Part 19

MR. ROBSON AT BELFAST.—We (_Northern Whig_) suspected a little bit of what is professionally termed GAG in Mr. Robson’s _Daddy Hardacre_ last night. He had occasion to say that one of the characters in the piece “understands me well enough,” to which he added—“I wish some other people did the same,” with an expressive glance at the pit; which we interpreted as having special reference to those appreciative persons in the audience whom we have already mentioned, who think it absolutely needful to roar with laughter at every sentence Mr. Robson utters, without the least regard to whether it be humorous or pathetic—only because Mr. Robson has fame as a comic actor.

When another Robson shall arise, no one will object to his GAGGING a little. The public could afford that to such a man in these days of “creations.”

~Gag~, to hoax, “take a rise” out of one; to “cod.”

~Gage~, a small quantity of anything; as “a GAGE of tobacco,” meaning a pipeful; “a GAGE of gin,” a glassful. GAGE was, in the last century, a chamber utensil.

~Galeny~, old cant term for a fowl of any kind; now a respectable word in the West of England, signifying a Guinea fowl.—_Vide_ Grose. _Latin_, GALLINA.

~Gallanty show~, an exhibition in which black figures are shown on a white sheet to accompanying dialogue. Generally given at night by “Punch and Judy” men.

~Gallimaufry~, a kind of stew, made up of scraps of various kinds. Sea term, and probably meaning the galley scraps.

~Gallipot~, an apothecary.

~Gallivant~, to wait upon the ladies.—_Old._

~Gallows~, or GALLUS, very, or exceedingly—an unpleasant exclamation; “GALLOWS poor,” very poor. Term originally applied to anything bad enough to deserve hanging.

~Gallows bird~, an incorrigible thief; often applied to denote a ruffian-like appearance.

~Gallowses~, in the North of England a pair of braces.

~Gally-yarn~, a sailor’s term for a hoaxing story. He expresses disbelief by saying only “G. Y.”

~Galoot.~—_See_ GEELOOT.

~Galore~, abundance. _Irish_, GO LEOR, in plenty.

~Gamb~, a leg. Still used as an heraldic term, as well as by thieves, who probably get it from the _Lingua Franca_. _Italian_, GAMBA; _French_, JAMBE, a leg.

~Game~, a term variously applied; “are you GAME?” have you courage enough? “what’s your little GAME?” what are you going to do? “come, none of your GAMES,” be quiet, don’t annoy me; “on the GAME,” out thieving. To “play the GAME” is among sporting men to do a thing thoroughly and properly.

~Game leg~, a lame or wounded leg.

~Gameness~, pluck, endurance, courage generally.

~Gammon~, deceit, humbug, a false and ridiculous story. _Anglo-Saxon_, GAMEN, game, sport.

~Gammon~, to hoax, to deceive merrily, to laugh at a person, to tell an untrue but plausible story, to make game of, or, in the provincial dialect, to make GAME on;—“who’s thou makin’ thy GAM’ on?” _i.e._, of whom are you making a fool?—_Yorkshire._

~Gammy~, bad, unfavourable, poor tempered. Those householders who are known enemies to the street folk and tramps are pronounced by them to be GAMMY. GAMMY sometimes means forged, as “GAMMY-MONNIKER,” a forged signature; GAMMY STUFF, spurious medicine; GAMMY LOWR, counterfeit coin. _Hants_, GAMY, dirty. The hieroglyphic used by beggars and cadgers to intimate to those of the tribe coming after that things are not very favourable is known as □, or GAMMY. _Gaelic_, _Welsh_, and _Irish_, CAM (GAM), crooked.

~Gammy-vial~ (Ville), a town where the police will not let persons hawk.

~Gander Month~, the period when the monthly nurse is in the ascendant, and the husband has to shift for himself. Probably from the open choice he has during that period.

~Ganger~, the person who superintends the work of a gang, or a number of navigators.

~Gape~, to stare about in an astonished manner. “GAPING about like a country bumpkin.” Sometimes pronounced GARP. There is no reference in the use of this phrase by Cockneys to GAPE in its correct sense.

~Gape-seed~, something to look at, cause for astonishment; a lazy fellow, unmindful of his work, is said to be “looking for GAPE-SEED.” Rustics are said to find plenty of “GAPE-SEED” in London streets.

~Gar~, euphuistic rendering of the title of the Deity; “be GAR, you don’t say so!”—_Franco-English._

~Garden~, among tradesmen signifies Covent GARDEN Market; among theatrical performers, Covent GARDEN Theatre.

~Gardener~, an awkward coachman; an insinuation that he is both coachman and gardener, and understands the latter branch of service better than the first; “get on, GARDENER,” is a most insulting expression from a cabby to a real coachman. Men who in small families do the coach, garden, and general work, are sometimes called “teakettle grooms,” or “teakettle coachmen.”

~Gargle~, medical-student slang for drinkables.

~Garnish~, the douceur or fee which, before the time of Howard the philanthropist, was openly exacted by the keepers of gaols from their unfortunate prisoners for extra comforts. The practice of garnishing is by no means so defunct as some folk seem to think, and its influence may often be traced by those who wish.

~Garnish~, footing money.—_Yorkshire._

~Garreter~, a thief who crawls over the tops of houses, and enters garret-windows. Called also a “dancer,” or “dancing-master,” from the light and airy nature of his occupation.

~Garrotte~, a system of robbery with violence much practised on dark winter nights by ruffians who during summer infest racecourses and fairs. Their victims are generally weak men and delicate women. From the Spanish GARROTTE, because the practice generally commences with a throttling attack. Procedure is, however, various, these gentlemen being possessed of much ingenuity in the way of torture. “The cat” has within the past year or so done much to modify this offensive state of things, but the sympathetic appeals of certain tenderhearted M.P.’s and other philanthropists, who are not themselves likely to be garrotted, on behalf of the garrotters, will probably before long result in a withdrawal of the _lex talionis_, and a natural resumption of the garrotte system, with new adornments.

~Garrotting~, a mode of cheating practised amongst card-sharpers, by concealing certain cards at the back of the neck.

~Gas~, to give off superfluous conceit, to bounce or brag; “his game is GAS.” “To give a person GAS,” is to scold him or give him a good beating. Synonymous with “to give him Jessie.”

~Gassy~, or GASEOUS, liable to “flare up” at any offence.

~Gate~, THE, Billingsgate. Sometimes Newgate, according to the occupation and condition of the speaker. In the same way Paternoster Row is by publishers known as “the Row.”

~Gate~, to order an undergrad not to pass beyond the college GATE. As a rule, the GATE begins after hall, but in extreme cases the offender is GATED for the whole day.—_University._

~Gate-race~, among pedestrians a mock race, got up not so much for the best runner to win, as for the money taken from spectators, at the gate. This sort of business is not peculiar to pedestrians; there are such things as gate-money meetings at horse-racing.

~Gatter~, beer; “shant of GATTER,” a pot of beer. A curious slang street melody, known in Seven Dials as _Bet the Coaley’s Daughter_, thus mentions the word in a favourite verse:—

“But when I strove my flame to tell, Says she, ‘Come, stow that patter, If you’re a cove wot likes a gal, Vy don’t you stand some GATTER?’ In course I instantly complied— Two brimming quarts of porter, With sev’ral goes of gin beside, Drain’d Bet the Coaley’s daughter.”

~Gaudy~, the annual dinner of the Fellows of a College, in memory of founders and benefactors. From GAUDEAMUS.—_Oxford University._

~Gawfs~, cheap red-skinned apples, a favourite fruit with costermongers, who rub them well with a piece of cloth, and find ready purchasers.

~Gawky~, a lanky, or awkward person; a fool. _Saxon_, GEAK; _Scotch_, GOWK.

~Gay~, loose, dissipated; “GAY woman,” a kept mistress or prostitute. Many people will remember Leech’s celebrated caricature of two wretched females on an equally wretched night, and the question asked by one woman of the other, “How long have you been GAY?”

~Gay tyke boy~, a dog-fancier.

~Gee~, to agree with, or be congenial to a person.

~Geeloot~, or GALOOT, a recruit, or awkward soldier. A clumsy person, also a term of contempt in America.

~Gen~, a shilling. _See_ back-slang article.

~Gent~, a contraction of “gentleman,”—in more senses than one. A dressy, showy, foppish man, with a little mind, who vulgarizes the prevailing fashion.

~Gent~, silver. From the _French_, ARGENT.

~Gentleman of four outs;~ in Ireland when a vulgar, blustering fellow asserts that he is a gentleman, the retort generally is, “Yes, a GENTLEMAN OF FOUR OUTS”—that is, without wit, without money, without credit, and without manners.

~Gentleman of three ins~,—that is, in debt, in danger, and in poverty.

~Geordie~, general term in Northumberland and Durham for a pitman, or coal-miner. From the _Greek_, GEORGE meaning one who works the earth, originally a cultivator; the term has been in use more than a century.

~German Duck~, a sheep’s-head stewed with onions; a favourite dish among the German sugar-bakers in the East-end of London.

~German Ducks~, bugs.—_Yorkshire._

~Get up~, a person’s appearance or general arrangements. Probably derived from the decorations of a play.

“There’s so much GETTING UP to please the town, It takes a precious deal of coming down.”

_Planché’s Mr. Buckstone’s Ascent of Parnassus._

~Ghost~, “the GHOST doesn’t walk,” a theatrical term which implies that there is no money about, and that there will be no “treasury.”

~Gibberish~, unmeaning jargon; the language of the gipsies, synonymous with SLANG, another Gipsy word. Somner says, “_French_, GABBER; _Dutch_, GABBEREN; and our own GAB, GABBER; hence also, I take it, our GIBBERISH, a kind of canting language used by a sort of rogues we vulgarly call gipsies, a gibble-gabble understood only among themselves.” _See Introduction._ The GIBBERISH of schoolboys is formed by placing a consonant between each syllable of a word, and is called the GIBBERISH of the letter inserted. Thus, if F were the letter, it would be termed the F GIBBERISH; if L, the L GIBBERISH—as in the sentence, “How do you do?—_Howl dol youl dol?_” A GIBBERISH is sometimes formed by adding _vis_ to each word, in which the previous sentence would be—“_Howvis dovis youvis dovis?_” These things are worthy of schoolboys, as they are in ability far below the rhyming, the back, or the centre slang, each of which is constructed by people possessing no claim to literary excellence whatever. Schoolboys in France form a GIBBERISH, in a somewhat similar manner, by elongating their words two syllables, in the first of which an _r_, in the second a _g_, predominates. Thus the words _vous êtes un fou_ are spoken, _vousdregue esdregue undregue foudregue_. Fast persons in Paris, of both sexes, frequently adopt terminations of this kind, from some popular song, actor, exhibition, or political event. In 1830, the favourite termination was _mar_, saying _épicemar_ for épicier, _cafémar_ for café. In 1823, when the diorama created a sensation in Paris, the people spoke in _rama_ (_on parlait en rama_.) In Balzac’s beautiful tale, _Le Père Goriot_, the young painter at the boarding-house dinner-table mystifies the landlady by saying, “What a beautiful _soupeaurama_!” To which the old woman replies, to the great laughter of the company, “I beg your pardon, sir, it is _une soupe à choux_.” These adaptations can hardly be called slang, or we shall have everybody making a slang of his own, and refusing to believe in any one’s else—a sort of secondhand edition of the Tower of Babel.

~Gib-face~, a heavy, ugly face; GIB is properly the lower lip of a horse; “to hang one’s GIB,” to pout the lower lip, to be angry or sullen.

~Gibus~, an opera hat. From the inventor of the crush hat.

~Giffle-gaffle~, or GIBBLE-GABBLE, nonsense. _See_ CHAFF. _Icelandic_, GAFLA.

~Gig~, a farthing. Formerly GRIG.

~Gig~, fun, frolic, a spree. _Old French_, GIGUE, a jig, a romp.

“In search of lark, or some delicious GIG, The mind delights on, when ’tis in prime twig.”

_Randall’s Diary_, 1820.

“‘No heirs have I,’ said mournful Matt; But Tom, still fond of GIG, Cried out, ‘No hairs? don’t fret at that, When you can buy a wig.’”

~Gig lamps~, spectacles; also a person who wears spectacles is often called GIG-LAMPS. Connexion obvious. This term has been in use probably as long as GIG-LAMPS themselves—if GIG-LAMPS were invented after spectacles.

~Gill~, or JILL, a homely woman; “Jack and Gill,” &c.

~Gills~, the lower part of the face.—_Bacon._ “To grease one’s GILLS,” “to have a good feed,” or make a hearty meal. A man suffering from the effects of a previous night’s debauch, is said to “look queer about the gills.”

~Gills~, overlarge shirt collars.

~Gilt~, money. _German_, GELD; _Dutch_, GELT.

~Gimcrack~, a bijou, a slim piece of mechanism. Old slang for “a spruce wench.”—_New Bailey._ Any things which are gaudy and easily breakable, are known now as GIMCRACKS.

~Ginger~, a showy, fast horse—as if he had been figged with GINGER under his tail; a red-haired man. Term commonly used in depreciation of a person’s appearance.

~Ginger hackled~, having flaxen, light yellow hair. Term originally used to describe a certain colour or colours in game-cocks.—_See_ HACKLE.

~Gingerly~, to do anything with great care.—_Cotgrave._

~Gingham~, an umbrella. Term very common in London.

~Gingumbob~, a bauble.

~Gin-spinner~, a distiller, or rectifier of gin.

~Give~, to strike, to scold; “I’ll GIVE it to you,” _i.e._, I will thrash you. To lead to, in the sense of directions. Thus, in one of the Christmas numbers of _All the Year Round_ we are told that “a side portal and a passage, dark at noon, GAVE upon Paradise Alley.” This usage of the word, from the French idiomatic use of _donner_, is becoming by no means uncommon.

~Give in~, to admit oneself defeated, to “throw up the sponge,” or “strike one’s flag.”

~Give it mouth~, a rude request to an actor or orator, which means, speak up. Low folk can fancy nothing higher in the way of encomium on an actor than, “He’s the cove to GIVE IT MOUTH—rather!”

~Gladstone~, cheap claret. GLADSTONE reduced the duty on French wines.

~Glasgow magistrate~, a salt herring. When George IV. visited Scotland, a wag placed some salt herrings on the iron guard of the carriage belonging to a well-known GLASGOW MAGISTRATE, who made one of a deputation to receive his Majesty.

~Glaze~, glass; generally applied to windows. To “star the GLAZE” is to break a window.

~Glib~, a tongue; “slacken your GLIB,” _i.e._, “loosen your tongue.”

~Glim~, a light, a lamp; “dowse the GLIM,” put out the candle. _Sea and Old Cant._ GLIMS, spectacles. _Gaelic_, GLINN, light. _German_ (provincial), GLIMM, a spark.

~Glim lurk~, a begging paper, giving a circumstantial account of a dreadful fire—which never happened.

~Gloak~, a man. Term much used in old thieves’ cant.

~Glum~, sulky, stem; “to look GLUM,” to appear annoyed or disconcerted.

~Glump~, to sulk.

~Glumpish~, of a stubborn, sulky temper.

~Go~, a GO of gin, a quartern of that liquor. (This word, as applied to a measure of liquor, is stated to have arisen from the following circumstance:—Two well-known actors once met at the bar of a tavern to have a “wet” together. “One more glass and then we’ll GO,” was repeated so often on either hand, that in the end GO was out of the question with both of them, and so the word passed into a saying.) GO is also synonymous with circumstance or occurrence; “a rummy GO,” and “a great GO,” signify curious and remarkable occurrences; “all the GO,” when anything creates unusual interest, “no GO,” no good; “here’s a pretty GO!” here’s a trouble; GO, a term in the game of cribbage; “to GO the jump,” to enter a house by the window.—_See_ LITTLE GO; also CALL-A-GO.

“Gemmen (says he), you all well know The joy there is whene’er we meet; It’s what I call the primest GO, And rightly named, ’tis—‘quite a treat,’”

_Jack Randall’s Diary_, 1820.

~Go along~, a fool, a cully, one of the most contemptuous terms in a thieves’ vocabulary.

~Gob~ or GOBBET, a portion. Generally applied to meat by schoolboys.

~Gob~, the mouth, as in pugilistic slang “a spank on the GOB, drawing the gravy.” Also mucus, or saliva. Sometimes used for GAB, talk—

“There was a man called Job, Dwelt in the land of Uz; He had a good gift of the GOB; The same case happen us.”

ZACH. BOYD.

_Gaelic_—GAB and GOB, a mouth. _See_ GAB.

~God bless the Duke Of Argyle!~ a Scottish insinuation made when one shrugs his shoulders, of its being caused by parasites or cutaneous affections.—_See_ SCOTCH FIDDLE, SCOTCH GREYS. It is said to have been originally the thankful exclamation of the Glasgow folk, at finding a certain row of iron posts, erected by his grace in that city to mark the division of his property, very convenient to rub against. Some say the posts were put up purposely for the benefit of the good folk of Glasgow, who were at the time suffering from the “Scotch fiddle.” This is, however, but a Southern scandal.

~Gods~, the people in the upper gallery of a theatre; “up amongst the GODS,” a seat amongst the persons in the gallery—so named from the high position of that part, and the blue sky generally painted on the ceiling of the theatre; termed by the French, “paradis.”

~Gods~, the quadrats used by printers in throwing on the imposing stone, similar to the movement in casting dice.—_Printers’ term._

~Go due north~, to become bankrupt, to go to Whitecross Street.—_Nearly obsolete._

~Go for the gloves~, to lay against a horse on the chance of its losing, without having the wherewithal to pay if it wins. Probably from the custom of ladies who bet GLOVES, and expect, as the racing men say, to “stand them to nothing,” _i.e._, to be paid if they win, but not to pay if they lose. This is a last resource of the bankrupt turfite; and the big handicaps at the end of the year, the Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire, offer both temptation and opportunity to those who can only hope to recoup themselves for their previous losses by “GLOVING IT” successfully. When, in the sporting papers it is stated that a settling at Tattersall’s was more than usually unsatisfactory, it may be fairly assumed that the GLOVES have not been won by those who most desired them.

~Go in~, to enter for, to apply oneself in pursuit of. Men at the Universities are said to GO IN for honours, aquatics, or whatever their chief desire or employment may be. The expression is now general.

~Go it~, a term of encouragement, implying, “keep it up!” Sometimes amplified to “GO IT, ye cripples;” said to have been a facetious rendering of the last line of Virgil’s _Eclogues_—

“Ite domum saturæ, venit Hesperus, _ite capellæ_;”

or, “GO IT, ye cripples, crutches are cheap.”

~Goldbacked uns~, body lice. Sometimes called greybacked uns.

~Goldfinches~, sovereigns. Similar to Canaries.

~Gold-mine~, any profitable investment, from a fried-fish shop to a remunerative speculation involving millions.

~Golgotha~, a hat, “place of a skull.” Hence the “Don’s gallery,” at St. Mary’s, Cambridge, and that part of the theatre at Oxford where the heads of houses sit.

~Gol-mol~, noise, commotion.—_Anglo-Indian._

~Golopshus~, splendid, delicious, luscious.—_Norwich._

~Gonnof~, an expert thief, a master of his craft; one of the greatest compliments a London pickpocket can pay another is to say, “he’s a reglar GONNOF.”—_See_ GUN. The word GONNOF is very old. During Kett’s rebellion in Norfolk, in the reign of Edward VI., a song was sung by the insurgents in which the term occurs—

“The country GNOFFES, Hob, Dick, and Hick, With clubbes and clouted shoon, Shall fill up Dussyn dale With slaughter’d bodies soone.”

~Good people~, the name given by country folk, evidently from fear of offending by any less decided term, to fairies, brownies, pixies, &c. Mothers often say to querulous children, “I wish the GOOD PEOPLE would run away with you.”

~Goods~, in the sporting world, men or horses. A horse or man of exceptionable quality is called “good GOODS,” and a backer will speak of either as being in his opinion “best GOODS,” as compared with others in the race.

~Good time~, an expressive phrase, which means all earthly bliss to the American mind. The finest reminiscence a Yankee can have is that of a GOOD TIME, wherever it may have been spent. No moderate amount of happiness is ever recorded in the register which denotes how often its possessor has “had a GOOD TIME.”

~Good woman~, a not uncommon public-house sign, representing a woman without a head,—the ungallant allusion is that she cannot scold. Maybe, the publican does not think that it means also that she cannot drink. The Honest Lawyer, another sign, is depicted in the same manner.

~Goose~, a tailor’s pressing iron. Originally a slang term, but now in most dictionaries.

~Goose;~ “Paddy’s GOOSE,” _i.e._, the White Swan, a celebrated public-house in Ratcliff Highway.

~Goose~, “to cook his GOOSE,” to kill him; the same as “to give him his gruel,” or “settle his hash.”

~Goose~, “to get the GOOSE,” “to be GOOSED,” signifies to be hissed while on the stage. The big-bird, the terror of actors. _See_ BIG BIRD.—_Theatrical._

~Goose~, to ruin, or spoil; to hiss a play.—_Theatrical._ To be “sound on the GOOSE” is in America to be orthodox in one’s political creed.

~Gooseberry~, to “play up old GOOSEBERRY” with any one, to defeat or silence a person in a quick or summary manner.

~Gooseberry-pickers~, sharp children, who are ostensibly placed in charge of their elder sisters, when the latter go out shopping, but who are in reality a check on any chance of flirtation.

~Goosecap~, a simpleton, a booby, or noodle.—_Devonshire._

~Gooser~, a settler, or finishing blow.

~Go over~, in clerical slang, signifies to join the Church of Rome.

~Gorge~, to eat in a ravenous manner. “Rotten GORGERS” are those hungry lads who hang about Covent Garden Market, and devour the discarded fruit.

~Gorger~, a swell, a well-dressed, or gorgeous man—probably derived from the latter adjective. Sometimes used to denote an employer, or principal, as the manager of a theatre.

~Gormed~, a Norfolk corruption of a profane oath. So used by Mr. Peggotty in _David Copperfield_.

~Gospel grinder~, a City missionary, or tract-distributor.

~Gospel Shop~, an irreverent term for a church or chapel of any denomination. Mostly in use among sailors.

~Goss~, a hat—from the gossamer silk of which modern hats are made.

~Goss~, “to give a man GOSS,” to requite an injury, to beat, or kill. This is an Americanism, and is applied variously. A steamboat captain on the Mississippi, determined to pass his rival, called out, so the story goes, to the fireman, “Give her GOSS and let her rip, as I mean to pass that boat, or bust.”

~Goth~, an uncultivated person. One who is ignorant of the ways of society.

~Go the whole pile~, to put all one’s bank on a solitary chance. An Americanism which had its origin in the PILES of gold dust used as circulating medium by gambling miners.

~Gourock ham~, a salt herring. GOUROCK, on the Clyde, about twenty-five miles from Glasgow, was formerly a great fishing village.—_Scotch._

~Government sign-post~, the gallows. This is necessarily almost obsolete.

~Governor~, a father, a master or superior person, an elder; “which way, GUV’NER, to Cheapside?”

~Gowler~, a dog.—_North Country Cant._ _Query_, GROWLER.

~Gownsman~, a student at one of the universities, as distinguished from a TOWNSMAN.

~Grab~, to clutch, or seize; GRABBED, caught, apprehended.