Adj. (common).—Fair; square. [From the Hebrew = lawful].
Krop, subs. (back-slang).—Pork.
Kudos, subs. (now recognised).—Glory and honor. To kudos = to praise;
to glorify. [From Gr.] Kudos = praised.
1793. Southey, Nondescripts, i. Bepraised in prose it was,
bepraised in verse, Lauded in pious Latin to the skies, Kudos’d
egregiously in heathen Greek.
1857. Cuthbert Bede, Verdant Green, Pt. iii. ch. xi. Mr. Smalls
gained kudos by offering to give the luncheon at his rooms.
1860. Punch, xxxviii. 186. Nought would serve the little man [Lord
John] But his private little plan, Whereby he hoped much κυδος he
should get.
1889. Drage, Cyril, vii. I gained no small kudos by spotting a
vintage of Léoville at dinner.
1889. Standard, 30 Jan. Should he, then, endeavour to gain the
kudos of his removal by associating himself conspicuously with the
decree of dismissal?
1894. The Yellow Bk., i. p. 195. I return to my pearl that is to
bring me kudos.
Kye, subs. (costers’).—Eighteen pence. [Short for Heb. Kyebosh (or
Kibosh q.v.); Kye = 18 + bosh = pence, originally stivers (q.v.)].
Kynchen. See Kinchen.
Kypsey, subs. (old).—See quots. Also kipsey.
1754. Martin, Eng. Dict., 2nd ed. Kibsy, a sort of wicker basket.
1879. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl. 501. I was coming home with my
kipsy (basket).
1893. Emerson, Signor Lippo, xiv. After tea Blower said, ‘Now you
must lay in your kipsey.’
L
L, The three L’s, subs. phr. (nautical).—Lead, latitude, and
look-out.—Clark Russell.
Label, subs. (American).—A postage stamp: cf. Toadskin.
Labour, verb. (old).—To beat.
Labourer, subs. (common).—An accoucheur; a midwife. For synonyms see
Finger-Smith. [From labour = child-birth].
Labour-lea, verb. (Scots’).—To copulate. For synonyms see Greens and
Ride.
Lace, subs. (common).—Strong waters added to coffee or tea. Also (by
inference, see verb.) sugar.
1712. Spectator, No. 488. He is forced every morning to drink his
dish of coffee by itself, without the addition of the Spectator,
that used to be better than lace to it.
Verb. (common).—1. To intermix with spirits. Fr. consoler son café = to
brandy one’s coffee. Also (see quot. 1690) = sugar.
1677. Wycherley, Plain Dealer, iii. Ald. No, faith; prithee,
captain, let’s go drink a dish of laced coffee, and talk of the
times.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lac’d coffee, Sugar’d.
1712. Spectator, No. 317. Mr. Nisby of opinion that laced coffee is
bad for the head.
1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.
1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, xi. He had his pipe and his tea-cup,
the latter being laced with a little spirits.
1851–61. Mayhew, London Lab. etc., iii. 359. Breakfast 1s., good
tea and good bread-and-butter, as much as you liked always; with a
glass of rum in the last cup for the lacing of it. Tea the same as
breakfast, and laced ditto.
1852. Thackeray, Esmond, ix. ‘D—n it, Polly loves a mug of ale,
too, and laced with brandy, by Jove!’
1872. Athenæum, 2 Nov., p. 556, col. 2. Schiller refreshed himself
at the small hours of the morning with coffee laced with old
cognac.
1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, 35. Talk is like tea; it wants
lacing with something a little bit stronger.