Part 2

Enclitic _here_ (always written _’ere_: _this ’ere_, _that ’ere_, etc.) is very common. Of enclitic _there_ I have found no example in Jerome.

The assimilation of _m_ in himself (hisself) is regular.

_Nouns._

The vulgar tongue has a strong liking for _diminutive forms_ ending in _-y_, _-ey_. I have found in Jerome the following instances.

_matey_ (dim. of mate): term of address. _cockey_ ( » » cock) » » » _sonny_ ( » » son) » » » _baccy_ (dim. of tobacco > bacco). _ninny_ ( » » nincompoop); non compos mentis = simpleton.

Cf. _milky_ = milkman; _dusty_ = dustman; _bricky_ = bricklayer; _posty_ = postman (Baumann).

Sometimes, the tendency to form words ending in _-y_ seems to extend also to _the Participle_.

_humpy_ (humped?) = dull, miserable (T. T. T. 156. 20). _dotty_ (dotted?) = dizzy, idiotic (Tommy And Co. 61. 28).

(Cf. _dreaming_ > _dreamy_; _chatting_ > _chatty_, etc.)

An instance of _double-possessive_ appears in Sketches p. 201. 8.

They told him as ’ow it was _folks’s_ own fault that they were poor.

(Cf. Swed. »_hanses_ rock», etc.)

III. Syntactical Remarks.

Constructions with _To be_ and _the Present Participle_ are used colloquially, with the intention of vividness, in many cases where there is no particular reason to stress the fact that a thought is just a going on, a tendency especially characteristic of the Celtic-speaking Englishman. The uneducated vulgus have a strong predilection for these constructions and overdo them, as in the following examples, where there is not any reason at all for using them:

I’d ’ave ’ad to wait a long time, _I’m thinking_, if I ’adn’t come across this one ’ere. (T. T. T. 148. 18.)

_Uncultivated Londoner._

You don’t see many fish that size about here now, _I’m thinking_. (Three Men In A Boat 221. 24.)

_A farmer._

_I am hoping_ it will be some sensible, pleasant woman. (Tommy And Co. 164. 12.)

_A London gentleman with a strong liking for vulgarism._

Adjectives, adverbs, and other words are often accompanied by a pleonastic _-like_.

I stands respectful-like (T. T. T. 141. 9.) I see him sitting up like (P. Kelver II. 236. 28.) I was talking sarcastic-like ( » 250. 14.) ... he answers sulky-like (T. T. T. 157. 7.) ... says she, after considering-like (T. T. T. 127. 2.) more cheerful-like (Sketches 201. 22.) They met accidental-like (T. T. T. 144. 4.) «Pity», she says, musing-like (T. T. T. 143. 3.) Etc. Etc.

(_Such-like_ is quite normal. In fact, when the word is not attributive, »such» would now be colloquial, e.g. »thieves and such» for »such-like», »the like».)

_Adverbs_ are often substituted for _adjectives_.

It was _awful_ gloomy before. (Three Men In A Boat 63. 30.)

Not a _particular_ nice class as you meet there. (Tommy And Co. 17. 1.)

_Uncultivated Londoner._

She’d come in _regular_ with her young man. (T. T. T. 130. 3.)

_A waiter._

I snapped him up _shortish_. (T. T. T. 196. 2.)

_The same._

I’m _fair_ sick of ’er. (Novel Notes 212. 12.)

_Uncultivated young man._

He _fair_ settled ’im. (Sketches 201. 2.)

_Uncultivated old woman._

They met _accidental_-like. (T. T. T. 144. 4.)

_A waiter._

This tendency extends, however, to the colloquial language of the cultivated. »_Precious_», for instance, is almost regularly substituted for _very_ by many persons of some education.

(The inverse construction—_adverb_ instead of _adjective_—may be heard now and then: the child looked very _nicely_, etc.)

_Adjectives turned into a Plural Noun to express a State of Mind._

I used to get the fair _dismals_ watching it. (T. T. T. 129. 21.)

_A Waiter._

It gave me the _blues_ for a day or two—that bit of news. (T. T. T. 146. 20.)

_The same._

_As_ stands very often for _Relative Pronouns_ without a preceding _such_.

It’s the world _as_ I’m complaining of. (T. T. T. 157. 12.)

The sort _as_ likes it and the sort _as_ don’t. (T. T. T. 205. 5.)

’E don’t cotton much to them _as_ ain’t found grace. (Sketches 199. 28.) Etc. Etc.

Nearly as often, _as_ or _as how_ is substituted for subordinate _that_.

I don’t think _as_ I can. (T. T. T. 127. 2.)

They shan’t say _as_ I have disgraced them. (T. T. T. 145. 8.)

They told him _as ’ow_ it was folks’s own fault that they was poor. (Sketches 201. 8.)

The papers always said _as how_ she was charming. (T. T. T. 137. 14.)

It was evidently his turn to think _as how_ I was mad. (T. T. T. 188. 25.)

Constructions with _so_ ... _that_ are contracted in the following manner.

She was _that_ clean you might have eaten your dinner out of her hand. (T. T. T. 133. 16.)

_A waiter._

I wur _that_ taken aback I couldn’t tell ’ee what it wur. (Woodb. Farm 56. 35.)

_A farmer._

Double _Negative Particle_ is rather common—as in German and other languages also.

She don’t get no better. (Sketches 194. 10.)

’E ain’t never been his old self since then. (Sketches 201. 3.)

I ain’t no bloomin’ Smythe. (Novel Notes 203. 7.) Etc.

The ordinary confusion of _on_ and _of_ occurs in one instance, admirably illustrating the difficulties the uneducated meet with as often as they try to disguise the fatal dropping of the _h_’s:

The lean girl said she had »erd on me». The fat girl, seizing the chance afforded her, remarked genteelly that she too had »heard hof me», with emphasis upon the »hof». (P. Kelver 68. 6.)

The following sequence of words—with _stress upon the pronoun_—is in high favour with the uncultivated Englishman (Cf. Swed. sa _han_, sa _jag_. etc.):

»What’s the good of Africa?» _replies he_. (T. T. T. 159. 18.)

»Australia!» _retorts he_; »what would I do there?» (T. T. T. 159. 10.)

»A man like that deserves what he gets,» _answers he_. (T. T. T. 169. 9.)

»She was a bit of a fool herself,» _adds she_. (T. T. T. 258. 7.)

»There’s no wages attached», _continues she_. (T. T. T. 228. 14.)

»Go for a soldier», _says I_. (T. T. T. 160. 12.)

SLANG

Avast!

»_Avast!_» (Stage-Land 82. 8.)

_A sailor._

_Sailor slang_ = _Hold! Stop!_

The term is much used by landlubbers who desire to get local colour cheap.

Little-go

»Perhaps you’d get through your _Little-go_ in the course of the next few years.» (They And I. 7. 21.)

_Conversation between a young lady and her brother, who is a student._

At _Cambridge_, _Little-go_ is the common name for the public examination which candidates for an »ordinary degree» have to pass in the second year of residence.

Cf. _Great-go_: the final examination for the B. A.

nurse

»I had been ‘_nursing_’ her, as we say in the political world, for years.» (The Prude’s Progress 67. 20.)

_A young author._

_Political slang_: used of a candidate for Parliament who seeks to ingratiate himself with the electors by paying them attentions and giving them things they like with a view to securing their votes when the election takes place. Here used of trying to prepare a young lady’s mind to accept a proposal of marriage when the moment comes to make it.

pater, mater

»I say to myself I’ll do a thing, but _the mater_ talks and talks, and——.» (Sketches 41. 12.)

_A young gentleman._

»I promised _the Mater_ I would, and I did.» (Sketches 80. 30.)

_The same._

»_The Mater_ gave me half-a-crown a week for pocket-money.» (Sketches 81. 9.)

_The same._

»_The pater_ came to the conclusion that it was time he laid down a dog.» (Novel Notes 48. 18.)

_The same._

The commonest familiar names for the parents on the lips of the average public schoolboy.

plough

«You have been _ploughed_ then?» (Prude’s Progress).

_Schoolboy slang_ for _to be rejected in an examination_.

Cf. the synonymous _to be plucked_ and _to be spun_.

ratty

»Against one such [a portraiture to the living original], evidently an attempt to help Dick see himself in his true colours, I find this marginal note in pencil: ‘Better not’. _Might make him ratty._» (They And I. 258. 1.)

_A schoolgirl._

The expression is, I think, _schoolboy slang_ for _waxy_, _annoyed_.

(Cf. Swed. «gnafven».)

shoot

»They’re all of ’em in the parlour, the whole blooming _shoot_.» (P. Kelver II. 66. 2.)

_Uneducated young man._

_Carters’ slang_ for _mob_, _medley_, _rabble_, _miscellaneous horde_. The exact meaning is probably: the whole mass of them as «_shot_» in one indiscriminate «_shoot_» from a tipping-cart or waggon into a place marked «Rubbish may be shot here» (afstjälpningsplats).

(Cf. Swed.: «hela skoffan».)

slack, swot

»To ‘_slack_’ in this term, with the full determination of ‘_swotting_’ in the next.» (Tommy And Co. 94. 14.)

_The author._

To _sweat_ or _swot_ is _schoolboy slang_ for _drudge_, _study hard_. _To slack_ means the contrary.

The term «_swot_» originated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in the broad Scotch pronunciation of Dr. Wallace, one of the Professors, of the word _sweat_.

Cf. »He used to despise _a swot_, as we used to call a lad with a taste for literature». (PERCY WHITE: Mr. Bailey-Martin. I.) »That’s the worst of clever little _swots_» (RUDYARD KIPLING, Stalky & Co.)

spin

»You have been ploughed then?»

»Oh, come, you mustn’t despair. You’ve only been »_spun_», as you fellows call it, for a few months.» (The Prude’s Progr. 52. 15. 35.)

_To be spun_: to be rejected in an examination = _to be plucked_ and _to be ploughed_.

BAUMANN and FARMER-HENLEY call it military slang (Royal Military Academy), but here it occurs during a conversation between two medical students and their civil friends.

swag

»His ‘_swag_’ generally consists of an overcoat and a pair of boots.» (Novel Notes 176. 15.)

_The author._

»A policeman found them afterwards, sitting on a doorstep, the ‘_swag_’ behind them in a carpet bag.» (Sketches 147. 22.)

_A gentleman._

_Thieves’ slang_ for _booty_, _stolen things_; not used outside thieves’ language—except, of course, as a conscious quotation.

SLANG > COLLOQUIAL ENGLISH

baccy

»Man works, as he thinks, for beer and _baccy_.» (T. T. T. 59. 20.)

_A »minor poet.» Conversation between ladies and gentlemen._

»You had to walk ten miles to get your _baccy_.» (Three Men In A Boat 8. 8.)

»He sent them out to buy his _baccy_,» (Novel Notes 80. 16.)

_A young gentleman._

_Baccy_ is a vulgar form of _tobacco_, more vulgar than _bacco_. The formation of the word, with a gradual weakening of the last, unaccented syllable, is characteristic of vulgar language: _baccoᵘ_ > _baccŏ_ (or _backer_) > baccy.

bally

»I call the whole thing _bally_ foolishness.» (Three Men In A Boat 14. 7.)

A comparatively recent coinage, it is said, of _The Sporting Times_ from the Irish _bally-hooly_.

The word is used in the same manner as _blooming_ and _bloody_, i. e. as a meaningless intensive expression. _Bloody_ is an adj. used on every possible occasion by Eng. workmen, but without meaning. Schoolboys and grown-up persons of the better classes use _bally_.

chip in

»She took ‘the liberty _of chipping in_’, to use her own expression.» (They And I. 226. 6.)

_An actress._

= _of joining in the conversation_.

_To chip in_ is _sport-slang_ (Cards) for »to put a chip (or counter) in the pool»; hence, by extension, to make a contribution to, or take part in, anything—e. g. a conversation or an enterprise.

coach

»The shy, backward boy I had _coached_ and bullied.» (Sketches 83. 10.)

_A cultivated man._

»For a fortnight past the O’Kelly had been _coaching_ me.» (P. Kelver II. 80. 7.)

_The same._

= _to prepare for an examination_.

Also: to train in physical acquirements, e. g. in (= _tutor_ or _traince_ in Standard English) cricket or rowing.

_A coach_: a person who trains another (but more disparaging); analogous terms are _crammer_, _feeder_, _grinder_.

The word is originally _schoolboy_ and _academical_ slang, but now in general use among all classes.

crib

»’Ow could ’e get a _crib_? no character, no references.» (P. Kelver II. 56. 12.)

_A young clerk._

= _situation, place_.

Originally _commercial slang_, like _berth_ in the same sense.

do

»He will only let us have them (the rooms) on the understanding that we ‘_do for_’ ourselves.» (P. Kelver II. 110. 26.)

_A gentleman._

= _to attend on_ (as landladies on lodgers). Probably _servants’ slang_.

jaw

»Go to hell with your snivelling _jaw_.» (Novel Notes 179. 10.)

_A convict._

_Schoolboy slang_ for _lengthy talk_—esp. in the nature of a reproof.

Cf. None of your jaw, you swab! (SMOLLETT, Roderick Random.) Shut up your jaw! = Hold your tongue!

land

»He killed three of them before Harris could _land_ him with the frying-pan.» (Three Men In A Boat 46. 22.)

»By-the-by, he _landed_ you pretty heavily, didn’t he?» (The Prude’s Progress. 16. 20.)

_A gentleman._

_To land, boxers’ slang = to hit, to beat._

mash

»One day he fell in love; or to put it in the words of Teddy Tidmarsh, who brought the news to us, ‘got _mashed on_ Gerty Lowell’.» (Sketches 55. 28.)

»It’s like ’aving an Alcock’s porous plaster _mashed on_ yer.» (Novel Notes 212. 15.)

_Uncultivated young man._

_To be mashed on_ and _to be spoony on_ are rather common expressions for _to be in love with_. (Cf. _to be nuts on_.)

According to _Leland_, the term _mashed_ originates from the Gipsy-word _mash_ = _masher-ava_: allure; according to others, it is a variation of _smash_[6]. (_Smite_, _smitten_ is used in the same sense.)

In the eighties, it came to England from America, where it was used especially among actors.

Cf. _mash_: sweetheart. _to mash_, _to be on the mash_: to flirt. _masher_: (1) a species of Don Juan, esp. among choristers and actresses; (2) a dandy and, as adj., smart.

The term is, I suppose, originally _actors’ slang_.

slippy

»You make her marry the Prince; and _be slippy about it_.» (They And I. 75. 14.)

_A schoolboy._

_Schoolboy slang_ for _be quick_:

(Cf. expressions as »the ship slipped through the water».)

spoon, spoony

»_spooning_ smutty-faced servant-gals across area railings.» (T. T. T. 157. 3.)

_Uneducated young man._

»_Spoony_ couples.» (T. T. T. 129. 24.)

_A waiter._

_To spoon_, originally _student-slang_ = _flirt_, _make love_. _Spoony_ = _enamoured_.

(A spoon, originally = a simpleton, esp. an absurd whole-hearted lover.)

stodgy

»I often feel sorry for you, having nobody but grown-up people to talk to.»—

»They do get a bit _stodgy_ after a certain age,» agreed the Babe. (Tommy And Co. 164. 16.)

_A young gentleman._

_Stodgy_, probably _schoolboy slang_, is something heavy, unappetizing, or difficult to digest, lying heavily on the stomach, literally or figuratively: e. g. ill-cooked potatoes, a man whose conversation is all facts and no wit, etc.

Cf. _stodge_: food, a heavy meal. _stodger_: a glutton.

tuck

»Waste not your substance upon tops and marbles, nor yet upon _tuck_ (Do ye still call it »tuck»?).» (P. Kelver I. 111. 6.)

_The author._

_Schoolboy slang_ for _pastry_, _sweetstuff_, and the like.

Cf. _tuck-shop_ = a pastrycook’s.

The term is also used as a generic for _edibles_ and _appetite._

twig

»Too terribly true. She’d _twig_ it.» (They And I. 258. 4.)

_A schoolgirl._

»It being a foggy night, nobody _twigged_ me.» (Tommy And Co. 42. 21.)

_A London brat._

_Schoolboy slang_ for _notice_.

Cf. »Glad you are not _twigged_, gen’lemen.» (F. W. FARRAR, Eric or Little By Little. III.)

_Twiggez-vous?_ = Do you see?

VULGARISM OR CANT

buck up

»What he wants is _bucking up_; somebody to say to him, ‘Bravo! why, this is splendid’.» (They And I. 239. 3.)

_The author._

_To buck up_ is _schoolboy slang_ (Winchester College) for _to be glad_, _pleased_, _to cheer up_.

The usual expression is: _Oh, buck up!_—a phrase which at Westminster School would have a different meaning, namely _exert yourself_; at Uppingham, _to be bucked_ is _to be tired_. (Farmer & Henley.)

bunk

»Don’t see anything for it, but for him _to do a bunk_.»—»Not a bad idea that, only where’s ’e to _bunk_ to?» (P. Kelver II. 56. 8.)

_A young clerk._

_To bunk_, probably originally _schoolboy slang_, means _to escape_, _run away_, _take to flight_ (because of ‘funk’, or to avoid punishment).

_To do a bunk_: colloquial use of _do_ with a verb stem used as a noun = achieve, perform, the action denoted by the verb. Cf. _to do a drink_.

bloke

»This _bloke_ I have fallen on looks a bit sick.» (P. Kelver II. 237. 2.)

_A plumber._

»I wouldn’t have them know as ’ow I was one of them college _blokes_.» (Novel Notes 203. 23.)

_Uneducated young Londoner._

_Bloke_ (or _bloak_) is _London-cant_ for _man_, _fellow_. (Possibly, the word is derived from the Dutch _blok_, Germ. _Block_, though, if this is the case, it is difficult to account for the long vowel.)

blooming

»Not a _blooming_ shadow, assured me J.,» so far as she’s concerned. (P. Kelver II. 53. 16.)

_A young City clerk._

»I will drift into being a _blooming_ milkman.» (T. T. T. 157. 2.)

_Uneducated Londoner._

»I ain’t got a _blooming_ sixpence on me.» (Sketches 128. 11.)

_The same._

»Underneath my sneering phiz I’m a _blooming_ ’Arry.» (Novel Notes 204. 10.)

_The same._

»D’ye think I am a _bloomin’_ kid?» (Tommy And Co. 16. 20.)

_The same._

»She gives me the _blooming_ ’ump.» (Novel Notes 202. 25.)

_A workman._

»I ain’t no _blooming_ Smythe.» (Novel Notes 203. 8.)

_The same._

_Blooming_ (bloomin’) is a term in high favour among the ‘vulgus’.

It is a euphemism, similar to _blessed_, _blamed_, _blarmed_, etc., and is frequently used by the lower classes to emphasize words.

to blue

Mrs. D. »What have you done—_blued the lot_?»

Mr. D. »Belinda, your _vulgar_ expressions pain me.» (The Prude’s Progr. 37. 2.)

_To blue_ means here: to spend, to get rid of money quickly.

_Have you blued the lot?_ = have you spent all the money?

Cf. _to be blued_ = to be robbed.

boss-eyed

»You _boss-eyed_ old cow, you.» (Stage-Land. 58. 22.)

_Uneducated young man._

_Boss-eyed_ means _squint-eyed_ or _with one eye injured_. Here it is probably the former, the expression alluding to a woman.

The term may be connected with the schoolboy slang word »boss» as in »boss a shot» = make a bad shot—in which case it would refer to imperfection of the vision, rather than to obliquity in the position of the eye.

bullyrag

»They turn round and _bully-rag_ me for being argumentative.» (They And I. 164. 14.)

_A cultivated man._

»It ain’t no use my taking her now, I’ll only get _bullyragged_ for disturbing ’em.» (P. Kelver I. 242. 30.)

_Old woman of the working class._

_Bullyrag_ (or _Ballyrag_) = _to abuse_, _to scold vehemently_. (Swedish: skälla ut.)

clout

»I do not blame the dog (contenting myself with merely _clouting_ his head or throwing stones at him).» (Three Men In A Boat 162. 30.)

= _to strike_.

The word is originally a _provincialism_, but is used in vulgar language also.

cockey

»Yer won’t tell?—Say, ‘I swear’.»

»I swear-»

»Good-bye, _cockey_.» (P. Kelver I. 75. 30.)

_Dialogue between two »street Arabs»._

The term has probably nothing to do with _cock-eye_ (squinting eye), but is a vulgar mode of address and diminutive of _cock_ (cf. _sonny_, _matey_, _slavey_, _chummy_ etc.), as in »a fine old cock», where the word indicates a certain superiority.

cop, copper

»It’s only the fools as gets _copped_.» (T. T. T. 162. 15.)

_Uncultivated Londoner._

»I nearly got _copped_.» (Miss Hobbs 42. 18.)

_Easy conversation between gentlemen._

»I have seen her fling her petticoats about, when the _copper_ wasn’t by.» (T. T. T. 132. 16.)

_A waiter._

= _to seize_, _to catch_.

The word is probably originally _thieves’ cant_, and has here the sense of _arrest_.

A _cop_ or _copper_: a policeman.

The etymology of _cop_ is doubtful. It has been associated with the Gipsy _kap_ or _cop_ = to take, with the root of the Latin _cap-io_, and with the Hebrew _cop_ = a hand or palm. FARMER-HENLEY (Dict. of Slang and Coll. Engl.) observes that low-class Jews employ the term, and understand it to refer to the act of snatching.

cove

»I’m not cut for a respectable _cove_.» (T. T. T. 161. 20.)

_Uneducated young man._

»Her master seems to have been an odd sort of a _cove_.» (T. T. T. 172. 20.)

_A waiter._

»This _cove_ looks young.» (The Passing 12. 12.)

_A constable._

_Cove_ (also _covey_, _cofe_, _cuffing_, and, in the feminine, _covess_) is a common vulgarism for _man_, _person_. The term is no doubt derived from the old Gipsy word _cova_ = man.

It is, I should think, not quite as vulgar as the synonymous _bloke_.

curse

Neither child appeared to _care a curse_ for anybody. (T. T. T. 182. 11.)

_A waiter._

_I don’t care a curse_ = I don’t care in the slightest degree. (Ich frage keinen Pfifferling danach; Je m’en fiche comme d’une guigne.)

The equivalent _I don’t care a hang_ is rather colloquial.

_Some euphemisms for_ damn, damned

»Why, _bless_ us, where’s your eyes.» (Three Men In A Boat 171. 13.)

_A lockkeeper._

»What’s the difference _blessed if_ I can see.» (Three Men In A Boat 201. 5.)

_An old woman of the lower classes._

»Though I’d been sitting in the shop the whole _blessed_ time.» (Tommy And Co. 55. 20.)

_The same._

»An afternoon! _Bless_ the man, I want them for a month.» (The Prude’s Progress 19. 6.)

_A jovial ex-actress._

»_Blowed_ if I don’t think they’ll be a chirpier lot in t’other place.» (Sketches 201. 25.)

_Uncultivated Londoner._

»_Blow_ me if it ain’t me as ’as been cheated out of the fourpence.» (Sketches 128. 6.)

_An omnibus conductor._

»_Blow me tight_ if ’ere ain’t a gentleman been looking for Wallingford lock.» (Three Men In A Boat 115. 4.)

_A provincial »Arry»._

»_Blimy_ if I don’t believe ’e’s taking ’ome ’is washing up his back.» (The Passing 10. 11.)

_Uncultivated young woman._

»Oh, _drat_ the man!» (Three Men In A Boat 233. 28.)

_A young lady._

»_Drat_ the boy!» (The Prude’s Progress 48. 4.)

_An elderly lady._

»I don’t see the _darned_ good of this part of the trick.» (Woodb. Farm 24. 30.)

_Young peasant girl._

»I always see his face when I look on the _darned_ things.» (Woodb. Farm 25. 38.)

_The same._

»The _blarmed_ tent is not up yet.» (Three Men In A Boat 19. 15.)

»That _blasted_ dog of yours.» (Novel Notes 52. 15.)

_A burglar._

»No, _dash it_, I can’t think of that line.» (Three Men In A Boat 92. 16.)

»_Danged_ if I see so much fun in it.» (Woodb. Farm. 57. 40.)

_Young peasant._

»The dog ought to know a _durned_ sight more about them.» (Novel Notes 152. 26.)

_A sailor._

All these expressions are, of course, vulgar, but not equally so.

_Darn_ and, to a less extent, _bless_ are euphemisms in common use in polite circles. _Blow_ is a little coarser, but still usable by a lady in quite private life. _Blast_ (Cockney _brast_) is a distinctly profane word, generally implying ill-temper. _Drat_ is the usual word in the language of the domestic servant. _Blime_ or _blimey_ (= blind me!) as well as _blarmed_ (probably a corruption of _blamed_) is distinctly vulgar. _Dang_ (esp. dang it!) is a mild form of _damn_; might be used even by a clergyman.

the dismals

»I used to get _the fair dismals_ watching it.» (T. T. T. 129. 21.)

_A waiter._

= _to feel wretched, dejected._

The phrase is doubly vulgar: »fair» to express »complete», as in »a fair (regular) swindle», »a fair old brute», »a fair knock out» (a fair fight); »dismals»—adjective turned into a plural noun to express a state of mind.

Cf. _rheumatics_ (rheumatism); _to have (to get) the blues_ = to feel melancholy.

doorstep

»_Slices of bread and butter_—»_doorsteps_», as we used to call them.» (T. T. T. 126. 14.)

_A waiter._

»_Door-steps_» at two a penny.» (Sketches 55. 5.)

_The author._

= _a thick slice of bread and butter._

fair

»I thought it only right to give it (the bicycle) a fair trial.»—»You gave your family a _fair trial_ also; if you will allow me the use of _slang_.» (Three Men On The Bummel. 47. 10.)