
 
 FALL. 1. The fall of the leaf; autumn ; the time when the leaves drop 
 from the trees. 
 
 This beautifully picturesque expression, which corresponds so well to 
 its opposite spring, has been said to be peculiar to the United States. 
 Mr. Pickering notices the folloAving remark in Rees's Cyclopaedia : " In 
 North America, the season in which the fall of the leaf takes place de- 
 rives its name from that circumstance, and instead of autumn is univer- 
 sally called the fall." ART. Deciduous Leaves. It is used, however, in 
 England in the same sense ; although autumn is as generally employed 
 there, as fall is in the United States. 
 
 What crowds of patients the town doctor kills, 
 Or how last fall he raised the weekly bills. Dryden's Juvenal. 
 Hash worked the farm, burnt coal in the fall, made sugar in the spring, drank, 
 smoked, etc. Margaret, p. 13. 
 
 2. The apparatus used in hoisting and lowering goods in warehouses, 
 etc. The term is borrowed from a contrivance for the same purpose 
 used on shipboard. 
 
 FALL- WAY. The opening or well through which goods are raised and low-
 
 FAM FAR 141 
 
 ered by a fall. It is often merely a succession of openings through the 
 several floors of the building, which are generally uninclosed, and the 
 source of frequent accidents. 
 
 FAMILY. This word is often used to denote a man's wife and children, es- 
 pecially the latter. Hence the phrases, " a man of family" " have you 
 any family ? " and in the West, " How is your father's family ? " 
 
 FAMILY EOOM. This term is applied, in the "West, to a room generally oc- 
 cupied by the mother and young children to the exclusion of visitors and 
 strangers. 
 
 To FAN OUT. To make a show at an examination, alluding probably to 
 the peacock spreading his tail. This term originated at the United States 
 Military Academy at West Point, Avhere for years it was local ; but it is 
 now gradually finding its way through the country. 
 
 FANCIES. Fancy stocks, which see below. 
 
 Yesterday was a blue day in Wall street : the fancies looked down, and the bears 
 looked up. Stock Report, N. Y. Herald. 
 
 FANCY STOCKS. A species of stocks which are bought and sold to a great 
 extent in New York. Unlike articles of merchandise, which may be 
 seen and examined by the dealer, and which always have an intrinsic 
 value in every fluctuation of the market, these stocks are wholly wrapped 
 . in mystery ; no one knows any thing about them, except the officers and 
 directors of the companies, who, from their position, are not the most likely 
 men to tell you the truth. They serve no other purpose, therefore, than as 
 the representative of value in stock gambling. Nearly all the fluctuations 
 in their prices are artificial. A small fluctuation is more easily produced 
 than a large one ; and as the calculations are made on the par value, a 
 fluctuation of one per cent, on stock worth $20 a share, is just five times 
 as much on the amount of money invested as it would be on a par stock. 
 Consequently, if a " Flunkie " can be drawn in, he may be fleeced five 
 times as quick in these as in good stocks. A Week in Wall Street, p. 83. 
 
 FANDANGO. (Spanish.) A lively dance. In Texas, New Mexico, and 
 California, this term is applied to a ball or dance of any sort. 
 
 FARALLOX. (Spanish, pron. farayon.) A small pointed island in the sea. 
 The meaning of this geographical term, applied to islands on the Califor- 
 nia coast, has puzzled many. 
 
 FARINA. Wheaten grits. 
 
 FARZINO, or FARZINER. A vulgar contraction of far-as-I-know, exten- 
 sively used through New England and New York, including Long Island.
 
 142 F A S F E D 
 
 Gen. And what kind of characters are the Count and Countess ? 
 
 Doolittle. Why, I han't been here such a despud while, as to have lamt myself 
 much about the matter. But by hearsay, they are a topping sort of people, and 
 pretty much like the Boston folks, full of notions. At times, he is obstropulous. 
 He may be a straight-going critter, farzino, manwards ; but in his dealings with 
 t' other sex, he is a little twistical. D. Humphreys, Yankee in England. 
 
 FAST. That lives at a rapid rate ; dissipated. A flash word. 
 
 Mr. Cephas Bubble is undeniably the fastest young man in the market; for he 's 
 not only ashamed of his parentage and birthplace, but he is actually ashamed he 
 was ever a boy. Miss Wellmont, Substance and Shade, p. 108. 
 
 Fast books, like fast men, soon exhaust their constitutions. Norton's Literary 
 Gazette. 
 
 FAT-PORK TREE. A name of the Coco-Plum. Barbadoes. 
 
 FEAST. A corruption of the Dutch vies, nice, fastidious. " I 'm feast of 
 it," is a literal translation of the Dutch Ik ben er vies van, i. e. I am dis- 
 gusted with, I loathe it. A New York phrase, mostly confined to the de- 
 scendants of the Dutch. 
 
 To FEATHER. A friend has reminded me of this colloquial word, which 
 is used in some parts of New England to denote the appearance of cur- 
 dled cream, when it rises upon the surface of a cup of tea or coffee, in the 
 form of little flakes, somewhat resembling feathers. We say, " The cream 
 feathers" Pickering. 
 
 FEDERAL. Founded upon or formed by a league, treaty, or compact, be- 
 tween independent States. The government of the United States is a 
 federal government, as being formed by the union of several independent 
 States, each surrendering a portion of its power to the central authority. 
 A federal is strictly distinguishable from a national government (though 
 in the United States the terms are often used indiscriminately), the latter 
 being properly an aggregation of individual citizens. The Constitution 
 of the United States is pronounced by Mr. Madison to be neither a na- 
 tional nor a federal constitution, but a composition of both. Federalist, 
 No. 39. 
 
 FEDERAL CITY. Washington, as the seat of government. 
 
 FEDERAL CURRENCY. The legal currency of the United States. Its 
 coins are the gold eagle of ten dollars ; the double eagle, twenty dollars ; 
 half and quarter eagles of proportionate value. The silver dollar of one 
 hundred cents, its half, quarter, tenth, and twentieth parts. The coin of 
 ten cents value is called a dime ; that of five cents, a half-dime. The low- 
 est coin in common use was the copper, now supplanted by the nickel cent. 
 Half-cent coins have been made, but few or none of late years. In the 
 commercial cities and along the sea-board, Spanish coins of a dollar and
 
 FED 
 
 the fractional parts of a dollar were very common, and passed currently 
 for their original value, until the act of February 21, 1857, which, by 
 reducing the value of the quarter, eighth, and sixteenth of a dollar by 
 twenty per cent., caused the foreign coinage to be suddenly withdrawn 
 from the currency. 
 
 Previous to the adoption of our federal currency, pounds, shillings, 
 and pence were used. But these denominations became unstable in value, 
 in consequence of the great depreciation which took place in the paper- 
 money issued by the colonies. 
 
 In the year 1702, exchange on England was 33^ per cent, above par ; 
 and silver and gold bore the same relative value to paper-money. The 
 depreciation in the latter continued to increase until, in the year 1749, 
 1,100 currency was only equal to 100 sterling, or eleven for one. In 
 1750, a stop was put to the further depreciation of the money of the 
 province of Massachusetts by a remittance from England of 183,000 
 sterling, in Spanish dollars, to reimburse the expense the province had 
 been at in the reduction of Cape Breton in the old French war. The 
 depreciated money was then called in, and paid off at the rate of a Span- 
 ish dollar for forty-five shillings of the paper currency. At the same 
 time a law was made fixing the par of exchange between England and 
 Massachusetts at 133^ currency for 100 sterling, and six shillings to 
 the Spanish dollar. 
 
 The difference of exchange, or depreciation of the paper-money, regu- 
 lated in the same manner the currencies of the other colonies. Through- 
 out New England, as has been before stated, it was six shillings to the 
 dollar of 4s. Qd. sterling. In New York, eight shillings, or about seventy- 
 five per cent, depreciation. Pennsylvania, 7s. 6<, or about sixty-six per 
 cent, depreciation. In some of the Southern States it was 4s. Qd. to the 
 dollar, and accordingly no depreciation. In Halifax currency, including 
 the present British provinces, it was five shillings to the dollar, or about 
 eleven per cent., etc. etc. 
 
 In consequence of the above-named diversity in the colonial currencies, 
 in New England the Spanish real of one eighth of a dollar, or 12^ cents, 
 is called a ninepence ; in New York, a shilling ; in Pennsylvania, Mary- 
 land, and Virginia, elevenpence or a levy ; and in many of the Southern 
 States, a Int. The half real, of the value of one sixteenth of a dollar, is 
 called in New York a sixpence ; in New England, fourpence ha'penny, or 
 simply fourpence ; in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, a ftp ; and 
 in Louisiana, a. picayune. The disappearance of the coins from circula- 
 tion will probably soon cause these names to fall likewise into disuse. 
 
 FEDERALISTS. An appellation in America given to the friends of the Con- 
 stitution of the United States, at its formation and adoption ; and to the
 
 144 F E D F E L 
 
 political party which, favored the administration of President Washing- 
 ton. Webster. 
 
 To FEDERALIZE. To unite in compact, as different States ; to confederate 
 for political purposes. Webster. 
 
 FEED. Used as a noun, for grass ; as, "tall feed," i. e. high grass. 
 
 To FEEL. To feel to do a thing is an expression commonly used by some 
 clergymen, for to feel inclined, to be disposed to do it. 
 
 FEET. There are people who consider it witty to use this plural instead of 
 its singular foot. 
 
 When I was a feet high, I was my mammy's joy, 
 The ladies all caressed me, and called me pretty boy. 
 They said I was a beauty, my face it was complete, 
 Except this tarnal ugly nose, but it stuck out a feet. 
 
 Western Melodies. 
 
 FEEZE. " To be in a feeze" is to be in a state of excitement. 
 
 Larcenie is the felonious taking away of another man's personal goods without his 
 knowledge or insight, yet without making any assault upon his person or putting 
 him into a. f ease. Code of Laws ofWtode Island, 1647. 
 
 Some years ago, we remember, New York was in its annual feeze about mad dogs, 
 and the public mind was somewhat exercised touching the best method of doing 
 murder upon the unhappy canines. N. Y. Commercial Advei-tiser, Oct. 16, 1848. 
 
 When a man 'a in a feeze, there 's no more sleep that hitch. Sam Slick in Eng- 
 land, ch. 2. 
 
 FELLOW or BLACK FELLOW. A black man. Southern. 
 
 FELLOW-COUNTRYMAN. One belonging to the same country, a compatriot. 
 This has been censured as an American pleonasm, like play-actor, inas- 
 much as good English usage has conferred this meaning on the word 
 countryman alone. (See Pickering, sub voce.) Still the want of a more 
 definite, expression has been felt in England as well as in this country ; 
 and the term, fellow-countryman, as distinguished from countryman, rustic, 
 as the French compatriote and German landsmann are distinguished from 
 paysan and landmann, has long been used in America, and in England 
 has been adopted and sanctioned by such authorities as Southey and Lord 
 Brougham. 
 
 FELLOWSHIP. Companionship; consort; society. Johnson. With us it 
 is often used in religious writings and discourses, instead of the word com- 
 munion, to denote " mutual intercourse or union in religious worship, or 
 in doctrine and discipline." 
 
 To FELLOWSHIP. A verb formed from the preceding noun. To fellow- 
 ship with is to hold communion with; to unite with in doctrine and
 
 F E M F E N 145 
 
 discipline. This barbarism appears with disgusting frequency in the 
 reports of ecclesiastical conventions, etc., and in the religious newspapers 
 generally. Mr. Pickering, in the Supplement to his Vocabulary, said he 
 had just become acquainted with the word. The following is the first ex- 
 ample which he gives : 
 
 We considered him heretical, essentially unsound in the faith ; and on this ground 
 
 refused to fellowship with him. Address to the Christian Public, Greenfield, 1813. 
 If the Christian Alliance could not fellowship with the Southern slaveholders for 
 
 gain, they ought to say so outright. Speech at the Christian Alliance Conference, 
 
 May 8, 1847. . 
 
 It is also used actively without the preposition, as in the following ex- 
 amples : 
 
 How can we expect the fellowsliip of the preachers of the reformation 7 I do not 
 expect it, because our fellowship was predicated upon a vain uniformity of belief. 
 If it were, I could never have fellow shipped them 1 Rev. J. B. Ferguson's Discourse. 
 
 "We therefore fellowship him in taking a course of preparatory studies for the 
 Christian ministry. Board of Madison University, New York, Jan. 1, 1840. 
 
 FEMALE. A person of the female sex, a woman or girl. There has been 
 much said of the use and abuse of this word, and whether it is proper to 
 designate women by it. Doctor Johnson thus defines female : " A she ; 
 one of the sex that brings forth young." Mrs. Sarah J. Hale, in speak- 
 ing of the word, has the following remarks (we do not indorse her gram- 
 matical criticism) : " Where used to discriminate between the sexes, the 
 word female is an adjective. We do not object to the term when used 
 necessarily, as an adjective ; but many writers employ the word as a noun, 
 which, when applied to woman, is improper, and sounds unpleasantly, as 
 referring to an animal. To illustrate : almost every newspaper we open, 
 or book we read, will have sentences like these : ' A man and two females 
 were seen, etc./ ' A gentleman was walking with a female companion,' 
 ' The females were much alarmed,' ' A female child,' etc. Now why 
 is such a style of writing tolerated ? Why is the adjective, which applies 
 to all female animals, used as the noun designating woman ? It is inele- 
 gant as well as absurd. Expressed correctly, thus, 'A man and two 
 women,' etc., ' A gentleman and a lady,' ( The women were alarmed,' 
 1 A little girl.' Who does not see and feel that these last sentences are 
 in better taste, more correct in language, and more definite in meaning ? 
 We call on our sex, on women, to use pen and voice to correct the error 
 of language which degrades them by the animal epithet only." 
 
 In the House of Delegates in Maryland, in a debate " on the passage of the bill 
 to protect the reputation of unmarried jfema/es," the title was amended by striking out 
 the word "females," and inserting " women," as the word "female " was an 
 Americanism in that application. Baltimore Patriot, March, 1839. 
 
 FEN. A prohibitory exclamation used by boys in their games ; as, "Fen 
 
 13
 
 H6 FEN FID 
 
 play!" i. e. I forbid you to play, stop! Compare the Latin defendo, 
 French defendse. 
 
 FENCE. 1. In politics, " to be on the fence " is to be neutral, or to be 
 ready to join the strongest party, whenever it can be ascertained which 
 
 is so. 
 
 When every fool knows that a man represents, 
 
 Not the fellows that sent him, but them on the fence, 
 
 Impartially ready to jump either side, 
 
 And make the first use of a turn of the tide. Biglow Papers, 
 
 2. A house where stolen goods are received. 
 
 FENCE-MAN. A politician who is " on the fence." 
 
 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 coun- 
 try, and that he was always their first choice. N. Y. Herald, Oct. 14, 1848. 
 
 FENCE-RIDING. The practice of " sitting on the fence," or remaining neu- 
 tral in a political contest until it can be seen " which way the cat is going 
 to jump." 
 
 The South will not vote for a Northern candidate who is nominated as such, nor 
 the North for a Southern man who is nominated on exclusive Southern principles. 
 In this matter there can be no neutral ground. The dividing line is narrow, but 
 distinct ; it admits of no fence-riding ; the candidate must be on one side or the 
 other ; and when the time shall come, that either the North or the South adopts a 
 candidate on sectional grounds, it will not be difficult to foretell the issue. N. Y. 
 Mirror. 
 
 FERRY-FLAT. A flat boat used for crossing, and sometimes for descending, 
 the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Flint says : " The ferry-flat is 
 a scow-boat, and, when used as a boat of descent for families, has a roof 
 or covering. These are sometimes in the vernacular phrase called sleds." 
 Hist, and Geog. of Miss. Valley. 
 
 FETTICUS or VETTIKOST, vulg. FATTIKOWS. (Valerianella.) Corn- 
 salad, or Lamb's-lettuce. A word used in New York. 
 
 To FETCH UP. To stop suddenly. This sense of the word is not noticed 
 in the English dictionaries, nor by Webster. "We often hear the phrase, 
 " He fetched up all standing," that is, he made a sudden halt. It is a 
 nautical vulgarism, the figure being that of a ship which is suddenly 
 brought to, while at full speed and with all her sails set. 
 
 FEW. Used as a slang term, a few means a little. 
 
 " I say, stranger, tell me about the trick of the wells' blowing up ; and I '11 tell you 
 the trick of the gun, which rather skeared you a few, as I think." Hoffman, Forest 
 Scenes. 
 
 FID OF TOBACCO. A quid of tobacco. According to Halliwell, the word 
 jid is used in the South of England to signify a small, thick lump.
 
 FID FIL U7 
 
 FIDDLER. A kind of small crab, with one large claw and a very small one. 
 It lives on the salt meadows, where it makes its burrows. 
 
 Fidlars are a sort of small crabs, that lie in holes in the marshes. The raccoons 
 eat them very much. I never knew any one to try whether they were good meat or 
 no. Lawson's Carolina, 1718. 
 
 FIELD-DRIVER. A civil officer, whose duty it is to take up and impound 
 swine, cattle, sheep, horses, etc. going at large in the public highways, or 
 on common and unimproved lands, and not under the charge of a keeper. 
 New England. 
 
 FIELD MARTIN. A name sometimes given in the South to the King-Bird. 
 
 FIELD NOTES. The notes and memoranda made by a surveyor or engi- 
 neer in the field. 
 
 FILE. A cloth used for wiping a floor after scrubbing. 
 FILE-PAIL, or FILING-PAIL. A wash-pail. 
 
 FILLIBUSTER. (Spanish, jfilibustero.) A freebooter. A word brought in- 
 to common use in consequence of the expeditions against Cuba under 
 Lopez in the year 1851, to the members of which expedition it was ap- 
 plied. It is from the Spanish jilibustero, which, like the French flibus- 
 tier, is itself a corruption of the English freebooter, German freibeuter, a 
 term imported into England during the Low Country wars of Queen 
 Elizabeth's time, and pretty generally applied to the Buccaneers who rav- 
 aged Spanish America about 1680-90. An attempt has been made to 
 deduce the etymology of the word from the Low Dutch vlie-boot, i. e. 
 fly-boat, a sort of Dutch clipper. 
 
 Our modern filibusters are the scum of our society, not men whom " quick bos- 
 oms " drive upon desperate adventures ; but men whom rascality has outlawed, 
 men whom society, instead of sending forth with blessings, kicks out with contempt. 
 Broken down gamblers, drunken lawyers, unsuccessful publicans, dissipated shoe- 
 makers, detested swindlers, men under whose feet every plank has broken, are those 
 who now-a-days assume the bearing, and attempt to walk in the footsteps, of Cortez 
 or of Clive. N. Y. Courier and Enquirer. 
 
 To FILLIBUSTER. To acquire by freebooting. 
 
 " "What was Moses but a filibuster, whose mission was to dispossess tribes retro- 
 grading (or whose civilization was corrupting before matured), and to plant in their 
 stead another people, whose subsequent annals show them to have been at least in no 
 wise superior to our own ? What were the Normans, from whom the sovereigns of 
 Great Britain affect to derive their descent, and a portion of their title to the crown, 
 but fillibusters 1 "What the Pilgrim Fathers 1 but fillibusters ? What State, what 
 territory in this Union has not been filibustered from the Indians, or purchased from 
 those who had filibustered it ? Have ever five years elapsed down to the present 
 time since the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers that some of the monarchies of Europe 
 have not, somewhere, been filibustering something?" Letter of Gen. Henningsen to 
 Senator Toombs, 1857.
 
 148 FIL FIP 
 
 FILIBUSTERING, FiLLiBUSTERiSM. Freebooting, freebootery. 
 
 The history of British India is but one vast scheme of filibustering. Alexander 
 the Great was a fillibustcr ; so was Caesar, and so Napoleon. Nicholas in his day is 
 a fillibuster, and so was Charles the XII. Cortez was a fillibuster, and every foot of 
 Spanish dominion in America was acquired by filibustering alone. Every foot of 
 Mexican soil is now under the dominion, language, laws, usages, and liturgy of fili- 
 busterism. California Pioneer, Jan. 1854. 
 
 Colonel H. P. Watkins was convicted, March 24, 1854, in the United States Dis- 
 trict Court, of setting on foot a military expedition against the republic of Mexico 
 in other words, of filibusterism. Annals of San Francisco, p. 525. 
 
 FILLIPEEN or PHILLIPINA. (German, Viellielchen.) There is a custom, 
 common in the Northern States at dinner or evening parties when almonds 
 or other nuts are eaten, to reserve such as are double or contain two ker- 
 nels, which are called Jillipeens. If found by a lady, she gives one of 
 the kernels to a gentleman, when both eat their respective kernels. When 
 the parties again meet, each strives to be the first to exclaim, Fillipeen ! 
 for by so doing he or she is entitled to a present from the other. Often- 
 times the most ingenious methods are resorted to by both ladies and gen- 
 tlemen to surprise each other with the sudden exclamation of this myste- 
 rious word, which is to bring forth a forfeit. 
 
 In a book on German life and manners, entitled " A Bout with the 
 Burschens, or Heidelberg in 1844," is an account of the existence of this 
 custom in Germany, which at the same time furnishes us with the ety- 
 mology of the word: 
 
 Amongst the queer customs and habits of Germany, there is one which struck me 
 as being particularly original, and which I should recommend to the consideration of 
 turf-men in England ; who might, perhaps, find it nearly as good a way of getting 
 rid of their spare cash as backing horses that have been made safe to lose, and prize 
 fighters who have never intended to fight. It is a species of betting, and is accom- 
 plished thus : Each of two persons eats one of the kernels of a nut or almond which 
 is double. The first of the two who, after so doing, takes any thing from the hand 
 of the other, without saying Ich denke, "I think," has to make the other a present, 
 of a value which is sometimes previously determined, and sometimes left to the gen- 
 erosity of the loser. The presents are called Vielliebchens, and are usually trifles of 
 a few florins' value ; a pipe, riding-whip, or such like. 
 
 .FILLS. A common mispronunciation for thills, the shafts of a wagon or 
 chaise. 
 
 FINEFIED. Made fine ; dandified. 
 
 If this new judge is the slicked up, Jinefied sort of a character they pictur' him, I 
 don't want to see him. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 73. 
 
 FIPPENNY BIT, or contracted, FIP. Fivepence. In Pennsylvania, and 
 several of the Southern States, the vulgar name for the Spanish half-real. 
 (See Federal Currency.} Fippence, for fivepence, is also provincial in 
 England.
 
 FIR FIR 149 
 
 To FIRE. To fling with the hand, as a stone or other missile. 
 
 To FIRE AWAY. To begin ; to go on. An expression borrowed from the 
 language of soldiers and sailors. 
 
 The Chairman rose and said : " We are not ready yet, we must go on in order." 
 Calls for Mr. H . Mr. H from the midst of the audience said, " Gentle- 
 men, I beg to be excused, I came here to listen, not to speak." Loud ci-ies of " Go 
 ahead! " " Out with it ! " "Fire away!" 'Whereupon he commenced. N. Y. Her- 
 ald, Sketch of a Political Meeting. 
 
 To FIRE INTO THE WRONG FLOCK is a metaphorical expression used at 
 the West, denoting that one has mistaken his object, as when a sportsman 
 fires at a different flock from what he intended ; it is synonymous with 
 " To bark up the wrong tree." 
 
 I said, when General J cocked his gun and began his war upon the Senate, he 
 
 would find he had fired into the wrong flock. Crockett's Speech, Tour, p. 81. 
 
 I will make that goney a caution to sinners I know. He has fired into the wrong 
 flock this time. I '11 teach him not to do it again. Sam Slick, Human Nature, 
 p. 107. 
 
 FIRE-EATERS. A name given by their political opponents to the advocates 
 of extreme Southern views. Of recent introduction. 
 
 The fire-eaters in the territory and the fire-eaters outside do not at all agree in their 
 Views of what is proper to be done in reference to voting on the constitution. Le- 
 compton (Kansas) Democrat, Nov. 1857. 
 
 The fire-eaters are making a very " big boo for a little goose." There is no 
 strength whatever out of the Gulf States ; and although they keep Walker very close 
 in his room, he is seen and known enough to make all efforts to elevate him even to 
 the rank of a bold pirate ridiculous. N. Y. Evening Post, 1857. 
 
 FIRE-HUNT. A hunt for game in the night with the aid of a long-handled 
 pan containing light wood or pitch-pine knots ignited. This is carried on 
 the shoulder of the hunter until he sees the eyes of the animal of which 
 he is in pursuit. 
 
 The fire-hunt was Sam's hobby. He had often urged me to accompany him, just 
 to see how slick he could shine a buck's eyes, and had drawn from me a promise 
 to go with him on some of these hunts. Traits of American Humor, Vol. II. p. 
 171. 
 
 FIRE-NEW. New from the forge ; brand-new. Johnson. This old and 
 nearly obsolete expression is sometimes used by us. 
 
 You should then have accosted her ; and with some excellent jests, fire-new from 
 the mint, you should have banged the youth into darkness. Shakspeare, Twelfth 
 Night, III. 2. 
 
 The democracy of Washington, both in and out of Congress, huzzaed, sang, 
 flaunted torches, held mass-meetings, to exult over the liberation of the French ; but 
 when the liberation of Americans from a much severer and more abject bondage came 
 under consideration, they were and are ferocious for the punishment, by law or vio- 
 
 13*
 
 150 FIR FIR 
 
 lence, not of the enslavers, but of the liberators ! Instantly they are seized with a 
 fire-new reverence for the constitution and laws ! N. Y. Tribune, April 25, 1848. 
 
 FIRE-WATER. The name given by some of the Indian tribes to ardent 
 spirits. 
 
 Magua's Canada fathers came into the woods, and taught him to drink fire-water, 
 and he became a rascal. Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans, p. 146. 
 
 The Taos whiskey, a raw, fiery spirit, has a ready market among the trappers and 
 Indian traders, who find the fire-water the most profitable article of trade with the 
 aborigines. Ruxton's Adventures in the Rocky Mountains, p. 200. 
 
 FIRST. One, single. An absurd use of the word, which has recently crept 
 into the newspapers and public speeches from the colloquial language of 
 the "West. " I won't pay you the first red cent," i. e. I will not pay you 
 a single cent. 
 
 And here was I, who had been half tempted to fret because a stream of water 
 leaking through the top of the coach could n't alight anywhere else but on my knees, 
 which I could n't move the first inch, absurdly fancying that but for that I might 
 have slept. Letter in N. Y. Tribune, May 23, 1849. 
 
 Think how many of the young mechanics of New York who are earning their ten 
 or twelve dollars per week, do not save the first cent from one year's end to the other, 
 but squander all they ought to lay up in dissipation. Ibid., Aug. 20, 1849. 
 
 I am not aware of having committed the first act which should bring upon me the 
 displeasure of the house or any of its members. W. A. Gilbert's Speech in House 
 of Representatives, Feb. 27, 1857. 
 
 FIRST CLASS. A man in England possesses notable capacity, and people 
 style him capable, or able, or great. In Canada, he is designated first 
 class. To speak of a first class carriage, or a first class prize, or even a 
 first class prize ox. may be right enough ; but why apply phrases with 
 such poor associations to men of splendid intellect ? Is it not enough that 
 a man be great ? Will he seem any greater when indissolubly associated 
 with a railway van? Rev. A. C. Geikie, in Canadian Journal, Sept. 
 1857. 
 
 FIRST RATE. Of the first class or order ; superior ; superexcellent. An 
 expression now in very common use, applied, as most superlatives are in 
 the United States, with very little discrimination. It was formerly said 
 of large and important things, as " a first rate ship." Now we hear of 
 " first rate pigs," "first rate liquors," " first rate lawyers." 
 
 The first rate importance of the subject, and the real merits of the work, are de- 
 serving of a portion of our space. Westminster Review, July, 1847. 
 
 A young woman wants a situation as a chambermaid. She is a first rate washer 
 and ironer, and plain sewer. Advertisement in New York Tribune. 
 
 It is also used adverbially ; thus, if we ask a person how he is, he re- 
 plies, " I am first rate" i. e. in excellent health, very well.
 
 FIE FIX 151 
 
 Mr. Borthwick found the California Indians had acquired this use of 
 the phrase ; for, says he : 
 
 "When you salute them with " How d' ye do," or if you really want to know the 
 state of their health, they invariably answer fuss-rate. So having ascertained that 
 they were all fuss-rate, I made inquiries as to my way. Three Years in California, 
 p. 211. 
 
 Well, there's some men whose natural smartness helps them along first rate. 
 Major Jones's Courtship, p. 31. 
 
 Mary liked all the speakers first rate, except one feller who gin the galls all sorts 
 of a shakin. Ibid. p. 168. 
 
 The London Illustrated News, in speaking of Assheton Smith, a cele- 
 brated huntsman, says : 
 
 In his Leicestershire days he was first rate as a horseman and in one of the 
 
 worst scenting countries, he has for years shown the first rate sport. Dec. 6, 1856. 
 
 FIRST SWATHE. First quality ; first chop. New York. 
 
 Nothing '11 serve you but a first-swathe mug, about twenty-three years old. (7. 
 Mathews, Puffer Hopkins. 
 
 FISH FLAKE. A frame covered with fagots, for the purpose of drying 
 fish. New England. See Flakes. 
 
 FISHING-FROG. See Devil-Fish. 
 
 FISTE (i as in mice}. A small dog, a puppy. Pennsylvania. 
 
 FITS. " To give one jits" means, by a vulgar hyperbole, to give one such 
 a punishing as to throw him into fits, to punish him very severely. 
 
 Mose. Now look a here, Liz I go in for Bill Sykes, cause he runs wid our ma- 
 chine ; but he must n't come foolin' round my gal, or I '11 give him fits. A Glance 
 at New York. 
 
 ALD. VOORHIES. Go on, Mr. Jones. 
 
 WITNESS. He said that the Atlas was coming out, to give Mayor Wood and 
 myself "fits." 
 
 ALD. ELY. Was he to give any thing else ? 
 
 WITNESS. Yes, he said he was going to "give us Jessie." Neio York City 
 Council Debates. 
 
 Sometimes additional force is given to this epithet by threatening to 
 " give particular fits" as in the following example : 
 
 Lady Bulwer has just published a new novel, called " Very Successful," in which 
 rumor reports that Sir Edward is to get particular fits, New York Times. 
 
 Fix. A condition ; predicament ; dilemma. 
 
 Some feller jest come and tuck my bundle and the jug of spirits, and left me in 
 this here fix. Chron. of Pineville, p. 47. 
 
 Are you drunk too t Well, I never did see you in that fix in all my live-long 
 born days. Georgia Scenes, p. 163. 
 
 The gentleman must be stronger in the faith than ourselves, if he does not find 
 himself in an awkward fix. N. Y. Commercial Advertiser, Oct. 18, 1845.
 
 152 FIX FIX 
 
 To Fix. In popular use, to put in order ; to prepare ; to adjust ; to set or 
 place in the manner desired or most suitable. Mr. Lyell, in liis Travels 
 in North America, chap, iii., has the following remarks on this word : 
 
 At one of the stations where the train stopped, we heard some young woman from 
 Ohio exclaim, " Well, we are in a pretty fix ! " and found their dilemma to be char- 
 acteristic of the financial crisis of these tunes, for none of their dollar notes of the 
 Ohio banks would pass here. The substantive "fix " is an acknowledged vulgar- 
 ism ; but the verb is used in New England by well-educated people, in the sense of 
 the French " arranger," or the English " do." To fix the hair, the table, the fire, 
 means to dress the hair, lay the table, and make up the fire ; and this application is, 
 I presume, of Hibernian origin, as an Irish gentleman, King Corney, in Miss Edge- 
 worth's tale of Onnond, says, " I '11 fix him and his wounds." 
 
 This word is equally common in Upper Canada, where it was probably 
 introduced by American settlers : 
 
 One of their most remarkable terms is to fix. Whatever work requires to be done 
 must be fixed. " Fix the room " is to set it in order. " Fix the table," " Fix the 
 fire," says the mistress to her servants ; and the tilings are fixed accordingly. 
 Backwoods of Canada, p. 82. 
 
 To Fix IT. A vulgarism of recent origin, but now very common. It is 
 heard in such phrases as, " I will not do so and so, any how you can fix 
 it" or still worse, " no how you can fix it" i. e. not in any way that you 
 can arrange it ; not by any means. 
 
 A wet day is considerable tiresome, any way you can fix it. Sam Stick in Eng- 
 land, ch. 2. 
 
 If I was an engineer, I 'd clap on steam I 'd fire up, I tell you ; you would n't 
 get me to stop the engine, no way you could fix it. Pickings from the Picayune. 
 
 The master called them up, and axed them the hardest questions he could find in 
 the book ; but he could n't stump 'em no how he could fix it. Major Jones's Courtship, 
 p. 36. 
 
 Workin' ain't genteel nor independent, no Jiow you can fix it. Pickings from the 
 Picayune, p. 74. 
 
 " According to my notions, riches and grandeur ain't to be compared to religion, 
 no how you can fix it ; and I always said so," said the Widow Bedott. Bedott Pa- 
 pers, p. 135. 
 
 To Fix ONE'S FLINT is a phrase taken from backwoods life, and means 
 the same as to settle, to do for, to dish. 
 
 " Take it easy, Sam," says I, "your flint is fixed; you are wet through ; " and I 
 settled down to a careless walk, quite desperate. Sam Slick in England, ch. 2. 
 
 The Bluenose hante the tools ; and if he had, he could n't use them. That 's the 
 
 reason any one a'most can "fix his flint for him." Ibid. 
 
 
 
 FIXED FACT. A positive or well established fact, what the French call un 
 fait accompli. The origin of the phrase is attributed to the Hon. Caleb 
 Gushing.
 
 FIX FIZ 153 
 
 The Boston Post, in speaking of the trial of Captain Stetson for pirat- 
 ically running away with a ship and cargo, says : 
 
 That he did dispose of a large quantity of oil, and afterwards desert from the ves- 
 sel, are fixed facts. June, 1847. 
 
 In many localities spiritualism has become a fixed fact, and its modus operandi is 
 well understood by those who have investigated it as a mental science on the plat- 
 form of cause and effect. Christian Spiritualist. 
 
 FIXINGS. A word used with absurd laxity, especially in the South and 
 West, to signify arrangements, embellishments, trimmings, garnishings of 
 any kind. 
 
 The theatre was better filled, and the fixings looked nicer, than in Philadelphia. 
 Crockett, Tour down East, p. 38. 
 
 All the fellows fell to getting grapes for the ladies ; but they all had their Sunday 
 fixins on, and were afraid to go into the brush. Major Jones's Courtship, p. 42. 
 
 A man who goes into the woods, as one of these veteran settlers observed to me, 
 has a heap of little jinn's to study out, and a great deal of projecting to do. Judge 
 Sail, Letters from the West, Letter 18. 
 
 When we parted I wanted to pay him something handsome for all his trouble ; but 
 I couldn't git him to take nothing but an X, to buy some wimmin fixins for the old 
 lady as a compliment from me. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 "Ah ! " exclaimed the teamster [to a gentleman who had a good deal of luggage], 
 " what anybody on earth can want with such lots of fixins, I 'm sure 's dark to me." 
 Mrs. Clovers, Forest Life, Vol. I. p. 97. 
 
 One half of the countiy is overflowed in the winter, and t'other half, which is a 
 darned sight the biggest, is covered with cane, pimento, and other fixins. Porter's 
 South-western Tales, p. 123. 
 
 The following advice was given to the editor of a new Western paper : 
 
 Advertise our doins in gineral, such as we got to sell, and throw yourself wide on 
 the literary fixins and poetry for the galls ; and, Mister, if you do this with spirit, the 
 whole town will take your paper. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 31. 
 
 For a use of the term as applied to food, see Chicken fixings. 
 
 FIZZLE. A ridiculous failure. The figure is that of wet powder, which 
 burns with a hissing noise and then goes out without producing any effect. 
 It is nearly equivalent to the analogous expression, " a flash in the pan." 
 In many colleges of the United States, this elegant term is used to de- 
 note a blundering recitation. It has been held that to hit just one third 
 of the meaning constitutes " a perfect fizzle" Hall's College Words. 
 
 With mind and body so nearly at rest that naught interrupted my inmost repose 
 save cloudy reminiscences of a morning fizzle and an afternoon flunk, my tranquil- 
 lity was sufficiently enviable. Yale Literary Magazine, Vol. XV. p. 114. 
 Here he could fizzles mark, without a sigh, 
 And see orations unregarded die. The Tomahawk, Nov. 1849. 
 
 In Princeton College, the word blue is used with fizzle, to render it in- 
 tensive ; as, he made " a blue fizzle" " he fizzled blue"
 
 154 FIZ FLA 
 
 The term is used with equally happy effect in political as in college 
 slang. 
 
 The trick of the administration to palm off the Washington Union upon the Sen- 
 ate as the National Democrat organ, was a fizzle and a shocking failure. N. Y. 
 Herald. 
 
 To FIZZLE. 1. To fail hi reciting ; to recite badly. A correspondent from 
 Williams College says : " Flunk is the common word when some unfor- 
 tunate man makes an utter failure in recitation. He fizzles when he 
 stumbles through at last." A writer in the Yale Literary Messenger 
 thus aptly defines the word : " Fizzle. To rise with modest reluctance, 
 to hesitate often, to decline finally ; generally, to misunderstand the ques- 
 tion." HalVs College Words. 
 
 My dignity is outraged at beholding those who fizzle and flunk in my presence 
 tower above me. The Yale Banger, Oct. 22, 1847. 
 
 2. To cause one to fail in reciting. Said of an instructor. Hall. 
 
 Fizzle him tenderly, 
 
 Bore him with care ; 
 Fitted so slenderly, 
 
 Tutor, beware. Yak Lit. Mag. Vol. XIII. p. 321. 
 
 To FIZZLE OUT. To be quenched, extinguished ; to prove a failure. A 
 favorite expression in Ohio. 
 
 The factious and revolutionary action of the fifteen has interrupted the regular 
 business of the Senate, disgraced the actors, and fizzled out ! Cincinnati Gazette. 
 
 Is the new hotel [one called the Burnet House] to be given up, or to go on ? To 
 go on. It cannot be possible, after all that has been said and done about a " splen- 
 did hotel," that our enterprising business men will let it fizzle out. Ibid. 
 
 You never get tired of a good horse. He don't fizzle out. You like him better 
 and better every day. Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 55. 
 
 FLAKES. Long poles laid upon crotched posts driven into the ground, par- 
 allel to each other, about two feet apart and covered with brush, upon 
 which codfish are spread to dry. 
 
 The owners of vessels [in fishing districts] have a fiake-yard in the vicinity of the 
 landing-places, to which the fish are carried on being landed. Peter Gott, the Fish- 
 erman. 
 
 Fish fiakes were spread upon the beach, and the women were busy in turning the 
 cod upon them. Sam Slick, Human Nature. 
 
 To FLASH IN THE PAX. To fail of success. A metaphor borrowed 
 from a gun, which, after being primed and ready to be discharged, some- 
 times flashes in the pan. 
 
 Mr. Lowell, in his poem on the school-house, speaks of the dame, who, 
 prim and calm, 
 
 could detect at once 
 
 Who flashed in the pan, and who was downright dunce.
 
 FLA FLA 155 
 
 FLASH BOARD. A board placed upon a mill-dam when a river is low, in 
 order to obtain a greater fall of water. It is temporary, being placed and 
 removed from the dam as circumstances require. 
 
 FLAT. 1. In America this word is applied to low alluvial lands. " The 
 Mohawk flats " is a term universally applied to the valley of the Mohawk 
 river, on either side of which are alluvial lands. See Bottom Lands. 
 It is also applied to river shoals, where they are of much extent. 
 
 In New England, all the spaces between high and low-water mark on 
 the sea-shore, or in bays, inlets, etc., where the sea flows and ebbs. 
 
 The title of the Commonwealth, as owner thereof in fee, to all the fiats or lands, 
 .... below the ordinary line of riparian ownership, from which the natural fldw 
 of the tides in Boston harbor has been cut off by dams or otherwise, and also the 
 fiats below said line, is hereby asserted and declared, etc., etc. Laws of Massa- 
 chusetts. 
 
 2. A broad-brimmed, low-crowned, straw hat, worn by women. 
 
 3. A species of flat-bottomed boat, used on the Mississippi and other 
 rivers. See Fiat-Boat. 
 
 4. A rejection, dismissal. See To Flat. 
 
 To FLAT. To reject a lover ; as, " Miss Deborah gave Ike the fiat" " He 's 
 got the fat," " She fatted him." Western. 
 
 FLAT-BOAT. A rude sort of vessel used for transporting produce, etc., 
 down the Mississippi Biver. It is thus described by Flint : " They are 
 simply an oblong ark, with a roof slightly curved from the centre to shed 
 rain. They are generally above fifteen feet wide, and from fifty to eighty 
 and sometimes an hundred feet in length. The timbers of the bottom 
 are massive beams, and they are intended to be of great strength, and to 
 carry a burden of from two to four hundred barrels. Great numbers of 
 cattle, hogs, and horses are conveyed to market in them. "We have seen 
 family boats of this description, fitted up for the descent of families to the 
 lower country, with a stove, comfortable apartments, beds, and arrange- 
 ments for commodious habitancy. Hist, and Geogr. of Miss. Valley. 
 These boats are also called Kentucky Flats and Broadhorns. See Ark. 
 
 Finally one of 'em ses , " Don't make fun of the unfortunate ; he 's hardly got 
 over bein' blowed up yet. Let 's make up a puss for him." Then they all throwed 
 in and made up five dollars. As the spokesman handed me the change, he axed 
 me, " Whar did you find yourself arter the 'splosion ? " "In a fiat-boat, ses I." 
 Widow Bayly's Husband. 
 
 To FLAT-BOAT. To transport in a flat-boat. 
 
 The first enterprise of Josiah Hedges on his own account was a trading excursion 
 to New Orleans with fruit, which he fiat-boated from Wheeling to that point. Nat. 
 Intelligencer, July 29, 1858. 
 
 FLAT-BOATMAN. A hand employed on a flat-boat.
 
 156 FLA FLU 
 
 FLAT BROKE. Utterly bankrupt, entirely out of money. The Califor- 
 nia correspondent of the Boston Post, in speaking of the emigration, 
 says : Many emigrants, arriving in that state of collapsity termed flat 
 broke, staid at Los Angelos because they could n't go on. 
 
 To FLAT OUT. To collapse, to prove a failure. A "Western phrase ap- 
 plied to a political meeting ; as, " The meeting flatted out." 
 
 FLAT-FOOTED. Downright, resolute ; firmly, resolutely. A term belong- 
 ing to the Western political slang, with which the halls of congress, as 
 well as the newspapers, are now deluged. 
 
 Col. M attempted to define his position, but, being unable, exclaimed : I 'm 
 
 an independent, flat-footed man, and am neither for nor against the mill-dam. 
 Tennessee Newspaper. 
 
 At the forks of the road there lived a brawny, stalwart son of Vulcan. He was 
 a man of strong will, and a zealous disciple of Tom Paine. His herculean frame, 
 and bold, fiat-footed way of saying things, had impressed his neighbors, and he held 
 the rod in terrorem over them. Harper's Mag., Sept. 1858. 
 
 Mr. Pickens, of South Carolina, has come out flat-footed for the administration 
 a real redhot democrat, dyed in the wool denounces Mr. Calhoun and is ready 
 now to take any high office. But the mission to England is beyond his reach. 
 N. Y. Herald, June 30, 1846. 
 
 FLAT TOP. See Iron Weed. 
 
 FLEA-BANE. (Erigeron canadense.) One of the most hardy and com- 
 mon weeds. It propagates itself rapidly, and, since the discovery of 
 America, has been introduced and spread through most countries in Eu- 
 rope. JSigelow's Flora Bost. 
 
 This plant is sold by the Shakers for its medical properties, which are 
 astringent and diuretic. 
 
 FLICKER. See Clape. 
 
 FLITTER. A corruption of the word fritter, a pan-cake. 
 
 FLOOR. Used in congress, in this expression, to get the floor ; that is, to 
 obtain an opportunity of taking part in a debate. The English say, to 
 be in possession of the House. Pickering's Vocabulary. 
 
 To FLOUR. To grind and bolt, to convert into flour. Webster. A 
 word used in those parts of the country where there are mills for grind- 
 ing wheat. Ex. " The mill can flour two hundred barrels a day," i. e. 
 it can make so many barrels of flour. 
 
 FLOURING-MILL. A grist-mill. 
 
 FLUMMUX. In colleges, applied to a poor recitation ; a failure. HaW s 
 College Words.
 
 FLU FLU 157 
 
 To FLUMMUX. To give in, give up ; to die. The word is used in Eng- 
 land, but not in the same manner. According to Halliwell it means, " to 
 overcome, frighten, bewilder, foil, disappoint, or mistify ; also, to maul or 
 mangle." Diet, of Arch, and Prov. Words. 
 
 Prehaps Parson Hyme did n't put into Pokerville for two mortal hours ; and pre- 
 haps Pokerville did n't mizzle, wince, and finally flummix right beneath him. 
 Field, Drama in Pokerville. 
 
 Be ye men of mighty stomachs, 
 Men that can't be made toflummux. 
 
 Oyster War of Accomac, N. Y. Tribune, April, 1849. 
 
 I thought I should a flu.mm.uxed ! The dogs they sidled back ; an' Ike cussed ; 
 and I lay down an' rolled, till I was so full I thought I should a bust my bilej. 
 M ike Hooter's Bear Story. 
 
 FLUNK. A backing out ; a total failure in a college recitation. 
 
 The Sabbath dawns upon the poor student burdened with the thought of the les- 
 son or flunk of the morrow morning. Yale Tomahawk, Feb. .1851. 
 In moody meditation sunk, 
 Reflecting on my future flunk. Songs of Yale, 1853. 
 
 To FLUNK. To fail utterly in a college examination. 
 
 They know that a man who has flunked, because too much of a genius to get his 
 lesson, is not in a state to appreciate joking. Amherst Indicator, Vol. I. p. 253. 
 
 To FLUNK OUT. To retire through fear ; to give up, back out. 
 
 Why, little one, you must be cracked, if you flunk out before we begin. J. C. 
 Ned. 
 
 We must have at least as many subscribers as there are students in college, or 
 flunk out. The Crayon, Yale Coll. 1823. 
 
 FLUNKY. 1. A class of people, who, unacquainted with the manner m 
 which stocks are bought and sold, and deceived by appearances, come 
 into Wall street without any knowledge of the market. The conse- 
 quence is, they make bad investments, or lose their money. These the 
 brokers call flunkies. A Week in Wall Street, p. 81. 
 
 A broker who had met with heavy losses, exclaimed, "I 'm in a bear-trap this 
 won't do. The dogs will come over me. I shall be mulct in a loss. But I 've got 
 tune ; I '11 turn the scale ; I '11 help the bulls operate for a rise, and draw in the 
 flunkies." Ibid. p. 90. 
 
 2. In college parlance, says Mr. Hall, in his College Words, " one who 
 makes a complete failure ; one -who flunks" 
 
 I bore him safe through-Horace, 
 Saved him from the flunkey's doom. 
 
 Yale Lit. Mag. Vol. XX. 
 
 FLUTTER-WHEEL. A very small water-wheel, used where there is but 
 but little head of water. Western. Probably from its rapid motion. 
 
 14
 
 158 FLI FOO 
 
 FLIEK. A venture. To take a flier in stocks, is the expression used in 
 Wall street when persons not stockbrokers, or dealers in stocks, occa- 
 sionally make a venture. Their orders are given to the regular brokers, 
 who execute them for a commission, without becoming personally respon- 
 sible to the parties with whom they make the transaction. 
 
 To FLY OFF THE HANDLE. To break out, become excited ; also, to 
 break a promise. 
 
 When I used to tell minister this, as he was flying off the handle, he 'd say, Sam, 
 you 're as correct as Euclid, but as cold and dry. Sam Slide, Human Nature, p. 
 149. 
 
 Now and then one of the girls would promise, and then^y off at the handle; but 
 most all contrived some reason for giving me the bag to hold. McClintock, Bee- 
 die's Marriage. 
 
 To FLY AROUND. To stir about, to be active. A very common ex- 
 pression. 
 
 Come, gals, fly round, and let's get Mrs. Clavers some supper. A New Home, 
 p. 13. 
 
 Fetch on the pies and puddings. Fly round and change the plates. Widow 
 Bedott Papers, p. 167. 
 
 FLYING FISH. See Sea Robin. 
 
 FOLKS. This old word is much used in New England, instead of " people " 
 or "persons." 1. For the persons in one's family; as in this Common 
 phrase, " How do your folks do ? " that is, your family. 2. For people 
 in general ; as in expressions of this kind : " What do folks think of it ? " 
 etc. Dr. Johnson observes that " it is now only used in familiar or bur- 
 lesque language." Pickering. 
 
 Old good man Dobson of the green 
 
 Remembers he the tree has seen, 
 
 And goes -with folks to shew the sight. Swift. 
 
 FOO-FOO. In New York, a slang word, meaning an " outsider," or one not 
 in the secrets of a society, party, or band. 
 
 Don't know what a foo-foo is? Well, as you're a greenhorn, I'll enlighten 
 you. A* foo-foo, or an outsider, is a chap that can't come the big figure. A Glance 
 at New York. 
 
 FOOL-FISH. (Genus Monocanthus. Cuvier.) The popular name of the 
 Long-finned File-fish. " Our fishermen apply to it the whimsical name of 
 Fool-fish," says Dr. DeKay, " in allusion to what they consider its ab- 
 surd mode of swimming with a wriggling motion, its body being sunk, 
 and its mouth just on a level with the water." Nat. Hist, of New York. 
 
 FOOT. " To foot it," is familiar English ; but the Western phrase, " To 
 take his foot in his hand," is assuredly a bold stretch of language.
 
 FOO FOR 159 
 
 FOOT-STOVE. A contrivance for keeping the feet warm, formerly carried 
 by old ladies to the meeting-house on Sundays, and used by huckster- 
 women in the markets. It consists of a small square tin box, perforated 
 with holes and inclosed in a Avooden frame, with a wire handle. It has 
 a door on one side, through which is thrust a small square iron dish of live 
 coals, sprinkled over with a few ashes. 
 
 FOR, before the infinitive particle " to," so frequent in early writers, but 
 now deemed a vulgarism, is still retained in the West. 
 
 FORBIDDEN FRUIT. (Citrus paradisi.) The Paradise Orange, a fruit 
 almost as large as a shaddock. Jamaica, W. Ind. 
 
 FORCE. In the South, the slaves of a planter able to work in the field. 
 
 FOREFATHERS' DAT. In New England, the day on which the pilgrims 
 landed at Plymouth (the 22d December). 
 
 FORE-HANDED. To be fore-handed is to be in good circumstances, to be 
 comfortably off. Compare Aforehand. The expression is much used in 
 the interior parts of the country. 
 
 Many of the new houses which have been built, have been built by mechanics, 
 fore-handed men, as we say in New England, who have accumulated small sums. 
 Providence Journal. 
 
 Mrs. Ainsworth made so long a visit among her Eastern friends, who are now 
 fore-handed folks, that she has come back imbued most satisfactorily with a loving 
 appreciation of the advantages of civilization. Mrs. Clavers, Forest Life, Vol. I. 
 p. 50. 
 
 FOREIGNER. 1. A person born out of the United States, including natu- 
 ralized citizens. 
 
 2. In some of the Southern States the term is also applied to persons 
 born in another State. Thus, Virginians call all other Americans for- 
 eigners. 
 
 FORE PAT. " There are two bad paymasters, no pay and fore pay" 
 This proverbial expression is frequently heard in the West. 
 
 FOREST CITT. Cleveland, in the State of Ohio. 
 
 To FORK OVER. To hand over; to pay over, as money. A slang ex- 
 pression of frequent use. 
 
 He groaned in spirit at the thought of parting with so much money. There was, 
 however, no help for it, so he forked over the five dollars. Knickerbocker Mag. 
 
 A would-be prophet down South lately said in one of his sermons, that " he was 
 sent to redeem the world and all things therein." Whereupon a native pulled out 
 two five dollar bills of a broken bank, and asked him to fork over the specie for 
 them. Newspaper. 
 
 What more right has a man to say to you, " stand and deliver your name," than 
 to say, " stand tmilfork over your purse? " Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 17.
 
 160 FOR FOX 
 
 To FORK UP. To pay up ; as, " Jonathan, I Ve trusted you long enough ; 
 so fork up." 
 
 FORKS. In the plural, the point where a road parts into two ; and the 
 point where a river divides, or rather where two rivers meet and unite 
 in one stream. Each branch is called a. fork. Webster. 
 
 Finally, the Pawnees abandoned the field to their victorious enemies, leaving sixty 
 of their warriors upon the ensanguined battle ground. The defeated party were 
 pursued only a short distance, and then permitted to return without further moles- 
 tation to their village, at the Forks of the Platte." Scenes in the Rocky Mountains, 
 p. 50. 
 
 About the same time the village on Eepublican Fork of Kansas was also aban- 
 doned, and its inhabitants united with the Loups. Ibid. 
 
 FORNENT. Opposite to. This Scottish word is now much used in Penn- 
 sylvania and the Western States. 
 
 To FORT IN. To intrench in a fort. 
 
 A few inhabitants forted in on the Potomac. Marshall's Wafhington. 
 
 FORTINER. (For-aught-I-know.) This remarkable specimen of clipping 
 and condensing a phrase approaches the Indian method of forming words. 
 The word is very common through New England, Long Island, and the 
 rest of New York. See Farziner. 
 
 FORTNIGHT. A Western man has remarked that this word is rarely heard 
 in the new States, where, instead, they say " two weeks." 
 
 FORWARDING MERCHANT. One whose business it is to receive and for- 
 ward goods for others. The internal navigation and trade of the United 
 States, so great is the extent of our country, requires forwarding mer- 
 chants in all the principal towns. 
 
 FOTCH, for fetched, is used by ignorant persons, especially the blacks at the 
 South. 
 
 FOUND. Ignorant and careless speakers say, " The prisoner was found 
 ten dollars," instead of he was fined. They want to form the past tense, 
 and the proper word sounds too much like the present find. Comp. 
 Held. 
 
 To FOURFOLD. To assess in a fourfold ratio. Mr. Pickering quotes this 
 word from Webster's Dictionary, and observes that it is peculiar to the 
 State of Connecticut. Dr. Webster afterwards expunged it. 
 
 FOUR PENCE HA'PENNY,, or FOUR PENCE. The New England name of 
 the Spanish half real. See Federal Currency. 
 
 To Fox. To fox boots is to repair them by adding new soles, and sur-
 
 FOX FRE 161 
 
 rounding the feet with new leather. Worcester. I am told the term is 
 used in Ireland. 
 
 Fox FIRE. Rotten wood which makes a phosphorescent light. It may be 
 a corruption of phosphorus. 
 
 Fox GRAPE. ( Vitis labrusca.) A large grape common on the borders of 
 streams. The surface of the leaf is characterized by its foxy pubes- 
 cence. The Southern fox grape is Vitis Vulpina. Its fruit is larger, 
 and its taste 'more agreeable, than the former. 
 
 FOXED, or FOXY. A term applied to timber or paper, when discolored by 
 incipient decay. Also used in England. 
 
 To FRAGGLE. To rob. A word used in Texas. 
 
 FREE LABOR. Labor performed by freemen, in contradistinction to that 
 of slaves, a term now greatly in vogue both at the North and South. 
 
 So, wheresoe'er our destiny sends forth 
 Its widening circles to the South or North, 
 Where'er our banner flaunts beneath the stars 
 Its mimic splendors and its cloud-like bars, 
 There shall free Labor's hardy children stand, 
 The equal sovereigns of a slaveless land. 
 
 J. G. Whittier, The Panorama. 
 
 FREE LOVE. Freedom of the affections ; the right to consort with those 
 with whom we have " elective affinities," regardless of the shackles of 
 matrimony. "Within the last few years several associations have been 
 organized in the North, for the purpose of carrying this doctrine into 
 practical effect. 
 
 At the convention in Rutland, last week, after an afternoon spent in denouncing 
 the Bible, the marriage institution, etc., and in laudation of " spiritualism," " veg- 
 etarianism," and "free love," Elder Grant, the Millerite, got up and repeated 1st 
 Timothy iv. 1, 3, "Now the spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some 
 shall depart the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, for- 
 bidding to marry, commanding to abstain from meats," etc. Whether because this 
 apt passage proved unpalatable, or for some other reason, the convention inconti- 
 tinently adjourned. Nat. Intelligencer, July 3, 1858. 
 
 FREE LOVER. An advocate of the free love doctrine. 
 
 A " reform convention " assembled at Rutland, Vermont, on Friday. About a 
 thousand persons abolitionists, spiritualists,, and free lovers attended, the spirit- 
 ualists predominating. Bait. Sun, June 28, 1858. 
 
 FREE-LOVISM. The doctrine of free love. 
 
 FREE SOIL. Freedom of the soil belonging to the United States, and not 
 yet formed into States, from negro slavery. 
 14*
 
 162 FRE FEE 
 
 The people are roused ! They 've slumbered too long, 
 "While Freedom grew weak, and Tyranny strong. 
 But now they are coming from hill and glen, 
 They come to the rescue the Free-Soil men. 
 
 Mrs. Child, Free Soil Song. 
 
 FREE-SOILER. An advocate of the exclusion of slavery from the territo- 
 ries belonging to the United States. A word which first came into use 
 in the year 1848. 
 
 I only want to see the first free-soiler here. I '11 drop the first one that opens his 
 mouth for abolition cusses. I '11 be dog-gauned if I don't. Gladstone, Englishmen 
 in Kansas, p. 48. 
 
 FREE-SOILISM. The principles or doctrines of the advocates of freedom 
 in the territories in opposition to those of slavery. 
 
 I tell you, mark every scoundrel among you that is the least tainted with free- 
 soilism or abolitionism, and exterminate him. Neither give nor take quarter from 
 them. Speech of Gen. Stringfellow in the Kansas Legislature. 
 
 FREE STATES. Those States in which negro slavery does not exist. 
 
 Equal and exact justice to both slave and free States is the only ground upon 
 which the Southern States can maintain their claim to equal rights in the Federal 
 Union. Richmond Enquirer, Aug. 1858. 
 
 FREEZE. A Southern term for frosty weather. 
 
 The effects of the late freeze have been severely felt. Charleston Paper. 
 To FREEZE. To have a longing desire for any thing. South-western. 
 
 This child has felt like going West for many a month, being half/raze for buffalo 
 meat and mountain doins. Ruxton's Far West. 
 
 FRESH, n. 1. An abbreviation for Freshman. 
 
 2. Used locally in Maryland for a stream distinct from the tide water j 
 as, Allen's Fresh," Pile's Fresh." The lands in Talbot County, Md., 
 are divided into freshes and salts. 
 
 FRESH, adj. Forward, bold; as, "don't make yourself too fresh here." 
 
 FRESHET. A flood, or overflowing of a river, by means of heavy rams or 
 melted snow ; an inundation. Webster. 
 
 This word is used in the Northern and Eastern States. That it is an 
 old English word is evinced by the following extract from the Descrip- 
 tion of New England, written and published in England, in 1658 : 
 
 " Between Salem and Charlestown is situated the town of Lynn, near to a river, 
 whose strong freshet at the end of the winter filleth all her banks, and with a violent 
 torrent vents itself into the sea." p. 29. 
 
 It appears to be now confined to America ; but the word fresh is 
 still used in the north of England and in Scotland in precisely the 
 same sense. See Pickering's Vocabulary for a full discussion of the word 
 and its uses.
 
 FRI FUF 163 
 
 FRIJOLES (pron.fre-ho-les). Spanish. Kidney beans. A common arti- 
 cle of food upon the plains and on the Mexican frontier. 
 
 FROE. An iron wedge. New England. 
 
 The shingle-maker stands with froe in one hand and mallet in the other, endeav- 
 oring to rive a hillet of hemlock on a block. Margaret, p. 159. 
 
 " He beat his head all to smash with a froe," said one. " No, it was with an axe," 
 said another. Ibid. p. 323. 
 
 FROG. The iron plate where two lines of railroad intersect ; probably so 
 called from its resemblance to the " frog " of a horse's foot. 
 
 FROLIC. A favorite term in the West for a party. 
 
 FROMETY, FRUMTY. Wheat boiled with milk, to which sugar and spice 
 are added. Hollamshire Glossary. Used in Maryland. 
 
 FROST-FISH. (Genus, morrhua.J A small fish which abounds on our 
 coast during the whiter months. It is also called Tom-cod. Storer, 
 Fishes of Massachusetts. 
 
 FROST-GRAPE. See Chicken- Grape. 
 
 FROSTWORT. (Cistus canadensis.) A medicinal plant prepared by the 
 Shakers, and used for its astringent, and tonic properties. 
 
 FROUGHY. Frough is provincial in the north of England, and means any 
 thing loose, spongy, or easily broken ; often applied to wood, as " brittle " 
 is to mineral substances. Brocketfs Glossary. " Froughy butter" is 
 rancid butter. 
 
 This word is in common use in many parts of New England. It 
 is doubtless a corruption of frough, which is sometimes used here. 
 Pickering. 
 
 FROWCHEY. (Dutch, vrouwtje^) A furbelowed old woman. Local in 
 New York and its vicinity. 
 
 To FRUMP. To mock ; to insult. A very old word, occurring in the dic- 
 tionaries of Cotgrave and Minshew. 
 
 I was abas'd anAfrumped, sir. Beaumont and Fletcher. 
 
 This old word, though long out of use in England, still lingers among 
 the descendants of the first settlers in New England. 
 
 The sleighs warped from side to side ; the riders screamed, cross-bit, frumped, and 
 hooted at each other. Margaret, p. 174. ' 
 
 FUFFY. Light ; soft ; pufiy. Used in Yorkshire, England, and preserved 
 in some parts of New England. 
 
 She mounted the high, white, fuffy plain ; a dead and unbounded waste lay all 
 about her. Margaret, p. 168.
 
 164 FUL FUR 
 
 FULL CHISEL. At full speed ; an equivalent for the phrases " full drive" 
 and " full split," both of which are used in England and in this country. 
 A modern New England vulgarism. 
 
 " Oh yes, sir, I'll get you my master's seal in a minute." And off he set full chisel. 
 Sam Slick in England, ch. ii. 
 
 The moose looked round at us, shook his head a few times, then turned round and 
 fetched a spring right at us full chisel. John Smith's letters. 
 
 At that the boys took arter them full chisel, and the galls run as if a catamount had 
 been arter them. Downing, May-day in New York, p. 46. 
 
 And so the Yankee staves along 
 Full chisel, hitting right or wrong ; 
 And makes the burden of his song, 
 
 By Golly ! Anonymous. 
 
 FULL TEAM. A powerful man ; a man of consequence. 
 
 FUNERAL. " To preach & funeral" In some parts of the West, the funeral 
 sermon is preached, not at the time of the burial, but long after, sometimes 
 even a year after the death of the person. The custom arose, probably, 
 from the difficulty of obtaining a competent " preacher " in a thinly settled 
 country. After so long an interval, " preaching the funeral," which is al- 
 most always accompanied by a feast, becomes rather an occasion of 
 merrymaking than of lamentation. 
 
 To FUNERALIZE. To perform the clerical duties preparatory to a funeral. 
 Southern. 
 
 FUNK. 1. Fear, or sensibility to fear ; cowardice. 
 
 So my friend's fault is timidity I grant, then, that the funk is sublime, 
 
 which is a true and friendly admission. Letter in Literary World, Nov. 30, 1850. 
 
 2. A coward. 
 
 To FUNK. To make an offensive smoke or dust. When the smoke puffs 
 out from a chimney place or stove, we say "it funks." The term is also 
 applied to the dust which is caused by a vehicle on a road. The ex- 
 pression, in the former sense at least, is used in England. 
 
 To FUNK OUT. To " back out " in a cowardly manner. 
 
 To funk right out o' political strife aint thought to be the thing, 
 Without you deacon off the tune you want your folks should sing. 
 
 Biglow Papers. 
 
 To FUNKIFY. To frighten ; to alarm. New England. 
 
 Scared ! says he, serves him right then; he might have knowed how to feel for 
 other folks, and notfunkify them so peskily. Sam Slick in England, ch. viii. 
 
 FURROW. To draw a straight furrow is to live uprightly or decorously. 
 Governor B. is a sensible man ; 
 He stays to his home and looks arter his folks ;
 
 FUS GAL 165 
 
 He draws his furrow as straight as he can, 
 And into nobody's tater-patch pokes. Biglow Papers. 
 
 To FUSH OUT. To come to nothing. Comp. To Fizzle out. 
 
 FTKE. (Dutch, fuik, a weel, bow-net.) The large bow-nets in New York 
 harbor, used for catching shad, are called shad-fykes. 
 
 G. 
 
 GABBLEMENT. Gabble, prate. A Southern word. 
 
 " This court 's got as good ears as any man," said the magistrate; " hut they aint 
 for to hear no old woman's gabblement, though it 's under oath." Chron. of Pine- 
 ville. 
 
 GAD. A long stick or switch, especially one used for driving oxen. So 
 used also in the north of England. 
 
 I looked around and saw where the three had set down on a log. I measured 
 the length of the foot, and found where they had cut a big gad. N. Y. Spirit of 
 the Times, Oct. 1848. 
 
 GAFF. An artificial spur put upon game-cocks ; so called from its resem- 
 blance to fishing and nautical instruments, properly gaffle. 
 
 GAL. A vulgar pronunciation of girl, alike common in England and 
 America. 
 
 At length came in the Deacon's Sail 
 
 From milking at the barn, sir ; 
 And faith she is as good a gal 
 As ever twisted yarn, sir. Song, Yankee Doodle. 
 
 GAL-BOY. A romping girl, a hoyden, a torn-boy. 
 
 GALE. Among the ladies, a state of excitement ; as, " Mrs. A was in 
 
 quite a gale on New Year's Day." 
 
 The ladies, laughing heartily, were fast getting into what, in New England, is 
 sometimes called a gale. Brooke, Eastford. 
 
 GALL. 1. A kind of low land in Florida. It consists of a matted soil of 
 vegetable fibres, spongy and treacherous to the foot, unpleasant as well 
 as dangerous to crop. Vignoles, Florida, p. 91. 
 
 Mr. S., living near the Oclawaha, while crossing a bay gall, or saw grass, in com- 
 pany with his son, last Wednesday, was seriously injured by the attack of an alli- 
 gator. The water in the gall was about knee deep. East Florida Paper. 
 
 2. (Ger. quailed) A name applied by the New York children to the 
 jelly-fishes. The medusae, or sea-nettles (Discophora), they call sting- 
 ing galls (called also in some parts of England stang -fishes). The
 
 1GG GAL GAN 
 
 ovoidal phosphorescent jelly-fishes (Ctenophora) they call lightning- 
 galls. 
 
 GALLINIPPER. An insect pest at the South resembling a mosquito, but 
 much larger. 
 
 GALLOWS. Showy, dashing. New York slang. 
 
 Mose. Lizzy, you 're a gallus gal, any how ! 
 
 Lizzy. I ain't no thin' else. A Glance at New York. 
 
 On another occasion, Mose goes off in raptures at the personal appear- 
 ance and many accomplishments of his sweetheart, and exclaims : 
 
 " Look, what a gallus walk she 's got. I 've strong suspicions I '11 have to get 
 slung to her one of these days." 
 
 GALLOWSES. Suspenders, braces. They are also so called in some parts 
 of England. 
 
 His skilts [pantaloons] were supported by no braces or gallowses, and resting on 
 his hips. Margaret, p. 9. 
 
 GAM. A social visit. A seafaring term. 
 
 When two whalers meet in any of the whaling grounds, it is usual to have a gam, 
 or mutual visit, for the purpose of interchanging the latest news, comparing reck- 
 oning, discussing the prospect of whales, and enjoying a general chit-chat. 
 Browne's Whaling Cruise, p. 76. 
 
 GAMBREL. A hipped roof to a house, so called from its resemblance to 
 the hind leg of a horse, which by farriers is termed a gamlrel. 
 
 Here and there was a house in the then new style, three cornered, with gambrelled 
 roof and dormer windows. Margaret, p. 33. 
 
 GANDER-PULLING. A brutal species of amusement practised in Nova 
 Scotia. It is also known at the South. We quote Judge Halliburton's 
 account of it from the Sayings and Doings of Sam Slick : 
 
 " But describe this gander-pulling." 
 
 " Well, I '11 tell you how it is," sais I. " First and foremost, a ring-road is 
 formed, like a small race-course ; then two great long posts is fixed into the ground, 
 one on each side of the road, and a rope made fast by the eends to each post, leavin' 
 the middle of the rope to hang loose in a curve. Well, then they take a gander 
 and pick his breast as clean as a baby's, and then grease it most beautiful all the 
 way from the breast to the head, till it becomes as slippery as a soaped eel. Then 
 they tie both his legs together with a strong piece of cord, of the size of a halyard, 
 and hang him by the feet to the middle of the swingin' rope, with his head down- 
 ward. All the youngsters, all round the country, come to see the sport, mounted a 
 horseback. 
 
 " Well, the owner of the goose goes round with his hat, and gets so much a-piece 
 in it from every one that enters for the ' PuUin;' and when all have entered, they 
 bring their horses in a line, one arter another, and at the words, ' Go a-head ! ' off 
 they set, as hard as they can split ; and as they pass under the goose, make a grab 
 at him, and whoever carries off the head wins.
 
 GAP GAT 167 
 
 " Well, the goose dodges his head and flaps his wings, and swings about so, it 
 aint no easy matter to clutch his neck ; and when you do, it 's so greassy, it slips 
 right through the fingers like nothiu'. Sometimes it takes so long, that the horses 
 are fairly beat out, and can't scarcely raise a gallop ; and then a man stands by the 
 post, with a heavy loaded whip, to lash 'em on, so that they may n't stand under the 
 goose, which aint fair. The whoopin', and hollerin', and screamin', and bettin', and 
 excitement, beats all ; there aint hardly no sport equal to it. It is great fun to all 
 except the podr goosey-gander." 
 
 GAP. 1. This pure English word is used properly of any breach of con- 
 tinuity, as of the line of a saw's edge, or of the line of a mountain, as 
 projected on the horizon. Hence it is applied to such openings in a 
 mountain as are made by a river, or even a high road. Thus the Water- 
 Gap ; and, in Virginia, Brown's Gap, Rockfish Gap, etc. 
 
 2. An opening in a fence. A Slip gap is a place provided in a fence, 
 where the bars may be slipped aside and let down. 
 
 GAB ; also ALLIGATOR GAR. A species of pike found in the southern rivers. 
 It grows to a large size, and has been known to fight with the alligator. 
 
 GARDEN CITY. Chicago ; so called from the number of its gardens. 
 
 GARDEN SPOT. A term applied to the rich Silurian limestone region in 
 Kentucky and Tennessee. 
 
 So characteristic are the agricultural peculiarities stamped upon the surface of 
 every county, that it has given rise to that generally recognized division of the 
 State known as the " Blue Grass " county of Kentucky, justly celebrated for its 
 fertility and consequent wealth. The unbroken tracts lying towards the heads of 
 the streams are indeed the " Garden Spots " of the State. We even hear the in- 
 habitants of this part of Kentucky frequently styled " Blue-grass men " in contra- 
 distinction to the "Mountain men," residents of the adjacent hill and mountain 
 country. Owen's Geology of Kentucky. 
 
 GARRISON. At the West the term is oftener applied to the post itself than 
 to those who hold it. Thus old, empty, and deserted forts, those that 
 have been actually abandoned, and are devoted to decay, are almost uni- 
 versally styled the " garrisons" even though a soldier had not put a foot 
 in them for a quarter of a century. J. Fennimore Cooper. 
 
 GAT, or GATE. (Dutch, gat, a hole, gap-) A narrow passage ; a strait. A 
 term applied to several places in the vicinity of New York, as Barnegat, 
 and Hell- Gate (formerly Helle-gat). As respects this latter name, Mr. 
 Irving, in a note to his Knickerbocker (chap, iv.), remarks : 
 
 Certain mealy mouthed men of squeamish consciences, who are loth to give the 
 devil his due, have softened the above characteristic name to jBTurZ-gate, forsooth ! 
 Let those take care how they venture into the Gate, or they may be hurled into the 
 Pot before they are aware of it. The name of this strait, as given by our author, 
 is supported by the map in Vander Donck's History, published in 1656 by Ogil- 
 TV'S History of America, 1671 as also by a journal still extant, written in the
 
 168 GAT GER 
 
 16th century, and to be found in Hazard's State Papers. And an old MS. written 
 in French, speaking of various alterations in names about this city, observes, " De 
 Helle-gat, Trou d'Enfer, ils ont fait Hell-gate, Porte d'Enfer." 
 
 To GATHER. (Pron. gether.) Universally used in the West for to take 
 up ; as, " I gathered a stick." 
 
 To GAUM. To smear. " Put the child's apron on, and don't let her gaum 
 herself all over with molasses." Local in England. 
 
 GAVEL. (Fr. javelle.) A quantity of grain sufficient to make a sheaf. 
 This old word, which is in use in the east of England, is now very fre- 
 quently employed in describing the operation of American reaping ma- 
 chines. 
 
 GENERAL ASSEMBLY. A representative body having legislative powers, 
 and authorized to enact laws in behalf of some community, church, or 
 State. Worcester. 
 
 GENERAL COURT. A legislative body. Worcester. 
 
 GENERAL TREAT. A general treat is a treat of a glass of liquor given by 
 a person in a tavern to the whole company present. 
 
 I nearly got myself into a difficulty with my new acquaintances by handing the 
 landlord a share of the reckoning, for having presumed to pay a part of a general 
 treat while laboring under the disqualification of being a stranger. Hoffman, p. 
 211. 
 
 GENTILES. The name given by the Mormons to all who are not of their 
 faith. 
 
 GENTLEMAN TURKEY. A turkey cock. The mock modesty of the "West- 
 ern States requires that a male turkey should be so called. 
 
 I remember, in my younger days, to have been put in a state of bodily peril by a 
 pugnacious gentleman turkey who took umbrage at a flaming red and yellow silk that 
 constituted my apparel. Adventures of Capt. Priest, p. 111. 
 
 " This is a tough old fellow," remarked a gentleman on board a Mississippi 
 steamboat Avho was endeavoring to carve a large turkey. 
 
 " Wall, I kind o' think you 're right, stranger," said a Hooshier opposite. " But 
 I reckon it 's a gentleman turkey." Western Sketches. 
 
 GERRYMANDERING. Arranging the political divisions of a State so that, 
 in an election, one party may obtain an advantage over its opponent, even 
 though the latter may possess a majority of the votes in the State. This 
 term came into use in the year 1811 in Massachusetts, where, for 
 several years previous, the Federal and Democratic parties stood nearly 
 equal. In that year the Democratic party, having a majority in the 
 legislature, determined so to district the State anew, that those sections 
 which gave a large number of Federal votes might be brought into one 
 district. The result was that the Democratic party carried every thing
 
 GET GIN 169 
 
 before them at the following election, and filled every office in the State, 
 although it appeared by the votes returned that nearly two thirds of the 
 voters were Federalists. Elbridge Gerry, a distinguished politician of 
 that period, was the instigator of this plan, which was called gerryman- 
 dering after him. 
 
 To GET RELIGION. To become pious ; a term hi common use among cer- 
 tain religious sects. 
 
 Stranger, I can't bear to think of the murder of Charley Birkham now ; but when 
 I heard it the first time, it was jest arter I got religion. I could n't help it I swore 
 jest nigh on to half an hour right straight on eend. Frontier Incident. N. Y. 
 Spirit of the Times. 
 
 Capt. Underbill killed his neighbor's wife, and got his religion on a pipe of to- 
 bacco. Elliot's New England Hist. Vol. I. p. 460. 
 
 To GET ONE'S BACK UP. To get excited, become enraged. A figurative 
 expression drawn from the attitude of a cat, which, when angry, raises up 
 her back as well as her hair. 
 
 GET OUT ! A New England expression, equivalent to let me alone. 
 
 To GET HOUND. To get the better of, take advantage of one. 
 
 One from the land of cakes sought to get round a right smart Yankee, but couldn't 
 shine. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 89. 
 
 To GET THE WRONG PIG BY THE TAIL, is to make a mistake in select- 
 ing a person for any object. This is also called getting the wrong sow by 
 the ear. 
 
 I did not seek the office I have now, and was not at the meeting when I was 
 elected ; but the Whigs supposed they could by some means make me a traitor to 
 my party. But, sir, as the old saying is, they got the wrong pig by the tail. Letter of 
 Mr.C.C.Bett. 
 
 G'HAL. A slang term for girl, corresponding to B'hoy, which see. 
 
 If you would see the B'hoy in his glory at the top of his career in the ne plus 
 ttltra of his mundane state you must see him taking a drive with his g'hal on the 
 avenue. New York in Slices. 
 
 GILEAD FIR. See Balsam Fir. 
 
 GIMBAL-JAWED or JIMBER-JAWED. One whose lower jaw is loose and 
 projecting. 
 
 GIN. (g hard.) A contraction for given, also used vulgarly for gave ; as, 
 " He gin me a crack side of the head." 
 
 GIN AND TIDY. Neatly dressed ; spruce. 
 
 What women happened to be there were very gin and tidy in the work of their 
 own hands, which made them look tempting in the eyes of us foresters. Westover 
 Papers, p. 119. 
 
 15
 
 170 GIR GO 
 
 To GIRDLE. In America, to make a circular incision, like a belt, 
 through the bark and alburnum of a tree to kill it. Webster. Set- 
 tlers in new countries often adopt this method to clear their land; 
 for when the trees are dead they set them on fire, and thus save them- 
 selves the trouble of chopping them down with the axe; the place so 
 cleared is thence called a girdling. 
 
 The emigrants purchase a lot or two of government land, huild a log house, fence 
 a dozen acres or so, plough half of them, girdle the trees, and then sell out to a new- 
 comer. Mrs. Clavers, Forest Life, Vol. I. 
 
 GIRDLING. A place where the trees are girdled. See the preceding word. 
 
 GIST. The main point of a question or action ; that on which it lies or 
 turns. Jamieson. A word introduced from the language of law into 
 very common use. 
 
 GIVEN NAME. The Christian name, or name that is given to a person, to 
 distinguish it from the surname, which is not given, but inherited. Cob- 
 bett calls it a Scotticism. . It was probably introduced by the Puritans 
 instead of " Saint's name," or " Christian name." 
 
 GIVT. A term applied to tobacco leaves, in a certain condition of their 
 preparation for market. 
 
 GLADE. In New England, smooth ice. 
 
 GLADES. Everglades ; tracts of land at the South covered with water and 
 grass. So called in Maryland, where they are divided into wet and dry 
 glades. 
 
 To GLIMPSE. To get a glimpse of ; as, " I barely glimpsed him." 
 
 GLUT. A thick wooden wedge used in splitting blocks. HaUiwell. So 
 also in New England. 
 
 To Go AHEAD. To go forward, proceed. A seaman's phrase, which has 
 got into very common use. 
 
 I was tired out and wanted a day to rest; but, my face being turned towards 
 Washington, I thought I had better go ahead. Crockett, Tour down East, p. 101. 
 
 We slip on a pair of India rubber boots, genuine and impenetrable, and go ahead 
 without fear. N. Y. Com. Advertiser. 
 
 The specific instructions to conquer and hold California were issued to Commo- 
 dore Sloat, by Mr. Bancroft, on the 12th of July, 1846. Previous to this, however, 
 he had been officially notified that war existed, and briefly instructed to "go ahead." 
 Ibid. June 13. 
 
 My dear hearers ; the good work shall go on. I will preach in spite of Old Nick ; 
 the steam is up and I will go ahead. Backed by sound doctrines, I will square off 
 to opposition shoot folly take a hug with sin upset infidelity lick Satan out 
 of the land, and kidnap his imps. Dow's Sermons, Vol. III. p. 17.
 
 GO GO 171 
 
 Go AHEAD. Rapidly advancing, progressive. 
 
 In our opinion, which we express, of course, with our wonted and characteristic 
 diffidence, America is a dashing, go-ahead, and highly progressive country, giving by 
 her institutions and enormous growth the solution of the greatest political problem 
 in the world. Tke (Philad.) Press, July 24, 1858. 
 
 GO-AHEAD ATIVENESS. Spirit of process, progressiveness. 
 
 The Merchants Magazine justly thinks, that, in the present complication of Euro- 
 pean difficulties, a favorable opportunity opens for the natural activity and go-aheada- 
 tiveness of our American business men. N. York Times, May 17, 1855. 
 
 To Go BY. To call ; to stop at. Used in the Southern States. Sher- 
 woocFs Georgia. Mr. Pickering says this singular expression is often 
 used at the South. " Will you go by and dine with me ? " i. e., in passing 
 my house will you stop and dine ? " Its origin," observes Mr. Pickering, 
 " is very natural. When a gentleman is about riding a great distance 
 through that country, where there are few great roads and the houses or 
 plantations are often two or three miles from them, a friend living near 
 his route asks him to go by his plantation and dine or lodge with him." 
 
 To Go A CRUISE. To take a ride or walk. An expression borrowed 
 from the sea, much used in some of the seaports of New England, and 
 particularly in Nantucket. 
 
 Go TO GRASS ! Be off ! get out ! 
 
 To Go FOR. 1. To be m favor of. Thus, " I go for peace with Mexico," 
 means I am in favor of peace with Mexico, or, as an Englishman would 
 say, I am for peace with Mexico. This vulgar idiom is greatly affected 
 by political and other public speakers, who ought to be the guardians of 
 the purity of the language, instead of its most indefatigable corrupters. In 
 the following extract from a so-called religious paper, the reader of correct 
 taste and feeling will hardly know which to admire most, the sentiment or 
 the language : 
 
 Will Mr. Greeley say that he or any other citizen has the right to oppose " the 
 country" that is, its laws whenever he or they shall choose to pronounce them 
 " wrong ? " We say, go for your country right, as she may be in some things 
 wrong as she is, perhaps, in others ; but whether right or wrong, or right and wrong 
 (which is always nearer the truth in all her proceedings), still, go for your country. 
 Gospel Banner. 
 
 2. To decide in favor of, is another acceptation in which this phrase is 
 often used, especially in stating for which man or measure any particular 
 section of the country has decided, as, " Ohio has gone for Clay," " Louisi- 
 ana has gone for the annexation of Mexico." Or still worse, " Ohio has 
 gone Whig," " Louisiana has gone Loco-foco." 
 
 To Go IN FOR. To advocate, be in favor of.
 
 172 GO GO 
 
 "We go in for all the postage redaction President Taylor recommends. New 
 York Tribune, Dec. 25, 1849. 
 
 To Go IT BLIND. To accede to any object without due consideration. 
 I know what I am at, and don't go it blind. S. Slick, Human Nature, p. 18. 
 
 To Go IT WITH A LOOSENESS, is to act in an unrestrained, rash, head- 
 strong manner. See Looseness. So also " to go it with a rush." 
 
 To Go IT STRONG. To act vigorously ; to advocate energetically ; to live 
 freely. 
 
 President Polk in his message goes it strong for the Sub-Treasury. N. Y. Tribune. 
 The senate has of late years refused to take any part of the book plunder, but 
 they have gone it strong on the mileage. Letters from Washington, N. Y. Com. 
 Advertiser. 
 
 I would have you understand, my dear hearers, that I have no objection to some 
 of the sons and daughters of the earth going it while they are young, provided they 
 don't 170 it too strong. Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 176. 
 
 To Go ONE'S DEATH on a thing, is equivalent to " lay one's life " on it. 
 
 To GO THE BIG FIGURE. To do things on a large scale. 
 
 Why, our senators go the big figure on fried oysters and whiskey punch. Burton, 
 Waggeries. 
 
 To Go THE WHOLE FIGURE. To go to the fullest extent in the attain- 
 ment of any object. 
 
 Go the whole figure for religious liberty; it has no meanin' here, where all are free, 
 but it's a cant word and sounds well. Sam Slick. 
 
 "If you 170 the whole figure on temperance," said Mrs. Mudlaw, in giving her re- 
 ceipt for pudding sauce, " then some other flavorin' must be used instead of brandy 
 or wine." Widow Bedott Papers, p. 377. 
 
 Suppose we keep thanksgivin' to home this year, and invite all our whole grist of 
 cousins and aunts and things go the whole figure and do the genteel thing. 
 McClintock's Tales. 
 
 To GO THE WHOLE HOG. A Western vulgarism, meaning to do a thing 
 out and out. A softened form of the phrase is To go the entire animal. 
 
 Of the congressional and State tickets we can only form a conjecture ; but the 
 probability is that the Democrats have carried the whole, for they generally go the 
 whole hog they never scratch or split differences. Newspaper. 
 
 The phrase has been caught up by some English writers. 
 
 The Tiger has leapt up heart and soul, 
 
 It 's clear that he means to go the whole 
 
 Hog, in his hungry efforts to seize 
 
 The two defianceful Bengalese. New Tale of a Tub. 
 
 To Go OFF. To expire. 
 
 " Mr. Crane ! " said the Widow Bedott, " I thought I should go off last night
 
 GO GON 173 
 
 when I see that old critter squeeze up and hook on to you. Terrible impudent 
 warn't it? Widow Bedott's Papers, p. 77. 
 
 To GO THROUGH THE MILL. To acquire experience, and especially to 
 meet with difficulties, losses, etc. The metaphor is derived from grain 
 which has undergone the process of grinding. 
 
 The now common phrase, " To see the elephant," conveys the same 
 meaning. 
 
 To Go UNDER. To perish. An expression adopted from the figurative 
 language of the Indians by the Western trappers and residents of the 
 prairies. 
 
 Thar was old Sam Owins him as got rubbed out by the Spaniards at Sacra- 
 mento or Chihuahua, this boss does n't know which, but he went under any how. 
 Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 14. 
 
 Being entirely naked, there was no sign left by dripping garments to betray him ; 
 besides, the blood upon the water had proved his friend. On seeing that, the hunters 
 were under the full belief that he had "gone under," and therefore took but little 
 pains to search further. Capt. Mayne Reid, Osceola, p. 192. 
 
 GOBBLER. A male turkey; a turkey-cock. 
 
 It was a nice weddin' ; sich raisins and oranges and hams, flour doins and chicken 
 fixins, and four sich oncommon big gobblers roasted, I never seed. N. Y. Spirit of 
 the Times. 
 
 GOING. Travelling ; as, " The going is bad, owing to the deep snow in the 
 roads." 
 
 GOLLY ! Used euphemistically for " God ! " chiefly by negroes in swearing. 
 
 I went down to the spring branch one morning to wash. I looked into the water, 
 and I seen the shadow of my face. Great Golly! how I run back, hollerin' for 
 mammy every jump. Widow Bagley's Husband. 
 
 GOMBO, or GUMBO. 1. The Southern name for what is called, at the North, 
 Okra, the pod of the Hibiscus esculentus. 
 
 2. In the southern States, a soup in which this plant enters largely as 
 an ingredient. 
 
 GONDOLA. A flat-bottomed boat or scow used in New England. 
 Pickering. 
 
 In Pennsylvania and Maryland this word is spelled as well as pro- 
 nounced gundalo or gundelow. Comp. cupalo. 
 
 GONE COON. " He 's a gone coon " is a, Western phrase, meaning that a 
 man is past recovery, that his case is hopeless. 
 
 Bill was never one minit unwatched, awake or asleep ; he was n't allowed to 
 speak, although he was fed and not abused, and he 'd pretty much made up his 
 mind that he was a gone coon. Spirit of the Times. 
 15*
 
 174 GON GOO 
 
 GONE GOOSE. " It 's a gone goose with him," means that he is lost, is past 
 recovery. The phrase is a vulgarism in New England. In New York 
 it is said, " He's a gone gander" i. e. a lost man ; and in the West, " He 's a 
 gone coon." 
 
 If a bear comes after you, Sam, you must be up and doin', or it 's a gone goose 
 with you. Sam Slick in England, ch. 18. 
 
 It may be the doctor can do something for her, though she looks to me as though 
 it was a gone goose with her. Major Downing, p. 87. 
 
 I 've generally noticed if a man begins to gape in church at seventhly and eighthly 
 in the sermon, it's a gone goose with him before he gets through the tenthly ; from that 
 up he 's as dead as a door nail. Seba Smith, Yankee Life. 
 
 The poor greenhorn who falls into the clutches of the sharpers upon arriving in 
 the metropolis may regard himself as a gone gosling. New York Paper. 
 
 GONENESS. A peculiar sensation of weakness, or of great depression. A 
 woman's word. 
 
 GONER. " He 's a goner" means he is lost, is past recovery, is utterly de- 
 molished, " used up ; " synonymous with gone goose, gone coon, etc. So 
 in the West, a bad debt is called a goner. A Western sportsman in 
 pursuit of a deer, exclaims : 
 
 Aha ! my fine boy ! you are our meat ! Put in your biggest licks ; for you are a 
 goner, now, for sartin ! New York Spirit of the Times. 
 
 GONE WITH, for become of. " What is gone with it or him," for What 
 has become of it or him ? Sherwood's Georgia. 
 
 GONEY or GONY. A great goose, a stupid fellow. New England. Pro- 
 vincial in Gloucestershire, England. 
 
 " How the goney swallowed it all, did n't he ? " said Mr. Slick, with great glee. 
 Slick in England, ch. 21. 
 
 Some on 'em were fools enough to believe the goney ; that 's a fact. Ibid. 
 
 Formerly, they poked sap-headed goneys into parliament, to play dummy; or 
 into the army and navy, the church, and the colonial office. But clever fellows 
 they kept for the law, the " Times," etc. Nature and Human Nature, p. 142. 
 
 GONUS. A stupid fellow. A student's modification of goney, used in some 
 ,of our colleges, according to Mr. Hall. 
 
 One day I heard a Senior call a fellow a gonus. " Gonus," echoed I, " what does 
 rthat mean q " " Oh," said he, " you 're a Freshman, and don't understand. A 
 stupid fellow, a dolt, a boot-jack, an ignoramus, is here called a gomis." "All 
 Freshmen," he continued gravely, " are gonuses." The Dartmouth, Vol. IV. p. 
 116. 
 
 GOOD. Engh'sh travellers have repeatedly noticed the adverbial use of 
 this word. " He cannot read good." " It does not shoot good." The 
 expression, " it is no good" meaning it is worthless, though condemned
 
 GOO GOP 175 
 
 by many, may perhaps be justified by the analogous phrase, " it 'a no 
 use." 
 
 GOOD AS WHEAT. A phrase sometimes used instead of the more general 
 one, " good as gold." 
 
 CHECK-MATED. It is stated that the father of a lady in this vicinity recently 
 presented her with a check "good as wheat" for $30,000, in view of her matri- 
 monial alliance. Truly, such a c/iec&-ered life as that would n't be hard to lead. 
 "We wish somebody would endeavor to "check" our career in that way. New 
 Bedford Standard, Aug. 1858. 
 
 GOODIES. Sweetmeats, cakes, etc. ; as, a box of goodies. Provincial in 
 Suffolk, England. 
 
 Arter a while the kissin' an foolin' was all over, an we pitched into the goodies ; 
 an ef ever I saw sweetnins fly, it was then. How Sal and Me got Married. 
 
 GOODS. This word is used by Western shopkeepers' as a singular noun 
 for a piece of goods ; as, " that goods," speaking of cloth or linen. 
 
 GOOSE. " To be sound on the goose" or " all right on the goose" is a 
 South-western phrase, meaning to be orthodox on the slavery question, 
 i. e. pro-slavery. Although it only got into general use during the re- 
 cent Kansas troubles, I am not able to give its origin. 
 
 The border ruffians held a secret meeting in Leavenworth, and appointed them- 
 selves a vigilance committee. All persons who could not answer "all right on the 
 goose," according to their definition of right, were searched, kept under guard, and 
 threatened with death. Mrs. Robinson's Kansas, p. 252. 
 
 A poetical writer in the Providence Journal, in speaking of the claims 
 of a candidate for the office of mayor, says : 
 
 To seek for political flaws is no use, 
 
 His opponents will find he is "sound on the goose." June 18, 1857. 
 
 GOOSE-FISH. See Devil-fish. 
 
 To GOOSE BOOTS. To repair them by putting on a new front halfway 
 up, and a newbottom. 
 
 GOPHER. 1. In Georgia, a species of land turtle, burrowing in the 
 ground in the low country. It is able to walk with a heavy man on its 
 back. Sherwood's Georgia. 
 
 2. A little animal found in the valleys of the Mississippi and Missouri 
 rivers. A species of mole, more than twice the size of the common field 
 mole. It burrows in the prairies, and there are immense tracts covered 
 with the little hillocks made by the earth which they have dug from their 
 burrows. flint's Geogr. of Miss. Valley. 
 
 The gopher often burrows in the artificial tumuli, to find a dry place for its nest ; 
 and roots of trees penetrate to their lowest depths. Lapham's Antiq. of Wisconsin, 
 p. 48.
 
 176 GOS GOU 
 
 Mr. Bryant, in alluding to the same fact, says : 
 
 The gopher mines the ground 
 Where stood the swarming cities. All is gone ; 
 All save the piles of earth that hold their bones. 
 
 GOSH. Used in the euphemistic form of oath, by Gosh ! 
 
 GOSPEL LOT. A lot set apart in new townships for a church, on the same 
 principle as a school lot. New York. 
 
 GOTHAM. The city of New York, an appellation first given to it in " Sal- 
 magundi," evidently from the singular wisdom attributed to its inhab- 
 itants. 
 
 Ye dandies of Gotham ; I 've seen fools and fops in forty different cities, but none 
 to compare with you. Dow's Sermons. 
 
 GOTHAMITES. The people of the city of New York ; the New Yorkers. 
 
 I intended to present you with some phases of outward life and manners, such 
 things as would strike or interest a stranger in our beloved Gotham, and in the 
 places to which regular Gothamites American cockneys, so to speak are wont 
 to repair. Sketches of American Society, Frazer's Magazine. 
 
 GOUGE. A cheat, fraud, robbery. 
 
 R and H will probably receive from Mr. Folk's administration $100,000 
 
 more than respectable printers would have done the work for. There is a clean 
 plain gouge of this sum out of the people's strong box. N. Y. Tribune, Dec. 10, 
 1845. 
 
 If the people of Mr. I 's district see fit to indorse and justify his enormous 
 
 , gouge, and his more profligate defence of it, they virtually make it their own. New 
 ; York Herald. 
 
 To GOUGE. 1. To chouse; to cheat. 
 
 Very well, gentlemen ! gouge Mr. Crosby out of the seat, if you think it whole- 
 some to do it. N. Y. Tribune, Nov. 26, 1845. 
 
 2. " Gouging is performed by twisting the forefinger in a lock of hair, 
 near the temple, and turning the eye out of the socket with the thumb- 
 nail, which is suffered to grow long for that purpose." Lambert's Trav- 
 els, Vol. II. p. 300. 
 
 This practice is only known by hearsay at the North and East, and 
 appears to have existed at no time except among the lower class of peo- 
 ple in the interior of some of the Southern States. An instance has not 
 been heard of for years. Grose has the word in his Dictionary of the 
 Vulgar Tongue, and defines it as " a cruel custom, practised by the Bos- 
 tonians in America ! " 
 
 Mr. Weld found this custom prevailing in Virginia in 1796. In speak- 
 ing of his visit to Richmond, he says : 
 
 Whenever these people come to blows, they fight like wild beasts, biting, kicking,
 
 GOV GKA 177 
 
 and endeavoring to tear out each other's eyes with their nails. It is by no means 
 uncommon to meet with those who have lost an eye in combat, and there are men 
 who pride themselves upon the dexterity with which they can scoop one out. This 
 they call gouging. Travels in North America, p. 143. 
 " Gouge him, B t ! darn ye, gouge him ; 
 Gouge him while he 's on the shore ! " 
 And his thumbs were straightway buried 
 Where no thumbs had pierced before. 
 
 Bon GauUier, Ballads. 
 
 A man who was paying his addresses to a Western belle, found one 
 day another suitor, of whom he thus speaks : 
 
 I got a side squint into one of his pockets, and saw it was full of eyes that had 
 been gouged from people of my acquaintance. I knew my jig was up, for such a 
 feller could out-court me, and I thought the gall brought me on purpose to have a 
 fight. Traits of American Humor, Vol. I. 
 
 GOVERNMENTAL. Kelating to government. A modern word, sometimes 
 used, and yet censured, both in England and America, and characterized 
 by the Eclectic Review as an " execrable barbarism." Worcester. 
 
 GKAB GAME. A mode of swindling, or rather stealing, practised by 
 sharpers in our large cities. Bets are made in which considerable sums 
 of money are involved, when a dispute is purposely planned, in the midst 
 of which one of the confederates seizes or " grabs " the money at stake 
 and runs off. The term is also used in a more general sense to signify 
 stealing, and making off with the booty, as in the following example : 
 
 " The fact is," replied Bob, " this country is getting rather too hot for me, and 
 I '11 bear you company ! What d' ye say to that ? " 
 
 " Just as you like," responded his two companions ; " that is, provided you won't 
 attempt the grab game on us." Scenes in the Rocky Mountains, p. 282. 
 
 GRADE. (French.) 1. A degree or rank in order or dignity, civil, mili- 
 tary, or ecclesiastical. 
 
 2. A step or degree in any ascending series; as, "crimes of every 
 grade" Webster. 
 
 This word is of comparatively modern use. It is not in the English 
 dictionaries previous to Todd's edition of Johnson in 1818. Mr. Todd 
 calls it " a word brought forward in some modern pamphlets," and says, 
 " it will hardly be adopted." Mr. Richardson says the word " has crept 
 into frequent use." Mr. Knowles, in the ninth edition of his dictionary, 
 introduces the word as once belonging to the language, without comment. 
 The British Critic and other reviews have criticized the word as an un- 
 authorized Americanism ; but, as we have seen, it has been adopted at 
 last by the English themselves. 
 
 While questions, periods, and grades and privileges are never once formally dis- 
 cussed. S. Miller.
 
 178 GRA GEA 
 
 To talents of the highest grade he [Hamilton] united a patient industry not al- 
 ways the companion of genius. Marshall's Life of Washington, Vol. V. p. 213. 
 
 3. The amount of inclination on a road. 
 
 To GRADE. To reduce to a certain degree of ascent or descent, as a road 
 or way. Webster. 
 
 To GRAFT. To " graft boots " is to repair them by adding new soles, 
 and surrounding the feet with new leather. So called in Connecticut. 
 Elsewhere called "foxing boots." 
 
 GRAHAM BREAD. Bread made of unbolted wheat. It is easier to digest 
 than common wheaten bread, and is, in consequence, much used by in- 
 valids. 
 
 GRAHAMITES. People who follow the system of Graham in their regimen. 
 
 A glance at his round, ruddy face would shame a Grahamite or teetotaller out of 
 his abstinence principles. Pickings from the Picayune, p. 130. 
 
 GRAHAM SYSTEM. A system of dietetics recommended by Sylvester Gra- 
 ham, a lecturer of some celebrity on temperance and dietetics, which ex- 
 cludes the use of all animal food and stimulating drinks, including tea, 
 coffee, etc. 
 
 GRAIN. 1. A particle; a bit; a little. Ex. "I don't care a grain;" 
 " Push the candle a grain further from you." 
 
 2. The universal name, in the United States, for what is called corn in 
 England ; that is, wheat, rye, oats, barley, etc. See Bread-Stuff. 
 
 GRAMA GRASS. (Chondrosium.) Several species of this grass are found 
 on our Western borders, where it is esteemed excellent food for cattle. 
 
 GRAND. Very good, excellent, pleasant. This is one of the words so 
 much abused among us by its too frequent use and application in senses 
 differing from its proper one. Ex. " This is a grand day ; " " the sleigh- 
 ing is grand ; " " what a grand time we had at the ball ; " " grand 
 weather," etc. Mr. Hamilton, in his remarks on the Yorkshire dialect 
 in England (Nugas Literariae, p. 318), notices this word as common there 
 in the same sense. 
 
 GRANDACIOUS. Magnificent. A factitious word. 
 GRANDIFEROUS. Magnificent, extensive. A factitious word. 
 
 GRANITE STATE. The State of New Hampshire, so called from the abun- 
 dance of this material found hi it. 
 
 To GRANT, for to vouchsafe, is used in prayer; as, "grant to hear us." 
 Southern.
 
 GRA GEE 179 
 
 GRAPE FRUIT. A variety of Citrus racemosus. Barbadoes. 
 GRAPE VINE. See Slue Grass. 
 
 GRASS. A vulgar contraction of sparrow-grass, i. e. asparagus. Further 
 than this the force of corruption can hardly go. 
 
 GRASSET. See ChewinL 
 
 GRASS WIDOW. A wife who has been separated from her husband; 
 called also a " widow bewitched" In England the term grass widow 
 signifies an unmarried woman who has had a child. 
 
 GRAVE- YARD. Mrs. Trollope italicizes this word as novel to her English 
 ears, accustomed to " church-yard" 
 
 GRAVY. Used in New England instead of juice ; as the gravy of an apple- 
 pie. 
 
 GREASE WOOD. ( Obione canescens.) The chamizo of the Mexicans. 
 
 To GREASE THE WHEELS is a metaphorical expression used in the West 
 to signify paying occasionally a little money to your creditor, grocer, etc. 
 
 GREASER. A term vulgarly applied to the Mexicans and other Spanish 
 Americans. It first became common during the war with Mexico. 
 
 The Americans call the Mexicans greasers, which is scarcely a complimentary 
 soubriquet; although the term "greaser camp" as applied to a Mexican encamp- 
 ment is truthfully suggestive of filth and squalor. Marryat, Mountains and Mole- 
 Mils, p. 236. 
 
 Tell the old coon then to quit that, and make them darned greasers clear out of the 
 lodge, and pock some corn and shucks here for the animals, for they 're nigh give 
 out. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 176. 
 
 GREAT. Distinguished, excellent, admirable. Thus, " a great Christian " 
 means a pious man ; " a great horse," a horse of good qualities and bot- 
 tom ; " a great plantation," a fertile one. So, too, " he is great at run- 
 ning ; " " she is great on the piano." 
 
 GREAT BIG. Very large ; as, "I 've got a great mg water-melon." Often 
 used by children. 
 
 GREATLE. A great while. Long Island. 
 
 GREEK. A soubriquet often applied to Irishmen, in jocular allusion to 
 their soi-disant Milesian origin. 
 
 In some of our Atlantic cities the men of foreign birth, especially those in vulgar 
 style called Greeks, constitute so nearly a majority, that it is only their ignorance that 
 prevents the saying of Maro from being fulfilled, 
 
 Dana'i dominant ur in urbe. 
 
 As it is, demagogues rule through them. N. Y. Tribune, July 2, 1858.
 
 180 GRE GRI 
 
 GREEN. Uncouth, raw, inexperienced, applied to persons ; a metaphor de- 
 rived from the vegetable world. It answers to the English use of the 
 word verdant. 
 
 A Pennsylvania editor says : 
 
 Somebody brought one bottle of sour water into our office, with the request to no- 
 tice it as " lemon beer." If Esau was green enough to sell his birthright for a mess 
 ^f-r ? _/ oC-pottage, it does not prove that we will tell a four-shilling lie for five cents. 
 
 J f I I -t <_~ (f-ft ffS. 
 
 GREEN MOUNTAIN STATE. The State of Vermont. 
 
 GRIFFIN, GRIFFE. This word, like the French grijfone, is constantly used 
 in Louisiana, both in conversation and in print, for a mulatto, particularly 
 the woman ; probably in allusion to the fabulous griffin, half eagle, half 
 lion. 
 
 To GRIG. To vex, irritate. To grig means to pinch, in Somerset, Eng- 
 land. 
 
 That word " superiors " grigged me. Thinks I, " My boy, I '11 just take that ex- 
 pression, roll it up in a ball, and shy it back at you." S. Slick, Human Nature, 
 p. 83. 
 
 GRIST. A large number or quantity. 
 
 There 's an unaccountable grist of bees, I can tell you ; and if you mean to charge 
 upon sich enemies, you must look out for somebody besides Whiskey Centre for 
 your vanguard. Cooper, The Oak Openings. 
 
 I went down to the Squire's to have a talk with his daughter. There was a whole 
 grist of fellows there. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 I says, says I, " Hannah, sposin we keep thanksgiving to home this year," says 
 I, "and invite all our hull grist o' cousins and aunts and things go the whole 
 figure, and do the tiling genteel." McClintock's Tales. 
 
 GRIT. Hard sandstone, employed for millstones, grindstones, pavement, 
 etc. And hence the word is often vulgularly used to mean courage, 
 spirit. 
 
 The command of a battalion was given to Mr. Jones, a pretty decided Whig in 
 politics, and, like manytPther men jof Zacchean stature, all grit and spirit. N. Y. 
 Com. Advertiser, June 24. 
 
 Honor and fame from no condition rise. It 's the grit of a fellow that makes the 
 man. Crockett, Tour, p. 44. 
 
 If he had n't a had the clear grit in him, and showed his teeth and claws, they 'd 
 a nullified him so you would n't see a grease spot of him no more. Sam /Slick in 
 England, ch. 17. 
 
 The Hunters grew into a class in New England. They were a breed by them- 
 selves, a kind of cross between the Puritan and Indian, with all the grit of the one 
 and lawless love of liberty of the other. Elliott, New England History, Vol. I. p. 
 459. 
 
 I reckon the chaplain was the real grit for a parson, always doin' as he 'd be
 
 GUI GRO 181 
 
 done by, and practisin' a darn'd sight more than he preached. Traits of American 
 Humor, Vol. I. 
 
 GRITTY. Courageous; spirited. 
 
 My decided opinion is, that there never was a grittyer crowd congregated on that 
 stream ; and such dancin' and drinkin', and eatin' bar steaks and corn dodgers, and 
 huggin' the gals, don't happen but once in a fellow's lifetime. Robb, Squatter Life, 
 p. 106. 
 
 GROCERY. A grocer's shop. In the plural, the commodities sold by 
 grocers. 
 
 In the South-west, a grocery is a bar-room, and the term groceries 
 means liquors. The barkeeper is often told to " fetch on his groceries" 
 
 The " grocery " consisting of a whiskey barrel, six tin cups, two green glass 
 tumblers, a lot of pipes and tobacco was in close proximity to the inn I was in ; 
 and there the qualities of a very recent extraction of the corn, and of the fitness of 
 the candidates to receive the votes of the corned, was discussed in the manner usual 
 in such times and places. N. Y. Spirit of the Times, 
 
 Every other house in Santa Fe was a grocery, as they call a gin and whiskey shop, 
 continually disgorging reeling, drunken men, and everywhere filth and dirt tri 
 nmphant. Ruxton, Mexico and Rocky Mountains, p. 190. 
 
 GROGGERY. A place where spirituous liquors are sold and drank ; a grog- 
 shop. In the West, often called a Doggery or Dog-hole, and La New 
 York a Eum-hole. 
 
 GROUND BRIDGE. The well-known corduroy road of the South, laid on 
 the bed of a creek or other body of water, to render it fordable ; while 
 the hollow bridge is one that is thrown over the water. 
 
 GROUND CHERRY. (Physalis.) A wild fruit lately introduced into our 
 gardens and markets. Sometimes called Winter Cherry. 
 
 GROUND HOG. See Woodchuck. 
 
 GROUND NUT. (Arachis hypogcea.} The pea nut. It buries its pods 
 under ground after flowering, to ripen its nuts. It is cultivated in the 
 West Indies and Southern States. 
 
 GROUND PLUM. (Astragalus caryocarpus.) A plant growing on dry soil 
 on the Mississippi River at the junction of the St. Peter's, and westward 
 and southward. The fruit, which is a pod, closely resembles a plum, 
 whence its name. 
 
 GROUND SQUIRREL. A name sometimes erroneously given to the striped 
 and spotted prairie squirrel (Spermophilus tredecimlineatus). 
 
 GROUNDS. " Tobacco grounds" " low grounds" " corn grounds" are terms 
 applied to lands hi Virginia. They never use the term " bottoms " or 
 "bottom lands," which they call " low grounds" 
 16
 
 182 GRO GUE 
 
 GROUTY. Cross, ill-natured. Northern. 
 GRUBBY. See Toad-Fish. 
 
 GRUNTER. (Genus, Pogonias. Cuvier.) One of the popular names of 
 the fish called by naturalists the Banded Drum. It is common to the 
 Atlantic coast south of New York. Grunts and Young Sheepskin are 
 other names of the same fish. Nat. Hist, of New York. 
 
 GUANO. (Quichua, huanu, the dung of birds.) A compound of the ex- 
 crements of sea-birds, and the remains of penguins and other water- 
 fowls. According to Garcillasso de la Vega, it was extensively used by 
 the ancient Peruvians to manure their lands, for which purpose it is now 
 imported in large quantities to the United States and Europe. 
 
 The earliest mention of guano as a manure is found in Acosta's His- 
 toria natural y moral de las Indias, first printed in Seville in 1590. In 
 an English translation by E. G. (supposed to have been Edward Grime- 
 stone), published in 1604, is the following at p. 311 : 
 
 In some islands or phares, which are joyning to the coast of Peru, wee see the 
 toppes of the mountaines all white, and to sight you would take it for snow, or for 
 some white land ; but they are heaps of dung of sea fowle, which go continually 
 
 thither They go with boates to these ilands, onely for the dung ; for there is 
 
 no other profit in them. And this dung is so commodious and profitable, as it 
 makes the earth yeelde great aboundance of fruite. They call this dung guano, 
 whereof the valley hath taken the name, which they call Limaguana, in the valleys 
 
 of Peru, where they use this dung, and it is the most fertile of all that countrie 
 
 So as these birds have not only the flesh to serve for meate, their singing for recre- 
 ation, their feathers for ornament and beautie, but alsoe their dung serves to fatten 
 the ground. 
 
 GUARDEEN, strongly accented on the last syllable, is often heard in New 
 England for guardian. 
 
 GUAVA. (W. Ind. guayaba.) The fruit of the Psidium pomiferum of the 
 West Indies, from which a jelly is made. Worcester. The Spanish 
 name guava is applied to a different fruit. 
 
 GUBERNATORIAL. Pertaining to government or to a governor. Webster. 
 
 To GUESS. 1. To conjecture ; to judge without any certain principles of 
 judgment. 
 
 2. To conjecture rightly, or upon some just reason. Johnson. 
 Yclothed was she, fresh for to devise ; 
 Her yellow hair was braided in a tress 
 Behind her back, a yard long I guess. Chaucer's Heroine. 
 Incapable and shallow innocents ! 
 You cannot guess who caused your father's death. Shakspeare^
 
 GUI 183 
 
 One may guess by Plato's writings, that his meaning as to the inferior deities was, 
 that they who would have them might, and they who would not might let them 
 alone ; but that himself had a right opinion concerning the true God. StiUing- 
 fleet. 
 
 We thus see that the legitimate, English sense of this word is to con- 
 jecture ; but with us, and especially in New England, it is constantly used 
 in common conversation instead of to believe, to suppose, to think, to im- 
 agine, to fancy. It is even used to make an emphatic assertion ; as, 
 " Jem, would n't you like a julep to cool you off this sultry morning ? " 
 " I guess I would ! " From such examples as the words to foe and to guess, 
 it will be seen that, while on the one hand we have a passion for coining 
 new and unnecessary words and often in a manner opposed to the ana- 
 logies of the language, there is on the other hand a tendency to banish 
 from common use a number of the most useful and classical English ex- 
 pressions, by forcing one word to do duty for a host of others of some- 
 what similar meaning. This latter practice is by far the more dangerous 
 of the two ; because, if not checked and guarded against in tune, it will 
 corrode the very texture and substance of the language, and rob poster- 
 ity of the power of appreciating and enjoying those masterpieces of lit- 
 erature bequeathed to us by our forefathers, which form the richest in- 
 heritance of all that speak the English tongue. 
 
 An amusing illustration of the manner in which such misuse of words can obscure 
 the sense of their true meaning, even in the minds of educated men, is furnished by 
 a critical comment in the " Shakespear's Scholar " of Richard Grant White, A. M., 
 on the following passage in Richard III. Act IV. Scene IV. : 
 
 STANLEF. Richmond is on the seas. 
 
 K. RICHARD. There let him sink and be the seas on Mm. 
 
 White-livered runagate ; what doth he there ? 
 STANLEY. I know not, mighty sovereign, but by guess. 
 K. RICHARD. Well, as you guess ? 
 
 A better illustration of the correct use of the word could nowhere be found. Stan- 
 ley says he does not know, he only guesses ; and the king replies, Well, tell me what 
 your guess or suspicion is. But hear the American critic : "If there be two words 
 for the use of which, more than any others, our English cousins twit us, they are 
 'well,' as an interrogative exclamation, and 'guess.' Milton uses both, as Shake- 
 epear also frequently does, and exactly in the way in which they are used in 
 America ; and here we have them both in half a line. Like most of those words 
 and phrases which it pleases John Bull to call Americanisms, they are English of 
 the purest and best, which have lived here while they have died out in the mother 
 country." To such " English of the purest and best ! " are we fast hastening, if some 
 check is not put on the present tendencies of our colloquial speech, and the style 
 adopted in our periodical literature. Rev. A. C. Geikie, in Canadian Journal, 
 Sept. 1857. 
 
 GUINEA CORN. (Holcus sorghum.) Egyptian millet, Durrah of the Arabs,
 
 184 GUI GUM 
 
 a plant with a stalk of the size and appearance of maize. The grain 
 grows in a single pendant bunch at the top. 
 
 GUINEA GRASS. A species of grass cultivated in the West Indies, used 
 as fodder for horses. CarmichaeVs W. Indies. 
 
 GUINEA-KEET, or simply KEET. A name given in some localities to the 
 Guinea fowl, and probably derived from its cry. 
 
 GULCH. A deep ravine, caused by the action of water. California. 
 
 The word gulch, which is in general use here, may not be familiar to your ears ; 
 though its sound somewhat expresses its meaning, without further definition. It 
 denotes a mountain ravine, differing from ravines elsewhere, as the mountains of 
 California differ from all others, more steep, abrupt, and inaccessible. The sound 
 ' of gulch is like that of a sudden plunge into a deep hole, which is just the character 
 of the thing itself. It bears the same relation to a ravine, that a canon does to a 
 pass or gorge. Bayard Taylor's Letters from California, Sept. 1849. 
 
 To GULCH. To swallow voraciously. Todd, Webster. In low lan- 
 guage this word is still heard in New England. 
 
 You are all a haggling, gulching, good-for-nothing crew. Margaret. 
 
 GULF STATES. The States bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, namely, 
 Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. 
 
 To GULLT. To wear a hollow channel in the earth. Webster. This 
 conversion of the noun into a verb is an Americanism. " The roads are 
 much gullied," is a common expression. 
 
 GULLY PLUM. The fruit of the Spondia lutea. So called in Barbadoes. 
 
 GUM. 1. The name of many Southern trees. The Sour Gum and Black 
 Gum are species of Nyssa. The Sweet Gum, often called simply Gum 
 or Gum-tree, is Liquidambar styraciflua. The trees of this last species 
 resemble the Hornbeam of the north. They grow to a large size, and, in 
 many instances, decay at the heart, leaving a shell of some few inches in 
 thickness. Hence they are frequently cut into convenient lengths, and, 
 after due preparation, converted into casks, bee-hives, etc. From this 
 practice, bee-hives, though made of boards, have come to be called bee- 
 gums, and any thing like casks or firkins for domestic uses is called a 
 gum. Southern. 
 
 What dat ? "What dat dis nigger's eyes 
 
 Displose, what mighty big surprise, 
 Upon de gum-tree swingin' ? 
 
 It am de possum at his ease, 
 
 Rocked in dc cradle ob de breeze, 
 
 And list'nin' to de singin'. Negro Melody.
 
 GUM GUN 185 
 
 2. India-rubber. Hence the plural Gums is often applied to India- 
 rubber shoes. 
 
 GUM GAME. A trick, a dodge. Opossums and raccoons, when pursued, 
 will fly for refuge to the Sweet Gum tree, in preference to any other. 
 This tree is very tall, slim, smooth, and void of branches except a tuft at 
 the top, which is a place of security for any animal expert enough to 
 reach it. As they are hunted in the night, they are, of course, beyond 
 the reach of the hunter's penetrating eye at the great height of the gum 
 tree. This is called a coming the gum game " over the hunter. 
 
 To GUM A SAW. To punch out and give the set to the teeth of a saw, 
 by means of a machine called a gummer. The phrase alludes to the 
 growth of the teeth from the gums. 
 
 GUMBO. See Gombo, 
 
 GUMMER. A machine for gumming saws. 
 
 GUMMY ! An exclamation, used in New England. 
 
 " Gummy ! " retorted the woman. " He has been a talkin' about me, and a 
 runnin' me down," Margaret, p. 137. 
 
 GUMP. A foolish person ; a dolt. Webster. It is provincial in England, 
 and may be found in most of the glossaries. 
 
 Tim Crane is the concarndest old guup that ever was no inteUectibility at all. 
 Widow Bedott Papers, p. 90. 
 
 GUMPTION. Understanding ; skill. TodcL This vulgar word is provin- 
 cial in most parts of England, and is noticed in the glossaries of Pegge, 
 Brockett, Forby, Jennings, and Halliwell. With us it is frequently 
 heard. 
 
 What tho' young empty airy sparks 
 May have their critical remarks ; 
 
 'T is sma' presumption, 
 To say they 're but unlearned clarks, 
 
 And want the gumption. Hamilton, Ramsay's Poems, II. 
 
 He 's a clever man, and aint wantin' in gumption. He 's no fool, that 's a fact. 
 Sam Slick in England, ch. 26. 
 
 GUN STICK. A ramrod. Western. 
 
 GUNNING. A colloquial word, from gun. The act of going out with a 
 gun, in order to shoot game. Ash'S dictionary. This word is com- 
 monly used by sportsmen in the Northern States in the sense given by 
 Ash. At the South the word hunting is used. 
 
 The Americans were, however, mostly marksmen, having been accustomed to 
 gunning from their youth. Hannah Adams, Hist, of N, England. 
 
 16*
 
 186 GUR HAK 
 
 GURRY. The slime and blood of fish. A fisherman's word. 
 
 The fisherman dips a bucket of fresh water from the spring, and, washing the 
 gurry from his hands and face, starts for home. Peter Gott, the Fisherman. 
 
 GUSH. A great abundance. A Texan would say, " We have got a gush 
 of peaches in our neck of the woods." 
 
 GUT. A tidal inlet or narrow strait. Used also in England. 
 
 H. 
 
 HABITAN. (French.) A term applied to what, in English, is called a yeo- 
 man ; i. e. a small country proprietor. Canada and Louisiana. 
 
 My coachman was a habitan, and I had a fine opportunity of studying the con- 
 flicting traits of character which distinguish the race. Lanman's Tour to the 
 Saguenay. 
 
 At Lake Megantic, Gen. Arnold met an emissary whom he had sent in advance 
 to ascertain the feelings of the habitans, or French yeomanry. Irving' s Life of 
 Washington, Vol. II. p. 96. 
 
 HACKBERRT. (Celtis occidentalis.) A small or middle-sized tree, with 
 sweet and edible fruits as large as bird-cherries, and which makes good 
 firewood. It is also called Sugar Berry. 
 
 HACKEE. A name given, in some of the Eastern States, to the Chipmuk. 
 
 HACKMATACK. The American larch, or Tamarack (Larix Americana). 
 This tree abounds in the North-eastern States and British America. 
 It is a hard, strong, and durable wood, is frequently used in ship-building, 
 while the houses of the settlers are almost entirely constructed of it. 
 The name is probably of Indian origin. 
 
 HAD HAVE. This astonishing combination of auxiliaries is often used by 
 speakers and writers who should know better. 
 Had we have known this. Nott, on Hamilton's Duel. 
 
 HAD N'T OUGHTER, i. e. had not ought to, for " ought not to," a common 
 vulgarism in New England. See Ought. 
 
 To HAIL FROM. A phrase probably originating with seamen or boatmen, 
 and meaning to come from, to belong to ; as, " He hails from Kentucky," 
 i. e. he is a native of Kentucky, or li ves in Kentucky. 
 
 HAINT, for have not. A contraction much used in common conversation in 
 New England. It is also used in various parts of England. 
 
 HAKE. The New Jersey name for the King-Fish.
 
 HAL HAN 187 
 
 HALF COCK. " To go off at half cock" is a metaphorical expression bor- 
 rowed from the language of sportsmen, and is applied to a person who 
 attempts a thing in a hurry without due preparation, and consequently 
 fails. 
 
 Mr. Clayton of Georgia is a fine speaker ; he is always ready, and never goes off 
 half cock. Crockett, Tour down East. 
 
 HALF-FACED CAMP. A shelter of the frontiersmen of the South of the 
 last generation, and perhaps of the present. They are sometimes open 
 on the south side, whence the name. 
 
 You may talk about your reunions, your soirees, and all that the world calls social 
 refinement j but for true-hearted benevolence, void of parade, commend me to a 
 hunting-party in a half-faced camp. The Americans at Home, Vol. I. p. 95. 
 
 HALF-SAVED. Half-witted. Provincial in Herefordshire, England, and 
 in New England. 
 
 HAMMOCK. (Carib, amaca.) A swinging-bed. This word, now in such 
 general use, especially among seamen, and the etymology of which has 
 been so much disputed, is undoubtedly of West Indian origin. 
 
 Cotton for the making of hamacas, which are Indian beds. Raleigh, Disc, of 
 Guiana, 1596. 
 
 The Brazilians call their beds hamacas; they are a sheet laced at both ends, and 
 so they sit rocking themselves in them. Sir R. Hawkins, Vby. to South Sea. 
 
 HAND. An adept or proficient in any thing; one who is fond of any 
 thing. 
 
 It is a wonder to me how some folks can content themselves doin' nothin' ; I 
 never could. I must be doin' something, or I should gape myself to death. I 'm a 
 great hand to gape why afore now I 've gaped so much on Sundays that my 
 mouth would n't stay shut for a week after. Yankee Hill's Stories. 
 
 " Take a pickle, Mr. Crane," said the Widow Bedott, " I 'm glad you like pickles 
 they 're a delightful beverage. Melissa never eats 'em she ain't no pickle 
 hand." Widow Bedott Papers, p. 71. 
 
 HAND RUNNING. Consecutively ; as, " He can hit the bull's eye at fifty 
 paces ten times hand running" So too in the North of England. 
 
 To HANDLE. To manage, to overcome an opponent; particularly in 
 wrestling. Ex. " You can't handle him." 
 
 HANDSOMELY. Carefully, steadily. A term used by seamen when giving 
 an order. 
 
 II AND WRITE, for handwriting, a common barbarism at the South; as, "I 
 can't read his handwrite" 
 
 HANG. " To get the hang of a thing " is to get the knack, or habitual
 
 188 HAN HAR 
 
 facility, of doing it well ; also, to get acquainted with. A low expression 
 frequently heard among us. 
 
 If ever you must have an indifferent teacher for your children, let it be after they 
 have got a fair start and have acquired the hang of the tools for themselves, 
 Prime, Hist, of Long Island, p. 82. 
 
 He had been in pursuit of the science of money-making all his life, but could 
 never get the hang of it. Pickings from the Picayune. 
 
 Suggs lost his money and his horse, but then he had n't got the hang of the game. 
 
 Simon Suggs, p. 44. 
 
 Well, now, I can tell you that the sheriffs are the easiest men for you to get the 
 hang of, among all the public officers. Greene on Gambling. 
 
 To HANG. To stick fast, come to a stand still ; as, the jury hung, and " the 
 man got a new trial." Probably borrowed from the sportsman's term 
 " to hang fire," said of a gun which does not go off at once. 
 
 To HANG ABOUND. To loiter about. The English expression is to 
 hang about. 
 
 Every time I come up from Louisiana, I found Jess hangin' round that gal, lookin' 
 awful sweet, and a fellow couldn't go near her without raisin' his dander. Robb, 
 Squatter Life. 
 
 To HANG UP ONE'S FIDDLE. To desist ; to give up. 
 
 When a man loses his temper and ain't cool, he might aa well hang up his fiddle. 
 
 Sam Slick. 
 
 If a man at forty-two is not in a fair way to get his share of the world's spoils, 
 he might as well hang up his fiddle, and be content to dig his way through life as 
 best he may. Dow's Sermons, p. 78. 
 
 To HAPPEN IN. To happen to call in ; to go or come in accidentally. 
 
 Happening into the Suffolk jail on a business errand, we were somewhat startled 
 by hearing our name familiarly called from a prisoner's cell, etc. Boston Bee, Feb. 
 1855. 
 
 To HAPPIFY. To make happy. This mongrel barbarism, according to 
 Mr. Pickering, is sometimes heard in our pulpits. 
 
 HAPPY AS A CLAM is a common simile in New England, sometimes en- 
 larged to " happy as a clam at high-water." 
 
 Inglorious friend ! most confident I am 
 
 Thy life is one of very little ease ; 
 
 Albeit men mock thee with their smiles, 
 And prate of being happy as a clam. Saxe, Sonnet to a Clam. 
 
 The poor peasant who satisfies his hunger with submission and salt pork, peni- 
 tence and potatoes, is as sound as a live oak corporeally, and as happy as a clam at 
 high-water. Dow's Sermons. 
 
 HAKD CASE. A worthless, dissipated fellow ; a drunkard.
 
 HAR HAR 189 
 
 HARD COAL. Anthracite coal, so called to distinguish it from bituminous 
 coal, which is called soft coal. 
 
 Since the introduction of hard coal, the infernal regions have become greatly en- 
 larged, so that they can now uncomfortably accommodate the whole human race, 
 whither they all appear to be bound, for a certainty. Dow's Sermons, Vol. III. p. 
 112. 
 
 HARDIIACK. (Spircea tomentosa.) The popular name of a well-known 
 and common plant in pastures and low grounds. It is celebrated for its 
 astringent properties. 
 
 She made a nosegay of the mountain laurel, red cedar with blueberries, and a 
 bunch of the white hardhack. Margaret, p. 206. 
 
 HARDHEAD. A fish of the herring species, the menhaden ; so called in 
 the State of Maine. See Menhaden. 
 
 HARD PUSHED. Hard pressed, in a difficulty ; and especially, as a mer- 
 cantile phrase, hard pressed for money, short of cash. 
 
 As I said, at the end of six months we began to be hard pushed. Our credit, 
 however, was still fair. Perils of Pearl Street, p. 123. 
 
 A HARD Row TO HOE. A metaphor derived from hoeing corn, mean- 
 ing a difficult matter or job to accomplish. 
 
 Gentlemen, I never opposed Andrew Jackson for the sake of popularity. I knew 
 it was a hard row to hoe ; but I stood up to the rack, considering it a duty I owed to 
 the country that governed me. Crockett's Speech, Tour down East, p. 69. 
 
 HARD RUN. To be hard pressed ; and especially to be in want of money. 
 The same as hard pushed. 
 
 "We knew the Tammany party were hard run ; but we did not know it was re- 
 duced to the necessity of stealing the principles of Nativism. N. Y. Tribune, Nov. 
 1, 1845. 
 
 HARD UP. In straits for want of money ; short of funds. 
 
 HARDSHELL BAPTISTS. The name of a sect of Baptists in the Southern 
 States, known as those of the strait-laced order ; while those of liberal 
 views are called " Softshell Baptists." 
 
 "We had a variety of passengers in the stage to Milledgeville. There was an old 
 gentleman in black, a dandy gambler, an old Hardshell preacher, as they call them 
 in Georgia, with the biggest mouth I ever seed, a circus clown, a cross old maid, a 
 beautiful young lady, etc. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 In a debate in the House of Representatives, in 1857, Mr. Elliott, of 
 Kentucky, in nominating the Rev. John Morris for chaplain, said : 
 
 Mr. Morris is a regular member of the Hardshell Baptist Church, a very pious 
 man, not of very eminent ability, but just the man to pray for such a crowd as 
 this.
 
 190 HAR HAS 
 
 HARDSHELL DEMOCRATS, also called " HARDSHELLS," and again abbre- 
 viated into " HARDS." The name of a political party, of which the fol- 
 lowing history is given by the New York Tribune of April 2, 1853 : 
 
 These terms date from the efforts made to reunite the Cass and Van 
 Buren democracy of 1848, who were known as Hunkers and Barnburn- 
 ers. Some difficulty attended this reunion, which gave rise to the use 
 of the new political epithets. The difference between a Hardshell and 
 a Softshell is this : one favors the execution of the Fugitive Slave Law 
 and goes for a distribution of the offices among the Nationals, while the 
 other is a loud stickler for Union and Harmony. The Hards embrace 
 the Cass Hunkers of 1848, of the National school of politics ; while the 
 Softs are composed of the remnants of the Van Buren and Adams party 
 of 1848, and such Hunkers as Secretary Marcy and Governor Seymour. 
 
 HARD WOOD. A term applied to woods of solid texture that soon decay, 
 including generally, beech, birch, maple, ash, etc. Used by shipwrights 
 and farmers in Maine, in opposition to oak and pine. In the South and 
 West it is opposed to " light wood." 
 
 HARNESS-CASK. A conical cask bound with iron hoops, from which salt 
 meat is served out at sea. The cask is usually painted green and the 
 hoops black ; the resemblance of the latter to the black leathern straps 
 of harness, has probably given rise to the name. 
 
 HASTY PUDDING. Indian meal stirred into boiling water until it becomes 
 a thick batter or pudding, and eaten with milk, butter, and sugar or mo- 
 lasses. In Pennsylvania and some other States it is called mush; in 
 New York, suppawn. Joel Barlow wrote a poem on the subject, in 
 which he thus accounts for its name : 
 
 Thy name is Hasty Pudding ! thus our sires 
 
 Were wont to greet thee fuming from their fires ; 
 
 And while they argued in thy just defence, 
 
 With logic clear they thus explain'd the sense : 
 
 " In haste the boiling caldron o'er the blaze 
 
 Receives and cooks the ready-powder'd maize; 
 
 In haste 't is serv'd ; and then in equal haste, 
 
 With cooling milk, we make the sweet repast." 
 
 Such is thy name, significant and clear, 
 
 A name, a sound to every Yankee dear. Canto I. 
 
 Father and I went down to camp, 
 
 Along wi' Captain Goodin, 
 And there we see the men and boys, 
 
 As thick as hasty puddin. Song, Yankee Doodle. 
 
 Hasty pudding has long been eaten in England, where it is made of 
 milk and flour. Mr. Greave, in his Spiritual Quixote, printed in Lon-
 
 HAT HAZ 191 
 
 don in 1773, says : " There is a certain farinaceous composition, which, 
 from its being frequently used by our ancestors as an extempore supple- 
 ment to a scanty dinner, has obtained the appellation of a hasty pudding. 
 It is composed of milk and flour boiled together." "We find it again men- 
 tioned in the European Magazine for March, 1796, in an " Epitaph," sent 
 as a hint to a water-drinker. 
 
 Here lies Ned Rand, who on a sudden 
 Left off roast beef for hasty pudding ; 
 Forsook old stinge mild and stale, 
 And every drink, for Adam's ale. 
 
 HAT. Our Northern women have almost discarded the word bonnet, ex- 
 cept in " sun-bonnet," and use the term hat instead. A like fate has be- 
 fallen the word gown, for which both they and their Southern sisters 
 commonly use frock or dress. 
 
 HATCHET. " To bury the hatchet," is to make peace. A phrase alluding 
 to the Indian ceremony of burying the war-hatchet, or tomahawk, when 
 making a peace. 
 
 They smoked the pipe of peace together, and the colonel claimed the credit of 
 having, by his diplomacy, persuaded the sachem to bury the hatchet. Irving's Wash 
 ington, Vol. I. p. 361. 
 
 So, " to take up the hatchet " is to declare war ; to commence hostil 
 ities. 
 
 Shingis, sachem of the Delawares, was one of the greatest warriors of his tribe, 
 and " took up the hatchet " at various times against the English. Irving, Life of 
 Washington, Vol. I. p. 78. 
 
 HATE. A bit; as, "I don't care a hate" "I didn't eat a hate" I 
 did n't get a hate" It is the Scotch haet, as in the phrase, " fient a 
 haet," i. e. the devil a bit. 
 
 HAW-HAW. To laugh heartily. 
 
 I sat down in front of the General, and we haw-haw'd, I tell you, for more than 
 half an hour. Maj. Downing' s Letters, p. 189. 
 
 He burst out a larfin', and staggered over to the sophy, and laid down and haw- 
 hawed like thunder. Sam Slick, 3d ser. ch. vii. 
 
 HAWK-EYE STATE. The State of Iowa. It is said to be so named after 
 an Indian chief who was once a terror to voyageurs to its borders. 
 
 HAY BARRACK. (Dutch, ffooi-berg, a hay-rick.) A straw-thatched roof, 
 supported by four posts, capable of being raised or lowered at pleasure, 
 under which hay is kept. A term peculiar to New York State. 
 
 To HAZE. 1. To riot, frolic. 
 
 W. had been drinking and was hazing about the street at night, acting somewhat
 
 192 HEA HEA 
 
 suspiciously or strangely [when the officer arrested him]. N. Y. Com. Adv. Dec. 
 2, 1848. 
 
 I wish to all-fired smash I was to home, doin' chores about house, or hazin' round 
 with Charity Bunker and the rest o' the gals at a squantum. Wise, Tales for the 
 Marines. 
 
 2. To urge or drive, especially with work; to harass. A seamen's 
 term. 
 
 Mack was very dull at learning any thing connected with sea life, and made a 
 clumsy sailor. The captain disliked him, and continually hazed him for his awk- 
 wardness. Browne's Whaling Cruise, p. 187. 
 
 The surest way to make a man worthless and indifferent to the success of the 
 voyage is to haze him, and find fault with him when he does his duty to the best of 
 his ability. Ibid. p. 90. 
 
 This term is used at Harvard College, says Mr. Hall in his " College 
 Words," to express the treatment which Freshmen sometimes receive 
 from the higher classes, and especially from the Sophomores. 
 
 Freshmen have got quietly settled down to work Sophs have given up their 
 hazing. Williams Quarterly, Vol. II. p. 285. 
 
 We are glad to be able to read, that the absurd and barbarous custom of hazing, 
 which has long prevailed in the college, is, to a great degree, discontinued. Har- 
 vard Magazine, Vol. I. p. 413. 
 
 HEAD-CHEESE. The ears and feet of swine cut up fine, and, after being 
 boiled, pressed into the form of a cheese. In Maryland it is always 
 called " hogshead cheese." 
 
 To HEAD OFF. To get before, to intercept. Ex. " The thief ran fast, 
 but the officer managed to head him off" 
 
 HEAD-RIGHTS. Grants of land made by Texas to the heads of families, 
 under the colonization laws, in order to promote emigration. 
 
 So much of the vacant lands of the republic shall be surveyed and sectionized, 
 in tracts of six hundred and forty, and three hundred and twenty acres each, as will 
 be sufficient to satisfy all claims for scrip sold, soldier's claims, and head-rights. 
 Laws of Texas, Nov. 1828. 
 
 HEAP. A great many, a crowd; a great deal, much. So used at the 
 South and "West. A correspondent of the Commercial Advertiser thus 
 notices the various uses of this word at the South : " Heap is a most 
 prolific word in the Carolinas and Georgia among the common people, 
 and, with children at least, in the best regulated families. ' How did you 
 like Mr. Smith ? ' I ask. ' Oh ! I liked him a heap,' will be the answer, 
 if affirmative, in five cases out of six. It is synonymous with a majority, 
 or a great many ; as, ' We should have plenty of peaches, but a heap of 
 them were killed by the frost.' It is synonymous even with very, as * I
 
 HEA HEL 193 
 
 heard him preach a heap often ; ' ' Oh ! I 'm lazy a heap' " It is also an 
 English vulgarism, except in the adverbial sense. 
 
 To go to church in New York in any kind of tolerable style costs a heap a-year. 
 I know very well the reason why a majority of you go to Beelzebub is, because you 
 can't afford to go to heaven at the present exorbitant prices. Dow's Sermons. 
 
 I was not idle, for I had a heap of talk with the folks in the house. Crockett, 
 Tour, p. 87. 
 
 Baltimore used to be called Mob-town ; but they are a heap better now, and are 
 more orderly than some of their neighbors. Ibid. p. 13. 
 
 HEARN, for heard. 
 
 I beg leave to suggest to you that the Tinnecum people don't care much about 
 the elements of music, of which they 've hearn tell these two hundred years. 
 Knickerbocker Mag. Vol. XVII. p. 37. 
 
 HEARTY AS A BUCK. A hunter's phrase, now in very common use. 
 "Well, how d 'ye do, any how ? 
 
 So, so, middlin'. I 'm hearty as a buck, but can't jump jest so high. Crockett, 
 Tour, p. 8. 
 
 HEATER PIECE. A gore or triangular piece of land, so called, probably, 
 from a flat iron, the form of which it resembles. New England. 
 
 HEFT. 1. Weight; ponderousness. A colloquial term common to some 
 parts of England and the Northern States. 
 
 2. Mr. Pickering says : " This noun is also used colloquially in Amer- 
 ica to signify the greater part or bulk of any thing, in expressions of 
 this kind : ' A part of the crop was good, but the heft of it was bad.' " 
 
 We suppose the plan of Mr. Benton is, to connect the Continental Railroad with 
 the line of communication by the great lakes, thus throwing the heft of the Pacific 
 trade across the continent into the port of New York. N. Y. Herald, Feb. 5, 
 1849. 
 
 My grief! 'twas perfectly astonishin' to me that one mortal body could hold as 
 much as the Doctor put in. No wonder he 's so fat : they say he gets the heft of 
 his livin' by contrivin' to get to one patient's house jest as dinner's ready, to 
 another at tea time, and so on. F. M. Whicher. Account of a Donation Party, p. 
 262. 
 
 Mr. Magwire carries on the shoemaking business quite extensive, and he 's to his 
 shop the heft of his time. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 100. 
 
 To HEFT. To try the weight of any thing by lifting it. Local in Eng- 
 land, and colloquial in the United States. Worcester. 
 
 I remember the great hog up in Danwich, that hefted nigh twenty score. Mar- 
 garet, p. 111. 
 
 HELD. Billiard players say " I held the ball," instead of I holed it. See 
 Found. 
 
 17
 
 194 HEL HIC 
 
 HELL-BENDER. (Menopoma alleganiensis.) An animal allied to the sal- 
 amander. Nat. Hist. New Ybrh 
 
 HELL-DIVER. See Dipper^ 
 
 HELP. The common name, in New England, for servants, and for the 
 operatives in a cotton or woollen factory ; a term long in use and evi- 
 dently brought from England. 
 
 It is ordered that James Perm shall have twenty shillings, to be divided among 
 such of his servants and helps as have been employed about j* attendance of 
 ye court, etc. Massachusetts Colonial Records, 164^ Vol. II. p. 139. 
 
 " I hain't kept no gal since Melissy was big enough to aid me," said the widow 
 Bedott. "I think helps more plague than profit." Widow Bedott Papers, p. 76. 
 
 I always want the kitchen help to do things as I want to have them done. New 
 England Tales. 
 
 HEN-HAWK. (Falco lineatus.) The popular name of the Red-shouldered 
 Hawk of naturalists. 
 
 HERB. In America universally pronounced erb; whereas in England the 
 h is often aspirated. Thus in the Quarterly Review for July, 1857, 
 occurs the following passage : " The peasant gathered a herb which was 
 considered a specific in the district where he was born." An American 
 would have written " an herb." 
 
 HERN, for hers. A vulgarism often heard among the uneducated. It is 
 included by Pegge in his list of cockneyisms. See Hisn. 
 
 HESSIAN FLY. ( Gecidomya destructor.). An insect famous for its ravages 
 on wheat. The popular name of it is owing to the belief that it was 
 introduced into America by the Hessian troops in their straw from 
 Germany, during the year 1776, at which tune the British army, then, 
 in occupation of Staten Island, received large reinforcements of Hes- 
 sians under General de Heister. This idea has been ridiculed by many 
 European entomologists, who have asserted that the insect is strictly 
 American. It appears, however, that its existence has long been known, 
 probably for more than a century, in France, Germany, Switzerland, 
 and some of the larger islands of the Mediterranean. N. T. Hind. 
 Insects and Diseases, injurious to Wheat* 
 
 HEX. Pret. and part, of to heat. Pickering. Often heard in the mouths 
 of illiterate people. 
 
 HICKORY. A name given to several species of Carya. They are hand- 
 some trees, with timber valuable for its hardness and toughness, and with 
 edible nuts. Hence a " hickory Catholic," for instance, is a flexible, 
 yielding one. "Western.
 
 HIC HIR 195 
 
 HICKORY NUT. See Walnut. 
 
 HICKORY SHIRT. A shirt made of heavy twilled cotton with a narrow blue 
 stripe, so called from its strength. These shirts are much worn by 
 laborers. 
 
 Swindling practicers of trade flaunt in silks, while honest virtue staves off starva- 
 tion by making hickory shirts at eight cents a piece. Doesticks, p. 68. 
 
 To HIDE. To beat Used also in various parts of England, 
 
 When I was a little boy they coaxed me to take all the jawings, and all the 
 hidings, and to go first into all sorts of scrapes, J. C. Neale, Sketches. 
 
 To HIFER. To loiter. Used in North Pennsylvania. 
 HIGHBINDER. A riotous fellow. New York slang. 
 HIGHBELIA. See Lowbelia. 
 
 HIGHER LAW. A law higher, or above that of the Constitution; the 
 laws of God. This term was first used by the Hon. William H. Seward, 
 in a speech in the United States Senate, in March, 1850, on " Freedom 
 in the New Territories," and has since been frequently heard in that 
 body and elsewhere. In this speech the Senator said : 
 
 I know there are laws of various kinds, which regulate the conduct of men. 
 There are constitutions and statutes, codes mercantile and civil ; but when we are 
 legislating for States, especially when we are founding States, all these laws must 
 be brought to the standard of the laws of God. The Constitution regulates our 
 stewardship ; the Constitution devotes the domain to union, to justice, to defence, to 
 welfare, to liberty. But there is a higher law than the Constitution, which regulates 
 our authority over the domain. Speeches, Vol. I. pp. 66 and 74. 
 
 HIGHFALUTEN. High flown language, bombast. This word is in com- 
 mon use in the West, and bids fair to spread over the country. There 
 can be little doubt of its derivation from " highlighting." 
 
 I was at the Barnburners' convention in Utica, and the first person I heard was a 
 good-looking, fat, rosy-looking man who got up and ground out what we term at 
 the West a regular built fourth-of-July star-spangled-banner times-that-tried- 
 men's-souls Jefferson speech, making gestures to suit the highfalutens. Speech 
 of Leslie Coombs, in N. York, Sept. 29, 1848. 
 
 One of the boys, I reckon ? All right on the goose, eh ? No highfaluten airs 
 here, you know. Gladstone, Englishman in Kansas, p. 43. 
 
 HIGH-HEELED SHOES. To say of a woman that she "has on her high- 
 heeled shoes " is to intimate that she sets herself up as a person of more 
 consequence than others allow her to be; or in other words, that she is 
 " stuck up." New England. 
 
 HIGH-HOLE. See Clape. . t 
 
 To HIRE. Often improperly applied to renting a house. In good English 
 a house is rented, while a vehicle or workman is hired.
 
 196 HIE HOB 
 
 To HIRE HIS TIME. A slave is said to " hire his time " who contracts with 
 his master to pay a stipulated price for his time, and during such time 
 regulates his own conduct in respect to labor to be performed by him, or 
 makes contracts as to such labor. 
 
 In Russia a certain yearly payment called Obrock, equivalent to a practice which 
 prevails to a certain extent in some of our Southern States, of allowing slaves to 
 hire their own time, goes a great way to extinguish all the distinctions between serfs 
 and slaves. N. Y. Tribune, Aug. 20, 1858. 
 
 HISN, for his, or his own. A vulgarism used in the United States, and 
 embraced by Mr. Pegge in his list of London vulgar words. 
 
 HITCH. An entanglement, impediment. 
 
 All the hitches in the case of McNulty being got over, the gentlemen of the long 
 robe set themselves at work in earnest. N. Y. Com. Adv. 1845. 
 
 To HITCH HORSES. It is a common expression, when persons do not 
 agree, to say " they don't hitch horses together." Men who do not agree 
 will not stop at the same house or tavern, or will not hitch their horses 
 at the same stake. It is also contracted into " do not hitch together" and 
 still further into, " do not hitch." 
 
 I never truckle to man, if he 'a as big as all out doors. And after he poked his 
 fist in my face, one election, we never hitched horses together. McClintock Tales. 
 
 I've been teamin' on't some for old Pendleton, and have come to drive a spell 
 for this old fellow, but I guess we shan't hitch long. Mrs. Clovers, Forest Life, 
 Vol. I. p. 116. 
 
 HINDOOS. A name given to the Know Nothing party, in consequence of 
 their candidate for the presidency, Daniel Ullman, having been charged 
 with being a native of Calcutta. 
 
 HITHER AND YON. This expression is often used in the country towns of 
 New England for here and there. It is provincial in the north of Eng- 
 land. It is never heard in our seaport towns. Pickering. 
 
 Ho. A word used by teamsters to stop their teams. It has been used as 
 a noun, for stop ; moderation ; bounds. Webster. See Whoa. 
 
 Because, forsooth, some odd poet or some such fantastic fellows make much on 
 him, there 's no ho with him ; the vile dandiprat will overlook the proudest of his ac- 
 quaintance. Lingua, Old Play. 
 
 Mr. Malone says it is yet common in Ireland ; as, " there 's no ho in 
 him," that is, he knows no bounds. This expression is common in the 
 United States. 
 
 HOBBLE BUSH. ( Viburnum lantanoides.} A straggling shrub, also called 
 Tangle-Legs and Wayfaring.
 
 HOB HOG 197 
 
 To HOBBLE. To hobble a horse, is to tie his feet together, to hopple him. 
 Webster. 
 
 The horses were now hobbled, that is to say, their fore legs were fettered with cords 
 and leathern straps, so as to impede their movements and prevent their wandering 
 from camp. Irv ing's Tour on the Prairies. 
 
 HO-BOY, or HAUT-BOY. A nightman. New York. 
 
 The Thames, below London, is odorous with the sewerage matter it bears from 
 that metropolis ; and there is scarce a stream flowing through a civilized community 
 but is degraded to the occupation of a haut-boy, by the adoption along the banks of 
 itself and tributaries of more or less ingenious devices for dissolving and washing 
 away rather than hoarding up and rendering useful the nitrogenized material which, 
 if properly applied, will enable the earth to yield the most bountiful harvests. 
 Scientific American, Aug. 8, 1857. 
 
 HOCKEY-STICK. A stick used in playing hockey. 
 
 I guess Aunt Libby never had a hockey-stick. Fanny Fern. 
 
 HOD-CARRIER. A laborer that carries mortar and bricks in a hod to 
 masons ; a hodman. 
 
 To HOE ONE'S Row. To do one's share of a job, to attend to one's own 
 business. 
 
 In ole Virginny, whar I war born, 
 
 I eat hoe-cake, and hoe de corn ; 
 
 And Massa Tyler, he not slow 
 
 To shew me how to hoe my row. Negro Melodies. 
 
 HOE-CAKE. A cake of Indian meal, baked before the fire. In the inte- 
 rior parts of the country, where kitchen utensils do not abound, they are 
 baked on a hoe; hence the name. 
 
 SomQ talk of hoe-cake, fair Virginia's pride ; 
 Rich Johnny-cake this mouth has often tryed. 
 Both please me well, their virtues much the same ; 
 Alike their fabric as allied their fame. 
 
 J. Barlow, Hasty Pudding. 
 
 As we 've broken hoe-cake together, we cannot rake up the old ashes to make 
 dust with. Limms, The Wigwam and Cabin, p. 10. 
 
 They [the ancient Marylanders] were great horse-racers and cock-fighters ; 
 mighty wrestlers and jumpers, and enormous consumers of hoe-cake and bacon. 
 W. Irving, Knickerbocker. 
 
 HOE-DOWN. Another name for Break-down, which see. 
 HOG-AGE. The age between boyhood and manhood. Nantucket. 
 
 HOG AND HOMINY. Pork and Indian Corn, the usual fare of country 
 people in the West. The term is used for the sake of the alliteration 
 even where the ground meal is much more common than the hominy. 
 I can give you plenty to eat ; for, besides hog and hominy, you can have bar 
 17*
 
 198 HOG HOL 
 
 ("bear) ham and bar sausages, and a mattrass of bar-skins to sleep on. Thorpe, 
 Big Bear of Arkansas. 
 
 HOG GUESSING. A sport peculiar to Long Island. In the fall a fat hog 
 is selected to be " guessed for." The chances are put at a given price as 
 in a raffle, and at the time appointed each holder of a chance " guesses " 
 at the weight of the hog, which is then determined in the presence of all 
 by the scales ; the best guess, of course, takes the animal. 
 
 HOG-REEVE. An officer whose duty it is to take up hogs running at large 
 for the purpose of impounding them. New England. In the Statutes he 
 is called a Field Driver, which see. 
 
 A man who can get down on his face and eat dirt after that fashion for nothing 
 but a beggarly office, is not fit for a hog-reeve. N. Y. Tribune, June, 1858. 
 
 HOG-TIGHT AND HoftSE-niGH. Always used together, of fences that are 
 sufficient to restrain trespassing stock. Maryland. 
 
 HOG-WALLOW. On some of the Western prairies, but particularly those 
 in Texas, the ground has every appearance of having been rooted or 
 torn up by hogs ; hence the name. 
 
 Professor Riddell gives the following account of the hog-wallow prai- 
 ries and of their origin : " The long droughts in summer cause the 
 woodless surface of the prairies to crack deeply, and oftentimes symmet- 
 rically ; subsequent rains wash the adjacent earth into these cracks, filling 
 them up, converting them into little valleys, and leaving intermediate 
 hillocks. Next year the same round of cause and effects occurs in the 
 same places ; and thus successive years contribute for a long tune to pro- 
 duce a maximum of effect, the appearance of which is very striking. 
 When the prairie is level, the hillocks are exactly hexagonal, and usually 
 eight or ten feet in diameter. The depressions between them are com- 
 monly twelve to eighteen inches deep. If the surface is inclined, the 
 hexagons become elongated at right angles to the elongation of the dip, 
 when they frequently resemble the waves of the ocean. From difference 
 of surface, soil, and exposure, there arises a great diversity in the size, 
 depth, and general appearance of the hog-wallows. They never occur 
 in a sandy soil, consequently they are not seen on the sandy prairies near 
 the sea-coast." Silliman's Journal of Science, Vol. XXXIX. p. 211. 
 
 The ground we were riding over, known as hog-wallow, being a succession of 
 small mounds and corresponding hollows. A Stray Yankee in Texas. 
 
 To HOLD ON. To wait, stop ; as, "Hold on a minute ; " originally a sea 
 phrase. Also, to hold fast, to keep, as " He held on to the money." 
 
 To HOLLOO BEFORE ONE is OUT OF THE WOODS. To rejoice prema- 
 turely, before one is out of a difficulty. 
 
 In a few minutes we were back in the harbor again, and I gave Joe a piece of my
 
 HOL HOM 199 
 
 mind about hollering before we were out of the woods. A Stray Yankee in Texas, p. 
 105. 
 
 To HOLLOO. (Pron. hotter,) To give up ; to quit ; to yield. In vulgar 
 use at the West, originating probably in wrestling or fighting, where the 
 party down halloas, i. e. cries out, in which case he is understood to yield. 
 I once heard a Western man say he had " hollered on drinking," mean- 
 ing that he had quit the practice. 
 
 Tige was using me powerful rough, and had done whipped me ; but pshaw ! I 
 never did holler. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 HOLP. The old preterite and past part, of Help. "This antiquated in- 
 flection of the verb to help is still used in Virginia, where it is corrupted 
 into holped" Pickering. 
 
 HOLT, for hold. A vulgar pronunciation, heard in England as well as in 
 this country. 
 
 Then the varmint appeared to me, but I tripped him the first pass I made ; but ho 
 war up before I could get my holt on him, and he caught me by the leg, and I 
 could n't get him loose for a long time." N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 HOME. 1. England, Great Britain ; a term in common use among na- 
 tives of Great Britain, as well as those of English descent resident in 
 the United States and Canada. Some say " the Old Country." This 
 term is of ancient use, and Mr. Irving, in his Life of Washington, says 
 he " remembers when the endearing phrase still lingered on Anglo-Saxon 
 lips even after the Revolution ; " and that its use by Washington him- 
 self, " evinces the chord which still vibrated in the American bosom." 
 In a letter to George Mason (1769), speaking of the difficulty arising 
 from the clashing interests of merchants, Washington says : 
 
 In the tobacco colonies where the trade is so diffused, and in a manner wholly 
 conducted by factors for their principals at home, these difficulties are enhanced. 
 
 Again, in a letter to his brother Augustine, written in April, 1755, he 
 says: 
 
 My command was reduced, under a pretence of an order from home. 
 
 2. Home is frequently used for at home, in one's own dwelling; as, 
 " I breakfasted home." " How 's all home ? " 
 
 HOMINY. Food made of maize or Indian corn boiled, the maize being 
 either coarsely ground, or broken, or the kernels merely hulled. Flint, 
 Mississippi Valley. Roger Williams, in his Key to the Indian Lan- 
 guage, has the word aupuminea, parched corn which, with the accent 
 on the second syllable, has much the sound of hominy. 
 
 The Indians sift the flour out of their meal, which they call samp ; the remainder 
 they call homminy. This is mixt with flour and made into puddings. Josselyn's 
 New England Rarities, 1672, p. 53.
 
 200 HOM HON 
 
 The Indians live chiefly on maize, or Indian com roasted in the ashes, sometimes 
 beaten and boyled with water, called homine. Thomas's Pennsylvania. London, 
 1698, p. 49. 
 
 Hominy is Indian corn soaked, husked, and then boiled in water over a gentle 
 fire : the thin of this is what my Lord Bacon calls " cream of maize." Beverly's 
 Virginia, Book III. 1725. 
 
 " Stranger," said old Schultz (the backwoodsman), "you have been welcome 
 under my roof. I've given you nothing but wild meat and hominy, because I 
 had no better; but I've been glad of your company." Irving, Wolfert's Roost, 
 p. 271. 
 
 HOMMOCK, HUMMOCK, or HAMMOCK. In Florida a name given to small 
 elevations or islands in the " everglades," or lands covered by fresh 
 water swamp. They are supposed to have been coral islands before the 
 mud and sand were deposited around them. 
 
 The Indians retired from the neighborhood of the whites, and burying themselves 
 in the deep forests, intricate swamps and hommocks, and vast savannahs, devoted 
 themselves to a pastoral life. W. Irving, Wolfert's Roost, p. 290. 
 
 HOMMOCKY. Filled with hommocks. 
 
 The Seminoles possess a vast territory in Florida ; and being such a swampy, 
 hommocky country, it furnishes supplies for the nourishment of varieties of animals. 
 Bartram's Travels in N. America. 
 
 HONEY-FOGLE. To humbug, swindle, cheat. West and South. Coney- 
 fogle, to lay plots, a Lancashire word, noticed by Mr. Halliwell in his 
 Dictionary of Archaic and Prov. Words, may be the origin of it. 
 
 When the Loco-focos take you round a corner, and try to honey-fogle you, as they 
 say in Kentucky, ask them what are Cass's civil qualities. Speech of F. Smith at 
 a Taylor Meeting, Washington. 
 
 The Washington correspondent of The New Orleans Delta writes, 
 1858, as follows : 
 
 I have a passion for Seward. He comes up to my idea of Rodin in the Wan- 
 dering Jew the most delectable devil that was ever drawn by human pen so 
 cool, so clear-headed, so indomitable, so relentless in the pursuit of his fiendish pur- 
 poses. If he becomes our next President, and disunion does not immediately follow 
 his election, I will wager that he will so beautifully honey-fuggle both South and 
 North, that the people will pronounce him one of the best Presidents we have ever 
 had. 
 
 HONEY LOCUST. (Gleditschia triacanthus.) A tree so called from the 
 sweet pulp in its ripe pods. In the West and South it is called the 
 Thorny Locust. 
 
 HONEYSUCKLE, or SWAMP HONEYSUCKLE. A name improperly but 
 commonly applied to the Azalea viscosa and nudiflora.
 
 HON HOO 201 
 
 HONORABLE. A title given by courtesy to members of both houses of 
 congress, and of State legislatures ; also to heads of departments of 
 the government, as secretaries and commissioners. The title is ever 
 afterwards retained, under the rule of " Once an honorable, always an 
 honorable." 
 
 HOOK. (Dutch, hoek, a corner, a cape.) This name is given, in New 
 York, to several angular points in the North and East Rivers ; as, Cor- 
 lear's Hook, Powle's Hook, Sandy Hook. 
 
 To HOOK. To steal. A common vulgarism, formerly used in England. 
 
 A maid hooked one of her mistress's dresses the other day ; but the affair was 
 passed over, because it was done behind the lady's back. N. Y. Tribune, 1857. 
 
 ON ONE'S OWN HOOK. A phrase much used in familiar language, de- 
 noting on one's own account ; as, " He is doing business on his own 
 hook" i. e. for himself. 
 
 I now resolved to do business entirely alone to go on my own hook. If I get 
 rich, the money will all be mine. Perils of Pearl Street, p. 195. 
 
 Every man on his own hook is the system in action of the American volunteer sol- 
 dier ; and trusting to, and confident in, their undeniable bravery, they go ahead and 
 overcome all obstacles. Ruxton's Adventures in Mexico, p. 179. 
 
 "We have every reason to believe that the time is fast approaching when we shall 
 have our American Pope, our American Catholic Cardinals, and American Catholic 
 every thing on our own hook. N. Y. Herald, October, 1845. 
 
 I went to the opera in London, where I kept lookin' round ; and when any- 
 body laughed, I laughed too, and when they 'plauded, I 'plauded too ; and some- 
 times, jest to make 'em think I was a reglar Frenchy, I 'd laugh right out on my 
 own hook. N. Y. Family Companion. 
 
 HOOKER. A resident of the Hook, i. e. a strumpet, a sailor's trull. So 
 called from the number of houses of ill-fame frequented by sailors at the 
 Hook (i. e. Corlear's Hook) in the city of New York. 
 
 HOOKEY. To "play hookey " is to play truant. A term used among school- 
 boys, chiefly in the State of New York. 
 
 HOOPLE. (Dutch, hoepel.) The boys in the city of New York still 
 retain this Dutch name for a trundling hoop. 
 
 HOOSIER. A nickname given, at the West, to natives of Indiana. 
 
 A correspondent of the Providence Journal, writing from Indiana, 
 gives the following account of the origin of this term : " Throughout 
 all the early Western settlements were men who rejoiced in their physi- 
 cal strength, and on numerous occasions, at log-rollings and house-rais- 
 ings, demonstrated this to their entire satisfaction. They were styled by 
 their fellow-citizens hushers, from their primary capacity to still their
 
 202 HOO HOP 
 
 opponents. It was a common term for a bully throughout the West. 
 The boatmen of Indiana were formerly as rude and as primitive a set as 
 could well belong to a civilized country, and they were often in the habit 
 of displaying their pugilistic accomplishments upon the Levee at New 
 Orleans. Upon a certain occasion there, one of these rustic professors 
 of the ' noble art ' very adroitly and successfully practised the ' fancy ' 
 upon several individuals at one time. Being himself not a native of this 
 Western world, in the exuberance of his exultation he sprang up, ex- 
 claiming, in foreign accent, ' I 'm a hoosier, I 'm a hoosier' Some of the 
 New Orleans papers reported the case, and afterwards transferred the 
 corruption of the epithet 'husher' (hoosier) to all the boatmen from 
 Indiana, and from thence to all her citizens. The Kentuckians, on the 
 contrary, maintained that the nickname expresses the gruff exclamation 
 of their neighbors, when one knocks at a door, etc., ' Who 's yere ? ' ' 
 
 There was a long-haired hoosier from Indiana, a couple of smart-looking suckers 
 from Illinois, a keen-eyed, leather-belted badger from Wisconsin ; and who could 
 refuse to drink with such a company t Hoffman, Winter in the West, p. 210. 
 
 Broad Indiana's hoosier sons her fame must needs keep good, 
 By healthful sport of rolling logs and stumping in the wood. 
 
 The American Congress, Am. Rejected Addresses. 
 
 HOOSIER CAt'E. A Western name for a sort of coarse gingerbread, which, 
 say the Kentuckians, is the best T)ait to catch a hoosier with, the biped 
 being fond of it. 
 
 HOOTER. Probably a corruption of iota. Common in New York in such 
 phrases as "I don't care a hooter for him," "this note ain't worth a 
 hooter" 
 
 It is the truth that politicians who pretend to have such regard for the dear peo- 
 ple don't care a hooter, so long as their own selfish ends are attained. Dow's Ser- 
 mons, Vol. I. p. 6. 
 
 HOP. A dance. Johnson. This word has always been used here as in 
 England as a familiar term for dance ; but of late years it has been 
 employed among us in a technical sense, to denote a dance where there 
 is less display and ceremony than at regular balls. At Saratoga Springs, 
 where a large majority of the people are strangers to each other, it is 
 customary to have a dance or hop at the fashionable hotels three times a 
 week, during the season when the waters are most resorted to. 
 
 HOPED. Used among the illiterate in North Carolina as the past part, of 
 to help. Ex. " It can't be hoped" See Holp. 
 
 HOPPING JOHN. A stew of bacon and peas with red pepper. South 
 Carolina.
 
 HOP HOR 203 
 
 Miss Fustick said Liddy Ann was too old to wear plumes. Old Miss C 
 
 went straight and told her ; which made Liddy hoppin' mad, and led to an awful 
 quarrel. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 275. 
 
 HOPPING MAD. Exceedingly angry, in a violent rage. A very common 
 colloquial expression. 
 
 HOPSCOTCH. A game well known to our boys. A figure is drawn upon 
 the ground in the form of a parallelogram, which is subdivided in several 
 parts. A small stone is thrown successively into each, and is knocked 
 out by a boy hopping on one leg, without resting, until he has thrown 
 and knocked it from every division of the figure. Mr. Hartshorn no- 
 tices the word in his Shropshire Glossary. But the common term in 
 England is Scotch Hop or Scotch Hoppers. 
 
 HORN. A dram. Probably so named from the old custom of drinking out 
 of a horn. 
 
 The chaplain gave us a pretty stiff horn of liquor a-piece and first-rate stuff it 
 was, I swow. Burton, Waggeries. 
 
 Faith, said Patrick, if you had seen me sell Father Mathews's medal, which he 
 blessed and gave me with his own hand, to a boy, for three cents, just to get a horn 
 of whiskey, you would not ask me if I loved the creatur'. Milne, Temperance 
 Tale. 
 
 !He poured out a tumbler of brandy and water, that warn't half and half, but 
 almost the whole hog. Oh, gummy, what a horn ! It was strong enough to throw 
 an ox over a five bar gate. S. Slick, Human Nature. 
 
 IN A HORN. A low phrase, now common, used to qualify a falsehood, 
 equivalent to the English " over the left." A boy will say, " I saw a 
 man jump over the house," and add sotto voce, " In a horn ; " meaning 
 thereby directly the reverse. 
 
 " Tie the boat up \ " says Jim. "I'll tie her up, in a horn ! Do you reckon I 
 can't run her in such a fog as we '11 have to-night ? " Maj. Bunkum, in N. Y. Spirit 
 of the Times. 
 
 I have mentioned before the innumerable comforts in a horn of the old 
 White Sulphur Springs. I think it hardly necessary that I should recapitulate ; for 
 there is never any change : raw beef, tough mutton, and tolerably fine ham is the 
 regular bill of fere, and there is no variation that I have seen or heard of. Even- 
 ing ( Wash.) Star, August 26, 1858. 
 
 HORNED GREBE. See Dipper. 
 HORNED POUT. See Catfish. 
 HORNED SUCKER. See Chub Sucker. . 
 
 HORRORS. " To have the horrors " is to be in low spirits, to have a fit of 
 the blues. It also means to have delirium tremens. 
 
 Now, when steam distilling wrenches the last possible drop of spirit out of the 
 corn, it brings with it an unusual quantity of this poison [fusil oil], which acts with
 
 204 HOE HOS 
 
 terrible results on the nerves; seeming like a diabolical inspiration, stirring up 
 mania, convulsions, and the horrors, in an incredibly short space of time. Philad, 
 Evening Bulletin, 1857. 
 
 HOUSE AND HORSE. Even. Originally applied to horses which in run- 
 ning a race come in side by side, or, as the phrase is, " neck and neck ; " 
 and then transferred to gamesters. A story is told of a planter, who, 
 sending his son to market with a load of cotton, received from young 
 hopeful the following statement on his return : 
 
 " Why, daddy, you see, I sot down to old sledge along with Jake Stebbins. It 
 was horse and horse, and his deal. Says he, 'Bill, will you go the cotton?' 
 'Done,' says I; and don't you think if the dern fool didn't turn jack!" Bun- 
 kum's Recollections. 
 
 HORSE-CAKE. Gingerbread rudely fashioned into the shape of a horse. 
 
 HORSE-COLT. We frequently see in advertisements these terms, horse- 
 colt, mare-colt, etc. A horse-colt is simply a colt ; a mare-colt, merely a 
 filly. Portfolio, 2d Series, Vol. II. 309. 
 
 HORSE-FOOT. (Limulus polyphemus.') The common name of a crustacean 
 found in our waters from Massachusetts to Virginia, and in some places 
 so abundant as to be used for manure. In form it much resembles a 
 horse's hoof. It is also called Horse-shoe and King-crab, which latter is 
 the name by which it is known in England. 
 
 HORSE-MACKEREL. See Blue Fish. 
 
 HORSE-NETTLE. (Solanum carolinense.') A plant well known for its 
 orange yellow berries. It is remarkable that a similar species is known 
 in Brazil by the same name in Portuguese. 
 
 HORSE-SHOE. See Horse-Foot. 
 
 HOSE. The Western term for " stockings," which is considered extremely 
 indelicate, although " long socks " is pardonable. 
 
 Hoss. (A corruption of the word horse?) A man remarkable for his 
 strength, courage, etc. A vulgarism peculiar to the West. Even of a 
 prominent lady a Western eulogist will say, " she 's a hoss" that is, a 
 sort of Pandora or nonsuch. 
 
 Hoss Allen is powerful popular, and the " bar " hunters admire his free and easy 
 manners, and consider him one of the people none of your stuck-up, imported 
 chaps from the dandy States, but a genuine Westerner in short, a hoss ! liobb, 
 Squatter, p. 70. 
 
 I see thar was mischief in the preacher as big as a meetin' house, and I deter- 
 mined to give him as good as he sent ; so I looked at him sorter savagcrous like, 
 and says I, " Look here, hoss, how can you have the face to talk to me, arter what 
 you said 1 " Mike Hooter, by a Missourian.
 
 HOS HOU 205 
 
 HOSTILES. Enemies. Western. 
 
 HOTEL DISEASE. A disease which broke out among the guests at the 
 National Hotel in Washington in the year 1856, somewhat resembling 
 cholera, attended with vomiting, diarrhea, and rapid general prostration. 
 Similar symptoms have since shown themselves at some other hotels, 
 though not with the same virulence. 
 
 HOUNDS. 1. A gang of ruffians who infested San Francisco in 1849. They 
 also styled themselves " Regulators." Their murderous excesses were 
 committed under the pretence of guarding the community against the en- 
 croachments of Spanish foreigners. 
 
 2. The portions of a wagon which, projecting from the forward axle, 
 form a support for the tongue or pole. The term is borrowed from nau- 
 tical language, in which it means the projecting parts or head of the 
 mast, serving as shoulders for the top or trestle-trees to rest on. 
 
 HOUR. An hour by sun means an hour before sunset. Southern and 
 Western. 
 
 HOUSE. Used to form compounds, such as meat-house, wash-house, milk- 
 house ; where an Englishman Avould say respectively, laundry, larder, 
 dairy. 
 
 HOUSE-HUNTING. In the city of New York most houses are let from the 
 first day of May, and the landlords have assumed to themselves the right 
 of requiring from their tenants a decision, as to whether they will keep 
 their houses or not, three months before the period for which they 
 hired them expires. On those houses which are not hired for another 
 term (usually a year), " bills " are put up by the landlords, signifying that 
 they are to let. Persons who intend to " move," traverse that section 
 of the city in which they desire to establish themselves, in search of a 
 suitable house, hi which search they are guided by the landlord's " bills." 
 This is called house-hunting, and is practised by thousands every year. 
 
 Polly began to grow uneasy now, because we had n't got no house, and said I 
 ought to go a house-hunting as everybody else did, or else we should be turned out 
 of doors. Maj. Downing, May-day in New-York. 
 
 To HOUSE-KEEP is a verb, formed on the same principle as the verb to 
 Uoodlet, which is credited in the dictionaries to Arbuthnot. Southern. 
 
 HOUSEN, as the plural of house. This old form is still used by the illi- 
 terate in the interior of New England, as also in the States of New York 
 and New Jersey. It is provincial in various parts of England. 
 
 Cornelius Nepos writeth that the housen in Rome were no otherwise covered over- 
 head but with shindies [shingles] until the war with King Pyrrhus, to wit for the 
 space of 470 years after the foundation of the city. Holland's Pliny, XVI. 10. 
 
 18
 
 206 HOU HUG 
 
 That day at housen so she stopped 
 She was behind for dinner. Essex Dialect, p. 14. 
 
 It is enacted by the court and authorise thereof, that henceforth no person or 
 persons shall permit any meetings of the Quakers to bee in his house or housing. 
 Plymouth Colony Laws, 1661. 
 
 I testifie that about forty-two yeares from this date Eichard Smith had quiet 
 possession of his howsing, land, and meadows. Letter from Roger Williams, R. I. 
 Col. Records, 1674, Vol. III. p. 53. 
 
 HOUSEN-STUFF. Household furniture. 
 
 On the first day of May, at 12 o'clock, if the tenant isn't out, an officer goes and 
 puts him into the street, neck and heels, with his wife and children and all his 
 housen-stuff. Maj. Downing, May-day in New York, p. 30. 
 A wife would make good housen-stujf, 
 
 If she were downright clever ; 
 And Sail could suit me well enough, 
 If she would let me have her. Song, Yankee Doodle. 
 
 HOVE. (Ang. Sax. hof, pret. of heafan, to heave.) This old preterite 
 is much used by illiterate persons in the United States. 
 
 How ? Used chiefly in New England, like the French comment ? in 
 asking for the repetition of something not understood. 
 
 Do put your accents in the proper spot ; 
 
 Don't let me beg you don't say " How ? " for " What ? " 
 
 0. W. Holmes, Poems. 
 
 How COME ? (Pron. hue-cum.) How came it ? how did it happen ? 
 Southern. 
 
 How DE ? A still further contraction of how d'ye ? for how do you do ? 
 Southern. 
 
 How FARE YOU ? This is a common expression, in some parts of New 
 England, for " How do you do ? " It is pronounced short, as, " How 
 fa' ye?" 
 
 Newman. What, come back so soon ? How fare you, Doolittle ? 
 Doolittle. Cleverly. Steady, pretty steady, and quite chirk again ; I thank you. 
 D. Humphreys, The Yankee in England. 
 
 HUB. The nave of a wheel. The word is provincial in England. 
 
 HUBBY. Uneven, rough. A term applied to roads, particularly when 
 frozen. The original word, still used provincially in England, is hobbly. 
 
 HUCKLEBERRY. (Gaylussacia.) A small shrub and its small, globular, 
 black, sweet fruit, resembling the Whortleberry of England, whence it is 
 sometimes called by that name. 
 
 As to huckleberry and blackberry pics, you. will find them [in Connecticut] just as 
 our mother made them fifty years ago. Goodrich's Reminiscences, I. 305.
 
 HUC HUN 207 
 
 HUCKLEBERRY ABOVE THE PERSIMMON. To be a huckleberry above one's 
 persimmon is a Southern phrase, meaning to be above one's ability. 
 
 The way he and his companions used to destroy the heasts of the forests was 
 huckleberry above the persimmon of any native in the country. Thorpe, Backwoods, 
 p. 166. 
 
 HUGE PAWS. A nickname given to the working men of the Loco Foco 
 party in New York. 
 
 The Huge Paws ought to have another meeting in Tammany HaR, before they 
 make their nominations, .ZV. Y. Herald, Oct. 7, 1846. 
 
 HULL. A vulgar pronunciation of the word whole, very common in New 
 England. 
 
 HULLS. The husks of peas, etc. At the South, applied also to the shells 
 of oysters. 
 
 To HULL. To free from the husks : accordingly, to hull peas, is to shell 
 them ; to hull oysters, to open them. Southern. 
 
 HUM. A vulgar pronunciation of home ; as, " My old man ain't to hum" 
 i. e. is not at home. New England. 
 
 Well, well, I know it now "hum is hum, be it ever so humbly." I am desperd 
 sick of being in strange parts. I wish I was at hum agin, under mother's own ruff, 
 I guess I know I do. D. Humphreys, The Yankee in England. 
 
 When is charity like a top ? When it begins to hum. Baltimore Sun. 
 
 HUMAN, for human being. Western. 
 
 As I was lookin' down the gully I espied a mighty big bear, that was travellin' my 
 way. I had no idee that he was around, and am quite sartin he did n't expect to 
 meet a human in such a place. Hammond, Wild Northern Scenes, p. 224. 
 
 Parson Brownlow, the editor of the Knoxville Whig, is just as fierce upon* dogs 
 when they annoy him as he is upon the humans who cross his path. Harper's Mag. 
 Dec. 1857, p. 136. 
 
 What brings a duck a streaking it down stream if humans ain't behind her ? and 
 who's in these diggins but Indians ? Ruxton's Far West, p. 79. 
 
 The subject of woman, my dear liearers, is a difficult, a tender, and a delicate one. 
 Woman, primarily, was a sort of second-hand human, or, I might say, the carnated 
 superfluity of man. Dow's Sermons, Vol. IIL 
 
 HUMBLY. A vulgar mispronunciation of homely. 
 
 HUNG. In England it occasionally happens that great offenders are hanged ; 
 but in the States and Canada criminals are never hanged, they are all 
 hung. In England, beef is hung, gates are hung, and curtains are hung ; 
 but felons are hanged ; in Canada, felons, beef, gates, and curtains are 
 all treated the same way. Rev. A. C. Geikie, in Canadian Journal, 
 Sept 1857.
 
 208 HUN HUE 
 
 HUNG BEEF. Dried beef, so called from being hung up in the air to dry. 
 
 The hams were cut out, slightly salted, and hung up in the chimney to dry, and 
 thus became dried or hung beef. Goodrich's Reminiscences, Vol. I. p. 66. 
 
 HUNK. 1. A large piece or slice; a big lump. Ex. "A great hunk of bread 
 and cheese." It is a variation of the word hunch, which is used in Eng- 
 land in precisely the same manner. See Grose and Moor's glossaries. 
 
 2. (Dutch, honk.) Place, post, home. A word descended from the 
 Dutch children, and much used by New York boys in their play. " To 
 be hunk" or " all hunk," is to have reached the goal or place of meeting 
 without being intercepted by one of the opposite party, to be all safe. 
 
 This word has also made its way into political life. In a debate of the 
 Board of Aldermen of New York (December, 1856), on the purchase 
 of certain grounds on the East River for a market site, Alderman Ely 
 said : 
 
 Mr. L had filled in and made this ground in the waters of the East Eiver 
 
 without authority ; and now he felt himself all hunk, and wanted to get this enor- 
 mous sum out of the city. N. Y. Tribune, Dec. 30, 1856. 
 
 HUNKERS. Those who cling to the homestead or to old principles. A 
 nickname given in the State of New York to the conservative wing of the 
 Democratic party as opposed to the Young Democracy, or Barnburners. 
 They are often called Old Hunkers. 
 
 Senator A has long coveted, and finally obtained, a leading position. He is 
 
 now the leader of the hunkers of Missouri a noble band, with just seven principles, 
 and a foresight the exact length of their noses. New York Evening Post, July 11, 
 1849. 
 
 HUNKERISM. The doctrines of the Conservative Democracy, or Old Hunk- 
 ers. 
 
 To HUNT. To search for. " Kitty is hunting her bonnet." " Tom, hunt 
 up the black boy," i. e. look for him. 
 
 To HUNT FOR MEAT. At the Far West the hunter hunts for meat, when 
 in search of food, in contradistinction to hunting for skins. 
 
 HUNTING-SHIRT. A blowse or shirt originally made of deerskin and high- 
 ly ornamented, worn by trappers and hunters as well as by travellers on 
 the Western frontier. 
 
 A light, figured, and fringed hunting-shirt of cotton covered his body, while leg- 
 gings of deerskin rose to his knee. Cooper, Oak Openings. 
 Rise up, Fremont ! and go before ; 
 
 The hour must have its man ; 
 Put on the hunting-shirt once more, 
 And lead in Freedom's van ! Whittier. 
 
 HURRA'S NEST. A state of confusion. A woman's word.
 
 HUE HUS 209 
 
 * Now just look at you, Mr. Jones ! I declare 1 it gives me a chill to see you go 
 to a drawer. What do you want ? Tell me ! and I will get it for you," 
 
 Mrs. Jones springs to the side of her husband, who has gone to the bureau for 
 something; and pushes him away. 
 
 " There now ! Just look at the hurra's nest you have made ! What do you want, 
 Mr. Jones 1" Arthur's Ladies 1 Magazine, 
 
 " Hallo," says she, " here's the devil to pay, and no pitch hot Are you goin' to 
 kill that boy ? Here's a pretty hurra's nest ; let me see one of you dare to lay hands 
 on this piccanniny." Sam Slide, Human Nature, p. 59. 
 
 I lay till after daylight, and then one of my comrades shook me, to tell me that 
 the Indian boys had found a hurra's nest. Out I went, and about a hundred yards 
 from camp there war an old buffalo bull with a hundred little screeching imps about 
 him with their bows and arrows, Crockett's Adventures. 
 
 HURRICANE. (W. Ind. urican.) This word does not appear in any Eng- 
 lish dictionary before 1720, when Phillips notices it as a word denoting 
 u a violent storm of wind, which often happens in Jamaica and other parts 
 of the West Indies, making very great havoc and overthrow of trees, 
 houses, etc." Other dictionaries of a later period describe it as a violent 
 wind in the West Indies. It is the Carib name for a high wind, such as 
 is described by Phillips, and was doubtless carried by seamen to Europe, 
 whence it became introduced into various languages, 
 
 I shall next speak of hurricanes. These are violent storms, raging chiefly among 
 the Caribee Islands ; though by relation Jamaica has of late years been much an- 
 noyed by them. They are expected in July, August, or September. Dampier, 
 Voyages, Vol. II. ch. 6. 
 
 To its covert glides the silent bird, 
 
 While the hurricane's distant voice is heard 
 
 Uplifted among the mountains round, 
 
 And the forests hear and answer the sound. Bryant, The Hurricane. 
 
 HURRYMENT. Hurry ; confusion. Southern. 
 
 I always hate to kiss old women what hain't got no teeth ; and I was monstrous 
 glad old Miss Stallins had her handkerchief to her face, for in the hurryment I kissed 
 it. Major Jones's Travels. 
 
 HURRY UP THE CAKES, i. e. Be quick ; look alive. This phrase, which 
 has lately got into vogue, originated in the common New York eating- 
 houses, where it is the custom for the waiters to bawl out the name of 
 each dish as fast as ordered, that the person who serves up may get it 
 ready without delay, and where the order, " Hurry up them cakes" etc, 
 is frequently heard. 
 
 If you have any communications to make, hurry them up, hot and hasty, like buck- 
 wheat cakes at a cheap eating-house. Dow's Sermons, p. 51. 
 
 To HUSH UP. To cease speaking, to be silent, to hush. To dry up, and 
 to shut up, are other vulgar expressions with the same meaning. 
 
 HUSKING. The act of stripping off husks from Indian corn ; generally 
 
 18*
 
 210 HYP HYS 
 
 called " shucking " in the South and "West. In New England, it is the 
 custom for farmers to invite their friends to assist them in this task. The 
 ceremonies on these occasions, called also Husking Bees and Husking Frol- 
 ics, are well described by Joel Barlow, in his poem on Hasty Pudding : 
 
 For now, the cow-house fill'd, the harvest home, 
 Th' invited neighbors to the husking come ; 
 A frolic scene, where work and mirth and play 
 Unite their charms to chase the hours away. 
 
 The laws of husking every wight can tell ; 
 
 And sure no laws he ever keeps so well : 
 
 For each red ear a gen'ral kiss he gains, 
 
 With each smut ear she smuts the luckless swains ; 
 
 But when to some sweet maid a prize is cast, 
 
 Red as her lips, and taper as her waist, 
 
 She walks around, and culls one favor'd beau, 
 
 Who leaps, the luscious tribute to bestow. 
 
 Various the sport, as are the wits and brains 
 
 Of well-pleas'd lasses and contending swains ; 
 
 Till the vast mound of corn is swept away, 
 
 And he that gains the last ear wins the day. Canto 3. 
 
 He talked of a turkey-hunt, a husking-bee, thanksgiving ball, racing, and a variety 
 of things. Margaret, p. 48. 
 
 He counts his cousin Phebe no better in her home upon the Avenue than when she 
 played barefooted at the old husking-frolics of Newtown. Ike Marvel, Fudge 
 Doings. 
 
 HYPO. An abbreviation of hypochondria. 
 
 The old man would give up to the hypo and keep his bed for weeks. During this 
 time he would n't say a word, but "I'm not long for this world." Haliburton, The 
 Americans at Home, Vol. I. p. 176. 
 
 HYST. (Corruption of hoist.) A violent fall. Ex. " His foot slipped, and 
 he got a hyst" Mr. J. C. Neal thus discourses on this word : A fall) for 
 instance, is indeterminate. It may be an easy slip down a gentle vis- 
 itation of mother earth ; but a hyst is a rapid, forcible performance, 
 which may be done either backward or forward, but of necessity with 
 such violence as to knock the breath out of the body, or it is unworthy of 
 the noble appellation of hyst. It is an apt but figurative mode of ex- 
 pression, and it is often carried still further ; for people sometimes say, 
 " Lower him up, and hyst him down." Charcoal Sketches. 
 
 I can't see the ground, and every dark night am sure to get a hyst either a for- 
 
 rerd hyst or a backerd hyst, or some sort of a hyst, but more backerds than forrerds. 
 
 J. C. Neal, Sketches. 
 
 One of the most unfeelin' tricks I know of is the way some folks have got of 
 
 laughing out when they see a gentleman catching a regular hyst, with his legs in the 
 
 air, and his noddle splat down on the cold bricks. A hyst is bad enough without 
 
 being sniggered at. New England Tales.
 
 I IMM 211 
 
 Pity, kind gentle folks, friends of humanity, 
 
 Twig how the pavements are covered with ice ; 
 Sprinkle the sidewalks with ashes for charity, 
 
 Scatter the ashes and save us a hyst. 
 
 ( Wash.) Evening Star, Feb. 4, 1857. 
 
 I. 
 
 I DAD ! An exclamation used in the "Western States. 
 
 " I dad! if I did n't snatch up Ruff and kiss him." Here the emotion of the old 
 man made a pause. Carlton, The New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 179. 
 
 ILK. In Scotland and the North of England it signifies the same; as, 
 "Mackintosh of that ilk " denotes a gentleman whose surname and the 
 title of his estate are the same ; as " Mackintosh of Mackintosh." 
 Worcester. 
 
 By a curious perversion, political newspaper writers in America often 
 use the phrase " of that ilk" in the sense of " of that sort, stamp, class." 
 Thus the Baltimore Sun of the 15th of May, 1854, says : 
 
 " The Journal of Commerce and the True Democrat both denounce in advance 
 the meeting called in the New York Park, Saturday afternoon [to censure Senator 
 Douglas's Nebraska Bill], as a thorough abolition demonstration : in proof of 
 which the names of John Van Buren, Benjamin F. Butler, and others of that ilk, 
 that were promised to speak, are referred to. 
 
 ILL. Vicious. This strange application of the word is common in Texas ; 
 as, " Is your dog ill ? " meaning, is he vicious. Olmsted's Texas, p. 78. 
 
 ILLY. A word used by writers of an inferior class, who do not seem to per- 
 ceive that ill is itself an adverb, without the termination ly. The late Dr. 
 Messer, President of Brown University, on seeing this word in a compo- 
 sition submitted to his critical inspection, asked of the student who pre- 
 sented it, " Why don't you say welly ? " 
 
 Distressed as my mind is, and has been by a variety of attentions ; I am illy able 
 by letter to give you the satisfaction I could wish on the subjects of your letter. 
 Letter, of Richard II. Lee to his Sister, 1778. 
 
 " My good friend," said the man of gravity, " have you not undergone what they 
 call hard times ; been set upon and persecuted, and very illy entreated, by some of 
 your fellow-creatures 1" Putnam's Monthly, August, 1854. 
 
 IMMEDIATELY, for as soon as. Ex. "The deer fell dead immediately they 
 shot him." 
 
 IMMIGRANT. A person that removes into a country for the purpose of a 
 permanent residence. Webster. 
 
 IMMIGRATION. (Lat. immigratio.) The passing or removing into a coun- 
 try for the purpose of a permanent residence. Webster.
 
 212 IMP IMP 
 
 The immigrations of the Arabians into Europe, and the Crusades, produced num- 
 berless accounts, partly true and partly fabulous, of the wonders seen in Eastern 
 countries. Warton's Hist. Eng. Poetry, Vol. I. 
 
 Immigration has doubtless been a prolific source of multiplying words. Hamil- 
 ton, Nugce Literarice, p. 381. 
 
 Mr. Pickering, in his Vocabulary, observes that this word, as well as 
 immigrant and the verb to immigrate, were first used in this country by 
 Dr. Belknap, in his History of New Hampshire, who gives his reasons 
 for their use. Immigrant is original with Dr. B. ; but the others have 
 long been used by good English authors, though of course less frequently 
 than by American writers, who have more need of them. 
 
 To IMPROVE. 1. To render more valuable by additions, as houses, barns, 
 or fences on a farm. Thus we frequently see advertisements of a piece 
 of ground improved by a dwelling and out-houses. 
 
 Where lands lye in common unfenced, if one man shall improve his land by fenc- 
 ing in several, and another shall not, he who shall improve shall secure his lands 
 against other men's cattle. Mass. Colony Laws, 1642. 
 
 2. To occupy ; to make use of, employ. Thus some persons speak of 
 an " improved " or an " unimproved " house, meaning one occupied or 
 unoccupied. " This word," says Mr. Pickering, " in the first sense, is in 
 constant use in all parts of New England ; but in the second sense 
 (when applied to persons, as in the following example), it is not so com- 
 mon." 
 
 In action of trespass against several defendants, the plaintiffs may, after issue is 
 closed, strike out any of them for the purpose of improving them as witnesses. 
 Swift's System of the Colony Laws of Connecticut, Vol. II. p. 238. 
 
 In a petition from a Baptist society in the town of Newport, R. I., in 
 1783, for relief, they say: 
 
 Our meeting-house has been improved as a hospital by the English and afterwards 
 by the French army, and so much injured as not to admit of being repaired. Acts 
 of Assembly, Rhode Island, June, 1783. 
 
 Dr. Franklin, in a letter to Dr. Webster, dated Dec. 26th, 1789, has 
 the following remarks : "When I left New England in the year 1723, 
 this word had never been used among us, as far as I know, but in the 
 sense of ameliorated or made better, except once, in a very old book of 
 Dr. Mather's, entitled Remarkable Providences" 
 
 Ann Cole, a person of serious piety, living in Hartford, in 1662, was taken with 
 very strange fits, whereon her tongue was improved by a demon, to express things 
 unknown to herself. Cotton Mather, Magnolia, Book VI. 
 
 IMPROVEMENT. The part of a discourse intended to enforce and apply the 
 doctrines is called the improvement. Webster. Mr. Pickering has shown 
 that the word is used also by Scottish writers. 
 
 The conclusion is termed, somewhat inaccurately, making an improvement of the
 
 IMP IND 213 
 
 whole. The author, we presume, means, deducing from the whole what may con- 
 tribute to the general improvement. British Critic, Vol. I. p. 379. 
 
 IMPROVEMENTS. Valuable additions or ameliorations ; as buildings, clear- 
 ings, drains, fences on a farm. Webster. 
 
 IN, for into. Mr. Coleman, in remarking upon the prevalence of this inac- 
 curacy in New York, says : " We get in the stage, and have the rheuma- 
 tism into our knees." N. T. Evening Post, Jan. 6, 1814. An observ- 
 ing English friend at Philadelphia also speaks of its frequent use there in 
 the following terms : " The preposition into is almost unknown here. 
 They say, ' When did you come in town ? ' 'I met him riding in 
 town.' " Pickering. 
 
 INAUGURAL. The address of a public officer on his inauguration into office ; 
 an inaugural address. Ex. " Have you read the President's inau- 
 gural?" 
 
 INCA. (Kechua.) The title of a king or prince of Peru, before its con- 
 quest by the Spaniards. 
 
 INDEBTEDNESS. The state of being indebted. Chancellor Kent. A 
 modern word, reputed of American origin ; not often used by English 
 writers, yet it is found in the recent English dictionaries of Knowles and 
 Smart. Worcester. 
 
 INDEPENDENCE DAT. The fourth day of July, the day on which the 
 Congress of the United States renounced their subjection to Great Brit- 
 ain, and declared their independence. 
 
 INDEPENDENT FORTUNE. A fortune which renders one independent ; as, 
 " Mr. Girard, by his industry and ability, accumulated an independent 
 fortune" 
 
 INDIAN BED. An Indian bed of clams is made by setting a number of 
 clams together on the ground with the hinge uppermost, and then kind- 
 ling over them a fire of brushwood, which is kept burning till they are 
 thoroughly roasted. This is the best way of roasting clams, and is often 
 practised by picnic parties. See Clambake. 
 
 INDIAN BREAD. Bread or cake made of the meal of Indian corn or 
 maize ; also called Johnny cake. 
 
 If I don't make a johnny cake every day, Rier says, " Ma, why don't you make 
 some Indian bread ?" Widow Bedott Papers, p. 70. 
 
 INDIAN CORN. Maize ; so called because cultivated by the aborigines. 
 INDIAN CORN-HILLS. A term given to hillocks covering broad fields near
 
 214 IND IND 
 
 the ancient mounds and earthworks of Ohio, Wisconsin, etc. They are 
 without order or arrangement, being scattered over the surface with the 
 utmost irregularity. That these mammillary elevations were formed in 
 the manner indicated by their name, is inferred from the present custom 
 of the Indians. The corn is planted in the same spot each successive 
 year, and the soil is gradually brought up to the size of a little hill by 
 the annual additions. Lapham's Antiquities of Wisconsin, Smithso- 
 nian Contributions. 
 
 These antique corn-hills were unusually large, and were, as the Iroquois informed 
 me, three or four times the diameter of modern hills, a size which resulted from the 
 want of a plough. Schoolcraft's Indian Tribes, Vol. I. p. 57. 
 
 INDIAN CURRANT. See Coral Berry. 
 
 INDIAN FIG. The fruit of a gigantic plant (Cereus giganteus) of the 
 Cactus family, known among the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona 
 as the Pitahaya, the fruit of which resembles the fig in taste. Bart- 
 lett's Pers. Narrative, Vol. II. p. 189. 
 
 INDIAN FILE. Single file ; the usual way in which the Indians traverse 
 the woods or march to battle, one following after and treading in the 
 footsteps of the other. 
 
 Magua arose and gave the signal to proceed, marching himself in advance. 
 They followed their leader singly, and in that well-known order which has obtained 
 the distinguishing appellation of Indian jtte. Cooper, Last of the Mohicans. 
 
 INDIAN GIFT. A term proverbially applied to any thing reclaimed after 
 being given. 
 
 INDIAN GIVER. When an Indian gives any thing, he expects to receive 
 an equivalent, or to have his gift returned. This term is applied by 
 children to a child who, after having given away a thing, wishes to have 
 it back again. 
 
 INDIAN HEMP. (Apocynum cannabinum.} A medicinal plant. 
 
 INDIAN LADDER. A ladder made of a small tree by trimming it so as to 
 leave only a few inches of each branch as a support for the foot. South- 
 ern. 
 
 Having provided ourselves with a long snagged sapling, called an Indian ladder, 
 we descended safely to the bottom of the grotto. Bartram's Florida, p. 247. 
 
 INDIAN LIQUOR. Whiskey adulterated for sale to the Indians. 
 
 A citizen of St. Paul furnishes some pretty hard papers on his fellow sinners who 
 trade with the North-Western Indians. He says a barrel of the " pure Cincinnati," 
 even after it has run the gauntlet of railroad and lake travel, is a sufficient basis 
 upon which to manufacture one hundred barrels of "good Indian liquor!" He 
 says a small bucketful of the Cincinnati article is poured into a wash-tub almost full
 
 IND IND 215 
 
 of rain water ; a large quantity of " dog-leg " tobacco and red pepper is then thrown 
 into the tub; a bitter species of root, common in " the land of the Dakota," is then 
 cut up and added ; burnt sugar or some such article is used to restore something 
 like the original color of the whiskey. The compound has to be kept on hand a 
 few days before it is fit for use. It is then administered to the aborigines ad libitum. 
 Nat. Intelligencer, July 10, 1858. 
 
 INDIAN MEAL. Meal made from Indian corn. A mixture of the flour of 
 wheat and maize is called wheat and Indian. 
 
 INDIAN ORCHARD. An old orchard of ungrafted apple-trees, the time of 
 planting being unknown. New York. 
 
 INDIAN PEACHES. Ungrafted peach-trees, which are considered to be 
 more thrifty and to bear larger fruit than the others. 
 
 INDIAN PHYSIC. See Bowman's Root. 
 INDIAN PIPE. See Wax Plant. 
 
 INDIAN PUDDING. A pudding, the chief ingredients of which are Indian 
 meal and molasses. 
 
 As to grandmother's Indian puddings alas ! I shall never see their like again. 
 Goodrich' s Reminiscences, Vol. I. p. 371. 
 
 INDIAN RESERVATION or RESERVE. A tract of land reserved for the 
 use of Indians. 
 
 INDIAN SIGN. Signs of the recent presence of Indians in the wilderness. 
 See Sign. 
 
 INDIAN SUMMER. A writer in the National Intelligencer for November 
 26, 1857, has the following remarks on this topic: "The short season 
 of pleasant weather usually occurring about the middle of November, is 
 called the Indian Summer, from the custom of the Indians to avail them- 
 selves of this delightful time for harvesting their corn ; and the tradition 
 is that they were accustomed to say t they always had a second summer 
 of nine days just before the winter set in.' It is a bland and genial 
 time, in which the birds, insects, and plants feel a new creation, and sport 
 a short-lived summer ere they shrink finally from the rigor of the win- 
 ter's blast. The sky in the mean time is generally filled with a haze of 
 orange and gold intercepting the direct rays of the sun, yet possessing 
 enough of light and heat to prevent sensations of gloom or chill, while 
 the nights grow sharp and frosty, and the necessary fires give cheerful 
 forecast of the social winter evenings near at hand. 
 
 " This season is synonymous with the ' Summer of St. Martin ' of 
 Europe, which derives its name from the festival of St. Martin, held on 
 the llth of November. Shakspeare alludes to it in the first part of 
 Henry IV. :
 
 216 IND INH 
 
 'Farewell thou latter spring ! 
 Farewell all hallown summer ! ' 
 
 " And more expressively in the first part of Henry VI. : 
 
 ' This night the siege assuredly I '11 raise ; 
 Expect St. Martin's summer, halcyon days.' " 
 
 INDIAN TOBACCO. (Lobelia inflata.) A plant whose leaves contain a 
 poisonous, white, viscid juice, of an acrid taste. 
 
 INDIAN TURNIP. 1. (Arum triphyllum.) The root of an acrid and pow- 
 erful poison when fresh. 
 
 2. (Psoralea esculenta?) A common root in the West, much used by 
 the Sioux Indians as food. It is also called Pomme Blanche and Pomme 
 de Prairie. 
 
 INDIANS. The name improperly given by early navigators to the abo- 
 rigines of America, in the belief that the country they inhabited was the 
 eastern portion of India, a name then applied to far eastern Asia. The 
 Spaniards, until within the present century, applied the name of "India" 
 and " Indies " to their possessions in America ; and even now, it is said 
 that in Seville, the department or office where the business of America 
 is transacted, and which in England would be called the " Colonial 
 Office," is known as the " India House." 
 
 INDIGNATION MEETING. A public meeting called by a political or other 
 party, for the purpose of devising means to correct an alleged or real 
 public abuse. 
 
 Instead of those indignation meetings set on foot in the time of William the Testy, 
 where men met together to rail at public abuses, groan over the evils of the times, 
 and make each other miserable, there were joyous meetings of the two sexes to 
 dance and make merry. Irving, Knickerbocker. 
 
 The public looked chiefly to the press for advice and information as to their rights 
 and duties, and had resolved that it should not be gagged and put down by " illegal 
 orders, attachments, fines and imprisonments for imaginary contempts against courts 
 which cannot be reduced' much lower than they have reduced themselves." So said 
 the resolutions of the indignation meeting of the 9th March, 1 851 ; and this language 
 was generally applauded. Annals of San Francisco, p. 324. 
 
 INFAIR. The "reception" party or entertainment of a newly married 
 couple. West and South. 
 
 The infair, or wedding supper, was all ready, we were marshalled to our seats ; 
 and a most sumptuous feast it was. Southern Sketches, p. 59. 
 
 To INHEAVEN. A word invented by the Boston transcendentalists. 
 
 The one circumflows and inheavens us. The infinite Father bears us in his bosom, 
 shepherd and flock. Margaret, p. 412.
 
 INS IS 217 
 
 INSTITUTION. A flash word of recent introduction as applied to any pre- 
 valent practice or thing. 
 
 The driving of vehicles is a great institution among us, and may be safely said to 
 constitute almost the only out-door amusement of the majority of our male popula- 
 tion. The ambition of every fast man, young or old, is to possess a wagon with one 
 or two trotting horses attached. N. Y. Herald. 
 
 Garroting, as an institution, may be said to be almost extinct in New York. It 
 went out of fashion in a desperate hurry immediately after a sensible judge sen- 
 tenced three garroters to the state prison, one for life, the others for twenty-one 
 years each. Tricks and Traps of New York, p. 47. 
 
 Whatever small thinkers and small actors may attempt, woman cannot be counted 
 out and classified as a mere appendage. She is an institution, and hereafter must 
 receive the most generous culture and recognition, if man and society are ever to be 
 more than they have been in times past. H. L. Stuart, in N. Y. Tribune, Aug. 11, 
 1858. 
 
 A very unwholesome object, the carcass of a large dog, has been suffered to lie hi 
 Ninth street, near D, since Tuesday, although most abominably offensive and un- 
 healthy. A similar institution has occupied a site on the commons for some time 
 past, filling the air with noxious odors. ( Wash.) Evening Star, July, 1858. 
 
 From the following example, it appears that this use, or rather abuse, 
 of the word, is not confined to this country : 
 
 The camels form an institution of India, possibly a part of the traditional po- 
 licy, and they must be respected accordingly. London Times Cor. from India, 
 April, 1858. 
 
 To INTERFERE. " He interfered with me," in the West, generally implies 
 rough usage. 
 
 INTERVAL, or INTERVALE. Low or alluvial land on the margins of rivers ; 
 so called in New England. Similar land is called, in the Western States, 
 " bottom land." Worcester. 
 
 The interval intended in New England geography is the interval or space between 
 a river and the mountains, which on both sides uniformly accompany its course at a 
 greater or less distance from its margin. Hence interval lands include meadow and 
 uplands, and in general the whole of the narrow valley through which, in these 
 regions, the rivers flow. Kendall's Travels, Vol. III. p. 183. 
 
 IRISH. Temper, anger. Col. Dick Johnson, of Tecumseh reputation, 
 used this Western substantive in one of his Eastern speeches : " My 
 friends say that my Irish is getting up," meaning, I am getting angry. 
 
 IRISH POTATO. A term used throughout the country to distinguish the com- 
 mon (Solatium tuberosuiri) from the sweet potato (Convolvulus batalas). 
 
 Is. Some American grammarians condemn such expressions as " He is 
 come, arrived, returned, gone ; was come," etc., universal in England and 
 occurring everywhere, in the Bible and the best writers. No English- 
 man would say " the boat has gone," " has come ; " he would say " he 
 
 19
 
 218 IRQ JAC 
 
 has gone to London many a time," " he has come several miles to no 
 purpose," " he has returned by a different road." 
 
 The difference in meaning is obvious, and contributes to enrich the lan- 
 guage. In the former expression gone, arrived, etc., are real participial 
 adjectives, expressing a permanent state ; in the latter they are verbs. 
 
 IRON WEED. ( Vernonia noveboracensis.) A plant, called in the North- 
 eastern States Flat Top, almost the only tall weed found in the beautiful 
 " woods pastures " of Kentucky and Tennessee. Western. 
 
 ISABELLA GRAPE. A cultivated grape of Vitis labrusca, not much es- 
 teemed for its wine producing qualities, but grown for table use. 
 
 ISLAND. In prairie regions, the same terms are used as if the timber were 
 land, and the prairie water. A cluster of trees is called an island, 
 sometimes a mot, a small strip of prairie running into a wood, a cove, 
 and a larger one, a bay. 
 
 The soil of the prairies is deep and rich ; but, being of a clayey nature, retains 
 the water after heavy rains, so as to appear flooded. In some are little clumps of 
 trees on higher ground, which are called islands. Harris, Journal of a Tour, 
 etc., p. 178. 
 
 At the summit of the hill is a beautiful grove, or island of timber, where the 
 heroes that fell at the battle of San Jacinto sleep their last sleep. A Stray Yankee 
 in Texas, p. 252. 
 
 ITEM. Information ; as " I got item of his being in town." This word is 
 used among Southern gamblers to imply information of what cards may 
 be in their partner's or opponent's hands ; this is called " giving item" 
 
 Keep your eyes skinned and your rifles clean, and the minit yer get item that I 'm 
 back, set off for the cross roads, etc. 2V. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 J. 
 
 To JAB. To strike or thrust ; as, " he jabbed a knife into me." 
 
 JACAL. (Span., pron. hacal; from the Mexican xacalli, a straw hut.) A 
 house built of erect stakes, with their interstices filled with mud. They 
 are common in Texas and in new Spanish settlements. 
 
 The modern village of Goliad is composed of about twenty jacals, large, and of a 
 comparatively comfortable character, scattered over two hills. Olmsted's Texas, 
 p. 262. 
 
 JACKASS RABBIT. (Lepus callotis.) A rabbit, found on the high plains 
 of Texas and near the Rocky Mountains, so called from its very long 
 ears and long and slender legs. It is known also by the names of Mule 
 Rabbit, Texan Hare, and Black-tailed Hare.
 
 JAC JEO 219 
 
 Our conversation was cut short by & jackass-rabbit bounding from under our horses' 
 feet. Audubon's Quadrupeds of North America, Vol. II. p. 95. 
 
 The jackass-rabbit crossed our path occasionally ; but it sprang up so suddenly, 
 and darted through the low bushes or chapparal so rapidly, that I could not get a 
 shot at one. Bartlett's New Mexico, Vol. I. p. 76. 
 
 JACK-AT-A-PINCH. As a last resort. 
 
 The fact is, Miss Coon feels wonderfully cut up, because she knows that her hus- 
 band took her Jack-at-a-pinch. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 27. 
 
 JAG. A parcel or load. Halliwell. And. so in New England. 
 
 As there was very little money in the country, the bank bought a good jag on 't 
 in Europe. Maj. Downing' s Letters, p. 168. 
 
 JAM UP. A slang expression, equivalent to the English " slap up," " bang 
 up," i. e. capital, prime. 
 
 There must have been a charming climate in Paradise. The temperature was 
 perfect, and connubial bliss, I allot, was real jam up. >Sai Slick, Human Nature, 
 p. 273. 
 
 JAMAICA PEPPER. See Allspice. 
 
 JAMESTOWN WEED. (Pron. Jimson weed.) The Thorn Apple (Da- 
 tura stramonium). Its Northern name is Stinkweed. It is said to have 
 been introduced from tropical America, and to have been first observed 
 about Jamestown, Virginia, where it sprang up on heaps of ballast 
 and other rubbish discharged from vessels ; whence its Southern 
 name. 
 
 The Jamestown weed is one of the greatest coolers in the world. It, being an early 
 plant, was gathered very young for a boiled salad by some of the soldiers, to pacify 
 the troubles of bacon, and some of them eat plentifully of it, the effect of which 
 was a very pleasant comedy ; for they turned natural fools upon it for several days. 
 Beverly, Hist, of Virginia, Book II. 
 
 The Jamestown weed is excellent for curing burns and assuaging inflammations ; 
 but taken inwardly brings on a sort of drunken madness. Lawson's Carolina, 
 1718, p. 78. 
 
 " George, did you ever see Sicily Burns ? " " Yes, a very handsome girl." 
 " Handsome ! this wurd don't kiver the case. She shows among wimen like a sun- 
 flower as compared to dog-fennel, an smart weed, and jimsen." Sut Luvengood's 
 Experience. 
 
 JAPONICADOM. A word invented by N. P. Willis to denote the upper 
 classes of society. 
 
 To JEOPARDIZE. To expose to loss or injury. Webster. This word is 
 often seen in the debates of Congress, as they are reported hi the news- 
 papers. It is doubtless a corruption of the ancient verb to jeopard, as 
 deputize is of depute. Pickering. The word is much used in the 
 \ United States, and less frequently hi England.
 
 220 JER JIG 
 
 The profound respect for the cause of truth which led Mr. Tooke not to jeopardize 
 its interests by any hasty assumption of its name and pretensions for a discovery 
 yet incomplete, constitutes one of his surest holds upon posterity. London Athe- 
 naeum, March 18, 1848. 
 
 A horse, with a wagon attached, took fright yesterday afternoon in York street, 
 and started off at full speed, jeopardizing the lives and limbs of pedestrians. One 
 female, with a child in her arms, narrowly escaped being knocked down and run 
 over. N. Y. Courier and Enquirer. 
 
 JERKS, and JERKING EXERCISE. The paroxysms into which certain reli- 
 gious enthusiasts fell at their camp-meetings in the West, though chiefly 
 in Kentucky and Tennessee. It consisted in being jerked in all direc- 
 tions, and over whatever object happened to be in the way. In these 
 cases, the persons affected would be left to themselves, because the peo- 
 ple said, that, to oppose them, would be to resist the influences of the 
 Spirit of God. 
 
 JESSIE. "To give one Jessie," means to give him a flogging. 
 
 Well, hoss, you 've slashed the hide off 'er that feller, touched his raw, and 
 rumpled his feathers that 's the way to give him Jessy. Robb, Squatter Life, 
 p. 33. 
 
 The preacher went in for giving Jessie to the Church of Rome. Doesticks, 
 p. 105. 
 
 It is represented that a great many people from Salt Lake have been met, and 
 they all say that the Mormons arc going to give us Jessie. St Louis Republican, 
 1857. 
 
 The Judge [who was a candidate for office] had to stay at a convenient distance 
 to hear that Hoss Allen was giving him particular Jesse. Hoss Allen's Apology. 
 
 To JEW. To cheat. To Jew a person, is considered, in Western parlance, 
 a shade worse than to " Yankee " him. 
 
 JEWHILLIKENS ! A Western exclamation of surprise. 
 
 Did n't you know that feller, Arch Cooney ? He was a hoss-fly. He 's a few ! 
 well he is. Jewhilliken, how he could whip a nigger ! and swear ! whew ! Traits 
 of American Humor. 
 
 To JIBE. To suit, agree, harmonize. A variation of to gee, which last is 
 used both in England and in this country. 
 
 I attempted to sing the words of " Old Hundred," while the lady played the 
 Jenny Lind Polka, which didn't seem to jibe. Doesticks, p. 113. 
 
 JIG. An artificial squid for trolling. New England. 
 
 " A school of blue-fish ! " exclaimed the Professor, as his eye caught the move- 
 ment to which I pointed. He shouted frantically to the pilot to make haste with the 
 dory, and, throwing on an overcoat, seized from the locker where we kept our fishing 
 tackle a long, stout line, at the end of which was a shining, spoon-shaped piece of 
 pewter, terminated by a large hook. This apparatus he called a jig. N. Y. Tri- 
 bune, July 22, 1858.
 
 JIG JOR 221 
 
 THE JIG is UP, i. e. the game is up ; it is all over with me. 
 
 The time was when I could cut pigeon wings and perform the double shuffle with 
 precision and activity ; but those days are over now the jig is up. Kendall, Santa 
 Fe Expedition, Vol. I. p. 62. 
 
 JIGAMAREE. A trivial or nonsensical thing. A factitious word, equivalent 
 to " jiggumbob " and " thingumbob." It is explained in the English 
 glossaries to mean a manoeuvre, a trick. 
 
 He is also the inwentor of the " housekeeper's friend," that ere jigamaree the 
 wimmin scrubs with, instead of going on their hands and knees as they used to. 
 N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 I went over t'other night to see them all, as they was as busy as bees in a tar barrel 
 sowin' and makin' up finery. Mary was sowin' something mighty fine with ruffles 
 and jigamarees all around it. Major Jones's Courtship. 
 
 JIGGER. 1. See Chigoe. 
 
 2. A small fishing vessel. New England. 
 
 JIGGLING-BOARD. A board the ends of which are placed upon frames or 
 stools, upon which a person stands and springs up also called a jolly- 
 board. 
 
 JOHNNY-CAKE. A cake made of Indian meal mixed with milk or water. 
 A New England Johnny-cake is invariably spread upon the stave of a 
 barrel-top, and baked before the fire. Sometimes stewed pumpkin is 
 mixed with it. 
 
 Some talk of hoe-cake, fair Virginia's pride ; 
 Rich Johnny-cake this mouth has often tried. 
 Both please me well, their virtues much the same ; 
 Alike their fabric, as allied their fame, 
 Except in dear New England, where the last 
 Receives a dash of pumpkin in the paste. 
 
 Joel Barlow, Poem on Hasty Pudding. 
 
 JOHNNY JUMP UP AND KlSS ME. JOHNNY JUMP UP. JOHNNY JUMP- 
 
 ER. Names given to the Heart's Ease, or Violet. This name is also given 
 to the breastbone of a goose, with its two ends brought together by a 
 twisted string held by a stick passing through it and stuck fast at the end 
 by a piece of wax. 
 
 JORNADA. (Spanish.) A march or journey performed in a day. In the 
 interior it is only applied to a long reach of desert country without water, 
 and not to a day's journey ; as the " Jornada del Muerto " in New 
 Mexico, which is ninety miles across, and which it takes several days to 
 traverse. 
 
 If experiments with Artesian wells should prove successful, the progress of agri- 
 culture in New Mexico would be more rapid, and even many dreaded jornadas might 
 be changed from waterless deserts into cultivated plains. Wislizenus, New Mexico. 
 
 19*
 
 222 JOS JUG 
 
 Until the autumn of 1849, the California desert was found to be a sandy and 
 dreary Jornada, without water or grass. Captain Whipple's Explorations, R. R. 
 Survey. 
 
 Jo SET. A loose, light upper garment, with sleeves and a short skirt, now 
 worn by women and girls. Both the dress and the name are contractions 
 of the old-fashioned Joseph. 
 
 JOUR, or JUR. An abbreviation of the word journeyman. " The boss 
 quarrelled with the jurs," I. e. the master quarrelled with his journey- 
 men. 
 
 JUBA. One of the classical names often given to negroes by their masters. 
 " Clapping Juba " is keeping time by striking the feet on the floor and 
 clapping the hands on the legs to the music of the banjo. It adds much 
 to the excitement of the rustic dances at the South. 
 
 Here we saw rare sport! Here were Virginia slaves, dancing jigs and clapping 
 Juber, over a barrel of persimmon beer, to the notes of the banjo. Southern Sketches, 
 p. 98. 
 
 Juber up and Juber down, 
 Juber all around de town, 
 Juber dis and Juber dat, 
 And Juber round de simmon vat. 
 
 Hoe corn and hill tobacco, 
 Get over double trouble, Juber boys, Juber ! Ibid. p. 101. 
 
 JUDAS TREE. See Red Bud. 
 
 JUDGES OF THE PLAINS. A translation of the Spanish Jueces del Campo. 
 In California there are, by law, appointed certain persons in every county, 
 whose duty it is to attend all the rodeos, or gatherings of cattle, whether 
 for the purpose of marking or branding, or for separating the cattle, when 
 called upon by any ranchero, farmer, or owner of stock. These are called 
 Judges of the Plains, and have the power to decide all disputes connected 
 with the ownership of horses, mules, or horned cattle. Laws of Cali- 
 fornia. See Rodeo. 
 
 JUDICIARY. The judiciary power, or the power that administers justice ; 
 judicature. Judge Story. This word is often used as a substantive in 
 the United States ; but is not often so used in England. Worcester. 
 
 JUDY. " To make &judy of one's self" is what, with more vigor than po- 
 liteness, is termed making an ass of one's self. 
 
 The Boston Chronotype, in speaking of the bad management and con- 
 fusion at the Water celebration, says : 
 
 It is thought that a set of men never did make greater Judies of themselves. 
 
 JUGFULL. "Not by ajugfull," is a phrase commonly used to mean, not by 
 2k great deal, by no means.
 
 JUL JUN 223 
 
 Downingville is as sweet as a rose. But 'taint so in New York, not by a jugfuU. 
 Major Downing, May-day in New York. 
 
 He wished to state of the pro-slavery men of Kansas, so that their friends in Mis- 
 souri might see into their plans and policy, they had not abandoned the idea of 
 making Kansas a slave State, by a, jug full, P. T. Abie's Speech, July, 1857. 
 
 JULEP. A drink, composed of brandy or whiskey with sugar, pounded ice, 
 and some sprigs of mint. 
 
 Hoffman brings the gods together on Mount Olympus, after their last 
 butt of nectar had run out, to taste mint juleps : 
 
 The draught was delicious, each god did exclaim, 
 
 Though something yet wanting they all did bewail ; 
 But juleps the drink of immortals became, 
 When Jove himself added a handful of hail. 
 
 JUMP. " From the jump " is a phrase meaning, from the start, from the 
 beginning. 
 
 Here is a whole string of Democrats, all of whom had been going the whole hog 
 for Cass from the jump, without regard to our adherence or opposition to Taylor. 
 N. Y. Tribune, Nov. 11, 1848. 
 
 To JUMP A CLAIM, in Western parlance, is to endeavor to obtain posses- 
 sion of the land or " claim " which has been taken up and occupied by a 
 settler, or " squatter," in a new country. The first occupant is, by squat- 
 ter law and custom, entitled to the first claim on the land. Sometimes 
 dishonest men attempt to deprive the squatter of his rights, which often 
 leads to bloodshed. 
 
 If a man jumped my claim, and encroached on my boundaries, and I did n't knock 
 him on the head with a pickaxe, I appealed to the crowd, and, my claim being care- 
 fully measured and found correct, the jumper would be ordered to confine himself to 
 his own territory. F. Marryat, Mountains and Molehills, p. 217. 
 
 At Florence, Nebraska Territory, on the 26th of May, seven men were arrested 
 by a mob, for what is called claim jumping that is, settling down on sections of 
 land already entered or claimed by other persons. They were tried by a club asso- 
 ciation, and condemned to death by hanging ; but the urgent entreaties of their fam- 
 ilies averted the execution of the infamous sentence. Boston Traveller. 
 
 JUMPER. 1. One who takes a squatter's claim. 
 
 2. A couple of hickory poles so bent that the runners and shafts are of 
 the same piece, with a crate placed on four props, complete this prim- 
 itive species of sledge ; and when the crate is filled with hay, and the 
 driver well wrapped in a buffalo robe, the "turn out" is about as com- 
 fortable a one as a man could wish. Hoffman, Winter in the West, p. 
 200. 
 
 JUNK-BOTTLE. The ordinary black glass porter bottle.
 
 224 KAM KEG 
 
 K. 
 
 KAMAS ROOT. (Camassia esculentd). Breadroot. The Pomme des 
 Prairies or Pomme Blanche of the Canadians, and Prairie Turnip of the 
 hunters and trappers of the West. It is very extensively used as food 
 by the Digger Indians. 
 
 KANACKA. A native of the Sandwich Islands. Kanaka is the Sandwich 
 Island word for " man." California. 
 
 KANTICOY. See Canticoy. 
 
 KARIMPTION. A squad. "Western. 
 
 A whole karimption of Dutch emigrants were landed here yesterday. Cairo, Illi- 
 nois, Times. 
 
 KATOWSE. (Germ. Getose.) A din, tumult, rumpus ; as, " What a katowse 
 you are making ! " New England. 
 
 KATYDID. (Platyphyllum concavum.) The popular name of a species of 
 grasshopper ; so called from its peculiar note. Two of them will chirp 
 alternately from different trees, one saying, Katy did! and the other re- 
 plying with equal positiveness, Katy did n't ! At least, so their conversa- 
 tion is interpreted by the children. 
 
 I sit among the leaves here, 
 
 When evening zephyrs sigh, 
 And those that listen to my voice 
 
 I love to mystify. 
 I never tell them all I know, 
 
 Altho' I 'm often hid, 
 I laugh at curiosity, 
 
 And chirrup Katy did. Ethiopian Songs. 
 
 I love to hear thine earnest voice, 
 
 Wherever thou art hid, 
 Thou testy little dogmatist, 
 
 Thou pretty Katydid. 0. W. Holmes' Poems. 
 
 Nature was fast asleep, and not a sound interrupted the solemn stillness, save the 
 pitiful plaint of a lovelorn Katydid, or an occasional yawl from some sacrilegious 
 cat. Dow's Sermons, Vol. III. 
 
 KAY, CAY, KEY. (Span, cayo.) A small island or rock in the sea. The 
 term is generally applied to those on the Florida coast. 
 
 KECHUG ! or KERCHUG ! Whop ! The noise made by popping into the 
 water. See the observations on interjections of this sort under Cachunk. 
 A modern poet, in speaking of the plunge of a frog, thus makes use of 
 the word :
 
 KED KEE 225 
 
 You see him sitting on a log 
 
 Above the vasty deep ; 
 You feel inclined to say, " Old Chap, 
 
 Just look before you leap ! " 
 You raise your cane to hit him on 
 
 His ugly looking mug, 
 But ere you get it half way up, 
 
 Adown he goes kerchug ! 
 
 KEDGE. Brisk ; in good health and spirits. Ex. " How do you do to- 
 day ? " "I am pretty hedge" It is used only in a few of the country 
 
 towns of New England. Pickering, Provincial in England. 
 
 
 
 KEEL-BOAT. A description of vessel formerly used on the Mississippi 
 and its tributaries. It is thus described by Flint : " The keel-boat is 
 of a long, slender, and elegant form, and generally carries from fifteen to 
 thirty tons. Its advantage is in its small draft of water, and the light- 
 ness of its construction. It is still used [1832] on the Ohio and Upper 
 . Mississippi in low stages of water, and on all the boatable streams where 
 steamboats do not yet run. Its propelling power is by oars, sails, setting 
 poles, the cordelle, and, when the waters are high and the boat runs on 
 the margin of the bushes, ' bush- whacking,' or pulling up by the bushes." 
 History and Geography of Mississippi Valley. 
 
 To KEEL OVER. A nautical phrase, meaning to capsize or upset, and 
 metaphorically applied to a sudden prostration. 
 
 As it seems pretty evident that the sovereigns of Europe, instead of occupying 
 or sharing thrones, are predestined to the walks of private life, it would be highly 
 proper to cultivate in them a spirit of self-abnegation and humility. If the royal 
 parents wish to see their offspring " let down easy " from their high estate, they will 
 adopt this course. Keel over they must, and a gradual careen would be much better 
 than a sudden capsize. Now that the people are assuming the rights and privileges 
 of sovereignty, we trust that they will have some consideration for princes in dis- 
 tress. N. Y. Sunday Despatch. 
 
 To KEEL UP. To turn bottom up. A seaman's phrase, like the preced- 
 ing. 
 
 When we get keeled up, that will be the last of us. Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. I. 
 p. 116. 
 
 KEENER. A very shrewd person, one sharp at a bargain, what in England 
 would be called " a keen hand." Western. 
 
 KEEP. Food, subsistence, keeping. In a letter to his brother, Bishop 
 Heber, speaking of Bishops' College costing so much, says : 
 
 Besides, it has turned out so expensive in the monthly bills and necessary keep of 
 its inmates, that my resources, etc. Vol. II. p. 319.
 
 226 KEE KEL 
 
 The cottager either purchased hay for the keep [of the cow], or paid for her run in 
 the straw-yard. Edinburgh Review, Vol. LXI. p. 245. 
 
 " They tell me you puritans preach by instinct." 
 
 " I don't know how that is," answered Gershom. " I heer'n tell, across at Bois 
 Bruly, of sich doin's, and would give you a week's keep at Whiskey Centre to know 
 how 't was done." Cooper. The Oak Openings. 
 
 To KEEP. The phrase to keep shop is often shortened into to keep ; as, 
 " where do you keep now ? " i. e., where is your place of business ? To 
 keep also has the sense of to live, to dwell, which use of the word is pro- 
 vincial in the eastern counties of England. 
 
 KEEP THE POT A BOILING, i. e. Don't let the game flag. A common ex- 
 pression among young people, when they are anxious to carry on their 
 gambols with spirit. Brocketfs North Country Words. 
 
 To KEEP A STIFF UPPER LIP is to continue firm, keep up one's courage. 
 
 " My friend," said he, " don't cry for spilt milk ; keep a stiff upper lip ; all will 
 come out right enough yet." Knickerbocker Magazine, Vol. XXV. 
 
 Tut, tut, Major ; keep a stiff upper Up, and you '11 bring him this time. Chron, 
 of Pineville, p. 150. 
 
 To KEEP COMPANY. To court. A common term applied to a man 
 whose visits to a lady are frequent, with the intention of gaining her 
 hand. " He keeps company with her," i. e. he is courting her ; or " They 
 are keeping company," i. e. are courting. 
 
 A young tailoress got a verdict against Mr. B , a steady farmer, who "kept 
 
 company " with her some months, and appointed a day for the wedding. [But sub- 
 sequently changed his mind.] New York Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 " I had no idee that Sally Smith was goin' to be married to Sam Pendergrass," 
 said the Widow Bedott. " She 'd been keepin' company with Mose Hewlett for bet- 
 ter 'n a year, and everybody said that was a settled thing." Bedott Papers, p. 22. 
 
 KEEPING-ROOM. A common sitting-room ; the parlor, in New England. 
 The term is chiefly used in the interior, although it may sometimes be 
 heard in the seaport towns. The same expression is used in Norfolk, 
 England, for " the general sitting-room of the family, or common parlor." 
 Forty's Norf. Glossary. 
 
 Mr. Goodrich, in speaking of the period of his boyhood in Connecticut, 
 says: 
 
 Carpets were then only known in a few families, and were confined to the keeping- 
 room and parlor. Reminiscences, Vol. I. p. 74. 
 
 Within there was but the kitchen, the keeping-room, and a pantry, together with the 
 sleeping apartment. Eastford. 
 
 KEET. See Guinea Keet. 
 
 KELUMPUS ! Thump ! The noise produced by a fall on a hard body.
 
 KEN KIB 227 
 
 Only think ; a fellow to come here drunk at night, and to fall kalumpus on the 
 fence by the apple-tree ! Adv. of Priest, p. 93. 
 
 KENTUCKY COFFEE. The fruit of the Gynonoclades canadensis. A large 
 tree, resembling the locust tree, bearing a pod with berries which are used 
 for coffee. 
 
 KENTUCKY FLAT. See Flat-boat. 
 KESHAW! See Caskaw! 
 
 KESLOSH ! KESWOSH ! KEWOSH ! Plash ! splash ! The noise produced 
 by a body falling flat into the water. 
 
 Cousin Peter sat down between them [the king and queen in a play] ; but they riz 
 up jest as he went to sit down, and the first thing he knowed, kerslosh he went into 
 a tub of water. Major Jones's Courtship. 
 
 The kiver-hinge pin bein' lost, tea leaves and tea and kiver 
 
 Would all come down kerswosh ! as though the dam broke in a river. 
 
 Poetical Epistle from a Volunteer. 
 
 I have seen manhood fall from the topmost cuff of ambition kerswosh into the 
 depths of nonentity, and lie forever buried in the turbid waves of oblivion. Dow's 
 Sermons. 
 
 He shoved away the boat, and the first thing I know'd down I went kerwash into 
 the drink. Southern Sketches, p. 36. 
 
 KESOUSE ! Souse ! The noise made by a body falling from a small height 
 into the water. 
 
 The dugout had n't leaped more 'n six lengths from the bank, afore zip chug 
 ke-souse I went ; the eend lifted agin a sawyer, and emptied me into the element. 
 The Americans at Home, Vol. I. 
 
 To KESOUSE. To souse into the water. 
 
 I kasoused the old cock into a bucket of boilin* water, and do you believe ? 
 Why it took two of my young ones and a big pair of pincers a whole day to get the 
 critter's feathers out. New York Spirit of the Times. 
 
 KESTVOLLOP ! Flop ! The noise made by a violent fall to the ground. 
 
 The horses kept pretty even till they reached the third fence, a regular snag ; and 
 then kerswottop went one rider clear over the horse's head. New York Spirit of the 
 Times. 
 
 KEY. See Kay. 
 
 KEYSTONE STATE. The State of Pennsylvania. So called from its being 
 the central State of the Union at the, time of the formation of the Con- 
 stitution. 
 
 KIBLINGS. Parts of small fish used by fishermen for bait on the banks of 
 Newfoundland.
 
 228 KIC KIN 
 
 To KICK. To jilt. Ex. " Miss A has kicked the Hon. Mr. B, and sent 
 him off with a flea in his ear." Confined to the South. 
 
 KICK. To kick up a row is to create a disturbance ; the same as to kick 
 up a dust. 
 
 Mr. Polk admitted Santa Anna, because he knew him to be capable of fighting 
 nothing but chickens, and to kick up a row in Mexico, and disconcert government 
 measures. Mr. Bedinger, Speech in House of Representatives. 
 
 KID. A large box in fishing vessels, into which fish are thrown as they are 
 caught. New England. 
 
 To KILL. To defeat, to neutralize. A political term. " Do you vote the 
 Whig ticket ? I '11 go the Democrat and kill your vote." " Ike Sap got 
 a divorce from his old woman in the House, but it was killed in the Sen- 
 ate." 
 
 To KILL. To do a thing to kill is a common vulgarism, and means to do 
 it to the uttermost, to carry it to the fullest extent ; as, " He drives to 
 kill; " " She dances to kill" 
 
 KILL. (Dutch Ml.) A channel, or arm of the sea; a stream, river. 
 This Dutch appellation is still preserved in several instances ; thus the 
 channel that separates Staten Island from Bergen Neck is called Kill 
 van Kull, or simply the Kills ; to which we may add the names Schuyl- 
 kill and Catskill, applied to streams. 
 
 KILLDEER. ( Charadrius vociferus.) A small bird of the plover kind ; so 
 called from its peculiar note. 
 
 KILLHAG. (Indian.) A wooden trap, used by the hunters in Maine. 
 KILLING-TIME. The season when hogs are slaughtered. 
 
 KILLOCK. A small anchor. 
 
 They took their berths, unshipped their oars, threw over their killicks and prepared 
 for fishing. Peter Gott, the Fisherman. 
 
 So I advise the num'rous friends that 's in one boat with me 
 To jest up killock, jam right down their helm hard a lea. 
 
 The Biglow Papers. 
 
 KILLY-FISH, or KILLT. (Genus Fundulus.) A small fish found in the 
 salt water creeks and bays, from one to five inches in length. It is only 
 used for bait for larger fish. They are so called from the " Kills " in 
 which they abound. 
 
 KINDLERS, or KINDLINGS. Small pieces of wood for kindling a fire; 
 kindling-wood. New England. 
 
 Put some kindlers under the pot, and then you may go. Margaret, p. 6.
 
 KIN KIN 229 
 
 Mr. Goodrich, in describing the wood fires of olden time in New Eng- 
 land, says : 
 
 There was a back -log, top-log, middle stick, and then a heap of kindlings, reaching 
 from the bowels down to the bottom. 
 
 KIND o', KINDER. In a manner, as it were ; as, " She made game on it 
 kind o'" Forby. 
 
 A kinder notion jist then began to get into my head. Major Downing. 
 At that the landlord and officer looked kinder thunderstruck. Downing. 
 It kinder seemed to me that something could be done, and they let me take the 
 colt. Margaret, p. 325. 
 
 In the store that stands above us, 
 As I sat beneath the counter, 
 Kind-a doing nothing, only 
 Nibbling at a box of raisins. 
 
 Ward, Song of Higher Water. 
 KINDER SORTER. Somehow, rather. 
 
 I have set my heart on a gall, though whether she will give me hern, I ain't sar- 
 tin; but I rather kinder sorter guess so, than kinder sorter not so. Sam Slick, Hu- 
 man Nature, p. 90. 
 
 KiNG-BiRD. (Muscicapa tyrannus.) A bold and sprightly bird which ap- 
 pears in Louisiana about the middle of March, and continues until the 
 middle of September. Further northward, over the entire country, it 
 comes later and disappears earlier. R. Kennicott. 
 
 KING-CRAB. See Horse-Foot. 
 
 KiNG-FiSH. ( Vmbrina alburnus.) A sea-fish of delicious flavor, called 
 King-fish about New York, and Hake on the Jersey coast. 
 
 KINK. An accidental knot or sudden twist in a rope, thread, etc. ; and, 
 figuratively, a fanciful notion, a crotchet. 
 
 " It is useless to persuade him to go, for he has taken a kink in his head that he 
 will not." Carlton, The New Purchase. 
 
 I went down to Macon to the examination, whar I got a heap of new kinks. 
 Major Jones's Courtship, p. 20. 
 
 Never a Yankee was born or bred 
 Without that peculiar kink in his head 
 By which he could turn the smallest amount 
 Of whatever he had to the best account. 
 
 Cozzin, California Ballad. 
 
 KINKY. Queer, eccentric, crotchety. 
 
 KINNIKINNICK. An Indian word for a preparation of tobacco, sumac leaves,, 
 and willow twigs, two thirds tobacco and one of the latter gathered when 
 the leaves commence turning red. This mixture is used by the Indians 
 and the old settlers and hunters in the West. 
 
 20
 
 230 KIS KIT 
 
 At this moment the Indians were in deliberation. Seated in a large circle round 
 a very small fire, the smoke from which ascended in a thin straight column, they 
 each in turn puffed a huge cloud of smoke from three or four long cherry-stemmed 
 pipes, which went the round of the party ; each warrior touching the ground with 
 the heel of the pipe bowl, and turning the stem upwards and away from him as 
 "medicine" to the Great Spirit, before he himself inhaled the fragrant kinnik-kinnik. 
 N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 I at this moment presented to the Duke the Indian pipe, through which he had 
 smoked the day before, and also an Indian tobacco-pouch, filled with the k'nick- 
 k'neck (or Indian tobacco) with which he had been so much pleased. Catlin's 
 Travels in Europe. 
 
 There are also certain creeks where the Indians resort to lay in a store of kinni- 
 kinik, the inner bark of the red willow, which they use as a substitute for tobacco, and 
 which has an aromatic and veiy pungent flavor. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, 
 p. 116. 
 
 While I am writing, I am smoking a pipe filled with kinnikinick, the dried leaves 
 of the red sumac a very good substitute for tobacco. Carvalho, Adventures in 
 the Far West, p. 36. 
 
 KISKITOMAS NUT. A name of the hickory nut, doubtless of Indian origin. 
 The following sonnet to it is taken from the Literary World of Nov. 2, 
 1850: 
 
 Hickory, shell-bark, kiskitomas nut i 
 
 Or whatsoever thou art called, thy praise 
 
 Has ne'er been sounded yet in poet's lays : 
 October's frosts now burst the husk where shut 
 In snug recluse thou 'st passed the summer ; but 
 
 Ushered at length into the woiid's broad blaze, 
 
 Lo ! throngs of merry children rush to raise 
 Thy form, and give thee welcome : every hut 
 
 And statelier dwelling hails thy glad approach ; 
 
 Looking, when winter's snows and sleets encroach, 
 To gather social circles round the hearth ; 
 
 Who, while the generous cider-cask they broach, 
 And munching apples laud their various worth, 
 Call in thine aid to crown with crackling noise the mirth. 
 
 Kiss-ME-QuiCK. A home-made, quilted bonnet which does not extend be- 
 yond the face. They are chiefly used to cover the head by ladies when 
 going to parties or to the theatre. 
 
 She holds out with each hand a portion of her silk dress, as if she was walking a 
 minuet, and it discloses a sno.w white petticoat. Her step is short and mincing, and 
 she wears a new bonnet called a kiss-me-quick. Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 131. 
 
 KITCHEN CABINET. A nickname applied to certain advisers of President 
 Jackson. 
 
 In the management of the Washington Globe, the organ of the President, it be- 
 came necessary for him to consult often with Blair and Kendall, which was a reason, 
 among others, for the Whig party to ridicule and condemn " Jackson's kitchen cabi- 
 net." Life and Times of Governor Reynolds, p. 453.
 
 KIT KNO 231 
 
 KITE-FLIER. A financier Avho practises the operation of " kite-flying" 
 
 KITE-FLYING. An expression well-known to mercantile men of limited 
 means, or who are short of cash. It is a combination between two per- 
 sons, neither of whom has any funds in bank, to exchange each other's 
 checks, which may be deposited in lieu of money, taking good care to 
 make their bank accounts good before their checks are presented for pay- 
 ment. Kite-flying is also practised by mercantile houses or persons in 
 different cities. A house in Boston draws on a house in New York at 
 sixty days or more, and gets its bill discounted. The New York house, 
 in return, meets its acceptance by re-drawing on the Boston house. Im- 
 mense sums of money are often raised in this manner in fact, furnish- 
 ing a capital for both houses to transact their business with. 
 
 Flying the kite is rather a perilous adventure, and subjects a man to a risk of de- 
 tection. One who values his credit as a sound and fair dealer would by no means 
 hazard it. Perils of Pearl Street, p. 82. 
 
 It appears that Yankeeland cannot claim the honor of inventing either 
 the practice or the phrase ; for at a legal dinner in Ireland, Lord Norbury 
 said to Chancellor Milford : 
 
 In England you have to raise a wind to fly a kite, but in Ireland here we fly 
 kites to raise the wind. 
 
 JnrA - ifftLcL . 
 
 KNEE HIGH TO A MOSQUITO. A common hyperbolical expression to de- 
 note diminutive stature ; as, " I knew him before he was knee high to a 
 mosquito" 
 
 KNICKER or NICKER. (Dutch, knikker.} A boy's clay marble ; a com- 
 mon term in New York. It is also used in England, being defined by 
 Halliwell : " A little ball of clay or earth baked hard and oiled over, for 
 boys to play at nickers" 
 
 KNICKERBOCKER. A descendant of one of the old Dutch families of New 
 York City. 
 
 KNICK-KNACKERY or NICKNACKERY. A knick-knack. 
 
 There is one branch of trade which has not suffered in common with other things, 
 and that is the sale of costly knicknackeries, especially women's superlative gear. 
 New York Tribune. 
 
 KNOB. In Kentucky, round hills or knolls are called knobs. These hills 
 are formed by the weathering of the soft sandstones and shales compos- 
 ing them. The approach to this " knob formation " from the rich land is 
 very characteristic, and the sudden change in soil is accompanied by a 
 corresponding change in the inhabitants. The word, however, has ex- 
 tended its meaning, and in Kentucky, as well as other parts of the West, 
 is used simply for hill. In Maryland and Virginia the term knob is ap-
 
 232 KNO KNO 
 
 plied to the highest peaks of the Blue Ridge, and other irregular moun- 
 tains. 
 
 Approaching Galena, the country becomes still more broken and rocky, until at 
 
 last a few short hills, here called knobs, indicate our approach to Fever River. 
 
 Hoffman, Winter in the West, p. 303. 
 
 KNOBBY. Hilly. The prairie of south-western Missouri is characterized 
 by what are called knobs or mounds ; they are somewhat variable in size 
 and form, but usually present the appearance of a truncated cone. 
 Swallow's Geology of Missouri, p. 204. 
 
 KNOBITE. A dweller in the " knob " formation of Kentucky. 
 
 KNOB-LICK. The base of the " knobs " contains shales, which furnish 
 alum and other salts, forming " licks," to which wild and domestic ani- 
 mals resort. One of these knob licks in Mercer county, Kentucky, is a 
 very remarkable spot, and was in former times a favorite resort of the 
 buffaloes. Many acres are entirely devoid of vegetation, and clay banks 
 in every possible shape occupy the surface. 
 
 KNOCK-DOWN AND DRAG-OUT. A fight carried to extremities. 
 
 There are good, quiet, easy people in the world, who scarcely open their lips or 
 raise their fingers, lest Dogberry So-and-so across the way might take it in high dud- 
 geon, and forthwith demand an explanation or a knock-down and drag-out. New 
 York Spirit of the Times, Sept. 30, 1848. 
 
 Mike professed to be considerable of a fighter, and, in a regular knock-down and 
 drag-out row, was hard to beat. Southern Sketches, p. 30. 
 
 KNOCK-KNEED. One whose knees are so close that they " interfere " in 
 walking. It is doubtless an English expression, though not in the dic- 
 tionaries. 
 
 Risingh, who succeeded to the command of New Sweden, looms largely in ancient 
 records as a gigantic Swede, who, had he not been knock-kneed and splay-footed, 
 might have served for the model of a Samson. Knickerbocker, New York. 
 
 KNOCKED INTO A COCKED HAT. Knocked out of shape ; spoiled; ruined. 
 The allusion or metaphor seems to be that of the hat of some unlucky 
 wight, which, by a violent blow, has been knocked into a sort of flattened, 
 three-cornered shape, resembling an old-fashioned cocked hat. 
 
 A tall, slatternly looking woman, wearing a dingy old silk bonnet, which was 
 knocked into a cocked hat, appeared yesterday before the Recorder. New Orleans 
 Picayune. 
 
 One of the omnibuses here run full tilt against a cart, and knocked every thing 
 into a kind of cocked hat. Major Downing, May-day in New York. 
 
 At a Repeal meeting in New York, Mr. Locke was proceeding to speak of the in- 
 fluence this party would have, when he was interrupted by a gang of rowdies, who, 
 with the design of disturbing the meeting, cried out, " Three cheers for O'Oonnell 
 three cheers for Repeal and three groans for Slavery ! " The six cheers for
 
 KNO^KNO 233 
 
 O'Connell and Repeal were given; but by the time they came to the groans for 
 Slavery, they found themselves all knocked into a cocked hat. New York Paper. 
 
 Between three and four thousand persons were assembled at the Broadway Taber- 
 nacle the other evening to hear a temperance lecture from the talented Mr. Gough. 
 There were " long-robed doctors " enough to have constituted a standing army. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. , who opened the meeting with prayer, got through in the very 
 
 short space of three quarters of an hour ; but it was full long enough to knock the 
 spirit of the meeting into a "cocked hat." New York Tribune. 
 
 To KNOCK ABOUT. To go or saunter about. An English phrase, though 
 not in the dictionaries. 
 
 A long course of solicitation, haunting public offices, and knocking about town, 
 had taught him [General Gates], it was said, how to wheedle, and natter, and ac- 
 commodate himself to the humors of others. Irving, Life of Washington, Vol. I. 
 p. 423. 
 
 To KNOCK DOWN. To assign to a bidder at an auction by a blow on the 
 counter ; as, " The tall copy of Shakspeare was knocked down to Mr. 
 Jones." 
 
 To KNOCK OFF. To dock off; deduct. Vulgar. 
 
 To KNOCK HOUND. To go about carelessly, to wander or saunter about, 
 i. e. " to knock about." 
 
 I 'm going to New York and Boston, and all about thar, and spend the summer 
 until pickiii' time, knockin' round in them big cities, 'mong them people what 's so 
 monstrous smart, and religious, and refined, and see if I can't pick up some ideas 
 worth rememberin'. Major Jones's Sketches. 
 
 The Indian will lose his hair, if he and his band knock round here too often. 
 Ruxton, Life in the Far West. 
 
 KNOW-NOTHINGS. A new and more prescriptive party of " Native Ame- 
 ricans," which originated in the year 1853. The New York Times gives 
 the following account of the origin of the name : " The Know-Nothing 
 party, it is pretty generally known, was first formed by a person of some 
 notoriety in New York, who called himself ' Ned Butline.' ' Ned ' 
 was once a midshipman in the United States Navy, but left the service 
 and commenced the business of Americanism on a large scale, by found- 
 ing a secret political order, of so exclusive a character that none were to 
 be admitted as members whose grandfathers were not natives of the coun- 
 try. It is a difficult matter, in a country like the United States, where 
 free inquiry is so common, to keep any thing secret ; and Ned instructed 
 his proselytes and acolytes to reply to all questions in respect to the move- 
 ments of the new party, ' I don't know.' So, they were at first called 
 ' Don't-knows,' and then ' Know-Nothings] by outsiders, who knew 
 nothing more of them than that they invariably replied, ' I don't know/ 
 to all questions." The following articles of their " platform " or set of 
 
 20*
 
 234 KNO LAF 
 
 principles, according to the "American Crusader," one of the leading 
 newspapers of the party, contain the gist of the whole : 
 
 1 . Repeal of all naturalization laws. 
 
 2. None but native Americans for office. 
 
 3. A pure American common school system. 
 
 4. War to the hilt on Romanism. 
 
 These were the principles of the ultra men of the party. In Louisiana 
 and other parts they were disposed to be more liberal towards the Roman 
 Catholics, admitting such as were born in the United States. There was 
 also a difference of opinion regarding slavery, and upon the latter issue 
 the party became divided into North and South Americans. See also 
 Sam and Hindoos. 
 
 KNOW-NOTHINGISM. The doctrines of the Know-Nothings. 
 
 The Know-Nothings have had their day, and very soon there will be nothing left 
 of them but their name. The earth hath bubbles, and Know-Nothing ism was one of 
 them. New York Times. 
 
 KONCKS, or CONKS. Wreckers are so called, familiarly, at Key West ; 
 and the place they inhabit is called Koncktown. 
 
 KOOL SL.AA. A contraction for the Dutch Kool-salade, i. e. Cabbage salad. 
 Many persons who affect accuracy, but do not know the origin of the 
 term, pronounce the first syllable as if it were the English world cold. 
 
 KOOYAH ROOT, or KOOYAHS. A term applied by the Indians in Oregon 
 to a root used by them in making a bread called supale. The plant yield- 
 ing the root is Valeriana ojficinalis or V. JEdulis, probably the same as 
 that sometimes written Kous. It is frequently called Tobacco Root. It 
 should be baked in the ground two days, to deprive it of poisonous pro- 
 perties. The bread has an offensive taste to those not familiarized to it. 
 
 JKRiss KRINGLE. (Germ. Christ Kindlein.*) The infant Christ. The 
 German for child is kind, of which the diminutive is kindlein or kindchen. 
 This, in some parts of Germany and in Pennsylvania, has been formed 
 into kindel, and the children are promised gifts at Christmas from 
 " Christ kindel" The corruption of this last into Kriss Kringle, as a 
 name for the babe of Bethlehem, is neither English nor bad German, but 
 a mere jargon or gibberish of the vilest kind. 
 
 L. 
 
 LABRADOR TEA. (Ledum palustre.) A plant used far in the North-west 
 as a substitute for tea. 
 
 LAFAYETTE FISH. (Leiostomus obliquus.) A delicious sea-fish, which ap-
 
 LAD LAM 235 
 
 pears in the summer in great abundance at Cape Island on the Jersey 
 coast, and is hence called the Cape May Goody. The name Lafayette 
 jish, by which it is known in New York and its vicinity, was given it on 
 ' account of its appearance one summer coinciding with the last visit of 
 General Lafayette to America. Professor S. F. Baird. 
 
 LADIES' TRESSES. (Neottia tortillis.) The popular name, in the Southern 
 States, for an herb so called from the spiral arrangement of its flowers, 
 resembling curls. 
 
 LAGER-BEER. (Germ. Lager-Bier, i. e. Stock-beer.) Sometimes con- 
 tracred into lager. A kind of small beer introduced a few years ago into 
 the American cities by the Germans, and now much in vogue among all 
 classes. The following story is told of its origin : 
 
 Many years ago a shoemaker, near Bamberg, sent his apprentice to get a bottle of 
 Bamberg beer, which was sold at that place ; but the boy, not knowing this, went to 
 the city itself. On returning, he met an acquaintance of his, who told him that 
 when he would come home, his " boss " would whip him for staying so long. The 
 poor boy, who was frightened at this, thought it better not to go home at all, but 
 took his bottle, buried it under a tree, and ran away. He went among the soldiers, 
 where he distinguished himself, so that, in short, he became an officer. When one 
 day his regiment was quartered in this small town, the officer thought proper to pay 
 a visit to his old boss, but not before he had got the bottle of beer, which he had 
 buried some years before under the tree. "When he entered, he said: "Well, Sir, 
 here I bring you your bottle of Bamberg beer that you sent me for." The shoe- 
 maker, not knowing what this meant, was told by the officer all about it. The bottle 
 was then opened, and the beer was found to be of superior quality. When this fact 
 was known, some of the brewers built deep vaults, where they put their beer, and 
 called it, after it had lain there some time, lager, which means nothing more than 
 lying [not so ; it means the beams in the cellar on which the casks are laid]. The 
 officer afterwards married the daughter of the shoemaker, and drank a good deal of 
 lager beer, receiving in that occupation the assistance of his father-in-law. National 
 Intelligencer, February 12, 1857. 
 
 The Philadelphia Ledger says that there are one hundred thousand barrels, of 
 thirty-two gallons each, of lager beer, manufactured in that city in a year. That is a 
 barrel for every male adult in the city. Baltimore Sun, July 12, 1858. 
 
 The German drinks his lager, and drinks it apparently in indefinite quantities, 
 without any of the usual effects of intoxication. New York Express, June, 1858. 
 
 LAKE LAWYER. (Genus, Amia. Linnaeus.) The "Western Mud-fish. 
 It is found in Lakes Erie and Ontario, where it is known by the name of 
 Dog-fish. Dr. Kirtland says, it is also called the lake laicyer, from its 
 " ferocious looks and voracious habits." 
 
 To LAM. (Belg. lamen.) To beat soundly ; to drub. Colloquial in some 
 of the Northern States. It is provincial in Yorkshire, England. Wil- 
 lan's Glossary. 
 
 If Millwood were here, dash my wig, 
 Quoth he, I would beat her and lam her weel. Rejected Addresses.
 
 236 LAM LAN 
 
 The gentleman, who fondly imagined himself a bat, stood his ground like a regular 
 built chicken, and " went in " a number of times ; but his adversary, a stalwart 
 butcher, was too much used to " lam " to be vanquished, and his superior prowess 
 was soon made manifest by the commercial gentleman's face. New York /Spirit of 
 the Times. 
 
 Cooney would pitch into a private dispute, when he did n't care a durn cent which 
 walloped the other, and lam them both. Southern Sketches, p. 31. 
 
 If I had got a hold of him, I 'd a lammed him worse than the devil beatin' tan bark, 
 I know. Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 193. 
 
 LAMANTIN. See Manitee. 
 To LAMBASTE. To beat, thresh, lam. 
 LAMBASTING. A beating. 
 LAMB-KILL. See Calf-kill. 
 
 LAMB'S QUARTER. The popular name of an herb ( Chenopodium album) 
 at the South. Williams 's Florida. 
 
 LAME DUCK. A stockjobber who has failed, or one unable to meet his 
 engagements. 
 
 On the southern corner of the Exchange stand half a score of excited faces. These 
 are the famous Third Board of Brokers mostly lame ducks, who have been disabled 
 for life in their passage through the more secret operations of the regular Board up 
 stairs, and greenhorns who arc very anxious to come in and be caught. New York 
 in Slices, Wall Street. 
 
 LAMMING. A beating. 
 
 LAND OFFICE. An office or place in which the sale and management of 
 the public lands are conducted. Worcester. These offices are all under 
 the control of the General Land Office at Washington, which forms one 
 of the bureaus of the Department of the Interior. 
 
 LAND SCRIP. A certificate or certificates that the purchase-money for a 
 certain portion of land has been paid to the officer entitled to receive it. 
 See Land Warrant. 
 
 The surveyors are authorized and directed, upon the application of any holder of 
 land scrip, to survey at the expense of the government a sufficient quantity of vacant 
 land to satisfy such legal claims of all holders of land scrip sold by this government. 
 Laws of Texas. 
 
 LAND WARRANT. An instrument or writing issued by the Secretary of 
 the General Land Office, authorizing a person to locate or take up a tract 
 of new or uncultivated land. 
 
 LANE. In the Carolinas, all roads with fences on each side are called lanes. 
 LANYAP. Something over and above. Louisiana.
 
 LAR LAW 237 
 
 LARIAT. (Span. Lariata.*) A rope made with thongs of raw hide 
 twisted or braided, and sometimes of sea grass, used for catching and 
 picketing wild horses or cattle. It is also called a lasso. 
 
 The greatest display of skill and agility of the arrieros consists in their dexterous 
 use of the lazo or lariat. Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies. 
 
 If the horse manifested the least restiveness, Beatte would worry him with the 
 lariat so as almost to throw him on the ground. living's Tour on the Prairies. 
 
 The lariat [of the Californian boy] darted from his hand with the force and pre- 
 cision of a rifle ball, and rested on the neck of the fugitive horse. Emory's New 
 Mexico and California, p. 97. 
 
 We cooked supper, and at dark picketed the animals round the camp, their lariats, 
 or skin ropes, being attached to pegs driven in the ground. Ruxton's Mexico and 
 Rocky Mountains, p. 212. 
 
 LARRUP. To beat, to flog. Forty. 
 
 The man that says the country won't be safe with Old Hickory, who larruped the 
 Indians, and whipped the British, is a deceivin', lyin' cuss; and now, boys, all of 
 you, off hats and hurrah for Jackson ! Hammond, Hills and Lakes. 
 
 The first chance I got I was gwine to larrup him like all fury, and as soon as he 
 heard it, began cussin' like all wrath. Southern Sketches, p. 31. 
 
 Just come on an' I '11 larrup you till your mammy won't know you from a pile of 
 sausage meat. Southern Fun and Sentiment, p. 34. 
 
 LASSO. (Span, lazo.) A long rope or cord, often made of raw hide, with 
 a noose, for the purpose of catching wild horses or buffaloes on the 
 Western prairies. It is also used by the muleteers for catching their 
 mules. See Lariat. 
 
 To LATHER. To beat. Wilbraham's Glossary. 
 
 LATHERING. A beating. 
 
 LATHY. Thin, slender, like a lath. 
 
 LAVE! (French, leve.) Get up! A term in common use among the 
 hunters and mountaineers of the Western prairies and Rocky Moun- 
 tains. 
 
 " Lave, ho ! Lave ! Prairies on fire ! Quick catch up ! catch up ! " This 
 startling announcement instantly brought every man to his feet. Scenes in the Rocky 
 Mountains, p. 34. 
 
 LAW DAY. The day on which a magistrate holds court at a country tav- 
 ern. Common in thinly settled districts in the West. 
 
 LAW SAKES. Law sakes alive ! i. e. for the Lord's sake ! an expression 
 denoting surprise or astonishment. 
 
 Law sakes alive, man ! Make a question between our nation and England about 
 fifty deserters ! Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 23. 
 
 LA WING. Going to law. " I got my debt of him by lawing." Western.
 
 238 LAW LEA 
 
 LAWYER. 1. (Himantopus nigricollis.) The black-necked Stilt ; a small 
 bird which lives on our shores, known also by the names of Tilt and 
 Longshanks. On the New Jersey coast it is sometimes called lawyer, 
 on account of its " long bill." 
 
 2. (Genus, Lota.) A fish found in the river St. Lawrence. Mr. 
 Hammond, in his " Wild Northern Scenes," thus speaks of it : 
 
 There were taken in the net, pickerel, white fish, bass, and pike by the dozen ; and, 
 what was a stranger to me, a queer looking specimen of the piscatory tribe, half bull- 
 head and half eel, with a cross of the lizard. 
 
 " What on earth is that ? " said I to the fisherman. 
 
 " That," said he, " is a species of ling ; which we call in these parts a lawyer." 
 " A lawyer ! " said I ; " why, pray ? " 
 
 "I don't know," he replied, "unless it's because he ain't of much use, and the 
 slippriest fish that swims." p. 45. 
 
 LAY. 1. Terms or conditions of a bargain; price. Ex. "I bought the 
 articles at a good lay ; " " He bought his goods on the same lay that I did 
 mine." A low word, used in New England. Pickering.' Probably a 
 contraction for outlay, i. e. expenditure. 
 
 2. The word is also used colloquially in New York and. New England 
 in relation to labor or contracts performed upon shares ; as, when a man 
 ships for a whaling voyage, he agrees for a certain lay, i. e. a share of the 
 proceeds of the voyage. 
 
 He took in liis fish at such a lay, that he made a good profit on them. Peter 
 Gott, the Fisherman. 
 
 To LAY, for to lie. A vulgar error, equally common in England and in 
 the United States. Thus we often hear and also see in print such phrases 
 as, " he laid down," for he lay down to sleep ; " that bed has been laid 
 in," for has been lain in ; " the land lays well," for lies well ; it " lays due 
 north," for lies, etc. In the following extract English and German gram- 
 mar are both set at naught : 
 
 Lager beer derives its name from the long time it is allowed to lay (lager) in vats 
 or casks, in cool cellars, previous to consumption. Wells, Principles and Applica- 
 tions of Chemistry, p. 436. 
 
 LEADER. A length of finely twisted hair, gut, or grass, for attaching an 
 angler's hook to the line ; a bottom. Called also a Snell. 
 
 LEAN-TO. A pent-house ; an addition made to a house behind, or at the 
 end of it, chiefly for domestic offices, of one story or more, lower than the 
 main building, and the roof of it leaning against the wall of the house. 
 Forbys Norfolk Glossary. The word is used in New England, where it 
 is usually pronounced linter. Pickering. 
 
 Many of the domestic offices of the household were performed upon the stoop or 
 lean-to, commonly called linter. Brooke, Eastford.
 
 LEA LEN 239 
 
 LEATHER-WOOD. (Dirca pdlustris.) A small shrub with flexible branch- 
 es and a tough, leathery bark, which grows in woods in the Northern 
 States. It is also called Moose Wood ; and in New England, Wicopy. 
 
 LECOMPTONITE. An upholder of the pro-slavery constitution for Kansas 
 promulgated at the city of Lecompton. 
 
 LEGGINGS. (Commonly written and pronounced leggins.) Indian wrap- 
 pers for the legs ; also worn by the white hunters and trappers of the 
 West, both on account of the mud and to save the pantaloons from the 
 sweat of the horse. The Indians of New Mexico and Texas wear leg- 
 gings when they are entirely destitute of other garments. They are neces- 
 sary there to protect the legs when riding through the chapporal. By 
 some they are called Wrappers. 
 
 How piquantly do these trim and beaded leggings peep from under that simple 
 dress of black, as its tall nut-brown wearer moves through the graceful mazes of the 
 dance ! Hoffman, Winter in the West, p. 239. 
 
 The wolf springs with fearful growl towards Stemaw, who slightly wounds him 
 with his axe, as he jumps backwards just in time to save himself from the infuriated 
 animal, which catches in its fangs the flap of his leggin. New York Spirit of the 
 Times. 
 
 LEGISLATIVE. The Legislature. This, like the term " executive," is 
 used in America as a noun ; but it is by no means so common as that 
 word. Pickering. 
 
 LEG-STRETCHER. It is said that drams are now called " leg-stretchers " 
 in Vermont. It is an every-day occurrence there for passengers in the 
 stage-coaches, while the latter are waiting for the mails, to say, " I guess 
 I '11 get out and stretch my legs," which always ends in their having a 
 drink somewhere in the hotel. 
 
 LENGTHY. Having length, long, not brief; tiresomely long. Applied 
 often to dissertations or discourses ; as, "a lengthy oration," " a lengthy 
 speech." Worcester. 
 
 This word was once very common among us, both in writing and in 
 the language of conversation ; but it has been so much ridiculed by Amer- 
 icans as well as Englishmen, that hi writing it is now generally avoided. 
 Mr. Webster has admitted it into his Dictionary ; but (as need hardly be 
 remarked) it is not in any of the English ones. It is applied by us, as 
 Mr. Webster justly observes, chiefly to writings or discourses. Thus we 
 say, a lengthy pamphlet, a lengthy sermon, etc. The English would say, 
 a long, or (in the more familiar style) a longish sermon. It may be here 
 remarked, by the way, that they make much more use of the termination 
 ish than we do ; but this is only in the language of conversation. Pick- 
 ering.
 
 240 L E N 
 
 Mr. Pickering has many other interesting remarks on this word, for 
 which I refer the reader to his work. The word has been gradually forc- 
 ing its way into general use since the time in which he wrote ; and that, 
 too, in England as well as in America. Thus Mr. Rush, in relating a con- 
 versation which he had in London, observes : " Lord Harrowby spoke of 
 words that had obtained a sanction in the United States, in the condem- 
 nation of which he could not join ; as, for example, lengthy, which im- 
 ported, he said, what was tedious as well as long an idea that no other 
 English word seemed to convey as well." Residence in London, p. 294. 
 The Penny Cyclopaedia remarks on it to the same effect, and even dis- 
 putes its American origin. 
 
 A writer in the Boston Daily Advertiser, under the signature of " "W. 
 X.," says, that he has met with the word lengthy in the London Times, 
 the Liverpool Chronicle, Blackwood's Magazine, the Saturday Maga- 
 zine, the British Critic, Quarterly Review, Monthly Review, Eclectic 
 Review, Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Reviews, in the writings of 
 Dr. Dibdin, Bishop Jebb, Lord Byron, Coleridge, etc. etc. Granby, an 
 English author, uses the word lengthiness, which is a regularly formed 
 noun from lengthy. Campbell uses the adverb lengthily. In his " Let- 
 ters from the South," he says : 
 
 I could discourse lengthily on the names of Jugurtha, Juba, Syphax, etc. 
 and again : 
 
 The hair of the head is bound lengthily behind. 
 
 Here follow a few examples from English and American writers, out of 
 the many that present themselves : 
 
 Murray has sent, or will send, a double copy of the Bride and Giaour ; in the last 
 one some lengthy additions ; pray accept them according to the old custom. Lord 
 Byron's Letter to Dr. Clarice, Dec. 13, 1813. 
 
 All this excitement was created by two lengthy paragraphs in the Times. London 
 Athenceum, July 12, 1844, p. 697. 
 
 This man had timely warning from his God 
 
 To build a spacious ark of Gopher-wood ; 
 
 He, moved through fear and faith, the structure rears, 
 
 Which cost the arduous task of" six score years. 
 
 While Noah thus employed this lengthy space, etc. 
 
 Noah's Flood : a Poem by Jos. Vail, New London, 1796. 
 
 Chalmers's Political Annals, in treating of South Carolina, is by no means as 
 lengthy as Mr. Hewitt's History. Drayton's South Carolina. 
 
 I did not mean to have been so lengthy when I began. Jefferson's Writings. 
 I forget whether Mr. Sibthorpe has mentioned, in any of his numerous and lengthy 
 epistles, this circumstance. Mrs. Clavers's Forest Life. 
 
 LENGTHILY. In a lengthy manner. Webster credits this word to Jeffer- 
 son.
 
 LET LEV 241 
 
 In the report of a convention of " Spiritualists " at Farmington, Mich- 
 igan, it is said, that, 
 
 Mr. Simmons followed, addressing the convention quite lengthily. Spiritual Tele- 
 graph. 
 
 To LET BE. To refrain from annoying, to let alone. An expression often 
 used by children ; as, " Let me be ; I don't trouble you." 
 
 To LET ON. To mention ; to disclose ; to betray a knowledge or conscious- 
 ness of any thing. " He never let on," i. e. he never told me. This 
 expression is often heard among the illiterate, and is not confined to any 
 particular section of the United States. It is also used in the North of 
 England and in Scotland. 
 
 'T is like I may, but let na on what 's past 
 'Tween you and me, else fear a kittle cast. 
 
 Ramsay, The Gentle Shepherd. 
 
 The tears were runnin' out of my eyes ; but I did n't want to let on, for fear it would 
 make her feel bad. Major Jones's Courtship, p. 84. 
 
 To LET OUT. To begin a story or narrative. A Western expression. 
 
 Tom squared himself for a yam, wet his lips with a little corn juice, took a small 
 strip of Missouri weed, and let out. Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 To LET SLIDE. To let go ; as, " That fish you have hooked is not fit to 
 eat ; let him slide" 
 
 In bad places you may fasten a rope to the axle of the wagon, and, passing the 
 end round a tree, you may let her slide, F. Marryatt, California. 
 
 In a debate in Congress on a bill providing for the establishment of an 
 overland mail to California, the annual cost of which was estimated at 
 half a million of dollars, Mr. Iverson said : 
 
 If California was going to cost the Union so much, it would be better to let Cali- 
 fornia slide. 
 
 Sal Stebbins married a feller blind in one eye and deaf in one ear ; so I thought 
 if she was a mind to take such a chap, I 'd better let her slide. Traits of American 
 Humor. 
 
 " Come, Sol, let 's have a game of poker." 
 
 " Oh, let the poker slide, Judge," replied Sol ; " some other time when I want a 
 stake, I '11 make a call." A Stray Yankee in Texas, p. 221. 
 
 LET UP. A let up is a release ; a relief. An expression borrowed from 
 pugilists. 
 
 There was no let up in the stock market to , day, and the differences paid on the 
 maturing contracts were very large. New York Tribune. 
 
 LEVEE. 1. (Fr. levee). An embankment on the side of a river, to confine 
 it within its natural channel. The lower part of Louisiana, which has 
 been formed by encroachments upon the sea, is subject to be inundated 
 
 21
 
 242 LEV LIC 
 
 by the Mississippi and its various branches for a distance of more than 
 three hundred miles. In order to protect the rich lands on these rivers, 
 mounds are thrown up, of clay, cypress logs, and green turf, sometimes 
 to the height of fifteen feet, with a breadth of thirty feet at the base. 
 These, in the language of that part of the country, are called levees. 
 They extend for hundreds of miles ; and when the rivers are full, cul- 
 tivated fields, covered with rich crops and studded with villages, are seen 
 lying far below the river courses. Encyclopaedia Americana. 
 
 The great feature of New Orleans is the Levee. Extending for about five miles in 
 length, and an average of two hundred feet in width, on the west bank of this river, 
 which here runs to the north-east, it is made the great depot, not only for the products 
 of the vast country bordering on the Mississippi and its navigable tributaries, but 
 also of every foreign port, by means of about five hundred steamboats on the one 
 hand, and every variety of sea-craft on the other, which are at all times to be seen in 
 great numbers along the entire length, discharging and receiving their cargoes. 
 Cor. of New York Tribune. 
 
 2. (Fr. lever.) The tune of rising ; the concourse of persons who 
 visit a prince or great personage in the morning. Johnson. 
 
 Such as are troubled with the disease of /eree-hunting, and are forced to seek their 
 bread every morning at the chamber doors of great men.- Addison, Spectator, No. 
 547. 
 
 This word has been curiously perverted by us from its original signifi- 
 cation, so as to mean an evening (!) party or assembly at the house of a 
 great or wealthy person ; as, " the President's levee." 
 
 LEVEEING. Constructing levees on a river's bank. 
 
 If we cannot protect ourselves from overflow, these lands will be almost worth- 
 less, and the slaves on them must find a tillable soil in the West, our hill lands being 
 now fully occupied. How are we to be protected? By leveeing. De Bow's Re- 
 view, Oct. 1858. 
 
 LEVY. Elevenpence. In the State of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Vir- 
 ginia, the Spanish real, or eighth part of a dollar, or twelve and a half cents. 
 Sometimes called an elevenpenny bit. See Federal Currency, and Bit. 
 
 LIBERTY CAP. A peaked cap placed on the head of the goddess of Lib- 
 erty or on liberty poles. See Liberty Pole. 
 
 LIBERTY POLE. A tall pole, sometimes constructed of several pieces of 
 timber like a ship's mast, and surmounted by a " liberty cap," the whole in 
 allusion to Gessler's cap which Tell refused to do homage to, thus leading 
 to the freedom of Switzerland. Many of these poles are erected in dif- 
 ferent parts of American cities. 
 
 LICK or SALT LICK. A salt spring is called a lick, from the earth about 
 it being furrowed out hi a most curious manner, by the buffalo and
 
 LIC LIF 243 
 
 deer, which lick the earth on account of the saline particles with which it 
 is impregnated. Inlay's Topogr. Description of the Western Territory. 
 
 A lick does not necessarily imply the presence of a spring ; the decom- 
 position of sulphurets by atmospheric agency often makes a " lick " on 
 the face of a rocky cliff. 
 
 LICKS. Strokes ; and hence efforts, exertions. " To put in big licks " is to 
 make great exertions, to work hard. 
 
 Molly war the most enticin', gizzard-ticklin', heart-distressin' feline creator that 
 ever made a fellar get owdacious ; and I seed Tom Seller cavertin' round her, and 
 puttin' in the biggest kind a licks in the way of courtin'. The Americans at Home, 
 Vol. I. p. 276. 
 
 LICKETY SPLIT. Very fast, headlong ; synonymous with the equally ele- 
 gant phrase " full chisel." " He went lickety split down hill." Lickety cut 
 and lickety liner are also used. 
 
 LIE. A lie out of whole cloth is an utter falsehood. 
 
 In the second place, we are authorized by these gentlemen to say that the state- 
 ment is in itself utterly false "a lie," as one of the commissioners wished us to 
 say, " out of whole cloth." New York Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 To LIE DOWN. To go to bed. In Tennessee, when a stranger is asked if 
 he will retire for the night, the question is, " Will you lie down ? " 
 
 LIEFER or LIEVER. More willingly, rather. A colloquialism also used 
 in England. 
 
 " I will," I replied, " and I had liefer read it now than before the beautiful 
 music." Putnam's Monthly, March, 1855. 
 
 LIEFS or LIEVES. A corruption of lief or lieve ; as, " I 'd as lieves be 
 seen as not." 
 
 LIFE EVERLASTING. See "Everlasting." 
 
 LIFT. Used by the farmers in some parts of New England to signify a sort 
 of gate without hinges. Pickering's Vocabulary. This word is also 
 used in some parts of England. Mr. Forby calls it " a sort of coarse, 
 rough gate of sawn wood, not hung, but driven into the ground by pointed 
 stakes, like a hurdle, used for the same purposes of subdividing lands, 
 stopping gaps in fences, etc. and deriving its name from the necessity of 
 lifting it up for the purpose of passing through. In Suffolk, a lift differs 
 from a gate, in having the projecting ends of the back and lower bar let 
 into mortice holes in the posts, into and out of which it must be lifted." 
 Norfolk Glossary. 
 
 To LIFT ONE'S HAIR, in the figurative language of the Western hunters, 
 is to scalp him.
 
 244 LIG LIK 
 
 LIG. A fish-hook with lead cast round its upper part, in order to sink it. 
 Maine. 
 
 LIGHT BREAD. Fermented bread of wheat flour ; so called to distinguish 
 it from corn bread. South and West. 
 
 LIGHT WOOD. Pine wood as opposed to slower burning wood, not on ac- 
 count of the lightness of the wood, but of the light afforded by it in burn- 
 ing, a matter of some importance where candles are not to be had. 
 
 Stranger, it's quite a long history, and I '11 put on a fresh handful of light wood be- 
 fore I begin. Simms, The Wigwam and Cabin. 
 
 The inhabitants pick up knots of light wood, which they burn into tar, and then 
 carry it to Norfolk to a market. Westover Papers, p. 27. 
 " Caesar, fly round and get a fire." 
 " Massa ! de light wood am done gone, sah." 
 
 " Gone too, then, is all chance for fire or food. For who ever heard of a nigger 
 that could build a fire without light wood ? " The Americans at Home, Vol. I. 
 
 LIKE. 1. For as. As in the phrase, "like I do" for as I do. Not pecul- 
 iar to America. 
 
 Each Indian carried a great square piece of whale's blubber, with a. hole in the 
 middle, through which they put their heads, Wee the Guachos do through their cloaks. 
 Darwin's Journal of a Naturalist, ch. 10. 
 
 As soon as the post-office was open, I looked over the miscellany like I always do, 
 afore I let anybody take it. Major Jones's Courtship. 
 
 2. For as if, or, as though. A vulgarism common at the West. 
 
 The fever nager got fastened to me, and stuck jest like a Comanche on a mustang : 
 the worse it jumps the tighter he sticks, as if he was glued to the saddle, or like he 
 was one of them rale half horse and half alligator fellows. New York Spirit of the 
 Times, Western Tale. 
 
 The old fellow drank of the brandy like he was used to it. Southern Sketches. 
 
 LIKE A BOOK. To know a person or thing like a book, means to have 
 studied him or it, to know him or it thoroughly. 
 
 He knew the woods like a book, and had got a pretty cute notion whar Bill Stone 
 would bring up. New York Spirit of the Times, Western Tale. 
 
 LIKELY. That may be liked ; that may please ; handsome. In the United 
 States, as a colloquial term, respectable ; worthy of esteem ; sensible. 
 Worcester. 
 
 Mr. Webster has the following remarks on this word : " This use of 
 likely [i. e. in the sense of, such as may be liked, pleasing] is not obso- 
 lete, nor is it vulgar. But the English and their descendants differ in the 
 application. The English apply the word to external appearance, and 
 with them likely is equivalent to handsome, well-formed ; as, a likely man, 
 a likely horse. In America, the word is usually applied to the endow- 
 ments of the mind, or to pleasing accomplishments. With us, a likely
 
 LIL LIN 245 
 
 man is a man of good character and talents, or of good disposition or ac- 
 complishments, that render him pleasing or respectable." 
 
 That the word, however, is also used here in its English sense, is evi- 
 dent from the following quotation : 
 
 A gang of seventeen likely negro men, owned in the vicinity of Northampton, 
 Virginia, made an attempt on Monday last to escape to New York. Norfolk ( Va.) 
 Herald, Oct. 1, 1849. 
 
 LILY-PADS. Leaves of the water-lily. 
 
 LIMB. Leg. This is one of the mock-modest expressions of which our 
 people are overfond. 
 
 If we know any thing of English conversation or letters, 'we speedily find out, even 
 if stone blind, that British men and women have both arms and legs. But in Can- 
 ada a stranger who could not see would find it difficult to discover much about our 
 conformation. He would learn that both sexes had limbs of some sort ; but from 
 any information which our language would give he could not tell whether their limbs 
 were used to stand on or hold by. Rev. A. C. Geikie, in Canadian Journal, Sept. 
 1857. 
 
 This will do for a provincial place like Canada; but the universal 
 Yankee nation does not restrict its application of the word to " humans," 
 as appears from the following : 
 
 Our exchanges bring us the intelligence of the death of Dan Rice's well-known 
 horse " Excelsior." The poor brute, it would appear, fell from the stairs which he 
 used to ascend in the ring, and, fracturing his limb, his death wa rendered necessary. 
 Pittsburg Chronicle, June, 1858. 
 
 LIMITS. The extent of the liberties of a prison. Webster. Called also 
 jail liberties. 
 
 LIMST. Weak ; flexible. New England. Webster. 
 
 LINE. The route of a stage-coach, railroad, packet, or steamer. 
 
 To LINE. To fish with a line. So, to seine, i. e. to fish with a seine. I 
 have never seen these words used except by Dr. J. V. C. Smith, in his 
 History of the Fishes of Massachusetts ; and for so interesting a book the 
 Doctor is well entitled to the privilege of coining a phrase or two. 
 
 The squeteague is taken both by lining and seining, and because it makes such fee- 
 ble exertion and resistance, in being drawn in by a hook, it has received the appella- 
 tion of weak fish. Fishes of Massachusetts. 
 
 To LINE BEES is to track wild bees to their homes in the woods. One 
 who follows this occupation is called a bee hunter. 
 
 At killing every wild animal of the woods or prairies, at fishing, or at lining bees, 
 the best hunters acknowledged his supremacy. Kendall. 
 
 I've hear'n tell of such doin's, but never see'd a bee lined in all my life, and have 
 a desp'rate fancy for larnin' of all sorts, from 'rithmetic to preachin.' Cooper, The 
 Oak Openings. 
 
 21*
 
 246 LIN LIQ 
 
 LINER. The ships belonging to the regular lines of London, Liverpool, or 
 Havre packets are called liners, to distinguish them from transient ships 
 sailing to the same ports. 
 
 LINES. The reins, or that part of the bridle which extends from the horse's 
 head to the hands of the driver or coachman. 
 
 LINGUISTER. (Pron. linkister.') A seaman's term for an interpreter ; a 
 linguist. Also, in New England, applied to a talkative person. 
 
 It is a damnable thing for a youngster, up here, to talk French. If it were on the 
 Atlantic now, where a seafaring man has occasion sometimes to converse with a 
 pilot or a linguister in that language, I should not think so much of it. Cooper, 
 The Pathfinder, p. 219. 
 
 LIQUOR. Many and very singular names have been given to the various 
 compounds or mixtures of spirituous liquors and wines served up in fash- 
 ionable bar-rooms in the United States. The following list is taken from 
 one advertisement : 
 
 Plain mint julep. I. O. U. Milk punch. 
 
 Fancy do. Tippe na Pecco. Cherry do. 
 
 Mixed do. Moral suasion. Peach do. 
 
 Peach do. Vox populi. Jewett's fancy. 
 
 Pineapple do. Ne plus ultra. Deacon. 
 
 Claret do. Shambro. Exchange. 
 
 Capped do. Virginia fancy. Stone wall. 
 
 Strawberry de. Knickerbocker. Sifter. 
 
 Arrack do. Smasher. Soda punch. 
 
 Racehorse do. Floater. Slingflip. 
 
 Sherry cobbler. Pig and whistle. Cocktail. 
 
 Rochelle do. Citronclla Jam. Apple-jack. 
 
 Arrack do. Egg nog. Chain-lightning. 
 
 Peach do. Sargent. Phlegm-cutter. 
 
 Claret do. Silver top. Switchel-flip. 
 
 Tip and Ty. Poor man's punch. Ching-ching. 
 
 Fiscal agent. Arrack do. Tog. 
 
 Veto. Iced do. Ropee. 
 
 Slip ticket. Spiced do. Porteree. 
 
 Polk and Dallas. Epicure's do. etc. etc. 
 
 IN LIQUOR. Intoxicated, drunk. 
 
 To LIQUOR, or To LIQUOR UP. To take a dram ; or, as we more fre- 
 quently say, to take a drink. 
 
 He was the first to break silence, and, jumping up, asked all to liquor before going 
 to bed. Porter's Tales of the South-west, p. 31. 
 
 " The child must be named Margaret." " No ! Mary," replied the father, " in 
 honor of my esteemed wife. Besides, that 's a Bible name, and we can't liquor up 
 on Margaret." Margaret, p. 89. 
 
 " I '11 drink with you, and you drink with me ; an' then we '11 call it square."
 
 LIS LOA 247 
 
 " Agreed ! " says I, " an' we licTcered round twiste ; an' Jo and I shook hands, an* 
 squared off all old accounts." Traits of American Humor, Vol. II. p. 75. 
 
 " Liquor up, gentlemen." We bowed. " Let me introduce you to some of the 
 most highly esteemed of our citizens." We bowed again. " Now then, Mister," 
 turning to the man at the bar, " drinks round and cobblers at that." Notes on Can- 
 ada and the North-western States, Blackwood's Mag. Sept. 1855. 
 
 LISTER. One who makes a list or roll. Webster. This word is used in 
 Connecticut, and is applied to those who make out lists or returns of cat- 
 tle or other property. I have never heard the word used elsewhere. 
 
 LITTLE END OF THE HORN. " To come out at the little end of the horn" 
 is said when a ridiculously small effect has been produced after great 
 effort and much boasting. 
 
 LIVE FOREVER. The name of a fanatical sect in Kentucky whose princi- 
 pal article of faith was that those who had " faith " would never die. 
 Whenever a member died, the answer to this very striking argnmentum 
 ad hominem was, that he had not the " faith." The number, never very 
 large, was reduced in 1850 to two, and one of these had left the sect, leav- 
 ing but one " live forever" 
 
 LIVE HORSE. In printers' parlance, work done over and above that in- 
 cluded in the week's bill. See Dead Horse. 
 
 LLANO. (Spanish.) The plains or prairies of Texas, New Mexico, and 
 other States and Territories bordering on Mexico, are so called by the 
 people residing there. 
 
 LOAFER. A vagabond ; an idle lounger. This peculiarly American word 
 has been gradually growing into extensive use during the last thirty 
 years. It was applied in the first place to the vagrants of our large towns, 
 in which sense it is equivalent to the lazzarone of Naples or the lepero of 
 Mexico. It is now, however, frequently applied in conversation and in 
 the newspapers to idlers in general, and seems to have lost somewhat of 
 its original vulgarity. The Philadelphia Vade Mecum has the following 
 remarks upon it : 
 
 " This is a new word, and, as yet, being but a colt, or a chrysalis, is re- 
 garded as a slang epithet. It is, however, a good word, one much needed 
 in the language, and will, in time, establish itself in the most refined dic- 
 tionaries. It will mount into good society, and be uttered by aristocratic 
 lips ; for it is the only word designating the most important species of the 
 genus idler the most important, because the most annoying branch of 
 that family. 
 
 " The loafer is not exclusively, as some suppose him, a ragged step- 
 and-corner lounger, who sleeps in the sun, and ' hooks ' sugar on the
 
 248 L O A 
 
 wharf. On the contrary, the propensity to loaf is confined to no rank in 
 life ; all conditions are, more or less, troubled with it. Like squinting, 
 the king and the beggar may be equally afflicted with the imperfection. 
 There be your well-dressed moneyed loafer, as well as your loafer who is 
 nightly taken by the watch. 
 
 " He is that kind of a man, who, having nothing to do, or being unwil- 
 ling to do any thing, cannot keep his tediousness to himself, and therefore 
 bestows it all upon others, not when they are at leisure for conversational 
 recreation, but when business presses, and they would look black upon the 
 intrusion of a sweetheart or a three-day wife. He is the drag-chain upon 
 industry, and yet so far different from the drag-chain, that he hitches to 
 the wheel when the pull is up hill. Loving the excitement of busy scenes, 
 yet too lazy to be an actor in them, where men are busiest, there too is 
 to be found the pure, unadulterated loafer, sprawling about as the hound 
 sprawls before the fire in everybody's way, and tripping up everybody's 
 heels. In the store, he sits upon the counter, swinging his useless legs, 
 and gaping vacantly at the movements around him. In the office, he ef- 
 fectually checks necessary conversation among those who do not wish their 
 business bruited to the world, turns over papers which he has no right to 
 touch, and squints at contents which he has no right to know. In the 
 counting-house, he perches on a stool, interrupts difficult calculations with 
 chat? as idle as himself, follows the bustling clerk to the storehouse, pouches 
 the genuine Havana, quaffs nectar from proof-glasses, and makes himself 
 free of the good things which belong to others." 
 
 The origin of this word is altogether uncertain. Two etymologies have 
 been suggested for it, namely, the German laufer, a runner (comp. the 
 Dutch leeglooper and landlooper, a vagrant) ; and the Spanish gallofo 
 (whence the Italian gaglojfo), a wandering mendicant, a vagabond. A 
 writer in Notes and Queries tells the following story of its origin, which 
 certainly si non e vero, e ben trovato. 
 
 An old Dutchman settled at New York, and acquired a considerable fortune. He 
 had an only daughter, and a young American fell inlove with her or her dollars, or 
 both. The old father forbade him his house, but the daughter encouraged him. 
 Whenever the old merchant saw the lover about the premises, he used to exclaim to 
 his daughter, " There is that ' lofer ' [lover] of yours, the idle good-for-nothing," 
 etc. ; and so an idle man, hanging about, came to be called a " loafer." 
 
 The following illustration of the use of the word is now " going the 
 rounds " of the newspapers : 
 
 " You 're a loafer a man without a calling," said a judge to a person arrested as 
 a vagrant. " I beg your pardon, your honor, I have a vocation." " What is it ? " 
 " I smoke glass for eclipses ; but just now it is our dull season." 
 
 To LOAFER or LOAF. To lounge ; to idle away one's time. The verb is 
 of more recent origin than the noun.
 
 LOA LOB 249 
 
 We arrived at the town of Tincenn, the sun being exceedingly hot, we waited till 
 evening. The Casa Real in this as in other towns of the province was the loafering 
 place of the Indians. Norman's Yucatan, p. 88. 
 
 The Senate has loafed away the week in very gentlemanly style. New York Com- 
 mercial Advertiser, Dec. 1845. 
 
 The street [in Hangtown, California,] was crowded all day with miners loafing 
 about from store to store, making their purchases and asking each other to drink. 
 Borthwick's California, p. 118. 
 
 To LOAN. To lend. This verb is inserted by Todd on the authority of 
 Huloet (1552) and Langley (1664), and noted "not now in use." It is, 
 however, much used in this country, though rarely hi England. Worces- 
 ter. 
 
 The "Westminster Review, speaking of the " Chronicles of Wolfert's 
 Roost and other Papers," lately published by Washington Irving, says : 
 
 " He has the finish of our best English critics ; he has the equability and gentle 
 humor of Addison and Goldsmith. It is very rarely that we come upon an Amer- 
 icanism ; he is not, however, wholly guiltless ; he makes use of the expression to 
 "loan a few pounds." 
 
 In England, when one man accommodates another with the use of money for a 
 time, he lends it. The sum is called a loan ; but he who provides it is said to lend 
 or to have lent. Here, however, it is becoming usual to speak of having loaned to 
 another. Webster says that to loan is rarely used in England, and I may say that I 
 never heard it there. What advantage then does it possess over the more familiar 
 form of the verb that it should supersede it here ? Surely the phrase, "money to 
 lend," is sufficiently intelligible. To talk of loaning money would suggest to an 
 unsophisticated Englishman the idea of some unknown process at the mint. 
 Geikie, in Canadian Journal, Sept. 1857. 
 
 LOAN-OFFICE. A public office in which loans of money are negotiated for 
 the public, or in which the accounts of loans are kept and the interest 
 paid to the lenders. Webster. 
 
 LOAN-OFFICER. A public officer empowered to superintend and transact 
 the business of a loan office. Webster. 
 
 LOBBY. The persons who frequent the lobby of a house of legislature. 
 
 The special correspondent of the London Times in writing from Wash- 
 ington, thus speaks of the Congressional " Lobby " and its influence : 
 
 The Lobby of Washington has of late years grown to be an appreciable influence, 
 and much indignation is expressed by political purists at its existence. But prob- 
 ably there never was a legislative body in the world without something of the kind. 
 In the old Parliament of Ireland there were regular " undertakers of the king's 
 business," who did not necessarily have seats among the men they influenced ; and 
 the House of Commons has recognised parliamentary agents. The business of the 
 American Lobby is something of the same kind, but it has not yet obtained a formal 
 organization. It is at present an outside pressure exercised by a miscellaneous 
 crowd of persons, whose influence may be social, or political, or local, or a combina- 
 tion of any of those elements ; they are often agents of other parties, simply remu-
 
 250 L B L C 
 
 nerated for their exertions, or they are both agents or principals, having themselves 
 a large joint share in the undertaking at issue. Many are ex-members of Congress, 
 who have the privilege of admission to the lobby. 
 
 To LOBBY. To attempt to exert an influence on the members of a legis- 
 lative body, by besieging them in the lobbies of the house where they 
 meet. So necessary has this business of lobbying now become, that, when 
 a petition is sent to a legislature, particularly for an act of incorporation, 
 it is very common for one or more individuals to take it in charge for the 
 purpose of " lobbying it through." 
 
 There is a quarrel in Philadelphia about -Mr. W 's appointments. Some of 
 
 the Loco-focos have come out to lobby against him. New York Tribune. 
 
 A committee has gone to Albany to lobby for a new bank charter. New York 
 Courier and Enquirer. 
 
 LOBBY-MEMBER. A person who frequents the lobby of a house of legisla- 
 tion. Worcester. 
 
 LOBLOLLY BAY. (Gordonia lasyanihus.) An elegant ornamental tree 
 of the maritime parts of the Southern States, called also Holly Bay. Its 
 bark is useful for tanning, but its wood of but little value. 
 
 To LOCATE. 1. To place ; to set in a particular spot or position. Pick- 
 ering. Webster. This word is comparatively modern in England, and is 
 not found in any of the dictionaries previous to Todd's. It is used among 
 us much more frequently and in a greater variety of senses than in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Under this roof the biographer of Johnson passed many jovial, joyous hours ; here 
 he has located some of the liveliest scenes, and most brilliant passages, in his enter- 
 taining anecdotes of his friend Samuel Johnson. Cumberland, Memoirs of Himself . 
 
 The Asega-bok, the book of the judge, contains the laws of the Rustringiau Frie- 
 sians located around the gulf of the Jade. Bosworth, Preface to Anglo-Saxon Dic- 
 tionary, p. 61. 
 
 The archbishops and bishops of England can neither locate and limit dioceses in 
 America, nor ordain bishops in any part of the dominions of Great Britain, out of 
 the realm, by any law of the kingdom, or any law of the colonies, or by any canon 
 law acknowledged by either. John Adams, Letter to Dr. Morse. 
 
 A number of courts properly located will keep the business of any country in such 
 condition as but few suits will be instituted. Debates on the Judiciary, p. 51. 
 
 As we don't know exactly where our own souls reside, what harm is there to pur- 
 sue such an investigation as to our black brethren ? My private opinion is, if a nig- 
 ger has one, it is located in his head. Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 172. 
 
 So too a town, a village, and even a piece of ground, is said to be 
 located, i. e. placed, situated, in a particular position. 
 
 Babcr refers to villages formerly located, as at the present day, on the plains, etc. 
 Masson's Travels in Afghanistan, Vol. III. p. 193.
 
 LOG 251 
 
 When Port Essington was located, all these difficulties had to be suffered over 
 again. Stokes' s Australia, Vol. I. p. 401. 
 
 A lot of earth so singularly located, as marks it out by Providence to be the empo- 
 rium of plenty and the asylum of peace. [London] Observer. 
 
 And hence arise the following American uses of the word : 
 
 2. To select, survey, and settle the bounds of a particular tract of land, 
 or to designate a portion of land by limits ; as, to locate a tract of a hun- 
 dred acres in a particular township. Webster. 
 
 In December, 1768, Arthur Lee presented a petition to the king in 
 council, praying : 
 
 That your Majesty would grant to his petitioners, to be fifty in number, by the 
 name of the Mississippi Company, 2,500,000 acres of land, in one or more surveys, 
 to be located betwees the thirty-eighth and forty-second degree of north latitude, etc. 
 etc. Plain Facts. Phil. 1781, p. 68. 
 
 Mistakes in locating land were often very serious the purchaser finding only 
 swamp or gravel, when he had purchased fine farming land. Mrs. C lovers' s Western 
 Clearings. 
 
 This is also coming into use in the old country, as will be seen by the 
 following example : 
 
 The banks of these rivers [the Macquarrie, etc. in New South Wales] are fast fill- 
 ing with settlements ; those of the hunter, the nearest to the seat of government, 
 being, we understand, entirely located. Edinburgh Review. 
 
 3. Applied to persons, it means : 
 
 a. To place in a permanent residence, to settle. 
 
 A lady from Maine, who has been located on the hill west of us for a week or two, 
 calls to say she has concluded to leave Kansas. Mrs. Robinson's Kansas, p. 50. 
 
 b. To place in a particular position. 
 
 The mate, having located himself opposite to me [at the table], began to expostu- 
 late upon the mode of sea travelling. Gilliam, Travels in Mexico. 
 
 c. As a technical term used by the Methodists, to settle permanently 
 as a preacher. The word is needed by them, because they have many 
 itinerant preachers, who are not located, 
 
 Mr. Parsons, like most located and permanent pastors of a wooden country, re- 
 ceived almost nothing for his services. Carlton, New Purchase. 
 
 d. To take up one's residence in a place, to settle. 
 
 The most unhealthy points are in the vicinity of mill-dams, and of marshes, near 
 both of which the settlers take particular pains to locate. Hoffman's Winter in the 
 West, Vol. I. 
 
 From the following extract it appears that the word is used with the 
 same latitude of signification in Canada : 
 
 A man in Britain buys a house or farm, and it is said to be in, or more precisely 
 situated, in such a street, or district, or county. Here nobody or thing is situated 
 anywhere, all are located. Our farms, our houses, our congregations, our constitu-
 
 252 LOG 
 
 encics, all arc located. "We admire a mansion occupying a healthy or commanding 
 site, and we are told that " the location is good ; " a clergyman is congratulated on 
 his incumbency, which is styled a comfortable location ; and so on ad infinitum. To 
 locate is a purely technical term, belonging to land surveyors and their pi-ofession; 
 and it is difficult to perceive any gain to the language by its application being ex- 
 tended beyond its original technical significance. Rev. A. C. Geikie, in Canadian 
 Journal, Sept. 1857. 
 
 LOCATION, n. That which is located ; a tract of land designated in place. 
 Webster. This application of the word is peculiar to the United States. 
 In civil engineering it is applied to railroads. 
 
 LOCATIVE CALLS. Calls for the purpose of location. Those calls are in 
 entries of lands, the object of which is to ascertain and identify the land 
 for the purpose of location. References in entries and grants of land to 
 certain particular physical objects (as trees, streams, etc.) which exactly 
 describe the land to be located. Chief Justice Marshall, Wheaton's Re- 
 ports, Vol. II. p. 206, 211. 
 
 LOCATOR. In American land law; one who locates land, or intends or is 
 entitled to locate. BarriWs Law Dictionary. 
 
 LOCK, STOCK, AND BARREL. The whole. A figurative expression bor- 
 rowed from sportmen, and having reference to a gun. 
 
 Look at [this carriage] all through the piece ; take it by and large, lock, stock, and 
 barrel ; and it 's the dandy. Sam Slick in England, ch. 1 9. 
 
 Loco-Foco. 1. A self-igniting cigar or match. It is remarkable that the 
 origin of this word has never been given. 
 
 In 1834, John Marck opened a store in Park Row, New York, and 
 drew public attention to two novelties. One was champagne wine drawn 
 like soda water from a " fountain ; " the other was a self-lighting cigar, 
 with a match composition on the end. These he called " Loco-foco" 
 cigars. The mode of getting at the name is obvious. The word " loco- 
 motive " was then rather new as applied to an engine on a railroad, and 
 the common notion was, that it meant self-moving ; hence as these cigars 
 were self-firing, this queer name was coined. So Mr. John Marck has 
 the honor of inventing the name. His patent for " self-igniting cigars " 
 bears date April 16, 1834. This term does not occur in the notice of his 
 patent in the Journal of the Franklin Institute, but was used in his 
 advertisements, and can probably be found in the newspapers of that 
 day. 
 
 The term as applied to a match is therefore an Americanism ; but as 
 no other kind of match is now known, as a distinct appellation, it is going 
 out of use. The very use of these matches is of American origin, and 
 at an early date the manufacture reached to an extent almost incredible.
 
 LOG LOG 253 
 
 Not long after the date of the naming of the party, one manufacturer 
 aloue had invested $100,000 in making these matches and boxes. 
 
 2. The name by which the Democratic party is extensively distinguished 
 throughout the United States. This name originated in the year 1835, 
 when a division arose in the party, in consequence of the nomination of 
 Gideon Lee as the Democratic candidate for Congress, by the committee 
 chosen for that purpose. This nomination, as was customary, had to be 
 confirmed at a general meeting of Democrats held at Tammany Hall. 
 His friends anticipated opposition, and assembled in large numbers to 
 support him. "The first question which arose," says Mr. Hammond, 
 " and which would test the strength of the parties, was the selection of 
 chairman. The friends of Mr. Lee, whom we will call Tammany men, 
 supported Mr. Varian ; and the anti-monopolists, Mr. Curtis. The Tam- 
 manies entered the hall as soon as the doors were opened, by means of 
 back stairs ; while at the same time the Equal Eights party rushed into 
 the long room up the front stairs. Both parties were loud and boisterous ; 
 the one declaring that Mr. Varian was chosen chairman, and the other 
 that Mr. Curtis was duly elected the presiding officer. A very tumultu- 
 ous and confused scene ensued, during which the gas-lights, with which 
 the hall was illuminated, were extinguished. The Equal Rights party, 
 either having witnessed similar occurrences, or having received some inti- 
 mations that such would be the course of their opponents, had provided 
 themselves with loco-foco matches and candles, and the room was re-lighted 
 in a moment. The ' Courier and Enquirer ' newspaper dubbed the anti- 
 monopolists, who used the matches, with the name of Loco-foco ; which 
 was soon after given to the Democratic party, and which they have since 
 retained." Hammond's Political History of New York, Vol. II. p. 491. 
 
 LOCUST. A name given in America to several species of Cicada. 
 
 LOCUST- THEE. (Robinia pseudacacia.) A tree much cultivated both for 
 ornament and for its exceedingly durable timber. 
 
 LOG CABIN. A house such as is constructed by the early settlers with un- 
 hewn logs, roughly notched together at the corners, and the interstices filled 
 with clay. Also called Log Hut and Log House. 
 
 LOG CANOE. See Dug-out. 
 
 LOGGIXG. The business of felling trees and preparing timber for trans- 
 portation. 
 
 Once more at work, he employed his leisure time in the heavy and dangerous 
 business of logging. Mrs. Clavers's Western Clearings. 
 
 LOGGING SWAMP. In Maine, the place where pine timber is cut. 
 
 22
 
 254 LOG LOG 
 
 To LOGICIZE. To reason. 
 
 And I give the preliminary view of the reason ; because, since this is the faculty 
 which reasons or logicizes, etc. Tappan's Elements of Logic, Preface, p. 5. 
 
 LOG-ROLLING. 1. In the lumber regions of Maine it is customary for men 
 of different logging camps to appoint days for helping each other in roll- 
 ing the logs to the river, after they are felled and trimmed this rolling 
 being about the hardest work incident to the business. Thus the men of 
 three or four camps will unite, say on Monday, to roll for camp No. 1, 
 on Tuesday for camp No. 2, on Wednesday for camp No. 3, and so 
 on, through the whole number of camps within convenient distance of 
 each other. 
 
 I know how to hate an Indian or love a gal as well as any one. I fell in love with 
 three gals at once at a log-rolling ; and as for tea-squalls, my heart never shut pan a 
 minute at a time. Crockett's Adventures. 
 
 We were compelled, for electioneering objects, to attend this summer several log- 
 rollings. Carlton, The New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 237. 
 
 2. The term has been adopted in legislation to signify a like system of 
 mutual cooperation. For instance, a member from St. Lawrence has a 
 pet bill for a plank road which he wants pushed through ; he accordingly 
 makes a bargain with a member from Onondaga who is coaxing along a 
 charter for a bank, by which St. Lawrence agrees to vote for Onondaga's 
 bank, provided Onondaga will vote in turn for St. Lawrence's plank road. 
 
 This is legislative log-rolling ; and there is abundance of it carried on 
 at Albany every winter. 
 
 Generally speaking, the subject of the log-rolling is some merely local 
 project, interesting only to the people of a certain district ; but sometimes 
 there is party log-rolling, where the Whigs, for instance, will come to an 
 understanding with the Democrats, that the former shall not oppose a cer- 
 tain Democratic measure merely on party grounds, provided the Demo- 
 crats will be equally tender to some Whig measure in return. J. In- 
 man. 
 
 Another evil of our banking system arises from the very foolish rule, that a single 
 director may reject any paper offered for discount, instead of making the fate of every 
 application depend upon the decision of a majority of the board. This gives a power 
 to individuals at variance with the interests of the community. It produces what is 
 termed log-rolling in legislation, and makes good and liberal-minded men responsible 
 for the conduct of individuals who look solely to self. N. Y. Courier and Enquirer. 
 
 Mr. Davis has the best prospect for speaker, without the fetters of a caucus. But 
 with such a system of log-rolling, the one whose prospects are worse, or rather who 
 has no prospects at all, has the best chance to come out successful. N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 Mr. Ballou did not see the object of a postponement. If the delay was for the 
 purpose of obtaining information for the House, he had no objections ; if log-rolling 
 was the motive, ho opposed the postponement. Providence Journal. 
 
 If the idea becomes prevalent that the legislation of Congress is controlled by a
 
 LOG LON 255 
 
 system of combinations and log-rolling, those who can fabricate the most unjust 
 claims will be found coming forward to crowd the halls of Congress and speculate 
 upon the public treasury. Washington Union, Feb. 10, 1855. 
 
 LOOT. (Dutch, log.) Heavy, slow, stupid. We have received this word 
 from the Dutch, and apply it generally to men. He 's a logy man, i. e. a 
 slow-moving, heavy man. " He is a logy preacher," i. e. dull. The 
 Dutch say, Een log verstand, a dull wit. 
 
 LOMA. (Spanish.) A hill or ridge of hills with a flat summit. A term in 
 general use on the Mexican frontier. The diminutive Lomita is also 
 sometimes employed. 
 
 LONE STAR. The State of Texas, whose flag bears a single star. 
 
 Let us not forget the Cynosure of Independence [i. e. Massachusetts] ; but bid 
 her a kind farewell for her pilotage through the breakers of the Revolution blot 
 her out from the galaxy that encircles the Eagle's crest put the Lone Star in its 
 place, etc. A Voice from the South, p. 53. 
 
 LONG AND SHORT. Broker's terms. "Long" means when a man has 
 bought stock on time, which he can call for at any day he chooses. He is 
 also said to be " long" when he holds a good deal. 
 
 Short means when a broker sells stocks, to be delivered at a future day. If he 
 owns the stock he sells, or agrees to deliver, he is both long and short at the same 
 time. The effect of one contract neutralizes or blocks the other, and in reality he is 
 neither long nor short. If he does not own the stock which is the case nine times 
 in ten he is short, or what is the same thing, a " bear ; " and it is for his interest 
 to get the price down, so as to be able to buy the stock to deliver at a less price than 
 he sold. New York Day-Book. 
 
 LONG KNIVES, or BIG KNIVES. A term applied by the North Amer- 
 ican Indians to the white residents of the United States. It signifies 
 wearers of swords. 
 
 LONG Moss. (Tillandsia usneoides.) This parasitic and singular vege- 
 tation is first seen in company with the palmetto, about latitude 33. It 
 hangs down in festoons, like the twiny stems of weeping willow. It 
 attaches itself of choice to the cypress, and, after that, to the acacia. 
 These pendent wreaths often conceal the body of the tree, when bare of 
 foliage, to such a degree, that little is seen but a mass of moss. Waving 
 in the wind, they attach themselves to the branches of other trees, and 
 thus sometimes form curtains of moss, that darken the leafless forest of 
 winter. Flint, Mississippi Valley. 
 
 LONG SAUCE. Beets, carrots, and parsnips are long sauce. Potatoes, tur- 
 nips, onions, pumpkins, etc. are short sauce. See Sauce. 
 
 The Yankee farmer takes unto himself for a wife some buxom country heiress, 
 deeply skilled in the mystery of making apple sweetmeats, long sauce, and pumpkin 
 pie. Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 186.
 
 256 LON LOO 
 
 LONGSHANKS. See Lawyer, No. 1 
 
 LONGSHOREMAN, for alongshoreman. A man employed to load and un- 
 load vessels, a stevedore. New York. 
 
 A meeting of the longshoremen was held last evening to take into consideration 
 the difficulty between themselves and the merchants. New York Tribune, 
 
 The strike among the longshoremen, caulkers, laborers, etc., has become quite 
 general, and the work of repairing, loading, and unloading of vessels is almost sus- 
 pended. New York Express. 
 
 LONG SHORT. A gown somewhat shorter than a petticoat, worn by women 
 when doing household work. 
 
 LONG SUGAR. Molasses, so called formerly in North Carolina from the 
 ropiness of it, and serving all the purposes of sugar both in eating and 
 drinking. Byrd, Westover Papers, p. 28. 
 
 LONG SWEETENING. Molasses, so called formerly in New England. 
 
 LONG TOM. An apparatus used by the Californians for washing gold from 
 the earth or gravel in which it is found. It consists of a wooden trough 
 from twelve to twenty-five feet long and about a foot wide. At its lower 
 end it widens and its floor there is of sheet-iron pierced with holes half an 
 inch in diameter, under which is placed a flat box a couple of inches deep. 
 The long torn is set at a slight inclination over the place which is to be 
 worked, and a stream of water is kept running through it by means of a 
 hose ; and while some of the party shovel the dirt into the torn, one man 
 stands at the lower end stirring up the earth as it is washed down, and 
 separating the stones, while the earth and small gravel fall through the 
 sieve into another box, where it undergoes another process of sifting. 
 
 When the miners extricate themselves from the temples of pleasure [in the city], 
 they return to their camps and long-toms, and soothe their racking head-aches by the 
 discovery of chunks of gold. Marryatt, Mountains and Molehills, p. 236. 
 
 LOOED. Defeated. A term borrowed from the game called loo ; as " San- 
 ta Anna was looed at San Jacinto." Southwest. 
 
 LOON. (Eolymbus glacialis.) The common name for the Northern Diver. 
 As straight as a loon's leg is a common simile. 
 
 LOOSENESS. Unrestraint, freedom. A Western vulgarism, now becoming 
 common at the East ; as, " He goes it with a looseness" i. e. acts without 
 restraint. Still more vigorous is the expression, perfect looseness. 
 
 Ah ! my Christian friends, the devil is amongst us going forward to injure and 
 destroy. He is going it with the looseness of an antediluvian relax; and, as Deacon 
 
 B would say, we must n't allow him to come the Japan flummux over us much 
 
 longer. Dow's Sermons, Vol. III. p. 214.
 
 LOP LUC 257 
 
 The perfect looseness, with which books not on the invoice were sold [at auction], 
 was illustrated by the sale of a volume of Anthon's series, which went off in lots of 
 a hundred, etc. New York Express, Sept. 1855. 
 
 Let them go it with a perfect looseness, till they burst their brittle strings of life's 
 corsets, and fall to pieces in the cold embrace of death. Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. 
 p. 198. 
 
 LOPE. Common in the West for gallop, from which it is contracted. 
 
 A sulky ox refuses to move in the proper direction ; off starts a rider, who catch- 
 ing the stubborn animal by the tail, it at once becomes frightened into a lope ; advan- 
 tage is taken of the unwieldy body by the hunter, as it rests on the fore feet, to jerk 
 it to the ground. Thorpe's Backwoods, p. 15. 
 
 The mustang goes rollicking ahead, with the eternal lope, such as an amorous deer 
 assumes when it moves beside its half galloping mate, a mixture of two or three 
 gaits, as easy as the motions of a cradle. Ibid, p. 13. 
 
 LOT. In the United States, a piece or division of land ; perhaps originally 
 assigned by drawing lots, but now any portion, piece, or division. Web- 
 ster. This application of the word is peculiar to this country, and is uni- 
 versally used of a parcel of land, whether in town or country. Thus, we 
 have city lots, town lots, house lots, meadow lots, water lots, building lots, 
 etc. " I have a fine lot of cleared land, with a wood lot adjoining ; " 
 meaning a portion of the forest on which the trees are left for fuel as re- 
 quired. " In going to town, I left the road, and went across lots, to short- 
 en the distance," i. e. across the open fields or meadows. " In the first 
 settlement of this country," says Mr. Pickering, " a certain portion or 
 share of land was allotted to each inhabitant of the town ; and this was 
 called his lot. Both lot and allotment occur in our early laws." 
 
 To LOYE, for to like. " Do you love pumpkin pie ? " "I 'd love to have 
 
 The quacKs who use the Lobelia inflata, or "/Indian tobac- 
 co," suppose the name to be Lowbelia, and it is so written in the descrip- 
 tion of a patent. The other species, which towers high above its humble 
 relative, is accordingly dubbed High-belia. 
 
 Low GROUNDS. Bottom lands are so called in Virginia. 
 
 LUCIFER MATCH. Matches which ignite by friction, also called Loco-foco 
 matches. Both these expressions, however, are now being supplanted by 
 the more appropriate term, Friction-match. 
 
 No rubbing will kindle your Lucifer match, 
 If the fiz does not follow the primitive scratch. 
 
 0. W. Holmes' Poems, p. 77. 
 
 LUCKS. Small portions of wood twisted on the finger of a spinner at the 
 
 22*
 
 258 LUD LYC 
 
 wheel or distaff. The same word as lock when applied to the hair, etc. 
 Forbi/s Norfolk Glossary. In New England this word is still in use. 
 
 Miss Gisborne's flannel is promised the last of the week. There is a bunch of 
 lucks down cellar ; bring them up. Margaret, p. 6. 
 
 LUDD Y MUSSY ! A corrupt pronunciation of Lord have mercy ! an excla- 
 mation of surprise, common in the interior parts of New England. 
 
 Luddy mussy ! can you read ? Where do you live ? Margaret, p. 52. 
 LUGS. Ground leaves of tobacco when prepared for market. 
 
 LUMBER. Timber sawed or split for use ; as beams, joists, boards, planks, 
 staves, hoops, and the like. Webster. The word in this sense, and the 
 following ones derived from it, are peculiar to America. 
 
 LUMBERER, LUMBERMAN. A person employed in cutting timber and in 
 getting out lumber from the forest. 
 
 LUMBERING. 1. The business or occupation of getting out various kinds of 
 lumber, such as beams, boards, staves, etc. " To go a lumbering" is the 
 phrase used by those who embark in it. 
 
 2. Strolling, lounging, walking leisurely. A vulgarism used in New 
 
 York. 
 
 As I was lumbering down the street, down the street, 
 A yaller gal I chanc'd to meet, etc. 
 
 Negro Melodies. The Buffalo Gal. 
 
 LUMBER-WAGON. A wagon with a plain box upon it, used by farmers for 
 carrying their produce to market. It is sometimes so arranged that a 
 spring seat may be put in it, when it is very comfortable for riding in. 
 
 LUMMOKING. Heavy, unwieldy, hulking. The word is English, and 
 comes from lummock, a lump, which, according to Wright, is still used in 
 Leicestershire. 
 
 These little fellows are easier to carry by a long chalk than them great lummokin' 
 hackrnetacks. Slick, Human Nature. 
 
 Why, mother ! Hannah 's courted by Pete Spinbutton, the ensign of the Dogtown 
 Blues, that great lummokin' feller. Traits of American Humor, Vol. II. 
 
 LUMMOX. A heavy, stupid fellow. Used also in the east of England. 
 
 LYCEUM. A house or apartment appropriated to instruction by lectures or 
 disquisitions. An association of men for literary purposes. Webster. 
 
 In New England almost every town and village of importance has its 
 lyceum, where a library is formed, natural and artificial curiosities collect- 
 ed, and before which public lectures are given. They have done a vast 
 deal towards the dissemination of knowledge, particularly among those 
 classes which have not had the advantages of a good education.
 
 LYN MAD 259 
 
 To LYNCH. To condemn and execute in obedience to the decree of a mul- 
 titude or mob, without a legal trial ; sometimes practised in the new settle- 
 ments in the south-west of the United States. Worcester. 
 
 Such is too often the administration of law on the frontier, Lynch's law, as it is 
 technically termed, in which the plaintiff is apt to be witness, jury, judge, and exe- 
 cutioner, and the defendant convicted and punished on mere presumption. Irving, 
 Tour on the Prairies, p. 35. 
 
 People at last [in 1850] began to talk among themselves of the urgent necessity of 
 again adopting Lynch law, since the tedious and uncertain measures of the author- 
 ities did not seem to have the effect of terrifying and putting down the disturbers of 
 the public peace. Annals of San Francisco, p. 310. 
 
 LYNCH LAW. An irregular and revengeful species of justice, administered 
 by the populace or a mob, without a'ny legal authority or trial. Worcester. 
 
 M. 
 
 MA'AM SCHOOL. A school kept by a woman ; called in England a " daine 
 school." 
 
 Mr. Goodrich, when he returned to his native village after many years' 
 absence, says : 
 
 I found a girl some eighteen years old keeping a ma'am school for about twenty 
 scholars. Reminiscences, Vol. I. p. 39. 
 
 MACHINE. The name for a fire-engine among the New York " b'hoys." 
 
 You '11 like 'em [the engine men], they're perfect bricks; and as for the machine, 
 why, she 's a pearl of the East, none of your old-fashioned tubs, but a real tip-top, 
 out-and-out double-decker. Yes, sirree, there ain't many crabs what can take down 
 No. 62 and her bully rooster crew. Yankee Notions. 
 
 MACKINAW BLANKET, or, simply MACKINAW. A heavy blanket origi- 
 nally used in the Indian trade, the chief post for which was formerly at 
 Mackinac (pron. Mackinaw), and hence the first material for overcoats in 
 the West. See BLANKET-COAT. 
 
 Outside of the wagons the travellers spread their beds, which consist, for the most 
 part, of buffalo rugs and blankets. Many content themselves with a single Macki- 
 naw ; but a pair constitutes the most regular pallet ; and he that is provided with a 
 buffalo-rug into the bargain, is deemed luxuriously supplied. Gregg, Com. of Prai- 
 ries, Vol. I. p. 62. 
 
 MAD. Inflamed with anger ; very angry ; vexed. " I was quite mad at 
 him ; " " he made me mad" In the.se instances mad is only a metaphor 
 for angry. This is perhaps an English vulgarism, but it is not found in 
 any accurate writer, nor used by any good speaker, unless when poets or 
 orators use it as a strong figure, and, to heighten the expression, say, 
 " he was mad with rage." Witherspoon, Druid, No. 5.
 
 260 MAD MAI 
 
 Mad, in the sense of angry, is considered as a low word in this coun- 
 try, and at the present day is never used except in very familiar conver- 
 sation. Pickering. 
 
 This use of the word is provincial in various parts of England. See 
 Halliwell, Grose, etc. 
 
 Indeed, my dear, you make me mad sometimes, you do. Spectator. 
 The General began to get in a passion ; and says he, "Major, I'm gettin' mad!" 
 "Very well," says I, " General, then I'll keep cool accordin' to agreement." 
 Maj. Downing's Letters, p. 20. 
 
 Up stairs I went with them, as mad as thunder, I tell you, at being thought a 
 humbug. Field, Western Tales. 
 
 Jeeminy, fellows, I was so enormous mad, that the new silk handkercher round 
 my neck lost its color ! Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 MAD DOG. Scullcap. (Scutellaria lateriflora.) A once much renowned 
 quack remedy for hydrophobia, the utter worthlessness of which has long 
 since been established. 
 
 MADAM. 1. In Plymouth, Massachusetts, and in some neighboring places, 
 it has been and still is the practice, to prefix to the name of a deceased 
 female of some consideration, as the parson's, the deacon's, or the doctor's 
 wife, the title of Madam. Kendall's Travels, Vol. II. p. 44. " This 
 practice," says Mr. Pickering, " like that of giving magistrates the title 
 of 'squire, prevails in most of the country towns of New England ; but 
 is scarcely known in the seaport towns." Vocabulary. 
 
 2. Sir Chas. Lyell says : The title of Madam is sometimes given 
 here [in Boston], and generally in Charleston and in the South, to a 
 mother whose son has married ; and the daughter-in-law is then called 
 " Mrs." By this means they avoid the inelegant phraseology of " old Mrs. 
 A.," or the Scotch " Mrs. A., senior." Second Visit, Chap. IX. 
 
 MAGUEY. (Agave americana.) A genus of American tropical plants 
 commonly called Aloes or Century plants. They are found in Texas, 
 New Mexico, and California. The different species furnish pulque, sisal 
 hemp, aguardiente, bagging, etc. 
 
 MAHOGANY. (Swietenia mahogoni.) A beautiful tree found in South 
 America, Honduras, and Southern Florida, whose compact reddish-brown 
 wood, susceptible of a high polish, is well known as a material for ele- 
 gant articles of furniture. 
 
 To MAHOGANYIZE. To paint wood in imitation of mahogany. 
 
 MAIDENLAND. Land that a man gets with his wife, and which he loses at 
 her death. Virginia. 
 
 MAIL. This word, which properly means the bag in which letters and
 
 MAI MAK 261 
 
 papers are carried from one post-office to another, is often used by us 
 instead of the term " post." Thus we mail our letters, or send them by 
 mail. The English post them, or send them by post. 
 
 MAILABLE. That may be mailed or carried in the mail. Worcester. In 
 a suit brought by the government against Adams & Co.'s Express for 
 carrying letters and papers, to the injury of the post-office, Judge Betts 
 stated in his charge to the jury, that " any written communication be- 
 tween one individual and another comes within the term mailable matter ; 
 and no matter in what shape it is put, it is liable to postage as if carried 
 by mail." 
 
 MAIL-RIDER. One who carries the mail. In England called a post-man 
 or post-boy. 
 
 MAIL STAGE. The stage or coach which carries the mail. In England 
 called a " mail-coach." 
 
 MAIZE. (W. Ind., maiz, mahiz.} Indian corn. The name of the great 
 staple of native American agriculture, adopted from the Carib language 
 by the Spaniards, and thus imported into the languages of Europe. The 
 earliest dictionary in which I find the word is Florio's Worlde of Wordes 
 (1598) ; the article there is " Maiz, a kind of grain or wheat whereof 
 they make bread in India." Its native country is not fully determined, 
 although it is believed to be America. Bernal Diaz speaks of it in Mex- 
 ico in 1517; and Acosta, in 1570, when treating of the plants "peculiar 
 to the Indies," says that " the most common gram found in the new 
 world is mays, which is found in all the kingdoms of the West Indies, 
 Peru, New Spain, Guatemala, and Chili." He adds, that in Castile they 
 call it Indian wheat ; and in Italy, Turkey grain ; which seems to imply 
 that the plant was also known in those countries. The word is never 
 used in common language in the United States. Indeed few would un- 
 derstand it. 
 
 To MAKE FISH. To cure and prepare fish for commerce. A New Eng- 
 land phrase. 
 
 To MAKE ONE'S MANNERS. To make a bow or salute, on meeting a friend 
 or stranger. The term is applied only to children. Formerly, in New 
 England, the custom was universal among juveniles. Mr. Goodrich, in 
 his " Reminiscences," says, " a child who did not make his manners to a 
 stranger on the high-road, was deemed a low fellow." Vol. I. p. 128. 
 
 To MAKE ONE'S MARK. To make an impression ; to leave a lasting re- 
 miniscence of one's self; to distinguish one's self. It is in all probability 
 an English expression.
 
 262 MAK MAN 
 
 The most remarkable men are usually those who have lived at some marked epoch 
 in the world, and who, in Providence, were then called out to make and to leave 
 their mark upon the world. Chalmers. 
 
 Hugh Miller is a man of genius, and would have made his mark in whatever cir- 
 cumstances he had been placed. Providence Journal. 
 
 There was a time when Jacob Barker made his mark upon the stockjobbers and 
 money-changers of Wall Street. Harper's Magazine, Sept. 1854. 
 
 The following is the close of some beautiful lines relating to Miss 
 Nightingale, taken from a newspaper : 
 
 Among the world's great women thou hast made thy glorious mark ; 
 Men will hereafter mention make of thce with Joan of Arc ; 
 And fathers who relate the Maid of Saragossa's tale 
 Will tell their little children, too, of FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE. 
 
 To MAKE MEAT, on the great western prairies, consists in cutting into 
 thin slices the boneless parts of buffalo or other meat, and drying 
 them in the wind or sun. Meat thus prepared may be preserved for 
 years without salt. 
 
 MAKE A RAISE. See Raise. 
 
 C^. 
 To MAKE ONESELF SCARCE. To depart, decamp, be off. 
 
 To MAKE TRACKS. To go ; to run. A figurative expression of Western 
 origin. 
 
 He came plaguey near not seein' of me, says I ; for I had just commenced making 
 tracks as you came in. Sam Slick in England, ch. 20. 
 
 Lieut. Gilliss, giving an account of a skirmish at Coquimbo, says : 
 
 Some fifty were killed, a like number fell wounded or were taken prisoners, and 
 the remainder made tracks for the city. Gilliss's Chile, Vol. I. p. 334. 
 
 MAMMEE APPLE. (Mammea americana.) A large round fruit, some- 
 times the size of a man's head. The skin is of a dull russet color, and 
 rough. The flesh is yellow, and the seeds are from one to four large 
 ones, with a rough shell. West Indies. 
 
 MAMMY. The term of endearment used by white children to their negro 
 nurses and to old family servants. 
 
 " How ith your ma, honey ? " questioned the old woman, rubbing the biscuit 
 dough from her fingers. 
 
 " Better, thank you, mammy. She seems quite bright, to-day." 
 
 The Hidden Path. 
 MAN EATER. See Water Dog. 
 
 MAN OF THE EARTH. See Mechoacan. 
 MANANOSAT. See Clam, No. 2.
 
 MAN MAP 263 
 
 MANATEE or LAMANTIN. An herbivorous cetacean, the sea-cow. It in- 
 habits the mouths of the rivers opening on the north and north-east of 
 South America and the coast of Mexico ; it measures six or seven feet in 
 length ; and its paddles exhibit rudiments of nails, by the aid of which 
 the animal sometimes drags its unwieldy body on shore, and crawls up 
 the banks, either to bask in the sun, or to seek for terrestrial vegetables. 
 Carpenter's Zoology, I. 339. 
 
 MANGO. We apply this name to a green musk-melon stuffed with horse- 
 radish, mustard seed, mace, nutmeg, ginger, etc., and then pickled. 
 
 MANGOSTEEN. In Barbadoes this name is given to the Jujube (Ziziphus 
 jujube). 
 
 MANIOC, MANIHOC, MANIHOT. See Tapioca. 
 
 MANITOU. (Algonkin Ind. manitu or manito, a spirit, a ghost.) A spirit, 
 god, or devil, of the American Indians. 
 
 The pride of the Indians is to paint their faces strangely with red or black lead ; 
 so that they look like fiends. They are then raliant ; yea, they say they are man- 
 ette, the devil himself. De Vries' Voyage to America, 1655. 
 
 Every one of the chiefs has his peculiar god, whom they call Manitoa. It is some- 
 times a bird, a stone, a serpent, or any thing else they di-eam of in their sleep ; for 
 they think this Manitoa will prosper their wants, as fishing, hunting, and other enter- 
 prises. Marquette. 
 
 Praying for good, we to Cawtantowit bow, 
 And shunning evil, we to Chepian cry ; 
 To other Manittoos we offerings owe, 
 Dwell they in mountain, flood, or lofty sky. 
 
 Durfee, What Cheer, Cant. 2. 
 As when the evil Manitou that dries 
 
 The Ohio woods, consumes them in his ire, 
 In vain the'desolated panther flies, 
 And howls amid his wilderness of fire. 
 
 Campbell, Gertrude of Wyoming, xvii. 
 
 As the Arapaho braves pass by the mysterious (boiling) springs, . . . they never 
 fail to bestow their votive offerings upon the water sprite, in order to propitiate the 
 Manitou of the fountain, and insure a fortunate issue to their path of war. Rux- 
 ton's Rocky Mountains, p. 243. 
 
 When the Manitou made his children, he gave them buffalo to eat, and the pure 
 water of the fountain to quench then: thirst. Speech of an Indian Chief, Ruxton. 
 
 MANOR. In the United States, a tract of land occupied by tenants who 
 pay a fee-farm rent to the proprietor, sometimes in kind, and sometimes 
 perform certain stipulated services. JSurritt's Law Dictionary. 
 
 MAPLE HONEY. A name in British North America for the uncrystallizable 
 portion of the sap of the sugar-maple, which is consumed in the form of 
 molasses.
 
 264 MAP MAR 
 
 MAPLE SUGAR. A sort of domestic sugar obtained from the Sugar-Maple 
 (which see). At the commencement of spring, in the northern States 
 and Canada, the sugar-maple trees are tapped near the ground by nume- 
 rous apertures, and the sap is collected in wooden troughs ; two hundred 
 pounds of which afford, by evaporation, fifteen pounds of a brownish 
 sugar, which is capable of being refined in the same manner as the sugar 
 from the cane and the beet. Encycl. Americana. 
 
 MARABOU. The variety of negro which springs from a mulatto and a 
 griffe. 
 
 To MARBLE or MARVEL. To move off; as, " If you do that again, you 
 must marble" i. e. be off immediately. Used in Pennsylvania. Hurd's 
 Gram. Corrector. 
 
 The dandy run, and the gals snickered out, and the fellers hawhawed till they was 
 e'enamost dead, to see him marvell down the road. Hill's Yankee Stories. 
 
 MARBLEHEAD TURKEYS. Codfish. So called in Massachusetts. 
 MARKET TRUCK. Vegetables cultivated for market. See Truck. 
 
 MARM. A corruption of the word mamma, often used in the interior of 
 New England for mother. 
 
 Has your marm got that done ? Margaret, p. 39. 
 
 MAROON. The name given to revolted negroes in the West Indies and in 
 some parts of South America. The appellation is supposed to be derived 
 from Marony, a river separating Dutch and French Guiana, where large 
 numbers of these fugitives resided. In many cases, by taking to the 
 forests and mountains, they have rendered themselves formidable to the 
 colonies, and sustained a long and brave" resistance against the whites. 
 When Jamaica was conquered by the English, in 1 655, about fifteen hun- 
 dred slaves retreated to the mountains, and were called Maroons. They 
 continued to harass the island till the end of the last century, when they 
 were reduced by the aid of blood-hounds. Encycl. Americana. 
 
 MAROONER. A runaway slave ; a maroon. 
 
 We were told that on the South Shore [in Virginia] dwelt a marooner, that mod- 
 estly called himself a hermit. Byrd, Westover Papers, p. 13. 
 
 MAROONING. To go marooning, is an expression used in the Southern 
 States. It means, to go on a picnic. The difference between a maroon- 
 ing party and a picnic is, that the former is a party made up to pass sev- 
 eral days on the shore or in the country ; the latter is a party for a day. 
 The expression is of course derived from the preceding noun. 
 
 Well, now, Clayton, how considerate of them to go off on that marooning party. 
 Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. I. p. 20.
 
 MAR MAY 265 
 
 MARSHAL. The ministerial officer of the courts of the United States, with 
 duties similar to those of sheriff in the State courts. Kent's Commenta- 
 ries, Vol. I. p. 309. 
 
 MARVEL. A mispronunciation of marble, common in the mouths of illiter- 
 ate people. 
 
 To MARVEL. See To Marble. 
 
 MARYLAND END. Said of the hock of the ham. The other is the Vir- 
 ginia end. Maryland and Virginia. 
 
 MASH. A vulgar corruption of the word " marsh," also heard in England. 
 
 To MASH. In machinery, one wheel is said to mash into or with another, 
 i. e. to " engage " with it. This is, apparently, a corruption from mesh, 
 which is sometimes used in the same sense. 
 
 MASKINONGE or MUSKELUNGE. (Algonkin Ind.) An immense fish of 
 the pike species (Esox estor), caught in the St. Lawrence and the great 
 lakes. I have seen a specimen taken at Kingston upwards of four feet 
 in length. Dr. Richardson, in his " Fauna Borealis Americana," says 
 that he found none in the rivers which empty into Hudson's Bay or the 
 Polar Sea. 
 
 The masquinonjg is to all appearance a large species of pike, and possesses the 
 ravenous propensities of that fish. Backwoods of Canada, p. 161. 
 
 I was born on the sea-shore in the Bay State, and here I am up among the fresh- 
 water lakes, as much naturalized as any muskelunge that was ever caught in Lake 
 Huron. Cooper, The Oak Openings. 
 
 MASS MEETING. A large or general meeting called for some specific pur- 
 pose. The word mass is prefixed with a sort of ad captandum intent, as 
 O'Connell called his large meetings of Irishmen, "monster meetings." 
 Mass meetings were first talked of in the political campaign of 1840, 
 when Harrison was elected president. The term is now applied to any 
 large meeting without distinction of party. 
 
 MATE or MATCH. Used sometimes instead of " fellow," in such expres- 
 sions as, " I can 't find the mate (or match) to this shoe." 
 
 MAY- APPLE. A name applied to the remarkable excrescence caused appar- 
 ently by the puncture of insects, on the immature flowers of the Swamp 
 Honeysuckle (Azalea nudi flora). This grows to a great size, as large 
 as an ordinary apple, is of a very irregular form, covered with a fine 
 bloom, and is even eaten. Its irregular form and want of seeds should 
 indicate that it is no fruit, apart from the fact that it is found before the 
 23
 
 266 MAY MED 
 
 flowers expand. It is nevertheless considered as the fruit of the plant. 
 The term is also applied to the Swamp Honeysuckle itself. 
 
 MAT-BIRD. See Bobolink. 
 
 MAT-POP. A Southern name for the Passion Flower. 
 
 MEADOW. In the United States often applied to mowing lands which are 
 marshy or too wet to be ploughed, and producing a coarse kind of hay, 
 which is called " meadow hay," in distinction from that which grows on 
 uplands, which is called " English hay." Worcester. 
 
 MEADOW BIRD. See Bobolink. 
 MEADOW HAT. See Meadow. 
 
 MEAN, for Means. Many American writers, following Scottish models, 
 make use of mean instead of means in the singular. But the established 
 practice among English writers, from the time of Addison to the pres- 
 ent day, has been to use means for both numbers. 
 
 It was the best mean of bringing the negotiation to a happy issue. Marshall's 
 Washington, Vol. V. p. 546. 
 
 MEAN. Poor, bad, worthless ; as, " A mean pair of shoes ; " "a mean 
 horse ; " "a mean fellow." 
 
 He '11 cut the same capers there as here. He 's a monstrous mean horse. Geor- 
 gia Scenes, p. 27. 
 
 MEAN WHITES. See Poor White Folks. 
 MEAT AXE. A cleaver. 
 
 MEAT BISCUIT. The concentrated juice of beef, mixed with flour and 
 baked. It is chiefly used to make soup for travellers, soldiers, etc. 
 
 MECHOACAN. {Convolvulus panduratus.) A plant growing in sandy 
 fields and on dry banks from Connecticut to Illinois and southwards. 
 The, large root is also used for medical purposes. It is also called Man of 
 the Earth, and Wild Potato Vine. 
 
 MEDICINE. This word is used in translating certain terms in the languages 
 of the American aborigines which denote not only " medicine " proper, but 
 any thing the operation of which they do not comprehend, that is, any 
 thing mysterious, supernatural, sacred. Hence we have the terms medi- 
 cine man, the doctor and conjurer, or shaman, of the Indians ; medicine 
 bag, the bag in which his remedies and charms are contained ; medicine 
 feast, a sort of religious festival, consisting of feasting, singing, dancing, 
 etc., attended by males only ; medicine hut, the hut in which these feasts 
 are held ; medicine pipe, the ornamented pipe smoked on these occasions.
 
 MED MEN 267 
 
 MEDIUM. A person who professes to be a medium of communication be- 
 tween mortals and disembodied spirits. There are rapping, tipping, 
 healing, speaking, writing, and trance mediums. 
 
 MEECHING or MICHING. Skulking. This old Shaksperian word is still 
 occasionally heard in New York and New England. 
 
 O brethren ! I warn you not to make too sure of success, for you may be disap- 
 pointed. When you fall short of the object for which you jump, you go meechin off, 
 like a cat that has missed her mouse. Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 203. 
 
 MEETING. A religious assembly, congregation. Among Methodists, Bap- 
 tists, and Quakers, it is usual to say, " we are going to meeting? when 
 speaking of going to their church or place of worship. 
 
 MEETING-HOUSE. A place of worship of Methodists, Quakers, etc. The 
 following passage in Elliott's recent History of New England, seems to 
 show that the term originated with the Puritans : " The religious services 
 of the Plymouth church were held in the fort, upon the roof or deck of 
 which were mounted the great guns ; and it was in 1648 that a 'meeting- 
 house ' was built. They held that a church was a body of Christians, 
 and the place where they met was a c meeting-house ; ' and so they 
 called it by that name." Vol. I. p. 131. 
 
 To MEET UP WITH. To catch up with ; to overtake. Georgia. 
 
 MELON FRUIT. (Carica papayo.) The West India Papaw ; called also 
 Tree-Melon. 
 
 MEMORANDUM CHECK. A check intended not to be presented immediately 
 for payment ; such an understanding being denoted by the word " mem." 
 written on it. It has been held that the making of a check in this way 
 does not affect its negotiability, or the right of the holder to present it to 
 the bank and demand payment immediately. Paige's Reports, Vol. II. 
 p. 612. 
 
 MENHADEN. (Alosa menhaden.) A fish of the herring kind, abounding 
 in the waters of New England, and as far south as Chesapeake Bay. It 
 is also known by the names of Bony-fish, White-fish, Hardhead, Moss- 
 bonker, and Pauhagen. In Massachusetts and Rhode Island they are 
 called Menhaden ; in New York, Mossbonkers and Skippaugs. They 
 are caught in immense quantities, and used as manure, chiefly for Indian 
 corn. Dr. DeKay, in his report on the fishes of New York, states that 
 he has known of an instance when " eighty-four wagon-loads, or, in other 
 words, 1 68,000 of these fish were taken at a single haul " of the seme. 
 
 These voracious fellows [the blue-fish] get into a school of menhaden, which are too 
 large to swallow whole, and they bite them to pieces to suit their tastes. Daniel 
 Webster, Private Cor., Vol. II. p. 333.
 
 268 MEK MES 
 
 To MERCHANDISE. In the West they say a man is merchandizing who 
 is in trade, keeping a store, selling goods, etc. 
 
 MERCHANT. A term often applied in the United States to any dealer in 
 merchandise, whether at wholesale or retail ; and hence sometimes 
 equivalent to " shopkeeper." 
 
 MERCT SAKES ALIVE ! A common exclamation of surprise, especially 
 with old women, who would probably find some difficulty in parsing it. 
 
 Massy sakes alive, John ! where have you been all the morning ? What ! a lady 
 drowndcd ? Lord-a-massy ! What ! and a dear drownded baby too ! O, dear ! 
 Brooke, Eastford, p. 60. 
 
 MESA. (Span., table.) Throughout the whole region bordering on Mex- 
 ico, this Spanish word is used for a high plain or table-land. 
 
 All the so-called mesa formations and jornadas of this district belong to a dis- 
 tinct system of basin deposits, tertiary or post-tertiary in age The mesa, or 
 
 table-land character, is exhibited only along the line of river valleys, as liigh bluffs, 
 the result of denuding forces, subsequent to the original basin depositions. Reports 
 on the Pacific Railroad, Vol. I. p. 84. 
 
 The travelling upon the mesas was hard and firm, whilst that in the bottom was 
 generally heavy. Lieut. Park's Report, Pacific Railroad Survey, Vol. II. 
 
 Westward sweeps the wide valley of the river, and at a distance of a league is 
 seen the peublo of Zuni. Towards the South a lofty mesa with precipitous cliffs. . . . 
 Scrub cedars and pinons upon the mesa slopes have furnished fuel. Capt. Whip- 
 pie's Explorations, R. R. Survey, p. 66. 
 
 MESILLA. (Span. dim. of mesa.) A small table-land. 
 
 MESQUIT or MUSKEET. (Span, mezquite. Algarobia glandulosa.) An 
 important tree of the Locust family, found in Texas, New Mexico, Cali- 
 fornia, etc. It bears a long and narrow pod, filled with beans, which are 
 eagerly eaten by horses and cattle. It is also valuable for fuel. On the 
 arid plains it is reduced to a mere shrub, when its roots greatly expand, 
 and are much sought for firewood. The Pima Indians on the Gila 
 grind the mesquit beans, and mix the flour with that of wheat, which adds 
 much to its sweetness. 
 
 MESQUIT GRASS. (Stipa spata.) A fine, short grass, called also Lewis 
 Grass, which grows with great vigor and beauty on the western prairies. 
 It is usually found in very thick tufts and patches, interspersed with other 
 grasses. It is very nutritious and palatable to cattle, horses, and sheep ; 
 and has the great advantage of preserving its sweetness, to a certain de- 
 gree, through the winter. A gum exudes from this tree which is said to 
 be equal to gum arabic. 
 
 The mesquit grass gives the prairies of Western Texas their great superiority as a
 
 MES MID 269 
 
 pasture ground, and mark it as forever a pastoral country, whatever in other respects 
 be its future. Olmsted's Texas, p. 13G. 
 
 MESSAGE. In the United States, an address or communication of a presi- 
 dent or a governor, on public affairs, to the legislature. Worcester. 
 Thus we have the President's Inaugural Message, Annual Message, Veto 
 Message, etc. 
 
 MESTEE. In the West Indies, the child of a white person and a quadroon. 
 
 METAPHENOMENA. The primordial facts of our being, which, although 
 known by necessity of reason to exist, are not the immediate objects of 
 consciousness. Tappan. 
 
 METAPHENOMENAL. Relating to metaphenomena. 
 
 The immediate objects of our consciousness are phenomena, and these only are 
 phenomenal ; while those objects which, by supposition, lie beyond immediate con- 
 sciousness, are metaphenominal. Tappan' s Elements of Logic, p. 12. 
 
 METATE. (Mex. metatl.) A hollowed, oblong stone, in the form of an 
 inclined plane, used by the Mexicans (both Indians and whites), for 
 grinding Indian corn or wheat for tortillas, or cocoa for chocolate. 
 
 For miles around the Casas Grandes [on the Gila] the plain is strewed with bro- 
 ken pottery and metates, or corn-grinders. Bartlett's New Mexico. 
 
 A woman was kneeling upon the ground, under a fig-tree, rubbing the metate, and 
 a pretty girl of fifteen was slapping a tortilla between her hands. Olmsted's Texas, 
 p. 349. 
 
 Within the last two days we have seen but slight traces of Indians. Upon the 
 banks of streams we occasionally come across a metate. Some appear to have been 
 recently used. Capt. W hippie's Explorations to the Pacific, p. 96. 
 
 METIF. The offspring of a white person and a quateron or quadroon. 
 
 MIDDLINGS. 1. A coarse flour intermediate between the fine flour and the 
 inferior quality ; hardly known now, when the inferior flour is called 
 " superfine." 
 
 2. A term used in the West for pork, meaning' the portion of the 
 animal between the hams and shoulders. Thus the Price Current quotes 
 hams, shoulders, and middlings. 
 
 MIDDLING WELL, is a common expression for tolerably well. " How are 
 you, to-day ? " " Wall, I 'm pretty middling jest so as to be knockin' 
 around." According to Brockett, it is used in the same sense in the north 
 of England. 
 
 Then it was, " Mr. Sawin, sir, you 're middlin' well, now, be ye ? Step up an* 
 take a nipper, sir ; I 'm dreffel glad to see ye." Biglow Papers. 
 
 23*
 
 270 MID MIL 
 
 MIDDLING INTEREST. The middle class of people. 
 
 Men of the middling interest class are now the best off. Men who have done a 
 safe and small business are now the richest. . . . They have felt they belonged to the 
 middling interest, and have resolved to stay there, and not cope with the rich. Con- 
 necticut Courant. 
 
 There is a bank in Boston called the Bank of the " Middle Interest" 
 MIDGET. The sand-fly ; so called in Canada. 
 
 MIGHTY. Exceedingly, very. Colloquial in England and the United 
 States, particularly at the South and West. 
 
 To the king's house ; Knipp took us in, and brought us to Nelly [Gwynn], a most 
 pretty woman. I kissed her, and so did my wife ; and a mighty pretty soul she is. 
 Pepys's Diary, Vol. II. p. 8. 
 
 She untied her hair, then began to twirl the ringlets round her fingers and play with 
 them in a coquettish manner, which she seemed to tliink mighty killing, for she 
 smiled in evident self-conceit. London Zoist. 
 
 The Doctor's was a mighty fine house, fronting the sea. Dickens, Dombey and 
 Son, ch. XI. 
 
 His face is mighty little for his body. Georgia Scenes, p. 184. 
 
 What mighty hard land it is on this road. The whole face of the earth is covered 
 with stones, as thick as Kentucky land titles. Crockett, Tour Down East, p. 57. 
 
 You '11 be mighty apt to get wet, said a thorough-bred Texan, who stood watching 
 our movements. Kendall's Santa Fe Expedition, Vol. I. p. 32. 
 
 A girl belonging to the hotel was shouting to the boys, who had been despatched 
 to the barn for eggs, to " quit suckin' them thar eggs, or the candidates would stand 
 a mighty small chance for thar dinner." Robb, Squatter Life, p. 80. 
 
 MILE. Often in the singular with a numeral, instead of the plural miles. 
 Mr. Hartshorne, in his Glossary, says its use is universal in England, 
 where the vulgar never give it a plural. " The custom," he adds, " seems 
 to receive countenance from some of our early English poets." Salopia 
 Antiqua. 
 
 Start the horses together for a hundred and fifty mile. Georgia Scenes. 
 
 MILEAGE is a very large and even extravagant allowance made to mem- 
 bers of congress, and some others of the favored, for travelling expenses, 
 eight dollars for every twenty miles. 
 
 Constructive Mileage is the same allowance for supposititious journeys from 
 and to the seat of government. The allowance enures to members of the 
 United States senate once in every four years. When a new president 
 comes into office, congress adjourns, of course, on the 3d of March, the 
 new president being inaugurated on the 4th. But the senate is imme- 
 diately called again into session, to act on the nominations of the new 
 president; and though not a man of them leaves Washington, each is 
 supposed to go home and come back again, in the course of the ten or
 
 MIL MIL 271 
 
 twelve hours intervening between the adjournment and the reassembling. 
 For this imaginary journey the senators are allowed their mileage ; the 
 sum being, in the case of senators from distant States, from $1,000 to 
 $1,500. 
 
 Many of the senators, in 1845, when Mi-. Polk was inaugurated, re- 
 fused to pocket their constructive mileage, holding it to be an imposition 
 on the public. 
 
 Constructive mileage is allowed when an extra session of Congress is 
 called, whether the senators and members have actually gone to their 
 homes or not, after the regular session. J. Inman. 
 
 The mileage is a still less excusable abomination. Texas sends hither two sena- 
 tors and two representatives, who receive, in addition to their pay, some $2,500 
 each every session for merely coming here and going away again (I would sooner 
 pay them twice the money to stay away) $10,000 in all for travelling expenses, 
 which are not actually $1,000. Arkansas will take $6,000 out of the treasury, this 
 year, merely for the travel of her senators. When we come to have senators and 
 representatives from Oregon and California, we shall have to negotiate a loan ex- 
 pressly to pay the mileage of their members. Letter from H. Greeley, N. Y. Tribune, 
 May 2, 1848. 
 
 MILITARY LANDS. Lands granted to soldiers for military services. 
 
 MILK SICKNESS. A fatal spasmodic disease, peculiar to the Western 
 States ; now said to be owing to astringent salts contained in the soil and 
 waters of these regions (see Owen's Geology of Kentucky). It first 
 attacks the cattle, and then those who eat beef or drink milk. 
 
 A few miles below Alton, on the Mississippi, I passed a deserted village, the 
 whole population of which had been destroyed by the milk sickness. Hoffman, 
 Winter in the West, Let. 2. 
 
 MILL. 1. An expression commonly applied to one who has experience of 
 the world, is, "He has been through the mill;" a phrase equivalent to 
 " He has seen the elephant." 
 
 2. An imaginary American coin, the thousandth part of a dollar or 
 tenth part of a cent. 
 
 MILLER. To drown the miller is to put too much water to the flour in 
 making bread. It is, doubtless, an English expression. At all events, 
 Wright says, that putting the miller's eye out, is a phrase used when too 
 much liquid is put to any dry or powdery substance. 
 
 MILLERISM. The doctrines taught by the followers of William Miller. 
 
 "When Millerism was makin' such a noise, the Wiggletown. folks raly thought thor 
 
 was something in it. Old Miss G gave up all business, and didn't do nothin' 
 
 but traipse round from house to house a takin' on about the eend of the world. 
 Widow Bedott Papers, p. 123.
 
 272 MIL M IN 
 
 MILLERITES. The name of a religious sect, from its founder, William Mil- 
 ler. 
 
 The distinguishing doctrines of this sect are, a belief in the reappear- 
 ance of Jesus Christ on earth, " with all his saints and angels ; that he 
 will raise the dead bodies of all his saints, and change the bodies of all 
 that are alive on the earth that are his ; and that both these living and raised 
 saints will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. There the saints 
 will be judged. While this is being done in the air, the earth will be 
 cleansed by fire ; the bodies of the wicked will be burned ; the devil and 
 evil spirits will be banished from the earth, shut up in a pit, and will not 
 be permitted to visit the earth again until a thousand years. This is the 
 first resurrection and first judgment. Then Christ and his people will 
 come down from the heavens, and live with his saints on the new earth." 
 After a thousand years, a second death, resurrection, and judgment 
 take place ; when the righteous will possess the earth for ever. " The 
 judgment day will be a thousand years in duration. The righteous will 
 be raised and judged in the commencement, the wicked at the end of 
 that day. The millennium is between the two resurrections and the two 
 judgments." Evans's Hist. Religions. 
 
 Believing in the literal fulfilment of the prophecies, the Millerites first 
 asserted that, according to their calculations, the first judgment would 
 take place about the year 1843. Subsequently other periods were 
 named ; and so firm was the faith of many that the Saviour would de- 
 scend from the heavens and take his followers up into the air, that they 
 disposed of all their worldly treasures, provided themselves with " ascen- 
 sion robes," and waited with great anxiety for the sounding of the last 
 trumpet, the signal for their aerial voyage. Many persons became insane 
 in consequence of the excitement and fear attending this delusion. 
 Others have come to their senses, owing to their repeated disappointments 
 in not being elevated according to Father Miller's promise ; and at the 
 present time the sect has happily dwindled down to an insignificant num- 
 ber. 
 
 At the Franconia hotel I first heard of the recent fanatical movement of the Mil- 
 lerites, or followers of one Miller, who taught that the millennium, or final destruction 
 of the world, would come to pass last year, or on the 23d day of October, 1844. 
 Lyell's Second Visit, Chap. V. 
 
 MILLION. A vulgar corruption of the word melon ; as, " waier-millions" 
 water-melons ; " mush-millions," musk-melons. 
 
 To MIND. 1. To recollect ; remember. A common phrase at the South 
 is, " I mind me," for "I remember." It is also used in Scotland. 
 
 I was invited to dine out in Boston ; but if I can mind the gentleman's name, I 
 wish I may be shot. Crockett, Tour, p. 82.
 
 MIN MIS 273 
 
 I mind once, a good many years ago, Cross and I was over to St. Regis, on a 
 cruise after martin and sable. Hammond, Wild Northern Scenes, p. 331. 
 
 2. To watch, take care of. An English use of the word, although not 
 in the dictionaries. 
 
 As soon as girls are old enough to be turned to any account, they are sent out to 
 mind the baby. This minding the baby is, in reality, sauntering about the streets, 
 and sitting down on door-steps, and gossiping with other baby-minders. North Brit- 
 ish Review, May, 1856. 
 
 Yes, said Margaret, I will keep Obed. I '11 mind the beds when the birds are 
 about. Margaret, p. 20. 
 
 MINISTER. See Catfish. 
 
 MINK. (Putorius vison.) A quadruped of the weasel kind, that burrows 
 in the earth near water. It is generally to be found on the banks of 
 streams, especially near farm-houses and mills. It swims and dives well, 
 and can remain under water for a considerable time. It preys upon 
 small fish, muscles, etc., but also commits depredations on the poultry 
 yard, and will devour rats, mice, etc. 
 
 MINT-JULEP. A drink made of brandy and sugar, flavored with mint, to 
 which pounded ice is added. See Julep. 
 
 Maryland, anciently written Merryland ; so called because the inhabitants, not 
 having the fear of the Lord before their eyes, were prone to make merry and get 
 fuddled with mint-juleps and apple-toddy. W. Irving, Knickerbocker. 
 
 MINGO. (Creek Ind.) A native king among the Creeks, Choctaws, 
 etc. 
 
 MISERY. Pain ; as, " They say John Soaker never gets drunk ; but he 
 often has a misery in his head." Southern. 
 
 Miss. Often used instead of " Mrs.," by uneducated people, in addressing or 
 speaking of married women, especially in the West. 
 
 MISS-LICK. When an axe or knife cuts out of line, it is called in the West 
 a miss-lick. 
 
 MISSING. To be among the missing, is to be absent, to leave, to run away. 
 
 There comes old David for my militia fine. I don't want to see him, and think 
 I will be among the missing. Sketches of New York. 
 
 To MISSIONATE. To act as a missionary. Not well authorized. Web- 
 ster. 
 
 Mr. Pickering notices this absurd word, which he found in the Mis- 
 sionary Herald. 
 
 MISTAKE. The phrase, " and no mistake" is used as an equivalent for
 
 274 MIT MO C 
 
 certainly, positively ; as, " I will soon pay you a visit, and no mistake." 
 It is now being replaced by sure. 
 
 MITTEN. When a gentleman is jilted by a lady, or is discarded by one to 
 whom he has been paying his addresses, he is said to have got the mitten. 
 
 Young gentlemen that have got the mitten, or young gentlemen who think they are 
 going to get the mitten, always sigh. It makes them feel bad. Neal's Sketches. 
 
 There is a young lady I have set my heart on ; though whether she is a-goin to 
 give me hern, or give me the mitten, I ain't quite satisfied. But I rather kinder sorter 
 guess so, than kinder sorter not so. Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 90. 
 
 MITTS. Ladies' gloves, without fingers. Used in the same sense in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 MIXED UP. Confused, promiscuous. 
 
 Ses I, " Gentlemen, you hear this critter compar me, a free Amarakin, to his 
 darned heathen dumb brute of Afriky." And with that I fetched the monkey a 
 sling that sent him a whirlin' about sixty-five yards, over a brick wall ; and the next 
 minit the Dutchman and his boy was the most mixed up pile of rags and splinters 
 you ever seen in one mud hole. Widoiv Baghjs Husband. 
 
 To MIZZLE. To run away ; to abscond. A low word, also used in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan was in the senate chamber when the tariff was under discus- 
 sion ; but as soon as Mr. Bagby commenced speaking of the " odious law of 1842," 
 the Secretary of State mizzled. Cor. of N. Y. Herald. 
 
 A broker, named H. H. D., operated, in a financial way, day before yesterday, to 
 the amount of $3,000, and then mizzled. N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 The Southern men will spend their last cent here ; while the Northern men, if 
 they had won, would have buttoned up their pockets and mizzled. N. Y. Herald, 
 May 14, 1845. 
 
 In reply to a letter from a lawyer, demanding payment of an account, 
 the debtor declared that he had nothing, and continues : 
 
 Whatever I had at one time in the shape of property, has " mizzled," as snow be- 
 fore the summer's sun ; or, more scripturally speaking, " as the Philistines before 
 the face of the Lord." 
 
 MOBEE. A fermented liquor made by the negroes in the West Indies, pre- 
 pared with sugar, ginger, and snake-root. It is sold by them in the mar- 
 kets. CarmichaeVs West Indies. 
 
 MOB OCR ACT. The sway of the mob. 
 
 MOBTOWN. A name given long ago to the city of Baltimore, and which 
 the lawless character of a portion of its inhabitants renders a not unfit- 
 ting appellation at the present day. 
 
 MOCCASON, or MOCCASIN. (Algonkin Ind.) An Indian shoe, made of
 
 HOC MON 275 
 
 soft leather without a stiff sole, and commonly ornamented round the 
 ancle. Worcester. 
 
 MOCCASONED. Intoxicated. South Carolina. 
 
 MOCCASON SNAKE. A snake of bright color, reputed poisonous, of which 
 there are several varieties. 
 
 MOCCASON FISH. The sun-fish of Maryland. 
 
 MOCK AUCTIONEER. A man engaged in a mock auction establishment. 
 
 MOCK AUCTION. A pretended auction sale used to entrap people from 
 the country. New York. 
 
 MOCKER-NUT. (Carya tomentosa.') A species of hickory nut. 
 
 MoCKiNG-BiRD. 1. (Turdus polyglottos.) This capricious little mimic 
 is of a cinereous color, paler beneath. It inhabits America from New 
 England to Brazil, but is rare and migratory in the Northern States, 
 whilst it is common and resident in the Southern. This bird, although it 
 cannot vie with most of the American species in brilliancy of plumage, is 
 much sought for on account of its wonderful faculty of imitating the tone 
 of every inhabitant of the woods, from the twitter of the humming-bird 
 to the scream of the eagle. Encycl. Americana. 
 2. See Nine-Killer. 
 
 MOLASSES. Used as a plural in the West; as, "Will you give me some 
 of those molasses ? " 
 
 MOLLY COTTON-TAIL. A rabbit. 
 
 MONEYED CORPORATION. Construed by statute in New York to mean 
 " every corporation having banking powers, or having the power to make 
 loans upon pledges or deposits, or authorized by law to make insurances." 
 Revised Statutes. 
 
 MONK-FISH. See Devil-Fish. 
 
 MONONGAHELA. A river of Pennsylvania, so called, gave its name to 
 the rye whiskey of which large quantities were produced in its neighbor- 
 hood, and indeed to American whiskey in general, as distinguished from 
 Usquebaugh and Inishowen, the Scotch and Irish sorts. 
 
 MONROE DOCTRINE. The historical " Monroe doctrine " consisted of two 
 declarations, the first of which grew out of the discussions had in 1823, 
 and earlier, between our government and that of Russia and Great Brit- 
 ain in regard to the proper limits of our North-western territory. The 
 leading powers of Europe up to that time had been accustomed to con-
 
 276 MON 
 
 sider the unoccupied portions of the western world as still open, in point 
 of public law, to settlement and colonization as derelict territory, upon 
 which they might enter and which they might subsequently hold, on con- 
 dition of occupying the land. For the sake of rebutting this pretension, 
 at least so far as it might be held to restrict our territorial claims" in the 
 North-west, the administration of Mr. Monroe took the occasion to 
 assert, " as a principle, in which the rights and interests of the United 
 States were involved, that the American continents, by the free and inde- 
 pendent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth 
 not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European 
 power." It is well known that Mr. John Quincy Adams was the 
 author of this " principle ; " and the motives by which he was influenced 
 in propounding it are elaborately set forth in the correspondence he had 
 at that period with Mr. Middleton, then our minister at the Russian 
 court, as also with Mr. Rush, our able ambassador at the Court of St. 
 James. His argument was, in brief, that the South American States and 
 Mexico, by virtue of their independence, had acceded to all the propri- 
 etary rights formerly enjoyed by Spain; and since the United States 
 claimed to extend their jurisdiction to the Pacific, and thus over the 
 whole of the North-western territory which they had not yet actually 
 occupied, it hence resulted that both the northern and southern conti- 
 nents of America had passed under the civil dominion of the several 
 States among which they were parcelled. In other words, it was con- 
 tended that the flag of "some power now covered and protected all the 
 territory of the western world, which, being thus preoccupied by civil- 
 ized nations, would henceforth be accessible to Europeans and to each 
 other only on the footing of so many independent sovereignties claiming 
 and asserting a jurisdiction which shielded the whole continent from 
 encroachments under the old and long-recognised rights of discovery and 
 settlement. The " Monroe doctrine" under this head, had that extent, 
 and no more. 
 
 The second branch of the declaration made by President Monroe, in 
 his annual message of 1823, related to the apprehended attempt of the 
 European powers, combined in the Holy Alliance, to resubjugate the 
 Spanish- American States which had thrown off their allegiance to the 
 mother country. These powers had solemnly declared at Verona, in 
 1822, their " resolution to repel the maxim of rebellion, in whatever 
 place or under whatever form it might show itself," as before at Troppau 
 they had publicly announced " that the European States have an 
 undoubted right to take a hostile attitude in regard to those nations in 
 which the overthrow of government might operate as an example." 
 Who does not see that a blow aimed at the Spanish provinces, in pursu-
 
 M N 277 
 
 ance of principles such as these, was equally directed at us, as the 
 revolted provinces of Great Britain, and in which, if anywhere, the 
 " overthrow of government " might be deemed to operate as an " exam* 
 pie " calling for chastisement ? At the same time Great Britain, by vir- 
 tue of her constitutional principles of civil liberty, was equally averse to 
 such a policy as was espoused by the Holy Alliance, and, moreover, had 
 already entered into favorable commercial relations with the Spanish- 
 American republics, which she was unwilling to renounce or to subject 
 anew to the hazards and interruptions of war. Under these circum- 
 stances it was that Mr. Canning, then the British Secretary for Foreign 
 Affairs, proposed to Mr. Rush that " the government of the United 
 States should go hand in hand with England" in resisting any attempt 
 directed to the resubjugation of the revolted colonies of Spain ; and it 
 was in consequence of such a previous concert of views between the two 
 governments, as well as in obedience to obvious considerations of public 
 policy, that Mr. Monroe declared, in 1823, that the United States would 
 consider any " attempt of the Allied Powers to extend their system to 
 any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety." 
 Nat. Intelligencer, Sept. 18, 1858. 
 
 For eight years we have diplomatized with England on the subject, and the ques- 
 tion is now more complicated than ever. Perhaps after the lapse of another term 
 of eight years, we may, by some treaty with England, be admitted to a participation 
 in the facilities for interoccanic communication which the isthmus [of Panama] af- 
 fords. But as to any peculiar, not to say exclusive, advantages in the isthmus, 
 which we have claimed, they cannot be obtained. While other nations were passive, 
 it was thought here that we could secure the isthmus by the insertion of a plank in 
 a party platform, or some other legerdemain. If we now fall back on the Monroe 
 doctrine, we shall see the difference between an abstraction and its application in 
 practice. Our theory is yet to be defined and recognised and applied. (Bait.) 
 Sun, Oct. 30, 1858. 
 
 MONSTROUS is much used by the vulgar for very, exceedingly. 
 And will be monstrous witty on the poor. Dryden. 
 
 Augusta is a monstrous pretty city ; but it ain't the place it used to was, by a 
 great sight. It seems like it was rotting off at both ends, and ain't growing much 
 in the middle. J/oy. Jones's Sketches of Travel. 
 
 It 's monstrous inconvenient and ridiculous. Sam Slick in England. 
 
 He '11 cut the same capers there he does here. He 's a monstrous mean horse. 
 Georgia Scenes, p. 27. 
 
 MONTE. (Span.) A game of chance played with cards, of which the 
 Spanish- Americans are excessively fond. 
 
 There are other games at cards practised among the people, depending more upon 
 skill ; but that of el monte, being one exclusively of chance, possesses an all-absorb- 
 
 24
 
 278 MO N MOO 
 
 ing attraction difficult to be conceived of by the uninitiated spectator. Gregg, Com. 
 of Prairies, Vol. I. p. 239. 
 
 I passed through an open door leading into a back room, where were a small 
 party of men and women betting at monte. I lost a couple of dollars, "just to get 
 the hang of the game," as the facetious Sam Slick would say, and then retired to 
 my lodgings. Kendall, Santa Fe Exped., Vol. I. p. 46. 
 
 MONUMENTAL CITY. Baltimore, so called from the several fine monuments 
 it contains. 
 
 MOOSE. (Cervus alces.) The Abenaki Indian name of an animal of the 
 genus Cervus, and the largest of the deer kind, growing sometimes to 
 the height of seventeen hands, and weighing twelve hundred pounds. 
 This animal inhabits cold northern climates, being found in the forests 
 
 of Canada and New England. 
 
 Lechford, in his early account of New England, entitled " Plaine 
 Dealing," etc., printed in 1 642, says : 
 
 There are beares, wolves, and foxes, and many other wild beasts, as the moose, 
 & kind of deare, as big as some oxen and lyons, as I have heard. 
 
 MOOSE-WOOD. A species of maple tree, upon the leaves of which the 
 moose feeds. See Leather Wood. 
 
 Some of the deer were close along shore feeding upon the grass that grew there ; 
 others were nibbling at the leaves of the moosewood upon the bank. Hammond, 
 Wild Northern Scenes, p. 145. 
 
 MOOSE- YARD. During the winter the moose, in families of fifteen or 
 twenty, seek the depth of the forest for shelter and food. Such a herd 
 will range throughout an extent of about five hundred acres, subsisting 
 upon the mosses attached to the trees, or browsing the tender branches 
 of saplings, especially of the tree called Moose-Wood. The Indians 
 name parts of the forest thus occupied, moose-yards. Godman's Amer. 
 Nat. Hist. 
 
 In the far away northernmost wilds of Maine, 
 
 Where the murmuring pines all the year complain, 
 
 The stalwart wood-cutter pitches his camp ; 
 
 In his cabin of logs trims his winter lamp. 
 
 And oft when the moose-herd hath formed its yard, 
 
 And trampled the snows like a pavement hard, 
 
 The woodman forsakes his sled and his team, 
 
 And his harvest of logs by the frozen stream ; 
 
 And, armed with his axe and his rifle, he goes 
 
 To slaughter the moose blocked in by the snows ; 
 
 And many a savory banquet doth cheer 
 
 The fireside joys of his wintry year, 
 
 With the haunch of the moose and the dappled deer. 
 
 N. Y. Knickerbocker, Oct. 1858.
 
 MOP MO R 279 
 
 MOP-BOARD. The wash-board which extends around the floor at the base 
 of the walls in the interior of a house, is so called in New England. 
 
 MOPUSSES. Cash. An English slang term, not often heard among us. 
 
 Whether the man with the mopusses is happy or not, he would n't change himself 
 with one in lower circumstances for a mortgage upon an acre of heaven. Dow's 
 Sermons, I. p. 178. 
 
 MOKE. The comparative endings, -er and -est, are very commonly discarded 
 both by speakers and writers, even from monosyllabic adjectives, and 
 their places supplied by more and most. 
 
 The first edition of the work contained a more full vocabulary of English words 
 than the dictionaries which at that time were generally used in schools. Worcester, 
 Preface to Dictionary, 1856. 
 
 The Mexican clergy are nowhere famous for strictness of life or purity of char- 
 acter. They have the reputation of being more fond of cards than of their breviaries. 
 Harper's Magazine, Vol. XVII. p. 179. 
 
 MORGAN. The phrase "ffe 's a good enough Morgan," originated as fol- 
 lows : During the " anti-Masonic " warfare in the State of New York, a 
 great excitement was created by the abduction of one Morgan, who was 
 said to have been confined by the freemasons in or near Fort Niagara, 
 and afterwards drowned in the river. The alleged reason for the reported 
 crime was Morgan's betrayal of masonic secrets. The excitement was 
 worked up to the highest pitch, by the finding of a dead body floating in 
 the river, which was said to be that of Morgan. Even his wife swore to 
 the identity, and a lost tooth was fitted into the jaw. It was afterwards, 
 however, ascertained beyond a doubt that the body was not that of Mor- 
 gan, whose fate still is a mystery. 
 
 It was asserted that the whole affair was got up for political effect. A 
 current story was, that a celebrated politician concerned in the affair, 
 upon being reminded that the dead body found would not pass for Mor- 
 gan, said that it was " a good enough Morgan " for his purpose. The 
 phrase has now passed into general use, and is applied to a really or sup- 
 posed bare-faced imposition, particularly in politics. G. C. Schaeffer. 
 
 MORGAN HORSE. A type of horse bearing this name, and coming from 
 Vermont, is familiar to the sporting world. This breed of horses is 
 traced back to the beginning of the present century, and derives its name 
 from Justin Morgan, of Randolph, Vermont, a schoolmaster, who owned 
 the animal from which all have descended. 
 
 MORMON. 1. The pretended author of the " Book of Mormon." 
 
 Behold I were about to write them all which were engraven upon the plates of 
 Nephi, but the Lord forbid it, saying, I will try the faith of my people ; therefore I,
 
 280 M R 
 
 Mormon, do write the things which have been commanded me of the Lord. Book 
 of Nephi, Chap. XII. 
 
 2. One of the Mormonites, or Latter-day Saints, a religious sect which 
 derive their name from the " Book of Mormon" 
 
 The Book of Mormon, first published in the year 1830, purports to be 
 the record or history of a certain people who inhabited America previous 
 to its discovery by Columbus. This history, containing prophecies and 
 revelations, was engraven (according to it), by the command of God, on 
 small brass plates, and deposited in the hill Coniora, in "Western New 
 York. These plates were discovered (the Mormons say) by Joseph 
 Smith, in the year 1825 ; they contain certain hieroglyphics, in the 
 Egyptian character, which Smith, guided by inspiration, translated. It 
 purported to give the history of America from its first settlement by a 
 colony from the tower of Babel, to the fifth century of our era. It stated 
 that the Saviour made his appearance upon this continent after his resur- 
 rection ; that he planted the gospel here had his apostles, prophets, 
 teachers, etc. ; that the people were cut off in consequence of their trans- 
 gressions ; and that the last of their prophets wrote the Book of Mormon 
 on the brass plates above named, " which he hid in the earth until it 
 should come forth and be united with the Bible, for the accomplishment 
 of the purposes of God in the last days." 
 
 Smith readily found many to believe his statements, and in 1830 organ- 
 ized his first church of Mormons in Manchester, Ontario county, New 
 York. Other preachers sprang up, who " saw visions and prophesied, 
 cast out devils and healed the sick, by the laying on of hands," and per- 
 formed other miracles. New churches or societies were formed in other 
 States, until in a few years their number amounted to many thousands. 
 They removed in a body to Missouri, where a most cruel and relentless 
 persecution sprang" up against them, Avhich forced them to quit their 
 homes and the State. They then sought a refuge in Illinois, where they 
 founded a city called Nauvoo, in which they erected an immense edifice 
 or temple. 
 
 Persecution followed these people in Illinois. They were attacked 
 by armed bodies of men, by order of the State authorities, driven out by 
 force, and compelled to abandon or sacrifice their property. Such as sur- 
 vived the persecution, after traversing the boundless prairies, the deserts 
 of the far West, and the Rocky Mountains, finally found a resting-place 
 near the Great Salt Lake, where some forty thousand of them have 
 established themselves, and chiefly constitute the Territory of Utah. 
 
 MORMONDOM. The country occupied by the Mormons ; the whole body 
 of Mormons. 
 
 MORMONISM. The doctrines of the Mormonites.
 
 MOR MOU 281 
 
 MORMONITES. The followers of the factitious prophet Mormon, usually 
 called Mormons. 
 
 MORTAL. Used in vulgar parlance adverbially for mortally ; i. e. exces- 
 sively. 
 
 It was a mortal hot day, and people actually sweated to that degree, it laid the 
 dust. Sam Slick, 3d ser. p. 102. 
 
 To MOSEY. To be off; to leave ; to sneak away. A low expression. 
 The following is said to be the origin of the word : A postmaster in 
 Ohio by the name of Moses ran away with a considerable sum of money 
 belonging to the government. To mosey off, or to run away, as Mr. 
 Moses had, then became a by-word in Ohio, and, with its meaning some- 
 what extended, has spread over the Union. 
 
 After I left you, or rather after you left me, when them fellows told you to mosey 
 off before the boat went to sea. N. Y. Family Companion. 
 
 Mo SET SUGAR. The name of a cake made of sugar for children. Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 MOSQUITO BAR, MUSQUITO NET. A net or curtain which, in the South- 
 ern States and in the West Indies, is placed over the bed to protect a 
 person from mosquitoes. 
 
 MOSSBUNKER. See Menhaden. 
 
 Under the surfaces, and inside the exterior of all these [smooth characters], there 
 may be found as many asperities as there are bones in a mossbunker. Dow's Sermons, 
 Vol. I. 
 
 MOST. A common error in speaking and writing, for almost. 
 
 Most of us Americans have been to see the " monster nugget." It was found 
 about three months ago at Kingower, one hundred and thirty miles from Melbourne, 
 by four old California miners. They have been four years in the diggings, and had 
 most a pile before striking the last prize. Letter of J. F. Thornton, Dec. 24, 1857, 
 in San Francisco Bulletin. 
 
 MOTTE, or MOT. (French.) A clump of trees in a prairie ; also called 
 " an island of timber." Texas. 
 
 It is not necessary that prairies should be entirely destitute of trees ; for there are 
 timber prairies, where trees grow in mattes or groves, sometimes termed islands, 
 from their resemblance to wooded islands in the sea. Mayne Reed, The Boy Hunt- 
 ers. 
 
 Before us lay beautiful prairies, with the smooth-grassed surface, varied here and 
 there by herds of cattle and little belts, mottes, and groups of live oak. Olmsted's 
 Texas, p. 137. 
 
 All that was necessary was to keep a bright look-out, and not fall into an ambus- 
 cade while passing the different mots and ravines scattered along our trail. Kendall's 
 Santa Fe' Exped., Vol. I. 
 
 MOUGHT. This obsolete preterite of may is still heard among old people in 
 the interior parts of New England. 
 
 24*
 
 282 MOU MOV 
 
 MOUNDS. An artificial elevation made of earth of various forms for se- 
 pulchral and other purposes, of which large numbers are found, chiefly 
 in the wider bottom lands, and at the junction of the tributaries of the 
 Mississippi and Ohio rivers. In the most fertile valleys, and those most 
 easy of cultivation, these mounds are found in the greatest numbers. 
 In England they would be termed tumuli or barrows. 
 
 MOUND-BUILDERS. The aboriginal race which erected the ancient mounds 
 and other earthworks found in the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio 
 rivers and their tributaries. 
 
 If we admit the correctness of Mr. Gallatin's views [that the ancient agriculture 
 of North America originated between the tropics], we must derive the agriculture 
 of the mound-builders from the South, and assign that race chronologically a com- 
 paratively low date. This we arc not prepared to do; on the contrary, there are. 
 many facts going to establish for the mound-builders a very high antiquity, etc. 
 quier, Monuments of the Mississippi Valley. 
 
 We need not look to Mexico or any other country, for the descendants of the 
 mound-builders. We probably see them in the present red race of the same or adja- 
 cent regions. Lapham's Antiq. of Wisconsin. 
 
 The red man came 
 
 The roaming hunter tribes, warlike and fierce ; 
 And the mound-builders vanished from the earth. 
 The solitude of centuries untold 
 Has settled where they dwelt. Bryant, The Prairies. 
 
 MouND-CiTY. The city of St. Louis, so-called from the number of arti- 
 ficial mounds that occupied the site on which the city is built. 
 
 MOURNERS. Persons on the " anxious seat " in Methodist churches, and 
 at "revival" meetings, are technically termed "mourners ;" that is, per- 
 sons mourning for their sins. 
 
 " Crowding the mourners," in political slang, means adding some further 
 embarrassment to politicians laboring under difficulties. 
 
 To MOVE. 1. For to remove. To change one's residence. In the city 
 of New York, it is the custom to hire houses by the year from the 
 first day of May ; and as many, especially of the poorer class, remove 
 every year or two, an immense deal of puss-in-the-corner playing takes 
 place on that day, producing many curious scenes to astonish the stranger. 
 The custom is being gradually " honored in the breach " of it ; but had 
 Hogarth been a New Yorker, and lived twenty or thirty years ago, May- 
 day would certainly have found a place in his delineations of human 
 eccentricities. 
 
 These are great moving times. The sovereigns of Europe are being moved, much 
 against their will, and the sovereign people of New York are on the eve of 
 moving, according to custom, which has made the May-day sports of this city a very
 
 MUG MUD 283 
 
 peculiar feature. Could the sovereigns of Europe only move as easily as the sover- 
 eigns of New York do, from house to house, palace to palace, etc., they would be 
 well content, and not complain, as many movers to-morrow will. N. Y. Sunday 
 Atlas, April 30, 1848. 
 
 Mr. Irving gives the following humorous account of the origin of this 
 custom of moving on the first of May. 
 
 The memorable emigration [of the people of Communipaw to New Amsterdam] 
 took place on the first of May, and was long cited in tradition as the grand moving. 
 The anniversary of it was piously observed among their sons, by turning their 
 houses topsy-turvy, and carrying all their furniture into the streets, etc. ; and this is 
 the real origin of the universal agitation and moving by which this most restless of 
 cities is literally turned out of doors on every May-day. Knickerbocker, N. York. 
 
 2. To go, depart. Much used in familiar language, particularly in the 
 phrase, to be moving. 
 
 As soon as the ceremony was over, "Now," says I, "we must be a moving." 
 Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 166. 
 
 MUCH. In New England, " He is very much of a man," means, he is a 
 man of very good qualities ; and when a discarded suitor says of his 
 former mistress, " She is not much of a girl after all," he means to im- 
 ply that she is " no great shakes." 
 
 MuD-FisH. (Melanura pygmcea.) A small fish on the Atlantic coast, 
 which burrows in the mud. 
 
 MUD-DEVIL. See Water-Dog, and Salamander. 
 
 MUD-HEAD. A nick-name applied to the natives of Tennessee. 
 
 MUD-HEN. The common name of the Virginia Kail of ornithologists. It 
 inhabits small streams and marshes. 
 
 MUD POUT. See Cat-fish. 
 
 MuD-SiLL. The longitudinal timber laid upon the ground to form the foun- 
 dation for a railway. Hence figuratively applied to the laboring classes, 
 as the substratum of society, in the following passage of a speech of Sen- 
 ator Hammond of South Carolina, which has occasioned much remark : 
 
 In all social systems there must be a class to perform the drudgery of life, that 
 is, a class requiring but a low order of intellect, and but little skill. Such a class 
 you must have, or you would not have that other class which leads progress, civili- 
 zation, and refinement. It constitutes the very mud-sill of society and of political 
 government ; and you might as well attempt to build a house in the air, as to build 
 either the one or the other except on this mud-sill. Speech of Senator Hammond, 
 March 4, 1858. 
 
 It is time that Virginia was turning her attention to manufactures, mechanics, 
 mining, and foreign commerce. No country, no State can live upon one only of 
 the five cardinal powers of production. She must resort to all the five combined, 
 and she is doing it. I say that labor is not the " mud-sill " of society ; and I thank
 
 284 MUD MUL 
 
 God that the old colonial aristocracy of Virginia, which despised mechanical and 
 manual labor, is nearly run out. Speech of Gov. Wise of Virginia, 1858. 
 
 MuD-SiLL CLUBS. The miners and working-men of California who sup- 
 port Broderick in his opposition to the Administration, are preparing for 
 a vigorous campaign, and are already organizing themselves into associa- 
 tions which they style " Mud-sill Clubs" New York Evening Post, 
 1858. 
 
 MUD-TURTLE. (Sternothcerus odorata.} The popular name of a reptile 
 common in all parts of the United States. Marsh Tortoise and Mud 
 Terrapin are other names for the same. 
 
 MDLADA. (Span.) A drove of mules. 
 
 We recognised the horsemen as a band of robbers, and their object was plain ; 
 collected our mulada into a compact body, with our pieces cocked, ready for service. 
 Ruxton's Adventures, p. 65. 
 
 The Indians frightened the mules, which, turning round, broke the pole of the 
 wagon. As this accident prevented us keeping up with the mulada ahead, the con- 
 ductor went to the assistance of the men driving the herd. Wood's Report on the 
 Pacific Wagon-Road, p. 7. 
 
 MULATTO. (Span. Mulato.) A mulatto is the offspring of a white and a 
 negro ; a quadroon, of a white and a mulatto, being one quarter black ; 
 a mustee, of a white and a quadroon, or one eighth black ; and a musta- 
 jina, of a white and a mustee, being one sixteenth black. Terms imply- 
 ing a much less admixture of blood are prevalent in Cuba. Bait. Sun, 
 Sept. 3, 1858. 
 
 MULE DEER. ( Cervus macrotis.) The largest of the true deer found in 
 North America. It derives its scientific name, macrotis, from the great 
 length of its ears, resembling those of the mule, whence it is sometimes 
 called the Mule Deer. Its more common appellation, Black-tail Deer, is 
 OAving to the black tip to its tail. S. F. Baird. 
 
 MULE RABBIT. See Jackass Rabbit. 
 
 MULET SAW. (Germ. Muhlsage, mill-saw.) That variety of mill-saw 
 which is not hung in the gate. It is also spelt mulay, moiley, muhley, the 
 last indicating its origin. 
 
 To MULL. To soften and dispirit. Johnson. The only authority cited 
 by Johnson is from Shakspeare : 
 
 Peace is a very apoplexy, lethargy, 
 
 Mull'd, deaf, sleepy, insensible. Coriolanus. 
 
 Used in New England. 
 
 There has been a pretty considerable mullin going on among the doctors, ever sen 
 the quack medicine came out. Margaret, p. 170.
 
 MUM MUS 285 
 
 MUMBLE THE PEG. A boy's game. It consists in endeavoring to draw 
 out with the teeth a peg driven almost wholly into the ground. The suc- 
 cessful one of course wins. 
 
 MUMMACHOG. (Genus, Fundulus). The popular name of the Barred 
 Killifish of naturalists. It is a small fish from two to four inches in 
 length, and frequents the salt-water creeks and the vicinity of the 
 wharves. This Indian name is retained on both sides of Long Island 
 Sound. 
 
 MUNG NEWS. False, fictitious. I do not know the origin of the phrase. 
 
 As many of our citizens who intend to go to California may base their arrange- 
 ments upon the mung news of some of the papers, we conceive it to be our duty to 
 state that most of these letters are fictions. N. Y. Express, Feb. 17, 1849. 
 
 MURTH. Plenty, abundance. A north of England word. 
 
 I think we should have had a murth of it this year, but the summer has been a lit- 
 tle too cold, and Indian corn must have a hot sun. Brooke's Eastford, p. 76. 
 
 Music. Amusement, fun. " Jim is a right clever fellow ; there is a great 
 deal of music in him." 
 
 MUSICAL. Amusing. New England. 
 
 MUSICIANER. A musician. Vulgar. Used in Norfolk, England. 
 
 The musicianers sot down right in front of the stage, and they was led by a hand- 
 some young man, whose head went from, one side to the other like happy people at 
 a camp meetin'. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 MusK-Ox. (Ovibos moschatus.) This animal inhabits the hilly, barren 
 grounds between the Welcome and Copper Mountains, from the 63d or 
 64th parallel to the Arctic Sea. In size they are nearly equal to the 
 smallest Highland cattle ; but they are more compactly made, and the 
 shaggy hair of their flanks almost touches the ground. Their flesh is 
 tainted with a strong flavor of musk, which is more particularly the case 
 with the bulls. S. F. Baird. 
 
 MUSKELUNGE. See Maskinonge. 
 MUSKEET. See Mesquit. 
 
 MUSH. Indian meal boiled with water, and eaten with milk or molasses. 
 It is often called hasty-pudding, and is a favorite dish throughout the 
 United States. In Hallamshire, England, to mush means to crush or 
 pound very small. From this our word may have originated. 
 
 E'en in thy native regions, how I blush 
 To hear the Pennsylvanians call thee mush !
 
 286 MUS MUS 
 
 On Hudson's banks, while men of Belgic spawn 
 Insult and eat thee by the name suppawn. Barlow, Hasty-Pudding. 
 Our hasty-pudding we can eat 
 
 Without the Southern sweetness, 
 Though true it is that mush without 
 Molasses wants completeness. Anonymous. 
 
 MUSK-RAT. (Fiber zibethicus.} An animal closely allied in form and hab- 
 its to the beaver, inhabiting the banks of streams and ponds. It has a 
 powerful musky odor in summer, which it loses in winter. 
 
 MUSQUASH. (Abenaki Ind., muskwessu.) The musk-rat among the traders 
 in the Northern States is often called by this aboriginal name. 
 
 The mussacus is a beaste of the forme and nature of our water rats, but many of 
 them smell exceedingly strongly of muske. Smith, Hist, of Virginia, 1629, Booke 
 II. 
 
 MUSQUASH ROOT. (Cicuta maculata.) An umbelliferous plant and 
 deadly poison. 
 
 Muss. A corruption of mess, a state of confusion ; a squabble ; a row. 
 This vulgarism is very common in New York. 
 
 " My head aches," said he ; " they have put my mind and body both into a con- 
 founded muss." Mrs. Child, Letters from New York, p. 129. 
 
 I saw the British flag a flyin' from the top of the mast, and my first notion was to 
 haul it down, and up with the stars and stripes ; but I concluded I had n't better say 
 nothin' about it, for it might get the two nations into a muss, and then there would 
 have to be a war. Hiram Bigelow's Letter in Fam. Companion. 
 
 Mr. Soule is trying to get up a muss with Spain, or with Louis Napoleon. Maj. 
 Downing in National Intelligencer. 
 
 Mose. Satisfaction, eh ! Well, if he wants to make a muss, I 'm on hand. 
 Play, A Glance at New York. 
 
 I got into a muss down at the store last night, and was whipped, and deserved it 
 too. Borthwiclc's California, p. 153. 
 
 When near their place of debarkation, they came across a gang of b'hoys, with 
 whom they came in collision ; and as that class of individuals are always inclined to 
 have a bit of a " muss," that result was very soon accomplished. N. Y. Spirit of 
 the Times. 
 
 There is, also, an old English word muss, meaning a scramble ; but it 
 has apparently no connection with the above. 
 
 To Muss. 1. A corruption of to mess. To disarrange, disorder; to tumble, 
 rumple. Ex. " I hate to ride in an omnibus, because it musses my 
 clothes ; " "I 'm all mussed up." The word is much used in New York. 
 
 See that beautiful girl [the morning after a ball] ; her hair mussed and mossy, ex- 
 cept what lies in the bureau ; and her whole contour wearing the appearance of an 
 angel rammed tlirough a bush fence into a world of wretchedness and woe. Dow's 
 Sermons, Vol. I. p. 151.
 
 MUS MUX 287 
 
 2. (Dutch, morsen.) To soil, besmear, befoul ; as, " That child has 
 mussed himself all over with molasses candy." 
 
 MUSSULMEN. There are American as well as English writers who thus 
 form the plural of the Turkish Mussulman, erronously imagining the 
 last syllable to be the English word man. The correct plural, of course, 
 is " Mussulmans." 
 
 A correspondent of the N. Y. Daily Times (Nov. 6, 1851) has carried 
 out the absurdity by coining the term Mussulboy ! He says : 
 
 The Turkish sultan has just sent me one of his sons, Master Abdel Hamid, a lit- 
 tle Mussulboy of nine years, to be educated in Paris. 
 
 Mus ST. 1. Disarranged, disordered, tumbled; as, "Although your cap 
 has just been ironed, it looks quite mussy." 
 
 2. (Dutch, morsig.) Smeary, dirty, nasty ; as, " These plates have 
 not been wiped clean ; they look mussy" 
 
 MUSTAFINA. See Mulatto. 
 
 MUSTANG. (Span, mesteno.) The wild horse of the prairies, descended 
 from the stock introduced into America by the first Spanish colonists. 
 He is of various colors, a cream color and piebald being quite common. 
 Mustangs are found hi the greatest numbers on the rich prairies of 
 South-western Texas, where I encountered numerous herds, and expe- 
 rienced the not unusual excitement of having a stampede caused by 
 them. They are generally of bad disposition, and hard to subdue. Few 
 are seen west of the Rio Grande. 
 
 The wild horse of the prairies, and the invariable companion of their inhabitants. 
 Sparing in diet, a stranger to grain, easily satisfied whether on growing or dead 
 grass, inured to all weathers, capable of great labor, the mustang pony seems as pecu- 
 liarly adapted to the prairies as the camel is to the desert. Thorpe's Backwoods, p. 
 12. 
 
 MUSTANGERS. Men who employ themselves in catching mustangs for 
 market. 
 
 The business of entrapping mustangs has given rise to a class of men called mus- 
 tangers, composed of runaway vagabonds and outlaws of all nations, the legitimate 
 border-ruffians of Texas. Olmsted's Texas, p. 443. 
 
 MUSTANG GRAPE. Indigenous to Texas, probably a variety of the Vitis 
 rotundijlora of Michaux. The bunches are small, each grape being the 
 size of an ounce lead ball. A wine is made from it similar to Port, or, 
 according to some, Burgundy. 
 
 MUSTEE. See Mulatto. 
 
 To Mux is much used in New England for muss ; as, " Do n't mux my 
 crinoline."
 
 288 MUZ NAR 
 
 To MUZZLE. To skulk. A Yorkshire word. 
 
 The child mopes ; she muzzles about in the grass and chips. Margaret, 
 
 N. 
 
 NABBER. In the city of New York, a thief. 
 
 NAKED POSSESSOR. The occupant of land for a long period without a 
 title, being the manifest, evident, and undisguised possessor, is called in 
 Texas the naked possessor. 
 
 Ten years of peaceable possession and cultivation, use, or enjoyment thereof, with- 
 out any evidence of title, shall give to such naked possessor full property precursive 
 of all other claims, in and to six hundred and forty acres of land, including his im- 
 provement. Laws of Texas. 
 
 NANKEEN. (Chinese.) A species of light yellow or fawn-colored cloth, 
 made from cotton of the same color (Gossypium religiosum), which color 
 is permanent. This article was formerly imported in large quantities 
 from China ; but since the cultivation of the raw material in the United 
 States, introduced by Mr. John Forsyth, formerly Secretary of State, 
 Nankeens have been manufactured here, in every respect equal to and 
 cheaper than the Chinese article. 
 
 NARRAGANSETT PACER. A breed of Rhode Island horses once very 
 famous ; but although we often hear of Narragansett pacers, there is now 
 no particular breed so called. In a pamphlet entitled " America Dis- 
 sected," by the Rev. Dr. Mac Sparran, published in Dublin in 1753, 
 the writer, in speaking of Rhode Island, says : " The produce of this 
 colony is fat cattle, wool, and fine horses, which are exported to all parts 
 of English America. They are remarkable for their fleetness and swift 
 pacing, and I have seen some of them pace a mile in little more than 
 two minutes ; a good deal less than three." According to that veritable 
 historian, Diedrich Knickerbocker, Narragansett pacers were well known 
 in the early days of New Amsterdam. 
 
 Not so easily did he [Peter Stuyvesant] escape from the crafty hands of a crafty 
 man of Pyquag ; who, with undaunted perseverance and repeated onsets, finally 
 bargained him out of his goodly switch-tailed charger, leaving in place thereof a 
 villainous, foundered Narragansett pacer. Knickerbocker's N. Y. 
 
 I had an everlastin' fast Narragansett pacer. I was considerable proud of him, I 
 assure you ; for he took the rag off the bush in great style. Sam Slick, Human 
 Nature, p. 218. 
 
 NARY. A common corruption of " ne'er a." So nary one, for " ne'er a 
 one."
 
 NAR NAT 289 
 
 It 's no use argufyin' the matter, I 'm the ugliest man now on top of dirt, 
 Thar 's nary nuther like me. Widow Bagly's Husband. 
 
 " Arter I got into Mobile, I was bothered and pestered by the people stoppin' in 
 the street to look at me, all dirty and lightwood smoked as I was, from being on 
 the boat." 
 
 "I think I 'd a cleaned up a little," interposed tidy Lucy. 
 
 " Old 'oman, ain't you got nary cold tater to choke that gal with ? " Ibid. 
 
 Among the many " highfaluting " toasts, sentiments, and mottoes pro- 
 duced on the occasion of the successful laying of the Atlantic telegraph 
 cable, was the following at North Conway : 
 
 The Atlantic Cable and the White Mountains, both monuments of God's 
 power, but nary one alike. N. Y. Evening Post, Sept. 1, 1858. 
 
 NARY RED. A contraction for " ne'er a red (cent)," alluding to the color 
 of the copper cent. See Red Cent. 
 
 In the course of a few weeks the new coin [the nickel cent] will be plentiful enough 
 at par ; the Spanish coins will go out of the hands of the brokers, just as they al- 
 ready have disappeared from ordinary circulation ; and, as regards the old cents, 
 there will be " nary red " to be seen, except such as will be found in the cabinets of 
 coin collectors. Philad. Bulletin, May, 1857. 
 
 Our citizens last week adopted a new plan for protecting their banks from being 
 run by the brokers. Learning that a broker had reached town from a neighboring 
 city to run the bank for coin, they promptly placed on one side of the bank en- 
 trance a bucket of tar and a brush, and upon the opposite, a long, rough looking 
 fence-rail, bearing this inscription, " Nary red to nary broker." As the broker ap- 
 proached the bank, he read the inscription, glanced at the tar-bucket, and retreated 
 The bank went on as usual. Springfield (Ohio) Nonpariel, 1858. 
 
 NATION. A corruption of damnation. Immense, enormous; very, ex- 
 tremely. Used in both ways in Old and in New England. 
 There were a nation set a' folks at kirk. Carr's Craven Gloss. 
 But no sense of a place, some think, 
 
 Is this here hill so high ; 
 Cos there, full oft, 'tis nation cold, 
 
 But that don't argufy. Essex Dialect, Noakes and Styles. 
 You colony chaps are a nation sight too well off, so you be. Sam Slick. 
 And every time they shoot it off, 
 
 It takes a horn of powder, 
 And makes a noise like father's gun, 
 
 Only a nation louder. Song. Yankee Doodle. 
 
 NATIONAL. Relating or belonging to the nation at large, having in view 
 the interests of the whole nation ; as. opposed to " sectional." Hence the 
 terms " national sentiments," " national man," etc. 
 
 If the little men of the New England States have, in a furor of false excitement, 
 been able to sway and guide the popular prejudices to their own material and politi- 
 cal elevation, it is satisfactory to the man of national impulses, to reflect that the 
 
 25
 
 290 NAT NAV 
 
 passions and mad folb'es of the hour have not been sufficient to tempt our most 
 gifted geniuses and noble men to forget the advantages and prospects which the 
 Union confers upon and promises to the American people. Newark Journal, 1858. 
 
 NATIONAL DEMOCRATS. Democrats who profess to entertain no sectional 
 preference. 
 
 I have been given to understand that there are two parties in the South, called 
 " National " and " States-Eights " Democrats. If a Southern " National Demo- 
 crat " means one who is ready to welcome into our ranks with open arms, and cor- 
 dially embrace and promote, according to his merits, every honest Free State man 
 who reads the Constitution as we do, and will cooperate with us in its maintenance, 
 then I belong to that party, call it as you may, and I should grieve to find a South- 
 ern man who does not. Speech of Hon. J. H. Hammond, Oct. 27, 1858. 
 
 NATIVE. At the South, among uneducated people, instead of asking, 
 " What is your native place," or " the place of your nativity," the ques- 
 tion is, " Where is your native ? " 
 
 NATIVE AMERICANS. In speaking of the Native American party, the 
 New York Express says it originated as a consequence of " a meeting 
 held in Carroll Hall in 1843, at which Bishop Hughes made a speech 
 relative to the school system, and advocated a distinct organization, as a 
 party, of the Irish voters of the metropolis, in order to accomplish the 
 end they had in view. This was the first attempt ever made in this 
 country to organize citizens of foreign birth, for the purpose of operating 
 at the election of any candidate." This gave rise, the year following, to 
 the formation of a political party to advocate the rights and privileges 
 of persons born in the United States, in opposition to those of foreigners. 
 The principal measure advocated by it was the extension of the term ot 
 residence required by law previous to naturalization from seven to 
 twenty-one years. The extreme lengths to which this party went insured 
 its speedy defeat. 
 
 Ten years later (in 1854), a party sprang up with similar principles, 
 known first as the Know Nothing, and now as the American party. 
 See Know Nothings. 
 
 NATIVISIM. The doctrines of the " Native Americans," as a party. 
 
 NATURALIZED CITIZENS. Those who go through the prescribed process 
 for naturalization ; their minor children at that time in the country ; or 
 the widows and children of those who have taken the initiatory steps for 
 naturalization, but have died before they were actually naturalized. 
 ffilliard's Keal Property, Vol. II. p. 190. 
 
 NAVAL OFFICER. One of the chief officers of the large U. S. custom- 
 houses. It is the duty of the Naval Officer to receive copies of all mani- 
 fests and entries, and, together with the collector, estimate all duties on
 
 NEA NEG 291 
 
 imports, and keep a separate record thereof; countersign all permits, 
 clearances, certificates, and other documents granted by the collector ; 
 examine the collector's abstract of duties, and other accounts of receipts, 
 bonds, and expenditures, and, if found correct, to certify them. Act of 
 March 2, 1799. 
 
 NEAP. Used in some parts of New England for the tongue or pole of a 
 cart or wagon. Worcester. 
 
 NEAR, for to or at ; in these expressions : " The minister plenipotentiary 
 near the Court of St. James's near the United States," etc. This Gal- 
 licism was first used here in translations of the diplomatic correspond- 
 ence between the French and American governments ; and from the lan- 
 guage of translations it has been adopted in many of our original compo- 
 sitions. Pickering. 
 
 NECK OF THE WOODS. In the wooded sections of the South-West this 
 term is used in speaking of any settlement, place, or plantation. 
 
 I am the only subscriber to the Spirit of the Times in this neck of woods, and con- 
 sequently my paper is in great requisition. Letter from Arkansas, N. Y. Spirit of 
 the Times. 
 
 It 'a no use talkin' about your Polar bar and your grizzly bar. They ain't no 
 whar, for the big black customer down in our neck o' the woods beats 'em all hol- 
 low. Traits of American Humor, Vol. IL 
 
 NEGRO. The various grades of the colored people in Louisiana are desig- 
 nated by the French as follows, according to the greater or less predomi- 
 nance of negro blood : 
 
 Mulatto, . . . white and negro. 
 
 Quarteron, . . . white and mulatto. 
 
 Metif, . . . white and quarteron. 
 
 Mamelouc, . . . white and metif. 
 
 Quarteron, . . . white and mamelouc. 
 
 Sang-mele, . . . white and quarteron. 
 
 Grifle, .... negro and mulatto. 
 
 Marabou, . . . mulatto and griffe. 
 
 Sacatra, . . . griffe and negress. 
 
 All these varieties exist in New Orleans with sub-varieties, and experts 
 pretend to be able to distinguish them. Olmsted's Slave States, p. 583. 
 
 NEGRO FELLOW. A black man. 
 
 The price of negroes has already reached that point which is beyond the means of 
 small planters, and they cannot afford to invest their small amounts of spare capital 
 in a species of property that may be swept away by the diseases of the climate, per- 
 haps the very next week after its purchase ; and thus in the loss of one negro fellow, 
 a three years' saving is gone with him. De Bow's Review, Nov. 1858.
 
 292 NEG NIG 
 
 NEGRO MINSTRELS. Men who with blackened faces give concerts con- 
 sisting of negro songs, interspersed with negro jokes, etc. 
 
 NEIGHBORHOOD. The phrase, in the neighborhood of, is frequently used 
 to mean bordering on, near, about. 
 
 The Catholic clergy of this city have purchased in the neighborhood of forty acres of 
 land from Mr. Fenwick, for a cemetery for the use of the Catholic congregations of 
 Washington. (Bolt.) Sun, June 27, 1857. 
 
 NET OP. " This Indian word," says Mr. Pickering, " is still used, collo- 
 quially, in some towns in the interior of Massachusetts, to signify a 
 friend, or (to use a cant word) a crony." Roger Williams, in his Key 
 to the Indian Language, says, " What cheer, netop ? is the general salu- 
 tation of all English towards the Indians." The word is Narragansett, 
 and means literally, " my friend." 
 
 NEW JERSEY TEA. (Ceanothus americanus.) The leaves of this plant 
 were employed during the Revolution as a poor substitute for imported 
 tea. 
 
 NICELY. In some parts of New England used, like " cleverly," in the sense 
 of well, very well. Ex. " How 's your wife, Mr. Peabody, this fine 
 morning ? " " She 's nicely." 
 
 NICK. The name already given to the new cent, from the material (nickel) 
 of which it is composed. 
 
 The Philadelphia Bulletin, in speaking of the first delivery of the new 
 cents at the U. S. mint, and of the rush for them, says : 
 
 The bags containing the nicks were neat little canvas arrangements, each of which 
 held five hundred of the diminutive strangers. May 25, 1857. 
 
 The new cent creates quite a furor. It is a neat, handy coin, and will soon sup- 
 plant the cumbersome copper one. " Nary red " will soon be an obsolete phrase 
 among the boys, and " nary nickel " will take its place. New York Herald, May 
 27, 1857. 
 
 NIGGER. The vulgar pronunciation of the word negro. 
 
 NIGGER HEADS. The tussocks or knotted masses of the roots of sedges 
 and ferns projecting above the wet surface of a swamp. South. 
 
 To NIGGER OUT. To nigger out land, signifies, in Southern phraseology, 
 to exhaust land by the mode of tilling without fertilization pursued in the 
 slave States. 
 
 NIGH UNTO. Nearly, almost. 
 
 I nigh unto burst with madness ! I could feel every bar on my head kindlin' at the 
 eend. Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 NIGH UPON. Nearly, almost.
 
 NIM NOA 293 
 
 I got your letter and razor-strap. It 's a complete strap as you ever see ; and as 
 soon as it was known about here that I had received it, nigh upon all our folks have 
 been sendin' to borrow it. Maj. Downing, Letter 27. 
 
 Mr. Bedott had been out of health nigh upon ten year ; and O dear, how he 'd al- 
 tered since the first time I ever see him. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 22. 
 
 NIMSHI. A foolish fellow, or one who habitually acts in a foolish manner. 
 Connecticut. 
 
 NINE-BARK. {Spiraea opulifolia.) A low shrub found in Maine, Canada, 
 "Wisconsin, and west to Oregon. Its old bark is loose, and separates in 
 thin layers. 
 
 NINE-KILLER. The popular name of the Northern Butcher-bird (Lanius 
 septentrionalis) of ornithologists. In Canada and the Eastern States it 
 is sometimes called Mocking-bird. " The name of nine-killer" says Dr. 
 DeKay, " is derived from the popular belief that it catches and impales 
 nine grasshoppers in a day." Nat. Hist, of New York. 
 
 NIP. A dram. 
 
 NIP AND TUCK. An expression signifying an equality, or nearly so, in 
 any strife, but particularly in a horse-race or a game, equivalent to the 
 phrase, " neck and neck." 
 
 " Nathan," said a prudent father, " now you 're goin' down to Orleans, I 've just 
 one thing to advise you on. Do n't play that new game they 've got where the 
 jack takes the ace 't aint natural. I tried 'em at poker, and old sledge, and loo, 
 but they could n't get me down, it was nip and tuck between us ; but by and by they 
 fetched in that new game, and then I hollered. Major Bunkum, Recollections. 
 
 NIPPENT. Impudent ; impertinent. HurcTs Gram. Corrector. 
 
 NIPPING. Mincing. 
 
 O, deary me, it 's enough to make anybody sick to see the airs Mrs. Major Coon 
 puts on. Did you see her come nippin' into meetin with a shawl on as big as a bed- 
 cover 1 ? Widow Bedott Papers, p. 35. 
 
 No NOT. What the Portuguese say of the Brazilians, the English say of 
 the Americans, that they are as fond of double negatives as Homer 
 himself. " I won't no how," " it ain't neither," " I ain't got none," " it 
 ain't nothing else," etc., are locutions constantly heard. 
 
 NO-ACCOUNT. Of no account, worthless; as "That's a no-account, chap I 
 reckon ! " " Where did you raise that no-account horse ? " South-west. 
 
 " Miss Bella done learn how to talk," said Sarah, in the kitchen cabinet, " and 
 she look as rosy and peart ! her heart ain't broke ! " 
 
 " Broke wid what 1 " asked aunt Hagar. " I alwayth tolled you that no young 
 mith of mine wath given to hurt herthelf grieving after a no-account feller like that 
 down yonder in Richmond." The Hidden Path. 
 
 25*
 
 294 NOG NON 
 
 NOCAKE. An Indian word still used in some parts of New England. 
 
 If their imperious occasions cause the Indians to travel, the best of their victuals 
 for their journey is nocake (as they call it), which is nothing but Indian corn parched 
 in the hot ashes ; the ashes being sifted from it, it is afterwards beaten to powder, 
 and put into a long leathern bag, trussed at their back like a knapsack ; out of 
 which they take thrice three spoonfuls a day. Wood's New England's Prospect, 
 1634. 
 
 NO-HOW. Not in any way ; by no means. Always with a preceding neg- 
 ative, and sometimes enlarged into, "no how you can fix it." 
 
 Dod rot that old Mike Hooter. He pertend to be a preacher ! His preachin' ain't 
 nothin' but loud hollerin' no how. Tales of American Humor. 
 You don't cook broken down horse-flesh very easy, no how. G. W. Kendall. 
 Miss Sikes had better not come a cavortin' round me with any of her rantanke- 
 rous carryin' on ; for I ain't in no humor, no how. Story of the Fire Hunt. 
 
 NOMOLOGICAL. Relating to nomology. 
 
 The observations of the senses yield us only limited successions and recurrences 
 of phenomena. These have antecedence in the order of time. But Law, eternal, 
 absolute, and universal, has antecedence in the order of necessary existence, and is 
 an idea of the Reason. It is the Idea of Ideas under the nomological conception. 
 Tappan's Elements of Logic. 
 
 NOMOLOGY. That branch of philosophy which treats of law in general. 
 
 This at once introduces us to the Doctrine of Law or Nomology, which is the sec- 
 ond grand division of philosophy. Tappan's Elements of Logic. 
 
 NON-COMMITTAL. That does not commit or pledge himself to any particu- 
 lar measure. A political term in frequent use. 
 
 A successful politician here [in New York] is either a hack lawyer of thirty years' 
 standing, or an upstart demagogue, who has made his way by dint of sheer brass ; 
 either a blind partisan, who knows nothing outside the regular ticket, or a non-com- 
 mittal man, who says every thing to everybody, and never gave an intelligent, man- 
 ly, straight-forward opinion in his life. Sketches of American Society, Frazer's Mag- 
 azine. 
 
 NON-COMMITTALISM. The practice or doctrine of not committing oneself. 
 
 Much of what Governor W says in his message is made feeble by diffuse- 
 ness ; and on many points he either avoids the expression of opinion, or expresses 
 bis opinion with so many qualifications as to subject himself to the charge of non- 
 committalism. N. Y. Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 He, being somewhat of a wag, handed me " Fearne on Contingent Remainders," 
 which he remarked, with admirable non-committalism, was as interesting as a novel, 
 after one got interested in it. My Uncle Hobson and I, p. 20. 
 
 NON-ELECTION. Failure of election. Webster. 
 
 NON-MANUFACTUKING. Not carrying on manufactures ; as, " non-manu- 
 facturing States." Webster. 
 
 NON-SLAVEHOLDING. Not holding slaves. Thus, the States north of
 
 NOO NOR 295 
 
 Mason and Dixon's line are frequently designated as the "non-slave- 
 holding States." 
 
 NOODLES. (Germ, nudel.) Dumplings or vermicelli. They are used in 
 Pennsylvania, and are made by rolling into very thin sheets the dough, 
 which differs from the Italian preparation by the addition of eggs. 
 These sheets are then rolled up and cut across with a knife. The strips 
 thus formed differ from vermicelli only in their section being square, in- 
 stead of circular. 
 
 NOODLEJEES. (Dutch.) Wheat dough rolled thin and cut into strings 
 like vermicelli. 
 
 NOODLE-SOUP. Soup made of the above. 
 
 NOPAL. A cabbage palm, similar to a yucca ; cooked and eaten by Mexi- 
 cans. 
 
 NORTH and SOUTH. Terms commonly used to signify the Northern and 
 Southern, or the free and slave States, of the Union. 
 
 The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by 
 the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of the 
 latter, great additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise, 
 and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the 
 same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agricul- 
 ture grow and its commerce expand. Speech of Hon. E. Everett, July 
 5, 1858. 
 
 NORTH AMERICANS. The Northern or anti-slavery section of the Ameri- 
 can or Know Nothing Party. 
 
 NORTHERN NECK. The portion of Virginia lying between the Potomac 
 and the Rappahannock. 
 
 NORTHER. A severe north wind which blows at particular seasons along 
 the Gulf of Mexico, as well as across the vast region lying to the north 
 of it. These northers upon the open prairies are exceedingly trying, and, 
 when accompanied by snow or a freezing rain, prove fatal to cattle and 
 horses. Teamsters, herdsmen, and travellers have also been known, in 
 many instances, to perish. I experienced a terrific norther on the high 
 plateau of Texas in November, 1850, which was accompanied by snow, 
 and lasted for three days. 
 
 Mr. Olmsted, in his "Journey through Texas," thus describes one 
 of these .northers: 
 
 "We were suffering with the heat, when one of us said, " See this before us, 
 what is it, fog or smoke 7 "
 
 296 NOR NOT 
 
 " A prairie fire, I think," said the other. 
 
 " Probably it is ; but what is this on the lull close by ; this is fog, surely ? It 
 must be a norther coming. Yes, it is a norther ; listen to that roar ! We must get 
 our clothing on, or we shall be chilled through." 
 
 First, a chilly whiff, then a puff, the grass bends flat ; and, bang, it is upon 
 us, a blast that would have taken a top-gallant sail out of the bolt-ropes ; and 
 cold as if blowing across a sea of ice. We galloped to the nearest ravine, and hur- 
 ried on all the clothing we could muster. Fortunately, though our baggage was 
 left behind, we had taken a supply of blankets, etc. p. 168. 
 
 NORTHERNER. A citizen of one of the Northern or non-slaveholding 
 States. 
 
 NOTCH. An opening or narrow passage through a mountain or hill. 
 Webster. The Notch in the White Mountains is well known. 
 
 This gap is not a notch qr depression in the crest of a continuous ridge, but the 
 extension of the plain narrowed down by bare, rugged peaks of almost solid rock, 
 rising abruptly from the plain. Rep. on Pacific Kail-Road, Vol. II. 
 
 Passing down the Chemung and Susquehanna in canoes, they landed, and struck 
 through the wilderness to a gap or notch of the mountains, by which they entered 
 the Valley of Wyoming. Irving's Washington, Vol. III. p. 468. 
 
 NOTHING ELSE. " It ain't nothing else" is a vulgar style of phraseology 
 equivalent to " It 's that, and no mistake." 
 Mose. " Lize, ain't you a gallows gall "? " 
 Lize. "I ain't nothing else, Mose." New York in 1848. 
 
 NOTHING TO NOBODY. Nobody's business. This singular expression is 
 common in the language of the illiterate in some parts of the South. 
 
 But surely no lady drank punch ? Yes, three of them did, .... and the way 
 these women love punch is nothing to nobody. Georgia Scenes. 
 
 The way she would make Indian cakes, and the way I used to slick them over 
 with molasses, was nothing to nobody. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 To NOTIFY. 1. To make known ; to declare ; to publish. " The laws of 
 God notify to man his will and our duty." 
 
 2. To give information of. " The allied sovereigns have notified the 
 Spanish court of their purpose of maintaining legitimate government." 
 
 3. To give notice to. "The constable has notified the citizens to 
 meet at the City Hall." " The bell notifies us of the time of meeting." 
 
 The first of these senses, as Dr. Witherspoon long ago observed 
 (Druid, No. 5), is the only one in which this word is employed by Eng- 
 lish writers. They use it simply in the sense of the Latin notificare, 
 i. e. " to make known," as in the following examples from Richardson : 
 
 His [Duke Eobert's] worthie acts valientlic and fortunately atchieved against the 
 infidels, are notified to the world by many and sundrie writers. Holinshed. 
 
 Such protest must also be notified, within fourteen days after, to the drawer. 
 Blackstone's Commentaries.
 
 NOT NUL 297 
 
 The two significations, Nos. 2 and 3, in which the direct object of the 
 verb is the person, instead of the thing, is in accordance with the French 
 use of the verb notifier. It is not improbable that they will yet be 
 adopted in England ; for the same transfer of the idea from the thing to 
 the person took place in the Latin language itself, in which the word 
 notus, known, was also used in the sense of informed of, knowing. 
 
 NOTIONAL. Fanciful, whimsical. Applied to persons ; as, " He 's a very 
 notional man." New England. 
 
 NOTIONATE. Fanciful, whimsical. West. 
 
 NOTIONS. Small wares or trifles. Worcester. A word much used by 
 the ingenious New Englanders. 
 
 " Can I suit you to-day, ma'am ? " said a peddler from New England, when offer- 
 ing his wares for sale in Michigan. "I've all sorts of notions. Here's fashionable 
 calicoes ; French work collars and capes ; elegant milk-pans, and Harrfson skim- 
 mers, and ne plus ultry dippers ! patent pills, cure any thing you like ; ague bitters ; 
 Shaker yarbs ; essences, wintergreen, lobely ; tapes, pins, needles, hooks and eyes ; 
 broaches and bracelets ; smelling-bottles ; castor ile ; corn-plaster ; mustard ; gar- 
 ding-seeds ; silver spoons ; pocket-combs ; tea-pots ; green tea ; saleratus ; tracts ; 
 song-books ; thimbles ; baby's whistles ; slates ; playin' cards ; puddin' sticks ; 
 baskets ; wooden bowls ; powder and shot. I shan't offer you lucifers, for ladies 
 with such eyes never buys matches, but you can't ask me for any thing I haven't 
 got, I guess." Mrs. Clavers's Forest Life, Vol. II. p. 113. 
 
 He has in vented -several other important wooden notions out of his own head ; and 
 Muffins says there is enough left to invent a good many more. N. Y. Spirit of 
 the Times. 
 
 NOWHERE. To be nowhere is to be at sea ; to be utterly at a loss ; to be 
 ignorant. 
 
 This gentleman has been for some years at the head of this institution, the special 
 business of which is to educate teachers who shall be employed in the subordinate 
 public schools ; and it has just been ascertained that he is lamentably ignorant of 
 the rudiments of an English education ; in short, that in " first principles " he is no- 
 where. Boston Bee. 
 
 NUB. 1. A Knob. New England. 
 
 2. The nub of a story is the point or gist of it. 
 
 NUBBINS. Imperfectly formed ears of Indian corn. 
 
 " Aunt Peggy brought in some of the early corn this morning, mother. Did you 
 see it ? " 
 
 " Yes, your father says it is a humbug. There are nothing but little nubbins, with 
 not more than a dozen grains to the ear.'-' 
 
 Precisely such badly filled nubbins your children's minds are fated to become, if you 
 adopt the forcing, hot-bed system with them. The Hidden Path. 
 
 NULLIFICATION. Some years ago, when the system of high protective
 
 298 NUL OAK 
 
 duties on foreign imports was predominant in the national councils, the 
 politicians of South Carolina whose main article of export is cotton 
 were strongly desirous of free trade with England and France, the 
 principal consumers of that article believing that the consumption of it 
 in those countries would be augmented by an augmentation of the import 
 of their fabrics. Those politicians thought themselves aggrieved there- 
 fore by the protection given in the United States to the manufacture of 
 fabrics coming into competition with those of England and France. 
 But finding Congress resolute in adhering to the protective tariff, the 
 South Carolina politicians became so exasperated that at last they pro- 
 claimed their intention to nullify the tariff, that is, to admit British 
 and French goods into their ports free of duty, and not to permit the ex- 
 ercise of custom-house functions in their State. In other words, nulli- 
 fication, in the case of South Carolina, was simply an act, or at least a 
 threat^ of open rebellion. 
 
 Somebody must go ahead, and look after these matters to keep down nullification, 
 and take care of the Gineral [Jackson] when he gits into his tantrums, and keep 
 the great democratic party from splitting in two. Crockett, Tour, p. 218. 
 
 NULLIFIER. One who believes in or maintains the right of a State to 
 refuse compliance with a law enacted by the legislature of the whole 
 Union. 
 
 This term was also applied to a sort of shoe, made like a decapitated 
 boot, brought into fashion in the " nullification " times* 
 
 NURLY. A corrupt pronunciation and orthography of gnarly, i. e. gnarled. 
 Times are mopish and nurly, Margaret, p. 314. 
 
 NUTMEG STATE. A nickname given to the State of Connecticut, in allu- 
 sion to the story that wooden nutmegs are there manufactured for expor- 
 tation. 
 
 O. 
 
 OAK BARRENS. Straggling forests of oak trees, where the soil is very 
 poor, and the trees small, stunted, and gnarled. The oak barrens differ 
 from the " oak openings," inasmuch as the latter are usually on good soil, 
 and hence thrifty. 
 
 Our march to-day lay through straggling forests of the kind of low, scrubbed 
 trees, called post-oaks and black-jacks. The soil of these oak barrens is loose and 
 unsound ; being little better than a mere quicksand ; in which, in rainy weather, the 
 horse's foot slips, and now and then sinks in a rotten, spongy turf, to the fetlock. 
 Irving's Tour on the Prairies, p. 95.
 
 OAK OF 299 
 
 OAK OPENINGS. A characteristic feature in all the North-western States 
 are the oak openings. These are forests of short, thinly scattered oak 
 trees. The trees are so diminutive that generally but one length for 
 rails can be cut between the ground and the limbs. See Opening. 
 
 The grounds about the mounds are covered with scattered oak trees, commonly 
 called oak openings, and thickly overgrown with small bushes. Lapham's Antiqs. of 
 Wisconsin, p. 31. 
 
 Having passed the skirt of the woodlands, we ascended the hills, taking a course 
 through the oak openings, where the eye stretched over wide tracts of hill and dale, 
 diversified by forests, groves, and clumps of trees. Irving' s Tour on the Prairies, 
 p. 77. 
 
 OBLIGED TO BE. Must be; as, "This is obliged to be a fever and ague 
 country." Comp. the analogous vulgarism, " bound to be." 
 
 OBLIGEMENT. This antiquated word is still used by old people in New 
 England. Pickering. 
 
 OBSCUTELY. Obliquely. A factitious word used in New England. 
 OBTUSITT. Obtuseness. New England. 
 
 To OCCASION, or 'CASION. To go about asking for work ; i. e. to ask if 
 employers have any occasion for one's services. Maryland. 
 
 OCCUPYING CLAIMANT. One who claims land by virtue of occupation 
 of the same under the land systems of various States. 
 
 OCELOT. (Mexican, ocelotl.) A beautiful but savage animal, holding a 
 middle rank between the leopard and the common cat, the Felis pardalus 
 of Linnaeus. The body is about three feet in length, and the tail about 
 one ; height, about eighteen inches. It is a native of various parts of 
 South America, and is thought to extend as far north as Texas. Called 
 also Tiger Cat. 
 
 ODD STICK. An eccentric person, an " odd fish." " John Randolph was 
 an odd stick" 
 
 OF. 1. An action of the organs of sense may be either involuntary or vol- 
 untary. Accordingly we say to see, to hear, to denote an involuntary 
 act ; and to look at, to hearken or listen to, to denote a voluntary one. 
 With regard to the other senses, we are not so well provided with words ; 
 but some people, prompted apparently by a feeling of this deficiency, 
 endeavor to supply it by construing the verbs to feel, to taste, to smell, 
 with the preposition of, to signify a voluntary act. Hence to feel, taste, 
 smell of a thing, is to do so intentionally. This corruption is rarely met 
 with in writing.
 
 300 OFF 
 
 la the course of the forenoon, a few women came around our tent, felt of it, 
 and peeped through the cracks to see Mrs. Perkins. Perkins's Residence in Persia, 
 p. 103. 
 
 2. In the colloquial language of New England, this preposition, fre- 
 quently corrupted into on, is used after a gerund or active participle ; as, 
 " Ebenezer is coming to stick our pig ; but he '11 want a quarter for doin* 
 of it (or on it)." 
 
 Whereas, many negroes and other slaves absent themselves from their masters' 
 service, and run out into the woods and there remain, killing and destroying of hogs 
 and cattle belonging unto the people of this province, &c. Maryland Statutes. 
 Act of 1751. 
 
 OFF THE HANDLE. To fly off the handle is to fly into a passion. To go 
 off the handle is to' give up the ghost, to die. The allusion is to the 
 head of an axe. 
 
 A poor man in this city had a fortune left him by a distant and wealthy relative, 
 who went off the handle in England, rather unexpectedly. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 OFFAL. * This word, among pork-butchers and curers in the West, implies 
 the liver and lights, or more technically the head and pluck, liver, &c., 
 of the animal ; whereas, in correct English, it is limited to the refuse 
 thrown to the dogs. An English reader would be much shocked at the 
 mention of a dish of offal. 
 
 OFFICE-HOLDER. A government official. Used frequently as a term of 
 reproach. 
 
 OFFICE-HOLDING. The holding of an office under government. 
 OFFICE-HUNTER. A seeke.r after public office. 
 
 OFFICE-HUNTING. A seeking after public office. That both the practice 
 and the name for it are acquiring all the respectability that age can be- 
 stow, is evident from the date of the following extract : 
 
 Office-hunting. The decease of Col. Freeman, late Fourth Auditor of the Treas- 
 ury, the salary of which is $3,000 a year, has caused a great stir at Washington. 
 There are said to be about fifty applicants for the place, among whom are a dozen 
 or two members of Congress. Niles's Register, March 20, 1824. 
 
 OFFISH. Distant or unapproachable in manners. 
 
 OFFSET. In accounts, a sum, account, or value set off against another sum 
 or account, as an equivalent. Webster. 
 
 This word is generally used in place of the English term set-off. Mr. 
 Pickering says, "it is also very common in popular language, in the 
 sense of an equivalent" None of the English dictionaries have the 
 word in any sense except that of " shoot from a plant."
 
 OFF OLD 301 
 
 The expense of the frigates had been strongly urged ; but the saving in insurance, 
 in ships and cargoes, and the ransom of seamen, was more than an offset against this 
 item. Marshall's Washington. 
 
 Thanksgiving was an anti-Christmas festival, established as a kind of offset to 
 that. Margaret, p. 61. 
 
 To OFFSET. To set one account against another ; to make the account of 
 one party pay the demand of another. Webster. 
 
 OJG (pron. oho). This Spanish term means an eye, and figuratively a 
 spring in a plain. In Texas, New Mexico, and California, these springs 
 greet the thirsty traveller as the oases do in Africa. A few rushes or 
 rank grass, rising above the sterile wastes, guide him to the spot. 
 
 OKRA. (Hibiscus esculentis.) A tropical plant, the pods of which are 
 used in the mucilaginous soup called gumbo. Worcester. 
 
 OLD COUNTRY. A term applied to Great Britain, originally by natives 
 from that country, but now understood and used generally in the United 
 States. 
 
 Mr. Goodrich, in describing the people of New England at the period 
 of the Revolution, says : 
 
 The Episcopalians had indeed one more tie than other men to the old country, and 
 that was a powerful one. England was not only their mother in things secular, but 
 in things sacred. Vol. I. p. 192. 
 
 OLD COUNTRYMAN. A native of England, Scotland, Ireland, or Wales. 
 The term is never applied to persons from the continent of Europe. 
 
 OLDERMOST. Oldest. Used at the "West. 
 
 Ain't that oldermost stranger a kinder sort a preacher ? Carleton, The New Pur- 
 chase, Vol. II. p. 70. 
 
 OLD DOMINION. The State of Virginia. Sometimes called the " Ancient 
 Dominion." The name probably arose from the circumstance that Vir- 
 ginia was the original name for all the English colonies in America. 
 
 OLD HICKORY. A nickname applied to General Jackson, in allusion to 
 his tough, unyielding disposition. 
 
 OLD Hoss. A familiar expression used in accosting a person, equivalent 
 to " old fellow." Western. 
 
 Old hoss, when analyzed, is found to be the tenderest appellation of a biped juvenile 
 without hoofs. Speech of Samuel H. Cox. 
 
 OLD MAN. 1. The old, man is a term more common than respectful, used 
 by " Young America " for father. 
 
 2. In the South and West, instead of saying, for instance, " Old Mr. 
 Smith," it is customary to say, " Old man Smith." 
 26
 
 302 OLD ON H 
 
 OLD POD. An old man. 
 
 OLD RYE. Old whiskey distilled from rye. 
 
 I do n't know whether Mark took a drop or not ; but they generally keep a barrel of 
 old rye in the lumber shanties, and my opinion is that he was invited to take a horn. 
 Hammond, Wild Northern Scenes, p. 198. 
 
 OLD SLEDGE. A Southern and Western name for the game at cards com- 
 monly called All Fours. 
 
 I played a pretty stiff game of old sledge, or, as he called it, all fours ; for I played 
 every night. Simms, Wigwam and Cabin, p. 88. 
 
 With professional flat-boatmen their acme of felicity is a game of old sledge enli- 
 vened by the fiddle. Remembrances of the Mississippi, Harper's Magazine. 
 
 OLD-WIFE, or OLD-SQUAW. (Anas glacialis.} The popular name of a 
 brown duck, one of the most common throughout North America, the 
 Long-tailed Duck of Pennant. 
 
 OLYCOOK. (Dutch, oliekoek, oil-cake.) A cake fried in lard. A favorite 
 delicacy with the Dutch, and also with their descendants in New York. 
 There are various kinds, as dough-nuts, crullers, etc. 
 
 The table was always sure to boast of an enormous dish of balls of sweetened 
 dough, fried in hogs-fat, and called dough-nuts or oli/koeks. Knickerbocker's New 
 York. 
 
 ONCE AND AGAIN. Occasionally, sometimes. A Southern phrase, equi- 
 valent to " once in a while." 
 
 ON EEND, i. e. on end. Excited, astonished, enraged. 
 
 ONE-HORSE. In the West, by an obvious agricultural figure, this term is 
 applied to any thing small or diminutive, as a " one-horse bank," a 
 " one-horse church," meaning a little bank or church. So the phrase 
 " one-horse lawyer " is applied to a mean, pettifogging fellow. A clergy- 
 man, deprecating the use of such expressions as " confound it," called them 
 " one-horse oaths." 
 
 Every State in the Union should rigidly proscribe and prohibit the establishment 
 of the wild-cat and one-horse banking concerns which have produced so much mis- 
 chief, and brought discredit on all banking institutions. New York Sun. 
 
 On Friday last the engineer of a fast train was arrested by the authorities of a 
 one-horse town in Dauphin county, Pa., for running through the borough at a greater 
 rate of speed than is allowed by their ordinances. Having neglected, however, to 
 give publicity to these ordinances, they could not impose any fine ; and their discom- 
 fiture was aggravated by the malicious excuse of the engineer, that " he did n't 
 know there was a town there !" ( Wash.) Evening Star, 1858. 
 
 ON HAND. At hand, present. A colloquial expression, borrowed from the 
 shop, in frequent use.
 
 ONT ONY 303 
 
 The anti-Sabbath meeting, so long talked of, has at length taken place in Boston. 
 About three hundred females were on hand. N. Y. Express. 
 
 If our numerous subscribers and the public will be on hand about 5 o'clock this 
 evening, we can give them the European papers by the America, containing doubt- 
 less the most critical intelligence ever transmitted to this country. So be ready. 
 Burgess, Stringer $ Co., 222 Broadway. 
 
 "We appeal to every man who has a right to vote in New Hampshire, but especial- 
 ly in the 1st and 2d districts, to be on hand next Tuesday to cast his ballot for Peace, 
 Prosperity, and Freedom. N. Y. Tribune, March 10, 1849. 
 
 A broker from Wall street was on hand at the meeting, and tried to pray, but, from 
 want of practice, could only utter disjointed sentences about the money market, etc. 
 Doesticks. 
 
 ON THE COAST. Near, close at hand. A nautical expression, in common 
 use in Nantucket, 
 
 ONPLUSH, for nonplus. Used in the Southern States. 
 
 You know I tuck dinner at the Planters. Well, I was put a leetle to the onplush 
 by that old nigger feller that waits on the table there. I did not know what to make 
 of him. Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 63, 
 
 ONST (pron. wunst). Once. A common vulgar pronunciation, especially 
 in the "West. And so twiste for " twice." 
 
 ONTO. A preposition bearing the same relation to on, that into does to in. 
 Although used here much more frequently than in England, it is not pe- 
 culiar to America. 
 
 When the stack rises two feet high to be conveniently forked onto from tire ground. 
 Marshall, Rural Econ., Yorkshire, Vol. II. p. 144. 
 
 Mr. Pickering quotes the following as the only example he has seen 
 in an American book : 
 
 Take all your cigars and tobacco, and in some calm evening carry them onto the 
 common. Dr. B. Waterhouse, Lecture on Tobacco. 
 
 In descriptions of machinery, etc., the term is in very general use. 
 
 The improvement consists in casting a boss of soft metal onto the metallic tube. 
 Patent Office Report for 1854, Part I. p. 480. 
 
 The nature of this invention consists in the use of a spring clamp, etc., by means 
 of which the back of the shoe is securely held while being pulled onto the foot of it. 
 Ibid. p. 533, 
 
 ON YESTERDAY. A corruption in common use among editors and con- 
 gressmen, who seem to have forgotten that yesterday is an adverb as well 
 as a noun. 
 
 It was the intention to send in the Treasury Report, which has been so long delayed, 
 on yesterday. N. Y. Tribune, Jan. 9, 1852. 
 
 I supposed that the house listened to the remarks of the gentleman from Texas, 
 on yesterday ; and therefore it is not necessary for me to relate the points he made. 
 Speech of Mr. Brooks, July 7, 1852. *
 
 304 O P E U R 
 
 Mr. Speaker, when I arose on yesterday, it was my intention merely to explain my 
 position, etc. Speech of Mr. Quitman, Dec. 18, 1856. 
 
 OPENING. In the Western States, a terra applied to thinly wooded spaces 
 without underwood, so called to distinguish them from the forests which 
 ' are thickly wooded. These openings are generally covered with small 
 oaks. 
 
 Accordin' to the Bible, God put the first man and woman together in a most 
 beautiful garden, in which all things excellent and pleasant was to be found, some 
 such place as these openings, I reckon. Cooper's Oak Openings, p. 225. 
 
 OPINUATED. Opinionative, conceited. Sherwood's Georgia. 
 
 OPOSSUM. (Virginia Ind.) An opassom hath a head like a swine, and a 
 taile like a rat, and is of the bignesse of a cat. Under her belly she 
 hath a bagge wherein she lodgeth, carrieth, and suckleth her young. 
 Smith's Historic of Virginia. 
 
 OREGON GRAPE. Frequently mentioned by explorers in Oregon; the 
 name of the plant which yields it is not given. 
 
 ORGANIC. Which organizes into a political, legislative, or social body ; as, 
 the organic law of a Territory or State. A word which has recently 
 come into very common use. 
 
 The powers of the corporation of Washington are only those which are conferred 
 by the organic law, the charter. Message of Mayor of Washington, May 26, 1857. 
 
 ORTOLAN. See Bobolink. 
 
 OSWEGO TEA. (Monarda didyma.') A medicinal plant prepared by the 
 Shakers for its aromatic and stomachic properties. 
 
 OUCH ! Oh ! ah ! An exclamation of pain. Much used at the South. 
 
 OUGHT. As this verb is defective, and has no inflection to distinguish past 
 from present time, illiterate persons often attempt to supply the deficiency 
 by the use of auxiliaries. Hence the expressions, don't ought, had 
 ought, hadn't ought. Mr. Pegge notices the two last among the vulgar- 
 isms of London. 
 
 Now, you hadn't ought to be so stingy with such charming daughters as you 've 
 got. Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 67. 
 
 Peter Cram is an impostor and ignoramus, and you hadn't ought to have recom- 
 mended him. Knickerbocker Mag., Vol. XVII. 
 
 " The luggage must be brought in," said the elderly gentleman. " Yes ! I should 
 think it had oughter," observed the young man in reply. " I should bring it in, if it 
 was mine." Mrs. Clavers's Forest Life, Vol. I. p. 96. 
 
 OURN, for ours. A vulgarism frequently heard, which is also common in 
 the local dialect of London.
 
 OUT OVE 305 
 
 To OUT. To " out the candle " means, at the South, to put out the candle. 
 
 OUTER. Out of. " Whar are you from outer ? " is a common expression 
 in Kentucky and the neighboring States, meaning, Where do you come 
 or hail from ? 
 
 OUT OP Fix. Disarranged ; in a state of disorder. Out of kilter is used 
 in the same sense. 
 
 The week was the longest one ever was. It seemed to me that the axletree of the 
 world wanted greasin' or somethin' or other was out of fix, for it did n't seem to turn 
 round half so fast as it used to do. Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 80. 
 
 OUTFIT. Allowance to a public minister of the United States on going to 
 a foreign country, which cannot exceed a year's salary. Worcester. 
 
 OUTSIDER. A term applied by those in office, or in any association, to 
 those outside of it. 
 
 A large number of outsiders have gone to the free-soil convention at Buffalo. 
 Lowdl Journal. 
 
 OVER, for under. In these expressions, " He wrote over the signature of 
 Junius ; " " He published some papers over his own signature." A few 
 of our writers still countenance this unwarrantable innovation ; but the 
 principle on which it is defended would unsettle the whole language. 
 The use of the word under, in phrases like those above mentioned, is as 
 well established as any English idiom. Pickering. 
 
 Had our friend U., of Philadelphia, duly meditated this matter, he never would 
 have sent us a letter with such an unpoetical expression in it as the very common 
 blunder of " over the signature," for the metaphorical phrase originally derived 
 from the ensign of the soldier, the device of the knight, the armorial bearing of the 
 baron, the totem, if you please, of the Indian sachem, under which he presents him- 
 self to the world. U., as a lawyer, must at least be more or less familiar with the 
 phrase, " given under my hand and seal," as a true English idiom, albeit the hand 
 and seal (which in tliis instance constitute "the signature") are placed at the bot- 
 tom of the document. "We do not talk of a vessel sailing " over " the flag of the 
 United States, when her ensigns are sent below at sunset ! N. Y. Lit. World. 
 
 OVERCUP WHITE OAK. See Burr Oak. 
 
 OVERLY. Excessively. " Is old man Boone rich ? " " Why, not overly 
 so." Western. 
 
 OVER AND ABOVE. Exceedingly ; very. " I don't think our friend Phin- 
 eas is over and above scrupulous as to how he makes his money." 
 
 OVERCROP. A planter or farmer is - said to overcrop himself when he 
 plants or " seeds " more ground than he can attend to. 
 
 OVERSLAUGH. (Dutch, overslag.) A bar, in the marine language of the 
 Dutch. The overslaugh in the Hudson River, near Albany, on which 
 
 26*
 
 306 V E 
 
 steamboats and other vessels often run aground, is, I believe, the only 
 locality to which this term is now applied among us. 
 
 To OVERSLAUGH. (Dutch, overslaan.) To skip over, pass over, omit. 
 A word used by New York politicians, to signify that the direct line of 
 elevation in office is not observed, and especially when an "outsider" is 
 appointed over the heads of those already in office. 
 
 Mr. Polk intended making Gen. Butler commander-in-chief, and to drop Gen. 
 Scott. But it was found that public opinion would not be reconciled to overslaugh- 
 ing Taylor, and he [Gen. Taylor] was nominated. Washington Correspondent, N. Y. 
 Com. Adv., Oct. 21, 1846. 
 
 The attempt to overslaugh officers entitled to rank in the highest grade in the ser- 
 vice, is about to be repeated in a somewhat different way in a lower grade, and we 
 desire to call attention to the facts. N. Y. Courier and Enq., Oct. 1848. 
 
 If the conspiracy of the Calhounites with a few doughfaces of the North to over- 
 slaugh him [Benton] succeeds, it will render him the stronger in Missouri, and make 
 his reelection to the Senate more certain. N. Y. Tribune, Dec. 20, 1849. 
 
 To OVERRUN. To run over. 
 
 Economy, Rupp's community near Beaver, was lately overrun by a delighted tra- 
 veller, etc. N. Y. Tribune, June 16, 1849. 
 
 To OVERTURE. To propose. A word in common use in the Presbyterian 
 church, in speaking of laying a subject before an ecclesiastical body for 
 its consideration. 
 
 OVER THE LEFT. An expression used to give to the words it accompanies 
 a meaning directly opposite to that which they would otherwise have. 
 Common in England. 
 
 At a county court held in Hartford, Sept. 4th, 1 705, 
 
 Whereas James Steel did commence an action against Bevel Waters (both of 
 Hartford), in this court, upon hearing and tryall whereoff the court gave judgment 
 against the said Waters (as in justice they think they ought), upon the declaring the 
 said judgment the said Waters did review to the court in March next, that being 
 granted and entered, the said Waters, as he departed from the table, said, " God 
 bless you over the left shoulder." 
 
 The court ordered a record thereof to be made forthwith. 
 
 A true copie : Test CALEB STANLEY, Clerk. 
 
 At the next court Waters was tried for contempt, for saying the words recited, 
 " so cursing the court ; " and on verdict, fined 5. He asked a review at the court 
 following, which was granted ; and, pending trial, the court asked counsel of the 
 Rev. Messrs. Woodbridge and Buckingham, the ministers of the Hartford churches, 
 as to ' the common acceptation ' of the offensive phrase. Their reply constitutes a 
 part of the record, and is as follows : 
 
 We are of opinion that these words, said on the other side to be spoken by Bevel 
 Waters, include [1] prophaneness, by using the name of God, that is holy, with 
 such ill words whereto it was joyned ; [2] that they carry great contempt in them, 
 arising to the degree of an imprecation or a curse, the words of a curse being the 
 most contemptible that can ordinarily be used. T. WOODBRIDGE, 
 
 March 7th, 1705-6. "T. BUCKINGHAM.
 
 OWD PAD 307 
 
 The former judgment was affirmed on review. This, it is believed, is 
 the earliest instance of the use of this phrase to be met with, at least in 
 this country. 
 
 OWDACIOUS, for audacious. Southern and Western. 
 
 He had a daughter Molly, that was the most enticin', heart-distressin' creature 
 that ever made a feller get owdacious. Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 Why, Major, you would n't take such a likely gall as that to New York ? The 
 abolitionists would have her out of your hands quicker than you could say Jack 
 Robinson. I was never so audaciously put out with the abominable abolitionists be- 
 fore. It was enough to make a man what was n't principled agin swearin' cuss 
 like a trooper. Major Jones's Travels. 
 
 OYSTER-PLANT. Salsify ; a plant of the genus tragopogon, so called from 
 its resemblance in taste, when cooked, to the oyster. It is also called the 
 Vegetable Oyster. 
 
 OTSTER-SHUCKER. An oyster-opener. Southern. 
 OYSTER-FISH. See Toad-Fish. 
 
 P. 
 
 PAAS. Pron. paws with s hard. (Dutch, Paasch.) This Dutch name is 
 commonly applied to the festival of Easter, in the State of New York. 
 
 PAAS BLOOMACHEE, i. e. Easter flower. (Narcissus pseudo-narcissus.) 
 Not the Pasque Flower of botanists, but the common Yellow Daffodil. 
 
 PAAS EGGS. Hard-boiled eggs cracked together by New York boys at 
 the Easter season. They are often dyed of various colors in boiling. 
 
 To PACK. To transport in packs or packages ; and hence, simply to 
 carry. "Are you going to pack that rock all the way home ? " said to a 
 person who had secured a bit of stone containing a fine fossil. Western. 
 
 We reached Bull Creek about two o'clock, and there gave the mules some rest. 
 Just before reaching it, Joe killed an antelope, of which we had seen several. We 
 packed the hams and shoulders to camp. T. A. Culbertson, in Fifth Smithson. 
 Report, p. 91. 
 
 PADDLE. A wooden instrument with which negroes are punished, shaped 
 like the paddle of a canoe, with holes bored through the blade. See 
 Cobb. 
 
 To PADDLE ONE'S OWN CANOE. A figurative Western phrase, mean- 
 ing to make one's own way in life, to be the architect of one's own for- 
 tunes.
 
 308 PAI PAL 
 
 Voyager upon life's sea, 
 
 To yourself be true, 
 And where'er your lot may be, 
 
 Paddle your own canoe. 
 
 Leave to Heaven, in humble trust, 
 
 All you will to do ; 
 But if you succeed, yon must 
 
 Paddle your own canoe. 
 
 Harper's Magazine, May, 1854. 
 
 PAINT. In some of the Southern States, a horse or other animal whicn is 
 spotted is called a paint. 
 
 PAINTER, a corruption of panther. The popular name of the cougar or 
 panther. See Puma. 
 
 " You don't know the way," said Obed ; " snakes '11 bite ye ; there 's painters in 
 the woods, and wild-cats and owls." Margaret, p. 27. 
 
 PAIR OF STAIRS. An expression often used for a flight of stairs. 
 
 PALE-FACES. A term applied, or said to be applied, by the American In- 
 dians to the whites. 
 
 " Yes," muttered the Indian, " the pale faces are prattling women ! They have 
 two words for each thing, while a red-skin will make the sound of his voice speak 
 for him." Cooper, Last of the Mohegans. 
 
 The brave Tecumseh's words are good : 
 
 " One league for terror, strife, and blood, 
 
 Must all our far-spi-ead tribes unite ; 
 
 Then shall the pale-face sink to night." Colton, Tecumseh, xviii. 
 
 PALMATEER. See Parmateer. 
 
 PALM-CABBAGE. The young terminal bud or sprouting leaf of the Areca 
 oleracea and of some other palms, used as a culinary vegetable when suf- 
 ficiently tender. 
 
 PALMETTO. ( Ghcemerops palmetto.) A perennial plant strongly marking 
 climate. It commences in the same regions with Long Moss, that is to 
 say, about 33. It throws up from a large root, so tough as to be cut 
 with difficulty by an axe, and hard to be eradicated from the soil, large, 
 fan-shaped palms, of the most striking and vivid verdure, and ribbed 
 with wonderful exactness. It is used by the savages and the poorer Cre- 
 oles as thatch for their cabins ; and from the tender shoots of the season, 
 properly prepared, a very useful kind of summer hats, called palmetto 
 hats, is manufactured. Flint, Geogr. of Miss. Valley. 
 
 PALMETTO CAPITAL. The city of Augusta, the capital of South Carolina, 
 so called from the arms of the State, which contain a palmetto.
 
 PAL PAR 309 
 
 In the delightful temperature of to-day, with the rich foliage of the trees in green 
 luxuriance, and the perfumes of a thousand beds of flowers burdening the air, the 
 Palmetto capital is exceedingly pleasant. Letter from Charleston, N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 PALMETTO STATE. The State of South Carolina. 
 
 PANEL-HOUSE, or PANEL-DEN. A house of prostitution and theft com- 
 bined. 
 
 PANEL-THIEF. A thief who, while the victim is engaged with a girl of 
 the town, enters the room by a secret opening, and abstracts his money, 
 watch, etc. 
 
 PANDOWDY. Food made of bread and apples baked together. Worcester. 
 New England. Halliwell gives Pandoulde as the Somerset name for a 
 custard. See Slump. 
 
 PANTALOONERY. The particular description of fabrics from which panta- 
 loons are made. A word used by the merchant tailors in their adver- 
 tisements. 
 
 PANTS. Pantaloons. A word borrowed from the language of tailors' 
 
 bills. 
 
 The things named pants in certain documents, 
 A word not made for gentlemen, but gents. 
 
 Holmes' Poems, p. 217. 
 
 PAPPOOSE. (Abenaki Ind.) Among the native Indians of New England, 
 a babe or young child. Roger Williams. It is applied by the whites to 
 Indian infants in general. 
 
 Where the Indian squaw hung her young pappoos upon the bough, and left it to 
 squall at the hush-a-by of the blast, the Anglo-Saxon mother now rocks the cradle 
 of her delicate babe. Dow's Sermons. 
 
 PAPPOOSE-ROOT. (Caulophyllum thalictroides.) A plant called also 
 Blue Cohosh. 
 
 PARISH. In Louisiana a parish is what, in other States, is called a county. 
 
 To PARMATEER, or PALMATEER. To electioneer ; evidently a corruption 
 of parliamenteer, to electioneer for a seat in parliament. This term is 
 very common in the State of Rhode Island, beyond which I think it does 
 not extend. 
 
 Our people talk a great deal about emancipation ; but they know it's all bunkum, 
 and it serves to palmateer on, and makes, a pretty catchword. Sam Slick, Human 
 Nature, 175. 
 
 PARTLY. Mr. Pickering notices the use of this word in the sense of near- 
 ly, almost, in some towns of the Middle States. Ex. "His house is
 
 310 PAR PAT 
 
 partly opposite to mine," i. e. nearly opposite. " It is partly all gone," 
 i. e. nearly all gone. 
 
 PARTRIDGE. In the South and West, the quail is so called. 
 
 PARTRIDGE-BERRY. A name applied both to Gaultheria procumbens, or 
 Creeping Wintergreen, and to Mitchella repens. The scarlet fruit of 
 both is similar in appearance, highly flavored in the former, but tasteless 
 in the latter. 
 
 PASSAGE. Enactment ; the act of carrying through all the regular forms 
 necessary to give validity ; as the passage of a law, or of a bill into a 
 law, by a legislative body. Webster. Mr. Pickering says this word " is 
 criticized by the English reviewers as an American innovation." It is 
 not in the English dictionaries in this sense. 
 
 His agency in procuring the passage of the stamp act was more than suspected. 
 Hosack. 
 
 PASSION-FLOWER. (Passiflora.) A genus of tendril-bearing vines, most 
 of whose species are South American. The early missionaries fancied 
 that they found in these flowers emblems of the implements of Christ's 
 passion : the fringe representing the crown of thorns ; the large anthers 
 fixed by their middle, hammers ; and the five styles, the nails. "We have 
 two wild species, lutea and incarnata, common in the South and West. 
 Gray. 
 
 PATENTABLE. That may be patented ; for which a patent can be taken 
 out. 
 
 PATENT RIGHT. A patent. In the United States an inventor takes out a 
 "patent right ; " in England, " letters patent." 
 
 PATENT AGENT. One who procures patents for inventors. 
 
 PATENT SAFE GAME or OPERATION. A system of trickery practised in our 
 large cities on verdant gentlemen from the country. Three confidants 
 generally play the game ; but two can do it. When they see a person 
 called by them a " Sucker," who appears to be a fit subject to play upon, 
 they learn his name and something about him, such as the place where he 
 came from, etc. One of them, who is called the " Roper," goes up to him, 
 names him familiarly, and shakes him by the hand. This at first rather 
 astonishes the stranger ; but the Roper looks so innocent, and is so oblig- 
 ing and kind that he soon disarms his suspicion and gains his confidence. 
 He then invites him to go and see the wonderful places about the city, 
 and walks about until he arrives at a proper place, where Mr. Roper, 
 by looking down on the ground, discovers, accidentally of course, a little
 
 PAT 311 
 
 neatly turned wooden ball, which he picks up, and gazing upon it with a 
 look of intense curiosity, he says meditatively to his dupe, " Well, this is 
 really a queer thing ; I wonder what it can he used for ; " and, pressing 
 it all round, to his apparent surprise, out he pushes an interior plug. 
 With well assumed wonder he says, "Ah, what is this ? " and pulls it out 
 entirely, unscrewing its lid. "A nice little box ; well now this is inge- 
 nious ; and it has something in it too." He then takes out a piece of 
 white paper, shows Sucker the empty box, and throws the piece of 
 paper on the ground. There is another piece of paper in the small 
 chamber at the other end of the plug ; but Sucker does not see this, 
 and the plug is put back in its place. 
 
 A man is now noticed coming towards them, attentively examining the 
 ground, with despair depicted on his countenance. He attracts the 
 Roper's attention, who says to his dupe companion, " This man has lost 
 something valuable ; let us put some questions to him." 
 
 " You appear to be troubled in mind, sir ; have you lost any thing ? " 
 " Yes, sir, I have lost something that I would not have parted with for 
 ten thousand dollars. I had spent years in inventing a new safe for fires, 
 which I know would save millions' worth of property, and was on my 
 way to Messrs. Holmes & Butler's, the safe makers, to get one made ; but 
 alas ! I have lost the model ! It had the appearance of a small carved 
 wooden ball ; oh, sir ! what shall I do ? " Roper says, feelingly and 
 honest-like aside to Sucker, " I can stand this no longer ; it pains me to 
 see him." " Friend," says he to the afflicted safe loser, " I think I know 
 where it is ; " and, taking it out of his pocket, asks, " Is this your model 
 safe ? " " It is, it is ; thank you, thank you ! " exclaims the overjoyed 
 safe man. " But how," says Roper, " can such a thing as that answer for 
 a safe ? " " Oh, I put a prop under it ; and when a fire takes place, the 
 support has but to be knocked away, and out it rolls down an incline into 
 the street." " By all the powers," says Roper, " that is a capital idea ! 
 I suppose you have made it to hold something." " Oh, yes, there is a 
 box inside of it, and a paper in its chamber now." 
 
 " I don't believe that," says Roper. (And aside to Sucker he whispers, 
 " I '11 bet him on that piece of paper.") " I '11 bet there is no paper in 
 it." 
 
 " How much will you bet ? I '11 put up $1,000." 
 
 "I have not that much," (aside to Sucker, "I'll take $100 from 
 him,") " but I'll bet $100 ; " and he takes out a number of bills, per- 
 haps $50, and a bank check for other $50, and says to Sucker (for he 
 has found out how much he has), "Will you loan me bills for this check 
 until we get to my hotel ? " 
 
 All this has been done so honest and fair like that Sucker pulls out his
 
 312 PAT 
 
 pocket-book, gives accomplished Roper $50 in bills, and takes his check. 
 Then the safe man presses on the conical end of the plug, takes it out, 
 and from the other end pulls out the other piece of paper. The thing is 
 done ; and the safe man, having fairly won the bet, marches off with the 
 money. The Roper looks sad and crest-fallen, but is soon relieved of his 
 grief, for up comes a person assuming to be a policeman, charges them 
 with gambling, and makes a grab at them. Roper shouts, " Run ! " to his 
 companion, and takes to his heels ; but poor Sucker is held by the officer, 
 and, denying the imputation of gambling, solicits to be let go. This the 
 policeman allows ; when, in his fright, Sucker flies the city, and soon 
 finds out that his check is worthless, that the safe man, policeman, and 
 Roper were colleagues, and he the dupe of the patent safe game. Scien- 
 tific American, Vol. X. p. 381. 
 
 Was Gen. Scott, by a sort of patent safe or Peter Funk operation, diddled out of 
 his ten thousand, or did Santa Anna try the trick merely to get a little ready money 
 for the uses of the defensive garrisons of Mexico, or how was it ? N. Y. Herald, 
 Sept. 1, 1857. 
 
 PATENT SAFE OPERATOR. A rogue who plays the " patent safe game." 
 
 Little Toddlekins arrives about this hour, escorted by his female guard of honor, 
 with a wonderful hat, all feathers and ribbons, and his little legs cased in stockings 
 of the most brilliant hues. The guard of honor takes possession of a bench not too 
 far from a flashy looking man with a black moustache, who is probably a patent safe 
 operator, and with whom she presently falls into conversation. .ZV. Y. Tribune, Nov. 
 3, 1858. 
 
 PATROON. (Dutch, patroon, a patron.) A grantee of land to be settled 
 under the old Dutch governments of New York and New Jersey. 
 
 The following articles, from the " Freedoms and Exemptions " granted 
 to the Dutch West India Company, will show what were some of the 
 privileges of the Patroons: 
 
 Art. 3. All such shall be acknowledged Patroons of New Netherland who shall, 
 within the space of four years next after they have given notice to any of the Cham- 
 bers of the Company here, or to the Commander of the Council there, undertake to 
 plant a colonie there of fifty souls, upwards of fifteen years of age ; one fourth part 
 within one year, and within three years of the sending of the first, the remainder, to 
 the full number of fifty persons, to be shipped from hence, on pain, in case of wilful 
 neglect, of being deprived of the privileges obtained, etc. 
 
 Art. 5. The Patroons, by virtue of their power, shall and may be permitted, at 
 such places as they shall settle their colonies, to extend their limits four miles along 
 the shore, that is, on one side of a navigable river, or two miles on each side of a 
 river, and so far into the country as the situation of the occupiers will permit, etc. 
 
 Art. 8. The Patroons may, if they think proper, make use of all lands, rivers, 
 and woods lying contiguous to them, for and during so long a time as this company 
 shall grant them to other Patroons or particulars. 
 
 For a further account of the privileges of the Patroons, see O'Calla- 
 han's History of New Netherland, Vol. I. p. 112.
 
 PAT PEA 313 
 
 PATROONSHIP. The office of a patroon. 
 
 The great Oloffe indulged in magnificent dreams of foreign conquests and great 
 patroonships in the wilderness. Irving, Knickerbocker. 
 
 PAPAW. (Asimina triloba.) A wild, fruit-bearing shrub, remarkable for 
 its beauty. The fruit is nutritious, and a great resource to the Indians. 
 " The popular name of Papaw," says Gray, in his N. Amer. Genera, 
 " was doubtless given to the fruit from a fancied resemblance in the ap- 
 pearance or taste of the fruit to the true Papaw of tropical America." 
 The plant is also noted for the pliability and toughness of its twigs, 
 well known as substitutes for parts of broken harness. 
 
 PAUHAGEN, or POHAGEN. See Menhaden. 
 
 PEAGE, or PEAK. Shells, or strings of shells, formerly used by the Indians 
 of New England and Virginia, as well as among the early settlers, as 
 money ; also called wampum and seawan, which see. 
 
 No one shall take any black peage of the Indians but at foure a penny ; and if any 
 shall take black peage under four a penny, hee shall forfeitt sayd peage, one halfe 
 to the informer, and the other halfe to the State. Laws of Rhode Island, 1648. 
 
 The Indians [of Virginia] had nothing which they reckoned riches before the Eng- 
 lish went among them, except peak, roenoke, and such trifles, made out of the conk 
 shell. Beverly's Virginia, 1705. 
 
 The current money of all the Indians in Carolina, and, I believe, of all over the 
 continent as far as the Bay of Mexico, is that which we call peak and ronoak. This 
 is that which they in New York call wampum. Lawson's Carolina, 1718. 
 
 On the Virginia coast is found that species of conch shell which the Indian 
 peak is made of. The extremities of these shells are blue and the rest white, so that 
 peak of both these colors are drilled out of the same shell, serving the natives both 
 for ornament and money, and are esteemed by them beyond gold and silver. West 
 over Papers, p. 12. 
 
 To PEAK, or PEKE. To peep. It is quite common in the popular lan- 
 guage of New England to hear this word, which Dr. Webster supposes 
 to be the same as peep. If it be a corruption, which is doubtful, the 
 examples will show that its use is not modern. 
 Now whereof he speketh, 
 He cryeth and he creketh, 
 
 He pryeth and he peketh. Skelton, Colin Cloute, Vol. I. 312. 
 That other pries and pekes in everie place. Gascoigne, p. 301. 
 He 's a lazy, good-for-nothin' fellow. He 's no better than a peaking mudsucker. 
 Margaret, p. 20. 
 
 The convent committee visited the city of Worcester, and inspected the Catholic 
 Seminary. The members of it behaved in such an undignified, ludicrous, peeking, 
 bombastical manner, that they obtained the appellation of the " smelling commit- 
 tee." Worcester Transcript, April, 1855. 
 
 As once my dazzled eyes I set 
 Where Julia's neck and boddice met, 
 She asked what I was seeking. 
 27
 
 314 PEA PEE 
 
 " There that," said I ; "is that Nankeen ? 
 The lining of your waist, I mean." 
 "No, sir ! " said she, " that's Pekin I" 
 
 Tribune Almanac, 1855. 
 
 PEAKED. Thin and emaciated, as from sickness. Holloway says, that in 
 England they say of a sickly person, " he looks pale and peaked" The 
 same expression is often heard in the Northern States. 
 
 But there was a lawyer a standing up by the grove, lookin' as peaked and as for- 
 lorn as an unmated coon. Sam Slick in England, ch. 11. 
 
 PEAKY, or PEEKY. Sickly looking ; peakish. 
 
 The species of decay to which the cypress tree is liable, shows itself in detached 
 spots in close proximity to each other. Timber affected in this way is denominated 
 by raftsmen, peeky. Dickeson on Cypress Timber. 
 
 PEALEB. A dashing, go ahead person or thing ; a rouser. 
 
 PEANUT. The common name for the fruit of the Arachnis hypogcea. It 
 is also called Ground-nut and Earth-nut, from its growing under ground. 
 
 PECAN-NUT. ( Garya olivteformis.) A tree of beautirul form and appear- 
 ance, useful for building and for making rails. Its nut is long, cylindri- 
 cal, and olive-shaped, with a shell comparatively soft. The meat lies in 
 two oblong lobes, is easily taken out entire, and excels all other nuts in 
 delicacy of flavor. Flint, Geogr. of Mississ. Valky. 
 
 PECCARY. (Dicotyles.) The native American hog, common in South 
 America, but found also in Central America, and as far North as New 
 Mexico and Texas. In its habits it is closely allied to the common hog ; 
 its gait is the same, it roots up the earth in a similar manner, and ex- 
 presses its feelings by the same disagreeable grunt. It differs from it 
 mainly in having under the skin on the middle of the loins a gland which 
 secretes a fluid of a very offensive smell. 
 
 PECKERWOOD. Western for Woodpecker. 
 
 PECULIAR INSTITUTION. Negro slavery, so called as being peculiar to the 
 Southern States. 
 
 The dangers which at present threaten the peculiar domestic institutions of the 
 South, make it necessary that all strangers from the North should be examined and 
 their business ascertained. South Carolina Gazette. 
 
 Urgent appeals were sent to the sympathizers of Senator Douglas in Missouri to 
 attend and do honor to the champion of the peculiar institution at the meeting in 
 Quincy, Illinois. .ZV. Y. Tribune, Oct. 19, 1854. 
 
 To PEEL IT. To run at full speed, " Come, boys ; peel it now, or you '11 
 be late."
 
 PEE PEM 315 
 
 PEERT, or PEART. Brisk, lively. An old word, still provincial in Eng- 
 land, and probably a corrupt pronunciation of pert. The phrase, " as 
 peert as a lizard," is sometimes heard. It is used in a good as well as a 
 bad sense, and especially of one who is recovering, or " looking up," after 
 a fit of sickness. In Virginia they say the wind blows quite peert, i. e. 
 briskly. 
 
 Give your play-gull a stoole, and my lady her foole, 
 
 And her usher potatoes and marrow ; 
 But your poet, were he dead, set a pot on his head, 
 
 And he rises as peart as a sparrow. Bibl. Brit. II. 167. 
 
 I gave her the best bend I had in me, and raised my bran-new hat as peert and 
 perlite as a minister. Bobb, Squatter Life. 
 
 That fellow must think we were all raised in a saw-mill, he looks so peert when- 
 ever he comes in. Hoffman, Winter in the West. 
 
 Mary's rite piert, and her child is making a monstrous good beginnin' in the 
 world. Major Jones's Courtship, p. 200. 
 
 Well, I starts off pretty considerable peert and brisk, considering I was weak. 
 Carlton, The New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 178. 
 
 Knocking round the place, I came upon one of these fellers that grinds music 
 out'n a mahogany box. He had a little monkey along the peartest, least bit of a 
 critter you ever seed. Widow Bagby's Husband. 
 
 PEET-WEET. (Tringoides macularius.) The spotted Sandpiper or Sand- 
 lark of ornithologists, but better known among the people by the name 
 of Peet-weet, in allusion to its note ; or of Teeter and Tilt-up or Tip-up, 
 from its often repeated grotesque jerking motions. 
 
 PEE-WEE. The name given by boys to a little marble. 
 
 In Forbes's Dahomey, Vol. I. p. 219, is the following passage in his 
 account of the Dahoman language : 
 
 The addition of pee-wee, or small, is sufficient to express an almost entirely differ- 
 ent meaning in our idiom ; thus, toh, a city ; toh pee-wee, a village ; hoh, a house ; 
 hoh pee-wee, a hut. 
 
 PELT. A blow. Grose. Used only in familiar language, and chiefly by 
 boys. 
 
 PEMMICAN. A far-famed provender of man, in the wilds of North Ame- 
 rica, formed by pounding the choice parts of the meat very small, dried 
 over a slow fire or in the frost, and put into -bags made of the skin of the 
 glain animal, into which a portion of melted fat is then poured. The 
 whole being then strongly pressed and sewed up, constitutes the best and 
 most portable food for the " voyageurs," and one which, with proper care, 
 will keep a long time. Fifty pounds of meat and forty pounds of grease 
 make a bag of pemmican. Sweet pemmican is another kind, made 
 chiefly of bones. Dunn's Oregon, p. 59.
 
 816 PEN PER 
 
 While we were discussing our usual dinner of hard dried meat and pemmican, a 
 hunter burst into the room with the glad tidings that he had killed a moose. Back, 
 Arctic Journal. 
 
 If pemmican be the order of the day, the lean meat, after being dried, is pounded 
 into dust, and, being put into a bag, is enriched with nearly an equal weight of fat. 
 Sir G. Simpson's Journey, Vol. I. p. 92. 
 
 PENNYROYAL. This very English name is given in this country to a differ- 
 ent plant, although the color and taste of both are nearly alike. The 
 true English pennyroyal is a mint ; the American is Hedeoma pulegioides. 
 
 PEON. (Span.) A day laborer. These laborers are very often bondmen 
 for debt ; which, as Gregg describes, is thus brought about. " They labor 
 for fixed wages, it is true ; but all they can earn is hardly sufficient to 
 keep them in the coarsest clothing and pay their contingent expenses. 
 Men's wages range from two to five dollars a month, and those of women 
 from fifty cents to two dollars ; in payment of which they rarely receive 
 any money, but instead thereof articles of apparel and other necessaries 
 at the most exorbitant prices. The consequence is that the servant soon 
 accumulates a debt which he is unable to pay, his wages being often 
 engaged a year or two in advance. Now, according to the usages, if not 
 the laws of the country, he is bound to serve his master until all arrear- 
 ages are liquidated ; and is only enabled to effect an exchange of masters 
 by engaging another to pay his debt, to whom he becomes in like manner 
 bound. 
 
 "If I was going far into Mexico," said the guide, "I would always hire a Mexi- 
 can fellow to go with me, so I could dress mean and make him do all the business, 
 so I would be thought to be his peon." Olmsted's Texas, p. 336. 
 
 The whole town was in an uproar, and no one seemed to know what it was about. 
 At length it was ascertained that one of the herders was a peon, and a man wished 
 to seize and imprison him till he could be restored to his original state of servitude. 
 
 Copt. Whipple's Explorations to the Pacific, p. 62. 
 
 PEONAGE. The system of treatment pursued towards the laboring classes 
 in Mexico. 
 
 PEPPERIDGE. (Nyssa multiftora.) A name given in the South and West 
 to the Black or Sour Gum, also called Tupebo. It has a very tough 
 wood, which is difficult to split. 
 
 PERI AUGER. (Span, piragua.) 1. A canoe formed of one large tree. 
 
 Getting into a perioque I paddled off to a part of the Green Kiver where there was 
 sand and clay. W. Irving, Wolfert's Roost, p. 269. 
 
 At night the barges [of the British] were heard rowing up and down the river on 
 mysterious errands ; perriaugers also paid them furtive visits occasionally. Irving's 
 Washington, Vol. II. p. 272. 
 
 Our skipper rowed to an oyster-bank just by, and loaded his periauga with oysters. 
 
 Westover Papers, p. 13.
 
 PER PES 317 
 
 This word is frequently corrupted to pettyauger, 
 
 On the 8th the French crossed the Missouri in a pettyauger, the Indians on floats of 
 cane, and the horses were swam over. DuPratz, Louisiana, Vol. I. p. 108. 
 
 2. A small schooner without a bowsprit, and with a lee-board, formerly 
 much used in the waters of New York and New Jersey. 
 
 Steamboats, lighters, periaugers, scows, clam-boats, and nondescript water-witches 
 of every sort, have arrived hourly from quarantine, loaded with almost entire vil- 
 lages of men, women, and children [German and Irish emigrants] . N. Y. Com- 
 mercial Advertiser. 
 
 PERK. Lively ; brisk ; holding up the head. Webster. This old word, 
 still provincial in England, is used in the interior of New England, and 
 is commonly pronounced peark (the ea as in pear.) Pickering. 
 
 PERSIMMON. (Virginia Indian. Diospyros virginiana.) This tree is 
 unknown in the northeastern parts of our country ; but south of lati- 
 tude 42 it is found throughout the United States. It varies exceedingly 
 in size, being sometimes sixty feet in height, with a trunk twenty inches 
 in diameter, but more frequently does not attain half these dimensions. 
 The fruit is about an inch in diameter, and is powerfully astringent 
 when green ; but when fully ripe, the pulp becomes soft, palatable, 
 and very sweet. The wood is very hard, and is used for large screws, 
 mallets, shoe-lasts, wedges, etc. In clearing the forests, the persimmon 
 is usually preserved; and it is probable that the quality of the fruit 
 might be improved by cultivation. Encyc. Amer. 
 
 " The longest pole knocks down the persimmons" is a proverbial say- 
 ing, meaning that the strongest party gains the day. 
 
 Plums there are of three sorts. The red and white are like our hedge plums ; 
 but the other, which they call Putchamins, grow as high as a Palmcta, the fruit is 
 like a Medler, it is first green, then yellow, and red when it is ripe. If it be not 
 ripe, it will draw a man's mouth awry, with much torment ; but when it is ripe, it is 
 delicious as an apricot. Smith's Virginia, Book II. 
 
 My worthy friends, to make sure of happiness, you must be honest, kind to one 
 another, and cling to the belief in a better world to come like a " possum to a per- 
 simmon tree." Dow's Sermons, Vol. II. p. 292. 
 
 PERSIMMON BEER. A kind of domestic beer whose principal ingredient 
 is persimmons. 
 
 PERT END UP. Better ; more cheerful. Sherwood's Georgia. 
 
 PESKILT. Confoundedly; very; extremely. I know not the origin of 
 this New England word. 
 
 Skeered, says he, sarves him right ; he might have known how to feel for other 
 folks, and not funkify them so peskily. Sam Slick in England. 
 I 'm peskily sorry about that mare. Ibid. ch. 28. 
 
 27*
 
 318 PES PHE 
 
 The post-office accounts were the next bother ; and they puzzled all on us peskily. 
 Maj. Downiny's Letters, p. 139. 
 
 PESKY. 1. Plaguy, confounded. 
 
 I found it [looking for houses] a pesky sight worse job than I expected. Down- 
 ing, May-Day in New York, p. 36. 
 
 Orphy should have been at home long ago, if that pesky wheel hadn't come off 
 his wagon. Fanny Fern. 
 
 A couple of Yankee girls put a bullfrog in the hired man's bed, to see if they 
 couldn't get him to talk. Daniel threw the frog ou.t of the window, and never 
 said a word. Soon after he put a half a bushel of chestnut burrs in the girls' bed ; 
 and about the time he thought they would make the least shadow, Daniel went to 
 the door and rattled the latch furiously. Out went the candle, and in went the girls ; 
 but they didn't stick, though the burrs did. Calling on them, he begged them to 
 be quiet, for he only wanted to know if they had " seen any thing of that pesky 
 bullfrog. He'd a gin five dollars to find it. Newspaper. 
 
 2. Confoundedly, excessively. 
 
 Don 't be so pesky starch. I '11 be dod fetched if I meant any harm. I only spoke 
 of the calf, and you went a streak higher and talked of the garter. Sam Slick, 
 Human Nature, p. 195. 
 
 I wonder how he 's on 't for face-cards ; ha ! ha ! So pesky slow, we shan't get 
 through to-night. Margaret, p. 305. 
 
 The thing of it is, people has got to be so pesky proud and polite. Ibid. p. 141. 
 
 PETER FUNK. At the petty auctions a person is employed to bid on ar- 
 ticles put up for sale, in order to raise their price. Such a person is 
 called a Peter Funk ; probably from such a fictitious name having fre- 
 quently been given when articles Avere bought in. At the " mock auc- 
 tions," as they are called in New York, this practice of having by-bidders 
 is carried to a great extent ; and strangers, unacquainted with their tricks, 
 are often cheated by them. Grose describes a person similarly employed 
 in England, under the name of " puffer." 
 
 The Peter Funk of New York is a small-souled pickpocket ; he does not exactly 
 cut through your coat or pants, but under specious pretences he induces you to hand 
 over your purse to him, thus virtually making a cat's paw of your own fist ; he 
 steals your cash, but does it under a flimsy show of business ; he inveigles you 
 into an offer, and then either sells you one article and delivers you another which is 
 inferior, or multiplies the price you have offered and the quantity you engaged to 
 / take. Tricks and Traps of New York City. 
 
 To PETTIFOG. Some newspaper writers use this verb transitively, in the 
 sense of to advocate in the manner of a pettifogger ; as, " He pettifogs 
 his client's cause." 
 
 PEWIT, or PEWEE. See Phcebe Bird. 
 
 PHEESE. A fit of fretfulness. A colloquial, vulgar word in the United
 
 PHI PIC 319 
 
 States. Worcester. The adjective pheesy, fretful, querulous, irritable, 
 sore, is provincial in England. Forby. Also written feeze, which see. 
 
 PHILLIPENA. See Fillipeen. 
 
 PHCEBE-BIRD. (Sayornis fuscus.) The Pewit, or Pewee, so called from 
 a fanciful resemblance in the name to the sound made by this bird. 
 
 Another of the feathered visitors who follow close upon the steps of winter, is the 
 Pewit, Peewee, or Phoebe-Bird. Irving, Wolfert's Roost, p. 31. 
 
 PICACHO. (Span.) A prominent peak or elevation rising abruptly above 
 a mountain or chain of mountains. They are common land-marks in 
 New Mexico and Arizona. 
 
 Almost due north of the Sierra Verde lies the picacho of the Sierra del Babuqui- 
 bari, one of the orograpliical phenomena of the country, its peculiarity being such 
 as to attract especially the attention of the red men. Schott's Geological Obs. Mexican 
 Boundary, p. 70. 
 
 PICAYUNE. The name for the Spanish half real in Florida, Louisiana, etc. 
 See Federal Currency. 
 
 PICAYUNE, or PICAYUNISH. Sixpenny ; and hence small, mean. 
 
 There is nothing picayune about the members of St. George's [Cricket] Club ; for 
 the love of sport, they will almost invariably enter upon matches that other clubs 
 would not accept. N. Y. Herald. 
 
 " Wall, mister," he said, " It 's your business, not mine ; but I know something of 
 that boat. She belongs to that darn picayunish old coon, Jim Mason, and he '11 run 
 her till she sinks or busts up, and then God help the crowd." Notes on Canada, etc., 
 Blackwood's Mag. 
 
 PICK. In mercantile usage, and among manufacturers, a pick is a thread. 
 The relative quality of cotton cloth is denoted by the number of picks 
 it has to the inch. 
 
 To PICK. In the South, to pick the banjo or guitar, means to play upon 
 these instruments. Comp. the French pincer. 
 
 PICKANINNY. (Span, pequeno nino, little child.) A negro or mulatto 
 infant. Used in the Southern States. 
 
 I jest sauntered in as he was puttin' up the pickaninny yaller gal, about five years 
 old. Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 You can't be too warm, nor too guarded your head, 
 
 To 'scape the mosquito's whim ; 
 And a nice picanimiy that 's been well fed 
 
 Is a capital meal for him. Ethiopian Melodies. 
 
 PICKEREL WEED. (Pontideria cordatd). An aquatic plant bearing a 
 spike of blue flowers common on the roadsides and in ditches in the Middle 
 States.
 
 320 PIC PIL 
 
 PICKINGS AND STEALINGS. The perquisites of office. 
 
 PICK-UP. A pick-up dinner, called also simply a pick-up, is a dinner made 
 up of such fragments of cold meats as remain from former meals. The 
 word is common in the Northern States. 
 
 The Queen regretted that she could not invite me to stay to dinner, cause 'twas 
 washin' day in the palace, and they only had a pick-up dinner. Maj. Downing in 
 London. 
 
 PIECE. 1. A little while ; as, " Stay a piece" i. e. wait a bit. Provincial 
 in the north of England. Johnson. 
 
 2. A piece of bread and butter ; a snack. " Have you had your 
 1 1 o'clock piece ? " 
 
 To PIECE. To eat pieces of bread and butter, to eat between meals. " He 
 has n't eaten much dinner, because he 's been a piecin' on't all the mornin'." 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 PiG-Fisn. See Sea-Robin. 
 
 PiG-Nux. (Juglans porcina.) A small species of hickory nut. 
 
 PIG-PLUM. See Hog-Plum. 
 
 PIG'S WHISTLE. " I '11 do so in less than a pig's whistle" that is " in less 
 than no time." 
 
 PiG-YoivE. Among seamen, the name for a quadrant, from its resemblance 
 to a pig-yoke. 
 
 PIGEON-ROOST. The social and gregarious habits of pigeons, incline them 
 to roost together, and their places of resort are called "pigeon-roosts." 
 In these places they settle on all the trees for a considerable distance 
 round in such numbers as to break off the branches. Flint's Mississippi 
 Valley. 
 
 The pigeon-roost in Decatur county, Indiana, extends over a distance of twenty- 
 eight miles ; it is about fourteen miles wide. The birds have not nested at this roost 
 for thirty years until this spring. Over this vast extent of country every tree has 
 from ten to fifteen nests, and every nest at least one bird. The young are now 
 hardly able to fly, and the shooting is mere slaughter. The old birds leave early 
 in the morning in search of food, and return in the evening. ( Wash.) States, May 
 15th, 1858. 
 
 PIGEON WOODPECKER. See Glape. 
 
 PILE. 1. (Dutch, pyl.) An arrow. This word is still retained by the 
 boys of New York. 
 
 2. A term first used at the gaming-table, and next by our California ad- 
 venturers, signifying a quantity of money. Hence, " to make one's pile"
 
 PIL PIN 321 
 
 is to make one's fortune. The term seems to be the revival of an old 
 one used by Dr. Franklin in his " Poor Richard's Almanac " for April, 
 1741, where he says : 
 
 Rash mortals, ere you take a wife, 
 Contrive your pile to last for life. 
 
 Alanthus Bug was planted in the world as a pedlar of peanuts ; then gradually 
 grew into a grocery man ; then budded into a broker ; and next into the full blos- 
 som of a banker ; and now, by the closest economy, he has amassed a million, and 
 can point to his pile with proud satisfaction, and say, "Alone, I did it! " Cairo 
 City Times. 
 
 Since writing to you last, I have returned from Eraser River to San Francisco, 
 having been gone about four months. During this time, with my own hands I dug 
 $25 worth of gold dust, and my expenses were about $300 ; however, I have 
 clung to the "pile," and intend to keep it as a memorial of my trip. Letter in N. 
 Y. Tribune, Oct. 25, 1858. 
 
 PILLOW-BIER and PILLOW-SLIP are used in New England to signify a 
 pillow-case. 
 
 PIMENTO. See Allspice. 
 
 PIMPING. Little ; petty ; as, " a pimping thing." Skinner. Used in the 
 interior of New England. 
 
 Was I little ? asked Margaret. Yes, and pimpin' enough. And I fed your marm 
 with rue and comfrey-root, or ye never 'd come to this. Margaret, p. 19. 
 
 PIMPLO, i. e. PIN-PILLOW. The name given in Barbadoes to the Prickly 
 Pear. 
 
 PINCH. To be in a pinch, is to be in a tight place ; to be hard up for 
 money. Western. 
 
 PINE-BARRENS. A term applied to level, sandy tracts, covered with pine- 
 trees, in the Southern States. Worcester. 
 
 The road which I had to travel lay through a dreary and extensive forest of pine- 
 trees, or, as it is termed by the Carolinians, a pine-barren, where a habitation is sel- 
 dom seen, except at intervals of ten or twelve miles. Lambert's Travels, Vol. II. 
 p. 226. 
 
 PINE NUT. The edible nut contained in the cones of pine. See Pinion. 
 PINE-TREE STATE. The State of Maine. 
 
 PINEY WOODS. The name given at the South to a large tract covered 
 with pines, especially in the low country. 
 
 PINERY. In the Western States, a place where pine-trees grow, or a forest 
 of pines. A Wisconsin paper, in speaking of emigration, says : 
 
 We have noticed squads of hardy Suckers from Illinois, with their baggage slung 
 upon their backs, making their way due north for the pineries.
 
 322 PIN PIP 
 
 Ever since the first settlement of the West, many have followed the business of 
 running rafts from the pineries down the Mississippi. Sketches of the West. 
 
 PINION. (Span., pinon.) A species of pine-tree, growing on the head 
 waters of the Arkansas ; common to that region as well as to New Mex- 
 ico, the Rocky Mountains, etc. Wild turkeys frequent groves of these 
 trees for the sake of their nuts, which are sweet and palatable. Bears 
 and other animals also feed on them. The Indians, too, make much of 
 them. 
 
 Upon each side of the Zuni river are extensive forests of small cedars and pinons. 
 Capt. Whipple's Explorations to the Pacific, p. 72. 
 
 PINKY. (Dutch, pink.) The little finger. A very common term in New 
 York, especially among small children, who, when making a bargain with 
 each other, are accustomed to confirm it by interlocking the little finger 
 of each other's right hands, and repeating the following doggerel : 
 
 Pinky, pinky, bow-bell, 
 
 Whoever tells a lie 
 
 Will sink down to the bad place, 
 
 And never rise up again. 
 
 PINK ROOT. (Spigelia marilandica.) A well-known vermifuge, the plant 
 being remarkable for its beautiful flowers. It is also known as the Caro- 
 lina Pink. 
 
 PINK-STERN. (French, pinque.) A vessel with a narrow stern; hence 
 all vessels so formed are called pink-sterned. Chambers. This species 
 of craft is very common in the waters of New England. See Chebacco 
 Boat. 
 
 PINNATED GROUSE. See Prairie Hen. 
 
 PINOLE. (Span.) Parched corn, ground and mixed with sugar and spices. 
 This, mixed with water, is a palatable food, and is much used in Texas 
 and by parties crossing the plains. 
 
 PINXTER. (Dutch, pinkster.) Whitsunday. On Pinxter Monday the 
 Dutch negroes of New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere, consider them- 
 selves especially privileged to get as drunk as they can. 
 
 Pinkster fields and pinkster frolics are no novelties to us, sir, as they occur at 
 every season ; and I am just old enough not to have missed one of them all for the 
 last twelve years. Cooper, Satanstoe, Vol. I. p. 90. 
 
 PINXTER BLUMACHIES, i. e. Whitsuntide flowers. (Dutch.) A familiar 
 name in the State of New York for the Swamp Honeysuckle and other 
 early flowers. 
 
 To PIPE. To follow ; to waylay.
 
 PIP PIS 323 
 
 It is the business of all policemen to make themselves familiar with the haunts of 
 burglars, thieves, and gamblers, to pipe or follow them, and be ready at any moment 
 to nab them in the act of crime. 2V. Y. Tribune. 
 
 PIPE-LAYING. This term, in political parlance, means any arrangement by 
 which a party makes sure of a certain addition to its legitimate strength 
 in the hour of trial that is, the election. In other words, to lay pipe 
 means to bring up voters not legally qualified. 
 
 It were too long a story to tell the origin of the term at length. In 
 brief, it arose from an accusation brought against the Whig party of this 
 city (New York) some years ago, of a gigantic scheme to bring on voters 
 from Philadelphia. The accusation was made by a notorious Democrat, 
 of not very pure political character, who professed to have derived his 
 information from the agent employed by the Whigs for the service. 
 This agent had actually been employed by certain leaders of the Whig 
 party, but on a service deemed legitimate and proper in the art of elec- 
 tioneering. He, however, turned traitor, and, as was alleged by the 
 Whigs, concocted a plot with the notorious Democrat to throw odium 
 upon the Whigs. A mass of correspondence was brought forward in 
 proof, consisting mainly of letters written by the agent to various parties 
 in New York, apparently describing the progress and success of his ope- 
 rations. In these letters, as if for the purpose of concealment, the form 
 of a mere business correspondence was adopted the number of men 
 hired to visit New York and vote being spoken of as so many yards of 
 pipe the work of laying down pipe for the Croton water being at that 
 time in full activity. 
 
 The Whig leaders were indicted on the strength of these pseudo reve- 
 lations, and the letters were read in court ; but the jury believed neither 
 in them nor in the writer of them, and the accused were acquitted. 
 
 The term "pipe-laying" however, was at once adopted as a synonym 
 for negotiations to procure fraudulent votes. \_J. Inman.~\ 
 
 The result of the Pennsylvania election would not be in the least doubtful, if we 
 could be assured of fair play and no pipe-laying. N. Y. Tribune, Oct. 30, 1848. 
 
 There is a magnificent scheme of pipe-laying and log-rolling going on in Pennsyl- 
 vania. 2V. Y. Herald, Sept. 1856. 
 
 PIPSISSEWA. (Chimaphila umbellata.) A popular domestic remedy, much 
 used by the Indians and now of the U. S. Pharmacopeia. Also called 
 Prince's Pride and Wintergreen. 
 
 PIROGUE. See Periauger. 
 
 PISTAREEN. The Spanish peseta Sevillana, or one fifth of a dollar. A 
 silver coin, formerly common in the United States, of the value of twenty 
 cents. They have now gone entirely out of use.
 
 324 PIT PLA 
 
 PIT. (Dutch, pit, a kernel.) The stone of a fruit, as of a cherry or peach. 
 Mostly confined to New York State. 
 
 You put an apple-seed or a peach-pi into the ground, and it springs up into the 
 form of a miniature tree. Prof. Bush on the Resurrection. 
 
 PITA, pron. peeta. The name given to the fine fibres produced by the 
 agaves and kindred plants, used for sewing and other delicate purposes. 
 The name is also applied to the plants which furnish the fibre. 
 
 PITAHAYA. (Cereus giganteus.) A gigantic cactus found in New Mexico, 
 and which appears in the greatest perfection in the sterile deserts 
 bordering on the river Gila, where it reaches the height of fifty and 
 sixty feet. It bears a delicious fruit resembling the fig in taste, whence 
 it is sometimes called the Indian Fig. 
 
 PITPAN. In the West Indies and Central America, a very long, narrow, 
 flat-bottomed, trough-like canoe, with thin and flat projecting edges. 
 
 PITT. To think a pity of a person, is to take pity on him. It is a pity of 
 one, means he is to be pitied. 
 
 PIZARKO. A corruption of piazza. New England. 
 
 To PLACE. To place a person, is to remember the place where he belongs 
 or was born. 
 
 PLACER. (Span.) A locality where gold is found to exist in the " dust" 
 or scaly form. The Hispano- Americans apply the term to deposits of 
 sand formed by the action of water, the currents of rivers, etc., or what 
 geologists would call diluvium or drift. Our people use the word to sig- 
 nify a rich mine of minerals or of any thing else that is valuable. 
 
 The Homer of Chapman is so precious a gift, that we are ready to forgive Mr. 
 Smith's [the publisher's] shortcomings, in consideration of it. It is a vast placer, full 
 of nuggets for the philologist and lover of poetry. Atlantic Monthly, April, 1 858. 
 
 The "Washington Market question, involving a contest between the State and the 
 city, furnishes a perfect placer in the shape of fees for some of our leading lawyers. 
 N. Y". Herald, May 18, 1858. 
 
 PLAGUY. Horribly, awfully, exceedingly. And so in England. 
 
 The circumstances of the case should make the committee less " avidus gloriae," 
 for all praise of them would look plaguy suspicious. Lord Byron to Lord Hol- 
 land, Let. 107. 
 
 The Prince de Joinville is a plaguy handsome man, and as full of 'fun as a kit- 
 ten. Sam Slick in England, ch. 22. 
 
 PLAGUY SIGHT. This is a very common expression in the colloquial 
 language of New England, and means, a great deal. 
 
 "Squire," said Slick, "I'd a plaguy sight sooner see Ascot than any thing else 
 in England." Sam Slick in England, ch. 19.
 
 PL A 325 
 
 PLANE-TREE. Another name for the Sycamore or Button-wood tree. See 
 Button-wood. 
 
 PLANING-MACHINE. A machine operated by steam or water-power for 
 smoothing boards. 
 
 PLANK. A platform in a political sense is a constitution ; and as plat- 
 forms are literally composed of planks, so, in the same figurative sense, 
 planks are the several political principles which appertain to a party. 
 See Platform, No. 2. 
 
 The Free Soil party regard every plank and splinter of the Buffalo platform as 
 a relic of untold value. Providence Journal. 
 
 To PLANK. To lay, to put ; generally applied to money ; as, " He 
 planked down (or planked up) the cash." 
 
 I've had. to plank down handsome, and do the thing genteel; but Mr. Landlord 
 found he had no fool to deal with, neither. Sam Slick in England. 
 
 Why, says he, shell out, and plank down a pile of dollars. Ibid. 
 
 During the last war he planked up more gold and silver to lend the government 
 than Benton ever counted. Crockett, Tour, p. 59. 
 
 Come, plank up the tin. I '11 show you that Jim Borland ain't a goin' to be 
 backed out by mere bragging. Southern Sketches, p. 163. 
 
 PLANKED SHAD. A shad nailed to a plank and roasted. 
 
 Did you ever eat a planked shad? Then you have something yet to live 
 for your dish of enjoyment is not yet full, until you have a shad caught fresh 
 from the water, cleaned and crucified to an oak plank, which is held to the fire, 
 and seasoned properly with salt, pepper, and butter, and served up hot. It is, 
 of all fish dishes, the daintiest, richest, and most satisfactory in an appetitical 
 point of view. Bait. Sun, April 30, 1855. 
 
 PLANK ROAD. A road made with a flooring of planks laid across the 
 track, a substitute for turnpikes, where timber is cheap. 
 
 PLANTAIN. (Span, platano.) The fruit of the Musa paradisiaca, im- 
 ported from the West Indies. 
 
 PLANTATION. An estate appropriated to the production of staple crops, as 
 the sugar-cane, cotton, rice, tobacco, coffee, etc., by slave labor. 
 
 PLANTER. 1. A proprietor of land in the Southern States who cultivates 
 staple crops by slave labor. 
 
 2. In Newfoundland, a person engaged in the fishery. 
 
 3. A term applied to a piece of timber or the naked trunk of a tree,, 
 one end of which is firmly planted in the bed of a river, while the other 
 rises near the surface of the water. This is the most dangerous among 
 the " snag and sawyer " family, to which vessels navigating the "Western 
 rivers are exposed. See Snag and Sawyer. 
 
 28
 
 326 PLA 
 
 PLATFORM. 1. In some parts of the New England States, an ecclesiastical 
 constitution, or a plan for the government of churches ; as, the Cambridge 
 or Saybrook platform. Webster. The same use of this word is made 
 by English divines. 
 
 Their minds and affections were universally bent, even against all the orders and 
 laws wherein the church is founded, conformable to the platform of Geneva. 
 Hooker. 
 
 A Platform of Church Discipline, gathered out of the Word of God, and agreed 
 upon by the elders and messengers of the churches assembled at the synod in Cam- 
 bridge in New England. Title of Book printed in London, 1653. 
 
 2. Of late years the word has got into very common use throughout 
 the country to denote the collection of principles avowed by a political 
 party. 
 
 The people should distrust a bad man, even if put upon the best platform that 
 'ever was constructed, and every plank of which could be stood upon by every Amer- 
 jcan citizen. In like manner they will trust and confide in a man whom they believe 
 to be pure, and honest, and patriotic, and capable, without regard to the platform he 
 stands upon, and without caring, in truth, whether he stands upon one at all. 
 Lynchburg Virginian, Aug. 1858. 
 
 PLATA. (Span.) A beach ; a strand ; a shore. In the plains and deserts 
 of the interior, a broad, level spot, where water accumulates after rains, 
 and which afterwards becomes dry by evaporation. These playas ..are 
 prominent features in the topography of Texas, New Mexico, and Ari- 
 zona. They are also called " salt lakes," from the nitrous efflorescence 
 with which they are often covered when dry ; and which, at a distance, 
 leads the traveller to believe they are basins of water. 
 
 We had a perfectly smooth road to the playa, which at present is a hard, smooth, 
 and apparently level area of about fifteen miles in length, by nearly ten in width, 
 without a particle of vegetation. These playas, in my opinion, have no outlet, and 
 are so nearly level that the rain and drain waters are spread over a large surface ; 
 and there being but little absorption, and very rapid evaporization, it is left smooth 
 and baked. Lieut. Parke's Report of Survey for Pacific R. R. Official Reports, 
 Vol. II. 
 
 Emerging from the pass into the plain, our eyes were greeted with the sight of a 
 long white streak, which we would have taken for a lake, had it not been called the 
 Playas. This playa seemed to have an extent of twenty-five or thirty miles. The 
 surface was an indurated clay, so hard that the wheels of our wagons scarce made 
 an impression. After rain, this basin receives a large amount of water, which seems 
 to evaporate before vegetation gets a foothold. Bartlett's Personal Narrative, Vol. 
 I. p. 246. 
 
 PLAY-ACTOR. A pleonastic expression for the English term player or 
 actor. It is objectionable, because the term actor is itself a technical 
 word which expresses the full meaning conveyed by the compound. 
 
 That which was Shakspeare's specialty, we mean his wonderful dramatic faculty, 
 was not discovered by himself till it became useful to him in his business. For
 
 PLA PLU 827 
 
 Shakspeare's avocation was that of a play-actor, and subsequently, as a successful 
 one, a play-house owner. (Bolt.) Sun, Nov. 12, 1858. 
 
 To PLAT POSSUM. " He 's playing 'possum with you," is a common ex- 
 pression at the South and West, and means that he is deceiving you. 
 The opossum, when attacked by a dog, pretends to be dead, and thus 
 often deceives his pursuers ; hence the expression. 
 
 Thinks I, That girl is jest trying of me : 't aint no use of playing possum ; if I 
 don't fetch her out of that high grass, use me for sausage meat. N. Y. Spirit of 
 the Times. 
 
 I will play possum with these folks, and take a rise out of them that will astonish 
 their weak nerves. S. Slick, Nature and Human Nature, p. 14. 
 
 That are stranger 's only playin' possum, but he can't pull the wool over this 
 child's eyes ; he 's got 'em both skinned. A Stray Yankee in Texas, p. 96. 
 
 PLAZA. (Span.) A public square. A term used in California and other 
 countries recently acquired from the Mexicans. 
 
 PLEAD or PLED, for pleaded. It has been correctly remarked that there 
 is no such word as pled in the English language. It is true that the pre- 
 terite and past participle of the verb to read is pronounced red ; but there 
 is no analogy between the two verbs, except their accidental similarity of 
 sound. The former is the Anglo-Saxon verb rcedan, and is conjugated 
 accordingly ; whereas the latter is the old French plaider, and therefore 
 cannot admit of what philologists call the " strong inflexion." This vul- 
 gar mistake is often met with in our reports of legal proceedings and else- 
 where. But it is not of recent origin, nor is it exclusively American ; as 
 is shown by the following example from Spenser, furnished by Richard- 
 son: 
 
 With him .... came 
 
 Many grave persons that against her pled. 
 
 Spenser, Fairy Queen. 
 
 An old offender was caught last night in a warehouse, with a dark lantern and all 
 the other implements of his profession, and next morning innocently plead " som- 
 nambulism," when brought before the magistrate having no recollection of the 
 doings of the night since he went to bed, early in the evening, and found himself iu 
 the watch-house in the morning. New York Paper. 
 
 PLEURISY ROOT. (Asclepias tuber osa.) A root which is expectorant 
 and diaphoretic, as well as a mild tonic and stimulant. 
 
 PLUG. 1. Applied by dentists to a filling of gold or other material in- 
 serted in a tooth. 
 
 2. A stick of tobacco. 
 
 PLUG UGLY. A term assumed by a gang of rowdies in Baltimore. It 
 originally belonged to certain fire companies.
 
 328 PLU POA 
 
 PLUMB, often written PLUM. Directly, exactly. South-western. In Eng- 
 lish colloquial language both plump and plumb (or plum) are used in this 
 sense. 
 
 I tole the boys if they 'd come with me, I 'd show them one of the most owdacious 
 big rattlesnakes they 'd ever seen, what I 'd jest kilt. Abel said he was the man 
 what could pack him plum home without taking a long breath. N. Y. Spirit of the 
 Times. 
 
 I levelled my rifle at the bear, and shot him plumb through the heart. Western 
 Sketches. 
 
 He came up and looked me right plum in the face, as savage as a meat-axe, and 
 says he, " Give us your paw." Southern Sketches, p. 32. 
 
 The ninth day come, and we struck a streak of good luck a horse give out and 
 broke down plumb in the centre of an open prairie. G. W. Kendall, Story of Bill 
 Dean. 
 
 The original signification of this word is, as the plummet hangs, per- 
 pendicular to the horizon, straight down ; and hence its secondary mean- 
 ing of straightforward, directly. Both uses are well illustrated in the 
 following examples. This term, which many suppose an original West- 
 ernism, is found in several English writers. Thus Milton says : 
 
 He meets 
 
 A vast vacuity, all unawares, 
 Fluttering his pennons vain, plumb down he falls. 
 
 Paradise Lost. 
 
 Never was there a more sensible blunder than the following. We recommend it 
 as a motto to gentlemen in the army. " The best way," said Sir Boyle, " to avoid 
 danger, is to meet it plumb." Barrington, Sketches. 
 
 PLUMB-CENTRE. Directly at the centre, in shooting at a mark. "Western. 
 
 We 'd been a watchin' 'em all day, for we knowd thar war somethin' ugly afoot. 
 We seed 'em both fire acrost the gleed, an' right plum centre at young Eandolph. 
 Capt. Mayne Reed, Osceola, p. 415. 
 
 PLUNDER. Personal luggage, baggage of travellers, goods, furniture, 
 effects. A very common word throughout the Southern and Western 
 States, corresponding to the Norman French butin (booty, goods), which 
 is used in Canada for baggage. 
 
 When we got loaded up, I was afraid old Bosen was going to have more 'n his 
 match to pull us, they 'd put in so much plunder. Two trunks, band-boxes, etc. 
 Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 165. 
 
 " Help yourself, stranger," added the landlord, " while I tote your plunder into 
 the other room." Hoffman, Winter in the West, Let. 33. 
 
 The steamboat gun, you know, is the signal to tell us when to look after our 
 plunder. Simms, Wigwam and Cabin. 
 
 To POACH. To tread soft ground, or snow and water, as cattle, whose feet 
 penetrate the soil or soft substance and leave deep tracks. New Eng- 
 land.
 
 POC POK 329 
 
 POCOSON or POQUOSOX. Low wooded grounds or swamps in Eastern 
 Maryland and Virginia, mostly dry in summer and covered with water 
 in winter. They are covered with white oak and other timber. They 
 are sometimes distinguished as white oak or cypress pocosons. 
 
 We rowed up an arm of the sound, where we were stopped by a miry pocason, 
 through which we were obliged to draggle on foot, up to our knees in mud. Byrd, 
 Hist, of the Dividing Line, p. 15. 
 
 POCKET-BOOK DROPPER. A mode of deception practised by city sharp- 
 ers on country flats, at steamboat landings and other places where there 
 is a bustle, is for one of the rogues to drop a pocket-book well filled with 
 worthless bank-notes. This his confederate picks up and opens directly 
 in sight of the victim. He regrets that he has not time to search out the 
 owner, who will be sure to give a handsome reward, and offers to surren- 
 der the prize to his rural friend for say ten dollars. All ends as in the 
 " Patent Safe Game," which see. 
 
 No man, boy, or greenhorn was ever yet victimized by the Pocket-book Droppers, 
 the Thimble Riggers, or the Patent Safe men, who did n't have so strong a spice of 
 the scamp in his own composition, as to think he was coming a sure and profitable 
 swindle upon some one not up to his own level of sharpness and treachery. Tricks 
 and Traps of New York City, p. 24. 
 
 POCKET-BOOK DROPPING. The species of knavery described in the pre- 
 ceding article. 
 
 Pocket-book Dropping may almost be considered as one of the by-gones ; it being 
 very seldom attempted except in cases of very aggravated verdancy on the part of 
 the victim. Tricks and Traps of New York City, p. 24. 
 
 POHAGEN, or PAUHAGEN. 1. A species of sea-fish. See Menhaden. 
 
 2. The term is also applied to a kind of paste-bait for mackerel, etc., 
 made of damaged and frequently putrid fish, chopped or ground in a cut- 
 ting mill. 
 
 POKE. 1. A bag. I have heard this old word used by some persons here 
 in the compound term cream-poke ; that is, a small bag through which 
 cream is strained. Pickering. 
 
 2. In New England, a machine to prevent unruly beasts from leaping 
 fences, consisting of a yoke with a pole inserted pointing forward. 
 Webster. 
 
 3. A lazy person, a dawdle; as, " What a slow poke you are!" A 
 woman's word. 
 
 4. Or POKE-WEED. (Pliytolacca decandra.) A common plant, known 
 also by the names of Garget, Cocum, Jalap, etc. It is a violent emetic. 
 
 POKE-BERRY. The berry of the Pliytolacca, from which a rich purple 
 juice is extracted, and used as a dye. It is a favorite food for tame mock- 
 ing birds. 
 
 28*
 
 330 P K 
 
 To POKE. To put a poke on ; as, to poke an ox. Webster. 
 
 To POKE FUN. To joke ; to make fun. To poke fun at, is to ridicule, 
 make a butt of one. Colloquial in England and America. 
 fie ! Mister Noakes, for shame, Mr. Noakes ! 
 To be poking jour fun at us plain-dealing folks. 
 Sir, this is n't a time to be cracking your jokes, 
 And such jesting your malice but scurvily cloaks, 
 And we know very well your story 's a hoax ! 
 
 Ingoldsby Legends, Vol. I. p. 280. 
 
 I thought you was pokin' fun at me ; for I am a poor ignorant farmer, and these 
 people are always making game of me. Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 124. 
 
 The widow admonished Nimrod, and said, " You had better not be pokin' your 
 fun about." Margaret, p. 49. 
 
 Jeames, if you don't be quit poking fun at me, I'll break your mouth, as sure as 
 you sit there. Neal's Charcoal Sketches. 
 
 How streaked a captain feels when he sees a steamboat a clippin' it by him like 
 mad, and the folks on board pokin' fun at him, and askin' him if he has any word 
 to send home ! Sam Slick. 
 
 POKE-BONNET. A long, straight bonnet, much worn by Quakers and 
 Methodists. 
 
 POKE-LOKEN. An Indian word, used by hunters and lumbermen in Maine, 
 to denote a marshy place- or stagnant pool, extending into the land from 
 a stream or lake. 
 
 The wild fowl are amazing fond of pokelokens. Sam Slick. 
 Crocodiles can cry when they are hungry ; but when they do, it 's time to vamose 
 the pokelokens. Id. Human Nature, p. 331. 
 
 POKER. 1. (Dan. poJcker, Welsh, pwca, a hobgoblin.) Any frightful 
 object, especially in the dark ; a bugbear. A word in common use in 
 America. Webster. 
 
 2. A favorite game of cards among Western gamblers. 
 
 At a court in , Kentucky, the case of Smith vs. Brown was called up. 
 
 " Who 's for the plaintiff"? " inquired the judge, impatiently. 
 
 "May it please the court," said a rising member of the legal fraternity, "Pilkins 
 is for the plaintiff"; but I left him just now over in the tavern playing a game of 
 poker. He 's got a ' sucker ' there, and he is sure to skin him if he only has time. 
 He 's got the thing all set to ring a ' cold deck,' in which case he '11 deal for himself 
 four aces and his opponent four queens ; so that your honor will perceive he must 
 ' rake the persimmons.' " 
 
 " Dear me ! " said the judge, with a sigh, that 'a too bad ! It happens at a very 
 unfortunate time ; I am very anxious to get on with these cases." 
 
 A brown study followed, and at length a happy idea struck the judge. 
 
 " Bill," said he, addressing the friend of the absent Pilkins, who had spoken, " you 
 understand poker about as well as Pilkins. Suppose you go over and play his hand." 
 Western paper.
 
 POK PON 331 
 
 POKERISH. Frightful ; causing fear, especially to children. A childish or 
 colloquial word. Worcester. 
 
 A. curious old convent [in Naples] with chapels above and below a pokerish 
 looking place, fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. N. Y. Literary World, Aug. 
 
 1847. 
 
 POKY. Dull, stupid. 
 
 That 's the way we girls studied at school except a few pokey ones, who wanted 
 to be learned. Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. I. p. 138. 
 
 A pokey old house like ours. Miss Fullerton, Grantley Manor. 
 
 POLITICAL CAPITAL. Political stock in trade, means of political advance- 
 ment. 
 
 All who feel an interest in the peace of the country, and who are not disposed to 
 turn every thing into political capital, must feel rejoiced over the result in Kansas. 
 New York Times, Oct. 14, 1857. 
 
 To POLITIC ATE. To make a trade of politics. 
 
 He [Senator Hunter] proposes to put all new clerks into the lower offices, and to 
 promote them for services rendered and for efficiency. Nobody can doubt that this 
 is a most admirable plan. It would stop the quadrennial rush to Washington, and 
 make many a citizen quit politicating and turn to hard work. Richmond Whig, 
 July, 1858. 
 
 POMME BLANCHE. (Psoralea esculenta.) A native of the prairies and 
 mountains, oval-shaped and about three and a half inches in circumfer- 
 ence. It is encased in a thin fibrous tegument, which, when removed, 
 exposes a white pulpy substance, and in taste resembles a turnip. Called 
 also Pomme de Prairie and Indian Turnip. 
 
 POMPION BERRY. Another name for the fruit of Celtis occidentalis. See 
 Hackberry. 
 
 POND. We give this name to collections of water in the interior country, 
 which are fed by springs, and from which issues a small stream. These 
 ponds are often a mile or two or even more in length, and the current 
 issuing from them is used to drive the wheels of mills and furnaces. 
 Webster. 
 
 There were streams meandering among hills and valleys ; little lakes or ponds, as 
 they were erroneously called in the language of the country, dotted the surface. 
 Cooper, Satanstoe, Vol. I. p. 144. 
 
 PONE. Bread made of the meal of Indian corn, with the addition of eggs 
 and milk. Southern. William Penn in his account of Pennsylvania, 
 published in 1683, says pone was the Indian name for bread. 
 
 In a poetical work called the " Sot-weed Factor, or a voyage to Mary- 
 land, London, 1708," the author thus describes the tables of the planters.
 
 332 PON POP 
 
 While pone and milk, with mush well stored, 
 In wooden dishes graced the board ; 
 With homine and cyder pap 
 Which scarce a hungry dog would lap. 
 
 We all clustered around the fire, the landlady alone passing through our semi- 
 circle, as she prepared the pone and fry, and coffee for supper. Olmsted's Texas. 
 
 PONY-PURSE. A subscription collected upon the spot, or from a few per- 
 sons. 
 
 To PONT UP. A vulgar phrase, meaning to pay over money. Ex. " Come, 
 Mr. Brown, pony up that account ; " that is, pay over the money. Grose 
 gives a phrase similar to it : " Post the pony," i. e. lay down the money. 
 
 It was my job to pay all the bills. " Salix, pony up at the bar, and lend us a 
 levy." J. C.Ned, Sketches. 
 
 POOR DOE. Among the Texan hunters the term poor doe is applied, 
 regardless of gender, to any deer that may happen to be lean. G. W. 
 Kendall. 
 
 In less time than it takes us to record it, the veteran hunter had cut a shoulder 
 and some of the more delicate and eatable portions from the deer ; and then, rolling 
 the remainder and larger portion out of the way with his foot, remarked that it was 
 but "poor doe." I told him that it was no doe at all, but a young buck I could 
 not say much as to its fatness. He gave another half-laugh, etc. Kendall's Santa 
 F(?Exped.,Vol.I.p.35. 
 
 POOQUAW. (Narraganset Ind., poquawhock.) The round clam, so called 
 in Nantucket. In other parts of New England it is shortened to Qua- 
 haug. 
 
 The Poquauhock is a little thick shell-fish which the Indians wade deepe and dive 
 for; and after they have eaten the meat there (in those which are good), they breake 
 out of the shell about halfe an inch of a blacke part of it, of which they make their 
 Suckauhock, or black money, which is to them pretious. Roger Williams, in R. L 
 Hist. Coll., Vol. I. pp. 104, 130. 
 
 POOR FOLKSY. Like, or after the fashion of, poor people. Southern. 
 
 POOR WHITE FOLKS. A term applied by the blacks to the poor white 
 population of the South, also called the Mean Whites. A common and 
 still more contemptuous appellation is Poor White Trash. See White 
 Trash. 
 
 POOR WHITE FOLKSY. Like or after the fashion of -the Poor White 
 Folks. Southern. 
 
 As for making up my mind to like my new master, you may preach till your hair 
 turns grey and I wont do it. For all his shiny boots and spick-span broadcloth, 
 he looks dreadful poor-white-folksy to me. The Hidden Path. 
 
 To POP CORN. To parch or roast Indian corn until it " pops " open. The
 
 POP FOR 333 
 
 corn is laid over the fire on a shovel or wire gauze made for the purpose, 
 until it bursts, when it curls up, swells to treble its size, and exposes its 
 
 white interior. 
 
 One autumn night when the wind was high, 
 
 And the rain fell in heavy plashes, 
 A little boy sat by the kitchen fire, 
 
 A popping corn in the ashes. 
 And his sister, a curly-haired child of three, 
 Sat looking on just close to his knee. 
 
 Pop, pop ! and the kernels one by one, 
 
 Came out of the embers flying j 
 The boy held a long pine stick in his hand, 
 
 And kept it busily plying. 
 He stirred the corn and it snapped the more, 
 
 And faster jumped to the clean white floor. Anonymous. 
 
 POP-CORN. A kind of Indian corn which easily " pops " or bursts open, 
 when roasted in the manner above described. It is of a dark color, and 
 has small grains. 
 
 POP-EYED. Having prominent eyes. Southern. 
 POPLAR. See Tulip Tree. 
 
 POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY. The rule of the people, the right of the people 
 to form the constitution under which they are to live. 
 
 He [Senator Douglas] has only vindicated the South's doctrine against the 
 impending success of a dishonest attempt to secure for the South the supposed 
 benefit of the doctrine of popular sovereignty. Richmond Examiner, July, 1858. 
 
 PORGY, or PAUGIE. (Pron. with the g hard.) A fish of the sparus fam- 
 ily, common in the waters of New England and New York. Roger 
 Williams mentions it in his Key to the Indian Language (1643). It is 
 singular that one half the aboriginal name, scup, should be retained for 
 this fish hi Rhode Island, and the other half, paug, changed into paugie 
 or porgy, in New York. The entire Indian name, however, is stih 1 com- 
 mon in many parts of New England. See Scuppaug. 
 
 Daniel Webster, who, it is well known, was a zealous disciple of Wal- 
 ton's, in writing to his friend Mr. Blatchford, from Wood's Hole, says : 
 
 In the afternoon, I went out in the boat and caught some fish, namely, tautog 
 and scuppog, the same I suppose, as are called porgy in New York. Private Cor- 
 respondence, Vol. II. p. 33. 
 
 PORTAGE. A carrying-place over land between navigable waters, or along 
 the banks of rivers, round water-falls or rapids, etc. Pickering. This 
 word has been adopted by geographers, and is universal throughout North 
 America. The Portage Railroad in Pennsylvania is a line over the 
 Alleghany mountains connecting two lines of canal.
 
 834 FOR POS 
 
 PORTAAL. (Dutch.) A portal, lobby. Used by people of Dutch descent, 
 in New Jersey and New York, for a small passage or entry of a house. 
 The principal entrance they call the gang ; also Dutch. 
 
 POSITION. " Defining one's position " is a political practice of modern days, 
 generally resorted to either by gentlemen who have no other good chance 
 or prospect of bringing themselves to the special notice of the public, as 
 a sort of advertisement that they are in the market, or by other gentle- 
 men who contemplate making a dodge from one side in politics to the 
 other. It is done either orally or in writing ; by a speech in Congress or 
 at some public meeting ; or by a long letter, published in some news- 
 paper, the editor of which is always glad of something to fill his columns. 
 The highest art in " defining one's position " is to leave it more indefinite 
 than it was before, so that any future contingency may be taken advan- 
 tage of. [J. Inman.~] 
 
 The Barnburners' Mass Meeting, to wow-respond to the nominations of Cass and 
 Butler, will take place in the Park at five this afternoon, and be addressed by John 
 Van Buren, B. F. Butler, Sedgwick, Field, Gen. Nye, etc., etc. We regret that 
 unavoidable absence at Philadelphia will deprive us of the pleasure of hearing these 
 gentlemen " define their position" especially Prince John, who has the reputation of 
 being the most straightforward, plain-spoken, flat-footed 'Burner in the country. 
 N. Y. Tribune, June 6, 1848. 
 
 POSSUM. A common contraction of Opossum, as in the negro's eloquent 
 appeal to his mistress : 
 
 Possum up a gum tree, cooney in de holler ; 
 
 Come along wid me, my dear, I '11 gib you quarter dollar. 
 
 To POSSUM. To feign, dissemble. An expression alluding to the habit 
 of the opossum, which throws itself on its back and feigns death on the 
 approach of an enemy. This is also and more commonly called playing 
 possum. 
 
 In the common parlance of the country, any one who counterfeits sickness, or 
 dissembles strongly for a particular purpose, is said to be possuming. Flint's Geogr. 
 of Mississippi Valley, p. 67. 
 
 To POST. To post or post up a person is to bring his knowledge up to 
 date, to make him acquainted with recent occurrences ; so that a person 
 well posted is one who is well informed. The phrase is borrowed from 
 the counting-house. 
 
 Mrs. Fudge has kept a close eye upon equipages, hats, cloaks, habits, churches, 
 different schemes of faith and of summer recreation. She is well posted up in all 
 these matters. Ik. Marvel, Fudge Doings. 
 
 POST-NOTE. In commerce, a bank-note intended to be transmitted* to a 
 distant place by mail, and made payable to order. In this it differs from 
 a common bank-note, which is payable to bearer. Webster.
 
 POT POW 335 
 
 Post-notes differ in other respects from bank-notes. The latter are 
 payable on demand ; the former are often drawn on time, with or without 
 interest, sometimes six or twelve months after date. This species of 
 currency was resorted to by many banks during the great commercial 
 revulsions in 1836-7, and contributed greatly to the expansion of credits 
 which proved so disastrous to the country. 
 
 POTATO GRANT. A patch of land for growing vegetables formerly 
 granted by the owner to each of his slaves. West Indies. 
 
 POTASH KETTLES. A term applied in the "West to roundish elevations 
 and depressions in the earth near the great lakes. They are attributed 
 to the decay and washing away of the soft and easily decomposed lime- 
 stone by which the ridges where they are found are probably underlaid. 
 
 POT-HOLE. In many parts of the country are found circular holes of 
 various diameters and depths formed by the action of water in rolling a 
 small boulder in what was at first a natural depression of the rock. It 
 is a common notion in the West that these were made by the Indians to 
 pound corn in, whence they are often called " Indian mortars." 
 
 Every little torrent has its furrowed channel, and often its deep pot-holes, as a 
 result of the action of the water ; and it would be most strange if the great flood of 
 Niagara should rush on its course for ages and produce no appreciable effect. R. 
 Bakewell, in Sill. Journ. Vol. XXIII. p. 86. 
 
 POT-PIE. A pie made by spreading the crust over the bottom and sides 
 of a pot, and filling up the inside with meat, i. e. beef, veal, mutton, or 
 fowls. 
 
 An enormous pot-pie, and piping hot, graced our centre, overpowering, with its 
 fragrance and steam, the odors and vapors of all other meats ; and pot-pie was the 
 wedding dish of the country, par excellence! The pie to-day was the doughy 
 sepulchre of at least six hens, two chanticleers, and four pullets ! What pot could 
 have contained the pie is inconceivable. Why, among other unknown contributions, 
 it must have received one half peck of onions ! And yet it is to be feared that many 
 would be pot-pieless. Carlton, The New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 181. 
 
 POT-WALLOPER. A scullion. 
 
 POT- WRESTLER. A scullion. Pennsylvania. 
 
 POTTY-BAKER. (Dutch, pottebakker.) A potter. This Dutch word is 
 still common in New York. Potter's clay is there called potty-laker's 
 clay. 
 
 POWER. A large quantity ; a great- number. In low language ; as, " a 
 power of good things." Johnson. Little used in this country, except 
 by the Irish. 
 
 He, to work him the more mischief, sent over his brother Edward, with a power 
 of Scots and Redshanks, into Ireland, where they got footing. Spenser on Ireland.
 
 336 POW 
 
 I think the Post-Office Committees will do a power of good, if they can stir up 
 the old contracts and extras. Crockett, Tour, p. 118. 
 He made a, power of money. Ibid. p. 59. 
 
 POWER AND CERTIFICATE. During the time the books of a company are 
 closed for the payment of a dividend, for an election, or for any purpose, 
 there can be no transfer of stock, or the issue of a new certificate. Most 
 of the sales of stock made during the closing of the books are deliverable 
 on the opening ; all contracts, whether buyer's or seller's option, that ma- 
 ture during the same time, are carried forward to the opening ; but occa- 
 sionally a sale is made where the buyer requires immediate delivery. In 
 that case the old certificate is delivered, with a power of attorney attached, 
 for the transfer on or after the opening of the books. These transactions 
 are reported in the stock-list, with the letters p and c, which means power 
 and certificate. Sales for cash, made during the closing of the books, not 
 marked p and c, are for the opening of the books, and are marked opg. 
 Hunt's Merchants' Mag. Vol. XXXYII. 
 
 POWERFUL. Great; very, exceedingly. A vulgar use of the word in 
 some parts of the country. 
 
 This piano was sort o' fiddle like only bigger, and with a powerful heap of 
 wire strings. It is called a forty piano, because it plays forty tunes. Carlton's New 
 Purchase, Vol. II. p. 8. 
 
 Yes, Mr. Speaker, I 'd a powerful sight sooner go into retiracy among the red, 
 wild aborigines of our wooden country, nor consent to that bill. Carlton, The New 
 Purchase, Vol. I. p. 74. 
 
 It may be said generally of husbands, as the old woman said of hers, who had 
 abused her, to an old maid, who reproached her for being such a fool as to marry 
 him : " To be sure, he 's not so good a husband as he should be, but he 's a power- 
 ful sight better than none." N. Y. Sunday Dispatch. 
 
 Mrs. S. Hoarhound and sugar 's amazin' good. 
 Mrs. B. Mighty good, mighty good. 
 
 Mrs. R. Powerful good. I take mightily to a sweat of sugar tea in desperate 
 bad colds. Georgia Scenes, p. 193. 
 
 I hated powerful bad to part with the horse. Simms, Wigwam and Cabin, p. 85. 
 
 " John," says father, when I was leavin', " you 've been out in the world, seen the 
 sights, and have got to be considdeble smart ; now, John, look out for your brother, 
 he 's so powerful green, 'taint safe for him to come near the cows, for fear they 
 might eat him." N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 Pow-wow. (Abenaki Ind.) This is the name given by the early chron- 
 iclers to the feasts, dances, and other public doings of the red men, pre- 
 liminary to a grand hunt, a council, a war expedition, or the like. It 
 has been adopted in political talk, to signify any uproarious meeting for a 
 political purpose, at which there is more noise than deliberation, more 
 clamor than counsel. \_J. Inman.~\
 
 POW PEA 337 
 
 
 
 A murder was recently committed upon a Sioux by two Chippewas. The body 
 of the murdered Indian was taken to the fort, where a most terrific pow-wow was 
 held over it by the friends of the deceased, three hundred in number. Western 
 Newspaper. 
 
 As I live, the savages scent the whiskey ! There is a rush towards, and a pow- 
 wow in and about the shed. Cooper,. Oak Openings. 
 
 I was in Philadelphia when the Know Nothings were holding their grand national 
 pow-wow there, and laying it on thick that " Americans shall rule America." Letter 
 in N. Y. Herald, June 22, 1855. 
 
 The students are forbidden to occupy the State House steps on the evening of pre- 
 sentation day ; since the faculty design hereafter to have a pow-wow there, as on the 
 last. Burlesque Catalogue, Yale College, 1852-53. 
 
 To Pow-wow. To perform a ceremony with conjurations for the cure of 
 diseases and other purposes, with noise and confusion. 
 
 At a distance, with my Bible in my hand, I was resolved if possible to spoil their 
 [the Indians'] spirit of pow-wowing, and prevent their receiving an answer from the 
 infernal world. Brainerd, Indian Narrative, 1745. 
 
 The Angekok of the Esquimaux the prophet, as he is called among our Indians 
 is the general counsellor. He prescribes or pow-wows in sickness and over 
 wounds, directs the policy of the little State, and is really the power behind the 
 throne. Kane, Arctic Explorations, Vol. II. p. 118. 
 
 PRAIRIE. (French.) An extensive tract of land, mostly level, destitute 
 of trees, and covered with tall, coarse grass. These prairies are numer- 
 ous in the United States west of the Alleghany Mountains, especially 
 between the Ohio, Mississippi, and the great lakes. Webster. See also 
 Rolling Prairie, Salt Prairie, and Soda Prairie. 
 
 These are the gardens of the desert, these 
 
 The unshorn fields, boundless and beautiful, 
 
 For which the speech of England has no name 
 
 The Prairies. Bryant, The Prairies. 
 
 PRAIRIE BITTERS. A beverage common among the hunters and moun- 
 taineers. It is made with a pint of water and a quarter of a gill of buf- 
 falo gall, and is considered an excellent medicine. Scenes in the Rocky 
 Mountains, p. 133. 
 
 PRAIRIE DOG. {Cynomys ludovicianus.) A variety of the marmot. It 
 has received the name of Prairie-dog from a supposed similarity between 
 its warning cry and the barking of a small dog. They live in large 
 communities ; their villages, as they are termed by the hunters, sometimes 
 being many miles in extent. The entrance to each burrow is at the 
 summit of the mound of earth thrown up during the progress of the ex- 
 cavation below. This marmot, like the rest of the species, becomes tor- 
 pid during the winter, and, to protect ifself against the rigor of the season, 
 stops the mouth of its hole, and constructs a cell at the bottom of it, where 
 it remains without injury. Encycl. Americana. 
 
 29
 
 338 PEA 
 
 PRAIRIE-HEN. (Tetrao pratensis.) A bird seen in great flocks in the 
 prairies of Missouri and Illinois, in the autumn. It is rather larger than 
 the domestic hen. In flight it appears like the pheasant and partridge, 
 and is a beautiful bird. Flint's Mississippi Valley. It is also called 
 Heath-hen and Pinnated Grouse. 
 
 We saw great flights of prairie-hens, or grouse, that hovered from tree to tree, or 
 sat in rows on naked branches. Irving's Tour on the Prairies. 
 
 PRAIRIE-SQUIRRELS. (Genus, Spermophilus.) These are with great pro- 
 priety called " Prairie-Squirrels ; " for their true home is on the prairie, 
 where they replace the " arboreal " squirrels, from which they differ in 
 organization, to suit their necessarily different mode of life. While the 
 true squirrels are designed to live in trees, and to subsist upon their 
 fruits, the spermophiles are fitted to inhabit the grassy plains which cover 
 much of the western part of our Union, their food being the prairie 
 plants with their roots and seeds. The form of these squirrels is adapted 
 only to locomotion on the ground. The body is thick and heavy, with 
 short legs ; and in place of the long toes and sharp, hooked nails by 
 which the arboreal squirrels cling to the trees so readily, they have 
 shorter toes, with longer and straighter nails, for digging burrows in the 
 earth. The long, flexible, and bushy tails, which aid the squirrels in 
 their bold leaps, and keep them warm in their holes in winter, would here 
 be useless, and soon worn ragged by dragging through their burrows. 
 The spermophiles, therefore, have smaller tails, that are carried straight 
 behind them. They have cheek-pouches in which to carry food ; and 
 two species, at least, convey roots, seeds, etc., to their burrows to be eaten. 
 J?. Kennicott. 
 
 PRAIRIE-STATE. The State of Illinois. 
 
 PRAIRIE-WOLF. (Oanis latrans.) The small wolf of the prairies, the 
 Coyote of the Mexicans. Its range extends from Fort Riley, Kansas, to 
 the Pacific, and from the Upper Missouri to the Rio Grande of Texas. 
 
 The prairie-wolf 
 
 Hunts in their meadows, and his fresh dug den 
 Yawns by my path. Bryant. 
 
 PRAIRILLON. A small prairie. 
 
 Interspersed among the hills are frequent openings and prairillons of rich soil and 
 luxuriant vegetation. Scenes in the Rocky Mountains, p. 172. 
 
 PEAWCHEY. (Dutch, praatje.) A talk, gossip. New York. 
 PRAYERFUL. Using prayer ; praying ; devout. Worcester. 
 
 PRAYERFULLY. Devoutly. Ex. "We may be prayerfully disposed." 
 Used by some of the clergy. Pickering.
 
 PR A PEE 339 
 
 PRAYERFULNESS. The use of much prayer. Webster. 
 PRAYERLESSNESS. Total or habitual neglect of prayer. Webster. 
 To PREACH A FUNERAL. To preach a funeral sermon. Western. 
 
 PRECINCT. A subdivision of a county or city within which a single poll is 
 held at elections. 
 
 In case of non-acceptance [of the collector], the parish or precinct shall proceed 
 to a new choice. Laws of Massachusetts. 
 
 In Franklin Co., Kansas, they had no county commissioner whose duty it is to 
 appoint voting precincts besides the county seat. New York Times, Oct. 9, 1857. 
 
 To PREDICATE ON or UPON. To found a proposition, argument, etc., on 
 some basis or data. This sense of the word, said to be purely American, 
 is not noticed by Dr. Webster or the English lexicographers. " Its use," 
 as Mr. Pickering observes, " is very common with American writers, and 
 in the debates of our legislative assemblies." 
 
 It ought surely to be predicated upon a full and impartial consideration of the 
 whole subject. Letter of John Qjaincy Adams. 
 
 The great State papers of American liberty were all predicated on the abuse of 
 chartered, not of absolute, rights. Gibbs, Adminis. of Washington and J. Adams, 
 Vol. I. p. 3. 
 
 To PRE-EMPT. To secure land, by being the first settler or occupant of it, 
 in oonformity with the preemption law. 
 
 The following account of the process of preempting lands is from the 
 National Intelligencer, Washington, July 1, 1857 : 
 
 The laws of the United States give the right to any citizen who does not own 
 three hundred and twenty acres of land in any State of the Union (and to this he is 
 required to make oath) to preempt one hundred and sixty acres, by fulfilling the 
 detailed requirements of the act. These requirements are, that he shall file his in- 
 tention in the. land-office to enter upon and improve the land, either by cultivating it 
 or erecting thereon a home, and residing upon the land long enough to make it his 
 residence ; which time is variously estimated to mean one or five days, just as the 
 Receiver at any land-office may decide. To the fact that he has so resided and 
 made said improvements he must produce a witness, who testifies that such and 
 such things have been done, and that the preemptor has resided the required time in 
 the house on the land. Upon fulfilling all these requirements and paying one dollar 
 and a quarter per acre, either in gold or a land warrant, and the fees, he receives a 
 certificate of title. A duplicate of this is sent to the Secretary of the Interior at 
 "Washington, who, after having searched the records, and finding that the individual 
 has not preempted before, issues a patent direct to him, and he becomes the owner of 
 his farm by title direct from the government. 
 
 Isaac Lawrence, of New York, a negro, addressed Governor Marcy a 
 note, inquiring if he could preempt government lands in Minnesota, the 
 same as white persons could. The letter was referred to Secretary Mc- 
 Clelland, who in reply said :
 
 340 PEE 
 
 I have to state that there is nothing in the laws of the United States which would 
 prevent you, as a free man of African descent, from settling upon public land in the 
 territory of Minnesota, and acquiring a right of preemption. 
 
 PRE-EMPTION RIGHT. The right or title which an original settler or 
 squatter has to become the first purchaser of unsurveyed government 
 land, of which he has taken possession. To maintain this right, he must 
 have erected a habitation, or taken some steps towards the cultivation of 
 the land. This term has long been in use, as Imlay, in his work on the 
 Western Territory, published in 1797, says : 
 
 The settlement began to form in 1780, and was encouraged by settlements and 
 preemption rights. p. 14. 
 
 Among the public acts of Congress is one entitled, 
 
 " An act to appropriate the proceeds of the public lands and to grant preemption 
 rights." 
 
 PREHAPS, for perhaps, is much used at the West in familiar language, when 
 additional force is to be given to the word. It originated in a jocose mis- 
 pronunciation, which appears to be becoming a fixed corruption. 
 
 Prehaps Parson Hyme did n't put it into Pokerville for two mortal hours ; and 
 prehaps Pokerville did n't mizzle, wince, and finally flummix right beneath him ! 
 Field, Drama in Pokerville. 
 
 PRESENT. This word is put on the back of letters to persons residing in 
 the place where they are written, and which are not to be sent through 
 the mail. Peculiar to the United States. The Spanish equivalent, pre- 
 sente, is also used in Central America. 
 
 PRESIDENCY. 1. The office of president. " Washington was elected to 
 the presidency of the United States by a unanimous vote of the electors." 
 2. The term during which a president holds his office. " President 
 John Adams died during the presidency of his son." Webster. 
 
 PRESIDENT. 1. The chief magistrate of the United States. 
 
 The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of Ame- 
 rica. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, etc. Constitution of the 
 U. States. 
 
 2. The chief officer of a college or university. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL. Pertaining to a president. Webster. In this sense the 
 word is an Americanism. It is of course very common and indispensable 
 with us, and is sometimes used by English writers in treating of Ameri- 
 can affairs. 
 
 The friends of Washington had determined to support Mr. Adams as candidate 
 for the presidential chair. Quarterly Rev., Vol. X. p. 497.
 
 PRE 341 
 
 PRESIDIO. (Span.) A military post on the Mexican frontier. Many of 
 these places are now within the United States, and still retain the old 
 Spanish name. Sometimes the term is applied to a fortress, at others to 
 the entire village that surrounds it. 
 
 The viceroy of Mexico sent the gallant Onate to New Mexico, to take formal pos- 
 session of the country, and to establish colonies, missions, and presidios. Wislize- 
 nus, Northern Mexico, 1848. 
 
 PRETTY CONSIDERABLE. 1. Of some consequence, tolerable, passable, 
 middling. Used in this sense in England as well as America. 
 
 To the faculty of law was joined a pretty considerable proportion of the faculty of 
 medicine. Burke, Reflections on the French Rev. 
 
 But you seem to have something pretty considerable in the right pocket of your 
 trowsers ; what may it be ? Why, that 's a wee bit pewter whiskey-flask, yer honor. 
 Scrape's Deer Stalking, 74. 
 
 I went to the theatre in Boston, where the acting was pretty considerable, consider- 
 ing. Crockett's Tour, p. 87. 
 
 2. Tolerably, passably, middlingly. 
 
 Dear Col. Crockett, I have heard of you a great deal lately, and read consider- 
 able of your writings ; and I feel pretty considerable well acquainted with you. Maj. 
 Downing, Letter to Crockett, Tour, p. 217. 
 
 There are some folks who think a good deal, and say but little, and they are wise 
 folks ; and there are others again who blurt out whatever comes uppermost, and I 
 guess they are pretty considerable superfine fools. Sam Slick. 
 
 I went into the business of pepper-pot smoking, and went ahead pretty considerable 
 for a time ; but a parcel of fellows came into it, said my cats was n't as good as 
 their'n, when I know'd they was as fresh as any cats in the market, and pepper-pot 
 was no go. J. C. Neal, Sketches. 
 
 PRETTY. Any thing pretty ; an ornament, toy, picture. Western. 
 
 Thinks I, this is all talk and no cider ; and I asked if any lady or gentleman 
 wanted a picture. A dead silence ensued ; then a titter. At length one of the 
 chaps said to his sweetheart : 
 
 " Betty, suppose you have your pretty taken." " Daguerreotyping," Ev. ( Wash.) 
 Star. 
 
 PRETTY MIDDLING. Tolerably well. 
 
 When we came to the steep, sandy side of the mountain [Hecla], it would be safe 
 to believe that we went down pretty middling. P. Miles, Rambles in Iceland, p. 78. 
 
 PREVENTATIVE. A corruption sometimes met with for preventive, both in 
 England and America. 
 
 A cry was raised for the establishment of a preventative armed police ; but the 
 madness of such a proposal could not Ipng escape observation. Edinb. Annual 
 Reg. Vol. V. p. 99. 
 
 Confidence in the press, and a belief in its statements concerning this cholera, are 
 the most powerful preventatives of panic. N. Y. Express, Aug. 6, 1849. 
 
 29*
 
 342 PHI PRO 
 
 PRICKLY HEAT. A cutaneous eruption or rash which appears during the 
 excessive heat of summer. 
 
 PRICKLY PEAR. ( Opuntia vulgaris.) A sort of flat jointed cactus, which 
 is found in sandy fields and about dry rocks, from Massachusetts south- 
 ward, usually near the coast. 
 
 PRIME. In a first-rate manner ; primely. This is one of the many Eng- 
 lish adjectives which, in our vulgar language, are transformed into 
 adverbs. 
 
 After a little practice with my gun, she came up to the eye prime, and I deter- 
 mined to try her at the first shooting-match. Crockett, Tour, p. 175. 
 
 PRIMING. As the priming bears but a small proportion to the charge of a 
 gun, so this word is used in the West to denote any thing trivial, like the 
 word circumstance ; as, " Your corn crop ain't & priming to mine," i. e. is 
 very small in comparison with it. 
 
 Stranger, you may say what you please about your anacondy sarpent of Ceylon, 
 in South America ; and your rael Bengali tiger from Africa ; both on 'em, heated to 
 a white heat and welded into one, would be no part of a priming to a grizzly bear of 
 the Rocky Mountains. Crockett's Adventures with a Grizzly Bear. 
 
 PRIMINARY. A predicament; difficulty. Used in the Southern States. 
 
 Sherwood's Georgia. I am told that this word is also used by old 
 people living on Long Island. It is provincial in the North of England. 
 
 To PRIMP, or PRIMP UP. To dress up in a finical manner; to linger 
 over one's toilet. A woman's expression. 
 
 Arter supper I washed, then I put on the cleanest sort of a shirt that Aunt Jane 
 had fixed up mity nice an' smooth, then I drawed on about as nice a set uv Sunday 
 harness as you ever seed ; and arter marm and Aunt Jane had primped up an' fixed 
 my har an' crcevat, I was reddy. How Sal and Me got Married. 
 
 PRIMPY. Fastidious in the duties of the toilet, finical. A woman's word. 
 PRINCE'S PRIDE. See Pipsissewa. 
 
 PRINT ERY. An establishment for printing cottons, etc. ; print-works. Rare. 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 PROCESSIONER. An officer in Kentucky, and possibly in other States, 
 whose duty it is to determine and mark out the bounds of lands. 
 
 PROFANITY. This word is in common use here, more particularly with our 
 clergy. It is not in the dictionaries, and I do not recollect ever meeting 
 with it in English authors. The Scottish writers employ it ; but English 
 writers use the word profaneness. Pickering. Worcester, however, 
 states that it is used by respectable English authors.
 
 PRO 343 
 
 PROFESSOR. 1. One who makes a profession of any thing. Worcester. 
 The application of the word to dancing-masters, conjurers, banjo-players, 
 etc., has been called an Americanism. It is thought, however, that even 
 in Yankeeland, the following, copied by the Nat. Intelligencer of Nov. 
 11, 1858, from an English paper, would be " hard to beat." 
 
 A great shaving match against time was performed recently at Keighley, near 
 Leeds. A " Professor Carrodus," attended by three latherers and five stroppers, 
 engaged to shave seventy men in sixty minutes, and succeeded in performing the 
 task four minutes within the specified time. 
 
 2. One visibly or professedly religious. Worcester. A very odd use 
 of the word to those not accustomed to it. 
 
 " Ah ! " said Miss Rayby, " and I can remember the time of course I was very 
 young then, but still I can remember when Caleb Edmonds swept out his own 
 shop ! " 
 
 " Dear me ! And now he has the upstart impudence to send his girl to such a 
 school as that ! " exclaimed Miss Sophia Milwood, the spinster who had not yet 
 spoken. " Oh, the pride of human nature." 
 
 " And he a professor too ! " 
 
 " Professor ! " said Miss Rayby. " Religion does not teach a man such absurd 
 pride as that ! " 
 
 Miss Phillip shook her head, and began to lament the increase of false professors. 
 The Dream of Caleb Edmonds. 
 
 To PROGRESS. To move forward; to pass. Johnson. This is not a 
 pure Americanism, as some suppose, but an old English word which had 
 been suffered to become obsolete. It was revived here after the Revolu- 
 tion (see Pickering), and has lately been taken into favor again in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 The Penny Cyclopaedia (art. Americanism) says, " The old verb pro- 
 gress, which the Americans use very often and pronounce progress, is now 
 beginning to be again adopted in its native country, though we think we 
 could do very well without it." 
 
 Let me wipe off this honorable dew, 
 
 That silverly doth progress on thy cheeks. Shakspeare. 
 
 Although the popular blast 
 
 Hath reared thy name up to bestride a cloud, 
 Or progress in the chariot of the sun. Ford, Broken Heart. 
 Such are the inconsistencies of a flatterer, progressing from his butterfly state into 
 the vermicular slime of a libeller. London Quarterly Review. 
 
 Her first teacher was but himself, at that time a pupil ; but she progressed under 
 his tuition. Mary Howitt, People's Journal. 
 
 The launch of the " Leviathan " will 'be by no means a slapdash affair into the 
 " native element," but a tedious operation, which will very probably occupy two or 
 three days. On these points, and some others of equal interest, we shall give our 
 readers fuller information as the great ship progresses towards completion. London 
 Times, April 30, 1857.
 
 344 PRO 
 
 They progress in that style in proportion as their plans are treated with contempt. 
 Washington's Writings. 
 
 After the war had progressed for some time. Marshall's Washington. 
 
 Whether this word was used in the time of Bacon or not, I cannot say, 
 yet it seems he employs it in the spirit world ; for, in the asserted revela- 
 tions made by Judge Edmonds, the philosopher says : 
 
 I trust that your own hearts will respond to mine, and the many, very many spirits 
 who are present, till all our souls, like one spirit, shall unite in the harmonies of 
 truth, love, and the earnest desire to progress. Spiritualism, p. 333. 
 
 PROGRESSIVE FRIENDS. A name recommended at a convention of Spirit- 
 ualists held in Illinois, Sept. 7, 1857, to be adopted by them, " as being a 
 cognomen most indicative of that broad liberality of sentiment which 
 they desire to foster and maintain." 
 
 PRONG. A branch or arm of a creek or inlet. Southern. 
 
 PRONG-HORN ANTELOPE. (Antilocapra americana.) The Prong-horn 
 Antelope is familiar to every hunter on the plains west of the Missouri 
 River. From this line it extends to the Pacific Ocean, and ranges from 
 northern Mexico to the latitude of 53 on the Saskatchewan. It is also 
 abundant in Minnesota, especially on the plains of Red River. The 
 antelope is highly prized as an article of food. They run with great 
 swiftness, and all their motions are characterized by ease and grace. 
 S. F. Baird. 
 
 To PRONOUNCE. In Nantucket they say, " How does your horse pro- 
 nounce ? " i. e. how does he prove or perform ? 
 
 PROPER. Very, exceedingly. Colloquial in England and the United States. 
 The day was gone afore I got out of the woods, and I got proper frightened. 
 Sam Slick in England, ch. 18. 
 
 PROPERLY. Very much. Common in New England. 
 
 Father jest up with the flat of his hand, and gave me a wipe with it on the side of 
 my face, that knocked me over and hurt me properly. Sam Slick in England, ch. 
 26. 
 
 PROPIOS. (Span.) In Spanish-American law, certain portions of ground 
 laid off and reserved, on the foundation of a town, as the unalienable 
 property of the town, for the purpose of erecting public buildings, mar- 
 kets, etc., or to be used in any other way, under the direction of the mu- 
 nicipality, for the advancement of the revenues or the prosperity of the 
 place. Peters 's Reports, Vol. XII. p. 442, note. 
 
 PRO-SLAVERY. In favor of slavery. An expression much used by poli- 
 tical speakers and writers, although not yet inserted in the dictionaries.
 
 PEG 345 
 
 It takes a despot, a craven, and a slave, compounded together, to make a pro- 
 slavery legislator in a free State. Anti-Slavery Almanac. 
 
 Pro-slavery men, strike for your altars ! strike for your rights ! Sound the bugle 
 of war over your land, and leave not an abolitionist in the country. Kickapoo Pio- 
 neer, Jan. 18, 1856. 
 
 PROSPECTING. Hunting or searching for lead, gold, or other metals. The 
 process is thus described in a sketch of Life on the Upper Mississippi : 
 
 The chief mart of the lead trade is in the town of Galena, built upon a small, 
 sluggish stream. In travelling through the upland prairie of this neighborhood, you 
 will see many hillocks of earth, as far as the eye can reach, as if some huge animal 
 had been burrowing beneath, and had thrown up the dirt in that manner ; but you 
 may, by chance, meet two or three men with a bucket, a rope, a pick-axe, and a 
 portable windlass, and the difficulty is explained. This, in the language of the 
 country, is a prospecting party ; which, being interpreted, means that they are on the 
 look-out for ore, if it is to be found within ten or fifteen feet of the ground. N. Y. 
 Literary World, June 3, 1848. 
 
 Our claim [near Haugtown, Cal.] did not prove rich enough to satisfy us ; so we 
 abandoned it and went prospecting. Borthwick's California, p. 124. 
 
 I 've gin up diggin' and prospectin'. It don't pay ; and I can make more by tellin' 
 new comers whar to sink their shaft. If they find gold, I get half; and if they 
 don't, I charge nothin'. Lett, from California, N. Y. Times. 
 
 PROSPECTOR. A searcher for spots where minerals exist, applied alike to 
 the precious metals, copper, or coal. 
 
 A prospector goes out with a pick and shovel, and a washpan; and to test the rich- 
 ness of a place, he digs down till he reaches the dirt in which it may be expected 
 gold will be found. Borthwick's California, p. 124. 
 
 PROTRACTED MEETING. A name given in New England to a religious 
 meeting, protracted or continued for several days, chiefly among the 
 Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Methodists, and Baptists. Notice is 
 sometimes given that a protracted meeting will be held at a certain time 
 and place, where large numbers of people assemble. In the West they 
 are called " big meetings." 
 
 A religious sensation is raging terribly in my neighborhood, induced by the influ- 
 ence of the expected comet, there is a protracted meeting round the corner, and 
 high-pressure prayer meetings on every side. Doesticks. 
 
 I 'm a gentleman that calculates to hold a protracted meeting here to-night. Sam 
 Slick, Nature and Human Nature. 
 
 Yon don't suppose a pedlar that had experienced religion at a protracted meetin' 
 would cheat a clergyman ? What an idee ! Widow Bedott Papers, p. 219. 
 
 PROUD. Glad ; as, " I should be proud to see you." 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Brownlow, the facetious editor of the Jonesboro' Whig, 
 in an article on his own obituary, says : 
 
 He desires it stated to the world, that if he had his life to live over again, he 
 could improve it in many respects. He leaves no apologies to be made to men in
 
 346 PEG PUG 
 
 this life, and asks no favors of anybody " on the other side of Jordan," but his 
 God ! His friends, if he have any left behind, can be of no service to him ; his 
 enemies, he is proud to know, " can 't reach him ! " 
 
 PKOX, or PROXY. The use of these words is confined to the States of 
 Connecticut and Rhode Island. Prox, in Rhode Island, means the ticket 
 or list of candidates at elections presented to the people for their votes. 
 By a law of the colony of Providence Plantations, passed in the year 
 1647, the General Assembly was appointed to be holden annually, "if 
 wind and weather hinder not, at which the general officers of the colony 
 were to be chosen." This clause made it convenient for many to remain 
 at home, particularly as they had the right to send their votes for the 
 officers by some other persons ; hence the origin of these terms prox 
 and proxy votes, as applied to the present mode of voting for State offi- 
 cers in Rhode Island. Staples 's Annals of Providence, p. 64. 
 
 Mr. Pickering observes that this word is also used in Connecticut, as 
 equivalent to election, or election-day. He quotes the following instances 
 from a Connecticut newspaper : 
 
 Republicans of Connecticut ; previous to every proxies you have been assaulted 
 on every side. 
 
 On the approaching proxies we ask you to attend universally. 
 
 Dr. "Webster, with whom New England, or rather Connecticut, seems 
 to have been a synonyme for " all creation," says, the word means, " in 
 popular use, an election or day of voting for officers of government." 
 
 When the qualification of a freeman, as formerly, was low, the proxies or voters 
 never exceeded 1,300; at present the qualification is better, and the proxies are only 
 888. Douglass' Summary, 1755, Vol. II. p. 89. 
 
 PRY. A large lever employed to raise or move heavy substances. Used 
 also in some parts of England. Worcester. 
 
 To PRY. To move or raise by means of a large lever. Worcester. 
 
 PUBLISHMENT. A publishing of the banns of marriage, which is required 
 by law in New England. " Mr. Doe and Miss Roe's publishment took 
 place to-day." 
 
 Any persons desiring to be joined in marriage, shall have such their intentions 
 published .... or posted up by the clerk of each town ; and a certificate of such 
 publishment .... shall be produced as aforesaid previous to their marriage. 
 Statutes of Massachusetts, 1786. 
 
 PUCCOON. An Indian name for various plants affording coloring matter. 
 1. The Sanyuinaria canadensis, or Blood root. The juice was much 
 used by the Indians as a dye or stain, as on the old basket ware now no 
 longer to be seen. 
 
 They have the puccoon, with which the Indians used to paint themselves red ; and
 
 PUC PUL 347 
 
 the shumach and sassafras, which make a deep yellow. Beverly's Virginia, 
 Book in. 
 
 2. Yellow puccoon. Hydrastis canadensis, or Yellow root. 
 
 PUCKER. A fright ; a state of perplexity or trouble ; agitation. Pro- 
 vincial in England. 
 
 It was natural enough that the Squire's wife should be in a pucker to see the 
 Ladies' Book [which contained an article ridiculing her]. Widow Bedott Papers, 
 p. 326. 
 
 PUEBLO. (Span.) A village of the semi-civilized Catholic Indians of 
 New Mexico. 
 
 The villages of the christianized Indians in New Mexico were called pueblos, in 
 opposition to the wild roving tribes that refused such favors: Wislizenus, New 
 Mexico. 
 
 PUEBLO INDIAN. A Catholic Indian villager of New Mexico. 
 
 The most interesting class of the inhabitants of New Mexico are those known as 
 the Pueblo Indians. They are the descendants of the ancient rulers of the country, 
 and are so called because they dwell in villages and subsist by agriculture, instead 
 of living in lodges and depending upon the chase, as the wild Indians of the moun- 
 tains and plains. Davis, El Gringo, p. 114. 
 
 PUKE. 1. A mean, contemptible fellow. 
 
 2. A nickname for a native of Missouri. 
 
 PULL-DO o. A small black duck found in the bays and inlets of the Gulf 
 of Mexico. They seldom fly, but rely upon swimming and diving to 
 evade pursuit. The word is probably a corruption of poule d'eau, i. e. 
 water-hen. 
 
 PULL DICK, PULL DEVIL. An expression used in low language synony- 
 mous with " neck and neck," denoting an equal contest in a race, etc. 
 
 To PULL FOOT. To walk fast ; to run. 
 
 I look'd up ; it was another shower, by Gosh. I pulls foot for dear life. Sam 
 Slick in England, ch. 2. 
 
 I thought I'd run round two or three streets. So I pulled foot, and hunted and 
 sweat till I got so tired I could 'nt but just stand. Maj. Downing' s May-day in New 
 York. 
 
 To PULL IT. To run. 
 
 And how a man one dismal night 
 
 Shot her with silver bullet, 
 And then she flew straight out of sight 
 
 As fast as she could pull it. 
 
 T. G. Fessenden, Yankee Doodle. 
 
 To PULL UP, among travellers, means to stop. Alluding to the act of 
 pulling the reins of a horse in order to stop him.
 
 348 PUL PUN 
 
 To PULL UP STAKES. To pack up one's furniture or baggage, preparatory 
 to a removal ; to remove. The allusion is to pulling up the stakes of a 
 tent. 
 
 If this stranger is to receive countenance, then I '11 pull up stakes and depart from 
 Tinnecum for ever. Knickerbocker Magazine. 
 
 To PULL WOOL OVER THE EYES. 
 
 The Tariff project for reducing the revenue is a humbug a trick for pulling 
 wool over the eyes of innocent people. N. Y. Herald. 
 
 That 'ere stranger's only playin' possum, but he can't putt the wool over this 
 child's eyes ; he 's got 'em both skinned. A Stray Yankee in Texas. 
 
 PUMA. (Felis concolor.') An animal known also under the names of Cou- 
 gar, Panther, and American Lion, the largest of the cat kind found in 
 America. Flint describes it, under the name panther, as of the size of 
 the largest dogs, of a dark grayish color, marked with black spots. It is 
 in shape much like the domestic cat, with short legs, large paws, and long 
 talons. It conceals itself among the branches of the trees, and thence 
 darts upon its prey. 
 
 PUMPKIN-SEED. A variety of the Perca Americana, common in fresh- 
 water ponds and lakes. They are so called from their form. In the 
 river St. Lawrence I have seen them from six to eight inches in length. 
 In some places they are called Sun-fish. 
 
 PUNCHEONS. A term which, in Georgia, means split logs, with their faces 
 a little smoothed with an axe or hatchet. These, being laid upon 
 sleepers, make a, puncheon floor. 
 
 The Squire's dwelling consisted of but one room. The house was constructed 
 of logs, and the floor was of puncheons. Georgia Scenes, p. 12. 
 
 Bill knew him ; and if the old serpent himself had popped up his head through 
 the puncheons and claimed him for his brand, he could n't have been more scared. 
 N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 PUNG. A rude sort of sleigh, or oblong box made of boards and placed 
 on runners, used for drawing loads on snow by horses. Worcester. Also 
 called a Jumper, which see. 
 
 These were sledges or pungs, coarsely framed of split saplings, and surmounted 
 with a large crockery-crate. Margaret, p. 174. 
 
 PUNK. 1. Rotten wood; touchwood; spunk. A word in common use in 
 New England, as well as in the other Northern States and Canada. 
 Ash defines it " a kind of fungus, often used for tinder." Pickering. 
 2. A punch or blow with the fist. New York. 
 
 To PUNK. To push or strike with the fist ; to punch. New York.
 
 PUN PUT 349 
 
 PUNT. In Maryland and Virginia, a small boat made of the body of a 
 large tree. In England, a punt is a flat-bottomed boat. 
 
 PUPELO. A name for cider-brandy, formerly manufactured in New Eng- 
 land to a great extent. 
 
 " Han't they got any of the religion at your house ? " " No, marm, they drink 
 pupelo and rum." Margaret, p. 52. 
 
 PUT. To stay put is to keep still, remain in order. A vulgar expression. 
 
 The levees and wharves of the First Municipality won't " stay put." Last evening 
 that part of the levee opposite Custom-House street, which had caved in and was 
 since filled, sunk suddenly ten feet. N. 0. Picayune. 
 
 To PUT. To start ; go ; decamp ; be off. " I see I 'm not wanted here ; 
 sol'ttput." 
 
 B found himself by mistake in the ladies' saloon ; a fact he was politely in- 
 formed of by one of the occupants, who said, " Guess you put for the wrong pew, 
 mister." Notes on Canada, etc., Blackwood's Mag. 
 
 To PUT OFF. To start, set out. Originally a nautical term. 
 
 It is an astonishing fact that over fifteen thousand persons have deserted their 
 homes in California, and put off by every means of conveyance for Eraser's river. 
 Nat. Intelligencer, July 22, 1858. 
 
 To PUT OUT. To set out ; to be off. A "Western expression. To put is 
 used in the same sense. 
 
 As my wife's father had considerable land on Blue Fox river, and as we wanted 
 a little more elbow-room, I says one day to Nancy, "Nancy," says I, "Idad, 
 'spose we put out and live there." Carlton, The New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 172. 
 
 "Well, I put out for the Planter's as fast as I could, where you know I found you 
 at last. Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 63. 
 
 There was goin' to be a raisin' or log-rollin' a good piece off, and the old man 
 reckoned he'd better put out in the evening and stay at some of the neighbor's houses 
 and be allowed to take an early start in mornin.' N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 La Bonte picked up three mules for a mere song, and the next day put out for the 
 Platte. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 66. 
 
 " The more you give the slaves," said Jekyl, " the more dissatisfied they grow, 
 till finally they put for the free States." 
 
 " Very well," said Clayton ; " if that 's to be the result, they may put as soon as 
 they can get ready." Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. I. p. 195. 
 
 To PUT THE LICKS IN. To exert oneself. 
 
 You had better put the licks in and make haste, or there will be more fiddling and 
 dancing and serving the devil this morning. Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 164. 
 
 To PUT IT IN STRONG. To express oneself strongly or emphatically. 
 
 The missionaries in the South are pretty careful ; they put it in strong in the 
 catechism about the rights of the master. Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. I. p. 193. 
 
 To PUT THROUGH. To carry through, effect, accomplish, a piece of busi- 
 
 30
 
 PUT QUA 
 
 ness. A term much used in speaking of legislative business ; thus, to 
 carry a bill or resolution is " to put it through" 
 
 PUTS. When a speculator thinks that stocks are going down, and wishes to 
 make a small operation without incurring much risk, he gives a small sum 
 for the privilege of delivering a small amount of stock at a certain price. 
 For instance, if the cash price of Erie was fifty-seven per cent., a specu- 
 lator would give, say fifty dollars, to " put " or deliver one hundred shares 
 at fifty-six and a half per cent, say next week, ten days, or any short time. 
 He can only lose his fifty dollars, if the market should go up ; but if it goes 
 down to fifty-six, he gets his money back, and all below that is so much 
 profit. Operations of this kind are carried on principally among the 
 curb-stone brokers, men who have strong speculative propensities and 
 very little capital. Hunts Merchants' Magazine, Vol. XXXVII. 
 
 PUTTO. (Fr. poteau, a post.) A stake firmly set in the ground, to which 
 wild cattle and horses are secured. A term in general use in the grazing 
 region of the South-west. 
 
 PUTTY-ROOT. (Aplectrum^hymenale). Also called "Adam and Eve," 
 from the bulb of the preceding year being always connected with the 
 new one. 
 
 To PUZZLE A PHILADELPHIA LAWYER is considered a very difficult 
 undertaking, the Philadelphia gentlemen of the profession being regarded 
 as remarkably keen-witted. 
 
 Had General Taylor not confessed himself a whig, it would have puzzled a Phila- 
 delphia lawyer to have detected it. Southern Patriot. 
 
 Q. 
 
 To QUACKLE. To interrupt in breathing ; to almost choke ; to suffocate. 
 Provincial in England, and colloquial in America. Worcester. 
 
 QUADROON, or QUATERON. The offspring of a mulatto woman by a white 
 man. 
 
 QUAHAUG. In New England, the popular name of a species of clams 
 having a round and very hard shell. See Pooquaw. 
 
 The laws of Rhode Island provide, that any person who shall take any 
 quahaugs or clams from certain beds in Providence river between May 
 and September, shall forfeit twenty dollars for each offence. 
 
 QUAKER CITY. The city of Philadelphia ; so called from its founders hav- 
 ing been Friends or Quakers.
 
 QUA EAC 351 
 
 QUAKER GUNS. Wooden guns placed in the port-holes of merchant ves- 
 sels. 
 
 We fancy our vessels of war which suffered the filibuster Walker to escape were 
 armed with Quaker guns. Providence Journal. 
 
 To QUALIFY. To swear to discharge the duties of an office ; and hence 
 to make oath of any fact ; as, " I am ready to qualify to what I have 
 asserted ! " 
 
 Dr. Tate, of Virginia, the new Auditor of the Treasury for the Post-Office De- 
 partment, this morning qualified and entered upon the duties of his office. The 
 (Bolt.) Sun, Oct. 1, 1857. 
 
 QUARTER. A twenty-five cent piece, which is a quarter of a dollar, is 
 often called simply a quarter. 
 
 QUARTERS. The negro huts of a plantation are termed the negro quarters, 
 or simply the quarters. 
 
 QUEEN CITY. Cincinnati. 
 
 QUID. A corruption of cud; as, in vulgar language, a quid of tobacco. 
 In Kent (England), a cow is said to chew her quid ; so that cud and 
 quid are the same. Pegge's Anonymia. 
 
 QUILTING. A piece of reed, on which weavers wind the thread which 
 forms the woof of cloth, is called a quill ; an old English word. In 
 New England, a certain process of winding thread is called quilling. 
 
 The child, Margaret, sits in the door of her house, on a low stool, with a small 
 wheel, winding spools, in our vernacular, quilling. Margaret, p. 6. 
 
 QUILTING-BEE, or QUILTING-FROLIC. An assemblage of women who 
 unite their labor to make a bed-quilt. They meet by invitation, seat 
 themselves around the frame upon which the quilt is placed, and in a few 
 hours complete it. Tea follows, and the evening is sometimes closed with 
 dancing or other amusements. 
 
 Now [in the days of Gov. Stuyvesant] were instituted quilting-bees and husking- 
 bees, and other rural assemblages, where, under the inspiring influence of the fiddle, 
 toil was enlivened by gaiety and followed up by the dance. Irving, Knickerbocker. 
 
 E, 
 
 EACCOON. (Procylon lotor.} A welbknown carnivorous animal found in 
 most parts of North America, valuable for its fur. Vulgarly called 
 Goon, which see. 
 
 To EACE. To cause to run, to chase. A vulgar use of the word.
 
 352 RAD RAF 
 
 Between five and six o'clock on Thursday afternoon, a well-known character 
 named Michael Clark, while passing the corner of Cathedral and Franklin streets, 
 espied an old enemy named Edward Getticr, perched on a scaffold swinging against 
 the side of a new house, busy applying a painter's brush to the structure, and re- 
 gardless of all things below. Both had been previously concerned, on opposite 
 sides, in several street affrays ; and Clark thinking it a good time to let him know he 
 was about again, slipped up, and commenced shooting at Gettier with a revolver. 
 After several shots had been wasted, one of the balls took effect in Gettier's side, 
 wounding him slightly. Clark then ran, and Gettier, jumping down, raced him for 
 some distance, etc. (Bolt.) Sun, Aug. 7, 1858. 
 
 RADDLE. In New England, an instrument consisting of a Avooden bar, 
 with a row of upright pegs set in it, which is employed by domestic 
 weavers to keep the warp of a proper width, and prevent it from be- 
 coming entangled when it is wound upon the beam of a loom. Webster. 
 It is an English term. 
 
 RAFT. 1. A frame or float, made by laying pieces of timber across each 
 other. Johnson. In North America, rafts are constructed of immense 
 size, and comprise timber, boards, staves, etc. They are floated down 
 from the interior to the tide-waters, being propelled by the force of the 
 current, assisted by large oars and sails, to their place of destination. 
 The men employed on these rafts construct rude huts upon them, in 
 which they often dwell for several weeks before arriving at the places 
 where they are taken to pieces for shipping to foreign parts. 
 
 2. This term is also applied to a large collection of timber and fallen 
 trees, which, floating down the great rivers of the West, are arrested in 
 their downward course by flats or shallow places. Here they accumu- 
 late, and sometimes block up the river for miles. The great raft on Red 
 river extended twenty miles, and required an immense outlay of money 
 to remove it in order to make the river navigable. 
 
 3. A large number, a host. Vulgar. 
 
 "We have killed Calhoun and Biddle ; but there is a raft of fellows to put down 
 yet. Maj. Downing's Letters, p. 93. 
 
 We've shoals of shad, whole rafts of canvas-back ducks, and no end of terrapins. 
 
 Burton, Waggeries. 
 
 Among its notices to correspondents, an exchange paper says : " a raft of original 
 articles are on file for next week." We hope none of them will prove mere lumber. 
 
 N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 The Elder's wife was a sick lookin' woman, with a whole raft o' young ones 
 squalling round her. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 210. 
 
 To RAFT. To transport on a raft. Webster. 
 
 RAFTING. The business of constructing and floating rafts. 
 
 RAFTSMAN. A man who follows the business of rafting.
 
 RAG EAI 353 
 
 RAG. To take the rag off the bush, or simply to take the rag off, is to bear 
 away the palm. 
 
 I had an everlastin' fast Narragansett pacer. I was considerable proud of him, I 
 assure you ; for he took therag off the bush in great style. Sam Slick, Human Nature, 
 p. 218. 
 
 " Don't be skeered," sais I, " Gineral, don't be skeered ; I ain't a goin' for to 
 hurt you, but jist to salute you as my senior officer, for it tante often two such old 
 heroes like you and me meet, I can tell you. You fit at Waterloo, and I fit at 
 Bunker's Hill ; you wbipt the French, and we whipt the English. P'raps history 
 can't show jist two such battles as them ; they take the rag off" quite. Sam Slick in 
 England, Chapter XXXVIII. 
 
 RAIL. A piece of timber, cleft, hewed, or sawed, inserted in upright posts 
 for fencing. The common rails among farmers are rough, being used as 
 they are split from the chestnut or other trees. Webster. 
 
 To RAIL IT. To travel by railroad. 
 
 From Petersburgh I railed it through the North Carolina pitch, tar, turpentine, 
 and lumber country, to the great American pitch, tar, turpentine, and lumber depot 
 Wilmington. The prospect is, from the car windows, continuously an immensity 
 of pine, pine, nothing but pine-trees, broken here and there with openings of pine 
 under-brush. Letter in N. Y. Tribune, May 22, 1848. 
 
 RAIL-CAR. A car for transporting passengers on railroads. 
 
 RAILROAD. This word is in universal use in the United States, while 
 " railway " is more common in England. So we say railroad track, 
 railroad depot, and railroad car, which in England would be called a 
 railway, a railway station, and railway carriage. 
 
 To RAISE A RACKET. To make a racket or noise. 
 
 I see it warn't no use raisin' a racket ; so I concluded I 'd have satisfaction out of 
 him, and began shakin' my fist at him. Southern Sketches, p. 36. 
 
 To RAISE CAIN. To cause a disturbance ; to make a row. 
 
 Now bring Mexico into the Union, and I 'd like to know which of the great powers 
 would undertake to dictate to her, or tell her what she must do. . . . There 
 would'nt be any struttin' about, and talkin big, and threatenin' to raise Cain. 
 Hammond, Lakes and Forest Scenes. 
 
 To RAISE ONE'S HAIR. In the semi-barbarous dialect used by the hunters, 
 trappers, and others who traverse the great plains and prairies of the 
 "West, scalping a man is " raising (or lifting} his hair" 
 
 Kit Carson is the paragon of mountaineers : to look at him no one would think 
 that the mild-looking being before him -was an incarnate devil in an Indian fight, 
 and had raised more hair from the red-skins than any two men in the Western 
 country. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 194. 
 
 RAISE. To make a raise is a vulgar American phrase, meaning to make a 
 haul, to raise the wind. 
 
 30*
 
 354 RAI EAK 
 
 The chances were altogether favorable for making a raise, without fear of detec- 
 tion. Simon Suggs, p. 48. 
 
 I made a raise of a horse and saw, after being a wood-piler's apprentice for a 
 while. Neal, Sketches. 
 
 To RAISE. 1. To cause to grow; to procure to be produced, bred, or 
 propagated : as to raise wheat, barley, hops, etc. ; to raise horses, oxen, 
 or sheep. Webster. 
 
 To raise is applied in the Southern States to the breeding of negroes. 
 It is also sometimes heard at the North among the illiterate ; as, " I was 
 raised in Connecticut," meaning brought up there. See more in Picker- 
 ing's Vocabulary. 
 
 You know I was raised, as they say in Virginia, among the mountains of the 
 North. Paulding, Letters from the South, Vol. I. p. 85. 
 
 Old negro Bill, belonging to Mr. Sampson, Hunt Co., Virginia, was raised there 
 and served in the American Revolution, a portion of the time as a servant to Wash- 
 ington. ( Wash.) Ev. Star, Jan. 7, 1857. 
 
 2. To obtain with difficulty or in a discreditable manner. 
 
 3, To make up, fabricate, invent ; as, " That 's a tale they 've raised on 
 me," meaning some ludicrous or disgraceful anecdote invented against a 
 person. Western. 
 
 To RAISE A BEAD. This expression is used at the West, and means to 
 bring to a head, to make succeed. The figure is taken from brandy, 
 rum, or other liquors, which will not " raise a bead," unless of the proper 
 strength. 
 
 The result was, if the convention had been then held, the party would'nt have 
 been able to raise a bead. Letter from Ohio, N. Y. Tribune, 1846. 
 
 RAISING-BEE, or RAISING. In New England and the Northern States, 
 the operation or work of setting up the frame of a building. Webster. 
 
 On such occasions the neighboring farmers are accustomed to assemble 
 and lend their assistance. In this way the framework of the largest 
 house or barn is set up in a few hours. 
 
 Raising-bees were frequent, where houses sprang up at the wagging of the fiddle- 
 stick, as the walls of Thebes sprang up of yore to the sound of the lyre of Amphion. 
 Knickerbocker's New York. 
 
 The spectacle of a raising, though so common-place an affair elsewhere, is some- 
 thing worth seeing in the woods. Mrs. Clavers's Forest Life. 
 
 RAKE DOWN. A taking down, a scolding. 
 
 I have expected to be " blown up " in print, by " S 1," before now, but 
 
 have so far escaped much to the disappointment of the b'hoys about here. I 
 would submit with a good grace to a " rake down," if I could only succeed in start- 
 ing again his "gray goose quill." N. Y. Spirit of the Times.
 
 RAN REA 355 
 
 RANCHO, or RANCH. (Span, rancho.) A rude hut of posts, covered with 
 branches or thatch, where herdsmen or farm-laborers live or only lodge 
 at night. 
 
 RANCHERIA. (Span.) The place, site, or house in the country where a 
 number of rancheros collect together. The collection of few or many 
 huts or ranchos into a small village. 
 
 RANCHERO. (Span.) A person who lives in a rancho ; and hence any 
 peasant or countryman. 
 
 RANGE. 1. The public lands of the United States are surveyed or divided 
 into ranges, which designate the order of their arrangement into town- 
 ships. Bouvier's Law Diet. 
 
 2. In Texas, the prairies on which the large herds of cattle graze and 
 range are called cattle or stock ranges. 
 
 When any person may hunt estrays in another stock range, he shall notify the 
 owner of said stock of his intention. Laws of Texas. 
 
 The herdsman agrees to deliver a certain number of beeves, in marketable order. 
 . . . The range is then scoured and the requisite number obtained. Olmsted s Texas, 
 p. 371. 
 
 RANTERS. A gang of Baltimore bullies. 
 
 RAPIDS. The part of a river where the current moves with more celerity 
 than the common current. Rapids imply a considerable descent of the 
 earth, but not sufficient to occasion a fall of the water, or what is called 
 a cascade or cataract. Webster. 
 
 RAT. A contemptuous term used among printers, to denote a man who 
 works under price. 
 
 To RAT. Among printers, to work under price. 
 
 RAT OFFICE. A printing office in which full prices are not paid. 
 
 RATOONS. 1. (Span, retono.) Sugar cane of the second and third year's 
 growth, of which cuttings are made for planting the succeeding year. 
 2. The heart-leaves in a tobacco-plant. Webster. 
 
 RATTLESNAKE. ( Crotalus horridus.) A genus of serpents, celebrated for 
 the danger which accompanies their bite, and for the peculiar appen- 
 dages to their tail. This venomous reptile,, of which there are many spe- 
 cies, is exclusively confined to America ; but they have greatly dimin- 
 ished in the United States in proportion to the increase of population. 
 
 To REALIZE. To feel or bring home to one's mind as a reality. In this 
 sense it is not without English authority ; as, " to realize one's position." 
 (Eccl. Rev.) Worcester.
 
 356 REA REG 
 
 Now to realize the idea of what a nebulous star must portend, etc. Nichol. Syst. 
 of the World, p. 45. 
 
 This allusion must have had enhanced strength and beauty to the eye of a nation 
 extensively devoted to a pastoral life, and therefore realizing all its fine scenes and 
 the tender emotions to which they gave birth. Dwight. 
 
 REAR HORSE. The vulgar name, at the South, for the orthopterous insect 
 called the Mantis, Camel Cricket, or Johnny Cock-horse. 
 
 REBOSO. (Span.) A scarf or long shawl universally worn over the head 
 and shoulders by the women of the Spanish- American States and Terri- 
 tories. 
 
 RECEIPTOR. A person to whom goods levied on by the sheriff are deliv- 
 ered, on his undertaking to deliver the same to the sheriff on demand, or 
 to pay the amount on execution. BurrilTs Law Diet. 
 
 To RE-CHARTER. To charter again ; to grant a second or another charter 
 to. Webster. 
 
 To RECKON. To think ; to imagine ; to believe ; to conjecture ; to con- 
 clude ; to guess. Used in some parts of the United States as calculate is 
 in New England and elsewhere. It is provincial in England in the same 
 sense, and is noticed in the glossaries of Pegge and Brockett. Mr. Ham- 
 ilton, in his remarks on the Yorkshire dialect, says : " ' I reckon ' comes 
 out on every occasion, as perhaps aliens would expect from this country 
 of ' ready reckoners.' " Nugce Literarice, p. 317. 
 
 " General, I guess we best say nothin' more about bribin'," says I. " Well/' says 
 he, " Major, I reckon you 're right." Major Downing's Letters, p. 208. 
 
 I say ! what do you guess about lending me your axe for a spell ? Do yon 
 reckon you can spare it? Mrs. Clavers's Forest Life, Vol. I. p. 84. 
 
 I reckon you hardly ever was at a shooting-match, stranger, from the cut of your 
 coat. Georgia Scenes, p. 198. 
 
 To RECOUPE. (Fr. recouper.) To diminish a claim for damages by cut- 
 ting off or keeping back a part. 
 
 This old word has been revived to a considerable extent in modern 
 law. " Where a man brings an action for breach of a contract between 
 him and the defendant, and the latter can show that some stipulation in 
 the same' contract was made by the plaintiff, which he has violated, the 
 defendant may, if he choose, instead of suing in his turn, recoupe his 
 damages, arising from the breach committed by the plaintiff, whether they 
 be liquidated or not. The law will cut off so much of the plaintiff's 
 claim as the cross-damages may come to." Cowen, in Wendell's Re- 
 ports, Vol. XXII. p. 156. 
 
 RECOUPEMENT. Defalcation or discounting from a demand. A keeping
 
 .RED 357 
 
 back something which is due, because there is an equitable reason to 
 withhold it. The principle of recoupement has been established in the 
 State of New York in several cases of recent occurrence. BurriWs 
 Law Diet. 
 
 RED ADDER. See Copperhead. 
 
 RED-BUD. (Gem's canadensis.) A small ornamental tree, noted for its 
 pink flowers, which at a distance resemble those of the peach-tree. It 
 grows on rich soil from New York to Ohio, Kentucky, and southwards. 
 Also called Judas-tree. 
 
 RED CENT. A common term for the copper cent. 
 
 When Gen. Washington had got through with his fightin', . . . government owed 
 him hundreds of millions of dollars, and had n't the first red cent to pay with. 
 Hammond's Lake and Forest Scenes. 
 
 Every thing in New Orleans sells by dimes, hits, and picayunes ; and as for cop- 
 per money I have not seen the first red cent. Bayard Taylor in N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 H must have a million of dollars, and a man with that is not poor in any 
 
 country ; certainly it was a great catch for Miss L , without a red cent of her 
 
 own. The Upper Ten Thousand, p. 147. 
 
 RED DOG MONET. A term applied, in the State of New York, to certain 
 bank-notes which have on their back a large red stamp. 
 
 The late General Banking-law of the State of New York, which was 
 applied to all new banks, as well as to those the charters of which were 
 renewed, obliged the parties or individuals associated to deposit securities 
 with the comptroller, and receive from him blank notes of various denom- 
 inations, signed or bearing the certificate of the comptroller or officer 
 authorized by him. These notes bore a red stamp on their backs. 
 
 The free admission under this law of securities of a very questionable 
 character induced many persons, both individually and collectively, to 
 organize banks of issue ; and, as a natural consequence, a considerable 
 portion of the circulating medium soon consisted of the notes of the free 
 banks, bearing the red stamp. The community, generally, did not con- 
 sider these notes as safe as those issued by the old banks, and stigmatized 
 them as red dogs, and the currency as red dog money. The character 
 of the securities, however, has since been improved by an act which 
 demands that only certain stocks of well-established reputation shall be 
 admitted ; and consequently the odium which existed against the first 
 banks created under the law is now done away with. In Michigan they 
 apply the term Hue pup money to bank-notes having a blue stamp on 
 their backs. 
 
 Much bogus coin and wild-cat, red dog bills are in circulation ; but, as a general 
 principle, shin-plasters are regarded cautiously, and nothing is given for nothing. 
 North, Slave of the Lamp, p. 38.
 
 358 RED 
 
 Shakspeare makes one of his characters say : 
 
 " How sweet the moonshine sleeps upon this bank." 
 
 But in this "red dog" and "wild-cat" era, the reading about banks and moonshine 
 should be modernized thus : 
 
 " How sweet these banks do sleep upon this moonshine." 
 
 La Salle Press. 
 
 EED-ETE. Fiery new whiskey. 
 
 I promised the overseer a new covering and a demijohn of red-eye if all went 
 straight, got my little fixins together, and off I set. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 RED HORSES. A nickname applied to the natives of Kentucky. 
 
 RED MEN. The American Indians, so called from their color. 
 
 Since the red men have become known to us, numerous tribes have been extin- 
 guished, with all their peculiar customs and institutions ; yet, as a whole, the Indian 
 remains. Lapham's Antiqs. of Wisconsin, p. 30. 
 
 Children, you ask why the red men keep moving towards the setting sun, and why 
 the pale faces follow ? You ask if the place where the sun sets will ever be reached, 
 and if pale men will go there to plough and build. Cooper, The Red Skins, p. 321. 
 
 The red man, too, 
 
 Has left the blooming wilds he ranged so long, 
 And, nearer to the Rocky Mountains, sought 
 A wilder hunting-ground. Bryant, The Prairies. 
 
 The red man smoked his pipe, or trimmed the fire, 
 
 And many a tale he to our father told 
 Of barbarous battle and of slaughter dire, 
 
 That on Pawtucket's marge there chanced of old. 
 
 Durfee, What Cheer, Canto iii. 
 
 RED RACE. The American Indians. 
 
 We need not look to Mexico or any other country for the descendants of the 
 mound-builders. We probably see them in the present red race of the same or ad- 
 jacent regions. Lapham's Antiqs. of Wisconsin, p. 29. 
 
 RED-ROOT. A shrub found upon the prairies near the Rocky Mountains, 
 highly esteemed as a substitute for tea. It resembles the tea of com- 
 merce, and affords an excellent beverage. Scenes in the Rocky Moun- 
 tains, p. 26. 
 
 RED-SKIN. An American Indian. 
 
 What may be right and proper in a red-skin may be sinful in a man who has not 
 even a cross in blood to plead for his ignorance. Cooper, Last of the Mohicans. 
 
 RED VIPER. See Copperhead. 
 
 To REDEEM. To pay the value in specie of any promissory note, bill, or 
 other evidence of debt given by the State, by a company or corporation, 
 or by an individual. The credit of a State, a banking company, or indi- 
 vidual, is good when they can redeem all their stock, notes, or bills at par.
 
 RED REG 359 
 
 Webster. This sense of the word is peculiar to us, and is not noticed 
 by any English lexicographer. In England they cash notes, bank-bills, etc. 
 
 REDEMPTIONER. This name is given in the Southern States to those Ger- 
 mans, Irish, and other Europeans who emigrate from their own country 
 to the United States, and sell their services for a term of time to pay 
 their passage-money and other expenses. Pickering. 
 
 REED-BIRD. See Bobolink. 
 
 REFECTORY. An eating-house, restaurant. This word originally denoted 
 an apartment in convents and monasteries where a moderate repast was 
 taken ; and at Oxford, England, is applied to the place where the mem- 
 bers of each College or Hall dine. 
 
 REFEREE. A person to whom a cause pending in a court is referred by 
 the court, to take testimony, hear the parties, and report thereon to the 
 court ; and upon whose report, if confirmed, judgment is entered. Bar- 
 rill's Law Diet. A referee differs from an arbitrator, the latter being 
 chosen by parties to decide a cause between them. 
 
 REFORM SCHOOL. A school for the confinement, instruction, and refor- 
 mation of juvenile offenders, and of young persons of idle, vicious, and 
 vagrant habits. 
 
 REGALIA. The banners, aprons, badges, and other decorations used by the 
 Society of Odd Fellows. It is singular that this term, which signifies 
 the trappings of royalty, should have been chosen by this large and 
 respectable body for their simple decorations. 
 
 REGENT. In the State of New York, the member of a corporate body 
 which is invested with the superintendence of all the colleges, academies, 
 and schools in the State. This board consists of twenty-one members, 
 who are called " the regents of the University of the State of New York." 
 They are appointed and removable by the legislature. They have power 
 to grant acts of incorporation for colleges ; to visit and inspect all colleges, 
 academies, and schools ; and to make regulations for governing the same. 
 
 Statutes of New York. 
 
 REGRET. A note declining an invitation, and containing an expression of 
 regret for the same ; as, "I can't go to Mrs. Jones's ball next Wednes- 
 day, but must send a regret" A new lady's term. 
 
 REGULAR WAY. Very often in the report of stock sales the letters R. "W. 
 are attached to certain operations. This " regular way " means the deliv- 
 ery of the stock sold the next day. All sales for cash are for immediate 
 delivery. Hunts Merch. Mag., Vol. XXXVII.
 
 360 KEH REN 
 
 REHASH. A cooking over again ; a renewal or repetition in another form. 
 Doubtless of English origin, though not in the dictionaries. 
 
 Gov. Tallmadge, in speaking of Senator Shields's promise to present 
 the memorial of the " Spiritualists " to the Senate, and his treatment of it 
 afterwards, says : 
 
 I confess my surprise, that, instead of moving for an investigation by a select com- 
 mittee, he should have given in advance a rehash of what has been so often said 
 before by the opponents of spiritualism. Healing of Nations, Appendix, p. 468. 
 
 To REINSURE. To insure the same property a second time by other 
 underwriters. Webster. 
 
 It is common with underwriters or insurance companies, when they 
 find they have too large a sum insured on one ship, or in a particular 
 district, to reinsure a part elsewhere. 
 
 The insurer may cause the property insured to be reinsured by other persons. 
 Walsh, French Com. Code. 
 
 To REINVESTIGATE. To investigate again. Webster. 
 
 REINVESTIGATION. A repeated investigation. Worcester. 
 
 To RELAND. To go on shore after having embarked. Webster. 
 
 RELIGION. To get religion is a technical term among certain sects, mean- 
 ing to be converted. 
 
 To RELOAN. To loan again ; to lend what has been lent and repaid. 
 Webster. 
 
 To REMIND, for remember ; as, " the company will please remind." A 
 New York vulgarism. 
 
 REMOVABILITY. The capacity of being removed from an office or station ; 
 capacity of being displaced. Webster. 
 
 RENCH. A vulgar pronunciation of the word rinse. 
 
 RENEWEDLY. Anew ; again ; once more. A word often used by Amer- 
 ican preachers, but not supported by good English use. Worcester. 
 
 RENDITION, for rendering. A new use of the word. 
 
 The Baltimore Sun of August 17, 1858, after recording the acquittal 
 of a man tried for murder, says : 
 
 On the rendition of the verdict, the large audience present manifested enthusiastic 
 approbation. 
 
 At half past 7 o'clock this evening two gentlemen are announced to deliver ad- 
 dresses to the public on behalf of the " Bible Union " organization, which has for 
 its purpose the closest possible rendition of the meaning of the original text of the 
 Scriptures into English and other modern tongues. Nat. Intelligencer, Nov. 11, 
 1858.
 
 REO RES 361 
 
 To REOPEN. To open again. Webster. This word is much used. The 
 theatre reopens for the season ; the schools reopen after their vacations. 
 
 REORGANIZATION. The act of organizing anew ; as, " repeated reorganiza- 
 tion of the troops." Webster. 
 
 REPETITIOUS. Repeating ; containing repetition. Webster. 
 
 Mr. Pickering notices this word, which he thinks is peculiar to the 
 writer from whom the following extract is taken : 
 
 The observation which you have quoted from the Abbe Raynal, which has been 
 written off in a succession not much less repetitious or protracted than that in which 
 schoolboys of former times wrote. Remarks on the Review of Inchiquin's Letters, 
 Boston, 1815. 
 
 Mr. "Worcester, however, cites the North American Review and R. 
 Anderson as authorities for its use. 
 
 REPUBLICANS. A party name which has been several times adopted in the 
 history of American politics. It is now held by a party formally organ- 
 ized in the year 1856, the main " plank " of whose " platform " is. oppo- 
 sition to the extension of slavery to new territories. On account of their 
 supposed fondness for the negroes, they have been commonly styled by 
 their opponents Black Republicans. 
 
 The Republican party, as our readers are well aware, was called into being solely 
 to resist the encroachments of slavery upon the free territory of the Union and upon 
 the free States. It was a combination of men of varying political antecedents ; 
 some had been Whigs, some Democrats, some Americans, some Abolitionists, some 
 had always kept aloof from politics. N. Y. Tribune, July 9, 1858. 
 
 REQUISITION. A demand of the executive of one county or State upon 
 another for a fugitive from justice. 
 
 Under the old confederation of the American States, Congress often made requi- 
 sitions on the States for money to supply the treasury ; but they had no power to en- 
 force the requisitions, and the States neglected or partially complied with them. 
 Alex. Hamilton. 
 
 To RESHIP. To ship again ; to ship what has been conveyed by water or 
 imported. Webster. 
 
 Much used in all our commercial cities. 
 
 RESIDENT GRADUATE. Graduates of colleges who are desirous of pursu- 
 ing their studies at a college, without joining any of its departments. 
 They may attend the public lectures given in the institution, and enjoy 
 the use of its library. 
 
 RESERVATION. A tract of the public land reserved or set aside for some 
 public use, as for schools, the Indians, etc. In Canada are the " Clergy 
 Reserves " for the support of the clergy. 
 
 Reservations of land thirty miles square shall be surveyed on the frontier for the 
 friendly Indians. Laics of Texas. 
 
 31
 
 362 RES 
 
 RESOLVE. Legal or official determination ; legislative act concerning a 
 private person or corporation, or concerning some private business. 
 Public acts of a legislature respect the State ; and to give them validity, 
 the bills for such acts must pass through all the legislative forms. He- 
 solves are usually private acts, and are often passed with less formality. 
 Webster. 
 
 RESTITUTIONISTS. A religious sect which has recently sprung up in Wor- 
 cester and some other places. The following account is given of it by 
 the " Worcester Transcript : " 
 
 The Restitutianists believe that what man lost in the fall is now begin- 
 ning to be restored ; and that the germ, now confined to their own small 
 number, is yet to bud and flourish till it covers the earth. They are all 
 Restitutionists in one sense they believe that every thing is to come 
 back to its original form and purity. Their Sabbath, therefore, occurs 
 on Saturday, as the original day of worship ; and their meetings are 
 held Friday evening, because it is Sunday eve. They only use the Lord's 
 prayer, as that alone can have efficacy with the Father. To them or 
 three of them at least is committed the apostolic gift of tongues. This 
 gift appears to be rather useless, as the words spoken are not only un- 
 intelligible to bystanders, but to the others who have a like gift, till the 
 inward manifestation of the spirit makes it known. They are God's 
 chosen and willing instruments, in whom the Holy Spirit now develops 
 himself partially, but through whose instrumentality the world is soon to 
 be entirely restored. 
 
 This sect, small in numbers, is strong in the faith and working activity 
 of its members. There are others of a like faith in Athol, New Brain- 
 tree, Springfield, and other places. 
 
 RESULT. The decision or determination of a council or deliberative as- 
 sembly ; as, " the result of an ecclesiastical council." Peculiar to New 
 England. Webster. 
 
 To RESULT. To decide or decree, as an ecclesiastical council. Picker- 
 ing. 
 
 According to Dr. Milner, the Council of Nice resulted, in opposition to the views 
 of Arius, that the Son was peculiarly of the Father, etc. Bible News, Rev. N. 
 Worcester. 
 
 To RESURRECT. To reanimate, to restore to life, to bring to public view 
 that which was forgotten or lost. 
 
 In a note at the end of the 6th vol. of Mr. Benton's " Abridgment 
 of the Debates of Congress," in speaking of the founders of the govern- 
 ment, " who are all gone their bodies buried in the earth, their works 
 buried under rubbish, and their names beginning to fade away," the 
 author adds :
 
 RET REV 363 
 
 I resurrect the whole ! put them in scene again on the living stage, every one with 
 the best of his works in his hand. 
 
 RETIRACIED. Retired. New England. 
 
 The new-comer who lands in certain towns in New England, expecting to find 
 himself among the most verdant country Yankees, is compelled to admit that there 
 are no places in the world similarly retiracied which are less provincial or more agree- 
 able. Mace Spicer, in Knickerbocker Mag., March, 1856. 
 
 RETIRACY. 1. Retirement. This absurd word is often applied to the con- 
 dition of politicians who have retired, willingly or unwillingly, to private 
 life. 
 
 Here I shall stay and amuse myself in what one of our great men used to call 
 dignified retiracy. The Upper Ten Thousand, p. 286. 
 
 2. Sufficiency ; competency. It is said, in New England, of a person 
 who left off business with a fortune, that he has a retiracy ; i. e. a suffi- 
 cient fortune to retire upon. 
 
 To RETIRE. To withdraw ; to take away ; to make to retire. Johnson. 
 This transitive use of the verb, which had become obsolete, is now 
 reviving in this country. Of the many examples from good old writers 
 given by Johnson, we will quote only one from Shakspeare : 
 He, our hope, might have retired his power, 
 And driven into despair an enemy's hate. Richard II. 
 
 With us it is used by military men of withdrawing troops. 
 
 General Rosas insisted on the blockade being removed before he retired his troops 
 from the Banda Oriental. Newspaper. 
 
 And by merchants of paying their notes. 
 
 The French houses are retiring their notes, due next month, in advance, anticipating 
 commercial difficulties. Newspaper. 
 
 RETORTIVE. Containing retort. Webster. 
 
 To RETROSPECT. To look back. 
 
 To give a correct idea of the circumstances which have gradually produced this 
 conviction, it may be useful to retrospect to an early period. Letter from Alex. 
 Hamilton to John Adams. 
 
 The word is rare in American writings ; and from Mr. Pickering's 
 observations, it appears that, although it has been used in England, it 
 has not found favor there. 
 
 To REVAMP. To patch up, renew. Originally a shoemaker's term. 
 
 REVENUE CUTTER. A small and swift armed vessel stationed at a sea- 
 port to protect the revenue by overhauling smugglers.
 
 364 REV EID 
 
 REVERENT. Strong; as, ."-reverent whiskey," i. e. not diluted. Sher- 
 wood's Georgia. 
 
 REVOLVER. It is time that this word, applied to a revolving pistol, 
 should have a place in the dictionary. In the first invention, the bar- 
 rel, which contained several tubes, was made to revolve. In the 
 present, and most approved form, the breech, which contains the charge, 
 alone revolves. On the Western frontier of the United States, and in 
 California, where they are most used, these arms are universally called 
 " five shooters," or " six shooters," according to the number of charges 
 they can receive. 
 
 RHODT. A diminutive often applied to the State of Rhode Island from its 
 limited territory. Sometimes it is called " Little Rhody" 
 
 Old Newport, billow-cradled, see, 
 On lihody's verdant shore ; 
 
 ) , 'Tis there old Ocean shakes his mane, 
 
 j\j[n LL Kesounding evermore. Anonymous. 
 
 RICE-BIRD. See Bobolink. 
 
 RICH. Luscious ; i. e. entertaining, highly amusing. 
 
 Mr. Richardson is rich on rabbits ; and divides them into four races. London 
 Athenaeum, Dec. 1847. 
 
 Thar we was, settin' on our horses, rollin' with laughin* and liquor, and thought 
 the thing was rich [alluding to a dog-fight]. Porter's Southwestern Tales, p. 57. 
 
 About as rich an instance of official idleness, self-conceit, and incivility, as we 
 have seen, fell under our notice yesterday. N. Y. Com. Adv. 
 
 RICHWOOD. (Pilea pumila.) A stingless nettle, so called from its succu- 
 lent and semi-transparent stem. It is also called Clearweed. 
 
 To RIDE. 1. The use of the word ride, both as a verb and a noun, in the 
 sense of being conveyed in a carriage, has been regarded as an American- 
 ism. Nevertheless, it has been good English for centuries, and, as Mr. 
 Worcester observes, is sanctioned by the most eminent English lexi- 
 cographers. 
 
 He made him to ride in the chariot. Gen. 42 : 43. 
 
 English writers of the present day, however, consider it as correct 
 to use it only of conveyance on horseback, or some other motive power, 
 as in the following extract from Cowper : " Sometimes I get into a neigh- 
 bor's chaise, but generally ride [i. e. on horseback] ; " but of conveyance 
 in a carriage, they use the verb to drive. 
 
 2. To carry, transport. In the city of New York this word is used of 
 carting or carrying merchandise on a cart. Thus, to ride a box or bale 
 of goods is to carry it. I heard a witness in a court-room testify that he
 
 RID RIG 365 
 
 had " rode some hogs from the wharf to the store," by which he meant 
 that he had carried a load of dead hogs on his cart. 
 
 To RIDE AND TIE. Said of two persons travelling on the same horse, one 
 of whom rides ahead, and at a suitable place ties the horse for his com- 
 panion; he walks on and his companion rides and ties; and so they 
 continue to do by turns. Maryland and Virginia. 
 
 RIDING ROCK. A conspicuous rock at a ford, used to show the depth of 
 the water and the safety of crossings. A stream is said to be " out of 
 ride " when it is past fording ; " out of bank," is a still higher stage of 
 the water, i. e. over its banks. Maryland and Virginia. 
 
 To RIGHTS. Directly; soon. Webster. 
 
 If folks will do what I tell 'em, things will go straight enough to rights. My. 
 Downing's Letters, p. 5. 
 
 So to rights the express got back, and brought a letter. Ibid. p. 129. 
 
 Aunt. You see where she lives five doors down the street ; deliver this letter, 
 and bring back an answer quick. 
 
 Doolittle. In a jiffing ; I '11 be back to rights. D. Humphreys, The Yankee in 
 England. 
 
 " Well, Mr. Nathaniel, I suppose you never heard me tell of the curious way of 
 my first seeing the squire ? " 
 
 I said I had never heard it So she began to rights, and told the whole thing. 
 Story of the Sleigh Ride. 
 
 RIGHT. Very. The word in this sense is rarely heard at the North, but 
 is in constant use at the South ; as, " It rains right hard." A New 
 Yorker would say " very," or " quite " hard. 
 
 RIGHT AWAY. Directly ; immediately ; right off. 
 
 Mr. Dickens, hi his " American Notes," relates the following anecdote, 
 which occurred at the Tremont House, Boston : 
 
 " Dinner as quick as possible," said I to the waiter. 
 
 " Right away ? " said the waiter. 
 
 After a moment's hesitation, I answered, " No," at hazard. 
 
 " Not right away ? " cried the waiter with surprise. 
 
 I thought the waiter must have gone out of his mind, until another whispered to 
 him " directly." 
 
 " Well ! and that 's a fact ! " said the waiter, " Right away." 
 
 I now saw that " right away " and " directly " meant the same thing. 
 
 " Uncle John," said Nina, " I want you to get the carriage out for me right away, 
 I want to take a ride over the cross-run." Mrs Stowe's Dred, Vol. I. p. 89. 
 
 RIGHT OFF. Directly ; immediately ; used the same as the previous ex- 
 pression. 
 
 Mr. "Webster thus writes to Mr. Edw. Curtis, appointing a meeting : 
 On the first of October, mutton and chickens would be good in New Hampshire. 
 31*
 
 366 RIG R1L 
 
 Let us first meet in Boston, and then take a fair start together. If the Governor 
 prefers Marshfield, we will go to that place and shut ourselves up in the office and 
 do the work right off. Private Correspondence, Vol. I. p. 339. 
 
 I feel wonderfully consarned about that pain in your chest, said the "Widow, to 
 Mr. Crane. It ought to be attended to right off", Mr. Crane, right off". Widow 
 Bedott Papers. 
 
 The Californians are eminently practical ; what they mean to do, they do right off 
 with all their might, as if they really meant to do it. Borthwick, California, p. 226. 
 
 RIGHT SMART. 1. Good sized ; large. 
 
 The provisions were divided and served out, each man's ration consisting of a 
 pint of mouldy corn and a right smart chunk of bacon. Olmsted's Texas, p. 301 . 
 
 2. A good deal. " Ma," says a child, " shall I toast right smart of 
 this bread ? " The mother replies, " I reckon." Southern. 
 
 I sold right smart of eggs this summer, and sweet potatoes always fetch a good 
 price. Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. II. p. 157. 
 
 She had right smart of life in her, and was always right busy 'tending to something 
 or other. Ibid. Vol. I. p. 209. 
 
 It 's a heap warmer to-day, and I 'm sure we '11 make right smart of corn. 
 Southern Tales. 
 
 RIGHT SMART CHANCE. See Smart Chance. 
 To RIGHT UP. To put to rights, set in order. 
 
 To RILE. This word, says Mr. Worcester, is provincial in England and 
 colloquial in the United States. The original spelling and pronunciation, 
 roil, is almost, if not entirely, obsolete in this country. 
 
 1. To render turbid by stirring up the sediment. 
 
 No doubt existed in the minds of Mr. Dobb's fellow-boarders, that the well of his 
 good spirits had been riled. Neal's Coarcoal Sketches. 
 
 2. To make angry. Provincial in England, and colloquial in the 
 United States. Worcester, In both countries it is now commonly 
 pronounced and written rile. 
 
 John was a-dry, and soon cried out 
 
 Goon git some beer we 'ool ! 
 He'd so to wait, it made him riled, 
 The booths were all shock full. 
 
 J. Noakes and Mary Styles. 
 
 I won't say your country or my country, and then it won't rile nobody. Sam 
 Slick in England. 
 
 I tell you what, I was monstrous riled t'other day, when I got a letter from 
 Crockett, calling me hard names and abusin' me. Maj. Jones's Courtship. 
 
 It riled me so that I just steps up to him, as savage as a meat-axe, intending to 
 throw him down stairs. Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 241. 
 
 We begin to think it 's natur 
 
 To take sarse and not be riled :
 
 RIL RIS 367 
 
 Who 'd expect to see a tater 
 All on eend at bcin' biled? The Biglow Papers. 
 
 RILY. 1. Turbid. 2. Excited to resentment, vexed. 
 
 The boys and gals were laughin' at my scrape and the pickle I was in, that I gin 
 to get riley. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 64. 
 
 To RING ONE'S OWN BELL is the same as " to be one's own trumpeter." 
 RING-TAILED ROARER. See Roarer. 
 
 To RIP. To tear, to drive. A common slang expression is " Let her 
 rip ! " i. e. let her drive, let her go. 
 
 Great Odin, thou storm-god ! 
 Crack on with our ship ! 
 We are off on a batter ; 
 
 Hurrah, let her rip. Leland, Knickerbocker Gallery. 
 Another phrase, which often glides in music from the lip, 
 Is one of fine significance and beauty, " Let her rip." 
 In the late panic we have kept this mandate o'er and o'er, 
 And " let her rip " so frequently, that some can rip no more. 
 
 Park Benjamin, Poem on Hard Times. 
 
 To RIP OUT. To utter with vehemence, to swear ; as "to rip out an oath." 
 
 I suppose the clergy would n't give me a chance for heaven, because I rip out with 
 
 an oath every now and then. But I can't help swearing, if I should die for it. They 
 
 say it 's dreadfully wicked ; but I feel more Christian when I let out, than when I 
 
 keep in ! Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. I. p. 272. 
 
 Here I ripped out something, perhaps rather rash, 
 Quite innocent, though ; but, to use an expression 
 More striking than classic, it settled my hash, 
 And proved very soon the last of our session. 
 
 Butler, Nothing to Wear. 
 
 To RIP-RAP. To make a foundation of stones thrown together without 
 order in deep water. 
 
 If, in constructing a bulkhead, it should be determined to rip-rap to low-water 
 mark, there would be but a slight difference in favor of the bulkhead ; the cost for 
 rip-rapping, estimating at three cents a foot, would be about eighty thousand dollars. 
 Doc. of N. Y. Aldermen, No. 9, 1848. 
 
 RIPPER. A tearer, driver. Webster. 
 RIP-SNORTER, RIP-STAVER. A tearer, driver, dasher. 
 
 RISE. The phrase " and the rise." is used in some parts of the South to 
 mean " and more ; " as, " I should think there were a thousand and the 
 rise" i. e. a thousand and more, over a thousand. 
 
 RISING, or RISING OF. More than ; upwards of; as, " James Smithson 
 bequeathed to the United States rising half a million of dollars." " There 
 were rising of a thousand men killed at the battle of Buena Vista."
 
 RIS ROB 
 
 RISKY. Dangerous; hazardous. 
 
 My friends has wondered at me, said the Widow Bedott, for continuing single so 
 long ; but I always told them J t was a very resky business to take a second partner. 
 Bedott Papers, p. 144. 
 
 RIVER. Mr. Pickering observes that the Americans, in speaking of rivers, 
 commonly put the name before the word river, thus, Connecticut river, 
 Charles river, Merrimack river, Hudson river, Susquehanna river ; whereas 
 the English place the name after it, and say, the river Thames, the river 
 Danube, etc. 
 
 RIVER-BOTTOMS. The bottom or alluvial land along the margin of rivers. 
 See Bottom and Bottom Lands. 
 
 The alluvial terraces or river-bottoms, as they are popularly termed, were the favorite 
 sites of these builders [of the ancient works in Ohio] . The principal mounds are 
 found where these bottoms are most extended. Squier and Davis's Monuments 
 Mississippi Valley, p. 6. 
 
 RIVER-DRIVER. A term applied by lumbermen in Maine, to a man whose 
 business it is to conduct logs down running streams, to prevent them 
 from lodging upon shoals or remaining in eddies. 
 
 RIVER-THIEF. One of a class of thieves in New York city who in boats 
 prowl about vessels at night and plunder them. 
 
 ROACH. A cockroach. 
 
 ROANOKE. Indian shell money ; so called in Virginia, See Peage. 
 
 ROARER. One who roars ; a noisy man. Worcester. 
 
 Ben was an old Mississippi roarer none of your half and half, but just as native 
 to the element, as if he had been born in a broad-horn. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 64. 
 
 This is sometimes intensified into ring-tailed roarer. 
 And when he got a arguing strong, 
 He was a ring-tailed roarer. Western Song. 
 
 ROASTING-EARS. Indian corn in the green state fit for roasting. This 
 term is much used in the South and West for green corn in general, 
 either raw or cooked. It is borrowed from the Indian custom of roasting 
 the ears before a fire or in the hot ashes, which however is now practised 
 only out of doors, as on pic-nic occasions. The common mode of cook- 
 ing is by boiling. 
 
 The Indians delight much to feed on roasting-ears, gathered green and milky 
 before it is grown to its full bigness, and roasted before the fire in the ear. And 
 indeed this is a very sweet and pleasing food. Beverley's Virginia, 1705, Book III. 
 
 ROBE. (French.) A dressed skin ; applied only to that of the buffalo. 
 A pack of robes is ten skins, tied in a pack, which is the manner in 
 which they are brought from the far West to market. For the skins of 
 other wild animals, we use the term skin, as deer-skin, beaver-sHw,
 
 ROC ROL 369 
 
 muskrat-sKn, etc., but never "buffalo-skin. The term is sometimes cor- 
 rupted into buffalo-rw^r. 
 
 The robes of the buffaloes are worn by the Indians instead of blankets their 
 skins, when tanned, are used as coverings for their lodges, etc. Catlin's Indians, 
 Vol. I. p. 262. 
 
 The large and roomy sleigh decked with buffalo, black bear, and lynx robes, red 
 bound and furnished with sham eyes and ears. The Upper Ten Thousand, p. 4. 
 
 ROCK. 1. A stone. In the Southern and Western States, and also in 
 some parts of New England, stones of any size are absurdly called rocks. 
 
 Brother S came home in a mighty bad way, with a cold and cough ; so I put 
 
 a hot rock to his feet and gave him a bowl of catnip tea, which put him in a mighty 
 fine sweat, etc. Georgia Scenes, p. 193. 
 
 Mr. M was almost dead with the consumption, and had to carry rocks in his 
 
 pocket to keep the wind from blowin' him away. Maj. Jones's Travels. 
 
 I see Arch. Cooney walk down to the creek bottom, and then he begin pickin' up 
 rocks an' slingin' them at the dogs. Mike Hooter, by a Missourian. 
 
 2. A piece of money. A slang term peculiar to the South. 
 Spare my feelings, Squire, and don't ask me to tell any more. Here I am in 
 town without a rock in my pocket, without a skirt to my coat, or crown to my hat. 
 Pickings from the New Orleans Picayune. 
 
 To ROCK. To throw stones at ; to stone. This supremely ridiculous 
 expression is derived from the preceding. 
 
 They commenced rocking the Clay Club House in June, on more occasions than 
 one, and on one occasion threw a rock in at the window, hitting Mr. Clem on the 
 shoulder, etc. Jonesborough (Tenn.) Whig. 
 
 ROCKAWAY. A light carriage, open at the sides, and capable of holding 
 from six to nine persons. 
 
 ROCK-FISH. See Striped Bass. 
 ROCKER. See Cradle. 
 
 RODEO. (Span.) To give or make a rodeo is to collect in an enclosure 
 the large herds of cattle on stock farms, for the purpose of separating 
 and counting and marking them. California. 
 
 Every owner of a stock farm shall be obliged to give yearly one general rodeo : 
 . . . and the person giving such general rodeo shall give notice thereof to all owners 
 of the adjoining farms, at least four days before said rodeos are made, for the purpose 
 of separating, marking, and branding their respective cattle, etc. Laws of Cali- 
 fornia, chap. 92. 
 
 ROKEAGE, or YOKEAGE. Indian corn parched, pulverized, and mixed 
 with sugar. 
 
 ROLLING COUNTRY, or ROLLING PRAIRIE. The vast plains or prairies 
 of the West, although preserving a general level in respect to the whole 
 country, are yet in themselves not flat, but exhibit a gracefully waving
 
 370 ROL EOF 
 
 surface, swelling and subsiding with an easy slope and a full rounded out- 
 line, equally avoiding the unmeaning horizontal surface and the interrup- 
 tion of abrupt or angular elevations. It is that surface which, in the 
 expressive language of the country, is called rolling, and which has been 
 said to resemble the long, heavy swell of the ocean, when its waves are 
 subsiding to rest after the agitation of a storm. Such are rolling prairies. 
 Judge Hall, Notes on the Western States. 
 
 The country was what was termed rolling, from some fancied resemblance to the 
 surface of the ocean when it is just undulating with a long ground swell. Cooper, 
 The Oak Openings. 
 
 Here one of the characteristic scenes of the Far West broke upon us. An immense 
 extent of grassy, undulating, or as it is termed, rolling country, with here and there 
 a clump of trees, dimly seen in the distance like a ship at sea ; the landscape deriv- 
 ing sublimity from its vastness and simplicity. Irving' s Tour on the Prairies, p. 
 100. 
 
 The cabin was on the edge of a bluff ; but the door opened on a fine rolling prai- 
 rie, dotted all over with flowers, which, in variety of color, vied with the rainbow. 
 Mrs. Robinson's Kansas, p. 41. 
 
 ROLLING-ROADS. So called in Maryland and Virginia, from the old cus- 
 tom of rolling tobacco to market in hogsheads, just as if one would drag 
 a barrel or churn on the ground, by attaching thills to axles or pivots fas- 
 tened to it. This mode of transportation was still in use twenty years 
 ago. 
 
 To ROOM. To occupy a room ; to lodge; as, "In order to save expense 
 and have company, I room with my friend Brown," j. e. occupy the same 
 room with him. 
 
 ROOSTER. The male of the domestic fowl ; the cock. 
 
 As if the flourish of the quill were the crowing of a rooster. Neal's Charcoal 
 Sketches. 
 
 A huge turkey gobbling in the road, a rooster crowing on the fence, and ducks 
 quacking in the ditches. Margaret, p. 187. 
 
 The Skinners and Cow Boys of the Revolution, when they wrung the neck of a 
 rooster, did not trouble their heads whether they crowed for Congress or King 
 George. Irving, Wolfert's Roost, p. 17. 
 
 To ROPE. To catch an animal, as a buffalo, a horse, etc., by throwing the 
 lasso or lariat over its head. 
 
 Yep, old gal! (said he to his mule) keep your nose open; thar's brown skin 
 about, and maybe you '11 get roped by a Rapaho afore mornin'. Ruxton, Life in 
 the Far West. 
 
 To ROPE IN. 1. To take or sweep in collectively ; an expression much 
 used in colloquial language at the West. It originated in a common 
 practice of drawing in hay with a rope. The hay is at first heaped in 
 wind-rows. A rope, with a horse attached to each end, is swept like a
 
 ROP ROU 371 
 
 net around the end of the row, which is thus brought together, and 
 dragged to any part of the field. 
 
 2. To decoy, viz., into a mock-auction establishment, a gambling-house, 
 etc. 
 
 ROPER IN. One who acts as a decoy for a gambling-house, in the patent 
 safe game, etc. 
 
 Mr. A complained to the police that a young man at his hotel, who turned 
 
 out to be a roper in of a gambling house, had enticed him away, and by whose means 
 he had lost all his money. Police Report, N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 ROSIN WEED. (Silphium laciniatum.} A plant, called also the Compass 
 Plant, because its leaves are supposed by the voyageurs to point north 
 and south, and thus to serve as a guide to the traveller over the prairies. 
 
 Ross. The rough, scaly matter on the surface of the bark of certain trees. 
 Webster. A term much used in New England, as well as in the Mid- 
 dle States. It is provincial in England. 
 
 ROSTER. 1. In Massachusetts, a list of the officers of a division, brigade, 
 regiment, etc., containing, .under several heads, their names, rank, corps, 
 place of abode, etc. These are called division rosters, brigade rosters, 
 regimental or battalion rosters. 
 
 2. The word is frequently used instead of Register, which compre- 
 hends a general list of all the officers of the State, from the commander- 
 in-chief to the lowest in the commission, under the same appropriate 
 heads, with an additional column for noting the alterations which take 
 place. W. H. Sumner. 
 
 ROUGH AND TUMBLE. A rough and tumble fight is said to be one in which 
 all the laws of the ring are discarded, and biting, kicking, gouging, etc., 
 are. perfectly admissible. 
 
 ROUGHSKINS. A gang of Baltimore bullies. 
 ROUGH-SCUFF. The lowest people ; the rabble. 
 
 ROUND. " To come or get round one," in popular language, is to gain ad- 
 vantage over one by flattery or deception. Webster. 
 
 ROUND OF THE PAPERS. To say that an article is " going the rounds of 
 the papers" meaning that it is being copied into many newspapers, is 
 called an Americanism in England. 
 
 ROUND-RIMMERS. Hats with a round rim ; hence, those who wear them. 
 In the city of New York, a name applied to a large class of dissipated 
 young men, by others called Bowery Boys and Soap-locks. 
 
 All over the region of East Bowery is spread holding it in close subjection the 
 powerful class of round rimmers; a fraternity of gentlemen who, in round crape-
 
 372 ROU ROW 
 
 bound hats, metal-mounted blue coats, tallow-smoothed locks, etc., carry dismay 
 and terror wherever they move. C. Mathews, Puffer Hopkins, p. 261. 
 
 ROUSER. Something very exciting or very great. Thus an eloquent 
 speech or sermon, a large mass-meeting, or a big prize-ox, is a rouser. 
 
 ROWDY. A riotous, turbulent fellow. 
 
 All around the oyster and liquor stands was a throng of low, shabby, dirty men, 
 some horse-dealers, some gamblers, and some loafers in general ; but alike in their 
 slang and rowdy aspect. Upper Ten Thousand, p. 239. 
 
 The rowdy nomenclature of the principal cities may now be classified 
 as follows : 
 
 NEW YORK. " Dead Rabbits," " Bowery Boys," " Forty Thieves," " Skin- 
 ners," " Robin Hood Club," " Huge Paws," " Short Boys," " Swill Boys," 
 " Shoulder-hitters," " Killers." 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. " Killers," " Schuylkill Annihilators," " Moyamensing 
 Hounds," " Northern Liberty Skivers," and " Peep-of-Day Boys." 
 
 BALTIMORE. " Plug Uglies," " Rough Skins," "Double Pumps," "Tigers," 
 "Black Snakes," "Stay Lates," "Hard Times," "Little Fellows," "Blood 
 Tubs," " Dips," " Ranters," " Rip-Raps," and " Gladiators." 
 
 A convention of the Baltimore rowdies above mentioned, under the 
 name of the " American Clubs," was held in that city in Sept., 1857, 
 under the plea of rallying for some political campaign ; in commenting 
 on which, the " Baltimore Clipper " of Sept. 8 says : " Should not every 
 true-hearted American blush to acknowledge that any portion of his 
 countrymen glory in such barbaric and degrading names ? " 
 
 To Row UP. To punish with words ; to rebuke. It is an essential West- 
 ernism, and derived from the practice of making refractory slaves or 
 servants row up the heavy keel-boats of early navigation on the Western 
 rivers, against the current, without being frequently reh'eved. It was 
 thus regarded as a punishment. 
 
 We should really like, of all things, to row up the majority of Congress as it de- 
 serves in regard to the practice. N. Y. Tribune, Dec. 10, 1845. 
 
 The most spicy part of the proceedings in the Senate was the rowing up which Mr. 
 Hannegan gave Mr. Ritchie of the Union newspaper. N. Y. Tribune, Jan. 30, 1846. 
 
 To Row UP SALT RIVER is a common phrase, used generally to signify 
 political defeat. The distance to which a party is rowed up Salt river 
 depends entirely upon the magnitude of the majority against its candi- 
 dates. If the defeat is particularly overwhelming, the unsuccessful party 
 is rowed up to the very head waters of Salt river. 
 
 It is occasionally used as nearly synonymous with to row tip, as in the 
 following example, but this example is rare : 
 
 Judge Clayton made a speech that fairly made the tumblers hop. He rowed the 
 Tories up and over Salt river. Crockett, Tour Down East, p. 46. 
 
 To row up Salt river has its origin in the fact that there is a small
 
 ROW RUL 373 
 
 stream of that name in Kentucky, the passage of which is made difficult 
 and laborious, as well by its tortuous course as by the abundance of shal- 
 lows and bars. The real application of the phrase is to the unhappy 
 wight who has the task of propelling the boat up the stream ; but in po- 
 litical or slang usage it is to those who are rowed up the passengers, 
 not the oarsman. [J. Inman.~\ 
 
 Row TO HOE. To have a long (or hard) row to hoe, is a common figu- 
 rative expression, meaning that one has a long or difficult task to perform. 
 The allusion is to hoeing corn or potatoes. 
 
 Hosea Bigelow has a ballad on the Mexican war, in which he portrays 
 the efforts of the recruiting officer to entice a young man to enlist, who 
 declines on account of his wife. He says : 
 
 She wants me for home consumption, 
 
 Let alone the hay 'a to mow, 
 If you 're arter folks o' gumption, 
 
 You 've a darned long row to hoe. 
 
 Biglow Papers. 
 
 To RUB OUT. To obliterate ; and figuratively, to destroy, to kill. 
 Western. 
 
 However quickly the buffalo disappears, the red man goes under more quickly 
 still, and the Great Spirit has ordained that both shall be rubbed out from the face of 
 nature at the same time. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 117. 
 
 That nation [the Camanche] is mad a heap mad with the whites, and has dug 
 up the hatchet to rub out all who enter his country. Ibid. p. 191. 
 
 The swift current [of the Jordan] would seize us and send us off at a salient angle 
 from our course, as if it had been lurking behind the point like an evil thing ... as 
 if for the purpose of rubbing us out. Lynch, Dead Sea Exp., p. 216. 
 
 RUBBER. India rubber, caoutchouc. 
 RUBBERS. Overshoes made of India rubber. 
 
 RUFFED GROUSE. (Tetras umbellus.) A bird which extends over the 
 whole breadth of the continent, northward as far as the fifty-sixth paral- 
 lel, and southward to Texas, and probably still further. It is called Par- 
 tridge in Connecticut, and Pheasant at the South and West 
 
 RUGGED. Hardy ; robust ; healthy. Colloquial in the United States. 
 Worcester. 
 
 Why it 's an unaccountable fact that Mr. Bedott had n't seen a well day in fifteen 
 year, though when he was married I should n't desire to see a ruggeder man than he 
 was. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 22. 
 
 RUINATIOUS. A vulgar substitute for ruinous. 
 
 The war was very ruinatious to our profession (said the barber). Margaret, 
 p. 210. 
 
 RWLLICHIES. (Dutch, rolletje, little roll.) Chopped meat stuffed into small 
 
 32
 
 374 RUM RUN 
 
 bags of tripe, which are then cut into slices and fried. An old and favor- 
 ite dish among the descendants of the Dutch in New York. 
 
 RUM-BUD. A grog blossom ; the popular name of a redness occasioned by 
 the detestable practice of excessive drinking. Rum-buds usually appear 
 first on the nose, and gradually extend over the face. This term seems 
 to have reference to the disease technically denned to be unsuppurative 
 papule, stationary, confluent, red, mottled with purple, chiefly affecting 
 the face, sometimes produced and always aggravated by the use of alco- 
 holic liquors, by exposure to heat, etc. Rush. 
 
 RUM-HOLE. See Groggery. 
 
 RUM-SUCKER. An habitual drinker, a toper. 
 
 One of the best things that can be applied to a rocky pasture infested with bushes, 
 briars, or weeds, is salt. Salt them every week while wet with rain or dew, and let 
 the stock look to that source alone for a supply of this luxury, which they run after 
 with an acquired appetite as strong as that of a rum-sucker. N, Y. Tribune, July 9, 
 1858. 
 
 RUN. A small stream, or rivulet. A word common in the Southern and 
 Western States, and sometimes heard at the North. 
 
 There is no house in the main road between this and the run ; and the run is so 
 high, from the freshes, that you will not be able to find it. Davis's Travels in the 
 United States in 1797. 
 
 The hills bordering the Ohio, at the mouth of the Yellow Creek, contain six 
 workable beds of coal, while there are at least two others which lie beneath the bed 
 of the river. Of those exposed, the fourth in the ascending series contains the fishes 
 and reptiles ; it is known on Yellow Creek as the " big run," being nearly eight feet 
 in thickness. Silliman's Journal, March, 1858. 
 
 To RUN, or RUN UPON. To quiz, to make a butt of. 
 
 He is a quiet, good-natured, inoffensive sort of a chap, and will stand running 
 upon as long as most men, but who is a perfect tiger when his passions are roused. 
 Southern Sketches, p. 137. 
 
 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. 
 
 Any man who can run his face for a card of pens, a quire of paper, and a pair of 
 scissors, may set up for an editor ; and by loud, incessant bragging, may secure a 
 considerable patronage. N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 To RUN INTO THE GROUND. To carry to excess, to overdo a thing, and 
 thereby mar it. Probably a hunter's phrase, to express the earthing of 
 a fox or other game. 
 
 The proposition to prohibit the enlistment of foreigners in the army is running 
 Know Nothingism into the ground. Providence Journal. 
 
 The advocates of temperance have run it into the ground by their extreme measures 
 connected with the Maine Law. N. Y. Herald. 
 
 RUN OF STONES. A pair of mill-stones is called a run of stones when in
 
 RUN SAD 375 
 
 operation or placed in a mill. The Rochester flouring mills have each 
 ten or twenty run of stones. 
 
 RUNNER. A person whose business it is to solicit passengers for steamboats 
 and railroads. Numbers of these men are always found about the 
 wharves, shipping, railroad stations, and hotels of our principal cities, 
 trying to induce travellers or emigrants to travel by the routes they re- 
 commend, and for which they often have tickets for sale. 
 
 RUSH. Spirit, energy. " To go it with a rush, or with a perfect rush" is 
 to do a thing energetically, with spirit. 
 
 To RUSH IT. To do a thing with spirit ; as, " The old negro is rushing it 
 with his fiddle." 
 
 RUSTY DAB. (Genus, Platessa. Cuvier.) The popular name of the 
 Rusty Flat-fish, a fish found on the coast of Massachusetts and New 
 York in deep water. 
 
 S. 
 
 SAEBADAY. Sabbath day, Sunday. So called in the interior of New Eng- 
 knd. 
 
 Newman. You look better ; I hope you feel better, and are better ? 
 Doolittle. Why, I expect I do, and I guess I be, all three. I know I be, as to 
 tue first particular, changing my old shabby duds for these new Sdbbaday clothes, 
 for a go-to-meeting day, anywheres. D. Humphreys, The Yankee in England, p. 29. 
 My hearers, there is nothing irregular in nature ; because it is round, as I told you 
 last Sabbaday : it rolls evenly round, and is bound to come regularly around. 
 Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 194. 
 
 SACATRA. The name given in Louisiana to the offspring of a griffe and a 
 negress. 
 
 SACHEM. (Abenaki Ind.) An American Indian chief or prince. 
 
 The Sachems, although they have an absolute monarchy over the people, yet they 
 will not conclude of aught that concerns all, either laws, or subsidies, or wars, unto 
 which the people are averse, and by gentle persuasion cannot be brought. 72. 
 Williams, Key to the Indian Language. 
 
 SACHEMDOM, or SACHEMSHIP. The government or jurisdiction of a 
 sachem. 
 
 King Philip's war was attended with exciting an universal rising of the Indian 
 tribes, not only of Narragansett and the Sachemdom of Philip, but of the Indians 
 through New England, except the Sachemdom of Uncas, at Mohegan. Stile's His- 
 tory of the Judges of Charles I. p. 109. ' 
 
 To SADDY. To bob up and down ; to curtsy like a child. Probably a 
 child's corruption of Thank ye, applied to the curtsy which accompanies 
 the phrase. ^ f /^^<4 z* , ff ? ff ?
 
 376 SAF SAI 
 
 It would do you good to see our boys and girls dancing. None of your straddling, 
 mincing, sadying ; but a regular sifter, cut-the-buckle, chicken-flutter set-to. 
 Crockett, Tour. 
 
 SAFE. 1. Sure, certain ; as, " He 's safe to be hanged." Brockett. In this 
 sense the word is common in the South-west. 
 
 2. An iron box, frequently built into the wall, and used by merchants 
 as a place of deposit for their books and papers. They are now generally 
 made fire-proof; and some of these are called " salamander safes" 
 
 SAFETY BARGE. A passenger boat towed by a steamboat at such a dis- 
 tance from it as to avoid all apprehension of danger to the passengers. 
 These barges were first introduced on the Hudson River by Mr. Wm. C. 
 Redfield, to ply between New York and Albany; and, being fitted up 
 with taste and luxury, they became great favorites with travellers. But 
 our countrymen never hold their fears long ; a short interval of exemp- 
 tion from steamboat accidents ended the excitement, while the greater 
 speed of the ordinary boats gradually drew off passengers from the 
 barges, until they could be no longer run with profit, and were abandoned. 
 Silliman's Journal, Nov. 1857. 
 
 SAGABAN. The root of the Apios tuberose, used as food by the Indians of 
 the North-west. 
 
 SAGAMORE. (Abenaki Ind.) The title of a chief or a ruler among some 
 of the American tribes of Indians ; a sachem. Worcester. 
 
 The Indians of every noated plase so combined, make a kind of petty lordship, 
 and are commonly united under one chief person, who hath the rule over all those 
 lesser fraternities or companies. In the places more eastward they called the chief 
 rulers that commanded the rest, Bashabeas ; as in the more westward plantations 
 they called them Sagamores and sachems. Hubbard's Gen. Hist, of New England. 
 But will not Waban pass Namasket near 
 
 Where oft that wise and good old Sagamore, 
 
 Brave Massasoit, spends the season drear? Durfee,Wfiatcheer, Canto II. 
 If the young Sagamore is to be led to the stake, the Indians shall see how a man 
 without a cross can die ! Cooper, Last of the Mohicans, p. 394. 
 
 SAG-NICHTS. The German rendering of the political term Know-nothing, 
 it being made on the principle that those who know nothing had better 
 say nothing. 
 
 SAINTS. " The Saints" is a title which the Mormons often apply to them- 
 selves on ordinary occasions, their full designation being " the Church 
 of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints." Whence they are also often 
 called Latter-day Saints. 
 
 But the most fruitful element of internal commotion, and thatwhich more immedi- 
 ately led to the prophet's death, was the institution of polygamy as one of the numer- 
 ous privileges of the Saints. Ferris, Utah and the Mormons, p. 113.
 
 SAK SAL 377 
 
 SAKES. " La sakes ! " " massy sakes ! " " sakes alive ! " are very common 
 exclamations among the venerable matrons of the interior parts of the 
 country. The first two expressions are evidently corruptions of " for 
 the Lord's sake ! " " for mercy's sake ! " But the last must be left for 
 the old ladies themselves to parse. 
 
 La sakes ! how poor she is ! you can a 'most see her bones come through her 
 skin : just see her shoulder-blades ; well if that ain't a sight ! Cousin Cicely, Silver 
 Lake Sketches. 
 
 Why, sikes alive ! do tell me if Enos is as mean as all that comes to. Nutmeg- 
 vitte Revisited, N. Y. Com. Adv. 
 
 SALAD. In the Northern States often used specifically for lettuce, of which 
 salad is frequently made. The Philadelphia Ledger, hi an article on 
 Fraser river, speaking of the climate, says : 
 
 Fruit-trees blossom early in April, and salad goes to head by the middle of May, 
 on Vancouver's Island. July, 1838. 
 
 SALAMANDER. In Florida and Georgia a name applied to a species of 
 pouched rat (Geomys pinetis), and also to the Menopoma Alleghaniensis ; 
 an animal of disgusting appearance, with a broad, flattened head, allied 
 to the salamander proper. It is found in the Ohio and some of the 
 Southern rivers. 
 
 SALAMANDER SAFE. See Safe. 
 
 SALERATUS.* The prepared carbonate of soda and salt, used to an injurious 
 extent in the United States by bakers and housekeepers for mixing with 
 flour, to evolve the carbonic acid gas on the addition of water, in order to 
 expand the dough and render the bread light. 
 
 SALLY Lux. A name for a sort of tea-cake. 
 
 SALUTATORIAN. The student of a college who pronounces the salutatory 
 oration at the annual Commencement. Webster. 
 
 SALUTATORY. An epithet applied to the oration which introduces the 
 exercises of the Commencements in American colleges. Webster. 
 
 SALT-BOTTOM. A plain or flat piece of land covered with saline efflor- 
 escences. These places abound in "Western Texas, New Mexico, and 
 Arizona. 
 
 SALT-LICK. See Lick. 
 
 SALT GRASS and SALT HAY. The grass and hay growing hi salt marshes. 
 
 SALT PRAIRIE. In Texas and New Mexico, the tracts of salt efflorescence 
 which often cover a wide space. Capt. Reid speaks of some fifty miles 
 hi length and breadth. The Bay Hunters. 
 
 32*
 
 378 SAL SAM 
 
 SALT-WATER VEGETABLES. In New York, a cant term for oysters and 
 clams. 
 
 SAM. A nickname given to the Know-Nothing or Native American party. 
 See the articles Hindoos, Know-Nothings, and Native Americans. 
 
 The following capital parody is from the Washington " Evening Star " 
 of November 3, 1856 : 
 
 BURIAL OF SAM. 
 Not a State had he got nor Electoral vote, 
 
 And he looked confoundedly flurried ; 
 Then wilted dried up and kinder gin eout, 
 As we Hindoos around him hurried. 
 
 We buried him darkly that Tuesday night 
 
 (For we fear'd he'd not keep until morning), 
 By the struggling moonbeams' misty light 
 
 And dark-lanterns dimly burning. 
 
 No useless coffin enclosed his breast, 
 
 In a sheet of the " Organ " we wound him ; 
 Everlasting, we guess, will be his rest 
 
 With so sleepy a print around him. 
 
 Few and short were the prayers we said, 
 
 But we cussed some, in bitter sorrow, 
 As we thought how through Ellis & Co. we 'd been bled, 
 
 And the bets that were due on the morrow. 
 
 We thought, as we hollowed his oozy bed * 
 
 In a culvert that runs by " The Willows," 
 That Sag-Nichts and strangers would tread o'er his head, 
 
 And we up the Salt River billows. 
 
 Lightly they '11 talk of the spirit that 's gone, 
 
 And o'er his spilt ash-cart upbraid him 
 With the bloodshed he caused and the churches he burned 
 
 Before the Democracy laid him. 
 
 Sadly but promptly we dropped him down 
 
 In the peculiar field of his glory. 
 We carved not a line, we raised not a stone ; 
 
 For we knew ' t was a mighty dark story. 
 
 SAMBO. A term often applied to negroes. It is used more specifically to 
 mean the offspring of a negro and mulatto. 
 
 SAMP. (Abenaki Ind., seaump, nasaump.) Roger Williams describes na- 
 saump as "a kind of meale pottage unparched; fjcom this the English 
 call their samp, which is Indian corn, beaten and boiled, and eaten hot 
 or cold with milke or butter, which are mercies beyond the natives' 
 plaine water, and which is a dish exceedingly wholesome for the English 
 bodies." Key to the Indian Language, p. 33. Samp is still much used 
 wherever Indian corn is raised.
 
 SAN 379 
 
 Blue corn is light of digestion, and the English make a kind of loblolly of it to 
 eat with milk, which they call sampe ; they beat it in a mortar, and sifte the flower 
 out of it. Josselyn's New England Rarities, 1672. 
 
 It is ordered that the treasurer doe forthwith provide tenn barrells of cranburys, 
 two hogsheads of speciall good sampe, and three thousand of codfish, to be pre- 
 sented to his majesty, as a present from this court. Massachusetts Col. Records, 
 1677, Vol. V. p. 156. 
 
 He slept until the morning light was seen 
 
 Down through the dome to dance upon his brow ; 
 Then Waban woke him to his simple cheer 
 Of the pure fount, nausamp, and savory deer. 
 
 Durfee, WJiatcheer. 
 
 SANCTIMONIOUSLYFIED. This queer word explains itself. 
 
 I recollect an old sanctimoniously fied fellow who made his negroes whistle while 
 they were picking cherries, for fear they should eat some. Crockett, Tour down 
 East. 
 
 SAND-BOX. A primitive sort of spittoon, consisting of a wooden box filled 
 with sand. 
 
 SAND-CHERRY. ( Cerasus pumila.) A prostrate or reclining shrub which 
 grows on the sand-hills in the West and North. It bears a profusion of 
 fruit, which is black when ripe, with an astringent taste, about as large as 
 the common cultivated red cherry. 
 
 SAND-FLEA, or BEACH-FLEA. (Genus, Orchestra. Leach.) A small 
 crustacean common along the shores of Long Island and other sandy 
 places, which digs holes wherein it conceals itself, and lives upon dead 
 animal substances. 
 
 SAND-HILLERS. A class of people in Georgia and South Carolina.- They 
 are said to be the descendants of the poor whites, who, being deprived of 
 work by the introduction of slave labor, took refuge in the pine woods 
 that cover the sandy hills of those States, where they have since lived in 
 a miserable condition. 
 
 The sand-hillers are small, gaunt, and cadaverous, and their skin is just the color 
 of the sand-hills they live on. They are incapable of applying themselves steadily 
 to any labor, and their habits are very much like those of the old Indians. Olm- 
 sted's Slave States, p. 507. 
 
 SANG. An abbreviation of ginseng. It is also used in Maryland and 
 Virginia as a verb. To go a sanging is to be engaged in gathering gin- 
 seng. In Alleghany Co., Maryland, is Sang Run near which is a well- 
 known " sanging ground." 
 
 SANG-HOE. The implement used in gathering ginseng. 
 
 SANTA FE TEA. An infusion of the leaves of the Alstonia theceformis, used 
 in New Mexico.
 
 380 SAP SAV 
 
 SAPHEAD. A blockhead ; a stupid fellow. Craven Dialect. In some 
 other parts of England, sapskull is used. 
 Why is a dandy like a mushroom ? 
 
 Because he 's a regular saphead, 
 
 His waist is remarkably slender, 
 His growth is exceedingly rapid, 
 And his top is uncommonly tender. 
 
 Lit. World, Dec. 14, 1850. 
 
 SAPSUCKER. A small woodpecker (the dentrocopus of ornithologists), so 
 called from a common belief that it sucks the sap of trees. 
 
 SARVES, for preserves. So pronounced in some parts of the West. 
 
 We had also [for dinner] custard pies, and maple molasses, (usually called " them 
 'are molasses,") and preserved apples, preserved water-melon-rinds, and preserved 
 red peppers and tomatoes all termed, for brevity's sake (like words in Webster's 
 Dictionary), sarves. Carlton, The New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 183. 
 
 SARSAPARILLA. The name is applied to a species of Aralia and other 
 plants used as substitutes for foreign sarsaparilla. 
 
 S ASS-TEA. A decoction of sassafras ; sassafras-tea, 
 
 In the morning Hoss Allen became dreadful poorly. The matron of the house 
 boiled him sass-tea, which the old man said revived him mightily. Robb, Squatter 
 Life, p. 72. 
 
 SAUCE. (Vulgarly pronounced sass.) Culinary vegetables and roots eaten 
 with flesh. Webster. This word is provincial in various parts of Eng- 
 land in the same sense. Forby defines it as " any sort of vegetable 
 eaten with flesh-meat." Norfolk Glossary. Garden-stuff and garden- 
 ware are the usual terms in England. See Long Sauce. 
 
 Roots, herbs, vine-fruits, and salad-flowers they dish up in various ways, and 
 find them very delicious sauce to their meats, both roasted and boiled, fresh and 
 salt. Beverly's Hist, of Virginia. 
 
 " If I should stay away to tea," said the Widow Bedott to her children, " don't 
 be a lettin' into the plum sass and cake as you did the other day." Bedott Papers, 
 p. 88. 
 
 SAULT, pronounced soo. (Old French.) The rapids of the St. Lawrence 
 and those connecting the Upper Lakes retain the French name ; as, the 
 Sault St. Mary, etc. 
 
 SAUSAGE-MACHINE. A machine for chopping or mincing meat for the 
 purpose of making sausages. 
 
 SAVAGE AS A MEAT AXE. 1. Exceedingly savage ; ferocious. This vul- 
 gar simile is often used in the Northern and Western States. 
 
 He came up and looked at me right plum in the face, as savage as a meat axe; and 
 says he, " Give us your paw." Southern Sketches, p. 32.
 
 SAV 381 
 
 2. Exceedingly hungry, ravenous. 
 
 "Why, you don't eat nothing ! " he exclaimed; "ridin' don't agree with you, I 
 guess ! Now, for my part, it makes me as savage as a meat axe." Mrs. Clavers's 
 Forest Life, Vol. I. p. 103. 
 
 It would be a charity to give the pious brother some such feed as chicken fixins 
 and doins, for he looks half-starved and as savage as a meat axe. Carlton's New 
 Purchase. 
 
 SAVAGEROUS. Savage, ferocious. A low word. Southern. 
 
 "Well, Capting, they were mighty savagerous after liquor ; they 'd been fightin' the 
 whiskey barrel. Porter's Tales of the South-west. 
 
 I see there was hell in him, so I looked at him sort o' savagerous, and says I, " Look 
 here, old hoss, how can you have the face to talk so ? " Southern Sketches. 
 
 The captain felt sorter wolfish, and lookin' at the stranger darned savagerous, 
 said, " Who in creation are you 1" Traits of American Humor. 
 
 SAVANNA. (W. Ind. savana.) An open plain, or meadow, without wood. 
 The savanna is not a prairie. It is a level tract of land, often ap- 
 proaching the circular in shape, averaging one or two feet lower than the 
 level land about it. It is supposed to be the basin of a former lake or 
 collection of water, which has been filled up by the accumulation of soil 
 and vegetable matter. The savanna is perfectly level, clothed in per- 
 petual verdure, except in winter, when it is covered with water, 
 and abounds in a great variety of flowers. The prairie differs not from 
 other land, except in the absence of timber, which is supposed to have 
 been destroyed in a former era by fires or by the aboriginal inhabitants. 
 W. Flagg, in the Mag. of Horticulture, Sept., 1854. 
 
 In some places lie plats of low and very rich ground, well timbered ; in others 
 large spots of meadows and savannas, wherein are hundreds of acres without any 
 tree at all, but yield reeds and grass of incredible height. Beverly's Virginia, 1 705, 
 Book 2. 
 
 The island of San Pio is curiously diversified with alternate patches of savannah, 
 bush, and marsh, and offers numerous coverts for wild animals. Squier's Waikna, 
 p. 236. 
 
 The fresh savannas of the Sangamon 
 Here rise in gentle swells, and the long grass 
 Is mixed with rustling hazels. 
 
 Bryant, The Painted Cup. 
 
 To SAVE. To make sure, i. e. to kill game, or an enemy, whether man or 
 beast. To get conveys the same meaning, both terms being used by the 
 
 backwoodsmen of the Far West. The notorious Judge W of Texas, 
 
 known through that State as " three legged "Willie," once said in a speech 
 at a barbacue (after his political opponent had been apologizing for hav- 
 ing taken a man's life in a duel) : 
 
 The gentleman need not make such a fuss about getting such a rascal ; everybody 
 knows that I have shot three, and two of them I saved.
 
 382 SAV SCA 
 
 SAVET, or SABBY. (Corrupted from the Span, sale, knows.) To know ; 
 to comprehend. A word of very extensive use wherever a Lingua 
 Franca has been formed of the Spanish or Portuguese language in Asia, 
 Africa, and America. It is used by the negroes in the West Indies, and 
 in some of the Southern States. 
 
 When I read these stories, the negroes looked delighted, and said : " We savey 
 dat well, misses." Carmichael's West Indies, 
 
 SAW. A joke, a trick. 
 
 To SAW. To hoax ; to play a joke upon one. A Western term. In the 
 State of Maine, to saw means to scold. 
 
 SAW-GUMMER. See Gummer. 
 
 SAW-LOG. Logs cut from trees into the proper length for boards, before 
 being carried to the mill to be sawed. 
 
 SAW- WHET. The popular name, in some of the Northern States, for the 
 Little Owl, or Acadian Owl of Audubon ( Ulula acadicd). " It has a 
 sharp note like the filing of a saw, and another like the tinkling of a bell." 
 Nat. Hist, of New York. 
 
 SAWYER. This may be truly called an American word ; for no country 
 without a Mississippi and Missouri could produce a sawyer. 
 
 Sawyers are formed by trees, which, growing on the banks of the 
 river, become undermined by the current, and fall into the stream. They 
 are swept along with the branches partly above water, rising and falling 
 with the waves ; whence their name. They are extremely dangerous to 
 steamboats, which sometimes run foul of them, and are either disabled or 
 sunk to the bottom. 
 
 A little above our location thar war a bend in the stream, which kind a turned the 
 drift t' other eend up, and planted them about the spot between our cabins snags 
 and sawyers just thar wur dredful plenty. A Night on the Missouri. 
 
 Thar I war, said Dan, perched upon a sawyer, bobbin' up and down in the water. 
 The Americans at Home. 
 
 SCALLAWAG. A scamp. ; a scapegrace. A scallawag has been de- 
 fined to be, " like many other wags, a compound of loafer, blackguard, 
 and scamp." 
 
 Dr. Collier has been showing his model artists here, and the mean skallewag left 
 without paying the printer. Buffalo Courier. 
 
 You good-for-nothin' young scallawag, is that the way you take care of that poor 
 dear boy, to let him fall info the pond. S. Slick, Human Nature. 
 
 That scallawag of a fellow ought to be kicked out of all decent society. Western 
 Sketches.
 
 SCA 383 
 
 SCALPING. A barbarous custom, among Indian warriors, of taking off their 
 enemies' scalps with the hair on. These are preserved as trophies of 
 victory. Encycl. Amer. 
 
 SCALPING-KNIFE. A knife used by the Indians in taking off the scalp of 
 their prisoners. Worcester. 
 
 SCALP-LOCK. A long tuft of hair left on the crown of the head by the 
 warriors of some Indian tribes. 
 
 The Arapahos do not shave their heads as the Pawnees and Osages do, merely 
 braiding the centre or scalp-lock, and decorating it with a gay ribbon or feather of the 
 war-eagle. Ruxton's Adv. in the Rocky Mts. p. 237. 
 
 The leggins of some of these Indians were ornamented with scalp-locks along the 
 outer seam, exhibiting a dark history of the wearer's prowess. Maine Reid, The 
 Scalp- Hunters, p. 102. 
 
 SCARE, or SKEER. A fright ; among animals, a stampede. 
 
 In the course of an hour Major Howard rode into camp with his prisoner, who 
 was really half frightened to death. In fact, the man afterwards died on the road ; 
 and those who knew him best said that he never got over the scare. Kendall's Santa 
 Ft Expedition, Vol. I. p. 130. 
 
 Nothing can exceed the grandeur of the scene when a large cavallada, or drove 
 of horses, takes a scare. Old, weather-beaten, time-worn, and broken-down steeds 
 horses that have nearly given out from hard work and old age will at once be 
 transformed into wild and prancing colts. Kendall's Santa Fe~ Expedition, Vol. I. 
 p. 97. 
 
 To SCARE UP. To pick up ; to find. A word adopted from the fowler's 
 vocabulary. 
 
 A great man ; a man clearly discerning his position, resolved to control events, 
 and not allow the winds and tides of circumstance to shape his course, surrounds 
 himself with men of the same clear, energetic, decided character. He does not 
 make the noodles and nobodies that he may scare up anywhere his chief agents. 
 Putnam's Mag. Sept. 1853. 
 
 Next came the bag, which Signer Blitz turned inside out, patted it in his hands, 
 showed it to the audience, held it by every corner, slapped it against the floor, and 
 then astonished the assembly by taking out of it a dozen eggs, which he allowed 
 would be a very useful bag in a family, in scaring up eggs for breakfast. The States 
 ( Washington), 1857. 
 
 If some financial Solomon, 
 Before another set of sun, 
 Don't tell us what is to be done 
 
 To scare up cash, 
 We all perforce must cut and run, 
 
 Or go to smash. N. Y. Evening Post. 
 
 SCARESOME or SKEERSOME. Frightful. 
 
 It 's cruel skeersome, about there. Margaret, p. 275
 
 384 SCA SCH 
 
 SCARY, or SKEERY. Easily scared ; timorous. 
 
 I got a little scary and a good deal mad. There was I perched up on a sawyer, 
 bobbin' up and down in the water. Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 Aye, for a town-bred boy or a skeary woman. There 's old Esther ; she has no 
 more fear of a red-skin than of a suckling cub. Cooper, The Prairie. 
 
 SCHEDULE. In the State of Rhode Island, the printed " Acts and Re- 
 solves " of the General Assembly. 
 
 SCHNAPPS. (Germ.) Strong liquor, especially gin. 
 
 SCHOOL. This word in the phrase, "a school of fish," applied to a large 
 number of fish swimming together, appears to be derived from the Dutch 
 " een school visch." The expression is also provincial in England. 
 
 A grave and quiet man was he, 
 
 Who loved his hook and rod ; 
 So even ran his line of life, 
 
 His neighbors thought it odd. 
 
 For science and for books he said 
 
 He never had a wish ; 
 No school to him was worth a fig, 
 
 Except a school of fish. Saxe, The Cold Water Man. 
 
 SCHOOL-COMMISSIONER. The officer whose duty it is to have'the adminis- 
 tration and superintendence of public instruction in a State. He is 
 usually elected as other State officers are, although sometimes, as in 
 Rhode Island, he is appointed by the Governor, by and with the consent 
 of the Senate. 
 
 SCHOOL-COMMITTEE. A committee appointed by a town or city to have 
 the entire management of its public schools. These committees usu- 
 ally serve without compensation. 
 
 SCHOOL-DISTRICT. A division of a city or State for establishing schools. 
 The State of New York is divided into more than ten thousand such 
 partitions or school districts. 
 
 SCHOOL-FUND. A fund set apart, the income of which is by State law 
 expressly appropriated to the support of public instruction. 
 
 SCHOOL-LIBRARY. The library of a common school. In the State of 
 New York, a portion of the income of the school-fund is appropriated 
 for common school libraries, and the remainder by the districts where the 
 schools are established. 
 
 SCHOOL-MA'AM. A school-mistress. This term is peculiar to New Eng- 
 land. See Ma'am School. 
 
 A correspondent of a New York paper, writing from "Washington,
 
 SCH SCR 385 
 
 thus complains of some of the common practices in the House of Repre- 
 
 sentatives : 
 
 Here tobacco-chewing is national, not sectional. Everybody but the President 
 chews. I went over to the ladies' gallery ; but I found it still worse, as the girls kept 
 up a continual chatter, and that on so high a key that I wonder the Speaker did not 
 clear the gallery. The particular set I now refer to were probably country school- 
 marms, who know a little of everything, and meant to show it. 
 
 "We can make a new application of an old story, as the school-marm said when 
 she spanked the little boy with " Eobinson Crusoe." Knickerbocker Mag. Feb. 
 1857. 
 
 SCHOOL-MONEY. The money received from towns or the State for the 
 support of common schools. 
 
 SCHOOL-SECTION. A section of land set apart for public schools. All 
 public lands, before being offered for sale, are accurately surveyed by 
 practical surveyors in ranges of townships of six miles square ; which 
 townships are subdivided into thirty-six sections of one mile square, each 
 section generally containing six hundred and forty acres. That the 
 benefits of education might be extended to our frontier settlers and their 
 posterity, the sixteenth section in each township, or one thirty-sixth part 
 of the public lands, has been set apart for the support of schools. Rep. 
 of Com. of Gen. Land Office, 1849. 
 
 SCHOOL-TAX. A tax usually levied upon towns or districts for the support 
 of its public or common schools. This tax is usually in addition to the 
 appropriation by the State for the same object. 
 
 To SCOOT. To walk fast ; to run. 
 
 The fellow sat down on a hornet's nest ; and if he did n't run and holler, and scoot 
 through the briar bushes, and tear his trowsers. Hill's Yankee Stories. 
 
 We were bound to the South Seas after sperm whales, but we were eight months 
 gettin' there. The captain he scooted round into one port an' another down to 
 Caraccas, into Rio, etc. Atlantic Monthly, March, 1 858. 
 
 A Southern or Western man, when he goes skewtin about, buying goods in busi- 
 ness hours, keeps his eye-teeth skinned. Knickerbocker Mag., March, 1856. 
 
 Scow. (Dutch, schouw.} A large, flat-bottomed boat, generally used as a 
 ferry-boat, or as a lighter for loading and unloading vessels when they 
 cannot approach the wharf. On Lake Ontario they are sometimes rigged 
 like a schooner or sloop, with a lee-board or sliding keel, when they make 
 tolerably fast sailers. The word 'is used in Scotland. A mud-scow 
 (Dutch, modder-schouw) is a vessel of this description, used in New York 
 for cleaning out the docks ; a dredging machine. 
 
 To SCRAPE. " To scrape cotton," means to hoe cotton. Southern. 
 
 33
 
 386 SCR 
 
 SCRATCH. No great scratch. A vulgar though common phrase, implying 
 not worth much no great shakes. 
 
 There are a good many Joneses in Georgia, and I know some myself that ain't 
 no great scratches. Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 136. 
 
 To SCRATCH. To scratch a man's name, in political parlance, is to strike 
 it from the printed ticket of the " regular nomination." 
 
 We remember, many years ago, at one of our charter elections, a candidate for 
 the office of alderman had the tickets bearing his name printed with a peculiar mark 
 When the poll was closed, that particular ticket was known to be full one hundred 
 ahead. The would-be alderman, in the gladness of his heart, invited his friends to 
 his house, where he had spread refreshments. Just as he was returning thanks for 
 his election, the official returns were brought in, from which it appeared that though 
 all the other candidates upon the ticket were successful, so many had scratched the 
 name of the alderman, that he was defeated by more than fifty votes. N. Y. Com. 
 Advertiser. 
 
 SCRATCH TICKET, properly scratched ticket. An election ticket with one 
 or more names of candidates erased. See Split Ticket. 
 
 SCRAWL. In New England, a ragged, broken branch of a tree, or other 
 brushwood ; brush. Webster. 
 
 SCRAWNY. Bony, bare-boned, low in flesh, scraggy. A corrupt pronunci- 
 ation of the word scranny, which is used in the same sense in England. 
 Southern. 
 
 If my memory serves me, Elder Sniffles is rather a tall, scrawny man, with eyes 
 that look like a couple of peeled onions, and kind o' squintin' too. Widow Bedott 
 Papers, p. 103. 
 
 All the spare curses I accumulate I dedicate to these white-livered, hatchet-faced, 
 thin-blooded, scrawny reformers, who prescribe saw-dust puddings and plank beds, 
 and brief sleep, and early walks, and short commons for the rising generation. 
 Timothy Titcomb's Letters. 
 
 SCREAMER. A bouncing fellow or girl. This, like the word roarer, is one 
 of the many terms transferred from animals to men by the hunters of the 
 West. 
 
 If he 's a specimen of the Choctaws that live in these parts, they are screamers. 
 Thorpe's Backwoods. 
 
 Mary is a screamer of a girl ; I 'd rather have her than all the rest. Mrs. Cla- 
 vers's Western Clearings. 
 
 " Have you got my cabin chalked down ? " he inquired. 
 " Yes," answered the artist, " and you too." 
 
 " Good, by thunder ! " said the squatter. " When you show me to them English 
 fellers, just tell 'em I'm a Mississippi screamer. I can hoe more corn in a day than 
 any Yankee machine ever invented ; and when I hit any thing, from bullock down 
 to human natur', they ginerally think lightnin' is comin'." St. Louis Reveille. 
 The folks are all waiting to see the fast steamer 
 That 's coming from Albany down to this pier ;
 
 SCR 387 
 
 Ah, here she is now ; you, sir, ain't she a screamer ? 
 In New York, the swiftest boats always land here. 
 
 A Glance at New York. 
 
 SCREW. 1. One who squeezes all he can out of those with whom he has 
 any dealings ; an extortioner ; miser. Colloquial here as in England. 
 
 2. In some American colleges, an excessive, unnecessarily minute, and 
 annoying examination of a student by an instructor, is called a screw. 
 The instructor is often designated hy the same name. HalVs College 
 Words. 
 
 One must experience the stammering and stuttering, the unending doublings and 
 guessings, to understand fully the power of a mathematical screw. Harvard Regis- 
 ter, p. 378. 
 
 The consequence was, a patient submission to the screw, and a loss of college 
 honors and patronage. A Tour through College. Boston, 1832. 
 
 To SCREW. To press with excessive and unnecessarily minute examina- 
 tion. HalVs College Words. 
 
 Who would let a tutor knave 
 Screw him like a Guinea slave ! RebeUiad, p. 53. 
 He was a wise man, and a good man too, 
 And robed himself in green whene'er he came to screw. 
 
 Our Chronicle of '26. 
 
 SCREWS. To put the screws on ; to turn the screws. To press, and figur- 
 atively to extort, to enforce payment in money transactions ; to force a 
 debtor, by any compulsory means, to pay. The allusion is to the ancient 
 mode of torture by thumb-screws. 
 
 As soon as the banks have put out a pretty good line of call loans, and the brok- 
 ers have involved themselves deeply in fancy stock transactions on time, the screws 
 will be suddenly turned, and we shall find a general desire to realize among those 
 who are now so anxious to buy. N. Y. Herald. 
 
 The New York Times, in speaking of a contraction by the banks, says : 
 Such turns of the screws as we have had for the last three weeks, if continued, 
 would bring almost every mercantile house in New York to wreck. Sept. 15, 
 1857. 
 
 Love strains the heart-strings of the human race, and not unfrequently puts the 
 screws on so hard as to snap them asunder, and leave every moral and physical in- 
 strument as completely out of tune as a corn-stalk fiddle in the hands of a plough- 
 boy. Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 302. 
 
 SCRIMP, or SKRIMP. 1. Short; scanty. Webster. 
 
 2. A pinching miser ; a niggard r a close-fisted person. Webster. 
 The word, in both senses, is colloquial in the North of England and in 
 the United States. 
 
 To SCRIMP. To contract ; to shorten ; to make too small or short ; to
 
 388 SCK SOU 
 
 limit or straiten ; as, " to scrimp the pattern of a coat." Colloquial in 
 England and in the United States. 
 
 SCRIMPING. Scanty ; close ; parsimonious. Also used adverbially. 
 
 Bethier Nobles knows how every lady in town carries on her kitchen concerns, 
 how scrimping they live, and all that. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 333. 
 
 SCRODS. (Shreds ?) Small pieces of fish, or small fish for boiling. New 
 England. 
 
 Peter Gott, in addition to the money he had saved, had a pile of nice scrods, and 
 as many salted fish for winter as the family needed. The Cape Ann Fisherman. 
 
 To SCROUGE. To crowd ; to squeeze. A word provincial in England 
 and in this country. It is used in the Southern States, and among chil- 
 dren at the North. 
 
 The ladies were obliged to stand up and be scrouged until chairs could be brought. 
 Drama in Pokerville. 
 
 After hard scrouging each way some hundred yards, \ve came together and held a 
 council. Carlton, New Purchase, Vol. II. p. 59. 
 
 Them boys that 's a scrouging each other will find plenty of room this way. 
 Peter Cram, Knick. Mag. 
 
 And as the North has took to brustlin', 
 At being scrouged from off the roost, 
 I '11 tell ye what '11 save all tusslin', 
 And give our side a handsome boost. 
 
 Biglow Papers, p. 92. 
 
 SCROUGER. A bouncing fellow or girl. A Western vulgarism. 
 
 Tom the engineer was a roaring, tearing, bar State scrouger could chaw up 
 any specimen of the human race, any quantity of tobacco, and drink steam without 
 ffinching. Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 Some of the families in them diggins had about twenty in number ; and the gals 
 among them warn't any of your pigeon critters, that a fellow dassent tech for fear 
 of spilin' em, but real scrougers ; any of 'em could lick a bar easy. Ibid. 
 
 Congo is a scrouger; he's up a gum, and no bug-eater, I tell you; he carries a 
 broad row, weeds out every thing hoes de corn and digs de taters. Southern 
 Sketches,- p. 99. 
 
 SCRUB OAK. The popular name of several dwarfish species of oak. 
 
 We left the buffalo camp and had a toilsome and harassing march of two hours 
 over ridges of hills covered with a ragged, meagre forest of scrub-oaks, and broken 
 by deep gullies. Irving, Tour on the Prairies, p. 135. 
 
 SCRUMPTIOUS. Nice ; particular ; fastidious ; excellent. Probably a cor- 
 ruption of scrupulous. A vulgarism. 
 
 I don't want to be scrumptious, judge ; but I do want to be a man. Margaret, 
 p. 304. 
 
 SCUP. 1. (Abenaki Ind., scuppauog.) A small fish abounding in the
 
 SCU SEA 389 
 
 waters of New York and New England. In Rhode Island they are 
 called scup ; in New York, paugies or porgies. See Porgy. 
 2. (Dutch, schop.) A swing. A New York word. 
 
 To SCUP. (Dutch, sckoppen.) To swing. Common in New York. 
 
 SCUPPERNONG GRAPE. By most authors this is believed to be a variety 
 of the Vitis vulpina of Linnaeus, or Southern Fox Grape. It has char- 
 acters of its own, however, and is held to be distinct by Michaux and 
 Elliot, as Vitis rotundifolia, and by Rafinesque as Vitis muscadina. It 
 is indigenous on the Scuppernong river and lake in North Carolina, and 
 yields a highly esteemed wine. 
 
 To SCURRY. To scour, to scud, to run in haste. This word is colloquial 
 in England and America, and is a variation of the verb skirr of the 
 dictionaries. 
 
 Our friend Kendall, of the Picayune, was, when last heard from, scurrying over 
 the German portions of the European continent. New York Com. Adv. 
 
 Scuss, for scarce. So pronounced by the backwoodsmen of the West. 
 
 The unfortunate traveller urged in vain [for food for his horse]. Hay was scuss, 
 and potatoes were scusser. Mrs. Clavers's Western Clearings. 
 
 SEA-BASS. (Centopristes nigricans.) A fish that abounds in the Atlantic 
 on banks and off steep bars near the channels, rarely near the shore. As 
 an article of food, it is reckoned among the best of the fishes of the 
 coast. 
 
 SEA-DEVIL. See Devil-Fish. 
 
 SEA-ISLAND COTTON. A kind of cotton celebrated for the fineness and 
 length of its fibre, and raised only on the sea coast or islands of Georgia 
 and South Carolina. Comp. Upland Cotton. 
 
 SEA-PIKE. See Bill-Fish. 
 
 SEA-ROBIN. (Prionotus lineatus.) A small salt-water fish, which keeps 
 near or upon the bottom, using its pectoral processes as organs of pro- 
 gression. In swimming or resting, the broad pectoral fins are generally 
 spread out horizontally to their fullest extent, presenting a very beautiful 
 and striking appearance, and closely resembling the wings of a butterfly. 
 It hence receives its name of Flying-Fish. From the croaking or grunt- 
 ing noise it makes when caught, it. is sometimes called Pig-Fish. 
 
 SEA-SIDE GRAPE. The Cocoloba urifera, so called in the West Indies. 
 
 To SEAL. In Mormon phraseology, all wives taken after the first are 
 called spiritual wives, and are said to be sealed to the husband. 
 
 33*
 
 390 SEA 
 
 The extra wives of the Mormons are called by some of them "spirituals," by 
 others sealed ones, while our landlady calls them " fixins." Ferris, the Mormons at 
 Home, p. 114. 
 
 People, according to Mormon technology, are married for time, but sealed for 
 eternity. Hyde's Mormonism, p. 84. 
 
 But crowds on crowds, as was revealed 
 To Brigham, were to Brigham sealed; 
 Until, for want of room, 't is said, 
 A bevy held each harem bed ! 
 The beautiful he sealed to be 
 
 Partakers of his temporal rest; 
 While suppliants " for eternity," 
 
 Content to be hereafter blest, 
 Were sealed to be his " spirit " spouses, 
 
 And who the unbelieving say 
 
 Lived happier far with him than they 
 Who dwelt in his terrestrial houses ! 
 
 The Mormoniad. 
 
 SEALER. In New England, an officer appointed by the town or other 
 proper authority, to examine and try weights and measures, and set a 
 stamp on such as are according to the standards established by the State ; 
 also an officer who inspects leather, and stamps such as is good. These are 
 called sealers of weights and measures, and sealers of leather. Webster. 
 
 SEALING. The ceremony, among the Mormons, of taking a " spiritual " 
 wife. 
 
 These left-hand marriages are called sealings ; the woman is said to be " sealed " 
 to the man. Ferris, The Mormons at Home, p. 114. 
 
 SEAMSTEE. A seamstress. 
 
 SEARCHER. An instrument resembling an auger, used in the inspection 
 of butter, to ascertain the quality of that contained in firkins. New 
 England. 
 
 SEASON. A common term at the South for a shower of rain or period of 
 damp weather suitable for setting out tobacco and other plants. 
 
 This season has come up mighty sudden. I should n't wonder if it rained all 
 night. Ida May. 
 
 SEA WAN, or SEA WANT. An Indian word meaning the same as wampum, 
 formerly in use among the early colonists of New York. 
 
 The speaking now ceased, and they gave each of us ten fathoms of seewan, which 
 
 is their money, each fathom being worth four guilders. De Vries, New Netherlands. 
 
 Keift could not vie with Solomon as to the precious metals, but he determined, as 
 
 an equivalent, to flood the streets of New Amsterdam with Indian money 
 
 called seawant or wampum. Knickerbocker's New York. 
 A quantity of Dutch commodities was purchased on this occasion by the New
 
 SEC 391 
 
 Plymouth people ; especially seawan or wampum, which the English found to be 
 afterwards very beneficial in their trade with the natives. O'Callayhan, Hist, of 
 New Netherlands, p. 108. 
 
 SECESSIONISTS. The party in the South which would dissolve the Union, 
 or go out of it immediately, without the cooperation of other States. 
 Another party, calling themselves " Cob'perationists," would only dissolve 
 it when other States had joined them. 
 
 SECTION. 1. A distinct part of a city, town, country, or people ; a part of 
 a territory separated by geographical lines, or of a people considered as 
 distinct. Thus we say, the Northern and Eastern section of the United 
 States, the Middle section, the Southern or Western section. Webster. 
 
 2. The newly surveyed government lands at the West are laid out or 
 divided into squares of six hundred and forty acres, which are called sec- 
 tions. These are again divided into four parts of one hundred and 
 sixty acres each, called quarter-sections. 
 
 SECTIONAL. Relating to a section, having regard to the interests of a 
 section, i. e. a division or part, of the country, as the North, South, East, 
 or West. The word is often thus used by political speakers and writers 
 in contradistinction to national, which see. 
 
 All sectional interests, or party feelings, it is hoped, will hereafter yield to schemes 
 of ambition. Judge Story. 
 
 To that central attraction I have been delighted to find the thoughts, the affec- 
 tions, the memories of the people, in whatever part of the country from the ocean 
 to the prairies of the West, from the land of granite and ice to the land of the pal- 
 metto and the magnolia instinctively turn. They have their sectional loves and 
 hatreds, but before the dear name of Washington they are absorbed and forgotten. 
 Speech of Hon. E. Everett, July 5, 1858. 
 
 Mr. Miles, of South Carolina, said he was that bugbear a sectional man. He 
 represented in part the South, which, being the weaker party, had to unite in order 
 to protect herself, and was therefore sectional. Debate in H. of Reps. Jan. 26, 1859. 
 
 SECTIONALISM. The having regard to the interests of a section of the 
 country, rather than of the nation at large. 
 
 On the 5th of July, 1858, the patriotism and intellect of Massachusetts was repre- 
 sented in a striking contrast with the littleness and sectionalism which now rules the 
 old Bay State. In New York, the profound scholar and universal statesman, Caleb 
 Gushing, appeared before the Old Tammany Society ; in Boston, Rufus Choate, the 
 unrivalled orator and inspired genius, delivered an oration, which, like all of his 
 efforts, was original, learned, and unapproachable ; and in the same city Edward 
 Everett, who, perhaps, above all living Americans, has earned the triple laureate of 
 orator, statesman, and scholar, and adds to these the noble designation of the 
 national philanthropist, graced the two celebrations with his presence, and uttered 
 words of national patriotism which must warm the heart of every true American 
 citizen. Newark Journal, July, 1858.
 
 S E G o E E 
 
 To SECTIONIZE. To divide or lay off into sections, especially the public 
 lands, which is done before they are offered for sale. Weste.rn. 
 
 So much of the vacant lands of the republic shall be surveyed and sectionized, as 
 will be sufficient to satisfy all claims. Laws of Texas, Nov. 1828. 
 
 To SEE THE ELEPHANT is a South-western phrase, and means, generally, 
 to undergo any disappointment of high-raised expectations. It is in fact 
 nearly or quite synonymous with the ancient phrase " go out for wool and 
 come back shorn." For instance, men who volunteered for the Mexican 
 war, expecting to reap lots of glory and enjoyment, but who instead found 
 only sickness, fatigue, privations, and suffering, were said to have " seen 
 the elephant." Afterwards those who went to California with golden ex- 
 pectations, and returned disappointed, were said to have " seen the ele- 
 phant" The poor creatures who were induced to share the fortunes 
 of the fillibuster Walker had an opportunity of viewing a quadruped 
 of the largest stature. 
 
 Mr. Kendall, in his " Narrative of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition," 
 tells some amusing anecdotes of " seeing the elephant" and is the earliest 
 writer who mentions the expression, which he adds is very common in 
 Texas, and which he had never heard until he entered the Cross Timbers. 
 This was in the year 1841. 
 
 The meaning of the expression I will explain. When a man is disappointed in 
 any tiling 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." "We had been 
 buffeting about during the day, cutting away trees, crossing deep ravines and gullies, 
 and turning and twisting some fifteen or twenty miles to gain five we had finally 
 to encamp by a mud-hole of miserable water, and the spies had been unable to find 
 any beyond. This combination of ills induced the old hunter to remark, " I've 
 seen the elephant ; " and upon the same principle I will here state that by this time 
 I had obtained something more than a glimpse of the animal myself. Vol. I. p 
 109. 
 
 A man brought before the Recorder of New Orleans, charged with 
 having been found drunk the previous night, after appealing to the court, 
 closed with the following remarks : 
 
 " Spare my feelings, Squire, and don't ask me to tell any more. Here I am in 
 town without a rock in my pocket, without a skirt to my coat or crown to my hat ; 
 but, Squire, I'll say no more, / 've seen the elephant." The Recorder let him off on 
 condition that he would leave town. Pickings from the Picayune. 
 
 Although the merchants from the South and West may buy goods in Philadelphia, 
 all find their way to New York to spend their pocket-money, buy brass watches at 
 the mock auctions, and see the elephant generally. Phil. Cor. of N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 SEED-TICK. A minute species of Acarus, which burrows in the skin and 
 produces an intolerable itching. Some consider it to be the young of the 
 dog or sheep tick.
 
 SEE SEN 393 
 
 SEEN, for saw. Ex. " I seen him do it." This corruption is common in 
 various parts of the country. 
 
 Peter Cram's fits is awful, and go ahead of any thing we ever seen. Knickerbocker 
 Mag. Vol. XVII. 
 
 She is more moral than a preacher, 
 
 More dignifieder than a queen ; 
 No mockin' bird can ever reach her, 
 In singin', that I ever seen. Evening Post. 
 
 To SEEP. To run through fine pores or interstices, as the juice of fruits 
 strained through a sieve or cloth. 
 
 SEEPY. Seepy land is land under cultivation that is not well drained. 
 Maryland and Virginia. 
 
 SELECTMAN. A magistrate annually elected by the freemen of a town or 
 township in New England, to superintend and manage the affairs and 
 government of the town. The number is commonly from three to five. 
 Worcester. 
 
 SELLER'S OPTION. This gives the seller the option to deliver any time 
 within the time of his contract, or at its maturity, and the buyer is 
 required to take it when offered. The buyer pays interest up to deliv- 
 ery. Sales at seller's option are generally a fraction below the current 
 cash price. The speculator who sells stocks on his own or the buyer's 
 option draws interest on his contract for the date until it closed. 
 Hunt's Merchant's Mag. Vol. XXXVII. 
 
 SEMI-OCCASIONALLY. A cant phrase of recent introduction, meaning 
 once in a while. 
 
 I went to the American Legation and got my friend Kane, the attache', to call 
 with me upon Jack Cathcart, who was supposed to be diligently employed in mak- 
 ing himself a scientific physician, but, in point of fact, walking the hospital but 
 semi-occasionally, and seeing life in Paris very constantly, especially that part of it 
 which is to be seen by gas or lamp-light. Putnam's Monthly, May, 1854. 
 
 Chewing tobacco not only infuses a deadly poison into your blood, but leads yon 
 on to an inclination for occasional dissipation and from that to semi-occasional in- 
 toxication. Dow's Sermons, Vol. III. p. 90. 
 
 SENATE. In the United States, senate denotes the higher branch or house 
 of a legislature. Such is the Senate of the United States, or upper 
 house of the Congress ; and in most of the States, the higher and least 
 numerous branch of the legislature, is called the Senate. In the United 
 States the Senate is an elective body. Webster. 
 
 SENATORIAL. Entitled to elect a senator; as, " a senatorial district." 
 Webster.
 
 394 SEN SES 
 
 SENCE, for since. Common among the uneducated. 
 Ere Adam's fall, 
 He built stone wall ; 
 But ever sence 
 He make brush fence. Old Virginia Song. 
 
 To SENSE. To comprehend ; as, " Do you sense that ? " New England. 
 
 SEKAPE. (Span.) A Mexican blanket, with an opening in the middle for 
 the head. They are woven by hand, of gay colors, and are only worn 
 by the men in cool weather, instead of an overcoat. 
 
 The Indians were mounted on mules, wrapped in scrapes, or Mexican blankets, 
 and wore head-dresses, beads, and other Indian ornaments. Capt. Whipple's Ex- 
 plorations, p. 34. 
 
 We wrapped ourselves in blankets or overcoats, while our escort, who put on their 
 gaudy serapes, made a very picturesque appearance. Bartlett's Personal Narrative, 
 Vol. II. p. 500. 
 
 I now turned my back on the last settlement, . . . and knew that I had seen the 
 last of civilized man under the garb of a Mexican serape. Ruxton's Adventures, 
 p. 207. 
 
 SERIOUS. Particularly attentive to religious concerns or one's own relig- 
 ious state. Webster. 
 
 Serious has [in New England] the cant acceptation of religious. Kendall's 
 Travels. 
 
 SERVANT. A term often used synonymously with " slave " at the South, 
 as it is in the English Bible. 
 
 Still I confess (for I will put down nothing that history will not confirm) that cru- 
 elties are sometimes exercised by the master upon the slave. Considering the num- 
 ber of masters and servants in this latitude, I cannot say that is often the case in 
 truth it is very seldom the case. A Voice from the South, p. 32. 
 
 To SERVE UP. To expose to ridicule ; to expose. 
 
 SERVICE-BERRY. (Amelanchier canadensis.) A wild fruit common to the 
 British provinces in America and the Northern States, described by Sir 
 George Simpson as " a sort of cross between the cranberry and the 
 black currant." It is a good article of food, and is sometimes mixed with 
 pemmican. The plant is also called Shad-bush. 
 
 Among the usual fruit-bearing shrubs and bushes, I here notice the service-berry. 
 Scenes in the Rocky Mountains, p. 114. 
 
 Near the Del Norte grows plentifully a shrub which produces a fruit called by the 
 mountaineers service-berry, of a dark blue, the size of a small grape, and of pleasant 
 flavor. Ruxton's Mexico, p. 204. 
 
 SESSIONS, in some of the States, is particularly used for a court of justices,
 
 SET SHA 395 
 
 held for granting licenses to innkeepers or taverners, for laying out new 
 highways or altering old ones, and the like. Webster. 
 
 SET. Fixed in opinion ; determined ; firm ; obstinate ; as, " a man set in 
 his opinions or way." Webster. 
 
 To SET. To fix ; to cause to stop ; to obstruct; as, " to set a coach in the 
 mire ; " " the wagon or team was set at the hill." In some of the States 
 stall is used in a like sense. Webster. 
 
 SETTING-POLE. A pole shod with iron, used for propelling vessels or 
 boats up rivers, in shoal water. 
 
 To SETTLE. To be ordained or installed over a parish, church, or congre- 
 gation. " A. B. was invited to settle in the first society at New Haven." 
 " N. D. settled in the ministry very young." Webster. 
 
 SEVEN UP. The Western name for a game of cards commonly called All 
 Fours. 
 
 Seated, Indian fashion, round the fires, with a blanket spread before them, groups 
 are seen with their cards, playing at euker, poker, and seven-up, the regular moun- 
 tain games. Ruxton's Adventures, p. 236. 
 
 We found the storekeeper sitting on an empty keg at a rickety table, playing 
 seven-up for the liquor for one of his customers. Borthwick's California, p. 115. 
 
 Simon and Bill were in a fence corner very earnestly engaged at seven-up. Simon 
 Suggs. 
 
 SEVERALS, for several, is used in Pennsylvania. " How many hats have 
 you ? " "I used to have severals, but now have got only one." 
 
 SHACK. A vagabond. Ex. " He 's a poor shack of a fellow." It is used 
 in some parts of England and in New England. 
 
 All creation knows Nab Hincken ain't nobody. Why, her father was a poor 
 drunken shack, and her mother took in washin'. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 34. 
 
 I don't believe Bill would have turned out such a miserable shack, if he 'd a decent 
 woman for a wife. New England Tales. 
 
 SHACKLY. Shaky ; rickety ; as, " "What a shackly old carriage ! " 
 
 The words of the poet might answer for me on a pinch, always excepting the 
 general fly-offs and moral unhitches incident to poor shackly mortality. Dow's 
 Sermons, Vol. III. 
 
 SHAD-BUSH. A plant so called from its flowering about the time that shad 
 ascend the rivers in early spring. Its delicate sprays, covered with white 
 blossoms before the trees are yet in leaf, have a singularly beautiful ap- 
 pearance in the woods. See Service-Berry. 
 
 Within the woods . . . 
 
 the shad-bush, white with flowers, 
 
 Brightened the glens ; the new-leaved butternut
 
 396 SHA 
 
 And quivering poplar to the roving breeze 
 Gave a balsamic fragrance. 
 
 Bryant, The Old Man's Council. 
 
 SHAD-BELLY COAT. One which slopes gradually from the front to the 
 tails, and has no angle. Drab coats of this shape are worn by Quakers, 
 who are hence sometimes called shad-bellies. 
 
 SHADE-TREE. A tree planted for the sake of the shade which it affords. 
 
 SHAG-BARK. ( Carya alba.') A tall and handsome species of hickory, the 
 old trunks of which are very rough barked. The wood is very valuable 
 as timber and for fuel ; and the fruit furnishes the principal hickory -nuts 
 of the market. It is also called Shell-bark. Gray. 
 
 To SHAKE A STICK AT. A ridiculous phrase very often heard in low 
 language. When a man is puzzled to give one an idea of a very great 
 number, he calls it "more than you can shake a stick at." 
 
 New York is an everlastin' great concern, and, as you may well suppose, there 's 
 about as many people in it as you could shake a stick at. Maj. Downing, May-day 
 in New York. 
 
 I Ve been licked fifty times, and got more black eyes and bloody noses than you 
 
 could shake a stick at, for the purity of our illegal rights. J. C. Neal, Peter Brush. 
 
 We got a little dry or so, and wanted a horn ; but this was a temperance house, 
 
 and there was nothing to treat a friend to that was worth shaking a stick at. 
 
 Crockett's Tour, p. 87. 
 
 SHAKES. 1. Fever and ague, intermittent fever, is sometimes called " the 
 shakes." 
 
 2. An earthquake. 
 
 The springs fail once in a while since the shakes of 1812. Western Gazetteer. 
 
 SHAKY. Wavering, uncertain. 
 
 A recent estimate is wrong as to the New York and Pennsylvania delegations. 
 At least four of the latter are adverse, and several others shaki/, with a leaning in 
 the same direction. N. Y. Tribune, Jan. 21, 1858. 
 
 SHANGHAI. A tall dandy. So called in allusion to the long-legged fowls 
 from Shanghai, in China, which were all the rage a few years ago. 
 
 I became wildly extravagant, indulged in broadcloth and fine linen, in kid gloves 
 and a stove-pipe hat, a cane and French calf boots; used cologne, hair oil, and 
 scented my handkerchief with "jockey-club;" wore a ring, was a connoisseur in 
 cigars, and cultivated the acquaintance of the fair sex. In fact, I degenerated into 
 a fop, and became a shanghai of the most exotic breed. The Great Republic Maga- 
 zine, Jan. 1859, p. 70. 
 
 To SHANTY. To dwell in a shanty or temporary hut. 
 
 Mark Shuff and a friend of his, who were trapping, shantied on the outlet, just at 
 the foot of Tupper's Lake. Hammond, Wild Northern Scenes, p. 197.
 
 S H A 397 
 
 "We came down the Allegany in two canoes, and shantied on the Ohio. We hid 
 our canoes, struck across the country, and travelled about exploring for six weeks. 
 Ibid., p. 212. 
 
 These mountain breezes are very inspiriting, and with expanded chests the sports- 
 men look towards the blue ridges with emulation, and brace themselves to meet the 
 rude exigences of a " tramp," and " shanteeing out " for a few days amidst storms or 
 sunshine, as the covering heavens may send ! N. Y. Courier. 
 
 SHANTYING GROUND. The place where shanties or rude huts are erected. 
 When we got back to our shantying ground we were tuckered out, as you may be- 
 lieve. Hammond, Northern Scenes, p. 212. 
 
 SHARK. A lean, hungry hog. Western. 
 
 SHARKING. Fishing for sharks. A favorite sport in the waters of Narra- 
 gansett Bay, where huge hooks, stout cords, a heavy club to knock the 
 fish on the head, long knives to disengage the hook, and other appliances, 
 are used. 
 
 SHARP STICK. To be after one with a sharp stick is to pursue him keenly 
 for the purpose of revenge, or to get something from him. 
 
 To SHAVE. To discount promissory notes or bills at a high rate of interest. 
 Make your money by shaving notes or stock-jobbing, and every door in New York 
 is thrown open ; make the same amount by selling Indian candy, and the cold 
 shoulder of the Fifth Avenue is turned upon you. Life in New York. 
 If the Stock Broker thinks he shaves, 
 Or if the victim thinks he 's shaved, 
 Let both the rascals have their say, 
 And he that 's cheated, let him pay. 
 
 Parody on Emerson's Brahma. 
 
 SHAVE DOWN. A riotous, boisterous dance, so called in the West. In 
 the Eastern States, the Virginia reel, which generally closes a social ball 
 or dancing party, is called a break-down. 
 
 An innocent countryman, on going to church in New York, heard, for the first 
 time, before entering, the organ, from whioh he concluded that some sort of a " shave 
 down " was about to commence. Just at that moment, a gentleman invited him to 
 walk in and take a seat. "Not 'zactly, Mister I ain't used to no such doin's on 
 Sunday ; and, besides, I don't dance ! " 
 
 SHAVER. This word, in the United States, is applied to money brokers, 
 who purchase notes at more than legal interest. Banks, when they resort 
 to any means to obtain a large discount, are also called shavers, or shaving 
 banks. Many such are known ; but they evade the penalty of the usury 
 laws by discounting at legal interest, and giving the proceeds of the note 
 so discounted in a draft on some distant place, or in uncurrent money, 
 which is again purchased by the bank or its agents at a discount. 
 
 To sell our notes at a great loss to brokers, or, in other words, to get them un- 
 mercifully shaved, was \diat we wished to avoid. Perils of Pearl Street, p. 123.
 
 398 SHE 
 
 SHECOONERY. A whimsical corruption of the word chicanery, used at the 
 South. 
 
 This town's got a monstrous bad name for meanery and shecoonery of all sorts. 
 Chronicles of Pineville, p. 47. 
 
 Among other topics, he dwelt upon the verdancy of his neighbors, and the she- 
 coonery which had been practised upon them. Ibid. p. 48. 
 
 SHEDDER-CRAB. A crab which has recently cast its shell, also called a 
 Soft Crab. It is a delicacy much esteemed by^ epicures, and a "killing " 
 bait for striped bass. 
 
 To SHELL CORN. To remove the grains of Indian corn from the cob. In 
 the South the phrase " to hull corn " is used in the same sense. 
 
 SHEEP-LAUREL. See Calf-kill. 
 
 SHEEP-MEAT. Mutton is often so called in the "West. 
 
 SHEEPSHEAD. (Sargus ovis.) A fine large salt-water fish, so called 
 from the resemblance of its head to that of a sheep. It is esteemed a 
 great delicacy. 
 
 SHEEPSKIN. 1. The parchment diploma received by students on taking 
 their degree at college. 
 
 This apostle of ourn never rubbed his back agin a college, nor toted about no 
 
 sheepskins no, never ! How you 'd a perished in your sins, if the first 
 
 preachers had stayed till they got sheepskins ! Carlton's New Purchase. 
 
 When first I saw a sheepskin, 
 
 In Prex's hand I spied it, 
 
 I 'd given my hat and boots, I would, 
 
 If I could have been beside it. 
 
 But now that last Biennial 's past ; 
 I skinned and fizzled through ; 
 And so in spite of scrapes and flunks 
 I '11 have a sheepskin too. 
 
 R. S. Willis, Song of the Sheepskin. 
 
 If we came to college fresh and green, 
 We go back home with a huge sheepskin. 
 
 Songs of Yale College, 1853. 
 
 2. A person who has received a diploma, who has had a college edu- 
 cation. 
 
 I can say as well as the best o' them sheepskins, if you don't get religion and be 
 saved, you '11 be lost teetotally and forever. Carlton's New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 203. 
 
 SHEER. A term applied in the United States to fabrics of cotton or silk ; 
 " as, sheer muslin ; " meaning very thin, clear, or transparent. 
 
 SHELL-BARK. See Shag-Bark.
 
 S H E S H I 399 
 
 SHERRYVALLIES. (Fr. Chevalier.} Pantaloons made of thick velvet or 
 leather, buttoned on the outside of each leg, and generally worn over 
 other pantaloons. They are now chiefly worn by teamsters. Many 
 years ago, when the facilities for travelling were not as great as now, 
 and when journeys were made on horseback, sherryvallies were indis- 
 pensable to the traveller. 
 
 SHEW, for showed. Ex. "I shew him the difference between black and 
 white." This corruption is so common among all classes in the " Ameri- 
 can Athens," as to form a sort of shibboleth for distinguishing a Bos- 
 tonian. 
 
 SHILLING. The name given, in the State of New York, to the Spanish 
 real ; in the neighboring States it is frequently called, a York shilling. 
 See Federal Currency. 
 
 SHIMMEY. (Fr. Chemise.) A woman's under garment. 
 
 The ghost was nothing but aunt Katy's shimmeys pinned on the line to dry, and 
 J was a darned fool to be scared by it. A Tale of Sleepy Hollow. 
 
 I love to see two hearts approximate and adhere two souls meet and mingle 
 into one. It is as interesting a sight to me as a shimmey in a wash-tub ; and whispers 
 of purity, love, harmony, happiness, and perpetual peace. Dow's Sermons. 
 
 To SHIN. By shinning, in mercantile phrase, is meant running about to 
 one's acquaintance, to borrow money to meet the emergency of a note at 
 bank. It is doubtless so called because, in the great hurry of picking up 
 cash to meet the hour of three, which perchance is just at hand, the bor- 
 rower, not having the fear of wheelbarrows, boxes, barrels, piles of brick, 
 etc., before his eyes, is very apt to run furiously against them with his shins, 
 the bark whereof is apt to be grievously battered off by the contact. 
 
 So fares it with the poor merchant, while he is looking out for 
 
 an acquaintance of whom he may ask, " Any thing over ? " This is an 
 expression used by shinners, on applying to their acquaintances for the 
 needful; and means, Have you any money over and above the sum 
 requisite for discharging your own notes ? If so, it is of course expected 
 that, in the way of mercantile courtesy or of a friendly reciprocity, you 
 will oblige the shinner so far as to hand it over to him. It is a common 
 way, amongst those who have business in banks, of obliging one another. 
 If they have any thing over, they do not withhold it from their neighbor, 
 lest in turn he should do the same towards them. Perils of Pearl 
 Street, p. 123. 
 
 The Senator was shinning around, to get gold for the rascally bank-rags which he 
 was obliged to take. N. Y. Com. Adv., Dec. 13, 1845. 
 
 To SHIN ROUND. To move briskly ; the same as to fly around. 
 
 Mrs. Stowe relates the following affectionate conversation between
 
 400 SHI 
 
 Cripps and Polly Skinflint soon after their marriage : 
 
 " Did u't you tell me, if I married you, I should have a nigger to order round, 
 just as I pleased ? " 
 
 " Well, well," said Cripps, " I did n't think you 'd want to go walloping him, the 
 first tiling." 
 
 " I will, if he don't shin round," said the virago, " and you too." Dred, Vol. II. 
 p. 159. 
 
 To SHIN UP. To shin up a tree or pole is to climb it by the aid of the 
 hands and legs only. 
 
 SHIN-DIG. A blow on the shins. Southern. 
 
 SHINDY. 1. A row; a spree. 
 
 If this ere is n't that 'are singing chap agin. He 'a on a shindy somewhere or other 
 every night. J. C. Ned, P. Ploddy, p. 18. 
 
 It appears there was a shindy on Monday night, for the benefit of a poor widow ; 
 and it ended, as too many of such sprees do, in a regular fight, with guns, bayonets, 
 decanters, tumblers, etc. N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 MOSE. What say you Lize for Vauxhall to-night ? 
 
 LIZE. What 's goin' on ? Is the Vaudeville plays there ? 
 
 MOSE. No, there ' s goin' to be a first rate shindy, and some of our boys will be 
 there. A Glance at New York. 
 
 You, my democratic hearers, are for the most part poor, and, therefore, ought to 
 be careful how you cut shindies under the broadsword of justice. Dow's Sermons. 
 
 2. A game of ball, played with a stick crooked at the end. Also the 
 name of the stick itself. The proper and more usual name is Bandy. 
 
 3. A liking, a fancy. Comp. Shine, No. 2. 
 
 Father took a wonderful shindy to Jessie ; for even old men can't help liking 
 beauty. 5am Slick, Human Nature, p. 70. 
 
 Paddy had taken such a shindy to me, that nobody could get him to budge an 
 inch further. Ibid. p. 159. 
 
 SHINE. 1. Show, display, fine appearance. Hence, to cut or make a shine, 
 is to make a great display. 
 
 All the boys and gals were going to camp-meetin' ; so, to make a shine with Sally, 
 I took her a new parasol. Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 I tell you, stranger, in the settlements men pass for what they look to be, but in 
 the backwoods for what they are ; you '11 find heaps of bogus money here, but 
 bogus men can't shine. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 So, to take the shine off, is to surpass in beauty or excellence. 
 
 Next Sabbath day I slicked myself up ; and I do say, when I got my fixing on, 
 I took the shine clean off" any specimen of human natur' in these parts. Quincy, 
 Massachusetts, WJiiy. 
 
 I 'm sorry he did n't bring his pitch-pipe with him, jest to take the shine off them 
 'are singers. Maj. Downing's Letters, p. 37. 
 
 I 've seen some evening twilights that take the shine off every thing below, and 
 clap on a few extra touches of their own. Dow's Sermons, Vol. I.
 
 SHI 401 
 
 2. A fancy, liking for a person. Comp. Shindy, No. 3. 
 I took a great shine to the school marm, Huldah Hornbeam ; though she was ten 
 years older than I, and taller by half a yard of neck. McClintock, Beedle's Mar- 
 riage. 
 
 To SHINE. 1. To get along, succeed. Western. 
 
 2. In the Southern States the deer is often hunted by torchlight. To 
 shine its eyes is to make them visible by a light thrown upon them, as 
 described in the following extract : 
 
 You see the way we does to shine the deer's eyes is this we holds the pan of fire 
 so, on the left shoulder, and carries the gun at a trail in the right hand. Well, when 
 I wants to look for eyes, I turns round slow, and looks right at the edge of my shad- 
 der, what 's made by the light behind me in the pan, and if there 's a deer in gun- 
 shot of me, his eyes '11 shine 'zactly like two balls of fire. Chronicles of Pineville, 
 p. 169. 
 
 He often urged me to accompany him, to see how slick he could shine a buck's 
 eyes. Ibid. p. 162. 
 
 SHINER. (Genus, Leuciscus.) The popular name of the fish known to 
 naturalists as the Dace. In different parts of the countiy, however, other 
 small fish are called shiners, from their glittering or shining appearance. 
 In New York a small fish of the genus Stilbe is known to naturalists as 
 the New York Shiner. It is also found in the adjoining States. Nat, 
 Hist, of New York. 
 
 SHINGLE. A jocose term for a sign-board placed over a shop-door or 
 office. The use of this term is said to have originated in the lumbering 
 districts of Maine, where shingles, being the handiest plane surface, are 
 used to write directions, etc., on, and stuck up against trees. 
 
 Doctors and dentists from the United States have stuck up their shingles in Mex- 
 ico. .V. Y. Com. Adv., Dec. 24, 1848. 
 
 Several made bold to peep inside, in spite of the " No Admittance ! " which frowned 
 from a shingle over the door. Drama at Pokerville. 
 
 To SHINGLE. To chastise. A shingle applied a posteriori is a favorite 
 New England mode of correcting a child. 
 
 SHINGLE-WEAVER. A workman who dresses shingles. 
 
 SHINNER. One who borrows money by the practice of shinning. See To 
 
 Shin. 
 
 Four weeks ago the precious stuff 
 
 Was rife and plenteous enough, 
 
 And no " short shinrier " feared rebuff, 
 
 Who sued for pelf; 
 
 Sure to hear " flush," or " quantum suff". 
 Friend, help yourself! " 
 
 New York Evening Post. 
 34*
 
 402 SHI SHO 
 
 SHINPLASTEK. A cant term for a bank-note or any paper money, and 
 especially such as has depreciated in value. This term is said to have 
 arisen during the Revolutionary war. After the continental currency 
 had become almost worthless, an old soldier who possessed a quantity of 
 it, which he could not get rid of, very philosophically made use of it as 
 plasters to a wounded leg. 
 
 The people may whistle for protection, and put up with what shinplaster rags they 
 can get. N. Y. Tribune, Dec. 3, 1845. 
 
 What 's become of all the specie 
 
 Where are all the dollars gone ? 
 Nothing but shinplasters greasy 
 
 Do our meagre pockets own. Comic Song. 
 
 Hope's brightest visions absquatulate with their golden promises before the least 
 cloud of disappointment, and leave not a shinplaster behind. Dow's Sennons, 
 Vol. I. p. 309. 
 
 SHITEPOKE. (Butorides virescens.) A widely distributed bird of the 
 heron species, also called Green Heron and Fly-up-a-Creek. 
 
 SHOEMAKE. A very common corruption of sumach. 
 
 It is curious to note the changes in taste and sentiment, as marked in the disap- 
 pearance of various sorts of trees. Gone are the Lombardy poplars The 
 
 gride wife no longer points to her " shoemake " (as the sumach was formerly called), 
 with its crimson clusters, the pride of her trim front garden. North Am. Rev., 
 July, 1857, p. 181. 
 
 SHOOT, or SHDTE. 1. A passage-way on the side of a steep hill or moun- 
 tain down which wood and timber are thrown or slid. There are many 
 such on the Hudson and Mohawk rivers. In the West, the term is ap- 
 plied to places where a river is artificially contracted in order to increase 
 the depth of water. In Lower Canada, a shoot is a place where the 
 stream, being confined by rocks which appear above water, is shot through 
 the aperture with great force. CartwrighCs Labrador, p. 14. 
 
 2. In the West, a fancy, liking for a person. 
 
 That gal was the prcttyest creatur I ever took a shute after ; her eyes jest floated 
 about in her head like a star's shadow on a Mississippi wave. Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 To SHOOT. To shoot a fall or rapid is to float down it in a vessel. 
 
 We entered the lake, from whence we are forced to transport our canoes overland 
 to another river, which has six or seven water-falls that we commonly shoot. La 
 Ilontan's Travels in North Am., 1703. 
 
 To SHOOT ONE'S GRANDMOTHER, is a common though vulgar phrase in 
 New England, and means, to be mistaken, or to be disappointed; to 
 imagine oneself the discoverer of something in which he is deceived. 
 The common phrase is, " You 've shot your granny." It is, in fact, 
 synonymous with " You Ve found a mare's nest."
 
 S H O 403 
 
 SHOOTER. A revolver. In the Western States, on the frontier, as well as 
 in California, this murderous weapon is universally called a " five " or a 
 " six shooter" according to its capacity. 
 
 SHOOTING-IRON. A common Western term for a rifle, or fowling-piece. 
 
 Drop your shooting iron, or ye '11 get more than ye '11 send. A Stray Yankee in 
 Texas. 
 
 A Hoosier was called upon the stand, away out West, to testify to the character 
 of a brother Hoosier. It was as follows : 
 
 " How long have you known Bill Bushwhack ? " 
 
 " Ever since he war born." 
 
 " What is his general character 1 " 
 
 " Letter A, No. 1 'bove par a very great way." 
 
 " Would you believe him on oath ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir-ee, on or off, or any other way." 
 
 " What, in your opinion, are his qualifications to good character 1 " 
 
 " He 's the best shot on the prairies or in the woods ; he can shave the eye-wink- 
 ers off of a wolf as far as a shootin'-iron '11 carry a ball ; he can drink a quart of grog 
 any day ; and he chaws tobacco like a hoss." 
 
 So Bill Bushwhack passed muster. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 SHORT-BOYS. A gang of New York rowdies. 
 
 SHORT-GOWN. A short gown with hardly any skirt, worn by women 
 when doing household work, as washing, etc. 
 
 SHORT METRE. In a short period ; soon. 
 SHORTS. Small-clothes ; breeches. 
 
 SHOT IN THE NECK. Drunk. 
 
 Mr. Shumacher informed the court that he was instructed to remonstrate against 
 admitting the prisoners to bail in $500, as they had made an outrageous onslaught 
 upon officers in the discharge of their duty, and had shot Under-Sheriff Hcgeman in 
 the head. 
 
 Counsellor McCue replied, in a somewhat facetious strain, that Mr. Hegeman is 
 often " shot in the head ; " and his manner produced much laughter after the re- 
 mark. 
 
 Mr. Schumacher defended his client by observing that some of the prisoners' 
 attorneys got as often " shot in the neck," as the Under-Sheriff did in the head. The 
 aptness of this remark convulsed the bar, and even disturbed the gravity of the 
 judge. Brooklyn Journal, April 18, 1855. 
 
 SHOT-GUN. A term for a smooth-bored fowling-piece, as distinguished 
 from a rifle. 
 
 SHOTE, or SHOAT. An idle, worthless fellow ; as, "A poor shote." It is 
 also provincial in England in this sense. 
 
 Seth Slope was what we call down East a poor shote, his principal business being 
 to pick up chips, feed the hogs, etc. G. H. Hill, Stories.
 
 SHO SHU 
 
 If you, my dear hearers, will make a proper use of your time, happiness, peace, 
 and contentment are yours ; if not, you will always be miserable shoats, though you 
 live till you are as gray as woodchucks. Dow's Sermons. 
 
 SHOULDER-HITTER. A ruffian, bully. A recent accession to blackguard 
 nomenclature, in which we are now so rich. 
 
 Just such conduct as that exhibited by Judge R compelled seven thousand 
 
 citizens to leave their offices, stores, shops, and factories, to rid the city of San Fran- 
 cisco of the pestilential presence of a band of shoulder-hitters and ballot-box stuffers, 
 such as never before infested an American city. N. Y. Tribune, Sept. 30, 1858. 
 
 SHOVELLER. (Anas clypeata.) A beautiful duck, chiefly found in Texas 
 and in the streams of the Rocky Mountains ; though they are sometimes 
 seen in our northern waters. 
 
 SHUCKS. The outer husk or shell of the walnut, chestnut, etc. ; or the 
 husk of Indian corn. In England, the word is applied to pods as well as 
 husks ; as, pea-shucks. At the South, where the word is most in use, it 
 is also applied to the shells of oysters. Not worth shucks is a Southern 
 expression, meaning good for nothing. At the South the term is also 
 applied to the shells of oysters. 
 
 If them thar is all he 's got to offer, he ain't worth shiicks ; and if you don't lick 
 him, you ain't worth shucks neither. Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 They had three or four hounds, and one great big yellow cow, what was n't worth 
 shucks to trail. Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 48. 
 
 The bear did n't seem to care shucks for him ; for he sot the old rifle agin the sap- 
 lin, and walked off on his hind legs jest like any human. Mike Hooter, by a Mis- 
 sourian. 
 
 To SHUCK. To shuck corn is to strip off the husks, called in the South 
 " shucks," from Indian corn. 
 
 Hence, to shuck off one's coat, is to strip or peel it off, as for a fight 
 
 He 'd get as mad as all wrath, and charge like a ram at a gate-post, and the first 
 thing you knowed, he 'd shuck off his coat to fight. Southern Sketches, p. 31. 
 
 SHUCKING, or CORN-SHUCKING. See Husking. 
 And when the lamp is lighted 
 
 In the long November days, 
 And lads and lasses mingle 
 
 At shucking of the maize ; 
 When pies of smoking pumpkin 
 
 Upon the table stand, 
 And bowls of black molasses 
 
 Go round from hand to hand ; 
 When slap-jacks, maple-sugared, 
 
 Are hissing in the pan, 
 And cider, with a dash of gin, 
 
 Foams in the social can ;
 
 S H U S H Y 405 
 
 With laughter and with weeping 
 
 Then shall they tell the tale, 
 How Colt his foeman quartered, 
 
 And died within the jail. 
 
 Bon Gauhier, Lay of Mr. Colt. 
 
 To SHUT UP. 1. To stop talking; to hold one's tongue. A vulgar ex- 
 pression, for which to dry up is now sometimes substituted. 
 
 Jones was singing, " 'T is the Star Spangled Banner ; " but was soon made to shut 
 up, and Leviller's name was called. Pickings from the Picayune. 
 
 Did you ever see a marmaid ? Well, then, I reckon you 'd best shut up ; 'cause I 
 have and marmen too, and marmisses. Burton, Waggeries. 
 
 The musician suddenly " shut up," and, after many suspicious sights at Charley, 
 jumped over to the side of the lady, and spoke a few words in his own language 
 with more than customary rapidity. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 " Look here, boys," said the preacher to a crowd which had gathered round, 
 laughing and betting with slang oaths and imprecations, " None of this at the camp- 
 meeting ! This is the Lord's ground here, so shut up your swearing and don't fight." 
 Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. I. p. 312. 
 
 2. To cause to stop talking ; to reduce to silence. 
 
 " I order you again to shut up," said the watchman. " There ain't no two ways 
 about it you must either shut up yourself, or I '11 shut you up in a winking." N. 
 0. Picayune. 
 
 SHUTE. See Shoot. 
 
 To SHY. To throw a light substance, as a flat stone, or a shell, with a 
 careless jerk. And so in England. 
 
 Just to make matters lively, I headed up alongside of Molly, and shied a few soft 
 things at her, such as asking how she liked bar steaks cooked, and if Jim warn't 
 equal in the elbow to a mad panter's tail, and such amusin' conversation. Robb, 
 Squatter Life. 
 
 To SHY AROUND. To hang about. 
 
 I was kind of shying round and looking at the everlastin' sight of books, when he 
 came in. Maj. Downing, May-day in New York, p. 1. 
 
 SHYSTER. A term applied to a set of men who hang about the Police 
 Courts of New York and other large cities, and practise in them as law- 
 yers, but who, in many cases, have never been admitted to the bar. They 
 are men who have served as policemen, turnkeys, sheriff's officers, or in 
 any capacity by which they have become familiar with criminals and crim- 
 inal courts. 
 
 The miserable creature who has fallen into the watchman's clutches may make his 
 escape if he has money ; but if not, he must go to quod and wait next day for the 
 visits of the shyster lawyers a sett of turkey buzzards, whose touch is pollution and 
 whose breath is pestilence. New York in Slices. The Tombs. 
 
 When a man or woman is thrown into prison, a shyster leech gets access to him,
 
 406 SIC SIE 
 
 and extorts from him his last cent under the pretence of obtaining his liberation. 
 N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 The appearance of a large number of abandoned women in the Police Court, 
 drew together a large concourse of people. The shysters, or Tombs lawyers, were 
 on hand, and sought to intercede for their clients ; but the magistrates would listen to 
 no appeals. Ibid. March 13, 1857. 
 
 The Prison Association held its monthly meeting last night. The report was rich 
 in incidents and developments about the skinners, sharks, and shysters of the Tombs. 
 New York Express. 
 
 SICK. Afflicted with disease, ill in health. 
 
 The word " sick " is used in New England in the same sense as it was 
 in the time of Shakspeare, or when the liturgy of the Church of Eng- 
 land was composed. LyelVs Second Visit) Chapter IX. 
 
 SIDEWINDER : A heavy blow with the fist. New York. 
 
 Mayor Wood is just the man to seize and improve in an inaugural address the 
 opportunity of dealing Recorder Smith what the boys call a sidewinder. New York 
 Tribune. 
 
 SIDE- WIPE. A heavy blow with the fist. Southern. 
 
 Arch would fetch him a side wipe on the head, and knock him into the middle of 
 next week. Southern Sketches, p. 31. 
 
 SIDE-WALK. The walk for foot-passengers on each side of the carriage- 
 way in a street or road. In England it is called the " pavement." 
 
 As there is but very little mud at any time in Copiapo, and few suitable pebble 
 stones, only a street or two has been paved ; nor has the municipal council given 
 much thought to the necessity of side-walks. Gilliss's Chile, "Vol. I. p. 252. 
 
 SIDINGS. Wedged-shaped boards used for the sides and roofs of houses. 
 
 To SIDLE OUT. To get out sideways; to back out. Southern. 
 
 If he tried to sidle out of the quarrel, Arch would get as mad as wrath, an' swar, 
 an' curse, an' run. Southern Sketches, p. 31. 
 
 SIDLING. A place at which to turn off on a railroad to wait for a passing 
 engine. The English term is siding. 
 
 SIERRA. (Span.) A ridge of mountains. The term is universally ap- 
 plied to mountain ridges in New Mexico and California. 
 
 At night, above their rocky bed 
 
 They saw the stars march slow ; 
 The wild Sierra overhead, 
 
 The desert's death below. Whittier. 
 
 The sierras, which surround the plain, teem with the precious metals ; . . . . one 
 person, without capital or machinery, derives a considerable income from a mine 
 which produces gold, silver, lead, and sulphur from the same sierra. Ruxton's 
 Mexico, p. 131.
 
 SIG SIL 407 
 
 SIGHT. 1. A great many ; a great deal. An old meaning of the word, 
 still colloquial in England. " A sight of people," is a great multitude ; 
 u my husband is a sight handsomer than yours," i. e. much handsomer. 
 Sight is used in most of the Northern and Eastern, and heap in the 
 Southern and Western States. 
 
 Yes, Mr. Speaker, I 'd a powerful sight sooner go into retiracy among the red, 
 wild aborigines of our wooden country, nor consent to that bill. Carlton, The 
 New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 74. 
 
 2. In North Carolina, the distance that can be seen on a road is called 
 a sight. 
 
 SIGN. In the unsettled parts of the far West, the traces of the recent 
 presence of men or animals are called signs, or more technically, sign. 
 One hears of Indian sign, cow sign, bear sign, hog sign, etc. 
 
 " What 's the sign out on the plains ? " 
 
 " War-party of Rapahos passed Squirrel at sundown yesterday, and nearly raised 
 my animals. Sign, too, of more on the left fork of boiling Spring." N. Y. Spirit 
 of the Times. 
 
 It is a mistake to suppose that the negro brain is incapable of that acute reasoning 
 which constitutes a cunning hunter. I have known black men who could read " sign " 
 or lift a trail with as much intuitive quickness as either red or white. Capt. Mayne 
 Reid, Osceola, p. 113. 
 
 Several deer jumped out of the bottom when we entered, and on the banks of the 
 river I saw some fresh beaver sign. Ruxton's Mexico and Rocky Mountains, p. 173. 
 
 The men scoured the country around in search for the missing mules, and having 
 seen Indian sign keeping near us for miles, they believed the animals had been 
 taken. Bartlett's Personal Narrative. 
 
 Our Delawares report that they have seen numerous fresh buffalo signs, and that 
 we shall soon come upon the herds. Capt. Marcy, Report on the Red River. 
 
 To SIGN OFF. To release a debtor by agreeing to accept whatever he 
 offers to pay ; to give a receipt in full of all demands. An expression 
 common among merchants. 
 
 To SIGNALIZE. To communicate information by means of signals or tele- 
 graph ; to signal. An absurd use of the word. 
 
 The ship was signalized about eight o'clock this morning, and came up the harbor 
 in fine style. N. Y. Com. Adv. Jan. 17, 1848. 
 
 SILK-GRASS. See Bear- Grass. 
 
 SILVER Fox. ( Canis argentatus.} A black fox, with white hairs inter- 
 spersed on the back. Like the Cross-fox, this variety is rare. They 
 are found in the United States and Canada. Their skins are used for 
 ladies' muffs, and bring a high price. 
 
 SILVER GAR. See Bill-Fish.
 
 408 SIL SIR 
 
 SILVER GRAYS. This term originated in the State of New York, and was 
 applied to the conservative portion of the Whig party. At a political 
 convention in that State, certain measures proposed not being agreeable 
 to many, they at once withdrew. As they left the meeting, it was 
 observed that many were men whose locks were silvered by age, which 
 drew forth the remark from some one present, " There go the silver 
 grays ! " The term remains, and is the only one now used to distinguish 
 one branch of the Whig party. 
 
 To SIMILATE. To put on the appearance of that which does not really 
 belong to the subject. 
 
 And this holds true both of actions which similate the intellect, and those which 
 similate the moral sense, such as gratitude and shame in a dog. Tappan's Psy- 
 chology. 
 
 'SIMMON. A contraction for persimmon ; as in the Southern adage, " The 
 longest pole knocks down the 'simmons" 
 
 SINGED CAT. An epithet applied to a person whose appearance does him 
 injustice. 
 
 Who would have thought that milksop of a lawyer would have done so well ? 
 Howsomever you can't judge a fellow from his looks. After all, that 's a fact ; for 
 that critter is like a singed cat, better nor he seems. Sam Slick, The Old Judge, 
 Vol. I. p. 44. 
 
 Parson Brownlow has found an antagonist in the Rev. Mr. Pryne, of Cincinnati. 
 So when the Tennessee parson visits Philadelphia they are to have it ! We reckon 
 there '11 be fun ; as a Cincinnati paper says Pryne is a perfect singed cat ! New Or- 
 leans bulletin, May, 1858. 
 
 SINK. See Battery* 
 
 SINK-HOLE, or SINK. A hole or depression in limestone lands where the 
 waters sink and are lost. These places are common in the Middle and 
 Western States. See Cavern limestone. 
 
 A hunter, while in the pursuit of a deer, fell into one of those deep, funnel-shaped 
 pits, formed on the prairies by the settling of waters after heavy rains, and known 
 by the name of sink-holes. Irving, Tour on the Prairies, p. 147. 
 
 Leaving the Pccos, we stopped to look at some limestone sinks near the road. The 
 earth and stones had caved in, or sunk, in spots varying from ten to thirty feet in 
 diameter. Bartlett's Pers. Narrative, Vol. I. p. 110. 
 
 SIRS. This plural is adopted by many persons in commercial correspond- 
 ence in beginning their letters. Instead of the word gentlemen, ad- 
 dressed to a firm, they write, Dear Sirs. 
 Sirs, said the umpire, cease your pother. Chamelion. 
 
 SIRREE. " Yes, sirree" and, " No, sirree" for "Yes sir," and "No sir." 
 This vulgar slang, which originated in New York, is now heard throughout
 
 SIS SKI 409 
 
 the Union. Sometimes, as if not already puerile enough, the word " bob " 
 is added, as, " Yes, sirree, bob" 
 
 While hearing a case, the attorney stated in his plea that he believed one of the 
 jurors was intoxicated. The judge, addressing the man alluded to, said : 
 "Sir, are you drunk 1 " 
 
 The juror, straightening himself up, in a bold half-defiant tone, replied, "No, sir- 
 ree,bob>" 
 
 " Well," said the judge, " I fine you five dollars for the ' ree ' and ten for the ' bob.' " 
 Baltimore Sun, March 30, 1857. 
 
 Siss and SISSY. Contractions for sister, often used in addressing girls, 
 even by their parents. 
 
 To Siss. To hiss. A colloquialism also used in England. 
 
 SISTERN, for sisters. A vulgar pronunciation sometimes heard from un- 
 educated preachers at the West. 
 
 Brethurn and sisturn, it 's a powerful great work, this here preaching of the gospel, 
 as the great apostle hisself allows in them words of hissin what 's jest come into my 
 mind ; for I never knowed what to preach till I ris up. Car/ton, The New Pur- 
 chase, Vol. I. p. 203. 
 
 SITIO. (Span.) A Spanish superficial measure, used in the States and 
 Territories of Spanish origin. The sitio is a league of land of 5,000 
 , varas, and is equal to 4,428 English acres. 
 
 SfePEXCET^Tjte i^ew York name for the Spanish hay-real. See Federal 
 Currency. 
 
 Six-SnoOTER. A revolver with six chambers. See Shooter. 
 
 To SIZZLE. To hiss from the action of fire. Forby. 
 
 From the ends of the wood the sap fries and drips on the sizzling coals below, and 
 flies off in angry steam. Margaret, p. 159. 
 
 SKEART, or SKEERY. See Scary. 
 
 SKEARSOME, or SKEERSOME. See Searesome. ,-> / , . ^ 
 
 SKEEZICKS. A mean r contemptible fellow. Western. 
 
 At a Republican meeting in Indiana, the other day, a speaker named Long re- 
 sponded to a loud call and took the stand. But a big, strapping fellow persisted in 
 crying out in a stentorian voice, "Long, Long ! " This caused a little confusion ; 
 but, after some difficulty in making himself heard, the president succeeded in stating 
 that Mr. Long, the gentleman honored by the call, was now addressing them. " Oh, 
 he be d d ! " replied the fellow ; " he ^s the little skeezicks that told me to call for 
 Long ! " This brought down the house. ( Wash.) Evening Star, Nov. 1858. 
 
 SKID. A piece of light timber, from ten to twenty feet in length, upon 
 which heavier timber is rolled or slid from place to place. 
 
 35
 
 410 SKI SKU 
 
 
 
 SKILTS. A sort of brown tow trowsers formerly worn in New England, 
 very large, and reaching just below the knees. In Dorsetshire, England, 
 half-boots are called skilty-boots. 
 
 The lad's skills, through which were thrust his lean dry shanks, gave him a sem- 
 blance to a peasant of Gascony on stilts. Margaret, p. 22. 
 
 SKIMPING. Scanty, as the pattern of a dress. Used also in the south of 
 England. 
 
 SKINNER. See Shyster. 
 
 SKIP-JACK. See Slue Fish. 
 
 SKIPPER. The cheese-mite. Also called in England the Cheese-Hopper. 
 
 SKIPPERT. Abounding in cheese-mites. 
 
 With the opening of spring, insects, caterpillars, and reptiles will start from their 
 hiding-places, and the earth appear as animated as a plate of skippery cheese or the 
 carcass of a dead horse in dog days. Dow's Sermons, Vol. II. p. 258. 
 
 To SKITE. To skite about is to go running about. 
 
 SKUNK. 1. (Mephitis mephitica.) A small, carnivorous American quad- 
 ruped, allied to the weasel and badger, and which, on being irritated, emits 
 a very fetid secretion. The name is from the Abenaki seganku. 
 
 Old men, you can't conceal the sad changes time has wrought upon you. You 
 may scent your persons with the sweetest perfume ; but they will no more compare 
 with the rich fragrance that youth and beauty emit, than the atmosphere which sur- 
 rounds a wounded skunk can equal the odor of an orange grove. Dow's Sermons, 
 Vol. II. p. 244. 
 
 2. A vile or good for nothing fellow. 
 
 Now, Tom, you skunk, this is the third time you 've forgot to set on that switch. 
 Notes on Canada, etc., Blackwood. 
 
 To SKUNK. 1. To utterly defeat. In games of chance, if one of the 
 players fails to make a point, he is said to be skunked. A presidential 
 candidate who fails to secure one electoral vote is also skunked. 
 
 2. A student who leaves college without settling up, is said to skunk 
 his bills. 
 
 SKUNK BLACKBIRD. The common marsh blackbird, so called in the rural 
 districts of New England, New York, and Canada West. See Bollink. 
 
 We followed that old Polyglott, the skunk blackbird, and heard him describe the 
 way they talked at the winding up of the Tower of Babel. H. W. Beecher, Star 
 Papers, p. 192. 
 
 SKUNK CABBAGE. (Symplocarpus fcetidus.) A strong-scented, repulsive 
 plant, exceedingly deserving of the name it bears. The odor depends 
 on a volatile principle, not separable by distillation. This plant has been
 
 SKU SLA 411 
 
 found useful in asthma and some other diseases. Bigelow's Plants of 
 
 Boston. 
 
 The green, tender blades of youth, the ripened stems of manhood, and the bloom- 
 ing flowers of beauty, all fall indiscriminately before the fell stroke of time, and 
 wither together like skunk cabbage, clover-heads, and lilies. Dow's Sermons, Vol. II. 
 p. 183. 
 
 SKUNKHEAD. The popular name, on the sea-coast, of the Pied Duck 
 (Fuligula Idbradord) of ornithologists. Nat. Hist, of New York. 
 
 SKY-LARKING. A term used by seamen for games or tricks with each 
 other in the rigging, tops, etc., of ships ; and hence transferred to any 
 kind of rough play. 
 
 The New York Courier and Enquirer, in speaking of an election for 
 officers of the Mercantile Library, says : 
 
 There was a considerable amount of skylarking carried on from sunset until mid- 
 night in the halls and passages of the building, hats were smashed, and members 
 tumbled on the floor ; but everybody preserved good humor, and even the defeated 
 candidates yielded to the contagious influence of merriment and hilarity. May 19, 
 1858. 
 
 SKY- RACKET. The vulgar pronunciation of sky-rocket. 
 
 To SLAB OFF. To throw aside as useless, like the outside piece of a log 
 when sawn up into planks, which is called a slab. 
 
 Ton must take notice that I am slabb'd off from the election, and am nothing but 
 a " voter ; " and this gives me a right to dictate to the rest. Crockett, Tour, p. 212. 
 
 SLAB-SIDED. Having perpendicular sides, wall-sided. 
 
 To get any thing to eat was only to be accomplished by taking a stand some one 
 or two hours before meal time, and this was invariably done by a slab-sided genius 
 ' from the hungry side of the Granite State Hills. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 " My dear girls," said the preacher, " I like to see a small waist as well as any- 
 body ; and females with hour-glass shapes suit my fancy better than your Dutch- 
 churn, soap-barrel, slab-sided sort of figures ; but I don't want to give the credit to 
 corsets." Dow's Sermons, Vol. II. p. 200. 
 
 Jack Downing says that Maine is the middle and kernel of real Yankeeism ; Rhode 
 Island and Connecticut point to each other as the focus of the article ; while the 
 Massachusetts man will tell you that the real slab-sided whittler is indigenous to Var- 
 monnt and New Hampshire. Knickerbocker Mag., March, 1856. 
 
 SLANG-~WHANGER. This curious word is defined by Mr. Pickering as sig- 
 nifying " a writer or noisy talker, who makes use of that sort of politi- 
 cal or other cant, which amuses the rabble, and is called by the vulgar 
 name of slang." The word frequently occurs in Paulding's Salmagundi ; 
 but it is now seldom heard. 
 
 "Mere availability," and the "available candidate," are not the phrases with 
 which the slang-w hangers of all sides assail the Philadelphia Convention. New 
 York Battery.
 
 412 SLA 
 
 Parson Brownlow is a local preacher and editor in Knoxville, Tennessee, and one 
 of the slang-whangers of the South-west. Harper's Magazine, Dec. 1857. 
 
 SLANG- WHANGING. Political cant. 
 
 Part of the customary slang-whanging against all other nations which is habitual 
 to the English press. N. Y. Com. Adv., Oct. 10, 1845. 
 
 If the word is, as has been supposed, of American origin, it has been 
 adopted in the mother country. 
 
 "What else ? No part I take in party fray, 
 
 With tropes from Billingsgate's slang-whanging Tartars, 
 
 I fear no pope and let Ernest play 
 At Fox and Goose with Fox's Martyrs ! 
 
 Hood, Ode to Ray Wilson. 
 
 SLANT. A side blow. A slang word. 
 
 SLANTENDICULAR. Aslant ; oblique. A factitious vulgarism. 
 
 SLANTENDICULARLY, or SLANTSHWISE. Obliquely. 
 
 Pony got mad and sent the Elder right slap over his head slantendicularly , on the 
 broad of his back into the river. Sam Slick in England, ch. 28. 
 
 SLAP-JACK. A pancake. A country girl formerly was not considered eli- 
 gible for marriage until she could make a shirt and toss a slap-jack fairly 
 right into the middle of the pan. In England they are called flap-jacks. 
 
 To the Van Nests of Kinderhook, if report may be believed, are we indebted for 
 the invention of slap-jacks, or buckwheat cakes. Knickerbocker's New York. 
 
 SLASHES. Swampy or wet lands overgrown with bushes. Southern and 
 Western. 
 
 Although the inner lands want the benefit of game (which, however, no pond or 
 slash is without), yet even they have the advantage of wild-turkeys, etc. Beverly's 
 Virginia, 1705, Book II. 
 
 Between this and Edenton there are many whortleberry slashes, which afford a con- 
 venient harbor for wolves and foxes. Westover Papers, p. 28. 
 
 SLAT. A narrow piece of board or timber, used to fasten together large 
 pieces ; as, the slats of a cart or chair. Webster. Mr. Wright says the 
 word is used in Northamptonshire to denote " the flat step of a ladder." 
 
 To SLAT. A word of uncertain derivation, signifying to throw down with 
 violence. Toone's Glossary. 
 
 Slatted his brains out, then soused him in the briny sea. Old Play, The Malcon- 
 tents. 
 
 With that, I handed him my axe, and he slatted about the chamber a spell. Maj. 
 Downing' s Letters, p. 200. 
 
 Suz alive ! but warn't my dander up to hear myself called a flat ? down I slat the 
 basket and upsot all the berries. Lafayette Chronicle.
 
 SLA SLE 413 
 
 Aunt Nancy would retire to the kitchen, and, taking up the dipper, would slat 
 round the hot water from a kettle. N. Y. Com. Adv., May 15, 1846. 
 
 SLAVE LABOR. The labor of slaves. 
 
 But when I hear you avowing that slave labor shall not come in competition with 
 free labor, ... I am led to infer that when the throat-cutting tragedy comes off, 
 you hope to see the whites the victors. A Voice from the South, p. 19. 
 
 SLAVEOCRAT. A slaveholder. 
 
 SLAVEOCRACY. The owners of slaves, as a class ; slaveholders. 
 
 Arnold Buffum was the next talker [at the meeting of the National Reformers]. 
 The burden of his song was the Constitution Slavery Free Soil an anecdote 
 or two and an exhortation to curb the slaveocracy. N. Y. Express, Sept. 4, 1848. 
 
 To this end the entire influence and patronage of the government, its civil, mili- 
 tary, and moral power, are all directed ; and along-side of these, prominent and 
 threatening, stands the bullying of the slaveocracy, boastingly pointing to the bowie- 
 knife, the pistol, and the bludgeon, and impudently taunting the entire North with 
 cowardice. N. Y. Courier and Enq., May 27, 1856. 
 
 SLAVE POWER. The political power of slaveholders ; the body of slave- 
 holders. 
 
 SLAVE STATE. A State in which negro slavery exists. 
 
 Either the cotton and rice fields of South Carolina and the sugar plantations of 
 Louisiana will ultimately be tilled by free labor, and Charleston and New Orleans 
 become marts for legitimate merchandise alone, or else the rye fields and wheat 
 fields of Massachusetts and New York must again be surrendered by their farmers 
 to slave culture and to the production of slaves, and Boston and New York become 
 once more markets for trade in the bodies and souls of men. It is the failure to 
 apprehend this great truth that induces so many unsuccessful attempts at final com- 
 promise between the slave and free States, and it is the existence of this great fact 
 that renders all such pretended compromises, when made, vain and ephemeral." 
 Speech of Hon. W. H. Seward, Oct. 1858. 
 
 SLAZY. A corrupt pronunciation of sleazy or sleezy ; i. e. weak, wanting 
 substance ; thin ; flimsy. It is also pronounced so in some parts of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 SLED. See Ferry Flat.. 
 
 To SLEEP. Sometimes used as an active verb ; as, " This steamboat can 
 sleep three hundred passengers," i. e. can furnish sleeping accommoda- 
 tions for them. We have heard of a landlady who said " she could eat 
 fifty people in her house, although she could not sleep half the number." 
 
 SLEIGH. A vehicle moved on runners, and greatly used in America for 
 transporting persons or goods on snow or ice. Webster. In England it 
 is called a sledge. During the Avinter of 1844, after a fall of snow in 
 London, an English newspaper observed that " the Queen was making 
 
 35*
 
 414 S L E S L I 
 
 preparations for sledge-driving" which in America few would understand 
 to mean that Her Majesty was about taking a sleigh-ride. 
 SLEIGH-BELL. A small hollow ball, made of bell-metal, having a slit in 
 it that passes half round its circumference, and containing a small, solid 
 ball of a size not to escape. These bells are fastened to leathern straps, 
 which pass round the necks or bodies of the horses. They produce a 
 musical and lively sound, which is useful to give warning of the approach- 
 ing vehicle, and is pleasing to the ear. 
 SLEIGH-RIDE. Used both as a noun and as a verb. 
 
 Men do not derive the right to do good from the Thirty-nine Articles, nor need 
 they go to the Westminster Confession for liberty to recover the intemperate, set free 
 the bond, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, educate the ignorant, and give sleigh- 
 rides to beggars' children that never before laughed and cuddled in a buffalo-robe. 
 Rev. H. W. Beecher. 
 
 In winter we sleigh-ride, coast, skate, and snow-ball. Margaret. 
 SLEIGHING. 1. The state of the snow which admits of running sleighs. 
 Webster. As, " good sleighing" " bad sleighing ; " and in the winter 
 when there is no snow, we say there is " no sleighing." 
 
 2. The act of riding in a sleigh. Webster. 
 
 SLEWED. Tipsy ; drunk. A common expression in the United States, and 
 also used in Yorkshire, England. 
 
 " Never go to bed," said a father to his son, " without knowing something you 
 did not know in the morning." " Yes, sir," replied the youth, " I went to bed 
 slewed last night did n't dream of such a thing in the morning." Whig Almanac, 
 1855. 
 
 SLICK. 1. The popular pronunciation of sleek, and so written by some au- 
 thors. Webster. It is also used adverbially in vulgar language, like 
 many other adjectives. 
 
 " This word," says Todd, " was formerly written slick ; and slick or 
 slicken is still our northern word." It is also provincial in Kent, while, 
 in other parts of England, the verb to slick, to comb or make sleek the 
 hair, is provincial. Holloway's Prov. Diet. 
 Her flesh tender as is a chicke, 
 
 With bent browes, smooth and slike. Chaucer, Pom. of the Rose. 
 That the bodie thereof is not all over smoothe and slicke (as we see in birds' eggs), 
 is shewed by good arguments. Holland, Trans, of Pliny. 
 
 The railroad company, out of sheer parsimony, have neglected to fence in their 
 line, which goes slick through the centre of your garden. Blackwood's Mag., July, 
 1847, 
 
 But you 've all read in ^Esop, or Phaedrus, or Gay, 
 How a tortoise and hare ran together one day; 
 How the hare, making play, 
 " Progress'd right slick away," 
 As them tarnation chaps, the Americans, say. 
 
 Ingoldsby Legends, Vol. I. p. 241.
 
 SLI 415 
 
 Well ! one comfort is, that there ain't many folks to see how bad you look here in 
 the woods ! We ain't used to seein' folks look so dreadful slick, so it don't mat- 
 ter. Mrs. Clavers's Forest Life, Vol. I. p. 11 4. 
 
 Then here 's to women, then to liquor ; 
 There 's nothing swimmin' can be slicker. 
 
 Boatman's Sony. 
 
 Singin' is a science which comes pretty tough at first ; but it goes slick aftenvards. 
 Peter Cram of Tinnecum, Knick. Mac/., 1841. 
 
 The Senate could not pass Mr. Stevenson through for England. The reason was, 
 he was a-going through right slick, till lie came to his coat pockets, and they were so 
 full of papers written by Ritchie, that he stuck fast, and hung by the flaps. 
 Crockett, Tour, p. 120. 
 
 I 've hearn tell that courtin' is the hardest thing in the world to begin, though it goes 
 on so slick arterwards. Traits of American Humor, Vol. II. p. 18. 
 
 Nobody can waltz real slick, unless they have the spring-halt in one leg, as horses 
 sometimes have. Dow's Sermons. 
 
 2. A smooth place in the water where fish abound. New England. 
 
 You have seen on the surface of the sea those smooth places which fishermen and 
 sailors call slicks. Our boatman said they were caused by the blue fish chopping up 
 their prey [the menhaden], and that the oil from this butchery, rising to the surface, 
 makes the slick. Whatever the cause may be, we always found fish plenty whenever 
 we came to a slick. Daniel Webster, Priv. Cor., Vol. II. p. 332. 
 
 SLICK AS A WHISTLE. A proverbial simile, in common use throughout 
 the United States. To do any thing as slick as a whistle, is to do it very 
 smoothly, perfectly, adroitly. 
 
 You know I told you in my last letter I was going to bring Miss Mary up to the 
 chalk at Christmas. Well, I done it as slick as a whistle. Maj. Jones's Courtship, 
 p. 94. 
 
 SLICK AS GREASE. Another classical expression, conveying the same 
 idea as the foregoing ; sometimes varied into slick as He (oil). 
 
 To SLICK UP. To make sleek ; to make fine. 
 
 Mrs. Flyer was slicked up for the occasion, in the snuff-colored silk she was mar- 
 ried in. Mrs. Clovers, A New Home, p. 211. 
 
 The house was all slicked tip as neat as a pin, and the things in every room all sot 
 to rights. Maj. Downing, May Day, p. 43. 
 
 The caps most in vogue then were made of dark, coarse, knotted twine, like a 
 cabbage-net, worn, as the wives said, to save slicking up, and to hide dirt. Carlton, 
 The New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 72. 
 
 To SLIDE. To go, be gone, be off. See also To let Slide, p. 241. 
 We have fought the field together, 
 We have struggled side by side ; 
 Broken is the band that held us, 
 
 We must cut our sticks and slide. R. S. Willis, Student's Song. 
 
 SLIMSY. Flimsy ; frail. Most frequently applied to cotton or other cloth.
 
 416 SLI SLO 
 
 The building is old and slimsy. Margaret, p. 329. 
 
 SLING. A drink composed of equal parts of rum and water sweetened. 
 Hush. Gin-slings are more commonly drunk now. 
 
 To SLING. Sometimes used vulgarly instead of to swing. 
 
 We swung round the wharf ; and when the captain told the people who I was, 
 they slung their hats and gave three cheers. Crockett, Tour Down East, p. 37. 
 
 SLINK. A sneaking fellow. 
 
 I despise a dink. Chron. of Pineville, p. 139. 
 
 SLINKY. Thin ; lank. 
 
 SLIP. 1. The opening between wharves or in a dock. Webster. 
 
 This word is peculiar to New York, where we have Peck Slip, Burling 
 Slip, Old Slip, Coenties Slip, etc. 
 
 2. In New England, a long seat or narrow pew in a church. Web- 
 ster. When there is a door, they are called pews ; when without doors, 
 and free to all, slips. This, I believe, is the difference between them. 
 
 3. Milk turned with rennet, etc., before the whey separates from the 
 curd. 
 
 SLIP-GAP. See Gap. 
 
 SLIP-SLOPS. Old shoes turned down at the heel. Southern. 
 
 The term is probably English ; at all events, a loose shoe or slipper is 
 called a slip-shoe in Norfolk. 
 
 SLIPE. A distance. 
 
 Well, I 've got a long slipe off from my steamboat, the Hunter ; and I had better 
 look up the captain. Crockett, Tour, p. 145. 
 
 SLIPPER-DOWN. A vulgar name in some parts of Connecticut for hasty- 
 pudding. The etymology is obvious. 
 
 SLIVER. A piece of any substance, as wood torn or split off. This word 
 is, in this country, commonly pronounced sliver; but the English ortho- 
 epists all pronounce it sliver. Worcester. 
 
 In New England this word is used as a verb as well as a noun. 
 As there was nothin' else to get hold of, I just slivered a great big bit off the leg 
 of the chair, and made a tooth-pick of it. Sam Slick in England. 
 
 To LET SLIVER. To let slip, let fly, i. e. to fire. 
 
 Old Yelp smelled the bar ; and as soon as I clapped peeper on him, I let sliver, 
 when the varmint dropped. Robb, Squatter Life 
 
 SLOPE. A running away, elopement, escape. 
 
 Now Sol Wheelwright, I regret to say, was a rowdy, 
 AVho played all-fours, and kept late hours at the grog shop,
 
 SLO SLU 417 
 
 And, forgetting his debts and the girl he had just got engaged to, 
 He left Mudfog, made a slope, and went off to Texas. 
 
 Ballad of Blonzelinda. 
 
 To SLOPE. To run away. A common vulgarism. 
 
 As the officers approached, some hid themselves in their ovens, some under their 
 beds ; but a majority sloped without hats, shoes, or coats. N. Y. Com. Adv., Nov. 
 3, 1845. 
 
 The editor of the Eagle cannot pay his board bill, and fears are entertained that 
 he will slope without liquidating the debt, Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 The constables appeared with attachments ; each person interested seized his own 
 goods, while the master and clerk sloped to parts unknown. Baltimore Patriot, July 
 10, 1846. 
 
 The instant an English mob sees two dragoons coming, they jist run like a flock 
 of sheep afore a couple of bull-dogs, and slope off, properly skeered. Sam Slick in 
 England, ch. 27. 
 
 SLOSHING ABOUT. A Western term, which is said to have been thus ex- 
 plained by a witness who was testifying in court relative to a row. 
 
 " Come, witness, what had Mr. Saltonstall to do with the affair ? " 
 
 " Well, I 've told you, they clinched and paired off, but Saltonstall he jest kept 
 sloshin' about." 
 
 " That is n't legal evidence, my good fellow, in the shape you put it. Tell us 
 what you mean by sloshin' about." 
 
 " I '11 try," answered the witness. " You see Brewer and Sykes clinched and 
 fout. That 's in a legal form, ain't it ? " 
 
 " Oh yes ! " said the judge, " go on." 
 
 " Abney and Blackman then pitched into one another, and Blackman bit off a 
 piece of Abney's lip, that 's legal too, ain't it 1 " 
 
 "Proceed! " 
 
 " Simpson, and Bill Stones, and Murry was all together on the ground, a bitin', 
 gougin', and kickin' one another, that 's legal too, is it ? " 
 
 " Very ! but go on." 
 
 " And Saltonstall made it his business to walk backward and forward through the 
 crowd, with a big stick in his hand, and knock down e^ery loose man in the crowd. 
 That's what I call sloshin' about." Cairo (Illinois) Times, Nov. 1854. 
 
 SLUMP. A favorite dish in New England, called an apple slump, is made 
 by placing raised bread or dough around the sides of an iron pot, which 
 is then filled with apples and sweetened with molasses. It is also called 
 Apple Pot-Pie, or Pandowdy ; and in Pennsylvania, an Apple Cobbler. 
 
 SLUNG SHOT. An offensive weapon formed of two leaden or iron bullets 
 fastened together by a piece of rope five or six inches long. One bullet 
 is held in the hand, while the other hangs outside by the rope, which 
 passes between the second and third fingers. A blow from it on the head 
 will fell the strongest man. It is also called a Billy. 
 
 About eight o'clock in the evening two men entered the store of C. J. Jansen & 
 Co., and, professing to be purchasers, asked to see some blankets. Mr. Jansen,
 
 418 ... SLU SMA 
 
 who was alone in the store, was in the act of producing the articles, when he was 
 violently struck with a slung shot, and fell insensible on the floor. Annals of San 
 Francisco, p. 314. 
 
 SLUNK. Produced immaturely, as the young of a beast ; slink. This form 
 of the word is also used in the eastern counties of England. 
 
 A butcher in Cincinnati was arrested for killing a dog, dressing it like mutton, 
 and offering it for sale. Two witnesses testified before the court that they had 
 known the prisoner to purchase a slunk calf three days old, and offer its meat for 
 sale. Newspaper. 
 
 SMALL POTATOES. An epithet applied to persons or things, and signify- 
 ing petty, mean, contemptible ; as, " He is very small potatoes" Small 
 potatoes, except for the feeding of hogs and cattle, are worthless ; hence 
 the expression as applied to men. It is sometimes put into the more 
 emphatic form of small potatoes and few in a hill. 
 
 It 's small potatoes for a man-of-war to be hunting poor game like us little fore- 
 and-aft vessels. S. Slick, Nature and Human Nature, p. 38. 
 
 I took to attendin' Baptist meetin' ; because the Presbyterian minister here is such 
 small potatoes, that 't want edifyin' to sit under his preachin'. Widow Bedott Papers, 
 p. 188. 
 
 Give me an honest old soldier for the Presidency whether a Whig or Democrat 
 and I will leave your small potato politicians and pettyfogging lawyers to those 
 who are willing to submit the destiny of this great nation to such hands. 2V. Y. 
 Herald, Dec. 13, 1846. 
 
 SMART. 1. Quick, active ; keen, shrewd, intelligent. Ex. " That 's a smart, 
 lively lad of yours ; " " He is a smart business man." These are the 
 senses in which the word is most commonly used in this country ; while 
 in England it now usually has the meaning of showy or witty. 
 
 I say stranger, that 's a powerful smart looking chunk of a pony you Ve got 
 atwixt your legs thar ; but ponies is mighty onsartin. A Stray Yankee in Texas. 
 New Haven, with its shady elms, 
 
 And Hartford, with its charter. 
 
 % 
 
 Connecticut, my native State ! 
 
 Say, can you find a smarter ? Allin. Home Ballads. 
 
 I expect we free born Americans is the smartest people under the sun ; we do know 
 a heap that is, some on us but we might know a cord more ef we warnt too 
 powerful smart to learn. N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 2. In the South and West the word is frequently used (as it also is in 
 the east of England) in the sense of considerable ; and especially in such 
 phrases as " right smart" " smart chance," " smart sprinkle," etc. 
 
 SMART CHANCE. 1. A good opportunity; a fair chance. A vulgar ex- 
 pression. 
 
 He has a smart chance of getting a better character. S. Slick in England, ch. IX. 
 Says I, " Friend Wolfe," for I seed there was a smart chance of a row, " play I 
 won't." S. Slick, 3d Ser., p. 117.
 
 SMA 419 
 
 2. A good deal ; a large quantity. A smart chance of any thing 
 means a considerable quantity ; quite a smart chance, or a right smart 
 chance, means more ; and a mighty smart chance is the superlative, and 
 means a very large quantity. These singular expressions, used in the 
 Southern and Western States, are never heard in the Eastern. Right 
 smart is often used alone ; as, " "We have had fine weather this season, 
 and I 've right smart of peaches," or " right smart peaches." 
 
 " There 's a smart chance of cigars there in the bar, stranger, if you '11 try some 
 of them," said one of the Hoosiers. Hoffman, Winter in the West. 
 
 We had a " smart chance " of snow on Thursday ; it fell during the day to the 
 depth of two inches, which makes a considerable snow-storm in this part of the 
 world. Wilmington, N. C., Commercial, Dec. 10. 
 
 I thought of the new wagon that we wanted, and such a smart chance of other 
 things about the farm. Simms, The Wigwam and Cabin, p. 85. 
 How is the old woman and the boys ? 
 
 Considerable sassy, only thar 's been a smart chance of ague down in our neck of 
 the woods. A Stray Yankee in Texas. 
 
 I don't pretend to say, stranger, what sort of cattle you have in your country ; but 
 I reckon there 's a right smart chance of self-conceit among you Yankees. Letter 
 from the South, N. Y. Journ. of Com. 
 
 A correspondent of the New York Evening Post, in giving the pecu- 
 liarities of diction prevalent near Galena, in Illinois, says : 
 
 If you should go into the house where the ladies are making a fine quilt, and say 
 to them, "Ladies, you are making a fine quilt," they would reply, "Yes, but it 
 takes a heap of truck and right smart thread." 
 
 SMART PIECE. A good bit ; a considerable time. 
 
 The first time, stranger, that I ever see Charley Birkham was a smart piece ago 
 nigh on to a year or so arter I left up thar in Tennessee, whar I was raised. N. 
 Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 SMART SPRINKLE. A good deal ; a good many. Used in the interior of 
 the Western States. 
 
 In answer to some query about snakes, our landlord said there was a smart sprin- 
 Tde of rattlesnakes on Red Run, and a powerful nice day to sun themselves. 
 Carlton, The. New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 85. 
 
 I had n't sot more 'n a minit when I heerd a snort, and a roar, and a growl, and a 
 right smart sprinklin' of fast travelling all mixed up together. Western Tale, 
 Smoking a Grizzly Bear. 
 
 It is too late for me to commence plainin' my language, though I once had a 
 pretty smart sprinklin' of larnin' ; but I have always thought when I was young I 
 collapsed a flue, and a right smart chance of it leaked out. Tale of the Berkshire 
 Pig. 
 
 SMARTNESS. Shrewdness ; keenness in a trade. 
 
 It is a great error to suppose that the New England States continue to deserve 
 their character for " smartness." Their day is past. Wooden nutmegs and bass- 
 wood hams were well enough some years ago ; but that sort of business at best was
 
 420 SMA SMU 
 
 beneath the dignity of rascals who " go in " for their hundreds of thousands, and 
 whose operations ruin households instead of merely giving them indigestion. The 
 keen fellows now live in the West. New York Herald, Sept. 11, 1857. 
 
 SMASHER. A low word denoting any thing very large or grand of the kind. 
 It is of English origin. 
 
 Put up your benefit for that night ; and if you don't have a smasher, with at least 
 six wreaths, say I don't understand managing the theatres. Field, Drama at Poker- 
 ville. 
 
 Them 's the right kind o' parties, where there are married folks and young folks 
 together. Mrs. Knight is going to give such a one, a regular smasher, and she 's 
 able to do it. Widow Bedott Papers. 
 
 SMEAR-CASE. (Dutch, smeer-kaas.) A preparation of milk made to be 
 spread on bread, whence its name ; otherwise called Cottage- Cheese. In 
 New York it is called Pot-cheese. 
 
 SMILE. A drink, dram. A cant word of recent introduction. 
 
 A sturdy young German, with a buxom lass of recent importation, called upon an 
 alderman to be married. . . . When the ceremony had been performed, the alder- 
 man smiled upon the twain ; and thereupon the " crowd " was invited into the Fifth 
 Ward Hotel, and one general smile entirely absorbed the fee. N. Y. Tribune, Jan. 
 31, 1855. 
 
 SMILING. Drinking, tippling. 
 
 A writer from the "White Sulphur Springs says : 
 
 Last night a young man here was borne to another world on the wings of spirits 
 that is, died of mania-a-potu. Another impetuous youth is said to have dosed 
 himself with too much morphine, through the effects of too much love or folly. 
 They say, too, he is dead. There are many more fast boys about some devoted 
 to the sex some to horses some to " smiling," and some to " the tiger." 
 (Bait.) Sun, Aug. 23, 1858. 
 
 SMOOTH. A meadow, or grass field. 
 
 Get some plantain and dandelion on the smooth for greens. Margaret. 
 
 To SMOUCH. To gouge ; to take unfair advantage. Colloquial in New 
 
 York. 
 To SMOUZE. To demolish, as with a blow. Used in Ohio. 
 
 SMUDGE. A heap of damp combustibles placed on the windward side of 
 the house and partially ignited, that the inky steam may smother or drive 
 away mosquitoes. It is a North of England word. 
 
 We had taken about ten pounds of trout ; and the first procedure, after reaching 
 the camp, was to build a smudge or smoke-fire, to drive away these abominable 
 gnats, who, fortunately, take flight with the first whiff of smoke. N. Y. Courier 
 and Enquirer. 
 
 I have had a smudge made in a chafing-dish at my bedside, after a serious deliber- 
 ation between choking and being devoured at small mouthfuls ; and I conscientious- 
 ly recommend choking. Mrs. Clavers's Forest Life.
 
 SNA 421 
 
 SNAG. A tree having its roots fastened in the bottom of a river; or a 
 branch of a tree thus fastened. These are common in the Mississippi 
 and Missouri Rivers, and frequently destroy steamboats which come in 
 contact with them, by piercing their bows or sides. The word itself is 
 not a new one, and is defined by Johnson as " a jag or sharp protube- 
 rance." 
 
 Thar war jest light enough as we floated down the Missouri to tell that snags war 
 plenty, and jest enough corn-juice inside to make a fellar not care a cuss for them. 
 The Americans at Home, Vol. I. p. 278. 
 
 To SNAG. To run against a snag or projecting branch of a sunken tree. 
 
 Drove a pretty fair business last year ; only sunk one broad-horn, and that war 
 snagged in the Mississippi. Ben. Wilson's Jug Race, 
 
 To SNAKE. 1. To crawl like a snake. A common expression at the 
 West. The following illustration of the use of this term is from a West- 
 ern newspaper : 
 
 In Iowa, as in other new countries, the duties of a judge often begin before a 
 court-house or place of shelter has been provided. Not long since, Judge Williams 
 was obliged to hold his first court beneath the shade of a large tree, where logs were 
 rolled up for seats, a larger one being provided for the Judge. The clerk used a 
 shingle on his knee for a desk ; and the jury, after being charged by the judge, were 
 sent in care of a sheriff to a hollow, or ravine, where they could sit in conclave be- 
 yond the view of the court or spectators. 
 
 The grass grew very tall in the neighborhood, and the jurymen lay down in a ring 
 in the grass, where they could more perfectly exclude themselves from observation. 
 The jury had not been long in their quarters, when a tall, raw-boned fellow rose up 
 and addressed the Judge as follows : 
 
 " May it please your honor, I wish to speak to you." " Order, sir; what is it ? " 
 " Judge," continued he, with the utmost gravity, " is it right for fellows to snake in 
 the grass 1 " " How 1 what is that, sir ? " " Why, you see," said the Yankee, 
 " there 's some fellows who 's tarnal fraid the Grand Jury will find something agin 
 'em, which they desarve ; and they are snaking up to the Grand Jury on their bellies 
 in the grass, kind of trying to hear what the jury are talking about." " No," re- 
 sponded the judge, with as much gravity as he could command, " I do not allow of 
 snaking. Here, Mr. Sheriff, go station a guard around each jury's hollow ; and if a 
 man is found ' snaking,' have him brought before me, and I will cause him to be 
 punished." 
 
 But while I drink'd the peaceful cup of a pure heart and mind 
 
 (Mixed with some whiskey, now and then), Pomp he snaked up behind, 
 
 And, creepin' gradually close to, as sly as any mink, 
 
 Jest grabbed my leg, and then pulled foot quicker than you could wink. 
 
 Biglow Papers. 
 2. To beat ; to thrash. Southern.' 
 
 Any gal like me, what can take a bag of meal on her shoulder and tote it to mill, 
 ought to be able to snake any man of her heft. Southern Sketches, p. 120. 
 
 To SNAKE OUT. To drag out; to haul out, as a snake from its hole. A 
 farmer, in clearing land, attaches a chain to a stump or log, whereby to 
 
 36
 
 422 SNA 
 
 draw it out ; this he calls snaking it out. Maj. Downing says, in speak- 
 ing of a person who fell into the river : 
 
 We snaked him out of that scrape as slick as a whistle. Letters, p. 14. 
 
 I went down again and found the cow as dead as a herrin'. We skinned her and 
 snaked her out of the barn upon the snow. Boston Daily Advertiser, March, 1848. 
 
 SNAKE-HEAD. An object of dread to travellers on the early railways. It 
 consisted of the end of a flat iron rail, which was sometimes thrown up 
 in front of the car wheels, and passed through the cars. Serious acci- 
 dents have been caused by them. This species of rail, however, is no 
 longer used, except for temporary purposes. 
 
 The road to Petersburg consists of an iron strap laid upon pine timber, and is 
 beautifully diversified with that peculiar half horizontal, vibrating rail, known as 
 " snake's head." Frequently, during our short ride, an iron snake would strike his 
 heavy head against the iron fenders of our car ; and then, as we rolled on unharmed, 
 he would shake himself as if in wrath, awaiting another opportunity for vengeance. 
 N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 SNAKE-ROOT. Many plants have obtained a reputation as cures for the 
 poison of the rattlesnake ; and while none of them have retained their 
 character in this respect, the really active properties which brought them 
 into notice have obtained for some of them a place in our Materia Medica. 
 Among the best known and most important are Black snake-root ( Cimici- 
 fuga racemosa), Virginia snake-root (Aristolochia serpentaria), and Sen- 
 eca snake-root (Polygala senega). Other species of these genera are 
 sometimes known as snake-roots. 
 
 SNAP. Applied to the weather ; as, " a cold snap" i. e. a period of sudden 
 cold weather. A common expression. 
 
 SNAP-BEANS, or SNAPS. See Bush-Bean. 
 
 SNAPPED. Drunk. Used at the South. 
 
 I like to forgot to tell you 'bout cousin Pete. He got snapt on egg-nog when he 
 heard of my engagement. Major Jones's Courtship, p. 102. 
 
 SNAPPING TURTLE. (Genus, Chelonura.) A reptile common to all parts 
 of the United States, so named from its propensity to snap at every thing 
 within its reach. 
 
 SNARL. 1. A quarrel ; an angry contest. Provincial in England, and col- 
 loquial in the United States. Worcester. 
 
 This gallant officer and estimable man [Sir John Harvey] has been transferred 
 from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland, where Lord Falkland had got into a snarl. 
 Com. Adv., April 1, 1846. 
 
 The members of the House of Representatives got themselves into a most admi- 
 rable snarl on Saturday afternoon, by their proceedings in reference to the recent 
 case of resistance to the serving of a habeas corpus writ. Boston Traveller, Feb. 
 12.
 
 SNE SNO 423 
 
 2. A brood ; a tribe. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Scrantum, having expressed a wish to withdraw from his 
 parish in consequence of the insufficiency of his salary, which was four 
 hundred dollars a year with a " donation party," one of his miserly par- 
 ishioners said : 
 
 He hoped Mr. Scrantum's request would be granted ; that for his part he 'd long 
 been of opinion they 'd ought to have a cheaper minister, and one that had n't such 
 a snarl of young ones. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 270. 
 
 SNEAKING NOTION. To have a sneaking notion for a lady, is to have a 
 timid or concealed affection for her. 
 
 Well, I always used to have a sort of a sneakin' notion for Mary Stallins. Maj. 
 Jones's Courtship, p. 11. 
 
 I e'en a most made up my mind to break the ice to Hannah Downer, and tell her 
 I should n't wonder if I had a sneakin' notion arter her then I should ha' been 
 reg'lar courtin' in less than a month. Traits of American Humor, Vol. II. 
 An army such as me would fright the devil 
 What are ye giggling at ? Can't ye be civil ? 
 There that 's well done ; now I 've a sneaking notion 
 When I git hum I '11 git some grand promotion. 
 
 D. Humphreys, The Yankee in England, p. 102. 
 
 To BE SNEEZED AT. A thing that is not to be sneezed at is not to be 
 despised. 
 
 My knowledge of horse-flesh ain't to be sneezed at. I buy a horse for fifty dollars, 
 and sell him for two hundred ; that 's skill it ain't a cheat. Sam Slick, Human 
 Nature, p. 173. 
 
 SNEEZER. A dashing, thorough-going fellow. 
 
 It 's awful to hear a minister swear ; and the only match I know for it is to hear a 
 regular sneezer of a sinner quote Scripture. Sam Slick. 
 
 SNELL. See Leader. 
 
 SNIPPY. Finical ; and substantively, a finical person. A woman's word. 
 In the South they use the word sniptious. 
 
 To SNOOP. (Dutch, snoepen.) To clandestinely eat dainties or other vic- 
 tuals which have been put aside. A servant who goes slyly into a 
 dairy-room and drinks milk from a pan, or a child who makes free with 
 the preserves in the cupboard, is said to be snooping. The term is pecu- 
 liar to New York. 
 
 SNOOZER. A thief who follows the business of robbing the boarders at 
 hotels. He takes board and lodgings, and endeavors to share a room and 
 become familiar with some country merchant ; after which, by various 
 tricks, he succeeds in robbing him. The police reports of New York 
 exhibit frequent cases of this system of depredation.
 
 424 SNO SOA 
 
 SNORE. (Dutch, snoer, a string.) A string with, a button on one end to 
 spin a top with. This term is retained by the boys of New York. 
 
 To SNORE. I snore! is one of the many euphemistic oaths used in New 
 England. 
 
 I hain't lived in the woods to be skeered at owls, I snore. Margaret. 
 
 To SNORT. To laugh outright. BrocketCs Glossary. Used in low lan- 
 guage in New England. 
 
 We all snorted and snickered. Maj. Downing's Letters, p. 15. 
 
 SNORTER. 1. A dashing, riotous fellow. A vulgar Western term. 
 
 "I'm a, roaring earthquake in a fight," sung out one of the half-horse, half-alli- 
 gator sort of fellows, " a real snorter of the universe. I can strike as hard as fourth- 
 proof lightning, and keep it up, rough and tumble, as long as a wild-cat." Thorpe's 
 Backwoods, p. 183. 
 
 2. A gale of wind. 
 
 The skipper said, after we have had our grub we must make all snug, for we 're 
 going to have a snorter. The Cape Ann Fisherman. 
 
 3. The edge pieces of tortoise-shell, called also toe-nails or nails. 
 
 SNOWBALL. A jeering appellation for a negro. 
 
 SNUFF-DIPPER. One who makes a practice of chewing snuff. See To Dip 
 Snuff. 
 
 SNUG. A projection or shoulder against which a piece fits, in machinery. 
 
 To SNUG. To conceal from the owner, to purloin. English boys use the 
 word smug in a similar sense. 
 
 I 'd rather starve than make money in any low way. I 'd stuff watches, drop 
 pocket-books, or do any thing in the genteel way, but I 'd never condescend to snug 
 dogs. A Glance at New York. 
 
 I SNUM ! A New England euphemism for I swear ! 
 The Yankee boy, with starting eyes, 
 When first the elephant he espies, 
 With wonder snums, and swons, and cries, 
 
 " By golly ! " Home Journal. 
 
 So is often used for such ; an old form of speech which may now be con- 
 sidered antiquated. 
 
 Prof W , who has acquired so high distinction in teaching the elements of 
 
 music and singing. N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 To SOAK. To bake thoroughly. It is particularly applied to bread which, 
 to be good, must be macerated, as it were, in the caloric of the oven. If 
 it be dough-baked, the complaint is, that it has not been sufficiently soaked. 
 Holloway. This word is used in the same sense in New England. 
 
 SOAP-LOCK. A lock of hair made to lie smooth by soaping it. Hence,
 
 SOA SOC 425 
 
 also, a name given to a low set of fellows who lounge about the markets, 
 engine-houses, and wharves of New York, and are always ready to en- 
 gage in midnight broils. It is, in fact, but another name for a Rowdy or 
 Loafer. The name comes from their wearing long side-locks, which they 
 are said to smear with soap, in order to give them a sleek appearance. 
 
 The way my last letter has cradled off the soap-locks, and imperials, and goat-knots, 
 and musty shows, is truly alarming. Maj. Jones's Courtship. 
 
 SOAP-PLANT. (Chlorogalum pomeridianuin). A plant common in Cali- 
 fornia and New Mexico, where it is called ammole, and which, when 
 pounded and broken, answers the purposes of soap. Besides its deter- 
 gent quality, the leaves are used for making mats for saddle cloths. 
 
 After leaving the creek \ve passed a barren rolling prairie with scanty herbage, 
 and covered with the palmilla or soap-plant. Ruxton's Adv. in Mexico, p. 217. 
 
 SOBBED. Soaked ; wet. Applied to lands. An English word, though little 
 used. 
 
 The high lands are sobbed and boggy. Letter from Charleston. N. Y. Herald. 
 
 SOCDOLAGER. This strange word is probably a perversion in spelling and 
 pronunciation of doxology, a stanza sung at the close of religious services, 
 and as a signal of dismissal. Hence a socdolager is a conclusive argu- 
 ment ; the winding up of a debate ; a settler ; and figuratively, in a contest, 
 a heavy blow, which shall bring it to a close. The term is also applied 
 to a patent fish-hook, having two hooks which close upon each other by 
 means of a spring as soon as the fish bites, thereby securing its victim. 
 
 In his remarks on an excellent move at a game of chess, the editor of 
 the N. Y. Spirit of the Times observes : 
 
 " This is a socdolager ; there is not even temporary relief to be obtained; the man- 
 ner in which the game is now brought to a conclusion is certainly neat. 
 
 I gave the fellow a socdolager over his head with the barrel of my gun, when he sot 
 off as if the devil had kick'd him on eend. Crockett's Bear Hunt. 
 
 Oh ! I forgot to tell you, that in the fight, as I aimed a socdolager at the fellow, he 
 ducked his head, and hitting him awkwardly, I sprained my wrist. Col. Jones's 
 Fight. A Kentucky Story. 
 
 SOCIALISTIC. Appertaining to the principles of socialism. 
 
 And now let us briefly assure the Courier that it is greatly, grievously wrong in 
 supposing that we shrink, or falter, or despond with regard to the future of France, 
 in view of the prominence and imminence given to social theories and ideas by the 
 new Revolution. On the contrary, our columns will bear witness that we have, from 
 the hour that the fall of Louis Philippe was known here, to this moment, profoundly 
 rejoiced in the Revolution itself, and more especially in its socialistic aspects and ten- 
 dencies. N. Y. Tribune, April 25, 1848. 
 
 SOCIETY. In Connecticut, a number of families united and incorporated 
 for the purpose of supporting public worship is called an ecclesiastical so- 
 
 36*
 
 426 SOC SOF 
 
 defy. This is a parish, except that it has not territorial limits. In Mas- 
 sachusetts such an incorporated society is usually called a "parish," 
 though consisting of persons only, without regard to territory. Webster. 
 
 To SOCK. To press by a hard blow a man's hat over his head and face. 
 Used in Rhode Island. I have never heard it elsewhere. The New 
 York term is, to crown. 
 
 SODA-PRAIRIE. A plain covered with an efflorescence of soda, elsewhere 
 called natron. These plains, of great extent, are found in New Mexico, 
 Texas, and Arizona. 
 
 -So FT CORN. Flattery. The more common terms are " soft sawder " and 
 " soft soap," which see. 
 
 I allowed that the old man was pretty green, or he 'd never swallowed all the soft- 
 corn I fed him on. Maj. Bunkum. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 SOFT SAWDER, i. e. soft solder. Flattery ; blarney. 
 
 Sam Slick said he trusted to soft sawder to get his wooden clocks into a house, 
 and to human nature that they should never come out again. Nature and Human 
 Nature, p. 311. 
 
 To SOFT SAWDER. To flatter; to blarney. 
 
 I don't like to be left alone with a gall ; it 's plaguy apt to set me a soft sawderin' 
 and a courtin'. Sam Slick in England, p. 19. 
 
 SOFT-SHELL CRAB, or SOFT-CRAB. See Shedder Crab. 
 
 SOFT-SHELL DEMOCRATS, SOFT-SHELLS, or SOFTS. The less conserva- 
 tive division of the New York Democrats. See Hard-shell Democrats. 
 
 At a Democratic meeting in the county of Orleans, N. Y., in Septem- 
 ber, 1858, it was : 
 
 Resolved, That the terms Hunker, Barnburner, Soft-shell, and Hardshell, have 
 become obsolete, and hereafter we will be known only by the term Democrat ; and 
 that we will regard all as such who are sound upon national politics, and adhere to 
 the usages of the party. 
 
 SOFT SOAP. Flattery; blarney. A vulgar phrase, though much used. 
 See Soft sawder. 
 
 To SOFT SOAP. To flatter; to blarney. 
 
 I am tired of this system of placemen soft soaping the people, telling them just 
 before an election what fine, honest, noble, generous fellows they are, and then, just 
 after election, turning their backs on them. Mike Walsh. Speech, Sept. 1843. 
 
 My popularity with the ladies was amazin'. Te see them flattering and soft soap- 
 ing me all at once, you would have sworn I had nothing to do but pick and choose- 
 McClintock's Tales.
 
 SOF SOM 427 
 
 You don't catch me a slandcrin' folks behind their backs, and then soft soapin 1 
 them to their faces. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 308. 
 
 SOFT WOODLANDS. A term applied, in the British Provinces, to the dis- 
 tricts or intervals covered with various species of pine trees. 
 
 SOME. 1. Somewhat ; something. Ex. " He is some better than he was;" 
 " it rains some" etc. Used chiefly by the illiterate. Pickering's Vocab- 
 ulary. 
 
 2. Of some account ; considerable ; notable ; famous. A modern slang 
 use of the word. 
 
 A mere glance would tell the gazer that this gentleman was no ordinary man, 
 either in a physical or mental point of view ; as an ancient Roman poet used elegantly 
 to express it, it at once became evident that he was "some." N. Orleans Delta. 
 
 I do not know whether you have any cancbrakes at the North ; but our Georgia 
 canebrakes are some, I can tell you. Lett, from Georgia, N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 When a boy, our trapper was "some," he said, with the rifle, and always had a 
 hankering for the West. Ruxton. Far West, p. 54. 
 
 We don't remember a closer or severer winter since that in which the old Trib- 
 une office burnt down, which was admitted by the oldest inhabitant to be "some" in' 
 the way of cold winters. N. Y. Tribune, May 15, 1849. 
 
 Hiram Twine was a good specimen of a go-ahead Yankee. He was some on 
 horses, numerous at billiards, immense at ten pins, and upwards of considerable 
 among the politicians. Knickerbocker Mag., March, 1856. 
 
 SOME PUMPKINS. A term in use, at the South and West, in opposition 
 to the equally elegant phrase " small potatoes." The former is applied 
 to any thing large or noble ; the latter to any thing small or mean. 
 
 A writer in the " Pennsylvanian," under date of Nov. 15, 1849, thus 
 explains its origin : 
 
 " I am not aware of the saying being incorporated into any play extant, 
 although it can claim an existence of nearly sixty years. It originated 
 with James Fennell, the celebrated tragedian, who came to this country in 
 the year '92. As the circumstance which gave rise to it is somewhat 
 singular, I take the extract from his life, published in the year 1814, 
 which gave birth to an expression that has now become a part and por- 
 tion of our polite, and I may say new, style of conversation. When quite 
 a lad, Fennell, in company with Dr. Mosely, and the celebrated philoso- 
 pher Mr. Walker, and son, made the tour of France. Speaking of this 
 portion of the journey, the author says : 
 
 ' I recollect nothing of consequence that took place, till we arrived at the celebrat- 
 ed city of Rouen. Physic and philosophy had, from their situation in front, a wide 
 share of vision ; but young Walker and myself could only look down. Wishing, 
 however, to see all we could, we kept peeping through our little windows. As we
 
 428 SOM SOP 
 
 were passing, without our [the young ones] knowing it, the famous Cathedral of 
 Eouen, young Walker, peeping through his little square, exclaimed, "Look, Fennell, 
 what immense pumpkins." His father, who had been attentively gazing at the building, 
 turned round, exclaiming, " God ! can you be looking at pumpkins, while you are 
 passing such a cathedral as this ? " Young Walker observed that he did not know 
 what he was passing, for he could see nothing above the ground.' 
 
 " Young Fennell could not resist the temptation of plaguing Walker 
 about the pumpkins ; so, whenever they approached a stately building or 
 towering spire, he would invariably exclaim, ' Look, Walker, there are 
 " some pumpkins ! " It is almost needless to say it became a favorite, if 
 not a common saying, as it is to this day." 
 
 This story is sufficiently circumstantial, and the origin it assigns may 
 be the true one ; yet the stress which is always laid on the "some " in 
 this phrase shows that it has the purely adjectival sense which we have 
 ascribed to the word under number two, whereas the anecdote gives it its 
 usual pronominal meaning. 
 
 Although the Mexican women are not distinguished for beauty, I never remember 
 once to have seen an ugly woman. Their brilliant eyes make up for any deficiency 
 of feature, and their figures are full and voluptuous. Now and then, moreover, one 
 does meet with a perfectly beautiful creature ; and when a Mexican woman does 
 combine such perfection, she is " some pumpkins," as the Missourians say when they 
 wish to express something superlative in the female line. Ruxion's Adventures in 
 Mexico, p. 57. 
 
 Cass is some pumpkins, and will do the needful in the office line if he is elected, 
 which I hope and trust will be his fate. I am no Democrat, as embraced on their 
 whole platform ; but I am, what I conceive to be, a " least evil " man. N. Y. Her- 
 ald, June 21, 1848. 
 
 Eranklin was a poor printer boy, and Washington only a land surveyor ; yet they 
 growed to be some pumpkins. S. Slick, Nature and Human Nature. 
 I 'm out of my cradle, I 'm safe through my teens, 
 I guess I 'm "some pumpkins," and think I know beans ; 
 Henceforth I 'm to battle, with banner unfurled, 
 And carve my way through a thundering rough world. Doesticks. 
 
 SOMEWHERES, like anywheres and nowheres, is a common vulgarism ; as 
 " A hundred dollars, or somewheres there along," i. e. thereabouts. 
 
 SOON. At the South this word is frequently used by all classes as a sub- 
 stitute for early. Thus one says, if about to depart on a journey, " I shall 
 put out (i. e. start) soon in the morning." " I shall be there soon in the 
 evening." 
 
 SOPH. In the American colleges an abbreviation of Sophomore. Hall's 
 College Words. 
 
 Sophs wha ha' in commons fed ! 
 Sophs wha ha' in commons bled ! 
 Sophs wha ne'er from commons fled ! 
 
 Puddings, steaks, or wines ! Rebelliad, p. 52.
 
 SOP SOT 429 
 
 SOPHOMORE. This word has generally been considered an American bar- 
 barism, but was probably introduced into our country at a very early 
 period from the University of Cambridge, England. Among the cant 
 terms at that University, as given in the " Gradus ad Cantabrigiam," we 
 find Soph-Mor as the next distinctive appellation to Freshman. It is 
 added, that a writer in the Gentleman's Magazine thinks Mor an abbre- 
 viation of the Greek jweojna, introduced at a time when the Encomium 
 Morioe, the Praise of Folly, by Erasmus, was so generally used. The 
 ordinary derivation of the word, from 60(f6 and [Magog, would seem, 
 therefore, to be incorrect. The young Sophs at Cambridge appear for- 
 merly to have received the adjunct mor, paQos, to their names, either as 
 one they courted for the reason mentioned above, or as one given them in 
 sport for the supposed exhibition of inflated feeling in entering upon their 
 new honors. The term thus applied seems to have passed at a very 
 early period from Cambridge in England to Cambridge in America, as 
 the next distinctive appellation to Freshmen, and thus to have been 
 attached to the second of the four classes in our American colleges, while 
 it has now almost ceased to be known, even as a cant word, at the parent 
 institution in England from whence it came. Prof. Goodrich, in Web- 
 ster's Dictionary. 
 
 SOPHOMORICAL. A term applied to speeches and writings containing high- 
 sounding words and but little sense. 
 
 SORA, or SOREE. (Rallus carolinas.) The Carolina rail, a bird which 
 assembles in large numbers on the reedy shores of the larger rivers in 
 the middle and adjoining warmer States, at the approach of autumn, and 
 affords abundant employment to the sportsman at that season. Nuttall. 
 
 SORREL-TREE. See Sour Wood. 
 
 SORTER, for sort 0'. Sort of, kind of. 
 
 They had with them a long-legged chap, a sorter lawyer ; and he advised them to 
 try and get the time of punishment put off, and that would give 'em a chance to 
 run them off. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 SOSSLE, or SOZZLE. A lazy or sluttish woman. Connecticut. In the 
 South of England soss-brangle is used in the same sense. 
 
 To SOSSLE, or SOZZLE. To splash. Connecticut. In Sussex, England, 
 it means to make a slop. 
 
 A sandpiper glided along the shore ; she ran after it, but could not catch it ; she 
 sat down and sozzled her feet in the foam. Margaret, p. 8. 
 
 SOT. 1. A corrupt pronunciation of the past tense or past participle of 
 to set.
 
 430 SOU SPA 
 
 I wish Seth would talk with you sometime, Doctor. Along in the spring he was 
 down helpin' me to lay stone fence, it was when we was fencin' off the south 
 pastur' lot, and we talked pretty nigh all day ; and it re'lly did seem to me that 
 the longer we talked, the setter Seth grew. Atlantic Monthly, Jan., 1859. 
 
 2. A vulgar pronunciation for sat. 
 
 A story is told of a Bostonian's first appearance in polite society in Arkansas. 
 The company were engaged in dancing, but the loveliest female present occupied a 
 chair at the window without a partner. Stepping up to the lady with a palpitating 
 heart, his mind greatly excited for fear of a refusal, he exclaimed : 
 
 " Will you do me the honor to grace me with your company for the next set ? " 
 
 Her lustrous eyes shone with unwonted brilliancy, her white pearly teeth fairly 
 glistened in the flickering candle light, her heaving snowy bosom rose and fell with 
 joyful rapture, as she replied : 
 
 " Yes, sir-ee ! for I have sot, and sot, and sot, till I have about tuk root ! " Eve. 
 ( Wash.) Star, Sept. 2, 1858. 
 
 SOUND ON THE GOOSE. A phrase originating in the Kansas troubles, 
 and signifying true to the cause of slavery. 
 
 SOUR GUM. A species of Nyssa. See Gum. 
 
 SOUR KROUT. (Germ, sauer Kraut.) Sour cabbage, that is, cabbage 
 cut fine, pressed into a cask, and suffered to ferment until it becomes 
 sour. 
 
 The Dutch burghers were ordered not to buy [of the Yankees] any of their 
 Weathersfield onions, wooden bowls, etc., and to furnish them with no supplies of 
 gin, gingerbread, or sour krout. Knickerbocker's New York. 
 
 SOUR WOOD. (Andromeda arborea.) A beautiful tree, which, from the 
 large quantity of acid present in all parts of it, is sometimes called Sor- 
 rel tree. 
 
 SOUTH. The term Southern States, or the South, is very commonly used 
 to denote all the States south of Mason and Dixon's line, in which slavery 
 exists. See North. 
 
 SOUTH AMERICANS. That branch of the American or Know-Nothing 
 party which belongs to the South and favors slavery. 
 
 SOUTHERNER, or SOUTHRON. A native of the Southern States. 
 
 SPAKE. The preterite of speak. This antiquated word is still heard occa- 
 sionally from the pulpit, as well as in conversation. Pickering. 
 
 SPAN. A span of horses consists of two of nearly the same color, and 
 otherwise nearly alike, which are usually harnessed side by side. The 
 word signifies properly the same as " yoke," when applied to horned cattle, 
 from buckling or fastening together. But in America, span always implies 
 resemblance in color at least ; it being an object of ambition with gentle-
 
 SPA SPA 431 
 
 men and with teamsters to unite two horses abreast that are alike. 
 Webster. This use of the word is not mentioned in any of the English 
 dictionaries or glossaries. 
 
 To SPAN. To agree in color, or in color and size ; as, " The horses span 
 well." New England. Webster. 
 
 SPAN CLEAN, or SPANDY CLEAN. Very clean, perfectly clean. 
 
 To SPANCEL. 1. To tie the hind legs of an animal, particularly a cow 
 when milking. Provincial in England. 
 
 2. To prevent a crab from biting, by sticking the point of a leg into 
 the base of each movable claw. 
 
 SPANISH BAYONET. A name commonly given to the very sharp-pointed, 
 rigid leaves of a species of Yucca growing hi Texas, New Mexico, and 
 Arizona. 
 
 The cactus growing rank, tortuous, and grotesquely, and the yucca, or Spanish 
 bayonet, here a low clump of sharp-pointed, stiff, tusk-like leaves, indicated our ap- 
 proach to Mexico. Olmsted's Texas, p. 138. 
 
 To SPARK IT. To court. Used chiefly in New England. 
 
 You were a nation sight wiser than brother Jonathan, sister Keziah, poor little 
 Aminadab, and all the rest ; and above all, my owny towny Lydia, the Deacon's 
 darlin darter ; with whom I 've sparked it, pretty oftentimes, so late. D. Humphreys, 
 The Yankee in England. 
 
 Miss Sal, I 's going to say, as how, 
 
 We '11 spark it here to night ; 
 I kind of love you Sal, I vow, 
 And mother said I might. 
 
 J. G. Fessenden. Song, Yankee Doodle. 
 
 Some think I ought to get married, and two or three have tried to spark it with 
 me ; but I never listen to none of their flattery. Southern Sketches, p. 120. 
 
 SPARKING. " To go a sparking" is to go a courting ; a common expres- 
 sion in the Northern States. 
 
 Mr. Justice Crow was soon overtaken ; Lieut. Col. Simcoe accosted him roughly, 
 called him " Tory," nor seemed to believe his excuses, when, in the American 
 idiom for courtship, he said, " he had only been sparking." Simcoe, Military Jour- 
 nal, p. 73. 
 
 He rolled his eyes horribly, and said that that was the way the young men cast 
 sheep's eyes when they went a sparking. Mrs. Clavers's Western Clearings, p. 16. 
 She's courted been, by many a lad, 
 
 And knows how sparking 's done, sir, 
 With Jonathan she was right glad, 
 
 To have a little fun, sir. Song. Yankee Doodle. 
 
 Finally I swore that if I ever meddled, or had any dealings with the feminine gen- 
 der again, in the sparking line, I wish I might be hanged. McClintock. Beadle's 
 Courtship.
 
 432 SPA SPE 
 
 SPARSE. (Lat. sparsus). Scattered ; thinly spread ; not dense. (P. Mag.) 
 This word has been regarded as of American origin ; but it is found in 
 Jamieson's Dictionary of the Scottish Language. It is in common use in 
 America, though little used in England. Worcester. 
 
 SPARSELY. In a scattered, or sparse manner ; thinly. Worcester. 
 
 The country between Trinity river and the Mississippi is sparsely settled, contain- 
 ing less than one inhabitant to the square mile, one in four being a slave. Olmsted's 
 Texas, p. 365. 
 
 SPARROW GRASS. A vulgar pronunciation of asparagus both in England 
 and America, sometimes in the New York market contracted to " grass" 
 Hence the celebrated charade by a certain alderman : 
 
 My first is a little thing vot hops (sparrow] 
 
 My second brings us good hay crops (grass) ; 
 
 My whole I eats with mutton chops (sparrow grass). 
 
 Pegge, Anecdotes of the Eng. Lang., p. 54. 
 
 SPAT. 1. A slap. " He gave me a spat on the side of the head." 
 
 2. A petty combat ; a little quarrel or dissension. A vulgar use of 
 the word in New England. Webster. 
 
 The National Bank and the Mechanic's Banking Association have had a standing 
 spat for some time. N. Y. Com. Adv. 
 
 We do not believe that Messrs. B and W have resigned their seats in 
 
 the cabinet. There has been a spat of course ; but there may be many more before 
 either of the Secretaries will resign $6,000 a year. N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 To SPAT. 1. To slap. 
 
 The little Isabel leaped up and down, spatting her hands. Margaret. 
 
 2. To dispute ; to quarrel. A low word. New England. 
 SPEC. A contraction of speculation ; as, " He made a good spec in flour." 
 
 SPECIAL DEPOSIT. A deposit made in a bank subject to the control of the 
 depositor, and which is not made a part of the funds of the bank to be 
 used by it in its business. 
 
 SPECIAL PARTNER. A member of a limited partnership, who furnishes 
 certain funds to the common stock, and whose liability extends no fur- 
 ther than the funds furnished. Kent's Commentaries, Vol. III. p. 35. 
 
 SPECIAL PARTNERSHIP. A partnership limited to a particular branch of 
 business, or to one particular subject. Judge Story. 
 
 SPECIE, for a species. A grammatical blunder occasionally heard in speak- 
 ing, but not often met with in writing. The New York Tribune, how- 
 ever, of May 19, 1858, in describing a new game-trap, says :
 
 S P E 433 
 
 The size of the trap, the height at which it ought to be suspended, and the nature 
 of the bait, depends upon the specie of the animal hunted for. 
 
 SPECK, or SPEC. A bit ; in the least. 
 
 I doubled up my fist, for I did not like the treatment a spec. S. Slick in Eng- 
 land, ch. 2. r 
 
 SPECK AND APPLEJEES. (Dutch, spek en appeltjes.) Pork fat and ap- 
 ples cut up and cooked together. An old-fashioned Dutch dish still made 
 in New York. 
 
 SPECS, for spectacles. 
 
 My ma' was used to put on her specs and say, . Need's Charcoal Sketches. 
 
 SPELL. A turn of work ; a vicissitude of labor. Todd's Johnson. It is 
 often used in a secondary sense, to denote a short turn ; a little time ; a 
 bout ; a fit ; and is applied particularly to work, to sickness, or to the 
 weather. Provincial in England and colloquial in the United States. 
 
 Their toil is so extreme as they cannot endure it above four hours in a day, but 
 are succeeded by spells; the residue of their time they wear out at coytes and kayles. 
 Carew. 
 
 Come, thou's had thy spell, it 's now my time to put in a word. Carr's Craven 
 Glossary. 
 
 This spell of bad weather, though in summer, wellnigh outlasted their provisions ; 
 and when at length they were able to make the signal that a landing would be 
 practicable, scarcely a twenty-four hours' stock remained on the rock. Land. Quar- 
 terly Rev., No. 168, p. 379. 
 
 Nothing new has happened in this quarter since my last, except the setting in of a 
 severe spell of cold weather and a considerable fall of snow. Letter of G. Washing- 
 ton, Dec. 25, 1775. 
 
 A gentle, misty air from the S. E, makes me hope that we are going to have a 
 warm spell. Kane, Arctic Explorations, Vol. I. p. 182. 
 
 Josiah Norton said he had come home from the South, where he had been peddling 
 a spell. Crockett, Tour, p. 90. 
 
 Spain has obtained a breathing spell of some duration from the internal convul- 
 sions which have, through so many years, marred her prosperity. President Tyler's 
 Message to Congress, 1844. 
 
 I and the General have got things now pretty considerable snug ; public affairs go 
 on easier than they did a spell ago, when Mr. Adams was President. Maj. Down- 
 ing's Letters, p. 35. 
 
 The Havana " Prenza " notices a remarkable incident as one of the results of the 
 shock from the recent terrible explosion. No less than the restoration to reason of a 
 lady of that city, who had entirely lost her mind some six months ago, from a severe 
 and protracted spell of sickness. N. Y. Tribune, Oct. 19, 1858. 
 
 To SPELL. To relieve by taking a turn at a piece of work. Worcester. 
 
 I was sometimes permitted, as an indulgence, to spell my father in the favorite em- 
 ployment of shelling corn. Goodrich's Recollections, Vol. I. p. 62. 
 
 37
 
 434 S P I 
 
 SPICE-BUSH. {Benzoin odoriferum). A plant, called also Wild Allspice 
 and Fever-bush, formerly used as a substitute for allspice, and also val- 
 ued for its medicinal properties. 
 
 This tangled thicket on the bank above 
 
 Thy basin, how thy watery keep it green ! 
 
 there the spice-bush lifts 
 
 Her leafy lances. Bryant, The Fountain. 
 
 SPIDER. A cast-iron frying-pan with three legs. 
 
 SPIKE-TEAM. A wagon drawn by three horses, or by two oxen and a 
 horse, the latter leading the oxen or span of horses. 
 
 SPILL. A strip of paper rolled up to light a lamp or a cigar. Provincial in 
 England. 
 
 SPINDLE CITY. Lowell, Massachusetts ; so cajled from its many cotton 
 factories. 
 
 A letter from Lowell says the " spindle city " is gradually resuming its steady 
 hum of industry and wonted business-like appearance. Scientific American, Jan. 
 
 23, 1858. 
 
 
 
 To SPIN STREET-TARN. To go gadding about the streets. 
 
 They say when Sally Hugle aint a spinnin' street-yarn, she don't do nothin' but 
 write poetry, and the whole heft o' the house-keepin' is on her mother's shoulders. 
 Widow Bedott Papers, p. 149. 
 
 SPIRIT-LAND. An expression which, in the cant of the rappers, means the 
 abode of departed spirits, the other world. 
 
 SPIRIT-RAPPER. A person, who, professing to act as a " medium," between 
 embodied and disembodied spirits, interprets raps produced by an unseen 
 agency on tables, floors, &c., as messages from the other world. 
 
 SPIRIT-RAPPINGS. Rappings suppose to be produced by disembodied 
 spirits. 
 
 SPIRITUAL. A Mormon concubine. See Spiritual Wife. 
 
 SPIRITUAL FUNERAL. A funeral conducted after the fashion of the believ- 
 ers in spiritualism. 
 
 A. spiritual funeral was held at Lowell lately, over the remains of J. B. Smith. 
 Miss Emma Houston prayed, and the dead Smith spoke through her. The wife 
 and family of the deceased, instead of putting on black, dressed in white, with white 
 shawls, and bonnets trimmed with white. (Bolt.) Sun., July 12, 1858. 
 
 SPIRITUAL MEDIUM. See Medium. 
 
 SPIRITUAL WIFE, or simply SPIRITUAL. A Mormon extra wife or concu- 
 bine.
 
 SPI SPL 435 
 
 These extra wives are known by sundry designations ; some call them " spirit- 
 uals," others "sealed ones ;" our landlady is fond of calling them "fixins," and the 
 tone in which she brings it out is in the last degree contemptuous. Life among the 
 Mormons, Putnam's Mag., Vol. VI. p. 147. 
 
 SPIRITUALISM. The old doctrine, revived of late years in this country, and 
 which has gained numerous converts, that the spirits of the departed can 
 and do communicate with the living through the so called " spiritual 
 mediums." 
 
 SPIRITUALIST. A believer in the doctrine of spiritualism. 
 
 SPIT-CURL. A detached lock of hair curled upon the temple ; probably 
 from having been at first plastered into shape by the saliva. It is now 
 understood that the mucilage of quince-seed is used by the ladies for 
 this purpose. 
 
 Yon may prate of your lips, and your teeth of pearl, 
 And your eyes so brightly flashing ; 
 My song shall be of that saliva curl 
 Which threatens my heart to smash in. 
 
 Boston Transcript, Oct. 30, 1858. 
 
 SPLENDIFEROUS. Splendid ; fine. A factitious word used only in jest. 
 
 To my mind, a splendiferous woman and a first chop horse are the noblest works 
 of creation. Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 280. 
 
 There's something so fascinating in the first blush of evening, that it 's enough 
 to make a man strip off his jacket of mortality, and swim the gulf of death, for the sake 
 of reaching the splendiferous splendors that decorate the opposite shore. Dow's Ser- 
 mons, Vol. I. p. 69. 
 
 An itinerant gospeller was holding forth to a Kentuckian audience, on 
 the kingdom of heaven : 
 
 " Heaven, my beloved hearers," said he, " is a glorious, a beautiful, a splendiferous, 
 an angeliferous place. Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, it has not entered into 
 the imagination of any Cracker in these here diggings what carryings on the just 
 made perfect have up thar." 
 
 SPLIT. 1. A division ; dissension. A word in current use, both in Eng- 
 land and in this country, although not yet in the dictionaries. 
 
 The fiery spirit which has occasioned a split among the British Archaeologists, 
 would appear not yet to have burnt itself out, etc. London Athenaeum, p. 850. 
 
 The split in the Whig organization, if it come to any thing serious, will extend be- 
 yond the Presidential election. Letter from Boston, New York Herald, June 21, 
 1848. 
 
 2. A rapid pace or rate of going. " He went full split" i. e. as hard 
 as he could drive. " To go like split" is a common expression in New 
 England. 
 
 There was no ox-teams [in New York] such as we have in Downingville ; but 
 there was no end to the one-hoss teams, goin' like split all over the city. Maj. 
 Downing, May-day in New York, p. 64.
 
 436 SPL SPO 
 
 To SPLIT. To go at a rapid pace ; to drive, or dash along. 
 
 The thing tuk first rate, and I set the niggers a drummin' and fifin' as hard as 
 they could split right afore the cabin door. Maj. Jones's Courtship. 
 
 SPLIT-TICKET. When two or more important offices are to be filled at 
 the same time, the wire-pullers of each party select the men they wish 
 their party to support, and print their names on a ticket to be deposited 
 in the ballot-box. It sometimes happens, however, that individuals choose 
 to think for themselves, and consequently erase one or more of the names 
 and substitute others more to their liking. This is called a split ticket, 
 also a scratch ticket. 
 
 SPLURGE. A blustering demonstration ; a swagger, dash. 
 
 Members of Congress should not forget when senator Benton was shinning around, 
 making what they call in Missouri a great splurge, to get gold. N. Y. Com. Adv., 
 Dec. 13, 1845. 
 
 President Polk and the Loco-Foco party have been for some time past arduously 
 engaged upon a work known as " Mexico in Slices." The first slice, " Texas," 
 caused quite a sensation ; the second, California and New Mexico, is now making 
 a splurge ; and the third, " The Sierra Madre," is under way. Philadelphia North 
 American. 
 
 Did you see Major Coon's wife when she came in ? Did n't she cut a splurge? I 
 never did see such an affected critter as she in all my born days. Widow Bedott 
 Papers, p. 67. 
 
 To SPLURGE. To make a blustering demonstration in order to produce an 
 effect ; to swagger, cut a dash. A term in common use at the South and 
 West. 
 
 Cousin Pete was thar splurgin about in the biggest, with his dandy-cut trowsers and 
 big whiskers. Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 101. 
 
 Well, them was great times, but now the settlements is got too thick for them to 
 splurge. Porter's Tales of the South-West, p. 54. 
 
 SPOILS, i. e. the spoils of office. The pay and emoluments of official station, 
 specifically referred to as the leading inducements to partisan activity, 
 and as distinct from political zeal generally. 
 
 It has been asserted that to the victors belong the spoils. Let us determine that 
 we will be the victors, and that if we must have the spoils they shall be appropriated 
 to the good of the country. Speech of Hon. Mr. Morehead, June, 1848. 
 
 Men looking to the spoils care not for principles, whether they be of the North or 
 of the South. Washington Cor. of N. Y. Com. Adv. 
 
 It is estimated that there are at least sixty thousand office-holders under the general 
 administration, and that the amount of plunder annually distributed by government 
 is equal to forty millions of dollars, which is expended in a thousand and one ways. 
 The party which has the command of these office-holders, and the scattering of this 
 vast amount of spoils, is possessed of a potent weapon. N. Y. Herald, June, 1848.
 
 S P O S P R 437 
 
 Politics is nothing more nor less than a race for a purse, a game for the stakes, a 
 battle for the spoils. Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 216. 
 
 SPOOK. (Dutch). A ghost ; hobgoblin. A term much used in New 
 York. This word has been adopted by the English at the Cape of Good 
 Hope. 
 
 At one time I met the spook in the form of a very tall hlack man, accompanied by 
 a large dog. Anderssen's South Africa. 
 
 SPOON. " To do business with a big spoon" is the same as to cut a big 
 swathe. 
 
 SPOOPSIE. A silly fellow ; a noodle. New England. 
 
 * 
 
 SPORTSMAN. A term often applied to a gambler. 
 SPOSEN. A corrupt pronunciation of supposing. 
 
 SPOSH. A mixture of mud and water. See Slush. The New York Tri- 
 bune, in speaking of the falling of rain and snow at the same time, adds : 
 
 The morning was blue and streaked, and the streets were one shining level of 
 black sposh. Nov. 25, 1845. 
 
 SPOT. A boatman on the Mississippi, being asked how he managed to se- 
 cure sleeping time, answered, " I sleep in spots ; " that is, at intervals, by 
 snatches. 
 
 To SPOT. 1. To mark a tree by cutting a chip from its side. Maine. 
 See Blaze. * 
 
 2. A term used by policemen for marking or identifying a thief or 
 other suspected person. It is of recent origin, and is also used in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 It is the business of all policemen, but more especially of detectives, to " spot " 
 burglars, thieves, gamblers, and all violators of the law. N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 The five pickpockets whose names are given were detained in the cells all night, 
 and were yesterday taken to the Deputy's office, where they were " shown up," so 
 that they might be again " spotted." They were then told to go, and they went in 
 a great state of indignation. New York Times. 
 
 SPOUTY. Wet clay land is called in the "West- " spouty land," possibly be- 
 cause, when trodden upon, the water spouts up through any holes or 
 depressions in the surface. 
 
 SPREAD. A bed-spread ; a sort of day covering over the quilt. New 
 England. 
 
 To SPREAD ONESELF. To exert oneself. 
 
 We despatched Cullen to prepare a dinner. He had promised, to use his own 
 expression, to spread himself in the preparation of this meal. Hammond, Wild 
 Northern Scenes, p. 266. 
 
 37*
 
 438 S P R 
 
 Hoss Allen [the judge] mounted the balcony of the hotel, and, rolling up his 
 sleeves, spread himself for an unusually brilliant effort. Southern Sketches. 
 
 SPREAD EAGLE. This term is frequently used among stock speculators. 
 A broker, satisfied with small profits, and not disposed to involve himself 
 in large transactions, sells, say one hundred shares Erie Railroad stock 
 at fifty-eight, buyer sixty days, and at the same time buys the same quan- 
 tity at fifty-seven, seller sixty days. The difference in this case in the 
 price is one per cent., which would be so much profit, without any outlay 
 of capital, provided both contracts run their full time. Having sold buy- 
 er's option sixty days, and bought seller's option sixty days, the time is 
 equal ; but it will be een that he does not control the option in either 
 case. The buyer can call when he pleases, which will compel the 
 " spread eagle " operator to deliver ; and the seller may deliver any time, 
 which would compel the broker to receive. If he has capital to carry, 
 the result would not differ from that anticipated ; but if not, he*may be 
 caught in a tight place, and suffer serious losses. It is, on the whole, 
 rather dangerous business, but not to the same extent as buying or selling 
 on time for a rise or fall in market value. ffunt's Merchants' May., 
 Vol. XXXVII. 
 
 SPREAD-EAGLE STYLE. A compound of exaggeration, effrontery, bom- 
 bast, and extravagance, mixed metaphors, platitudes, defiant threats 
 thrown at the world, and irreverent appeals flung at the Supreme Being. 
 North American Review, October, 1858. 
 
 To SPREE IT. To get intoxicated. 
 
 If a young man creates his own ruination by going it loose and spreeing it tight, it 
 is surely a disgrace. Dow's Sermons. 
 
 SPRING FEVER. The listless feeling caused by the first sudden increase of 
 temperature in spring. It is often said of a lazy fellow, " He has got the 
 spring fever." 
 
 SPRING-KEEPER. A salamander, or small lizard-shaped animal, found in 
 springs and fresh water rivulets, whence the name. See Water-dogs. 
 
 SPROUTS. A bunch of twigs. Hence, " to put one through a course of 
 sprouts" is to give him a good drubbing. 
 
 Shepard, Morrissey's trainer, has taken up his quarters at the house of his very 
 particular old friend, Australian Kelly, where he will doubtless be happy to see any 
 gentlemen who want to be put through the necessary course of preliminary sprouts be- 
 fore they can win the laurels of the P. R. [prize ring]. N. Y. Tribune, Nov. 1, 
 1858. 
 
 SPRUNG. Tipsy, intoxicated. 
 
 He reckoned they were a little bit sprung. Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. I. p. 87.
 
 SPR SQU 439 
 
 SPRY. Lively ; active ; nimble ; quick in action. Worcester. 
 
 This word is much used in familiar language in New England. It is 
 not in the English dictionaries, but Jennings notices it among the provin- 
 cialisms of Somersetshire. 
 
 She is as spry as a cricket. Margaret, p. 58. 
 
 " How are you, Jeremiah ? " " Why, I 'm kinder sorter middlin', Mr. Slick, what 
 you call considerable nimble and spry." Sam Slick. 
 
 Know ye the land where the sinking sun 
 Sees the last of earth when the day is done ; 
 Where yellow Asia, withered and dry, 
 Hears Young America, sharp and spry, 
 With thumb in his vest, and a quizzical leer, 
 Sing out, " Old Fogie, come over here ! " 
 
 Cozzens, Californian Ballad. 
 
 SPUNK. Mettle ; spirit ; vivacity. Brocketfs Glossary. A colloquial 
 word, considered in England extremely vulgar. See Punk. 
 
 I admire your independent spirit, Doolittle. I like to have people think well of 
 themselves. You have convinced me of your spunk. I am your friend. D. 
 Humphreys, The Yankee in England. 
 
 SPUNKY. Mettlesome ; spirited ; vivacious. A colloquial word, which 
 Forby mentions as provincial in Norfolk, England. 
 
 SQUADDY. Short and fat. A vulgar word formed from squat ; or perhaps 
 a corruption of squabby. 
 
 I had hardly got seated, when in came a great stout, fat, squaddy woman. Maj. 
 Downing, May Day. 
 
 To SQUALE. To throw a stick or other thing with violence, and in such a 
 manner that it skims along near the ground. New England. Picker- 
 ing's Vocabulary. 
 
 According to Grose, it is provincial in the West of England, and 
 means, " to throw a stick, as at a cock." 
 
 SQUAXTUM. The name of a species of fun known to the Nantucket folks, 
 which is thus described by the New York Mirror : A party of ladies and 
 gentlemen go to one of the famous watering-places of resort, where they 
 fish, dig clams, talk, laugh, sing, dance, play, bathe, sail, eat, and have a 
 general " good time." The food generally consists of chowder, baked 
 clams, and fun. No one is admitted to the sacred circle who will take 
 offence at a joke, and every one is expected to do his and her part to- 
 wards creating a general laugh. Any man who speaks of business affairs 
 (excepting matrimony) is immediately reproved, and on a second offence 
 publicly chastised. Care is thrown to the wind, politics discarded, war 
 ignored, pride humbled, stations levelled, wealth scorned, virtue exalted, 
 and this is " squantum."
 
 440 S Q U 
 
 I wish to all-fired smash I was to home, doin' chores about house, or hazin' round 
 with Charity Baker and the rest of the gals at a squantum. Wise, Tales for the 
 Marines. 
 
 SQUARE. In the city of New York this term is applied to the open spaces 
 caused by the junction of several streets. " Chatham square " and 
 " Franklin square " are triangles ! 
 
 SQUASH. A culinary vegetable. (Genus, OucurUta.) It is not necessary 
 to resort to the Greek GI%VO$ for the etymology of this word ; it is Al- 
 gonkin, and is often mentioned by the early writers. 
 
 In summer, when their [the Indians'] corn is spent, squonter squashes is their best 
 bread, a fruit like a young pumpion. Wood's New England, 1634, p. 37. 
 
 Askntasquash, the vine apple [of the Indians], which the English from them call 
 squashes, about the bignesse of apples, of severall colours, sweete, light, wholesome, 
 and refreshing. Roger Williams, Key to the Ind. Lang., 1643. 
 
 When the summer of your lives, my female friends, is drawing to a close when 
 your rosy charms begin to fade like the sprigs upon your calicos and when, like 
 vineless squashes, you have grown withered and yellow, Cupid will disdain to fre- 
 quent your autumnal bowers. Dow's Sermons, Vol. III. p. 127. 
 
 SQUASH-BUG. (Coreus tristis.) A small yellow bug, injurious to the 
 vines of squashes, melons, and cucumbers. 
 
 To SQUAT. 1. To squeeze ; to press. Ex. "The boy has squat his fin- 
 ger." Used by the vulgar in New England. Pickering's Vocabulary. 
 Mr. Todd has this word in his dictionary from Barret (1580): "To 
 bruise or make flat by letting fall." Provincial in the South of England. 
 2. In the United States, to settle on another's lands, or on public 
 lands, without having a title. Worcester. 
 
 On either side of the bank the colonists had been allowed to squat on allotted por- 
 tions, until the survey of the town should be completed. Wakefield's Adventures in 
 New Zealand in 1 844. 
 
 The Yankees of Connecticut, those swapping, bargaining, squatting enemies of the 
 Manhattoes, made a daring inroad into their neighborhood, and founded a colony 
 called Westchester. Irving, Wolfert's Roost, p. 13. 
 
 SQUATTER. In the United States, one that settles on new land without a 
 title. Webster. 
 
 When I was at Prairie du Chien, there were several of the officers who had been 
 cited to appear in court for having, pursuant to order, removed squatters from the 
 Indian lands on the Mississippi. Hoffman, Winter in the West, Let. 29. 
 
 The Western squatter is a free and jovial character, inclined to mirth rather than 
 evil ; and when he encounters his fellow man at a barbecue, election, log-rolling, or 
 frolic, he is more disposed to join in a feeling of hilarity than to participate in wrong 
 or outrage. Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 The London Spectator has the following remarks on this word, occa- 
 sioned by the removal of a number of the occupants of Glenculvie, in
 
 SQU 441 
 
 Scotland, who had squatted there as under-tenants : The term " squatter " 
 is very ambiguous. In America it denotes a ragged rascal without a cent 
 in his pockets, and with a rifle or woodman's axe in his hand. In Aus- 
 tralia it designates a young Oxonian or retired officer of the army or 
 navy, possessed of stock to the value of some thousands. In Scotland it 
 seems to designate a person very differently circumstanced from either of 
 the preceding. . . . The Scotchmen who " squat under tenants," are 
 men who have followed their fathers and grandfathers for unknown gen- 
 erations in the occupancy of their huts and kail-yards. Their families 
 are of older standing in the district than those of the tacksmen or the 
 lairds. The Scotch squatter is no clandestine intruder upon the soil ; he 
 stands in the place of his forefathers, and the act which ejects him is a 
 violent innovation on the customs of the country a forcible change in a 
 mode of tenancy sanctioned by the " use and wont " of all ages. June 
 7, 1845. 
 
 SQUATTER SOVEREIGNTY. The right of the squatters or actual residents 
 in a Territory of the United States to make their own laws and shape 
 their own institutions. 
 
 One of the great merits of the Dred Scott decision is the total extinguishment it 
 gives to the dogma of squatter sovereignty in the Territories. It utterly negatives the 
 idea that there is any original jurisdiction or legislative authority in the Territory, 
 and asserts that all authority therein is derivative, coming from without, and not in- 
 herent in its inhabitants or tribunals. The ( Wash.) Union, Nov. 8, 1858. 
 
 SQUAW. (Abenaki Ind.) An Indian woman. Mr. Duponceau, after giv- 
 ing a list of the languages and forms in which this word occurs, observes : 
 " On voit que la famille de ce mot s'etend depuis les Knistenaux en Ca- 
 nada, et les Skoffies et Montagnards d'Acadie, jusqu'aux Nanticokes sur 
 les confins de la Virginie." Mem. sur les Langues d'Amerique du Nord, 
 p. 333. 
 
 SQUAW-ROOT. (Conopholis americana.} A medicinal plant put up by 
 the Shakers, also called Cancer-Root. It is recommended for correcting 
 the secretions, and possesses narcotic properties. 
 
 SQUAW- WEED. (Senecio aureus.) A medicinal plant used for diseases of 
 the skin. 
 
 To SQUAWK. To squeak, but with a deeper note. This word is colloquial 
 in various parts of England and hi New England. 
 
 " Good gracious ! " said Mrs. Bedott, " if you 'd a heard Miss C sing, you'd 
 
 a gin up. The way she squawked it out was a caution to old gates on a windy day ! " 
 Widow Bedott Papers, p. 208. 
 
 SQUETEAGUE, or SQUETEE. (Labrus squeteague.) A very common fish 
 
 i6. &t. I. 3*1.
 
 442 S Q U 
 
 in the waters of Long Island Sound and adjacent bays. It never visits 
 rivers, and is similar in habits to the Tautog. In New York it is called 
 Weak-fish, owing to the feeble resistance it makes when caught with a 
 hook. The name is Narraganset Indian. 
 
 To SQUIB. To throw squibs ; to utter sarcastic or severe reflections ; to 
 contend in petty dispute ; as, " two members of a society squib a little in 
 debate." Colloquial. Webster. This word is not in the English dic- 
 tionaries. 
 
 To SQUID. To fish by trolling with a squid, either natural or artificial. 
 
 The bluefish is taken by squidding in swift tideways from a boat under sail in a 
 stiffisli breeze. Frank Forester. 
 
 To SQUIGGLE. To move about like an eel. New England. Often figur- 
 atively used in speaking of a man who evades a bargain as an eel eludes 
 the grasp. Pickering. 
 
 Forby's Glossary of Norfolk contains the word in the sense of " to 
 shake a fluid about the mouth." 
 
 SQUIRE. The title of magistrates and lawyers. In New England it is 
 given particularly to justices of the peace and judges. In Pennsylvania, 
 to justices of the peace only. Webster. 
 
 To SQUIRM. To wriggle or twist about, as an eel. Provincial in Eng- 
 land, and colloquial in the United States. Worcester. 
 
 On the 7th January, 1859, the Hon. Mr. Pitt, of the Missouri legisla- 
 ture, is reported to have said in debate : 
 
 Mr. Speaker, this House passed resolutions, sir, to celebrate, in an appropriate 
 manner, the 8th of January. We have declared an intention, and now, when we 
 come to publish it, some gentleman is suddenly seized with the "retrenchment 
 gripes," and squirms around like a long red worm on a pin-hook. 
 
 SQUIRT. A foppish young fellow ; a whipper-snapper. A vulgar word. 
 
 If they won't keep company with squirts and dandies, who 's going to make a 
 monkey of himself? Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 160. 
 
 He 's a galvanized squirt, and, as the parson said, " the truth ain't in him." 
 North's Slave of the Lamp, p. 25. 
 
 SQUIRTISH. Dandified. 
 
 It 's my opinion that these slicked-up squirtish kind a fellars ain't particular hard 
 baked, and they always goes in for aristocracy notions. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 73. 
 
 SQUUSH. To crush. A vulgarism. 
 
 The next time I meet the critter, I '11 take my stick and kill it I '11 squush it with 
 my foot." Neal's Charcoal Sketches. 
 
 The following stanza is from a " Tender Lay " on a new-laid egg :
 
 STA 443 
 
 Ay touch it with a tender touch, 
 
 For, till the egg is biled, 
 "Who knows but that unwittingly 
 
 It may be smashed and spiled. 
 The summer breeze that 'ginst it blows, 
 
 Ought to be stilled and hushed ; 
 For eggs, like youthful purity, 
 
 Are " orful " when they J re squushed. 
 
 STAG. 1. In the New York courts, a stag is the technical name for a man 
 who is always ready to aid in proving an alibi, of course " for a consider- 
 ation." 
 
 2. In New England and elsewhere, a bullock. And so, too, in some 
 parts of England. 
 
 STAG-DANCE. A dance performed by males only, in bar-rooms, etc. Also 
 called a bull-dance. 
 
 The prisoners in the jail at Lafayette, Indiana, have been provided with a violin, 
 and one of the number being a good player, they have frequent cotillons or stag 
 dances, which have the advantage of being select, without the formality peculiar to 
 entertainments in higher circles. (Bait.) Sun, Nov. 13, 1854. 
 
 STAG-PARTY. A party consisting of males only. 
 
 I lose myself in a party of old bricks, who, under pretence of looking at the pic- 
 ture, are keeping up a small stay-party at the end of the room. Mace Stoper, in 
 Knickerbocker Mag., April, 1856. 
 
 STAGE-DRIVER. A stage-coachman. 
 
 STAGING. Scaffolding. Used in New England, and, I believe, in other 
 parts of the United States. Pickering. 
 
 STAKE AND RIDER. A species of fence higher and stronger than a " worm 
 fence." 
 
 To STAKE OUT. To picket, as a horse, mule, etc. 
 
 He got all his fixins for camping his little wallet and tin cup, and. a big lariat 
 to stake out his mule. Frontier Incident (N. Y. Spir. of Times). 
 
 To STALL. To stick fast in the mire, as a horse or carriage. The term 
 is common in the South, and is noticed by Halliwell in his Dictionary of 
 English provincialisms. In New England, " to set " is used in the same 
 sense. 
 
 Now and then we halted to mend a broken tongue or axle, or help a stalled 
 wagon from its miry bed. Capt. Reid, The Scalp-Hunter, p. 18. 
 
 STAMPEDE. (Span, estampado, a stamping of feet.) A general scamper of 
 animals on the Western prairies, usually caused by a fright. Mr. Ken- 
 dall gives the following interesting account of one : 
 
 " A stampede ! " shouted some of the old campaigners, jumping from the ground
 
 444 STA 
 
 and running towards their frightened animals ; " a stampede ! look out for your 
 horses, or you '11 never see them again ! " was heard on every side. 
 
 It is singular the effect that sudden fright has not only upon horses, but oxen, on 
 the prairies. The latter will, perhaps, run longer and farther than the former ; and 
 although not as difficult to " head," because they cannot run so fast, their onward 
 course it is impossible to stay. Oxen have been known to run forty miles without 
 once stopping to look back. Not one in fifty of them has seen the least cause of 
 fear, but each simply ran because his neighbor did. Frequent instances have 
 occurred where some worthless but skittish horse has caused the loss of hundreds of 
 valuable animals. 
 
 Nothing can exceed the grandeur of the scene when a large cavallada, or drove 
 of horses, take a " scare." Old, weather-beaten, time-worn, and broken-down steeds 
 horses that have nearly given out from hard work or old age will at once be 
 transformed into wild and prancing colts. When first seized with that indescribable 
 terror which induces them to fly, they seem to have been suddenly endowed with all 
 the attributes of their original wild nature. With heads erect, tails and manes 
 streaming in the air, eyes lit up, and darting beams of fright, old and jaded hacks 
 will be seen prancing and careering about with all the buoyancy of action which 
 characterizes the antics of young colts. The throng will sweep along the plain with 
 a noise which may be likened to something between a tornado and an earthquake, 
 and as well might feeble man attempt to arrest either of the latter. 
 
 Were the earth rending and cleaving beneath their feet, horses, when under the 
 terrifying influence of a stampede, could not bound away with greater velocity or 
 more majestic beauty of movement. Santa Fe' Expedition, Vol. I. p. 96. 
 
 About two hours before day there was a sudden stampcdo, or rush of horses, along 
 the purlieus of the camp, with a snorting and a neighing and clattering of hoofs that 
 started the rangers from their sleep. Irving' s Tour to the Prairies, p. 141. 
 
 Last night there occurred that dreaded calamity of the prairies, a stampede of the 
 mules. The herd was quietly grazing, when suddenly a pony took fright, and, cre- 
 ating a panic among the animals, all fled. Their heavy tramping awoke us; and, 
 seizing arms, we rushed out, thinking that Indians were the cause of the disturb- 
 ance. . . . For thirty-two miles they continued the pursuit, and then, overtaking the 
 frightened horses that led the herd, turned them back. Capt. Whipple's Explora- 
 tions for a Railroad to the Pacific, p. 77. 
 
 From animals the term is transferred to men : 
 
 The boys leaped and whooped, flung their hats in the air, chased one another in a 
 sort of stampede, etc. Margaret, p. 120. 
 
 After him I went, and after me they came, and perhaps there was n't the awfullest 
 stampede down three pair of stairs that ever occurred in Michigan ! Field, Western 
 Tales. 
 
 The cause that led to the recent alarm [in Paris] was the stampede among the 
 directors of that wonderful institution, the Credit Mobilier. N, Y. Journal of Com- 
 merce, Oct. 12, 1857. 
 
 From information which has reached us, there would seem to have been a consider- 
 able stampede of slaves from the border valley counties of Virginia during the late 
 Easter holidays. (Bait.) Sun, Apr. 9, 1858. 
 
 To STAMPEDE. 1. To cause to scamper off in a fright. 
 
 Col. Snively was on the point of marching in pursuit of the Mexicans,, when an
 
 S T A 445 
 
 incident occurred which frustrated the purposes of the expedition. This was ef- 
 fected by a war party of Indians, who succeeded in stampeding a large band of the 
 army horses. Scenes in the Rocky Mountains, p. 268. 
 
 Orders were issued by Daniel H. "Wells, styling himself " Lieutenant-General, 
 Nauvoo Legion," to stampede the animals of the United States troops on their march, 
 to set fire to their trains, to burn the grass, etc. President's Message, Dec. 6, 1858. 
 
 2. To scamper off in a fright. 
 
 The Virginia Legislature, becoming frightened at the approach of the cholera, 
 have finally stampeded toward the White Sulphur Springs, there to legislate in the 
 ball-room of the "principal hotel." N. Y. Tribune, June 12, 1849. 
 
 STAMPING-GROUND. The scene of one's exploits, or favorite place of re- 
 sort. South and West. 
 
 The little village of Hampton, Virginia, is a favorite stamping-ground for politi- 
 cians. President Pierce spent a few days here early in the season. Cor. of the Bal- 
 timore Argus. 
 
 At the dinner given to the Knight Templars of Virginia by their 
 brethren in Providence, R. I., on the occasion of their visit, June 22, 
 1858, Sir Knight M. Kimball, one of the Committee from Boston, in 
 response to the toast of " The City of Boston," said : 
 
 " For the present we won't brag much. We say as little as possible until we get 
 the Virginia Knight TempLars on our own stamping-ground. We don't propose to 
 astonish them till we get them out of your [the R. I. Templars'J hands." 
 
 I went up to Mobile, and then to my old stampin' -ground, up again to the old 
 State ; and, arter spending a week or so among my kin, made a bee-line for Wash- 
 ington. Piney Woods Tavern, p. 41. 
 
 STANCHEOUS. Strong; durable. "Western. 
 
 I tell you what, it 's a mighty stancheous looking building, and looks far off at a 
 distance when you're going up to it. Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 33. 
 
 STAND. The situation of a store or place of business is called a stand ; as 
 " The Astor House is a good stand for a Hotel." 
 
 To STAND TREAT. To consent to treat, or to be at the expense of treating 
 a party to liquor. 
 
 I was never sold before, I vow ; I cave in, and will stand treat. Sam Slick, 
 Human Nature. 
 
 To STAND UP TO THE RACK. A metaphorical expression of the same 
 meaning as the like choice phrases, " to come to the scratch," " to toe the 
 mark." 
 
 I begun a new campaign at Washington. I had hard work, but I stood up to the 
 rack, fodder or no fodder. Crockett, Tour, p. 137. 
 
 It was the hottest night's work ever old Wolf undertook ; and it tuck a mighty 
 chance of hollerin' to make him stand up to his rack as well as he did. Maj . Jones's 
 Courtship, p. 64. 
 
 38
 
 446 STA 
 
 STANDEE. A standing bed-place in a steamer. 
 
 STAR- APPLE. (Chrysophillum camito.) A round, smooth skinned fruit, 
 the size of a peach, with a soft pulp, and a number of glossy, brown seeds. 
 The more common kinds of star-apple are the green skinned ones with 
 white pulps, and the purple ones. West Indies. 
 
 STAR-PLUM. ( Chrysophyllum monopyrenum.) A kind of star-apple, also 
 called a Barbadoes Damson plum. Barbadoes. 
 
 STARS. 1. The officers of the new police in the city of New York are so 
 called from their badge, a brass star, which is required by law to be worn 
 on the breast. 
 
 The present system clothes with authority not only vicious men, but even convicts, 
 because they have been of service to their party. Then it is that the "star," instead 
 of being a terror to evil-doers, becomes the fear of good citizens. Report of Com. 
 ofPhilad. Council on Police, 1857. 
 
 2. A Southern pronunciation of the word stairs, like bar for bear ; also 
 heard in New England. 
 
 STARS AND STRIPES. The flag of the United States. 
 
 This flag was adopted by act of Congress on the 14th June, 1777, in 
 the following words : 
 
 " Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United Colonies be thirteen stripes, 
 alternately red and white ; that the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, 
 representing a new constellation." 
 
 It has been thought that the arms of Washington may have suggested 
 the idea for the American flag. These arms contain three stars in the 
 upper portion, and three bars running across the escutcheon. Other flags 
 were used at different times during the Revolution, which are described by 
 Mr. T. Westcott, of Philadelphia, in a communication with the London 
 "Notes and Queries," for 1852, p. 10. 
 
 In March, 1775, a union flag with a red field was hoisted at New York, 
 bearing the inscription, " George Rex and the Liberties of America," and 
 upon the reverse "No Popery." On the 18th July, 1778, Gen. Putnam 
 raised, at Prospect Hill, a flag bearing on one side the Massachusetts 
 motto " Qui transtulit sustinet," on the other " An appeal to Heaven." 
 In October of the same year the floating batteries at Boston had a flag 
 with the latter motto, the field white with a pine-tree upon it. This was 
 the Massachusetts emblem. Another flag, used during 1775 in some of 
 the Colonies, had upon it a rattlesnake coiled as if about to strike, with 
 the motto, " Don't tread on me." The grand union flag of thirteen stripes 
 was raised on the heights near Boston, January 2, 1776. The British 
 Annual Register of 1776, says: "They burnt the King's speech and
 
 S T A 447 
 
 changed their colors from a red ground, which they had hitherto used, to 
 a flag with thirteen stripes, as a symbol of the number and union of the 
 colonies." The idea of making a stripe for each State was adopte'd from 
 the first ; and the fact goes far to negative the supposition that the private 
 arms of General Washington had any thing to do with it. The pine- 
 tree, the rattlesnake, and the striped flag, were used indiscriminately 
 until July, 1777, when the blue union with the stars was added to the 
 stripes, and the flag established by law. Formerly a new stripe was add- 
 ed for each new State admitted to the union, until the flag became too 
 large, when, by act of Congress, the stripes were reduced to the old thir- 
 teen ; and now a star is added to the union at the accession of each new 
 State. 
 
 STAR-SPANGLED BANNER. The flag of the United States. The term 
 was first given to the American flag by Francis S. Key, in his beautiful 
 song, now become a national one, which bears that title. The circum- 
 stances connected with the composition of this song are given by Chief 
 Justice Taney, the brother-in-law of Mr. Key, in a letter which accompa- 
 nied a late edition of the poems of that writer. The following is con- 
 densed from it : 
 
 "In the campaign of the British, during the war of 1812, when they 
 destroyed the Capitol at Washington and the battle of Bladensburg took 
 place, Dr. Beanes, a leading physician of Upper Marlboro', was taken 
 from his bed at midnight, by a detachment of soldiers sent for the pur- 
 pose, and without even allowing him to put his clothes on, was hurried off 
 to the British camp. 
 
 " Measures were immediately taken to procure the release of Dr. 
 Beanes, who had been sent down to the fleet which lay in the Chesapeake. 
 Mr. Key, who was an intimate friend of the Doctor, volunteered to ac- 
 company Mr. Skinner, an agent for the government for flags of truce and 
 exchange of prisoners. 
 
 " After much solicitation Mr. Key succeeded in getting an order to re- 
 lease the Doctor, but they were told that they must remain with the fleet 
 until after the attack on Baltimore, then about to be made. They were 
 then transferred to their own vessels, accompanied by a guard of marines 
 to prevent them from landing, and fortunately anchored in a position 
 which enabled them to see the flag of Fort McHenry. The party re- 
 mained on deck during the whole night, watching every shell, from the 
 moment it was fired until it fell, listening with breathless interest to hear 
 if an explosion followed. 
 
 " While the bombardment continued, it was sufficient proof that the fort 
 had not surrendered. But it suddenly ceased, when they became alarmed 
 and paced the deck the remainder of the night in painful suspense, watch-
 
 448 STA 
 
 ing with intense anxiety for the return of day. At length the light came ; 
 they saw that "our flag was still there," and soon after learned that the 
 attack had failed. Mr. Key, Mr. Skinner, and Dr. Beanes were then 
 permitted to land where they pleased. 
 
 " Under the excitement of the time, Mr. Key, as he stated to Judge 
 Taney, commenced the song of ' The Star-Spangled Banner ' on the 
 deck of their vessel, in the fervor of the moment, when he saw the enemy 
 retreating to their ships, and looked at the flag he had watched for so 
 anxiously, as the morning opened. A few lines he had scratched on the 
 back of a letter which he had in his pocket, some he preserved in his 
 mind, and finished it in the boat on his way to the shore. Arriving at 
 the hotel, he wrote it out as it now stands. The next morning he showed 
 the lines to Judge Nicholson, who was much pleased with them, and im- 
 mediately sent them to a printer, where the poem was struck off in hand- 
 bills, and most favorably received by the people of Baltimore : 
 
 " Oh ! say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, 
 
 What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming ; 
 Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, 
 
 O'er the ramparts we watch'd were so gallantly streaming ? 
 And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, 
 Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ; 
 Oh ! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave t " 
 
 STARE-CAT. A woman or girl who amuses herself with gazing at her 
 neighbors. A woman's word. 
 
 STATE. A large district of country having a separate government, but con- 
 federated with other States, as one of the members or States of the 
 American Union. Worcester. 
 
 STATES RIGHTS. The rights of the several independent States, as opposed 
 to the authority of the Federal government. 
 
 Having been all my life, and being still, an ardent " States-rights " man, believ- 
 ing States rights to be an essential, nay, the essential, element of the Constitution, 
 and that no one who thinks otherwise can stand on the same constitutional platform 
 that I do, it seems to me that I am, and all those with whom I act habitually are, if 
 Democrats at all, true "States-rights Democrats." Speech of Hon. J. II. Ham- 
 mond, Oct. 27, 1858. 
 
 To STAVE. 1. To break a hole in ; to break ; to burst ; as " to stave a cask." 
 Webster. This is the legitimate use of the verb ; but sometimes we 
 make it govern the instrument directly, as in the following example : 
 
 I '11 stave my fist right through you, and carry you on my elbow, as easily as if 
 you were an empty market-basket. Neat's Charcoal Sketches, 
 
 2. To hurry ; to press forward.
 
 S T E 449 
 
 A president of one of our colleges once said to a graduate at parting, "My son, I 
 want to advise you. Never oppose public opinion. The great world will stave right 
 on ! " Am. Review, June, 1848. 
 
 Hilloa! Steve! where are you staving to ? If you're for Wellington, scale up 
 here and I '11 give you a ride. Mrs: Clavers's Forest Life. 
 
 And so the Yankee staves along 
 Full chisel, hitting right or wrong, 
 And makes the burden of his song 
 
 " By gUy 1 " Borne Journal. 
 
 STEAL (pronounced stail). The handle of various implements; as a rake- 
 steal, & fork-steal Used by the farmers in some parts of New England. 
 Provincial in various parts of England. Pickering. 
 
 STEAMBOAT. A term used at the "West to denote a dashing, go-a-head 
 character. 
 
 Mrs. Stowe, while in England, met Archbishop Whately, of whom she 
 thus speaks : 
 
 There is a kind of brusque humor in his address, a downright heartiness, which 
 reminds one of Western character. If he had been born in our latitude, in Kentucky 
 or Wisconsin, the natives would have called him Whately, and said he was a real 
 steamboat on an argument. Sunny Memories. 
 
 The renowned Colonel Crockett, while asleep on a stump, got caught 
 in the crotch of a tree and held fast, where he was attacked by eagles, 
 which attempted to pull out his long hair to build their nests with. 
 
 "In a few minutes I heered a voice," says the Colonel, "and then a gal come run- 
 ning up, and axed what was the matter I telled her, that if she would drive 
 
 off the eagles, I would make her a present of an iron comb." 
 
 " That I will," says she, " for I am a she steamboat, and have doubled up a croco- 
 dile in my day." 
 
 STEAM DOCTOR. See Thompsonian Doctor. 
 
 STEAM PADDY. A steam earth-excavator, much used in making excava- 
 tions in sand or loose soil for railways. So called from its taking the 
 place of a number of.Irish laborers. 
 
 The soil was so sandy that the hills were easily cut down, and for this purpose a 
 contrivance was used called & steam Paddy, which did immense execution. Borth- 
 wick's California, p. 80. 
 
 STEBOT, SEBOY. A word used to set dogs upon pigs or other animals. 
 
 " There it is that black and white thing on that log," says Tom. " Steboy, 
 catch him ! " says he [to the dog]. Ben run up with his light, and the first thing I 
 heard him say was, " Peugh ! oh, my Lord ! look out, fellers, it 's a pole-cat." 
 Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 55. 
 
 STEEP. Great, magnificent, extravagant. A newly coined slang term, 
 equivalent to tall. 
 
 38*
 
 450 S T E S T I 
 
 At the election in Minnesota, one hundred and ten Winnebago Indians, wearing 
 their blankets, voted the Democratic ticket ; but the agent thought this was rather 
 steep, so he afterwards crossed that number from the list. Chicago Tribune, Oct. 
 17, 1857. 
 
 The verdict by twelve of seventeen of a jury giving $150,000 as damages to a 
 Land and Water-Power Company, at the Great Falls of the Potomac, through the 
 diversion to the Washington Aqueduct of one eighteenth of the water at lowest 
 stage, is regarded as decidedly steep. (Bait.) Sun, Aug. 23, 1858. 
 
 STEMMERY. A large building in which tobacco is stemmed, that is, in 
 which the thin part of the leaf is stripped from the fibrous veins that run 
 through it. Kentucky and Missouri. 
 
 STERN- WHEEL. The shallow rivers of the West are navigated by small 
 steamboats with a wheel at the stern" instead of side-wheels, which are 
 used only in the larger steamers. Hence the term is applied to any thing 
 small, petty ; as, a " stern-wheel church." Comp. One-Horse. 
 
 STERN-WHEELER. A steamboat fitted up with a stern-wheel. Western. 
 
 Squire Blaze served for a long time as first mate on a raft, but grew ambitious for 
 higher distinction. Next he got possession of a starn-wheeler, and entered the pine- 
 knot business, the pursuit of which took him so high up Red River, that he got clean 
 out of the way of taxes. Remembrances of the Mississippi. Harper's May. 
 
 A Southern editor wishes to say that the Mississippi is very low. How does he 
 say it 1 " The cat-fish are rigging up stern-wheelers." Speech of the Hon. S. II. Cox, 
 Sept. 1857. 
 
 To STICK. To take in ; to impose upon ; to cheat in trade. " I 'm stuck 
 with a counterfeit note ; " " He went to a horse sale, and got stuck with a 
 spavined jade." 
 
 As soon as the whole class of small speculators perceived they had been stuck, 
 they all shut their mouths ; no one confessing the ownership of a share. A Week 
 in Wall Street, p. 47. 
 
 Very often is a client stuck for a heavy bill of costs, which he would have saved 
 but for the ignorance of his attorney. Newspaper. 
 
 STICK-CHIMNEY In newly settled parts of the country, where log-houses 
 form the first habitations of the settlers, the chimneys are made with 
 sticks from one to two inches square, and about two feet in length, which 
 are laid crosswise and cemented with clay or mud. The fire-places are 
 built of rough stone, and the stick-chimneys are merely the conductors of 
 the smoke. 
 
 The stick-chimney was, like its owner's hat, open at the top, and jammed in at the 
 sides. Mrs. Clavers's Western Clearings, p. 7. 
 
 STICKEK. An article of merchandise which sticks by the dealer, and does 
 not meet with a ready sale, is technically called a sticker. 
 
 STIFF. A dead body, in the language of the " resurrectionists," is called a
 
 STI STO 451 
 
 STILL-BAITING. Fishing with a deep line in one spot, as distinguished from 
 trolling. 
 
 STILL-HUNTER. A stalker of game. Western. 
 
 The still-hunter must needs be upon his guard ; for the wounded buffalo is prone 
 to make battle, upon the too near approach of his enemy. Gregg, Com. of Prairies, 
 Vol. II. p. 219. 
 
 STILL-HUNTING. "Walking noiselessly through the woods, keeping a bright 
 look-out, and searching for game in the haunts where they are wont to 
 browse in the daytime. 
 
 Still-hunting buffalo is approaching or stalking, by taking advantage of the wind 
 and any cover the ground affords, and crawling within shooting distance of the feed- 
 ing herd. Ruxton, Adventures in N. Mexico, p. 285. 
 
 What is called still-hunting among our frontiersmen is not practised among the 
 Indians. Sibley's Western Prairies. 
 
 STINGAREE. A corruption of sting-ray, the name of a fish. 
 
 STINKSTONE. Swine-stone, a variety of carbonate of lime, which emits a 
 fetid odor on being struck. Dana. 
 
 STINKWEED. See Jamestown Weed. 
 
 STINTED. Often substituted for stunted. 
 
 To STITCH. To form land into ridges. New England. Webster. 
 
 To STIVE UP. To make hot, sultry, close. An English expression, but 
 now more used, it is believed, in this than in the old country. 
 
 " Oh, marcy on us," said a fat lady who was looking for a house, " this '11 never 
 do for my family at all. There 's no convenience about it, only one little stived up 
 closet. . . . And the bed-rooms she would as soon sleep in a pig-pen, and done 
 with it, as to get into such little, mean, stived up places as them." Downing, May- 
 day in New York. 
 
 To STIVER. To run ; to move off. A low word used in the Northern 
 States. 
 
 To STOCK. To stock land means, with us, to supply land, not only with 
 animals, but also with seed ; as, " My farm is stocked with clover." 
 
 STOCK-MINDER. One who takes care of cattle on the great prairies. 
 
 STOCK-RANGE. The prairie or plain where cattle range or graze. 
 
 When any person or persons may hunt estrays in another stock-range, he or they 
 shall notify the owner or stock-minder of said stock his or their intention or object. 
 
 STOCK-TRAIN. A train of railroad cars loaded with cattle. 
 
 STOCKING-FEET. To be in one's stocking-feet is to have only one's stock- 
 ings on, to have one's shoes off.
 
 452 S T O 
 
 STOCKY. Short and thick. A west of England expression, used in 
 England. 
 
 He 'a rather a stocky man ; and I 'm nothing but a shadow, as it were. r Brooke's 
 Eostford. 
 
 STONE-BEE. An assemblage of farmers or villagers for the purpose of 
 clearing stones from a neighbor's piece of land. See Bee. 
 
 At Ridgefield we used to have stone-bees, when all the men of a village or hamlet 
 came together with their draft cattle, and united to clear some patch of earth which 
 was covered with an undue quantity of stones and rocks. Goodrich, Reminiscences, 
 Vol. I. p. 75. 
 
 STONE-BRUISE. A hurt or sore on the sole of the foot among those who 
 go without shoes, such as children and negroes, in the Western States. 
 The same term is used in Ireland. 
 
 STONE-ROOT. (Collinsonia canadensis.) A plant used in medicine. 
 Its properties are diuretic and stomachic. It is also called Rich Weed. 
 
 STONE-TOTEK. A name often given to the Mullet ( Gatostomus nigricans) 
 of the Middle States, and to other species of Gyprinidce. 
 
 The most singular fish in this part of the world is called the Stone-toter, whose 
 brow is surmounted with several little sharp horns, by the aid of which he totes small 
 flat stones from one part of the brook to another more quiet, in order to make a 
 snug little inclosure for his lady to lie iu in safety. Paulding, Lett, from the South. 
 
 STOOL. An artificial duck or other water-fowl used as a decoy. They are 
 much used on Long Island and elsewhere in duck shooting. 
 
 STOOLING. Decoying ducks or other fowl by the means of " stools." 
 
 STOOL-PIGEON. A decoy robber, in the pay of the police, who brings his 
 associates into a trap laid for them. 
 
 STOOL-PIGEONING. The practice of employing decoys to catch robbers. 
 
 STOOP. (Dutch, stoep.) The steps at the entrance of a house ; door-steps. 
 It is also applied to a porch with seats, a piazza, or balustrade. This, 
 unlike most of the words received from the Dutch, has extended, in con- 
 sequence of tbjj^ uniform style of building that prevails throughout the 
 country, beyoijrthe bounds of New York State, as far as the backwoods 
 of Canada. JP 
 
 In portly gabardine and bulbous multiplicity of breeches, the Dutch burgher sat 
 on his stoep, and smoked his pipe in lordly silence. Knickerbocker's New York, 
 p. 385. 
 
 About nine o'clock all three of us passed up Wall street, on the stoops of which 
 no small portion of its tenants were already seated. Cooper, Satanstoe, Vol. I. 
 p. 69. 
 
 Nearly all the houses [in Albany] were built with their gables to the street, and 
 each had heavy wooden Dutch stoops, with seats at the door. Ibid. p. 1C1.
 
 S T O 453 
 
 There was a large two story house, having a long stoop in front. Margaret, p. 63. 
 The roses fall, the daisies droop, 
 And all about the ancient stoop 
 The eager sparrows soar and swoop. 
 
 Nora Perry, The Legend of Moorland Hall. 
 
 I shall step back to my party within the stoup. Backwoods of Canada. 
 The stoup is up, and I have just planted hops at the base of the pillars. Ibid. 
 p. 309. 
 
 To STOP. To stay, to abide temporarily ; as, " "When you coine to New 
 York, stop with me instead of going to a hotel." 
 
 Those who remain at home know little of the newer portions of our country, and 
 of the primeval style of living. I recently stopped with a friend on court-day. 
 The court-house was of logs, without a floor, etc. Corresp. of Newark Daily Adv. 
 
 STOUE. In the United States and Canada shops of every kind for the sale 
 of goods, whether at wholesale or retail, are commonly called stores. 
 Thus we have dry goods stores, shoe stores, book stores, hardware stores, 
 etc. etc. This use of the word, whose proper meaning is a magazine or 
 storehouse where merchandise or movable property is kept, seems to arise 
 from that tendency to the magniloquent with which Americans have been 
 charged. The word shop is thus almost wholly discarded, except in the 
 sense of workshop. 
 
 STORE CLOTHES, STORE GOODS. Clothing or other articles purchased at 
 a store, as opposed to those which are home made. These phrases are 
 used only in out of the way sections of the country. Cornp. Boughten. 
 
 STOREKEEPER. In America a man who has the care of a store or ware- 
 house ; a shopkeeper. The officer who has charge of the government 
 warehouse, where property to the value of millions is deposited for in- 
 spection or for safe-keeping, is a storekeeper ; so too is the man who 
 stands behind the counter of a paltry shop, and deals out yards of tape 
 and papers of pins. 
 
 STORE PAY. Payment made for produce or other articles purchased, by 
 goods from a store, instead of cash. This is a common way of buying 
 produce in the country. Sometimes a dealer agrees to pay half in cash 
 and half out of his store, i. e. in store pay. 
 
 See, a girl has just arrived with a pot of butter to trade off for store pay. She 
 wants in exchange a yard of calico, a quarter of tea, a quart of molasses, some 
 radish seed, a plug of tobacco, two pipes, a fine-tooth comb, a salt mackerel, a dose 
 of rhubarb, two sticks of candy, and a bottle of rum. Capt. Priest's Adventures, 
 p. 54. 
 
 STORM. A violent wind ; a tempest. Thus, " a storm of wind " is correct 
 language, as the proper sense of the word is rushing, violence. It has 
 primarily no reference to a fall of rain or snow ; but, as a violent wind is
 
 454 STO STR 
 
 often attended with rain or sno\v, the word storm has come to be used, 
 most improperly, for a fall of rain or snow without wind. Webster. 
 
 To STORM. To blow with violence ; impersonally, as, it storms. Web- 
 ster. -"We use it improperly in the sense of to rain or to snow. 
 
 STORY. A floor ; a flight of rooms. Johnson. In the United States the 
 floor next the ground is the first story. In England, what we call the 
 " second story " is called the " first floor." 
 
 STRADDLE-BUG. The popular name for a beetle. In the Isle of Wight 
 the cockroach is called a straddle-bob. 
 
 Shew me the man who does not delight in the departure of winter, and I will ex- 
 hibit to you one who, as Sheepspear says, is " fit for treacle, straddle-bugs, and 
 spooks." Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 194. 
 
 STRAIGHT. 1. Even or uniform in quality. A term used in commerce, 
 and particularly among flour-dealers, as, " A thousand barrels of Rochester 
 flour, straight, brought $5," meaning that the thousand barrels were all 
 alike, or that the same brand ran straight through. 
 2. Pure, genuine, undiluted, un contaminated. 
 
 My glass of brandy, which should have been straight, was surreptitiously diluted 
 with Croton water. Doesticks. 
 
 In the presidential contest of 1844 no man was more fierce in his hostility to 
 Henry Clay than the present candidate of the straight Whigs for the Vice-Presidency. 
 N. Y. Courier and Enquirer, Sept., 1856. 
 
 The straight Republican Convention is to meet to-morrow. Mr. Sumncr's anti- 
 slavery opinions are very strong, and this would seem to lead to the conclusion that 
 he is with the straights. N. Y. Times, Oct. 14, 1857. 
 
 STRAIGHT OUT. Pure ; genuine ; unsophisticated. 
 
 Anne was indignant with that straight out and generous indignation .which belongs 
 to women, who are ready to follow their principles to any result with more incon- 
 siderate fearlessness than men. Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. II, p. 319. 
 
 We feel what a blessed thing it is just now to be a straight-out Whig, sitting calm 
 on tumult's wheel. N. Y. Commercial Adv., May, 1856. 
 
 STRAIGHT-SPOKEN. Plain-spoken ; downright ; candid. 
 
 I 'm not a going to spoil the appearance of heaven by foolishly attempting to 
 garnish it with artificial flowers, nor to blacken hell till it shines like a new polished 
 boot. Not 1. I'm a straight-spoken preacher. Dow's Sermons. 
 I 'm a straight spoken kind o' creetur, 
 
 That blurts right out what 's in his head ; 
 And if I 'vc one peculiar feature, 
 
 It is a nose that wont be led. Biglow Papers, p. 88. 
 
 STRAIGHT AS A LOON'S LEG, is a common simile in New England. 
 
 They were puzzled with the accounts ; but I saw through it in a minit, and made 
 it all as straight as a loon's leg. Maj. Downing's Letters, p. 42.
 
 S T R 455 
 
 STRAIGHT UP AND DOWN. Plain ; candid ; honest. 
 
 If there was any thing wanting to prove that lawyers were not straight up and 
 down in their dealings, that would do it. Sam Slick, Human Nature. 
 
 STRAIN, instead of sprain, is frequently heard. " I have strained my 
 ankle." 
 
 STRAND. 1. The Dutch on the Hudson River apply the term to a landing- 
 place ; as, the strand at Kingston. Webster. 
 
 2. In the South the word strand denotes a fibre, as a hair of the head, 
 beard, etc. 
 
 STRANGER. It is the common practice in the "Western States to accost a 
 person whose name is not known, by this title. In England, for example, 
 a person would say, " Can you tell me, sir, if this is the road to B ? " 
 At the West he would say, " Stranger, is this the road ? " etc. 
 
 Under the benign influence of the Christian religion, a civilization was growing 
 up in the world which had carried modern nations far beyond the boasted refinement 
 of ancient Greece and Rome. With them the word* " stranger " was synonymous 
 with "enemy;" but among us, " stranger " was but another name for "friend." 
 Speech of R. H. Coxe, Washington. 
 
 STRAP. A razor-strop is, with us, generally called a razor-strap. 
 
 STRAPPED. Tight ; hard up for money. 
 
 John Scroggins, at 2 p. M., is on the hunt for the wherewithal to pay a note in 
 bank. He meets Jere. Lowndcs, who looks cheerful, as though he may have a few 
 hundred. Scroggins tries him. No go. Lowndes is strapped ; had to pay his 
 wife's cousin's last quarter's rent, which consumed what he had reserved for current 
 expenses, when he made his last purchase of stocks. Nat. Intelligencer, Oct., 1857. 
 
 STRAW BAIL. Worthless bail ; bail given by " men of straw," i. e. per- 
 sons who pretend to the possession of property, but have none. 
 
 There is a class of pettifoggers about the N. Y. Tombs who are in league with 
 the police justices to get all the money they can out of their victims, and having 
 divided the spoils the culprits are sent forth unwhipped of justice. Taking straiv- 
 bail is the favorite dodge. The " shyster " is permitted to visit him or her, and with 
 a tongue practised in the art, he dwells upon the chances the prisoner runs of Sing 
 Sing prison, adding that for a consideration, he (the shyster) might effect a liberation. 
 If the prisoner has money, it is paid at once. The magistrate having received his 
 share, a " man of straw " is taken as bail, and the prisoner is discharged. ( Wash. ) 
 Evening Star. 
 
 Among the host of other evils which have been suffered to exist in the administra- 
 tion of our criminal laws for years past, the practice of taking irresponsible persons 
 for bail has been one which has probably most interfered with the course of justice. 
 Like the professional juror, "straw-bail" had become a regular trade, and its pur- 
 pose was to get desperate criminals out of the hands of the law. It involved the 
 crime of perjury of course, but there are rascals enough ready to commit perjury 
 for pay, and the more desperate the case against the criminal, the less willing are
 
 456 S T R 
 
 his friends to run the risks of trial. Hundreds of criminals have escaped the punish- 
 ment due to their offences through this abuse. Philadelphia Ledger, 1858. 
 
 STREAK. A vein ; a turn. Applied to mental peculiarities. 
 
 Just act, now, as if you had got a streak of something in you, such as a man ought 
 for to have who is married to one of the very first families in old Virginia. Mrs. 
 Stowe, Dred, Vol. I. p. 120. 
 
 " I hope you don't mean to insiniwate that I *ni queer, do you, Mellissy 1 " 
 " O no, Priscillc, I dident mean to insiniwate that, but then you know almost every- 
 body has their queer streaks." Widow Bedott Papers, p. 121. 
 
 STREAKED, or STREAKY. " To feel streaked " is to feel confused, alarmed. 
 I begun to feel streaked enough for our folks, when I see what was done on Boston 
 Common. Maj. Downing's Letters, p. 18. 
 
 Oh, what t a beautiful sight the ocean is when there aint no land in sight ! There we 
 was in a little shell at the mercy of them big waves, higher than father's barn. I never 
 did feel so streaky and mean afore ; talk of a grain of sand, why I felt like a starved 
 speck of dust cut up into homoeopathic doses for a child two minits old. Hiram 
 Bigelow, Letter in Family Companion. 
 
 Gen. Tell the truth ; keep back nothing ; I promised no harm shall happen 
 you. 
 
 Doolittle. Oh, I'll tell all now ; I won't stay to be hanged first ! Oh, the good 
 gracious suzz ! how streaked I feel all over ! D. Humphreys, The Yankee in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 But when it comes to bein' killed, I tell ye I felt streaked, 
 The fust time 'tever I found out why bayonets wuz peaked. 
 
 Lowell, Biglow Papers. 
 
 Daniel Webster was a great man, I tell you ; he'd talk King William out of sight 
 in half an hour. If he was in your house of Commons, he'd make some of your great 
 folks look pretty streaked. Sam Slick, 1st Series. 
 
 To STREAK, or To STREAK IT, is to run as fast as possible. 
 O'er hill and dale with fury she did dreel, 
 A' roads to her were good and bad alike ; 
 Nane o't she wyl'd, but fonvard on did streak. Ross's Helenore. 
 
 I was certain it was n't no fox or wolf, but a dog ; and if I did n't streak off like 
 greased lightnin'. Carlton, The New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 78. 
 
 I streaked it for Washington, and it was wellnigh upon midnight when I reached 
 the White House. Maj. Downing's Letters, p. 91. 
 
 When I did get near, he 'd stop and look, cock his ears, and give a snuff, as if he 'd 
 never seen a man afore, and then streak it off as if I had been an Indian. Porter's 
 Tales of the South-West, p. 165. 
 
 As soon as I touched land I streaked it for home, as hard as I could lay legs to 
 the ground. S. Slick, Human Nature, p. 59. 
 
 'T was a satisfaction to have such a horse, and 'twas a pleasure to crop him, and 
 streak it away, at a brushing canter, for a good five miles at a stretch. Simmz, 
 Wigwam and Cabin, p. 85.
 
 STR 457 
 
 What brings a duck a streaking it down stream if humans aint behind her ? and 
 who 's in these diggins but Indians 1 Ruxton, Far West, p. 79. 
 
 How many do I see around me, that willingly permit the worm of corruption to 
 gnaw at their already moth-eaten morals ! Ah ! their name is Legion ; and the way 
 they are streaking it down the dark road to ruin, is sorrowful to steam locomotives. 
 Dow's Sermons, Vol. III. p. 108. 
 
 STREAKED BASS. Striped bass. New England. 
 
 STRETCH. On a stretch is continuously ; without cessation. 
 
 Chunky used to whistle three days and nights on a stretch. Traits of American 
 Humor. 
 
 STRETCHER. 1. A well-burnt and smooth brick used for fronts of buildings. 
 Under-burnt bricks are called salmon bricks from their light color ; and 
 over-burnt and partially vitrified bricks are called arch and pillar bricks, 
 from their position in the kiln. 
 
 2. A falsehood. Colloquial in England and with us. 
 
 Whenever Mrs. Oscar Dust told a stretcher, old Waters was expected to swear to 
 it. Field, Drama at Pokerville. 
 
 STRICKEN. " This ancient participle," says Mr. Pickering, " is much used 
 in Congress and our other legislative assemblies. A member moves that 
 certain parts of a bill should be stricken out," etc. Vocabulary. 
 
 The use of the word referred to by Mr. Pickering is peculiar to us, 
 though there are examples of its occasional use in England applied in 
 other ways. 
 
 Many of the foreigners were much stricken with the splendor of the scene. Lon- 
 don Statesman, June 10, 1814. 
 
 STRIKE. An instrument with a straight edge for levelling a measure, a 
 strickle. Worcester. To sell by the strike, is not to heap up the arti- 
 cle, as is usually done with potatoes, apples, etc., but to scrape off what is 
 above the level of the top, as in selh'ng grain, salt, or the like. In Mas- 
 sachusetts it is provided that, 
 
 Cranberries and all other berries shall be sold by the strike or level measure, the 
 same as flax-seed and other similar articles are measured. Laws of Massachusetts. 
 
 STRIKER. A bruiser ; a ruffian. 
 
 STRING. 1. A row; number; lot. 
 
 Here 's a whole string of Whig Congressmen, elected by the State of New York. 
 New York Tribune. 
 
 2. A common name among teamsters for a whip. 
 
 With some judicious touches of the string, the horses are induced to struggle as for 
 their lives. Mrs. Clavers, A New Home, p. 9. 
 
 STRING-BEANS. The common name for French beans ; so called from thfr 
 
 39
 
 458 STR STU 
 
 string-like fibre stripped from the side of the pod in preparing it for the 
 table. See Bush-bean. 
 
 STRIPE. Pattern, kind, sort. 
 
 Den, if he was of de right stripe he went straight to glory, and is now a shoutin' 
 hallelujah wid de great congregation in de New Jerusalem. Emma Barilett. 
 
 The call of the Soft-shell Convention was signed by twelve men of the Free-Soil 
 Buffalo stripe. N. Y. Herald, July 7, 1856. 
 
 The Yankee, though cosmopolite in general and personally polite in particular, 
 cherishes at heart a great sympathy for his own stripe, even when he hides it, like the 
 ground work of a rising speculation, from the world. Mace Sloper, in Knickerbocker 
 Mag., March, 1856. 
 
 STRIPED BASS. (Ldbrax lineatus.) One of the most highly esteemed 
 fishes of the Atlantic coast, called also Streaked Bass and Rock fish. 
 
 STRIPED GROUND SQUIRREL. See Ghipmuk. 
 
 STRONG. To go it strong, means to do a thing with energy or persever- 
 ance. See Go it strong. 
 
 The pilot on duty above ; another was calling out the Captain, who went it strong 
 at cards. Porter's Tales of the South-West, p. 107. 
 
 You should go it, remarked Spifflekins, go it strong, that 's the way to scatter the 
 blue devils, go it strong. Neal's Peter Ploddy, p. 46. 
 
 STRUCK UNDER CONVICTION. Impressed with a sense of personal sinful- 
 ness. 
 
 To STUB, or STUMP. " To stub one's toe," is to strike it against any thing 
 in walking or running. An expression often used by boys and others who 
 go barefoot. 
 
 Lives there a Yankee 
 Who, if he stubs his toe and fall, 
 Do n't want to swear, but, great or small, 
 Will vent his ire with, " Darn it all ! 
 
 By golly ! " Yankee Philosophy. 
 
 STUCK. 1. To be stuck, is to be stuck fast, unable to proceed. 
 
 My dear hearers, I'm stuck to begin with. When I want ideas, they never come, 
 they are off playing truant. Dow's Sermons, Vol. III. 
 
 2. To be taken in ; to be taken advantage of in a trade. To be stuck 
 with a thing, is to have an unsalable article foisted upon one. 
 
 We 're the only Eastern folks in the Yonkville Stock, unless Mr. Sloper will take 
 a few shares, and of course anybody else may be stuck and be darned. Mace Sloper, 
 in Knickerbocker Mag., March, 1856. 
 
 We got stuck with a bad lot of paper, and were obliged to stick it on to our read- 
 ers. Providence Journal, 
 
 To STUFF. To quiz.
 
 STU 459 
 
 STUFFEXIXG. Stuffing; seasoning for meat or poultry, usually made of 
 bread and herbs to give it a higher relish. Western. 
 
 By way of amends [for the dried up turkey] quarts of gravy were judiciously 
 emptied on our plates from the wash-basin bowls. That also moistened the stuffenin 
 composed of Indian meal and sausages. Car/ton, The New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 182. 
 
 STUFFY. Angry or sulky ; obstinate. Colloquial in the United States. 
 Worcester. 
 
 STUMP. The part of a tree remaining in the earth after the tree is cut 
 down. This, in the Western countries, was made use of as the most con- 
 venient stand from which to address the people. Hence, to take the stump 
 is to go on an electioneering campaign. 
 
 To STUMP. 1. To challenge. Also to puzzle, confound. 
 
 Dabbs turns up his nose at betting. Instead of stumping his antagonist by launch- 
 ing out his cash, he shakes a portentous fist under his nose, and the affair is settled. 
 Need's Charcoal Sketches. 
 
 When you see Lord Sydenham, stump him ; and ask him, when a log is hewed 
 and squared, if he can tell the tenth side of it. Sam Slick. 
 
 Heavens and earth ! tliinks I, what does all this mean ? I knowed I had n't done 
 any thing to be put in prison for, and I never was so stumped. Maj. Jones's Court- 
 ship, p. 135. 
 
 I put a conundrum to them. They were all stumpt, and gave it up. Crockett's 
 Tour. 
 
 2. To stump it, is a cant phrase signifying to make electioneering 
 speeches in favor of oneself. Worcester. This is a term borrowed from 
 the backwoods, where the stump of a tree often supplies the place of the 
 English hustings. 
 
 While I was at Peoria, Illinois, I heard a political speech from General Shields, 
 who was at that time stumping it through the State, as a candidate for the Senate in 
 place of Mr. Breese. Lett, from Illinois, N. Y. Com. Adv. 
 
 It is understood that Col. Benton intends to stump the State [of Missouri] as a 
 candidate for the gubernatorial chair. New York Courier. 
 
 STUMP ORATOR. A man who harangues the people from the stump of a 
 tree or other elevation. 
 
 STUMP ORATORY. The sort of popular speaking used by stump orators. 
 
 STUMP SPEAKER. A popular political speaker. 
 
 The Hon. W. E. Thompson of Indiana, one of the most popular stump speakers 
 of the day, addressed a large meeting of Whigs from the stoop of Barnum's Hotel, 
 Baltimore, in support of the nominations of the late Whig Convention. Letter 
 from Washington, N. Y. Herald, June 21, 1848. 
 
 STUMP SPEECH. A speech made from a stump or other elevation ; i. e. an
 
 460 STU SUC 
 
 electioneering speech in favor of one's self or some other political candi- 
 date. 
 
 We had of course a passion for stump speaking. But recollect, we often mount 
 the stump only figuratively ; and very good stump speeches are delivered from a table, 
 a chair, a whiskey-barrel, and the like. Sometimes we make the best stump speeches 
 on horseback. Carlton, The New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 211. 
 
 When you see a politician extra full of patriotism, and stuffed with stump speeches, 
 you may take it for granted he wants office either for himself or for some particular 
 friend. Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 132. 
 
 STUJIPAGE. The sum paid to owners of land for the privilege of cutting 
 the timber growing thereon. State of Maine. 
 
 STUMPER. A puzzler. 
 
 My note was a stumper to Sally ; so she got Jess to explain it, and the way he did 
 it was enormous. Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 STUN, for stone, so pronounced in the back parts of New England. 
 
 Captain Stone, I 've been clean away amongst the Yankees, where they call your 
 name Sturm. Crockett, Tour, p. 145. 
 
 STURTION. A common pronunciation for nasturtium. 
 
 To STUTTER. To saunter lazily, with a slip-shod movement. This is not 
 a common word. I have never met with it except in the example quo- 
 ted. 
 
 I stuttered up to No. 4 yesterday arter the funeral ; but they arc so grown over 
 with rum there, you can hardly tell what is nater and what is not. Margaret, 
 p. 327. 
 
 SUANT, or SUENT. Even; uniform; spread equally over the surface. 
 Provincial in England. Holloway. Used by farmers in some parts of 
 New England, and applied thus : " The grain is sowed snant" i. e. even- 
 ly ; regularly. Pickering. 
 
 SUCCESSION SALE. A sale of property to enable the heirs to divide the 
 same. 
 
 At the succession sale of the slaves belonging to the minor heirs of S. A. and A. 
 X. Baillie, at the court-house [of Rapides], on Saturday, 17th inst., long sums 
 were bid. Louisiana Democrat, July 20, 1858. 
 
 SUCK IN, or SUCK. A cheat, deception. 
 
 Heaven forbid that I should utter a syllable of complaint ; but I can't help saying 
 it confidentially, and before man alone, that life is all moonshine a monstrous 
 humbug a grand suck in. Dow's Sermons, Vol. II. p. 316. 
 
 To SUCK IN. To take in ; to cheat ; to deceive. A figurative expression, 
 probably drawn from a sponge, which sucks up water. To be sucked in, 
 is to be " sponged " out of one's money, or to be cheated in a bargain. 
 It is a low expression, though often heard, and is understood by all.
 
 SUC 461 
 
 " I ain't bound to drive nobody in the middle of the night," s:iid the driver ; " so 
 you don't try to suck me in there." Mrs. Clavers's Forest Life, Vol. I. p. 109. 
 
 "Who was the first unfortunate speculator ? Jonah. Ah ! why ? Because he got 
 sucked in ! Newspaper. 
 
 SUCKATASH, or SUCCOTASH. (Narraganset Ind., msickquatash, corn 
 boiled whole.) Green Indian corn and beans boiled together. It is a 
 favorite dish wherever these plants are cultivated. 
 
 Joel Barlow, in his poem on Hasty -pudding, thus compares succotash 
 
 with it : 
 
 Let the green succotash with thee contend, 
 
 Let beans and com their sweetest juices lend ; 
 
 Not all the plate, how fam'd soe'er it be, 
 
 Can please my palate like a bowl of thce. Canto I. p. 6. 
 
 At the two hundredth anniversary of the settlement of Ehode Island, 
 held in Providence, 1836, an Indian banquet in the style of those of the 
 olden time was given. 
 
 An Indian mat being spread out, a large wooden platter well filled with boiled 
 bass graced the centre, supported on one side by a wooden dish of parched corn, 
 and on the other by a similar one of succotash. Stone's Life of [lowland, p. 262. 
 
 The wise Huron is welcome ; he is come to eat his succotash with his brothers of 
 the lakes ! Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans, p. 426. 
 
 SUCKER. 1. A tube used for sucking sherry cobblers. They are made of 
 silver, glass, straw, or sticks of maccaroni. 
 
 2. A very common fish of the genus labeo, and of which there are 
 many varieties, including the Chub, Mullet, Barbel, Horned Dace, etc. 
 They are found in most of the lakes and rivers of North America. 
 
 3. A greenhorn ; an ignorant clown. Western. 
 
 I had n't time to load my gun before the bear gathered upon him like a Virginny 
 blood-mare, and the nigger give himself up for a gone sucker, and fainted away. 
 Crockett's Bear Adventure. 
 
 4. A hard drinker ; a drunkard. 
 
 5. A mean, low fellow ; a sponger. 
 
 Of the scaly tribe I may mention those suckers belonging to the body loaferish, 
 that never rise to the surface of respectability, whose sole study appears to be to see 
 how much they can get without the least physical exertion. Dow's Sermons, Vol. 
 III. 
 
 6. A nickname applied throughout the "West to a native of Illinois. 
 The origin of this term is as follows : 
 
 The Western prairies are, in many places, full of the holes made by 
 the crawfish, which descends to the water beneath. In early times, 
 when travellers wended their way over these immense plains, they very 
 prudently provided themselves with a long hollow weed, and when thirsty, 
 thrust it into these natural artesians, and thus easily supplied their long- 
 
 39*
 
 462 S U G S U I 
 
 ings. The crawfish-well generally contains pure water, and the manner 
 in which the traveller drew forth the refreshing element gave him the 
 name of " Sucker" Lett, from Illinois, in Providence Journal. 
 
 A band of music was sent thirty miles to wake up the sleepy suckers, and draw 
 them, by the magic of their music, to the Douglas gathering at Quincy, Illinois. 
 N. Y. Tribune, Oct. 19, 1854. 
 
 SUGAR APPLE. See Sweetsop. 
 SUGAR BERRY. See Hachberry. 
 
 SUGAR BUSH. A collection of trees of the sugar maple, generally in the 
 midst of a primitive forest, where maple-sugar is made by boiling the sap 
 of the tree. These are sometimes called sugar orchards. 
 
 Going into the sugar bush has something of the excitement which the forester loves 
 so well to mingle with all his work. The Americans ut Home, Vol. I. 
 
 SUGAR CAMP. The place where the sap is collected from a sugar bush 
 and boiled. 
 
 SUGAR MAPLE. (Acer saccharinum.) A handsome forest tree from fifty 
 to eighty feet high, from the sap of which is made the well known maple 
 sugar. The wood is valuable for fuel ; and accidental varieties of it are 
 the bird's-eye maple and curled maple of cabinet-makers. 
 
 Some verses on the Corn-plant and Sugar Maple, in Putnam's Maga- 
 zine, end thus : 
 
 But if our brothers break the chain, 
 
 We '11 hang by our own staples ; 
 Three cheers we '11 raise for Indian Corn, 
 And nine for Sugar Maples. 
 
 SUGAR ORCHARD. A collection of maple trees selected and preserved in 
 the forest for the purpose of making sugar therefrom. Comp. Sugar 
 Bush. 
 
 SUGAR TREE. The name much used in the West for the sugar maple, in 
 which connection the word maple is never used. Thus, in purchasing 
 firewood, it is usual to bargain for hickory, sugar, ash, etc. 
 
 SUIT. In the Middle and Southern States especially, a head of hair is 
 called, queerly enough, a " suit of hair," as in the following description 
 by Dr. J. S. Cartwright, of New Orleans, of a " strong-minded woman." 
 
 Her head was large, and features prominent and rather masculine. But in every 
 other respect her appearance was highly feminine ; her form symmetrical ; her skin 
 fair, smooth, and soft, and her well-developed limbs tapering into unusually small 
 hands and feet. She had a thick suit of black hair ; and, although she had reached 
 her fortieth year, it had not begun to turn gray, so active was her capillary circula- 
 tion. Boston Med. and Sitry. Journal, Oct. 18, 1854.
 
 S U L S U P 463 
 
 The face of this gentleman was strikingly marked by a suit of enormous black 
 whiskers that flowed together and united under his chin. Margaret, p. 289. 
 
 SULPHUR. Bitumen. In Kentucky and Tennessee the- bituminous rocks 
 abound in sulphur springs, and by a singular confusion the odor of bitu- 
 men, where no sulphur is present, is yet called sulphur. 
 
 To SUMMARIZE. To make a summary of. 
 
 The National Intelligencer, in speaking of the publications of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, says : 
 
 Additional papers are summarized in the Report, all of them making considerable 
 advances upon the heretofore unappropriated domains of science. Aug. 31, 1857. 
 
 To SUMMONS. To serve with a summons. Applied to the courts and 
 colleges. " He was summonsed to appear before the faculty." 
 
 Mary looked at me and winked, and says she, " You 're one of the court, you 
 know, Major ; but jest go out until the court is summonsed before the throne." Maj. 
 Jones's Courtship. 
 
 SUN-BONNET. A home-made bonnet, with a large " cape," so as to shield 
 both the face and neck, much worn by women and girls in the country. 
 
 SUNDOWN. Sunset. Peculiar to the United States. 
 
 SuN-FiSH. (Pomotis vulgaris.) A beautiful little fresh-water fish, so 
 called from its glittering colors. From the numerous spots on its sides, 
 it is often called Pumpkin Seed ; and in some localities it goes by the 
 name of Bream. 
 
 SUN-SQUALL. A term applied, on the coast of New England, to the Medu- 
 sae, or Sea-Nettles. It appears to be a corruption of the Germ. Schirm- 
 qualle (lit. umbrella jelly-fish). See Gall. 
 
 About Boston harbor they are called Sun-jish, a still further corrup- 
 tion. 
 
 SUN-UP. Southern for sunrise. When the Southern traveller starts on his 
 journey before the appearance of the sun in the morning, he says he 
 " put out bright and yarly, an hour (or half an hour, as the case may be) 
 before sun-up." 
 
 One would think that such a horse as that might get over a good deal of ground 
 atwixt sun-up and sundown. Cooper, Last of the Mohegans, p. 50. 
 
 SUPAWN. An Indian name in universal use in New England, New York, 
 and other Northern States, for boiled Indian meal. It is also called 
 hasty pudding, which see. 
 
 The common food of the Indians is pap, or mush, which in the New Netherlands 
 is named supaen. This is so common among them, that they seldom pass a day
 
 464 SUP SUR 
 
 without it, unless they are on a journey or hunting. We seldom visit an Indian 
 lodge at any time of day, without seeing their supacn preparing, or seeing them eat- 
 ing the same. It is the common food of all ; and so fond of it are they, that when 
 they visit our people, or each other, they consider themselves neglected unless they 
 are treated with supaen. Van der Donck's New Netherlands (1656), N. Y. Hist. Soc. 
 Collections. 
 
 The flour [of maize] makes a substantial sort of porridge, called by the Ameri- 
 cans supporne ; this is made with water, and eaten with milk. Backwoods of Can- 
 ada, p. 189. 
 
 E'en in thy native regions, how I blush 
 
 To hear the Pennsylvanians call thce mush ! 
 
 On Hudson's banks while men of Belgic spawn 
 
 Insult and eat thee by the name suppawn. 
 
 Barlow, Hasty Pudding. 
 
 For many heroes bold and brave, 
 
 From Newbridge and Tappan, 
 And those that drink Passaic's wave, 
 
 And those who eat suppawn. 
 
 Maj. Andre, The Cow Chase, 1780. 
 
 SUPPLE-JACK. 1. (Berchemia volulilis.) A creeper growing in damp 
 soils in Virginia and further south. " The vine," says Flint, " resembles 
 that of the muscadine grape ; but the olive color is deeper. It is well 
 known to attach itself so strongly to the shrub it entwines, as to cause 
 those curious spiral curves and inner flattenings that give its singularity 
 and value to the supple-jack cane." Geogr. of Miss. Valley. 
 
 2. A child's toy, a jointed manikin worked by a string. Called also 
 a Jumping Jack. 
 
 SURE. Surely ; certainly. "Are you going?" "I'm going sure" or 
 " sure and certain." South-western. 
 
 " There, do you see that horse "? " said Jack. " He 's a d d good horse. He's 
 
 not much to look at ; but once get him a going, and he '11 go through h 11 itself, if 
 you put him at it. Get on, Kendall, and I '11 mount behind, and show you sights 
 I will sure." N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 SURE-ENOUGH. Real ; genuine. Used in the South and West in the 
 same manner as fair is in New York. As, " This is a sure-enough 
 egg ; " meaning that it is a real and not an imitation one. In a descrip- 
 tion of the absurd ceremonies observed on shipboard in " crossing the 
 line," a writer says : 
 
 The subject was seated in the chair, some six feet from the dock, where the barber, 
 standing on a platform before him, thrust a white-wash brush into a bucket of soap- 
 suds, and lathered his face with great liberality ; then, drawing from a canvas bag 
 his case of extensive razors (rusty iron hoops), went through all the movements of 
 a sure-enowjh barber. U. S. Nautical Mag., Dec., 1855. 
 
 SURFACE-BOAT. See Battery.
 
 SUR SWA 465 
 
 SURPRISE CANDIDATE. A fresh candidate suddenly put up and supported 
 by the wire workers of an election, to subserve purposes of their own. 
 
 In a judicial district a "surprise candidate," scarce known as a lawyer or to the peo- 
 ple beyond the local court in which he practised, was run, as since understood, to aid 
 in breaking down one of two able and unobjectionable candidates for the Su- 
 preme Bench of the State, who had been nominated in the conventions of the two op- 
 posing political parties. National Intelligencer, Sept. 20, 1858. 
 
 SURPRISE PARTY. A party of persons who assemble by agreement, and 
 without invitation, at the house of a mutual friend. 
 
 SURROGATE. In American law, a county officer who has jurisdiction in 
 granting letters testamentary and letters of administration, and of other 
 matters relating to the settlement of the estates of testators and intestates. 
 
 Kent's Commentaries, Vol. II. p. 409. 
 
 SURROUND. A frequent mode of hunting the buffalo by the Indians, con- 
 sists in making a " surround" This is done by inclosing a large herd, 
 and driving them over a precipice upon the rocks, or into one of the pro- 
 found ravines which intersect the prairies in various directions. In this 
 way thousands are sometimes killed in a single day. S. F. Baird. 
 
 SURVEYOR. One of the chief officers of the large U. S. Custom-houses. It 
 is the duty of the surveyor to superintend and direct the inspectors, 
 weighers, gangers, and measurers at his port ; but he is, in all cases, to be 
 subject to the collector. Act of March 2, 1799. 
 
 To SUSPICION, for to suspect. South. 
 
 If he had a suspicioned I was thar, he'd no more swore than he'd dared to kiss my 
 Sal on a washing day ; for you see both on us belonged to the same church. Mike 
 Hooter, by a Missourian. 
 
 SUTOR. A syrup made from the juice of the fruit of the "pitahaya" ((7e- 
 reus giganteus) by the Indians near the river Gila. 
 
 Suzz ! A corrupt pronunciation of sirs ! An exclamation much used in 
 New England, as sirs is in Scotland. It is sometimes lengthened into 
 Law, suzz ! i. e. Lord, sirs ! 
 
 SWAD, or SWOD. In New England, a lump, mass, or bunch ; also, a crowd. 
 
 Webster. It is an old English colloquialism. 
 
 There was a swa d of fine folks, and the house was wellnigh upon chuck full. Maj. 
 Downing's Letters, p. 35. 
 
 How is a colonist able to pay for this almighty swad of everlasting plunder, seein' 
 he has no gold or silver. Sam Slick, 3d Ser. ch. 6. 
 
 SWALE. A local word in New England, signifying an interval or vale ; a 
 tract of low land. Webster. This word is provincial in Norfolk, Eng-
 
 466 SWA 
 
 land, and means a low place ; and shade, in opposition to sunshine. 
 Forty's Vocabulary. 
 
 To SWAMP. To plunge into inextricable difficulties. Webster. This use 
 of the word is not in the English dictionaries. It is common in the United 
 States, though not elegant. Ex. " He invested a large sum of money in 
 land speculations, which swamped him ; " i. e. ruined him. 
 
 I SWAMP IT ! A euphemistic form of oath. 
 
 Had that darn'd old vessel, that frigate there, bin a stone's throw farder off from 
 land, I should never have swimmed to shore, dead or alive, to all eternity, I swamp 
 it ! D. Humphreys, The Yankee in England. 
 
 SWAMP HONEYSUCKLE. (Azalea nudiffora.) A plant flowering in 
 April and May, which grows in the swamps from Massachusetts to 
 Virginia. It is also called May- Apple and Pinxter Blumachy. 
 
 SWAMP PINK. (Azalea viscosa.) A popular name for the Swamp-Honey- 
 suckle. 
 
 SWAMPING. Very large ; huge. The word swapping is used in the same 
 sense in the west of England. 
 
 And there we saw a swamping gun, 
 
 Large as a log of maple, 
 Upon a deuced little cart, 
 
 A load for father's cattle. Song, Yankee Doodle. 
 
 I SWAN, or S WON ! A New England euphemism for " I swear ! " I swan 
 to man ! is a heightened form of the same. 
 
 " Well, / swan ! " exclaimed the mamma, giving a round box on the ear to a dirty 
 little urchin ; " what made you let the little huzzy have your specs ? " Mrs. Clavers's 
 Forest Life, Vol. I. p. 29. 
 
 I took a turn round Halifax, and I swan if it aint the thunderinest, drearyest place 
 I ever seen, and the people they call Blue-noses. Hiram Bigelow's Lett, in Family 
 Companion. 
 
 I was dressed tarnation slick. I guess I rubbed two tallow candles or thereabouts 
 into my hair, trying to make it curl ; but / swan to man there warn't no curl to it, for 
 it stuck out for all sense like porcupine quills. Hill's Yankee Stories. 
 
 Well, I've jest come to New York, and its the darndest place, I swan to man, that 
 you'd wish to see. Story of Uncle Ben, recited by Hackett. 
 
 SWANGA. An African word used among the negroes in some parts of the 
 South in connection with buckra, white man ; as swanga buckra, meaning 
 a dandy white man, or literally, a dandy devil. A friend in South Caro- 
 lina informs me that the negroes there apply the term to persons who 
 carry themselves conceitedly. Thus of one who is strutting about in a 
 new suit of clothes, they will say, " He kin' o' swanga now."
 
 S W A S W I 467 
 
 To SWANT. To wash, as " to swant the decks." A seaman's word. 
 
 SWAP, or SWOP. An exchange ; a barter. Mr. Pickering's remark ap- 
 plies to the noun as well as to the verb. 
 
 I 'm for a short talk in a horss-sica/>, and always tell a gentlemen what I wish to 
 do. Georgia Scenes, p. 28. 
 
 To SWAP, or SWOP. To exchange ; to barter. Johnson. 
 
 This word has often been noticed by English travellers in this country, 
 and may perhaps be more common here than in England ; but it is also 
 used by the vulgar in that country. Pickering. 
 
 Clocks, nutmegs, and whatever else, 
 
 You call a Yankee crop, 
 If you have cash, he 's glad to sell ; 
 
 If not, he '11 always swap ! 
 For he was born a merchant, sir, 
 
 A Yankee trader bold, 
 Who swapped his whistle for a knife 
 
 When only four years old. Allin, Yankee Ballad. 
 
 SWASH, or SWOSH. In the Southern States of America, a name given to 
 a narrow sound or channel of water lying within a sand bank, or between 
 that and the shore. Many such are found on the shores of the Carolinas. 
 Webster. 
 
 After noon I crossed the swash at the east end of the bay, and in the evening got 
 into good quarters. Bartram's Florida, p. 472. 
 
 SWAT, or SWOT. A knock; a blow. Vulgar. A North of England 
 word. 
 
 To SWAT, or SWOT. To strike, smite. A low word. 
 
 Tell me that again, and I '11 swot you over the mug. Report of the Hnnker Meet- 
 ing in Albany, June, 1 848. 
 
 SWEET HEPPER BUSH. See Alder. 
 
 SWEET-SOP. (Annona squamosa.~) An evergreen shrub, which bears a 
 greenish colored fruit. It is also called Custard Apple and Sugar Ap- 
 ple. West Indies. 
 
 SWEET-SCENTED SHRUB. See Allspice. 
 
 SWELL-HEAD. See Bighead, No. 2. 
 
 SWILL-BOYS. A gang of New York rowdies. 
 
 SWILL-MILK. The milk of cows fed on the refuse of distilleries. 
 
 To SWINGE. To singe. Provincial in various parts of England. Hal- 
 liwell.
 
 468 SAY I TAG 
 
 The weather has been monstrous hot here, and I do n't think I ever did sec things 
 jest sprawled out and swinged up so with the sun before. Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 
 185. 
 
 SWINGLE-TAIL. (Alopius vulpes.) The popular name for the Thresher 
 Shark, from the use it makes of its long, flexible tail, " with which," says 
 Dr. De Kay, " it literally threshes its enemies." Nat. Hist, of New 
 York. 
 
 SWITCH. The movable rails and appendages for turning the cars on a 
 railroad from one track to another. The term is now getting into use in 
 England. 
 
 Now Tom, you skunk, this is the third time you forgot to set on that switch, and 
 the last time there was twenty people went under, and the balance was bruized ; so 
 mind what you're about, and don't forget the switch again, or I'm darned if I don't 
 tell the boss (station master). Notes on Canada and the U. S., Blackwood, Sept., 
 1855. 
 
 SWITCHEL. Molasses and water, to which, sometimes, a little vinegar is 
 added. A common beverage in New England. 
 
 SWOT. See Swat. 
 
 To SWOT. See To Swat. 
 
 I Swow! A New England euphemism for 1 swear! 
 
 SYCAMORE. See Button- Wood. 
 
 SYMPATHIZERS. A name given to those persons who, during the Canadian 
 rebellion in 1836-37, sympathized with the malcontents, and wished to 
 invade the country. 
 
 To SYSTEMIZE. To systematize. A word rarely used by good writ- 
 ers. Worcester. Dr. Webster, however, gives it the preference 
 over systematize, which he denounces as "ill formed." What would 
 he have thought of dogmize and stigmize. by way of " improving " the 
 lanjmane ? 
 
 T. 
 
 To TABLE. To lay on the table. " The bill for distributing the public 
 lands among the States was tabled by a large majority." 
 
 TACAMAHAC. Another name for the Balsam Poplar, which see. 
 
 To TACKLE. 1. To harness ; as, to tackle a horse into a gig, sleigh, coach,
 
 TAF TAK 4G9 
 
 or wagon. Webster. Local in England and colloquial in the United 
 States. 
 
 2. To seize, to lay hold of; as, a wrestler tackles his antagonist, a dog 
 tackles the game. Webster. Colloquial in England and the United 
 States. 
 
 Well, I tell you what, it tuck a feller mighty wide between the eyes to tackle that 
 tree, for it was a whopper. Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 53. 
 
 I shook the two fellows off my trunks monstrous quick, and was going to tackle 
 the chaps what had 'my carpet bag. Maj. Jones's Travels. 
 
 The people are no ways backward about discussing the subject of Monnonism, 
 over-confident in their ability to demolish every Gentile against polygamy. One of 
 the gentry tackled Gov. Powell the other day, determined to make a convert. N. Y. 
 Times, Aug. 9, 1858. 
 
 TAFFY. A common coarse sweet-meat, made with treacle thickened by 
 boiling. Almonds are often stuck into it. Various dialects. Halli- 
 welL 
 
 Both the word and the thing are well known among us. 
 
 TAG. A slight touch. A boy, touched by one who is in the first instance 
 fixed upon to commence the game, is in his turn obliged to overtake and 
 touch another of the party, when he cries, Tag ! and so the game pro- 
 ceeds. According to Mr. Halliwell, the same game is played in Warwick- 
 shire, where it is called tick. 
 
 TAILOR. A fish resembling the shad, but inferior to it in size and flavor. 
 In the towns on the Potomac, the Blue fish is called a Salt-water 
 tailor. 
 
 'TAINT. A corrupt abbreviation for it is not. 
 
 " Wonder what time it is ? " said Miss Mary. " Oh, taint late," says he. " Is 
 there going to be any preaching here to-morrow ? " Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 69. 
 
 To TAKE TO Do. To take to task ; to reprove. Colloquial in England 
 and in New England. 
 
 The Life Boat, a weekly sheet in this city, takes the Bee to do, for its course in re- 
 lation to the Liquor Law. Boston Bee, July 29, 1852. 
 
 To TAKE THE BACK TRACK. To recede from one's position. 
 
 The first law of self-preservation has admonished Mr. Douglass that he has gone as 
 far in his slavery concessions to the South as he can possibly go, and that, if he would 
 save himself at home, he must take the back track. N. Y. Herald, Dec. 26, 1857. 
 
 To TAKE THE RAG OFF. To surpass. 
 
 How often I have laughed over the fun of the forecastle. I would back it for wit 
 against any bar-room in New York or Xew Orleans, and I believe they take the rag 
 off" all creation. S. Slick, Nature and Human Nature, p. 28. 
 
 To TAKE THE SHINE OFF. See Shine, No 1. 
 
 40
 
 470 TAK TAL 
 
 To TAKE A SHUTE. In the West, a person running away, or leaving in 
 a hurry, is said to have " taken a shute." 
 
 To TAKE ON. To grieve ; to mourn, lament. Colloquial in England and 
 the United States. 
 
 " Why, Polly, what's the matter, gal," inquired he ; " what in thunder makes you 
 take on so ? Come, out with the cause, or I shall get a blubberin' too." Robb, 
 Squatter Life. 
 
 To TAKE UP. 1. To take up animals is a common phrase in the language 
 of the prairies, and means to bring them in and prepare them for a jour- 
 ney or the day's march, either by saddling them, or harnessing them to a 
 wagon. 
 
 2. To put up, as a traveller at an inn. Southern. 
 
 To TAKE WATER. To run away, make off. A Western expression, 
 doubtless borrowed from sportsmen. 
 
 He quitted the wheel [of the steam-boat] and made for his state-room, where he 
 stayed till the boat reached Natchez, when he took water, and they do say moved to 
 the North. Maj. Bunkum, N. Y. Sp. Times. 
 
 TALENTED. Furnished with talents ; possessing skill or talents. Webster. 
 This, says Todd, is " an old word, long disused, but lately revived." It 
 is as correctly formed as moneyed or landed, which are regarded as unex- 
 ceptionable ; yet it is pretty generally condemned, and on each side of 
 the water the responsibility of coining it is cast upon the other, as will 
 be seen from what follows : 
 
 The London Monthly Magazine (Sept. 1831) blames Mr. Stanley for 
 using this word. " Sir Robert Peel referred it to his American associa- 
 tions, and prayed him never to employ it again, with all the strenuous- 
 ness of Oxonian adjuration." The Philadelphia National Gazette, in 
 speaking of the above, adds : "Sir Robert was right in protesting against 
 the word, but wrong in his reference. It is of London cockney deriva- 
 tion, and still more employed in Great Britain than in America." 
 
 Coleridge says, "I regret to see that vile and barbarous vocable, 
 talented, stealing out of the newspapers into the leading reviews and 
 most respectable publications of the day. Why not sMllinged, farthinged, 
 tenpenced, etc. The formation of a participle passive from a noun is a 
 license that nothing but a very peculiar facility can excuse. Most of 
 these pieces of slang come from America." Table Talk, July 8, 1832. 
 
 Mr. Bulwer is not yet " talented," a pseudo-particle, which no one will use who is 
 not ripe for any atrocity ; but he " progresses " at a fearful rate. Edinburgh Rev., 
 Vol. LXV. p. 240. 
 
 TALK. Among the Indians of North America, a public conference, as re-
 
 TAL TAM 471 
 
 specting peace or war, negotiation, and the like ; or an official verbal 
 communication made from them to another nation or its agents, or made 
 to them by the same. Webster. 
 
 But snakes are in the bosoms of their race ; 
 And though they held with us a friendly talk, 
 The hollow peace-tree fell beneath their tomahawk. 
 
 Campbell, Gertrude of Wyoming. 
 
 To TALK TURKEY. To talk in a silly manner, talk nonsense. In allu- 
 sion, probably, to the silly airs of a turkey-cock. 
 
 Polly Bean was not the first girl I run against, by a long shot ; and I was plaguy 
 apt to talk turkey always when I got sociable, if it was only out of politeness. 
 McClintock, Beedle's Marriage. 
 
 TALKING-IRON. A comical name for a gun or rifle ; called also a shooting- 
 iron, on the same principle that in flash language a pistol is " a barker," 
 and a watch " a ticker," and sometimes " a tattler." 
 
 I hops out of bed, feels for my trunk, and outs with my talkin'-iron, that was all 
 ready loaded. Sam Slick in England, ch. 2. 
 
 TALL. 1. Great; fine; splendid; extravagant. A flash word. 
 
 Stump straightened up and started at a pace that would have staggered Captain 
 Barclay, Ellsworth, or the greatest pedestrian mentioned in the annals of "tall 
 walking." Kendall's Santa Ftf Expedition, Vol. I. p. 398. 
 
 If we don't come out in force and do things open and above board, we '11 have a 
 tall fight with the gang. A Stray Yankee in Texas, p. 129. 
 
 The gineral found the next day a sight o' gold pieces and a whole pot full o' the 
 tallest kind o' jewels. The Yankee Among the Mermaids. 
 
 Ohio warn't any great shakes twenty years ago ; but let me tell you, stranger, it 
 had a mighty big pile of the tallest kind of land layin' around waitin' to be opened 
 up to the sunlight. Hammond, Wild Northern Scenes, p. 211. 
 
 The live Sucker from Illinois had the daring to say that our Arkansaw friend's 
 stories smelt rather tall. Thorpe, Big Bear of Arkansas. 
 
 2. Finely ; exceedingly ; highly ; very much. Western. 
 
 I will walk tall into varmint and Indian ; it 's a way I 've got, and it comes as 
 natural as grinning to a hyena. I 'm a regular tornado, tough as hickory, and long- 
 winded as a nor'-wester. Thorpe's Backwoods, p. 131. 
 
 I seed Jess warn't pleased ; but I did n't estimate him very tall, so I kept on dan- 
 cin' with Sally, and ended by kissin' her good by, and making him jealous as a pet 
 pinter. Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 TAMAL, or TAMAULI. A peculiar Spanish- American dish made up of a 
 paste of crushed or ground maize, sometimes with minced meat added, 
 when it is wrapped in the husks of maize and baked on the coals. 
 
 The mountebanks draw a crowd, and this attracts a few sellers of whiskey, tortil- 
 las, and tamaulcs, making a ruddy picturesque group. Olmsted's Texas. 
 
 TAMARACK. See Hackmatack.
 
 472 TAN TAR 
 
 TANGLE-FOOT. One of the Western figurative terms for whiskey. 
 TANGLE-LEGS. See Hobble-Bush. 
 
 TAPIOCA. A substance much used in the United States for puddings and 
 other culinary purposes. It is extracted from the manioc. (Jatropha ma- 
 nihot), a shrub indigenous to tropical America, and now cultivated from 
 Florida to Magellan. It is said that an acre of manioc will nourish more 
 persons than six acres of wheat. Its roots attain the size of the thigh. 
 Every part of the plant is filled with a milky juice, which is a very vio- 
 lent and dangerous poison, producing death in a few minutes, when swal- 
 lowed ; yet human ingenuity has converted its roots into an article of 
 food. This is done by grinding them in wooden mills, after which the 
 paste is put into sacks, and exposed to the action of a powerful press. 
 The poisonous juice is thereby extracted, and the residue is the substance 
 known as cassava or mandioca, a nutritious flour, preferred by the natives 
 to that from wheat. When kept from moisture, this flour will keep good 
 for fifteen or twenty years. The tapioca is made by separating from the 
 fibrous part of the roots a small quantity of the pulp, after the juice is 
 extracted, and working it by hand till a thick white cream appears on the 
 surface. This, being scraped off and washed in water, gradually subsides 
 to the bottom. After the water is poured off, the remaining moisture is 
 dissipated by a slow fire, and, the substance being constantly stirred, grad- 
 ually forms into grains about as large as those of sago. This is the purest 
 and most wholesome part of the manioc. Encyc. Americana. 
 
 To TAP. To add a new sole or heel to a shoe. Herefordshire, England. 
 Worcester. 
 
 To BE ON ONE'S TAPS, is to be on one's feet, literally on one's soles ; a 
 metaphor borrowed from the shoemaker. 
 
 Your editor, when times are dull, must be "on his taps" as the saying is. When 
 the mail comes through and brings news enough to make things look lively, why 
 then he must work, and cut, and paste, as though the world depended on him. N. 
 Y. Tribune. 
 
 TARNAL. A New England corruption of eternal. 
 Whatc'er he tries, it is his rule, 
 If once he fail to reach the " gool," 
 To rate himself a " tarnal fool, 
 
 By golly ! " Yankee Philosophy. 
 
 TARNATION. A common oath both in Old and New England. It is a 
 variation of Darnation. 
 
 Poor honest John ! 't is plain he know'd 
 
 But liddle of lire's range, 
 Or he 'd a know'd, gals oft, at fust, 
 
 Have ways tarnation strange. Essex Dialect, p. 1 1 .
 
 TAR TEE 473 
 
 TARVE. A turn, bend, curve. 
 
 I can't say mucli for your axe, stranger, for this helve has no tarve to it ; but, 
 such as it is, clown must come this elm. Cooper, Oak Openings. 
 
 TAUNTON TURKEYS. The common herring, of which large quantities are 
 taken near Taunton, Massachusetts. Comp. Albany Beef. 
 Our fisheries o'er the world are famed, 
 
 The mackerel, shad, and cod ! 
 And Taunton turkeys are so thick, 
 "We sell them by the rod ! 
 
 AUin, Yankee Ballad. 
 
 TAUTATJG, or TAUTOG. (Tautoga americana.) The name of the Black- 
 fish caught in the waters of Rhode Island. It is an Abenaki Indian 
 word, and may be found in Roger Williams's Key to the Indian Lan- 
 guage, where, however, he calls it the Sheepshead, which is an entirely 
 different fish. In New York it is called Black Fish, from the color of its 
 back and sides. 
 
 For blue fish merely, nothing can be as good as Edgartown. For blue fish, bass, 
 and tautog altogether, Seconnet is better. Dan'l Webster, Private Cor., Vol. I. 
 p. 339. 
 
 TAVERN. A house licensed to sell liquors in small quantities to be drank 
 on the spot. In some of the United States tavern is synonymous with 
 u inn " or " hotel," and denotes a house for the entertainment of travellers, 
 as well as for the sale of liquors, licensed for that purpose. Webster. 
 
 TAVERN-KEEPER. One who is licensed to sell liquors to be drank in his 
 own house, and to entertain travellers and lodgers, together with the 
 horses and oxen composing their teams. Webster. 
 
 To TAX. To charge ; as, " What will you tax me a yard for this cloth ? " 
 i. e. what will you charge for it, or, what is the price of it ? New Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Job Clark was a wonderful pious pedlar, and would n't take advantage of a min- 
 ister of the Gospel. He, therefore, in tradin' with the clergy, only taxed his goods 
 at half price. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 218. 
 
 TEAM. He 's a whole team, or a. full team, are slang expressions of admi- 
 ration, meaning he is a person of great abilities and energy. 
 
 TEAR-COAT, or TEAR-BLANKET (often pron. Tar-coat in the West). The 
 Arabia Spinosa, or Angelia tree, so called because its prickles tear the 
 coats of hunters, or the blankets of the Indians, in passing. 
 
 TEA-SQUALL. A not over respectful name for a tea-party. 
 
 TEETER. See Peetweet. 
 
 40*
 
 474 TEE TEL 
 
 To TEETER. 1. To see-sa\v on n balanced plank, as children for amuse- 
 ment. Worcester. The English write and pronounce titter. 
 
 2. To bob the body up and down, as in saluting a person or taking a 
 seat. 
 
 With a few fashionable phrases in your noddles, a face barbarously brutalized 
 a ridiculously genteel apparel, and a most audacious assurance you tip and teeter 
 about, thinking that you excite the admiration of all, but of the ladies in particular. 
 Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 184. 
 
 TEETER-TAAVTER. The game of see-saw. In England pronounced titter- 
 totter. Children, while playing it, repeat the distich : 
 
 Teeter-taw ter, 
 Milk and water. 
 
 TEETH-ACHE. An attempted improvement in the way of accuracy on the 
 word tooth-ache. 
 
 TEETOTALLY. Entirely; totally. 
 
 The meetin' houses on one side of the water, how teetotally different they be ! 
 Sam Slick in England, ch. 12. 
 
 Stranger, I 'm powerful sorry, but we're teetotally out; he took every bit of food 
 with him. Carlton's New Purchase, Vol. II. p. 245. 
 
 Things were n't going on right ; so I pretty nearly gave myself up teetotally to 
 the good of the republic. J. C. Neat, Peter Brush. 
 
 I would n't have you think that I am teetotally opposed to dancing in every shape ; 
 for the reason that I used to heel and toe it a trifle myself, when young. Dow's 
 Sermons, Vol. I. 
 
 TEETOTACIOUSLY. A strange Western term meaning a little more than 
 teetotally, if such a thing be possible. 
 
 He was, by ! I won't swear, 'cause it 's wicked ; but if he was n't, I hope to 
 
 be teetotaciously chawed up ! Western Adventures, N. Y. Spirit of the Times. 
 
 TELEGRAM. A despatch by the Electro-Telegraph. 
 
 We claim this as an American word, it having been first suggested and 
 its adoption urged as early as the year 1852. To the Albany Evening 
 Journal is entitled the credit of the first suggestion of the term, that paper 
 having, on the 6th April, 1852, published the following, which emanated 
 .from Mr. E. Peshine Smith, of Rochester. 
 
 A New Word. A friend desires us to give notice that he will ask leave, at 
 .some convenient time, to introduce a new word into the vocabulary. The object of 
 ithis proposed innovation, is to avoid the necessity, now existing, of using two words, 
 for which there is very frequent occasion, when one will answer. It is TELEGKAM, 
 instead of Telegraphic Despatch, or Telegraphic Communication. The word is formed 
 .according to the strictest laws of the language from which its root comes. Telegraph 
 means to write from a distance ; Telegram, the writing itself, executed from a dis- 
 Jance. Monogram, Logogram, etc., are words formed upon the same analogy and
 
 TEL TEN 475 
 
 in good acceptation. Our friend, moreover, says that the House Line, if disposed 
 to be precise, should call their communications Teletypes, as they are printed, not 
 written. In a generous spirit of toleration, he proposes no action upon the last sug- 
 gestion ; but as to everybody else, except the employers and customers of the House 
 Line, he would have them " held and firmly bound " to speak, write, print, and tele- 
 graph, TELEGRAM, instead of any two words signifying the same thing, under pen- 
 alty of being considered verbose and tedious. 
 
 Immediately after this, probably from the suggestion in the Albany 
 Journal, there appeared in the " Daily American Telegraph," published 
 in Washington, on the 27th of April, 1852 (a copy of which we have 
 seen), the following from the Editor, Mr. Thomas Connolly. 
 
 Telegram. Telegraph, means to write from a distance : Telegram, the writing it- 
 self executed from a distance. Monogram, Logogram, etc., are words formed upon 
 the same analogy, and in good acceptation. Hence, Telegram is the appropriate 
 heading of a Telegraphic despatch. Well, we '11 go it. Look to our heading. 
 
 The Telegraph despatches in the same paper were accordingly given 
 under the heading of TELEGRAMS, and the heading continued for some 
 time; but the suggestion not being followed by the press, it was dropped. 
 
 In discussing the origin of the term in England, the London " Notes 
 and Queries" of Nov. 21, 1857, asserts that it was used both in Liver- 
 pool and London four years before. But even admitting the correctness 
 of this assertion for it is only an assertion the date, it will be perceived, 
 falls a year and a half short of the earlier American use of it. 
 
 TELL. A saying ; generally, however, a good one, or a complimentary 
 one. A young lady will say to another, " I 've a tell for you," i. e. I've a 
 compliment for you, or I have heard some one speak highly of you. Not 
 elegant. 
 
 In his dealings with the other sex he is a little twistical, according to their tell. 
 Humphreys, The Yankee in England. 
 
 To TELL. To tell one good-bye, is the Southern phrase for to bid one good- 
 bye. " Before I leave town, I will come and tell you good-bye." 
 
 To TELL ON. To tell of; to tell about. Vulgar. 
 
 " Well," says the Gineral, " I am glad I did n't understand him, for now it stumps 
 me considerable. Major, who was that ? " " Why," says I, " Gineral, he is the son 
 of a man I 've heard you tell on a thousand times." Maj. Downing's Letters, 29. 
 
 To TEND, for to attend. 
 
 Most of the passengers in the cars were preachers what had been up to Augusta 
 to tend the convention. Maj. Jones's Travels. 
 
 TENDSOME. Requiring much attendance ; as, " a tendsome child." Web- 
 ster. This word is used in Connecticut.
 
 476 TEN THE 
 
 TENEMENT HOUSE. In the city of New York a house let to, or occupied 
 by, a number of tenants. 
 
 TEN-PINS. Laws having been passed against the establishment of " nine- 
 pin alleys," the name and the number of pins were at once changed. 
 
 TERAWCHY. This word is evidently of Dutch origin, and would seem to 
 be te ratje, the little rat, an equivalent for the term "creep-mouse," which 
 is used in a like manner. It is a very common word in the nursery, and 
 is always accompanied by a peculiar motion of the fingers, with the palm 
 of the hand presented to the child. It is as well known among the old 
 English families of New York as among those of Dutch descent. 
 
 TERRAPIN. (Palustris.) A name given to a species of tide-water tortoise, 
 common in the Atlantic States south of New York, and considered an 
 article of luxury. It is found exclusively in the salt water, and always 
 in the neighborhood of marshes. 
 
 TERRITORY. A large district of country belonging to the United States, 
 though not forming a part of any individual State, and under a temporary 
 government. Worcester. 
 
 TESQUITE. An alkaline efflorescence of considerable value which exudes 
 from the earth around many of the lakes, ponds, and marshy grounds in 
 New Mexico, California, and Arizona. 
 
 TEST-PAPER. A paper or instrument shown to a jury as evidence. A 
 term used in the Pennsylvania Courts. Called also a " standard paper." 
 Burrill's Law Die. 
 
 TEXAN HARE. See Jackass Rabbit. 
 
 THANKSGIVING DAY. A day set apart once a year (usually in the month 
 of November), by the Governors of States, for a general thanksgiving to 
 God for blessings enjoyed. The custom originated among the Puritans 
 of New England, where, as a season of social festivities and family reun- 
 ions, it has almost wholly usurped the place of Christmas. 
 
 THE. American speakers and writers very commonly use the definite 
 article in the French manner, and contrary to the genius of the English 
 language, before the names of diseases. 
 
 There would be nothing questionable in the report that De Soto died of typhus 
 fever, or some similar malady, if another account did not ascribe his death to the 
 dysentery. Willmer's Life of De Soto, p. 505. 
 
 THERE, (pron. thar.) On the spot ; on hand ; at home. Western. The 
 author of "A Stray Yankee in Texas," in speaking of this use of the word,
 
 THI THE 477 
 
 says, " A man who accepts an invitation to a frolic or a fight, a wedding 
 or a funeral, probably answers, I 'm ihar. A person wishing to imply that 
 he is perfectly at home in any thing, says he is thar ; a good hunter or 
 fisher is also thar" 
 
 THIMBLE-BERRY. (Rubus occidentalism) The Black Raspberry, so called 
 by many from the naked receptacle, which has the shape of a thimble. 
 
 THIMBLE-WEED. (Ttudbeckia^) A tall plant six or eight feet high, re- 
 sembling the sunflower. It is one of the herbs prepared by the Shakers, 
 and is used in medicine for its diuretic and tonic pi'operties. Like the 
 Thimble-berry, its receptacle resembles a thimble. 
 
 THIS HERE, and THAT THERE. These vulgar pleonasms are often heard 
 in this country as well as in England. 
 
 This yere, is the common pronunciation in the South. 
 
 THOMPSONIAN DOCTOR. A physician who follows the Thompsonian prac- 
 tice ; also called Steam Doctor. 
 
 THOMPSONIAN PRACTICE. A peculiar treatment of diseases, so named 
 from its inventor. The medicines are labelled from No. 1 to No. 10, and 
 are compounds of Cayenne pepper, lobelia, etc. 
 
 THORNY LOCUST. See Honey Locust. 
 
 THOROUGHFARE. A low gap between mountains; as, "Thoroughfare gap" 
 in Fauquier county, Virginia. " Thoroughfare mountain." Southern. 
 
 THOROUGHWORT. Another name for Boneset, which see. 
 
 THOUSAND OF BRICK. Like a thousand of brick, is a queer simile very 
 often heard. It means, of course, very heavily, like brick dumped out of 
 a cart ; and then vigorously, vehemently. 
 
 A huge negro woman threw herself convulsively from her feet, and fell like a thou- 
 sand of brick across a diminutive old man. Simon Suggs. 
 
 The new " Yankee Doodle," by George P. Morris, created an immense noise. 
 Nobody could sit still ; hands and feet came into the chorus of their own accord, and 
 the house was down " like a thousand of brick." New York Paper. 
 
 I see he was gcttin riled some, and I thought he 'd bile over. You see that 's the 
 way with us Western folks. If folks is sassy, we walk right into 'em like a thousand 
 of brick. Mrs. Clavers, Forest Life, Vol. I. p. 109. 
 
 Sweet is the melting fall of music, but not such music as nightly comes down up- 
 on us like a thousand of bricks from the balconies of museums, nor such as we some- 
 times hear a* the opera. Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 201. 
 
 THROUGH, is used in the West for swathe, or the cut of the cradle through 
 grass or grain. Like " swathe," it is also used figuratively ; as, " What a 
 through he cut ! " i. e. what a swell !
 
 478 Til R TIC 
 
 THROUGH THE MILL. A person is said to have been through the mill 
 when he has had experience in a particular thing. 
 
 To THROW IN. To contribute; as, "I'll throw in for a pony race." 
 
 THUNDERING. Very ; exceedingly. A vulgar colloquialism, used both in 
 England and in this country. 
 
 Lord Hervey, in his Memoirs of the Court of George II., mentions 
 Queen Caroline's indignation at the infliction of a " thundering long ser- 
 mon." 
 
 I was told that Faneuil Hall was called the " cradle of liberty." I reckon old 
 King George thought they were thundering fine children that were rocked in it, and 
 a good many of them. Crockett, Tour Down East, p. 61. 
 
 If a chap only comes from the North, and has got a crop of hair and whiskers, and 
 a coat different from everybody else, and a thunderin' great big gold chain about his 
 neck, he's the poplerest man among the ladies. A/a/. Jones's Courtship, p. 82. 
 
 TICK NATION. A name given to regions in which ticks abound, and, as 
 the grasses and sandy soil infected by them are peculiar to the poorer 
 parts of the country, it is sometimes used as a term of reproach. 
 
 TICKET. Politically it means a printed list of candidates to be used at an 
 election. According to circumstances a man is said to vote the straight 
 ticket' i. e. the ticket containing the " regular nomination " of his party 
 without change ; a scratch ticket, a ticket from which the names of one 
 or more of the candidates are erased ; a split ticket, a ticket representing 
 different divisions of his party ; or a mixed ticket, a ticket in which the 
 nominations of different parties are blended into one. 
 
 TICKE.T-SWINDLER. Several complaints have been made at the Mayor's 
 office, of a new system of swindling persons from the interior, who are re- 
 turning to Germany, and other persons of Europe. It is the custom with the 
 runners of packet-lines to have their agents in the country inclose the ticket 
 in an envelope, which the passenger is directed to deliver to the owners 
 of the lines at their office in New York. In many cases the ticket sivin- 
 dlers meet the passengers at the railroad depots, and, learning their busi- 
 ness, take them to their offices, stating that it is the regular office of the 
 steamship or packet line, and after inspecting the tickets pronounce them 
 "all right," but that it will be necessary to deposit $10 for "medical 
 fees" on the passage. The passenger demurs, perhaps ; but at last, just 
 before the steamer or ship leaves, pays the amount, after Jbeing told he 
 cannot proceed on his journey without paying the fees. This system has 
 been practised quite extensively within a few weeks back. N. Y. Tri- 
 lune, Nov. 13, 1858.
 
 TIC TIG 479 
 
 TICKLER. 1. A common name among merchants and bankers for a book 
 in which a register of notes or debts is kept for reference. 
 2. A small pocket flask in which to carry liquor. 
 
 Then he took out a tickler of whiskey ; and arter he 'd took three or four swallows 
 out'n it, says he, " Oblige me by taking a horn." Southern Sketches, p. 33. 
 
 TIE. 1. The state produced by an equal number of votes on two opposite 
 sides. Worcester. I have not found this very common use of the word 
 in any other dictionary or glossary, English or American. 
 
 2. A pair that are alike ; a match. " Them two hogs is a tie" West- 
 ern. 
 
 To TIE TO. In Western phraseology, a man who " will do to tie to" is one 
 who can be relied upon, an honest man. 
 
 To TIE UP. To make fast, as a vessel or steamboat. An expression pe- 
 culiar to the West. 
 
 "It's foggy to-night," said the captain, "and you 'd best run the boat till nine, 
 and then tie up." 
 
 " Tie her up ! " says Jim. "I tie her up in a horn ! Do you reckon I can't run 
 her in such a fog as this ? No, sir ! I '11 keep her a bilin' till my watch is up, and 
 then I '11 tie up, as you 're afeard to run. Maj. Bunkum N. Y. Sp. Times. 
 
 TIGER. In 1822, the Boston Light Infantry, under Captain Mackintosh 
 and Lieut. Robert C. Winthrop, visited Salem and encamped in Wash- 
 ington square ; and during their stay a few of the members indulged in 
 sports incidental to camp duty, when some visitor exclaimed to one who 
 was a little rough, " Oh, you Tiger ! " It became a catch word, and as 
 a term of playful reproach, " You 're a Tiger," was adopted as one of the 
 peculiar phrases of the corps. On the route to Boston some musical 
 genius sung an impromptu line, " Oh, you Tigers, do n't you know," to the 
 air of " Rob Roy McGregor oh !" Of course the appellation soon induced 
 the Tigers by name to imitate the actions of the Tiger, and the " growl " 
 was introduced, and at the conclusion of three cheers " a tiger " was in- 
 variably called for. 
 
 In 1826, the Infantry visited New York, being the first volunteer corps 
 to make a trip from this city to another State ; and while there the Tigers 
 at a public festival awoke the echoes and astonished the Gothamites by 
 giving the genuine howl. It pleased the fancy of the hosts, and gradually 
 it became adopted on all festive and joyous occasions, and now " three 
 cheers and a tiger " are the inseparable demonstrations of approbation in 
 that city. Boston Evening Gazette. 
 
 TIGER-CAT. See Ocelot. 
 
 TIGHT. 1. Close ; parsimonious ; saving ; as, "a man tight in his dealings."
 
 480 TIG TIN 
 
 Close ; hard ; as, " a tight bargain." Webster. To these American uses 
 of the word is to be added another similar to the last. When money is 
 difficult to be procured by discounting, etc., business men say, " the money 
 market is tight" or " money is tight" In this sense it is the opposite of 
 easy, which see. 
 
 The Deacon was as tight as the skin on his back ; begrudged folks their victuals 
 when they came to his house. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 30. 
 
 The money market, except on the best stocks, is getting tight, and there is a gen- 
 eral calling in of loans upon the " fancies." N. Y. Tribune. 
 
 2. Tipsy ; drunk. Used mostly at the South. The question has 
 been asked, " Can a man be considered a loose character who comes 
 home tight every night ? " 
 
 TIGHT MATCH. A close or even match, as of two persons wrestling or 
 running together. 
 
 TIGHT PLACE. To be in a tight place is to be in straits, to be short of 
 money. 
 
 TIGHT SCROUGING, i. e. hard squeezing. Said of any thing difficult to ac- 
 complish. Shencood's Georgia. 
 
 TIGHT SQUEEZE. A difficulty. 
 
 It's a tight squeeze sometimes to scrouge between a lie and the truth in business. 
 Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 217. 
 
 TILT. See Lawyer, No. 1. 
 
 TILT-UP, or TIP-UP. The popular name of the Sand-Piper. See Peet- 
 Weet. 
 
 TIMBER. Throughout the West and South this term is applied to wood- 
 land. A man going into the woods will tell you he is going into the tim- 
 ber. 
 
 After proceeding half a mile into the timber, we were suddenly brought to a stand 
 by the dense undergrowth. A Stray Yankee in Texas. 
 
 TIME. " What time are you ? " means, What o'clock is it ? 
 
 TIMOTHY. (Phleum pratense.) The common name for the Herd's Grass ; 
 said to be derived from Timothy Hanson, one of its early propagators. 
 Bigelow's Flora Bostoniensis. 
 
 TINAJA. (Span. pron. tinaha.) The word signifies, primarily, an unglazed 
 earthen water-jar ; and is applied on the Mexican frontier to water-holes 
 or cavities in rocks on the sides of mountains, where water accumulates. 
 These are filled during the rainy season, and are the chief or only de- 
 pendence of travellers for water at other times.
 
 TIN TOA 481 
 
 Permanent water is found under a cleft of igneous rocks, and does not properly 
 deserve the name of a spring, but is rather a tinaja supplied by water trickling 
 through the rocks from water-holes above. Schott's Obs. on the Country along the 
 Mexican Boundary, p. 69. 
 
 Eight of these tinajas, one above the other, the highest too difficult to reach [are 
 found here] ; as the water is used from the lower ones, you ascend to the next 
 higher, passing it down by means of buckets. Lieut. Michler's Report, Mexican 
 Boundary, p. 114. 
 
 TINKER. A small mackerel. New England. 
 TIP-UP. See Peet-weet. 
 
 TIPSIXAH. The wild prairie turnip, used as food by the North-western 
 Indians. 
 
 TITHING-MAN. In New England a parish officer appointed to preserve 
 order at public worship, and enforce the proper observance of the Sab- 
 bath. Worcester. 
 
 To TITIVATE. To dress up. " To titivate oneself," is to make one's toilet. 
 Colloquial in England and the United States. 
 
 Well, I '11 arrive in time for dinner ; I '11 titivate myself up, and down to drawin'- 
 room. Sam Slick in England, ch. 23. 
 
 The girls are all so titivated off with false beauty, that a fellow loses his heart be- 
 fore he knows it. Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 151. 
 
 TITTER. An eruption on the skin. This is merely another pronunciation 
 of tetter. It is used in New England, and, according to Forby, is pro- 
 vincial in England. 
 
 To. 1. For at or in. An exceedingly common vulgarism in the Northern 
 States. We often hear such barbarous expressions as, " He lives to 
 York ; " " He wan't to hum " (i. e. at home) ; while the opposite mistake 
 of in for into is hardly less frequent. 
 
 I have forgot what little I learnt to night-school ; and, in fact, I never was any 
 great shakes at it. Sam Slick. 
 
 When is charity like a top ? When it begins to hum. Bait. Sun. 
 The boiler, instead of going upward, moved in a horizontal line, passed through 
 the main building directly through the weaver's room, without injuring the workmen 
 there, although men were to work on each side of where the boiler passed. Rome 
 Sentinel, Sept. 1858. 
 
 2. To, as the sign of the infinitive, is sometimes improperly omitted. 
 We found the medical student at his lodgings, sitting at a table in the middle of a 
 very disorderly apartment, making believe [to] eat a late breakfast. Putnam's 
 Magazine, May, 1854. 
 
 ToAD-FiSH. (Batrachus variegatus.) This repulsive creature, and fish- 
 erman's pest, is called also "Oyster Fish," on the New Jersey coast, 
 
 41
 
 482 T O B T M 
 
 from its frequenting the oyster beds, and " Grubley " on the coast of New 
 England. 
 
 TOBACCO. (W. Ind. tabago or tobacco, a cigar or pipe.) An American 
 plant, the dried leaves of which are used for smoking, chewing, and for 
 making snuff. The more common varieties cultivated in the United 
 States are Hudson, Frederick, Thickjoint, Shoestring, Thickset, Sweet- 
 scented, Orinoko, etc. Among the host of names given to it according to 
 the various modes in which it is prepared for chewing are, Pig-tail, Ladies' 
 Twist, Cavendish, Honey-dew, Negro-head (pron. Nigger-head), Long 
 Cut, Short Cut, Bull's Eye, Plug, Fig, Oronoko Leaf, Nail-rod or 32's, 
 Roll, Fine Spun, Pound, etc. etc. There is, besides, smoking tobacco, 
 put up in papers of various kinds, as Kanaster, Kite-foot, Cut-stems, etc. 
 In the form of snuff there are also many terms for it, as Maccoboy, 
 Eappee (American and foreign, named after the places it is manufactured 
 in), American gentleman, Demigros, Pure Virginia, Copenhagen, Nachi- 
 toches, Bourbon, St. Domingo, Scotch, High Toast, Irish Blackguard, 
 Irish High Toast, etc. etc. 
 
 TOBACCO-BOX. A small fresh-water fish, called also Sunfish and Pumpkin 
 Seed. 
 
 TOBACCO-ROOT. See Kooyah Root. 
 
 To TOE THE MARK. A phrase borrowed from the prize-ring, and mean- 
 ing, to come up to one's obligations. 
 
 To TOLE. To draw or cause to follow, by presenting something pleasing 
 or desirable to view ; to allure by some bait. Webster. 
 
 We apply this old English word only to the alluring of animals. Thus 
 in New England the farmers tole sheep, and cause them to follow, by 
 holding to them a measure of corn or some fodder. In the Middle States 
 wild ducks are toled within gun-shot, by causing a little dog to run up 
 and down behind a brushwood fence, which excites their curiosity. 
 
 TOMAHAWK. (Algonkin Ind., tomehagen.) An Indian hatchet, or axe. 
 
 It was and is the custom of the Indians to go through the ceremony of 
 burying the tomahawk, when they made peace ; when they went to war, 
 they dug it up again. Hence the phrases " to bury the tomahawk" and 
 " to dig up the tomahawk" are sometimes used by political speakers and 
 writers with reference to the healing up of past disputes or the breaking 
 out of new ones. See Hatchet. 
 
 Fierce the fight and short, 
 As is the whirlwind. Soon the conquerors 
 And conquered vanished, and the dead remain 
 Mangled by tomahawks. Bryant, Tlie Fountain.
 
 TOM TOP 483 
 
 TOMCOD. (Morrhua pruinosa.) A small fish common to our coast, but 
 which becomes very abundant after the first frost ; hence the name of 
 Frost Fish, by which it is also known. Storer, Fishes of Massachusetts. 
 Dr. J. V. C. Smith believes the tomcod to be the same as a fish known 
 in Europe as the tacaud of Cuvier, and that tomcod is a corruption of the 
 Indian name, tacaud, i. e. plenty-fish, as this little fish was well known to 
 our aborigines. 
 
 The Hull merchant came under the frigate's stern, and volunteered to go and 
 catch some tomcod. Lieut. Wise, Scampavias, p. 19. 
 
 The face of the mermaid was regular human, and it looked rather tawney and 
 flabby like a biled nigger, with fleshy eyes, and a mouth like a huge tomcod. Story 
 of the Mermaid. 
 
 ToM-Doo. Male dogs, as well as cats, take the prefix " torn," in some 
 parts of the West. " Them torn-dogs howls awful to-night." 
 
 TOMBS. A name commonly given to the New York city prison, in allusion 
 to its heavy Egyptian style of architecture. 
 
 TOMBS LAWYER. A lawyer whose clients are the inmates of the New 
 York city prison. A contemptuous term. See Shyster. 
 
 TONGS. A name for pantaloons and roundabouts, formerly in use in New 
 England. 
 
 Children were playing on the green, the boys dressed in tongs; some in skirt- 
 coats, etc. Margaret, p. 34. 
 
 TOOTHACHE BUSH. (Xanthoxylum fraxineum.) Prickly Ash; so called 
 from its pungent properties, made sensible when applied to an aching 
 tooth. 
 
 TOOTHACHE GRASS. (Monocera aromatica.) A singular kind of grass 
 which grows in Florida, with a naked stalk four feet high. It affects the 
 breath and milk of cows, which eat it when young and tender. The root 
 affects the salivary glands. Williams' s Florida. 
 
 ToOTixG-TuB. A puritanical term for a church-organ. 
 
 I 've heard they 're subscribing around for an organ ! Yes, an organ ! What on 
 earth will they do next ? That ever I should live to see a Popish tootin'-tub stuck 
 up in our gallery ! Brook, Eastford, p. 22. 
 
 TOP NOTCH. The highest point. 
 
 To-day the editor of the Union is cheered to the very top notch of joyous exultation 
 by a speech from some Democratic orator or a paragraph from some Democratic 
 editor ; to-morrow he is horrified by the atrocious sentiment of some rantipole Barn- 
 burner. N. Y. Com. Adv., Oct. 16, 1848.
 
 484 T O R T O T 
 
 TORE. The place where one stands to shoot marbles from. Used by the 
 boys of New York. 
 
 TORTILLA. (Spanish.) The well-known large, round, thin cake prepared 
 from a paste made of the soaked grains of maize, having the hulls rubbed 
 off before grinding the mass, and then baked on an earthen griddle. 
 
 The corn for the tortillas is boiled, with a little lime in the water, until the outer 
 husk or shell is peeled off, when it is ground upon an oblong stone called a " metatc," 
 a domestic utensil handed down from the aboriginal inhabitants. The meal is then 
 properly mixed and seasoned, and cooked upon small sheets of iron and copper. 
 They are baked very thin, and always served up hot. Davis, El Gringo, p. 341. 
 
 Hearing a continual slap, slap, slap, I looked round and saw a woman kneeling 
 upon the ground, rubbing the mctate, while a pretty girl was slapping a tortilla be- 
 tween her hands. Olmsted's Texas. 
 
 A triangular piece of tortilla is converted into a spoon, and soup is even eaten in 
 this way. Spoons are seldom met with even in the houses of the rich, the use of 
 the tortilla being universal. Ruxton's Adv. in Mexico, p. 145. 
 
 TORY. During the war of the Revolution this term was applied to the 
 royalists. Some years ago, when the term " Whig " was adopted by one 
 of our political parties, that of Tory was given to the Democratic party. 
 It is not now applied to any party. 
 
 It was said that the tories were arming and collecting in the Highlands, under the 
 direction of distinguished officers, to aid the conspiracies formed by Gov. Tryon 
 and his adherents. Irving, Life of Washington, Vol. II. p. 371. 
 
 TOTE. The whole ; all. " The whole tote" a common pleonasm. Pro- 
 vincial in England and in New England. 
 
 To TOTE. To carry. A queer word, much used in the Southern States. 
 It has been, absurdly enough, derived from the Latin tollit, but is more 
 probably of African origin. 
 
 The militia had everlastin' great long swords as much as they could tote. Maj . 
 Jones's Courtship, p. 39. 
 
 Here a- boy was ferociously cutting wood there one toting wood. Carlton, The 
 New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 167. 
 
 The watchman arrested Mr. Wimple for disturbing the peace, and toted him off to 
 the calaboose. Pickings from the N. 0. Picayune, p. 120. 
 
 My gun here totes fifteen buckshot and a ball, and slings 'em to kill. Chron. of 
 Pineville, p. 169. 
 
 " Goodness gracious ! " said old Miss Stallins ; " white servants ! Well, the 
 Lord knows I would n't have none on 'em about me. I could never bear to see a 
 white gall toatin my child about, and waitin' on me like a nigger ; it would hurt my 
 conscience." Maj. Jones's Travels. 
 
 And its oh ! she was so neat a maid, 
 That her stockings and her shoes
 
 TOT TOU 485 
 
 She toted in her lily-white hands, 
 For to keep them from the dews. 
 
 Ohio Boatman's Song. 
 
 TOTE-LOAD. As much as one can carry. Southern. 
 
 TOTEM. (Algonkin Ind.) The family mark or coat of arms of the North 
 American Indians. 
 
 Speaking of the Iroquois, Mr. Schoolcraft says : " Nothing is more 
 fully under the cognizance of observers of the manners and customs of 
 this people, than the fact of the entire mass of a canton or tribe 
 being separated into distinct clans, each of them distinguished by the 
 name and device of some quadruped, bird, or other object of the animal 
 kingdom. This device is called among the Algonquins (where the same 
 separation into families or clans exists), totem, and we shall employ the 
 same term here, as being already well known to writers." Notes on the 
 Iroquois, p. 176. 
 
 Think not that my blood shall mingle with the humble mark of the Awasees fit 
 totem for fishermen. Schoolcraft, Algic Res. 
 
 The Indian had made a representation of a rattlesnake drawn on his breast with 
 yellow paint. This was to be the totem or arms of his tribe. Cooper, Oak Open- 
 ings, Vol. I. p. 163. 
 
 And they painted on the grave-posts 
 Each his own ancestral totem, 
 Each the symbol of his household. 
 
 Longfellow, The Song of Hiawatha. 
 
 TOTEMIC. Relating or belonging to the totem. 
 
 To show how the aristocratic and democratic principles were made to harmonize 
 in the Iroquois government, it will be necessary to go back and examine the law of 
 descent among the tribes, together with the curious and intricate principles of the 
 totemic bond. Schoolcraft, Notes on the Iroquois, p. 126. 
 
 TOTTLISH. Shaking, vacillating, unsteady. 
 
 Our little boat was light and totlish ; and as I pressed the trigger of my rifle, it 
 rolled slightly over, and my ball passed over the deer. Hammond, Wild Northern 
 Scenes, p. 207. 
 
 TOUCH. No touch to it, means, not to compare with it. A common ex- 
 pression in vulgar language. 
 
 The children of Israel going out of Egypt with their flocks and their little ones, 
 is no touch to it [i. e. the first day of May in New York]. Maj. Downing, p. 30. 
 
 TOTJCH-ME-NOT. (Impatiens.) A plant found about brooks, and in moist 
 places. Michaux, Sylva, A popular name for the common Balsam, in 
 allusion to the bursting of its capsules when touched with the fingers. It 
 is also called Jewel- Weed. 
 
 TOUSE. A noise, or disturbance. A Dorsetshire word. 
 
 41 *
 
 486 TOW TRA 
 
 The Loch Katrin, they [the Scotch] make such a touss about, is jest about equal to 
 a good sizable duck-pond in our country. Sam Slick in England, ch. 30. 
 
 Marm Lecain makes such an eternal tow se about her carpets, that I have to go 
 along that everlastin' long entry, and down both staircases to the door, to spit. 
 Sam Slick. 
 
 When the rats rattle and kick up a touse, 
 'T is ominous always of woe to the house. 
 
 Oracles of Mrs. Partington. 
 
 Tow-BoAT. A vessel used exclusively for conveying freight. Fleets of 
 barges and canal boats, sometimes numbering forty or fifty, towed by a 
 single steam-vessel, are seen on the Hudson River. 
 
 TOW-HEAD. 1. A term applied to a white-headed urchin. 
 
 2. A white ripple or foam in a river produced by snags or other ob- 
 structions. Western. 
 
 An account of the blowing up of a steamboat on the Mississippi in 
 1858, says: 
 
 The Pennsylvania drifted down about two miles and a half, where, being stopped 
 by tow-head, she speedily burnt to the water's edge. 
 
 TOWHEE GOLDHEAD. See ChewinL 
 
 TOWN. In New England it is often used for toivnship, or a small territorial 
 district, whether densely or thinly inhabited. Worcester. 
 
 TRACK. The line of a railroad, or rather between the rails. " A man 
 walking on the track was run over and killed." A car is said to be " off 
 the track" when its wheels are off the rails. 
 
 TRACK-SPRINKLEK. A contrivance for sprinkling railroad tracks, in order 
 to lay the dust. 
 
 TRADE. Medicine ; a medical prescription. A physician informs me that 
 .this use of the word is common in the country parts of Rhode Island. 
 
 TRAIL. 1. Footstep, track, left by man or beast. 
 
 Hawkeye entered the water ; and for near an hour they travelled in the bed of the 
 brook, leaving no dangerous trail. Cooper, Last of the Mohicans. 
 
 2. An Indian footpath or road. 
 
 Jt was the policy of the President of Texas to open a direct road to Santa Fe by 
 a route much nearer than the great Missouri trail. Kendall's Santa Fe Expedition, 
 Vol. I. p. 14. 
 
 It is suggested that the respective locations for the Indians might be made, apart 
 from the great Northern and Southern trails, thoroughfares of migration, and the set- 
 tlements limited within certain prescribed boundaries, where the government might 
 protect them from the encroachments of white men. Report of the Philadelphia 
 Committee at a meeting in behalf of the Indians, March 31, 1848.
 
 TEA TRE 487 
 
 To TRAIL. " Not worth shucks to trail" is a Southern phrase, meaning 
 of little value, not fit to draw home shucks ; equivalent to the classical 
 expression, " not fit to carry guts to a bear." 
 
 They had three or four hounds, and one great big yellow one, what was n't woiih 
 shucks to trail. Maj. Jones's Courtship. 
 
 TRAIN. (Fr. traineau.) A peculiar kind of sleigh used for the transpor- 
 tation of merchandise, wood, etc., in Canada. 
 
 TRAINERS. The militia when assembled for exercise. 
 
 The gentler sex partake, by sympathy at least, in the excitement, by running after 
 the trainers. Mrs. Clavers's Western Clearings, p. 28. 
 
 TRAINING-DAY. The day when the militia are called out to be reviewed. 
 
 To TRAMPOOS. To tramp. The word is probably of English origin, 
 although not found in the English provincial glossaries. 
 
 I felt as lonely as a catamount, and as dull as a bachelor beaver ; so I trampousses 
 off to the stable. Sam Slick in England, ch. 2. 
 
 So away goes lunch, and oft' goes you and the " Sir " a trampoosin' and a trapsein' 
 over the wet grass agin. Ibid., ch. 23. 
 
 So we trampoused along down the edge of the swamp, till we came to a track. 
 Porter's Tales of the South West, p. 44. 
 
 When I get hum, I guess that my narration 
 Will make some little stir among the nation. 
 Some years ago, I landed near to Dover, 
 And seed strange sights, trampoosing England over. 
 
 D. Humphreys, TheYankee in England. 
 
 TRASH. The leaves of the sugar cane, in the West Indies, stript from the 
 cane to permit it to ripen. These leaves are laid upon the ground, to 
 prevent the sun's influence on the earth, that every moisture possible may 
 be retained for the nourishment of the plant. Trash is also used for fod- 
 dering cattle and thatching houses. CarmichaeTs West Indies. 
 
 To TRASH CANE. To strip off the dry leaves from the sugar-cane. 
 
 To TRASH A TRAIL. An expression used at the "West, meaning to con- 
 ceal the direction one has taken by walking in a stream, or, in fact, tak- 
 ing to water in any way. The fox, deer, and other animals, understand 
 this mode of escape as well as man. 
 
 To TREE. To take refuge in a tree, said of a wild animal ; to force to 
 take refuge in a tree, drive to a tree, said of the hunter. To tree oneself 
 is to conceal oneself behind a tree, as in hunting or fighting. This hunt- 
 er's word is purely American. 
 
 Besides treeing, the wild-cat will take advantage of some hole in the ground, and 
 disappear as suddenly as ghosts at cock-crowing. Thorpe's Backwoods, p. 180. 
 Forty-five years ago there was an extensive religious excitement in Kentucky,
 
 488 TEE TRU 
 
 produced by a man partially deranged, who had been a hunter and who believed 
 himself inspired. His proceedings were characterized by the greatest fanaticism, and 
 partook of the character of the man as a hunter. In order to resist the devil and 
 make him flee from you, it was necessary, he contended, to give him chase, to tree 
 and shoot him as you would a wolf among the sheep, who came but to devour. As 
 the meeting was held in a grove, one individual suddenly started in pursuit, as he 
 supposed, of the devil ; and others of a peculiar nervous temperament, having no 
 power to resist, involuntarily joined in the pursuit : and this was called the " running 
 exercise ! " One climbed up a tree ; and others caught the mania. This was called 
 the " climbing exercise ! " Another was moved to bark ; and soon others, even though 
 they used every method to prevent it, fell to involuntarily barking like dogs, while 
 others gathered round the tree praying for success. This was called " treeing the 
 devil ! " It was literally a devil chase ! And such a time of running, climbing, dog- 
 barking and devil-chasing was, perhaps, never known before or since. Evening 
 ( Wash.) Star, May 4, 1854. 
 
 TREE-MOLASSES. Molasses made from the Sugar-maple tree ; a term very 
 common in the West. 
 
 TREE-SUGAR. Sugar made from the Maple-tree. "Western. 
 TRIANGLE. A union of three political parties. 
 
 TRIANGULAR. A triangular contest of any kind is one between three dif- 
 ferent parties. 
 
 TRICKSY. Trickish ; practising tricks. This old English word is still used 
 in the South and West, where " a tricksy horse " is a common expres- 
 sion. 
 
 TRIMMINGS. The accessories to any dish. 
 
 A cup of tea with trimmings, is always in season ; and is considered as the ortho- 
 dox mode of welcoming any guest. Mrs. Clavers, A New Home. 
 
 The party luxuriated at Florence's [eating-house] on lobster and trimmings. 
 Knickerbocker Mag., Aug., 1845. 
 
 To TROLL. A method of fishing, by a long line attached to the stern of a 
 boat, which is set in motion by sails or muffled oars. A squid, a piece of 
 tin, or a strip of red and white cloth, is attached to the hook, which, pass- 
 ing rapidly along the surface of the water, is seized by the fish. Striped 
 bass and Blue-fish are generally caught in this way. 
 
 Those who prefer the more active and invigorating practice of our much admired 
 art, will find trolling for this beautiful game fish [the Striped bass] as exciting a recre- 
 ation as any that comes within the angler's reach. Amer. Angler's Guide, p. 237. 
 
 TRUCK. 1. Stuff; and especially, vegetables raised for. market, called also 
 market-truck. South and West. 
 
 They purchased homespun, calico, salt, rum, tobacco, and such other truck as their 
 necessaries called for. Cfironicles ofPineville, p. 40. 
 
 The fact is, if the people of Georgia don't take to makin' homespun and sich
 
 TRU TUC 489 
 
 truck for themselves, and quit their everlastin' fuss about the tariff and free trade, 
 
 the first they '11 know, the best part of their population will be gone to the new 
 
 States. Maj. Jones's Travels. 
 Now they passed down into Punkatees Neck ; and in their march they found a 
 
 large wigwam full of Indian truck, which the soldiers were for loading themselves 
 
 with. Church's Indian War, 1716. 
 
 " What do the doctors give for the fever and ague ? " 
 
 " Oh, they give abundance o' tmck." Georgia Scenes, p. 192. 
 
 2. A two-wheeled vehicle drawn by a horse, and used for transporting 
 merchandise. In New England the terms truck, truckman, and truckage 
 are commonly used, instead of cart, cartman, and cartage, employed else- 
 where. 
 
 The Boston truck is constructed of two long parallel shafts, hewn from the best of 
 oak, winter-felled, well-seasoned, and free from faults. These shafts are twenty-five 
 feet long, ten inches wide, and five inches thick ; strengthened underneath, in the 
 middle portion, with shorter pieces of the same width. The upper ends of the 
 shafts are cut curving and shaped round, to fit the sides of the wheel-horse. They 
 are then framed together by two transverse pieces ; the well-compacted structure is 
 placed upon a low axle, supported by wheels which are three feet in diameter ; and 
 thus the truck is complete. E. Everett, Mount Vernon Papers, No. III. 
 
 TRUCKAGE. The charges for carrying on a truck ; cartage. 
 TRUCKING. The cultivation of vegetables and fruits for market. 
 
 TRUCKMAN. The driver of a truck. 
 
 The truckman is in keeping with his truck and his horses : regularly six feet two 
 in his shoes ; stout in proportion ; temperate, intelligent, patient. E. Everett, Mt. 
 Vernon Papers, No. III. 
 
 TRUCK-PATCH. A piece of ground devoted to rearing vegetables. 
 
 TRUSTEE PROCESS. The name given, in the New England States, to the 
 process of foreign attachment. The strict trustee process extends to the 
 goods, effects, and credits of the principal debtor in the hands of his 
 agent, trustee, or debtor, and who, as trustee, is summoned to appear and 
 answer. It does not extend to the real estate in the hands of the trustee. 
 Cushing on Trustee Process. 
 
 In personal actions, brought in the court of common pleas or the supreme court, 
 the suit may be commenced by process of foreign attachment, or trustee process, in 
 the manner prescribed by law. Laws of Massachusetts. 
 
 To TRY ON. To try ; to attempt. " I 'm too wide awake to be cheated, 
 so you need not try it on" A vulgarism of recent origin. 
 
 To TUCK ox. To- unduly increase or enhance. " That horse is not worth 
 half what you gave for him. The dealer has tucked it on to you pretty 
 well." 
 
 TUCKAHOE. 1. (Sclerotium giganteum.) The Virginia truffle. A curi-
 
 490 TUC TUL 
 
 ous vegetable, sometimes called by the name of Indian Bread or Indian 
 Loaf, found in the Southern States bordering on the Atlantic. It is a 
 natural production, the origin of which has greatly perplexed naturalists, 
 as it is commonly found several feet under the surface, and, like the truf- 
 fle of Europe, has apparently no stem or leafy appendage connecting it 
 with the external atmosphere. They are generally found through the 
 instrumentality of hogs, whose acute sense of smelling enables them to 
 fix upon the spot where they lie buried. They are usually of a globular 
 or flattened oval shape, and rather regular surface, the large ones resem- 
 bling somewhat a brown loaf of coarse bread. The size varies from an 
 acorn to the bigness of a man's head. Its name, tuckahoe, is Indian, and 
 is said to designate bread. Farmer's Encyclopedia. 
 
 Out of the ground the Indians dig earth-nuts, wild onions, and a tuberous root 
 they call tuckahoe, which, while crude, is of a very hot and virulent quality ; but 
 they manage to make bread of it, etc. Beverly's Virginia, Book III. 
 
 2. The term tuckahoe is often applied to an inhabitant of Lower Vir- 
 ginia, and to the poor land in that portion of the State. 
 
 TUCKERED OUT. Tired out. Used in New York and New England. 
 
 I guess the Queen don't do her eating very airly ; for we sot and sot, and waited 
 for her, till we got eenamost tudcered out. N. Y. Family Comp. 
 
 How are you this morning, Mrs. Ashton ? 
 
 Law sakes alive ! I 'm clear tuckered out with these young ones. They 've had the 
 agur this morning, and are as cross as bear cubs. Story of the Bee Tree. 
 
 We fought until we were completely tudcered out. When we compared notes, he 
 had got my right eye, and I had chawed off both his ears. Southern Sketches, 
 p. 123. 
 
 TUK, for took. A vulgar pronunciation, common to North and South. 
 TULARE. A marsh in which Tule abounds. Texas and California. 
 
 TULE. (Scripus lacustris.) The Mexican name for a sort of bulrush cov- 
 ering immense areas in the Sacramento Valley, Klamath Basin, and on 
 the Columbia river. 
 
 We enter the square of the Alamo, San Antonio. This is all Mexican. Window- 
 less cabins of stakes, plastered with mud, and roofed with river grass or tule, houses 
 of adobes, with groups of brown idlers round the doors. Olmsted's Texas. 
 
 Now I found a comfortable house built by putting upright poles in the ground, 
 thatching them with tules, and covering the sides with the same. Wood's Report to 
 Postmaster-General Brown, p. 25. 
 
 TULIP-TREE. (Liriodendron tulipifera.) A large tree bearing flowers 
 resembling the tulip. Also called Whitewood. 
 
 The tulip-tree, high up, 
 Opened, in airs of June, her multitude 
 Of golden chalices to humming-birds 
 And silken-winged insects of the sky. Bryant, The Fountain.
 
 TUM TYP 491 
 
 TUMBLE-BUG. The Dung-beetle, called in England Tumble-dung. 
 
 It is strange, my hearers, that we mortals should be so attached to this mundane 
 sphere of ours. . . . With all its frauds and deceptions, we cling to it, as it turns 
 upon its axis, like a tumble-bug to his ball, when it accidentally rolls down hill. 
 Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 211. 
 
 To TUMP. Probably an Indian word. It means to draw a deer or other 
 animal home through the woods, after he has been killed. " We tumped 
 the deer to our cabin." Maine. 
 
 TUMPLINE. A strap placed across the forehead to assist a man in carrying 
 a pack on his back. Used in Maine, where the custom was borrowed 
 from the Indians. 
 
 TuM-TuM. A favorite dish in the West Indies, made by beating the boiled 
 plantain quite soft in a wooden mortar. It is eaten like a potato pudding, 
 or made into round cakes and fried. CarmichaeVs West Indies, Vol. I. 
 p. 183. 
 
 TUNA. (Span.) The fruit of the Pitahaya, or Indian Fig. 
 
 Excellent pulque is made here, and a beverage expressed from the juice of the 
 
 tuna, which I tasted for the first time. Ruxton's Adventures, p. 69. 
 A : Wrr. 
 
 TUPELO. See Pepperidge. 
 
 TURKEY. A drunken man is sometimes said to have " got a turkey on his 
 back." Perhaps the allusion is to his having won one at a raffle in a 
 drinking-place. 
 
 TURN OF MEAL. A quantity of grist sent to mill. Tennessee. 
 TURNER. (Germ.) A gymnast. 
 
 TURPENTINE STATE. The State of North Carolina, so called from the 
 quantity of turpentine obtained from its pine forests. 
 
 TWISTICAL. Tortuous, perverse. A factitious word. 
 
 He may be straight going, farzino, manwards ; but in his dealings with t^ other 
 sex, he is a leetle twistical, according to their tell. I would n't make a town talk of 
 it. D. Humphreys, The Yankee in England. 
 
 To TWITCH. To draw timber along the ground by a chain. Used by 
 lumbermen in Maine. 
 
 TYPO, a contraction of typographer. A name sometimes given to composi- 
 tors in a printing office. Comp. Jour. 
 
 When a boy, the writer became acquainted with an old bookworm of a man who 
 was in possession of a manuscript written in 1714-1716, by two ambitious typos, en- 
 titled, "The Desultory Meditations of Two London Printers." The Printer, 
 Dec. 1858.
 
 492 UGL UNO 
 
 U. 
 
 UGLY. Ill-tempered, vicious. A term applied both to men and animals. 
 It is local in England, and colloquial in the United States. 
 
 The questions of the spies were answered in a sullen, swaggering manner ; so 
 much so that Captain Caldwell at once remarked to his men, in a low tone and in 
 English, that these follows looked ugly and fighty. Kendall's Santa Fd, Vol. I. 
 p. 133. 
 
 UMBRELLA-TKEE. (Magnolia tripetala.) The popular name of this tree 
 in the Southern States ; from the large leaves closely arranged around 
 the ends of its branches. 
 
 UNCLE. Used in the Middle and Southern States in accosting an elderly 
 colored man. 
 
 UNCLE SAM. The cant or vulgar name of the United States government ; 
 sometimes called Brother Jonathan. It is used as " John Bull " is in 
 England. Mr. Frost, in his Naval History of the United States, gives 
 the following account of the origin of the name : 
 
 " Immediately after the last declaration of war with England, Elbert 
 Anderson of New York, then a contractor, visited Troy, on the Hudson, 
 where was concentrated, and where he purchased, a large quantity of 
 provisions, beef, pork, etc. The inspectors of these articles at that place 
 were Messrs. Ebenezer and Samuel Wilson. The latter gentleman (in- 
 variably known as ' Uncle Sam ') generally superintended in person a 
 large number of workmen, who, on this occasion, were employed in 
 overhauling the provisions purchased by the contractor for the army. 
 The casks were marked ' E. A. U. S.' This work fell to the lot of a 
 facetious fellow in the employ of the Messrs. "Wilson, who, on being 
 asked by some of his fellow-workmen the meaning of the mark (for the 
 letters U. S., for United States, were then almost entirely new to them), 
 said, ' he did not know, unless it meant Albert Anderson and Uncle Sam ' 
 alluding exclusively, then, to the said ' Uncle Sam' Wilson. The 
 joke took among the workmen, and passed currently ; and ' Uncle Sam ' 
 himself, being present, was occasionally rallied by them on the increasing 
 extent of his possessions. 
 
 " Many of these workmen being of a character denominated ' food for 
 powder,' were found, shortly after, following the recruiting drum, and 
 pushing toward the frontier lines, for the double purpose of meeting the 
 enemy and of eating the provisions they had lately labored to put in 
 good order. Their old jokes accompanied them, and before the first 
 campaign ended, this identical one first appeared in print ; it gained
 
 UNC UND 493 
 
 favor rapidly, till it penetrated and was recognized in every part of the 
 country, and will, no doubt, continue so while the United States remain a 
 nation." 
 
 Mr. Wilson died in Troy, New York, in August, 1854, at the age of 
 eighty-four years ; and the Albany Argus, in noticing his death, referred 
 to the circumstance above stated as the origin of the popular soubriquet 
 
 of Uncle Sam. 
 
 For I have loved my country since 
 My eye-teeth filled their sockets, 
 And Uncle Sam I reverence, 
 Partic'larly his pockets. 
 
 J. R. Lowell, Biglow Papers. 
 
 UNCOMMON. Uncommonly, very. This adverbial use of the word is heard 
 in the vulgar speech of both England and America. 
 
 It struck me with astonishment to hear people huzzaing for me ; and took me so 
 uncommon unexpected, as I had no idea of attracting attention. Crockett, Tour 
 Down East, p. 17. 
 
 UNCONSCIONABLE. Enormous ; vast. A low word. Johnson. Used 
 adverbially at the West, as in the following example : 
 
 " That 's an unconscionable slick gal of your'n," says I ; and it did tickle his 
 fancy to have her cracked up, 'cause he thought her creation's finishin' touch so 
 did I ! Robb's Squatter Life. 
 
 UNDER CONVICTION. To be under conviction (sell, of sin), is a common 
 expression, applied to a person who feels a remorse for sins committed, 
 and is desirous to be received into the pale of the church. 
 
 A chaplain at one of our state prisons was asked by a friend how his parishion- 
 ers were. " All under conviction," was the answer. Newspaper. 
 
 UNDERGROUND EAILROAD. The means of conveyance by which fugitive 
 slaves are enabled to escape to the free States and Canada. 
 
 It is probable that nothing has awakened more bitterly the animosity of the slave- 
 holding community than the existence, in the Northern States, of an indefinite yet 
 very energetic institution, known as the underground railtoad. Mrs. Stowe, Dred. 
 Vol. II. p. 302. 
 
 He [Connelly] regarded the underground railroad as a peculiarly Southern institu- 
 tion, taking away from the South every year thousands of the most intelligent, rest- 
 less, and desperate negroes, who would do infinitely more mischief if kept there. 
 N. Y. Tribune, June, 1858. 
 
 And now, if we may believe the promises made by the Democrats for two years 
 past, we are on the eve of a political millennium. . . . There is to be no more " agi- 
 tation " of the slavery question. The underground railroad is to suspend running, 
 and rejoicing hosts of negroes are to return from the bleak wilds of Canada to the 
 luxurious delights of life on the plantation. Albany Evening Journal, Dec. 1857. 
 
 UNDERPINNERS. The legs, which in English flash language are called 
 pins. 
 
 42
 
 494 UNI UPP 
 
 UNION. In a political sense, the connection between the States of North 
 America ; also the body of States so connected. 
 
 Do the people of the South consider the present Union of these States as an evil 
 in itself, and a thing that it is desirable we should get rid of under all circumstances ? 
 There are some, I know, who do ; but I am satisfied that an overwhelming majority 
 of the South would, if assured that this government was hereafter to be conducted 
 on the true principles and construction of the Constitution, decidedly prefer to re- 
 main in the Union rather than incur the unknown costs and hazards of setting up a 
 separate government. Speech of Hon. J. II. Hammond, Oct. 27, 1858. 
 
 To UP JIB. To be off. A sailor's phrase, much used in familiar language 
 in Nantucket. 
 
 UP TO THE HUB. To the extreme point. The figure is that of a vehicle 
 sunk in the mud up to the hub of the wheels, which i& as far as it can go. 
 
 " You 've hearn tell of the bank and tariff questions ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied the new editor of the Eagle newspaper. 
 
 " "Well, hoss, we expect you to be right co-chuck up to the hub on them thar ques- 
 tions, and pour it into the enemy in slashergaff style." Robb, Squatter Life, p. 31. 
 
 " For my part," said Abijali, grimly, " if things was managed my way, I should n't 
 commune with nobody that did n't believe in election up to the hub." Mrs. Stowe, 
 Dred. Vol. I. p. 311. 
 
 UPLAND COTTON, as opposed to Sea Island, is not necessarily raised on 
 high ground ; but even near the sea the fibre is shorter than that pro- 
 duced in the limited region known as Sea Island. 
 
 UPPER CRUST. The higher circles ; the aristocracy. 
 
 I want you to see Peel, Stanley, Graham, Shiel, Russell, Macauley, old Joe, and 
 so on. They are all upper crust here. Sam Slick in England. 
 
 THE UPPER TEN THOUSAND, or simply, THE UPPER TEN. The upper 
 circles of New York, and hence of other large cities. A phrase in- 
 vented by N. P. Willis. 
 
 The Biscaccianti troupe commence their season of Italian opera at the Chestnut 
 to-morrow night. The seats for the first night are already many of them engaged ; 
 and engaged too by the very cream of our " upper ten ; " while the moderate demo- 
 cratic prices of admission which have been wisely adopted, will invite large slices 
 of the honest and hearty masses. Letter from Philad. N. Y. Herald. 
 
 Researches in some of the upper ten districts 
 
 Reveal the most painful and startling statistics, 
 
 Of which let me mention only a few 
 
 In one single house, on the Fifth Avenue. 
 
 Butler, Nothing to Wear. 
 
 UPPERTENDOM. The aristocracy ; people of fashion. Comp. Japonicadom. 
 His rich relatives were always in such a panic lest uppertendom should discover 
 that their cousins lived in an unfashionable part of the town, dined at one o'clock, 
 and noticed trades-people and mechanics. Fanny Fern.
 
 UPS V AM 495 
 
 At a ball for the benefit of the poor was a commingling of uppertendmn with lower- 
 twentydom an avalanche of exclusiveness in a torrent of mobocracy. Doesticks, 
 p. 131. 
 
 Mr. Duganne, in his poem entitled " Parnassus in Pillory," speaking 
 of N. P. Willis, says : 
 
 Gad ! what a polish uppertendom gives 
 
 This executioner of adjectives ; 
 
 This man who chokes the English worse than Thuggists, 
 
 And turns the trade to trunk-makers or druggists. 
 
 UPSET PRICE. At public auctions an article is sometimes "set up," or 
 " started," by the auctioneer at the lowest price at which it can be sold. 
 This is called the upset price. 
 
 To USE UP. To exhaust, wear out. 
 
 Moving on the first day of May in New York has used me up worse than building 
 forty acres of stonewall. Maj. Downing, May Day in New York. 
 
 Well, being out night arter night, she got kinder used up and beat out, and unbe- 
 knownst to me used to take opium. Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 192. 
 
 Hans has been really ill ; five days down with severe pains of the limbs, have 
 left him a " little weak," which with him means well used up. Kane, Arctic Expe- 
 dition, Vol. II. p. 100. 
 
 V. 
 
 VACHER. (French.) The stock or cattle keeper on the prairies of the 
 South-west. His duty is also to break wild horses, to run cattle, and to 
 brand calves. 
 
 To VAMOSE. (Span, vamos, let us go.) Used, in the South-west chiefly, 
 in the sense of to depart, decamp, be off. A curious grammatical perver- 
 sion. 
 
 I could n't stand more than this stanza, coming from a street voice compared with 
 which the notes of a hand-saw are positively dulcet, and I accordingly vamosed. 
 N. Y. Mirror, May, 1848. 
 
 Yankee Sullivan's house, corner of Frankfort and Chatham streets, is in a danger- 
 ous condition ; its foundation walls having been partially undermined for the pur- 
 pose of excavating a cellar. Its occupants received some very ominous premonitions 
 of a downfall early yesterday morning, and forthwith vamosed with their baggage. 
 Journ. of Commerce, June, 1848. 
 
 Madame Anna Bishop gave, on Monday evening last, a spirited exhibition, and 
 not exactly of the vocal powers, for which she is celebrated, but of the woman's tem- 
 per, of which she has undoubtedly her due portion. The saloon was duly lighted 
 up, and very soon after the doors were opened a respectable number of ladies and 
 gentlemen took their seats. But the Madame appears to have been dissatisfied at 
 the number, and before waiting to see if others would assemble, the audience was 
 unceremoniously dismissed, the lights blown out in a huff, and Madame and Mon-
 
 496 VAM VES 
 
 sieur, fiddles, harps, rosin, catgut and all, vamosed. Vicksbwrg Sentinel, May, 
 1848. 
 
 On Sunday our city was thrown into a state of intense excitement. Between 
 seventy and eighty slaves had disappeared. Several negroes who had made arrange- 
 ment to vamose, were left behind, and, to be revenged, they gave the alarm. Wash- 
 ington Paper. 
 
 To VAMOSE THE RANCH. To leave the house, quit the spot, be off. 
 Like the word vamos, much used on the Western frontier and in the 
 South. This is surely breaking Priscian's head with a vengeance. 
 
 The Camanchcs came within a league of us, but vamosed the ranche when they 
 learned that the rangers were here. Southern Sketches, p. 141. 
 
 VARMINT. A corrupt pronunciation of the word vermin, applied to noxious 
 wild beasts of any kind. It comes to us from the North of England. 
 
 There are more than a hundred lakes and brakes in them diggins,that hain't never 
 been pressed by no mortal 'ceptin' varmints. Traits of American Humor. 
 
 I shot tolerably well, and was satisfied the fault would be mine if the varmints did 
 not suffer. Crockett, Tour, p. 125. 
 
 " These beavers," said old Ryan, " are industrious little fellows. They are the 
 knowingest varmint as I know." Irving' s Tour on the Prairies. 
 
 Uncas, call up your father ; we have need of all our weapons to bring the cunning 
 varmint from his roost. Cooper, Last of the Mohicans, p. 104. 
 
 VEGETABLE IVORY. See Tagua-Nut. 
 VEGETABLE MARROW. See Alligator-Pear. 
 VEGETABLE OYSTER. See Oyster-Plant. 
 
 VEGETARIAN. A disciple of a strict dietetic school, in which animal food is 
 prohibited. 
 
 VEGETARIANISM. The doctrines of the Vegetarians. 
 
 VENDIBILITY. Salableness. 
 
 A great number of manufactured articles derive their vendibility almost entirely from 
 the pattern of the design. Mr. Slieppard's Speech before Maryland Institute, 1857. 
 
 VENDUE. (French vendre, to sell, vendu, sold.) A public auction. This 
 word is in use in the United States and the West Indies ; but it is not 
 common in England, though it is found in the recent English dictionaries 
 of Knowles, Oswald, and Smart. Worcester. The word, being a wholly 
 unnecessary one, is fast becoming obsolete with us. 
 
 VENISON. In the United States this word means exclusively the flesh of 
 deer. In England it is applied to the flesh of deer, hares, and certain 
 game birds. 
 
 i VEST. A waistcoat, or garment worn under a coat. We almost always 
 -fff <**~-a. 49.
 
 VIG VOY 497 
 
 use this word instead of waistcoat, which we rarely apply to any thing 
 but an under garment, as " a flannel waistcoat." 
 
 VIGILANG'E CoaraiTTEE. A portion of the citizens of a place who, assum- 
 ing that the regular magistrates are unable or unwilling to execute the 
 laws, undertake to watch over its safety, and to punish its criminals. 
 The most notorious of these self-constituted bodies have been those of 
 San Francisco and New Orleans. 
 
 Few people abroad, who had been trained from infancy to revere " the majesty of 
 the law," and who had never seen any crime but what their own strong legal insti- 
 tutions and efficient police could detect and punish, could possibly conceive such a 
 state of tilings as would justify the formation and independent action of an association 
 which set itself above all formal law, and which openly administered summary jus- 
 tice, or what they called justice, in armed opposition and defiance to the regularly 
 constituted tribunals of the country. Therefore, in other lands, it happened that the 
 vigilance committee became often a term of reproach, and people pointed to it as a sign 
 that society in California was utterly and perhaps irredeemably impure and disor- 
 ganized. Annals of San Francisco, p. 562. 
 
 A hand-bill having been posted in Richmond, Virginia, calling a meeting of the 
 citizens for this evening, to form a vigilance committee to suppress certain secret move- 
 ments among the colored population and to stop outrages on private property, Gov- 
 ernor Wise addressed a letter to Mayor Mayo calling his attention to the movement, 
 and adding that he would use force in prohibiting such meeting from being held on 
 the Capitol square. The Mayor in reply states that, knowing the author of the hand- 
 bill to be one of the few rowdies of that city, he considers himself a " vigilance com- 
 mittee " enough for him and his comrades, and therefore deems it unnecessary to adopt 
 any unusual measures against the proposed movement. (Bait.) Sun, July 1, 1858. 
 
 Last month, in the town of Maubeuge, in the north of France, a Protestant con- 
 gregation was broken up and a part of its members marched on a Sunday from their 
 place of worship to the town jail. The final proceedings of the civil authorities in 
 the case were, according to our American notions of right and law, as gross a viola- 
 tion of justice as vigilance committee or lynching mob was ever guilty of. N. Y. 
 Tribune, Sept. 30, 1858. 
 
 VIRGINIA CREEPER. The ornamental woody vine Ampelopsis quinque- 
 folia, cultivated for covering walls and fences. By some it is called 
 Woodbine, and by others American Ivy. 
 
 VIRGINIA REEL. The common name throughout the United States for the 
 old English " country-dance " (contre-danse). 
 
 VIRGINNY, or OLD VIRGINNY. The common negro appellation of the 
 State of Virginia. 
 
 VOYAGE. Among whalers, each man calls his share of the proceeds of the 
 cruize, which he receives instead of wages, his voyage. 
 
 VOYAGEUR. (French.) A Canadian boatman. Worcester. 
 
 The Canadian voyageur is, in all respects, a peculiar character ; and on no point is 
 42*
 
 498 VUM WAK 
 
 he more sensitive, than in the just distribution of pieces among the crew forming a 
 party. Sir John Franklin's Narrative. 
 
 There is no form of wretchedness among those to which the checkered life of a 
 voyageur is exposed, at once so great and so humiliating, as the torture inflicted by 
 the musquitos. Bach, Arctic Journal, p. 117. 
 
 I VUM ! for / vow ! is a euphemistic form of oath often heard in New 
 England. 
 
 " I vum," said he, " I 'm sorry ; what 's the matter ? " Margaret, p. 86. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Dow, Jr., in one of his edifying discourses on profan- 
 ity, not inaptly observes : 
 
 What though, instead of saying, " I swear to God," you say, "I declare to good- 
 ness ? " It is as much the same thing as a bobolink with a new coat of feathers. 1 
 vum. is just the same in spirit as I vow, and a " diabolical falsehood" is synonymous 
 with a devilish lie. Dow's Sermons, Vol. III. p. 265. 
 
 w. 
 
 To W ABASH. "He's Wabashed" meaning he is cheated, is an expres- 
 sion much used in Indiana and other parts of the West. 
 
 To WABBLE. In the Western States, to make free use of one's tongue ; 
 to be a ready speaker. 
 
 WAGGLETAIL. The larva of the mosquito, etc. ; also called a wiggler. 
 
 To WAKE SNAKES. 1. To make a rousing noise ; and hence to rouse up, 
 get into action. 
 
 Well, here I be ; wake snakes, the day's a-breaking. Southern Sketches, p. 119. 
 Come, wake snakes, and push off with the captain, and get the fish on board. 
 "Sam Slick, Human Nature, p. 164. 
 
 2. To have a rousing, roaring time. 
 
 Hozea Bigelow (introduced to us by his friend Lowell the poet), in 
 speaking of military service, says : 
 
 This goin' where glory awaits ye, haint one agreeable featur' ; 
 And if it warn't for wakin' snakes, I 'd be home agin short metre." 
 
 WAKE-UP. See Clape. 
 
 To WAKE UP THE WRONG PASSENGER. To make a mistake in the in- 
 dividual. A modern substitute for the old phrase, " To get the wrong 
 sow by the ear." The allusion is to the custom on board steamboats, of 
 arousing or waking passengers at stopping places at night, when frequent 
 mistakes are made and the wrong person called up. 
 The tyrant coquette, as a matter of course, 
 Thinks her lover must mind the rein just like a horse ;
 
 WAL 499 
 
 Discouraged he leaves her, she sees her mistake, 
 And laments that she did the wrong passenger wake. 
 
 The Stage Driver's Ball, Comic Song. 
 
 Sam Slick gives the following account of an interview between an abo- 
 litionist preacher and a contented slave. The former addressing the 
 slave, says : 
 
 " Poor, ignorant wretch ! " 
 
 "Massa," replied the negro, "you has waked up de wrong passenger dis time. I 
 is n't poor. I ab plenty to eat, and plenty to drink. When I wants money, Missus 
 gives it to me. When I wants wild ducks or venison, all I got to do is, to say to dat 
 Yankee oberseer, ' Missus and I want some canvas-back or some deer.' " Human 
 Nature, p. 289. 
 
 To WALK THE CHALK. To walk straight. 
 
 " The Tallapoosa volunteers," said Capt. Suggs ; " so let every body look out 
 and walk the chalk." Simon Suggs, p. 89. 
 
 To WALK INTO. To get the upper hand of; to take advantage of; to 
 punish. A common vulgarism. 
 
 To walk into a down-east land-jobber requires great skill, and a very considerable 
 knowledge of human nature. Sam Slick, 3d Series, p. 122. 
 
 I went into the dining-room, and sot down afore a plate that had my name writ 
 on a card onto it, and I did walk into the beef, and taters, and things, about east. 
 Hiram Bigelow's Lett, in Family Comp. 
 
 The way in which the Courier and Enquirer walks into the character and reputa- 
 tion of some of their old associates in the Clay movement, is a*caution to respectable 
 blackguards, and makes Wall street journalism a rival to Five Point eloquence. 
 New York Herald, Sept. 16, 1858. 
 
 WALKING PAPERS, or WALKING TICKET. Orders to leave ; a dismissal. 
 When a person is appointed to a public office, or receives a commission, 
 he receives papers or documents investing him with authority ; so when 
 he is discharged, it is said, in familiar language, that " he has received his 
 walking papers, or his walking ticket" 
 
 It is probable that " walking papers " will be forwarded to a large proportion of 
 
 the corps diplomatique during the session of Congress. B and B are already 
 
 admonished to return, and the invitation will be pretty general. N. Y. Herald, 
 Letter from Wash ing ton . 
 
 We can announce with certainty that the Hon. Mr. D has received his walk- 
 ing ticket, accompanied with some correspondence with his Excellency that has given 
 him offence. Kingston, Canada, Whig, Dec., 1843. 
 
 Mr. Duane was ordered to remove the deposits. He answered that his duty did 
 not require it. In a few hours he got his walking ticket that his services were no 
 longer wanted. Crockett, Tour down East, p. 30. 
 
 " If you ever question me again," said Mrs. Samson Savage, " you '11 get your 
 walking ticket in short order." Widow Bedott Papers, p. 307. 
 
 WALL KOCK. Granular limestone, used in the building of walls.
 
 500 WAL WAM 
 
 To WALLOP. To beat. Provincial in England and colloquial in the 
 United States. 
 
 I grabs right hold of the cow's tail, and yelled and screamed like mad, and wal- 
 lopped away at her like any thing. Sam Slick in England, ch. 18. 
 
 There 's nothing like wallopping for taking the conceit out of fellows who think 
 they know more than their betters. J. C. Neal, Orson Dabbs. 
 
 All I know was wallopped into me. I took larnin' through the skin. Neal's 
 Charcoal Sketches. 
 
 WALT. Crank. A ship is said to be wait, when she has not her due bal- 
 last, that is, not enough to enable her to bear her sails, and keep her stiff. 
 Hubbard, in his History of New England, speaking of Lamberton's ill- 
 fated ship, says, that " she was ill-built, very waft-sided." Rev. Alex. Young, 
 note to Chron. of Massachusetts. 
 
 The next year brought a Flemish fly-boat of about 140 tons, which being unfit for 
 a fishing voyage, and wanting lodging for the men, they added unto her another 
 deck, by which means she was carried so high that she proved wait and unable to 
 bear sail. White, the Planter's Plea, 1630, p. 1. 
 
 In the North of England, wait means to totter ; to overthrow. Halli- 
 well 
 
 WAMBLE-CROPPED. Sick at the stomach ; and figuratively, crest-fallen ; 
 humiliated. New England. 
 
 There stood Capt. Jumper, shaking General Taylor's hand when he came on 
 board the " Two Pollys," trying to get a start in the address, but could not ; and 
 then I tried it. I never saw Capt. Jumper so wilted down before and that made 
 me feel so wamble-cropt I could not say a word. Maj. Downing, Letter from 
 Baton Rouge, June 15, 1848. 
 
 The Captain looked so awful womble-cropt, that I pitied him. I never saw such 
 an uncomfortable looking countenance. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 284. 
 
 WAMPUM. (A term in the Algonkin languages signifying white, the color 
 of the shells most frequent in wampum belts.) Shells, or strings of shells, 
 used by the American Indians as money. These, when united, formed 
 a broad belt, which was worn as an ornament or girdle. It was some- 
 times called wumpumpeage, or wampeage. See Peage. 
 
 The Indians are ignorant of Europe's coin. Their own is of two sorts : one 
 white, which they make of the stem or stock of the periwinkle, when all the shell is 
 broken off ; and of this sort six of their small beads, which they make with holes to 
 string the bracelets, are current with the English for a penny. The second is black, 
 inclining to blue, which is made of the shell of a fish, which some English call hens, 
 Poquahock : and of this sort three make an English penny. Their white money 
 they call wompam, which signifies white ; their black, Suckanhock, Sticki, signify- 
 ing black. R. Williams, Key to the Indian Language. 
 
 Though the young Indian women are said to prostitute their bodies for wampum- 
 peak and other such like fineries, I could never find any ground for the accusation. 
 Beverly's Virginia, 1705, Book III.
 
 WAN WAR 501 
 
 A Sagamore with a humbird in his care for a pendant, a black hawk on his occiput 
 for a plume, good store of wampumpeage begirting his loines, his bow in hand, his 
 quiver at his back, with six naked Indian spatterlashes at his heels for his guard, 
 thinks he is all one with King Charles. Wood's New England, 1634, p. 66. 
 
 And there the fallen chief is laid, 
 In tassell'd garb of skins arrayed 
 And girdled with his wampum-braid. 
 
 Whittier, The Funeral Tree. 
 
 WANGAN. (Indian.) In Maine, a boat used chiefly by lumbermen for 
 carrying provisions, tools, etc. 
 
 Among the dangers [of lumbering in Maine] where life and property are hazarded, 
 is that of " running the wangan," a phrase well understood on the river. The 
 Americans at Home, Vol. III. p. 254. 
 
 WAN'T. A common New England contraction for was not and were not. 
 Comp. Aint and Haint. 
 
 WANT TO KNOW. Among the most common singularities of expression 
 are the following : " I should admire to see him," for " I should like to 
 see him;" " I want to know !" and "Do tell!" both exclamations of 
 surprise, answering to our " Dear me ! " These last, however, are rare- 
 ly heard in society above the middling class. Lyells Second Visit, 
 ch. ix. 
 
 WAPITI. (Cervus canadensis.) The American elk, or stag. Probably 
 the Iroquois name for this noble animal. 
 
 WAPATOO. A name given by the Oregon Indians to the bulb of the Sag- 
 gitaria variabilis, used by them as an article of food. 
 
 WARDEN. A town officer in two of the island towns of Rhode Island, 
 New Shoreham and Jamestown, with similar privileges and jurisdiction 
 within his town that justices of the peace have throughout their respec- 
 tive towns and counties. Const, of R. 1. Revised Statutes of R. 1., 
 Tit. 25, Ch. 168. 
 
 WAR-PATH. A march to battle, warlike expedition of the Indians. 
 
 The Lenape would not go to the war-path, because they did not think it well. 
 Cooper, Last of the Mohicans. 
 
 When on the war-path, more than ordinaiy care is taken to adorn the body, and 
 the process of painting occupies a considerable time. Ruxton's Adv. in the Rocky 
 Mountains, p. 237. 
 
 The hunters walked in single file, following their leader, like Indians on a war- 
 path. Mayne Reid, The Boy Hunters, p. 254. 
 
 WAR-WHOOP. The Indian cry of war; a yell made on attacking a foe. 
 
 Ere dark pestilence 
 Devoured his warriors laid his hundreds low
 
 502 WAR WAY 
 
 That Sachem's war-whoop roused to his defence 
 Three thousand bow-men. Durfee, Whatcheer, Canto III. 
 
 The red men say that here she walked 
 
 A thousand moons ago ; 
 They never raise the war-whoop here, 
 
 And never twang the bow. Bryant. 
 
 We must trust to the experience of men who know the ways of the savages, and 
 who are not often backward when the war-whoop is howled. Cooper, Last of the 
 Mohicans. 
 
 WARM-US. A sort of roundabout jacket made of homespun cloth, and 
 worn without buttons, being tied across the body by the lower corners. 
 Indiana. 
 
 WARRANT-TRYING. The magistrates' monthly courts at the cross-roads. 
 Virginia. 
 
 WASTAGE. The accidental waste of a barrel, box, etc. 
 
 WATER-DOGS. The Western name for various species of salamanders, or 
 lizard-shaped animals, with smooth, shiny, naked skins ; sometimes called 
 Water-puppies and Ground-puppies. In Pennsylvania and the Eastern 
 States they are called Spring-keepers and Man-eaters. 
 
 WATER-LOT. A lot of building-ground covered by water. 
 
 An act passed by the legislature, ceding, for the period of ninety-nine years, all 
 the right and interest which the State of California had in those parts of the city 
 called the Beach and Water Lots, provided that twenty-five per cent, of all moneys 
 thereafter arising in any way from the sale or other disposition of the said property 
 should be paid over by the city to the State. Annals of San Francisco, p. 324. 
 
 WATER-SHED. A word formed in imitation of the German Wasserscheide 
 (water-divide), to denote a height of land which separates waters flowing 
 in different directions ; better termed " dividing ridge." See Divide. 
 
 The crests of the serpentine water-sheds gradually diverging towards the Tejon, 
 where there is an impinging of the two masses to such a degree, as to completely 
 envelop the plain. Lt. Parke, Pacific Railroad Report, Vol. VII. p. 5. 
 
 WATER-OATS. See Canada Rice. 
 
 WATER-WITCH. 1. A person who pretends to have the power of discover- 
 ing subterranean springs by means of the divining rod, made once from 
 the witch-hazel, but now more commonly from the peach-tree. 
 
 In many parts of the country not a well is dug without a previous con- 
 sultation with a water-witch ; and one who attempts to run counter to 
 the popular delusion is in danger of having his " common sense " doubted. 
 2. An aquatic bird. See Dipper. 
 
 WAYFARING-TREE. See Holble-Bush.
 
 WAY WEE 503 
 
 WAYS, for way, distance, space. A very common vulgarism. 
 It 's only a little ways down to the village. Margaret, p. 123. 
 
 THERE 's NO Two WAYS ABOUT IT, i. e. the fact is just so, and not 
 otherwise. A vulgarism of recent origin, equivalent to the common 
 phrase, " There's no mistake about it" or, "It's just as I tell you, and 
 no mistake" 
 
 Jist so, jist so, stranger ; you are just about half right, and there's no two ways 
 about it, Sam Slick, 3d ser. ch. 7. 
 
 There 's no two ways about that, sir ; but ara't you surprised to see such a fine pop- 
 ulation 1 Hoffman, Winter in the West. 
 
 WAX-MYRTLE. (Genus, Myrica.) A shrub, of which there are several 
 species, bearing a berry covered with a shining wax, which is prepared 
 for commerce by the poor people along the Northern lakes. Also called 
 Candleberry Myrtle. 
 
 WAX-PLANT. (Monotropa uniftora.} A perfectly white, fleshy plant, 
 looking as if made of wax. Before the fruit matures, the heads are bent 
 over ; hence the name " Indian Pipe." 
 
 WEAK FISH. See Squeteague. 
 
 To WEAR THE COLLAR. In political parlance, to be subject to the con- 
 trol of another ; to be directed in political matters. 
 
 WEATHER. " Fine weather overhead," means a clear sky. " We are going 
 to have falling weather" means we are going to have rain, snow, or hail. 
 " He 's under the weather" is a figurative expression, meaning badly off; 
 in straightened circumstances. 
 
 WED. Sometimes vulgarly used for iveeded ; as, " He wed the garden." 
 Comp. plead for pleaded. 
 
 WEED. A common term for tobacco; as, "Do you use the weed?" mean- 
 ing, Do you chew tobacco ? 
 
 Those who were not dancing were seated around the room, some smoking, others 
 chewing the weed, still others drinking. Mysteries of New York; p. 89. 
 
 By the appearance of the shirt bosoms of some inveterate chewcrs of the weed, I 
 should judge they had been squirting their juice in the face of a north-easter. 
 Dow's Sermons, Vol. III. 
 
 WEEDY-WEEDY. A plant resembling spinach, much used in the -West 
 Indies. CarmichaeVs West Indies. 
 
 WEEVIL. The name is given in this country to at least six different kinds 
 of insects, two of which are moths, two are flies, and two are beetles. 
 Harris, Insects injurious to Vegetation, p. 18.
 
 504 WEL WHA 
 
 WELL TO Do. In a state of ease as to pecuniary circumstances ; well off. 
 Hollo way. 
 
 By all accounts you are considerable well-to-do, and have made an everlastin' 
 sight of money among the Blue Noses of Nova Scotia. Sam Slick. 
 The old lady being now well-to-do, in a spiritual sense. Boston Times. 
 
 WELL TO LIVE. 1. In easy circumstances ; well off. This expression, 
 like the preceding, is of English origin. 
 
 I wanted to see how these Northerners could buy our cotton, carry it home, man- 
 ufacture it, bring it back, and sell it for half nothing ; and, in the mean time, be 
 well to live, and make money besides. Crockett, Tour. 
 
 2. In New England, a cant phrase to denote a person in that state of 
 intoxication in which he drives dull care away, and fancies himself at the 
 top round of fortune's ladder. 
 
 WENCH. In the United States, this word is applied only to black women 
 and girls. 
 
 The blushing morn at length came travelling up from the oriental clime, and 
 sowed the earth with pearls and diamonds, that glittered upon the dark bosom of 
 night like jewels upon the brow of an Ethiopian wench. Dow's Sermons, Vol. 
 III. p. 111. 
 
 WENT. Sometimes used by uneducated persons for gone. " Yesterday 
 was Good-Friday, and you should have went to church." Pegge includes 
 it among the London vulgarisms. 
 
 WEST. The Western States of the American Union, especially those lying 
 to the west of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. 
 
 The enterprising, ingenious, and indomitable North ; the substantial and magnifi- 
 cent Central States, the great balance-wheel of the system ; the youthful, rapidly ex- 
 panding, and almost boundless West ; the ardent, genial, and hospitable South, 
 I have traversed them all. Speech of E. Everett, July 5, 1858. 
 
 WESTERNER. A native or resident of the West. 
 
 To WHALE. 1. To thrash; to beat. Colloquial with us and in the north 
 of England. 
 
 2. Usually to whale away. To talk vehemently ; to harangue. 
 
 Professor Stubbins is always a whalin* away about the dignity of labor, and has 
 been deliverin' a course o' lectures on the subject. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 289. 
 
 I went to Baptist meeting. The elder, as usual, whaled away through his nose, 
 thumped the desk, and went over and over the same thing, without ever making the 
 most remote approach to any thing like the shadow of an idea. Ib. p. 105. 
 
 WHALER. A big, strapping fellow. 
 
 " He 's a whaler ! " said Eory ; " but his face is mighty little for his body and 
 legs." Georgia Scenes, p. 184. 
 
 WHALING. A lashing ; a beating.
 
 WHA 505 
 
 But it is possible that we may, at some future time, go to war with England, 
 her writers and speakers having spoken disparagingly of us, while her actors, half- 
 pay officers, and other travelling gentry, carry their heads rather high in passing 
 through our country, for which " arrogant " demeanor we are bound to give her 
 a whaling ! N. Y. Tribune, Aug. 1847. 
 
 WHAP ! An interjection expressive of a sudden blow, like whack ! 
 
 But a day of payment is coming; and if the money ain't forthcoming, out comes 
 a Randolph writ, and whap goes your money and liberty. Crockett's Speech, Tour, 
 p. 109. 
 
 I began to think smokin' warn't so bad after all, when whap went my cigar right 
 out of my mouth into my bosom. Sam Slick in England, ch. 2. 
 
 To WHAP OVER. To knock over. New England. 
 
 WRAPPER, or WHOPPER. Any thing uncommonly large ; a monstrous lie. 
 This word is provincial in various parts of England, and is common with 
 us. 
 
 " Do you call them large turnips ? " 
 " Why, yes, they are considerably large." 
 
 " They may be so for turnips, but they are nothing to an onion I saw the other 
 day." 
 
 " And how large was the onion ? " 
 " Oh ! a monster ; it weighed forty pounds." 
 " Forty pounds ! " 
 
 " Yes ; we took off the layers, and the sixteenth layer went completely round a 
 demijohn that held four gallons ! " 
 " What a ivhopper ! " 
 " You don't mean to say that I lie 1 " 
 
 " Oh ! no ; what $ whopper of an onion, I mean." New York Spirit of the Times. 
 Before you lie, brethren, make up your minds to go it strong ; for a little callow 
 fib stands but a small chance among the big whoppers that are let loose now-a-days. 
 As my friend Pope might have said : 
 
 A little lying is a dangerous thing ; 
 
 Go your whole length, or never make a spring. 
 
 Dow's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 91. 
 
 A few years ago, whopping great sleeves and big antecedents were all the rage ; 
 and what a funny figure our belles did then cut. Ibid., Vol. III. p. 21. 
 
 WHAPPIXG, or WHOPPING. Very large. 
 
 We 've got only one crib, and that 's a whappin' one too. Maj. Downing's Let- 
 ters, p. 67. 
 
 A whappin' big pan of mush stood in the centre of the table, and a large pan of 
 milk beside it, with lots of corn-bread and butter. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 61. 
 
 WHARF-BOAT. On the Western rivers the height of the water is so vari- 
 al^e that a fixed wharf would be useless. In its place is used a recta^- 
 gular float, in part covered, for the reception of goods, or for a dram-shop. 
 It is generally aground on the shore side, and is entered by a plank or 
 movable platform. This is a wharf-boat. 
 
 43
 
 506 W H A W II E 
 
 WHARF-RATS. 1. Rats that inhabit wharves. 
 
 2. Thieves that infest the wharves of seaport towns. 
 
 WHARVES. Mr. Pickering notices this form of the plural of wharf, as 
 peculiar to Americans. The English say wharfs. In the Colony and 
 Province Laws of Massachusetts, Mr. Pickering says, he observed the 
 plural wharfs (or wharfes) as late as the year 1735 ; but after that 
 period the form wharves is used. 
 
 WHAT FOR A, is frequently used by Pennsylvanians, instead of "What 
 kind of a," in asking questions. It is a literal translation of the German 
 idiom," Was fur ein." New Amer. Cyclopedia. 
 
 WHATCHEER. The shibboleth of the people of the State of Rhode Island. 
 When Roger Williams, the founder of this ancient colony, pushed his 
 way from Salem, Massachusetts, in the year 1636, through the wilder- 
 ness, he embarked in a canoe with five others, on Sekonk river, and land- 
 ed near the present site of the city of Providence. As the party 
 approached the shore, they were saluted by a company of Indians with 
 the friendly interrogation of " What cheer ? " a common English phrase 
 which they had learned from the colonists, equivalent to the modem 
 How do you do ? and meant by the natives as Welcome ! 
 
 The cove where the party landed is called " Whatcheer Cove," which 
 term is also applied to the lands adjacent; besides which there is in 
 Providence a " Whatcheer Bank," a " Whatcheer Church," " Whatcheer 
 hotels," a " Whatcheer Insurance Company," and, last of all, a " What- 
 cheer Lager Beer Saloon ! " 
 
 Judge Durfee, a Rhode Island poet, has rendered this event memorable 
 by an interesting poem entitled " Whatcheer, or Roger Williams in Ban- 
 ishment." In describing the landing of his hero, he says : 
 
 And straight the kindling words burst on his ear, 
 
 Their shouts, embodied, sought the joyous sky 
 With open, arms, and greeting of Whatcheer ! 
 
 Lined all the shores, and banks, and summits high. 
 Whatcheer ! Whatcheer ! resounded far and near, 
 
 Whatcheer ! Whatcheer ! the hollow words reply ; 
 Whatcheer ! Whatcheer ! swells the exulting gales, 
 
 Sweeps o'er the laughing hills, and trembles through the vales. 
 
 To WHEAL. To swell. 
 
 The father discovered a gainsome expression of face. . . . His cheeks whealcd 
 and puffed, and through his lips his laughter exposed his white teeth. Margaret, 
 p. 10. 
 
 WHEAT AND INDIAN. A mixture of wheat flour and the meal of Indian 
 corn.
 
 WHE WHI 507 
 
 WHEELING. The act of conveying on wheels, or driving a wheeled vehicle. 
 It is good or bad wheeling, according to the state of the roads. 
 
 It is mid-winter still, and there is snow on the ground ; but the sleighing is not as 
 good as it was, and the state of the streets admits wheeling. The Upper Ten Thou- 
 sand, p. 30. 
 
 WHEEL-HORSE. An intimate friend ; one's right hand man. Western. 
 
 WHICH ? An absurd word used by some persons instead of What ? in ask- 
 ing for a repetition of what has been said. 
 
 WHIG AND TORT. During the war of the American Revolution, the terms 
 Whig and Tory were applied the former to those who supported the 
 revolutionary movement ; the latter to the royalists, or those who ad- 
 hered to the British government. Tory was then a stigma of the most 
 reproachful kind. 
 
 WHIGS AND DEMOCRATS. It is very difficult to give a precise, accurate, 
 and satisfactory definition of the principles distinctively held by the two 
 great political parties into which the population of the American Union is 
 divided, one popularly styling itself the Democratic, the other the Whig 
 party. In point of fact, the satirical definition of the outs and the ins 
 would not be very far out of the way ; for the doctrines of government and 
 legislation theoretically advanced by the Democratic party, when out of 
 power, are not so radically diverse from those of the Whigs in the same 
 condition, as are the practices of either, when in power, from their pro- 
 fessions. As times change and circumstances, the demands or wishes of 
 these parties change also ; so that what was Whig doctrine in 1830, may 
 be Democratic doctrine in 1850, and vice versa. 
 
 The nominal distinctions, some years ago, were, on the Whig side, a 
 Protective Tariff, a National Bank, Division of the Proceeds of the Pub- 
 lic Lands among all the States, and the duty of the General Government 
 to carry on works of Public Improvement, such as Canals, Roads, etc., etc. 
 
 The Democrats were for Free Trade, no connection of the govern- 
 ment with Banking, distribution of the proceeds of the Public Lands 
 among the States in which the lands lie, and non-interference by the 
 government with Internal Improvements. 
 
 But all these questions have rarely been brought to the practical test. 
 Absolute free trade has ever been impracticable, because it would deprive 
 the government of the revenue derived from imposts. The government 
 has always been obliged to carry on some kind of financial operations, 
 differing more in name than in reality from a system of banking consid- 
 ered as a means of supplying a currency. The public lands have rarely 
 yielded any proceeds beyond the wants of the government. And the
 
 508 WHI 
 
 only real question, fairly at issue, has been that of improvement in pub- 
 lic works. 
 
 The Democrats popularly charge upon the Whigs a desire to strength- 
 en and centralize the National Government, declaring themselves to be 
 in favor rather of strengthening the local governments of the several 
 States, and of limiting, as far as constitutionally possible, the agency of 
 the National Government, or government of the Union ; but in practice 
 the Democratic party is ready enough to assume power for the General 
 Government when any thing is to be gained by so doing ; and in this, as 
 in most other instances, the difference between the two parties lies rather 
 in words than in deeds. 
 
 The Whigs, on the other hand, popularly charge upon the Democrats 
 an undue degree of subserviency to the Executive, especially since the 
 elevation of General Jackson to the presidency in 1829 ; and this charge 
 seems to have more foundation in truth. It is certain, at all events, that 
 the three Democratic presidents, Jackson, Van Buren, and Polk, have 
 found a more zealous and unscrupulous support in questionable measures 
 than was ever given to a Whig president, or indeed to any of their pre- 
 decessors. 
 
 Perhaps, on the whole, it may be truly said, that the main practical 
 difference between the Whigs and Democrats lies in the fact that the 
 latter give a more unhesitating and thorough-going support to all meas- 
 ures which involve the question of party -measures, which become, by any 
 means party tests, whether emanating from the Executive or adopted by 
 him under impulse from his adherents. \_J. lnman.~\ 
 
 WHIGGISM, or WHIGGERY. Whig principles ; the doctrines of the Whig 
 party. These words have, in the United States, lost their original oppro- 
 brious meaning, and are frequently used by the Whigs themselves in 
 speaking of their doctrines. 
 
 Professor Amasa Walker here came forward, and said they all stood together upon 
 the same platform, and he had heard too much of Whiggery about their proceedings 
 already ; and as they stood upon a broad platform, he as a Democrat protested 
 against their throwing in so much Whiggery and entertaining them about Gen. Tay- 
 lor's white horse. Rep. of a Freesoil Convention at Worcester, Mass., June 28, 1848. 
 
 The Whigs in Boston see by the movement in New York, and by accounts from 
 Ohio, that there is a chance, at least, of General Taylor being vigorously opposed by 
 some men of undoubted Whiggery in influential States. Letter from Boston, in N. 
 Y. Herald, June 21, 1848. 
 
 WHILE, for till. " Stay while I come," instead of, Stay till I come. Used 
 in the Southern States. Sherwood's Georgia. 
 
 To WHIP THE CAT. I can give no other explanation of the phrase than
 
 W H I 509 
 
 to quote the following passage by Mr. Goodrich, who, in describing the 
 early customs of New England, says : 
 
 Twice a year the tailor came to the house and fabricated the semi-annual stock of 
 
 clothes for the male members, this being called whipping the cat. Reminiscences, 
 
 Vol. I. p. 74. 
 
 To WHIP THE DEVIL ROUND A STUMP. To make false excuses to one's 
 self and others for doing what one likes. 
 
 While Mr. Jones is describing his wants in the money line, and telling the presi- 
 dent how " near through " he is, that officer is carrying on a mental addition, it may 
 be after this manner: "Jones, you're a clever fellow, but Smith tells me you are en- 
 gaged in a coal stock operation. I have heard also that you have been dabbling in 
 Erie. There is a want of candor now, I perceive, in the statement of your affairs. 
 There, you are now whipping the devil around the stump ; I see his foot." N. Y. Even- 
 ing Post, 1857. 
 
 WHISKEY-ROOT. A plant of the Cactus species possessing intoxicating 
 properties, which is thus described by a correspondent of the New Or- 
 leans Picayune : " It is what the Indians call Pie-o-ke. It grows in 
 southern Texas, on the range of sand-hills bordering on the Rio Grande, 
 and in gravelly, sandy soil. The Indians eat it for its exhilarating effect 
 on the system, it producing precisely the same as alcoholic drinks. It 
 is sliced as you would a cucumber, and these small pieces chewed, the 
 juice swallowed, and in about the same time as comfortably tight cock- 
 tails would 'stir the divinity within' you, this indicates itself; only its 
 effects are what I might term a little more k-a-v-o-r-t-i-n-g, giving 
 rather a wilder scope to the imagination and actions." 
 
 WHITE FISH. See Menhaden. 
 WHITE FROST. Hoar-frost. Western. 
 
 WHITE SETTLEMENTS. The settlement of Kentucky, the first Western 
 State, was by an emigration from Virginia through the Cumberland Gap. 
 The fertile soil, which was the temptation, lay in the middle of the State ; 
 and the surrounding region, being comparatively poor (except in coal 
 and iron), was neglected, although traversed by the whole emigration. 
 The centre, or " Garden spot," was called " The White settlements" while 
 Indians still lingered on its outskirts. 
 
 Now that these comparatively poor regions of the State have become 
 inhabited, the name is still retained, and without explanation would be 
 deemed absurd ; for all the Indians have disappeared long ago, and negroes 
 are only to be found in numbers on the large farms of these very ickite 
 settlements. 
 
 The phrase seems to be used only by those who live between the 
 mountains and the region so designated, in which the term is never used, 
 although well understood. [ G. 0. Schaeffer.'] 
 
 43*
 
 510 WHI WHO 
 
 WHITE TRASH. A term applied, especially by negroes, to the poor white 
 people of the South. See Poor White folks. 
 
 In social relations the negroes are sensitive to the overbearing propensities of a 
 proprietary who are accustomed to regard all neighbors out of their own class as 
 white trash. Olmsted's Texas. 
 
 Of all the pizen critters that I knows on, these ere mean white trash is the pizenest. 
 They aint got no manners and no bringing up. Mrs. Stowe, Dred, Vol. II. 
 
 " The fact is," said Mr. Gordon, " what with niggers, and overseers, and white 
 trash, my chances of salvation are dreadfully limited." Ibid. Vol. I. p. 271. 
 
 WHITE WOOD. See Tulip-Tree. 
 
 WHIT-POT. A kind of pudding. New England. It is the White-Pot 
 of Devonshire. 
 
 WHIT-POTTING. A term used in Nantucket for visiting among relations 
 and friends. 
 
 To WHITTLE. To cut or dress with a knife. The word as well as the 
 practice of whittling for amusement is so much more common with us, 
 especially in New England, than in the old country, that its use may not 
 improperly be regarded as an Americanism. 
 
 Dexterity with the pocket-knife is part of a Nantucket education ; but I am in- 
 clined to think the propensity is national. Americans must and will whittle. N. P. 
 Willis. 
 
 In the " Yankee Ballad " by Miss Abby Allin, in speaking of the New 
 Englander, she says : 
 
 No matter where his home may be 
 
 What flag may be unfurled, 
 He 11 manage by some cute device 
 To whittle through the world. 
 
 The Pierce administration, which came into power with a majority of eighty, has 
 now been whittled down to ten, as appeared by the vote on the Ostend convention. 
 Providence Journal. 
 
 WHITTLED. Tipsy, drunk. 
 
 WHOLE CLOTH. A lie made out of whole cloth, is one in which there is 
 no admixture of truth. 
 
 Isn't this entire story about your Jersey grandmother made out of whole cloth 
 spun on your own wheel, with your tongue for the spindle ? C. Matthews, Tlie Motley 
 Boole, p. 68. 
 
 WHOLE-FOOTED. Sound. 
 
 So Mr. D has shown his cloven foot to the South at last. I never believed 
 
 he was whole-footed. I never had confidence in him. Richmond South, Dec. 1857. 
 
 WHOLE HEAP. Many ; several ; much ; a large congregation. An expres-
 
 WHO WIG 511 
 
 sion peculiar to certain parts of the South and West. Sherwood's 
 Georgia. 
 
 WHOLE-SOULED. Noble-minded. A phrase in great favor with persons 
 fond of fine talking and fine writing, like the following extract from a 
 rhapsody about a fourth of July oration of Mr. Choate's : 
 
 The soaring and revelling ideas, the whole-souled patriotism, the gorgeous word- 
 painting, the flow and headway of resistless emotion, were all suited to the audience, 
 which hung entranced upon the lips of the orator. Boston Journal, July, 1858. 
 
 WHOLE TEAM. To say that a man is a whole team, signifies, in Western 
 parlance, that he is possessed of uncommon powers of body or mind. 
 
 Among other amplifications of the phrase is that of a whole team and 
 a horse to spare. 
 
 The author of a series of lively sketches in Blackwood's Magazine, on 
 " Canada and the North-west States," says : 
 
 I once heard a Yankee describe the greatest friend he possessed in the world, as 
 " a hull team and a horse to spare, besides a big dog under the wagon." Vol. 
 LXXVIII. p. 336. 
 
 In a sketch of fashionable society in New York, the writer thus speaks 
 of a specimen of Young America :. 
 
 Here's the first curiosity of the place. He's just three years old rising; can 
 drive a horse on a straight road ; eats every thing he can get, and drinks every 
 liquid in the house except ink. Is n't he a beauty ? Is n't he a whole team and one 
 horse extra ? The Upper Ten Thousand. 
 
 WHOOSH. A term used in backing a horse. I have never heard this word 
 except in Nantucket. In Moor's Suffolk Glossary it is defined as " an 
 imperative, commanding the fore-horse of a team to bear to the left." 
 Mr. Forby, on the contrary, in his Norfolk Glossary, says " Woosh wo ! " 
 means " Go to the right." Both authors derive it from the French 
 gauche. 
 
 WICKET. A place of shelter, or camp made of the boughs of trees, used 
 by lumbermen in Maine. 
 
 WICOPY. See Leather- Wood. 
 
 WIDE AWAKE. On the alert ; ready ; prepared. 
 
 Miss Harriet had more clothes and more money than the rest ; because she was 
 always wide awake, and looking out for herself. Mrs. Stowe's Dred, Vol. I. p. 210. 
 
 In the morning, and before sunrise, Bogard, who was a Yankee and a wide awake 
 fellow, thrust his head out from under his robe, exclaiming, as he grasped for his 
 gun, " By darn, look at old Cale ! " Catlin's North Am. Indians, Vol. I. p. 71. 
 
 WIGGLE. To bend the body rapidly from side to side ; to wriggle, as a fish 
 or tadpole. 
 
 WIGGLE-TAIL. The popular name for the larva of the mosquito.
 
 512 WIG WIL 
 
 Standing by a shallow, half-stagnant pool on a midsummer's day, the full develop- 
 ment of any number of " wiggle-tails " to the mosquito state can be witnessed, and 
 the origin of these disturbers of night's slumbers thus fully ascertained. Scientific 
 American. 
 
 WIGWAM. An Indian cabin or hut, usually made of skins. The word is 
 Algonkin, and occurs in variously modified forms in the languages of that 
 family. 
 
 Dark as the frost-nipp'd leaves that strew'd the ground, 
 
 The Indian hunter here his shelter found ; 
 
 Here cut his bow and shaped his arrows true, 
 
 Here built his wigwam and his bark canoe. Brainard, Connecticut River. 
 
 WILD BEAN. (Phaseolus diver sifolius.) A plant common in the alluvial 
 bottoms of the West, the Wild Potato of the Sioux Indians, much used 
 as food. 
 
 WILD-CAT. A bank in Michigan had a large vignette on its notes repre- 
 senting a panther, which animal is familiarly called there a Wild-cat. 
 This bank failed, having a large amount of its notes in circulation, which 
 notes were afterwards denominated Wild-cat money, and the bank issu- 
 ing them the Wild-cat bank. Other banks were compelled to stop payment 
 soon after, in consequence of the want of confidence in them ; and the 
 term became general in Michigan, to denote banking institutions of an 
 unsound character. The term Blue-pup money had a similar origin, as 
 . distinguished from Red Dog, which see. 
 
 We had to sell some of our land to pay taxes on the rest and then took our pay 
 in Wild-cat money, that turned to waste paper before we could get it off our hands. 
 Mrs. Clavers's Forest Life, Vol. I. p. 91. 
 
 The Leaven worth (Kansas) Ledger, in announcing that the American Bank in 
 this city had suddenly exploded, remarks : " There are thousands of dollars of its 
 notes in the hands of the citizens of this city and vicinity ; how the notes obtained 
 a circulation here is a mystery to us, and we know not to whom the blame, if any, 
 attaches ; certain it is that we are overrun with a wild-cat currency from all God's 
 creation, and every day or two we notice batches of new issues scattered amongst 
 us." (Bait.) Sun, July 8, 1858. 
 
 Our banks are always willing to offer loans and facilities to speculators and wild- 
 cat business men to operate with, and it is through their assistance that the business 
 of the country is disarranged. Cincinnati Enquirer. 
 
 WILD CHERRY. ( Cerasus virginiana.) A large American tree, bearing 
 a small, astringent fruit resembling a cherry. The wood is much used for 
 cabinet work, being of a light color and a compact texture. Browne's 
 Sylva Americana. 
 
 WILD INDIGO. (Baptisia tinctoria.) A plant found in the woods, yield- 
 ing a small quantity of indigo.
 
 WIL WIN 513 
 
 WILD LAND. Land which has never been settled and cultivated ; forest. 
 
 WILD OATS. (Avena fatua.) A variety of oats -which grows wild upon 
 all the hills and higher lands of California, furnishing the best forage. 
 It was probably introduced by the Spaniards. 
 
 WILD POTATO VINE. See Mechoacan. 
 
 WILD RICE. (Zizania aquatica.} A tall, tubular, reedy water-plant, 
 found in abundance on the marshy margins of the Northern lakes, and in 
 the plashy waters on the upper courses of the Mississippi. Its leaves 
 and spikes, though much larger, resemble those of oats, whence the French 
 name, folles avoines. Millions of migrating water-fowls fatten on it before 
 taking their autumnal flight to the south ; while it furnishes the northern 
 savages and the Canadian traders and hunters with their annual supph'es 
 of grain. 
 
 At the time of our visit, wild rice was growing abundantly over almost all the 
 
 whole surface of Lake Koshkonong, giving to it more the appearance of a meadow 
 
 than a lake. Lapham's Antiquities of Wisconsin, p. 35. 
 
 To WILT. 1. To droop ; to wither, as plants or flowers cut or plucked off 1 . 
 Holloway. A word common in the United States, and provincial in Eng- 
 land, where welk and welt are used in the same sense. Worcester. 
 
 Miss Amy pinned a flower to her breast ; and when she died, she held the wilted 
 fragments close in her hand. Margaret, p. 213. 
 
 2. To wilt down, is a figurative expression used of a person who hangs 
 his head, looks sheepish. 
 
 Some cotton fellar here bid sixty dollars [for the slave], and she wilted right down. 
 Robb, Squatter Life. 
 
 " Doctor Peter Jones," ses he, " I interduce you to their Majestys the King and 
 Queen." 
 
 Cousin Pete scraped about a while, and then dropt on one knee rite afore 'em. 
 
 " Rise, gallant knight ! " ses Bill Byers ; " lise, we dub you knight of the royal 
 bath." 
 
 Cousin Pete got up and bowed and scraped a few more times, and went to sit 
 down between 'em, but they ris up jest as he went to set down ; and the first thing 
 he knowed, kerslosh he went, rite into a big tub of cold water, with nothing but his 
 head and heels stickin out. Pete got out as quick as he could, and I never seed a 
 feller so wilted down in all my life. Maj. Jones's Courtship. 
 
 WINDFALL. The track of a whirlwind or tornado in a forest, where the 
 trees are laid prostrate. 
 
 In the country around Angelica were what were called windfalls These 
 
 windfalls were great places for rabbits and partridges, and it was no great thing 
 to boast of to kill a dozen or two of these birds of an afternoon. Hammond, Wild 
 Northern Scenes, p. 220.
 
 514 WIN WIR 
 
 To WIND UP. To close up ; to give a quietus to an antagonist in de- 
 bate. Also intransitively, to shut up ; to stop business. 
 
 John Bell of Tennessee, that unmistakable Whig, has rung out a clear and far- 
 sounding note of alarm concerning this Mexican war. He is as serious as a preacher, 
 and as downright as a sailor in the delivery of his sentiments. A lively dialogue, 
 constituting a kind of interlude to his speech, sprang up between him and Mr. Cass, 
 in which he pretty effectually " wound up " the senator from Michigan. N. Y. Com. 
 Adv. 
 
 Several of the Western banks will be compelled to wind up in consequence of 
 their losses and the severe pressure. N. Y. Herald, Sept. 1857. 
 
 WINKLE-HAWK. (Dutch, winkle-haak.) An angular rent made in cloth, 
 etc. It is also called a winkle-hole. A New York term. 
 
 WINTER-BERRY. See Alder. 
 
 WINTER- CHERRY. See Ground Cherry. 
 
 WINTER-KILLED. Killed by the cold of winter, as wheat, clover, etc. 
 
 To WIPE OUT. A phrase employed by the Indians and hunters of the 
 West, meaning to exterminate, annihilate a person or tribe. 
 
 They [the Camanches, Apaches, and others] had met for the purpose of forming 
 their own party, in order, as they, in their strong language, said, to wipe out all 
 frontier Indians they could find on the plains. Report of Com. of Indian Affairs for 
 1854, p. 90. 
 
 The Pima Indians have got up another quarrel with the Apaches, and have mus- 
 tered upwards of a thousand warriors to give them battle. It is their determination 
 to " wipe out the Apaches," or, as they express it, to eat them up entirely, which is a 
 consummation devoutly to be wished. Alta Californian, July, 1858. 
 
 " We are coming to Lawrence," said the Missourians, " in a few days, to wipe out 
 the damned abolition city, and to kill and drive off every one of the inhabitants." 
 Mrs. Robinson's Kansas, p. 222. 
 
 The Mormon militia under Brigham Young intend to take a stand at the pass in 
 the mountains near Bear River, with the certainty of wiping out the IT. S. forces sent 
 against them. Letter from Utah, N. Y. Times, Nov. 1857. 
 
 WIRE-EDGE. The wire-edge of a tool is that stage in the process of sharp- 
 ening it when a delicate roll or strip of metal resembling a fine wire still 
 adheres to the edge, and which of course must be removed before the 
 implement can be in proper order to cut. Some persons, however, 
 seem to imagine that a wire-edge is a fine edge, and hence absurdly use 
 the term in such phrases as to take off the wire-edge of one's appetite, 
 of a horse's spirit, etc. 
 
 He trotted the first mile in 2 : 55, and the second in 2 : 45, and was then stopped. 
 
 On commencing again he had, of course, lost the "wire-edge" of his speed, yet he 
 
 trotted nineteen miles in 57 : 43. N. Y. Spirit of the Times.
 
 WIR WOL 515 
 
 WIRE-PULLERS, or WIRE-WORKERS. A term denoting those who, by 
 their secret plots and intrigues, control the movements of the puppets on 
 the political stage. 
 
 The coming contest is to decide whether the people have the privilege of electing 
 a chief magistrate of their own selection, or only the privilege of electing one of two 
 candidates whom self-elected cliques of nominators choose to designate. The Phi- 
 ladelphia Convention will assemble on Wednesday ; already that city is filled with 
 wire-pullers, public opinion manufacturers, embryo cabinet officers, future ambassa- 
 dors, and the whole brood of political make-shifts, who contrive to live out of the 
 public purse by abusing public credulity. N. Y. Mirror, June 5, 1848. 
 
 In another case, at a nominating convention, a " surprise candidate," youthful in 
 age, and in all other qualifications far inferior to his competitors, obtained the nomi- 
 nation. There was no longer any surprise about the matter when it was subse- 
 quently ascertained that the wire-workers in convention had a deep interest in a par- 
 ticular suit at law, to which their candidate was pledged to give a judgment in their 
 favor, in case of being the judge. Nat. Intelligencer, Sept. 20, 1858. 
 
 WIRE-PULLING, or WIRE-WORKING. Political managing. 
 
 Those who were candidates for office in either house [of the legislative assem- 
 bly of N. Mexico] and their friends began the system of electioneering so prevalent 
 in other sections of the Union ; and the few days that intervened between the arrival 
 of the members and the meeting of the assembly were spent in wire-pulling, log-roll- 
 ing, and all the other strategic movements known in modern politics. Davis, El 
 Gringo, p. 251. 
 
 WIRE-WORM. (Elater lineatus.) The name Wire-worm is given by 
 farmers to the larvae of various species of beetles belonging to the genus 
 Elater, of which a large number are known both in Britain and in this 
 country. These larvae are exceedingly destructive, feeding upon the 
 roots and the underground stems of wheat, Indian corn, grape-vines, and 
 most varieties of cultivated vegetables. 
 
 To WISE. A spinning top is said to wise, when it inclines from the per- 
 pendicular. 
 
 WISH-BONE, or WISHING-BONE. The breastbone of a fowl is so familiarly 
 called, especially by children, from a custom connected with it. The 
 bone, after being dried, is taken by two persons, who hold each shank be- 
 tween their fore-finger and thumb, and then pull until it breaks, at the 
 same time wishing for something. _ The one in whose fingers the larger 
 portion remains, it is said, will have his wish. 
 
 WITNESS-TREES. In newly settled countries at the West, every mile 
 square is marked by " blazed " trees, and the corners especially distin- 
 guished by stakes, whose place is pointed out by trees called witness-trees. 
 Mrs. Clavers's Western Clearings, p. 3. 
 
 WOLFISH. Savage. A Western word.
 
 516 WOL WOO 
 
 You must fight or play ; so take your choice, for I feel most wolfish and savage- 
 rous. Sam Slick, 3d ser. p. 117. 
 
 They 'd been fightin' the barrel of whiskey mightily comin' up, and wero perfectly 
 wolfish arter some bar of the dog. Porter's Tales of the South-west, p. 121. 
 
 WOLVERINES. The people of the State of Michigan ; Avho are said to be 
 so called from the large number of the mischievous prairie wolves found 
 there. 
 
 WOMAN'S EIGHTS CONVENTION. An assemblage of persons who en- 
 deavor by public discussions to improve the social and political condition 
 of women. 
 
 Thousands of parrots passed over, with their peculiar short and querulous note. 
 In the morning and towards night they kept up the most vehement chattering, all 
 talking and none listening, after the manner of a Woman's Rights Convention. 
 Bard's Waikna, p. 89. 
 
 WONDERS. In Nantucket, a kind of cake. 
 
 To WOOD UP. 1. To lay in a supply of wood, as a steamboat at a land- 
 ing-place. The boats on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, in their long 
 voyages, are obliged to make frequent stops for this purpose. 
 
 The process of wooding-up is one of the first the passenger is made acquainted 
 with. The steamer approaches a dreary shore, without any thing to indicate that 
 civilized man has ever set his foot upon it for many miles above or below, save the 
 wood-pile and a small cabin of the rudest description. The terms are usually 
 agreed upon before the boat touches the bank ; and when it does, fifteen or twenty 
 hands throw on board from twenty to fifty cords, at a price varying from two to 
 three dollars, for which the woodman pockets his money and scorns a happy man, 
 although cut off from the world. N. Y. Tribune, 1848. 
 
 2. To take a dram. Western. 
 WOODBINE. See Virginia Creeper. 
 
 WOODING-PLACE. A station on the banks of a river where the steamboats 
 stop to take in supplies of wood. 
 
 WOOD CHUCK. (Arctomys monax.) The ground hog, a rodent mammal of 
 the marmot tribe. It burrows, and is dormant in winter. 
 Yea, verily, this is like a woodchuck in'clover. Margaret, p. 48. 
 My dear hearers, I 've been trying to beat [certain truths] into you with a sermon- 
 izing sledge-hammer ; and you appear to be as stupid as woodchucks in winter. 
 Dow's Serntons, Vol. III. p. 155. 
 
 WOOD MEETING. The name given by the Mormons to a Camp-meeting. 
 
 WOOL OVER THE EYES. To draw the wool over one's eyes, is to impose 
 upon one, take one in.
 
 WOO WRE 517 
 
 Elder Sniffles ain't so big a fool as to have the wool drawd over his eyes by such 
 trash as Sail Hugle. Widow Bedott Papers. 
 
 
 
 WOOLLY-HEADS. A term applied in the first place to negroes, and then to 
 anti-slavery politicians. 
 
 The law, it seems, it did n't work exactly as it ought, 
 
 Though Grceley kept a sayin' so, and so his readers thought. 
 
 They 're mighty bright, them woolly-heads ; they think they find a prize, 
 
 If they can only pull their wool o'er other people's eyes. 
 
 New York Paper. 
 
 WORM FENCE. A rail fence laid up in a zig-zag manner. See Stake and 
 
 Mr. Haskell, one of the delegates from Tennessee, told a story about a man in his 
 " diggins," who was once struck by " Joe Larkins," by which he was knocked at 
 least forty rods. He fell against a worm fence, and carried away about forty panels, 
 rail-riders and all. N. Y. Mirror. 
 
 We drove master Jack about the common, until wejiad hemmed him in an 
 angle of a worm fence. W. Irving, Wblfert's Roost, p. 251. 
 
 WORRYMENT. Trouble, anxiety. 
 
 The worriment we have lately had about money has set you a dreaming. Sam 
 Slick, Human Nature. 
 
 WORST KIND. Used in such phrases as, " I gave him the worst kind of a 
 licking." Also adverbially ; as, " I licked him the worst kind" i. e. in the 
 worst manner possible, most severely. 
 
 WRAPPER. A loose dress or gown. 
 
 Her dress was a blue-striped linen short-gown, wrapper, or long-short, a coarse 
 petticoat, checked apron, etc. Margaret, p. 14. 
 
 WRAPPERS. See Leggings. 
 
 WRATH. Like all wrath, is a Southern phrase, meaning, violently ; vehem- 
 ently ; angrily. 
 
 There ain't much to interest the traveller on the railroad from Hamburg to 
 Charleston. Most of the passengers in the car were preachers what had been up to 
 Augusta to attend the convention. They was the dryest set of old codgers I ever 
 met with, till the jolting of the cars shook up their ideas a little, and then they fell to 
 disputin' like all wrath. Maj. Jones's Travels. 
 
 WRATHT. Very angry. A colloquial word. Webster. 
 
 Oh ! you 're wrathy, ain't ye ? Why, I did n't mean nothin' but what was civil ! 
 Mrs. C lovers' s Forest Life, Vol. I. p. 103. 
 
 The general was as wrathy as thunder ; and when he gets his dander up, it 's no 
 joke. Maj. Downing's Letters, p. 34. 
 
 WRECKERS. A gang of Baltimore rowdies. 
 
 44
 
 518 YAL YAN 
 
 Y. 
 
 
 
 YALLER. A vulgar pronunciation of yellow. 
 
 YAM. (Genus Dioscorea.) A large esculent tuber or root of various 
 climbing plants growing in tropical America, which forms a wholesome 
 and palatable food. 
 
 YANK. A jerk. New England. 
 
 In some verses prefixed to the New- Year's Address of the carrier of 
 " The Age," a weekly journal published in Maine, the Carrier Boy asks 
 the spirit of Edgar A. Poe to write him a few lines. 
 
 The poet looks wild at the blue-eyed child, 
 
 Then clutches him by the hair, 
 And makes him abide by the chimney-side, 
 
 A?he sinks back in his chair 
 
 Pulls up the machine, and with dreadful mien 
 
 He oils each rusty wheel, 
 Then seizes the crank, and with many a yank 
 
 Brings out a poetic squeal. 
 
 To YANK. To twitch or jerk powerfully. New England. 
 
 YANKEE. 1. The popular name for the citizens of New England, but ap- 
 plied by foreigners to all the inhabitants of the United States. The name 
 s, [ Tengees or Yenkees"] was originally given by the Massachusetts Indians 
 
 to the English colonists, being the nearest sound they could give for 
 " English." It was afterwards adopted by the Dutch on the Hudson, who 
 applied the term in contempt to all the people of New England. During 
 the American Revolution, it was eagerly caught at by the British soldiers. 
 Note to the Poetical Works of J. TrunibulL 
 
 Mr. Heckewelder, a high authority on Indian subjects, has no doubt 
 that the word was the first effort of the Indians " to imitate the sound 
 of the national name of^ the English, which they pronounced Yengees." 
 Furthermore he says, the Indians " say they know the Yengees [i. e. the 
 New Englanders], and can distinguish them by their dress and personal 
 appearance, and that they were considered as less cruel than the Virgin- 
 ians, or Long Knives. The English proper they call Saggenash." 
 Hist. Ace. of the Indian 'Nations, p. 132. 
 
 Judge Durfee, in his poem called " Whatcheer : or, Roger Williams in 
 Banishment," thus mentions the English under this name : 
 " Ha ! Yengee," said the Sachem, " wouldst thou go 
 To soothe the hungry panther scenting blood ? " 
 
 Canto III. 32.
 
 YAN YEA 519 
 
 Base "Wampanoag ! we '11 devour that clan, 
 And drive the Yengees back o'er ocean blue. 
 
 Canto IV. 38. 
 
 An interesting article on this word in " Notes and Queries " (1852, 
 p. 57), by Mr. T. Westcott of Philadelphia, contains a letter from the 
 Rev. Mr. Gordon, giving an account of the skirmishes at Concord and 
 Lexington, in which he says : 
 
 They [the British troops] were roughly handled by the Yankees, a term of re- 
 proach for the New Englanders, when applied by the regulars. 
 
 2. In New England, a glass of whiskey sweetened with molasses ; a 
 common beverage in the country. 
 
 You fine Miss Boston lady gay, 
 
 For this your speech I thank ye, 
 Call on me when you come this way, 
 
 And take a dram of Yankee. 
 
 Fessenden. Yankee Doodle Song. 
 
 YANKEEFIED. After the Yankee fashion ; like a Yankee. 
 
 The Colonel whittled away at a bit of stick in the most Yankeefied way possible. 
 A Stray Yankee in Texas, p. 113. 
 
 YANKEELAND. 1. New England. 
 2. The United States. 
 
 YANKEE DOODLE. There has "been much discussion as to the origin of the 
 term Yankee Doodle, and of the well-known tune which bears this name, 
 without coming as yet to any very satisfactory conclusion. In England 
 the air has been traced back to the time of Charles I. ; and it appears 
 that the doggerel verses that are sung to it can claim nearly as respect- 
 able an antiquity. This, however, is not all. The song is said to be 
 identical with one sung by the agricultural laborers in the Netherlands. 
 Kossuth and his fellow Hungarians, when in this country, are said to 
 have recognised it as one of the old national airs of their native land. 
 And recently Mr. Buckingham Smith, our then Secretary of Legation at 
 Madrid, has asserted that it is the ancient Sword Dance of the Biscayans. 
 
 YEATH, for earth. A vulgar pronunciation among the illiterate at the 
 South. 
 
 Why, you don't look like the same man. I never should have know'd you. 
 What upon yeath has brung you out so I " Maj. Jones's Sketches. 
 
 YEATHQUAKE, for earthquake. A Southern vulgarism, like the previous 
 word. 
 
 The Girard College is all solid brick and marble. Fire can't get hold of wood 
 enough to raise a blaze, and the walls are so thick and strong that nothin' short of
 
 520 YEL YOU 
 
 Florida lightnin' or a South American yeathquake could n't knock it down. Maj. 
 Jones's Sketches. 
 
 YELLOW. A term applied to colored boys and girls whose complexion 
 tends towards white ; those of a darker hue are called " brown." 
 
 Law sakes, Miss Phillis, does you tink I have no sense ; I hate a yaller gal as I do 
 poison. Sam Slick, Human Nature. 
 
 YELLOW COVER (pron. yaller kiver). A notice of dismissal from govern- 
 ment employment. So called from its being usually enclosed in a yellow 
 envelope. 
 
 YELLOW HAMMER. (Picus auratus.) The popular name of the Gold- 
 en-winged Woodpecker, the most beautiful of the genus. It is known, 
 by other names in different parts of the country, as High-hole, Yacker,. 
 Clape, etc. 
 
 YELLOW JACKET. A small wasp, well known for its terrible sting. 
 
 YELLOW ROOT. (Zanthorhiza apiifolia.) A plant whose roots are used" 
 as a dye by the Indians. It is also medicinal. 
 
 YELLOW THROAT. A small singing bird of the warbler species. 
 
 YERE. A Southern pronunciation for here.' 
 
 "Why is it, my son, that when you drop your bread and butter, it is always butter 
 side down ? " 
 
 "I don't know. It had n't oughter, had it. The strongest side ought to be upper- 
 most, had n't it, ma ? And this yere is the strongest butter I ever seed." Cairo 
 (Illinois) Times, Feb. 28, 1855. 
 
 YOPON. (Ilex vomitoria.) North Carolina tea. A plant indigenous to 
 
 North Carolina ; and when the leaves are dried by slow heat, and infused 
 
 in water, it is used as a beverage. It is slightly intoxicating. It belongs 
 
 to the same genus of plants as the celebrated Mate (Ilex paraguayensis) 
 
 x , - of South America. 
 
 You DON'T ! for you don't say so f i. e. really ! indeed ! " Mr. Grimaldi 
 threw a back somerset out of a three-story window." " Now, you 
 don't f" 
 
 OURN. This is a contraction of your own, or a change in the termination 
 of the pronoun yours, in conformity with mine, and which is much used 
 by the illiterate and vulgar. It is also used in London and in the 
 West of England. "The cockney," says Mr. Pegge, "considers such 
 words as our own and your own as pronouns possessive, a little too much 
 expanded ; and, therefore, thinks it proper to curtail them, and to com- 
 
 ^ ~^z
 
 YUC ZEE 521 
 
 press them into the words ourn and yourn, for common daily use." 
 Anecdotes of the English Language, p. 193. Compare Hern and 
 Hisn. 
 
 YUCKER. See Clape. 
 
 Z. 
 
 ZAPOTE. See Sapote. 
 ZEEWAN. See Seawan.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 PROVERBS. 
 
 Ambition is as hollow as the soul of an echo. 
 
 Tide, steamboats, and soda water will wait for no one. 
 
 Big feet, like a leather shirt, are more for use than ornament. 
 
 Money slips from the fingers like a watermelon seed, travels without legs, and 
 flies without wings. 
 
 It is the lot of humanity to err at times, as the drunken man said when he mis- 
 took the pig-pen for his bedroom. 
 
 A good deed will stick out, with an inclination to spread, like the tail of a pea- 
 cock. 
 
 Evil actions, like crushed rotten eggs, stink in the nostrils of all. 
 
 You might as well undertake to whistle a grape-vine from a white-oak, as to in- 
 duce a girl to relinquish her lover. 
 
 Vice is a skunk that smells awfully rank when stirred up by the pole of misfor- 
 tune. 
 
 SIMILES. 
 
 As big as all out of doors. 
 
 As dry as the clerk of a lime-kiln. 
 
 As long as a thanksgiving sermon. 
 
 As crooked as a Virginia fence. 
 
 As straight as a loon's leg. 
 
 As straight as a shingle. 
 
 As sharp as the little end of nothing. 
 
 As slick as greased lightning. 
 
 As smiling as a basket of chips. 
 
 As happy as a clam at high-water. 
 
 (523)
 
 524 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 As tight as the bark of a tree. 
 
 As crazy as a bedbug. 
 
 As mad as all wrath. 
 
 As wrathy as a militia officer on a training-day. 
 
 As proud as a tame turkey. 
 
 As melancholy as a Quaker meeting-house by moonlight. 
 
 As useless as whistling psalms to a dead horse. 
 
 Like all nature. 
 
 Like all fury. 
 
 Like all possessed. 
 
 Thrashing round like a short-tailed bull in fly-tune. 
 
 Head and tail up, like chicken-cocks in laying-time. 
 
 ALA. 
 
 ABBREV] 
 
 Alabama. 
 
 [ATIO 
 
 Miss. 
 
 ARK. 
 
 Arkansas. 
 
 Mo. 
 
 C. H. 
 
 Court House. 
 
 N. C. 
 
 CONN. 
 
 Connecticut. 
 
 N. H. 
 
 DEL. 
 
 Delaware. 
 
 N. M. 
 
 F. F. V. 
 
 First Family of Virginia. 
 
 N. y. 
 
 GA. 
 
 Georgia. 
 
 0. 
 
 IA. 
 
 Iowa. 
 
 0. K. 
 
 ILL. 
 
 Illinois. 
 
 O. T. 
 
 IXD. 
 
 Indiana. 
 
 PA. 
 
 K. T. 
 
 Kanzas Territory. 
 
 R. I. 
 
 KY. 
 
 Kentucky. 
 
 S. C. 
 
 LA. 
 
 Louisiana. 
 
 TENN. 
 
 M. C. 
 
 Member of Congress. 
 
 V. 
 
 MASS. 
 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 VA. 
 
 MD. 
 
 Maryland. 
 
 VT. 
 
 ME. 
 
 Maine. 
 
 W. T. 
 
 MICH. 
 
 Michigan. 
 
 X. 
 
 Mississippi. 
 
 Missouri. 
 
 North Carolina. 
 
 New Hampshire. 
 
 New Mexico. 
 
 New York. 
 
 Ohio. 
 
 Oil Korrekt, i. e. All correct. 
 
 Oregon Territory. 
 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Rhode Island. 
 
 South Carolina. 
 
 Tennessee. 
 
 A five dollar bill. 
 
 Virginia. 
 
 Vermont. 
 
 Washington Territory. 
 
 A ten dollar bill. 
 
 END.
 
 1187&3