Part 21

~Heavy dragoons~, bugs, in contradistinction from fleas, which are “light infantry.”—_Oxford University._

~Heavy wet~, malt liquor—because the more a man drinks of it, the heavier and more stupid he becomes.

~Hedge~, to get away from any dangerous spot. “We saw the slop coming, and HEDGED at once.”

~Hedge~, to secure oneself from loss over one bet by making others. HEDGING, as a system of betting, is entirely dependent upon what happens in the market after a horse has been backed. From information, or good judgment, a backer selects, say, three horses, A, B, and C, whom he thinks likely to advance in the betting, and takes 50 to 1—say £1000 to £20—against each of them. As the race-day approaches the horse A may fall out of the betting, from accident or other cause, and have to be written off as a dead loss of £20. But the other two horses, as anticipated, improve in public favour, and the backer, who now becomes a HEDGER, succeeds in laying 5 to 1—say £500 to £100—against B, and 2 to 1—say 500 to £250—against C. The account then stands thus:—A is a certain loss of £20; but if B wins, the HEDGER will receive £1000 and pay £500; balance in favour, £500. If B loses, the HEDGER will receive £100 and pay £20; balance in favour, £80. If C wins, the hedger will receive £1000 and pay £500; balance in favour, £500. If C loses, the HEDGER will receive £250 and pay £20; balance in favour, £230. Deducting, then, the loss of £20 on A, the HEDGER’S winnings will be considerable; and he cannot lose, providing his information or judgment lead to the required result. It must be borne in mind that very often a man who feels inclined to go in for a HEDGING speculation, may back half a dozen horses, not one of which sees a short price or goes to the post; besides which it must never be forgotten, that, however well turf speculations may look on paper, they are subject to the contingency of the bets being honourably paid on settling-day—the Monday after a race—when unfortunately there are often more “receivers” than “payers” at the clubs. However, turf transactions are among professionals conducted at least as honourably as are any other business matters; and it is only the fledgling swell, to whom the Legislature gives special opportunities of losing his money, who is generally _non est_ when paytime comes. “The Druid” in _Post and Paddock_ has remarked:—

“The term HEDGING has been quite superseded by “laying off;” and we had, in fact, quite forgotten it till we saw it stated in the papers lately, by a clergyman, who did not answer a question on doctrine as the Bishop of Exeter exactly liked, that his lordship addressed him to this effect: ‘You are HEDGING, sir; you are HEDGING!’”

Usually correct as “The Druid” was, he seems to have fallen into an error here, as HEDGING, and “laying off,” have been exchangeable terms, as far as the oldest turfite can say. It should be remembered that HEDGING is generally done with the man who has originally laid the odds; for as a natural consequence, when the backer finds it convenient to hedge, the layer finds it equally so to back the horse back,—the first loss being considered always the best by bookmakers who _are_ bookmakers. Besides which, the layer has generally a lot of “dead money”—money to the good over horses he has laid against, which have since been struck out—and this he profitably expends in backing certain horses back for the purpose of levelling up the book.

~Hedge-popping~, shooting small birds about the hedges, as boys do; unsportsmanlike kind of shooting.

~Heel-tap~, the small quantity of wine or other beverage left in the bottom of a glass, considered as a sign that the liquor is not liked, and therefore unfriendly and unsocial to the host and the company. _See_ DAY-LIGHT.

~Heigh-ho!~ a cant term for stolen yarn, from the expression used to apprize the dishonest shopkeeper that the speaker had stolen yarn to sell.—_Norwich Cant._

~Hell~, a fashionable gambling-house. Small places of this kind are called “silver hells.” Reason obvious.

~Hell and Tommy~, utter destruction.

~Helter-skelter~, anyhow, without regard to order or precedence.

~Hempen cravat~, the hangman’s noose.

~Hen and Chickens~, large and small pewter pots.

~Hen-pecked~, said of one whose wife “wears the breeches.” From the action of the hen in paired cage-birds.

~Herring-pond~, the sea; “to be sent across the HERRING-POND,” to be transported.

~Hiding~, a thrashing. Webster gives this word, but not its root, HIDE, to beat, to flay by whipping. Most likely from the part attacked. The threat of thrashing is sometimes conveyed thus:—“I’ll tan (or dress) your HIDE.”

~Higgledy-piggledy~, confusedly, all together,—as pigs lie.

~High and dry~, an epithet applied to the _soi-disant_ “orthodox” clergy of the last century, for whom, while ill-paid curates did the work, the comforts of the Establishment were its greatest charms.

“Wherein are various ranks, and due degrees, The Bench for honour, and the Stall for ease.”

Though often confounded with, they are utterly dissimilar to, the modern High Church or Anglo-Catholic party, who now receive the title at times; while their opponents receive the corresponding appellation of “Low and Slow,” and the so-called “Broad Church” is defined with equal felicity as the “Broad and Shallow.” Humourists have divided these three portions of one Church into Attitudinarians, Platitudinarians, and Latitudinarians.

~High Church~, term used in contradistinction from “Low Church.”

~Highfalutin’~, showy, affected, tinselled, affecting certain pompous or fashionable airs, stuck up; “come, none of yer HIGHFALUTIN’ games,” _i.e._, you must not show off or imitate the swell here.—_American_ slang, now common in Liverpool and the East-end of London. From the _Dutch_, VERLOOTEN. Used generally now in the sense of fustian, high-sounding, unmeaning eloquence, bombast.

~High-flier~, anything above the common order. Apt students, fast coaches, and special trains are sufficient instances of the extreme openness of the qualification.

~High-fly~, “ON THE HIGH-FLY,” on the genteel or letter-bearing begging system.

~High-flyer~, a genteel beggar or swindler. A begging-letter impostor.

~High-flyer~, a large swing, in frames, at fairs and races. The first fast coaches were called high-flyers on account of their desperate speed.

~High jinks~, “ON THE HIGH JINKS,” taking up an arrogant position, assuming an undue superiority. Scott explains this game in _Guy Mannering_. Nowadays HIGH JINKS is often used to mean a jollification.

~High-lows~, laced boots reaching a trifle higher than ankle-jacks.

~High-strikes~, corruption of _Hysterics_.

~Hipped~, bored, offended, crossed, low-spirited, &c. This may have been originally hypped, and have had some connexion with hypochondriacal affections.

~Hitched~, an Americanism for married. From the word HITCH, used in America in the sense of to harness.

~Hittite~, a facetious sporting term for a prize-fighter. Derived from the Bible.

~Hivite~, a student of St. Begh’s College, Cumberland, which is pronounced and generally written St. Bee’s. Literally, Hive-ite.

~Hoax~, to deceive, or ridicule,—Grose says this was originally a University cant word. Corruption of HOCUS, to cheat.

~Hob and nob~, to act in concert with another; to lay “heads together;” to touch glasses in drinking; to fraternize in a convivial meeting or merry-making. Originally meaning “foot and head,”—the touching of the top of one glass with the bottom of another, and then reversing the order. Nowadays it means simply to clink glasses together as a salutation before imbibing.

~Hobbadehoy~, a youth who has ceased to regard himself as a boy, and is not yet regarded as a man.

~Hobble~, trouble of any kind. A man is said to be in a HOBBLE when he has offended the proprieties in any way, “from pitch and toss to manslaughter.”

~Hobbled~, committed for trial; properly said of animals fed by the wayside, with their forelegs fastened together. Hence people who gather burdens about them are said to get into HOBBLES.

~Hob Collingwood~, according to Brockett, a north country term for the four of hearts, considered an unlucky card.

~Hobson’s choice~, “this or none.” Hobson was a carrier at Cambridge, and also a letter-out of horses for hire; and is said to have always compelled his customers to take the horse that stood in the stall next the stable-door or none at all. He was a benefactor to the town, and Hobson’s Conduit still stands as a memorial of him.

~Hock-dockies~, shoes.

~Hocks~, the feet and ankles; CURBY HOCKS, round or clumsy feet and ankles. Term originating with horsey men.

~Hocus~, to drug a person for purposes of robbery. The potion generally consists of snuff and beer among rogues of the lowest class, and is by them called “snuffing a bloke;” or sometimes, when the drug is administered to a woman for purposes other than those of robbery, “snuffing a blowen.”

~Hocus pocus~, gipsy words of magic, similar to the modern “presto fly.” The gipsies pronounce “_Habeas Corpus_,” HAWCUS PACCUS (_see_ Crabb’s _Gipsies’ Advocate_, p. 18); can this have anything to do with the origin of HOCUS POCUS? Turner gives OCHUS BOCHUS, an old demon. Pegge, however, states that it is a burlesque rendering of the words of the Roman Catholic Church service at the delivery of the host, HOC EST CORPUS, which the early Protestants considered as a species of conjuring, and ridiculed accordingly.

~Hodge~, a countryman or provincial clown. Most country districts in England have one or more families in the name of HODGE; indeed, GILES and HODGE appear to be the favourite hobnail nomenclature. HODGE is said to be simply an abbreviation of Roger.

~Hog~, a shilling.—_Old Cant._

~Hog~, “to go the whole HOG;” “the whole HOG or none,” to do anything with a person’s entire strength, not “by halves;” realized by the phrase “in for a penny in for a pound.” Bartlett claims this to be a pure American phrase; whilst Ker, of course, gives it a Dutch origin.—_Old._ “To go the whole HOG” is frequently altered by those people who believe there is wit in circumlocution, into “the entire animal,” or “the complete swine!”

~Hoga~, do. “That wont HOGA,” _i.e._, that wont do, is one of the very commonest of the Anglo-Indian slang phrases.

~Hogmagundy~, the process by which the population is increased.

“There’s many a job that day begun That ends in Hogmagundy.”—_Burns._

~Hogmany night~, New Year’s Eve, when presents are solicited by the young folk.—_Scotch._

~Hogo~, a tremendous stench. From _haut goût_. Now often pronounced FOGO.

~Hoisting~, shoplifting.

~Hold hard~, an exclamation made when a sudden stoppage is desired. Originally an expression used in riding or driving, now general.

~Hollow~, “to beat HOLLOW,” to excel.

~Holy Joe~, a sea-term for a parson.

~Holy Land~, a very old term for the Seven Dials,—where St. Giles’s Greek is spoken.

~Homo~, a man. _Lingua Franca_; but _see_ OMEE, the more usual Cockney pronunciation.

~Hondey~, a Manchester name for an omnibus, and the abbreviation of HONDEYBUSH, the original Lancashire pronunciation of the word.

~Honest Shilling~, a shilling earned by a process actually immoral, but not positively illegal. The money earned by a prostitute is said to be honest, as distinguished from that obtained by a thief. Probably from the story of the converted burglar, who determined to sin no more himself, and who lectured against dishonesty, but sent his wife out regularly every evening with instructions to earn an HONEST SHILLING.

~Honey blobs~, a Scotch term for large ripe, yellow gooseberries.

~Honour bright~, an asseveration which means literally, “by my honour, which is bright and unsullied.” It is often still further curtailed to “HONOUR!” only.

~Hook~, an expression at Oxford, implying doubt, either connected with Hookey Walker, or with a note of interrogation (?) “Yes, with a HOOK at the end of it!” _i.e._, with some reservation, generally that of doubt, by the speaker.

~Hook~, to steal or rob. _See_ the following.

~Hook or by crook~, by fair means or foul—in allusion to the hook with which footpads used to steal from open windows, &c., and from which HOOK, to take or steal, has been derived. Mentioned in _Hudibras_ as a cant term.

~Hook it~, “get out of the way,” or “be off about your business;” generally varied by “take your HOOK.” “To HOOK it,” to run away, to decamp; “on one’s own HOOK,” dependent upon one’s own exertions. Originally connected with the preceding, but now perfectly “on its own HOOK.”

~Hookey walker!~ ejaculation of incredulity, usually shortened to WALKER!—which _see_.

~Hooks~, “dropped off the HOOKS,” said of a deceased person—possibly derived from the ancient practice of suspending on hooks the quarters of a traitor or felon sentenced by the old law to be hung, drawn, and quartered, which dropped off the hooks as they decayed.

~Hook um snivey~ (formerly “HOOK and SNIVEY”), a low expression, meaning to cheat by feigning sickness or other means. Also a piece of thick iron wire crooked at one end, and fastened into a wooden handle, for the purpose of undoing from the outside the wooden bolt of a door. Sometimes used as an irrelevant answer by street boys. As, “who did that?”—“HOOK UM SNIVEY”—actually no one.

~Hop~, a dance.—_Fashionable slang._

~Hop merchant~, a dancing master.

~Hop o’ my thumb~, an undersized person. From the story of that name. Portion of a set of phrases established for the benefit of the small, in which Tomtit, Little Breeches, Daniel Lambert, Sixfoot, Twentystun, &c., play a prominent part.

~Hopping Giles~, a cripple. St. Ægidius or Giles, himself similarly afflicted, was the patron saint of lazars and cripples. The ancient lazar houses were dedicated to him.

~Hoppo~, custom-house officer, or custom-house. Almost anything connected with custom-house business.—_Anglo-Chinese._

~Hop the twig~, to run away; also, a flippant expression meaning to die. Many similar phrases are used by the thoughtless and jocose, as “laying down one’s knife and fork,” “pegging out,” from the game of cribbage, and “snuffing it.” A new form of this phraseology is to say that a man has “given up” or “given in.”

~Hornswoggle~, nonsense, humbug. Believed to be of American origin.

~Horrors~, the low spirits, or “blue devils,” which follow intoxication. Incipient _del. trem._

~Horse~, contraction of Horsemonger-Lane Gaol, also a slang term for a five-pound note.

~Horse~, to flog. From the old wooden horse or flogging-stool.

~Horsebreaker.~ _See_ PRETTY HORSEBREAKER.

~Horse chaunter~, a dealer who takes worthless horses to country fairs and disposes of them by artifice. He is generally an unprincipled fellow, and will put in a glass eye, fill a beast with shot, plug him with ginger, or in fact do anything so that he sells to advantage. _See_ COPER.

~Horse marine~, an awkward person. In ancient times the “jollies,” or Royal Marines, were the butts of the sailors, from their ignorance of seamanship. “Tell that to the MARINES, the blue jackets wont believe it!” was a common rejoinder to a “stiff yarn.” A HORSE MARINE (an impossibility) was used to denote one more awkward even than an ordinary “jolly.” Nowadays the MARINES are deservedly appreciated as one of the finest regiments in the service.

~Horse nails.~ At the game of cribbage, when a player finds it his policy to keep his antagonist back, rather than push himself forward, and plays accordingly, he is sometimes said “to feed his opponent on HORSE NAILS.”

~Horse nails~, money.—_Compare_ BRADS.

~Horse’s nightcap~, a halter; “to die in a HORSE’S NIGHTCAP,” to be hanged.

~Horsey~, like a groom or jockey. Applied also to persons who affect the turf in dress or conversation.

~Hot coppers~, the feverish sensations experienced in the morning by those who have been drunk over-night.

~Hot tiger~, an Oxford mixture of hot-spiced ale and sherry.

~House of Commons~, a humorous term for the closet of decency.

~Houses;~ “safe as HOUSES,” an expression to satisfy a doubting person; “Oh! it’s as safe as HOUSES,” _i.e._, perfectly safe, apparently in allusion to the paying character of house property as an investment. It is said the phrase originated when the railway bubbles began to burst, and when people began to turn their attention to the more ancient forms of speculation, which though slow were sure.

~Housewarming~, the first friendly gathering in a new or freshly-occupied house.

~How-came-you-so?~ intoxicated.

~How much?~ A facetious way of asking for an explanation of any difficult or pedantic expression. “Why don’t you cook your potatoes in an anhydrohepsaterion?” A waggish listener might be excused for asking, “An anhydro—HOW MUCH!”

~How’s your poor feet?~ an idiotic street cry with no meaning, much in vogue a few years back.

~Hoxter~, an inside pocket.—_Old English_, OXTER. Probably the low slang word HUXTER, money, is derived from this. OXTER is, among the Irish, an armpit.

~Hubble bubble~, the Indian pipe termed a hookah is thus designated, from the noise it makes when being smoked.

~Huey~, a town or village.—_Tramps’ term._

~Huff~, a dodge or trick; “don’t try that HUFF on me,” or “that HUFF wont do.” Also a term in the game of draughts,—the penalty for failing to take an opponent’s piece when an opportunity occurs.

~Huff~, to vex, to offend; a poor temper. HUFFY, easily offended. HUFFED, annoyed, offended. Some folk are tersely and truly described as easily HUFFED.

~Hugger-mugger~, underhand, sneaking. Also, “in a state of HUGGER-MUGGER” means to be muddled.

~Hulk~, to hang about in hopes of an invitation. _See_ MOOCH.

~Hulky~, extra-sized.—_Shropshire._ From this and from hulk we probably get our adjective HULKING, as applied to the great lazy ruffians who infest low neighbourhoods.

~Hum and haw~, to hesitate, or raise objections.—_Old English._

~Humble pie~, to “eat HUMBLE PIE,” to knock under, to be submissive. The UMBLES, or entrails, and other unprime parts of a deer, were anciently made into a dish for servants, while their masters feasted off the haunch.

~Hum-box~, a pulpit. This is a very old term.

~Humbug~, an imposition, or a person who imposes upon others. A very expressive but slang word, synonymous at one time with HUM AND HAW. Lexicographers for a long time objected to the adoption of this term. Richardson uses it frequently to express the meaning of other words, but, strange to say, omits it in the alphabetical arrangement as unworthy of recognition! In the first edition of this work, 1785 was given as the earliest date at which the word could be found in a printed book. Since then HUMBUG has been traced half a century further back, on the title-page of a singular old jest-book—“_The Universal Jester_; or a pocket companion for the Wits: being a choice collection of merry conceits, facetious drolleries, &c., clenchers, closers, closures, bon-mots, and HUMBUGS,” by Ferdinando Killigrew. London, about 1735-40.

The notorious Orator Henley was known to the mob as ORATOR HUMBUG. The fact may be learned from an illustration in that exceedingly curious little collection of _Caricatures_, published in 1757, many of which were sketched by Lord Bolingbroke—Horace Walpole filling in the names and explanations. Halliwell describes HUMBUG as “a person who hums,” and cites Dean Milles’s MS., which was written about 1760. In the last century, the game now known as double-dummy was termed HUMBUG. Lookup, a notorious gambler, was struck down by apoplexy when playing at this game. On the circumstance being reported to Foote, the wit said—“Ah, I always thought he would be HUMBUGGED out of the world at last!” It has been stated that the word is a corruption of Hamburgh, from which town so many false bulletins and reports came during the war in the last century. “Oh, that is _Hamburgh_ [or HUMBUG],” was the answer to any fresh piece of news which smacked of improbability. Grose mentions it in his Dictionary, 1785; and in a little printed squib, published in 1808, entitled _Bath Characters_, by T. Goosequill, HUMBUG is thus mentioned in a comical couplet on the title-page:—

“Wee Thre Bath Deities bee, HUMBUG, Follie, and Varietee.”

Gradually from this time the word began to assume a place in periodical literature, and in novels written by not over-precise authors. In the preface to a flat, and most likely unprofitable poem, entitled, _The Reign of HUMBUG, a Satire_, 8vo, 1836, the author thus apologizes for the use of the word:—“I have used the term HUMBUG to designate this principle [wretched sophistry of life generally], considering that, it is now adopted into our language as much as the words dunce, jockey, cheat, swindler, &c., which were formerly only colloquial terms.” A correspondent, who in a number of _Adversaria_ ingeniously traced bombast to the inflated Doctor Paracelsus Bombast, considers that HUMBUG may, in like manner, be derived from Homberg, the distinguished chemist of the court of the Duke of Orleans, who, according to the following passage from Bishop Berkeley’s _Siris_, was an ardent and successful seeker after the philosopher’s stone!

“§194.—Of this there cannot be a better proof than the experiment of Monsieur Homberg, who made gold of mercury by introducing light into its pores, but at such trouble and expense that, I suppose, nobody will try the experiment for profit. By this injunction of light and mercury, both bodies became fixed, and produced a third different to either, to wit, real gold. For the truth of which fact I refer to the memoirs of the French Academy of Sciences.”—_Berkeley’s Works_, vol ii. p. 366 (Wright’s edition).

Another derivation suggested is that of AMBAGE, a Latin word adopted into the English language _temp._ Charles I. (_see_ May’s translation of Lucan’s _Pharsalia_), and meaning conduct the reverse of straightforward. Again, in the (burlesque) _Loves of Hero and Leander_ (date 1642), we find “MUM-BUG, quoth he, ’twas known of yore,” a cant expression, no doubt, commanding a person to “shut up,” or hold his tongue, and evidently derived from the game of _mum-budget_ or _silence_, upon which Halliwell (_Dict. Arch_.) has descanted.

AMBAGE is also used in the sense of “circumlocution.” “Without any long studie or tedious AMBAGE.”—_Puttenham_, _Art of Poesie_.

“Umh! y’ are full of AMBAGE.”—_Decker’s Whore of Babylon_, 1607.

“Thus from her cell Cumæan Sibyl sings Ambiguous AMBAGES, the cloyster rings With the shrill sound thereof, in most dark strains.”

_Vicar’s Virgil_, 1632.

De Quincey thus discourses upon the word:—

“The word HUMBUG, for instance, rests upon a rich and comprehensive basis; it cannot be rendered adequately either by German or by Greek, the two richest of human languages; and without this expressive word we should all be disarmed for one great case, continually recurrent, of social enormity. A vast mass of villany, that cannot otherwise be reached by legal penalties, or brought within the rhetoric of scorn, would go at large with absolute impunity were it not through the stern Rhadamanthean aid of this virtuous and inexorable word.”—_Article on “Language.”_

The original collater of these notes purchased the collection of essays known as the _Connoisseur_ at the sale of Thackeray’s library. At the end of vol. i. he found a memorandum in the great humourist’s handwriting—“p. 108, ‘HUMBUG,’ a new-coined expression.” On referring to that page (in the 3rd edition, 1757) this paragraph was noted:—