Part 7

Operatives’ or workmen’s Slang, in quality, is but slightly removed from tradesmen’s Slang. When belonging to the same shop or factory, they “graft” there, and are “brother chips.” Among printers the favourite term is “comps,”—not compositors, though the same contraction is used for that word,—but companions, whether so in actual fact, or as members of the same “companionship.” A companionship is the number of men engaged on any one work, and this is in turn reduced to “ship:” sometimes it is a “’stab ship,” _i.e._, paid by the week, therefore on the establishment; sometimes it is “on the piece,” and anyhow it is an extremely critical organization, so perhaps it would be better to broaden the subject. Workmen generally dine at “slap-bang shops,” and are often paid at “tommy shops.” At the nearest “pub,” or public-house, they generally have a “score chalked up” against them, which has to be “wiped off” regularly on the Saturday night. This is often known as a “light.” When credit is bad the “light” is said to be out. When out of work, they describe themselves as being “out of collar.” They term each other “flints” and “dungs,” if they are “society” or “non-society” men. Their salary is a “screw,” and to be discharged is to “get the sack,” varied by the expression “get the bullet,” the connexion of which with discharge is obvious, as the small lecturers—those at the Polytechnic for instance—say, to the meanest capacity. When they quit work, they “knock off;” and when out of employ, they ask if any “hands” are, or any assistance is, wanted. “Fat” is the vulgar synonym for perquisites; “elbow grease” signifies labour; and “Saint Monday” is the favourite day of the week. Names of animals figure plentifully in the workman’s vocabulary; thus we have “goose,” a tailor’s smoothing-iron; “sheep’s-foot,” an iron hammer; “sow,” a receptacle for molten iron, whilst the metal poured from it is termed “pig.” Many of the Slang terms for money may have originally come from the workshop, thus—“brads,” from the ironmonger; “chips,” from the carpenter; “dust,” from the goldsmith; “feathers,” from the upholsterer; “horse-nails,” from the farrier; “haddock,” from the fishmonger; and “tanner and skin” from the leather-dresser.

If society, as has been remarked, is a sham, from the vulgar foundation of commonalty to the crowning summit of royalty, then do we perceive the justness of the remark in that most peculiar of peculiarities, the Slang of makeshifts for oaths, and sham exclamations for passion and temper. These apologies for feeling are an addition to our vernacular, and though some argue that they are a disgrace, for the reason that no man should pretend to swear or curse who does not do so, it is some satisfaction to know that they serve the purpose of reducing the stock of national profanity. “You be blowed,” or “I’ll be blowed if,” &c., is an exclamation often heard in the streets. “Blazes,” or “like blazes,” came probably from the army, unless, indeed, it came from the original metaphor, afterwards corrupted, to serve all turns, “to smoke like blazes.” “Blast,” too, although in general vulgar use, may have had an engineering or military origin, and the phrase, “I wish I may be shot, if,” smacks much of powder. “Blow me tight” is a very windy and common exclamation. The same may be said of “strike me lucky,” “never trust me,” and “so help me Davy;” the latter being evidently derived from the truer old phrase, “I’ll take my Davy on’t”—_i.e._, my affidavit, “Davy,” and sometimes “Alfred Davy,” being a corruption of that word. “By Golly,” “Gol darn it,” and “so help”—generally pronounced “selp” or “swelp”—“me Bob,” are evident shams for profane oaths. “Tarnation” is but a softening of damnation; and “od,” whether used in “od drat it,” or “od’s blood,” is but an apology for the name of the Deity. “Marry,” a term of asseveration in common use, was originally, in Popish times, a mode of swearing by the Virgin Mary;—so also “marrow-bones,” for the knees. “I’ll bring him down upon his marrow-bones,”—_i.e._, I’ll make him bend his knees as he does to the Virgin Mary. The Irish phrase, “Bad scran to yer!” is equivalent to wishing a person bad food. “I’m sniggered if you will,” and “I’m jiggered,” are other mild forms of swearing among men fearful of committing an open profanity, yet slily nibbling at the sin. Maybe, some day one of these adventurers will meet with the object of his desires, and then when fairly “jiggered,” whatever it may ultimately turn out to be, it is to be hoped he will prove a fearful example to all persons with the will, but not the pluck, to swear fierce oaths. Both “deuce” and “dickens” are vulgar old synonyms for the devil; and “zounds” is an abbreviation of “God’s wounds,”—a very ancient oath.

In a casual survey of the territory of Slang, it is curious to observe how well represented are the familiar wants and failings of life. First, there is money, with one hundred and odd Slang terms and synonyms; then comes drink, from small beer to champagne; and next as a very natural sequence, intoxication, and fuddlement generally, with some half a hundred vulgar terms, graduating the scale of drunkenness, from a slight inebriation to the soaky state which leads to the gutter, sometimes to the stretcher, the station-house, the fine, and, most terrible of all, the “caution.” The Slang synonyms for mild intoxication are certainly very choice,—they are “beery,” “bemused,” “boozy,” “bosky,” “buffy,” “corned,” “foggy,” “fou,” “fresh,” “hazy,” “elevated,” “kisky,” “lushy,” “moony,” “muggy,” “muzzy,” “on,” “screwed,” “stewed,” “tight,” and “winey.” A higher or more intense state of beastliness is represented by the expressions, “podgy,” “beargered,” “blued,” “cut,” “primed,” “lumpy,” “ploughed,” “muddled,” “obfuscated,” “swipey,” “three sheets in the wind,” and “top-heavy.” But the climax of fuddlement is only obtained when the “disguised” individual “can’t see a hole in a ladder,” or when he is all “mops and brooms,” or “off his nut,” or with his “main-brace well spliced,” or with the “sun in his eyes,” or when he has “lapped the gutter,” and got the “gravel rash,” or is on the “ran-tan,” or on the “ree-raw,” or when “sewed up,” and regularly “scammered,”—then, and not till then, is he entitled, in vulgar society, to the title of “lushington,” or recommended to “put in the pin,” _i.e._, the linch-pin, to keep his legs steady.

FOOTNOTES:

[32] An outgrowth of this latter peculiarity consisted in anyone with a high or prominent nose being, a few years back, called by the street boys “Duke.”

[33] This term, with a singular literal downrightness, which would be remarkable in any other people than the French, is translated by them as the sect of _Trembleurs_.

[34] Swift alludes to this term in his _Art of Polite Conversation_, p. 14, 1738.

[35] See _Notes and Queries_, vol. i. p. 185. 1850.

[36] He afterwards kept a tavern at Wapping, mentioned by Pope in the _Dunciad_.

[37] _Sportsman’s Dictionary_, 1825, p. 15.

[38] This introduction was written in 1859, before the new edition of _Worcester_, and Nuttall’s recent work, were published.

[39] Introduction to Bee’s _Sportsman’s Dictionary_, 1825.

[40] The Gipsies use the word Slang as the Anglican synonym for Romany, the Continental (or rather Spanish) term for the Cingari or Gipsy tongue. Crabb, who wrote the _Gipsies’ Advocate_ in 1831, thus mentions the word:—“This language [Gipsy] _called by themselves_ Slang, or Gibberish, invented, as they think, by their forefathers for secret purposes, is not merely the language of one or a few of these wandering tribes, which are found in the European nations, but is adopted by the vast numbers who inhabit the earth.”

[41] The word Slang assumed various meanings amongst costermongers, beggars, and vagabonds of all orders. It was, and is still, used to express “cheating by false weights,” “a raree show,” “retiring by a back door,” “a watch-chain,” their “secret language,” &c.

[42] North, in his _Examen_, p. 574, says, “I may note that the rabble first changed their title, and were called the “mob” in the assemblies of this [Green Ribbon] club. It was their beasts of burden, and called first _mobile vulgus_, but fell naturally into the contraction of one syllable, and ever since is become proper English.” In the same work, p. 231, the disgraceful origin of SHAM is given.

[43] I am afraid my predecessor was of a somewhat satirical turn of mind, or else he had peculiar notions of melody.—ED.

[44] This latter is, as I take it, an error, as the sign was originally intended to represent the king’s head and cross guns, and may still be seen in parts of the country.—ED.

[45] Savez-vous cela?—[I fancy this is from the Spanish _sabe_. The word is in great use in the Pacific States of America, and is obtained through constant intercourse with the original settlers.—ED.]

[46] At page 24 of a curious old Civil War tract, entitled, _The Oxonian Antippodes_, by I. B., Gent., 1644, the town is called Brummidgham, and this was the general rendering in the printed literature of the seventeenth century.—[This must have been the first known step towards the present vulgar style of spelling, for properly the word is Bromwich-ham, which has been corrupted into Brummagem, a term used to express worthless or inferior goods, from the spurious jewellery, plate, &c., manufactured there expressly for “duffers.”—ED.]

[47] This was more especially an amusement with medical students, after the modern Mohocks had discarded it. The students are now a comparatively mild and quiet race, with very little of the style of a generation ago about them.

[48] _Edinburgh Review_, October, 1853.

[49] A term derived from the _Record_ newspaper, the exponent of this singular section of the Low, or so-called Evangelical Church.

[50] A preacher is said, in this phraseology, to be “owned” when he makes many converts, and his converts are called his “seals.” This is Cant in its most objectionable form.

[51] “Swaddler” is also a phrase by which the low Irish Roman Catholics denominate those of their body who in winter become Protestants, _pro tem._, for the sake of the blankets, coals, &c., given by proselytizing Protestants. It is hard to say which are the worse, those who refuse to give unless the objects of their charity become converted, or those who sham conversion to save themselves from starving, or the tender mercies of the relieving officer. I am much afraid my sympathies are with the “swaddlers,” who are also called “soupers.”—ED.

[52] “All our newspapers contain more or less colloquial words; in fact, there seems no other way of expressing certain ideas connected with passing events of every-day life with the requisite force and piquancy. In the English newspapers the same thing is observable, and certain of them contain more of the class denominated Slang words than our own.”—_Bartlett’s Americanisms_, p. 10, edit. 1859.

[53] When this appeared, “all serene” was one of those street phrases which periodically spring up, have their rage, and depart as suddenly as they come into popularity. These sayings are generally of a most idiotic nature, as their latest specimens, “I’ll warm yer,” “All serene,” and “I’ll ’ave your hi”—used without any premonitory notice or regard to context, and screeched out at the top of the voice—will testify. I suppose we shall soon have another of these “ebullitions of popular feeling.”—ED.

[54] The terms “leader” and “article” can scarcely be called Slang, yet it would be desirable to know upon what authority they were first employed in their present peculiar sense.

[55] The _Morning Herald_ was called “Mrs. Harris,” because it was said that no one ever saw it, a peculiarity which, in common with its general disregard for veracity, made it uncommonly like “Mrs. Gamp’s” invisible friend as portrayed by Dickens. But the _Herald_ has long since departed this life, and with it has gone the title of “Mrs. Gamp,” as applied to the _Standard_, which is, though, as impulsive and Conservative as ever.—ED.

[56] This is rhyming slang, and is corrupted into “lord” only. “Touch-me,” a common term for a shilling, is also derived from the same source, it being short for “touch-me-on-the-nob,” which is rhyming slang for “bob” or shilling.

THE

SLANG DICTIONARY.

~A 1~, first-rate, the very best; “she’s a prime girl, she is; she is A 1.”—_Sam Slick_. The highest classification of ships at Lloyd’s; common term in the United States; also at Liverpool and other English seaports. Another, even more intensitive form is “first-class, letter A, No. 1.” Some people choose to say A I, for no reason, however, beyond that of being different from others.

~Abigail~, a lady’s-maid; perhaps obtained from old comedies. Used in an uncomplimentary sense. Some think the term is derived from Abigail Hill (Mrs. Masham), lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne, and a typical ABIGAIL in the way of intrigue.

~About Right~, “to do the thing ABOUT RIGHT,” _i.e._, to do it properly, soundly, correctly; “he guv it ’im ABOUT RIGHT,” _i.e._, he beat him severely.

~Abraham-man~, a vagabond, such as were driven to beg about the country after the dissolution of the monasteries.—_See_ BESS O’ BEDLAM, _infra_. They are well described under the title of _Bedlam Beggars_.—_Shakspeare’s K. Lear_, ii. 3.

“And these, what name or title e’er they bear, Jarkman, or Patrico, Cranke, or Clapper-dudgeon, Frater, or ABRAM-MAN; I speak to all That stand in fair election for the title Of king of beggars.”—_Beaumont and Fletcher’s Begg. Bush._ II. 1.

It appears to have been the practice in former days to allow certain inmates of Bethlehem Hospital to have fixed days “to go begging:” hence impostors were said to “SHAM ABRAHAM” (the Abraham Ward in Bedlam having for its inmates these mendicant lunatics) when they pretended they were licensed beggars in behalf of the hospital.

~Abraham-sham~, or SHAM ABRAHAM, to feign sickness or distress. From ABRAHAM-MAN, the _ancient Cant_ term for a begging impostor, or one who pretended to have been mad.—_Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy_, vol. i. p. 360. When Abraham Newland was Cashier to the Bank of England, and signed their notes, it was sung:—

“I have heard people say That SHAM ABRAHAM you may, But you mustn’t SHAM ABRAHAM Newland.”

~Absquatulate~, to run away, or abscond; a hybrid _American_ expression, from the Latin _ab_, and “squat” to settle.

~Acres~, a coward. From Bob Acres, in Sheridan’s _Rivals_.

~Adam’s Ale~, water.—_English._ The _Scotch_ term is ADAM’S WINE.

~Added to the List~, a euphuism current among sporting writers implying that a horse has been gelded. As, “Sabinus has been ADDED TO THE LIST.” Another form of expression in reference to this matter is that “the knife has been brought into requisition.” “ADDED TO THE LIST” is simply a contraction for “added to the list of geldings in training.”

~Addlepate~, a foolish fellow, a dullard.

~Admiral of the Red~, a person whose very red face evinces a fondness for strong potations.

~Affygraphy.~ “It fits to an AFFYGRAPHY,” _i.e._, to a nicety—to a _T_.

~Afternoon Farmer~, one who wastes his best opportunity, and drives off the large end of his work to the little end of his time.

~Against the Grain~, in opposition to the wish. “It went AGAINST THE GRAIN to do it, but I knew I must,” is a common expression.

~Aggerawators~ (corruption of _Aggravators_), the greasy locks of hair in vogue among costermongers and other street folk, worn twisted from the temple back towards the ear. They are also, from a supposed resemblance in form, termed NEWGATE KNOCKERS, and sometimes NUMBER SIXES. This style of adorning the head is, however, fast dying out, and the everyday costermonger or street thief has his hair cut like any one else. The yearly militia drill may have had a good deal to do with this alteration.

~Akeybo~, a slang phrase used in the following manner:—“He beats AKEYBO, and AKEYBO beat the devil.”

~Albertopolis~, a facetious appellation given by the Londoners to the Kensington Gore district. Now obsolete.

~Alderman~, a half-crown—possibly from its rotundity. Also a long pipe.

~Alderman~, a turkey; “ALDERMAN IN CHAINS,” a turkey hung with sausages.

~All of a Hugh!~ all on one side; falling with a thump; the word HUGH being pronounced with a grunt.—_Suffolk._

~All my Eye~, a remark of incredulity made in reference to an improbable story; condensation of “ALL MY EYE AND BETTY MARTIN,” a vulgar phrase constructed from the commencement of a Roman Catholic prayer to St. Martin, “Oh, mihi, beate Martine,” which in common with many another fell into discredit and ridicule after the Reformation.

~All out~, by far;—“he was ALL OUT the best of the lot.” _Old_—frequently used by Burton in his _Anatomy of Melancholy_.

~All-overish~, neither sick nor well; the premonitory symptoms of illness. Also the feeling which comes over a man at a critical moment, say just when he is about to “pop the question.” Sometimes this is called, “feeling all over alike, and touching nowhere.”

~All-rounder~, a shirt collar going all round the neck and meeting in front. Once fashionable, but little worn now.

~All Serene~, an ejaculation of acquiescence. Some years back a popular street cry. With or without application to actual fact, the words ALL SERENE were bawled from morning to night without any reference to the serenity of the unfortunate hearers.—_See_ SERENE.

~Alls~, tap-droppings, refuse spirits sold at a cheap rate in gin-palaces.

~All There~, in strict fashion, first-rate, “up to the mark;” a vulgar person would speak of a handsome, well-dressed woman as being ALL THERE. An artisan would use the same phrase to express the capabilities of a skillful fellow-workman. Sometimes ALL THE WAY THERE. Always used as a term of encomium.

~All to Pieces~, utterly, excessively; “he beat him ALL TO PIECES,” _i.e._, excelled or surpassed him exceedingly. Also a term much in use among sporting men and expressing want of form, or decadence. A boat’s crew are said to “go ALL TO PIECES” when they through distress lose their regularity. A woman is vulgarly said to “fall to pieces,” or “tumble to pieces,” when she is confined.

~All to Smash~, or “GONE ALL TO PIECES,” bankrupt, ruined.

~Almighty Dollar~, an _American_ expression representing the manner in which money is worshipped. Modernly introduced by Washington Irving in 1837. The _idea_ of this phrase is, however, far older than the time of _Irving_. _Ben Jonson’s Epistle to Elizabeth, Countess of Rutland_, commences thus—

“Whilst that for which all virtue now is sold, And almost every vice, _almightie gold_.”

It seems almost obvious that the term must have been applied, not to dollars certainly, but to money, long before the time of Irving.

~American Tweezers~, an instrument used by an hotel-sneak which nips the wards end of a key, and enables him to open a door from the opposite side to that on which it has been locked.

~Andrew Millar~, a ship of war.—_Sea._

~Ain’t~, the vulgar abbreviation of “am not,” “are not,” or “is not.”

~Anointed~, _i.e._, eminent; used to express great rascality in any one; “an ANOINTED scoundrel,” king among scoundrels.—_Irish._

~Anointing~, a good beating. A case for the application of salve.

~Anonyma~, a lady of the _demi-monde_, or worse; a “pretty horsebreaker.” INCOGNITA was the term at first. Product of the squeamishness of the age which tries to thrust away fact by the use of fine words.

~Antiscriptural~, oaths, foul language. Anything unfit for ordinary society conversation.

~Apartments to Let~, a term used in reference to one who has a somewhat empty head. As, “He’s got APARTMENTS TO LET.”

~Apostle’s Grove~, the London district known as St. John’s Wood. Also called GROVE OF THE EVANGELIST.

~Apostles~, THE TWELVE, the last twelve names on the Poll, or “Ordinary Degree” List at the Cambridge Examinations, when it was arranged in order of merit, and not alphabetically, and in classes, as at present; so called from their being _post alios_, after the others.—_See_ POLL. The last of all was called ST. PAUL (or Saint Poll), as being the least of the apostles, and “not meet to be called an apostle” (_see_ 1 Cor. xv. 9). As in the “Honour” list (_see_ GULF), students who had failed only slightly in one or more subjects were occasionally allowed their degrees, and these were termed ELEGANT EXTRACTS.—_Camb. Univ. Slang._

~Apple-pie Bed~, a trick played at schools on new comers, or on any boy disliked by the rest. One of the sheets is removed, and the other is doubled in the middle, so that both edges are brought to the top, and look as if both sheets were there; but the unhappy occupant is prevented getting more than half-way down, and he has to remake his bed as best he can. This trick is sometimes played by children of a larger growth.

~Apple-Cart~, the human structure, so far as the phrases with which it is connected are concerned. As “I’ll upset your APPLE-CART,” “down with his APPLE-CART.”

~Apple-pie Order~, in exact or very nice order.

~Appro~, contraction of approbation, a word much in use among jewellers. Most of the extensive show of chains, watches, and trinkets in a shop window is obtained “ON APPRO,” _i.e._, “on sale or return.”

~Area Sneak~, a thief who commits depredations upon kitchens and cellars.

~Argol-bargol~, to bandy words.—_Scotch._

~Article~, derisive term for a weak or insignificant specimen of humanity.

~Atomy~, a diminutive or deformed person. From ANATOMY, or ATOM.

~Attack~, to carve, or commence operations; “ATTACK that beef, and oblige!”

~Attic~, the head; “queer in the ATTIC,” intoxicated or weak-minded. Sometimes ATTIC is varied by “upper story.”

~Attic Salt~, wit, humour, pleasantry. Partly a reference to a suggestive portion of Grecian literature, and partly a sly hit at the well-known poverty of many writers.

~Auctioneer~, to “tip him the AUCTIONEER,” is to knock a man down. Tom Sayers’s right hand was known to pugilistic fame as the AUCTIONEER.

~Audit Ale~, extra strong ale supposed to be drunk when the accounts are audited.—_Camb. Univ._

~Auld-Reekie~, an affectionate term for the old town of Edinburgh. Derived from its dingy appearance.

~Aunt Sally~, a favourite figure on racecourses and at fairs, consisting of a wooden head mounted on a stick, firmly fixed in the ground; in the nose of which, or rather where the nose should be, a tobacco-pipe is inserted. The fun consists in standing at a distance and demolishing AUNT SALLY’S pipe-clay projection with short bludgeons, very similar to the halves of broom-handles. The Duke of Beaufort is a “crack hand” at smashing pipe noses; and his performances some years ago on Brighton racecourse, which brought the game into notoriety, are yet fresh in remembrance. AUNT SALLY has, however, had her day, and once again the inevitable “three shies a penny!” is chief among our outdoor amusements.

~Avast~, a sailor’s phrase for stop, shut up, go away,—apparently connected with the _old Cant_, BYNGE A WASTE; or from the _Italian_, BASTA, hold! enough.

~Awake~, or FLY, knowing, thoroughly understanding. “I’m awake,” _i.e._, I know all. The phrase WIDE-AWAKE carries a similar meaning in ordinary conversation, but has a more general reference.

~Awful~, a senseless expletive, used to intensify a description of anything good or bad; “what an AWFUL fine woman!” “awfully jolly,” “awfully sorry,” &c. The phrase is not confined to any section of society.

~Ax~, to ask. Sometimes pronounced arks.