1888. Daily Chronicle, 10 Dec. Mr. Fennick’s mare stripped in jolly
condition.
Verb. (common).—To joke; to rally; to vituperate.
1610. G. Fletcher, Christ’s Triumph. They jolly at his grief.
1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 69. I
can’t jolly him down, so you must settle and do away with him, or I
must ‘dry up,’ for the fellow’s bested me.
1879. Notes and Queries, 5, S. xi. 406. Jolleying is a common term
among workmen in London, and is used to express nearly every
description of verbal ridicule and abuse.
1889. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 8 Feb. Amidst yells, shouts, hisses, and
jollyings.
1892. Gunter, Miss Dividends, ch. xv. You’ve left her alone all
day—you ain’t been near to jolly her up.
Jolly-boys, subs. (common).—A group of small drinking vessels connected
by a tube, or by openings one from another.
Jolly-dog, subs. (common).—A boon companion.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Jolly-dog, a merry or facetious
fellow; a bon vivant, who never flinches from his glass, nor cries
to go home to bed.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.
c. 1867. Broadside Ballad, ‘Slap Bang’. There is a set of jolly
dogs I’ve lately come across.
1880. Punch’s Almanack, 13.
Jolly-jumper, subs. (nautical).—A light sail set above a sky-scraper
(q.v.).—Clark Russell (1883).
Jolly-nob.—See Jolly, subs. sense 1.
Jolly-roger, subs. (nautical).—A pirate’s flag; a death’s head and
cross bones (q.v.).
1885. Stevenson, Treasure Island, xix, p. 151 (1886). There was the
jolly roger—the black flag of piracy—flying from her peak.
1892. Hume Nisbet, THE JOLLY ROGER [Title].
Jolt-head (or Jolter-head), subs. (old).—A blockhead: for synonyms see
Buffle and Cabbage-head.
1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, iv. 1. You heedless
joltheads, and unmannered slaves!
1595. Shakspeare, Two Gentlemen, iii. 1. Launce, Fie on thee,
jolt-head! thou canst not read.
1605. B. Jonson, Volpone, v. 5. And your red saucy cap, that seems
to me Nailed to your jolt-head.
1658. Brome, Covent Garden Weeded, p. 23. Sir jolthead, I do not.
I’ll teach you to chop logic with me.
1690. Durfey, Collin’s Walk, C. 11, p. 79. And shall I not, with
reverence low, Presume to ask who’s the jolt-head now?
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Jolter-head, a vast large Head;
also Heavy and Dull. To jolt or Shake, jolting or shaking of a
Coach.
1691–2. Gentlemen’s Journal, Mar., p. 14. The blows he had received
on his jolt-head made him fall into convulsions.
1707. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, 11, pt. i, p. 6. Then looking very
stern and dread, He bridles up his jolter head.
1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary, (5th ed.). Jolt or Jolter-Head (S.) a
large head; also a dull, stupid fellow, or blockhead.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Jolter Head, a long head;
metaphorically, a stupid fellow.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.
1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, viii. I should like to know whether
her little conceited noddle, or her father’s old crazy, calculating
jolter-pate, breeds most whimsies.
1825. Mod. Flash Dict., s.v. Jolter-heads—a heavy, dull fellow; a
blustering landlord.
1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, li. p. 490. It isn’t hanging yet
for a man to keep a penn’orth of poison for his own purposes, and
have it taken from him by two old crazy jolterheads who go and act
a play about it.
Jolt-headed (or Jolter-headed), adj. (old).—Stupid; dull;
chowder-headed (q.v.).
1690. Durfey, Collin’s Walk, C. ii. p. 56. Insensible jolt-headed
Fool.
1754. H. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2nd ed.) s.v. Chub, chub ... a
jolt-headed fellow.
1849. Lytton, Caxtons, iii. iv. A worthless, obscure, jolter-headed
booby in mail, whose only record to men is a brass plate in a
church in a village!
1877. Greenwood, Dick Temple, ch. xxiv. It might be also that in
his jolt-headed way he really was a ‘faithful dependent.’
Jolt, verb. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.
Jomer, subs. (theatrical).—See quot., Flame, Blowen, Barrack-hack, and
Tart.
1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed. p. 445. A fancy girl—Jomer.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.
Jonah, subs. (common).—A person whose presence brings bad luck;
specifically a clergyman. [Of Biblical origin]. Jonah-trip = an unlucky
undertaking.
1594. Greene, Looking Glasse, Wks. 134. 2. (1861). We heav’d the
hapless jonas overboard.
1612. T. Lavender, Travels etc., Sig. C 1. Thought it best to make
a jonas of him, and to cast both him and his books into the sea.
1644. Merc. Brit., xxii. 172. I am ashamed that these Jonahs should
be sleeping thus under the deck in a storme.
Jonnick (or Jonnuk), adj. (showmen’s).—Right; correct; proper—Hotten.
To be jonnuk = to be fair; to share equally.
Jordan, subs. (old).—1. A chamber-mug. For synonyms see It. [Short for
jordan bottle; a memory of the Crusades]. Hence jordan-headed (Dunbar)
an opprobrious epithet.
1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 12. 240. I pray to God to saue thy
gentil corps, And eke thyn urinals, and thy jordanes.
1545. Lindsay, Thrie Estatis, l. 2478. Your mouth war meit to
drinke an wesche jurden.
1592. Greene, Blacke Bookes Messenger, in Works, xi. 33. And so
pluckt goodman Iurdaine with all his contents down pat on the
curbers pate.
1598. Shakspeare, 1 Henry IV, ii. 1. They will allow us ne’er a
jorden.
1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, ii. 1. Good jordan, I know what
you’ll take to a very drop.
1622. Jonson, Masque of Augurs, in Wks. (Cunningham), iii. 165. My
lady will come With a bowl and a broom, And her handmaid with a
jordan.
1658. Brome, Covent Garden Weeded, p. Carry up a jordan for the
Maidenhead, and a quart of white muscadine for the Blue Boar.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Jordain.
1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.
1728. Pope, Dunciad, ii. 190. Crown’d with the jordan walks
contented home.
1765. Goldsmith, Essays, 1. Instead of a crown, our performer
covered his brows with an inverted jordan.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
b. 1794. Wolcot [P. Pindar], Peter’s Prophecy. Who knows not
jordans, fool! from Roman vases?
1887. Dr. Brewer, in N. and Q., S. iii. 79. We always called the
Matula the jordan, and into this receptacle all the bedroom slops
were emptied.