Part 52

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. i., p. 44. The taskmaster warder came in, bringing with him the fiddle on which I was to play a tune called ‘Four pounds of oakum a day.’ It consisted of nothing but a piece of rope and a long crooked nail.

5. (Stock Exchange).—One-sixteenth part of a pound.

1887. Atkin, House Scraps. Done at a fiddle.

6. (old).—A watchman’s or policeman’s rattle.

1832. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act II., Sc. 2. There’s one! go it, Jerry!—Come, Green. Log. Aye, come, Jerry there’s the Charlies’ fiddles going. Jerry. Charlies’ fiddles?—I’m not fly, Doctor. Log. Rattles, Jerry, rattles! you’re fly now, I see. Come along, Tom! Go it, Jerry!

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, s.v.

7. (colloquial).—A sixpence; also a fiddler; Cf., fiddler’s money.

8. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Verb (colloquial).—1. To trifle, especially with the hands.

1663. Pepys, Diary, 13 July. Where all the ladies walked, talking and fiddling with their hats and feathers, and changing and trying one another’s by one another’s heads, and laughing.

1738. Swift, Polite Convers., Dial. 2. He took a pipe in his hand, and fiddled with it till he broke it.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Fiddle (v.) ... also to spend a person’s time about matters of small or no importance.

1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. iii. That second charger of Mr. Harperley’s is smart, but they’ve had him fiddling about so long in the school, he’s most likely forgot how to gallop.

2. (thieves’).—To cheat; specifically, to gamble.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 140. She is supposed to bring in all the money she has taken, but that we don’t know, and we are generally fiddled most tremendous.

3. (common).—To earn a livelihood by doing small jobs on the street.—See Fiddling.

4. (American).—To intrigue.

5. (common).—To take liberties with a woman; for synonyms, see Firkytoodle.

6. (pugilistic).—To strike.

Scotch-fiddle, subs. (common).—The itch.

To hang up the fiddle.—To abandon an undertaking.

To play first or second fiddle, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To take a leading or a subordinate part. Among tailors second fiddle = an unpleasant task.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xii., p. 122. To say that Tom had no idea of playing first fiddle in any social orchestra but was always quite satisfied to be set down for the hundred and fiftieth violin in the band, or thereabouts, is to express his modesty in very inadequate terms.

1847. Thackeray, Letter, 2 Jan., to W. E. Ayton in Memoirs. If my friend will shout, Titmarsh for ever, hurrah for etc., etc., I may go up with a run to a pretty fair place in my trade, and be allowed to appear before the public as among the first fiddles.

1886. Jas. Payn, Grape from a Thorn, ch. xi. She had inherited from her mother an extreme objection to playing, in any orchestra whatsoever, the second fiddle.

Fit as a fiddle, phr. (colloquial).—In good form or condition.

1886. Jas. Payn, Heir of the Ages (Ry. ed. 1888), p. 63.

Intj.—See Fiddle-de-dee.

Fiddle-bow, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Fiddle-faced, adj. (colloquial).—Wizened, also substantively.

1885. W. Westall, Larry Lohengrin, ch. v. Tell me how far, in your opinion, I answer to this flattering description of yours—white-chokered, strait-laced, and fiddle-faced?

Fiddle-faddle, subs. (colloquial).—Twaddling; trifling; ‘little nothings’; rot (q.v.). Fr., oui, les lanciers!

1593. G. Harvey, Pierces Super. in wks. II., 98. Or who of judgment, will not cry? away with these paultringe fidle-fadles.

1657. Political Ballads (ed. Wilkins, 1860), vol. I., p. 139. After much fiddle-faddle The egg proved addle.

1712. Spectator, No. 299. Their mother tells them ... that her mother danced in a ball at Court with the Duke of Monmouth; with abundance of fiddle-faddle of the same nature.

1876. C. H. Wall, trans. Molière, vol. i., p. 157. I see nothing about here but white of eggs, milk of roses, and a thousand fiddle-faddles that I know nothing about.

Adj. Trifling; fussing; fluffing.

1712. Arbuthnot, Hist. of John Bull, pt. III., ch. viii. She was a troublesome, fiddle-faddle old woman, and so ceremonious that there was no bearing of her.

b. 1811, d. 1863. Thackeray, Character Sketches (Fashionable Authoress). She interlards her works with fearful quotations from the French, fiddle-faddle extracts from Italian operas, German phrases, fiercely mutilated, and a scrap or two of bad Spanish.

Verb. To toy; to trifle; to talk nonsense; to gossip; to make ‘much cry and little wool.’

1761. Dr. Hawksworth, Edgar and Emmeline, I., ii. Here have I had a young, tempting girl fiddle-faddling about me these two hours to dress me.

1873. Miss Broughton, Nancy, ch. xxxvii. I am idly fiddle-faddling with a piece of work.

Also Fiddle-faddler, one inclined to fiddle-faddles.

Fiddle-head, subs. (nautical).—A plain prow as distinguished from a figure-head. Hence fiddle-headed = plain; ugly.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, III., i., 316 (ed. 1846). She has a d——d pretty run; but I hope Captain O’Brien will take off her fiddle-head and get one carved: I never knew a vessel do much with a fiddle-head.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. v. ‘Zounds! you’ve broke it, you fiddle-headed brute!’ exclaimed a choleric voice ..., startling the ladies most unceremoniously, and preparing them for the spectacle of a sturdy black cob trotting rebelliously down the farm-road.

Fiddler, subs. (old).—1. A trifler; a careless, negligent, or dilatory person. [From Fiddle, to trifle.]

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.) s.v.

2. (common).—A sharper; a cheat; also fiddle (q.v.).

3. (pugilistic).—A prize-fighter; one who depends more on activity than upon strength or ‘stay.’

4. (common).—A sixpence. [From the old custom of each couple at a dance paying the fiddler a sixpence. Cf., Fiddler’s money.]

1885. Household Words, 20 June, p. 155. Why a sixpence should be a ‘magpie’ it would be hard to say. A more easily explained name ... is a fiddler. This probably from the old custom of each couple at a dance paying the fiddler sixpence, and, moreover ‘fiddler’s money’ is generally small money.

5. (common).—A farthing. For synonyms, see Fadge.

1885. Household Words, 20 June, p. 155. fiddler. This same word also does duty as an equivalent for a farthing.

Fiddlers’-Fare, subs. (old).—Meat, drink, and money—Grose, 1785.

Fiddlers’-Green, subs. (nautical).—A sailor’s elysium (situate on the hither and cooler side of hell) of wine, women, and song.

1837. Marryat, Snarley-Yow, ch. ix. At Fiddler’s Green, where seamen true, When here they’ve done their duty, The bowl of grog shall still renew, And pledge to love and beauty.

1842. Lover, Handy Andy, ch. xii. ‘He would as soon go into Squire Egan’s house as go to Fiddler’s Green.’ ‘Faith, then, there’s worse places than Fiddler’s Green,’ said Andy, ‘as some people may find out one o’ these days.’

1884. Henley and Stevenson, Admiral Guinea, iv., 4. Jack Gaunt, ... it’s thanks to you I’ve got my papers, and this time I’m shipped for Fiddler’s Green.

Fiddlers’-Money, subs. (old).—Sixpences. [From the custom at country merry-makings of each couple paying the fiddler sixpence.] Also generically, small silver.

Fiddlestick! intj. (colloquial).—Nonsense; sometimes fiddle-stick’s end and fiddle-de-dee.

1600. Nashe, Summer’s Last Will, in wks. (Grosart) VI., 130. A fiddle-sticke! ne’re tell me I am full of words.

1701. Farquhar, Sir Harry Wildair, Act IV., Sc. ii. Golden pleasures! Golden fiddlesticks—What d’ye tell me of your canting stuff?

1834. Southey, The Doctor, ch. clxxxix. At such an assertion he would have exclaimed, a fiddlestick! Why and how that word has become an interjection of contempt I must leave those to explain who can.

Subs.—1. See quot.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 172. Fiddlestick, a spring saw.

2. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

3. (old).—A sword.

1595. Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, iii., 1. Here’s my fiddlestick: here’s that shall make you dance.

Fiddling, subs. (streets’).—1. A livelihood got on the streets, holding horses, carrying parcels, etc.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 211. A lad that had been lucky fiddling (holding horses, or picking up money anyhow).

2. See quot. and cf., quot., subs., sense 1.

1850. Lloyd’s Weekly, 3 Feb. ‘Low Lodging Houses of London.’ I live on 2s. a week from thieving, because I understand fiddling—that means, buying a thing for a mere trifle, and selling it for double, or for more, if you’re not taken in yourself.

3. (colloquial).—Idling; trifling.

4. (gamesters’).—Gambling.

Adj. (colloquial).—Trifling; trivial; fussing with nothing.

b. 1667, d. 1745. Swift [quoted in ‘Annandale’]. Good cooks cannot abide what they call fiddling work.

1802. C. K. Sharpe, in Correspondence (1888), i., 152. He is a mighty neat, pretty little, fiddling fellow, and exceedingly finely bred.

1880. Hawley Smart, Social Sinners, ch. xiii. I will look in at that time, and trust to find you have settled all these fiddling preliminaries.

Fid-fad, subs. (old).—A contracted form of fiddle-faddle (q.v.); also applied to persons.

1754. The World, No. 95. The youngest, who thinks in her heart that her sister is no better than a slattern, runs into the contrary extreme, and is, in everything she does, an absolute fidfad.

1874. E. L. Linton, Patricia Kemball, ch. xvi. The fidfads, called improvements, which were not wanted and seldom properly managed.

Fidlam-Bens or Coves, subs. (thieves’).—Thieves who steal anything they can lay hands on. Also St. Peter’s Sons.

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

Fie-for-shame, subs. phr. (schoolgirls’).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Field. To chop the field, verb. phr. (racing).—To win easily [Field = the horses taking part in a race.]

Fielder, subs. (betting).—A backer of the field [i.e., the ruck (q.v.). as against the favorite]. At cricket, a player in the field as against the team at the wickets.

1853. Wh. Melville, Digby Grand, ch. vi. I accommodate a vociferous fielder with 6 to 4 in hundreds as my concluding stake.

1883. Graphic, 11 August, p. 138, col. 2. As a batter, bowler, and fielder combined ... he has yet no equal.

Field-lane Duck, subs. phr. (common).—A baked sheep’s head.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, s.v.

Fient, intj. phr. (Scots colloquial).—An expression of negation: e.g., fient a hair care I = Devil a hair I care.

Fieri Facias. To have been served with a writ of fieri facias, verb. phr. (legal).—Said of a red-nosed man. [A play upon words.]

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller, in wks. v., 44. Should I tell you how many pursenants with red noses, and sargeants with precious faces, shrunke away in this sweat, you would not belieue me ... a pursenant or a sargeant at this present, with the verie reflexe of his firie facias, was able to spoile a man a farre of.

1608. Penniles Parl, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), I., 182. They that drink too much Spanish sack, shall, about July, be served with a fiery faces.

1663. Dryden, Wild Gallant, Act ii. Vour. You are very smart upon one another, gentlemen. Fail. This is nothing between us; I was to tell him of his title, fiery facias; and his setting dog, that runs into ale-houses before him.

Fiery Lot, subs. phr. (common).—Fast (q.v.); rollicking; applied to a hot member (q.v.).

Fiery Snorter, subs. phr. (common).—A red nose.

Fifer, subs. (tailors’).—1. A waistcoat ‘hand.’

2. (Scots’ colloquial).—A native of the Kingdom (q.v.), i.e., the county of Fife.

Fi-fi or fie-fie, adj. (common).—Indecent; ‘blue’ or ‘smutty.’ [From Fie = an exclamation signifying contempt, impatience, or disapproval.] A Thackerayean term.

1861. A. Trollope, Framley Parsonage, ch. vi. And then Mrs. Proudie began her story about Mr. Slope, or rather recommenced it. She was very fond of talking about this gentleman who had once been her pet chaplain, but was now her bitterest foe; and, in telling the story, she had sometimes to whisper to Miss Dunstable, for there were one or two fie-fie little anecdotes about a married lady, not altogether fit for young Mr. Robart’s ears.

1874. M. Collins, Frances, ch. xviii. Flood was a gay bachelor, with a few fie-fie stories floating through club atmosphere about him.

Fifteener, subs. (bibliographical).—A book printed in the 15th century.

1890. ‘Grangerising’ in Cornhill Mag., Feb., p. 139. Some of them torn from fifteeners, or ‘incurables,’ books of the fathers of printing.

Fifth Rib. To hit, dig, or poke one under the fifth rib, verb. phr. (common).—To deliver a heavy blow; to dumbfound.

1890. Globe, 26 Feb., p. 1, col. 5. It strikes the man who has been dallying with strange tailors ... under the fifth rib.

Fig, subs. (colloquial).—1. A gesture of contempt made by thrusting forth the thumb between the fore and middle fingers: whence the expression ‘I do not care, or would not give, a fig for you.’ Fr., je ne voudrais pas en donner un ferret d’aiguillette. Cf., Care, and for other similes of worthlessness, see Curse, Straw, Rush, Chip, Cent, Dam, etc. [Italian: When the Milanese revolted against the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, they set his Empress hind before upon a mule, and thus expelled her. Frederick afterwards besieged and took the city, and compelled all his prisoners, on pain of death, to extract with his (or her) teeth a fig from the fundament of a mule and, the thing being done, to say in announcement, ‘ecco la fica.’ Thus far la fica became an universal mode of derision. Fr., faire la figue; Ger., die Feigen weisen; It., far le fiche; Dutch, De vÿghe setten.

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V., iii., 6. Pistol. Die and be damned and fico for thy friendship. Fluellen. It is well. Pistol. The fig of Spain.

1610. Ben Jonson, The Alchemist, i. 1. Subtle. What to do? Lick figs out of mine arse.

1821. Pierce Egan, Tom and Jerry [ed. 1890], p. 106. A fig for each bum.

1861. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. vi. A fig for Poll Ady and fat Sukey Wimble; I now could jump over the steeple so nimble; With joy I be ready to cry.

1882. Punch, vol. LXXXII., p. 185, col. 2 (q.v.).

2. (common).—Dress. [From Fig, verb. sense = that which shows off a man or woman, as a fig of ginger shows off a horse. Cf., quot., 1819, in Fig up.] In full fig = in full dress.

1861. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. i. He waits on me in hall, where we go in full fig of cap and gown at five, and get very good dinners, and cheap enough.

1873. Cassell’s Magazine, Jan., p. 246, col. 2. ‘London Cured.’ They are rather prone to dress flashily, and wear when in full fig no end of jewellery.

3. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Verb (stable).—To ginger a horse. [For origin, see subs. sense.]

To fig out, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To show off; to dress; to don one’s war paint (q.v.). [From the verb.]

1825. The English Spy, vol. 1, p. 177. Eglantine (to the ostler). Well, Dick, what sort of a stud, hey? Come, fig out two lively ones.

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. vi. He began to inveigh against the waiter’s costume, as he styled the dress I had figged myself out in.

To fig up, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To restore; to reanimate (as a gingered horse).

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 24. In vain did they try to fig up the old lad, ’Twas like using persuaders upon a dead prad.

Figaro, subs. (common).—A barber. [From Le Nozze di Figaro.]

1886. Globe, 18 March, p. 3, col. 2. [Referring to recent order of French War Minister permitting soldiers to wear their beards.] There is wailing and weeping among a certain section of that army, the figaros, which has been despoiled at one fell swoop.

Figdean, verb (old).—To kill. For synonyms, see Cook one’s goose.

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

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

Figged.—See Jigged.

Figger or Figure.—See Fagger.

Figging- or Fagging-lay, subs. phr. (old).—Pocket-picking: cf., Fagger.

Fight, subs. (common).—A party; e.g., Tea fight, Wedding-fight, etc. Cf., Scramble, and Worry: also Row (q.v.).

To fight or play cocum.—See Cocum.

To fight or buck the tiger.—See Buck and quots., infra.

1870. London Figaro, 20 July. The other day a gentleman of San Francisco, hitherto only noted for deeds of daring in fighting the tiger, was seated asleep in the smoking-car of the evening train from Sacramento on the Vallejo route.

1886. Daily Telegraph, 18 Oct., p. 5, col. 3. If they subsequently fight the tiger at the games of faro or roulette.

One that can fight his weight in wild cats, subs. phr. (American).—A brilliant desperado.

1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly. John Halkett, as I learned afterwards, could fight his weight in wild cats.

Fighting-Cove, subs. phr. (tramps’).—A professional pugilist: specifically one who ‘boxes’ for a livelihood at fairs, race-meetings, etc.

1880. Greenwood, Odd People in Odd Places, p. 56. You see them two there, sitting on t’other end of the table and eating fried fish and bread. That’s their mittens they’ve got tied up in that hankercher. They’re fighting coves.

Fighting Fifth, subs. phr. (military)—The Fifth Foot. [So distinguished in the Peninsular.] Other nicknames were the shiners (in 1764 from its clean and smart appearance); the old bold fifth (also Peninsular); and Lord Wellington’s body guard (it was at head-quarters in 1811). Cf., Fighting Ninth.

1871. Chambers’ Journal, 23 Dec., p. 802, col. 2. The Fighting Fifth was distinguished by its men wearing a white plume in the cap, when the similar ornament of the other regiments was a red and white tuft.

1890. Standard, 25 April, p. 3, col. 4, ‘St. George’s Day.’ With the exception of the annual observances by the Northumberland Fusiliers, better known as the Fighting Fifth, and a concert at the Crystal Palace, there does not seem to have been the smallest notice taken of what was, not a hundred years ago, a recognised popular festival throughout the length and breadth of once merrie England.

Fighting Ninth, subs. phr. (military).—The Ninth Foot. [Also Holy Boys (Peninsular), from its selling its Bibles for drink.] Cf., Fighting Fifth.

Fighting Tight, adv. phr. (American).—Drunk and quarrelsome. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Fig-leaf, subs. (common).—An apron. In fencing, the padded shield worn over the lower abdomen and right thigh. Fr., une petite bannette. Cf., Belly-cheat and Flag.

Figs (also Figgins), subs. (colloquial).—A grocer.

Figure, subs. (colloquial).—1. Appearance; conduct; e.g., to cut a good or bad figure, a mean figure, sorry figure, etc.

1712. Spectator, No. 479. Men cannot, indeed, make a sillier figure, than in repeating such pleasures and pains to the rest of the world.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xvii. Peradventure our youth is fast, and aspires to be a man of figure.

2. (colloquial).—Price; value; amount.

d. 1863. Thackeray [quoted in Annandale]. Accommodating the youngster, who had just entered the regiment, with a glandered charger at an uncommonly stiff figure.

1864. London Society, Oct., p. 480. She had saved ... about four hundred a year out of the wreck ... and so, on the whole, did not do badly in life. Happiness has been found at even a lower ‘figure.’

1883. Sala, Living London, p. 184. The ‘figure’ to be paid to Madame Adelina Patti for her forthcoming season.

1886. Cornhill Mag., March, p. 304. ‘About what is their figure?’ asked Mr. Corder. ‘Slim and graceful,’ answered the lady. ‘I don’t mean that,’ said the ex-smoked-mother-of-pearl-button manufacturer; ‘I mean, what is each of them worth in money?’

3. (colloquial).—Paps and posteriors; said only of women. No figure = wanting in both particulars.

Verb (billiards’).—To single out; to spot (q.v.).

[Figure, like fetch, comes in for a good deal of hard work in America. It is colloquially equivalent to ‘count upon’; as, ‘you may figure on getting a reply by return mail’; also = to strive for. To figure on [a thing] = to think it over; to figure out = to estimate; to figure up = to add up; to cut a figure, see cut; to go the whole figure = to be thorough; to go the big figure = to launch out; to miss a figure = to make a mistake.]

Figure-dancer, subs. (thieves’).—A manipulator of the face value of banknotes, cheques, and paper security generally.—Grose [1785].

Figure-fancier, subs. (venery).—An amateur of large-made women.

Figure-head, subs. (nautical).—The face. For synonyms, see Dial.

Figure-maker, subs. (venery).—A wencher. [In allusion to the enlarged ‘figures’ of pregnant women.] For synonyms, see Molrower.

Figure (or Number) Six, subs. phr. (thieves’).—A lock of hair brought down from the forehead, greased, twisted spirally, and plastered on the face. For synonyms, see Aggerawator.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, v. I., p. 36. As for the hair, they [coster-lads] say it ought to be long in front, and done in figure-six curls or twisted back to the ear, ‘Newgate-knocker style.’

Filbert. Cracked in the filbert, adv. phr. (common).—Crazy; a variant of wrong in the nut (q.v.) or upper storey. For synonyms, see Apartments to let and Tile loose.

Filch, verb (Old Cant: now recognised).—1. To steal: specifically to pilfer in small ways [Dekker: from the ‘filches’ or hooks used by thieves in stealing out of open windows; Skeat: for filk from O.E. fele, Icel. fela, to steal, like talk and tell, stalk (verb) and steal where k is a formative element.—See Phil. Soc. Trans., 1865, p. 188.] For synonyms, see Prig. Filch, properly filchman (q.v.), = a hooked staff; on the filch or filching = stealing.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 66. To fylche, to robbe.

1580. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. 63, st. 13, p. 143 (E.D.S.). The champion robbeth by night, And prowleth and filcheth by day.

1611. Middleton, Roaring Girl, Act iv., Sc. 1. What she leaves Thou shalt come closely in and filch away.

1729. Swift, Intelligencer, No. 4, p. 35 (2nd ed.). The servants having all that time to themselves to intrigue, to junket, to filch and steal.

1830. Marryat, King’s Own, ch. x. I could filch a handkerchief as soon as I was high enough to reach a pocket, and was declared to be a most promising child.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 246. She were an out-and-outer in going into shops on the filch.

2. (old).—To beat. For synonyms, see Baste and Tan.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874), s.v.

Subs. (old).—A thief. [From the verb.] Also Filcher (q.v.). For synonyms, see Area-sneak.

1810. Poole, Hamlet Travestie, II., iii. A very filch, that more deserves to hang, Than any one of the light-finger’d gang.

Filcher or Filch (q.v.). subs. (Old Cant: now recognised). A thief. [From filch (q.v.) = to steal + er.] For synonyms, see Area-sneak and Thieves.

1580. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. 10, st. 54, p. 25 (E.D.S.). Purloiners and filchers, that loveth to lurke.

1596. Jonson, Every man in his Humour, IV., ix. How now, Signior Gull! are you turned filcher of late? Come, deliver my cloak.