A CADGERS MAP OF A BEGGING DISTHICT. EXPLANATION OF THE HIEROGLYPHICS. v/ NO GOOD ; too poor, and know too much. /*\t STOP, if you have what they want, they will buy. They are T* pretty "jly" (knowing). "^ GO IN THIS DIRECTION, it is better than the other road. 'J'^ Nothing that way. /v BONE (crood). Safe for a "cold tatur," if for nothing else. \f '' Chttse your patter" (don't talk much) here. MT COOPER' D (spoilt), by too many tramps calling there. P~l GAMMY (unfavourable), likely to have you taken up. Mind the dog. fi\ PL UMMUXED (dangerous), sure of a month in " quod " (prison). dft RELIGIOUS, but tidy on the whole. W See pane 37. A DICTIONARY OF MODERN SLANG, CANT, AND VULGAR WORDS, U8BD AT THB PRESENT DAY IN THE STREETS OF LONDON ; TUB UNIVERSITIES OF OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE; TI1K HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT: THE DENS OF St. GILES; AND THE PALACES OF ST. JAMES. PRECEDED BY A HISTORY OF CANT AND VULGAR LANGUAGE; WITH GLOSSARIES OF TWO SECRET LANGUAGES, SPOKEN BY THB WANDERING TRIBES OF LONDON, THK COSiaRMONGBRS, AND THE PATTERER8. BY A LONDON ANTIQUARY. 'Rabble-charming words, which carry so much wild-flre wrapt up in them." SOUTH. SECOND EDITION, REVISED, WITH TWO THOUSAND ADDITIONAL WORDS. LONDON: JOHN CAMDEN HOTTEN, PICCADILLY. 1860. LOXDON : PRINTED BY TAYLOR A\D GREEXIXO, GRAY8TORE-PLACE, FETTER-LAKE, B.C. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. THE First Edition of this work had a rapid sale, and within a few weeks after it was published the entire issue passed from the publisher's, shelves into the hands of the public. A Second Edition, although urgently called for, was not immediately attempted. The First had been found incomplete and faulty in many respects, and the author determined to thoroughly revise and recast before again going to press. The present edition, therefore, will be found much more complete than the First ; indeed, I may say that it has been en- tirely rewritten, and that, whereas the First contained but 3,000 words, this gives nearly 5,000, with a mass of fresh illustrations, and extended articles on the more important slang terms HUMBUG, for instance. The notices of a Lingua Franca element in the lan- guage of London vagabonds is peculiar to this edition. My best thanks are due to several correspondents for valuable hints and suggestions as to the probable etymologies of various colloquial expressions. One literary journal of high repute recommended a VI PREFACE. division of cant from slang ; but the annoyance of two indices in a small work appeared to me to more than counterbalance the benefit of a stricter philo- logical classification, so I have for the present adhered to the old arrangement ; indeed, to separate cant from slang would be almost impossible. Respecting the HIEROGLYPHICS OF VAGABONDS, I have been unable to obtain further information ; but the following extract from a popular manual which I have just met with is worth recording, although, perhaps, somewhat out of place in a Preface. " Gipseys follow their brethren by numerous marks, such as strewing handfuls of grass in the day time at a four lane or cross roads ; the grass being strewn down the road the gang have taken ; also, by a cross being made on the ground with a stick or knife, the longest end of the cross denotes the route taken. In the night time a cleft stick is placed in the fence at the cross roads, with an arm pointing down the road their com- rades have taken. The marks are always placed on the left-hand side, so that the stragglers can easily and readily find them." Snowderis Magistrate's Assistant, 1852, p. 444. Piccadilly, March 15th, 1860. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. IF any gentleman of a studious turn of mind, who may have acquired the habit of carrying pencils and note- books, would for one year reside in Monmouth Court, Seven Dials ; six months in Orchard Street, West- minster ; three months in Mint Street, Borough ; and consent to undergo another three months on the ex- tremely popular, but very much disliked treadmill (vulgo the "Everlasting Staircase"), finishing, I will propose, by a six months' tramp, in the character of a cadger and beggar, over England, I have not the least doubt but that he would be able to write an interesting work on the languages, secret and vulgar, of the lower orders. In the matter of SLANG, our studious friend would have to divide his time betwixt observation and re- search. Conversations on the outsides of omnibuses, on steamboat piers, or at railway termini, would de- mand his most attentive hearing, so would the knots of semi-decayed cabmen, standing about in bundles of Vlll PREFACE. worn-out great-coats and haybands, betwixt watering pails, and conversing in a dialect every third word of which is without home or respectable relations. He would also have to station himself for hoiirs near gatherings of ragged boys playing or fighting, but ever and anon contributing to the note-book a pure street term. He would have to " hang about" lobbies, mark the refined word-droppings of magniloquent flunkies, "run after" all the popular preachers, go to the Inns of Court, be up all night and about all day in fact, be a ubiquitarian, with a note-book and pencil in hand. As for research, he would have to turn over each -page of our popular literature, wander through all the weekly serials, wade through the newspapers, fashion- able and unfashionable, and subscribe to Mudie's, and scour the novels. This done, and if he has been an observant man, I will engage to say, that he has made a choice gathering, and that we may reasonably expect an interesting little book. I give this outline of preparatory study to show the reason the task has never been undertaken before. People in the present chase after respectability don't care to turn blackguards, and exchange cards with the Whitechapel Pecker or the Sharp's-alley Chicken, for the sake of a few vulgar, although curious words ; and we may rest assured that it is quite impossible to write any account of vulgar or low language, and remain seated on damask in one's own drawing room. But a PREFACE. IX fortunate circumstance attended the compiler of the present work, and he has neither been required to reside in Seven Dials, visit the treadmill, or wander over the country in the character of a vagabond or a cadger. In collecting old ballads, penny histories, and other printed street narratives, as materials for a History of Cheap or Popular Literature, he frequently had occasion to purchase in Seven Dials and the Borough a few old songs or dying speeches, from the chaunters and pat- terers who abound in those neighbourhoods. With some of these men (their names would not in the least interest the reader, and would only serve the purpose of making this Preface look like a vulgar page from the London Directory) an arrangement was made, that they should collect the cant and slang words used by the different wandering tribes of London and the country. Some of these chaunters are men of re- spectable education (although filling a vagabond's calling), and can write good hands, and express them- selves fluently, if not with orthographical correctness. To prevent deception and mistakes, the words and phrases sent in were checked off by other chaunters and tramps. Assistance was also sought and obtained, through an intelligent printer in Seven Dials, from the costermongers in London, and the pedlars and huck- sters who traverse the country. In this manner the greater number of cant words were procured, very valuable help being continually derived from Mayheufa X PREFACE. London Labour and London Poor, a work which had gone over much of the same ground. The slang and vulgar expressions were gleaned from every source which appeared to offer any materials ; indeed the references attached to words in the Dictionary fre- quently indicate the channels which afforded them. Although in the Introduction I have divided cant from slang, and treated the subjects separately, yet in the Dictionary I have only, in a few instances, pointed out which are slang, or which are cant terms. The task would have been a difficult one. Many words which were once cant are slang now. The words PRIG and COVE are instances in point. Once cant and secret terms, they are now only street vulgarisms. The etymologies attempted are only given as contri- butions to the subject, and the derivation of no vulgar term is guaranteed. The origin of many street words will, perhaps, never be discovered, having commenced with a knot of illiterate persons, and spread amongst a public that cared not a fig for the history of the word, so long as it came to their tongues to give a vulgar piquancy to a joke, or relish to an exceedingly familiar conversation. The references and authorities given in italics frequently show only the direction or probable source of the etymology. The author, to avoid tedious verbiage, was obliged, in so small a work, to be curt in his notes and suggestions. He has to explain also that a few words will, pro- PREFACE. XI bably, be noticed in the Slang and Cant Dictionary that are questionable as coming under either of those de- signations. These have been admitted because they were originally either vulgar terms, or the compiler had something novel to say concerning them. The makers of our large dictionaries have been exceedingly crotchety in their choice of what they considered re- spectable words. It is amusing to know that Richard- son used the word HUMBUG to explain the sense of other words, but omitted it in the alphabetical arrange- ment as not sufficiently respectable and ancient. The word SLANG, too, he served in the same way. Filthy and obscene words have been carefully ex- cluded, although street -talk, unlicensed and unwritten, abounds in these. " Immodest words admit of no defence, For want of decency is want of sense." It appears from the calculations of philologists, that there are 38,000 words in the English language, in- cluding derivations. I believe I have, for the first time, in consecutive order, added at least 3,000 words to the previous stock, vulgar and often very objec- tionable, but still terms in every-day use, and employed by thousands. It is not generally known, that the polite Lord Chesterfield once desired Dr. Johnson to compile a Slang Dictionary, indeed, it was Chester- field, some say, who first used the word HUMBUG. Xll PREFACE "Words, like peculiar styles of dress, get into public favour, and come and go in fasliion. When great favourites and universal they truly become household words, although generally considered slang, when their origin or antecedents are inquired into. A few errors of the press, I am sorry to say, may be noticed; but, considering the novelty of the sub- ject, and the fact that no fixed orthography of vulgar speech exists, it will, I hope, be deemed a not unin- teresting essay on a new and very singular branch of human inquiry; for, as Mayhew remarks, "the whole subject of cant and slang is, to the philologist, replete with interest of the most profound character." THE COMPILER WILL BE MUCH OBLIGED BY THE RE- CEIPT, THROUGH MR. CAMDEN HOTTEN, THE PUBLISHER, OP ANY CANT, SLANG, OR VULGAR WORDS NOT MEN- TIONED IN THE DICTIONARY. THE PROBABLE ORIGIN, OR ETYMOLOGY, OP ANY FASHIONABLE OR UNFASHION- ABLE VULGARISM, WILL ALSO BE RECEIVED BY HIM WITH THANKS. Piccadilly, June 30th, 1859. CONTENTS. THE HISTORY OF CANT, OR THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF VAGABONDS. PAGE Black and Coloured VAGABONDS Vagabonds all over Europe Vagabonds Universal ... ... 15 Etymology of CANT Cant used in old times Differ- ence between Cant and Slang ... ... .... 5 7 The GIPSETS Gipseys taught English Vagabonds The Gipsey- Vagabond alliance The Origin of Cant Vulgar words from the Gipsey Gipsey element in the English language The poet Moore on the origin of Cant Borrow on the Gipsey language -The inventor of Canting not hanged ... 715 Old CANT words still used Old Cant words with modern meanings The words " Rum" and " Queer* explained Old Cant words entirely obsolete ... ... ... ... ... 1619 THE QIJIEST "ROGUE'S DICTIONARY" ... ... 2026 "Jaw-breakers," or hard words, used as Cant Were Highwaymen educated men ? Vagabonds used Foreign words as Cant The Lingua Franca, or Bastard Italian Cant derived from Jews and SJiowmen Classic words used as English Cant Old English words used as Cant Old English words not fashionable now Our old Authors very vulgar persons Was Shakespere a pugilist ? Old Dramatists used Cant words Curious systems of Cant ... ... ... ... 26 55 XIV CONTENTS. ACCOUNT OF THE HIEROGLYPHICS USED BY VAGABONDS. PACK MENDICANT FREEMASONRY Hieroglyphics of Vaga- bonds Maps used by Beggars Account of a Cadger's Map Explanation of the Hieroglyphics Did the Gipaeys invent them ? - The Murderer's Signal on the Gallows ... ... ... 3643 TOE HISTORY OF SLANG, OR THE VULGAR LANGUAGE OF FAST LIFE. Slang at Babylon and Nineveh Old English Slang Slang in the time of Cromwell ; and in the Court of Charles II. Swift and Arbuthnot fond of Slang The origin of "Cabbage" "The Real Simon Pure" Tom Brown and Ned Ward Did Dr. Johnson compile a Slang Dictionary ? John Bee's absurd etymology of Slany The true origin of the term Derived from the Gipseys Burns and his fat friend, Grose Slang used by all classes, High and Low Slang in Parliament, and amongst our friends New words not so reprehensible as old words burdened with strange meanings The poor Foreigner's perplexity Long and windy Slang words Vulgar cor- ruptions ... ... ... ... ... 44 55 FASHIONABLE SLANG ... ... ... ... 58 PARLIAMENTARY SLANG ... ... ... ... 60 MILITARY AND DANDY SLANG ... ... ... 62 UNIVERSITY SLANG ... ... ... 64 RELIGIOUS SLANG ... ... ... 66 LEGAL SLANG, or Slang amongst the Lawyers ... 70 LITERARY SLANG, Punch on " Slang and Sanscrit " ... 71 THEATRICAL SLANG, or Slang both before and behind the curtain ... ... ... 75 CONTENTS. Civic SLANG ... ... ... ... ... 77 SLANG TERMS FOB MONEY Her Majesty's coin id insulted by one hundred and thirty distinct Slang terms Old Slang terms for money The classical origin of Slang money terms The terms used by the Ancient Romans vulgarisms in the Nineteenth Century ... ... ... 78 82 SHOPKEEPERS' SLANG ... .. ... ... 82 WORKMEN'S SLANG, or Slang in the workshop Many Slang terms for money derived from operatives ... 83 SLANG APOLOGIES FOR OATHS, or sham exclamations for passion and temper Slang swearing ... 85 SLANG TERMS FOR DRUNKENNESS, and the graduated scale of fuddlement and intoxication ... 86 DICTIONARY OF MODERN SLANG, CANT, AND VULGAR WORDS; many with their etymologies traced, together with illustrations, and references to authorities ... ... ... 89 249 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE BACK SLANG, the secret lan- guage of Costermongers The principle of the Back Slang Boys and girls soon acquire it The Back Slang unknown to the Police Coster- mongers' terms for money Arithmetic amongst the Costermongers ... ... ... ... 251 255 GLOSSARY OF THE BACK SLANG ... ... ... 257 262 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE RHYMING SLANG, the secret language of Chaunters and Patterers The origin of the Rhyming Slang Spoken principally by Vagabond Poets, Patterers, and Cheap Jacks Patterers "well up" in Street Slang Curious Slang Letter from a Chauuter ... ... 2C3 268 GLOSSARY or THE RHYMING SLANQ ... ... 269 273 XVI CONTENTS. PAGE THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OP SLANG, CANT, AND VULGAR LANGUAGE, or a list of the books which have been consulted in the compilation of this work, comprising nearly every known treatise upon the subject; ... ... ... ... ... 275290 LIST OF ABBSEVTATIOSS ... ... ... 291 Opinions of the Press npon the First Edition of this work List of New Publications, &c. ... ...293300 THE HISTORY OF CANT, OR, THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF VAGABONDS. CANT and SLANG are universal and world-wide. Nearly every nation on the face of the globe, polite and barbarous, may be divided into two portions, the stationary and the wandering, the civilised and the uncivilised, the respectable and the scoundrel, those who have fixed abodes and avail themselves of the refinements of civilisation, and those who go from place to place picking up a precarious livelihood by petty sales, begging, or theft. This peculiarity is to be observed amongst the heathen tribes of the southern hemisphere, as well as the oldest and most refined countries of Europe. As Mayhew very pertinently remarks, " it would appear, that not only are all races B 2 BLACK AND COLOUKED VAGABONDS. divisible into wanderers and settlers, but that each civilised or settled tribe has generally some wan- dering horde intermingled with, and in a mea- sure preying upon it." In South Africa, the naked and miserable Hottentots are pestered by the still more abject Sonquas ; and it may be some satisfaction for us to know that our old enemies at the Cape, the Kafirs, are troubled with a tribe of rascals called Fingoes, the former term, we are informed by travellers, signifying beggars, and the latter wanderers and outcasts. In South America, and among the islands of the Pacific, matters are pretty much the same. Sleek and fat rascals, with not much inclination towards honesty, fatten, or rather fasten, like body insects, upon other rascals, who would be equally sleek and fat but for their vagabond dependents. Luckily for respectable persons, however, vagabonds, both at home and abroad, show certain outward pecu- liarities which distinguish them from the great mass of lawful people off whom they feed and fatten. Personal observation, and a little research into books, enable me to mark these external traits. The wandering races are remarkable for the development of the bones of the face, as the jaws, cheek-bones, &c., high crowned, stubborn-shaped heads, quick restless eyes,* and hands nervously * " Swarms of vagabonds, whose eyes were so sharp as Lynx." Bullein's Simples and Surgery, 1562. VAGABONDS ALL OVER EUROPE. 6 itching to be doing;* for their love of gambling, staking their very existence upon a single cast ; for sensuality of all kinds ; and for their use of a CANT language with which to conceal their designs and plunderings. The secret jargon, or rude speech, of the vagabonds who hang upon the Hottentots is termed cuze-cat. In Finland, the fellows who steal seal skins, pick the pockets of bear-skin overcoats, and talk Cant, are termed Lappes. In France, the secret language of highwaymen, housebreakers, and pickpockets is named Argot. The brigands and more romantic rascals of Spain, term their private tongue Ger- mania, or Robbers' Language. Ro l ,hwalsch, or Red Italian, is synonymous with Cant and thieves' talk in Germany. The vulgar dialect of Malta, and the Scala towns of the Levant imported into this country and incorporated with English cant is known as the Lingua Franca, or bastard Italian. And the crowds of lazy beggars that infest the streets of Naples and Rome, and the brigands that Albert Smith used to describe near Pompeii stop- ping a railway train, and deliberately rifling the pockets and baggage of the passengers their secret language is termed Gergo. In England, as we all know, it is called Cant often improperly Slang. Most nations, then, may boast, or rather lament, * Mayhem has a curious idea upon the habitual restlessness of the nomadic tribes, i.e., " Whether it be that in the mere act of wandering, there is a greater determination of blood to the B'2 4 VAGABONDS UNIVERSAL. a vulgar tongue, formed principally from the national language, the hereditary property of thieves, tramps, and beggars, the pests of civilised communities. The formation of these secret tongues vary, of course, with the circumstances surrounding the speakers. A writer in Notes and Queries,* has well remarked, that " the investigation of the origin and principles of Cant and Slang language opens a curious field of enquiry, replete with considerable interest to the philologist and the philosopher. It affords a remarkable instance of lingual contriv- ance, which, without the introduction of much arbitrary matter, has developed a system of com- municating ideas, having all the advantages of a foreign language." An inquiry into the etymology of foreign vulgar secret tongues, and their analogy with that spoken in England, would be curious and interesting in the extreme, but neither present space nor personal acquirements permit of the task, and therefore the writer confines himself to a short account of the origin of English Cant. The terms CANT and CANTING were doubtless derived from chaunt or chaunting, the " whining tone, or modulation of voice adopted by beggars, with intent to coax, wheedle, or cajole by pre- surface of the body, and consequently a less quantity sent to the brain." London Labour, vol. i., p. 2. * Mr. Thos. Lawrence, who promised an Etymological, Cant, and Slang Dictionary. Where is the book ? ETYMOLOGY OF CANT. 5 tensions of Avretchedness."* For the origin of the other application of the word CANT, pulpit hypocrisy, we are indebted to a pleasant page in the Spectator (No. 147): " Cant is by some people derived from one Andrew Cant, who, they say, was a Presbyterian minister in some illiterate part of Scotland, who by exercise and use had obtained the faculty, alias gift, of talking in the pulpit in such a dialect that 'tis said he was understood by none but his own congregation, and not by all of them. Since Master Cants time it has been understood in a larger sense, and signifies all exclamations, whinings, unusual tones, and, in fine, all praying and preaching like the unlearned of the Presby- terians." This anecdote is curious, if it is not correct. It was the custom in Addison's time to have a fling at the blue Presbyterians, and the mention made by Whitelocke of Andrew Cant, a fanatical Scotch preacher, and the squib upon the same worthy, in Scotch Presbyterian Eloquence Displayed, may probably have started the whim- sical etymology. As far as we are concerned, however, in the present inquiry, CANT was derived from chaimt, a beggar's whine; CHAUNTING being the recognised terra amongst, beggars to this day for begging orations and street whinings; and CHAUNTER, a street talker and tramp, the very term still used by strollers and patterers. The use * Richardson's Dictionary. 6 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CANT AND SLANG. of the word CANT, amongst beggars, must certainly have commenced at a very early date, for we find " TO CANTE, to speake," in Harman's list of Rogues' Words in the year 1566; and Harrison about the same time,* in speaking of beggars and Gipseys, says, "they have devised a language among themselves which they name CANTING, but others Pedlars' Frenche." Now the word CANT in its old sense, and SLANGf in its modern application, although used by good writers and persons of education as synonymes, are in reality quite distinct and separate terms. CANT, apart from religious hypocrisy, refers to the old secret language, by allegory or distinct terms, of Gipseys, thieves, tramps, and beggars. SLANG represents that evanescent, vulgar language, ever changing with fashion and taste, which has prin- cipally come into vogue during the last seventy or eighty years, spoken by persons in every grade of life, rich and poor, honest and dishonest.^ CANT * Description of England, prefixed to Holinshed's C/ironicle. f The word SLANG, as will be seen in the chapter upon that subject, is purely a Gipsey term, although now-a-days it refers to low or vulgar language of any kind, other than cant. SLANG and GIBBERISH in the Gipsey language are synonymous ; but, as English adoptions, have meanings very different from that given to them in their original. J The vulgar tongue consists of two parts : the first is the CANT Language; the second, those burlesque phrases, quaint allusions, and nick names for persons, things, and places, which, from long uninterrupted usage, are made classical by prescrip- tion. Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1st edition, 1785. THE GIPSEYS. 7 is old ; SLANG is always modern and changing. To illustrate the difference : a thief in Cant language would term a horse a PRANCER or a PRAD, while in slang, a man of fashion would speak of it as a BIT OF BLOOD, Or a SPANKER, Or a NEAT TIT. A handkerchief, too, would be a BILLY, a FOGLE, or a KENT RAG, in the secret language of low characters, whilst amongst vulgar persons, or those who aped their speech, it would be called a RAG, a WIPE, or a CLOUT. CANT was formed for purposes of secrecy. SLANG is indulged in from a desire to appear familiar with life, gaiety, town- humour, and with the transient nick names and street jokes of the day. Both Cant and Slang, I am aware, are often huddled together as synonymes, but they are distinct terms, and as such should be used. To the Gipseys, beggars and thieves are undoubt- edly indebted for their Cant language. The Gipseys landed in this country early in the reign of Henry the Eighth. They were at first treated as conjurors and magicians, indeed they were hailed by the populace with as much applause as a company of English theatricals usually receive on arriving in a distant colony. They came here with all their old Eastern arts of palmistry, fortune-telling, doubling money by incantation and burial, shreds of pagan idolatry; and they brought with them, also, the dishonesty of the lower caste of Asiatics, and the vagabondism they had acquired since leaving their 8 GIPSEYS TAUGHT ENGLISH VAGABONDS. ancient dwelling places in the East, many centuries before. They possessed, also, a language quite distinct from anything that had been heard in England, and they claimed the title of Egyptians, and as such, when their thievish wandering pro- pensities became a public nuisance, were cautioned and proscribed in a royal proclamation by Henry VIII.* The Gipseys were not long in the country before they found native imitators. Vagabondism is peculiarly catching. The idle, the vagrant, and the criminal outcasts of society, caught an idea from the so called Egyptians soon corrupted to Gipseys. They learned from them how to tramp, sleep under hedges and trees, to tell fortunes, and find stolen property for a consideration frequently, as the saying runs, before it was lost. They also learned the value and application of a secret tongue, indeed all the accompaniments of maunding and imposture, except thieving and begging, which were well known in this country long before the Gipseys paid it a visit, perhaps the only negative good that can be said in their favour. Harman, in the year 1566, wrote a singular, not to say droll book, entitled, A Caveat for commen Cvrsetors, vulgarley called Vagabonds, newly aug- mented and inlarged, wherein the history and various descriptions of rogues and vagabonds are given, together with their canting tongue. This book, * " Outlandish people calling themselves Egyptians." 1530. THE GIPSEY- VAGABOND ALLIANCE. the earliest of the kind, gives the singular fact that within a dozen years after the landing of the Gipseys, companies of English vagrants were formed, places of meeting appointed, districts for plunder and begging operations marked out, and rules agreed to for their common management. In some cases Gipseys joined the English gangs, in others English vagrants joined the Gipseys. The fellowship was found convenient and profitable, as both parties were aliens to the laws and customs of the country, living in a great measure in the open air, apart from the lawful public, and often meeting each other on the same bye-path, or in the same retired valley ; but seldom intermarrying, and entirely adopting each other's habits. The common people, too, soon began to consider them as of one family, all rogues, and from Egypt. The secret language spoken by the Gipseys, principally Hindoo and extremely barbarous to English ears, was found incomprehensible and very difficult to learn. The Gipseys, also, found the same difficulty with the English language. A rude, rough, and most singular compromise was made, and a mixture of Gipsey, Old English, newly-coined words, and cribbings from any foreign, and therefore secret language, mixed and jumbled together, formed what has ever since been known as the CANTING LANGUAGE, or PEDLER'S FRENCH ; or, during the past century, ST. GILES' GREEK. THE ORIGIN OF CANT. Such was the origin of CANT ; and in illustra- tion of its blending with the Gipsey or Cingari tongue, dusky and Oriental from the sunny plains of Central Asia, I am enabled to give the accom- panying list of Gipsey, and often Hindoo words, with, in many instances, their English adoptions. Gipsey. English. BAMBOOZLE, to perplex or BAMBOOZLE, to delude, cheat, mislead by hiding. Mod Gip. or make a fool of any one. BOSH, rubbish, nonsense, offal. BOSH, stupidity, foolishness. Gipsey and Persian. CHEESE, thing or article, CHEESE, or CHEESY, a first- " that's the CHEESE," or thing. rate or very good article. Gipsey and Hindoo. CHIVE, the tongue. Gipsey. CHIVE, or CHIVET, a shout, or loud-tongued. DADE, or DADI, a father. Gip- DADDY, nursery term for sey. father.* DISTARABIN, a prison. Gip- STURABIN, a prison. sey. GAD, or GADSI, a wife. Gipsey. GAD, a female scold ; a woman who tramps over the country with a beggar or hawker. GIBBERISH, the language of GIBBERISH, rapid and un- Gipseys, synonymous with meaning speech. SLANG. Gipsey. ISCHUR, SCHUR, or CHUB, a CUR, a mean or dishonest man. thief. Gipsey and Hindoo. LAB, a word. Gipsey. LOBS, words. LOWE, or LOWR, money. Gip- LOWRE, money. Ancient Cant. sey and Wallachian. * In those instances, indicated by a *, it is impossible to say whether or not we are indebted to the Gipseys for the terms. DAD, in Welsh, also signifies a father. CUB is stated to be a mere term of reproach, like " Dog," which in all European languages has been applied in an abusive sense. Objections may also be raised against GAD and MAUND. VULGAR WORDS FROM THE GIPSEY. 11 Gipsey. English. M AMI, a grandmother. Gipsey. MAMMY, or MAMMA, a mother, formerly sometimes used for grandmother. MANG, or MAUNG, to beg. MAUND. to beg. Gipsey and Hindoo. MORT, a free woman, one for MORT, or MOTT, a prostitute. common use amongst the male Gipseys, so appointed by Gipsey custom. Gipsey. MU, the mouth. Gipsey and MOO, or MUN, the mouth. Hindoo. MULL, to spoil or destroy. MULL, to spoil, or bungle. Gipsey. PAL, a brother. Gipsey. PAL, a partner, or relation. PANE', water. Gipsey. Hindoo, PARNEY, rain. PAWNEE. RIG, a performance. Gipsey. RIG, a frolic, or " spree." ROMANY, speech or language. ROMANY, the Gipsey lan- Spanish Gipsey. guage. ROME, or ROMM, a man. Gip- RUM, a good man, or thing. sey and Coptick. In the Robbers' language of Spain (partly Gipsey) BUM signifies a harlot. ROMEE, a woman. Gipsey. RUMY, a good woman or girl. SLANG, the language spoken SLANG, low, vulgar, unautho- by Gipseys. Gipsey. rised language. TAWNO, little. Gipsey. TANNY, TEENY, little. TSCHIB, or JIBB, the tongue. JIBE, the tongue ; JABBER,* Gipsey and Hindoo. quick-tongued, or fast talk. Here then we have the remarkable fact of seve- ral words of pure Gipsey and Asiatic origin going the round of Europe, passing into this country before the Reformation, and coming down to * JABBER, I am reminded, may be only another form of GABBER, GAB, very common in Old English, from the Anglo- Saxon, G^BBBAN. 12 VULGAE WORDS FROM THE GIPSEY. us through numerous generations purely in the mouths of the people. They have seldom been written or used in books, and simply as vulgarisms have they reached our time. Only a few are now cant, and some are household words. The word JOCKEY, as applied to a dealer or rider of horses, came from the Gipsey, and means in that language a whip. Our standard dictionaries give, of course, none but conjectural etymologies. Another word, BAMBOOZLE, has been a sore difficulty with lexi- cographers. It is not in the old dictionaries, although extensively used in familiar or popular language for the last two centuries ; in fact, the very word that Swift, Butler, L'Estrange, and Arbuthnot would pick out at once as a telling and most serviceable term. It is, as we have seen, from the Gipsey ; and here I must state that it was Boucher who first drew attention to the fact, although in his remarks on the dusky tongue, he has made a ridiculous mistake by concluding it to be identical with its offspring, CANT. Other parallel instances, with but slight variations from the old Gipsey meanings, could be mentioned, but sufficient examples have been adduced to show that Marsden, the great Oriental scholar in the last century, when he declared before the Society of Antiquaries that the Cant of English thieves and beggars had nothing to do with the language spoken by the despised Gipseys, was in error. Had GIPSEY ELEMENT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 13 the Gipsey tongue been analysed and committed to writing three centuries ago, there is every proba- bility that many scores of words now in common use could be at once traced to its source. Instances continually occur now-a-days of street vulgarisms ascending to the drawing-rooms of respectable society. Why, then, may not the Gipsey-vagabond alliance three centuries ago have contributed its quota of common words to popular speech ? I feel confident there is a Gipsey element in the English language hitherto unrecognised; slender it may be, but not, therefore, unimportant. " Indeed," says Moore the poet, in a humorous little book, Tom Crib's Memorial to Congress, 1819, " the Gipsey language, with the exception of such terms as relate to their own peculiar customs, dif- fers but little from the regular Flash or Cant lan- guage." But this was magnifying the importance of the alliance. Moore knew nothing of the Gipsey tongue other than the few Cant words put into the mouths of the beggars, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Comedy of the Beggar's Bush, and Ben Jonson's Masque of the Gipseys Metamorphosed, hence his confounding Cant with Gipsey speech, and appealing to the Glossary of Cant for so called " Gipsey" words at the end of the Life of Bamfylde Moore Carew, to bear him out in his assertion. Still his remark bears much truth, and proof would have been found long ago if any scholar 14 BORROW ON THE GIPSEY LANGUAGE. had taken the trouble to examine the " barbarous jargon of Cant," and to have compared it with Gipsey speech. As George Borrow, in his Account of the Gipseys in Spain, eloquently concludes his second volume, speaking of the connection of the Gipseys with Europeans : " Yet from this tempo- rary association were produced two results : Euro- pean fraud became sharpened by coming into con- tact with Asiatic craft ; whilst European tongues, by imperceptible degrees, became recruited with various words (some of them wonderfully expres- sive), many of which have long been stumbling- blocks to the philologist, who, whilst stigmatising them as words of mere vulgar invention, or of un- known origin, has been far from dreaming that a little more research or reflection would have proved their affinity to the Sclavonic, Persian, or Romaic, or perhaps to the mysterious object of his venera- tion, the Sanscrit, the sacred tongue of the palm- covered regions of Ind ; words originally introduced into Europe by objects too miserable to occupy for a moment his lettered attention, the despised deni- zens of the tents of Roma." But the Gipseys, their speech, their character bad enough as all the world testifies their history and their religious belief, have been totally disre- garded, and their poor persons buffeted and jostled about until it is a wonder that any trace of origin or national speech exists in them. On the con- THE INVENTOR OF CANTING NOT HANGED. 15 tinent they received better attention at the hands of learned men. Their language was taken down, their history traced, and their extraordinary customs and practice of living in the open air, and eating raw or putrid meat, explained. They ate reptiles and told fortunes, because they had learnt it through their forefathers centuries back in Hindostan, and they devoured carrion because the Hindoo proverb " that which God kills is better than that killed by man"* was still in their remembrance. Grellman, a learned German, was their principal historian, and to him we are almost entirely indebted for the little we know of their language.f GIPSEY then started, and partially merged into CANT, and the old story told by Harrison and others, that the first inventor of canting was hanged for his pains, would seem to be a fable, for jargon as it is, it was, doubtless, of gradual forma- tion, like all other languages or systems of speech. The Gipseys at the present day all know the old cant words, as well as their own tongue, or rather what remains of it. As Borrow states, " the dialect of the English Gipseys is mixed with Eng- lish words."J Those of the tribe who frequent fairs, * This very proverb was mentioned by a young Gipsey to Crabb, a few years ago. Gipseys Advocate, p. 14. "t* I except, of course, the numerous writers who have followed Grellman, and based their researches upon his labours. % Oipseys of Spain, vol. i., p. 18. 16 OLD CANT WORDS STILL USED. and mix with English tramps, readily learn the new words, as they are adopted by what Harman calls, " the fraternity of vagabonds." Indeed, the old CANT is a common language to vagrants of all descriptions and origin scattered over the British Isles. Ancient English CANT has considerably altered since the first dictionary was compiled by Harman, in 1566. A great many words are unknown in the present tramps' and thieves' vernacular. Some of them, however, bear still their old definitions, while others have adopted fresh meanings, to escape detection, I suppose. " ABRAHAM MAN" is yet seen in our modern SHAM ABRAHAM, or PLAY THE OLD SOLDIER, i.e., to feign sickness or dis- tress. " AUTUM" is still a church or chapel amongst Gipseys; and " BECK," a constable, is our modern cant and slang BEEK, a policeman or ma- gistrate. " BENE," or BONE, stands for good in Seven Dials, and the back streets of Westminster; and " BOWSE" is our modern BOOZE, to drink or fuddle. A "BOWSING KEN" was the old cant term for a public house, and BOOZING KEN, in modern cant, has precisely the same meaning. "BuFE" was then the term for a dog, now it is BUFFER, frequently applied to men. " CASSAN" is both old and modern cant for cheese ; the same may be said of "CHATTES" or CHATTS, the gallows. " COFE," or COVE, is still the vulgar OLD CANT WORDS WITH MODERN MEANINGS. 17 synonyme for a man. " DRAWERS" was hose, or " hosen," now applied to the lining for trousers. " DUDES" was cant for clothes, we now say DUDDS. "FLAG" is still a fourpenny piece; and "FYLCHE" means to rob. "KEN" is a house, nnd "LICK" means to thrash; " PRANCER" is yet known amongst rogues as a horse; and " to PRIG," amongst high and low, is to steal. Three centuries ago, if one beggar said anything disagreeable to another, the person annoyed would say " STOW YOU," or hold your peace; low people now say STOW IT, equivalent to "be quiet." "TRINE" is still to hang; " WYN" yet stands for a penny. And many other words, as will be seen in the glossary, still retain their ancient meaning. As specimens of those words which have altered their original cant signification, I may instance " CHETE," now written CHEAT. CHETE was in ancient cant what chop is in the Canton-Chinese, an almost inseparable adjunct. Everything was termed a CHETE, and qualified by a sub- stantive-adjective, which showed what kind of a CHETE was meant ; for instance, "CRASHING CHETES" were teeth ; a " MOFFLING CHETE," a napkin; a "GRUNTING CHETE," a pig, &c. &c. CHEAT now-a-days means to defraud or swindle, and lexicographers have tortured etymology for an original but without success. Escheats and es- cheatours have been named, but with great doubts; C 18 THE WORDS " RUM" AND " QUEER" EXPLAINED. indeed, Stevens, the learned commentator on Shakespere, acknowledged that he " did not recol- lect to have met with the word cheat in our ancient writers."* CHEAT, to defraud, then, is no other than an old Cant term, somewhat altered in its meaning, f and as such it should be described in the next Etymological Dictionary. Another in- stance of a change in the meaning of the old Cant, but the retention of the word is seen in " CLY," formerly to take or steal, now a pocket; remem- bering a certain class of low characters, a curious connection between the two meanings will be dis- covered. " MAKE" was a halfpenny, we now say MAG, MAKE being modern Cant for appropriat- ing, " convey the wise it call." " MILLING" stood for stealing, it is now a pugilistic term for fighting or beating. " NAB" was a head, low people now say NOB, the former meaning, in modern Cant, to steal or seize. " PEK " was meat, we still say PECKISH, when hungry. " PRYGGES, dronken Tinkers or beastly people " as old Harman wrote, would scarcely be understood now; a PRIG, in the 19th century, is a pick- pocket or thief. " QUIER," or QUEER, like cheat, was a very common prefix, and meant bad or * ffiiaJces. Hen. IV., part 2, act ii, scene 4. t It is easy to see how cheat became synonymous with " fraud," when we remember that it was one of the most common words of the greatest class of cheats in the country. OLD CANT WORDS ENTIRELY OBSOLETE. 19 wicked, it now means odd, curious, or strange ; but to the ancient cant we are indebted for the word, which etymologists should remember.* " ROME," or RUM, formerly meant good, or of the first quality, and was extensively used like cheat and queer, indeed as an adjective it was the oppo- site of the latter. RUM now means curious, and is synonymous with queer, thus, a " RUMMY old fellow," or a " QUEER old man." Here again we see the origin of an every day word, scouted by lexicographers and snubbed by respectable persons, but still a word of frequent and popular use. " YANNAM" meant bread, P ANNUM is the word now. Other instances could be pointed out, but they will be observed in the dictionary. Several words are entirely obsolete. " ALTBBEG" no longer means a bed, nor " ASKEW" a cup. " BoOGET,"f now-a-days, would not be understood for a basket; neither would " GAN" pass current for mouth. "FuLLAMS" was the old cant term for false or loaded dice, and although used by Shake- * I am reminded by an eminent philologist that the origin of QUEER is seen in the German, QUER, crooked, hence "odd." I agree with this etymology, but still have reason to believe that the word was first used in this country in a cant sense. Is it mentioned any where as a respectable term before 1500? If not, it had a vulgar or cant introduction into this country. t BOOGET properly signifies a leathern wallet, and is probably derived from the low Latin, BULOA. A tinker's budget is from the same source. c2 20 THE OLDEST " ROGUES' DICTIONARY." spere in this sense, is now unknown and obsolete. Indeed, as Tom Moore somewhere remarks, the present Greeks of St. Giles, themselves, would be thoroughly puzzled by many of the ancient canting songs, taking for example, the first verse of an old favourite: Bing out, bien Morts, and toure and toure, Bing out, bien Morts, and toure ; For all your duds are bing'd awast ; The bien cove hath the loure.* But I think I cannot do better than present to the reader at once an entire copy of the first Canting Dictionary ever compiled. As before mentioned, it was the work of one Thos. Harman, a gentleman who lived in the days of Queen Elizabeth. Some writers have remarked that Deckerf was the first to compile a Dictionary of the vagabonds' tongue; whilst Borrow, J and Moore, the poet, stated that Richard Head performed that * Which, literally translated, means : Go out, good girls, and look and see, Go out, good girls, and see ; For all your clothes are carried away, And the good man has the money. f Who wrote about the year 1610. + Gipseys of Spain, vol. i., p. 18. Borrow further commits himself by remarking that "Head's Vocabulary has always been accepted as the speech of the English Gipseys." Nothing of the kind. Head professed to have lived with the Gipseys, but in reality niched his words from Decker and Bronie. THE OLDEST "ROGUES' DICTIONARY." 21 service in his Life of an English Rogue, published in the year 1680. All these statements are equally incorrect, for the first attempt was made more than a century before the latter work was issued. The quaint spelling and old-fashioned phraseology are preserved, and the reader will quickly detect many vulgar street words, old acquaintances, dressed in antique garb.* ABRAHAM-MEN, be those that fayn themselves to have beene mad, and have bene kept either in Bethelem, or in some other pryson a good time. ALYBBEG, a bedde. ASKEW, a cuppe. A UTEM, a churche. A UTEM MORTES, married wemen as chaste as a cowe. BAUD YE BASKETS, bee women who goe with baskets and capcases on their armes, wherein they have laces, pinnes, nedles, whyte inkel, and round sylke gyrdels of all colours. BECK [Beek], a constable. BELLY-CHETE, apron. BENE, good. Benar, better. BENSHIP, very good. BLETING CHETE, a calfe or sheepe. BOOGET, a travelling tinker's baskete. BORDE, a shilling. BOUNG, a purse [Friesic, pong]. BOWSE, drink. BOWSING-KEN, a alehouse. BUFE [buffer, a man], a dogge. BYNGE A WASTE, go you hence. CACKLING-CHETE, a coke [cock], or capon. C ASS AN [cassam], cheese. CASTERS, a eloake. * The modem, meanings of a few of the old cant words are given in brackets. 22 THE OLDEST " KOGUES' DICTIONARY" CATETH, "the vpright Cofe catethio the Roge" [probably a shortening or misprint of Canteth]. CHATTES, the gallowes. CHETE [see what has been previously said about this word], CL Y [a pocket], to take, receive, or have. COPE [cove], a person. COMMISSION [mish], a shirt. COUNTERFET CRANKE, these that do counterfet the Cranke be yong knaves and yonge harlots, that deeply dissemble the falling sicknes. CRANKE [cranky, foolish], falling evil [or wasting sickness]. CRASHING-CHETES, teeth. CUFFEN, a manne [a cuif in Northumberland and Scotland signifies a lout or awkward fellow]. DARKEMANS, the night. DELL, a yonge wench. DEWSE-A-VYLE, the countrey. DOCK, to deflower. DOXES, harlots. DRA WERS, hosen. DUDES [or dudds], clothes. F AMBLES, handes. FAMBLING-CHETE, a ring on one's hand. FLAGG, a groat. FRATER,a. beggar wyth a false paper. FRESHE- WATER-MARINERS, these kind of caterpillers counterfet great losses on the sea: their shippes were drowned in the playne of Salisbury. FYLCHE, to robbe : Fylch-man [a robber]. GA GE, a quart pot. GAN, a mouth. GENTRY COFE, a noble or gentle man. GENTRY-COFES-KEN, a noble or gentle man's house. GENTRY MORT, a noble or gentle woman. GERRY, excrement. GLASYERS, eyes. GLYMMAR, fyer. GRANNAM, corne. THE OLDEST " BOGUES' DICTIONARY." 23 GRUNTING- CHETE, a pygge. GTS, a writing. GYGER [jigger], a dore. HEARING-CHETES, eares. JARKE, a seale. JARKEMAN, one who make writings and set scales for [coun- terfeit] licences and pasports. KEN, a house. KYNCHEN CO [or cove], a young boye trained up like a " Synching Morte." [From the German diminutive Kind- schen.] KYNCHING MORTE, is a little gyrle, carried at their mothers' backe in a slate, or sheete, who brings them up sauagely. LAG, water. LAG OF DUDES, a bucke [or basket] of clothes. LAGE, to washe. LAP, butter, mylke, or whey. LIGHTMANS, the day. LOWING-CHETE, a cowe. LOWRE, money. LUBBARES, " sturdy Lubbares," country bumpkins, or men of a low degree. L TB-BEG, abed. LYCKE [lick], to beate. L YP, to lie down. LYPKEN, a house to lye in. MAKE[mzg], a halfpenny. MARGERI PRATER, a hen. MILLING, to steale [by sending a child in at the window]. MOFLING-CHETE, a napkin. MORTES [mottp], harlots. M YLL, to robbe. M YNT, gold. NAB [nob], a heade. NABCHET, a hat or cap. NASE, dronken. NOSEGENT, a nunne. 24 THE OLDEST " KOGUES' DICTIONARY." PALLYARD, a borne beggar [who counterfeits sickness, or in- curable sores. They are mostly Welshmen, Harman says]. PA RAM, my Ike. PATRICO, a priest. PATRICOS K1NCHEN, a pygge [a satirical hit at the church, Patrico meaning a parson or priest, and Kinchen his little boy or girl]. PER [peckish], meat. POPPELARS, porrage. PRAT, a buttocke. PRATLING-CHETE, a toung. PRA UNCER, a horse. PRIGGER OP PRA UNCERS, be horse stealers, for to prigge signifieth in their language to steale, and a Prauncer is a horse, so being put together, the matter was playn. [Thus writes old Thomas Harman, who concludes his description of this order of " pryggers," by very quietly saying, " I had the best gelding stolen out of my pasture, that I had amongst others, whyle this book was first a printing."] PRTGGES, dronken Tinkers, or beastly people. QUACK ING-CHETE, a drake or duck. QUAROMES, a body. QUIER [queer], badde [see what has been previously said about this word]. QUYER CRAMP-RINGES, boltes or fetters. QUIER CUFF1N, the iustice of peace. QUYER-KYN, a pryson house. RED SHANKE, a drake or ducke. ROGER, a goose. ROME, goode [now curious, noted, or remarkable in any way. Rum is the modern orthography]. ROME BOUSE [rum booze] wyne. ROME MORT, the Queene [Elizabeth]. ROME VYLE [or Rum-ville], London. RUFF PECK, baken [short bread, common in old times at farm houses]. RUFFMANS, the woods or bushes. SALOMON, a alter or masse. SKYPPER, a barne. THE OLDEST "ROGUES' DICTIONARY." 25 SLATE, a sheete or shetes. SMELLING CHETE, a nose. SMELLING CHETE, a garden or orchard. SNOWT FA YRE [said of a woman who has a pretty face or is comely]. STALL [to initiate a beggar or rogue into the rights and privi- leges of the cantiug order. Harman relates, that when an upright-man, or initiated, first-class rogue, "mete any beggar, whether he be sturdy or impotent, he will demand of him whether ever he was ' stalled to the roge' or uo. If he say he was, he will know of whom, and his name yt stalled him. And if he be not learnedly able to show him the whole circumstance thereof, he will spoyle him of his money, either of his best garment, if it be worth any money, and haue him to the bowsing ken : which is, to some typpling house next adjoyninge, and layth there to gage the best thing that he hath for twenty pence or two shillings : this man obeyeth for feareof beatinge. Then dooth this upright man call for a gage of bowse, which is a quarte potte of drink, and powres the same vpon his peld pate, adding these words, I, G. P. do stalle the, W. T. to the Roge, and that from henceforth it shall be lawful! for thee to cant, that is to aske or begge for thi liuiug in al places." Some- thing like this treatment is the popular idea of Free- masonry, and what schoolboys term " freeing." STAMPES, legges. STAMPERS, shoes. STA ULING KEN, a house that will receyue stollen wares. STA WLINGE-KENS, tippling houses. STOW YOU [stow it], hold your peace. STRIKE, to steale. STROMMELL, strawe. SWADDER, or Pedler [a man who hawks goods]. THE HIGH PAD, the highway. THE RUFFIAN CLY THEE, the devil take thee. TOGEMANS [togg], a cloake. TOGMAN, a coate. TO BOWSE, to drinke. TO CANTE, to speake. TO CLY THE GERKE, to be whipped. TO COUCH A HOGSHEAD, to lie down and slepe. 26 "JAW-BREAKERS," OR HARD WORDS, USED IN CANT. TO CUTTE, to say [cut it is modern slang for be quiet "]. TO CUT BENE WHYDDES, to speake or give good words. TO CUTTE QUYER WHYDDES, to giue euil words or euil language. TO CUT BENLE, to speak gentle. TO DUP YE GYGER [jigger], to open the dore. TO FYLCHE, to robbe. TO HEUE A BOUGH, to robbe or rifle aboweth [booth]. TO MA UNDE, to aske or require. TO MILL A KEN, to robbe a house. TO NYGLE [coition]. TO NYP A BOUNG [nip, to steal], to cut a purse. TO SKOWER THE CRAMPRINGES, to weare boltes or fetters. TO STALL, to make or ordain. TO THE RUFFIAN, to the Devil. TO TOWJtE,tosee. TRYNING [trine], hanging. TYB OF THE BUTERY, a goose. WALKING MORTE, womene [who pass for widows]. WAPPING [coition]. WHYDDES, wordes. WYN, a penny. YANNAM, bread. Turning our attention more to the Cant of modern times, in connection with the old, we find that words have been drawn into the thieves' vocabulary from every conceivable source. Hard or infrequent words, vulgarly termed crack-jaw, or jaw-breakers, were very often used and considered as cant terms. And here it should be mentioned that at the present day the most inconsistent and far-fetched terms are often used for secret purposes, when they are known to be caviare to the million. WERE HIGHWAYMEN EDUCATED MEN? 27 It is really laughable to know that such words as incongruous, insipid, interloper, intriguing, indeco- rum, forestal, equip, hush, grapple, &c. &c., were current Cant words a century and a half ago; but such was the case, as any one may see in the Dictionary of Canting Words, at the end of Bac- chus and Venus,* 1737. They are inserted not as jokes or squibs, but as selections from the veritable pocket dictionaries of the Jack Sheppards and Dick Turpins of the day. If they were safely used as unknown and cabalistic terms amongst the commonalty, the fact would form a very curious illustration of the ignorance of our poor ancestors. One piece of information is conveyed to us, i.e., that the "Knights" or " Gentlemen of the road," using these polite words in those days of highway- men, were really well educated men, which heretofore has always been a hard point of belief, notwithstanding old novels and operas. Amongst those Cant words which have either altered their meaning, or have become extinct, I may cite LADY, formerly the Cant for "a very crooked, deformed, and ill-shapen woman ;"f and * This is a curious volume, and is worth from one to two guineas. The Canting Dictionary was afterwards reprinted, word for word, with the title of The Scoundrel's Dictionary, in 1751. It was originally published, without date, about the year 1710 by B. E., under the title of a Dictionary of the Canting Crew. t Bacchus and Venus, 1737. 28 VAGABONDS USED FOREIGN WORDS AS CANT. HARMAN, " a pair of stocks, or a constable." The former is a pleasant piece of satire, whilst the latter indicates a singular method of revenge. HARMAN was the first author who specially wrote against English vagabonds, and for his trouble his name became synonymous with a pair of stocks, and a policeman of the olden time. Apart from the Gipsey element, we find that Cant abounds in terms from foreign languages, and that it exhibits the growth of most recognised and completely formed tongues, the gathering of words from foreign sources. In the reign of Eliza- beth and of King James I., several Dutch, Spanish, and Flemish words were introduced by soldiers who had served in the Low Countries, and sailors who had returned from the Spanish Main, who like " mine ancient Pistol" were fond of garnishing their speech with outlandish phrases. Many of these were soon picked up and adopted by vagabonds and tramps in their Cant language. The Anglo- Norman and the Anglo-Saxon, the Scotch, the French, the Italian, and even the classic lan- guages of ancient Italy and Greece, have contri- buted to its list of words, besides the various provincial dialects of England. Indeed, as May- hew remarks, English Cant seems to be formed on the same basis as the Argot of the French, and the Roth-Sprcec of the Germans, partly meta- phorical, and partly by the introduction of such THE LINGUA FRANCA, OR BASTARD ITALIAN. 29 corrupted foreign terms as are likely to be un- known to the society amid which the Cant speakers exist. ARGOT is the London thieves' word for their secret language, it is, of course, from the French, but that matters not so long as it is incomprehen- sible to the police and the mob. BOOZE, or BOUSE, I am reminded by a friendly correspondent, comes from the Dutch, BUYSEN. DOMINE, a parson, is from the Latin ; and DON, a clever fellow, has been filched from the Spanish. DONNA AND FEELES, a woman and children, is from the Lingua Franca, or bastard Italian, although it sounds like an odd mixture of Spanish and French; whilst DUDDS, the vulgar term for clothes, may have been pilfered either from the Gaelic or the Dutch. FEELE, a daughter, from the French ; and TROW, a girl or wife, from the German are common tramps' terms. So are GENT, silver, from the French, Urgent and VIAL, a country town, also from the French. HORRID-HORN, a fool, is believed to be from the Erse; and GLOAK, a man, from the Scotch. As stated before, the Dictionary will supply numerous other instances. There is one source, however, of secret street terms, which, in the first edition of this work, was entirely overlooked, indeed, it was unknown to the editor until pointed out by a friendly corre- spondent, the Lingua Franca, or bastard Italian, spoken at Genoa, Trieste, Malta, Constantinople, 30 CANT DERIVED FROM JEWS AND SHOWMEN. Smyrna, Alexandria, and all Mediterranean sea- port towns. The ingredients of this imported Cant are many. Its foundation is Italian, with a mixture of modern Greek, German (from the Austrian ports), Spanish, Turkish, and French. It has been intro- duced to the notice of the London wandering tribes by the sailors, foreign and English, who trade to and from the Mediterranean seaports, by the swarms of organ players from all parts of Italy, and by the makers of images from Rome and Florence, all of whom, in dense thoroughfares, mingle with our lower orders. It would occupy too much space here to give a list of these words. They are all noted in the Dictionary. " There are several Hebrew terms in our Cant language, obtained, it would appear, from the intercourse of the thieves with the Jew fences (receivers of stolen goods) ; many of the Cant terms, again, are Sanscrit, got from the Gipseys; many Latin, got by the beggars from the Catholic prayers before the Reformation; and many, again, Italian, got from the wandering musicians and others; indeed the showmen have but lately intro- duced a number of Italian phrases into their Cant language."* The Hindostanee also contributes several words, and these have been introduced by the Lascar sailors, who come over here in the East * Mayhew's London Labour and London Poor, vol. iii., No. 43, Oct. 4th, 1851. OLD ENGLISH WORDS USED AS CANT. 31 Indiamen, and lodge during their stay in the low tramps' lodging houses at the East end of London. Speaking of the learned tongues, I may mention that, precarious and abandoned as the vagabond's existence is, many persons of classical or refined education have from time to time joined the ranks, occasionally from inclination, as in the popular instance of Bamfylde Moore Carew, but generally through indiscretion, and loss of character.* This will in some measure account for numerous classical and learned words figuring as Cant terms in the vulgar Dictionary. In the early part of the last century, when high- waymen were by all accounts so plentiful, a great many new words were added to the canting voca- bulary, whilst several old terms fell into disuse. CANT, for instance, as applied to thieves' talk, was supplanted by the word FLASH. A singular feature, however, in vulgar language, is the retention and the revival of sterling old English words, long since laid up in ancient manu- scripts, or the subject of dispute among learned antiquaries. Disraeli somewhere says, " the purest source of neology is in the revival of old words "- " Words that wise Bacon or brave Rawleigh spake," * Mayhew (vol. i., p. 217), speaks of a low lodging-house, "in which, there were at one time five university men, three sur- geons, and several sorts of broken down clerks." But old Har- man's saying, that " a wylde Roge is he that is borne a roge," will perhaps explain this seeming anomaly. 32 OLD ENGLISH WORDS NOT FASHIONABLE NOW. and Dr. Latham honours our subject by remarking that " the thieves of London are the conservators of Anglo- Saxonisms." Mayhew, too, in his in- teresting work, London Labour and London Poor, admits that many Cant and Slang phrases are merely old English terms, which have become ob- solete through the caprices of fashion." And the reader who looks into the Dictionary of the vaga- bonds' lingo, will see at a glance that these gentle- men were quite correct, and that we are compelled to acknowledge the singular truth that a great many old words, once respectable, and in the mouths of kings and fine ladies, are now only o many signals for shrugs and shudders amongst exceedingly polite people. A Belgravian gentleman who had lost his watch or his pocket-handkerchief, would scarcely remark to his mamma that it had been BONED yet BONE, in old times, meant to steal amongst high and low. And a young lady living in the precincts of dingy, but aristocratic May-Fair, although enraptured with a Jenny Lind or a Ristori, would hardly think of turning back in the box to inform papa that she, Ristori or Lind, " made no BONES of it " yet the phrase was most respectable and well-to-do, before it met with a change of circumstances. " A CKACK article," however first-rate, would, as far as speech is con- cerned, have greatly displeased Dr. Johnson and Mr. Walker yet both CKACK, in the sense of excel- OCR OLD AUTHORS VERY VULGAR PERSONS. 33 lent, and CRACK UP, to boast or praise, were not considered vulgarisms in the time of Henry VIII. DODGE, a cunning trick, is from the Anglo-Saxon; and ancient nobles used to " get each other's DANDER UP " before appealing to their swords, quite FLABERGASTING (also a respectable old word) the half score of lookers-on with the thumps and cuts of their heavy weapons. GALLAV ANTING, waiting upon the ladies, was as polite in expression as in action; whilst a clergyman at Paule's Crosse, thought nothing of bidding a noisy hearer to " hold his GAB," or " shut up his GOB." GADDING, roam- ing about in an idle and trapesing manner, was used in an old translation of the Bible; and " to do anything GINGERLY " was to do it with great care. Persons of modern tastes will be shocked to know that the great Lord Bacon spoke of the lower part of a man's face as his GILLS. Shakespere, or as the French say, " the divine William," also used many words which are now counted as dreadfully vulgar. " CLEAN gone," in the sense of out of sight, or entirely away ; " you took me all A-MORT," or confounded me ; "it won't PADGE," or suit, are phrases taken at random from the great dramatist's works. A London costermonger, or inhabitant of the streets, in- stead of saying "I'll make him yield," or "give in," in a fight or contest, would say, " I'll make him BUCKLE under." Shakespere, in his Henry the D 34 SHAKESPERE A PUGILIST? Fourth (Part 2, Acti., Scene 1) has the word, and Mr. Halliwell, one of the greatest and most indus- trious of living antiquaries, informs us, that " the commentators do not supply another example." How strange, then, that the Bard of Avon, and the Cockney costermongers, should be joint partners and sole proprietors of the vulgarism. If Shake- spere was not a pugilist, he certainly anticipated the terms of the prize ring or they were respect- able words before the prize ring was thought of for he has PAY, to beat or thrash, and PEPPER, with a similar meaning; also FANCY, in the sense of pets and favourites, pugilists are often termed the FANCY. The cant word PRIG, from the Saxon, priccan, to filch, is also Shakesperian ; so indeed is PIECE, a contemptuous term for a young woman. Shakespere was not the only vulgar dramatist of his time. Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher, Brome, and other play-writers, occasionally put cant words into the mouths of their low characters, or employed old words which have since degene- rated into vulgarisms. CRUSTY, poor tempered ; " two of a KIDNEY," two of a sort ; LARK, a piece of fun ; LUG, to pull ; BUNG, to give or pass ; PICKLE, a sad plight ; FRUMP, to mock, are a few specimens casually picked from the works of the old histrionic writers. One old English mode of canting, simple and effective when familiarised by practice, was the CUEIOUS SYSTEMS OF CANT. 35 inserting a consonant betwixt each syllable ; thus, taking g, " How do you do ?" would be " Houy do^r youy dq^ ? The name very properly given to this disagreeable nonsense, we are informed by Grose, was Gibberish. Another Cant has recently been attempted by transposing the initial letters of words, so that a mutton chop becomes a cutton wop, a pint of stout a stint of pout ; but it is satisfactory to know that it has gained no ground. This is called Marrow- skying, or Medical Greek, from its use by medical students at the hospitals. Albert Smith terms it the Gower-street Dialect. The Language of Ziph, I may add, is another rude mode of disguising English, in use among the students at Winchester College. ACCOUNT HIEROGLYPHICS USED BY VAGABONDS. ONE of the most singular chapters in a History of Vagabondism would certainly be an account of the Hieroglyphic signs used by tramps and thieves. The reader may be startled to know that, in addi- tion to a secret language, the wandering tribes of this country have private marks and symbolic signs with which to score their successes, failures, and advice to succeeding beggars; in fact, that the country is really dotted over with beggars' finger posts and guide stones. The assertion, however strange it may appear, is no fiction. The subject was not long since brought under the attention of the Government by Mr. Rawlinson.* " There is," he says in his report, " a sort of blackguards' litera- ture, and the initiated understand each other by * Mr. Rawlinson's Report to the General Board of Health, Parish of Ha/vant, Hampshire. MENDICANT FREEMASONRY. 37 slang [cant] terms, by pantomimic signs, and by HIEROGLYPHICS. The vagrant's mark may be seen in Havant, on corners of streets, on door posts, and on house steps. Simple as these chalk lines appear, they inform the succeeding vagrants of all they require to know ; and a few white scratches may say, ( be importunate,' or 'pass on' " Another very curious account was taken from a provincial newspaper, published in 1849, and for- warded to Notes and Queries,* under the head of MENDICANT FREEMASONRY. " Persons," re- marks the writer, " indiscreet enough to open their purses to the relief of the beggar tribe, would do well to take a readily learned lesson as to the folly of that misguided benevolence which encourages and perpetuates vagabondism. Every door or passage is pregnant with instruction as to the error committed by the patron of beggars, as the beggar- marks show that a system of freemasonry is fol- lowed, by which a beggar knows whether it will be worth his while to call into a passage or knock at a door. Let any one examine the entrances to the passages in any town, and there he will find chalk marks, unintelligible to him, but significant enough to beggars. If a thousand towns are examined, the same marks will be found at every passage entrance. The passage mark is a cypher with a twisted tail: in some cases the tail projects * Vol. v., p. 210. 38 HIEROGLYPHICS OF VAGABONDS. into the passage, in others outwardly ; thus seeming to indicate whether the houses down the passage are worth calling at or not. Almost every door has its marks: these are varied. In some cases there is a cross on the brick work, in others a cypher: the figures 1, 2, 3, are also used. Every person may for himself test the accuracy of these statements by the examination of the brick work near his own doorway thus demonstrating that mendicity is a regular trade, carried out upon a system calculated to save time, and realise the largest profits." These remarks refer mainly to provincial towns, London being looked upon as the tramps' home, and therefore too FLY, or expe- rienced, to be duped by such means. The only other notice of the hieroglyphics of vagabonds that I have met with, is in Mayhem's London Labour and London Poor.* Mayhew obtained his information from two tramps, who stated that hawkers employ these signs as well as beggars. One tramp thus described the method of WQRKiNGf a small town. " Two hawkers (pALSf) go together, but separate when they enter a village, one taking one . side of the road, and selling dif- ferent things ; and so as to inform each other as to the character of the people at whose houses they call, they chalk certain marks on their door posts? Another informant stated that " if a PATTERERf * Vol. i., pages 218 and 247.] [t See Dictionary. ACCOUNT OF A CADGER'S MAP. 39 has been CRABBED (that is, offended) at any of the CRIBS (houses), he mostly chalks a signal at or near the door." Another use is also made of these hieroglyphics. Charts of successful begging neighbourhoods are rudely drawn, and symbolical signs attached to each house to show whether benevolent or adverse.* "In many cases there is over the kitchen mantel-piece" of a tramps' lodging-house " a map of the district, dotted here and there with memorandums of failure or success. "f A correct facsimile of one of these singular maps has been placed as a frontispiece. It * Sometimes, as appears from the following, the names of persons and houses are written instead. "In almost every one of the padding-kens, or low lodging-houses in the country, there is a list of walks pasted up over the kitchen mantel piece. Now at St. Albans, for instance, at the , and at other places, there is a paper stuck up in each of the kitchens. This paper is headed "WALKS OUT OP THIS TOWN," and underneath it is set down the names of the villages in the neighbourhood at which a beggar may call when out on his walk, and they are so arranged as to allow the cadger to make a round of about six miles each day, and return the same night. In many of these papers there are sometimes twenty walks set down. No villages that are in any way " gammy" [bad] are ever mentioned in these papers, and the cadger, if he feels inclined to stop for a few days in the town, will be told by the lodging-house keeper, or the other cadgers that he may meet there, what gentlemen's seats or private houses are of any account on the walk that he means to take. The names of the good houses are not set down in the paper for fear of the police." Mayhew, vol. i., p. 418. t Mayhew, vol. i., p. 218. 40 ACCOUNT OF A CADGER'S MAP. was obtained from the patterers and tramps who supplied a great many words for this work, and who have been employed by me for some time in collecting Old Ballads, Christmas Carols, Dying Speeches, and Last Lamentations, as materials for a History of Popular Literature. The reader will no doubt be amused with the drawing. The locality depicted is near Maidstone, in Kent, and I am informed that it was probably sketched by a wan- dering SCEEEVER* in payment for a night's lodg- ing. The English practice of marking everything, and scratching names on public property, extends itself to the tribe of vagabonds. On the map, as may be seen in the left hand corner, some TRAVEL- LER* has drawn a favourite or noted female, sin- gularly nick-named Three-quarter Sarah. What were the peculiar accomplishments of this lady to demand so uncommon a name, the reader will be at a loss to discover, but a pattcrer says it probably refers to a shuffling dance of that name, common in tramps' lodging-houses, and in which "f Sarah" may have been a proficient. Above her, three beggars or hawkers have reckoned their day's earnings, amounting to 13s.; and on the right a tolerably correct sketch of a low hawker, or coster- monger, is drawn. " To Dover, the nigh way," is the exact phraseology ; and " hup here," a fair specimen of the self-acquired education of the tribe * See Dictionary. EXPLANATION OF THE HIEROGLYPHICS. 41 of cadgers. No key or explanation to the hiero- glyphics was given in the original, because it would have been superfluous, when every inmate of the lodging-house knew the marks from their cradle or rather their mother's back. Should there be no map, " in most lodging- houses there is an old man who is guide to every 4 WALK' in the vicinity, and who can tell each house on every round, that is ' good for a cold tatur.' "* The hieroglyphics that are used are : X NO GOOD ; too poor, and know too much. (\i STOP, If you have what they want, they will buy. They are pretty "fly" (knowing). y~. GO IN THIS DIRECTION, it is better than the other road. Nothing that way. A BONE (good). Safe for a " cold tatur," if for nothing else. " C/'.eese your patter" (don't talk much) heie. ^7 COOPER' D (spoilt), by too many tramps calling there. ri GAMMY (unfavourable), likely to have you taken up. Mind the dog. OFLUMMUXED (dangerous), sure of a month in " quod " (prison). W RELIGIOUS, but tidy on the whole. Where did these signs come from, and when were they first used? are questions which I have asked myself again and again, whilst endeavouring to discover their history. Knowing the character of the Gipseys, and ascertaining from a tramp that they are well acquainted with the hieroglyphics, * Mayhew, vol. L, p. 218. 42 DID THE GIPSEYS INVENT THEM? " and have been as long ago as ever ho could remember," I have little hesitation in ascribing the invention to them. And strange it would be if some modern Belzoni, or Champollion, discovered in these beggars' marks fragments of ancient Egyptian or Hindoo hieroglyphical writing ! But this, of course, is a simple vagary of the imagi- nation. That the Gipseys were in the habit of leaving memorials of the road they had taken, and the successes that had befallen them, there can be no doubt. In an old book, The Triumph of Wit, 1724, there is a passage which appears to have been copied from some older work, and it runs thus: " The Gipseys set out twice a year, and scatter all over England, each parcel having their appointed stages, that they may not interfere, nor hinder each other ; and for that purpose, when they set forward in the country, they stick up boughs in the tvay of divers kinds, according as it is agreed among them, that one company may know which way another is gone, and so take a different road." The works of Hoyland and Borrow supply other instances. I cannot close this subject without drawing attention to the extraordinary fact, that actually on the threshold of the gibbet the sign of the vaga- bond is to be met with ! " The murderer's signal is even exhibited from the gallows; as a red hand- kerchief held in the hand of the felon about to be THE MURDERER'S SIGNAL ON THE GALLOWS. 43 executed is a token that he dies without having betrayed any professional secrets."* Since the first edition of this work was published the author has received from various parts of Eng- land numerous evidences of the still active use of beggars' marks, and mendicant hieroglyphics. One gentleman writes from Great Yarmouth to say that only a short time since, whilst residing in Norwich, he used frequently to see them on the houses and street corners. From another gentleman, a clergy- man, I learn that he has so far made himself acquainted with the meanings of the signs em- ployed, that by himself marking the characters D (Gammy) or Q (Flummuxed) on the gate posts of his parsonage, he enjoys a singular immunity from alms-seekers of all orders. * Mr. Rawlinsoris Report to the General Board of Health, Parish of Harant, Hampshire, THE HISTORY OF SLANG, OB THE VULGAR LANGUAGE OF FAST LIFE. SLANG is the language of street humour, of fast, high, and low life. CANT, as was stated in the chapter upon that subject, is the vulgar language of secrecy. They are both universal and ancient, and appear to have been the peculiar concomitants of gay, vulgar, or worthless persons in every part of the world, at every period of time. Indeed, if we are to believe implicitly the saying of the wise man, that " there is nothing new under the sun," the " fast" men of buried Nineveh, with their knotty and door-matty looking beards, may have cracked Slang jokes on the steps of Sennacherib's palace ; and the stocks and stones of Ancient Egypt, and the bricks of venerable and used-up Babylon, may, for aught we know, be covered with Slang hieroglyphics unknown to modern anti- quarians, and which have long been stumbling- blocks to the philologist ; so impossible is it at this OLD ENGLISH SLANG. 45 day to say what was then authorised, or what then vulgar language. Slang is as old as speech and the congregating together of people in cities. It is the result of crowding, and excitement, and arti- ficial life. Even to the classics it was not unknown, as witness the pages of Aristophanes and Plautus, Terence and Athengeus. Martial, the epigramma- tist, is full of Slang. When an uninvited guest accompanied his friend, the Slang of the day styled him his UMBRA; when a man was trussed, neck and heels, it called him jocosely QUADRUPUS. Old English Slang was coarser, and depended more upon downright vulgarity than our modern Slang. It was a jesting speech, or humorous indul- gence for the thoughtless moment, or the drunken hour, and it acted as a vent-peg for a fit of temper or irritability ; but it did not interlard and per- meate every description of conversation as now. It was confined to nick-names and improper sub- jects, and encroached but to a very small extent upon the domain of authorised speech. Indeed, it was exceedingly limited when compared with the vast territory of Slang in such general favour and complete circulation at the present day. Still, although not an alarming encumbrance, as in our time, Slang certainly did exist in this country cen- turies ago, as we may see if we look down the page of any respectable History of England. Cromwell was familiarly called OLD NOLL, just the same 46 OLD ENGLISH SLANG. as Buonaparte was termed BONEY, and Wellington CONKEY, or NOSEY, only a few years ago. His Legislature, too, was spoken of in a high-flavoured way as the BAREBONES, or RUMP Parliament, and his followers were nicknamed ROUNDHEADS, and the peculiar religious sects of his protectorate were styled PURITANS and QUAKERS.* The Civil War pamphlets, and the satirical hits of the Cavaliers and the Commonwealth men, originated numerous Slang words and vulgar similes, in full use at the present moment. Here is a field of inquiry for the Philo- logical Society, indeed I may say a territory, for there are thirty thousand of these partisan tracts. Later still, in the court of Charles the Second, the naughty ladies and the gay lords, with Rochester at their head, talked Slang; and very naughty Slang it was too ! Fops, in those days, when " over head and ears" in debt, and in continual fear of arrest, termed their enemies, the bailiffs, PHiLlSTiNEsf or MOABITES. At a later period, when collars were worn detached from shirts, in order to save the expense of washing an object it would seem with needy " swells" in all ages they obtained the name of JACOBITES. One half of the coarse wit in * This term, with a singular literal downrightnese, which would be remarkable in any other people than the French, is translated by them as the sect of Trembleurs. f Swift alludes to this term in his Art of Polite Conversation, p. 14. 1738. SWIFT AND AEBUTHNOT FOND OF SLANG. 47 Butler's Hudibras lurks in the vulgar words and phrases which he was so fond of employing. They were more homely and forcible than the mild and elegant sentences of Cowley, and the people, therefore, hurrah'd them, and pronounced Butler one of themselves. or, as we should say, in a joyful moment, a jolly good fellow. Orator Henley preached and prayed in Slang, and first charmed and then swayed the dirty mobs in Lincoln's Inn Fields by vulgarisms. Burly Grose mentions Hen- ley, with the remark that we owe a great many Slang phrases to him. Swift, and old Sir Roger L'Estrange, and Arbuthnot, were all fond of vulgar or Slang language ; indeed, we may see from a Slang word used by the latter how curious is the gradual adoption of vulgar terms in our standard diction- aries. The worthy doctor, in order to annihilate (or, as we should say with a fitting respect to the subject under consideration, SMASH) an opponent, thought proper on an occasion to use the word CABBAGE, not in the ancient and esculentary sense of a flatulent vegetable of the kitchen garden, but in the at once Slang sense of purloining or cribbing. Johnson soon met with the word, looked at it, examined it, weighed it, and shook his head, but out of respect to a brother doctor inserted it in his dictionary, labelling it, however, prominently " Cant ;" whilst Walker and Webster, years after, when to cabbage was to pilfer all over England, 48 THE HEAL SIMON PUKE. placed the term in their dictionaries as an ancient and very respectable word. Another Slang term, GULL, to cheat, or delude, sometimes varied to GULLY, is stated to be connected with the Dean of St. Patrick. GULL, a dupe, or a fool, is often used by our old dramatists, and is generally believed to have given rise to the verb; but a curious little edition of Bamfylde Moore Carew, published in 1827, says that TO GULL, or GULLY, is derived from the well known Gulliver, the hero of the famous Travels. How crammed with Slang are the dramatic works of the last century ! The writers of the comedies and farces in those days must have lived in the streets, and written their plays in the public-houses, so filled are they with vulgarisms and unauthorised words. The popular phrases, " I owe you one," " that's one for his nob," and " keep moving, dad," arose in this way.* The second of these sayings was, doubtless, taken from the card table, for at cribbage the player who holds the knave of the suit turned up counts " one for his nob," and the dealer who turns up a knave counts " two for his heels." In Mrs. Centlivre's admirable comedy of A Bold Stroke for a Wife, we see the origin of that popular street phrase, THE EEAL SIMON PURE. Simon Pure is the Quaker name adopted by Colonel Feignwell as a trick to obtain the hand of * See Notes and Queries, vol. i., p. 185. 1850. TOM BROWN AND NED WARD. 49 Mistress Anne Lovely in marriage. The veritable Quaker, the " real Simon Pure," recommended by Aminadab Holdfast, of Bristol, as a fit sojourner with Obadiah Prim, arrives at last to the discom- fiture of the Colonel, who, to maintain his position and gain time, concocts a letter in which the real Quaker is spoken of as a housebreaker who had travelled in the " leather conveniency " from Bristol, and adopted the garb and name of the Western Quaker in order to pass off as the " REAL SIMON PURE," but only for the purpose of rob- bing the house and cutting the throat of the per- plexed Obadiah. The scene in which the two Simon Pures, the real and the counterfeit, meet, is one of the best in the comedy. Tom Brown, of " facetious memory," as his friends were wont to say, and Ned Ward, who wrote humorous books, and when tired drew beer for his customers at his ale-house in Long Acre,* were both great producers of Slang in the last cen- tury, and to them we owe many popular current phrases and household words. Written Slang was checked rather than advanced by the pens of Addison, Johnson, and Goldsmith, although John Bee, the bottle-holder and historio- grapher of the pugilistic band of brothers in the youthful days of flat-nosed Tom Crib, has gravely * He afterwards kept a tavern at Wapping, mentioned by Pope in the Dunciad. E 50 WAS DR. JOHNSON WELL "UP" IN SLANG? stated that Johnson, when young and rakish, con- tributed to an early volume of the Gentleman's Magazine a few pages, by way of specimen, of a Slang dictionary, the result, Mr. Bee says, " of his midnight ramblings !" * And Goldsmith, I must not forget to remark, certainly coined a few words, although, as a rule, his pen was pure and graceful, and adverse to neologisms. The word FUDGE, it has been stated, was first used by him in literary com- position, although it originated with one 'Captain Fudge, a notorious fibber, nearly a century before. Street-phrases, nick-names, and vulgar words were continually being added to the great stock of popu- lar Slang up to the commencement of the present century, when it received numerous additions from pugilism, horse-racing, and "fast" life generally, which suddenly came into great public favour, and was at its height when the Prince Regent was in his rakish minority. Slang in those days was gene- rally termed FLASH language. So popular was it with the " bloods " of high life that it constituted the best paying literary capital for certain authors and dramatists. Pierce Egan issued Boxiana, and Life in London, six portly octavo volumes, crammed with Slang ; and Moncrieff wrote the most popular farce of the day, Tom and Jerry (adapted from the latter work), which, to use newspaper Slang, " took * Sportsman's Dictionary, 1825, p. 15. I have searched the venerable magazine in vain for this Slang glossary. WHERE DID THE WORD " SLA.NG" GOME FROM 1 51 the town by storm," and, with its then fashionable vulgarisms, made the fortune of the old Adelphi Theatre, and was, without exception, the most wonderful instance of a continuous theatrical RUN in ancient or modern times. This, also, was brim- ful of Slang. Other authors helped to popularise and extend Slang down to our own time, when it has taken a somewhat different turn, dropping many of the Cant and old vulgar words, and assuming a certain quaint and fashionable phrase- ology Frenchy, familiar, utilitarian, and jovial. There can be no doubt but that common speech is greatly influenced by fashion, fresh manners, and that general change of ideas which steals over a people once in a generation. But before I proceed further into the region of Slang, it will be well to say something on the etymology of the word. The word SLANG is only mentioned by two lexicographers Webster and Ogilvie. Johnson, Walker, and the older compilers of dictionaries, give slang the preterite of sling, but not a word about SLANG in the sense of low, vulgar, or un- recognised language. The origin of the word has often been asked for in literary journals and books, but only one man, as far as I can learn, has ever hazarded an etymology Jonathan Bee, the vulgar chronicler of the prize-ring.* With a recklessness peculiar to pugilism, Bee stated that SLANG was * Introduction to Bee's Sportsman's Dictionary, 1825. 52 CORRECT ETYMOLOGY OF SLANG. derived from " the slangs or fetters worn by pri- soners, having acquired that name from the manner in which they were worn, as they required a sling of string to keep them off the ground." Bee had just been nettled at Pierce Egan producing a new edition of Grose s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, and was determined to excel him in a vulgar dic- tionary of his own, which should be more racy, more pugilistic, and more original. How far he succeeded in this latter particular his ridiculous etymology of Slang will show. SLANG is not an English word, it is the Gipsey term for their secret language, and its synonyme is GIBBERISH another word which was believed to have had no distinct origin.* Grose stout and burly Captain Grose who we may characterise as the greatest anti- quary, joker, and drinker of porter of his day, was the first author who put the word SLANG into print. Il^ occurs in his Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, of 1785, with the signification that it implies "Cant or vulgar language." Grose, I * The Gipseys use the word Slang as the Anglican synonyme for Romany, the continental (or rather Spanish) term for the Cingari or Gipsey tongue. Crabb, who wrote the Gipsies' Advo- cate in 1831, thus mentions the word : " This language [Gipsey] called by themselves SLANG, or GIBBERISH, invented, as they think, by their forefathers for secret purposes, is not merely the language of one or a few of these wandering tribes, which are found iu the European nations, but is adopted by the vast numbers who inhabit the earth." SLANG USED BY ALL CLASSES, HIGH AND LOW. 53 may remark in passing, was a great favourite with the poet Burns, and so pleased by his extensive powers of story-telling and grog-imbibing, that the companionable and humour-loving Scotch bard wrote for his fat friend or, to use his own words, " the fine, fat, fodgel wight " the immortal poem of Tarn O'Shanter." Without troubling the reader with a long account of the transformation .into an English term of the word SLANG, I may remark in passing that it is easily seen how we obtained it from the Gipseys. Hucksters and beggars on tramp, or at fairs and races, associate and frequently join in any rough enterprise with the Gipseys. The word would be continually heard by them, and would in this manner soon become CANT;* and, when carried by " fast " or vulgar fashionables from the society of thieves and low characters to their own drawing- rooms, would as quickly become SLANG, and the re- presentative term for all vulgar or Slang language. Any sudden excitement, peculiar circumstance, or popular literary production, is quite sufficient to originate and set going a score of Slang words. Nearly every election or public agitation throws out offshoots of the excitement, or scintillations of the * The word SLANG assumed various meanings amongst coster- mongers, beggars, and vagabonds of all orders. It was, and is still, used to express cheating by false weights, a raree show, for retiring by a back door, f<;r a watch-cbaiu, and for their secret language. 54 SLANG UNIVERSAL. humour in the shape of Slang terms vulgar at first, but at length adopted as semi-respectable from the force of habit and custom. There is scarcely a condition or calling in life that does not possess its own peculiar Slang. The professions, legal and medical, have each familiar and unautho- rised terms for peculiar circumstances and things, and I am quite certain that the clerical calling, or " the cloth" is not entirely free from this peculiarity. Every workshop, warehouse, factory, and mill throughout the country has its Slang, and so have the public schools of Eton, Harrow, and West- minster, and the great Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Sea Slang constitutes the principal charm of a sailor's " yarn," and our soldiers and officers have each their peculiar nicknames and terms for things and subjects proper and improper. A writer in Household Words (No. 183) has gone so far as to remark, that a person " shall not read one single parliamentary debate, as reported in a first-class newspaper, without meeting scores of Slang words ;" and " that from Mr. Speaker in his chair, to the Cabinet Ministers whispering behind it from mover to seconder, from true blue Protec- tionist to extremest Radical Mr. Barry's New House echoes and re-echoes with Slang." Really it seems as if our boasted English tongue was a very paltry and ill-provided contrivance after all ; or can it be that we are the most vulgar of people ? THE POOR FOREIGNER'S PERPLEXITY. 55 The universality of Slang is extraordinary. Let any person for a short time narrowly examine the conversation of their dearest and nearest friends, aye, censor-like, even slice and analyse their own supposed correct talk, and they shall be amazed at the numerous unauthorised, and what we can only call vulgar, words they continually employ. It is not the number of new words that we are ever introducing that is so reprehensible, there is not so much harm in this practice (frequently termed in books " the license of expression") if neologisms are really required, but it is the continually encum- bering of old words with fresh and strange mean- ings. Look at those simple and useful verbs, do, cut, go, and take, and see how they are hampered and overloaded, and then let us ask ourselves how it is that a French or German gentleman, be he ever so well educated, is con- tinually blundering and floundering amongst our little words when trying to make himself under- stood in an ordinary conversation. He may have studied our language the required time, and have gone through the usual amount of ''grinding," and practised the common allotment of patience, but all to no purpose as far as accuracy is concerned. I am aware that most new words are generally re- garded as Slang, although afterwards they may become useful and respectable additions to our standard dictionaries. JABBER and HOAX were 56 LONG AND WINDY SLANG WORDS. Slang and Cant terms in Swift's time; so indeed were MOB and SHAM.* Words directly from the Latin and Greek, and Carlyleisms, are allowed by an indulgent public to pass and take their places in books. Sound contributes many Slang words a source that etymologists too frequently overlook. Nothing pleases an ignorant person more than a high-sounding term " full of fury." How melodious and drum-like are those vulgar coruscations RUMBUMPTIOUS, SLANTINGDICULAR, SPLENDIFEROUS, RUMBUSTIOUS, and FERRICA- DOUZER. What a " pull" the sharp-nosed lodging-house keeper thinks she has over her victims if she can but hurl such testimonies of a liberal education at them when they are dis- puting her charges, and threatening to ABSQUA- TULATE ! In the United States the vulgar-genteel even excel the poor " stuck-up" Cockneys in their formation of a native fashionable language. How charming to a refined ear are ABSKIZE, CATAWAM- POUSLY, EXFLUNCTIFY, OBSCUTE, KESLOSH, KESOUSE, KESWOLLOP, and KEWHOLLUX ! Vul- gar words representing action and brisk movement * North, in his Examen, p. 574, says, " I may note that the rabble first changed their title, and were called the MOB in the assemblies of this [Green Ribbon] club. It was their beast of burden, and called first mobile vulgus, but fell naturally into the contraction of one syllable, and ever since is become proper English." In the same work, p. 231, the disgraceful origin of SHAM is given. VULGAR CORRUPTIONS. 57 often owe their origin to sound. Mispronunciation, too, is another great source of vulgar or slang Words RAMSHACKLE, SHACKLY, NARY-ONE for neither, or neither one, OTTOMY for anatomy, BENCH for rinse, are specimens. The commonalty dislike frequently occurring words difficult of pro- nunciation, and so we have the street abridgments of BIMEBY for by and by, CAZE for because, GIN for given, HANKERCHER for handkerchief, RUMA- TIZ for rheumatism, BACKY for tobacco, and many others, not perhaps Slang, but certainly all vul- garisms. Archbishop Whately, in his interesting Remains of Bishop Copies (on, has inserted a leaf from the Bishop's note-book on the popular corrup- tion of names, mentioning among others KICK- SHAWS, as from the French, quelques chases ; BEEFEATER, the lubberly guardian of royalty in a procession, and the supposed devourer of enormous beefsteaks, as but a vulgar pronunciation of the French, Ivffetier ; and GEORGE and CAN- NON, the sign of a public-house, as nothing but a corruption (although so soon !) of the popular premier of the last generation, George Canning. Literature has its Slang terms ; and the desire on the part of writers to say funny and startling things in a novel and curious way (the late Household Words,* for instance), contributes many unautho- rised words to the great stock of Slang. * It is rather singular that this popular journal should have contained a long article on Slang a short time ago. 58 FASHIONABLE SLANG. Fashionable, or Upper-class Slang, is of several varieties. There is the Belgravian, military and naval, parliamentary, dandy, and the reunion and visiting Slang. Concerning the Slang of the fashionable world, a writer in Household Words curiously, but not altogether truthfully, remarks, that it is mostly imported from France; and that an unmeaning gibberish of Gallicisms runs through English fashionable conversation, and fashionable novels, and accounts of fashionable parties in the fashionable newspapers. Yet, ludicrously enough, immediately the fashionable magnates of England seize on any French idiom, the French themselves not only universally abandon it to us, but posi- tively repudiate it altogether from their idiomatic vocabulary. If you were to tell a well-bred French- man that such and such an aristocratic marriage was on the tapis, he would stare with astonishment, and look down on the carpet in the startled endea- vour to find a marriage in so unusual a place. If you were to talk to him of the beau monde, he would imagine you meant the world which God made, not half-a-dozen streets and squares between Hyde Park Corner and Chelsea Bun House. The the dansante* would be completely inexplicable to him. If you were to point out to him the Dow- * The writer is quite correct in instancing this piece of fashionable twaddle. The mongrel formation is exceedingly amusing to a polite Parisian. FASHIONABLE SLANG. 59 ager Lady Grimguffin acting as chaperon to Lady Amanda Creamville, he would imagine you were referring to the petit Chaperon rouge to little Red Riding Hood. He might just understand what was meant by vis-a-vis, entremets, and some others of the flying horde of frivolous little foreign slangisms hovering about fashionable cookery and fashionable furniture ; but three-fourths of them would seem to him as barbarous French provin- cialisms, or, at best, but as antiquated and obsolete expressions, picked out of the letters of Made- moiselle Scuderi, or the tales of Crebillon the "younger." Servants, too, appropriate the scraps of French conversation which fall from their masters' guests at the dinner table, and forthwith in the world of flunkeydom the word "know" is disused, and the lady's maid, in doubt on a par- ticular point, asks John whether or no he SAVEYS it ?* What, too, can be more abominable than that heartless piece of fashionable newspaper Slang, regularly employed when speaking of the success- ful courtship of young people in the fashionable world : MAKRIAGE IN HIGH LIFE. -We understand that a mar- riage is ARRANGED (!) betwixt the Lady, &c. &c., and the Honourable, &c. &c. ARRANGED ! Is that cold-blooded Smithfield or Mark-lane term for a sale or a purchase the proper * Savez vous cela ? 60 PARLIAMENTARY SLANG. word to express the hopeful, joyous, golden union of young and trustful hearts? Which is the proper way to pronounce the names of great people, and what the correct authority ? Lord Cowper, we are often assured, is Lord Cooper on this principle Lord Cowley would certainly be Lord Cooley and Mr. Carew, we are told, should be Mr. Carey, Ponsonby should be Punsunby, Eyre should be Aire, Cholmondeley should be Chumley, St. John Sinyen, Majoribanks Marshbanks, Derby Darby (its ancient pronunciation), and Powell should always be Poel. I don't know that these lofty persons have as much cause to complain of the illiberality of fate in giving them disagreeable names as did the cele- brated Psyche (as she was termed by Tom Moore), whose original name, through her husband, was Teague, but which was afterwards altered to Tighe. Parliamentary Slang, excepting a few peculiar terms connected with " the House" (scarcely Slang, I suppose), is mainly composed of fashionable, literary, and learned Slang. When members, how- ever, get excited and wish to be forcible, they are often not very particular which of the street terms they select, providing it carries, as good old Dr. South said, plenty of wild-fire in it. Sir Hugh Cairns very lately spoke of " that homely but expressive phrase, DODGE." Out of " the House," several Slang terms are used in connection with Parliament or members of Parliament. If Lord PARLIAMENTARY SLANG. 61 Palmerston is known by name to the tribes of the Caucasus and Asia Minor as a great foreign diplomatist, when the name of our Queen Victoria is an unknown title to the inhabitants of those parts as was stated in the Times a short time ago, I have only to remark that amongst the costers and the wild inhabitants of the streets he is better known as PAM. I have often heard the cabmen on the " ranks " in Piccadilly remark of the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he has been going from his residence at Grosvenor Gate, to Derby House in St. James's Square, "hollo, there! de yer see old DIZZY doing a stump ?" A PLUMPER is a single vote at an elec- tion, not a SPLIT-TICKET ; and electors who have occupied a house, no matter how small, and boiled a pot in it, thus qualifying themselves for voting, are termed POT-WOLLOPERS. A quiet WALK OVER is a re-election without opposition and much cost. A CAUCUS meeting refers to the private assembling of politicians before an election, when candidates are chosen and measures of action agreed upon. The term comes from America. A JOB, in political phraseology, is a government office or contract obtained by secret influence or favouritism. Only the other day the Times spoke of " the patriotic member of Parliament POTTED OUT in a dusty little lodging somewhere about Bury-street." The term QUOCKERWODGER, although referring to a 62 MILITARY AND DANDY SLANG. wooden toy figure which jerks its limbs about when pulled by a string, has been supplemented with a political meaning. A pseudo-politician, one whose strings of action are pulled by somebody else, is now often termed a QUOCKERWODGER. The term EAT, too, in allusion to rats deserting vessels about to sink, has long been employed towards those turncoat politicians who change their party for interest. Who that occasionally passes near the Houses of Parliament has not often noticed stout or careful M.P.s walk briskly through the Hall and on the curb-stone in front, with umbrella or walking cane uplifted, shout to the cabmen on the rank, FOUR-WHEELER ! The term is a useful one, but I am afraid we must consider it Slang, until it is stamped with the mint mark of lexicographical authority.* Military, or Officers' Slang is on a par, and of a character with Dandy Slang. Inconvenient friends, or elderly and lecturing relatives, are pronounced DREADFUL BORES. Four-wheel cabs are called BOUNDERS; and a member of the Four-in-hand * From an early period politics and partyism have attracted unto themselves quaint Slang terms. Horace Walpole quotes a party nickname of February, 1742, as a Slang word of the day : " The Tories declare against any further prosecution, if Tories there are, for now one hears of nothing but the BROAD-BOTTOM ; it is the reigning Cant word, and means the taking all parties and people, indifferently, into the ministry." Thus BROAD- BOTTOM in those days was fclang for coalition. MILITARY AND DANDY SLANG. 63 Club, driving to Epsom on the Derby day, would, using fashionable slang phraseology, speak of it as TOOLING HIS DRAG DOWN TO THE DERBY. A vehicle, if not a DRAG (or dwag) is a TRAP, or a CASK; and if the TURN OUT happens to be in other than a trim condition, it is pronounced at once as not DOWN THE ROAD. Your city swell would say it is not UP TO THE MARK; whilst the costermonger would call it WERY DICKEY. In the army a barrack or military station is known as a LOBSTER-BOX; to " cram " for an examination is to MUG-UP; to reject from the examination is to SPIN; and that part of the barrack occupied by subalterns is frequently spoken of as the ROOKERY. In dandy or swell Slang, any celebrity, from Rob- son of the Olympic, to the Pope of Rome, is a SWELL. Wrinkled faced old professors, who hold dress and fashionable tailors in abhorrence, are called AWFUL SWELLS, if they happen to be very learned or clever. I may remark that in this upper class Slang a title is termed a HANDLE; trousers, INEXPRESSIBLES; or when of a large pattern, or the inflated Zouave cut, HOWLING BAGS ; a superior appearance, EXTENSIVE; a four-wheeled cab, a BIRDCAGE; a dance, a HOP; dining at another man's table, " sitting under his MA- HOGANY;" anything flashy or showy, LOUD; the peculiar make or cut of a coat, its BUILD; full dress, FULL-FIG ; wearing clothes which represent 64 UNIVERSITY SLANG. the very extreme of fashion, " dressing to DEATH;" a reunion, a SPREAD; a friend (or a " good fellow"), a TRUMP; a difficulty, a SCREW LOOSE; and every- thing that is unpleasant, " from bad sherry to a writ from a tailor," JEUCED INFERNAL. The military phrase, " to send a man to COVENTRY," or permit no person to speak to him, although an ancient saying, must still be considered Slang. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and the great public schools, are the hotbeds of fashion- able Slang. Growing boys and high-spirited young fellows detest restraint of all kinds, and prefer making a dash at life in a Slang phraseology of their own, to all the set forms and syntactical rules of Alma Mater. Many of the most expressive words in a common chit-chat, or free-and-easy con- versation, are old University vulgarisms. CUT, in the sense of dropping an acquaintance, was origin- ally a Cambridge form of speech; and HOAX, to deceive or ridicule, we are informed by Grose, was many years since an Oxford term. Among the words that fast society has borrowed from our great scholastic [I was going to say establishments, but I remembered the linen drapers' horrid and habitual use of the word] institutions, I find CRIB, a house or apartments; DEAD-MEN, empty wine bottles; DRAWING- TEETH,* wrenching off knockers ; * This is more especially an amusement with medical students, and is comparatively uukn >wn out of London. UNIVERSITY SLANG. 65 FIZZING, first-rate, or splendid; GOVERNOR, or RELIEVING OFFICER, the general term for a male parent; PLUCKED, defeated or turned back ; QUIZ, to scrutinise, or a prying old fellow ; and ROW, a noisy disturbance. The Slang words in use at Ox- ford and Cambridge would alone fill a volume. As examples I may instance SCOUT, which at Oxford refers to an undergraduate's valet, whilst the same menial at Cambridge is termed a GYP, popularly derived by the Cantabs from the Greek, GYPS (yui//), a vulture; SCULL, the head, or master of a college; BATTLES, the Oxford term for rations, changed at Cambridge into COMMONS. The term DICKEY, a half shirt, I am told, originated with the students of Trinity College, Dublin, who at first styled it a TOMMY, from the Greek, TOJUTJ, a sec- tion. CRIB, a literal translation, is now universal; GRIND refers to a walk, or " constitutional ;" HIVITE is a student of St. Begh's (St. Bee's) Col- lege, Cumberland; to JAPAN, in this Slang speech, is to ordain ; MORTAR-BOARD is a square college cap ; SIM a student of a Method Jstical turn, in allusion to the Rev. Charles Simeon; SLOGGERS, at Cam- bridge, refers to the second division of race boats, known at Oxford as TORPIDS; SPORT is to show or exhibit ; TROTTER is the jocose term for a tailor's man who goes round for orders; and TUFTS are wealthy students who dine with the DONS, and are distinguished by golden tvfts, or tassels, in their F 66 KELIGIOUS SLANG. caps. There are many terms in use at Oxford not known at Cambridge ; and such Slang names as COACH, GULF, HARRY-SOPH, POKER, or POST- MORTEM, common enough at Cambridge, are seldom or never heard at the great sister University. For numerous other examples of college Slang, the reader is referred to the Dictionary. Religious Slang, strange as the compound may appear, exists with other descriptions of vulgar speech at the present day. Punch, a short time since, in one of those half-humorous, half-serious articles in which he is so fond of lecturing any national abuse or popular folly, remarked that Slang had " long since penetrated into the Forum, and now we meet it in the Senate, and even, the Pulpit itself is no longer free from its intrusion." I would not, for one moment, wish to infer that the practice is general. On the contrary, and in justice to the clergy, it must be said that the principal disseminators of pure English throughout the country are the ministers of our Established Church. Yet it cannot be denied but that a great deal of Slang phraseology and disagreeable vul- garism have gradually crept into the very pulpits which should give forth as pure speech as doctrine. Dean Conybeare, in his able Essay on Church Parties,* has noticed this wretched addition'to our pulpit speech. As stated in his Essay, the practice * Edinburgh Review, October, 1853. 'KELIGIOUS SLANG. 67 appears to confine itself mainly to the exaggerated forms of the High and Low Church the Tracta- rians and the " Recordites."* By way of illustra- tion, the Dean cites the evening parties, or social meetings, common amongst the wealthier lay mem- bers of the Recordite (exaggerated Evangelical) Churches, where the principal topics discussed one or more favourite clergymen being present in a quasi-official manner are " the merits and demerits of different preachers, the approaching restoration of the Jews, the date of the Millennium, the pro- gress of the ' Tractarian heresy,' and the anticipated ' perversion ' of High Church neighbours." These subjects are canvassed in a dialect differing consider- ably from common English. The words FAITHFUL, TAINTED, ACCEPTABLE, DECIDED, LEGAL, and many others, are used in a technical sense. We hear that Mr. A. has been more OWNED than Mr. B; and that Mr. C. has more SEALSf than Mr. D. Again, the word GRACIOUS is invested with a meaning as extensive as that attached by young ladies to nice. Thus, we hear of a "GRACIOUS sermon," a " GRACIOUS meeting," a " GRACIOUS child, and even a " GRACIOUS whipping." The word DARK * A term derived from the Record Newspaper, the exponent of this singular section of the Low, or so called Evangelical Church. .+ A preacher is said, in this phraseology, to be OWNED, when he makes many converts, and his converts are called bis SEALS. F2 68 RELIGIOUS SLANG. has also a new and peculiar usage. It is applied to every person, book, or place, not impregnated with Recordite principles. We once were witnesses of a ludicrous misunderstanding resulting from this phra- seology. " What did you mean (said A. to B.) by telling me that was such a very DARK village ? I rode over there to day, and found the street par- ticularly broad and cheerful, and there is not a tree in the place." " The Gospel is not preached there" was B.'s laconic reply. The conclusion of one of these singular evening parties is generally marked by an " exposition " an unseasonable sermon of nearly one hour's duration, circumscribed by no text, and delivered from the table by one of the clerical visitors with a view to "improve the occasion." In the same Essay, the religious Slang terms for the two great divisions of the Established Church, re- ceive some explanation. The old-fashioned High Church party, rich and " stagnant," noted for its "sluggish mediocrity, hatred of zeal, dread of in- novation, abuse of dissent, blundering and languid utterance," is called the HIGH AND DRY; whilst the corresponding division, known as the Low Church, equally stagnant with the former, but poorer, and more lazily inclined (from absence of education), to dissent, receives the nickname of the LOW AND SLOW. Already have these terms become so familiar that they are shortened, in ordinary conversation, to the DRT and the SLOW. The so-called " Broad RELIGIOUS SLANG. 69 Church/' I should remark, is often spoken of as the BROAD AND SHALLOW. What can be more objectionable than the irreve- rent and offensive manner in which many of the dissenting ministers continually pronounce the names of the Deity, God and Lord. God, instead of pronouncing in the plain and beautifully simple old English way, G-O-D, they drawl out into GORDE or GAUDE ; and Lord, instead of speaking in the proper way, they desecrate into LOARD or LOERD, lingering on the it, or the r, as the case may be, until an honest hearer feels disgusted, and almost inclined to run the gauntlet of beadles and deacons, and pull the vulgar preacher from his pulpit. I have observed that many young preachers strive hard to acquire this peculiar pronunciation, in imitation of the older ministers. What can more properly, then, be called Slang, or, indeed, the most objec- tionable of Slang, than this studious endeavour to pronounce the most sacred names in a uniformly vulgar and unbecoming manner. If the old- fashioned preacher whistled Cant through his nose, the modern vulgar reverend whines Slang from the more natural organ. These vagaries of speech will, perhaps, by an apologist, be termed " pulpit peculiarities," and the writer dared to intermeddle with a subject that is or should be removed from his criticisms. The terms used by the mob towards the Church, however illiberal and satirically vulgar, 70 SLANG AMONGST THE LAWYERS. are within his province in such an inquiry as the present. A clergyman, in vulgar language, is spoken of as a CHOKER, a CUSHION THUMPER, a DOMINE, an EARWIG, a GOSPEL GRINDER, a GRAY COAT PARSON if he is a lessee of the great tithes, ONE IN TEN, PADRE if spoken of by an Anglo- Indian, a ROOK, a SPOUTER, a WHITE CHOKER, or a WARMING PAN RECTOR, if he only holds the living pro tempore, or is simply keeping the place warm for his successor. If a Tractarian, his outer garment is rudely spoken of as a PYGOSTOLE, or M.B. (MARK OF THE BEAST) COAT. His pro- fession is termed THE CLOTH, and his practice TUB THUMPING. Should he belong to the dissent- ing body, he is probably styled a PANTILER, or a PSALM SMITER, or, perhaps, a SWADDLER. His chapel, too, is spoken of as a SCHISM SHOP. A Roman Catholic, I may remark, is coarsely named a BRISKET BEATER. Particular as lawyers generally are about the meaning of words, they have not prevented an un- authorised phraseology from arising, which we may term Legal Slang, So forcibly did this truth im- press a late writer, that he wrote in a popular journal, " You may hear Slang every day in term from barristers in their robes, at every mess-table, at every bar-mess, at every college commons, and in every club dining-room." Swift, in his Art of Polite Conversation (p. 15), published a century and LITERARY SLANG. 71 a half ago, states that VARDI was the Slang in his time for " verdict." A few of the most common and well-known terms used out of doors, with re- ference to legal matters, are COOK, to hash or make up a balance-sheet; DIPPED, mortgaged ; DUN, to solicit payment; FULLIED, to be "fully com- mitted for trial;" LAND-SHARK, a sailor's definition of a lawyer ; LIMB OF THE LAW, a milder term for the same " professional ;" MONKEY WITH A LONG TAIL, a mortgage phrase used in the well-known case for libel, Smith v. Jones; MOUTHPIECE, the coster's term for his counsel; " to go through the RING," to take advantage of the Insolvency Act; SMASH, to become bankrupt; SNIPE, an attorney with a long bill; and WHITEWASHED, said of any debtor who has taken the benefit of the Insolvent Act. Lawyers, from their connection with the police courts, and transactions with persons in every grade of society, have ample opportunities for ac- quiring street Slang, which in cross-questioning and wrangling they frequently avail themselves of. It has been said there exists a Literary Slang, or " the Slang of Criticism dramatic, artistic, and scientific. Such words as ' aesthetic,' ' transcen- dental,' the ' harmonies,' the ' unities,' a ' myth :' such phrases as ' an exquisite morceau on the big drum,' a ' scholarlike rendering of John the Baptist's great toe,' ' keeping harmony,' ' mid- dle distance/ ' aerial perspective,' ' delicate hand- 72 "PUNCH" ON SLANG AND SANSCRIT. ling,' ' nervous chiaroscuro,' and the like." More than one literary journal that I could name are fond of employing such terms in their art criticisms, but it is questionable, after all, whether they are not allowable as the generous inflections and bendings of a bountiful language, for the purpose of expressing fresh phases of thought, and ideas not yet provided with representative words.* The well-known and ever-acceptable Punch, with his fresh and choice little pictorial bits by Leech, often employs a Slang term to give point to a joke, or humour to a line of satire. A short time since (4th May, 1859) he gave an original etymology of the school-boy-ism SLOG. SLOG, said the classical and studious Punch, is derived from the Greek word SLOGO, to baste, to wallop, to slaughter. And it was not long ago that he amused his readers with two columns on Slang and Sanscrit : " The allegory which pervades the conversation of all Eastern nations," remarked the philosophical Punch, " is the foundation of Western Slang ; and the increased number of students of the Oriental languages, especially since Sanscrit and Arabic have been made subjects for the Indian Civil Service Examinations, may have contributed to supply the English language with a * " All our newspapers 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 requi- site force and piquancy. In the English newspapers the same thing is observable, and certain of them contain more of the class denominated Slang words than our own." Bartletfs Americanisms, p. x., 1859. LITERARY SLANG. 73 large portion of its new dialect. While, however, tlie spirit of allegory comes from the East, there is so great a difference be- tween the brevity of Western expression and the more cum- brous diction of the Oriental, that the origin of a phrase becomes difficult to trace. Thus, for instance, whilst the Turkish mer- chant might address his friend somewhat as follows 'That which seems good to my father is to his servant as the perfumed breath of the west wind in the calm night of the Arabian summer;' the Western negociator observes more briefly, 'ALL SERENE !' " But the vulgar term, BEICK, Punch remarks in illustration, " must be allowed to be an exception, its Greek derivation being universally admitted, corresponding so exactly as it does in its rectangular form and compactness to the perfection of man- hood, according to the views of Plato and Simonides ; but any deviation from the simple expression, in which locality is indi- cated, as, for instance, 'a genuine Bath,' decidedly breathes the Oriental spirit." It is singular that what Punch says, unwittingly and in humour, respecting the Slang expression, BOSH, should be quite true. BOSH, remarks Punch, after speaking of it as belonging to the stock of words pilfered from the Turks, "is one whose in- nate force and beauty the slangographer is reluct- antly compelled to admit. It is the only word which seems a proper appellation for a great deal which we are obliged to hear and to read every day of our life." BOSH, nonsense or stupidity, is derived from the Gipsey and the Persian. The universality of Slang, I may here remark, is proved 74 LITERARY SLANG. by its continual use in the pages of Punch. Who- ever thinks, unless belonging to a past generation, of asking a friend to explain the stray vulgar words employed by the London Charivari ? The AthencBum, the most learned and censor-like of all the " weeklies," often indulges in a Slang word, when force of expression or a little humour is desired, or when the writer wishes to say some- thing which is better said in Slang, or so-called vulgar speech, than in the authorised language of Dr. Johnson or Lindley Murray. It was but the other day that a writer in its pages employed an old and favourite word, used always when we were highly pleased with any article at school, STUN- NING. Bartlett, the compiler of the Dictionary of Americanisms, continually cites the Atlien&um as using Slang and vulgar expressions ; but the magazine the American refers to is not the excel- lent literary journal which is so esteemed at the present day, it was a smaller, and now defunct " weekly." Many other highly respectable journals often use Slang words and phrases. The Times (or, in Slang, the THUNDERER) frequently employs un- authorised terms; and, following a " leader"* of the purest and most eloquent English composition, may sometimes be seen another "article"* on a totally * The terms leader and article can scarcely be called Slang, yet it would be desirable to know upon what authority they were first employed in their present peculiar sense. THEATRICAL SLANG. 75 different subject, containing, perhaps, a score or more of exceedingly questionable words. Among the words and phrases which may be included under the head of Literary Slang are, BALAAM, matter kept constantly in type about monstrous produc- tions of nature, to fill up spaces in newspapers ; BALAAM BOX, the term given in Black wood to the depository for rejected articles; and SLATE, to pelt with abuse, or CUT UP in a review. The Slang names given to newspapers are curious; thus, the Morning Advertiser is known as the TAP-TUB, the TJZER, and the GIN AND GOSPEL GAZETTE. The Morning Post has obtained the suggestive soubriquet of JEAMES; whilst the Morning Herald has long been caricatured as MRS. HARRIS, and the Standard as MRS. GAMP.* The Stage, of course, has its Slang " both be- fore and behind the curtain," as a journalist remarks. The stage manager is familiarly termed DADDY; and an actor by profession, or a " professional," is called a PRO. A man who is occasionally hired at a trifling remuneration to come upon the stage as one of a crowd, or when a number of actors are wanted to give effect, is named a SUP, an abbre- viation of " supernumerary." A SURF is a third- rate actor who frequently pursues another calling; * For some account of the origin of these nicknames see under MRS. HARRIS in the Dictionary. 76 SLANG ON THE STAGE. and the band, or orchestra between the pit and the stage, is generally spoken of as the MENAGERY. A BEN is a benefit ; and SAL is the Slang abbrevia- tion of " salary." Should no wages be forthcoming on the Saturday night, it is said that the GHOST DOESN'T WALK. The travelling or provincial thea- tricals, who perform in any large room that can be rented in a country village, are called BARN STORMEES. A LENGTH is forty-two lines of any dramatic composition; and a RUN is the good or bad success of a performance. A SADDLE is the additional charge made by a manager to an actor or actress upon their benefit night. To MUG UP is to paint one's face, or arrange the person to repre- sent a particular character; to CORPSE, or to STICK, is to balk, or put the other actors out in their parts by forgetting yours. A performance is spoken of as either a GOOSER or a SCREAMER, should it be a failure or a great success; if the latter, it is not infrequently termed a HIT. To STAR IT is to per- form as the centre of attraction, with none but subordinates and indifferent actors in the same performance. The expressive term CLAP-TRAP, high-sounding nonsense, is nothing but an ancient theatrical term, and signified a TRAP to catch a CLAP by way of applause. "Up amongst the GODS," refers to being among the spectators in the gallery, termed in French Slang PARADIS. There exists, too, in the great territory of vulgar CIVIC SLANG. 77 speech what may not inappropriately be termed Civic Slang. It consists of mercantile and Stock Exchange terms, and the Slang of good living and wealth. A turkey hung with sausages is facetiously styled AN ALDERMAN IN CHAINS; and a half- crown, perhaps from its rotundity, is often termed an ALDERMAN. A BEAR is a speculator on the Exchange; and a BULL, although of another order, follows a like profession. There is something very humorous and applicable in the slang term LAME DUCK, a defaulter in stock-jobbing speculations. The allusion to his " waddling out of the Alley," as they say, is excellent. BREAKING SHINS, in City slang, is borrowing money; a rotten or un- sound scheme is spoken of as riSHY; " RIGGING the market" means playing tricks with it; and STAG was a common term during the railway mania for a speculator without capital, a seller of " scrip" in " Diddlesex Junction " and other equally safe lines. In Lombard-street a MONKEY is 500, a PLUM 100,000, and a MARYGOLD is one million sterling. But before I proceed further in a sketch of the different kinds of Slang, I cannot do better than to speak here of the extraordinary number of Cant and Slang terms in use to represent money, from farthing's to bank notes the value of for- tunes. Her Majesty's coin, collectively or in the piece, is insulted by no less than one hundred and thirty distinct Slang words, from the humble 78 SLANG TERMS FOR MONEY. BROWN (a halfpenny) to FLIMSIES, or LONG- TAILED ONES (bank notes). " Money," it has been well remarked, " the bare, simple word itself, has a sonorous, significant ring in its sound," and might have sufficed, one would have imagined, for all ordinary purposes. But a vulgar or " fast " society has thought differently, and so we have the Slang synonymes BEANS, BLUNT, (i.e., specie, not stiff or rags, bank notes), BEADS, BRASS, BUSTLE, COPPERS (copper money, or mixed pence), CHINK, CHINKERS, CHIPS, CORKS, DIBBS, DINARLY, DIMMOCK, DUST, FEATHERS, GENT (silver, from argent), HADDOCK (a purse of money), HORSE NAILS, LOAVER, LOUR (the oldest Cant term for money), MOPUSSES, NEEDFUL, NOB- BINGS (money collected in a hat by street per- formers), OCHRE (gold), PEWTER, PALM OIL, QUEEN'S PICTURES, QUIDS, RAGS (bank notes), READY, or READY GILT, REDGE (gold), RHINO, ROWDY, SHINERS (sovereigns), SKIN (a purse of money), STIFF (paper, or bill of acceptance), STUFF, STUMPY, TIN (silver), WEDGE (silver), and YELLOW- BOYS (sovereigns); just forty-two vulgar equiva- lents for the simple word money. So attentive is Slang speech to financial matters, that there are seven terms for bad, or " bogus " coin (as our friends, the Americans, call it) : a CASE is a coun- terfeit five-shilling piece ; HALF A CASE represents half that sum ; GRAYS are halfpence made double SLANG TERMS FOR MONEY. 79 for gambling purposes; QUEER-SOFT is counterfeit or lead coin ; SCHOFEL refers to coated or spurious coin ; SHEEN is bad money of any description ; and SINKERS bears the same and not inappropriate meaning. FLYING THE KITE, or obtaining money on bills and promissory notes, is a curious allusion to children tossing about a paper kite; and RAISING THE WIND is a well-known phrase for procuring money by immediate sale, pledging, or a forced loan. In winter or in summer any elderly gentle- man who may have prospered in life is pronounced WARM; whilst an equivalent is immediately at hand in the phrase " his pockets are well LINED." Each separate piece of money has its own Slang term, and often half a score of synonymes. To begin with that extremely humble coin, a farthing : first we have FADGE, then FIDDLER, then GIG, and lastly QUARTEREEN. A halfpenny is a BROWN or a MADZA SALTEE (Cant), or a MAG, or a POSH, or a RAP, whence the popular phrase, " I don't care a rap" The useful and universal penny has for Slang equivalents a COPPER, a SALTEE (Cant), and a WINN. Two-pence is a DEUCE, and three-pence is either a THRUMS or a THRUPS. Four-pence, or a groat, may in vulgar speech be termed a BIT, a FLAG, or a JOEY. Six-pence is well represented in street talk, and some of the Slangisms are very comical, for instance, BANDY, BENDER, CRIPPLE, and JDOWNER ; then we have FYE-BUCK, HALF A 80 OLD SLANG TERMS FOR MONEY. HOG, KICK (thus " two and a kick," or 2s. 6d.), LORD OF THE MANOR, PIG, POT (the price of a pot of beer), SNID, SPRAT, SOW'S BABY, TANNER, TESTER, Tizzr, sixteen vulgar words to one coin. Seven-pence being an uncommon amount has only one Slang synonyme, SETTER. The same remark applies to eight-pence and nine-pence, the former being only represented by OTTER, and the latter by the Cant phrase, NOBBA-SALTEE. Ten-pence is DACHA-SALTEE, and eleven-pence DACHA-ONE, both Cant expressions. One shilling boasts ten Slang equivalents ; thus we have BEONG, BOB, BREAKY-LEG, DEANER, GEN (either from argent, silver, or the back slang), HOG, PEG, STAG, TEVISS, and TWELVER. Half-a-crown is known as an ALDERMAN, HALF A BULL, HALF A TUSHEROON, and a MADZA CAROON; whilst a crown piece, or Jive shillings, may be called either a BULL, or a CAROON, or a CARTWHEEL, or a COACHWHEEL, or a THICK-UN, or a TUSHEROON. The next ad- vance in Slang money is ten shillings, or half-a- sovereign, which may be either pronounced as HALF A BEAN, HALF A COUTER, a MADZA POONA, Or HALF A QUID. A sovereign, or twenty shillings, is a BEAN, CANARY, COUTER, FOONT, GOLDFINCH, JAMES, POONA, QUID, a THICK-UN, or a YELLOW- BOY. Guineas are nearly obsolete, yet the terms NEDS, and HALF NEDS, are still in use. Bank notes are FLIMSIES, LONG-TAILED ONES, or SOFT. A CLASSICAL OKIGIN OF SLANG TERMS FOR MONEY. 81 FINUF is a five-pound note. One hundred pounds (or any other " round sum ") quietly handed over as payment for services performed is curiously termed "a COOL hundred." Thus ends, with several omissions, this long list of Slang terms for the coins of the realm, which for copiousness, I will engage to say, is not equalled by any other vulgar or unauthorised language in Europe. The antiquity of many of these Slang names is remarkable. WINN was the vulgar term for a penny in the days of Queen Elizabeth; and TES- TER, a sixpence (formerly a shilling), was the correct name in the days of Henry the Eighth. The reader, too, will have remarked the fre- quency of animals' names as Slang terms for money. Little, as a modern writer has remarked, do the persons using these phrases know of their remote and somewhat classical origin, which may, indeed, be traced to the period antecedent to that when monarchs monopolised the surface of coined money with their own image and superscriptions. They are identical with the very name of money among the early Romans, which was pecunia, from jiecus, a flock. The collections of coin dealers amply show that the figure of a HOG was anciently placed on a small silver coin; arid that that of a BULL decorated larger ones of the same metal. These coins were frequently deeply crossed on the reverse; this was for the convenience of easily G 82 SHOPKEEPERS' SLANG. breaking them into two or more pieces, should the bargain for which they were employed require it, and the parties making it had no smaller change handy to complete the transaction. Thus we find that the HALF BULL of the itinerant street seller, or " traveller,"* so far from being a phrase of modern invention, as is generally supposed, is in point of fact referable to an era extremely remote. There are many other Cant words directly from a classic source, as will be seen in the Dictionary. Slwpkeepers Slang is, perhaps, the most offensive of all Slang. It is not a casual eyesore, as news- paper Slang, neither is it an occasional discomfort to the ear, as in the case of some vulgar byeword of the street; but it is a perpetual nuisance, and stares you in the face on tradesmen's invoices, on labels in the shop-windows, and placards on the hoardings, in posters against the house next to your own door if it happens to be empty for a few weeks, and in bills thrust into your hand, as you peaceably walk through the streets. Under your doors, and down your area, Slang hand-bills are dropped by some PUSHING tradesman, and for the thousandth time you are called upon to learn that an ALARMING SACRIFICE is taking place in the next street, that prices are DOWN AGAIN, that in consequence of some other tradesman not DRIVING a ROARING TRADE, being in fact SOLD ur, and for the time being a resident in BURDON'S HOTEL * See Dictionarv. SLANG IN THE WORKSHOP. 83 (Whitecross-street Prison), the PUSHING tradesman wishes to sell out at AWFULLY LOW PRICES, " to the kind patrons, and numerous customers," &c. &c., "that have on every occasion," &c. &c. In this Slang any occupation or calling is termed a LINE, thus the "Building-LiNE." A tailor usurps to himself a good deal of Slang. Amongst operatives he is called a SNIP, or a STEEL BAR DRIVER; by the world, a NINTH PART OF A MAN; and by the young collegian, or " fast " man, a SUFFERER. If he takes army contracts, it is SANK WORK; if he is a SLOP tailor, he is a SPRINGER UP, and his garments are BLOWN TOGETHER. Perquisites with him are SPIFFS, and remnants of cloth, PEAKING. The percentage he allows to his assistants (or COUNTER JUMPERS) on the sale of old-fashioned articles, is termed TINGE. If he pays his workmen in goods, or gives them tickets upon other tradesmen, with whom he shares the profit, he is soon known as a TOMMY MASTER. If his business succeeds, it TAKES ; if neglected, it becomes SHAKY, and GOES TO POT ; if he is deceived by a creditor (a not by any means unusual circumstance) he is LET IN, or, as it is sometimes varied, TAKEN IN. I need scarcely remark that any credit he may give is termed TICK. Operatives or Workmen's Slang, in quality, is but slightly removed from tradesmen's Slang. When belonging to the same shop or factory, they GRAFT G2 84 SLANG IN THE WORKSHOP. there, and are BROTHER CHIPS. They generally dine at SLAP BANG SHOPS, and are often paid at TOMMY SHOPS. At the nearest PUB, or public- house, they generally have a SCORE CHALKED UP against them, which has to be WIPED OFF regularly on the Saturday night. When out of work, they borrow a word from the flunkey vocabulary, and describe themselves as being OUT OF COLLAR. They term each other FLINTS and DUNGS, if they are "society " or " non-society" men. Their salary is a SCREW, and to be discharged is to GET THE SACK. When they quit work, they KNOCK OFF ; and when out of employ, they ask if any HANDS are wanted. FAT is the vulgar synonyme for perquisites; ELBOW-GREASE signifies labour; and SAINT MONDAY is the favourite day of the week. Names of animals figure plentifully in the work- man's vocabulary ; thus we have GOOSE, a tailor's smoothing iron; SHEEp's-FOOT, an iron hammer; SOW, a receptacle for molten iron, whilst the metal poured from it is termed PIG. I have often thought that many of the Slang terms for money originally came from the workshop, thus BRADS, from the ironmonger; CHIPS, from the carpenter; DUST, from the goldsmith; FEATHERS, from the upholsterer; HORSE NAILS, from the farrier ; HAD- DOCK, from the fishmonger; and TANNER, from the leather-dresser. The subject is curious. Allow me to call the attention of numismatists to it. SLANG APOLOGIES FOR OATHS. 85 There yet remain several distinct divisions of Slang to be examined ; the Slang of the stable, or jockey Slang; the Slang of the prize ring ; the Slang of servitude, or flunk 'eydom ; vulgar, or street Slang; the Slang of softened oaths; and the Slang of intoxication. I shall only examine the last two. If society, as has been remarked, is a sham, from the vulgar foundation of commonalty to the crown- ing summit of royalty, especially do we perceive the justness of the remark in the Slang makeshifts for oaths, and sham exclamations for passion and temper. These apologies for feeling are a disgrace to our vernacular, although it is some satisfaction to know that they serve the purpose of reducing the stock of national profanity. " You BE SLOWED," or "I'll BE BLOWED IF," &c., is an exclamation often heard in the streets. BLAZES, or " like BLAZES," came probably from the army. BLAST, too, although in general vulgar use, may have had a like origin ; so may the phrase, " I wish I may be SHOT, if," &c. BLOW ME TIGHT, is a very windy and common exclamation. The same may be said of STRIKE ME LUCKY, NEVER TRUST ME, and SO HELP ME DAVY; the latter derived from the truer old phrase, I'LL TAKE MY DAVY ON'T, i.e., my affidavit, DAVY being a corruption of that word. BY GOLLY, GOL DARN IT, and SO HELP ME BOB, are evident shams for profane oaths. NATION is but a softening of damnation; and OD, whether 86 SLANG SWEARING. used in OD DRAT IT, or OD'S BLOOD, is but an apology for the name of the Deity. The Irish phrase, BAD SCRAN TO TER ! is equivalent to wish- ing a person bad food. " I'm SNIGGERED if you will," and " I'm JIGGERED," are other stupid forms of mild swearing, fearful of committing an open profanity, yet slyly nibbling at the sin. Both DEUCE and DICKENS are vulgar old synonymes for the devil; and ZOUNDS is an abbreviation of GOD'S WOUNDS, a very ancient catholic oath. In a casual survey of the territory of Slang, it is curious to observe how well represented are the familiar wants and failings of life. First, there's money, with one hundred and twenty Slang terms and synonymes; then comes drink, from small beer to champagne; and next, as a very natural sequence, intoxication, and fuddlement generally, with some half a hundred vulgar terms, graduating the scale of drunkenness from a slight inebriation, to the soaky state of gutterdom and stretcherdom , I pray the reader to forgive the expressions. The Slang synonymes for mild intoxication are certainly very choice, they are BEERY, BEMUSED, BOOZY, BOSKY, BUFFY, CORNED, FOGGY, FOU, FRESH, HAZY, ELEVATED, KISKY, LUSHY, MOONY, MUGGY, MUZZY, ON, SCREWED, STEWED, TIGHT, and WINEY. A higher or more intense state of beastliness is represented by the expres- sions, PODGY, BEARGERED, BLUED, CUT, PRIMED, SLANG TERMS FOR DRUNKENNESS. 87 LUMPY, PLOUGHED, MUDDLED, OBFUSCATED, SWIPEY, THREE SHEETS IN THE WIND, and TOP- HEAVY. But the climax of fuddlement is only obtained when the DISGUISED individual CAN'T SEE A HOLE IN A LADDER, or when he is all MOPS AND BROOMS, Or OFF HIS NUT, Or with his MAIN-BRACE WELL SPLICED, or with the SUN IN HIS EYES, or when he has LAPPED THE GUTTER, and got the GEAVEL RASH, or on the RAN-TAN, or on the RE-RAW, or when he is SEWED UP, or regularly SCAMMERED, then, and not till then, is he entitled in vulgar society to the title of LUSHINGTON, or recommended to PUT IN THE PIN. DICTIONARY OF MODERN SLANG, CANT, & VULGAK WOEDS; MANY WITH THEIR ETYMOLOGIES TRACED. A 1, first rate, the very best ; " she's a prime girl she is ; she is A 1." Sam Slick. The highest classification of ships at Lloyd's ; common term in the United States, also at Liver- pool and other English seaports. Another, even more intensitive form, is " first-class, letter A, No. 1." ABOUT RIGHT, " to do the thing ABOUT BIGHT," i.e., to do it properly, soundly, correctly ; " he guv it 'im ABOUT EIGHT," i.e., he beat him severely. ABRAM-SHAM, or SHAM-ABRAHAM, to feign sickness or distress. From ABEAM MAN, the ancient cant term for a begging impostor, or one who pretended to have been mad. Bur- ton's Anatomy of Melancholy, part i., sec. 2, vol. i., p. 360. When Abraham Newland was Cashier of the Bank of Eng- land, and signed their notes, it was sung : " I have heard people say That SHAM AHHAHAM you may, But you mustn't SHAM ABEAHAM Newland." ABSQUATULATE, to run away, or abscond ; a hybrid American expression, from the Latin ab, and " squat," to settle. ADAM'S ALE, water. English. The Scotch term is ADAM'S WINE. AGGERAWATORS (corruption of Aggravators), the greasy locks of hair in vogue among costermongers and other street folk, worn twisted from the temple back towards 90 A DICTIONARY OF the ear. They are also, from a supposed resemblance in form, termed NEWGATE KNOCKERS, which see. Sala'g Gat- light, &.C. ALDERMAN, a half-crown possibly from its rotundity. ALDERMAN, a turkey. ALDERMAN IN CHAINS, a turkey hung with sausages. ALL OF A HUGH ! all on one side, or with a thump ; the word HUGH being pronounced with a grunt. Suffolk. ALL MY EYE, answer of astonishment to an improbable story ; ALL MY EYE AND BETTY MARTIN, a vulgar phrase with similar meaning, said to be the commencement of a Popish prayer to St. Martin, " Oh mihi, beate Martine," and fallen iuto discredit at the Reformation. ALL-OVERISH, neither sick nor well, the premonitory symp- toms of illness. ALL-ROUNDERS, the fashionable shirt collars of the present time worn meeting in front. ALL-SERENE, an ejaculation of acquiescence. ALLS, tap-droppings, refuse spirits sold at a cheap rate in gin- palaces. See LOVEAGE. ALL-THERE, in strict fashion, first-rate, "up to the mark;" a vulgar person would speak of a spruce, showily-dressed female as being ALL-THERE. An artizan would use the same phrase to express the capabilities of a skilful fellow workman. ALL TO PIECES, utterly, excessively ; " he beat him ALL TO PIECES," i.e.. excelled or surpassed him exceedingly. ALL TO SMASH, or GONE TO PIECES, bankrupt, or smashed to pieces. Somersetshire. ALMIGHTY DOLLAR, an American expression for the " power of money," first introduced by Washington Irving in 1837. AN'T, or AIN'T, the vulgar abbreviation of "am not," or "are not." ANOINTING, a good beating. ANY HOW, in any way, or at any rate, bad; "he went on ANY HOW," i.e., badly or indifferently. APPLE CART, " down with his APPLE CAET," i.e., upset him. North. APPLE PIE ORDER, in exact or very nice order. AREA-SNEAK, a boy thief who commits depredations upon kitchens and cellars. See CROW. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 91 ARGOT, a term used amongst London thieves for their secret or cant language. French term for slang. ARTICLE, a man or boy, derisive term. ARY, corruption of ever a, e'er a; ART ONE, e'er a one. ATTACK, to carve, or commence operations on ; "ATTACK that beef, and oblige !" ATTIC, the head ; " queer in the ATTIC," intoxicated. Pugilistic. AUNT-SALLY, a favourite game on race-courses and at fairs, consisting of a wooden head mounted on a stick, firmly fixed in the ground ; in the nose of which, or rather in that part of the facial arrangement of AUNT SALLY which is generally considered incomplete without a nasal projection, a tobacco pipe is inserted. The fun consists in standing at a distance and demolishing AUNT SALLY'S pipe-clay projection with short bludgeons, very similar to the half of a broom- handle. The Duke of Beaufort is a " crack hand" at smash- ing pipe noses, and his performances two years ago on Brighton race-course are yet fresh in remembrance. The noble Duke, in the summer months, frequently drives the old London and Brighton four-horse mail coach, "Age" a whim singular enough now, but common forty years ago." AUTUMN, a slang term for an execution by hanging. When the drop was introduced instead of the old gallows, cart, and ladder, and a man was for the first time " turned-off" in the present fashion, the mob were so pleased with the invention that they spoke of the operation as at AUTUMN, or the FALL OP THE LEAP (sc. the drop), with the man about to be hung. AVAST, a sailor's phrase for stop, shut up, go away, appa- rently connected with the old cant, BYNGE A WASTE. AWAKE, or FLY, knowing, thoroughly understanding, not ignorant of. The phrase WIDE AWAKE carries the same meaning in ordinary conversation. AWFUL (or, with the Cockneys, ORFUL), a senseless expletive, used to intensify a description of anything good or bad ; "what an AWFUL fine woman!" i.e., how handsome, or showy ! AXE, to ask. Saxon, ACSIAN. BABES, the lowest order of KNOCK-OUTS (which see), who are prevailed upon not to give opposing biddings at auctions, in consideration of their receiving a small sum (from one shilling to half-a-crown), and a certain quantity of beer. BABES exist in Baltimore, U.S., where they are known as blackguards and " rowdies." 92 A DICTION AEY OF BACK JUMP, a back window. BACK SLANG IT, to go out the back way. BACK OUT, to retreat from a difficulty ; the reverse of GO AHEAD. Metaphor borrowed from the stables. BACON", " to save one's BACON," to escape. BAD, " to go to the BAD," to deteriorate in character, be ruined. Virgil has an exactly similar phrase, in pejus mere. BAGMAN, a commercial traveller. BAGS, trowsers. Trowsers of an extensive pattern, or exag- gerated fashionable cut, have lately been termed HOWLING- BAGS, but only when the style has been very "loud." The word is probably an abbreviation for b-rnbags. " To have the BAGS off," to be of age and one's own master, to have plenty of money. BAKE, "he's only HALF BAKED," i.e., soft, inexperienced. BAKER'S DOZEN. This consists of thirteen or fourteen ; the surplus number, called the inbread, being thrown in for fear of incurring the penalty for short weight. To " give a man a BAKER'S DOZEN," in a slang sense, means to give him an extra good beating or pummelling. BALAAM, printers' slang for matter kept in type about mon- strous productions of nature, &c., to fill up spaces in news- papers that would otherwise be vacant. The term BALAAM- BOX has long been used in Blackwood as the name of the depository for rejected articles. BALL, prison allowance, viz., six ounces of meat. BALLYRAG, to scold vehemently, to swindle one out of his money by intimidation and sheer abuse, as alleged in a late cab case (Evans v. Robinson). BALMY, insane. BAMBOOZLE, to deceive, make fun of, or cheat a person; abbreviated to BAM, which is used also as a substantive, a deception, a sham, a " sell." Swift says BAMBOOZLE was invented by a nobleman in the reign of Charles II.; but this I conceive to be an error. The probability is that a nobleman first used it in polite society. The term is de- rived from the Gipseys. BANDED, hungry. BANDY, or CRIPPLE, a sixpence, so called from this coin being generally bent or crooked; old term for flimsy or bad cloth, temp. Q. Elizabeth. BANG, to excel or surpass; BANGING, great or thumping. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 93 BANG-UP, first-rate. BANTLING, a child ; stated in Bacchus and Venus, 1737, and by Grose, to be a cant term. BANYAN-DAY, a day on which no meat is served out for rations; probably derived from the BANIANS, a Hindoo caste, who abstain from animal food. Sea. BAR, or BARRING, excepting ; in common use in the betting- ring ; " I bet against the field BAR two." The Irish use of BARRIN' is very similar. BARKER, a man employed to cry at the doors of "gaffs," shows, and puffing shops, to entice people inside. BARKING IRONS, pistols. BARNACLES, a pair of spectacles ; corruption of BINOCULI ? BARNEY, a LARK, SPREE, rough enjoyment ; "get up a BARNEY," to have a " lark." BARNEY, a mob, a crowd. BARN-STORMERS, theatrical performers who travel the country and act in barns, selecting short and frantic pieces to suit the rustic taste. Theatrical. BARRIKIN, jargon, speech, or discourse; "we can't tumble to that BARRIKIN," i.e., we don't understand what he says. Miege calls it " a sort of stuff." BASH, to beat, thrash; "BASHING a donna," beating a woman; originally a provincial word, and chiefly applied to the practice of beating walnut trees, when in bud, with long poles, to increase their productiveness. Hence the West country proverb "A woman, a whelp, and a walnut tree, The more you BASH 'em, the better they be." BAT, " on his own BAT," on his own account. See HOOK. BATS, a pair of bad boots. BATTER, " on the BATTER," literally " on the streets," or given up to roistering and debauchery. BATTLES, the students' term at Oxford for rations. At Cam- bridge, COMMONS. BAWDYKEN, a brothel. See KEN. BAZAAR, a shop or counter. Glpsey and Hindoo, a market. BEAK, a magistrate, judge, or policeman ; " baffling the BEAK," to get remanded. Ancient cant, BECK. Saxon, BEAG, a necklace or gold collar emblem of authority. Sir John Fielding was called the BLIND-BEAK in the last century 94 A DICTIONARY OF Query, if connected with the Italian BECCO, which means a (bird's) beak, and also a blockhead. BEAKER-HUNTER, a stealer of poultry. BEANS, money ; " a haddock of BEANS," a purse of money ; formerly BEAN meant a guinea ; French, BIEXS, property ; also used as a synonyme for BRICK, which see. BEAR, one who contracts to deliver or sell a certain quantity of stock in the public funds on a forthcoming day at a stated place, but who does not possess it, trusting to a decline in public securities to enable him to fulfil the agreement and realise a profit. See BULL. Both words are slang terms on the Stock Exchange, and are frequently usud in the business columns of newspapers. "He who sells that of which he is not possessed is proverbially said to sell the skin before he has caught, the BEAK. It was the practice of stock-jobbers, in the year 1720, to enter into a contract for transferring South Se 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 BDLL, perhaps only as a similar distinction. The contract was merely a wazer, to be determined by the rise or fall of stock ; if it rose, the seller paid the difference to the buyer, proportioned to the sum determined by the same com- putation to the seller." Dr. Warlon on Pope. BEARGERED, to be druuk. BEAT, or BEAT-HOLLOW, to surpass or excel. BEAT, the allotted range traversed by a policeman on duty. BEAT-OUT, DEAD-BEAT, tired or fagged. BEATER-CASES, boots : Nearly obsolete. BEAVER, old street term for a hat ; GOSS is the modem word, BEAVER, except in the country, having fallen into disuse. BE-BLOWED, a windy exclamation equivalent to an oath. See BLOW-ME. BED-POST, "in the twinkling of a BED-POST," in a moment, or very quickly. Originally BED-STAFF, a stick placed ver- tically in the frame of a bed to keep the bedding in its place. ShadwelVs Virtuoso, 1676, act i., scene 1. This was used sometimes as a defensive weapon. BEE, "to have a BEE in one's bonnet," i.e., to be not exactly saue. BEERY, intoxicated, or fuddled with beer. BEESWAX, poor soft cheese. BEETLE-CRUSHERS, or SQUASHEBS, large fiat feet. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 95 BELCHER, a kind of handkerchief. See BILLY. BELL, a song. BELLOWS, the lungs. BELLOWSED, or LAGGED, transported. BELLOWS-TO-MEND, out of breath. BELLY-TIMBER, food, or "grub." BELLY- VENGEANCE, small sour beer, apt to cause gastralgia. BEMUSE, to fuddle one's self with drink, " BEMUSING himself with beer," &c. Sala's Gas-light and Day-light, p. 308. BEN, a benefit. Theatrical. BEND, "that's above my BEND," i.e., beyond my power, too expensive, or too difficult for me to perform. BENDER, a sixpence, from its liability to bend. BENDER, the arm ; " over the BENDER," synonymous with " over the left." See OVER. Also an ironical exclamation similar to WALKER. BENE, good. Ancient cant; BENAR was the comparative. See BONE. Latin. BENJAMIN, a coat. Formerly termed a JOSEPH, in allusion, perhaps, to Joseph's coat of many colours. See UPPER- BENJAMIN. BENJY, a waistcoat. BEONG, a shilling. See SALTEE. BESTER, a low betting cheat. BESTING, excelling, cheating. BESTED, taken in, or defrauded. BETTER, more ; " how far is it to town ?" " oh, BETTER 'n a mile. Saxon and Old English, now a vulgarism. BETTY, a skeleton key, or picklock. Old cant. B. FLATS, bugs. BIBLE CARRIER, a person who sells songs without singing them. BIG, "to look BIG," to assume an inflated dress, or manner; "to talk BIG," i e., boastingly, or with an " extensive" air. BIG-HOUSE, the work-house. BILBO, a sword ; abbrev. of BILBOA blade. Spanish swords were anciently very celebrated, especially those of Toledo, Bilboa, &c. BILK, a cheat, or a swindler. Formerly in frequent use, now confined to the streets, where it is very general. Gothic, BILAICAN. 96 A DICTIONARY OF BILK, to defraud, or obtain goods, &c. without paying for them; "to BILK the schoolmaster," to get information or experience without paying for it. BILLINGSGATE (when applied to speech), foul and coarse language. Not many years since, one of the London noto- rieties was to hear the fishwomen at Billingsgate abuse each other. The anecdote of Dr. Johnson and the Billingsgate virago is well known. BILLY, a silk pocket handkerchief. Scotch. See WIPE. *** A list of the slang terms descriptive of the various patterns of handkerchiefs, pocket and neck, is here sub- joined: BELCHER, close striped pattern, yellow silk, and inter- mixed with white and a little black ; named from the pugilist, Jim Belcher. BIRD'S EYE WIPE, diamond spots. BLOOD RED FANCY, red. BLUE BILLY, blue ground with white spots. CREAM FANCY, any pattern on a white ground. GREEN KING'S MAN, any pattern on a green ground. RANDAL'S MAN, green, with white spots; named after Jack Randal, pugilist. WATER'S MAN, sky coloured. YELLOW FANCY, yellow, with white spots. YELLOW MAN, all yellow. BILLY-BARLOW, a street clown ; sometimes termed a JIM CROW, or SALTIMBANCO, so called from the hero of a slang song. Bulwer's Paul Clifford. BILLY-HUNTING, buying old metal. BIRD-CAGE, a four-wheeled cab. BIT, fourpence ; in America 12^ cents is called a BIT, and a defaced 20 cent piece is termed a LONG BIT. A BIT is the smallest coin in Jamaica, equal to 6d. BIT, a purse, or any sum of money. BIT-FAKER, or TURNER OUT, a coiner of bad money. BITCH, tea; "a BITCH party," a tea-drinking. University. BITE, a cheat ; " a Yorkshire BITE," a cheating fellow from that county. North; also old slang, used by Pope. Swift says it originated with a nobleman in his day. BITE, to cheat ; " to be BITTEN," to be taken in or imposed upon. Originally a Gipsey term. See Bacchus and Venus. BIVVY, or GATTER, beer ; " shant of BIVVY," a pot, or quart of MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 97 beer. In Suffolk, tbe afternoon refreshment of reapers is called SEVER. It is also an old English term. " He is none of those same ordinary eaters, that will devour three break- fasts, and as many dinners, without any prejudice to their BEVEBS, drinkings, or suppers." Btaunwiit and Fletcher's Woman Ho.ter 13. Both words are probably from the Italian, levere, lere. Latin, bibere. English, beverage. BLACK AND WHITE, handwriting. BLACKBERRY-SWAGGER, a person who hawks tapes, boot laces, &c. BLACK-LEG, a rascal, swindler, or card cheat. BLACK-SHEEP, a "bad lot," " mauvais sujet;" also a workman who refuses to join in a strike. BLACK-STRAP, port wine. BLADE, a man in ancient times the term for a soldier; " knowing BLADE," a wide awake, sharp, or cunning man. BLACKGUARD, a low, or dirty fellow. "A cant word amongst the vulgar, by which is implied a dirty fellow of the meanest kind. Dr. Johnson says, and he cites only the modern authority of Swift. I?ut the introduction of this word into our language belongs not to the vulgar, and is more than a cen- tury prior to the time of Swift. Mr. Malone agrees with me in exhibiting the two first of the following examples. The black-guard is evidently designed to imply a fit attendant on the devil. Mr. Gilford, however, in his late edition of Ben Jonson's works, as- signs an origin of the name different from what the old examples which I have cited seem to countenance. It has been formed, he says, from those 'mean and ditty dependants, in great houses, who were selected to carry coals to the kitchen, halls, &c. To this smutty regiment, who attended the progresses, and rode in the carts with the ppts and kettles, which, with every other article of furniture, were then moved from palace to palace, the people, in derision, gave the name of black guards; a term since become sufficiently familiar, and never properly explained.' UenJonson, ii. 169, vii. 250 " Todd's Johnson's Dictionary. BLARNEY, flattery, exaggeration. Hibernicism. BLAST, to curse. BLAZES, " like BLAZES," furious or desperate, alow comparison. BLEST, a vow ; " BLEST if I'll do it," i.e., I am determined not to do it ; euphemism for CURST. BLEED, to victimise, or extract money from a person, to spunge on, to make suffer vindictively. BLEW, or BLOW, to inform, or peach. SLEWED, got rid of, disposed of, spent ; " I SLEWED all my blunt last night," I spent all my money . H 98 A DICTIONARY OF BLIND, a pretence, or make believe. BLIND-HOOKEY, a gambling game at cards. BLINKER, a blackened eye. Norwich slang. BLINK FENCER, a person who sells spectacles. BLOAK, or BLOKE, a man ; "the BLOAK with a jasey," the man with a wig, i.e., the Judge. Gipsey and Hindoo, LOKE. North, BLOACHER, any large animal. BLOB (from BLAB), to talk. Beggars are of two kinds, those who SCKEEVE (introduce themselves with a FAKEMENT, or false document), and those who BLOB, or state their case in their o\\n truly "unvarnished" language. BLOCK, the head. BLOCK ORNAMENTS, the small dark coloured pieces of meat exposed on the cheap butchers' blocks or counters, debate- able points to all the sharp visaged argumentative old women in low neighbourhoods. BLOOD, a fast or high-mettled man. Nearly obsolete in the sense in which it was used in George the Fourth's time. BLOOD -RED FANCY, a kind of handkerchief worn by pugilists and frequenters of prize fights. See BILLY. BLOODY -JEMMY, a sheep's head. See SANGUINARY JAMES. BLOW, to expose, or inform ; " BLOW the gaff," to inform against a person. In America, to BLOW is slang for to taunt. BLOW A CLOUD, to smoke a cigar or pipe a phrase in use two centuries ago. BLOW ME, or BLOW ME TIGHT, a vow, a ridiculous and unmean- ing ejaculation, inferring an appeal to the ejaculator; "I'm SLOWED if you will " is a common expression among the lower orders ; " BLOW ME UP " was the term a century ago. See Parker's Adventures, 1781. BLOW OUT, or TUCK IN, a feast, BLOW UP, to make a noise, or scold ; formerly a cant expres- sion used amongst thieves, now a recognised and respectable phrase. BLOWING UP, a jobation, a scolding. BLOWEN, a showy or flaunting prostitute, a thief's paramour. In Wilts, a BLOWEN is a blossom. Germ. BLUHEN, to bloom. " du bulh&ide Madchen viel scheme Willkomm !" German Song. Possibly, however, the street term BLOWEN may mean one whose reputation has been BLOWN UPON, or damaged. BLOWER, a girl; a contemptuous name in opposition to JOMER. BLUBBER, to cry in a childish manner. Ancient. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 99 BLTJDGERS, low thieves, who use violence. BLUE, a policeman; "disguised in BLUE and liquor." Boots at the Swan. BLUE, or BLEW, to pawn or pledge. BLUE, confounded or surprised ; ' to look BLUE," to be aston- ished or disappointed. BLUE BILLY, the handkerchief (blue ground with white spots) worn and used at prize fights. Before a SET TO, it is common to take it from the neck and tie it round the leg as a garter, or round the waist, to " keep in the wind." Also, the refuse ammoniacal lime from gas factories. BLUE BLANKET, a rough over coat made of coarse pilot cloth. BLUE-BOTTLE, a policeman. It is singular that this well known slang term for a London constable should have been used by Shakespere. In part ii. of King Henry IV., act v., scene 4, Doll Tearsheet calls the beadle, who is dragging her in, a " thin man in a censer, a BLUE- BOTTLE rogue." BLUED, or SLEWED, tipsey or drunk. BLUE DEVILS, the apparitions supposed to be seen by habitual drunkards. BLUE MOON, an unlimited period. BLUE MURDER, a desperate or alarming cry. French, MORT- BLEU. BLUE RUIN, gin. BLUE-PIGEON FLYERS, journeymen plumbers, glaziers, and others, who, under the plea of repairing houses, strip off the lead, and make way with it. Sometimes they get off with it by wrapping it round their bodies. BLUES, a fit of despondency. See BLUE DEVILS. BLUEY, lead. German, BLEI. BLUFF, an excuse. BLUFF, to turn aside, stop, or ezcuse. BLUNT, money. It has been said that this term is from the French BLOND, sandy or golden colour, and tbat a parallel may be found in BROWN or BROWNS, the slang for half -pence. The etymology seems far fetched, however. BLURT OUT, to speak from impulse, and without reflection. Shakespere. BOB, a shilling. Formerly BOBSTICK, which may have been the original. H 2 100 A DICTIONARY OF BOB, " s'help my BOB," a street oath, equivalent to "so help me God." Other words are used in street language fur a simi- larly evasive purpose, i.e., CAT, GREENS, TATUB, &c., all equally profane and disgusting. BOBBISH, very well, clever, spruce; "how are you doing?" " oh ! pretty BOBBISH." Old. BOBBY, a policeman. Both BOBBY and PEELER were nick- names given to the new police, in allusion to the Christian and surnames of tLe late Sir Robert Peel, who was the prime mover in effecting their introduction and improvement. The term BOBBY is, however, older than the Saturday Reviewer, in bis childish and petulant remarks, imagines. The official square-keeper, who is always armed with a cane to drive away idle and disorderly urchins, has, time out of mind, been called by the said urchins, BOBBY the Beadle. BOBBY is also, I may remark, an old English word for strik- ing or hitting, a quality not unknown to policemen. See Halliwell's Dictionary. BODMINTON, blood. Pugilistic. BODY-SNATCHERS, bailiffs and runners : SNATCH, the trick by which the bailiff captures the delinquent. BODY-SNATCHERS, cat stealers. BOG or BOG-HOUSE, a water-closet. School term. In the Inns of Court, I am informed, this term is very common. BOG-TROTTER, satirical name for an Irishman. Mieye. Cam- den, however, speaking of the " debateable laud " on the borders of England and Scotland, says " both these dales breed notable BOG-TROTTERS." BOILERS, the slang name given to the New Kensington Museum and School of Art, in allusion to the peculiar form of the buildings, and the fact of their being mainly composed of, and covered with, sheet iron. See PEPPER-BOXES. BOLT, to run away, decamp, or abscond. BOLT, to swallow without chewing. BONE, good, excellent. A , the vagabond's hieroglyphic for BONE, or good, chalked by them on houses and street corners, as a hint to succeeding beggars. French, BON. BONE, to steal or pilfer. BONED, seized, apprehended. Old. BONE-GRUBBERS, persons who hunt dust-holes, gutters, and all likely spots for refuse bones, which they sell at the rag- shops, or to the bone-grinders. BONE-PICKER, a footman. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 101 BOXES, dice ; also called ST. HUGH'S BONES. BONES, " he made no BONES of it," he did not hesitate, i.e., undertook and finished the work without difficulty, " found no BONES iu the jelly." Ancient, vide Cotgrave. BONNET, a gambling cheat " A man who sits at a gaming- table, and appears to be playing against the table ; when a stranger enters, the BONNET generally win*." Times, Nov. 17, 1856. Also, a pretence, or make-believe, a sham bidder at auctions. BONNET, to strike a man's cap or hat over his eyes and nose. BONNETTER, one who induces another to gamble. BOOK, an arrangement of bets for and against, chronicled in a pocket-book made for that purpose; "making a BOOK upon it,'' common phrase to denote the general arrangement of a person's bets on a race. " That does not suit my BOOK," i.e., does not accord with my otuer arrangements. Skakesperc uses BOOK in the sense of " a paper of conditions." BOOM, " to tip one's BOOM off," to be off, or start in a certain direction. Sea. BOOKED, caught, fixed, disposed of. Term in Book-keeping. BOOZE, drink. Ancient cant, BOWSE. BOOZE, to drink, or more properly, to use another slang term, to "lush," viz, to drink continually, until drunk, or nearly so. The term is an old one. Harman, in Queen Elizabeth's days, speaks of " BOUSING (or boozing) and belly-cheere." The term was good English in the fourteenth century, and comes from the Dutch, BUYZEN, to tipple. BOOZE, or SUOK-CASA, a public-house. BOOZING-KEN, a beer- shop, a low public house. Ancient. BOOZY, intoxicated or fuddled. BORE, a troublesome friend or acquaintance, a nuisance, any- thing which wearies or annoys. The Cfradut ad Cantabrigiam suggests the derivation of BORE from the Greek, Bapos, a burden. Shakespere uses it, King Henry VIII., i., 1 at this instant He BORES me with some trick." Grose speaks of this word as being much in fashion about the year 1780-81, and states that it vanished of a sudden, without leaving a trace behind. Not so, burly Grose, the term is still in favour, and is as piquant and expressive as ever. Of the modern sense of the word BORE, the Prince 102 A DICTIONARY OF Consort made an amusing and effective use in his masterly address to the British Association, at Aberdeen, September 14, 1859. He said (as reported by the Times): " I will not weary yon by further examples, with which most of yon are better acquainted than I am myself, but merely express my satisfaction that there should exist bodies of men who will bring the well-considered and understood wants of science before the public and the Government, who will even hand round the begging- box, and expose themselves to refusals and rebuffs, to which all beggars all liable, with the certainty besides of being considered great BOBES. Please to recollect that this species of " bore " is a most useful animal, well adapted for the ends for which nature intended him. He alone, by constantly returning to the charge, and repeating the same truths and the same requests, succeeds in awakening attention to the cause which he advocates, and obtains that hearing which is granted him at last for self-protection, as the minor evil compared to his importunity, but which is requisite to make his cause understood." BOSH, nonsense, stupidity. Gipsey and Persian. Also pure Turkish, BOSH LAKERDI, empty talk. A person, iu the Saturday Review, has stated that BOSH is coeval with Morier's novel, Hadji Babi, which was published in 1828 ; but this is a blunder. The term was used in this country as early as 1760, and may be found in the Student, voL ii., p. 217. BOSH, a fiddle. BOSH-FAKER, a violin player. BOS-KEN, a farm- house. Ancient. S-.e KEN. BOSKY, inebriated Household Words, No. 183. BOSMAN, a farmer; "faking a BOSMAN on the main toby," rob- bing a farmer on the highway. Boss, a master. American. Both terms from the Dutch, BOSCH-MAN, one who lives in the woods ; otherwise Boschjeman or Bushman. BOSS-EYED, a person with, one eye, or rather with one eye injured. BOTHER, to teaze, to annoy. BOTHER (from the Hibemicisni POTHEB), trouble, or annoyance. Grose has a singular derivation, BOTHER, or BOTH-EARED, from two persons talking at the same time, or to both ears. BLOTHER, an old word, signifying to chatter idly. See Halliwell. BOTHERATION ! trouble, annoyance ; " BOTHERATION to it," confound it, or deuce take it, an exclamation when irritated. BOTTLE-HOLDER, an assistant to a " Second," Pugilistic; an abettor ; also, the bridegroom's man at a wedding. BOTTY, conceited, swaggering. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 103 BOUNCE, impudence. BOUNCE, a showy swindler. BOUNCE, to boast, cheat, or bully. Old cant. BOUNCER, a person who steals whilst bargaining with a trades- man ; a lie. BOUNDER, a four-wheel cab. Lucus a non lucendo ? BOUNETTER, a fortune-telling cheat. Gipsey. BOW-CATCHERS, or KISS CURLS, small curls twisted on the cheeks or temples of young and often old girls, adhering to the face as if gummed or pasted. Evidently a corruption of BEAU-CATCHERS. In old times these were called love- locks, when they were the marks at which all the puritan and ranting preachers levelled their pulpit pop-guns, loaded with sharp and virulent abuse. Hall and Pryune looked upon all women as strumpets who dared to let the hair depart from a straight line upon their cheeks. The French prettily term them accroche-ccmrs, whilst in the United States they are plainly and unpleasantly called SPIT- CURLS. Bartlett says : " SPIT CURL, a detached lock of hair curled upon the temple ; probably from having been at first filastered 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 CUBL Which threatens my heart to smash in." Boston Transcript, October 30, 1858. When men twist the hair on each side of their faces into ropes they are sometimes called BELL-ROPES, as being wherewith to draw the belles. Whether BELL- ROPES or BOW-CATCHERS, it is singular they should form part of the prisoner's para- phernalia, and that a jaunty little kiss-mo quick curl should, of all things in the world, ornament a gaol dock ; yet such was formerly the case. Hunt, the murderer of Weare, on his trial, we are informed by the Athenceum, appeared at the bar with a highly pomatumed love-lock sticking tight to his forehead. Young ladies, think of this ! BOWL-OUT, to put out of the game, to remove out of one's way, to detect. Cricketing term. BOWL AS, round tarts made of sugar, apple, and bread, sold in the streets. BOWLES, shoes. 104 A DICTIONARY OF BOX-HARRY, a term with bagmen or commercial travellers, implying dinner and tea at one meal ; also dining with Humphrey, i.e., going without. Lincolnshire. BRACE UP, to pawn stolen goods. BRACELETS, handcuffs. BRADS, money. Properly, a small kind of nails used by cob- blers. Compare HOKSE NAILS. BRAD-FAKING, playing at cards. BRAGGADOCIO, three months' imprisonment as a reputed thief or old offender, sometimes termed a DOSE, or a DOLLOP. Household Words, vol. i., p. 579. BRAN-NEW, quite.new. Properly, rent, BRAND, or Fire-new, i.e., fresh from the anvil. BRASS, money. BREAD-BASKET, DUMPLING DEPOT, VICTUALLING OFFICE, &c., are terms given by the "Fancy" to the digestive organ. BREAK-DOWN, a jovial, social gathering, a FLARE UP ; in Ireland, a wedding. BREAKING SHINS, borrowing money. BREAKY-LEG, a shilling. BREAKY-LEG, strong drink ; " he's been to Bungay fair, and BROKE BOTH HIS LEGS,' i.6 , got drunk. In the aiicienb Egyptian language the determinative character in the hiero- ; glyphic verb " to be drunk," has the significant form of the leg of a man being amputated. BREECHED, or TO HAVE THE BAGS OFF, to have plenty of money; "to be well BREECHED," to be in good circum- stances. BREECHES, " to wear the BREECHES," said of a wife who usurps the husband's prerogative. BREEKS, breeches. Scotch, now common. BRICK, a "jolly good fellow;" "a regular BRICK," a staunch fellow. " I bonnetted Whewell, when we gave the Rads their gruel, And taught them to eschew all their addresses to the Quean. If again they try it on, why to floor them I'll make one, Spite of Peeler or of Don, like a BRICK and a Bean." The Jolly Bachelors, Cambridge, 18iO. Said to be derived from an expression of Aristotle, rtroa- ywvos avrjp. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 105 BRIEF, a pawnbroker's duplicate. BRISKET BEATER, a Roman Catholic. BROADS, cards. BROADSMAN, a card sharper. BROAD AND SHALLOW, an epithet applied to the so-called " Broad church," in contradistinction to the "High" and " Low" Church. See HIGH AND DRY. BROAD -FENCER, card seller at races. BROSIER, a bankrupt. Cheshire. BROSIER-MY-DAME, school term, implying a clearing of the housekeeper's larder of pro- visions, in revenge for stinginess. Eton. BROTHER-CHIP, fellow carpenter. Also, BROTHER-WHIP, a fellow coachman ; and BROTHER-BLADE, of the same occupa- tion or calling originally a fellow soldier. BROWN, a halfpenny. See BLUNT. BROWN, " to do BROWN," to do well or completely (in allusion to roasting) ; " doing it BROWN," prolonging the frolic, or exceeding sober bounds ; " DONE BROWN," taken in, de- ceived, or surprised. BROWN BESS, the old Government regulation musket. BROWN PAPERMEN, low gamblers. BROWN SALVE, a token of surprise at what is heard, and at the same time means " I understand you." BROWN-STUDY, a reverie. Very common even in educated society, but hardly admissible in writing, and therefore mut be considered a vulgarism. It is derived, by a writer in Notes and Queries, from BROW study, from the old Ger- man BRAUN, or AUG-BRAUN, an eye-brow. Sen Jonson. BROWN-TO, to understand, to comprehend. American. BRUISER, a fighting man, a pugilist. Pugilistic. Shal-espere uses the word BRUISING in a similar sense. BRUMS, counterfeit coins. Nearly obsolete. Corruption of Brummagem (Bromwicham), the ancient name of Bir- mingham, the great emporium of plated goods and imi- tation jewellery. BRUSH, or BRUSH-OFF, to run away, or move on. Old cant. BUB, drink of any kind. See GRUB. Middleton, the dramatist, mentions BUBBER, a great drinker. BUB. a teat, woman's breast. BUCK, a gay or smart man, a cuckold. 106 A DICTIONARY OF BUCKHORSE, a smart blow or box on the ear ; derived from the name of a celebrated " bruiser " of that name. BUCKLE, to bend; "I can't BUCKLE to that," I don't understand it ; to yield or give in to a person. Skakespere uses the word in the latter sense, Henry IV., i. 1 ; and Balliwell says that " the commentators do not supply another example." How strange that iu our own streets the term should be used every day ! Stop the first costermonger, and he will soon inform you the various meanings of BUCKLE. See Notes and Queries, vols. vii,, viii., and ix. BUCKLE-TO, to bend to one's work, to begin at once, and with great energy. BUDGE, to move, to inform, to SPLIT, or tell tales. BUFF, to swear to, or accuse; to SPLIT, or peach upon. Old word for boasting, 1582. BUFF, ths bare skin ; "stripped to the BUFF." BUFFER, a dog. Their skins were formerly in great request hence the term, BDFF meaning in old English to skin. It is still used in the ring, BUFFED meaning stripped to the skin. In Irish cant, BUFFER is a boxer. The BUFFER of a railway carriage doubtless received its very appropriate name from the old pugilistic application of this term. BUFFER, a familiar expression for a jolly acquaintance, pro- bably from the French, BOUFFARD, a fool or clown ; a "jolly old BUFFER," said of a good humoured or liberal old man. In 1737, a BUFFER was a " rogue that killed good sound horses for the sake of their skins, by running a long wire into them." Bacchus and Venus. The term was once ap- plied to those who took false oaths for a consideration. BUFFLE HEAD, a stupid or obtuse person. Miege. German, BUFFEL-HAUPT, buffalo-headed. BUFFY, intoxicated. Household Words, No. 183. BUGGY, a gig, or light chaise. Common term in America and in Ireland. BUG-HUNTERS, low wretches who plunder drunken men. BUILD, applied in fashionable slang to the make or style of dress, &c. ; " it's a tidy BUILD, who made it ?" BULGER, large ; synonymous with BUSTER. BULL, term amongst prisoners for the meat served to them in jail. BULL, one who agrees to purchase stock at a future day, at a MODERN SLANG AND CANT WOKDS. 107 stated price, but who does not possess money to pay for it, trusting to a rise in public securities to render the transac- tion a profitable one. Should stocks fall, the bull is then called upon to pay the difference. See BEAR, who is the opposite of a BULL, the former selling, the latter purchas- ing the one operating for a fall or & pull down, whilst the other operates for a rise or toss up. BULL, a crown piece ; formerly, BULL'S EYE. BULL-THE-CASK, to pour hot water into an empty rum puncheon, and let it stand until it extracts the spirit from the wood. The result is drunk by sailors in default of something stronger. Sea. BULLY, a braggart ; but in the language of the streets, a man of the most degraded morals, who protects prostitutes, and lives off their miserable earnings. - Shakespere, Midsummer Night's Dream, iii. 1 ; iv. 2. BUM, the part on which we sit. Shakespere. BUMBAGS, trowsers. BUM-BAILIFF, a sheriff's officer, a term, some say, derived from the proximity which this gentleman generally main- tains to his victims. Blackstone says it is a corruption of " bound bailiff." BUM-BOATS, shore boats which supply ships with provisions, and serve as means of communication between the sailors and the shore. BUM-BRUSHER, a schoolmaster. BUMMAREE. This term is given to a class of speculating salesmen at Billingsgate market, not recognised as such by the trade, but who get a living by buying large quantities of fish of the salesmen and re-selling it to smaller buyers. The word has been used in the statutes and bye-laws of the markets for upwards of 100 years. It has been variously derived, but is most probably from the French, BONNE MABEE, good fresh fish ! " Mare"e signifie toute sorte de poisson de mer qul n'est pas sale" ; bonne mnre'e maree fraiche, vendeur de mare'e." Diet, de I'Acad. Franc. The BUMMAREES are accused of many trade tricks. One of them is to blow up cod-fish with a pipe until they look double their actual size. Of course when the fish come to table they are flabby, sunken, and half dwindled away. In Nor- wich, TO BUMMAREE ONE is to run up a score at a public house just open, and is equivalent to " running into debt with one." BUNCH OF FIVES, the hand, or fist. 108 A DICTIOXAKY OF BUNDLE, " to BUNDLE a person off," i.e., to pack him off, send him flying. BUNG, the landlord of a public-house. BUNG, to give, pass, hand over, drink, or indeed to perform any action ; BUNG UP, to close up Pugilistic ; " BUNG over the rag," hand over the money Old, used by Beau- mont and Fletcher, and Shakespere. Also, to deceive one by a lie, to CRAM, which see. BUNKER, beer. BUNTS, costermonger's perquisites ; the money obtained by giving light weight, &c. ; costermongers' goods sold by boys on commission. Probably a corruption of bomis, BONE being the slang for good. BUNCE, Grose gives as the cant word for money. BURDON'S HOTEL, Whitecross- street prison, of which the Governor is or was a Mr. Bnrdon. BURERK, a lady. Grose gives BURICK, a prostitute. BURKE, to kill, to murder, by pitch plaster or other foul means. From Burke, the notorious Whitechapel murderer, who with others used to waylay people, kill them, and sell their bodies for dissection at the hospitals. BURYING A MOLL, running away from a mistress. BUSKER, a man who sings or performs in a public house. Scotch. BUSK (or BUSKING), to sell obscene songs and books at the bars and in the tap-rooms of public houses. Sometimes implies selling any articles. BUSS, an abbreviation of " omnibus," a public carriage. Also, a kiss. BUST, or BURST, to tell tales, to SPLIT, to inform. BUSTING, informing against accomplices when in custody. BUSTER (BURSTER), a small new loaf ; "twopenny BUSTER," a twopenny loaf. "Apennorth o' BEESWAX (cheese) and a penny BUSTER," a common snack at beershops. BUSTER, an extra size ; " what a BUSTER," what a large one ; "in for a BUSTER," determined on an extensive frolic or spree. Scotch, BUSTUOUS ; Icelandic, BOSTRA. BUSTLE, money; " to draw the BUSTLE." BUTTER, or BATTER, praise or flattery. To BUTTER, to flatter, cajole. BUTTER-FINGERED, apt to let things fall. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 109 BUTTON", a decoy, sham purchaser, &c. At any mock or sham auction seedy specimens may be seen. Probably from the connection of buttons with Brummagem, which is often used as a synouyme for a sham. BUTTONER, a man who entices another to play. See BON- NETTEB. BUTTONS, a page, from the rows of gilt buttons which adorn his jacket. BUTTONS, " not to have all one's BUTTONS," to be deficient in intellect. BUZ, to pick pockets ; BUZ -FAKING, robbing. BUZ. to share equally the last of a bottle of wine, when there is not enough for a full glass for each of the party. BUZZERS, pickpockets. Grose gives BUZ COVE and BUZ GLOAK, the latter is very ancient cant. BUZ-BLOAK, a pickpocket, who principally confines his atten- tion to purses and loose cash. Grose gives BUZ-GLOAK (or CLOAK ?), an ancient cant word. BUZ-NAPPER, a young pick- pocket. BUZ-NAPPER'S ACADEMY, a school in which young thieves are trained. Figures are dressed up, and experienced tutors stand in various difficult attitudes for the boys to practice upon. When clever enough they are sent on the streets. It is reported that a house of this nature is situated in a court near Hatton Garden. The system is well explained in Dickens' Oliver Twist. BYE-BLOW, a bastard child. BY GEORGE, an exclamation similar to BY JOVE. The term is older than is frequently imagined, vide Bacchus and Venus (p. 117), 1737. "Fore (or by) GEORGE, I'd knock him down." A street compliment to Saint George, the patron Saint of England, or possibly to the House of Hanover. BY GOLLY, an ejaculation, or oath ; a compromise for " by God." In the United States, small boys are permitted by their guardians to say GOL DAKN anything, but they are on no account allowed to commit the profanity of G d d-* g anything. An effective ejaculation and moral waste pipe for interior passion or wrath is seen in the exclamation BT THK-EVER-LTVING-JUMPING-MOSES a harmless phrase, that from its length expends a considerable quantity of fiery anger. 110 A DICTIONARY OF CAB, in statutory language, " a hackney carriage drawn by one horse." Abbreviated from CABRIOLET, French; originally meaning " a light low chaise." The wags of Paris playing upon the word (quasi cabri au lait) used to call a superior turn-out of the kind a cabri au crime. Our abbreviation, which certainly smacks of slang, has been stamped with the authority of " GEORGE, Ranger." See the notices affixed to the carriage entrances of St. James's Park. CAB, to stick together, to muck, or tumble up. Devonshire. CABBAGE, pieces of cloth said to be purloined by tailors. CABBAGE, to pilfer or purloin. Termed by Johnson a cant word, but adopted by later lexicographers as a respectable term. Said to have been first used in this sense by Arbutknot. CABBY, the driver of a cab. CAD, or CADGER (from which it is shortened), a mean or vulgar fellow ; a beggar ; one who would rather live on other people than work for himself; a man trying to worm some- thing out of another, either money or information. John- son uses the word, and gives huckster as the meaning, but I never heard it used in this sense. CAGER, or OAGER, the old cant term for a man. The exclusives in the Univer- sities apply the term CAD to all non-members. CAD, an omnibus conductor. CADGE, to beg in an artful or wheedling manner. North. CADGING, begging of the lowest degree. GAG-MAG, bad food, scraps, odds and ends; or that which no one could relish. Grose gives CAGG MAGGS, old and tough, Lincolnshire geese, sent to London to feast the poor cockneys. CAGE, a minor kind of prison. Shalcespere, part ii. of Henry IV., iv. 2. CAKE, a flat, a soft or doughy person, a fool. CAKEY-PANNUM- FENCER, a man who sells street pastry. CALL-A-GO, in street " patter," is to remove to another spot, or address the public in different vein. CAMESA, shirt or chemise. Span. Ancient cant, COMMISSION. CAMISTER, a preacher, clergyman, or master. CANARY, a sovereign. This is stated by a correspondent to be a Norwich term, that city being famous for its breed of those birds. CANISTER, the head. Pugilistic. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. Ill CANISTER. CAP, a hat. Pugilistic. CANNIKEN, a small can, similar to PANNIKIN. Shakespere, CANT, a blow or toss ; " a cant over the kisser," a blow on the mouth . Kentish. CANT OF TOGS, a gift of clothes. CARDINAL, a lady's cloak. This, I am assurer!, is the Seven Dials cant term for a lady's garment, but curiously enough the same name is given to the most fashionable patterns of the article by Regent-street drapers. A cloak with this name was in fashion in the year 1760. It received its title from its similarity in shape to one of the vestments of a cardinal. CARNEY, soft talk, nonsense, gammon. Hibernicism. CAROON, five shillings. French, COUBONNE ; Gipsey, COURNA, PANSH COUKNA, half-a-crown. CARPET, "upon the CARPET," any subject or matter that is uppermost for discussion or conversation. Frequency quoted as sur le tapis, but it does not seem to be a correct Parisian phrase. CARRIER PIGEONS, swindlers, who formerly used to cheat Lottery Office Keepers. Nearly obsolete. CARROTS, the coarse and satirical term for red hair. CARRY-ON, to joke a person to excess, to carry on a " spree " too far ; " how we CARRIED ON, to be sure !" i.e., what fun we had. CART, a race-course. CARTS, a pair of shoes. In Norfolk the carapace of a crab is called a crab cart, hence CARTS would be synonymous with CRAB SHELLS, which 860. CART WHEEL, a five shilling piece. CASA, or CASE, a house, respectable or otherwise. Probably from the Italian, CASA. Old cant. The Dutch use the word KAST in a vulgar sense for a house, i.e., MOTTEKAST, a brothel. CASE sometimes means a water-closet. CASCADING, vomiting. CASE, a bad crown piece. HALE-A-CASE, a counterfeit half crown. Theie are two sources, either of which may have contributed this slang term. CASKR is the Hebrew word for a crown; and silver coin is frequently counterfeited by coating or CASING pewter or iron imitations with silver. 112 A DICTIOMARY OF CASE. A few years ago the term CASE was applied to persons and things ; " what a CASE he is," i.e., what a curious person; "a rum CASE that," or "you are a CASE," both synonymous with the phrase "odd fish,'' common halt'-a- century ago. Among young ladies at boarding schools a CASE means a love affair. CASK, fashionable slang for a brougham, or other private carriage. Household IVords, No. 183. CASSAM, cheese not CAFFAN, which Egan, in his edition of Grose, has ridiculously inserted. Ancient cant. Latin, CASEUS. CASTING UP ONE'S ACCOUNTS, vomiting. Old. CASTOR, a hat. CASTOR was once the ancient word for a BEAVER ; and strange to add, BEAVER was the slang for CASTOR, or hat, thirty years ago, before gossamer came into fashion. CAT, to vomit like a cat. See SHOOT THE CAT. CAT, a lady's muff; " to free a CAT," i.e., steal a muff. CATARACT, a black satin scarf arranged for the display of jewellery, much in vogue among " commercial gents." CATCH 'EM ALIVE, a trap, also a small-tooth comb. CATCHY (similar formation to touchy), inclined to take an undue advantage. CATEVER, a queer, or singular affair ; anything poor, or very bad. From the Lingua, Franca,, and Italian, CATTIVO, bad. Variously spelled by the lower orders. See K.EUTEVER. CATGUT-SCRAPER, a fiddler. CAT-LAP, a contemptuous expression for weak drink. CAT S WATER, old Tom, or Gin. CAT AND KITTEN SNEAKING, stealing pint and quart pots from public-houses. CATCH-PENNY, any temporary contrivance to obtain money from the public, penny shows, or cheap exhibitions. CAT-IN-THE-PAN, a traitor, a turn-coat derived by some from the Greek, Karairav, altogether ; or from cake in pan, a pan cake, which is frequently turned from side to side. CAUCUS, a private meeting held for the purpose of concerting measures, agreeing upon candidates for office before an election, &c. See Pickering's Vocabulary. CAVAULTING, coition. Lingua Franca, CAVOLTA. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 113 CAVE, or CAVE IN, to submit, shut up. American. Metaphor taken from the sinking of an abandoned mining shaft. CHAFF, to gammon, joke, quiz, or praise ironically. CHAFF- bone, the jaw-bone. Yorkshire. CHAFF, jesting. In Anglo Saxon, CEAF is chaff; and CEAFL, bill, beak, or jaw. In the "Ancien Riwle," A.D. 1221, ceafle is used in the sense of idle discourse. CHALK- OUT, or CHALK DOWN, to mark out a line of conduct or action ; to make a rule, order. Phrase derived from the Workshop. CHALK UP, to credit, make entry in account books of in- debtedness ; " 1 can't pay you now, but you can CHALK IT UP," i.e., charge me with the article in your day-book. From the old practice of chalking one's score for drink behind the bar- doors of public houses. CHALKS, "to walk one's CHALKS,'' to move off, or run away. An ordeal for drunkenness used on board ship, to see whether the suspected person can walk on a chalked line without overstepping it on either side. C HAP, a fellow, a boy ; " a low CHAP," a low fellow abbreviation of CH&.P-MAN, a huckster. Used by Byron in his Critical Remarks, CHARIOT-BUZZING, picking pockets in an omnibus. CHARLEY", a watchman, a beadle. CHARLEY-PITCHERS, low, cheating gamblers. CHATTER BASKET, common term for a prattling child amongst nurses. CHATTER -BOX, an incessant talker or chatterer. CHATTRY-FEEDER, a spoon. CHATTS, dice, formerly the gallows ; a bunch of seals. CHATTS, lice, or body vermin. CHATTY, a filthy person, one whose clothes are not free from vermin ; CHATTY DOSS, a lousy bed. CHAUNTER-CULLS, a singular body of men who used to haunt certain well known public -houses, and write satirical or libellous ballads on any person, or body of persons, for a consideration. 7s. 6d. was the usual fee, and in three hours the ballad might be heard in St. Paul's Churchyard, or other public spot. There are two men in London at the present day who gain their living in this way. 114 A DICTIONARY OF CHAUNTERS, those street sellers of ballads, last copies of verses, and other broadsheets, who sing or bawl the contents of their papers. They often term themselves PAPER WORKERS. A, N. See HORSE CHAUNTERS. CHAUNT, to sing the contents of any paper in the streets. CANT, as applied to vulgar language, was derived from CHAUNT.- See Introduction. CHEAP, " doing it on the CHEAP," living economically, or keeping up a showy appearance with very little means. CHEAP JACKS, or JOHNS, oratorical hucksters and patterers of hardware, &c., at fairs and races. They put an article up at a high price, and then cheapen it by degrees, indulging in volleys of coarse wit, until it becomes to all appearance a bargain, and as such it is bought by one of the crowd. The popular idea is that the inverse method of auctioneering saves them paying for the auction license. CHEEK, share or portion ; " where's my CHEEK ?" where is my allowance ? CHEEK, impudence, assurance; CHEEKY, saucy or forward. Lincolnshire, CHEEK, to accuse. CHEEK, to irritate by impudence. CHEEK BY JOWL, side by side, said often of persons in such close confabulation as almost to have their faces touch. CHEESE, anything good, first-rate in quality, genuine, pleasant, or advantageous, is termed THE CHEESE. Mayhew thinks CHEESE, in this sense, is from the Saxon, CEOSAN, to choose, and quotes Chaucer, who uses CHESE in the sense of choice. The London Guide, 1818, says it was from some young fellows translating " c'est une autre CHOSE" into "that is another CHEESE.'' CHEESE is also Gipsey and Hindoo (see Introduction) ; and Persian, CHIZ, a thing. See STILTON. CHEESE, or CHEESE IT (evidently a corruption of cease), leave off, or have done; "CHEESE your barrikin," hold your noise. CHEESY, fine or showy. CHERUBS, or CHERUBIMS, the chorister boys who chaunt in the services at the abbeys. CHESHIRE CAT, " to grin like a CHESHIRE CAT," to display the teeth and gums when laughing. Formerly the phrase was " to grin like a CHESHIRE CAT eating CHEESE." A hardly satisfactory explanation has been given of this phrase that Cheshire is a county palatine, and the cats, MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 115 when they think of it, are so tickled with the notion that they can't help grinning. CHICKEN, a young girl. CHICKEN-HEARTED, cowardly, fearful. CHI-IKE, a hurrah, a good word, or hearty praise. CHINK, money. Ancient. See FLOKIO. CHINKERS, money. CHIP OF THE OLD BLOCK, a child who resembles its father. BROTHER CHIP, one of the same trade or profession. CHIPS, money. CHISEL, to cheat. CHITTERLINGS, the shirt frills worn still by ancient beaux ; properly, the entrails of a pig, to which they are supposed to bear some resemblance. Belgian, SCHYTERLINGH. CHIVARLY, coition. Probably a corrupti&n from the Lingua Franca. CHIVE, a knife; a sharp tool of any kind. Old cant. This term is particularly applied to the tin knives used in gaols. CHIVE, to cut, saw, or file. CHIVE, or CHIVET, a shout ; a halloo, or cheer, loud tongued. From CHEVY-CHASE, a boy's game, in which the word CHEVJT is bawled aloud ; or from the Gipsey ? See Introduction, CHIVE-FENCER, a street hawker of cutlery. CHIVEY, to chase round, or hunt about. CHOCK-FULL, full till the scale comes down with a shock. French, CHOC. A correspondent suggests CHOKED-FULL. CHOKE OFF, to get rid of. Bull dogs can only be made to loose their hold by choking them. CHOKER, a cravat, a neckerchief. WHITE-CHOKER, the white neckerchief worn by mutes at a funeral, and waiters at a tavern. Clergymen are frequently termed WHITE -CHOKERS. CHOKER, or WIND-STOPPER, a garrotter. CHONKEYS, a kind of mince meat baked in a crust, and sold in the streets. CHOP, to change. Old. CHOPS, properly CHAPS, the mouth, or cheeks ; " down in the CHOPS," or " down in the mouth," i.e., sad or melancholy. CHOUSE, to cheat out of one's share or portion. Hackluyt, CHAUS; Massinger, CHIAUS. From the Turkish, in which I 2 116 A DICTIONARY OF language ifc signifies an interpreter. Giffbrd gives a curious story as to its origin : In the year 1609 there was attached to the Turkish embassy in England an interpreter, or CHIAOUS, who by cunning 1 , aided by his official position, managed to cheat the Turkish and Persian merchants then in London out of the large sum of 4,000, then deemed an enormous amount. From the notoriety which attended the fraud, and the magnitude of the swindle, any one who cheated or defrauded was aid to chiaoug, or cha-use, or CHOCSK ; to do, that is, as this Chiaous had done. See Trench, Eng. fast and Present, p. 87. CHOUT, an entertainment. CHOVEY, a shop. CHRISTENING, erasing the name of the maker from a stolen watch, and inserting a fictitious one in its place. CHUBBY, round-faced, plump. CHUCK, a schoolboy's treat. Westminster school. Food, pro- vision for an entertainment. Norwich. CHUCK, to throw or pitch. CHUCKING A JOLLY, when a costermonger praises the inferior article his mate or partner is trying to sell. CHUCKING A STALL, where one rogue walks in front of a person while another picks his pockets. CHUCKLE-HEAD, a fool. Devonshire. CHUFF IT, i.e., be off, or take it away, in answer to a street seller who is importuning you to purchase. Halliwell mentions CHUFF as a " term of reproach," surly, &c. CHUM, an acquaintance. A recognised term, but in such fre- quent use with the lower orders that it demanded a place hi this glossary. CHUM, to occupy a joint lodging with another person. CHUMMING-UP, an old custom amongst prisoners when a fresh culprit is admitted to their number, consisting of a noisy welcome rough music made with pokers, tongs, sticks, and saucepans. For this ovation the initiated prisoner has to pay, or FORK OVEE, half a crown or submit to a loss of coat and waistcoat. The practice is ancient. CHUMMY, a chimney sweep ; also a low-crowned felt hat. CHUNK, a thick or dumpy piece of any substance. Kentish. CHURCH A YACK (or watch), to take the works of a watch from its original case and put them into another one, to avoid detection. See CHRISTEN. CHURCHWARDEN, a long pipe, " A YARD OF CLAY." MODEKN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 117 CLAGGUM, boiled treacle in a hardened state, Hardbake. See CLIGGT. CLAP, to place ; " do you think you can CLAP your hand on him ?" i.e., find him out. CLAPPER, the tongue. CLAP-TRAP, high-sounding nonsense. An ancient Theatrical term for a " TRAP to catch a CLAP by way of applause from the spectators at a play." Bailey's Dictionary. CLARET, blood. Pugilistic. CLEAN, quite, or entirely ; " CLEAN gone," entirely out of sight, or away. Old, see Cotgrave. Shakespere. CLEAN OUT, to thrash, or beat ; to ruin, or bankrupt any one ; to take all they have got, by purchase, or force. De Quincey, in his article on " Richard Bentley," speaking of the law- suit between that great scholar and Dr. Colbatch, remarks that the latter "must have been pretty well CLEANED OUT." CLICK, knock, or blow. CLICK-HANDED, left-handed. Cornish. CLICK, to snatch. CLIFT, to steal. CLIGGY, or CLIDGY, sticky. Anglo Saxon, CLXG, clay. See CLAGGUM. CLINCHER, that which rivets or confirms an argument, an incontrovertible position. Metaphor from the workshop. CLINK-RIG, stealing tankards from public-houses, taverns, &c. CLIPPING, excellent, very good. CLOCK, " to know what's O'CLOCK," a definition of knowingness in general. See TIME O'DAY. CLOD-HOPPER, a country clown. CLOUT, or RAG, a cotton pocket handkerchief. Old cant. CLOUT, a blow, or intentional strike. Ancient. CLOVER, happiness, or luck. CLUMP, to strike. CLY, a pocket. Old cant for to steal. A correspondent de- rives this word from the Old English, CLEYES, claws ; Anglo Saxon, CLEA. This pronunciation is still retained in Nor- folk ; thus, to CLY would mean to pounce upon, snatch. See FRISK. CLY-FAKER, a pickpocket. COACH, a Cambridge term for a private tutor. 118 A DICTIONAKY OP COACH "WHEEL, or TUSHEROON, a crown piece, or five shillings. COALS, " to call (or pull) over the COALS," to take to task, to scold. COCK, or more frequently now a days, COCK-E-E, a vulgar street salutation corruption of COCK-EYE. The latter is frequently heard as a shout or street cry after a man or boy. COCK AND A BULL STORY, a long, rambling anecdote. See Notes and Queries, vol. iv., p. 313. COCKCHAFER, the treadmill. COCK-EYE, one that squints. COCKLES, " to rejoice the COCKLES of one's heart," a vulgar phrase implying great pleasure. See PLUCK. COCKNEY, a native of London. Originally, a spoilt or effemi- nate boy, derived from COCKERING, or foolishly petting a person, rendering them of soft or luxurious manners. Hallhvell states, in his admirable essay upon the word, that " some writers trace the word with much probability to the imaginary land of COCKAYGNE, the lubber land of the olden times." Grose gives Minsheu's absurd but comical deriva- tion : A citizen of London being in the country, and hearing a horse neigh, exclaimed, "Lord! how that horse laughs." A bystander informed him that that noise was called neighing. The next morning, when the cock crowed, the citizen, to show that he had not forgotten what was told him, cried out, "do you hear how the COCK NEIGHS? '' COCK OF THE WALK, a master spirit, head of a party. Places where poultry are fed are called WALKS, and the barn-door cocks invariably fight for the supremacy till one has obtained it. COCKS, fictitious narratives, inverse or prose, of murders, fires, and terrible accidents, sold in the streets as true accounts. The man who hawks them, a patterer, often changes the scene of the awful event to suit the taste of the neighbour- hood he is trying to delude. Possibly a corruption of cook, a cooked statement, or, as a correspondent suggests, the COCK LANE Ghost may have given rise to the term. This had a great run, and was a rich harvest to the running stationers. COCK ONE'S TOES, to die. COCK ROBIN SHOP, a small printer's office, where low wages are paid to journeymen who have never served a regular apprenticeship. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 119 COCKSHY, a game at fairs and races, where trinkets are set upon sticks, and for one penny three throws at them are accorded, the thrower keeping whatever he knocks off. From the ancient game of throwing or " shying '' at live cocks.- COCKSURE, certain. COCKY, pert, saucy. COCKYOLY BIRDS, little birds, frequently called "dickey birds." Kingsley's Two Years Ago. COCK, " to COCK your eye," to shut or wink one eye. COCUM, advantage, luck, cunning, or sly, "to fight COCUM," to be wily and cautious. CODDS, the "poor brethren " of the Charter house. At p. 133 of the Newcomes, Mr. Thackeray writes, " The Cistercian lads call these old gentlemen CODDS, I know not wherefore." An abbreviation of CODGER. CODGER, an old man ; " a rum old CODGER," a curious old fellow. CODGER is sometimes used synonymous with CADGER, and then signifies a person who gets his living in a question- able manner. CAGER, or GAGER, was the old cant term for a man. COFFEE-SHOP, a water-closet, or house of oflice. COG, to cheat at dice. Shakespere. Also, to agree with, as one cog-wheel does with another. COLD BLOOD, a house licensed for the sale of beer " NOT to be drunk on the premises." COLD COOK, an undertaker. COLD MEAT, a corpse. COLD SHOULDER, "to show or give any one the COLD SHOULDER," to assume a distant manner towards them, to evince a desire to cease acquaintanceship. Sometimes it is termed "cold shoulder of mutton." COLLAR, " out of COLLAR," i.e., out of place, no work. COLLAR, to seize, to lay hold of. COLLY- WOBBLES, a stomach ache, a person's bowels, sup- posed by many of the lower orders to be the seat of feelin? and nutrition ; an idea either borrowed from, or transmitted by, the ancients. Devonshire. COLT'S TOOTH, elderly persons of juvenile tastes are said to have a colt's tooth. COMB-CUT, mortified, disgraced, " down on one's luck." See CUT. 120 A DICTIONAEY OF COME, a slang verb used in many phrases; "A'nt he COMING IT f ' i.e., is he not proceeding at a great rate ? " Don't COME TRICKS here," " don't COME THE OLD SOLDIEK over me," i.e., we are aware of your practices, and " twig " your manoeuvre. COMING IT STRONG, exaggerating, going a-head, the opposite of " drawing it mild." COMING IT also means informing or disclosing. COME DOWN, to pay down. COMMISSION, a shirt. Ancient cant. Italian, CAMICIA. COMMISTER, a chaplain or clergyman. COMMON SEWER, a DRAIN, or drink. COMMONS, rations, because eaten in common. University. SHORT COMMONS (derived from the University slang term), a scanty ineal, a scarcity. CONK, a nose ; CONKY, having a projecting or remarkable nose. The Duke of Wellington was frequently termed " Old CONKY '' in satirical papers and caricatures. CONSTABLE, " to overrun the CONSTABLE," to exceed one'd income, get deep in debt. CONVEY, to steal; "CONVEY, the wise it call." CONVEYANCER, a pick-pocket. Shakespere uses the cant ex- pression, CONVEYER, a thief. The same term is also French, slang. COOK, a term well known in the Bankruptcy Courts, referring to accounts that have been meddled with, or COOKED, by the bankrupt ; also the forming a balance sheet from general trade inferences ; stated by a correspondent to have been first used in reference to the celebrated alteration of the accounts of the Eastern Counties Railway, by George Hudson, the Railway King. COOK ONE'S GOOSE, to kill or ruin any person. North. COOLIE, a soldier, in allusion to the Hindoo COOLIES, or day labourers. COON, abbreviation of Racoon. American. A GONE COON ditto, one in an awful fix, past praying for. This expression is said to have originated in the American war with a spy, who dressed himself in a racoon skin, and ensconced himself in a tree. An English rifleman taking him for a veritable coon levelled his piece at him, upon which he exclaimed, "Don't shoot, I'll come down of myself, I know I'm a GONE COON." The Yankees say the Britisher was so flummuxed, that he flung down his rifle and "made tracks" for home. The phrase is pretty usual in England. MODEKN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 121 COOPER, stout half-and-half, i.e., half stout and half porter. COOPER, to destroy, spoil, settle, or finish. COOPER'D, spoilt, *' done up," synonymous with the Americanism, CAVED IN, fallen in and ruined. The vagabonds' hieroglyphic V> chalked by them on gate posts and houses, signifies that the place has been spoilt by too many tramps calling there. COOPER, to forge, or imitate in writing; " COOPER a moneker," to forge a signature. COP, to seize or lay hold of anything unpleasant ; used in a similar sense to catch in the phrase " to cop (or catch) a beating," " to get COPT." COPER, properly HORSE-couPER, a Scotch horse dealer, used to denote a dishonest one. COPPER, a policeman, i.e., one who COPS, which see. COPPER, a penny. COPPERS, mixed pence. COPUS, a Cambridge drink, consisting of ale combined with spices, and varied by spirits, wines, &c. Corruption of HIPPOCRAS. CORINTHIANISM, a term derived from the classics, much in vogue some years ago, implying pugilism, high life, " sprees," roistering, &c. Shakespere. The immorality of Corinth was proverbial in Greece. KopivQiaZ tadai, to Corinthianise, indulge in the company of courtesans, was a Greek slang ex- pression. Hence the proverb Ob iravTos dvdpos tls KopivBov terfl' 6 TrXouJ, and Horace, Epist. lib. 1, xvii. 36 Non cuivis hotnini contingit adire Corinthum, in allusion to the spoliation practised by the " hetaerae " on those who visited them. CORK, " to draw a CORK," to give a bloody nose. Pugilistic. CORKS, money ; " how are you off for corks ?" a soldier's term of a very expressive kind, denoting the means of " keeping afloat." CORNED, drunk or intoxicated. Possibly from soaking or pick- ling oneself like CORNED beef. CORNERED, hemmed in a corner, placed in a position from which there is no escape. American. CORPORATION, the protuberant front of an obese person. CORPSE, to confuse or put out the actors by making a mistake. Theatrical. COSSACK, a policeman. 122 A DICTIONARY OP COSTERMONGERS, street sellers of fish, fruit, vegetables, poultry, &c. The London costermongers number more than 30,000. They form a distinct class, occupying whole neighbourhoods, and are cut off from the rest of metro- politan society by their low habits, general improvidence, pugnacity, love of gambling, total want of education, dis- regard for lawful marriage ceremonies, and their use of a cant (or so-called back slang) language. COSTER, the short and slang term for a costermonger, or costard -monger, who was originally an apple seller. COSTER- ING, i.e., costermongering. COTTON, to like, adhere to, or agree with any person ; "to COTTON on to a man," to attach yourself to him, or fancy him, literally, to stick to him as cotton would. Vide Bart- lett, who claims it as an Americanism ; and Salliwell, who terms it an Archaism ; also Bacchus and Venus, 1737. COUNCIL OF TEN, the toes of a man who turns his feet in- ward. COUNTER JUMPER, a shopman, a draper's assistant. COUNTY-CROP (i.e., COUNTY-PRISON CROP), hair cut close and round, as if guided by a basin an indication of having been in prison. COUTER, a sovereign. HALF-A-COUTER, half-a-sovereign. COVE, or COVET, a boy or man of any age or station. A term generally preceded by an expressive adjective, thus a "flash COVE," a " ruin COVE," a " downy COVE," &c. The femi- nine, COVESS, was once popular, but it has fallen into dis- use. Ancient cant, originally (temp. Henry VIII.) COFE, or COFFIN, altered in Decker's time to COVE. Probably con- nected with CDIF, which, in the North of England, signifies a lout or awkward fellow. Amongst Negroet, CUFFEK. COVENTRY, " to send a man to COVENTRY," not to speak to or notice him. Coventry was one of those towns in which the privilege of practising most trades was anciently confined to certain privileged persons, as the freemen, &c. Hence a stranger stood little chance of custom, or countenance, and " to send a man to COVENTRY," came to be equivalent to putting him out of the pale of society. COVER-DOWN, a tossing coin with a false cover, enabling either head or tail to be shown, according as the cover is left on or taken off. COWAN, a sneak, an inquisitive or prying person. Masonic term. Greek, KVOJV, a dog. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 123 COW'S GREASE, butter. COW-LICK, the term given to the lock of hair which coster- mongers and thieves usually twist forward from the ear ; a large greasy curl upon the cheek, seemingly licked into shape. The opposite of NEWGATE-KNOCKER, which see. COXY-LOXY, good-tempered, drunk. Norfolk. CRAB, or GRAB, a disagreeable old person. Name of a wild and sour fruit. " To catch a CRAB," to fall backwards by missing a stroke in rowing. CRAB, to offend, or insult ; to expose or defeat a robbery, to inform against. CRABSHELLS, or TROTTING CASES, shoes. See CARTS. CRACK, first-rate, excellent; "a CRACK HAND," an adept ; a " CRACK article," a good one. Old. CRACK, dry firewood. Modern Gipsey. CRACK, " in a CRACK (of the finger and thumb)," in a moment. CRACK A BOTTLE, to drink. Shakespere uses CRUSH in the same slang sense. CRACK A KIRK, to break into a church or chapel. CRACK- FENCER, a man who sells nuts. CRACK- UP, to boast or praise. Ancient English. CRACKED-UP, penniless, or ruined. CRACKSMAN, a burglar. CRAM, to lie or deceive, implying to fill up or CRAM a person with false stories; to acquire learning quickly, to "grind" or prepare for an examination. CRAMMER, a lie ; or a person who commits a falsehood. CRANKY, foolish, idiotic, ricketty, capricious, not confined to persons. Ancient cant, CRANKE, simulated sickness. German, KRANK, sickly. CRAP, to ease oneself, to evacuate. Old word for refuse ; also old cant, CROP. CRAPPING CASE, or KEN, a privy, or water-closet. CRAPPED, hanged. CREAM OF THE VA.LLEY, gin. CRIB, house, public or otherwise ; lodgings, apartments. CRIB, a situation. CRIB, to steal or purloin. CRIB, a literal translation of a classic author. University. 124 A DICTIONARY OF CRIB BITER, an inveterate grumbler ; properly said of a horse which has this habit, a sign of its bad digestion. CUIBB AGE FACED, marked with the small pox, full of holes like a cribbage board. CRIKEY, profane exclamation of astonishment ; " Oh, CRIKEY, you don't say so !" corruption of " Oh, Christ" CRIMPS, men who trepan others into the clutches of the re- cruiting sergeant. They generally pretend to give employ- ment in the colonies, and in that manner cheat those mechanics who are half famished. Nearly obsolete. CRIPPLE, a bent sixpence. CROAK, to die from the gurgling sound a person makes when the breath of life is departing. Oxon. CROAKER, one who takes a desponding view of everything ; an alarmist. From the croaking of a raven. Ben Jonson. CROAKER, a beggar. CROAKER, a corpse, or dying person beyond hope. CROAKS, last dying speeches, and murderers' confessions. CROCODILES' TEARS, the tears of a hypocrite. An ancient phrase, introduced into this country by Mandeville, or other early English traveller. Othello, iv., 1. CROCUS, or CROAKUS, a quack or travelling doctor ; CROCUS- CHOVET, a chemist's shop. CRONY, a termagant or malicious old woman; an intimate friend. Johnson calls it cant. CROOKY, to hang on to, to lead, walk arm-in-arm ; to court or pay addresses to a girL CROPPIE, a person who haa had his hair cut, or CROPPED, in prison. CROPPED, hanged. CROSS, a general term amongst thieves expressive of their plundering profession, the opposite of SQUARE. " To get anything on the CROSS" is to obtain it surreptitiously. " CROSS-FANNING in a crowd," robbing persons of their scarf pins. CROSS COVE and MOLLISHER, a man and woman who live by thieving. CROSS-CRIB, a house frequented by thieves. CROW, one who watches whilst another commits a theft, a con- federate in a robbery. The CHOW looks to see that the way MODEEN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 125 is clear, whilst the SNEAK, his partner, commits the depre- dation. CROW, "a regular CROW," a success, a stroke of luck, equi- valent to a FLUKE. CROW, "I have a CROW to pick with you," i.e., an explanation to demand, a disagreeable matter to settle ; " to COCK-CROW over a person," to exalt over his abasement or misfortune. CRUG, food. Household Words, No. 183. CRUMBS, " to pick up one's CRUMBS," to begin to have an appetite after an illness; to improve in health, circum- stances, &c., after a loss thereof. CRUMMY, fat, plump. North. CRUMMY-DOSS, a lousy or filthy bed. CRUNCH, to crush. Corruption ; or, perhaps from the sound of teeth grinding against each other. CRUSHER, a policeman. CRUSHING, excellent, first rate. CRUSTY, ill tempered, petulant, morose. Old. CULL, a man or boy. Old cant. CULLING, or CULING, stealing from the carriages on race- courses. CUPBOARD HEADED, an expressive designation of one whose head is both wooden aud hollow. Norfolk. CURE, an odd person ; a contemptuous term, abridged from CURIOSITY which was formerly the favourite expression. Compare STIPE. CURSE OF SCOTLAND, the Nine of Diamonds. Various hypotheses have been set up as to this appellation that it was the card on which the " Butcher Duke" wrote a cruel order with respect to the rebels after the battle of Cullodeu ; that the diamonds are the nine lozenges in the arms of Dairy mple, Earl of Stair, deiested for his share in the Massacre of Glencoe; that it is a corruption of Cross of Scotland, the nine diamonds being arranged somewhat after the fashion of a St. Andrew's Cross ; but the most probable explanation is, that in the game of Pope Joan the nine of diamonds is the POPE, of whom the Scotch have an especial horror. CURTAIL, to cut off. Originally a cant word, vide Iludibras, and Bacchus and Venus, 1737. CUSHION THUMPER, polite rendering of TUB THUMPER, a clergyman, a preacher. 126 A DICTIONARY OF CUSTOMER, synonymous with CHAP, a fellow ; " a rum CUS- TOMER," i. e., an odd fish, or curious person. Skakespere. CUSTOMHOUSE OFFICER, an aperient pill. CUT, to run away, move off quickly ; to cease doing anything ; CUT AND RUN, to quit work, or occupation, and start off at once ; to CUT DIDOES, synonymous with to CUT CAPERS ; CUT A DASH, make a show ; CUT A CAPER, to dance or show off in a strange manner ; CUT A FIGURE, to make either a good or bad appearance ; CUT OUT, to excel, thus in affairs of gallantry one Adonis is said to "cut the other out" in the affections of the wished for lady ; CUT THAT ! be quiet, or stop; CUT OUT OF, done out of; CUT OF ONE'S GIB, the expression or cast of his countenance [see GIB] ; TO CUT ONE'S COMB, to take down a conceited person, from the practice of cutting the combs of capons [see COMB-CUT] ; CUT AND COME AGAIN, plenty, if one cut does not suffice, plenty remains to " come again ;" CUT UP, mortified, to criticise severely, or expose ; CUT UP SHINES, to play tricks ; CUT ONE'S STICK, to be off quickly, i. e., be in readiness for a journey, further elaborated into AMPUTATE TOUR MAHOGANY [see STICK] ; CUT IT FAT, to exaggerate or show off in an extensive manner ; to CUT UP FAT, to die, leaving a large property ; CUT UNDER, to undersell ; CUT TOUR LUCKT, to run off; COT ONE'S CART, to expose their tricks ; CUT AN ACQUAINTANCE, to cease friendly intercourse with them Cambridge. Old ; CUTTE, to say. CUT, in theatrical language, means to strike out portions of a dramatic piece, so as to render it shorter for representation. A late treasurer of one of the so called Patent Theatres, when asked his opinion of a new play, always gave utter- ance to the brief, but safe piece of criticism, "wants CUTTING." CUT, tipsey. Household Words, No. 183. CUT, to compete in business. CUT-THROAT, a butcher, a cattle slaughterer ; a ruffian. CUTE, sharp, cunning. Abbreviation of ACUTE. CUTTER, a ruffian, a cut purse. Of Robin Hood it was said " So being outlawed (as 'tis told), He with a crew went forth Of lusty CT7TTKBS, bold and strong, And robbed in the north." This ancient cant word now survives in the phrase, "to swear like a CUTTER." MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 127 * CUTTY PIPE, a short clay pipe. Scotch, CUTTY, short. Cutty- sari;, a scantily draped lady is so called by Burns. DAB, or DABSTER, an expert person. Johnson says, " in low language, an artist." DAB, a bed. DAB, street term for a flat fish of any kind. Old. DACHA-SALTEE, tenpence. Probablyfroin the Lingua Franca. Modern Greek, Stica ; Italian, DIECI SOLDI, tenpence; Gipsey, DIK, ten. So also DACHA-ONE, i.e., dieciuno, elevenpence. See SALTEE. DADDLES, hands ; " tip us your DADDLES, i. e., shake hands. DADDY, the stage manager. Theatrical. Also the person who gives away the bride at weddings. DAGS, feat or performance ; " I'll do your DAGS," i.e., I will do something that you cannot do. DAISY CUTTER, a horse which trots or gallops without lifting its feet much from the ground. DAISY KICKERS, the name hostlers at large inns used to give each other, now nearly obsolete. DAISY-KICKER, or GROG- HAM, was likewise the cant term for a horse. The DAISY-KICKEHS were sad rogues in the old posting- days; frequently the landlords rented the stables to them, as the only plan to make them return a profit. DAMPER, a shop till ; to DRAW A DAMPER, i.e., rob a till. DANCE UPON NOTHING, to be hanged. DANCERS, stairs. Old cant. DANDER, passion, or temper ; " to get one's DANDER up," to rouse his passion. Old. DANDY, a fop, or fashionable nondescript. This word, in the sense of a fop, is of modern origin. Eyan says it was first used in 1820, and Bee in 1816. Johnson does not mention it, although it is to be found in all late dictionaries. DANDIES wore stays, studied feminity, and tried to undo their manhood. Lord Petersham headed them. At the present day dandies of this stamp are fast disappearing. The feminine of DANDY was DANDIZETTE, but the term only lived for a short season. DANDYPRAT, a funny little fellow, a mannikin ; originally a half -far thing. DANNA, excrement ; DANNA DRAG, a nightman's or dustman's cart. 128 A DICTIONARY OF DARBIES, handcuffs. Old cant. DARBLE, the devil. French, DIABLE. DARK, " keep it DARK," i.e., secret. DARK HORSE, in racing phraseology a horse whose chance of success is unknown, and whose capabilities have not been made the subject of comment. DARKEY, twilight. DARKMANS, the night. DARN, vulgar corruption of d n. American. DASHING, showy, fast. DAVID'S SOW, '' as drunk as DAVID'S sow," i.e., beastly druuk. See origin of the phrase in Grose's Dictionary. DAVY, " on my DAVY," on my affidavit, of which it is a vulgar corruption. Latterly DAVY has become synonymous in street, language with the name of the Deity ; " so help me DAVY," slang rendering of the conclusion of the oath usually exacted of witnesses. DAVY'S LOCKER, or DAVY JONES' LOCKER, the sea, the com- mon receptacle for all things thrown overboard ; -a nautical phrase for death, the other world. DAWDLE, to loiter, or fritter away time. DAYLIGHTS, eyes ; "to darken his DAYLIGHTS," to give a person black eyes. DEAD ALIVE, stupid, dull. DEAD HORSE, " to draw the DEAD HORSE," DBAD-HORSE work, working for wages already paid ; also any thankless or unassisted service. DEAD-LURK, entering a dwelling-house during divine service. DEAD MEN, the term for wine bottles after they are emptied of their contents. Old. See MARINES. DEAD-SET, a pointed attack on a person. DEANER, a shilling. Provincial G/'psey, DEANEE, a pound. DEATH, " to dress to DEATH," i.e., to the very extreme of fashion, perhaps so as to be KILLING. DEATH-HUNTERS, running patterers, who vend last dying speeches and confessions. DECK, a pack of cards. Old. Used by Bulwer as a cant term. General in the United States. DEE, a pocket book, term used by tramps. Gipsey. DEMIREP (or RIP), a courtesan. Contraction of DEMI- REPUTATION Grose. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 129 DESPATCHES, false " dice with two sides, double four, double five, and double six." Times, 27th November, 1856. DEUCE, the devil. Old. Stated by Junius and others to be from DEUS. DEUCE, twopence ; DEUCE at cards or dice, one with two pips or holes. DEVIL, a printer's youngest apprentice, an errand boy. DEVIL-DODGERS, clergymen ; also people who go sometimes to church and sometimes to meeting. DEVIL'S-TEETH, dice. DEVOTIONAL HABITS, horses weak in the knees and apt to stumble and fall are said to have these. Stable. DEWSKITCH, a good thrashing. DIBBS, money ; so called from the buckle bones of sheep, which have been used from the earliest times for gambling pur- poses, being thrown up five at a time and caught on the back of the hand like halfpence. DICKEY, bad, sorry, or foolish ; food or lodging is pronounced DICKEY when of a poor description ; ''it's all DICKEY with him," i.e., all over with him. DICKEY, formerly the cant for a worn out shirt, but means now-a-days a front or half-shirt. DICKEY was originally TOMMY (from the Greek, rofirj, a section), a name which I understand was formerly used in Trinity College, Dublin. The students are said to have invented the term, and the GYPS changed it to DICKEY, in which dress it is supposed to have been imported into England. DICKEY, a donkey. DICKENS, synonymous with devil ; " what the DICKENS are you after ?" what the d 1 are you doing ? Used by Shakespere in the Merry Wives of Windsor. DIDDLE, to cheat, or defraud. Old. DIDDLE, old cant word for geneva, or gin. DIDDLEB, or JEREMY DIDDLER, an artful swindler DIDOES, pranks or capers; " to cut up DIDOES," to make pranks. DIES, last dying speeches, and criminal trials. DIGS, hard blows. DIGGERS, spurs ; also the spades on cards. DIGGINGS, lodgings, apartments, residence; an expression probably imported from California, or Australia, with reference to the gold diggings. K 130 A DICTIONARY OF DILLY DALLY, to trifle. DIMBER, neat or pretty. Worcestershire, but old cant. DIMBER DAMBER, very pretty ; a clever rogue who excels his fellows ; chief of a gang. Old cant in the latter sense. English Rogue. DIMMOCK, money ; " how are you off for DIMMOCK?" diminutive of DIME, a small foreign silver coin. DINARLY, money ; " NANTEE DINARLY," I have no money, corrupted from the Lingua franca, " NIENTE DIN ABO," not a penny. Turkish, DENARI ; Spanish, DINERO ; Latin, DE- NARIUS. DING, to strike ; to throw away, or get rid of anything ; to pass to a confederate. DIPPED, mortgaged. Household Words, No. 183. DISGUISED, intoxicated. Household Words, No. 183. DISH, to stop, to do away with, to suppress ; DISHED, done for, floored, beaten, or silenced. A correspondent suggests that meat is usually DONE BROWN before being DISHED, and conceives that the latter term may have arisen as the natural sequence of the former. DISHABBILLY, the ridiculous corruption of the French, DESHABILLE, amongst fashionably affected, but ignorant " stuck-up " people. DITHERS, nervous or cold shiverings. "It gave me the DITHERS." DIVE, to pick pockets. DIVERS, pickpockets. DO, this useful and industrious verb has for many years done service as a slang term. To DO a person is to cheat him. Sometimes another tense is employed, such as " I DONE him," meaning I cheated or " paid him out ;" DONE BROWN, cheated thoroughly, befooled ; DONE OVER, upset, cheated, knocked down, ruined ; DONE trp, used up, finished, or quieted. DONE also means convicted, or sentenced ; so does DONE- FOE. To DO a person in pugilism is to excel him in fisticuffs. Humphreys, who fought Mendoza, a Jew, wrote this laconic note to his supporter " Sir, I have DONE the Jew, and am in good health. Rich. Humphreys." Tourists use the ex- pression " I have DONE France and Italy," meaning I have completely explored those countries. DOCTOR, to adulterate or drug liquor ; also to falsify accounts. See COOK. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 131 DODGE, a cunning trick. " DODGE, that homely but expressive phrase." Sir Hugh Cairns on the Reform Bill, 2nd March, 1859. Anglo Saxon, DEOGIAN, to colour, to conceal. The TIDY DODGE, as it is called by street-folk, consists in dressing up a family clean and tidy, and parading the streets to excite compassion and obtain alms. A correspondent suggests that the verb DODGE may have been formed (like wench from wink) from DOG, i.e., to double quickly and unex- pectedly, as in coursing. DODGER, a tricky person, or one who, to use the popular phrase, " knows too much." See DEVIL-DODGER. DODGER, a dram. In Kent, a DODGER signifies a nightcap ; which name is often given to the last dram at night. DOG, to follow in one's footsteps on the sly, to track. DOG-CHEAP, or DOG-FOOLISH, very, or singularly cheap, or foolish. Latham, in his English Language, says: "This has nothing to do with dogs. The first syllable is god = good transposed, and the second, the ch p, is chapman, merchant : compare EASTCHEAP." Old term. DOG-LATIN, barbarous Latin, such as was formerly used by lawyers in their pleadings. DOG-ON-IT, a form of mild swearing used by boys. It is just worthy of mention that DOGONE, in Anglo-Norman, is equivalent to a term of contempt. Friesic, DOGENIET. DOGSNOSE, gin and beer, so called from the mixture being cold, like a dog's nose. DOLDRUMS, difficulties, low spirits, dumps. Sea. DOLLOP, a lump or portion. Norfolk. Ang. Sax. DAEL, dole. DOLLOP, to dole up, give up a share. Ib. DOLLYMOP, a tawdrily-dressed maid servant, a street walker. DOLLY SHOP, an illegal pawnshop, where goods, or stolen property, not good enough for the pawnbroker, are received, and charged at so much per day. If not redeemed the third day the goods are forfeited. Anglo Saxon, DAEL, a part, to dole ? See NIX. A correspondent thinks it may have been derived from the black doll, the usual sign of a rag shop. DOMINE, a parson. DOMINOS, the teeth. DON, a clever fellow, the opposite of a muff; a person of dis- tinction in his line or walk. At the Universities, the Masters and Fellows are THE DONS. DON is also used as an adjective, " a DON hand at a knife and fork," i.e., a first-rate feeder at a dinner table. Spanish. K 2 132 A DICTIONARY OF DONE FOR A RAMP, convicted for thieving. DONKEY, " three more and up goes the DONKEY," a vulgar street phrase for extracting as much money as possible before performing any task. The phrase had its origin with a travelling showman, the finale of whose performance was the hoisting of a DONKEY on a pole or ladder ; but this con- summation was never arrived at unless the required number of "browns" was first paid up, and "three more" was generally the unfortunate deficit. DONNA AND FEELES, a woman and children. Italian or Lingua Franca, DONNE E FIGLIE. DOOKIN, fortune telling. Gipsey, DUKKERIN. DOSE, three months' imprisonment as a known thief. See BKAGGADOCIO. DOSS, a bed. North, Probably from DOZE. Mayhew thinks it is from the Norman, DOSSEL, a hanging, or bed canopy. DOSS, to sleep, formerly spelt DORSE. Perhaps from the phrase to lie on one's dorsum, back. DOSS-KEN, a lodging house. DOUBLE, " to tip (or give) the DOUBLE," to run away from any person ; to double back, turn short round upon one's pur- suers and so escape, as a hare does. Sporting. DOUBLE -UP, to pair off, or "chum," with another man; to beat severely. DOUBLE-SHUFFLE, a low, shuffling, noisy dance, common amongst costermongers. See FLIP-FLAPS. DOUSE, to put out ; " DOUSE that glim," put out that candle. Sea. DOWD, a woman's nightcap. Devonshire; also an American term; possibly from DOWDY, a slatternly woman. DOWN, to be aware of, or awake to, any move in this meaning, synonymous with UP ; " DOWN upon one's luck," unfortu- nate; "DOWN in the mouth," disconsolate; "to be DOWN on one," to treat him harshly or suspiciously, to pounce upon him, or detect his tricks. DOWN THE DOLLY, a favourite gambling contrivance, often seen in the tap rooms of public houses, at race-courses, and . fairs, consisting of a rouud board and the figure of an old man or " doll," down which is a spiral hole. A marble is dropped " down the dolly," and stops in one of the small holes or pits (numbered) on the board. The bet is decided according as the marble stops on a high or low figure. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WOEDS. 133 DOWN THE ROAD, stylish, showy, after the fashion. DOWNER, a sixpence; apparently the Gipsey word, TAWNO, "little one," in course of metamorphosis into the more usual "tanner." DOWN'S, Tothill Fields' prison. DOWNY, knowing or cunning; "a DOWNY COVE," a knowing or experienced sharper. DOWRY, a lot, a great deal ; " DOWRY of parny," lot of rain or water. See PARNY. Probably from the Gipsey. DOXY, the female companion of a thief or beggar. In the West of England, the women frequently call their little girla DOXIES, in a familiar or endearing sense. A learned divine once described orthodoxy as being a man's own DOXY, and heterodoxy another man's DOXY. Ancient cant. DRAB, a vulgar or low woman. Shakespere. DRAG, a cart of any kind, a coach; gentlemen drive to the races in DRAGS. DRAG, a street, or road ; BACK-DRAG, back-street. DRAG, or THREE MOON, three months in prison. DRAGGING, robbing carts, &c. DRAGSMEN, fellows who cut trunks from the backs of car- riages. They sometimes have a light cart, and "drop behind" the plundered vehicle, and then drive off in an opposite direction with the booty. DRAIN, a drink ; " to do a DRAIN," to take a friendly drink " do a wet;" sometimes called a COMMON SEWER. DRAW, "come, DRAW it mild!" i.e., don't exaggerate; oppo- site of " come it strong." From the phraseology of the bar (of a PUBLIC), where customers desire the beer to be DRAWN mild. DRAWERS, formerly the ancient cant name for very long stockings, now a hosier's term. DRAWING TEETH, wrenching off knockers. DRIVE- AT, to aim at; "what is he DRIVING AT?" what does he intend to imply ?" a phrase often used when a circuitous line of argument is adopted by a barrister, or a strange set of questions asked, the purpose of which is not very evident. DRIVE, a term used by tradesmen in speaking of business ; " he's DRIVING a roaring trade," i.e., a very good one ; hence, to succeed in a bargain, " I DROVE a good bargain," i.e., got the best end of it. 134 A DICTIONARY OF DRIZ, lace. In a low lodging house this singular autograph inscription appeared over the mantelpiece, " Scotch Mary, with DRIZ (lace), bound to Dover and back, please God." DRIZ FENCER, a person who sells lace. DROP, to quit, go off, or turn aside ; " DROP the main Toby," go off the main road. DROP, "to DROP INTO a person," to give him a thrashing. See SLIP and WALK. "To DBOP ON to a man," to accuse or rebuke him suddenly. DRUM, a house, a lodging, a street ; HAZARD-DRUM, a gambling house ; FLASH-DRUM, a house of ill-fame. DRUMMER, a robber who first makes his victims insensible by drugs or violence, and then plunders them. DUB, to pay or give ; " DUB UP," pay up. DUBBER, the mouth ; "mum your DUBBER," hold your tongue. DUBLIN PACKET, to turn a corner; to "take the DUBLIN PACKET," viz., run round the corner. DUBS, a bunch of keys. Nearly obsolete. DUBSMAN, or SCREW, a turnkey. DUCKS AND DRAKES, " to make DUCKS AND DRAKES of one's money," to throw it away childishly, derived from children "shying" flat stones on the surface of a pool, which they call DUCKS AND DRAKES, according to the number of skips they make. DUDDERS, or DUDSMEN, persons who formerly travelled the country as pedlars, selling gown-pieces, silk waistcoats, &c., to countrymen. In selling a waistcoat-piece for thirty shillings or two pounds, which cost them perhaps five shillings, they would show great fear of the revenue officer, and beg of the purchasing clodhopper to kneel down in a puddle of water, crook his arm, and swear that it might never become straight if he told an exciseman, or even his own wife. The term and practice are nearly obsolete. In Liverpool, however, and at the east end of London, men dressed up as sailors, with pretended silk handkerchiefs and cigars " only just smuggled from the Indies," are scill to be plentifully found. DUDDS, clothes, or personal property. Gaelic, DUD; Ancient cant; also Dutch. DUFF, pudding; vulgar pronunciation of DOUGH. Sea. DUFFER, a hawker of " Brummagem" or sham jewellery ; a sham of any kind ; a fool, or worthless person. DUFFER MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 135 was formerly synonymous with DUDDER, and was a general term given to pedlars. It is mentioned in the Frauds of London (1760), as a word in frequent use in the last century to express cheats of all kinds. From the German, DURFEN, to want ? DUFFING, false, counterfeit, worthless. DUKE, gin. Household Words, No. 183. DUMB-FOUND, to perplex, to beat soundly till not able to speak. Originally a cant word. Johnson cites the Spectator for the earliest use. Scotch, DUMFOUNDER. DUMMACKER, a knowing or acute person. DUMMIES, empty bottles and drawers in an apothecary's shop, labelled so as to give an idea of an extensive stock. DUMMY, in three-handed whist the person who holds two hands plays DUMMY. DUMMY, a pocket book. DUMP FENCER, a man who sells buttons. DUMPY, short and stout. DUMPISH, sullen, or glumpy. DUN, to solicit payment. Old cant, from the French DONNEZ, give ; or from JOE DUN, the famous bailiff of Lincoln ; or simply a conniption of DIN, from the Anglo Saxon DUNAN, to clamour ? DUNAKER, a stealer of cows or calves Nearly obsolete. DUNDERHEAD, a blockhead. DUNG, an operative who works for an employer who does not give full or " society" wages. DUNNAGE, baggage, clothes. Also, a Sea term for wood or loose faggots laid at the bottom of ships, upon which is placed the cargo. DUNNY-KEN, a water-closet. See KEN. DURRYNACKING, offering lace or any other article as an introduction to fortune-telling ; generally pursued by women. DUST, money ; " down with the DUST," put down the money. Ancient. Dean Swift once took for his text, " He who giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord." His sermon was short. '* Now, my bi'ethren," said he, " if you are satisfied with the security, down with the DUST." DUST, a disturbance, or noise, " to raise a DUST," to make a row. DUTCH CONSOLATION, "thank God it is no worse." 136 A DICTIONARY OF DUTCH CONCERT, where each performer plays a different tune. DUTCH COURAGE, false courage, generally excited by drink, pot -valour. DUTCH FEAST, where the host gets drunk before his guest. DUTCH UNCLE, a personage often introduced in conversation, but exceedingly difficult to describe ; " I'll talk to him like a DUTCH UNCLE !" conveys the notion of anything but a desirable relation. A mericanism. DOUBLE DUTCH, gibberish, or any foreign tongue. EARL OF CORK, the ace of diamonds. Hibernicism. " What do yon mean by the Earl of Cork ?" asked Mr. Squander. "The ace of diamonds, your honour. It's the worst ace, and the poorest card in the pack, and is called the Earl of Cork, be- cause he's the poorest nobleman in Ireland." C'arleton's Trait* and Stories of the Irish Peasantry. EARWIG, a clergyman, also one who prompts another ma- liciously. EARWIGGING, a rebuke in private ; a WIGGING is more public. EASE, to rob ; " EASING a bloak," robbing a man. EGG, or EGG on, to excite, stimulate, or provoke one person to quarrel with another, &c. Cor. of edge, or edge on. Ancient. ELBOW, " to shake one's ELBOW," to play at cards. ELBOW GREASE, labour, or industry. ELEPHANT, " to have SEEN THE ELEPHANT," to be " up to the latest move," or " down to the last new trick ;" to be knowing, and not " green," &c. Possibly a metaphor taken from the travelling menageries, where the ELEPHANT is the finale of the exhibition. Originally an Americanism. Barilett gives conflicting examples. General now, however. EVAPORATE, to go, or run away. EVERLASTING STAIRCASE, the treadmill. Sometimes called " Colonel Chesterton's everlasting staircase," from the gallant inventor or improver. EXTENSIVE, frequently applied in a slang sense to a person's appearance or talk ; " rather EXTEXSIVE that !" intimating that the person alluded to is showing off, or " cutting it fat." EYE WATER, gin. FAD, a hobby, a favourite pursuit. FADGE, a farthing. FADGE, to suit or fit ; "it won't FADGE," it will not do. Used by Sliakespere, but now heard only in the streets. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 137 FAG, to beat, also one boy working for another at school. FAG, a schoolboy who performs a servant's offices to a superior school-mate. Grose thinks FAGGED OUT is derived from this. FAGOT, a term of opprobrinm used by low people to children ; "you little FAGOT, you!'' FAGOT was originally a term of contempt for a dry, shrivelled old woman, whose bones were like a bundle of sticks, only fit to burn. Compare the French expression for a heretic, sentir le fagot. FAKE, to cheat, or swindle; to do anything; to go on, or con- tinue; to make or construct; to steal, or rob, a verb variously used. FAKED, done, or done for; "FAKE away, there's no down," go on, there is nobody looking. Mayhew says it is from the Latin, FACIMENTOM. FAKEMENT, a false begging petition, any act of robbery, swindling, or deception. FAKEMENT CHARLEY, the owner's private mark. FAKER, one who makes or FAKES anything. FAKING A CLY, picking a pocket. FAMBLES, or FAMMS, the hands. Ancient cant. German, FAUGEN. FAMILY MEN, or PEOPLE, thieves, or burglars. FAN. a waistcoat. FANCY, the favourite sports, pets, or pastime of a person, the tan of low life. Pugilists are sometimes termed THE FANCY. Shakespere uses the word in the sense of a favourite, or pet ; and the paramour of a prostitute is still called her FANCY- MAN. FANCY-BLOAK, a fancy or sporting man. FAN-TAIL, a dustman's hat. FAST, gay, spreeish, unsteady, thoughtless, an Americanism that has of late ascended from the streets to the drawing- room. The word has certainly now a distinct meaning, which it had not thirty years ago. QUICK is the synonyme for FAST, but a QUICK MAN would not convey the meaning of a FAST MAN, a person who by late hours, gaiety, and con- tinual rounds of pleasure, lives too fast and wears himself out. In polite society a FAST young lady is one who affects mannish habits, or makes herself conspicuous by some un- feminine accomplishment, talks slang, drives about in London, smokes cigarettes, is knowing in dogs, horses, &c. An amusing anecdote is told of a FAST young lady, the daughter of a right reverend prelate, who was an adept in horseflesh. Being desirous of ascertaining the opinion of a 138 A DICTIONARY OF candidate for ordination, who had the look of a bird of the same feather, as to the merits of some cattle just brought to her father's palace for her to select from, she was assured by him they were utterly unfit for a lady's use. With a knowing look at the horses' points, she gave her decision in these choice words, " Well, I agree with you ; they are a rum lot, as the Devil said of the ten commandments." FAST, embarrassed, wanting money. Synonymous with HARD UP. Yorkshire. FAT, a printer's term signifying the void spaces on a page, for which he is paid at the same rate as full or unbroken pages. This work afforded much FAT for the printers. FAT, rich, abundant, &c. ; "a FAT lot;" "to cut it FAT," to exaggerate, to show off in an extensive or grand manner, to assume undue importance ; cut up FAT," see under CUT. As a Theatrical term, a part with plenty of FAT in it, is one which affords the actor an opportunity of effective display. FATHER, or FENCE, a buyer of stolen property. FAWNEY, a finger ring. FAWNEY BOUNCING, selling rings for a wager. This practice is founded upon the old tale of a gentleman laying a wager that if he was to offer "real gold sovereigns" at a penny a piece at the foot of London Bridge, the English public would be too incredulous to buy. The story states that the gentleman stationed himself with sovereigns in a tea tray, and sold only two within the hour, winning the bet. This tale the FAWNEY BOUNCERS tell the public, only offer- ing brass, double gilt rings, instead of sovereigns. FAWNEY, or FAWNEY RIG, ring dropping. A few years ago, this practice, or RIG, was very common. A fellow purposely dropped a ring, or a pocket book with some little articles of jewellery, &c., in it, and when he saw any person pick it up, ran to claim half. The ring found, the question of how the booty was to be divided had then to be decided. The Fawney says, " if you will give me eight or nine shillings for my share the things are yours." This the FLAT thinks very fair. The ring of course is valueless, and the swallower of the bait discovers the trick too late. FEATHERS, money, wealth ; " in full FEATHER," rich. FEEDER, a spoon. Old cant. FEELE, a daughter, or child. Corrupted French. FELT, a hat. Old term, in use in the sixteenth century. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 139 FENCE, or FENCER, a purchaser or receiver of stolen goods ; FENCE, the shop or warehouse of a FENCER. Old cant. FENCE, to sell or pawn stolen property to a FENCEB. FERRICADOUZER, a knock down below, a good thrashing. Probably derived through the Lingua Franca from the Italian, FAR' CADER' MOBTO, to knock down dead. FIB, to beat, or strike, Old cant. FIDDLE, a whip. FIDDLE F ADDLE, twaddle, or trifling discourse. Old cant. FIDDLE STICKS ! nonsense. FIDDLER, or FADGE, a farthing. FIDDLER, a sixpence. Household Words, No. 183. FIDDLER, a sharper, a cheat ; also one who dawdles over little matters, and neglects great ones. FIDDLERS' MONEY, a lot of sixpences ; 6d. was the remu- neration to fiddlers from each of the company in old times. FIDDLING, doing any odd jobs in the streets, holding horses, carrying parcels, &c., for a living. Among the middle classes, FIDDLING means idling away time, or trifling ; and amongst sharpers, it means gambling. FID FAD, a game similar to chequers, or drafts, played in the West of England. FIDLUM BEN, thieves who take anything they can lay their hands upon. FIELD-LANE-DUCK, a baked sheep's head. Field-lane is a low London thoroughfare, leading from the foot of Hoi born- hill to the purlieus of Clerkenwell. It was formerly the market for stolen pocket handkerchiefs. FIG, "to FIG a horse," to play improper tricks with one in order to make him lively. FIG, " in full FIG," i.e., full dress costume, " extensively got up." FIGURE, "to cut a good or bad FIGURE," to make a good or indifferent appearance ; " what's the FIGURE ?" how much is to pay ? FIGURE-HEAD, a person's face. Sea term. FILCH, to steal, or purloin. Originally a cant word, derived from the FILCHES, or hooks, thieves used to carry, to hook clothes, or any portable articles from open windows. .Vide Decker. It was considered a cant or Gipsey term up to the beginning of the last century. Harman has " FYLCHE, to robbe." FILE, a deep, or artful man, a jocose name for a cunning person. 140 A DICTIONARY OF Originally a term for a pickpocket, when TO FILE was to cheat or rob. FILE, an artful man, was used in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. FILLIBRUSH, to flatter, praise ironically. FIMBLE-FAMBLE, a lame prevaricating excuse. Scand. FIN", a hand; " come, tip us your FIN," viz., let us shake hands. Sea. FINDER, one who FINDS bacon and meat at the market before they are lost, i.e., steals them. FINTJF, a five-pound note. DOUBLE FINUF, a ten-pound note. German, FUNF, five. FISHY, doubtful, unsound, rotten a term used to denote a suspicion of a " screw being loose," or " something rotten in the state of Denmark," in alluding to an unsafe specu- lation. FISH, a person ; " a queer FISH," " a loose FISH," &c. FIX, a predicament, dilemma ; " an awful FIX,'' a terrible posi- tion ; " to FIX one's flint for him," i.e., to " settle his hash," " put a spoke in his wheel." FIZZING, first-rate, very good, excellent; synonymous with STUNNING. FLABERGAST, or FLABBERGHAST, to astonish, or strike with wonder. Old. FLAG, a groat, or 4d. Ancient cant. FLAG, an apron. FLAG OF DISTRESS, poverty when the end of a person's shirt protrudes through his trousers. FLAM, nonsense, blarney, a lie. Kentish ; Anglo Saxon. FLAME, a sweetheart. FLANNEL, or HOT FLANNEL, the old ternl for gin and beer, drank hot, with nutmeg, sugar, &c. Also called FLIP. There is an anecdote told of Goldsmith helping to drink a quart of FLANNEL in a night house, in company with George Parker, Ned Shuter, and a demure grave looking gentleman, who continually introduced the words CRAP, STRETCH, SCRAG, and SWING. Upon the Doctor's asking who this strange person might be, and being told his profession, he rushed from the place in a frenzy, exclaiming, " Good God ! and have I been sitting all this while with a hangman ?" FLARE UP, a jovial social gathering, a "break down," a "row." FLASH, showy, smart, knowing ; a word with various meanings. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 141 A person is said to be dressed FLASH when his garb is showy, and after a fashion, but without taste. A person is said to be FLASH when he apes the appearance or manners of his betters, or when he is trying to be superior to his friends and relations. FLASH also means " fast," roguish, and sometimes infers counterfeit or deceptive, and this, perhaps, is its general signification. " FLASH, my young friend, or slang, as others call it, is the classical language of the Holy Land; in other words, St. Giles' Greek." Tom and Jerry, by Moncreiff. Vulgar language was first termed FLASH in the year 1718, by Hitchin, author of "The Regu- lator of Thieves, &c., with account of FLASH words" FLASH IT, show it said when any bargain is offered. FLAT, a fool, a silly or " soft " person, the opposite of SHARP. The term appears to be shortenings for " sharp-witted " and " flat-witted." " Oh ! Messrs. Tyler, Donelson, and the rest, what FLATS you are." Times, 5th September, 1847. FLATTIES, rustic, or uninitiated people. FLATTY-KEN, a public house, the landlord of which is igno- rant of the practices of the thieves and tramps who fre- quent it. FLESH AND BLOOD, brandy and port in equal quantities. FLESH-BAG, a shirt. FLICK, or OLD FLICK, an old chap or fellow. FLICK, or FLIO, to whip by striking, and drawing the lash back at the same time, which causes a stinging blow. FLIM FLAMS, idle stories. Beaumont and Fletcher. FLIMP, to hustle, or rob. FLIMSIES, bank notes. FLIMSY, the thin prepared copying paper used by newspaper reporters and " penny-a-liners " for making several copies at once, thus enabling them to supply different papers with the same article without loss of time. Printers' term. FLINT, an operative who works for a "society" master, i.e., for full wages. FLIP, corruption of FILLIP, a light blow. FLIP-FLAPS, a peculiar rollicking dance indulged in by coster- mongers when merry or excited better described, perhaps, as the DOUBLE SHUFFLE, danced with an air of extreme abandon. FLIPPER, the hand ; " give us your FLIPPER," give me your hand. Sea. Metaphor taken from the flipper or paddle of a turtle. 142 A DICTIONARY OF .* FLOG, to whip. Cited both by Grose and the author of Bacchus and Venus as a cant word. It would be curious to ascer- tain the earliest use ; Richardson cites Lord Chesterfield. Latin. FLOGGER, a whip. Obsolete. FLOOR, to knock down. Pugilistic. FLOORER, a blow sufficiently strong to knock a man down. FLOWERY, lodging, or house entertainment ; " square the omee for the FLOWERY," pay the master for the lodging. FLUE FAKERS, chimney sweeps ; also low sporting characters, who are so termed from their chiefly betting on the Great FLUFF IT, a term of disapprobation, implying "take it away, I don't want it." FLUKE, at billiards, playing for one thing and getting another. Hence, generally what one gets accidentally, an unexpected advantage, " more by luck than wit." FLUMMERY, flattery, gammon, genteel nonsense. FLUMMUX, to perplex, hinder ; FLUMMUXED, stopped, used up FLUMMUXED, done up, sure of a month in QUOD, or prison. In mendicant freemasonry, the sign chalked by rogues and tramps upon a gate-post or house corner, to express to suc- ceeding vagabonds that it is unsafe for them to call there, is known as Q, or FLUMMUXED, which signifies that the only thing they would be likely to get upon applying for relief would be " a month in QUOD." See QUOD. FLUNKEY, a footman, servant. Scotch. FLUSH, the opposite of HARD UP, in possession of money, not poverty stricken. Shakespere. FLY, to lift, toss, or raise; "FLY the mags," ie., toss up the halfpence; "to FLY a window," i.e., to lift one for the purpose of stealing. FLY, knowing, wide awake, fully understanding another's meaning. FLY THE KITE, or RAISE THE WIND, to obtain money on bills, whether good or bad, alluding to tossing paper about like children do a kite. FLY THE KITE, to evacuate from a window, term used in padding kens, or low lodging houses. FLYING-MESS, " to be in FLYING MESS" is a soldier's phrase for being hungry and having to mess where he can. Military. FLYING STATIONERS, paper workers, hawkers of penny MODERN SLANG AND CANT -frORDS. 143 ,'j ballads ; " Printed for the Flying Stationers " is the im- primatur on hundreds of penny histories and sheet songs of the last aud present centuries. FLYMY, knowing, cunning, roguish. FOALED, " thrown from a horse." Hunting term. See PURLED, and SPILT. FOGEY, or OLD FOGEY, a dullard, an old-fashioned or singular person. Grose says it is a nickname for an invalid soldier, from the French, FOURGEAUX, fierce or fiery, but it has lost this signification now. FOGGEE, old word for a huckster or servant. FOGGY, tipsy. FOGLE, a silk handkerchief not a CLOUT, which is of cotton. It has been hinted that this may have come from the Ger- man, VOGEL, a bird, from the bird's eye spots on some hand- kerchiefs [see BIRD'S-EYE-WIPE, under BILLY], but a more probable derivation is the Italian slang (Fourbesque) FOGLIA, a pocket, or purse ; or from the French, argot, FOUILLE, also a pocket. FOGUS, tobacco. Old cant. FOGO, old word for stench. FOONT, a sovereign, or 20s. FOOTING, " to pay FOOTING." See SHOE. FOEAKERS, a water-closet, or house of office. Term used by the boys at Winchester school. FORK OUT, to bring out one's money, to pay the bill, to STAND FOR or treat a friend ; to hand over what does not belong to you. Old cant term for picking pockets, and very curious it is to trace its origin. In the early part of the last century, a little book on purloining was published, and of course it had to give the latest modes. FORKING was the newest method, and it consisted in thrusting the fingers stiff and open into the pocket, and then quickly closing them and extracting any article. FORKS, or GRAPPLING IRONS, fingers. FORTY GUTS, vulgar term for a fat man. FOUR AND NINE, or FOUR AND NINEPENNY GOSS, a cheap hat, . so called from 4s. 9d., the price at which a noted advertising hat maker sold his hats " Whene'er to slumber yon incline, Take a short NAP at 4 and 9." 1844. FOU, slightly intoxicated. Scotch. FOURTH, or FOURTH COURT, the court appropriated to the 144 A DICTIONAKY OP water-closets at Cambridge ; from its really being No. 4 at Trinity College. A man leaving his room to go to this FOURTH COURT, writes on his door "gone to the FOURTH," or, in algebraic notation, " GONE 4 " the Cambridge slang phrase. FOX, to cheat or rob. Eton College. FOXING, watching in the streets for any occurrence which may be turned to a profitable account. See MOOCHING. FOXING, to pretend to be asleep like a fox, which is said to take its rest with one eye open. FOXY, rank, tainted. Lincolnshire. FREE, to steal generally applied to horses. FREE AND EASY, a club held at most public houses, the mem- bers of which meet in the taproom or parlour for the purpose of drinking, smoking, and hearing each other sing and "talk politics." The name indicates the character of the proceedings. FREEMAN'S QUAY, " drinking at FREEMAN'S QUAY," i.e., at another's cost. This quay was formerly a celebrated wharf near London Bridge, and the saying arose from the beer which was given gratis to porters and carmen who went there on business. FRENCH CREAM, brandy. FRENCH LEAVE, to leave or depart slyly, without saying anything. FRESH, said of a person slightly intoxicated. FRISK, to search ; FRISKED, searched by a constable or other officer. FRISK A CLY, to empty a pocket. FRIZZLE, champagne. FROG, a policeman. FRONTISPIECE, the face. FROW, a girl, or wife. German, FRAU ; Dutch, VROUW. FRUMMAGEMMED, annihilated, strangled, garotted, or spoilt. Old cant. FRUMP, a slatternly woman, a gossip. Ancient. FRUMP, to mock, or insult. Beaumont and Fletcher. FUDGE, nonsense, stupidity. Todd and Richardson only trace the word to Goldsmith. Disraeli, however, gives the origin to a Captain Fudge, a great fibber, who told monstrous stories, which made his crew say in answer to any impro- MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 145 bability, "you FUDGE it !" See Remarks on the Navy, 1700. FULLAMS, false dice, which always turn up high. Shakes. FULLY, "to be FULLIED," to be committed for trial. From the slang of the penny-a -liner, " the prisoner was fully committed for trial." FUNK, to smoke out. North. FUNK, trepidation, nervousness, cowardice. To FUNK, to be afraid, or nervous. FUNNY-BONE, the extremity of the elbow or rather, the muscle which passes round it between the two bones, a blow on which causes painful tingling in the fingers. Face- tiously derived, from its being the extremity of the humerus (humorous). FYE-BUCK, a sixpence. Nearly obsolete. GAB, GABBER, or GABBLE, talk ; " gift of the GAB," loquacity, or natural talent for speech-making. Anglo Norman. GAD, a trapesing, slatternly woman. Gipsey. Anglo Saxon, GADELYNG. GADDING THE HOOF, going without shoes. GADDING, roaming about, although used in an old translation of the Bible, is now only beard amongst the lower orders. GAFF, a fair, or penny-playhouse. See PENNY GAFF. GAFFING, tossing halfpence, or counters. North, where it means tossing up three pennies. GALEN Y, old cant term for a fowl of any kind; now a respect- able word in the West of England, signifying a Guinea fowl. Vide Grose. Latin, GALLINA. GALLAVANT, to wait upon the ladies. Old. GALORE, abundance. Irish, GO LEOB, in plenty. GALLOWS, very, or exceedingly a disgusting exclamation ; " GALLOWS poor," very poor. GAME, a term variously applied ; " are you GAME ?" have you courage enough? " what's your little GAME ?" what are you going to do ? '* come, none of your GAMES," be quiet, don't annoy me ; " on the GAME," out thieving. GAMMON, to hoax, to deceive merrily, to laugh at a person, to tell an untrue but plausible story, to make game of, or in the provincial dialect, to make GAME ON ; " who's thou makin' thy GAM* ON ?" i. e., who are you making a fool of / Yorkshire. 146 A DICTIONARY OF GAMMON, deceit, humbug, a false and ridiculous story. Anglo Saxon, GAMEN, game, sport. GAMMY, bad, unfavourable, poor tempered. Those house- holders who are known enemies to the street folk and tramps, are pronounced by them to be GAMMY. GAMMY sometimes means forged, as "GAKMY-MONEKEB," a forged signature ; GAMMY STUFF, spurious medicine ; GAMMY LOWK, counterfeit coin. Hants, GAMY, dirty. The hieroglyphic used by beggars and cadgers to intimate to those of the tribe coming after that things are not very favourable, is known as Q, or GAMMY. GAMMY- VIAL (Ville), a town where the police will not let persons hawk. GANDER MONTH, the period when the monthly nurse is in the ascendant, and the husband has to shift for himself. GAE, euphuistic corruption of the title of the Deity ; " be GAR, you don't say so !" Franco- English. GARRET, the head. GARRET, the fob pocket. GARGLE, medical student Slang for physic. GAS, " to give a person GAS," to scold him or give him a good beating. Synonymous with "to give him JESSIE." GASSY, liable to " flare up" at any offence. GATTER, beer; "shantof GATTER," a pot of beer. A curious street melody, brimful and running over with slang, known in Seven Dials as Bet, the Coaley's Daughter, thus mentions the word in a favourite verse : " But when I strove my flame to tell Says she, ' Come, st< w that patter,' If you're a core wot likes a gal Yy don't you stand some OATTEB ? In course I instantly complied Two brimming quarts of porter, With four gues of gin beside, Drained Bet the Coaley's daughter." GAWFS, cheap red-skinned apples, a favourite fruit with coster- mongers, who rub them well with a piece of cloth, and find ready purchasers. GAWKY, a lanky, or awkward person ; a fool. Saxon, GEAC ; Scotch, GOWK. GAY, loose, dissipated ; " GAY woman," a kept mistress, or prostitute. GEE, to agree with, or be congenial to a person. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. H7 GEN, a shilling. Also, GENT, silver. Abbreviation of the French, ARGENT. GENT, a contraction of "gentleman," in more senses than one. A dressy, showy, foppish man, with a little mind, who vulgarises the prevailing fashion. GENT, silver. From the French, ARGENT. GET-UP, a person's appearance, or general arrangements. Pro- bably derived from the decorations of a play. " There's so much GETTING UP to please the town, It takes a precious deal of coming down." Planches Mr. Bwkstone'i Asceid of Parnassus. GHOST, "the GHOST does'nt walk," i. e., the manager is too poor to pay salaries as yet. Theat. ; Ho. Words, No. 183. GIB-FACE, properly the lower lip of a horse ; " TO HANG ONE'S GIB," to pout the lower lip, be angry or sullen. GIBBERISH, unmeaning jargon ; the language of the Gipseys, synonymous with SLANG, another Gipsey word. Somner says, " French, GABBER ; Dutch, GABBEREN ; and our own GAB, GABBER ; hence also, I take it, our GIBBERISH, a kind of canting language used by a sort of rogues we vulgarly call Gipseys, a gibble gabble understood only among themselves." Gipsey. See Introduction. GIFFLE GAFFLE, nonsense. See CHAFF. Icelandic, GAFLA. GIFT, any article which has been stolen and afterwards sold at a low price. GIG, a farthing. Formerly, GRIG. GIG, fun, frolic, a spree. " In search of lark, or some delicious GIG, The mind delights on, when 'tis in prime twig." Randall's Diary, 1820. GIGLAMPS, spectacles. In my first edition I stated this to be a University term. Mr. CUTHBERT BEDE, however, in a com- munication to Notes and Queries, of which I have availed myself in the present edition, says " If the compiler has taken this epithet from Verdant Green, I can only say that I consider the word not to be a ' University" word in gene- ral, but as only due to the inventive genius of Mr. Bouncer in particular." The term, however, has been adopted, and is now in general use. GILL, a homely woman ; " Jack and GILL," &c. Ben Jonson. GILLS, the lower part of the face. Bacon. "To grease one's GILLS," " to have a good feed," or make a hearty meal. GILLS, shirt collars. L2 H8 A DICTIONARY OF GILT, money. German, GELD ; Dutch, GELT. GIMCRACK, a bijou, a slim piece of mechanism. Old slang for " a spruce wench." N. Bailey. GIN AND GOSPEL GAZETTE, the Morning Advertiser, ?o called from its be ; ng the organ of the dissenting party, and of the Licensed Victuallers' Association. Sometimes termed the TAP TUB, or the 'TIZER. GINGER, a showy, fast horse as if he had been FIGGED with GINGER under his tail. GINGERLY, to do anything with great care. Cotgrave. GINGER HACKLED, having flaxen light yellow hair. -See HACKLE. GINGUMBOB. a bauble. GIVE, to strike or scold ; " I'll GIVE it to you," I will thrash you. Formerly, to rob. GLASGOW MAGISTRATES, salt herrings. Scotch. GLAZE, glass generally applied to windows. GLIM, a light, a lamp ; " dowse the GLIM," put the candle out. Sea, and old cant. GLIM LURK, a begging paper, giving a certified account of a dreadful fire which never happened. GLOAK, a man. Scotch. GLUMP, to sulk. GLUMPISH, of a stubborn, sulky temper. GNOSTICS, knowing ones, or sharpers. Nearly obsolete in tl is vulgar sense. GO, a GO of gin a quartern of that liquor ; GO is also synonymous with circumstance or occurrence ; " a rummy GO," and "a great GO," signify curious and remarkable occurrences; " no GO," no good ; " here's a pretty GO !" here's a trouble ! "to GO the jump," to enter a house by the window ; " all the GO," in fashion. See LITTLE GO. "Gemmen (says he), you all well know The joy there is whene'er we meet ; It's what I call the pri-nest GO, And rightly named, 'tis 'quite a treat.'" Jack RandaWs Diary, 1820. GO-ALONG, a thief. Household Words, No. 183. GOB, the mouth ; mucus, or saliva. North. Sometimes used for GAB, talk "There was a man called Job, Dwelt in the Ian 1 of Uz ; He had a good gift of the GOB ; The same case happen us." ZACH. BOYD. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 149 GOB, a portion. GODS, the people in the upper gallery of a theatre ; " up amongst the GODS," a seat amongst the low persons in the gallery so named from the high position of the gallery, and the blue sky generally painted on the ceiling of the theatre ; termed by the French, PARADB. GODS, the quadrats used by printers in throwing on the impos- ing stone, similar to the movement in casting dice. Printers' term. GO IT, a term of encouragement, implying " keep it up !" Sometimes amplified to GO IT, YE CRIPPLES ; said to have been a facetious rendering of the last line of Virgil's Eclogues " Ite domum Saturse, Venit Hesperus, ite caprice ;" Or, " GO IT, YE CRIPPLES, CROTCHES ARE CHEAP." GOLDFINCH, a sovereign. GOLGOTHA, a hat, " place of a skull." GOLOPSHUS, splendid, delicious, luscious. Norwich. GOOSE, to ruin, or spoil Also, to hiss a play. Theatrical. GOOSE, a tailor's pressing iron. Originally a slang term, but now in most dictionaries. GOOSEBERRY, to "play up old GOOSEBERRY" with anyone, to defeat or silence a person in a quick or summary manner. GOOSECAP, a booby, or noodle. Devonshire. GOOSER, a settler, or finishing blow. GORMED, a Norfolk corruption of a profane oath. So used by Mr. Peggotty, one of Dickens' characters. GORGER, a swell, a well dressed, or gorgeous man probably derived from that word. GOSPEL GRINDER, a city missionary, or tract distributor. GOSS, a hat from the gossamer silk with which modern hats are made. GONNOF, or GUN, a fool, a bungler, an amateur pickpocket. A correspondent thinks this may be a corruption of gone off, on the analogy of GO-ALONG ; but the term is really as old as Chaucer's time. During Kelt's rebellion in Norfolk, in the reign of Edward VI., a song was sung by the insurgents in which the term occurs - " The country GJTOPFES, Hob, Dick, and Hick, With clubbes and clouted shoou, Shall fill up Dussjn dale With slaughtered bodies soone." GOUROCK HAM, salt herrings. Gourock, on the Clyde, about 150 A DICTIONARY OF twenty-five miles from Glasgow, was formerly a great fishing village. Scotch. GOVERNMENT SIGNPOST, the gallows. GOVERNOR, a father, a master or superior person, an elder ; " which way, GUV'NEB, to Cheapside ?" GRABB, to clutch, or seize. GRABBED, caught, apprehended. GRABBERS, the hands. GRACE-CARD, the ace of hearts. GRAFT, to work; "where are you GRAFTING ?" i.e ., where do you live, or work ? GRANNY, to know, or recognise ; " de ye GRANNY the bloke ?" do you know the man ? GRANNY, importance, knowledge, pride ; " take the GRANNY off them as has white hands," viz., remove their self-conceit. Mayhew, vol. i., p. 364. GRAPPLING IRONS, fingers. Sea. GRASS, " gone to GRASS," dead, a coarse allusion to burial ; absconded, or disappeared suddenly ; " oh, go to GRASS," a common answer to a troublesome or inquisitive person, possibly a corruption of " go to GRACE," meaning, of course, a directly opposite fate. GRASS-WIDOW, an unmarried mother; a deserted mistress. In the United States, during the gold fever in California, it was common for an adventurer to put both his GRASS-WIDOW and his children to school during his absence. GRAVEL, to confound, to bother; "I'm GRAVELLED," i.e , per- plexed or confused. Old. GRAVEL-RASH, a scratched face, telling its tale of a drunken fall. GRAY-COAT-PARSON, a lay irnpropriator, or lessee of great tithes. GRAYS, or SCOTCH GRAYS, lice. Scotch. GRAYS, halfpennies, with either two " heads" or two " tails," both sides alike. Low gamblers use GRAYS, and they cost from 2d. to 6d. each. GREASE-SPOT, a minute remnant, the only distinguishable remains of an antagonist after a terrific contest. GREASING a man is bribing; SOAPING is flattering him. GREEKS, the low Irish. ST. GILES' GREEK, slang or cant lan- guage. Cotgrave gives MERIE GREEK as a definition for a MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 151 roystering fellow, a drunkard. Shakespere. See MEDICAL GREEK. GREEN, ignorant, not wide awake, inexperienced. Shakespere. " Do you see any GREEN in my eye ?" ironical question in a dispute. GREEN-HORN, a fresh, simple, or uninitiated person. GRIDDLER, a person who sings in the streets without a printed copy of the words. GRIEF, "to come to GRIEF," to meet with an accident, be ruined. GRIFFIN, in India, a newly arrived cadet ; general for an inexperienced youngster. " Fast " young men in London frequently term an umbrella a GRIFFIN. GRIND, " to take a GRIND," i.e., a walk, or constitutional. University. GRIND, to work up for an examination, to cram with a GRINDER, or private tutor. Medical. GRINDERS, teeth. GROGGY, tipsy ; when a prize-fighter becomes " weak on his pius," and nearly beaten, he is said to be GROGGY. Pu- gilistic. The same term is applied to horses in a similar condition. Old English, AGGROGGTD, weighed down, op- pressed. Prompt. Parvulorum. GRUB, meat, or food, of any kind, GRUB signifying food, and BUB, drink. GRUBBING-KEN, or SPINIKIN, a workhouse ; a cook-shop. GRUBBY, musty, or old-fashioned. Devonshire. GULFED, a University term, denoting that a man is unable to eater for the classical examination, from having failed in the mathematical. Candidates for classical honours were compelled to go in for both examinations. From the alter- ation of the arrangements the term is no w obsolete. Ca nib. GULPIN, a weak, credulous fellow. GUMMY, thick, fat generally applied to a woman's ancles, or to a man whose flabby person betokens him a drunkard. GUMPTION, or RUMGUMPTION, comprehension, capacity. From GAUM, to comprehend ; " I canna GAUGS it, and I canna GAUM it," as a Yorkshire exciseman said of a hedgehog. GURRELL, a fob. GUTTER BLOOD, a low or vulgar man Scotch. GUTTER LA.NE, the throat. 152 A DICTIONARY OF GUY, a fright, a dowdy, an ill- dressed person. Derived from the effigy of Guy Fawkes carried about by boys on Nov. 5. GYP, an undergraduate's valet at Cambridge. Corruption of GYPSEY JOE (Saturday Review) ; popularly derived by Can- tabs from the Greek, GYPS (yv^), a vulture, from their dis- honest rapacity. At Oxford they are called SCOUTS. HACKLE, "to show HACKLE," to be willing to fight. HACKLES are the long feathers on the back of a cock's neck, which he erects when angry, hence the metaphor. HADDOCK, a purse. See BEANS. HALF A BEAN, half a sovereign. HALF A BULL, two shillings and sixpence. HALF A COUTER, half a sovereign. HALF A HOG, sixpence; sometimes termed HALF A GRUNTER. HALF A STRETCH, six months in prison. HALF A TUSHEROON, half a crown. HALF AND HALF, a mixture of ale and porter, much affected by medical students ; occasionally Latinized into DIMIDIUM DIMIDIUMQUE. See COOPEB. HALF BAKED, soft, doughy, half-witted, silly. HALF FOOLISH, ridiculous ; means often wholly foolish. HALF JACK.-ee JACKS. HALF ROCKED, silly, half-witted. Compare HALF BAKED. HALF SEAS OTER, reeling drunk. Sea. Used by Swift. HAND, a workman, or helper, a person. " A cool HAND," ex- plained by Sir Thomas Overbury to be " one who accounts bashfulness the wickedest thing in the world, and therefore studies impudence." IIANDER, a second, or assistant, in a prize fight. HANDLE, a nose; the title appended to a person's nime; also a term in boxing, " HANDLING one's fists." HAND-SAW, or CHIVE FENCER, a man who sells razors and knives in the streets. HANDSELLER, or CHEAP JACK, a street or open air seller, a man who carries goods to his customers, instead of waiting for his customers to visit him, HANG OUT, to reside, in allusion to the ancient custom of hanging out signs. HANGMAN'S WAGES, thirfeenpence halfpenny. HANSEL, or HANDSALE, the lucky money, or firat money taken in MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 153 the morning by a pedlar. - Cocker's Dictionary, 1724. "Legs of mutton (street term for sheep's trotters, or feet) two for a penny ; who'll give me a HANSEL ? who'll give me a HANSEL f Cry at Cloth Fair at the present day. Heuce, earnest money, first fruits, &c. Jn Norfolk, HANSELLING a thing, is using it for the first time, as wearing a new coat, taking seizin of it, as it were. Anglo Saxon. N. Bailey. HA'PURTH OF LIVELINESS, the music at a low concert, or theatre. HARD LINES, hardship, difficult}'. Soldiers' term for ha:d duty on the lines in front of the enemy. HARD UP, in distress, poverty stricken. Sea. HARD-UPS, cigar-end finders, who collect the refuse pieces of smoked cigars from the gutter, and having dried them, sell them as tobacco to the very poor. HARRY, or OLD HARRY (i.e. Old Hairy ?) the Devil ; " to play OLD HARRY with one," i.e., ruin or annoy him. HARRY-SOPH (epicro^os, very wise iudeed), an undergraduate in his last year of residence. Cambridge. HASH, a mess, confusion ; "a pretty HASH he made of it ;" to HASH UP, to jumble together without order or regularity. HATCHET, "to throw the HATCHET," to tell lies. HAWSE- HOLES, the apertures in a ship's bows through which the cables pass ; " he has crept in through the HAWSE- HOLES," said of an officer who has risen from the grade of an ordinary seaman. Navy. HAY BAG, a woman. HAZY, intoxicated. Household Words, No. 183. HEAD OR TAIL, " I can't make HEAD OR TAIL of it," i.e., cannot make it out. HEAP, "a HEAP of people," a crowd; " struck all of a HEAP," suddenly astonished. HEAVY WET, porter or beer, because the more a man drinks of it, the heavier he becomes. HEDGE, to secure a doubtful bet by making others. Turf. HEEL-TAPS, small quantities of wine or other beverage left in the bottom of glasses, considered as a sign that the liquor is not liked, and therefore unfriendly and unsocial to the host and the company. HEIGH HO ! a cant term for stolen yarn, from the expression used to apprize the rlishoneat Manufacturer that the speaker has stolen yarn to sell. Norwich cant. 154 A DICTIONARY OF HELL, a fashionable gambling house. In printing offices, the term is generally applied to the old tin box in which is thrown the broken or spoilt type, purchased by the founders for re-casting. Nearly obsolete. HEN AND CHICKENS, large and small pewter pots. HEN-PECKED, said of one whose wife " wears the breeches." HERRING POND, the sea; "to be sent across the HERRING POND," to be transported. HIDING, a thrashing. Webster gives this word, but not its root, HIDE, to beat, flay by whipping. HIGGLEDY-PIGGLEDY, all together, as hogs and pigs lie. HIGH AND DRY, an epithet applied to the soi disant " orthodox" clergy of the last century, for whom, while ill- paid curates did the work, the comforts of the establishment were its greatest charms. " Wherein are various ranks, and due degrees, The Bench for honour, and the Stall for ease." Though often confounded with, they are utterly dissimilar to, the modern High Church or Anglo-Catholic party. Their equally uninteresting opponents deserved the corre- sponding appellation of LOW AND SLOW; while the so called " Broad Church" is defined with equal felicity as the BROAD AND SHALLOW. HIGH FLY, " ON THE HIGH FLY," on the begging or cadging system. HIGH JINKS, " ON THE HIGH JINKS," taking up an arrogant position, assuming an undue superiority. HIGH-FLYER, a genteel beggar, or swindler. HIGH FLYERS, large swings, in frames, at fairs and races. HIGH-LOWS, laced boots reaching a trifle higher than ancle- jacks. HIGHFALUTEN, showy, affected, tinselled, affecting certain pompous or fashionable airs, stuck up ; " come, none of yer HIGHFALUTEN games," i.e., you must not show off or imitate the swell here. American slang from the Dutch, VERLOOTEN. HIP INSIDE, inside coat pocket. HIP OUTSIDE, outside coat pocket. HIVITE, a student of St. Begh's College, Cumberland ; pro- nounced ST. BEE'S. r MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 155 HOAX, to deceive, or ridicule, Grose says was originally a University cant word. Corruption of HOCUS, to cheat. HOCKS, the feet ; CUBBY HOCKS, round or clumsy feet. HOCUS, to drug a person, and then rob him. The HOCUS generally consists of snuff aud beer. HOCUS POCUS, Gipsey words of magic, similar to the modern "presto fly." The Gipseys pronounce " Habeas Corpus" HAWCOS PACCUS (see Crabb's Gipsey' s Advocate, p. 18); can this have anything to do with the origin of HOCUS POCUS ? Turner gives OCHUS BOCHUS, an old demon. Pegge, how- ever, states that it is a burlesque rendering of the words of the unreformed church service at the delivery of the host, HOC EST CORPUS, which the early Protestants considered as a species of conjuring, and ridiculed accordingly. HODGE, a countryman or provincial clown. I don't know that it has been elsewhere remarked, but most country districts in England have one or more families of the name of HODGE ; indeed, GILES and HODGE appear to be the favourite hobnail nomenclature. Not in any way writing disrespect- fully, was the slang word taken from Hog with the g soft, which gives the dg pronunciation ? In old canting dictionaries HOEGE stands for a country clown; so 3 indeed, does ROGER, another favourite provincial name. Vide Bacchus and Venus. HOG, " to go the whole HOG," to do anything with a person's entire strength, not " by halves ;" realised by the phrase " in for a penny in for a pound." Bartlett claims this to be a pure American phrase; whilst Ker, of course, gives it a Dutch origin. Old. HOG, a shilling. Old cant. HOISTING, shoplifting. HOLLOW, " to beat HOLLOW," to excel. HOLY LAND, Seven Dials, where the St. Giles' Greek is spoken. HOOK, to steal or rob. See the following. HOOK OR BY CROOK, by fair means or foul in allusion to the hook which f >otpads used to carry to steal from open windows, &c., and from which HOOK, to take or steal, has been derived. Mentioned in Hudibras as a cant term. HOOK IT, " get out of the way," or " be off about your business ;'' " TO HOOK IT," to run away, to decamp ; " on one's own HOOK," dependant upon one's own exertions. See (he pre- ceding for derivation. 150 A DICTIONARY OF HOOKS, " dropped off the HOOKS," said of a deceased person derived from the ancient practice of suspending on hooka the quarters of a traitor or felon sentenced by the old law to be hung, drawn, and quartered, and which dropped off the hooks as they decayed. HOOKEY WALKER ! ejaculation of incredulity, usually shortened to WALKER ! which see. A correspondent thinks HOOKEY WALKER may have been a certain Huy'i K. Walker. KOOK-UM SNIVEY (formerly " hook and snivey"), a low ex- pression meaning to cheat by feigning sickness or other means Also a piece of thick irjn wire crooked at one end, and fastened into a wooden handle, for the purpose of undoing from the outside the wooden bolt of a door. HOP, a dance. Fashionable slang. HOP THE TWIG, to run away, or BOLT, which see. Old. HOP-MERCHANT, a dancing-master. HOPPING GILES, a cripple. St. JEgidius or Giles, himself similarly afflicted, was their patron saint. The ancient lazar houses were dedicated to him. HORRID HORN, term of reproach amongst the street Irish, meaning a fool, or half-witted fellow. From the Erse OMADHAUN, a brainless fellow. A correspondent suggests HERRIDAN, a miserable old woman. HORRORS, the low spirits, or " blue devils," which follow in- toxication. HORSE, contraction of Horsemonger-lane Gaol. HORSE CHAUNTER, a dealer who takes worthless horses to country fairs and disposes of them by artifice. He is flexible in his ethics, and will put in a glass-eye, or perform other tricks. See COPER. HORSE NAILS, money. Compare BRADS. HORSE'S NIGHTCAP, a halter ; " to die in a HORSE'S NIGHT- CAP," to be hung. HORSE MARINE, an awkward person. In ancient times the ' j JOLLIES '' or Royal Marines, were the butts of the sailors, from their ignorance of seamanship. "Tell that to the MARINES, the blue jackets won't believe it !" was a common rejoinder to a " stiff yarn." No w-a- days they are deservedly appreciated as the finest regiment in the service. A HORSE MARINE (an impossibility) was used to denote one more awkward still. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 157 HOT COPPERS, the feverish sensations experienced next morn- ing by those who have been drunk over night. HOT TIGER, an Oxford mixture of hot-spiced ale and sherry. HOUSE OF COMMONS, a water-closet. HOXTER, an inside pocket. Old English, OXTER. HUEY, a town or village. HUFF, to vex, or offend ; a poor temper. HUFF, a dodge or trick ; " don't try that HUFF on me," or " that HUFF won't do." Norwich. HULK, to hang about in hopes of an invitation. See MOOCH. HULKY, extra sized. Shropshire. HUM AND HAW, to hesitate, raise objections. Old English. HUMBLE PIE, to " eat HUMBLE PIE," to knock under, be sub- missive. The UMBLES, or entrails of a deer, were anciently made into a dish for servants, while their masters feasted off the haunch. HUMBUG, an imposition, or a person who imposes upon others. A very expressive bub slang word, synonymous at one time with HUM AND HAW. Lexicographers have fought shy at adopting this word. Richardson uses it frequently to ex- press the meining of other words, but omits it iu tlie alpha- betical arrangement as unworthy of recognition ! In the first edition of this work, 1785 was given as the earliest date at which the word could be found in a printed book. Since then I have traced HUMBUG half a century farther back, on the title-page of a singular old jest-book " The Universal Jester ; or a pocket companion for the Wits : being a choice collection of merry conceits, facetious drolleries, &c., clenchers, closers, closures, bon-mots, and HUMBUGS," by Ferdinando Killigrew. London, about 1735-40. I have also ascertained that the famous Orator Henley was known to the mob as ORATOR HUMBUG. The fact may be learnt from an illustration in that exceedingly curious little collection of Caricatures, published in 1757, many of which were sketched by Lord Bolingbroke Horace Walpole filling in the names and explanations. Haiti-well describes HUMBUG as " a person who hums," and cites Dean Milles' MS., which was written about 1760. It has been stated that the word is a corruption of Hamburgh, from which town so many false bulletins and reports came during the war in the last century. " Oh, that is Hamburgh [or HUMBUG]," was the answer to any fresh piece of news which smacked of im- 158 A DICTIONARY OF probability. Grose mentions it in his Dictionary, 1785 ; and in a little printed squib, published iu 1808, entitled Bath Characters, by T. Goosequill, HUMBUG is thus mentioned in a comical couplet on the title page : "Wee Thre Bath Deities bee, HUMBUG, Foilie, and Varietee." Gradually from this time the word began to assume a place in periodical literature, and in novels not written by squeamish or over-precise authors. In the preface to a flat, and, I fear, unprofitable poem, entitled, The Reign O/HUJIBUG, a Satire, 8vo., 1836, the author thus apologises for the use of the word " I have used the term HUMBUG to designate this principle [wretched sophistry of life generally], consider- ing that it is now adopted into our language as much as the words dunce, jockey, cheat, swindler, c., which were formerly only colloquial terms." A correspondent, who in a late number of Adersaria ingeniously traced bombast to the inflated Doctor Paracelsus Bombast, considers that HUMBUG may, in like manner, be derived from Homberg, the distinguished chemist of the court of the Duke of Orleans, who, according to the following passage from Bishop Berkeley's " Siris," was an ardent and successful seeker after the philosopher's stone! " 194. Of this there cannot be a better proof than the experiment of Monsieur Homberg, WHO MADE GOLD OP MBBCUHY BY IN- TRODUCING LIGHT INTO ITS POKES, but at such trouble and ex- pense, that, I suppose, nobody will try the experiment for profit. Bt this injunction of light and mercury, both bodies became fixed, and produced a third different to either, to wit, real gold. For the truth of which FACT I refer to the memoirs of the French Aca-lemy of Sciences." Berkeley's Works, vol. ii., p. 366, (Wright's edition). The universal use of this term is remarkable ; in California there is a town called Humbug Flat a name which gives a significant hint of the acuteness of the first settler. HUM-DRUM, tedious, tiresome, boring; "a society of gentle- men who used to meet near the Charter House, or at the King's Head, St. John's- street. They were charac- terised by less mystery and more pleasantry than the Free- masons." Bacchus and Venus, 1737. In the West a low cart. HUMP, to botch, or spoil. HUMP UP, " to have one's HUMP UP," to be cross or ill-tempered like a cat with its back set up. See MONKEY. HUMPTY DUMPTY, short and thick. HUNCH, to shove, or jostle. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 159 HUNTER PITCHING, cockshies,or three throws a penny .See COCKSHY. HUNTING THE SQUIRREL, when hackney and stage coach- men try to upset each other's vehicles on the public roads. Nearly obsolete. HURDY-GURDY, a droning musical instrument shaped like a large fiddle, and turned by a crank, used by Savoyards and itinerant foreign musicians in England, now nearly super- seded by the hand-organ. A correspondent suggests that the name is derived from being girded on the HARDIES, loins or buttocks. Scotch; Tain o'S/ianter. In Italy the instru- ment is called VIOLA. HUSH-MONEY, a sum given to quash a prosecution or evidence. HUSH- SHOP, or CRIB, a shop where beer or spirits is sold " on the quiet" no licence being paid. HYPS, or HYPO, the blue devils. From ffypockondriasis. SWIFT. IN, " to be IN with a person," to be even with, or UP to him. IN FOR IT, in trouble or difficulty of any kind. IN FOR PATTER, waiting for trial. INEXPRESSIBLES, UNDTTERABLES, UNWHISPERABLES, or SIT- UPONS, trousers, the nether garments. INNINGS, earnings, money coming in ; " he's had long INNINGS," i.e., a good run of luck, plenty of cash flowing in. INSIDE LINING, dinner, &c. INTERESTING, " to be in an INTERESTING situation," applied to females when enceinte. INTO, " hold my hat, Jim, I'll be INTO him," i.e., I will fight him. In this sense equivalent to PITCH INTO or SLIP INTO. INVITE, an invitation a corruption used by stuck-up people of mushroom origin. IPSAL DIXAL, Cockney corruption of ipse dixit said of one's simple uncorroborated assertion. IT'S GOOD ON THE STAR, it's easy to open. IVORIES, teeth ; " a box " or " cage of IVORIES," a set of teeth, the mouth ; "wash your IVORIES,'' i.e., " drink." The word is also used to denote DICE. JABBER, to talk, or chatter. A cant word in Swift's time. JACK, a low prostitute. JACK KETCH, the public hangman. Sec KETCH. loO A DICTIONARY OP JACK SPEAT, a diminutive boy or man. JACK TAR, a sailor. JACK- AT- A PINCH, one whose assistance is only sought on an emergency; JACK-IN THE WATER, an attendant at the watermen's stairs on the river and sea-port towns, who does not mind wetting his feet for a customer's conve- nience, in consideration of a douceur. JACKS, HALF JACKS, card counters, resembling in size and appearance sovereigns and half-sovereigns, for which they are occasionally passed to simple persons. In large gam- bling establishments the " heaps of gold " are frequently composed mainly of JACKS. JACKETING, a thrashing. JACKET, gin. JACOB, a ladder. Grose says from Jacob's dream. Old cant. JAGGER, a gentleman. German, JAGEB, a sportsman. JAIL-BIRD, a prisoner, one who has been in jail. JAMES, a sovereign, or twenty shillings. JANNOCK, sociable, fair dealing, Norfolk. JAPAN, to ordain. University. JARK, a seal, or watch ornament. Ancient cant. JARVEY, the driver of a hackney coach; JARVEY'S UPPER BENJAMIN, a coachman's over-coat. JAW, speech, or talk ; " hold your JAW," don't speak any more ; " what are you JAWING about?" i.e., what are you making a noise about ? JAW-BREAKERS, hard or many- syllabled words. JAZEY, a wig. A corruption of JERSEY, the name for flax prepared in a peculiar manner, and of which common wigs were formerly made. JE AMES, (a generic for "flunkies,") the Morning Post newspaper the organ of Belgravia and the " Haristocracy." JEHU, old slang term for a coachman, or one fond of driving. JEMMY, a crowbar. JEMMY, a sheep's head. See SANGUINARY JAMES. JEMMY JESSAMY, a dandy. JERRY, a beer house. JERRY, a chamber utensil, abbreviation of JEROBOAM. Swift. JERRY-COME-TUMBLE, a water-closet. JERRY, a fog. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 161 JERUSALEM PONY, a donkey. JESSIE, " to give a person JESSIE," to beat him soundly. See GAS. JEW'S EYE, a popular simile for anything valuable. Probably a corruption of the Italian, GIOJE ; French, JOUAILLE, a jewel. In ancient times, when a king was short of cash, he generally issued orders for so many Jew's eyes, or equi- valent sums of money. The Jews preferred paying the ransom, although often very heavy. We thus realise the popularly believed origin of JEW'S EYE. Used by Skakes- pere. JEW-FENCER, a Jew street salesman. JIB, the face, or a person's expression ; "the cut of his JIB," i e. his peculiar appearance. The sail of a ship, which in posi- tion and shape corresponds to the nose on a person's face. See GIB. Sea. JIB, or JIBBER, a horse that starts or shrinks. SkaJcespere uses it in the sense of a worn out horse. JIRB, the tongue. Gipsey and Hindoo. JIFFY. " in a JIFFY," in a moment. JIGGER, a secret still, illicit spirits. Scotch. JIGGER, " I'm JIGGERED if you will," a common form of mild swearing. See SNIGGER. JIGGER, a door ; "dub the JIGGER," shut the door. Ancient cant, GYGER. In billiards the bridge on the table is often termed the JIGGER. JIGGER-DUBBERS, term applied to jailors or turnkeys. JILT, a crowbar or housebreaking implement. JINGO, " by JINGO," a common form of oath, said to be a corruption of St. Gingoulph. Vide Halliwell. JOB, a short piece of work, a prospect of employment. Johnson describes JOB as a low word, without etymology. It is, and was, however, a cant word, and a JOB, two centuries ago, was an arranged robbery. Even at the present day it is mainly confined to the streets, in the sense of employment for a short time. Amongst undertakers a JOB signifies a funeral; "to do a JOB," conduct any one's funeral; "by the JOB," i.e., piece-work, as opposed to time-work. A JOB in political phraseology is a Government office or contract, obtained by secret influence or favouritism. To JOE BLAKE THE BARTLEMY, to visit a low woman. JOEY, a fourpenny piece. The term is derived (like BOBBY from M 162 A DICTIONARY OP Sir Robert Peel) from Joseph Hume, the late respected M.P. The explanation is thus given in Hawkins' History of the Silver Coinage of England. " These pieces are said to have owed their existence to the pressing instance of Mr. Hnme, from whence they, for some time, boe the nickname of JOBYS. As they were very convenient to pay short cab fares, the Hon. M.P. was extremely unpopular with the drivers, who frequently received only a groat where otherwise they would have received a sixpence without any demand for change." The term originated with the London cabmen, who have invented many others. JOG-TROT, a slow but regular trot, or pace. JOGUL, to play up, at cards or other game. Spanish, JUGAR. JOHN THOMAS, a generic for " flunkies," footmen popularly represented with large calves and bushy whiskers. JOLLY, a word of praise, or favourable notice ; "chuck Harry a JOLLY, Bill !" i.e., go and praise up his goods, or buy of him, and speak well of the article, that the crowd standing around his stall may think it a good opportunity to lay out their money. " Chuck a JOLLY," literally translated, is to throw a shout or a good word. JOLLY, a Royal Marine. See HOUSE MARINE. TOMER, a sweetheart, or favourite girl. See BLOWER. JORDAN, a chamber utensiL Saxon. JOSKIN, a countryman. JUG, a prison, or jail. JUMP, to seize, or rob ; "to JUMP a man,' 1 to pounce upon him, and either rob or maltreat him; " to JUMP a house," to rob it. See GO. JUNIPER, gin. Household Words, No. 183. JUNK, salt beef. See OLD HORSE. KEEL-HAULING, a good thrashing or mauling, rough treat- ment, from the old nautical custom of punishing offenders by throwing them overboard with a rope attached and hauling them up from under the ship's keel. KEEP IT UP, to prolong a debauch, or the occasion of a re- joicing a metaphor drawn from the game of shuttlecock. Ch'ose. KEN, a house. Ancient cant. KHAN, Gipsey and Oriental. * # * All slang and cant words which end in KEN, such as SPIELKEN, SPINIKEN, BAWDYKEN, Or BOOZINGKEN, refer to houses, and are partly of Gipsey origin. KEN-CRACKERS, housebreakers. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 163 KENNEDY, to strike or kill with a poker. A St. Giles' term, so given from a man of that name being killed by a poker. Frequently shortened to NEDDY. KENT RAG, or CLOUT, a cotton handkerchief. KERTEVER-CARTZO, the venereal disease. From the Lingua Franca, CATTIVO, bad, and CAZZO, the male generative organ. KETCH, or JACK KETCH, the popular name for a public hang- man derived from a person of that name who officiated in the reign of Charles II. See Macaulay's History of England, p. 626. KIBOSH, nonsense, stuff, humbug; "it's all KIBOSH," i. e., palaver or nonsense ; " to put on the KIBOSH," to run down, slander, degrade, &c. See BOSH. KICK, a moment ; " I'll be there in a KICK," i. e., in a minute. KICK, a sixpence ; " two and a KICK," two shillings and six- pence. KICK, a pocket. KICK THE BUCKET, to die. -Norfolk. According to Forby, a metaphor taken from the descent of a well or mine, which is of course absurd. The Rev. E. S. Taylor supplies me with the following note from his MS. additions to the work of the East-Anglian lexicographer : " The allusion is to the way in which a slaughtered pig is hung up, viz., by passing the ends of a bent piece of wood behind the tendons of the hind legs, and so suspending it to a hook in a beam above. This piece of wood is locally termed a bucket, and so by a coarse metaphor the phrase came to signify to die. Compare the Norfolk phrase " as wrong as a bucket." The natives of the West Indies have converted the expres- sion into KICKERABOO. KICK-UP, a noise or disturbance. KICK UP, "to KICK UP a row," to create a tumult. KICKSHAWS, trifles; made, or French dishes not English, or substantial. Corruption of the French, QUELQUES CHOSES. KICKSIES, trousers. KICKSY, troublesome, disagreeable. KID, an infant, or child. KID, to joke, to quiz, to hoax anybody. KID-ON, to entice, or incite a person on to the perpetration of an act. KID-RIG, cheating children in the streets sent on errands, cr entrusted with packages. Nearly obsolete. 164 A DICTION AKY OF KIDDEN, a low lodging house for boys. KIDDIER, a pork-butcher. KIDDILY, fashionably, or showily ; " KIDDILY togg'd," showily dressed. KIDDLEYWINK, a small shop where they retail the commo- dities of a village store. Also, a loose woman. KIDDY, a man or boy. Formerly a low thief. KIDDYISH, frolicsome, jovial. " Think on the KIDDTISH spree we had on such, a day." RandalV* Ihary, 1820. KIDMENT, a pocket-handkerchief fastened to the pocket, and partially hung out to entrap thieves. KIDNAPPER, one who steals children or adults. From KID, a child, and NAB (corrupted to NAP), to steal, or seize. KIDNEY, " of that KIDNEY," of such a stamp : " strange KIDNEY," odd humour; "two of a KIDNEY," two persons of a sort, or as like as two peas, i.e., resembling each other like two kidneys in a bunch. Old. "Attempt to put their hair out of KIDNEY." Terrce Filius, 1763. KIDSMAN, one who trains boys to thieve and pick pockets suc- cessfully. KILKENNY CAT, a popular simile for a voracious or desperate animal or person, from the story of the two cats in that county, who are said to have fought and bitten each other until a small portion of the tail of one of them alone remained. KILLING, bewitching, fascinating. The term is akin to the phrase " dressing to DEATH." KIMBO, or A KIMBO, holding the arms in a bent position from the body, and resting the hands upon the hips, iu a bullying attitude. Said to be from A SCHEMBO, Italian ; but more probably from KISEBAW, the old cant for beating, or bully- ing. See Grose. KINCHIN, a child. Old cant. From the German diminutive KTNDCHEN, a baby. KINCHIN COVE, a man who robs children ; a little man. Ancient cant. KINGSMAN, the favourite coloured neckerchief of the coster- inongers. ' The women wear them thrown over their shoulders. With both sexes they are more valued than any other article of clothing. A coster's caste, or position, is at stake, he imagines, if his KINGSMAN is not of the most approved pattern. When he fights, his KIXGSMAN is tied MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 165 either around his waist as a belt 1 ., or as a garter around his leg. This very singular partiality for a peculiar coloured neckcloth was doubtless derived from the Gipseys, and probably refers to an Oriental taste or custom long forgotten by these vagabonds. A singular similarity of taste for certain colours exists amongst the Hindoos, Gipseys, and London costermongers. Red and yellow (or orange) are the great favourites, and in these hues the Hindoo selects his turban and his robe ; the Gipsey his breeches, and his wife her shawl or gown ; and the costermonger his plush waist- coat and favourite KINGSMAN. Amongst either class, when a fight takes place, the greatest regard is paid to the favourite coloured article of dress. The Hindoo lays aside his turban, the Gipsey folds up his scarlet breeches or coat, whilst the pugilistic costermonger of Covent Garden or Billingsgate, as we have just seen, removes his favourite neckerchief to a part of his body, by the rules of the " ring." comparatively out of danger. Amongst the various patterns of kerchiefs worn by the wandering tribes of London, red and yellow are the oldest and most in fashion. Blue, inter- mixed with spots, is a late importation, probably from the Navy, through sporting characters. KING'S PICTURES (now, of course, QUEEN s PICTURES), money. KISKY, drunk, fuddled. KISS CURL, a small curl twisted on the temple. See BOW- CATCHER. KISS-ME-QUICK, the name given to the very small bonnets worn by females since 1850. KITE, see FLY THE KITE. KNACKER, an old horse; a horse slaughterer. Gloucestershire. KNAP, to receive, to take, to steal. KNAPPING- JIGGER, a turnpike-gate ; " to dub at the KNAPP- ING-JIGGER," to pay money at the turnpike. KNARK, a hard-hearted or savage person. KNIFE, " to KNIFE a person," to stab, an un-English but now- a-days a very common expression. KNIFE IT, " cut it," cease, stop, don't proceed. KNIFE-BOARD, the seat running along the roof of an omnibus. KNIGHT, a common and ironical prefix to a man's calling, thus, "KNIGHT of the whip," a coachman; "KNIGHT of the thimble," a tailor. KNOCK ABOUT THE BUB, to hand or pass about the drink. 166 A DICTION AEY OF KNOCK DOWN", or KNOCK ME DOWN, strong ale. KNOCK OFF, to give over, or abandon. A saying used by workmen about dinner, or other meal times, for upwards of two centuries. KNOCKED UP, tired, jaded, used up, done for. In the United States, amongst females, the phrase is equivalent to being enceinte, so that Englishmen often unconsciously commit themselves when amongst our Yankee cousins. KNOCK-IN, the game of loo. KNOCK-OUTS, or KNOCK-INS, disreputable persons who visit auction rooms and unite to buy the articles at their own prices. One of their number is instructed to buy for the rest, and after a few small bids as blinds to the auctioneer and bystanders, the lot is knocked down to the KNOCK-OUT bidders, at a nominal price the competition to result from an auction being thus frustrated and set aside. At the con- clusion of the sale the goods are paid for, and carried to some neighbouring public house, where they are re-sold or KNOCKED-OUT, and the difference between the first purchase and the second or tap- room KNOCK-OUT is divided amongst the gang. As generally happens with ilJ-gotten gains, the money soon finds its way to the landlord's pocket, and the KNOCK-OUT is rewarded with a red nose or a bloated face. Cunning tradesmen join the KNOCK-OUTS when an opportunity for money making presents itself. The lowest description of KNOCK-OUTS, fellows with more tongue than capital, are termed BABES, which see. KNOCKING-SHOP, a brothel, or disreputable house frequented by prostitutes. KNOWING, a slang term for sharpness ; " KNOWING codger," or " a KNOWING blade," one who can take you in, or cheat you, in any transaction you may have with him. It implies also deep cunning and foresight, and generally signifies dis- honesty. " Who, on a spree with black eyed Sal, his blowen, So swell, so prime, so nutty and so KNOWING." Don Juan. KNOWLEDGE BOX, the h&4.Pgitittic. KNUCKLE, to pick pockets after the most approved method. KNUCKLE TO, or KNUCKLE UNDER, to yield or submit. KNUCKLER, a pickpocket. KNULLER, old term for a chimney-sweep,-wlio solicited jobs by ringing a bell. From the Saxon, CNTLLAN, to knell, or sound a bell. See QUEBIER. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 1G7 KOTOOING, misapplied flattery. Illustrated London Noes, 7th January, 1860. KYPSEY, a basket. LA ! a euphuistic rendering of LORD, common amongst females and very precise persons ; imagined by many to be a cor- ruption of LOOK ! but this is a mistake. Sometimes pro- nounced LAW, Or LAWKS. LACING, a beating. From the phrase " I'll LACE your jacket." L' Estrange. Perhaps to give a beating with a lace or lash. LADDER, " can't see a hole in a LADDER," said of any one who is intoxicated. L ADDLE, a lady. Term with chimney-sweeps on the 1st of May. A correspondent suggests that the term may come from the brass ladles for collecting money, always carried by the sweeps' ladies. LAG, a returned transport, or ticket-of- leave convict. LAG, to void urine. Ancient cant. LAGGED, transported for a crime. LAGGER, a sailor. LAME DUCK, a stock jobber who speculates beyond his capital and cannot pay his losses. Upon retiring from the Exchange he is said to " waddle out of the Alley." LAMMING, a beating. Old English, LAM ; used by Beaumont and Fletcher. LAND LUBBER, sea term for a landsman." See LOAFER. LAND-SHARK, a sailor's definition of a lawyer. LAP THE GUTTER, to get drunk. LARK, fun, a joke ; " let's have a jolly good LARK," let us have a piece of fun. Mayhew calls it " a convenient word cover- ing much mischief." Anglo Saxon, LAC, sport ; but more probably from the nautical term SKYLARKING, i.e., mounting to the highest yards 'and sliding down the ropes for amuse- ment, which is allowed on certain occasions. LARRUP, to beat, or thrash. LARRUPING, a good beating or "hiding." Irish, LATCHPAN, the lower lip properly a dripping pan; "to hang one's LATCHPAN," to pout, be sulky. Norfolk. LAVENDER, " to be laid up in LAVENDER," in pawn ; or, when a person is out of the way for an especial purpose. Old. LAY, to watch ; " on the LAY," on the look out Shakespere. LED CAPTAIN, a fashionable spunger, a swell who, by artifice 168 A DICTIONARY OF ingratiates himself into the good graces of the master of the house, and lives at his table. LEAHY, to look, or be watchful ; shy. Old cant. LEARY, flash, or knowing. LEARY BLOAK, a person who dresses showily. LEATHER, to beat or thrash. From the leather belt worn by soldiers and policemen, often used as a weapon in street rows. LEAVING SHOP, an unlicensed house where goods are taken in to pawn at exorbitant rates of interest. Daily Telegraph, 1st August, 1859. LEEF, " I'd as LEEF do it as not," i.e., I have no objection to do it. Corruption of LIEF, or LEAVE. Old English, LIEF, inclined to. LEG IT, to run; LEG BAIL, to run off,- "to give a LEG," to assist, as when one mounts a horse ; " making a LEG," a countryman's bow, projecting the leg from behind as a balance to the head bent forward. Shakespere. LEGGED, in irons. LEGS, or BLACKLEGS, disreputable sporting characters, and race- course habitues. LEGS OF MUTTON, inflated street term for sheeps' trotters, or feet. LENGTH, forty-two lines of a dramatic composition. Theat. LENGTH, six months' imprisonment. See STRETCH. LET DRIVE, to strike, or attack with vigour. LET IN, to cheat or victimise. LET ON, to give an intimation of having some knowledge of a subject. Ramsay employs the phrase in the Gentle Shepherd. Common in Scotland. LETTY, a bed. Italian, LETTO. LEVANTER, a card sharper, or defaulting gambler. A cor- respondent states that it was formerly the custom to give out to the creditors, when a person was in pecuniary diffi- culties, and it was convenient for him to keep away, that he was gone to the East, or the LEVANT ; hence, when one loses a bet, and decamps without settling, he is said to LEVANT. LICK, a blow ; LICKING, a beating ; " to put in big LICKS," a curious and common phrase meaning that great exertions are being made. Dryden ; North. LICK, to excel, or overcome; "if you aint sharp he'll LICK MODERN SLANG AND CANT WOKDS. 169 you," i.e., be finished first. Signifies, also, to whip, chastise, or conquer. Ancient cant, LYCKE. LIFER, a convict who is sentenced to transportation for life. LIFT, to steal, pick pockets; "there's a clock been LIFTED," said when a watch has been stolen. The word is as old as the Border forays, and is used by Shakespere. SHOPLIFTER is a recognised term. LIGHT, " to be able to get a LIGHT at a house" is to get credit. LIGHT- FEEDERS, silver spoons. LIGHTS, a "cake," a fool, a soft or "doughy" person. LIGHTS, the eyes. LIGHTNING, gin ; " FLASH o' LIGHTNING," a glass of gin. LIMB OF THE LAW, a lawyer, or clerk articled to that profession. LINE, calling, trade, profession ; " what LINE are you in ?" "the building LINE." LINGO, talk, or language. Slang is termed LINGO amongst the lower orders. Italian, LINGUA. LIP, bounce, impudence ; " come, none o' yer LIP !" LIQUOR, or LIQUOR UP, to drink drams. Americanism. IN LIQUOR, tipsy, or drunk. LITTLE GO, the " Previous Examination," at Cambridge the first University examination for undergraduates in their second year of matriculation. At Oxford, the corresponding term is THE SMALLS. LITTLE SNAKES- MAN, a little thief, who is generally passed through a small aperture to open any door to let in the rest of the gang. LIVE-STOCK, vermin of the insect kind. LOAFER, a lazy vagabond. Generally considered an Ame- ricanism. LOPER, or LOAFER, however, was in general use as a cant term in the early part of the last century. LAND- LOPER, was a vagabond who begged in Ihe attire of a sailor; and the sea phrase, LAND LUBBER, was doubtless synony- mous. See the Times, 3rd November, 1859, fora reference to LOAFER. LOAVER, money. See LOUR. LOB, a till, or money drawer. LOBB, the head. Pugilistic. LOBLOLLY, gruel. Old : used by Markham as a sea term for grit gruel, or hasty pudding. 170 A DICTIONARY OF LOBLOLLY BOY, a derisive term for a surgeon's mate in the navy. LOBS, words. Gipsey. LOBSTER, a soldier. A policeman from the colour of his coat is styled an unboiled, or raw LOBSTER. LOBSTER-BOX, a barrack, or military station. LOLLY, the head. /SeeLOBB. Pugilistic. LONG-BOW, "to draw," or "shoot with the LONGBOW," to exaggerate. LONG-TAILED-ONES, bank notes, or FLIMSIES, for a large amount. LOOF FAKER, a chimney-sweep. See FLUB FAKER. LOOSE. See ON THE LOOSE. LOOT, swag, or plunder. Hindoo. LOP-SIDED, uneven, one side larger than the other. Old. LOPE, this old form of leap is often heard in the streets. LORD, '' drunk as a LORD," a common saying, probably referring to the facilities a man of fortune has for such a grati- fication ; perhaps a sly sarcasm at the supposed habits of the " haristocracy." LORD, a hump- backed man. See MY LORD. LORD OF THE MANOR, a sixpence. LOUD, flashy, sliowy, as applied to dress or manner. See BAGS. LOUR, or LOWR, money ; " gammy LOWR," bad money. Ancient cant, and Gipsey. LOUSE-TRAP, a small tooth comb. Old cant. See CATCH 'EM ALIVE. LOVE, at billiards "five to none" would be " five LOVE," a LOVE being the same as when one player does not score at all. LOVEAGE, tap droppings, a mixture of spirits, sweetened and sold to habitual dram-drinkers, principally females. Called also ALLS. LUBBER, a clown, or fool. Ancient cant, LUBBARE. LUBBER'S HOLE, an aperture in the maintop of a ship, by which a timid climber may avoid the difficulties of the " futtock shrouds " hence, a sea term for any cowardly way of evading duty. LUCK, " down on one's LUCK/' wanting money, or in difficulty. LUCKY, " to cut one's LUCKY," to go away quickly. See STRIKE. LUG, " my togs are in LUG," i.e., in pawn. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 171 LUG, the ear. Scotch. LUG, to pull, or slake thirst. Old. LUG CHOVEY, a pawnbroker's shop. LULLY PRIGGEHS, rogues who steal wet clothes hung on lines to dry. LUMBER, to pawn or pledge. Household Words, No. 183. LUMMY, jolly, first-rate. LUMPER, a contractor. On the river, more especially a person who contracts to deliver a ship laden with timber. LUMP THE LIGHTER, to be transported. LUMP WORK, work contracted for, or taken by the lump. LUMPERS, low thieves who haunt wharves and docks, and rob vessels ; persons who sell old goods for new. LUMPY, intoxicated. LUNAN, a girl.-Gipsey. LURK, a sham, swindle, or representation of feigned distress. LURKER, an impostor who travels the country with false certi- ficates of fires, shipwrecks, &c. LUSH, intoxicating drinks of all kinds, but generally used for beer. The Globe, 8th September, 1859, says " LUSH and its derivatives claim Lushington, the brewer, as sponsor." LUSH, to drink, or get drunk. LUSH-CRIB, a public house. LUSHINGTON", a drunkard, or one who continually soaks him- self with drams, and pints of beer. Some year.? since there was a " Lushington Club " in Bow-street, Covent Garden. LUSHY, intoxicated. Johnson says "opposite to pale," so red with drink. MAB, a cab, or hackney coach. MACE, a dressy swindler who victimizes tradesmen. MACE, to spunge, swindle, or beg, in a polite way ; " give it him (a shopkeeper) on the MACE," i.e., obtain goods on credit and never pay for them ; also termed " striking the MACE." MADZA, half. Italian, MEZZA. This word enters into combi- nation with various cant phrases, mainly taken from the Lingua Franca, as MADZA CAROON, half-a-crown, two-and- sixpence ; MADZA SALTEE, a halfpenny [see SALTEE] ; MADZA POONA, hal f-a-sove reign ; MADZA. ROUND THE BULL, half- a pound of steak, &c. 172 A DICTIONARY OF MAG, a halfpenny. Ancient cant, MAKE. MEGGS were formerly guineas. B. M, Carew. MAG, to talk. A corruption of NAG. Old ; hence MAGPIE. MAGGOTTY, fanciful, fidgetty. Whims and fancies were formerly termed MAGGOTS, from the popular belief that a maggot in the brain was the cause of any odd notion or caprice a person might exhibit. MAGSMAN, a street swindler, who watches for countrymen and " gullable" persons. MAHOGANY, "to have one's feet under another man's MAHO- GANY," to sit at his table, be supported on other than one's own resources ; " amputate your MAHOGANY," i.e., go away, or " cut your stick." MAIN-TOBY, the highway, or the main road. MAKE, a successful theft, or swindle. MAKE, to steal. MAKE UP, personal appearance. Theatrical. MANG, to talk. Scotch. MARE'S NEST, a Cockney discovery of marvels, which turn out no marvels at all. An old preacher in Cornwall, up to very lately employed a different version, viz. : " a cow calving up in a tree." MARINATED, transported ; from the salt- pickling fish under- go in Cornwall. Old cant. MARINE, or MARINE RECRUIT, an empty bottle. This expres- sion having once been used in the presence of an officer of marines, he was at first inclined to take it as an insult, until some one adroitly appeased his wrath by remarking that no offence could be meant, as all that it could possibly imply was, " one who had done his duty, and was ready to do it again." See HORSE MARINE. Naval. MARRIAGE LINES, a marriage certificate. Provincial. MARROWSKYING. See MEDICAL GREEK. MARYGOLD, one million sterling. See PLUM. MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS, when the leader of the House of Commons goes through the doleful operation of devoting to extinction a number of useful measures at the end of the session, for want of time to pass them. Vide Times, 20th July, 1859 : Mr. C. Foster, on altering the time of the legislative sessions. Parliamentary slang. MATE, the term a coster or low person applies to a friend, partner, or companion ; " me and my MATE did so and so," MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 173 is a common phrase with a low Londoner. Originally a Sea, term. MAULEY, a signature, from MAULEY, a fist; " put your FIST to it," is sometimes said by a low tradesman when desiring a fellow trader to put his signature to a bill or note. MAULEY, a fist, that with which one strikes as with a MALL. Pugilistic. MAUND, to beg ; " MAUNDERING on the fly,'' begging of people in the streets. Old cant. MAUNG, to beg, is a term in use amongst the Gipseys, and may also be found in the Hindoo Vocabulary. MAUND, however, is pure Anglo Saxon, from MAND, a basket. Compare " beg," which is derived from BAG, a curious parallel. MAW, the mouth ; " hold your MAW," cease talking. MAX, gin ; MAX-UPON TICK, gin obtained upon credit. M. B. COAT, i.e., Marl: of the Beast, a name given to the long surtout worn by the clergy, a modern Puritan form of abuse, said to have been accidentally disclosed to a Trac- tarian customer by a tailor's orders to his foreman. MEALY-MOUTHED, plausible, deceitful. MEDICAL GREEK, the slang used by medical students at the hospitals. At the London University they have a way of disguising English, described by Albert Smith as the Gower- street Jjialect, which consists in transposing the initials of words, e.g., " poke a, smipe " smoke a pipe, "flutter-by" butterfly, &c. This disagreeable nonsense is often termed MA.RROWSKYING. See GREEK, St. Giles' Greek, or the " ^Egidiac" dialect, Language of ZIPH, &c. MENAGERY, the orchestra of a theatre. Theatrical. MIDDY, abbreviation of MIDSHIPMAN. - Naval. MIDGE NET, a lady's veil. MIKE, to loiter; or, as a costermouger denned it, to "lazy about." The term probably originated at St. Giles', which used to be thronged with Irish labourers (Mike being so common a term with them as to become a generic appella- tion for Irishmen with the vulgar) who used to loiter about the Pound, and lean against the public-houses in the " Dials" waiting for hire. MILKY ONES, white linen rags. MILL, a fight, or SET TO. Ancient cant, MYLL, to rob. MILL, to fight or beat. MILL, the treadmill, prison. 174: A DICTIONARY OF MILL-TOG, a shirt most likely the prison garment. MISH, a shirt, or chemise. From COMMISSION, the Ancient cant for a shirt, afterwards shortened to K'MJSH or SMISH, and then to MISH. French, CHEMISE ; Italian, CAMICIA. " With his snowy CAMESB and his shaggy capote." Byrvn,. MITTENS, Hats. Pugilistic. MIZZLE, to run away, or decamp; to disappear as in a mist. From MIZZLE, a drizzling rain ; a Scotch mist. " And then one mizzling Michaelmas night The Count he MIZZLED too." Hood. MOB. Swift informs us, in his Art of Polite Conversation, that MOB was, in his time, the slang abbreviation of Mobility, just as NOB is of Nobility at the present day. See SCHOOL. MOBILITY, the populace ; or, according to Burke, the " great unwashed." Johnson calls it a cant term, although Swift notices it as a proper expression. MOBS, companions ; MOBSMEN, dressy swindlers. MOKE, a donkey. Gipsey, MOKO, a name given by sportsmen to pheasants killed by mis- take in partridge shooting during September, before the pheasant shooting comes in. They pull out their tails, and roundly assert they are no pheasants at all, but MOKOS. MOLL, a girl; nickname for Mary. Old cant. MOLL'D, followed, or accompanied by a woman. MOLLISHER, a low girl or woman ; generally a female cohabit- ing with a man, and jointly getting their living by thieving. MOLLSACK, a reticule, or market basket. MOLL-TOOLER, a female pickpocket. MOLLYCODDLE, an effeminate man ; one who caudles amongst the women, or does their work. MOLLYGRUBS, or MULLIGRUBS, stomach ache, or sorrow which to the costermonger is much the same, as he be- lieves, like the ancients, that the viscera is the seat of all feeling. MOLROWING, " out on the spree" in company with so-called gay women." In allusion to the amatory serenadings of the London cats. MONEKEER, a person's name or signature. MONKEY, spirit, or ill temper ; " to get one's MONKEY up," to rouse his passion. A man is said to have his MONKEY up, or the MONKEY on his back, when he is " riled" or out of temper ; also to have his BACK or HUMP up. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 175 MONKEY, a padlock. MONKEY, the instrument which drives a rocket. Army. MONKEY, 500. MONKEY WITH A LONG TAIL, a mortgage. Legal. MONKEY'S ALLOWANCE, to get blows instead of alms, more kicks than half-pence. MONKERY, the country, or rural districts. Old word for a quiet, or monastic life. Hall. MOOCH, to sponge ; to obtrude yourself upon friends just when they are about to sit down to dinner, or other lucky time of course quite accidentally. Compare HULK. To slink away, and allow your friend to pay for the entertainment. In Wiltshire, ON THE MOUTCH is to shuffle. MOOCHING, or ON THE MOOCH, on the look out for any articles or circumstances which may be turned to a profitable account ; watching in the streets for odd jobs, scraps, horses to hold, &c. MOOE, the mouth; the female generative organ. Gipsey and Hindoo. Shakespere has HOE, to make mouths. MOON, a month generally used to express the length of time a person has been sentenced by the magistrate ; thus " ONE MOON " is one month. See DRAO. It is a curious fact that the Indians of America arid the roaming vagabonds of England should both calculate time by the MOON. MOONEY, intoxicated. Household Words, No. 183. MOONLIGHT, or MOONSHINE, smuggled gin. MOONSHINE, palaver, deception, humbug. MOP, a hiring place (or fair) for servants. Steps are being taken to put down these assembla.es, which have been proved to be greatly detrimental to the morality of the poor. MOP UP, to drink, or empty a glass. Old. MOPS AND BROOMS, intoxicated. Ho. Words, No. 183. MOPUSSES, money ; " MOPUSSES ran taper," money ran short. MORRIS, to decamp, be off. Probably from the ancient MORESCO, or MORRIS DANCE. MORTAR-BOARD, the term given by the vulgar to the square college caps. MOTT, a girl of indifferent character. Formerly Mort. Dutch, MOTT-KAST, a harlotry. MOUNTAIN-DEW, whisky, advertised as from the Highlands. MOUNTAIN PECKER, a sheep's head. See JEMMT. 176 A DICTIONARY OP MOUNTER, a false swearer. Derived from the borrowed clothes men used to MOUNT, or dress in, when going to swear for a consideration. MOUTHPIECE, a lawyer, or counseL MOVE, a " dodge," or cunning trick ; " up to a move or two," acquainted with tricks. MRS. JONES, the house of office, a water-closet. MRS. HARRIS and MRS. GAMP, nicknames of the Morning Herald and Standard newspapers, while united under the proprietorship of Mr. Baldwin. MRS. GAMP, a monthly nurse, was a character in Mr. Charles Dickens' popular novel of Martin Chuzzlewit, who continually quoted an imaginary Mrs. Harris in attestation of the superiority of her qualifi- cations, and the infallibility of her opinions ; and thus afforded a parallel to the two newspapers, who appealed to each other as independent authorities, being all the while the production of the same editorial staff. MUCK, to beat, or excel ; "it's no use, luck's set in him ; he'd MUCK a thousand." Mayhew, vol. i, p. 18. To RUN A MUCK, or GO A MUCKER, to rush headlong into certain ruin. From a certain religious phrenzy, which is common among the Malays, causing one of them, kreese in hand, to dash into a crowd and devote every one to death he meets with, until he is himself killed, or falls from exhaustion Malay, AMOK, slaughter. MUCK OUT, to clean out, often applied to one utterly ruining an adversary in gambling From the Provincial MUCK, dirt. MUCK-SNIPE, one who has been "MUCKED OUT,' or beggared, at gambling. MUCKENDEtt, or MUCKENGER, a pocket handkerchief. Old. MUDFOG, "The British Association for the Promotion of Science." University. MUD -LARKS, men and women who, with their clothes tucked above knee, grovel through the uuud on the banks of the Thames, when the tide is low, for silver spoous, old bottles, pieces of iron, coal, or any article.-- of the least value, depo- sited by the retiring tide, either from passing ships or the sewers. Occasionally those men who cleanse the tewers, with great boots and sou' wester hats. MUFF, a silly, or weak-minded person ; MUFF has been denned to be " a soft thing that holds a lady's hand s\ ithout squeezing it." MUFFIN- WORRY, an old ladies' tea party. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 177 MUFTI, the civilian dress of a naval or military officer when off duty. Anglo Indian. MUG, to fight, or chastise. MUG, " to MUG oneself," to get tipsy. MUG, the mouth, or face. Old. MUGGING, a thrashing, synonymous with SLOGGING, both terms of the " ring," and frequently used by fighting men. MUGGY, drunk. MUG-UP, to paint one's face. Theatrical. To "cram" for an exam ination. A rmy. MULL, " to make a M0LL of it," to spoil anything, or make a fool of oneself. Gipsey. MULLIGRUBS. Vide MOLLTGRUBS. MULTEE KERTEVER, very bad. Italian, MOLTO CATTIVO. MUMMER, a performer at a travelling theatre Ancient. Rustic performers at Christmas in the West of England. MUMPER, a beggar. Gipsey. Possibly a corruption of MUMMER. MUNDUNGUS, trashy tobacco. Spanish, MONDONGO, black pudding. MUNGARLY, bread, food. MUNG is an old word for mixed food, but MUNGARLY is doubtless derived from the Lingua Franca, MANGIAR, to eat. See the following. MUNGARLY CASA, a baker's shop ; evidently a corruption of some Lingua Franca phrase for an eating house. The well known " Nix mangiare" stairs at Malta derive their name from the endless beggars who lie there and shout NIX MANGIARE, i.e., " nothing to eat," to excite the compassion of the English who land there, an expression which ex- hibits remarkably the mongrel composition of the Lingua Franca, MANGIARE being Italian, and Nix an evident im- portation from Trieste, or other Austrian seaport. MUNGING, or " MOUNGING," whining, begging, muttering. North. MUNS, the mouth. German, MUND. Old cant. MURERK, the mistress of the house. See BURERK. MURKARKER, a monkey, vulgar cockney pronunciation of MACAUCO, a species of monkey. Jacket/ Macauco was the name of a famous fighting monkey, which used about thirty years ago to display his prowess at the Westminster pit, where, after having killed many dog*, he was at last "chawed up" by a bull terrier. N 178 A DICTIONARY OP MURPHY, a potato. Probably from the Irish national liking for potatoes, MURPHY being a common surname amongst the Irish. See MIKE. MURPHIES (edible) are sometimes called DUNNAMANS. MURPHY, " in the arms of MURPHY," i.e., fast asleep. Cor- ruption of MORPHEUS. MUSH, an umbrella. Contraction of mushroom. MUSH, (or MUSHROOM) FAKER, an itinerant mender of um- brellas. MUSLIN, a woman or girl ; " he picked up a bit of MUSLIN. MUTTON, a lewd woman. Shakespere. MUTTON- WALK, the saloon at Drury Lane Theatre. MUZZLE, to fight or thrash. MUZZLE, the mouth. MUZZY, intoxicated. Household Words, No. 183. MY AUNT, a water-closet, or house of office. MY LORD, a nickname given to a hunchback. MY TULIP, a term of endearment used by the lower orders to persons and animals; " kirn up, MY TULIP," as the coster said to his donkey when thrashing him with an ash stick. MY UNCLE, the pawnbroker, generally used when any person questions the whereabouts of a domestic article, " Oh ! only at My UNCLE'S" is the reply. UP THE SPOUT has the same meaning. NAB, to catch, to seize; "NAB the rust," to take offence. Ancient, fourteenth century. NABOB, an Eastern prince, a retired Indian official, hence a slang term for a capitalist. NAIL, to steal, or capture; "paid on the NAIL," i.e., ready money ; NAILED, taken up, or caught probably in allusion to the practice of NAILING bad money to the counter. We say " as dead as a DOOR-NAIL ;" why ? Shakespere has the expression in Henry IV. "Falstoff. What! is the old king dead? Pistol. As nail in door." A correspondent thinks the expression is only alliterative humour, and compares as " Flat as a Flounder," " straight as a soldier," &c. NAM, a policeman. Evidently back slang. NAMBY PAMBY, particular, over nice, effeminate This, I think, was of Pope's invention, and first applied by him to MODERN SLANft AND CANT WORDS. 179 the affected short-lined verses addressed by Ambrose Phillips to Lord Carteret's infant children. See Johnsons Life of Pope. NAMUS, or NAMOUS, some one, i.e., "be off, somebody is com- ing." Back slang, but general. See VAMOS. NANNY-SHOP, a disreputable house. NANTEE, not any, or " I have none." Italian, NIENTE, nothing. See DINARLY. NANTEE PALAVER, no conversation, i.e., hold your tongue. Lingua Franca. See PALAVER. NAP, or NAB, to take, steal, or receive ; " you'll NAP it," i.e., you will catch a beating ! North; also old cant. Bulwers Paul Clifford. NAP, or NAPPER, a hat. From NAB, a hat, cap, or head. Old cant. NAP ONE'S BIB, to cry, shed tears, or carry one's point. NAP THE REGULARS, to divide the booty. NAP THE TEAZE, to be privately whipped in prison. NARK, a person in the pay of the police ; a common informer; one who gets his living by laying traps for publicans, &c. NARK, to watch, or look after, " NARK the titter ;" watch the girl. NARP, a shirt. Scotch. NARY ONE, provincial for NE'ER A ONE, neither. NASTY, ill tempered, cross grained. NATION, very, or exceedingly. Corruption of DAMNATION. NATTY, pretty, neat, tidy. Old. NATURAL, an idiot, a simpleton. NECK, to swallow. NECK-OIL, drink of any kind. NECK OR NOTHING, desperate. Racing phrase. NEDDY, a life preserver. Contraction of KENNEDY, the name of the first man, it is said in St. Giles', who had his head broken by a poker. Vide Mornings at Bow Street. NEDDY, a donkey. NEDS, guineas. HALF- NEDS, half-guineas. NED STOKES, the four of spades. North Hants. - See Gentle- man's Magazine for 1791, p. 141. NEEDFUL, money, cash. NEEDY, a nightly lodger, or tramp. N 2 180 A DICTIONARY OF NEEDY MIZZLER, a shabby person ; a tramp who runs away without paying for his lodging. NESTS, varieties. Old NEVER. TRUST-HE, an ordinary phrase with low Londoners, and common in Shakespere's time, vide Twelfth Night. It is generally used instead of an oath, calling vengeance on the asseverator, if such and such does not come to pass. NEWGATE FRINGE, or FRILL, the collar of beard worn under the chin ; so called from its occupying the position of the rope when Jack Ketch operates. Another name for it is a TYBURN COLLAR. NEWGATE KXOCKER, the term given to the lock of hair which costermongers and thieves usually twist back towards the ear. The shape is supposed to resemble the knocker on the prisoners' door at Newgate a resemblance that would appear to carry a rather unpleasant suggestion to the wearer. Sometimes termed a COBBLER'S KM OT, or COW-LICK, which see. NEWMARKET, in tossing halfpence, when it is agreed that the first toss shall be decisive, the play is said to be NEWMARKET. NIBBLE, to take, or steal. NIBBLER, a petty thief. NIBS, the master, or chief person; a man with no means but high pretensions, a " shabby genteel." NICK, or OLD NICK, the evil spirit. Scandinavian. NICK, to hit the mark ; " he's NICKED it," i.e., won his point. NICK-KNACK, a trifle. Originally cant. NIGGLING, trifling, or idling; taking short steps in walking. North. NIL, half; half profits, &c. NILLY- WILLY, i.e., Nill ye, will ye, whether you will or no, a familiar version of the Latin, NOLENS VOLENS. NIMMING, stealing. Immediately from the German, NEHHEN. Motherwell, the Scotch poet, thought the old word HIM (to snatch or pick up) was derived from nam, nam, the tiny words or cries of an infant, when eating anything which pleases its little palate. A negro proverb has the word : " Buckra man nam crab, Crab nam buckra man." Or, in the buckra man's language " White man eat [or steal] the crab, And the crab eats the white man." NINCOMPOOP, a fool, a hen pecked husband, a " Jerry Sneak." Corruption of non compos mentis. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 181 NINE CORNS, a pipeful of tobacco. NINES, "dressed up to the NINES," in a showy or recherche manner. NINEPENCE, "right as NINEPENCE," all right, right to a nicety. NIP, to steal, take up quickly. NIPPER, a small boy. Old cant for a boy cut- purse. NIX, nothing, " NIX my doll," synonymous with NIX. German, NIGHTS, nothing. See MUNGARLY. NIX ! the signal word of school boys to each other that the master, or other person in authority, is approaching. NIZZIE, a fool, a coxcomb. Old cant, vide Triumph, of Wit. NOAH'S ARK, a long closely buttoned overcoat, recently in fashion. So named by Punch from the similarity which it exhibits to the figure of Noah and his sons in children's toy arks. NOB, the head Pugilistic; " BOB A NOB," a shilling a head. Ancient cant, NEB. NOB is an early English word, and ia used in the Romance of Kynge Alisaunder (thirteenth century) for a head ; originally, no doubt, the same as knob. NOB, a person of high position, a "swell," a wo&leman, of which word it may be an abbreviation. See SNOB. NOBBA, nine. Italian, NOVE ; Spanish, NOVA, the 6 and v being interchangeable, as Se6a.->t6pol and Se^asto'pol. NOBBA SALTEE, ninepence. Lingua Franca, NOVE SOLDI. NOBBING, collecting money ; " what NOBBINGS ?" i.e., how much have you got ? NOBBLE, to cheat, to overreach ; to discover. NOBBLERS, confederates of thimble-rigs, who play earnestly as if strangers to the " EIQ," and thus draw unsuspecting persons into a game. NOBBY, or NOBBISH, fine or showy; NOBBILY, showily. See SNOB for derivation. NOMMUS, be off. See NAMUS. NO ODDS, no matter, of no consequence. Larimer's sermon before Edward VI. NOSE, a thief who turns informer, or Queen's evidence ; a spy or watch ; " on the NOSE," on the look out. NOSE, " to pay through the NOSE," to pay an extravagant price. NOSE-BAGS, visitors at watering places, and houses of refresh- ment, who carry their own victuals. Term applied by waiters. 182 A DICTIONARY OF NOSE EM, or POQUS, tobacco. NOSER, a bloody or contused nose. Pugilistic. NOUSE, comprehension, perception. Old, apparently from the Greek, vovs. NUB, a husband. NUDDIKIN, the head. For Cant Numerals, see under SALTEE. NURSE, a curious term lately applied to competition in omni- buses. Two omnibuses are placed on the road to NURSE, or oppose, each opposition " buss," one before, the other behind. Of course the central or NURSED buss has very little chance, unless it happens to be a favourite with the public. NURSE, to cheat, or swindle ; trustees are said to NUBSE property, i.e., gradually eat it up themselves. NUT, to be "off one's NUT," to be in liquor, or "ALL MOPS AND BROOMS." NUTS, to be NUTS upon anything or person is to be pleased with or fond of it ; a self-satisfied man is said to be NUTS upon himself. NUTTED, taken in by a man who professed to be NUTS upon you. NUTTY, amorous. NYMPH OP THE PAVE (French, PAVE), a street-walker, a girl of the town. OAK, the outer door of college rooms ; to " sport one's OAK," to be "not at home" to visitors. See SPORT. University. OBFUSCATED, intoxicated. OBSTROPOLOUS, Cockney corruption of obstreperous. OCHRE, money, generally applied to gold, for a very obvious reason. O'CLOCK, or A'CLOCK, " like ONE O'CLOCK," a favourite com- parison with the lower orders, implying briskness ; " to know what O'CLOCK it is," to be wide awake, sharp, and experienced. ODD MAN, a street or public- house game at tossing. The number of players is three. Each tosses up a coin, and if two come down head, and one tail, or vice versa, the last is ODD MAN, and loses or wins as may have been agreed upon. Frequently used to victimise a " flat." If all three be alike, then the toss goes for nothing, and the coppers are again " skied." OD DRAT IT, OD RABBIT (Colman's Broad Grins), OD'S BLOOD, and all other exclamations commencing with OD, are nothing MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 183 but softened or suppressed oaths. OD is a corruption of GOD, and DRAT of ROT. Shakespere. OFF AND ON, vacillating; "an OFF AND ON kind of a chap," one who is always undecided. OFF ONE'S FEED, real or pretended want of appetite.- Stable slang. OFFISH, distant, not familiar. OFFICE, " to give the OFFICE," to give a hint dishonestly to a confederate, thereby enabling him to win a game or bet, the profits being shared. OGLE, to look, or reconnoitre. OGLES, eyes. Old cant. French, CEIL. OIL OF PALMS, or PALM OIL, money. OINTMENT, medical student slang for butter. OLD GOOSEBERRY (see GOOSEBERRY), OLD HARRY (query, Old Hairy?), OLD SCRATCH, all synonymes for the devil. OLD GOWN, smuggled tea. OLD HORSE, salt junk, or beef. Sea. OLD TOM, gin. OLIVER, the moon; "OLIVER don't widdle," i.e., the moon does not shine. Nearly obsolete. Bulwer's Paul Clifford, OMEE, a master or landlord ; " the OMEE of the cassey's a nark on the pitch," the master of the house will not let us per- form. Italian, UOMO, a man; "UOMO DELLA CASA," the master of the house. ON, " to be ON," in public-house or vulgar parlance, is synony- mous with getting " tight," or tipsy ; " it's Saint Monday with him, I see he's ON again," i.e., drunk as usual, or ON the road to it. ON THE FLY, getting one's living by thieving or other illegi- timate means; the phrase is applied to men the same as ON THK LOOSE is to women. ON THE LOOSE, obtaining a living by prostitution, in reality, on the streets. The term is applied to females only, ex- cepting in the case of SPREES, when men carousing are sometimes said to be ON THE LOOSE. ON THE NOSE, on the watch or look out. See NOSE. ON THE SHELF, to be transported. With old maids it has another and very different meaning. ON THE TILES, out all night " on the spree," or carousing, in allusion to the London cats on their amatory excursions. 184: A DICTIONARY OP ONE IN TEN, a parson. ONE-ER, that which stands for ONE, a blow that requires no more. In Dickens' amusing work, the "Marchioness" tells Dick Swiveller that " her missus is a ONE-ER at cards." ORACLE, " to work the ORACLE," to plan, manoeuvre, to succeed by a wily stratagem. OTTER, eightpence. Italian, OTTO, eight. OTTOMY, a thin man, a skeleton, a dwarf. Vulgar pronuncia- tion of Anatomy. Skakespere has 'ATOMY. OUT, a dram glass. The habitue of a gin-shop, desirous of treating a brace of friends, calls for a quartern of gin and three OUTS, by which he means three glasses which will exactly contain the quartern. OUT AND OUT, prime, excellent, of the first quality. OUT AND OUTER, "one who is of an OUT AND OUT description," UP to anything. An ancient MS. has this couplet, which shows the anti- quity of the phrase " The Kyng was good alle aboute, And she was wycked oute and oute." OUT OF COLLAR, out of place, in allusion to servants. When in place, the term is COLLARED UP. Theatrical and general. OUT ON THE LOOSE, " on the spree," in search of adven- tures. OUT ON THE PICKAROON. PICABONE is Spanish for a thief, but this phrase does not necessarily mean anything dishonest, but ready for anything in the way of excitement to turn up; also to be in search of anything profitable. OUT-SIDER, a person who does not habitually bet, or is not admitted to the " Ring." Also, a horse whose name does not appear among the " favourites." OVER ! or OVER THE LEFT, i.e., the left shoulder a common exclamation of disbelief in what is being narrated, im- plying that the results of a proposed plan will be " over the left," i.e., in the wrong direction, loss instead of gain. OWNED, a canting expression used by the ultra-Evangelicals when a popular preacher makes many converts. The con- verts themselves are called his " SEALS." P's AND Q's, particular points, precise behaviour; "mind your P'S AND Q'S," be very careful. Originating, according to some, from the similarity of p's and q's in the hornbook alphabet, and therefore the warning of an old dame to her MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 185 pupils ; or, according to others, of a French dancing master to his pupils, to mind their pieds (feet) and queues (wigs) when making a bow. PACK, to go away ; " now, then, PACK off there," i.e., be off, don't stop here any longer. Old, "Make speede to flee, be PACKING and awaie." Baret'sA Ivearie, 1580. PAD, "to stand PAD," to beg with a small piece of paper pinned on the breast, inscribed " I'm starving." PAD, the highway ; a tramp. Lincolnshire, PAD THE HOOF, to walk, not ride; "PADDING THE HOOF on the high toby," tramping or walking on the high road. " Trudge, plod away o" the hoof." Merry Wives, i., 3. PADDING KENS, or CRIBS, tramps' and boys' lodging houses. PADDLE, to go or run away. Household Words, No. 183. PADDY, PAT, or PADDY WHACK, an Irishman. " I'm PADDY WHACK, from Bally hack, Not long ago turned soldier ; In storm and sack, in front attack, None other can be boulder." Irish Song. PADRE, a clergyman. Anglo Indian. PAL, a partner, acquaintance, friend, an accomplice. Gipsey, a brother. PALAVER, to ask, or talk, not deceitfully, as the term usually signifies; " PALAVER to the nibs for a shant of bivvy," ask the master for a quart of beer. In this sense used by tramps. Derived from French, PARLER. PALL, to detect. PALM OIL, or PALM SOAP, money. PALMING, robbing shops by pairs, one thief bargaining with apparent intent to purchase, whilst the other watches his opportunity to steal. An amusing example of PALMING canoe off some time since. A man entered a " ready made" boot and shoe shop and desired to be shown a pair of boots, his companion staying outside and amusing himself by looking in at the window. The one who required to be fresh shod was apparently of a humble and deferential turn, for he placed his hat on the floor directly he stepped in the shop. Boot after boot was tried on until at last a fit was obtained, when lo, forth came a man, snatched up the customer's hat left near the door, and down the street he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Away went the 186 A DICTIONARY OF customer after his hat, and Crispin, standing at the door, clapped his hands and shouted " go it, you'll catch him," little thiuking that it was a concerted trick, and that neither his boots nor the customer would ever return. PALMING sometimes refers to secreting money or rings iu the hand. PAM, the knave of clubs ; or, in street phraseology, Lord Pal- merston. PANNAM, food, bread. Lingua Franca, PANNEN ; Latin, PANIS ; Ancient cant, YANNAM. PANNAM-BOUND, stopping the prison food or rations to a prisoner. PANNAM- STRUCK, very hungry. PANNIKIN, a small pan. PANNY, a house public or otherwise ; " flash FANNY," a public-house used by thieves ; PANNY MEN, housebreakers. PANTILE, a hat. The term PANTILE is properly applied to the mould into which the sugar is poured which is afterwards known as "loaf sugar." Thus, PANTILE, from whence comes the phrase "a sugar-loaf hat," originally signified a tall, conical hat, in shape similar to that usually represented as the head gear of a bandit. From PANTILE, the more modern slang term TILE bas been derived. Halliwell gives PANTILE SHOP, a meeting-house. PANTILER, a dissenting preacher. Probably from the practice of the Quakers, and many dissenters, of not removing the hat in a place of worship. PAPER MAKERS, rag gatherers and gutter rakers similar to the chiffonniers of Paris. Also, those men who tramp through the country, and collect rags on the pretence that they are agents to a paper mill. PAPER WORKERS, the wandering vendors of street literature; street folk who sell ballads, dying speeches and confessions, sometimes termed RUNNING STATIONERS. PAR ADIS, French slang for the gallery of a theatre, " up amongst the GODS," which see. PARISH LANTERN, the moon. PARNEY, rain ; " dowry of PARNEY," a quantity of rain. Anglo- Indian slang from the Hindoo, PANI, water; Gipsey, PANE. Old Indian officers always call brandy and water BRANDY PAWNEE. PASH, to strike ; now corrupted to BASH, which see. Shakes. PASTE-HORN, the nose. Shoemakers nickname any shopmate MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 187 with a large nose " old PASTEHORN," from the horn in which they keep their paste. PATENT COAT, a coat with the pockets inside the skirts, termed PATENT from the difficulty of picking them. PATTER, a speech or discourse, a pompous street oration, a judge's summing up, a trial. Ancient word for muttering. Probably from the Latin, PATER NOSTER, or Lord's Prayer. This was said, before the Reformation, in a low voice by the priest, until he came to, "and lead us not into temp- tation," to which the choir responded, "but deliver us from evil." In our reformed Prayer Book this was altered, and the Lord's Prayer directed to be said "with a loud voice." Dr. Pusey takes this view of the .derivation in his Letter to the Bisltop of London, p. 78, 1851. Scott uses the word twice in Ivanhoe and the Bride of Lammermoor. PATTER, to talk. PATTER FLASH, to speak the language of thieves, talk cant. PATTERERS, men who cry last dying speeches, &c., in the streets, and those who help off their wares by long harangues in the public thoroughfares. These men, to use their own term " are the haristocracy of the street sellers," and despise the costermongers for their ignorance, boasting that they live by their intellect. The public, they say, do not expect to receive from them an equivalent for their money they pay to hear them talk. Mayhew. PATTERERS were formerly termed " mountebanks." PAWS, hands. PAY, to beat a person, or "serve them out." Originally a nautical term, meaning to stop the seams of a vessel with pitch (French, POIX) ; "here's the d 1 to PAY, and no pitch hot," said when any catastrophe occurs which there is no means of averting ; " to PAT over face and eyes, as the cat did the monkey ;" " to PAT through the nose," to give a ridiculous price, whence the origin? Shakespere uses PAT in the sense of to beat, or thrash. PEACH, to inform against or betray. Webster states that im- peach is now the modification mostly used, and that PEACH is confined principally to the conversation of thieves and the lower orders. PEACOCK HORSE, amongst undertakers, is one with a showy tail and mane, and holds its head up well, die vet favor- reggiando, &c., Italian. PEAKING, remnants of cloth. 188 A DICTIONARY OF PECK, food; "PECK and booze," meat and drink. Lincolnshire. Ancient cant, PEK, meat. PECKER, " keep your PECKER up," i.e., don't get down-hearted, literally, keep your beak or head well up, "never say die !" PECKISH, hungry. Old cant, PECKIDGE, meat. PEEL, to strip, or disrobe. Pugilistic. PEELER, a policeman; so called from Sir Robert Peel (see BOBBY) ; properly applied to the Irish constabulary rather than the City police, the former force having been esta- blished by Sir Robert Peel. PEEPERS, eyes ; " painted PEEPERS," eyes bruised or blackened from a blow. PEERY, suspicious, or inquisitive. PEG, brandy and soda water. PEG, "to PEG away," to strike, run, or drive away; "PEG a hack," to drive a cab ; " take down a PEG or two," to check an arrogant or conceited person. PEG, a shilling. Scotch. PEG-TOPS, the loose trousers now in fashion, small at the ankle and swelling upwards, in imitation of the Zouave costume. PENNY GAFFS, shops turned into temporary theatres (admis- sion one penny), where dancing and singing take place every night. Rude pictures of the performers are arranged outside to give the front a gaudy and attractive look, and at night- time coloured lamps and transparencies are displayed to draw an audience. PENNY A-LINER, a contributor of local news, accidents, fires, scandal, political and fashionable gossip, club jokes, and anecdotes, to a newspaper ; not regularly " on the paper ;" one who is popularly believed to be paid for each contri- bution at the rate of a penny a line, and whose interest is, therefore, that his article should be horribly stuffed with epithets. PENISULAR, or MOLL TOOLEK, a female pickpocket. PENSIONER, a man of the lowest morals who lives off the miserable earnings of a prostitute. PEPPER, to thrash, or strike. Pu/jilutic, but used by Shakes- pere. East. PERCH, or ROOST, a resting place ; " I'm off to PERCH," i.e., I am going to bed. PERSUADERS, spurs. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 189 PESKY, au intensitive expression, implying annoyance ; a PESKY, troublesome fellow. Corruption of PESTILENT ? PETER, a partridge. Poacher's term. PETER, a bundle, or valise. Bulwer's Paul Clifford. PETER, to run short, or give out. PETERER, or PETERMAN, one who follows hackney and stage coaches, and cuts off the portmanteaus and trunks from be- hind. Nearly obsolete. Ancient term for a fisherman, still used at Graveseud. PETTICOAT, a woman. PEWTER, money, like TIN, used generally to signify silver ; also, a pewter-pot. PHYSOG, or PHIZ, the face. Swift uses the latter. Corruption of physiognomy. PIC., the Piccadilly Saloon. PICK, " to PICK oneself up," to recover after a beating or illness ; "to PICK a man up," "to do," or cheat him. PICKERS, the hands. Shakespere. PICKLE, a miserable or comical position ; " he is in a sad PICKLE," said of any one who has fallen into the gutter, or got be- smeared. " A PICKLE herring," a comical fellow, a meny Andrew. Old. PICKLES! gammon. PIECE, a contemptuous term for a woman ; a strumpet. Shakespere. PIG, or sow's BABY, a sixpence. PIG, a mass of metal, so called from its being poured in a fluid state from a sow, which see. Workmen's term. PIG AND TINDER-BOX, the vulgar rendering of the well- known tavern sign, " Elephant and Castle." PEPPER-BOXES, the buildings of the Royal Academy and National Gallery, in Trafalgar-square. The name was first given by a wag, in allusion to the cupolas erected by Wilkins, the architect, upon the roof, and which at a distance suggest to the stranger the fact of their being enlarged PEPPER-BOXES, from their form and awkward appearance. See BOILERS. PIGEON, a gullible or soft person. The French slang, or argot, has the word PIGEON, dupe " PECHON, PESCHON DE RUBY, apprenti gueux, enfant (sans doute deYobe)." The vaga- bonds and brigands of Spain also use the word in their 190 A DICTIONARY OF Germania, or Robbers' Language, PALOMO (pigeon), ignorant, simple. PIGEON, or BLUET CRACKING, breaking into empty houses and stealing lead. PIG-HEADED, obstinate. PIG'S WHISPER, a low or inaudible whisper; also a short space of time, synonymous with COCKSTRIDE, i.e , cock's tread. PIKE, to run away. PIKE, a turnpike; " to bilk a PIKE," to cheat the keeper of the toll-gate. PILL, a doctor Military. PILL-DRIVER, a peddling apothecary. PIN, " to put in the PIN," to refrain from drinking. From the ancient peg tankard, which was furnished with a row of PINS, or pegs, to regulate the amount which each person was to drink. A MERRY PIN, a roisterer. PINCH, to steal, or cheat ; also, to catch, or apprehend. PINDARIC HEIGHTS, studying the odes of Pindar. Oxford. PINK, to stab, or pierce. PINK, the acme of perfection. Shalcespere. PINNERS-UP, sellers of old songs pinned against a wall, or framed canvas. PINS, legs. PIPE, to shed tears, or bewail ; " PIPE one's eye. Sea term. " He first bepran to eye his pipe, And then to PIPE HIS EYE." Old Song. Metaphor from the boatswain's pipe, which calls to duty. PIPE, " to put one's PIPE out," to traverse his plans, " take a rise" out of him. PIPKIN, the stomach, properly, an earthen round-bottomed pot. Norwich. PIT, a breast pocket. PITCH, a fixed locality where a patterer can hold forth to a gaping multitude for at least some few minutes continuously ; " to do a PITCH in the drag," to perform in the street. PITCH INTO, to fight ; " PITCH INTO him, Bill," i.e., give him a thrashing. PITCH THE FORK, to tell a pitiful tale. PITCH THE NOB, PRICK TEE GARTER, which see. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 191 PLANT, a dodge, a preconcerted swindle; a position in the street to sell from. PLANT, a swindle, may be thus de- scribed : a coster will join a party of gambling costers that he never saw before, and commence tossing. When suffi- cient time has elapsed to remove all suspicions of com- panionship, his mate will come up and commence betting on each of his PAL'S throws with those standing around. By a curious quickness of hand, a coster can make the toss tell favourably for his wagering friend, who meets him in the evening after the play is over and shares the spoil. PLANT, to mark a person out for plunder or robbery, to con- ceal, or place. Old cant. PLEBS, a term used to stigmatise a tradesman's son at West- minster School. Latin, PLEBS, the vulgar. PLOUGHED, drunk. Household Words, No. 183. Also a University term equivalent to PLUCKED. PLUCK, the heart, liver, and lungs of an animal, all that is PLUCKED away in connection with the windpipe, from the chest of a sheep or hog ; among low persons, courage, valour, and a stout heart. See MOLLYGRUBS. PLUCK'D-'UN, a stout or brave fellow ; " he's a rare PLUCKED- "UN," i.e , dares face anything. During the Crimean war, PLUCKY, signifying courageous, seemed likely to become a favourite term in May-Fair, even among the ladies. An eminent critic, however, who had been bred a butcher, having informed the fashionable world that in his native town the sheep's head always went with the PLUCK, the term has been gradually falling into dis- credit at the West End. It has been said that a brave soldier is PLUCKY in attack, and GAME when wounded. Women are more GAME than PLUCKY. PLUCKED, turned back at an examination. University. PLUNDER, a common word in the horse trade to express profit. Also an American term for baggage, luggage. PLUM, 100,000, usually applied to the dowry of a rich heiress, or a legacy. PLUMMY, round, sleek, jolly, or fat ; excellent, very good, first rate. PLUMPER, a single vote at an election, not a " split ticket." PODGY, drunk ; dumpy, short and fat. POGRAM, a dissenter, a fanatic, formalist, or humbug. 192 A DICTIONARY OF POKE, "come, none of your POKING fun at me," i.e., you must not laugh at me. POKE, a bag, or sack ; " to buy a pig in a POKE," to purchase anything without seeing it. Saxon. POKER, " by the holy POKER and the tumbling Tom !" an Irish oath. POKERS, the Cambridge slang term for the Esquire Bedels, who carry the silver maces (also called POKERS) before the Vice- Chancellor. POKY, confined or cramped ; " that corner is POKY and narrow." Times article, 21st July, 1859. POLE-AXE, vulgar corruption of policeman. POLICEMAN, a fly. POLISH OFF, to finish off anything quickly a dinner for in- stance ; also to finish off an adversary. Pugilistic. POLL, or POLLING, one thief robbing another of part of their booty. Halts Union, 1548. POLL, the " ordinary degree" candidates for the B.A. Examina- tion, who do not aspire to the "Honours " list. From the Greek, 01 TroXXot, " the many." Some years ago, at Cam- bridge, Mr. Hopkins being the most celebrated " honour coach," or private tutor for the wranglers, and Mr. Potts the principal " crammer" of the non-honour men, the latter was facedously termed the "POLLY HOPKINS" by the under- grad uates. POLL, a prostitute; POLLED UP, living with a woman without being married to her. POLONY, a Bologna sausage. POOKA, a sovei eign. Corruption of pound ; or from the Lingua Franca ? PONY, twenty-five pounds. Sporting. POPS, pocket pistols. POP, to pawn or pledge ; " to POP up the spout," to pledge at the pawnbroker's, an allusion to the spout up which the brokers send the ticketed articles until such times as they shall be redeemed. The spout runs from the ground floor to the wareroom at the top of the house. POSH, a halfpenny, or trifling coin. Also a generic term for money. POSTERIORS, a correspondent insists that the vulgar sense of this word is undoubtedly slang (Swift, I believe, first applied it as such), and remarks that it is curious the word anterior has not beeu so abused. MODERN SLANG AND CANT WORDS. 193 POST-HORN, the nose. See PASTE-HOKN. POST-MORTEM, at Cambridge, the second examination which men who have been " plucked " have to undergo. University. POT, a sixpence, i.e., the price of a pot or quart of half-and- half. A half crown, in medical student slang, is a FIVE-POT PIECE. POT, " to GO TO POT," to die ; from the classic custom of putliug the ashes of the dead in an uru ; also, to be ruined, or broken up, often applied to tradesmen who fail in business. Go TO POT ! i.e., go and hang yourself, shut up and be quiet. L 'Estrange, to PUT THE POT ON, to overcharge, or exaggerate. POT, to finish ; " don't POT me," term used at billiards. This word was much used by our soldiers in the Crimea, for firing at the enemy from a hole or ambush. These were called POT-SHOTS. POT-HUNTER, a sportsman who shoots anything he comes across, having more regard to filling his bag than to the rules which regulate the sport. POT-LUCK, just as it comes ; to take POT-LUCK, i.e., one's chance of a dinner, a hearty term u