Part 47

English Synonyms.—Mollisher; rib; grey-mare; warming-pan; splice; lawful blanket; autem-mort; comfortable impudence; comfortable importance; old woman; evil; missus; lawful jam; yoke-fellow; night-cap; legitimate, or legiti; weight-carrier; mutton-bone; ordinary; pillow-mate; supper-table; Dutch clock; chattel; sleeping-partner; doxy; cooler; mount; bed-fagot.

French Synonyms.—Une marque de cé (thieves’); une légitime (fam. = legitimate); mon gouvernement (pop. = my old woman); mon associée (printers’ = my partner); mon bien (popular, bien = chattel); une gerce (thieves’: also a mattress).

German Synonyms.—Keibe, Keibel, Keife (also = woman or concubine: from O.H.G. Chebisa, M.H.G. Kebese, Kebse = illegitimate); Krönerin (literally a ‘horneress’; Kröne = to be provided with horns); Rammenin (Hanoverian: from the gypsy romnin).

To do a dutch, verb. phr. (military).—To desert; to run away. For synonyms, see Amputate.

That beats the Dutch, phr. (common).—A sarcastic superlative.

1775. Revolutionary Song [New Eng. Hist., Reg. Ap. 1857], p. 191. And besides all the mortars, bombs, cannons, and shells, And bullets and guns, as the newspaper tells, Our cargoes of meat, drink, and cloaths beat the dutch; Now who would not tarry and take t’other touch?

To talk Dutch, Double-Dutch, or High-Dutch, verb. phr. (common).—To talk gibberish; by implication, nonsense.

1604. Marlowe, Faustus, Sc. iv. Wag. Villain—call me Master Wagner, and let thy left eye be diametarily fixed upon my right heel, with quasi vestigiis uostris insistere. Clown. God forgive me, he speaks dutch fustian.

1790. Dibdin, The Sweet Little Cherub. And, my timbers! what lingo he’d coil and belay, Why ’twas just all as one as high dutch.

1876. C. H. Wall, trans. Molière, vol. I., p. 116. He never taught me anything but my prayers, and though I have said them daily now these fifty years, they are still double dutch to me.

The Dutch have taken Holland, phr. (common).—A quiz for stale news. Cf., Queen Bess (or Queen Anne) is dead; the ark rested on mount Ararat, etc.

Dutch-Auction or Sale, subs. (cheap-jacks’).—A sale at minimum prices; a mock-auction.

1872. Daily Telegraph, 30 Nov. So thoroughly corrupt and vicious has the existing system become that it would be well-nigh a relief to fall back on the old dutch auction, by which an article was put up at a high price, and, if nobody accepted the offer, then reduced to a lower, the sum first required being gradually decreased until a fair value was attained.

1885. Punch, 21 Feb., p. 93. Gives up India to Russia, Africa to Germany, puts up garrisoned fortresses and coaling stations at dutch auction, and lets colonies run loose.

Dutch-Bargain, subs. (old).—A bargain all on one side.

‘In matters of commerce the fault of the Dutch, Is giving too little and asking too much!’

Dutch-Clock, subs. (music-hall).—1. A wife. Cf., Dutch and sense 2.

2. (common).—A bed-pan.

Dutch-Concert or Medley, subs. (common).—A sing-song whereat everybody sings and plays at the same time as everybody else; a hubbub.

1814. Scott, Waverley, ch. xi. And now the Demon of Politics envied even the harmony arising from this dutch concert, merely because there was not a wrathful note in the strange compound of sounds which it produced.

1871. Daily Telegraph, 23 Mar. ‘Lord Derby on Pauperism.’ It happens that instead of the harmony which should exist where good men and good women are, working together for a common object, you have something like what is popularly known as a dutch concert, or in other words, every man playing his own tune on his own instrument.

Dutch Consolation, subs. (common).—Job’s comfort; unconsoling consolation.

1888. All the Year Round, 9 June, p. 542. The expression often heard, ‘Thank Heaven, it is no worse,’ is sometimes called dutch consolation.

Dutch-Courage, subs. Pot-valiancy. Cf., Fielding’s Dutch-defence = sham-defence.

1872. Spencer, Study of Sociology, ch. viii., p. 185 (9th ed.). A dose of brandy, by stimulating the circulation, produces dutch courage, as it is called.

1887. Mrs. Lovett Cameron, Neck or Nothing, ch. iv., p. 50. Bob waited half a second for an answer, glancing uneasily at his friend’s face, and then he dashed on again with a sort of dutch courage, for, to tell the truth he wasn’t quite sure how Jack would take it.

Dutch-Feast, subs. (old).—See quot.

1888. All the Year Round, 9 June, p. 542. Dutch feast is a phrase now obsolete; it was formerly applied to an entertainment where the host got drunk before his guests.

Dutch-Gleek, subs. (old). Drinks.

1654. Gayton, Fest. Notes, p. 96. Nor could be partaker of any of the good cheer, except it were the liquid part of it, which they call dutch gleek, where he plaied his cards so well, and vied and revled so often, that he had scarce an eye to see withall.

Dutchman. I’m a Dutchman if I do, phr. (common).—A strong refusal. [During the wars between England and Holland, Dutch was synonymous with all that was false and hateful; therefore, ‘I would rather be a Dutchman’ = the strongest term of refusal that words could express.]

1855. Earl Russell, Memoirs of Thomas Moore. Cope mentioned a good specimen of English-French, and the astonishment of the French people who heard it, not conceiving what it could mean—‘Si je fais, je fais; mais si je fais, je suis un Hollandais.’ ‘If I do, I do; but if I do, I’m a Dutchman.’

Dutchman’s-Breeches, subs. (nautical).—Two streaks of blue in a cloudy sky.

Dutchman’s-Drink, subs. (common).—A draught that empties the pot.

Dutch-treat, subs. (common).—An entertainment where everyone pays his shot.

1887. Lippincott’s Mag., Aug., p. 191. ‘You’ll come along too, won’t you?’ Lancelot demanded of Ormizon! Dutch treat, vous savez!

Dutch Uncle. I will talk to you like a Dutch uncle, phr. (common).—I will reprove you smartly. [The Dutch were renowned for the brutality of their discipline. Uncle is the Latin notion of pat’ruus, ‘an uncle,’ ‘severe guardian,’ or ‘stern castigator.’ Hence Horace, 3 Od. xii. 3, Metuentes patruæ verbera linguæ (dreading the castigations of an uncle’s tongue); and 2 Sat. iii. 88, Ne sis patruus mihi (Don’t come the uncle over me). A Dutch uncle = therefore, an uncle of peculiar fierceness.]

1853. Notes and Queries, 1 S., vii., 65. In some parts of America, when a person has determined to give another a regular lecture, he will often be heard to say, I will talk to him like a dutch uncle; that is, he shall not escape this time.

1869. East Anglian, vol. III., p. 350. [In list of Suffolk sea words]: ‘There were the squires on the bench, but I took heart, and talked to ’em like a dutch uncle.’

Dutch-widow, subs. (old).—A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and cf., Grass-widow.

1608. Middleton, Trick to Catch the Old One, III., iii. Dra. Yes, a dutch widow. Hoa. How? Dra. That’s an English drab, sir.

Dutch-wife, subs. (common).—A bolster.

Dying in a Horse’s Nightcap. Dying by the rope; cf., Horse’s Nightcap.

E

Eagle-takers, subs. (military).—The Eighty-Seventh Foot. [The title was gained at Barossa (1811), when it captured the eagle of the 8th French Light Infantry. Its colours also bear ‘the plume of the Prince of Wales’ and ‘the harp and crown,’ an eagle with a wreath of laurel.] It was also nicknamed ‘The Old Fogs’; also ‘The Faugh-a-Ballagh Boys,’ from Fag an bealac! = ‘Clear the Way,’ the regimental march, and the war-cry at Barossa.

Ear. To send away with a flea in the ear, verb. phr. (common).—To dismiss peremptorily and with a scolding. Fr., mettre la puce à l’oreille = to get angry.

1764–1817. J. G. Holman, Abroad and at Home, ii., 1. I could not think of Miss Hartley being troubled with such a brute of a fellow ... so, an’t please you, my lady, I sent him away with a flea in his ear.

1841. Comic Almanack, p. 280. One thing is very clear, If they ain’t off of their own accord, the Lord Mayor will soon help ’em off with a flea in their ear.

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 202. Her husband had with difficulty restrained her from sending Forrest away with what in homely language is denominated a flea in his ear.

To bite the ear.—See Bite and Break Shins.

To get up on one’s ear, verb. phr. (American).—To bestir oneself; to rouse oneself for an effort.

1870. Richard Grant White. Words and their Uses. They called me bully boy, altho’ I’ve seen nigh three-score years, And said that I was lightning when I got up on my ear.

1888. Puck’s Library, May, p. 15. A man who walked on his ear out of a store said ‘he came out on the Erie route.’

Earl of Cork, subs. phr. (Irish).—The ace of diamonds.—[See quots.]

1830. W. Carleton, Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry. ‘What do you mean by the Earl of Cork?’ asked Mr. Squander. ‘The ace of diamonds, your honour. It’s the worst ace, and the poorest card in the pack, and is called the Earl of Cork, because he’s the poorest nobleman in Ireland.’

1864. Athenæum, 29 Oct. The ace of diamonds acquired the name of ‘the earl of cork’ because his lordship happened to be the poorest nobleman in Ireland.

Earl of Mar’s Grey Breeks, subs. phr. (military).—The Twenty-First Foot. [In allusion to the colour of the men’s breeches and to the original title of the regiment, The Earl of Mar’s Fuzileers.] Obsolete.

Early. To get up early, verb. phr. (common).—To be astute; ready; wide-awake. Cf., ‘It’s the early bird that catches the worm.’

1738. Swift, Polite Convers., Dial. 3. They must rise early that would cheat her of her money.

c. 1869. Vance, Broadside Ballad. For to get me on the hop, or on my ‘tibby’ drop, You must wake up very early in the morning.

1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. xlvi. It was said of him that ... if you wished to take him in you must get up early.

Early-riser, subs. (common).—An aperient. Cf., Custom-house officer and Two gunners and a driver.

Early-worm, subs. (common).—A man who searches the streets at daybreak for cigar stumps.

Earth-bath, subs. (old).—A grave. To take an earth-bath = to be buried; cf., ground sweat.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Earthquake. Bottled earthquake, subs. phr. (American).—Intoxicating drinks.

Earth-stoppers, subs. (old).—Horse’s feet.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i., 6. There’s action for you—there’s one to tip ’em the go-bye at a mill,—there’s earth-stoppers—quiet to drive, quiet in harness, trots fifteen miles in less than an hour.

Earthy, adj. (colloquial).—Gross; common; devoid of ‘soul.’

Ear-wig, subs. (old).—A private prompter or flatterer; also (thieves’) a clergyman. [From the popular delusion that the earwig lodges itself in the ear with a view to working its way into the brain when it causes death.]

1639. Beaumont and Fletcher, Bloody Brother. Dram. Personæ, Latorch Rollo’s Earwig.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter p. 77. And the court, mercy on us! there are no words equal to the just painting of its ear-wigs, its sycophants, pensioners, placemen, scouters, masters of the ceremonies, etc.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, A pack of mouthers, and flatterers, and ear-wigs.

Verb (common).—To prompt; to influence by covert statements; to whisper insinuations.

1842. Marryat, Percival Keene, xiii. And by way of a hint, make him your friend if you can, for he earwigs the captain in fine style.

1879. Jas. Payn, High Spirits (Confiscated Weeds). He is a sound divine and politician, but a little apt to be led away by specious arguments on the subject of education; and Carker was in the habit ... of earwigging him.

Ease, verb (common).—1. To rob; Fr., soulager. Cf., Annex and Convey. To ease a bloke = to rob a man.

1630. Jonson, New Inn, I. Ease his pockets of a superfluous watch.

1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. viii. ‘The law’s hard—very severe—hanged poor Jack Winterfield at York, despite family connexions and great interest, all for easing a fat West-country grazier of the price of a few beasts.’

1840. Thackeray, Paris Sketch Book, p. 109. His was the place at the écarté table, where the Countess would ease him nightly of a few pieces.

1849. Punch, November, ‘The Swell Mobsman’s Almanack.’ Remember, wen you’ve eased a cove in a fogg, never cut away in an ’urry, or crushers stop you.

2. (venery).—To content a woman.

1861. A. C. Swinburne, Poems and Ballads. ‘Hermaphroditus.’ Hath made him man to ease a woman’s sighs.

To ease oneself, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To ‘rear.’ For synonyms, see Bury a Quaker.

2. (venery).—To ejaculate.

Eason, verb (American thieves’).—To tell.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

East-and-South, subs. (rhyming slang).—The mouth. Also Sunny South. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, The Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

Eastery, subs. (cheap-jacks’).—Private business.

1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 107. At one eastery Aaron Jessell was going to cry the place.

Easy, To make easy, verb. phr. (old).—To gag or kill. [Grose, 1785.]

Easy as damn it, (or as my eye), adj. phr. (popular).—Excessively easy: ‘easy as lying’ [Shakspeare].

Easy does it! verb. phr. (popular).—An exclamation of encouragement and counsel = ‘Take your time and keep your coat on.’

Easy over the pimples, (or over the stones), verb. phr. (popular).—An injunction = ‘go slow,’ or ‘mind what you’re about.’

Easy Virtue.—See Lady of Easy Virtue.

Eat, verb (American).—To provision: e.g., a steamer is said to be able to eat 400 passengers and sleep about half that number.

ante 1871. Pickings from the Picayune, p. 47. Hoosier—‘Squire, what pay do you give?’ Contractor—‘Ten bits a day.’ Hoosier—‘Why, Squire, I was told you’d give us two dollars a-day and eat us.’

1887. R. A. Procter, on ‘Americanisms’ in Knowledge, s.v. Sometimes a host may eat his guests in another sense. I once, when staying at an hotel, found a finely coloured motto rather unfortunately spelt; it ran, ‘Watch and Prey.’ Its owner carried out the idea.

Eat coke.—See Coke.

Eat crow.—See Crow.

Eat a fig, verb. phr. (rhyming slang).—To ‘crack a crib’; to break a house.

To eat one’s head off, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be retained for service and stand idle; also (quot., 1850) to cost more in ‘keep’ than one is worth.

1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. xiv. I’d rather keep her for a week than a fortnight, I can tell you; she’d eat her head off in a month, and no mistake.

1872. Times, 27 Aug. ‘The Autumn Manœuvres.’ The country never would stand the maintenance all the year round of some 1,500 horses which would have nothing to do for nine months out of the twelve but eat their heads off.

1874. Mrs. H. Wood, Johnny Ludlow, 1 S., No. xxv., p. 446. And I fit to eat my head off with having nothing to do.

Eat one’s head, hat, boots, etc., verb. phr. (common).—A locution of emphatic asseveration. [Probably Dickensonian, influenced by the proverbial saying, ‘To eat one’s heart out’—to undergo intense struggle, and also To eat one’s head off (q.v.).]—See Notes and Queries, 7 S., iii., 7, 94, 197, 352, 433.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, xlii., 367. ‘Well, if I knew as little of life as that, I’D eat my hat and swallow the buckle whole,’ said the clerical gentleman.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xiv. This was the handsome offer with which Mr. Grimwig backed and confirmed nearly every assertion he made; and it was the more singular in his case because, even admitting, for the sake of argument, the possibility of scientific improvements being ever brought to that pass which will enable a man to eat his own head in the event of his being so disposed, Mr. Grimwig’s head was such a particularly large one that the most sanguine man alive could hardly entertain a hope of being able to get through it at a sitting, to put entirely out of the question a very thick coating of powder.

1887. E. E. Money, Little Dutch Maiden, II., viii., 148. And if you don’t run up against him next day in Bond Street, you may eat your hat!

To eat one’s terms, verb. phr. (legal).—To go through the prescribed course of study for admission to the bar. [In allusion to the dinners a student has to attend in the public hall of his inn.]

To eat one’s words, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To retract a statement; to own a lie.

To eat up, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To vanquish; to ruin. [Originally Zulu.]

1890. National Observer, 13 Dec, p. 88, col. 2. But buttons tarnish, hot gospelling palls, the eating-up of white men is in strictest consonance with regal tradition and the regal habit.

Eaves, subs. (American).—A hen-roost.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Eavesdropper, subs. (American).—A chicken thief; also generally, any petty pilferer.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Ebenezer, subs. (Winchester College).—A stroke at fives: when the ball hits ‘line’ at such an angle as to rise perpendicularly into the air.

Ebony, subs. (common).—1. A negro; otherwise Blackbird (q.v.) and Black Ivory. Thomas Fuller (1608–1661) spoke of the negro race as ‘God’s images cut in ebony.’ For synonyms, see Snowball.

2. The publisher of Maga.: i.e., Blackwood.—(See Noctes Ambrosianæ passim.)

Ebony-optics, subs. (old).—Black eyes. Ebony-optics albonized = black eyes painted white.

Edgabac, subs. (back slang).—Cabbage.

Edge. Stitched off the edge, phr. (tailors’).—Said of a glass not filled to the top.

Side-edge, subs. (tailors’).—Whiskers.

Short top edge, subs. phr. (tailors’).—A turn-up nose or celestial (q.v.).

Edge in, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To slip in; insinuate: e.g., To edge in a word (or a remark).

Edge off (or out of), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To slink away; to gradually desist. To take the edge off [a thing, or person, or idea] = to become acquainted with; to enjoy to satiety. Cf., Hamlet, iii., 2. ‘It would cost you a groaning to take off my edge.’

Edgenaro, subs. (back slang).—An orange.

Edge-ways. Not able to get a word in edge-ways, phr. (colloquial).—Having but the barest opportunity of taking part in a discussion.

Eel-Skins, subs. (old).—Tight trousers. For synonyms, see Bags and Kicks.

1827. Bulwer Lytton, Pelham, ch. xlix., p. 190. He only filched a twopenny halfpenny gilt chain out of his master, Levy, the pawnbroker’s window, and stuck it in his eel-skin to make a show.

E-fink, subs. (back slang).—A knife.

Efter, subs. (thieves’).—A theatre thief.

Egg.—See Bad Egg.

Egg on, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To encourage.

Eggs. Sure as eggs is eggs, phr. (popular).—Of a certainty; without doubt. [From the formula, ‘x is x.’]

To teach one’s grandmother to roast or suck eggs, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To lecture elders and superiors; Fr., les oisons veulent mener les oies paître = the goslings want to drive the geese to pasture.

Egham, Staines, and Windsor, subs. phr. (common).—See quot.

1886. G. A. Sala, in Ill. Lon. News, 23 Oct., 418, 2. Is not the three-cornered hat of an English gentleman’s coachman in gala livery known as an ‘Egham, Staines, and Windsor’?

Egyptian-Hall, subs. (rhyming slang).—A ball.

Eighter, subs. (prison).—An eight-ounce loaf.

Ekame, subs. (back slang).—A make (q.v.), or swindle.

Ekom, subs. (back slang).—A moke (q.v.), or donkey.

Elbow, verb (American thieves’).—To turn a corner; to get out of sight.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

To shake the elbow, verb. phr.—To play dice. [From the motion of the arm in ‘casting.’]

1680. Cotton, Compleat Gamester [gaming is compared to] a paralytical distemper which, seizing the arm the man cannot chuse but shake his elbow.

1705. Vanbrugh, Confederacy, Act i. He’s always shaking his heels with the ladies and his elbows with the lords.

1709. Mrs. Centlivre, Gamester, I. (1872), i., 134. He is at shaking his elbows over a table ... courting the dice like a mistress, and cursing them when he is disappointed.

1713. Guardian, No. 120. But what would you say, should you see the Sparkler shaking her elbow for a whole night together, and thumping the table with a dice-box?

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xvii. To eke out your living By the wag of your elbows.

To crook the elbow, verb. phr. (common).—To drink.—See Elbow-crooker. [From the action of the arm.] For synonyms, see Lush.

Elbow-Crooker, subs. (common).—A hard drinker. See infra and Drinks.

English Synonyms.—Borachio; boozington; brewer’s horse; bubber; budger; mop; lushington; worker of the cannon; wet-quaker; soaker; lapper; pegger; angel altogether; bloat; ensign-bearer; fiddle-cup; sponge; tun; toss-pot; swill-pot; wet subject; shifter; potster; swallower; pot-walloper; wetster; dramster; drinkster; beer-barrel; ginnums; lowerer; moist ’un; drainist; boozer; mopper-up; piss-maker; thirstington.

French Synonyms.—Un louave (thieves’); un litronneur (popular: litre = 1·760 pint); une grosse culotte (popular = big-breeches or fat-arse); un gavé (thieves’: gaver = to stuff); une lampe à mort (pop.: a confirmed drunkard; = a death-lamp); un zingueur (popular); un boyau rouge (pop. = red-guts); un marquant (thieves’: = conspicuous, striking, etc.); un canonneur (pop.: canon = a glass of wine; cf., English cannon); un camphrier (pop.: a dram-drinker; also = a camphor-tree); un fioleur (pop.: fiole = phial: cf., toss-pot and swill-pot); une éponge (pop.: = a sponge; also a paramour, a fool, an attorney); un bibard (thieves’: biberon = sucking-bottle); un buvard (popular: = blotting book); un pochard (colloquial); adroit du coude (pop. = artful elbowed); un artilleur (pop.: = a cannoneer; cf., cannon); un boissonneur (pop.: boisson = drink); un buvailleur or buvaillon (pop.: a man easily drunk); un chocaillon (pop.: a female drunkard); un poivrot (familiar); un sac à vin (pop. = a wine butt).

German Synonym.—Mattobolo (matto balo = a drunken pig: from the gypsy matto = drunk).

Italian Synonyms.—Fransoso (= a Frenchman); chiaritore; chiaristante.

Spanish Synonyms.—Cuero (= a goat-skin bag for wine or oil); coladra (= a wooden pail in which wine is measured and retailed); cuba (= a measure for wine); difunto de taberna (lit., a public-house corpse); odre (= a wine-skin); pellejo (= a liquor skin dressed and pitched); peneque; potista; odrina (= an ox-hide bottle).

Elbower, subs. (American thieves’).—A runaway. [Cf., elbow.]

Elbow-Grease, subs. (colloquial).—Energetic and continuous manual labour: e.g., ‘Elbow-Grease is the best furniture oil.’ Fr., huile de bras or de poignet; du foulage.

1779–1839. Galt [quoted in Imperial Eng. Dict.]. He has scartit and dintit my guid mahogany past a’ the power o’ beeswax and elbow-grease to smooth.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1859. G. Eliot, Adam Bede, bk. I., ch. vi. Nowhere else could an oak clock-case and an oak table have got to such a polish by the hand: genuine elbow-polish, as Mrs. Poyser called it, for she thanked God she never had any of your varnished rubbish in her house.

1870. London Figaro, 31 Oct. Often have I been ... frequently admonished to put some elbow-grease into my work.

1876. M. E. Braddon, Joshua Haggard’s Daughter, ch. xi. There’s no such polish in Devonshire, I should think, as poor Phœbe’s elbow-grease.

Elbow-scraper, or Jigger, subs. (common).—A fiddler.

Elbow-shaker, subs. (old).—A gambler.—See Elbow.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Elbow-shaker (s.) a gamester, one that practises dice-playing.

Elbow-shaking, subs. (common).—Gambling.—See Elbow.