1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Jordain. I’ll tip him a jordain
if I transnear, I will give a blow with my staff if I get up to
him.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.
3. (journalistic).—The Atlantic; the ditch (q.v.); the herring-pond
(q.v.).
1875. Daily Telegraph, 10 May. No sooner does a great want of any
kind make itself felt, than the means of supplying that want are
discovered by our ingenuous cousins on the other side of jordan.
Adj. (American thieves’).—Disagreeable; hard of accomplishment.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.
Jorum, subs. (old).—A drinking-bowl; also a portion of liquor; a neddy
(q.v.). Sp. granizo (= hail).
d. 1796. Burns, O May, thy Morn! And here’s to them that like
oursels Can push about the jorum.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Jorum, a jug or large pitcher.
1800. C. Lamb, Letter to Coleridge, Wks. [ed. 1852], ch. v. p. 46.
You, for instance, when you are over your fourth or fifth jorum.
1804. John Collins, Scripscrapologia, p. 59. And drown care in a
jorum of grog.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.
1836. Dickens, Pickwick, xxxviii. p. 333. After dinner, Mr. Bob
Sawyer ordered in the largest mortar in the shop, and proceeded to
brew a reeking jorum of rum-punch therein.
d. 1842. Cunningham, ‘Newcastle Beer.’ Apply for a jorum of
Newcastle beer.
1854. Martin and Aytoun, Bon Gaultier Ballads. ‘The Lay of the
Lovelorn’, Hark my merry comrades call me, bawling for another
jorum.
1858. Trollope, Dr. Thorne, xi. He contrived to swallow a jorum of
scalding tea.
1867. Latham, Eng. Dict., s.v. Jorum ... slang, perhaps connected
with yarrum.
1870. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 85. Each end
and Præfect’s mess had their beer served up in a large white jug,
or ‘bob.’ The vessel used for the same purpose in Commoners’ was
called a joram.
Joseph, subs. (old).—1. See quots: specifically a lady’s riding habit
with buttons to the skirts. In American (thieves’) a patched coat. Cf.
Benjamin, and for synonyms see Capella.
1671. R. Head, English Rogue, 1. v. 48 (1874). Joseph, a cloak.
1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, ii. in Wks. (1720), 4. Who’s here?
my father? Lolpoop, Lolpoop, hide me; give me my Joseph.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Joseph, a Cloak or Coat. A Rum
Joseph, a good Cloak or Coat. A Queer Joseph, a coarse ord’nary
Cloak or Coat; also an old or tattered one.
1714. Memoirs of John Hall, (4th ed.) p. 12. Joseph, a close coat.
1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.
1766. Goldsmith, Vicar of Wakefield, xvi. Olivia would be drawn as
an Amazon ... dressed in a green Joseph.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Joseph, a woman’s great coat.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.
1818. S. E. Ferrier, Marriage, viii. Another held up a tartan
cloak, with a hood; and a third thrust forward a dark cloth joseph,
lined with flannel.
1823. Modern Flash Dict., s.v.
1825. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, iii. xxvii. So as to betray, with every
swing of her body, the rich dress, underneath her joseph.
1847. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 62. ‘Well, by gunflints,’ says he ‘ef
you ain’t makin’ a josey.’
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Joseph, a coat that’s patched.
2. (colloquial).—A woman-proof male. To wear Joseph’s coat = to defy
temptation, as Joseph with Potiphar’s wife.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Joseph.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Joseph’s coat. It’s of no use
trying, he wears a joseph’s coat.
1870. Reynolds’s Newspaper, 6 Feb. You appear to have been a
regular Joseph.
Not for Joseph, phr. (common).—A contemptuous refusal; a sarcastic
dissent: cf. All my eye.
1844. C. Selby, London by Night, ii. 1. Jack. Who’s to pay? Ned.
Whichever you please. Jack. Oh! in that case you may as well settle
it. Ned. Not for Joseph! You asked me to tea.
c. 1867. Broadside Ballad, ‘Not for Joe’. Not for joe ... Not for
joseph, if he knows it.
Joseph’s-coat, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A coat of many colours; a dress
of honour.
1892. Kipling, Barrack Room Ballads, ‘The Rhyme of the Three
Captains’. They ha’ rigged him a Joseph’s Jury-coat to keep his
honour warm.
Josey, verb. (American).—To go; to hasten. For synonyms see Amputate
and Skedaddle.
Josh, subs. (colloquial).—1. A sleepy-head; a dolt.