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“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 expression 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, or entrusted with packages. Nearly obsolete.

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 commodities of a village store. Also, a loose woman.

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

KIDDYISH, frolicsome, jovial.

“Think on the KIDDYISH spree we had on such a day.”

Randall’s Diary, 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.” —Terræ Filius, 1763.

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

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

KILLING, bewitching, fascinating. The term is akin to the phrase “dressing to DEATH.”

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

KINCHIN, a child. —Old cant. From the German diminutive, KINDCHEN, a baby.

KINCHIN COVE, a man who robs children; a little man. —Ancient cant.

KINGSMAN, the favourite coloured neckerchief of the costermongers. 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 KINGSMAN is tied either around his waist as a belt, 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 waistcoat 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, intermixed 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 KNAPPING-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.

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 conclusion 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 ill-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 dishonesty.

 
“Who, on a spree with black eyed Sal, his blowen,
So swell, so prime, so nutty and so KNOWING.”
 

Don Juan.

KNOWLEDGE-BOX, the head. —Pugilistic.

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, who solicited jobs by ringing a bell. From the Saxon, CNYLLAN, to knell, or sound a bell. —See QUERIER.

KOTOOING, misapplied flattery. —Illustrated London News, 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 corruption of LOOK! but this is a mistake. Sometimes pronounced 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.

LADDLE, 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 covering 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 amusement, 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 ingratiates himself into the good graces of the master of the house, and lives at his table.

LEARY, 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 habitués.

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 correspondent states that it was formerly the custom to give out to the creditors, when a person was in pecuniary difficulties, and it was convenient for him to keep away, that he was gone to the East, or the LEVANT; hence, when one loses a bet, and decamps without settling, he is said to LEVANT.

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 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 Americanism. 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 the attire of a sailor; and the sea phrase, LAND-LUBBER, was doubtless synonymous. —See the Times, 3rd November, 1859, for a 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.

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. —See LOBB. —Pugilistic.

LONG-BOW, “to draw,” or “shoot with the LONG BOW,” to exaggerate.

LONG-TAILED-ONES, bank notes, or FLIMSIES, for a large amount.

LOOF FAKER, a chimney-sweep. —See FLUE 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 gratification; 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, showy, 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.

LUG, the ear. —Scotch.

LUG, to pull, or slake thirst. —Old.

LUG CHOVEY, a pawnbroker’s shop.

LULLY PRIGGERS, 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 certificates 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 himself with drams, and pints of beer. Some years 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 combination 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, half-a-sovereign; MADZA ROUND THE BULL, half-a-pound of steak, &c.

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 MAHOGANY,” 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 undergo in Cornwall. —Old cant.

MARINE, or MARINE RECRUIT, an empty bottle. This expression 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,” 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., Mark 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 Tractarian 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 Dialect, 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 MARROWSKYING. —See GREEK, St. Giles’ Greek, or the “Ægidiac” 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 costermonger defined 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 appellation 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.

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’MISH or SMISH, and then to MISH. French, CHEMISE; Italian, CAMICIA.

 
“With his snowy CAMESE and his shaggy capote.” —Byron.
 

MITTENS, fists. —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 mistake 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 cohabiting 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 believes, 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.

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 MOE, 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 DRAG. It is a curious fact that the Indians of America and 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 assemblages, 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 JEMMY.

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 qualifications, 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.

MUCKENDER, 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 mud on the banks of the Thames, when the tide is low, for silver spoons, old bottles, pieces of iron, coal, or any articles of the least value, deposited by the retiring tide, either from passing ships or the sewers. Occasionally those men who cleanse the sewers, with great boots and sou’ wester hats.

MUFF, a silly, or weak-minded person; MUFF has been defined to be “a soft thing that holds a lady’s hand without squeezing it.”

MUFFIN-WORRY, an old ladies’ tea party.

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 examination. —Army.

MULL, “to make a MULL of it,” to spoil anything, or make a fool of oneself. —Gipsey.

MULLIGRUBS. —Vide MOLLYGRUBS.

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 exhibits remarkably the mongrel composition of the Lingua Franca, MANGIARE being Italian, and Nix an evident importation 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. Jackey 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 dogs, he was at last “chawed up” by a bull terrier.

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. Corruption of MORPHEUS.

MUSH, an umbrella. Contraction of mushroom.

MUSH, (or MUSHROOM) FAKER, an itinerant mender of umbrellas.

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; “kim 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. —

 
“Falstaff. 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.