I

PASSING ENGLISH

STANDABD REFERENCE LIRRARY.

Large 8vo, half red-morocco gilt.

Dictionary of Slang and Colloquial English. By J. S. FARMER and the late W. E. HENLEY. Abridged from the seven-volume work. 542 pp.

Passing English of the Victorian Era. By J. BEDDING WARE. (Forming a Supplement to the above.)

Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, Obsolete Phrases, &c. By J. 0. HALLIWELL. 998 pp.

Glossary of Words, Phrases, Names and Illusions. By Archdeacon NARES. Edited by J. 0. HALLIWBLL and T. WRIGHT. 992 pp.

English Quotations. By ROBINSON SMITH.

The Eosicrucians. By HARGRAVE JENNINGS. With 300 illustrations and 12 plates.

Shakespeare Word-book. By JOHN FOBTBR, M.A.

Prof. E. DOWDEN, writes : —

' One of the special distinctions of the book lies in its tracings of the ramifications of meaning, and I think there is a delight- ful training of the mind in following its guidance here. But, apart from this, as a mere swift aid in getting past difficulties in reading Shakespeare, it will be most useful, and all the more useful because of its condensation. '

PASSING ENGLISH

OF THE VICTORIAN ERA

A DICTIONARY OF HETERODOX ENGLISH, SLANG, AND PHRASE

BY

J. BEDDING WARE

999

\

As forests shed their foliage by degrees,

So fade expressions which in season please. — BYRON.

LONDON GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LIMITED

NEW YORK : E. P. DUTTON & CO.

7

P£ 373,1

This Work forms a Companion Volume to

FARMER AND HENLEY'S

'DICTIONARY OF SLANG AND COLLOQUIAL ENGLISH'

IN THE SAME SERIES.

PREFACE i

HERE is a numerically weak collection of instances of 'Passing English '. It may be hoped that there are errors on every page, and also that no entry is ' quite too dull '. Thousands of words and phrases in existence in 1870 have drifted away, or changed their forms, or been absorbed, while as many have been added or are being added. 'Passing English' ripples from countless sources, forming a river of new language which has its tide and its ebb, while its current brings down new ideas and carries away those that have dribbled out of fashion. Not only is 'Passing English ' general ; it is local ; often very seasonably local. Careless etymologists might hold that there are only four divisions of fugitive language in London — west, east, north and south. But the variations are countless. Holborn knows little of Petty Italia behind Hatton Garden, and both these ignore Clerkenwell, which is equally foreign to Islington proper; in the South, Lambeth generally ignores the New Cut, and both look upon Southwark as linguistically out of bounds; while in Central London, Clare Market (disappearing with the nineteenth century) had, if it no longer has, a distinct fashion in words from its great and partially surviving rival through the centuries — the world of Seven Dials, which is in St Giles's — St James's being practically in the next parish. In the East the confusion of languages is a world of ' variants ' — there must be half-a-dozen of Anglo-Yiddish alone — all, however, outgrown from the Hebrew stem. ' Passing English ' belongs to all the classes, from the peerage class who have always adopted an imperfection in speech or frequency of phrase associated with the court, to the court of the lowest costermonger, who gives the fashion to his immediate entourage. Much passing English becomes obscure almost immediately upon its appearance — such as ' Whoa, Emma ! ' or ' How's your poor feet ? ' the first from an inquest in a back street, the second from a question by Lord Palmerston addressed to the then Prince of Wales upon the

Preface

return of the latter from India. ' Everything is nice in my garden' came from Osborne. 'O.K.' for 'orl kerrect' (All Correct) was started by Vance, a comic singer, while in the East district, 'to Wainwright' a woman (i.e. to kill her) comes from the name of a murderer of that name. So boys in these later days have substituted 'He's a reglar Charlie' for 'He's a reglar Jack' meaning Jack Sheppard, while Charley is a loving diminutive of Charles Peace, a champion scoundrel of our generation. The Police Courts yield daily phrases to 'Passing English ', while the life of the day sets its mark upon every hour. Between the autumn of 1899, and the middle of 1900, a Chadband became a Kruger, while a plucky, cheerful man was described as a 'B.P.' (Baden Powell). Li Hung Chang remained in London not a week, but he was called 'Lion Chang' before he had gone twice to bed in the Metropolis. Indeed, proper names are a great source of trouble in analysing Passing English. 'Dead as a door nail' is probably — as O'Donnel. The phrase comes from Ireland, where another fragment — Til smash you into Smithereens' — means into Smither's ruins — though no one seems to know who Smithers was. Again, a famous etymologist has assumed 'Right as a trivet' to refer to a kitchen-stove, whereas the 'trivet' is the last century pronunciation of Truefit, the supreme Bond Street wig-maker, whose wigs were perfect — hence the phrase. Proper names are truly pitfalls in the study of colloquial language. What is a ' Bath Oliver,' a biscuit invented by a Dr Oliver of Bath ; again there is the bun named after Sally Lunn, while the Scarborough Simnel is a cake accidentally discovered by baking two varying superposed cakes in one tin. In Scarborough, some natives now say the cake comes down from the pretender Simnel, who became cook or scullion to Henry VII. Turning in another direction, it may be suggested that most exclamations are survivals of Catholicism in England, such as 'Ad's Bud'— 'God's Bud' (Christ); 'Cot's So'— 'God's oath'; 'S'elp me greens '— meaning groans; more blue (still heard in Devonshire) — morbleu (probably from Bath and the Court of Charles II.)— the 'blue death ' or the 'blue-blood death '— the crucifixion. ' Please the pigs ' is evidently pyx ; while the dramatic 'sdeath is clearly 'His Death'; even the still common ' Bloody Hell 'is 'By our lady, hail ', the lady being the Virgin. There are hundreds of these exclamations, many wholly local.

ri

Preface

Amongst authors perhaps no writer has given so many words to the language as Dickens — from his first work, ' Pickwick ', to almost his last, when he popularised Dr Bowdler; anglicization is, however, the chief agent in obscuring meanings, as, for instance, gooseberry fool is just gooseberry fouille, moved about — of course through the sieve. Antithesis again has much to answer for. ' Dude ' having noted itself, ' fade ' was discovered as its opposite ; 'Mascotte' a luck-bringer having been brought to England, the clever ones very soon found an antithesis in Jonah, who, it will be recalled, was considered an unlucky neighbour. Be it repeated — not an hour passes without the discovery of a new word or phrase — as the hours have always been — as the hours will always be. Nor is it too ambitious to suggest that passing language has something to do with the daily history of the nation. Be this all as it may be — here is a phrase book offered to, it may be hoped, many readers, the chief hope of the author, in relation with this work, being that he may be found amusing, if neither erudite nor useful. Plaudite.

J. R. W.

ABBREVIATIONS USED

ab. .	. about	Mid. .	Middle
abbrev.	. abbreviation	Milit.	Military
Amer.	American	M. P.	Morning Pott
art. .	artistic	Mus. Hall .	Music Hall
Austral. .	. Australia
		N. . .	North
Bk. .	. Book	Newsp. Cutting .	Newspaper cutting
		N. Y.	New York
Ca. .	. Canto
c. Eng.	. common English	0. Eng.	Old English
cent. .	. century	on ...	onwards, as 1890 on=
cf.	. compare		1890 and years fol-
ch. .	. chapter		lowing
C. L. .	. common life	0. S. .	old style
com. , comui.	common.
commerc. .	. commercial	P. House .	Public House
corr. .	. corruption	Peo. .	The People
crit. .	. criticism	Peop.	Peoples'
D. C. .	Daily Chronicle	polit. . Pub. Sch. .	political Public School
D. els.	. Dangerous Classes
D. M.	. Daily Mail	q. v. .	which see
D. N. D. T.	. Daily News . Daily Telegraph	qq.v. .	which (plural) see
		E. .	Railway, Koyal
E. e.g. .	. East . for example	Ref. . . .	Referee
E. N.	. Evening News	S.	South
Eng., Engl.	. England, English	Sat. Rev. .	Saturday Review
Hist. .	. historical	Soc. .	Society
		Span., Sp. .	Spanish
i.e.	. that is	St. ...	stanza
/. L. N. .	. Illustrated London	St. .	Standard
	News	S. Exch. .	Stock Exchange
Ind. .	Indian
		Theat., Theatr. .	Theatrical
L. .	. Low Class	Tr. .	Trade
L. C. and D.	. London, Chatham
	Dover	Univ. .	University
L. C. .	. Lower Class	U.S.A.	United States of
Lit. .	. literary		America
Lond., Lon.	London
		V.	against
M. Class .	. Middle Class
Metrop.	. Metropolitan	W. .	West

PASSING ENGLISH

A. D.

Academy Headache

A. D. (Ball-room programme). Drink, disguised, thus :

PROGRAMME OF DANCES.

1. Polka

2. Valse

3. Valse

4. Lanoers

5. Valse

6. Valse

7. Quadrille

8. Valse

Etc., etc.

Polly J. A. D. Miss F. Polly J. A. D.

Miss M. A. T. Polly J. A. D.

The ingeniousness of this arrangement is that young ladies see 'A. D.', and assume the youth engaged.

Abernethy (Peoples'}. A biscuit, so named after its inventor, Dr Abernethy (see Bath Oliver).

Abisselfa (Suffolk). Alone. From ' A by itself, A ' ; an old English way of stating the alphabet.

Abney Park (Hast London). About 1860. An abbreviation of Abney Park cemetery, a burial ground for a large proportion of those who die in the East End of London. Cemetery is a difficult word which the ignorant always avoid. Now used figuratively, e.g., 'Poor bloke, he's gone to Abney Park ' — meaning that he is dead.

We had a friendly lead in our court t'other night. Billy Johnson's kid snuffed it, and so all the coves about got up a ' friendly ' to pay for the funeral to plant it decent in Abney. — Cutting.

About and About (Soc., 1890 on). Mere chatter, the conversation of fools who talk for sheer talking's sake, e.g., 1 A more about and about man never suggested or prompted sudden murder.'

In an age of windy and pretentious gabble — when the number of persons who

can, and will, chatter 'about and about the various arts is in quite unprecedented disproportion to the number of those who are content to study these various arts in patience, and, above all, in silence — there was something eminently salutary in Millais' bluff contempt for the more presumptuous theories of the amateurs. — D. T., 14th August 1896.

Above - board (Peoples'}. Frank, open. From sailors' lingo. Not between decks or in the hold, but above all the boards in the ship.

Abraham's Willing (Rhyming}. Shilling. Generally reduced to willing, e.g., ' Lend us a willing.'

He don't care an Abraham's willing for anybody. — Newsp. Cutting.

Absolutely True (Soc., ab. 1880). Absolutely false, from the title of a book, the statements in which, of a ghostly character, were difficult of acceptation.

Abyssinian Medal (Military). A button gone astray from its button- hole, one in the region of the abdomen. Introduced after the Abyssinian "War. (See Star in the East.)

Academy (London). A billiard- room. Imported from Paris, 1885.

An edict has been promulgated (Paris) forbidding the playing of games of chance on public thoroughfares or in cafes for money, and it is chiefly directed against the billiard rooms, or academies as they are called here.— D. T., 26th July 1894.

Academy Headache. When art became fashionable to a severe degree this malady appeared ; now applied generically to headaches acquired at any art galleries.

Art critics complain of 'Academy head- ache' and of the fatigue produced by

Academic Nudity

Advertisement Conveyancers

leagues of coloured canvases. — D. N., 15th April 1885.

There has yet to arise the philosopher who can explain to us the precise cause of the 'Academy headache'. ... It is an experience familiar to many who ' do ' the great collection at Burlington House. Most persons who go to the Academy know the malady well. — D. N., 4th June 1885.

Academic Nudity ( Oxford). Appear- ance in public without cap or gown.

After a tranquil pipe in a friend's room we set out again. Shall we take cap and gown, or shall we venture forth in a state of ' Academic nudity ' ? Perish the slavish thought ! We go without them. — Cutting.

Accident. A child born out of wedlock.

Accidented (Lit., 1884). Liable to surprise.

An operatic season thus accidented can hardly prove prosperous, but may be pregnant of good if it teach intending managers of Italian opera to rely on general excellence of ensemble, rather than on stars that may at any moment be eclipsed.— Globe, 1st July 1885.

According to Cocker (Peoples'). Quite correct, according to rule. Cocker flourished in 1694, when the first edition of his Arithmetic appeared at the sign of the Black Boy on London Bridge. In the beginning there was no sense of the preposterous in declaring a thing was 'according to Cocker'. Probably the quaintness of the name brought down the dignity of the phrase.

According to Gunter (Peoples'). Used precisely as 'according to Cocker '. Gunter was a distinguished arithmetician, and the inventor of a chain and scale for measuring. 'Gunter's chain' is dragged over the land to this day. ' Give me the Gunter' is as common a phrase amongst surveyors as 'Give me the chain '.

Acknowledge the Corn (Amer. English}. Adroit confession of minor offence to intensify the denial of the major offence: e.g., 'Sir, I believe you are after my wife — and you certainly pocketed my meerschaum last Sunday evening at 10.30.' To which the answer might be: 'Well, I acknowledge the corn — I took the pipe by incident, so to speak ; but as to Mrs H., I'm as innocent as the skipping lamb.' Said to arise from

an ordinary horse -lifting case in the West of U.S.A. The victim was accused of stealing four horses from one point and four feeds of corn from another for the said four horses. c I acknowledge the corn,' said the sufferer — but legend says he was lynched in spite of the admission.

Acting Ladies (Theatrical, 1883). Indifferent artistes. Mrs Langtry, moving in society, having (1882) appeared as an actress in London, and in the same year gone to America, where she made vast sums of money, many ladies of more education than dramatic ability turned their attention to the stage. Eleven out of a dozen totally failed, and few ' twelfths ' kept before the public : hence an ' acting lady' soon came, amongst theatrical people, to represent an incapable actress: e.g., 'She isn't a comedian, you know, she's an acting lady.'

Acting ladies, in my opinion, should be severely left alone. There is no pleasing them or their friends. — Entr'acte, February 1883.

Actor's Bible (Theatrical). The Era. This phrase was one of the first directed against sacred matters, about the time when Essays and Reviews was much discussed (1860-70).

Mr Sydney Grundy, whose sensitive- ness sometimes outruns his discretion, issued a challenge to Mr Clement Scott in ' the Actor's Bible '.—Ref. 1883.

There was a motion in the Court of Chancery on Friday, before Mr Justice Chitty, to commit the proprietor of the 'Actor's Bible' for contempt of Court for allowing certain remarks about ' un- principled imitators' of Miss Genevieve Ward to appear in print. — Cutting.

Adam and Eve's togs (Peoples'). Nakedness. (See Birth-day suit.)

Adam's Ale (Peoples'). Water- probably from the time of the Stuart Puritans. If so, it forms a good example of national history in a word or phrase.

Ad's my Life (Peoples'; 18 cent.). An 18 cent, form of ' God's my life '. (See Odd's life.)

Ad's Bud (18 cent.). God's Bud, i.e., Christ. Common in H. Fielding.

Advertisement Conveyancers (Soc. , 1883). Street Advertisement Board Carriers. (See Sandwich Men.) Brought in by W. E. Gladstone (2nd May 1883), during his speech at the

JEgis

Agony in Red

inauguration dinner of the National Liberal Club in these words :

These fellow-citizens of ours have it for their lot that the manly and interest- ing proportions of the human form are in their case disguised both before and after by certain oblong formations which appear to have no higher purpose than what is called conveying an advertise- ment.— Newsp. Cutting.

Society accepted the phrase and the Premier's enemies shot many a shaft anent it.

^Egis (Latin). A shield, hence pro- tection, patronage, from Minerva's habit of putting her invisible shield in front of her favourites when in battle.

Madam Adelina Patti appeared yester- day afternoon under the aegis of Messrs Harrison, and once more gathered a great audience round her. — D. T., 4th June 1897.

^Estheticism (Soc., 1865 - 1890). Ideal social ethics, represented out- wardly by emblems, chiefly floral, the more significant flowers being the white lily and the sunflower.

The women wore their dresses chiefly in neutral tints, and especially in three series, viz. : — greens, dead leaf (the yellows, or yellowish, of the series) ; olive (the middle path of colour) ; and sage (the blues of the series). In each of these series there were scores of tints. The pomegranate was also a fetish. (See Grego. )

The joke of sestheticism and sunflowers had been smiled at and had died once or twice between 1865 and 1878 before it was familiar enough to the public for dramatic purposes. — D. N.t 27th January 1887.

Affigraphy (Coster). To a T, exactly. A corruption of autograph — the vulgar regarding a signature as of world-wide importance and gravity. (See Sivvy.)

Afters (Devon). Sweets — pies and puddings. ' Bring in the afters ' is a common satirical remark in poor Devonshire houses, especially when there are no ' afters ' to follow. Also used in Scotland, e.g., 'Hey mon, a dinner, an' nae afters ! '

Afternoon Calls (Soc., 19 cent.). Referring to exclusive society, who have never accepted the afternoon 'drums' and five o'clock teas, but adhered to the more formal 15 -minute afternoon visit.

You had not observed that sort of thing before marriage? Never. What I saw of her was at afternoon calls. — Lord Gerard's evidence in Lord Durham's Nullity of Marriage suit, March 1885.

Afternoonified (Soc.). Smart.

What may prove a popular new adjec- tive made its first appearance last week. A lady entered a fashionable drapery store. The lady found nothing to please her. The shopwalker then was called. This individual, with a plausible tale or compliment, will invariably effect a sale after all other means have failed. In reply to his question whether the goods were not suitable, the fastidious customer answered : ' No, thank you ; they are not "afternoonified" enough for me.' In the case of a lady armed with an argument of such calibre what was the shopwalker to say or do? Like a wise man, he expressed his regret and beat a dignified retreat. The lady did the same, but the adjective remained. — D. T., July 1897.

* After you with the push' (Peoples'). Said, with satirical mock politeness, in the streets to any one who has roughly made his way past the speaker, and 'smudged' him.

Aggeravators, Hagrerwaiters (Costermongers). Side-curls still worn by a few conservative costennongers. Of two kinds — the ring, or ringlet (the more ancient), and the twist, dubbed, doubtless in the first place by satirists, 'Newgate Knockers'. Indeed the model of this embellishment might have been the knocker of the door of the house of the governor of that gaol. The aggravation may mean that these adornments excite envy in those who cannot grow these splendours, or that they aggravate or increase the admira- tion of the fair sex. The younger costers wear rival forehead tufts — such as the Quiff, the Guiver, or the Flop. There is, however, one golden rule for these fashions — the hair must stop short of the eyelids.

Agony in Red (Soc.). Vermilion costume. When the aesthetic craze was desperately 'on' (1879-81), terms used in music were applied to paint- ing, as a 'nocturne in silver-grey,' a 'symphony in amber,' a 'fugue in purple,' an 'andante in shaded violet'. Hence it was an easy transition to apply terms of human emotions to costumes.

There are many terrible tints even now to be found among the repertory of the

Agreeable Rattle

Alhambra War Whoop

leaders of fashion — agonies in red, livid horrors in green, ghastly lilacs, and monstrous mauves. —Newsp. Cutting.

Agreeable Rattle (Soc., ab. 1840). A chattering young man. The genus has long since disappeared. The A. R. went out with the great Exhibition of 1857.

Roderick Doo appeared to be what the ladies call an agreeable rattle. — Albert Smith,' Mr Ledbury (1842).

Ah, dear me ! (Soc., 18 and 19 cents.). An ejaculation of sorrow, perhaps from ' Ah, Dieu mais ! ' which in its turn came from Ay de mi (q.v.). Probably introduced by Catherine of Braganza or one of her French contemporaries at Whitehall ('Ah, dear me, but it's a wicked world').

Ah, que je can be bete ! (Half -Soc. , 1899). A new macaronic saying — French and English. Amongst the lower classes another ran ' Twiggy - vous the chose ? '

'Aipenny Bumper (London Streets). A two-farthing omnibus ride, descrip- tive of the vehicles in question which were not generally great works in carriage - building, until the London County Council started (1899) a line of £d. 'busses between Waterloo Station and Westminster along the Strand. The L.C.C. 'busses were as good as any others, and better than most.

Air-hole (Soc., 1885-95). A small public garden, generally a dismally converted graveyard, with the ancient gravestones set up at ' attention ' against the boundary walls.

For some years past the churchyard has been disused, and the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, with a keen eye for what it not inaptly terms 'air- holes,' has been making strenuous efforts to secure it as an ornamental space. — D. T., 1st June 1895.

Air-man-chair (Music-hall trans- position). Chairman — effected by taking the 'ch' from the beginning and adding it, with 'air', to the termination. Very confusing and once equally popular, e.g., 'The air-man- chair is got up no end to-night,' i.e., is well dressed. The chairman has now been abolished in music-halls. He was supposed to keep order and lead choruses. The modern public now do these things for themselves.

Albany Beef (Amer.). Unattrac- tive viands. The New York Herald concludes by

observing that 'ioukka', which it calls 'really the national soup of Russia', to 'one of simple tastes, must resemble Hudson River sturgeon, otherwise known as Albany beef, struck by Jersey lightning '.—G. A. Sala, in D. T., 30th June 1883.

Albertine (Soc. , 1860-80). An adroit, calculating, business - like mistress ; from the character of that name in Le Pere Prodigue (A. Dumas fils). She is in his play an economical housewife, but looks to her own ledger with remorseless accuracy. The word is used and understood in England only by persons of high rank. In France it is used by all classes as a term of reproach, addressed even to a wife for any display of niggardliness. (Sec Nana, Oheri.)

Alderman hung1 in Chains (City). A fat turkey decked with garlands of sausages. From the appearance of the City fathers, generally portly — becoming more so when carrying their chains of office over their powerful busts.

Alderman (Peoples'). Half a dollar = half a crown, which by the way is fivepence more than the American ' half. Its origin beyond the reach of discovery ; it is probably derived from some remote alderman who when on the bench habitually ladled out this coin to applicants for relief.

Alexandra Limp (Soc., ab. 1872). An affected manner of walking seen for several years amongst women. Said to have been imitated from the temporary mode in which the then Princess of Wales walked after some trouble with a knee. (See Buxton Limp, Grecian Bend, Roman Fall.)

Alhambra War Whoop (Theatrico- political,l87Q). The 'historical' defiance cast at each other by the Germans and French in London during the Franco- German war. Speaking of the destruc- tion of the theatre by fire (Dec. 1882) G. A. Sala wrote at the time in The Illus. London News :

Do you remember the ' War Whoop at the Alhambra'? That was during the Franco-German war in 1870 — in the late Mr Sawyer's time, and just after the refusal of the dancing licence to the place. The enterprising lessee, not to be baffled by the unkind action of the Areopagus of Clerkenwell Green, deter- mined to 'take it out' in international noise ; so every evening towards the close

All

All of a Piece

of the performance he organised one band which played the 'Marseillaise', the strains of which were immediately followed by the enlivening notes of the German ' Wacht am Rhein '. Then ensued the Alhambresque ' War Whoop '. The Frenchmen in the house cheered their own melody to the echo, and groaned, whistled, and yelled at the Teutonic air. The Germans, on their side, received the ' Wacht am Rhein ' with clamorous exultation, and hooted and bellowed at the ' Marseillaise '. The English portion of the audience im- partially screamed and howled. The appalling charivari nightly drew crowds to the Alhambra ; but the excitement did not last long.

All (L. Peoples'}. Perfect, extreme, complete, absolute — the sum of street gentlemen's admiration, e.g., 'She's all there,' 'All a lark,' 'All on,' 'All a neat bit.'

'It's all bosh.' All is a big word. Does he refer to the meeting, the Royal Exchange, the speeches, the speakers, or the existence of unemployed thousands ? His favourite word comes in again in the supplementary remark : ' It's all a game.' My friend says he is a French polisher, and he smells like one. He further informs me that he belongs to some mysterious commonwealth, that he is a teetotaler, a vegetarian, a non-smoker. When I hint to him — emphasizing his own term — that he is all too good for me, he cheerily comforts me with ' Not a bit of it ; it's all right '. This is as it should be — all bosh, all a game, all right. — I). N., 5th February 1885. (See Neat.)

All his buttons on (C. L., 1880 on). Sharp, alive, active, not to be deceived. He is eighty-three years of age, but as we say hereabouts, has all his buttons on (laughter), and he says, ' I never heard of greater nonsense in all my life. Here I am, W. G. of the "Blue Boar", who, if the Duke of So-and-So gives me notice in September to quit next Lady Day, have to leave my licence behind me without any compensation.' — Sir W. Harcourt, Speech in Bermondsey, 20th May 1890.

All a-cock (Peoples'}. Overthrown, vanquished. It may be a version of knocked into a cocked hat, (q.v.), or, more probably it is derived from cock- fighting ; e. g. , ' He's all a kick, ' meaning a dying bird, from the motion of the legs during the agony of death. This would pass into ' cock ' readily, seeing that the conquering bird was always called ' a game ' one ; or ' he just only tripped me, an' I was all a-cock in a one-two '.

All a treat (Street). Perfection of enjoyment, sometimes used satirically to depict mild catastrophe.

All-fired (Amer.). A euphemism for hell-fired, used as a general intensive, e.g., 'I was in an all-fired rage.'

All it is worth (Amer.). To the fullest extent, as fully as possible.

Scalchi, to use a side-walk phrase, played Siebel for all the character was worth, and was evidently the favourite. — N. Y. Mercury, 1883.

All my eye and Betty Martin (Peoples'1}. An expression of disbelief, evasive declaration that the person addressed is a liar. Perhaps the finest example extant of colloquial exclamations reaching to-day from pre-Reformation times. St Martin was, and is, the patron saint of beggars. The prayer to St Martin opens, '0, mini, beate Martine.'

This phrase was used by English mendicants (and is still used by South- Italian beggars) when asking for alms. When indiscriminate charity 'went out' in England at the date of the Reformation, this phrase fell into bad repute as representing a lazy and lying class. It is still used by the commoner classes as an expression of doubt, though it has been very widely superseded by 'humbug' (q.v.).

All my own (London Apprentices, 19 cent.). Freedom, 'mastership. Its use is disappearing with the tendency to abolish apprenticeship.

I'm quite in the world alone And I'll marry you If you'll be true,

The day I'm all my own.— (1896). All my eye and my elbow (London, 1882). Fictional : appears to be a flight of genius starting from 'all my eye and Betty Martin', got into form, not because Betty Martin had become vulgar, but possibly because her vague identity led to conventional divergencies. There is a smart aspect about this term, for, while eye and elbow offered a weak alliteration, there is some sort of association and agree- ment in the action of these personal belongings, for one can wink with the eye and nudge with the elbow at once. All of a piece (Peoples'). Awkward, without proper distribution or relation of parts, e.g., 'He lounged in— all of a piece.' 'Have you seen his new Venus ? Awful — all of a piece.'

All over Grumble

Ally Sloper

All over grumble (Peoples'). Obvious.

In some of the things that have been seen here it has been a case of all over grumble, but Thursday's show was all over approval.— Re/., 28th March 1886.

All over red (Railway, to public, 1840 on). Dangerous, to be avoided. From red being the colour signal of danger throughout the railway world. The phrase has been accepted by the public at large. (See Be Green, White Light, Paint the Town Red.)

All poppy cock (Amer.). Mere brag, nonsense. Perhaps a figure of speech drawn from the natural history of the field-poppy, which looks very braw, military, cockish, and flaunting, but which tumbles to pieces if touched, or droops and faints almost directly it is gathered.

All right up to now (Street}. Smiling, serene. Derived from enceinte women making the remark as to their condition. Used by Herbert Campbell as a catch-phrase in Covent Garden Theatre Pantomime, 1878.

All-round muddle (Stock Exchange, 1870). Complete entanglement.

Her ' bondage ' is not of lengthened duration, inasmuch as the husband, finding himself in an all-round muddle, shoots himself dead. — Cutting.

When reporters get hold of a new phrase they are liable to work it to death. At present they are grinding away at ' all-round '. They tell about the all-round fighter, the all-round base- ball player, the all-round reporter, the all-round thief, and the all-round actor. One reporter said the other day that whisky was the best all-round mischief- maker there was in the world, and he probably hasn't been all-round either. — Cutting, 1888.

All very fine and large (Lond., 1886). Satirical applause ; from the refrain of a song sung by Mr Herbert Campbell.

How many people passed the turnstiles at the Alexandra Palace I am not in a position to say, but that the attendance was all very fine and large is beyond dispute.— Ref., 7th August 1887.

Alley (Peoples'). A go-between. Evidently from ' aller ', to go.

Mrs Cox was an alley for her. — Bravo Coroner's Inquest.

Alice samee (Pidgeon English). All the same. Used by Chinese cheap abourers when detected in trying to

cheat. 'Washy money allee samee,' applied by Anglo -Asiatics in a satirical spirit where things are not quite satisfactory. ' It appeared that they were not quite married, but that they lived together allee samee.' — N. Y. Mercury, February 1883.

Alligators (Amer.). People of Florida, so named from the alligators there ; used also because the Floridans are supposed to be as greedy as these reptiles. Of course, an invention of some other State or States.

'Will you kindly tell me which way the wind blows ? ' asked a Northern invalid of the landlord of a Florida hotel. 'Certainly, sir,' replied the landlord, stepping to the door ; ' the wind now blows due north, sir.' ' Thank you.' A little later the landlord said to the bookkeeper : ' Have you made out Mr Smith's bill yet ? ' ' No, sir.' ' Well, just charge one dollar to his account for information about the direction of the wind.'

Alls (Public-House). Waste pot at public-houses. On all public-house pewter counters may be seen holes, down which go spillings of everything. Popular mistrust runs to the belief that these collections are used up — hence the comment upon bad beer. 'This must be alls.' As a fact, the brewer allows a barrel of good beer for every barrel of alls forwarded to the brewery. What does the brewer do with it? This is indeed wanting to know, at the end of the book, what became of the executioner ? Pro- bability is in favour of the sewer- grating.

Allsopp (Peoples'). Short for Allsopp's Pale Ale.

Ally Luja lass (Lond. Street, 1886 on). Hallelujah lass was the name given to the girl contingent of the Salvation Army, when the movement rose into importance in London, and General Booth made an effort to purchase all the theatres, succeeding, however, only in one case, that of the Grecian Theatre, City Road.

She sed thay wur Ally Luja's lasses. 'Ally Luja's asses,' I sed; 'thay wants kikkin.' — Comic Report of a Salvation Meeting (1870).

Ally Sloper (Street, 1870 on). A dissipated -looking old man with a red and swollen nose. Invented by Mr Charles Ross, who ran him in print for a score of years.

Almighty Dollar

Angel

Almighty dollar (Amer.). This expression, a derisive synonym for money os Mammon, originated with Washington Irving. It is found in his Creole Village, and reads thus :

'The Almighty Dollar, that great object of urdversal devotion throughout our land, seems to have no genuine devotees in these peculiar villages.'

Alphonse 'Soc., 1870 on). A man of position who accepts money from a married woman or women richer, and probably older, than himself, as recom- pense for remaking her or their lover. Quite understood in Paris— not known out of society ii London. From the play Monsieur Alphonse (Alexandre Dumas, fils).

There was yesterday evening and up to the small hours of the morning a serious riot in the Latin Quarter, caused by the students who continue from time to time to make violent demonstrations against those professional allies of certain women — men who bear the name of ' Alphonse ' — a sobriquet invented by Alexandre Dumas, one which has passed into the language. — Nwcsp. Cutting.

Altogether (Soc., 1894). The nude in art. From Du Mauri er's Trilby, who is an artist's model. ' I sit for the altogether.'

The New York Mercury, 27th September 1895, has this heading: Will the next fad be photographs of modern woman taken in the ' altogether' ? Society women now have their busts done in marble, their hands and arms in bronze, and their legs photographed.

In The Demagogue and Lady Phayre, the labour leader appears as a figure of rude nobility. The proportions are not heroic ; they are simply life-size. In the altogether they make up an individuality rich, massive, and imposing. — Weekly Sun, 29th December 1895. They wore little underclothing — scarcely anything — or no — thing —

And their dress of Coan silk was quite

transparent in design — Well, in fact, in summer weather, some- thing like the ' altogether ',

And it's there I rather fancy, I shall have to draw the line ! — Mr W. S. Gilbert's 'The Grand Duke', March 1896.

There was no earthly necessity why the Hotel du Libre Echange should be an improper play, except that the modern French audience revels in impropriety. They like it, they wallow in it, and they destroy their native ingenuity in construction and invention

with what we may call ' the cult of the altogether^. —D. T., 30th April 1896.

Altogether^ (Soc.). Drunk— from the tendency of a drunken man to lounge himself. Byron uses the term in a letter of 1816.

Amen Corner (California/a). A church.

Sunday found them, judge and lawyers, seated in the ' amen corner '. — All the Year Round, 31st October 1868.

A' mighty (Amer.). One of the first evasions of an oath - like word. It is, of course, a corruption of ' almighty '.

As you know, young fellur, them goats is a'mighty kewrous anymal — as kewrous as weemen is.

Ammedown Shop (Poor). Corrup- tion of Hand-me-down Shop. A good example of a phrase getting bastardized into one meaningless word. ' George, my dear, ammedown my gal's Turkey- red frock.'

Amok. See Run a-muck.

Anatomy (Peoples', formerly Literary). A thin needy boy, or old withered soul. In common English ; it has been reduced to natermy, e.g., 1 He were a perfick 'nattermy.'

A boy of twelve stood leaning against a fence on Duffield Street, hat pulled down, feet crossed, and his right hand going up occasionally to wipe his nose, when along came another anatomy about his size. — Detroit Free Press.

Ancient Mariners (Cambridge Univ.). Graduates still associated with the University who continue to row.

At Cambridge Fawcett rowed stroke (the necessary position of a blind man) in the crew of ' Ancient Mariners ', as the older members of the University who still ply the oar are called.— D. N., 7th November 1884.

Androgynaikal (Art.). Appertain- ing to the nude figure, and to the anatomy of both sexes.

Simeon Solomon's notion of the classic ideal in his picture called ' Sacramentum amoris', a small figure, as nude as may be, girt with a skin of a panther and a light blue sash, and background of yellow drapery, but of that peculiar type of form to which the term ' andro- gunaikal ' is applied in art, and holding a long thyrsus. — Newsp. Cutting.

Angel (N. London Street). A woman of the town fringing the Angel at Islington, e.g., 'What are you doing

Angel-makers

Apostle of Culture

here ? you ain't a Angel — you're only a Sinker' (i.e., St Luker, from the Parish of St Luke, in the City Road, which is considered at the Angel as socially below Islington, as it is comparatively depressed in its physical want of elevation in comparison with the Angel, which is quite at the top of the hill).

Angel-makers (Peop., 1889 on). Baby-farmers ; because so many of the farmed babies die. Probably from the French ' Faiseuses des anges '.

' ANGEL - MAKING '. — Another case of baby-farming, or ' angel-making', as it is called in Austria, has just been dis- covered by the Lemberg police, who have arrested three women on the charge of systematically starving to death infants committed to their care. — Newsp. Cutting, December 1892.

They are not only under a cloud owing to the deaths of Miss Thompson and Mademoiselle Madet, but every day a fresh charge is laid at their doors, and some people have even gone so far as to describe them as members of a band of what Parisians call 'angel-makers'. — D. T., 7th December 1896.

Angels on Horseback (Virginia). Fricasseed oysters — meaning exquisite. Origin not known.

Anglican Inch (Church, 1870 on). Description given by the ritualistic clergy of the short square whisker which is so much affected by the Broad Church party. The Hits (q.v.) call themselves the * Church of England ', the generally accepted Broad Church, or Taits as they were called in Arch- bishop Tait's time, are 'Anglicans' — hence the 'inch'. (See St Alban's Clean Sweep.)

Anguagela (Transposed) Language. A good example of the confusion produced by transposing and repeating a syllable or letter ; e.g.,

How the Lord Chamberlain's people pass this stuff goodness only knows. Perhaps they don't understand the French anguagela.

Animal (L. 0. and D. Railway Passengers, 1860). Synonym for the 1 Elephant and Castle ' station. ' Third- class Animal ' is, or was, quite under- stood by the railway booking-clerks of the district.

Animal (Tavern). A disguised, or flippant, reference amongst boon com- panions to the tavern, used in common when the sign is zoological, such as the Bull, Bear, Lion, Dragon —

8

but more especially referring to the Elephant and Castle (S. London) ; until (1882) this place was exception- ally dubbed 'Jumbo' (q.v.).

Anno Domini, B.C. {Soc., 1890 on). Relating to unknown longevity. 'He must be very anno domini, mustn't he ? ' ' A.D. ? my dear fellow, say B.C.'

Anonyma (Soc., 186>). A name given to women of gaZlantry in an article in the Times commenting on a well-known Phryne of chat day. The word lasted many years and came to be synonymous with a gay woman.

She could kick highsr in the can-can than any anony ma there. — N. Y. Mercury, 1882.

Anti-queer-uns (Soc., 18 cent.). A perversion of 'antiquarians', due to Foote.

So many interesting associations cluster around the remains of the old nunnery at Godstow, a mile or two out of Oxford, that it is rather surprising so little attention has been bestowed on the ruin. Perhaps it may be difficult even for ' Anti-queer-uns ', as Foote calls them, to get up much enthusiasm over nameless graves, — D. AT., 3rd February 1885.

Anti-Tox (Amer. , reaching England 1885). A drug to sober a drunken person. Tox is, of course, the abbreviation of intoxication.

A reporter noticed the singular fact that nearly every one who went into a leading saloon was under the influence of some powerful stimulant, and nearly every one who came out was painfully sober. Then he determined to go in and see about it. 'Have a dose of Anti- Tox?' asked the barkeeper, recognising the reporter. 'It's the greatest thing on earth ; you come to me rocking from one side of the saloon to the other and reeking with the fumes of the vilest whisky, and I will make a new man of you while you are getting out a twenty- cent piece.' — Minneapolis Oaz., 1885.

'Apenny-lot day (Costers'). A bad time for business — really, when every- thing has to be sold cheap.

Apostle of culture (Soc., 1880). An individual who sets up as a perfect judge of taste. Probably started by Sir Francis Burn and in Punch.

Our self -elected apostle of culture has told us that it is as ridiculous to say that such and such a colour is the fashion as it would be to assert that B flat was the fashionable key. — D. N., 13th January 1885.

Apostles of Murder

Arfarfan'arf

Apostles of murder (Pol it., 1867 on). A name given generally to political agitators who included assassination in their programme.

To say nothing of dynamite, and of that horrible compound found at Liver- pool which presents the innocent appear- ance of sawdust but of which every grain is an explosive agency, the apostles of murder are reported to have employed methods of offence even more diabolical. — D. N., 6th April 1883.

Apple-jack (Amer. ). Spirit distilled from cider or from the pulp of apples already pressed for cider. (See Sweet Waters. ) ' Jack ' is a common term for spirits in U.S.A. In Normandy this liquor is calvados.

'A grindstun can,' remarked a weazened farmer, who had just called for some apple-jack. — Newsp. Cutting, 1883.

Apples (Corruption of Rhyming Slang}. Stairs, as thus : ' Apples and pears — stairs.' 'Bill an' Jack's gone up apples.'

'Apples and pears in no birdlime —time.'— (Rhyming Street, 1882).

An obscure mode of describing sudden ejection from a house; e.g.,

The flunkeys had me down stairs (apples and pears) in no time (birdlime).

'Appy dosser (Low Life, 19 cent.). A satirical description of a homeless creature, so wretched as not to have the few halfpence necessary to pay for a ' doss ', or bed in a common lodging- house.

Elizabeth, poor storm-tossed bit of one of the myriad wrecks that strew the ocean of life, homeless and starving, dying of an agonizing ailment, was, having neither money nor friends, what is professionally known as a "appy dosser '. That is to say, she would crawl at night into the open passages of a low lodging-house, and fall down where she could — in the yard or the passage — and sleep.— Ref., February 1882.

Archer up (London, 1881). Safe to win. Formerly a popular phrase of congratulation. A man was seen running for and catching a 'bus : 'Archer up,' shouted the on-lookers. A man appeared in new clothes : ' Archer up ! ' Another threatened to knock another down : ' Archer up ! ' here used probably satirically. The phrase took its rise from a celebrated jockey who suddenly sprang to the front in 1881, and carried everything

9

before him. It is short for 'Archer is up in the saddle'. He rode with an absolute recklessness which may account for his end, for he shot himself. At once the phrase passed away utterly, and was heard no more. Arctics (Amer.). Winter clothing, which in the earlier settled States is decidedly built on a vast scale.

I hate a hotel where you have to get up at 4.15 A.M., dress in a cold room, and walk down to the station because the 'bus doesn't go to that train, and about half-way down you discover that you left your arctics in the office. — Newsp. Cutting.

Ardent (Soc., 1870). A shortened form of 'ardent spirits'. From the Mexican aqua ardente, through America.

After this we all felt in such good humour that the bottle passed freely, and I fear that more than one of our number swallowed a little too much of the ardent.— Newsp. Cutting, 1878.

Arer (Peoples'). More so. From ' are ', emphatically used. ' We are, and what's more, we can't be any arer.' 'Arf-a-mo' (Peoples', 1890 on). Abbreviation of ' half a moment ', cf., 'half a sec.' and 'half a tick' (of a watch). I'll bet you never noticed all the things

that you can do In half a mo' — half a mo', So cock your ears and listen and I'll

mention one or two, In half a mo' — half a mo'. Tho' you're as sane as Satan you can go

clean off your dot, And then start backing gee-gees on a

system very hot ; Have five-and-twenty thousand quids and

lose the blessed lot In half a mo' — half a mo'. Chorus : In half a mo' — half a mo'

Your pluck and perseverance

you can show,

You can go with other people Down a sewer, climb a steeple, Fall an' break your blooming neck in half a mo'.

-1896.

Arf-an-arf (London Public-house, 19 cent.). Half-and-half. A mixture half of black beer (porter) and half ale. (See Cooper.)

Arfarfan'arf (Peoples'). A figure of speech, meaning 'drunk', the sub- stitution of cause for effect, the intoxication being the latter, ' arfarf- anarf the former. It may be thug

Argol-bargol

Ash-plant

explained, arf ' = half pint of; arfanarf = half and half- half ale and half beer = half and half. This liquor is fourpence the quart, therefore, the mystic refreshment is called for as <arf o' four d arfanarf, the 'd' being used to express pence = denarii. Is used to describe drunken men, e.g., ' 'E's very arfarfanarf ' — really meaning that he has had many ' arfs '.

Argol-bargol. To have a row. May be argue turned into argol, from the old term 'argil' (see the Grave- digger in Hamlet), corrupted from ' ergo '. The ' bargol ' is a rhymed invention following a common habit. The whole term, however, is pervaded apparently by depreciation: — 'Well — well — d'yer want ter argol-bargol ? ' Aristocratic veins (Theatrical). Blue lines of colour usually frescoed on the temples, and sometimes on the backs of the hands and wrists. Sup- posed to be a mark of high and noble birth. Sometimes adopted by women in society. ' Pass me the smalt, girl — I want to put in my veins.' (See Mind the Paint.)

Arkansas tooth-pick (Amer.). A bowie-knife. Arkansas is notorious for sudden blood-letting.

And he jabbed an eighteen Arkansas tooth-pick into— whoever it happened to be. — Mark Twain.

He had a seductive way of drawing his 18-inch Arkansas tooth-pick, and examining it critically with a sinister smile, while humbly requesting the temporary loan of five dollars.— Texas Siftings.

'Arrydom (Soc., 1885). The kingdom and rule of 'Any, the typical London cad.

It seems a pity that the Whitehall Review did not confine itself to saying, in the speech of 'Arrydom, 'You're another,' instead of appealing to a special jury.— Sat. Rev., 26th March 1885.

'Arry's Worrier (Peoples', 1885 on). The deadly and bronchitical concertina common to 'Arry's hand, and as deadly as his fist or his ' Hinglish '.

If our readers are inclined to be curious, they may, on further investiga- tion, discover the player of "Arry's' favourite ' worrier ' in the form of a patient-looking little lady, who sits on the stonework of the railings which guard the select piece of grass and trees. —People, 19th February 1897.

'Arrico Veins (Common people, 19 cent.). Varicose veins.

' Bless yer, 'arrico veins don't kill. I know an old lady o' ninety-one, an' she's 'ad 'era these forty years. Ill-conwenient, but they ain't dangerous — on'y a leak.'

Artful Fox (Music-hall, 1882). A nonsense rhyme for ' box '.

You capture the first liker at him in a snug artful fox at some chantin ken where there's a bona varderin serio comic, and Isle of Francer engaged. — From Bio- graphy of the Staff Bundle Courier, the gentleman who accompanies ' serio - comics' from music-hall to music-hall when ' doing turns '.

Artistic Merit (Society, 1882). A satirical criticism of a flattering portrait. A celebrated sculptors' case (Belt v. Lawes, 1882) brought this term into a general use. Belt com- plained that Lawes had said of him that he (Belt) had no 'artistic merit,' and that all his many busts were artistically finished by competent men, commonly called ' studio ghosts '. Belt and his friends maintained that he possessed not only good modelling power, which was also denied, but finishing power also. For Lawes, the then President of the Royal Academy (Sir F. Leighton) and many other eminent art followers gave evidence that Belt had no artistic merit. Gradually, during a long trial of over forty days, the public grew to com- prehend that in sculpture 'artistic merit ' might mean the use of flattering refinement in finish. Hence arose the use of the phrase as an euphemism for flattery.

Sincerity may raise a costume ball from the mere pastime of an evening to an undertaking involving culture, patience, and self-denial, and bring about a result not perhaps without 'artistic merit'. — Newsp. Cutting, February 1885.

Fancy asking a policeman to decide upon the morality or immorality of a ballet ! You might as well ask a police- man to pass judgment on the decency of a statue of Venus, and at the same time to criticise its 'artistic merits'. — Ref., llth February 1883.

Ashkenazic. German and Polish Jews.

Ash-plant (Military, 1870). Light, unvarnished, un peeled, rough-cut ash swish, for carrying in the hand. Subalterns at Dover first carried these swishes, value about Id., the head 10

Ask Another

Auditorium

formed by a knot got at a branching. They became very fashionable, and soon, owing to their valuelessness, very common. Therefore, after a time, they were mounted in gold or silver, the swish remaining impeded, and in no way polished or varnished.

Bringing his ash-plant down on the counter with ten Slade force, he said, ' If that's the sort of man you are, I'm off to take tea with Miss Murnford.' And he offed.— Bird o' Freedom, 7th March 1883.

Ask another (Street, 1896 on). A protest against a reiterated or worn- out joke, an expression of boredom ; directed at a 'chestnut', e.g., 'I say, Joe, when's a door not a door ? ' to which Joe disgustedly replies, 'Oh, ask another.'

Aspect (Lond., chiefly Hatton Garden district}. A look of eager love. Used chiefly in the Italian quarter, but spreading. Where there is a foreign colony in London, as French in Soho, Italian in Clerkenwell Road, German in Clerkenwell, the English amongst them, to some extent fraternizing, adopt any forcible word or phrase used by them, as, for instance, in the White chapel district the Jewish ' selah ' (God be with you, or good-bye) has become ' so long ', a phrase which has spread all over England. Amongst Italians ' aspetto ' is a very common word. Used alone no doubt it may be translated, * Hold on a bit ! ' but it retains its meaning ' look ', ' aspect ', and it is this trans- lation which has been accepted by the observant English lower-middle-class in the Italian district. A fiery youth looking too fiercely into the eyes of a gutter donzella, she observes, ' aspetto — aspetto ! ' Her English sister has accepted the word, and under similar circumstances cries, ' Not too much aspect, Tom ! ' Applied also in other ways, e.g., 'Well, Jack, not too much aspect, or you might run agin one o' my fists ! '

Aspinall (Peoples'). Enamel. Also as a verb. From Aspinall, the inventor and manufacturer of an oxidized enamel paint.

Astarrakan (Street, 1890). A jocular mispronunciation of the astrachan fur. Used satirically, after Mr Gus Elen's (1898) song, the first line of the chorus running :

Astarrakan at the bottom of my coat.

Atavism (Society, c. 1890-5). The antithesis of decadent. The difference between these newly meaninged words is very marked. The decadent may show ability, genius even, but his life demonstrates that he is in a general way mentally, morally, and physically inferior to his forebears; and, as a rule, he dies childless, or his children have no families. The atavist, on the other hand, is a human being who is relegated by some hidden natural force to a condition assimilating to an early form of mankind. He is therefore, as a rule, a physical improvement upon his immediate or modern forebears, and even possibly a mental superior — but morality from the modern standpoint has little or no existence for him. He tends to the animal life — he takes what he wants; society calls him a kleptomaniac ; plain people dub him a thief, while as a dipsomaniac he again imitates the mammal, which, once indulged in liquor, becomes a hopeless drunkard. An atavist may become a decadent ; a decadent never becomes an atavist.

Athletic Drolls (Music-hall, 1860 on). Comic performers whose songs were interspersed with gymnastic feats. (See Knockabout Drolls, Singing Drolls.)

Atlantic Greyhounds (Soc. ). Quick Atlantic steamers.

The booking of passengers desirous of securing berths on board one or other of the 'Atlantic greyhounds' now plying between the Old and New Worlds far exceeds the accommodation available for their reception.— D. T. , 20th May 1895.

Attorney-General's Devil (Legal).

He was chosen by Sir John Holker, whose practical shrewdness was seldom at fault, to succeed the present Lord Justice Bowen as junior counsel to the Treasury, commonly called ' Attorney- General's Devil '.—Newsp. Gutting, 1883.

The working barrister who does the heavy work of a K.C. or other legal big-wig is generally called a ' devil '. But the term is dying out owing to increased legal amenities.

Auctioneer (Peoples'). The fist — because it ' knocks down '.

Milo, the boxer, was an accomplished man. He did not, however, use the sculptor's hammer, but rather the 'auctioneer ' of the late Mr Thomas Savers.— D. N.

Auditorium (Press, 1870). The portion of a theatre occupied by the

11

Aunt Sally

Ay de mi

audience — called the theatre until Dion Boucicault took ' Astley's ', spoilt the ceiling by cutting ventilating holes in it, and then wrote a long letter to the Times in which he spoke of the improvements he had made in 'the auditorium'. The word was at once accepted with much laughter. Now used seriously.

Some time before the curtain rose large crowds of seat-seekers might have been observed surging down the tunnels that lead to the auditorium of this house (Opera Comique, now swept away). — Jief., 14th June 1885.

Aunt Sally (Low London). A black-faced doll. Early in the century the sign of a rag-shop ; afterwards adopted as an entrancing cock-shy, a pipe either forming the nose or being placed between the teeth. From Black Sail and Dusty Bob, characters in the elder Pierce Egan's Life in London, and probably adopted owing to the popularity of that work, precisely as in a later generation many of Dickens's characters were associated with trade advertisements. Aunt Sally is vanish- ing, even at race-courses. Soon, but for a portrait, she will be only a memory. Very significant of Pierce Egan's popularity, which from 1820 to 1840 was as great as that of Dickens, whose fame threw Egan into obscurity.

Aunt's sisters (London Middle-class). A foolish perversion of ' ancestors '.

Corrie Koy was once more restored to the home of his aunt's sisters. — Qomic Romance.

Away (London Thieves' Etiquette). A man is never spoken of as ' in prison ', though he is there for many a 'stretch*. It would evince great want of etiquette to mention the detaining locality, e.g., 'Mine's away, bless 'is 'art,' the grass- widow of lower life will say, as indica- tive that her husband is in jail. The answer should be, ' A 'appy return 'ome to 'im, mum.'

'Awkins (Lower Classes, 1880 on). A severe man, one not to be trifled with. Name-word from the Judge, then Sir Frederic Hawkins, who about this time impressed the lower and criminal classes as a 'hanging' judge, e.g., 'Joe, don't you play around Tom Barr — Vs a 'Awkins, and no mistake.'

'Awkins (Mid- London, 1905). A princely coster monger. From a music -

12

hall song sung by Albert Chevalier, with the catch line, ' And 'Enery 'Awkins is a first-class name'.

And, indeed, if not in Walworth, where should Mr Hawkins be supreme ? It is the epical home, so to speak, of his race — a district traversed by that Old Kent-road in which their lyric hero ' knocked ' the passers-by with the un- expected splendours of his attire and turn-out. Disestablishment is not under- stood to trouble his repose, and the downfall of the Welsh Church would probably leave him as unmoved as the just man in Horace, so long as the ' Harp ' of the same nationality continues to open its hospitable doors to himself and Mrs Hawkins on their 'Sundays out'.— D. T., 14th May 1895.

Axe to grind (Amer.-Engl.). I.e., a personal end to serve, originally a favour to ask ; from men in backwoods pretending to want to grind their axes when in reality they required a drink. Mr Ebbs, an American etymologist, says that the origin of this phrase has been attributed to Benjamin Franklin. It is true, many of his sayings in Poor Richard bear a striking similarity to the saying ; still, not one of them can be tortured into the above phrase.

Every one seems to have had what the Americans call ' an axe to grind '. — Yates, Recollections (1884).

Finally, Mr Irving stepped forward, and in a voice trembling with emotion, bade farewell to his American friends. He said among other things: 'Now that I can speak without fear or favour, and without the suspicion that I have an axe to grind, I can say for the first time how deeply grateful we are for the innumerable acts of kindness received from the American people.' — Newsp. Cutting, April 1885.

Conservatives with axes to grind will soon make the word Beaconsh'eld as wearisome by mere iteration as the word Jubilee.— D. N., 7th April 1887.

Axe-grinders (American}. Men who grumble, especially politically.

Willard's Hotel was closed, and, even if it had not been, with its clientele of bar- loafers, swaggerers, drunkards, and axe- grinders (a class of politicians peculiar to Washington hotels), it would not have been the place for Mr Dickens in his state of health. — Dolby, Dickens as I knew him,

Ay de mi, sometimes Ay de my (Hist.). It pervades all Western European literature. It is found in

B's

Back Answers

Tom Cringle's Log, also in Gil Bias, bk. xi. 5.

Ay de my ! un anno felice

Parece un soplo ligero ;

Per6 fin dicha un instante

Es un siglo de tormento. Smollett translates the phrase 'alas'. It was Carlyle's favourite protest, and is found frequently in Froude's biography of him :

The dinners, routs, callers, confusions inevitable to a certain length. Ay de mi — I wish I was far from it.

It was probably brought to England by Catherine of Braganza. (See 'Oh dear me ! ')

B

B's. (Fenian, 1883). Patriotic Brotherhood. In questionable taste. The members of the Patriotic Brother- hood, or Irish Invincibles, thus styled themselves. It may have had some absurd association with the ' busy bee '.

Patrick Duffy was sworn, and deposed — Finnegan and Devlin were at a meet- ing of the society held in the spring of 1881. I knew James Hauratty and Patrick Geogeghan, who were both 'B's'. • —Report of the Patriotic Brotherhood Conspiracy (Trial at Belfast, 26th March 1883).

B.C. play (Theatrical, 1885). Classical drama ; Before Christ. In- vented apropos to Claudian (Princess's Theatre).

The authors are wise to eschew low comedy. There wasn't much of it in the time of Pericles. George cannot come in and talk about milking his hay and mowing his cows as he did in ' Claudian '. One of our best low comedians, he is not at home in a B.C. period. — Ref., 28th March 1886.

B.H. (Peoples', 1880). Bank holiday.

B. K. 's (Military}. Barracks. _ Used by officers, non-coms., and privates, down to the drummer-boy. (See H. Q.)

B.P. (Theatrical). British Public. (See Pub.)

' Have you read Leader's manifesto on taking possession of Her Majesty's Theatre?' 'We have, and feel sure there's a good time coming for the B.P.'— Bird o' Freedom, 1883.

Harvey writes and arranges, not to

please me, who don't pay, but the B.P., who do.— Ref., 9th August 1

' My dear Wilfred,— They tell me you are in a wax about the exceptions I took to your article. I am extremely sorry to touch any line of yours, but B.P. must be considered, you know ! ' — Ouida, An Altruist, 1896.

B. and P. (Land.). Initials of two young men whose public proceedings resulted, about 1870, in a long police- court inquiry and trial. (See Beanpea. )

B Flat (Peoples'). Proof of advance of education, being a sort of pun lying between si bemol or B flat, and an intimate insect (now rapidly being evicted by a survival of the fittest), which has been too fatally associated with the family of Norfolk Howard (q.v.).

Baby (Tavern, 1875). The con- viction amongst men given to creature- comforts that the cheapest soda and spirits refresher rose to sixpence at least, led the serated water manufacturers to invent the half-bottle (2d. ), which from its small size was dubbed ' baby ' by all men. ' Give me a baby lemonade ' was understood by all barmaids, who never blushed. The term has lapsed.

Baby and Nurse (Tavern, 1876). A small bottle of soda-water and two- penny-worth of spirit in it. This is the nurse. Accepted terms even by queens of the taps and handles. Where more than ' two ' of spirits is required numerals come by their own again. The phrase has lapsed.

Baby's public-house (Peoples'). Nature's fount.

Among them is a six-year-old baby that is suckled at the breast when it asks for baby's public-house, and that fills up the intervals between refreshment by smoking cigarettes. Fact ! — Ref., 5th October 1884.

Bab'sky (Liverpool). Corruption of Bay o' Biscay.

The place where the arch was erected is about the most exposed part of the town when the wind is high, and in consequence is generally styled the < Bab'sky '.—Newsp. Cutting, May 1886.

Back answers (C. Eng., 19 cent.). Sharp retorts, quick-tongued replies, dorsal eructations, without any conces- sion to the laws of etiquette.

He went to the station and gave no ' cheek ' or ' back-answers ' to any one. — Cutting.

Back down

Bad Egg

Back down (American). To yield.

If we may — we indicate an apologetic foreign policy by remarking that the Government ' backs down '.

That is to say, ' makes a back ', as boys at leap-frog, to enable the other players to get over.

Back-hairing (Street}. Feminine fighting, in which the occipital locks suffer severely.

His Honour said no doubt there had been a great deal of provocation, but the rule was when a woman had her back hair pulled down and her face scratched, she back-haired and scratched in return. Newsp. Cutting.

Back-hair parts (Theatrical}. Roles in which the agony of the performance at one point in the drama admits of the feminine tresses in question floating over the shoulders.

Like the famous lady who never would undertake any but 'back-hair' parts, the Parisian comedienne could only with difficulty be prevailed upon to become a stage heroine whose garments have to express the depths of an unpicturesque poverty.— D. N., November 1884.

Back o' the green (Theatre and Music-hall}. This is a sort of rebus, the * green ' being an imperfect rhyme for 'scenes', also referring to that historical 'green' curtain which has now almost passed away. It represents ' behind the scenes '.

Back row hopper (Theatrical}. Chiefly used in taverns affected by the commoner members of * the profession '. ' He's a back row hopper ' is said of an impecunious man who enters one of these houses on the pretence of looking for somebody, and the certain hope of finding somebody ready and willing to pay for a drink.

Back slang it ( Thieves1 }. To go out the back way.

Back-scene (Devonshire). Literal. The second word direct from the French 'seant,', and an interesting example of evasive French- English — found only in Devon.

Backs, The (Cambridge). Literally the backs of several of the greater colleges, notably Trinity and John's — seen from the opposite side of the Cam.

St Andrews boasts her links, Oban is proud of her bay, Cambridge has her 'backs', and whoever visited Liverpool without hearing of her docks ? — D. N.

Backsheesh (Anglo-Arabic). Bribe. The origin of this word is historical. When Mohamed Ali endeavoured, after his lights, to bring Egypt within the pale of civilization, he sought to abate the endless begging exercised by most of his subjects. To this end he assured his people that if they did not beg, foreigners would always make them a backsheesh, or 'present'. The natives accepted the theory, but only to apply it to their old practice. They begged, as they beg to this day, as much as ever ; but they made their entreaties elegant by asking for a backsheesh — the one word of Arabic that every Englishman in Egypt learns, even if he acquire no other.

The people who talk of bribery and 'backsheesh' in such circumstances are imperfectly informed as to desert customs and slang. To give a Sheikh who gets for you a hundred camels, say £60, is not an act of bribery. It is merely paying him a commission. — D. N.t 16th March 1883.

Bad cess to ye ! (Irish). Cess — board and lodging. An amiable Celtic bene- diction. An Act of Parliament was passed during Strafford's viceroyalty * for the better regulating of Ireland ', wherein we find these words : ' Whereas there are many young gentlemen of this kingdom (Ireland), that have little or nothing to live on of their own, and will not apply themselves to labour, but live coshering on the country, cessing themselves and their followers, their horses and their grey- hounds, upon the poorer inhabitants,' etc., etc. This phrase is in common use in England — where the two words are supposed to mean ill-luck, as indeed they do, e.g., ' Bad cess to you, Joe — wherever you go ! '

Bad crowd (Calif or nian). A man of indifferent character.

She then went out to tell the feminine convention on the back stoop what a bad crowd Jabez used to be when he kept a chicken-ranch on the Stanislaus in '51. — San Francisco Mail.

Bad egg (Peoples'). A person hope- lessly beyond cure, perfectly disreput- able. Originally American, though no longer used in the U.S. Colloquial in England.

A man out West, by the name of Thomas Egg, having committed some crime, his neighbours gave him the

14

Bad Form

Bag and Baggage

appellation of a ' bad Egg ', which, in its application to vice, with man, woman, or child, they are invariably called bad eggs. It is also used to denote a good man, by calling him a good egg. And this is used either to denote his moral or pecuniary standing. — American Paper.

Bad form (Soc., 1860 on). The opposite of Correct Fashion. Derived from the racing stable.

The very low bodices of some seasons ago are now considered ' bad form ' (a quite untranslatable phrase). — D. N., ' Dresses for dances ', 15th December 1885.

This ingenious piece of tactics in taking cover was looked upon as ' bad form ', even by the other hill men, who appreciated the scruples of British humanity. — Newsp. Cutting.

(See No class).

Bad hat (Middle-class, 19 cent.). A queer chum, dissatisfactory mess-mate, disreputable person. Probably Irish, from the worst Hiberian characters always wearing bad high hats (caps are not recognised in kingly Ireland).

What a shocking bad hat ! is the next cry, with something of an historical flavour about it, that I can recollect. The observation is not yet wholly extinct, I should say, although its meaning has entirely vanished from the public ken ; but, according to Sir William Fraser, in his Words on Wellington, the origin of this derisive criticism on a gentleman's head -gear was as follows : ' When the first Reform Parliament met, the Duke went into the Peers' Gallery of the House of Commons — Sir William Fraser says that it was the Bar, but this part of his state- ment is due, I should say, to a slip of the pen— to survey the members. Expect- ing, of course to be questioned, and knowing that his words would be repeated, the Duke, prompt as usual, was ready for the inquisition ; and when asked, on walking back to the House of Lords, what he thought of the new Parliament, he evaded responsibility by saying, " I never saw so many shocking bad hats in my life." The catchword soon lost its political associations, and after a few years, was merged in the purely imbecile query, ' ' Who's your hatter ?'"— G. A. Sala, in D. T., 28th July 1894.

Bad Shilling (Common). The last, e.g., 'That's a bad shillin', that is, for there ain't another beyinde it, you know.'

Bad young man (L. Peoples', 1881). Antithesis to Good Young Man (q.v.).

That the fatted calf, who had never been a prodigal, should suffer death in honour of the bad young man has never seemed to me strict dramatic justice. — Ref., 18th January 1885.

Badger, to (Peoples'). To worry. From worrying a badger in his hole until he comes out to show fight. (See Draw.) It forms a remarkable ex- ample of complete inversion of the original meaning, for it was the badger which was worried — he was never the worrier. Nowadays he is the aggressor.

Immediately after the explosion at the House of Commons on Saturday I went to see 'the scene'. Thanks to the courtesy of the officials in charge — sorely badgered by M.P.'s, peers, and public persons, who had come out of idle curi- osity— I was able to make a thorough inspection both of the House and of Westminster Hall.— Ref., 1st February 1885. (See also G.O.M.)

Badges and Bulls' eyes (Army, 1899). In the Boer Revolt (October 1899), the officers' medals and badges offered fatal bulls' eyes for the Bore rifles.

The question has been much discussed whether, in view of the terrible gaps made in the roll of officers, they were not even yet too much marked out as Boer targets by what General Gatacre called badges and bulls' eyes.— D. T., 21st December 1899.

Bag o' Beer. (Lowest people's). Bacchanalian brevity — for it means, and nothing else than a quart — half of fourpenny porter and half of fourpenny ale. This once stood ' pot o' four 'arf an' 'arf, reduced to 'four 'arf, and thence to ' bag o' beer '.

Bags o' Mystery. (Peoples'). A satirical term for sausages, because no man but the maker knows what is in them.

'If they're going to keep running-in polony fencers for putting rotten gee- gee into the bags of mystery, I hope they won't leave fried-fish-pushers alone.'

This term took its rise about 1850, long before the present system of market-inspection was organised. But this term remained long after sausages were fairly wholesome. The 'bag' refers to the gut which contained the chopped meat.

Bag and Baggage. Thoroughly, completely. It once more became popular from a phrase in a speech by Gladstone in reference to the Turk in

15

Bagger, Bag-thief

Balaclava

Europe, whom he recommended should be turned out of Europe * bag and

The truth of the matter is that all the petty States which won over the sym- pathies of sentimental politicians by their eternal whinings against that ' big bully, the Turk ', have proved themselves past masters in the art of oppressing minorities, now that the tables have turned. They would like to carry into effect the ' bag and baggage ' theory, and make a clean sweep of foreigners, to whatever race or religion these latter may belong. — D, T., 13th August 1885.

Bagger, Bag-thief. (Thieves'). A stealer of rings by seizing the hand. Possibly from the French 'bague', a ring.

Baiard (Peoples'). A good fellow. Still now and again heard in the provinces ; of course from Bayard, the chevalier ' sans peur et sans reproche '.

'Thou'rt a real baiard — thou art. How now, mates, what baiards have we here ? ' — Garrick, Abel Drugger.

Bailiff of Marsham (Fens, 17 cent.}. Ague.

There was so much water constantly lying about Ely, that in olden times the Bishop of Ely was accustomed to go in his boat to Cambridge. When the out- falls of the Ouse became choked, the surrounding districts were subject to severe inundations ; and after a heavy fall of rain, or after a thaw in winter, when the river swelled suddenly, the alarm spread abroad— 'The Bailiff of Bedford is coming ' — the Ouse passing through that town. But there was even a more terrible bailiff than he of Bedford, for when a man was stricken down by the ague, it was said of him, he is arrested by the Bailiff of Marsham, this disease extensively prevailing all over the district when the poisoned air of the marshes began to work. — Smiles, Lives of the Engineers.

A fine example of passing English being helped by old phrases, for when the draining of the fens had been practically accomplished, ague ceased as an endemic disease. The term, however, is still heard now and again at any point between Boston in the north and Chelmsford in the south. It is metaphorically used to suggest approaching death.

Baked dinner (Jocose, Prison, 1 9 cent. ), Bread — which is baked. The phrase was habitually used at Bridewell, this prison having been utilized until quite

recently as a place of detention rather than as a prison for the punishment of troublesome city apprentices bound to freed men of the City of London. They were taken before the City Chamberlain, who in extreme cases sent the youngsters to Bridewell, in Bridge Street, Blackfriars, where a painting or two of Hogarth's are still to be found. Here the offenders were kept in honourable durance for a fort- night or more without labour, their only punishment being the absence of liberty. It was upon these neophytes that the trick was played of telling them that they were to have ' Baked Dinner'. Their disappointment, and the explanation of the term afforded huge merriment, reiterated on every possible occasion.

Baker's Dozen. Thirteen — grimly used fora family of twelve and another.

The ' baker's dozen ', meaning thirteen, dates back to the time of Edward I., when very rigid laws were enacted regarding the sale of bread by bakers. The punishment for falling short in the sale of loaves by the dozen was so severe that, in order to run no risk, the bakers were accustomed to give thirteen or fourteen loaves to the dozen, and thus arose this peculiar expression. — Newsp. Cutting.

Balaclava (1856-60). A full beard, first seen upon the faces of the English army upon their return to England from Crimea. The new departure was instantly dubbed with the name of the most popular of the three great battles (Alma, Balaclava, Inkermann), the name probably being chosen by reason of the brilliancy of the charge of the Light Brigade. French writers who had visited the Great Exhibition of 1851, and who had been struck by the absolute absence of the moustache (except in the case of some military men), and the utter absence of the beard, without exception, were astonished upon return visits half-a-dozen years afterwards, to find Englishmen were bearded like the pard. Britons upon the principle of reaction always going the whole hog, grew all the hair they could, and the mere moustache of Frenchmen was nowhere in the fight. Interestingly enough, exactly as the wild, unkempt beard of ' The Terror ' dwindled into the moustache for the young, and the cStelette (mutton-chop) for the elderly, so the Balaclava (which

16

Bald-head

Bang (To)

abated the razor, as a daily protesting sacrifice to anti-gallicanism) toned down by '70, into the various beards of to-day— the Peaked, the Spade, the Square, and other varieties of Tudor beards. These remained until the Flange, or Dundreary (see 1872-73),came in and cleared the chin, to be followed by the Scraper. To-day the 'York' prevails — the short, pointed beard still worn by the Prince of Wales.

Bald-head (American). An old man.

The house-fly flies an average of three miles per day. He can't be biting babies and bald heads all the time, you know. — Texas Sif tings.

Byron used this term contemptuously in The Two Foscari, Act iii., sc. 1. MARINA.— 'Held in the bondage of ten bald heads,' — referring to the Council of Ten.

Bald-headed Butter (Com. London). Butter free from hairs. First publicly heard in a police-court case, where the satire had led an indignant cheesemonger to take law in his own hands.

' Waiter, I'll take a bit of bald-headed butter, if you please.'

Bailey, To ( Com. Lond. ). To be off, e.g., 'I thought it was time to be off, so I balleyed.' (See Skip, Valse, Polka.)

Balloon (Tailors'). A week's en- forced idleness from want of work. French, Ulan, officially a balance-sheet book, figuratively a sentence, con- demnation.

Balloon-juice (Public-house, 1883). Soda-water ; presumably suggested by its gassy nature.

It's as good as a bottle of balloon- juice after a night's hard boozing. — Newsp. Gutting.

Balloon-juice Lowerer. A total abstainer, the ' lowerer ' from the use of ' to lower ' for ' to swallow '.

To be a booze fencer now, is to be a mark for every balloon-juice lowerer who can't take a drop of beer or spirits without making a beast of himself. — Newsp. Cutting.

Bally (Sporting, 1884 on). Ex- cessive, great. Perhaps an evasion of 'bloody'.

' Too bad, too bad ! after getting fourteen days or forty bob, the bally rag don't even mention it. I shall turn teetotal '....' Has that bally Ptolemy won, d'ye know? What price did he start at ? ' . . . 'If you had been born

17

an elephant instead of a bally jackass, you would have had your trunk on the end of your nose, when you could have seen to it yourself . '—Sporting Times. llth April 1885.

Balmedest Balm (Low London). Balm in the extreme.

' It is just a little the balmedest balm you ever plastered on your love-stricken heart. Try it, Annetta ; and don't be afraid of it ; spread it on thick. ' — Newsp. Cutting.

Balsam (Sporting}. Money. From both medicaments being of such an agreeable character. Originally con- fined to dispensing chemists.

Ban (Com. Irish, 18 cent. on). Lord- Lieutenant. There is a supposed association between 'ban', curse or edict, and ' banshee ', the precursor of sorrow. Still in use, e.g., ' Bedad, one ban or anoder, 'tis the same man. '

Banbury (London, 1894). One of the more recent shapes of 'jam', 'biscuit', 'cake', 'confectionery', 'tart' (qq.v.) — a loose woman.

Witness took several names and addresses, and some of the females described themselves as 'Banburys'; and said they got their living as best they could. — Eaid on the Gardenia Club, The People, 4th February 1894.

Baned (Prov. ). Poisoned, e.g. , < I'll have 'ee baned like a rat.' Abbrevia- tion of henbane.

What if my house is troubled with a rat,

And I be pleased to give ten thousand ducats

To have it baned ?

— Merchant of Venice, Act iv.

Banded (Low London). Hungry. May be Romany, or literal, hunger pressing like a band on the stomach, e.g., 'I've been fair banded all the blooming week.'

Bang (S. Exchange). To loudly and plentifully offer a certain stock with the intention of lowering its price.

When any adventurers — call them bears or bulls, or any other animals — start to bang the shares, do not lend yourself to the game they are playing ; sit close on your shares. — D. T., 2nd June 1898.

Bang; (To) (Fashion, 1870-95). Mode of dressing the hair in a line of fixed curls over the forehead. Chiefly used by women in England. Introduced by the then Princess of Wales. Commonly called to ' fringe ' the hair.

An American lady has written : ' If for

Bang Mary

Banyan Day

a few brief hours of triumphant bang you are willing to undergo a long night of anguish, roll three rows of these wooden fire-crackers in your perfumed tresses.' — D. N., 21st October 1886.

The man who bangs his hair hasn't enough sense to blow out his brains, even if he possessed any. — N. Y. Commerc. Advertiser.

This fashion at last gave way (1895) to ' undulated bands ' covering the forehead, and, more fashionably, also the ears.

Bang Mary (Kitchen). The English cook's translation of 'bain Marie', the small saucepans within another saucepan of boiling water, an apparatus devised by a French cook named Marie. This obvious simplifica- tion of French is a good example of the vulgar habit of fitting foreign words to well-known English ones of something like similar sound (' folk-etymology ').

Bang through the Elephant (Low London). A finished course of dissipation, as thus : drunk rhymed into elephant's trunk, abbrev. to elephant.

'You're no fool, don't you know, you're up to slum ; been right bang through the elephant.'

Bang Up (Low London). First- class, superior. ' Bang ' probably from the commanding cry of a cannon or gun, while ' up ' is always an aspiring adverb, or even verb. However, ' bang ' may be a vivid translation of ' bien ', an exclamation certainly used at the court of Charles II.

Bang up to the Elephant (London, 1882). Perfect, complete, unapproach- able. The ' Elephant ' ( ' Elephant and Castle Tavern,' South London), had for years been the centre of South London tavern-life when (1882) Jumbo, an exceptionally large elephant at the Zoological Gardens, became popular through certain articles in the D. T. The public were pleased to think Jumbo refused to leave England and the gardens for America. He, how- ever, did ultimately, with no emotion, leave behind him this bit of passing English.

' The fly flat thinks himself so blooming sharp, so right bang up to the elephant, that he's got an idea that no sharper would ever try to take him on.'

Banian Day. See Banyan Day.

Banjoeys (Soc., 90's). Banjoists. A happy application of the comic joey

— comic since the time of Grimaldi. An evasion of the ' ist ' and invention of a friendly term at the same time. Said to be a trouvaille by the Prince of Wales, who brought banjo orchestras into fashion, being a banjoey himself.

Bank Up, To (N. Country coal districts). To complete, to more than complete — referring to building up a huge fire, e.g., 'Us sooped yell till niight, an' then us poot away room ! Then we banked up with a jolly dance — and the tykes did go it.'

The Helston Flora Day— or 'Furry Day' — was a go-as-you-please sort of festivity, where people danced in the streets, waltzed in and out each other's doors, and hilariously ' banked up ' these entertainments by holding a bird show and running foot races. — D. T., 20th August 1896.

Banker Chapel Ho (E. London). Whitechapel, and, in another shape, vulgar language. The word got in this way. In the first place, it is a ludicrous Italian translation— Bianca, white; cappella, chapel = White Chapel. Then Anglicization entering in, the first word got into ' Banker ' and the second back into Chapel, with the addition of the rousing and cheery 'Oh!' 'Ah, Mrs Dicks, but you know the force of the sweet Italian quotation "Giotto Cimabue di Fra Angelico in Sistine " ! ' To which

Mrs D , originally from the district,

might reply : ' Now, Ned, there's a good feller, none o' your Banker Chapel

Bant, To (Soc., 1860 on). To reduce stoutness. From the name ' Banting ', that of a very fashionable funeral undertaker, who reduced himself many stones by the use of non-fat-producing food. He had a whale-bone frame made to fit his once large waistcoats and coats, and wore the whole over his reduced size — removing this armour to produce a full effect.

The Globe Dime under Meehan and Wilson has not been behind its neigh- boiirs in furnishing attractive novelties, leading off with John Craig, a champion of obesity, who has ' banted ' down to a net weight of 758 pounds avoirdupois. — N. Y. Mercury, 13th January 1885.

Banyan Day (Middle-class). No meat ; only ' bread and cheese and kisses ' through twenty-four hours. Of course from India and the Army, the

18

Barbecue

Barmy

cooling banyan suggesting that all the rupees went yesterday.

If the actor has been taking the M.P. unawares on banyan day, when there wasn't enough cold meat to go round, I certainly think he owes him an apology. —Ref., 25th February 1882.

In Devonshire the word is even applied to scrappy, tawdry dressing, e.g. , ' What a banyan sight to be sure ! ' (The word must be pronounced as a spondee).

Those were the halcyon days of British industries. The banyan days have been with the miners since then, and seem likely to stay.— Ref., 2nd May 1886.

They told me that on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, the ship's company had no allowance for meat, and that these meagre days were called banyan days, the reason of which they did not know ; but I have since learned they take their denomination from a sect of devotees in some parts of the East Indies, who never taste flesh. — Smollett, Roderick Random, ch. xxv.

' Banyan ' is sometimes used for the skin.

The first hour found him beastly drunk ; the second, robbed and stripped to his banyan. — Rattlin the Reefer, ch. xliii.

Barbecue (Old English}. Any animal, bird, or large fish cooked whole, without cutting, from beard (barbe) to tail (queue).

The triumphal procession of a band of music, to welcome Mrs Langtry, was a comparatively ancient device smacking somewhat of both the circus and the institution known in America as a ' barbecue ' (a festival where a bullock or sheep is roasted entire, set to music). — Newsp. Gutting.

In the United States the word now represents a noisy political meeting.

I see they announce a big, old- fashioned barbecue to be given next week by the Brooklyn Democrats, at which Cleveland and Hendricks, Presi- dential candidates, are to participate. This barbecue holdin' used to be a very popular form of political excitement in the olden time. — Newsp. Gutting.

The barbecue was announced as a ' Monster Democratic Kally ', and ' A Grand Political Carnival and Ox-Roast '. — Newsp. Cutting.

Barber's Cat (Peoples'}. A skinny man. Perhaps a corruption of ' bare brisket ', also used for a thin fellow — the brisket being the thinnest part of beef,

Barclay Perkins (Peoples'). Stout From the brewing firm Barclay, Perkins & Co.

Barg-es (Peoples', c. 1884). Imita- tion breasts, which arrived from France, and prevailed for about four years. Named probably from their likeness to the wide prow of canal-

Bark up a wrong- Tree (American, e.g., 19 cent.}. Mr Rees, an American etymologist, says :

This is a very common expression at the West. It originated, as many of these vulgarisms do, from very simple causes. In hunting, a dog drives a racoon, as he imagines, up a certain tree, at the foot of which he keeps up a constant barking, by which he attracts the attention of his master, who vainly looks on the tree indicated. While endeavouring to find the animal he dis- covers it on another tree, from which it escapes and gets beyond his reach. Hence the phrase ' To bark up the wrong tree'. It has become general in its application, denoting that a person has mistaken his object, or pursuing the wrong cause to obtain it, etc.

Barkis is Willin' (Peoples', 1850). Form of proposal of marriage, still very popular in lower-middle classes. From Dickens' David Gopperfield, ch. v.

'Ah,' he said, slowly turning his eyes towards me. 'Well, if you was writin' to her p'raps you'd recollect to say that Barkis was willin1 : would you ? '

Characters hardly less distinguishable for truth as well as oddity are the kind old nurse and her husband, the carrier, whose vicissitudes alike of love and mortality are condensed into three words since become part of universal speech, Barkis is willin . Foster, Life of Dickens, vol. in., p. 18.

In cross-examination she said that the drinking fits usually occurred when Mr Dunn was from home. She did not think that the Walls were fit company for Mrs Dunn. Mr Wall did not pay the witness any attention. Mrs Wall wanted to force her son on the witness, but she resented it. — Sir C. Russell : ' Waa "Barkis willing "? '—The witness: 'No.' (Laughter.) — Dunn v. Dunn & Wall, 30th January 1888.

Barmy (Peoples'). Generally «a bit barmy', rather mad, 'cracked'. From St Bartholomew, the patron saint of mad people. The pronuncia- tion of the saint's name was Barthelemy — passing into Bartlemy (cf. Bartlemy Fair), and Barmy became the final

19

Barn

Bash

form, e.g., 'The family has always been a bit barmy in the crumpet.' (Why crumpet should stand for head is, so far, beyond discovery. )

Barn. A public ball-room ; pro- bably because one of the last of the London garden ball-rooms was High- bury Barn, North London. (See Earner.)

Barn - stormers (Theatrical, 18 cent. on). Inferior actors who play in barns. Used, of course, in scorn by those comedians who have reached permanent footlights. The term has now almost passed away in consequence of the enormous increase in the number of theatres which now exist, even in the smallest towns. The 'barn- stormers' hire a barn near a village, and there give their performance — frequently of Shakespeare.

Miss Helen Bancroft, who recently played in this city, was announced as with a barn-storming company. N. Y. Mercury, 1883.

Barner (North London, 1860-80). A ' roaring ' blade, a fast man of North London ; from Highbury Barn, one of those rustic London gardens which became common casinos. The term remained until the Barn was swept away for building purposes.

Barneries (Strand, 1887). Last outcome of S. Kensington exhibitions ending in '-ries '.

Considerable commotion ensued at the Adelphi Stores, Strand, on account of the new proprietress, Miss Barnes, being

E resented with a testimonial. Miss B. as already won favour in her new venture, and it is thought the 'Barneries' will be much affected by the profession. — Ref., 20th February 1887.

Barney (L. Eng.}. A quarrel, row, generally of an innocuous character.

Then Selby runs out, and goes into the lodging-house to get another knife, but I stops him, and the barney was all over, but as we was agoing along to the hospital up comes a copper. — People, 6th January 1895.

Baron George (S. London, 1882). A portly man. This term was derived from the Christian name of a Mr George Parkes, a portly theatrical lessee in S. London, who came to be called Baron George; e.g., 'He's quite the Baron George ! '

Barrel of Salt, To take with a (American). To accept under reserve,

20

with incredulity. From the Latin phrase cum grano salts.

He is therefore to be taken with a barrel of salt. — Newsp. Cutting.

Barrel of Treacle (Low London). The condition of love, suggested by the sweetness of this cloying synonym.

Ton our sivey, we don't want to poke fun at chaps who've fallen into that barrel of treacle called love, and make up to their little lumps of soap in the operpro sort of way, and no blooming kid.— Newsp. Gutting, 1883.

Barrered (Low Life). A corruption of harrowed, from to barrow or put in a barrow, not that of the gardener but of the coster. Distinct from 'shettered' (q.v.), intimating that the drunken gentleman was removed by his friends and not by the police ; e.g., 'Which mum, we 'ad to barrer 'im 'ome. He were too that 'eavy to carry.' In St Giles the highest shapes of in- voluntary locomotion is ' wheeled ' (in a cab) — then follows barrered — then the declension is reached in ' shettered ' (shuttered). This term is passing away with the shutters themselves.

Barrikin (Com. London). Barking, chatter.

Let 'em say what they like, and howl themselves dotty. Their barrikin only makes 'em thirsty, and when they've got hot coppers through chucking the barrikin out too blooming strong they go in for a little quiet booze themselves, make no error. — Newsp. Cutting.

Barrister's (Thieves'). A thieves' coffee-house, derived from a celebrated host of this name.

The witness remarked that he could not waste his time ; and Richards said he could not make out where he was, and he would go to the ' barrister's ' and look for him. (The witness explained, amid a roar of laughter, that a ' bar- rister's' was a slang term for a coffee- house frequented by thieves.)— Cutting.

Baseball (American, 1880 on). Small, insignificant. Sometimes heard in Liverpool. Suggested by the small size of the ball in question.

Yesterday a Mercury reporter saw Heer within the prison walls. As he stepped into the corridor from his cell he evinced some nervousness, and stroked a ' baseball ' moustache faintly perceptible on his upper lip, with his cigarette- stained fingers. — N. Y. Mercury, 1880.

Bash (Thieves', 1870). To beat heavily with the fist only. Probably the most modern onomatope — the

Basher

Bayreuth Hush

word doubtless being an attempt to vocalize the sound made by a fist striking full in the face.

This real lady said, ' I ain't any the wuss for being able to take my own part, and I should think myself very small beer, and no kid, if I couldn't bash any dona in our court.' — Newsp. Gutting.

Women of susceptible and nervous temperaments are asked to come to theatres and see for themselves how they hocuss and ' bash ' people at low river- side houses. — Cutting.

Mr Chaplin : ' Bless me, yes ! Didn't you know that he had offered Greenwood, of The Telegraph, a Civil List pension if he would get Lord Randolph "bashed" and dropped into the Thames?'— Re/., 1882.

Basher (Mod. Low. Lond.). A name applied to low fighting rowdies paid to bruise and damage.

The villain of the piece and the 'bashers', or hireling assassins, are supposed to carry on their trade un- checked in Ratcliffe Highway and Wapping.

Basket of Oranges (Australian, passing to England). Pretty woman. A metaphor founded on another metaphor — the basket of oranges being a phrase for a discovery of nuggets of gold in the gold fields. One of the few flashes of new language from Australasia ; e.g., ' She's a basket of oranges fit for any man's table.'

Bastile (Street, 18 cent. on). Any place of detention, but generally a prison or a workhouse. More commonly ' Steel '. The horror of the Bastile felt by all Frenchmen in the 18th century spread to England, and the name was associated with oppres- sion. The word was particularly applied to Cold Bath Fields prison, Clerkenwell, which was called 'The Steel' until its final fall about 1890. The last new application of this word was (1870) to the Peabody Buildings for working men, erected in the Black Friars Road, London. It was the first of these buildings, which have long since been accepted and even battled for by working people. But at first the prejudice was very marked. The term has not been applied since

Bath Oliver (W. Eng., 18 cent. on). A biscuit with a historical character.

'Bobs' fights on 'Bath Olivers'. Shortly before leaving for the Cape he paid a visit to his sister, Mrs Sherston,

21

of Bath, and took away with him to the front a bountiful supply of Bath Olivers. He sent home for a further supply, which Lady Roberts took with her when she went to join him. It is not every one who has heard of the Oliver. It is a biscuit, and owes its name to the celebrated Dr Oliver, a Bath physician, and the friend of Pope, Warburton, and other eighteenth century notabilities. When on his death-bed, the doctor called for his coachman, and gave him the recipe for the biscuits, ten sacks of flour, and a hundred sovereigns. The lucky fellow started making and selling the biscuits in a small shop in Green Street, Bath. And there they are made and sold to this day.— M. A. P., 19th May 1900.

Batter through (Peoples'). To struggle, beat thro', from French battre, to beat, probably used in the time of Charles II. ; e.g., ' He battered through the part somehow ! '

Batty-fang (Low London). To thrash thoroughly. Evidently battre a Jin. But how it passed into English, or whence it came, unless from the heated court of Charles II., it would be difficult to say.

Baub (Cockney, 19 cent.). One of the commonest modes of evasively referring to the Deity — modes in which some idea of the original word, either in length, syllable, or letters, or even rhyme, is to be traced ; e.g., ' S'elp me Baub, I didn't go for to do it.' How- ever, the word really comes from Catholic England, and is 'babe' — meaning the infant Saviour.

Baudinguet (Parisian). A nick- name given to Prince Napoleon in 1848, from the name of the mason who aided the Prince to escape from Ham, where he was imprisoned. It stuck to Napoleon III. even to 1870, when a war correspondent at Sarbriick (July 1870) asked a soldier if he knew whether the emperor had arrived. The reply was : ' Oui ; Baudinguet est arrive.'

Bayreuth Hush (Soc., 1890). Intense silence. From the noiseless- ness of the opera house at Bayreuth (Bavaria) when a Wagner festival is about to commence.

If it cannot be said that the peculiar order of stillness known as the ' Bayreuth hush' made itself felt in the Covent Garden opera house last evening, yet there is no denying the spirit of expecta- tion and attention in which a full audience brought itself to the opening performance of the long-expected Ring cycle.—Z?. T., 7th June 1898.

Bazaar Rumour

Beaner

Bazaar Rumour (Army, 1882 on). Doubtful news. Equivalent to ' Hamburg '. The result of the Egyptian occupation, referring to native news spread through the bazaars of Cairo.

I am able to contradict on official authority the statement published in London that there was a bazaar rumour that the Mahdi and his followers were marching on Dongola. — D. N., 10th November 1884.

Bazaar'd (Soc., 1882). Robbed. From the extortion exercised by remorse- less, smiling English ladies at bazaars. Applied everywhere. Re- placed, 'rooked' in society; e.g., 'I was awfully bazaar'd at San down.'

A gentleman coming home from a bazaar met a highwayman, who accosted him with the professional formula of 'Your money or your life.' 'My dear sir,' said the gentleman, 'I should be most happy to give you my money if I had any, but I have just been to a bazaar. '< The highwayman at once acknowledged the force of this argument, and further was so touched by the circumstances that he offered the victim a small contribution. — Newsp. Cutting.

Beach-comber (Nautical}. A pirate, a beach-loafer, or a yachting tourist. In its earlier shape it referred to the pirate who made a landing and swept up all he could— that is, he 'combed the beach '. The pirate being quite dead in the Western Seas, this sense of the term is now only applied in the East, and generally to the Chinese marin d'industrie. The use of the word in its earlier meaning is some- times figurative, especially on the American coast, e.g., 'I was beach- combed out of every red cent.' In its later sense the word means a globe- trotter, or rather a beach -trotter, who travels only on land within easy distance of his wandering yacht.

It would be better to enter the army from the ranks, or to go gold-mining in Chiapas, or try ivory and Central Africa, or even to be a beach-comber in some insular paradise of the Southern Seas, which, as Mr Stevenson is showing, is the best kind of lotus-eating life left to mankind.— D. N., llth February 1891.

Probably Mr Stevenson would not be displeased at the title of a literary beach- comber.— D. N., 27th December 1890.

Beadles (American). People of Virginia ; probably from their high, old-fashioned behaviour, which the Northerner associates with that ex- piring church functionary.

Beak (Low London, 18 and 19 cent.). A magistrate. Probably from lawyers, as Thackeray has somewhere remarked, being celebrated for a vast expanse of aquiline nose. Mr Gr. A. Sala (D. T., 28th July 1896), urges a different origin :

A contributor to Notes and Queries states that Hookey Walker was a magistrate of much-dreaded acuteness and incredulity, whose Roman nose gave the title of ' beak ' to all his successors. The term is derived from the Anglo- Saxon ' beag ', a necklace or collar worn as an emblem of authority. Sir John Fielding, half-brother of the novelist, was known as the 'blind beak', and he died in 1780, sixty years before the cry of ' Hookey Walker ' became popular.

Beak-hunter (Thieves'). Annexer of poultry.

Bean-eater (New York}. A term of scorn for a citizen of Boston, refer- ring to the former Sunday custom observed by some Bostonians of accept- ing for dinner on that day cold belly of pork, and colder beans. (See Stars and Stripes.)

Circus tricks ! circus tricks ! you bean- eaters ! Can't you tell when a feller's a-dying: — Gutting.

Beanfeast (Peoples'}. A treat. Used generally in reference to enjoy- ments, and derived from the yearly feast of employees in factories and shops, of which much of the expense is borne by the employer. Originally the treat consisted of broad beans and boiled bacon, which must have been a great delight when few green vegetables were obtainable throughout winter.

Oh, it was quite a beanfeast — only one mouse [= black-eye]. — Cutting.

Sometimes it is used satirically to denote a riot, e.g., 'What a bean- feast ! ' parallel with the American ' picnic '.

Beano (Peoples'). Great rejoicing. From bean-feast, reduced to bean, with the ever rejoicing o added. (See Boyno. ) It may be a connected coalition with ' bueno ' — common in London Docks — being Lingua Franca.

One day last week I said ' Good-bye ! ' To my kids, my wife, and home,

I met some pals, and away we went For a ' beano ' by the foam.

—Cutting, 1897.

Beaner (Peoples'}. Chastisement. ' To give beans ' is to inflict punish- ment, a phrase derived from boys

22

Beanpea

Beef-a-la-Mode

beating each other with a collection of horse-beans in the foot of a sock. The word 'beaner' is sometimes used ironically, calling something agreeable which is quite otherwise, e.g., 'That's a beaner — that is ! '

Beanpea (London Streets). A coalescing of B and P (q.v.) into one word, the d being dropped. Doubtless the outcome of time, and the droll idea of combining the two vegetables which come in almost at the same time. Still hastily, too hastily, applied to effeminate youths. The case was thrown out of Court when it came before Lord Chief-Justice Cockburn.

Beans. Sovereigns. Possibly a corruption of bien (a sovereign being certainly a ' bien '). But it may be a market-gardeners' trade phrase. But if so, why beans ? Why not straw- berries, or asparagus, or some other of the more valuable products ?

Be-argered (Peoples'}. Drunk. The ' argered ' is ' argumentative ', a drunken man being commonly full, not only of beer, but also of argument.

Beast (Fowls', 1870). A bicycle— the first endearing metaphor bestowed upon this locomotive. Used in no way derogatively, but as though a horse — a hunter. (See Bone-shaker, Craft, Crock.) But, as time went on and the ' byke ' became a power, it ceased to be associated with a mere animal ; by 1897 no term could be too distinguished by which to designate the all-conquer- ing machine.

Beat-up (Soc., 19 cent.). To call upon unceremoniously ; from beating- up game, which is certainly not treated with politeness when wanted, e.g., ' I'll beat you up on Monday, or when I can.' (See Stir up, Have out.)

Beau (Peoples'). A man of fashion — early 18 century, of course direct from the French, and evidently from ' est il beau ? ' for before ' homme ' it changes its formation : ' un bel homme ! ' Johnson says, ' A man whose great care is to deck his person.' Still used in country places. ' What a beau ye be, Tummis ! ' Earliest classic use by Dryden, ' What will not beaux attempt to please the fair ? ' Swift says, ' You will become the delight of nine ladies in ten, and the envy of ninety-nine beaux in a hundred.' Never now heard in towns. (See Spark. )

Beau-catcher (Peoples', 1854-60).

23

A flat hook -shaped curl, after the Spanish manner, gummed on each temple, and made of the short temple hair, spelt sometimes bow-catcher. It is synonymous with ' Kiss curl'. Now obsolete on this side of the Pyrenees.

Beaver-tail (Mid. -class, 1860). A feminine mode of wearing the back- hair, turned up loose in a fine thread net (called 'invisible') which fell well on to the shoulders. When the net is now worn, generally by lazy girls of the people, it is fixed above the neck. Obviously from the shape of the netted hair to a beaver's flat and com- paratively shapeless tail. The well- marked fashion in hair for the people's women folk which followed was the ' Piccadilly Fringe ' (q.v.).

Bedder (Oxford-1 er'). Bedroom.

Bedford Go (Tavern, 1835-60). A peculiar oily chuckle usually accom- panied by the words, ' I b'lieve yer my bu-o-oy.' From the style of Paul Bedford, an actor for many years with Wright, at the old Adelphi. Bedford always was famous for his chuckle, but he raised it to fame in connection with the above credo, uttered in the celebrated melodrama, The Green Bushes. (See Joey, 0. Smith.)

Bee (American). An industrious meeting — as quilting, or apple- gathering.

One day the boys over in the Bend had a hanging bee and invited us to come down and see a chap swing for his crimes. — Detroit Free Press, January 1883.

Beef (Theatrical, 1880). A bawl or yell. Probably the career of this word is— 'bull— bellow— beef, 'the last word elegantly suggesting the declaration of a noisy bull.

At the back was the musical box, and an obliging hammer-wholloper beefed the names of the different squallers and bawlers as they slung on the boards. — Cutting.

Beef ( Clare Market— extinct). Cat's meat, e.g., 'Give me my mouser's one d. of beef.'

Beef a Bravo (Music-hall). To bellow, bravo like a bull, in order to lead the applause for a friend who has just left the stage.

Beef-a-la-Mode (Com. London). Stewed beef called d-la-mode on the lucus a non lucendo principle — for it is not a fashionable dish. It came from Paris, where, in the days of sign-

Beef -heads or Cow-boys

Behind Yourself

boards, a restaurant where this dish was sold showed the sign of a bullock seated in clothes of fashion.

You can swill yourselves out with beef- d-la-mode, as toffs call it, for two d., or you can indulge in the aristocratic sausage and mashed and half-a-pint of pongelow all for four d. — Cutting.

Beef-heads or Cow-boys (Ameri- can). People of Texas and the West of U.S.A. — from the general employ- ment of the inhabitants being the harrying of cattle.

Beef-headed. Stupid. Cattle be- ing heavy, stolid, and torpid.

Beef-tugging (City). Eating cook- shop meat, not too tender, at lunch- time. Dinner is not clerkly known in the E.G. district as occurring between 1 and 2 P.M.

Been and gone and done it (Peoples'). Very general mode of say- ing that the speaker has got married, N.B. — gone is in this relation generally pronounced 'gorne'.

Marius and Florence St John have 'been and gorne and done it' at last. The registrar of hatches, matches, and dispatches has tied what for them is the 'dissoluble' knot. — Newsp. Cutting.

Been there (Amer.-Eng., 1870). Had experience; e.g., 'Thank 'ee — no betting ; I've been there.'

Some reasons why I left off drinking whiskey, by one who has been there. — Paper in Philadelphia, Sat. Ev. Post, 1877.

He wants a man who understands his case, who sympathises with him, who has been there himself, and who will give him a vent for his emotions at a reasonable rate per line. — N. York Puck, 14th September 1883.

Beer and Skittles (Peoples'). A synonym for pleasure; e.g., 'Ah, Joe, if a bloke's life was all beer and skittles we shouldn't be doing time.'

But life on a yacht is not all beer and skittles, nor is it always afternoon. There is the dreadful morning time, when the crew begin to stir on deck, and earthquake and chaos seem to have come.— D. N., 22nd August 1885.

Beerage (Soc. , 1 9 cent. ). A satirical rendering of peerage, referring to the brewery lords, chiefly of the great houses of Allsopp and of Guinness.

Dr Edwards as a temperance worker had some very strong things to say a few months ago on the subject of the en- noblement of rich brewers. Of course he opposed it on moral grounds, but

some of the old nobility would be inclined to agree with his denunciation of the 'beerage' for other reasons — Newsp. Cutting.

Beer-bottle (Street}. A stout, red- faced man.

Beer-eaters (19 cent.}. A great consumer of beer, one who more than drinks it — who lives on it.

The Norwaygiansarea fine and a sturdy race, but not at all like I had imagined them, after all I had read about Sigurd and Sintram and Sea-egg-fried, and the Beerseekers, who must not be confounded with a race peculiar to London, found mainly upon licensed premises, and dis- tinguished among their kind as the Beer- eaters.— Ref., 21st August 1887.

Beer - juggers (Amer. Miner's}. Bar-women.

The only busy people in the place were the wife of the pianist, who sat by him industriously sewing, and the women who sold drink. These latter are called beer-juggers, and fill a large place in the evening life of the miner. Journey Round the World : ' of LEADVILLE. ' — D. N., October 1883.

Beer O ! (Trades). The cry when an artisan does a something, or omits to do a something, the result of which in either case being a fine to be paid in pongelow. The exclamation is taken up by the whole shop, or rather was, as the custom is now obsolete.

Beetroot Mug (Street). A red face— passed for many years into Ally Sloper, a character in comic fiction since 1870, invented by Charles Ross, a humorist of the more popular kind.

Before the War (Soc. , 1880). From America. A new shape of ' the good old times'. Whenever a ganache in the U.S.A. wants to condemn the present he compares it with the time 'before the War (1860-65)'.

' How beautiful the moon is to-night ! ' remarked an American belle to her lover, as they spooned in the open. ' Yes, ' was the reply ; ' but you should have seen it before the war ! ' — Newsp. Cutting.

Begorra, also By Jabers (Irish). Solemn Irish oaths. Both words have been adopted by common English folk. Spoken — Yes, by jabers ; he's the best boy that ever was. Sure he's shown such powers of discernment ever since the first day he was born, that begorra he knows more now than ever I've forgotten. — Newsp. Cutting.

Behind Yourself (Peoples' , 1896 on). Too far behind, quite in the rear, far

24

BeJiindativeness

Ben

from absolutely up to date. Antithesis of Too previous; e.g., 'What — you thought to-day was Thursday ? Why, it's Saturday afternoon. You're behind yourself, man, and a deal at that.'

Behindativeness (Soc., 1888). Referring to the dress pannier — one of the shapes with which fashion is for ever varying the natural outline of the feminine frame; e.g., 'That lady has got a deal of behindativeness.'

Belcher (Sporting, 19 cent.). A handkerchief pattern, round spots, light or dark upon a dark or light ground. From a prize-fighter, Jim Belcher, who always carried into the ring a wiping handkerchief of this kind. After Belcher's time, the 'belcher' split up into colours, every prize-fighter having his own tints. Belcher's original was white spots on dark blue ground. Until quite recent years, a spotted neck-tie was called a Belcher : now called a ' moon-tie '.

At one time ' belchers ' were made of that pattern which is affected in that spotty coat which Mr H. B. Con way sports in The Widow Hunt.— Entr'acte, June 1885.

Belittle, To. To make little of. An old word not found in most dictionaries, but brought into fresh use in 1898 by Mr Joseph Chamberlain, who about this time frequently used it.

Our whole policy has been belittled and ridiculed by the men who, when they were in office, kept our Colonies at arms' length. — Mr J. Chamberlain, 8th December 1898.

The hard-won victories he gained in the old times are belittled and made nothing of. —Sun, 6th December 1899.

Bell the Cat ( Peoples'). To risk the lead. Still used without any real knowledge of its origin, but with thorough comprehension of its applica- tion, e.g., 'Yes, but who'll tell him she's no good — who'll bell the cat? Some of us know he's got a bunch of fives.'

The proverb is of Scottish origin, and was thus occasioned : The Scottish nobility entered into a combination against a person of the name of Spence, the favourite of King James III. It was proposed to go in a body to Stirling to seize Spence and hang him ; then to offer their services to the king, as his natural counsellors ; upon which the Lord Gray observed, ' It is well said, but who will bell the cat ? ' alluding to the fable of the mice, who proposed to put a bell

round the cat's neck, that they might be apprized of her coming. The Earl of Angus replied that he would bell the cat : which he accordingly did, and was ever after called Archibald Bell-Cat.

Belle a croquer (Soc., 1860). Beauti- ful enough to command desire. Dating second French Empire, it lasted into 1883, in English Society, becoming in lower circles ' beller- croaker '.

It possesses the further advantage of being blue enough to make a blonde belle cl croquer, and yet not too blue to make her darker sister look as delightful as Nature meant her. — Newsp. Gutting, 1883.

Bellering Cake (School). Cake in which the plums are so far apart that they have to beller (bellow) when they wish to converse.

Belly-washer (Amer. Saloon). Lemonade or aerated water. (See Rattle-belly-ppp.)

Bellywengins (E. Anglian, chiefly Suffolk). A violent corruption of ' belly- vengeance ', a cruel comment upon the sour village beer of those regions.

Belt (Anglo-American). To assault. From the army, where the belt was often used for aggressive purposes.

Mrs Tice, who saw her approaching, said : ' There comes that old maid ; belt her.' — Newsp. Cutting.

Belt Case, The (Soc.). A symbol for years of wearisome tardiness. From a celebrated libel case, Belt v. Lawes (1882), which lasted on and off for weeks.

It is more interminable than the Belt case.— D. N., 25th October 1883.

Ben (Theatrical, 19 cent.). Short for 'benefit' — 'benefit' never being used under any consideration by any self-respecting actor when speaking in the profession. 'Benefit' succeeded ' bespeak ', which was in use when Dickens wrote Nicholas Nickleby.

Ben (Soc., 1880). A fib, a tarra- diddle. The history of this word is fortunately preserved. A well-known Italian proverb was converted into Se non e vero — e Benjamin trovato. The 'Ben' was too evident to be resisted. Hence a fib was described as a Benjamin Trovato, passing into Ben Trovato, then Ben Tro, and finally Ben, whence it has got fatally confounded with ' ben ', the abbrev. of 'benefit'. The papers were rampant as to the

25

Ben-cull

Best Eye Peeled

Czar's forty thousand dollar diamonds, and Modjeska's jewellery was one of the attractions of the season. Perhaps this story isn't true. Anyway, it will do to go into the Benjamin Trovato series. — Ref., 29th March 1885.

Here is a little story which, if not true, ought to be, for it is at least of the Benjamin order. — Newsp. Gutting.

Ben-cull (Thieves'). A friend. Ben is from the Hatton Garden Italian bene.

Bench Winner (Soc. ). A dog which has won many prizes at dog-shows — from the exhibits being placed upon benches.

The result is a series of paintings very aptly termed ' A dog show on canvas and paper', for not only are all the Koyal favourites represented, but there is scarcely a bench winner of note not included.— D. T., llth February 1897.

The hounds are the property of Mr Edwin Brougb, who has devoted himself to bloodhound breeding. It has been Mr Brough's practice not only to breed for bench points, but to train his animals to exercise those peculiar faculties with which they have been endowed by nature.— D. N., 10th October 1888.

Bench Points (London). Ascer- tained and classified physical advan- tages. From show animals, especially dogs, being exhibited on benches. Applied also to women, e.g., 'Her bench points were perfect, but I shouldn't like a wife of her build.'

Bend o' the Filbert (Low, 18 cent.). A bow or nod, filbert being elegantly substituted for the 'nob' or 'nut', both signifying head.

She gives him a bend o' the filbert as much as to crack 'ight-ri, its oper-pro for your nibs, you can take on '. — Cutting.

The above describes a serio-comic lady accepting by a nod, while acting or singing, the attentions of an admirer.

Bender (London). A sixpenny piece ; so called from the rapidity with which this coin wears thin, and thereupon easily bends. This was especially the case thirty years since.

Bender (Anglo- Amer.). E.g., 'Three sailors on a bender,' i.e., ' on a drunken spree.' Possibly a conception of a 'Bon Dieu' used exclamatorily='My eye ! ' or ' Good heavens ! ' or it may be from some Spanish word adopted by Texas cow-boys after that State was wrested from Mexico (1845), creeping

up north. It is common to sailors ' over the ditch '.

There was a distant rumbling and groaning, as if old Vesuvius was on a bender. — Newsp. Gutting.

In England the Bender is the elbow. (See Over the Bender. )

Bengal Blanket (Anglo-Ind., 19 cent.). Used by soldiers who have been in India to describe the sun ; e.g., ' Yere's a London May — fifteen days, and I ain't seen a corner o' Bengal Blanket— what a climate ! ' (See Blue Blanket.)

Benjamin (Maritime, 19 cent.). A sailor's blue jacket, larger than the ' monkey ' jacket which barely passes the hip-bones. It was the merciful invention of a Hebrew sailors' -tailor on Portsmouth Hard. The grateful tars appear to have given the name of this watcher of their winter comforts to the garment he invented. The word is now in general use for a jacket of dark-blue or black cloth made long and fitting to the figure. Generally called an ' Upper Benjamin '. Sailors also call the rare nautical waistcoat a 'Benjy'. Probably this was another invention, used in the diminutive form of the beneficent Benjamin.

Benjo (Sailors', 1 9 cent. ). A riotous holiday, a noisy day in the streets, probably from 'ben', or buen giorno; e.g., ' Jim's out on a benjo.'

Beong (Thieves'). A shilling — pro- bably a form of the French ' bien ' ; for indeed a shilling is very well when coppers only are, as a rule, ours.

Bermondsey Banger (London). A society-leader among the South London tanneries. He must frequent ' The Star', be prepared to hold his own, and fight at all times for his social belt.

Bespeak (Theatrical, 1830-50). A performance for the benefit of an actor or actress. The name took its rise from the patrons called upon by the beneficiare at the country theatre, giv- ing a comparative consensus of opinion as to the piece in which the applicant should appear. It was superseded by 'benefit', which yielded to 'ben'. A good deal concerning bespeaks may be found in Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby.

Best Eye Peeled (Amer.). A figure of speech for extreme alacrity.

I tell you a driver on one of those vane has got to keep his best eye peeled every minute. — Newsp. Gutting.

26

Bet yer Sweet Life

Big Beck

Bet yer sweet life (Amer.-EngL). Perfect assurance, complete conviction.

'Ob, no, certainly not,' said Mr Jones, smiling blandly. 'There are ups and downs in theatrical life ; can't always

said Mr Lunk emphatically. — 1884.

Bet you a million to a bit of dirt (Sporting, 19 cent.}. ' The thing is so sure that there can be no uncertainty. The betting man's Ultima Thule of confidence.

Bet your boots ( W. Amer}. Ab- solutely safe betting— the boots being the most serious item of expense in the Wild West uniform.

'You bet', or 'you bet yer life', or ' you bet yer bones ', while to ' bet yer boots ' is confirmation strong as holy writ — in the mines, at least. — All the Year Round, October 1868.

Betty Martin : v. All my eye and Betty Martin.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. Scylla on the one side, Charybdis on the other— between two equal menaces. The phrase has no meaning as it reads— the devil and the deep blue sea have no relation. May this not be one of the frequent per- versions of proper names to words well understood of the people? For in- stance, may it not refer to a couple of French admirals or generals 'Deville' and ' Duplessy '— 'Between Deville and Duplessy' — inferring disaster for the middle party. The phrase is quite historical.

' I had to pay up — there was Hook on one side, and Crook on the other — I was between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.'

He may indeed be said to be between the devil and the deep sea — victims alike of Kurd and Turk.— Joseph Hatton, 6th February 1898.

Bever (E. Anglian). A four o'clock halt on the road for a drink. An interesting word, evidently from the Norman conjugation of boire. (See Levenses. )

Bexandebs (E. London, 18 cent. on). A young easy-go Jewess in the Wentworth Street district. A com- bination of Becks (Rebeccas) and Debs (Deborahs), used satirically, e.g., 'The bexandebs are in full feather— it's Pentecost Shobboth ! '

Beyond, The (Amer. 1878). Heaven.

To this, one venerable old gentleman in the circle responded that he could now see around him daily his friends who had gone to the beyond, and that if he is riding in a street car and it is not crowded, they enter and sit beside and opposite him.— N. Y. Mercury, April 1885.

Beweep (1898). A new form of 'weep' brought in by the Tzar of Kussia (20th May 1898) in a telegram referring to the death of W. E. Gladstone. It took the fashion at once.

The whole of the civilised world will beweep the loss of the great statesman whose political views were so widely humane and peaceful. — (Signed) Nicholas.

Bianca Capellas (E. London). An elegant evasion in describing White Chapellers — cigars understood ; a very bad brand.

There was adjoining this a smoking- room or salle d'attente, in which were some stale English papers and the odour of equally stale cigars, also English — veritable Bianca Capellas — but of the sort of thing that we wanted there was no sign whatever.— Ref., 6th June 1886.

Bible Mill (Com. London, 19 cent.}. A public-house. An attack upon Bible classes : said of noisy talking in a tavern.

Bible Class, Been to a (Printers' Satire}. A gentleman with two black eyes, got in a fight.

Bi-cameral (Polit., 1885). Two chambers, Lords and Commons. First heard in 1885— used satirically by the opponents of a second chamber.

Mr Labouchere complained that of the sixteen members of the Cabinet — thirteen are peers, or the near kinsmen of peers. This fact is an evil resulting from several causes. The first is the bi-cameral system, to adopt the con- venient pedantry of Continental writers. — D. N., 9th September 1885.

Bi-cennoctury (Theatrical, 1870). The two hundredth night of a run, with which explanation we leave this marvellous bit of etymology to the mercy of a critical world.

Big Beck (Kent). A local oath, e.g., 'By the big beck'— heard only in remote places. Probably refers to Thos. a Becket, and has come down from his canonized bones. Sometimes (still in Kent) ' By the Blessed Beck '. (See More blue).

27

Big Bird

Billy-ho

Big Bird (Theatrical}. A hissing figurative reference to the goose (q.v.) — a figure in itself for hissing; e.g., ' Tom had the big bird last night, and he is in bed this morning.' However, this phrase sometimes has another meaning. At the Britannia Theatre the audiences began (about 1860) to compliment the accomplished villainy of the stage-villain by politely hissing him at the end of one act, to prove how well he had played the scoundrel. This thoroughly indigenous E. London fashion came West about 1878 where it was heard, perhaps at the Princess' for the first time. It has since spread, notoriously to the Adelphi (when still a dramatic house) and Drury Lane ; but it has never become a W. London institution. In the E., if the villain did not get the 'big bird', he would consider that he was not on a par with Titus, and that he had lost his day, or rather evening, and he might fear for the renewal of his engagement.

Big end of a month (Anglo- American).

'The "big end of a month" is three weeks. I heard a market man- speak of the "big end of a dozen" chickens.'

Big Heap (Amer. — old mining districts). A large sum of money — now current also in England.

Sam Adams had a ben. at the Pav. on Thursday night, and I hope he's made a big heap out of it. — Newsp. Cutting.

Big Numbers (Anglo-French; old). Bagnios. From the huge size of the number on the swinging door, never shut, never more than two or three inches open. The English grooms, stable-men, and their like in France often use this phrase : ' Joe's fond o' the big numbers.' 'Tom Four can't run over to the old home for Christmas — he's left too many of Nap's likenesses in the big numbers.' So extensively known throughout Europe was the association of big numbers and shady houses that, when about 1880, people began to place the numbers of their houses on their fanlights, for night observation, their neighbours were often quite unhappy (for a time); while even now many people shrink from the convenient custom.

Big Pot (Music-hall, 1878-82). A leader, supreme personage, the ' don '.

28

This phrase is probably one of the few that filter down in the world from Oxford, where, in the 50's it was the abbreviation of potentate. It referred to a college don, or a social magnate. It has remained per- manently a peoples' phrase— the pot being associated with the noblest pewter in a public-house.

' Some of the failures you meet at the "York" will try to impress you with the fact that the comic singers in receipt of big salaries have made their reputa- tion by means of "smut", and that if they (the unsuccessful ones) were to resort to a similar method of gaining the applause of audiences, the ' ' big pots would not be in it ".' — Newsp. Cutting.

The 'York' is an hotel in the Waterloo Road, 8. London, where music-hall people still meet.

Billy born drunk (L. London). A drunkard beyond the memory of his neighbours.

He did not have 30 or 40 pots of beer that day. He could do a good many, but he was not going by the name of ' Billy born drunk '. — People, 6th January 1895.

Billy-cock (Provincial). A brimmed low, felt hat ; a modern amelioration of bully-cock, a term now having little or no meaning, e.g., ' Do you cock your hat at me, sir?' was the reply to this challenge — the cocking of the hat. Other authorities hold the word to refer to William III., and his mode of wearing the hat.

Billygoat in Stays (Navy, 1870-85). A term of contempt : probably the outcome of the astonishing use, by young naval officers, of waist-stays, during or about these years. Intro- duced by a young naval officer of the highest, who afterwards, on shore, came to be called 'cuffs'.

Billy-ho (Peoples', Hist.). In excelsis ; suggests extreme vigour. May be from a proper name, ' Hough ' for instance, confounded with the big ' 0 ' so commonly used as a suffix to words of congratulation — as ' What cheer ho ! ' ' What ho ! ' etc.

The Marquis of Salisbury and Mr Biggar were having a cigar together. Said the Marquis : ' Weather keeps very dry ; we want rain badly. I think Canterbury ought to issue a prayer for it.' 'Arrah! be asy wid yer Canter- bury,' exclaimed Mr Biggar; 'it's just a new hat I'll be afther buying, and it's

Billy Turniptop

Birmingham School

my umbrella I'll be lavin' at home, and shure it'll rain like billy -ho ! '—Ref., 9th August 1885.

Billy Turniptop (1890 sqq). An agricultural labourer. Probably an outgrowth of Tommy Atkins.

'Billy Turniptop' does not seem a very respectful description of the agricultural labourer, especially during election times, and the Unionist candi- date for Doncaster has been sharply pulled up for using that cognomen. His explanation was that he was only quoting the speech of a representative of the opposite party.— D. T., 10th July 1895.

Bin (Harrogate}. A mineral spring. Satire based upon the wine-cellar.

It is considered high treason at Harro- gate to drink from the Old Sulphur, or any other 'bin', as a Scottish robust invalid calls it, without first consulting medical authority . —D. N. (Harrogate), 31st August 1883.

Binder (Lower Class). An egg. Pint o' wash, two steps, an' a binder ' — 'a pint of tea, two slices of bread- and-butter, and an egg.' Alludes to its constipating action.

Bindery (Amer.-Eng., 1879). A bookbinder's workshop.

The word 'bindery', a new-comer in England, though in common use in Canada and the United States, has recently been welcomed with something like a bonneting by correspondents of Notes and Queries.— Newsp. Cutting, 1879.

Binned (Lond., 1883). Hanged; a ghastly word, referring to Bartholomew Binns, a hangman appointed in 1883.

Bird (Theatrical). Hissing — the bird being the goose (q.v.), whose general statements are of a depreciatory character.

Professor Grant, Q.C., had both 'the bird ' and ' the needle ' at the Royal on Monday. — Age, January 1884.

Pantomimes and Blackmailers. Threats of ' the bird '. Already three or four of the most prominent artistes engaged at one house have been molested after leaving the theatre at night, and threatened with 'the bird' — that is, hissing — unless their tormentors are well paid to remain quiet. — People, 6th January 1895.

Bird ( Theatrical, 1 840). A figurative name of The Eagle, which was the title of the tavern and pleasure-grounds out of which grew the Grecian Theatre, an elegant name never accepted by its patrons, except a few who called it

29

the Greek. 'Bird' it remained until General Booth of the Salvation Army bought it up (1882). To this day an effigy of the 'bird' surmounts the main building. (See Brit., Vic., Eff., Delphy, Lane.)

Birdlime (Low Class, 19 cent.). Nonsense-rhyme for ' time '.

We have been awfully stoney in our birdlime, and didn't know where to turn for a yannep, so we've had to fill up our insides on something less than two quid a week.

Birdofreedomsaurin (Amer.). Bird- of-freedom soaring. A jocular mode of describing the altitude of the American eagle. Used mildly in England to deprecate any chance American extreme expression of patriotism.

I think that Prince Louis Napoleon was over-dressed. I know that in his green or purple stock (I forget which) he wore an immense breastpin representing an eagle in diamonds — not the eagle with displayed wings, that is, the American ' birdofreedomsaurin ' — but an aquiline presentment with the wings closed — the eagle of Imperial sway. — G. A. Sala, in D. T., 16th June 1894.

Birds may roost in my bonnet,

Any (Devonshire). Self - praise. Speaker so little given to slander that the most Aristophanic birds could carry no disparagement of hers between heaven and earth; e.g., 'Don't 'ee b'lieve it, Mrs Mog — any bird may a-roost in my bonnet.' ' A little bird told me ' is in close relation with this phrase. The origin is to be found in Ecclesiastes, x. 20. « For a bird of the air shall carry thee voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.' The belief that birds carry messages between earth and heaven is common to all countries and times. In Europe the dove and the robin are the birds most associated with this charming superstition.

Birmingham School (Soc.). A polite evasion of radical ; e.g., ' We do not like his politics at the Duke's — he belongs too thoroughly to the Birming- ham School'— about 1885. Since then Birmingham has climbed down or up ; and the centre of radicalism is supposed to be Newcastle. ' The Newcastle Programme should be backed by the Marquis de Carabas ! ' (See Newcastle Programme. )

Biscuit and Beer Bet

Bit o' Raspberry

Biscuit and Beer Bet (Street, 19 cent. ). A swindle — because the biscuit backer invariably loses, it being in- tended that he should lose — to the extent of glasses round, for instance. The bet is as follows : that one youth (the victim) shall not eat a penny biscuit before his antagonist has swallowed a glass of beer by the aid of a teaspoon without spilling any of the beer. The biscuit is so dry, and the anxious bettor so fills his mouth in the desire to win that he generally loses ; e.g., ' Yere's a mug— let's biscuit an' beer 'un.'

Bismarck (Political ; South German and French, 1866). A term of con- tempt.

A good story is told of a Bavarian who, quarrelling the other day with one of his fellow-countrymen, abused him in the most violent language, and, after exhausting a very extensive vocabulary of invectives, at last called him ' Bismarck ! ' The phlegmatic German had borne all previous insults with praiseworthy patience; but, on hearing himself thus apostrophised, he flew into a tremendous passion, and cited his enemy before the courts. He was non- suited on the plea that ' Bismarck ' is a name, and does not necessarily imply an insult — at least, no such interpretation was to be found in any of the Bavarian law precedents. This is not the first time that the name of a Prime Minister has thus been popularly applied as a term of contempt. Under the Restora- tion it was a common incident to hear a cabby apostrophising a sulky or restive horse, ' Va done, hS, Polignac ! ' and during the early part of the reign of the Grand Monarque, ' Mazarin ' was equivalent to the refined exclamation, ' You pig ! ' which an attentive listener may be edified by hearing exchanged by the gamins of Paris in the present year of grace. — Morning Star, 1867.

After 1870, Bismarck was 'accepted' by Bavaria.

Bit-faker (Thieves'). Counterfeit money - maker — from ' bit ', money, and 'fake', to make, or rather cunningly to imitate.

Bit o' Beef (Vulg. 19 cent.). A quid of tobacco; less than a pipeful. A playful, or possibly a grim, reference to tobacco-chewing staying hunger. (See City sherry ; Pound o' bacca.)

Bit o' blink (Tavern). Drink- rhyming slang.

Bit o' crumb (C. L., 1882). A pretty plump girl— one of the series

30

of words designating woman imme- diately following the introduction of 1 jam ' as the fashionable term (in un- fashionable quarters) for lovely woman. Then Joe fell in love with a dona — oh, what a bit of crumb. — Newsp. Gutting.

Bit of fat from the eye, Have a

(L. Class). Suggestive of compliment — this phrase being seriously used at a spread, or dinner of sheep's head, the orbits of the eyes being lined with a fat supposed by the accustomed con- sumer to be exceptionally delicate.

Bit o' grease (Anglo- Ind. Army). A Hindoo stout woman of a smiling character, e.g. , ' She's a nice bit o' grease — she is.'

Bit of haw-haw (London Tavern, 1860 on). A fop. Possibly suggested by the hesitating commencing syllable used by many well-bred men — more frequently from modesty or caution than from any sense of impressing the idea of superiority.

When these young bits of haw-haw borrow a swallow tail coat and a crook stick, and a bit of window to shove into their weak peepers, and then go into the Gaiety with an order, strike us purple if they're not at their best then. They know all the actresses of course, and the way they talk about some of 'em would make a red stinker turn blue. — Newsp. Cutting.

Bit o' jam (1879). A pretty girl- good or bad.

He kisses me, he hugs me, and calls me his bit o' jam, and then chucks me down stairs just to show me there's no ill feeling ; yet I love him like anything. — Newsp. Gutting.

Everything you see you just feel you would like to buy and take it home to the bit of jam. — Newsp. Gutting.

Bit o' pooh ( Workmen's}. Flattery — generally said of courtship — obtained very oddly. The exclamation ' pooh ' generally expressing nonsense, the phrase suggests flattering courtship or blarny.

Bit o' prairie (Strand, 1850 on). A momentary lull in the traffic at any point in the Strand, so that the tra- veller can cross the road. From the bareness of the road for a mere moment, e.g., 'A bit o' prairie — go.'

Bit o' raspberry (Street, 1883). An attractive girl. When ' jam ' came to be used to describe a girl, the original double intendre suggested by a comic

Bit oy Red

Black-ball

song having become known— raspberry, as the most flavoursome of conserves, was used to describe a very pretty creature. Then the jam was dropped, and the ' bit o ' affixed, and this phrase became classic.

' So,' said Bill, ' you're the bloke who's spliced my bit o' raspberry'. — Cutting.

Bit o' ^(Historical, 18 and 19 cent.}. A soldier, e.g., 'A bit of red so lights up the landscape.'

Bit o' stuff (Street, 19 cent.). A lovely woman — not perhaps of a Penelope-like nature — rarely at home.

He waited for a bit of stuff near the stage door of the Comedy Theatre. He was an elderly cove and he had great patience. — Cutting.

Bit o' tripe (L. Class}. One of the endearing names given to the wife — probably a weak rhyme.

This paper always comes useful, if it's only to wrap a Billingsgate pheasant in to take home to the bit of tripe. — Cutting.

Bit on, To have a (Sporting). To have a bet on — a ' bit ' of money on — a race.

I hear that all the shining lights of the music hall who are accustomed to have a little ' bit on ' were on the right side. — Newsp. Cutting.

Bit to go with (Amer. - Eng.). Generosity — as the result of self- satisfied superiority.

An American railway train can give most things in this world a bit to go with in the way of noise.— Ref., 20th February 1887.

Bitch the pot ( University, down to 1850). Amongst a tea-drinking party of men it was asked, ' Who'll bitch the pot ? ' — meaning who will pour out the tea.

Bitched (Printers'). Spoilt, ruined, in reference to type.

Bite the tooth. To (Thieves'). To be successful. Origin unknown.

Bite-etite, perhaps Bity tite (Peoples', E. London). Grotesque substitution of bite for the first four letters of ' appetite '. (See Drinkitite. )

Bite off more than one can chew (American - English). Referring to plug tobacco, and meaning that the person spoken of has undertaken more than he can accomplish.

Bits of Grey (Soc., 1880). Elderly vietims of both sexes present at balls

31

and marriages, especially the latter, to give an air of staid dignity to the chief performers. ' Don't tell me — we had a small and early, all young — most miserable, growling, towering failure I ever endured. No stir-up for me without my bits of grey. They give tone to the whole thing.' — Society Novel, 1883.

Bits o' soap (Com. Land., 1883). Charming girls — of a kind.

I can imagine General Booth jumping in his boots when he piped that article in his paper. I wonder what all the con- verted bits o' soap thought about it. — Cutting, 1883.

(Booth became the self-appointed general of the Salvation Army, 1882-83.)

Bitter path (Peoples', 19 cent.}. Emphatic intensification of oath ; e.g., Til take my bitter oath.' Oaths may be divided into two classes — those which appeal to heaven, as ' By God', and those which relate to an antithesis, as ' By hell ', the former being the better oath. The masses, incapable of discriminating one kind from the other, simplified 'better oath ' into ' bitter oath ', as possessing more emphasis.

Bitties (Thieves'}. Evasive term for skeleton -key s.

Bivvy (London). Beer ; evidently from the French 'buvez' (Italian ' bevere ') — the imperative mood of the verb being applied to the beer itself. The difficulty is to find the descent. It may have come from French prisoners very early in the nineteenth century, or from the French colonies in Soho, or (more likely) from the Italian organ-grinding regiment in the neighbourhood of Hatton Garden.

Black and white (Thieves' rhym- ing}. Night. It would mean, when used, ' to-night '.

Black-bagging (1884). Dynami- tarding — from the fact that where dynamite proceedings had failed at certain rail way- terminuses the explo- sive charges were found in black bags.

Five thousand pounds reward for the discovery of the perpetrators of the out- rage at London Bridge is too much. It is an encouragement to others to go black-bagging.— Ref., 4th January 1885.

Black-ball ( Club, 1 9 cent. ). To reject by ballot. The word is now absolutely inappropriate, though still used by

Block-bottle Scene

Black Maria

1 correct ' clubmen. It had meaning when club elections were effected by each elector being given one white and one black ball, so that upon opening the ballot-box the colours decided, black naturally being a negative. So far as the declaration of the election was concerned, nothing could be better than this mode ; but unfortunately every elector was troubled by the pos- session of the second ball, which he might drop and thereby betray his vote. This ball the voter certainly would have some inconvenience in de- positing, apart from the watchfulness of neighbouring eyes. Hence the new mode of club-balloting with a box, having a hole in front large enough for the entrance of the hand, the bottom of the box being divided by a high partition, while the outside is marked 'Yes' (or 'Ay') and 'No' — referring to the two boxes formed by the partition. Only one ball is given to each voter, and thus he gets rid of his responsibility by depositing the ball either on one side or the other. Unfortunately nervous voters are fre- quently fogged the moment they lose sight of the right hand, while the ballot-box-carrier (where it is carried, instead of being placed on a table for the approach of the voter) has a frequent habit of tilting up the ' No ' side of the box, so that if the ball is not firmly manipulated when inside the palladium, it may have a better chance of favouring the ' Ay '. Even this word itself is a difficulty, for its complication between ' ay ' and ' ayes ', together with its infrequency except as an interjection, helps to confuse timid voters. More recently the ballot boxes have been bearing the legends 'yes', 'no' — the affirmative always preceding the negative.

Black-bottle Scene (Dublin, 1822 on). Black beer-bottle throwing at . obnoxious persons.

On the 14th of December 1822, on the occasion of the Marquis Wellesley, visit- ing the Theatre Eoyal, Dublin, an organized disturbance on the part of the Orangemen took place, in resent- ment of his Excellency's sympathy with Catholic Emancipation. The affray is always referied to as the 'black-bottle' riot ; a black bottle having been flung at the Viceroy by an Orangeman in the top gallery.— Newsp. Cutting.

On any other occasion the incident

might have passed unnoticed, but now the rumour of a ' black bottle ' scene was in every one's mind. — A . M. Sullivan, 1877.

Black Eye (American, political and social). A reverse, especially political.

A black eye for Platt.— An Albany jury has decided that Governor Hill was right, and Quarantine Commissioner Platt wrong, and that the latter has all along been a resident of Owega, while holding office in New York.— N. Y. Mercury. 15th January 1888.

Often used to designate theatrical failure.

This inheritance proved a black eye to all concerned, because the new com- pany lacked all the vocal and comedy requisites for a successful interpretation of this very popular work.

Black Ivory (Slave - dealers). A disguised way of referring to negro slaves.

Mr Steyn, a former Landdrost of Potchefstroom, in both letters and speeches, complained that 'loads of "black ivory" were being constantly hawked about the country'. — F. W. Chesson, in D. N., 5th November 1883.

Black Jack ( 1 9 cent. ). A black port- manteau of peculiar make.

William Wall deposed that he repaired the portmanteau produced, and recognised Burton as the man who brought it. Burton also brought another second-hand portmanteau called in the trade ' Black Jack '. — Dynamite Case Report, 4th March 1885.

Blackleg (Labour, 1889-90). A non-striker in industry. Blackleg had long been used for a swindler, but at this date it was first applied to non- Union men or non -strikers. Directly used in relation to the dock-strikes. Common to the labouring classes by June 1890.

It will be seen from the full report of the situation, which we print else- where, that the present stage of the conflict turns on the presence of the ' blackleg ', to use the designation which the Dock labourers first popularised. — Chaos in the Post Office, in D. N., 10th July 1890.

Black Maria (Thieves', 19 cent.). The prison van, probably Anglicizing 'Black V.R.', this public conveyance being ink-coloured, and bearing V.R. on each side of it. To the ignorant V.R. would have no meaning; while Maria would ; or it may be a rhyming effort. The New York prison van,

32

Black-silk Barges

though of course very different from the English carriage, bears the same name.

He 'protested' against entering the Black Maria, and on the way up ' would not admit' that he was going to the Workhouse, but by this time he prob- ably feels at home up there.— N. Y. Police Report, 1883.

Upon the death of Queen Victoria, necessarily the initials on the prison van were changed to E.R. — the term for the vehicle, however, still remain- ing. A phrase was immediately found for E.R. — Energy Rewarded — a term accepted by even the nation, with applause. ( See V. R. , Virtue Rewarded, Vagabonds Removed, Sardine Box.)

Black-silk Barges (Ball - room). Stout women who ought to avoid dances. They dress in black silk to moderate in appearance their amplitude.

'It's time I sounded a retreat from dancing — I've had to dance with seventeen black-silk barges this blessed evening. Never again — never again.'

Black Strap (Peoples', Old English). Port wine. A corruption of ' black stirrup ' cup. Sherry or sack (the first a corruption of Xeres, the second, an abbreviation, was always white wine ; clarets and burgundies red ; port black). The stirrup cup was always potent. The passage from black stirrup to black strap is too evident when port came amongst the people — more accustomed to strap than the stirrup. To this day strap is used for port.

Blank please (American). A negative euphemism for the unending ' damned ' — with a polite request added.

. . . that matter - of - fact business manager of ours says that, although we may put what we blank please in the editorial columns, he won't put a six- inch display in the advertising end of the paper for less than several hundred dollars cash, quarterly in advance. — Texas Siftings.

Blarney (Irish). Flattery. The Blarney stone is a protruding one, standing out from below a ruined window of ruined Blarney Castle (near Cork). Whoever kisses this stone, a very difficult feat, and one which requires help and strong hold- ing hands while the aspirant leans over and down into space, is supposed to possess for ever after the gift of successful flattery.

The traditions respecting the kissing of the Blarney stone, to impart to the devotee a peculiar suavity of speech, is about three hundred years old. — Newsp. Cutting.

Blase (Fr., 1840). Wearied, bored. Brought to England with a farce called L'Homme Blast, subsequently produced for Wright (Princess Theatre), in which version this actor was called Blase. Succeeded by 'bored' about 1860.

Bleed (Peoples'). A perversion of the word 'blood', as She'll have his bleed' — usually said of a woman who is rating her husband.

Blenheim Cloud (Polit.). The influence of the Dukes of Marlborough over Woodstock, which lies in the shadow of Blenheim.

Against this the more sanguine point to the advantage of being free from what they call 'the Blenheim cloud', the Duke having formally declared that he takes no part in this election, and that all his people are free to vote as they choose.— D. N., 1st July 1885.

Blenheim Pippin, The (Polit.,

1883). An application of the name of a known variety of pippins, always a small apple, to describe Lord Randolph Churchill, a diminutive man, who, as a son of a Duke of Marlborough, was associated with Blenheim, the family seat in Oxford- shire.

. . . the Tories are, as a rule, fol- lowers of the strongest ; and after the Blenheim Pippin's latest manifesto they will hardly know whether to throw in their lot with Tweedledum or Tweedle- dee.— Entr'acte, 7th April 1883.

Bless me soul (Peoples'). Bless me —Saul. Probably one of the few Puritanic exclamations — all of which were Biblical, * Bless me, or my, soul ' is nonsense, as it stands— for who blesses ? Hence probably arose ' God bless my soul '. But this phrase is also meaningless, for the soul needs no blessing. ' God bless me ' is reason- able. But here, ' soul ' is the important word. In this conversation it should be remembered that Saul was held in high Puritanic esteem— as a patriarch of much power.

Blessing (Irish). Gratuity. Poetic way of putting it ; will contrast with 'backsheesh' (q.v.) 'Sure, he's a man gives me a blessing every time he

33

Blew, To

Bloke

passes without pretending not to see me, he does.' In Devonshire a 'blessing' is a handful thrown in, e.g., 'Plase to give' us a half-peck o' pays, and give us a blessing.'

Blew, To (Com. Land.). To dissipate. This word is by no means to ' blow ', but is suggested by ' blue '. * I blewed ' (or ' blew ') means ' I spent', and probably is suggested by the dismal blue appearance of a man, penniless and recovering from a drunken fit. The word was turned to very droll account by a comic- singer, Herbert Campbell, in 1881. A medicinal pad to be worn over the liver was very much advertised ; and a half life-size cut of a masculine and healthy patient with the 'liver pad* in situ created a great deal of comment. The singer put both together and came out with a ballad. ' Herbert Campbell's favourite song now is called " Clara blued her Liver Pad" ', meaning that she had sold her speci- men and spent the proceeds in drink — for you only ' blew ' money when you do spend it in drink.

In about an hour he reached the Strand, and in less than another hour he had blewed his half-a-dollar, so he sat on a doorstep and wept as only boys who have run away from home and have got the stomach-ache can weep. — Cutting.

Blewed his red 'un (Peoples'). 'Red 'un' is an anglicization of ' redding ' (a thieves') word for a watch, probably the name of a watch- receiver. The phrase therefore means ' Spent in drink the money raised on his watch.' Here brevity is indeed triumphant.

Blighter (TJieat., 1898). An actor of evil omen : it took the place of Jonah (q.v.).

'I never care about acting in a play which is likely to fail. Look at Jones. Splendid actor, but he has been con- nected with so many failures that he has got to be known, as a blighter, and no one will engage him.' — Cutting.

Blind Hookey (Peoples'). A leap in the dark; e.g., 'Oh, it's Blind Hookey to attempt it.' From a card game. The centre card is the banker's — the players put money against either of the four other cards. If the dealer's centre card is the highest of the five he takes all the bets. If his card is the lowest, he pays all four.

Blink. See Bit o' blink.

Blister, To (Peoples', 1890 on). To punish with moderation : a modi- fication of 'to pound'; e.g., Til blister 'im when I ketch 'im'— a promise of listing. Used chiefly by cabmen in relation to magisterial fines, e.g., 'I was blistered at Bow Street to-day for twenty hog.'

Blizzard Collar (Soc., 1897). A high stand-up collar to women's jackets, coats. Suggestive of cold weather.

I must mention the very pretty Russian vests of fur that our elegantes have now adopted. They are tightly fitting, and fasten on the side ; they have a short basque all round, a blizzard collar, and a fancy belting of jewelled enamelled plaques.— D. T., 16th January 1897.

Bloater (Peoples'). An abbrevia- tion of Yarmouth bloater : a fat person. From the fact that the first smoking process applied to the herring results in a remarkable swelling, which afterwards abates.

If intended for immediate eating, the herring is taken down after one firing, when it is swelled and puffed out like a roasted apple. It is then known to the true East Anglian as a blowen-herring— the word bloater is rejected by philo- logists at a foreign corruption — and here you probably have the true etymology of the familiar word. — Yarmouth, by W. Norman (Yarmouth, 1883).

Blob (Cricket, 1898). No runs. ' Blob ' has taken the place of ' duck ', or ' duck's egg '.

Block (Scotch Thieves', 1868). A policeman in one syllable.

I think it would be a good idea for my mother to get the block privately and make an appeal to him ; he would have a little feeling for her, I think.— Dundee garotter's letter, 1868.

Block (Linen Drapers'). A name applied curiously to the young lady of fine shape who in the mantle depart- ment tries on for the judgment of the lady customer.

Block a quiet pub. (Peoples'). To stop a long time in a tavern ; e.g., 'I don't care for theayters or sing-songs ; but I like to block a quiet pub. ', said the commercial ; i.e., to remain quietly drinking in an out-of-the-way public house. Generally said of a sot.

Bloke (Lower Classes, 19 cent). A friendly soul, inclined to be charitable.

Blood

Bloody Carpet Rags

This word has not the objectionable meaning it is often supposed to possess. On the contrary, it is mighty affec- tionate; e.g., 'Got a bit o' bacca, bloke ? ' if asked you in the streets is by no means offensively said. It is less than 'gentleman', more than ' mate '. ' He's a proper bloke ' is simply a paean.

Bloke is also a lover, or even an acquaintance.

Master Edward Graham, aged eight, and Miss Sarah King, aged nine, appeared at Bow Street as inseparable and incorrigible beggars in the Strand. ' Sally and her bloke ' is said to be the unpoetical designation of the pair in the Strand.— D. N., 1882.

In universities, an outsider, a mere book-grubber, e.g. , 'Balliol mere blokes. But they carry off everything.' (See Old Put, Muff.)

Blood (Old). By our Lord— one of the old Catholic exclamations.

Blood — it is almost enough to make my daughter undervalue my sense. — Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. vii., ch. 4.

The extended form is ' bloody ' — by our lady — an asseveration referring to the Virgin, which becomes an apostrophe in the shape 'What the bloody hell' — 'By our lady, hail.' ' What' thus appears to be a Protestant addition. About 1875, when the Lon- don School Board had influenced the metropolis for some half dozen years — this word and phrase were super- seded by 'blooming', a sheer evasion which has survived the nineteenth century, and has quite passed into the lower layers of the language. In 18th century literature may be found the form ' blady hell ', which suggests the origin very forcibly.

Some actors have been known to mutilate the speech in Macbeth, 'Be bloody, bold, and resolute', lest it should suggest the inconceivably wicked thought, 'Be bloody-bold, and resolute '. Now this extremely shocking word is nothing more nor less than a corruption of ' By'r lady '. How little do the dregs of our population, who, when they hurl out the word, imagine that it contains some frightful explosive, dream that they are appealing to the Virgin. — D. T.

Blood and 'ounds (Irish). Blood and wounds (Christ's) — an old pro- nunciation rhyming with ' pounds ' ; e.g., 'Blood an' 'ounds — how the blood runs out uv 'un thin.' This phrase is a good example of the

anglicization of words whose original meanings are from various causes lost. Probably most of the Catholic adjura- tions have been applied in the same such manner as this.

Blood Ball (London Tr.). The butchers' annual hopser, a very lusty and fierce-eyed function. The female contingent never wear crimson — as being too trady. (See Bung Ball. )

Blood Hole (E. London, 1880). A theatre in Poplar.

The irreverent ones of the district, whenever they mentioned the place, called it ' The Blood Hole '—in allusion, I presume, to the style of drama pre- sented.— Newsp. Cutting.

Blood or Beer (Street). A challenge to fight or stand, i.e., 'pay for' malt refreshment. A jocular phrase border- ing on bullying. Real fighting is inducted by the phrase ' Take off your coat ' ! This is serious. ' Come on, ruffian. It's blood or beer ' — is simply friendly suggestion.

Bloods (Lowest Glasses) Wall- flowers, from a not too clear association of colours. A higher figure of speech than Bugs (q.v.), but still painfully disgusting in association with this fresh - breathed blossom. ' Bloods, bloods— penny a bunch, bloods.'

Bloods (Navy). Sailor boys' title for ' Penny Dreadfuls '.

They expect lots of blood, wonderful adventures, gruesome illustrations, and a good deal of cheap sentiment', and they get it. As they get older, their tastes change. — Rev. G. Goodenough, Navy Chaplain.

Blood-worms (London, 19 cent.). Sausages in general, but a black- pudding of boiled hog's blood in particular. 'S 'elp me sivvy, I've come down to blood- worms.' (See Sharp's Alley.)

Bloody carpet rags (Amer., im- ported to Liverpool). A mutilated man.

All of a sudden the burly coloured man drew a razor from his pocket and started for the light-weight with the remark that he'd make bloody carpet rags of him.— Newsp. Gutting.

It should be added that the razor is the American negro's favourite weapon, carried as a rule in a high boot — something after the manner of a Scotch dirk in a Scotch sark.

35

Blooming Emag

Blue

Blooming Emag (Street, 1870). Back spelling : ' Emag ' is ' game '. Selfishness in its perfect degree.

There nothing like cheek, yobs, what- ever you're blooming emag may be. But be honest, even if you have to go out nailing to be honest. — Cutting.

Blopmeration (London, 1891). Illu- mination. First heard 9th November at Prince of Wales' illuminations.

Blooming little holiday (Lowest Peoples'). Saturnalia — liberty to be free, to be perfectly tyrannical.

An English defeat and panic, on English soil, would seem to the English rough the very beginning of the mil- lennium, or, in his own language, ' a blooming little holiday.' — Newsp. Cutting) 1879.

Blouser (obscure). To cover up, to hide, to render nugatory, e.g., 'Joe — you won't blouser me Vs From the French, evidently. Probably used in an anti - Gallican spirit, when the blouse first appeared to cover over an honest Englishman's waistcoat ; or it may be from the court of Charles II.

The Army is warned that the clergy will try to 'blouser' or mislead them, and to persuade people to refuse the use of halls, while all the time professing interest in the Army's holy labours. — Newsp. Cutting (about 1881).

Blow (Peoples'}. To boast— from the noise made when a whale blows water through and up from the nostrils, with much noise. Introduced by sailors in the whale trade, common to England and America, and still surviving amongst the lower classes. A good example of a word arising from a new industry and passing away with it.

About the veracity of big game shooters, one is sometimes obliged to feel now and then a lingering doubt. They might remind an Australian reader of ' him who tried to blow ', in a well- known line of a modern poet. ' Blow ', it may be necessary to explain, is the Australian equivalent for 'brag' or 4 boast '. Thus Othello ' blew ' in the account of his adventures with which he obliged Desdemona. — D. N., 25th February 1885.

' Blow ' and ' blow upon ' are some- times still used in their old form, in the sense of to expose or betray.

All he asks is to pass him along his plate with whatever happens to be handy round the pantry, and he won't go away and blow how poor the steak is. He

just eats whatever is set before him, and asks no questions. — Cutting.

Blow me tight (Peoples'). Below me with a firm hand— that is, sent to Hades. Used generally as a protest on the part of the speaker, and an assurance of truth. Generally followed by 'if, and sometimes 'but'. He means that he is willing to be damned if he lies.

It was reckoned out we'd get to Brighton at six o'clock last Saturday, blow me tight. — Cutting.

Blow-out (Peoples'). Dissipation — literally stretching the digestive apparatus.

At the end of a month a miner finds himself in possession of from £25 to £30, and, as a corollary, has what he calls ' a blow-out'. — Newsp. Cutting, 1883.

Blowing (Thieves'). 'A pick- pocket's trull ', quotes Byron in a note to the line ' Who on a lark with black-eyed Sal (his blowing)' (Don Juan, ca. xi. st. 19). Some- times ' blowen '.

Blowsa-bella (TJieat. 18 cent.). A vulgar, self-assertative woman, gener- ally stout. Blowsa is probably from the French ' blouser ', a verb got from ' blouse ', meaning to attract by gutter arguments. Bella is of course an abbreviation of Isabella, and the whole phrase probably would mean a vulgar woman of the people giving herself false airs of grandeur. The Daily News (22nd Feb. 1883) throws perhaps some light on the word in reference to the Salvation Army.

Bluchers (Mid. Class-, 1815 on). Plural of blucher, referring to the commonest of boots. From General von Bliicher, the Prussian general-in- chief at the battle of Waterloo. When some clever bootmaker invented the now extinct Wellington boots, a humble imitator followed with the handy Blucher, and made quite a large fortune out of this idea — and the boots — the most frequent name for workmen's boots known to Britons, who have found this manufacture a handy weapon. (See Wellingtons.)

Blue (Old English). Dismal — evidently from the appearance of the countenance when showing anxiety or mistrust — as distinct from red anger. In this sense it is used in U.S.A. to

36

Blue Blanket

Blue Moon

this day ; e.g., 'This news will make our return to Yonkers rather blue', i.e., melancholy. It will be found temp. George III. in a ballad, published in Dublin by Trojanus Laocoon, called The All -devouring Monster ; or New Five per 0 — t, a satirical work which attacked a pro- ject, dating from England, of course, to put a duty of 5 per cent, upon all imports. Here is a triplet from the ballad in question : The effects of the Tax will soon make

us look Blue, Its nature, its drift being known but

to few ; Reverse of the Glass Act — this all men

saw through.

In England, 19th century, 'blue' has been abandoned as describing melancholy, owing to its new meaning — one of vulgar, coarse, double en- tendre', e.g., 'Have you got any new blue?' may be asked by one who is athirst for erotic entertainment. Perhaps comes in some obscure way from the French, where a bluette certainly means a short song, which skirts the wind of impropriety. The earlier meaning of blue is however still sometimes applied. And yet, though things are all so blue,

it's funny,

My missus never lets me blue the money. —Elephant and Castle pantomime, 1882.

Blue Blanket (Peoples', 19 cent.). The sky. 'I slept under the blue blanket last night. (See Bengal Blanket.)

Blue Caps (Indian Mutiny, 1857). Dublin Fusiliers.

The Dublin Fusiliers are 'The Blue Caps'. A despatch of Nana Sahib was intercepted, in which he referred to ' those blue-capped English soldiers who fight like devils '. The name stuck. At the Siege of Lucknow the bridge of Char Bagh was raked by four guns and defended on the flanks by four others. 'Who is to carry it?' asked Outram. ' My Blue Caps ', replied Havelock ; and they did.— Rev. E. J. Hardy.

Blue Damn. Evasive swearing. Celestial curse — the blue referring to the sacred purple blood of the Crucified.

Blue Funk (Pub. Sch.). Absolute panic— from the leaden colour of the skin when the owner is beyond ques- tion afraid.

Of Mr Weedon Grossmith's assumption

37

it may be further said that it is calcu- lated to develop his most approved strain of humour, which in schoolboy parlance is known as blue funk.— People, 28th February 1897.

He will, no doubt, tell people at home that he left the Soudan because he was invalided. That is not the case. He left us because he was in a blue funk. — D. T., 6th July 1897.

Blue Grass (Amer.). People of Kentucky— from the peculiar tint of the grass.

The Kentucky correspondent of the Cincinnati News - Journal is evidently hard hit. This is what he writes : When the Bona Dea, out of her bounteousness, makes a Bluegrass woman, she takes care never to spoil the job. A soft, white, warm body, translucent with divine light, and curving to lines of beauty as naturally as the tendrils of a vine, is the groundwork upon which nature limits the human angel. . . . The brow of Juno and the bust of Hebe ; the sea- nymph's pearly ear, the wood-nymph's springy step — these are a few of the charms nature gives the maiden of the Bluegrass.— Newsp. Cutting.

Even accepted as the title of a paper.

Blasphemous Libel. — Louisville (Ky.), 21st April.— Mr C. E. Moore, Editor of a newspaper, published here, known as The Blue Grass Blade, and who has been in prison for the last fortnight.— Newsp. Cutting.

Blue Grass Belle. A Kentuckian beauty.

While down in Kentucky last Fall, buying horses, he tipped a wink at a blue grass belle.— Newsp. Cutting.

Blue-handled Rake. The railing and steps leading to the platform of a fair-booth stage.

Blue Hen's Chick (Devonshire). A clever soul, e.g., 'You're a blue hen's chick hatched behind the door ' — said satirically.

Blue Jack (Nautical). Cholera morbus— from the colour of the skin in this disease. (See Yellow Jack.)

Blue-jacket (Peoples', 19 cent.). A sailor — given from the colour of jacket. (See Lobster, Robin Redbreast.)

Blue Moon (General, in all classes). Absolutely lost in mystery, but prob- ably an Anglicism of a word or words with which neither ' blue ' nor ' moon ' has anything to do. It imports indefinite futurity. Possibly meaning

Blue Noses

Blue Roses

' never ', because a blue moon is never seen.

' I ain't a going to make a speech ', said he, in a voice husky with emotion, ' because if I was to jaw till a blue moon I couldn't tell you more about her we've been and buried than you know already.' — 'Cadgers in Mourning', D. T., 8th February 1863.

Blue Noses (American). Canadians — obviously from the force of sharp weather on the Canadian nose. Prob- ably contemptuous.

In Nova Scotia, has died a centenarian who had fought under Nelson and under Wellington. Did a grateful people follow the hero to the grave with proud tears? Not much. John Aberton was buried in a rough box on the day he died. There were no prayers, no funeral procession, no formalities, but the old patriot received the burial of a dog. This ought to make recruiting brisk in Canada and incite the blue noses to volunteer in a mass to defend Queen Victoria's codfish. — N. Y. Mercury, 1st January 1895.

Blue o'clock in the morning (Street}. Pre-dawn, when black sky gives way to purple. Rhyming fancy, suggested by two o'clock in the morn. Suggestive of rollicking late hours.

The birdcatcher has often to be up f at blue o'clock in the morning '. The rime is on the grass when he lays his nets. It is bitterly cold standing about in the fields.— D. N.t 12th October 1886.

Blue Pencil (To) (Theat., 1885 on). Cutting down literature — first applied to dramatic pieces. From the colour of the pencil used. c More blue pencil ', said Mr Tree — it is the only way of writing a successful piece.

The actor will have a better chance after the blue pencil has eliminated the unnecessary verbiage in the dialogue. — D. N.y 17th February 1899.

Blue Pig (Maine, U.S.A. ). Whisky. Maine is a temperance state, therefore liquor has to be asked for under various strange names, which have generally been satirically distinguished by a strange contradiction in their com- ponent parts, as in this instance. The phrase common in Liverpool.

There have been remarkable animals discovered in Maine before now — to wit, striped and blue pigs and Japanese dogs of scarlet hue. These creatures, however, have usually been found to be of the genus stalking - horse — that is, they merely served as screens for the sale of prohibited intoxicating fluids. — D. N.

38

Blue Ribbonite (M. Class, 1880). A sort of pun between 'nite' and 'knight', and one which gave the phrase rapid popularity. Outcome of the custom of wearing a blue ribbon on left breast of coat to demonstrate that the wearer was an abstainer.

With respect to the inconsistencies in the man who married Miss Dash drinking champagne and port, it should be remembered that he had not taken the pledge, and that he was concealing his identity. Besides, he said before the wedding breakfast that he was almost a blue-ribbonite — Brighton Bigamy Case, 20th and 24th October 1885.

Blue Ribbon Fakers (London, 1882). The progress of abstinence principles, practically started by Father Mathews (1815-71), is very interesting. The original abstainers made no daily public parade of their principles, and were not forbidden to associate with men who drank fermented liquors, or to have * drinks ' in the house, or to pay for drinks. Then followed the Good Templars (1860), who prohibited their followers from paying for others' alcoholic drinks, from having liquor in the house, or entering a tavern, even to buy a biscuit, but they showed no visible signs of their temperance. Then came the Blue Ribbon Army who (1882) instituted the daily assertion of their principles by wearing a scrap of bright blue ribbon in the left breast buttonhole of the coat. Street satirists dubbed them Blue Ribbon fakers.

The Blue Ribbon fakers may say what they fair like, but there are times when good brandy is new life — ask the squirts. About 1896 these blue ribbons became in some degree unpopular with abstainers, and were discarded. But so far no abstinence supporters had tabooed tobacco. It remained for the Salvation Army to add to all the abstinence principles hitherto adopted that of the rejection of tobacco in all its forms. As they operated chiefly amongst youths, their success as anti- tobacconalians was considerable. So far moderation or abstinence in rela- tion to animal food has not yet been advanced — but it must follow in due course.

Blue Roses (Literary). Unattain- able — sometimes blue dahlias, or tortoise-shell Tom cat, equal to squar-

Blue 'Un

Bols

ing the circle. Blue roses is the most poetical of these phrases.

The blue cloud of a fame beyond Core's reach floated ever before him ; he was eternally allured by the blue roses of an impossible success. — D. N., 25th June 1885.

Blue 'un (Sporting). A journal named Winning Post — so named from its tint, no doubt given to enter the ranks with the * Pink 'un ' and ' Brown 'un' (see) — all three fine examples of language produced by the habitually obvious, and of the tendency to shorten frequent phrases. Technically, blue 'un is a learned woman.

The application of the term to women, originated with Miss Hannah Moore's admirable description of a ' Blue Stock- ing Club' in her 'Bas Bleu'.— Mill.

Bluchers (London). Outsider cabs, not allowed, except upon emergency, to enter railway termini — probably in contradistinction to Wellingtons, just aa the Wellington boot was the aristocratic foot-covering — the Blucher that of the general. The Blucher boot survives ; the Wellington is a fossil.

It appears that when there is a deficiency of cabs at any station, outside or non-registered vehicles are called in on payment of a penny for the right of taking stand in the yard. With a nice regard for history, the drivers of these ' understudy ' cabs are, in the vernacular of the fraternity, dubbed 'Bluchers'. — D. T., 'Cab Strike', 23rd May 1894.

Bluff (Californian, 1849 on). To humbug, hector, bully, from an American card-game wherein the player sheerly seeks to domineer over his opponent, and gain by sheer audacity, without absolute reference to the cards he (the bluffer) holds. Probably from 'bluff', Californian for cliff; the word suggesting tall boasting.

'I bluffed 'im for a hour, but 'e wouldn't 'ave it at not no price. Mr Newton, the magistrate at Maryborough Street observed : This is a case of bluff. —Sir George Lewis : If you have made up your mind, I will retire from the case. — Mr Newton: Can you contradict the constables ?— People, 3rd October 1895.

Tom Gossage afforded in his own character and habits an amusing example of how a man could get imbued with the peculiar vice of the time — and that was the game of brag — brag and the hard old vices of its kindred — bluff and poker. — Newsp. Cutting.

Bluffer (Californian, 1849 on). The noun followed the verb very rapidly.

The stranger went away and returned with the bluffer. — Newsp. Cutting.

Bobby (Scottish). A faithful person — abbreviation of Greyfriars Bobby, who has become a household word in the Canongate, Edinburgh. He was a devoted little terrier who kept watch and ward for a dozen years over the grave of his unknown master, buried in the strangers' corner of Greyfriars Cemetery, Edinburgh. Lady, then Miss Burdett Coutts, was so touched by this fidelity that she erected a little monument to his memory. ' Hey, mon, nae mair thanks, or maybe ye'll be getting the name o' Bobbie.'

Bobby Atkins . See Tommy Atkins.

Bobby's Labourers ( Volunteers, 1868). Name given to special con- stables, chiefly volunteers, during this year — one of Fenian alarm — upon the principle that the s.c's did the work of the policemen — that is ' bobby'.

Bob, Harry and Dick (Rhyming, 1868). Sick — disguised way of admitting a crushed condition, the morn following a heavy drink. (See Micky.)

Bobolink (American). A talkative person, from being like a bird of this name. Abbreviation of Bob o' Lincoln.

This is the way somebody translates the bobolink's libretto : ' Chink a link, chink a link, tink tink, tinkle tootle, Tom Denny, Tom Denny, come pay me, with your chink a link, tinkle linkle, toodle loodle, popsidoodle, see, see, see ! ' making not the slightest pause from beginning to end.

Bobs (Soc., passing to People, 1900). Plural of Bob, exactly as Roberts is the plural of Robert — hence the genesis of the familiar name for General Roberts. Bobs was much applied in this year, especially to smart Irish terriers. B.P. (passing to Bups), was also in great vogue — of course the initials of General Baden Powell. This pluralising of nick- names had been growing for years.

Mr Ernest Wells, one of the founders and managers of the Pelican Club, and familiarly known in sporting, dramatic, and literary circles by his journalistic pseudonym of ' Swears ', has, etc. — D. T., 25th July 1900.

Tales, old Chestnuts, Hairs, Pots,

39

Bobtail

Boko

Pumps, were some of the plural nick- names in use about this period. If a limber's slipped a trace,

'Ook on Bobs ; If a marker's lost 'is place,

Dress by Bobs ; For 'e's eyes all up 'is coat, An' a bugle in 'is throat, An' you will not play the goat, Under Bobs.

— Rudyard Kipling.

Bobtail (Peoples'). Name given early in the 19th century to the dandies who wore the pointed tail- coats which followed the wide skirts of the 18th century, tails which must have been very striking. Name still given to a waiter by common classes. (See Claw-hammer.)

Bobtail (Irish). Appealing to the masses, to the passing penny. Irish, and probably dating from the intro- duction of the swallow-tail coat from England — doubtless despised at first, but still retained by the peasantry.

Boucicault said ' I introduced The Poor of Liverpool — a bobtail piece — with local scenery and Mr Cowper in the principal part (Badger). I share after £30 a night, and I am making £100 a week on the damned thing. I localise it for each town, and hit the public between the eyes ; so they see nothing but fire. I can spin out these rough-and-tumble dramas as easily as a hen lays eggs. It's a degrading occupation, but more money has been made out of guano than out of poetry.'

Body Lining (Drapers'). Bread — very opposite, lining in this trade being what goes inside the bodice (or body) of a dress. 'Pass me half a yard of body -lining.' Body -lining itself is a strong twill.

Body Snatcher (Street, London, 1840-1860). A cabman— from the habit, before higher civilization amongst cabmen prevailed, of snatch- ing their victim-patrons. Suggested by that other body-snatcher — the resurrection - man, who was but a memory in 1840.

Bohemian Bungery (Strand District). Public -house patronized by struggling authors. Bohemian having been introduced by Murger for a fighting author, artist, or musician, and the tea-pot brigade having dubbed a licensed victualler a bung, from that adjunct to the beer barrel — this phrase

40

became one of the results of time. The Nell Gwynne was once a Bohemian Bungery.

Bohemian down to his boots (Art and Lit.). Bohemian in excelsis. ' He is a . . . — such as they are ' — that is ' the boots '.

At that time a young man, Nelson Kneass, a scion of an old and proud family, was horrifying ' society ' by going round blacking his face as a negro minstrel. He was a brother of District Attorney Kneass, of this city, was highly educated, but was a 'Bohemian down to his boots '. — N. Y. Mercury, 15th January 1888.

Boiled Owl (People's). Drunk— as a boiled owl. Here there is no common sense whatever, nor fun, wit, nor anything but absurdity. Prob- ably another instance of a proper name being changed to a common or even uncommon word. May be drunk as Abel Doyle — which would suggest an Irish origin like many incom- prehensible proverbs too completely Anglicised.

It is a well-known fact in natural history that a parrot is the only bird which can sing after partaking of wines, spirits, or beer ; for it is now universally agreed by all scientific men who have investigated the subject that the expres- sion, ' Drunk as a boiled owl ' is a gross libel upon a highly respectable teetotal bird which, even in its unboiled state, drinks nothing stronger than rain-water. — D. T., 12th December 1892.

Also whitish, washed-out counten- ance, with staring sleepy eyes.

Both were admirably made up, and Twiss had just the boiled-owlish appear- ance that is gained by working all night in a printing-office. — Ref., 31st May 1885.

(See Dead as O'Donnel, Smithereens.)

Boiled Shirt (Middle Class). Clean, white— from the fact that if the shirt is not boiled it remains dull grey. W. America, but common in England.

' Waal now, say, you with the boiled shirt. What did Miss Maslam reply when you put the question?' — Newsp. Gutting, 1897.

Boko (Common). A huge nese. Corruption of ' beaucoup ', the ' o' being national and preferred to the French ' ou '. Said to be descended from the time of Grimaldi, who would observe while 'joey-ing' (g.v.) 'C'est beau- coup', and tapping his nose. The

Boko-smasher

Bono Johnny

phrase still remains, Anglicised, for a rough observing to another rough of a third gentleman's nose, will make the statement, ' I say — boko ! ' When one Espinosa, a French dancer, came to London (1858), the size of his wonderful nose drew so much gallery observation of 'boko' that Mr J. Oxenford, in the Times, especially referred to the organ and assumed it was art. Thereupon, Espinosa wrote explaining that the nose in question was un don de la nature.

He was as thin and pale as a coffee palace bit of roast beef, and his boko was as high and red as the sun on a foggy morning.

If he thought he had a black spot on his boko he'd go into convulsions.

Boko-smasher (Street}. For elucida- tion of this elegant occupation see Boko.

Bolt -upright (Peoples'). A good example of graphic application. From the rigidity of a bolt, e.g., 'he was bolt-upright, mum — and were so all the time, as 'is dear father was a-thrashin' of him.'

Bolted to the Bran (Polit.). Thoroughly sifted — one of the few puns or jocular phrases of which Glad- stone could ever be accused.

Now the great questions are initiated, discussed, sifted, ' bolted to the bran ', to use an expression more than once adopted by Mr Gladstone, before they come formally under the notice of the House of Commons. — D.N.. 12th August 1885.

Bombast (Hist.). Windy words — from Bumbast — the word, with a double entendre used for the material for stuffing out trunk hose, 16th and 17th centuries.

When I came to unrip and unbumbast this Gargantuan bag-pudding, I found nothing in it but dog's tripes.— Gabriel Harvey.

I. Disraeli says 'Bombast was the tailors' term in the Elizabethan era for the stuffing of horse-hair or wool used for the large breeches then in fashion — hence the term was applied to high-sounding phrases "all sound and fury, signifying nothing".'

Bone (London, 1882). A thin man. Hence — 'The bone has made a remark.' (Surrey Pantomime, London, 1882.)

Bone-clother (Medical}. Port wine

— which is popularly supposed to in- duce muscle.

Bone Idle (Scottish}. Could not be more so. Probably the one atom of slang, if this can be called slang, which Carlyle exercised ; may be found in a letter to his mother (15th Feb. 1847). ' I have gone bone idle these four weeks and more, and have been well done to every way.'

Bone-shaker (Youths^ 1870 on). The earliest bicycle — which tried to break bones incessantly.

Bone-shop (Lower Classes). Work- house— another of the more figurative and satirical names for this establish- ment. Here it refers presumably and untruly to the nature of the nourish- ment as producing nothing visible over the pauper bones.

' Two of 'em lives in the blooming bone- shop and the other little devil is in the small-pox hospital.'

Boner Nochy (Clerkenwell ; Italian quarter). Good-night — imitated by the Clerkenwellians, from the bona notte of the Italians in Eyre Street Hill, Little Bath Street, and Hatton Garden ; or it may be from the Spanish 'noche' — through the U.S.A.

'In any case', said Don Miguel, rising and preparing to retire for the night, ' in any case, can you wonder that I hate the Argentine, and everything connected with it ? Buenas noches, senor ! '— Ev. News, 9th December 1898.

Bonner (Oxford fer'). Bonfire. This specimen of 'er' shows a spice of satirical wit, for it is suggestive of Bishop Bonner, who certainly lit up many bonfires — Smithfield way.

Bonnet (Lower Class). To smash another's hat over the eyes. From French (bonnet - a • cap), and time Charles II. Bonnet passed into hat, but 'to bonnet' went sliding down until now it is in the gutter. (See Cloak, In his sleeve, Shawl.)

Bonny Robby (Provincial). Pretty but frail girl, probably from ' buona roba ' — common in the time and court of Charles II.

DRUG : There visits me a rich young widow ? FACE : A bona roba ? — Garrick's Alel Drugger.

Bono Johnny (Pigeon Chinese). A good fellow. A Chinese invention ; used by English sailors as warrant of good intentions.

41

Bonse

Boot

Bonse (School). Head. 'Lookout, or I'll fetch you a whack across the bonse '.

Boo; Boo-ers (Theatrical, 1900). First-night gallery critics who replaced the goose (hissing) by ' booing ' — probably because it was easier and more secretive.

Who would have thought, when an ill- mannered gallery ' booed ' Mr Kerker's sparkling entertainment more than twelve months ago that it would achieve an unparalleled success at the Shaftes- bury?— D. T., 9th May 1899.

(See Wreckers.)

Boobies' Hutch (Military, 19 cent. ). A drinking point in barracks, which, under certain circumstances, is open after canteen is closed. Satire prob- ably upon the fools who have never had enough.

Boodle (Liverpool). One of the New York terms for money. Probably from the Dutch.

Hangman ain't such a bad fellow. He always treats the boys after he receives 'the boodle' from the Sheriff for send- ing an unfortunate to the other side ; although some folks are really afraid to go near him, and wouldn't even pass his house, I'd just as leave drink with him as I would with you. — N. Y. Mercury, 3rd May 1885.

In vain did one of the American comic journals some time ago depict, with becoming scorn, a hoard of needy European nobles struggling for the possession of a dermire American beauty who bears a bag of what is locally known as ' boodle ', and in polite society as lucre, in her shapely arms. — D. N., 15th September 1890.

Book-maker (Racing, 19 cent.). A professional betting man who makes a betting book upon every race, or about every race in a season. He lays against all horses. A bookmaker of position must make immense profits, under the two conditions of betting with men who can pay and with men who will accept all the conditions offered by the bookmaker. In fact, under these 'circs', he rarely loses, while the money he may make is almost limitless. Sometimes, however, when a favoiirite wins, the ' ring ' (that is the mass of betting men), is hit heavily.

Bookie (Sporting, 1881). The endearing 'ie', common in Johnnie

and chappie, adapted to bookmaker. The ' maker ' dropped — the suffix added.

Booking (Public School). Anything but — for it is casting volumes from you as missiles at the enemy for the time being, e.g., 'Jannery split — book him together ! '

It would be a pity to deprive them of the chance of such ' glorious fun ' as the ' mobbing ' and ' booking ' (that is pelting with books) of the model school tyrant. — Newsp. Cutting.

Boomerang (American, 1882). A vain folly, the consequence of which returns upon the perpetrator. This phrase is of course based upon the peculiar trajectory of the Australian boomerang, which, properly thrown, returns to the feet of the missile- thrower. In 1883 a play was pro- duced by Mr Daly in New York, with the title c 728 — or Casting the Boomerang'. A New York dramatic critic in the course of an article upon this play, wrote: — 'the various follies or boomerangs of the principal char- acters return in the course of the play to plague them '.

Boomlet (City, 1896). A small ' boom '. Satirical invention used to attack the prosperous enemy.

Without troubling you with details, I may mention that during the recent West Australian boom — or, as some of my Stock Exchange friends prefer to call it, 'boomlet' — we succeeded in realising, etc. — Mr H. Bottomley, 10th December 1897.

Boomster (City, 1898). One who booms.

Boost (Liverpool - American). A hoist, toss, elevation — from the mode of raising one in the world hurriedly, exercised by an angry bull or even cow.

The cowcumber kin be made an orna- ment, will stand in any climate, and the placques and chromos will encourage art and give a fresh boost to decoration.

Boot (Tailors' and Bootmakers', 19 cent. ). Money — one of the trade applications to describe money — just exactly as the grocer calls coin ' sugar ' or the milkman ' cream '. 'We've had the boot for that job.' Probably an abbreviation of 'beauti- ful', this being an obviously likely, vulgar, poetical naine for money. (See

Booth Star

Born Days

Needful. ) Sometimes only a shilling. 'Can I have the boot?'— asked for at the end of a day's work. Indeed ' boot ' in its most ordinary form is an advance on the weekly wages — but one never under a shilling. The lower advance, sixpence, is called a slipper. Also used in the tailoring trade. A worker will say at closing time, ' Please, sir, could you oblige me with the boot', while a more retiring soul would ask — * Could I have a slipper, sir?'

Booth Star (Minor Stage). Lead- ing actor or actress in a 'booth'. ' Let me tell you a booth star is a good thing. You often get four parts a night. It is great experience — and it is the first step to Drury Lane.'

Booze (Low London). Intoxicants of all kinds, but particularly beer. May be from a name, but probably is an onomatope of quite modern date, from the boozing noise made by drunkards when falling off to sleep. Booze is drink in general — boozy, the result of drinking slowly and tandem, also to sleep.

At the hearing of the Southampton election petition, witness describing a procession of costermongers said : ' I heard some men shout that they wanted some more booze '. Mr Justice Wright : ' What ? ' Mr Willis : < Booze, my lord, drink '. Mr Justice Wright : ' Ah ! '

Booze plausibly claims a sort of corrupt descent from the genuine, if low, English word to ' bouse, ' which occurs in our literature as early as 1567.— D. T., 2nd December 1895.

Mr O'Donovan, the Eastern traveller, said to a press - interviewer ( World, 31st January 1885), 'this word is Persian for * ' beer " '. Was he indulging in one of his ordinary jokes ? If not, then the coalescing of these words and meanings is a very remarkable etymo- logical fact.

Boozer (Street, 19 cent.). The public - house, as well as the public- house frequenter.

Big Tim goes with him, while I pops around the boozer.— People, 6th January 1895.

Booze-fencers (Com. Lon., 1880). Licensed victuallers — from ' booze ' drink, and fencers sellers — probably a wilful corruption of * dispensers '.

You may run down booze fencers as much as you like, but you take my tip

that there are more real gentlemen among them than among any other class, upper ten included. — Newsp. Cutting.

Booze-pushers (Low London, 19 cent.). Variant of booze-fencer.

When a bloke is flatch kennurd the booze pushers will give him any rot in the house, and that's very hard lines. — Newsp. Cutting.

Booze-shunters (P. House, 1870). Beer-drinkers.

They have never robbed a man of a hard day's work, and are the best booze shunters in the world without ever getting slewed.

To 'shunt' in railway life is to move from place to place. The booze- shunter moves the beer, or 'booze,' from the pot into his visceral arrangements. The term was started by the S.W.R. porters and guards, who use the larger public-houses in the neighbourhood of the terminus in the Waterloo Koad (London).

Bo-peep (Nursery}. Exclamation of fun. Johnson does not compre- hensively elucidate this word when he gravely says it is from 'bo' and 'peep'. 'The art', he says, 'of look- ing out, and drawing back, as if frighted, or with the purpose to fright one another.' SHAKESPEARE, who has everything, has this phrase once — ' Then they for sudden joy did weep