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CLY-FAKER, a pickpocket.

COACH, a Cambridge term for a private tutor.

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 effeminate boy, derived from COCKERING, or foolishly petting a person, rendering them of soft or luxurious manners. Halliwell 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 derivation: – 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, in verse 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 neighbourhood 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.

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 questionable manner. Cager, or GAGER, was the old cant term for a man.

COFFEE-SHOP, a water-closet, or house of office.

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, – supposed by many of the lower orders to be the seat of feeling 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.

COME, a slang verb used in many phrases; “A’nt he COMING IT?” i. e., is he not proceeding at a great rate? “Don’t COME TRICKS here,” “don’t COME THE OLD SOLDIER over me,” i. e., we are aware of your practices, and “twig” your manœuvre. 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 meal, 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’s income, get deep in debt.

CONVEY, to steal; “CONVEY, the wise it call.”

CONVEYANCER, a pick-pocket. Shakespere uses the cant expression, 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.

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 , 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. Κορινθίαζ εσθαι, to Corinthianise, indulge in the company of courtesans, was a Greek slang expression. Hence the proverb —

Οὐ παντὸς ἀνδρὸς εἰς Κόρινθον ἔσθ' ὁ πλοῦς, and Horace, Epist. lib. 1, xvii. 36 —

Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum, in allusion to the spoliation practised by the “hetæræ” 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 pickling 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.

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 metropolitan society by their low habits, general improvidence, pugnacity, love of gambling, total want of education, disregard 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. Costering, 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 Bartlett, who claims it as an Americanism; and Halliwell, who terms it an Archaism; also Bacchus and Venus, 1737.

COUNCIL OF TEN, the toes of a man who turns his feet inward.

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 COVEY, a boy or man of any age or station. A term generally preceded by an expressive adjective, thus a “flash COVE,” a “rum COVE,” a “downy COVE,” &c. The feminine, COVESS, was once popular, but it has fallen into disuse. Ancient cant, originally (temp. Henry VIII.) COFE, or CUFFIN, altered in Decker’s time to COVE. Probably connected with CUIF, which, in the North of England, signifies a lout or awkward fellow. Amongst Negroes, CUFFEE.

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, κύων, a dog.

COW’S GREASE, butter.

COW-LICK, the term given to the lock of hair which costermongers 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 VALLEY, 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.

CRIB-BITER, an inveterate grumbler; properly said of a horse which has this habit, a sign of its bad digestion.

CRIBBAGE-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 recruiting sergeant. They generally pretend to give employment 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-CHOVEY, 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 has 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 confederate in a robbery. The CROW looks to see that the way is clear, whilst the SNEAK, his partner, commits the depredation.

CROW, “a regular crow,” a success, a stroke of luck, – equivalent 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, circumstances, &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 and 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 Culloden; that the diamonds are the nine lozenges in the arms of Dalrymple, Earl of Stair, detested 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 Hudibras, and Bacchus and Venus, 1737.

CUSHION THUMPER, polite rendering of TUB THUMPER, a clergyman, a preacher.

CUSTOMER, synonymous with CHAP, a fellow; “a rum CUSTOMER,” i. e., an odd fish, or curious person. —Shakespere.

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 YOUR 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 YOUR LUCKY, to run off; CUT 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 utterance 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 CUTTERS, bold and strong,
And robbed in the north.”
 

This ancient cant word now survives in the phrase, “to swear like a CUTTER.”

CUTTY PIPE, a short clay pipe. Scotch, CUTTY, short. Cutty-sark, 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. Probably from the Lingua Franca. Modern Greek, δεκα; Italian, DIECI SOLDI, tenpence; Gipsey, DIK, ten. So also DACHA-ONE, i. e., dieci uno, 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 GROGHAM, was likewise the cant term for a horse.

The DAISY-KICKERS 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. Egan 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-farthing.

DANNA, excrement; DANNA DRAG, a nightman’s or dustman’s cart.

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 drunk. – 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 common 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,” DEAD-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 Gipsey, 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.

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 huckle bones of sheep, which have been used from the earliest times for gambling purposes, 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, τομη, 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 – l 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.

DIDDLER, 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.

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 DINARO,” not a penny. Turkish, DINARI; Spanish, DINERO; Latin, DENARIUS.

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 UP, used up, finished, or quieted. Done also means convicted, or sentenced; so does DONE-FOR. 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 expression “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.

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 unexpectedly, 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 distinction 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.

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 consummation 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 BRAGGADOCIO.

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 pursuers 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,” unfortunate; “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 round 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.

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.”

DOWNS, 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.