1694. Crowne, Married Beau, ii. I own common favours; that’s no
matter, But if she ever grants me the last favour,—I give her leave
to cast me off for ever.
Last-feather, subs. (old.)—The latest fashion.
1607. The Puritan, ii. 1. A fine gallant Knight of the least
feather.
Latch, verb. (old).—To let in.—New Cant. Dict. (1725); Grose (1785) and
Lex. Bal. (1811).
Latch-drawer, subs. (old).—A thief who stole into houses by drawing the
latch.
1362. Langland, Piers Plowman, p. 143. Thank lyers and
latche-drawers and tolleres knocke, Let hem abyde tyl the bord be
drawe.
Latch-pan, subs. (common).—The under-lip: to hang one’s latch-pan = to
pout; to be sulky.
Late-play, subs. (Westminster School).—A half-holiday or holiday
beginning at noon.
Lath-and-plaster, subs. (rhyming).—A master.
Lather, subs. (venery).—The sexual secretion, male and female. Cf.
letch-water. Hence, lather-maker = the female pudendum. For synonyms
see Cream.
Verb. (common).—To beat; to thrash. Also leather (q.v.).
1849. Punch’s Almanack. To dream of soap betokens a combat in which
you may expect to get lathered.
Lathy, adj. (colloquial).—Thin.
1748. West, Abuse of Travelling. The which he tossed to and fro
amain, And eft his lathy falchion brandished.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lathy ... a lathy wench, a girl
almost as slender as a lath.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.
1858. B. Taylor, Northern Travel, 204. A lathy young man ... was
struggling ... to right himself.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.
Latitat, subs. (old).—An attorney.—Grose (1785); Lex. Bal. (1811);
Matsell (1859). [From an obsolete form of writ].
1771. Foote, Maid of Bath, i. I will send for Luke latitat and
Codicil, and make a handsome bequest to the hospital.
Latter-end, subs. (common).—The breech. For synonyms see Monocular
Eyeglass.
Lattice. See Red lattice.
Latty. See Letty.
Laugh. To laugh on the wrong (or other) side of one’s mouth (or face),
verb. phr. (colloquial).—To cry.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. Laugh.
1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Laugh.
1826. Buckstone, Death Fetch, i. 4. Snapsch. (Aside.) And have a
pretty family of them about my ears the first time I’m left alone
in the dark, who would soon make me laugh on the other side of my
mouth, I fancy.
1837. Carlyle, Diamond Necklace, iii. By and bye thou wilt laugh on
the wrong side of thy face.
Launch, subs. (old).—A lying-in; bust-up; explosion.—Grose (1823).
Verb. (old: public school).—See quot.
1865. G. J. Berkeley, My Life, etc., i. 129. I had [at Sandhurst
about 1815] to undergo the usual torments of being launched, that
is having my bed reversed while I was asleep; of being thrown on
the floor on my face, with the mattress on my back and all my
friends or foes dancing on my prostrate body.
Laundress, subs. (old).—1. A bed maker in chambers; and hence (2) a
smock servant (q.v.).
1611. Barry, Ram Alley [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), x. 275]. She is
my laundress, And by this light, no puisne Inn-a-Court But keeps a
laundress at his command To do him service.
1614. Breton, I would &c. [Grosart (1879), i. s. 9. st. 61]. Some
odde ladde or landress find me out.
1621. Burton, Anatomy, ed. 1893, i. Thou shalt have
(Tamerlane-like) Kings to draw thy coach, Queens to be thy
laundresses, Emperors thy footstools.
1636. Davenant, Platonic Lovers, iii. 1. He ... Commits Idolatry to
Euery laundress in the house.
1639. Mayne, City Match, ii. 3. From country madams to your
glover’s wife, Or laundress.
Laurence. See Lusty Laurence.
Lavender. To lay (or put) in lavender, verb. phr. (common).—1. To lay
up or put aside carefully; as linen among lavender. Hence (1) to pawn;
(2) to leave in lodging for debt; (3) to hide from the police; and (4)
on the turf, to be ill or out of the way.
1592. Greene, Quip, in Harl. Misc., v. 405. But the poore gentleman
paies so deere for the lavender it is laid up in, that if it lie
long at a broker’s house, he seems to buy his apparell twice.
1593. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. To lay to pawne, as we say, to lay
in lavender.
b. 1593. Six Old Plays (on which Shakspeare founded his Measure for
Measure etc. 1779. i.), 186. Sander. The ostler will not let me
have him, you owe tenpence for his meate, and sixpence for stuffing
my mistriss saddle. Fer. Here, villaine, goe pay him strait.
Sander. Shall I give them another pecke of lavender? Fer. Out,
slave, and bring them presently to the dore.
1599. Jonson, Every Man out of His Humour, iii. 3. And a black
sattin suit of his own to go before her in; which suit (for the
more sweet’ning) now lies in lavender.
1605. Chapman, Jonson etc., Eastward Hoe (Dodsley, Old Plays, iv.
279), v. 1. Good faith, rather than thou shouldst pawn a rag more,
I’ll lay my ladyship in lavender, if I knew where.
1628. Earle, Micr., Char. 2d. He takes on against the pope without
mercy, and has a jest still in lavender for Bellarmine.
1655. Cotgrave, Eng. Treas., p. 34 [Nares]. A broaker is a city
pestilence, A moth that eats up gowns, doublets, and hose, One that
with bills loads smocks and shirts together, To Hymen close
adultery and upon them Strews lavender so strongly that the owners
Dare never smell them after.
d. 1673. Brathwaite, Strappado for the Devil, p. 154. ‘Upon a
Poet’s Palfrey lying in lavender, for the discharge of his
Provender.’ [Title of Epigram].
1684. R. Head, Proteus Redivivus, 255. These men, who have laid up
their estates in lavender, that they may the more freely follow
their Recreations.
1686. Twelve Ingenious Characters [Nares]. Hither all sorts of
garments resort in pilgrimage, whilst he playing the pimp, lodges
the tabby petticoat and russet breeches together in the same bed of
lavender.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Layd up in lavender, when any
Cloaths or other Moveables are pawn’d or dipt for present Money;
also Rods in Pickle, or Revenge in reserve, till an opportunity
offers to show it.
1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.
1772. Coles, Eng.-Lat. Dict., s.v. ... To lay in lavender, pignori
opponere.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Lavender.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.
1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, xxii. ‘The Marshalsea!... What of
the Marshalsea?’ ‘Why, sir,’ said the man, ‘the poor gentleman is
laid up there in lavender.’
1830. W. T. Moncrieff, The Heart of London, ii. 1. You have had a
decent swing of it the last twelvemonth, while your pals have been
laid up in lavender.
Lavender-cove, subs. (common).—A pawnbroker; uncle (q.v.).—Matsell
(1859).
Law, subs. (old sporting: now recognised).—A time allowance: hence a
preliminary notice; a chance of escape.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.
1847. Shirley Brooks, The Wigwam, i. Min. Ow—ow—don’t—don’t! Give
us ten yards’ law—ow—[He runs off].
1855. Philol. Trans., p. 279. In making a running match one boy is
said to give as many yards’ law as he allows his competitor to be
in advance.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Law. Give the cove law, give the
fellow a chance to escape.
1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Times, xxii. ‘Calvert’s very late; but I
suppose we must give him a few minutes’ more law!’
To stab the law, verb. phr. (American).—To rail against authority.
1888. Nevada City Journal, Feb. These speakers were as violent as
ever, and gave no evidence of having relinquished their favorite
plan of stabbing the law.
Lawful Blanket (or Jam), subs. phr. (common).—A wife. For synonyms see
Dutch.—Lex. Bal. (1811); Grose (1823).
1887. Henley, Villon’s Good-Night. Gay grass-widows and lawful jam.
Lawful Pictures, subs. phr. (old).—Money. See King’s Pictures.
1607. The Puritan, iii. 4. At this instant I have no lawful picture
about me.
Lawk! (or Lawks!) intj. (colloquial).—An exclamation of surprise.
1836. Dickens, Pickwick, xxxix. Lawk, Mr. Weller ... how you do
frighten me.
d. 1845. Hood, Lost Heir [Century]. Lawk, help me, I don’t know
where to look.
1860. G. Eliot, Mill on the Floss, Bk. 1. ch. vii. ‘Lawks! what
have you been a-doing? I niver see such a fright.’
1886. Baring-Gould, Golden Feather, p. 27 (S.P.C.K.). ‘Going to
remain here?’ he asked. ‘Lawk, no! only come over with the ’oss,’
replied Joe Marriage.
1886. Pioneer (N.Y.), Oct. ‘Lawks!’ exclaimed Mrs. Partington.
Lawful time, subs. (Winchester College).—Recess; playtime.
Lawn, subs. (colloquial).—A handkerchief.—Grose (1823).
The lawn, subs. (racing).—The lawn on the course at Ascot: cf. House;
Lane, etc.
Lawrie (or Laurie), subs. (old Scots’).—A fox.
1567–83. Sempill, Tulchene Bishop, line 8. Ane lewrand laurie
lickerous.
Lawyer. High (or Highway) Lawyer, subs. phr. (thieves’).—A mounted
robber or highwayman. See also Scripper, Oke, Martin, and Stooping.
1592. Greene, Groats worth of Wit (ed. Dyce), Int. p. xxix. The
legerdemains of ... high lawyers.
1608. Dekker, Belman of London [Grosart (1885), iii. 151]. The
thiefe that commits the robbery, and is cheife clerke to Saint
Nicholas, is called the High Lawyer.
Lay, subs. (old).—1. A pursuit; a scheme; a device; a lurk.
Also in combination, Kinchin-lay, (q.v.); avoirdupois-lay (q.v.);
ken-crack-lay = house-breaking; fancy-lay = pugilism.
English synonyms. Dodge; game; huff; job; knack; lay-out; line; lurk;
lug; move; outfit; racket; shake; show; swim.
French synonyms. La balle (thieves’: also secret); un truc (popular:
any kind of small trade: le truc = thieving; le grand truc = murder;
des trucs = things. From Provençal tric = deceit); le pêgrage or
pégrasse (thieves’): le grinchissage (thieves’: specifically theft).
Spanish synonyms. Alicantina (= stratagem); amaño (= intrigue);
andromina (also = trick or fraud); barrabasada (also = plot or
intrigue); brega (also = pun or jest); engañifa (also = catch-penny);
gatada (also = scurvy trick); pega or pegata (also = imposition).
c. 1520. Boke of Mayd Emlyn, in Rimbault, Antient Poetical Tracts
(Percy Society, 1841), 25. 6. For he used his playce—With maydens,
wyves or nonnes; None amysse to him comes, Lyke they be of layes.
1647. Beaumont & Fletcher, Bonduca, i. 2. I have found you Your
lays, and out-leaps.
1703. Farquhar, Inconstant, i. 1. We fancy he must have something
extraordinary about him to please us, and that we have something
engaging about us to secure him; so we can’t be quiet, till we put
our selves upon the lay of being both disappointed.
1706. Burton, Hist. of the Reign of Queen Anne (1880), Vol. ii. p.
159. After having reconnoitred it [Alicant], I would have given
something to have been off of the lay, having found it quite
another sort of a place than what it was represented to me to be.
1713. Wodrow, Analecta (Maitland Club), ii. 357. He an’ the
Treasurer have been at much pains to break steele off the lay he is
upon.
1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v. Lay, an Enterprise, or Attempt; To be
sick of the Lay, To be tir’d in waiting for an opportunity to
effect their Purposes. Also an Hazard or Chance; as, He stands a
queer Lay; He stands an odd Chance, or is in great Danger.
1779. R. Cumberland, Wheel of Fortune, iii. 2. Livery Serv. No
offence to you, Mr. Weazel, but we would fain know what lay we are
to be upon; and whether the strange gentleman will be agreeable to
allow us for bags, canes, and nosegays.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.
1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 36. We who’re of the Fancy-lay, As dead
hands at a mill as they.
1836. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xliii. The lay is just to take
that money away.
1852. Dickens, Bleak House, He’s not to be found on his old lay.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Lay, A particular kind of rascality,
trade or profession.... What’s the cove’s lay? Why ... he’s on the
ken-crack [lay]—housebreaking.
1862. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. xli. One on ’em plays the
bagpipes with a bellus against the waterbutt of a Sunday evening
when they’re off the lay.
1865. Daily Review, Feb. Captain Corbett said the vessel was going
on the same lay that the Alabama had gone. I afterwards went back
in the Laurel to Teneriffe.
1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, iii. p. 144. His peculiar lay or
line of business, which always brought him into trouble, was the
stealing of pewter pots.
1888. J. Runciman, The Chequers, 82. Blakey’s found out as you’ve
got respectable relations as wouldn’t like to see your name in the
papers, and he’s goin’ to ’ave a new lay on.
1889. Answers, 27 July, p. 136, col. 2. The secret marks have
considerable significance. They briefly tell the begging-letter
writer what sort of lay to come for. Each charitable person has
his, or her, particular soft spot, and it is this which the
begging-letter writer endeavours to ascertain.
1892. Kipling, Barrack Room Ballads, ‘The Widow’s Party.’ Out with
the rest on a picnic lay.
1895. H. B. Marriott Watson, in New Review, July, p. 2. For it was
his aim to stand in security somewhere half-way ’twixt us fellows
and the Law, and squeeze the both; and but that he had the lives of
scores upon his tongue, and was very useful withal at a pinch, both
to us on the lay and to the traps, he would have been hanged or
pistolled for his pains long since.