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BOSH, a fiddle.

BOSH-FAKER, a violin player.

BOS-KEN, a farm-house. Ancient.—See KEN.

BOSKY, inebriated —Household Words, No. 183.

BOSMAN, a farmer; “faking a BOSMAN on the main toby,” robbing 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 Hibernicism POTHER), 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.

BOUNCE, impudence.

BOUNCE, a showy swindler.

BOUNCE, to boast, cheat, or bully. —Old cant.

BOUNCER, a person who steals whilst bargaining with a tradesman; 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 Prynne 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-cœurs, 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 plastered into shape by the saliva. It is now understood that the mucilage of quince seed is used by the ladies for this purpose.”

 
“You may prate of your lips, and your teeth of pearl,
And your eyes so brightly flashing;
My song shall be of that SALIVA CURL
Which threatens my heart to smash in.”
 

Boston Transcript, 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 paraphernalia, and that a jaunty little kiss-me 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 Athenæum, 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.

BOWLAS, round tarts made of sugar, apple, and bread, sold in the streets.

BOWLES, shoes.

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 cobblers. – Compare HORSE 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, Brent, 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. e., got drunk. In the ancient Egyptian language the determinative character in the hieroglyphic 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 circumstances.

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 Queen.
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, 1840.

Said to be derived from an expression of Aristotle, τετραγωνος ἀνηρ.

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 provisions, in revenge for stinginess. —Eton.

BROTHER-CHIP, fellow carpenter. Also, BROTHER-WHIP, a fellow coachman; and BROTHER-BLADE, of the same occupation 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, deceived, 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 must be considered a vulgarism. It is derived, by a writer in Notes and Queries, from BROW study, from the old German BRAUN, or AUG-BRAUN, an eye-brow. —Ben Jonson.

BROWN-TO, to understand, to comprehend. —American.

BRUISER, a fighting man, a pugilist. —Pugilistic. Shakespere uses the word BRUISING in a similar sense.

BRUMS, counterfeit coins. Nearly obsolete. Corruption of Brummagem (Bromwicham), the ancient name of Birmingham, the great emporium of plated goods and imitation 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.

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. Shakespere uses the word in the latter sense, Henry IV., i. 1; and Halliwell says that “the commentators do not supply another example.” How strange that in 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, the bare skin; “stripped to the BUFF.”

BUFFER, a dog. Their skins were formerly in great request – hence the term, BUFF 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, probably 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 applied 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 stated price, but who does not possess money to pay for it, trusting to a rise in public securities to render the transaction 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 purchasing – the one operating for a fall or a 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 maintains 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 MAREE, good fresh fish! “Marée signifie toute sorte de poisson de mer qûi n’est pas salé; bonne marée —marée fraiche, vendeur de marée.” —Dict. de l’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 Norwich, 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.

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 Beaumont 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 bonus, 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. Burdon.

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. “A pennorth o’ BEES WAX (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.

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 synonyme for a sham.

BUTTONER, a man who entices another to play. —See BONNETTER.

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 attention to purses and loose cash. Grose gives BUZ-GLOAK (or CLOAK?), an ancient cant word. Buz-napper, a young pickpocket.

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 DARN 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 – BY THE-EVER-LIVING-JUMPING-MOSES – a harmless phrase, that from its length expends a considerable quantity of fiery anger.

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 crême. 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 Arbuthnot.

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 something out of another, either money or information. Johnson uses the word, and gives huckster as the meaning, but I never heard it used in this sense. Cager, or GAGER, the old cant term for a man. The exclusives in the Universities 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.

CAG-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. —Shakespere, 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.

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 assured, 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, COURONNE; Gipsey, COURNA, – PANSH COURNA, half-a-crown.

CARPET, “upon the CARPET,” any subject or matter that is uppermost for discussion or conversation. Frequently 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 see.

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. Half-a-case, a counterfeit half crown. There are two sources, either of which may have contributed this slang term. Caser is the Hebrew word for a crown; and silver coin is frequently counterfeited by coating or CASING pewter or iron imitations with silver.

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 half-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 Words, 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 KERTEVER.

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, καταπαν, 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.

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 indebtedness; “I 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.

CHAP, a fellow, a boy; “a low CHAP,” a low fellow – abbreviation of CHAP-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.

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, 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 FLORIO.

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 corruption 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 CHIVEY, a shout; a halloo, or cheer, loud tongued. From CHEVY-CHASE, a boy’s game, in which the word CHEVY 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 language it signifies an interpreter. Gifford 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, aided by his official position, managed to cheat the Turkish and Persian merchants then in London out of the large sum of £1,000, 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 said to chiaous, or chause, or CHOUSE; to do, that is, as this Chiaous had done. —See Trench, Eng. Past 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, provision 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 frequent use with the lower orders that it demanded a place in 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 OVER, 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.”

CLAGGUM, boiled treacle in a hardened state, Hardbake. —See CLIGGY.

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 lawsuit 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, CLÆG, 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 derives this word from the Old English, CLEYES, claws; Anglo Saxon, CLEA. This pronunciation is still retained in Norfolk; thus, to CLY would mean to pounce upon, snatch. —See FRISK.