Jelly-belly, subs. (common).—A fat man or woman; a forty-guts (q.v.).
Jem, subs. (Old Cant.).—A gold ring: rum-gem = a diamond ring.
1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.
Jemima, subs. (common).—A chamber-pot; a urinal (q.v.). For synonyms
see It.
Jeminy! (or O Jeminy!), intj. (common).—See Gemini.
1686. Durfey, Commonwealth of Women, Epil. Oh jemminy! what is the
cause of that?
1880. Besant and Rice, Seamy Side, xxii. ‘Oh, jeminy!’ says the
judge—crafty old man, that!—‘here’s artfulness!’
Jemminess. See Jemmy.
Jemmy (or Jimmy), subs. (common).—I. A short crowbar, usually made in
sections screwing together, used by housebreakers. Also James (q.v.).
English synonyms. Bess; betty; crow; dog; Jack-in-the-box; James; jilt;
lord-mayor; persuading plate; pig’s-foot; the stick; screw (also a
skeleton key); tivvill; twist; twirl.
French synonyms. Les agobilles (thieves’ = house-breaking tools); les
alènes (pop: = shoemakers’ awls); l’avant-courier (thieves’); le
bataclan (= the kit); le cadet (thieves’); l’enfant; Jacques (= jemmy);
sucre de pomme (thieves’); le biribi; le rigolo; les halènes (see
alènes, ante); le monseigneur (Cf. Lord Mayor); les outils (= tools).
Spanish synonyms. Culebra (= adder).
1752. Adventurer, No. 100. And when I went out, carried in my hand
a little switch, which, as it has been long appendent to the
character that I had just assumed, has taken the same name, and is
called a jemmy.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Jemmy. A crow. This instrument is much used
by housebreakers. Sometimes called jemmy rook.
1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, xx. She presently returned with a pot
of porter and a dish of sheeps’ heads: which gave occasion to
several pleasant witticisms on the part of Mr. Sikes, founded upon
the singular coincidence of jemmies, being a cant name, common to
them, and also to an ingenious implement much used in his
profession.
1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (Nell Cook), They call for
crowbars—jemmies is the modern name they bear.
1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, iv, 339. Expert burglars
are generally equipped with good tools. They have a jemmy, a
cutter, a dozen of betties, better known as picklocks.
1888. Saturday Review, 15 Dec., p. 719. One side of slang was
illustrated by the burglar Casey in a well-known case of robbery in
the City some years ago, who explained in Court that the big jemmy
with which iron shutters were prised open was called the
‘Alderman,’ adding, ‘it would never do to be talking about crowbars
in the street.’
1890. Daily Graphic, 7 Jan., p. 14, col. 4. He saw the prisoner
leaving, and he detained him until a constable arrived. A jemmy was
found in the back yard.
1890. Standard, 7 Ap., p. 6, col. 3. During the chase the Prisoner
threw away a jemmy, a lantern, and a key.
1892. Globe, 10 May, p. 2, col. 1. Opening a front door with ... a
jemmy.
1894. Westminster Gazette, 31 March, 5, 2. Police constable Skeggs
said there were marks of a jemmy on the window and the front door.