HUBIN, _m._ (thieves’), _dog_, or “tyke.”
Après, ils leur enseignent à aquiger certaines graisses
pour empêcher que les hubins les grondent.--_Le Jargon de
l’Argot._
HUBINS, _m. pl._ (old cant), _tramps who pretend to have been bitten by
rabid dogs or wolves_.
Les hubins triment ordinairement avec une luque comme ils
bient à Saint-Hubert.--_Le Jargon de l’Argot._
Saint Hubert was credited with the power of miraculously curing
hydrophobia. There is still a church in Belgium, not far from Arlon,
consecrated to Saint Hubert, to whose shrine rabid people (in more than
one sense) repair to be cured.
HUGOLÂTRE, _m._ (familiar), _fanatical admirer of the works of V. Hugo_.
HUGREMENT (thieves’), _much_, or “neddy” (Irish).
HUILE, _f._ (general), _wine_; _suspicion_; ---- blonde, _beer_; ----
de bras, de poignet, _physical strength_; _work_, or “elbow grease;”
---- de cotret, _blows administered with a stick_; might be rendered by
“stirrup-oil.” The _Dict. Comique_ has: “Huile de cotret, pour coups de
bâton, bastonnade.”
Qu’ils vinssent vous frotter les épaules de l’huile de
cotret.--_Don Quichotte._
Huile de mains, _money_, or “oil of palm.” For synonyms see QUIBUS.
Pomper les huiles, _to drink wine to excess_, or “to swill.”
HUIT (theatrical), battre un ----, _to cut a caper_. (Familiar) Un ----
ressorts, _a handsome, well-appointed two-horse carriage_. (Military)
Flanquer ---- et sept, _to give a man a fortnight’s arrest_.
Y m’a flanqué huit-et-sept à cause que j’avais égaré le
bouchon de mon mousqueton.--=G. COURTELINE.=
HUÎTRES, _f. pl._ (popular), de gueux, _snails_; (thieves’) ---- de
Varennes, _beans_.
HUÎTRIFIER (familiar), s’----, _to become commonplace and dull of
intellect_. From huître, figuratively _a fool_.
HUMECTER (popular), s’---- les amygdales, la dalle du cou, or le
pavillon, _to drink_, “to wet one’s whistle.” For synonyms see RINCER.
HUPPÉ, _adj._ (popular), daim ----, _rich person_, _one who is_ “well
ballasted.”
HURE, _f._ (popular), _head_, or “tibby.” Properly _wild boar’s head_.
See TRONCHE.
HURÉ, _adj._ (thieves’), _rich_, or “rag splawger.”
HURF, URF, _adj._ (general), c’est ----, _that’s excellent_, “tip-top,
cheery, slap-up, first-chop, lummy, nap, jam, true marmalade,
tsing-tsing.” Le monde ----, _world of fashion_.
HURLUBIER, _m._ (thieves’), _idiot_, or “go along;” _madman_, or “balmy
cove;” _tramp_, or “pikey.”
Vous que le chaud soleil a teints,
Hurlubiers dont les peaux bisettes,
Ressemblent à l’or des gratins.
=RICHEPIN.=
HUSSARD, _m._ (popular), à quatre roues, _soldier of the train or
army service corps_. Elixir de ----, _brandy_. (Popular and thieves’)
Hussard de la guillotine, _gendarme on duty at executions_.
Il est venu pour sauver Madeleine ... mais comment?... les
hussards de la guillotine sont là.--=BALZAC.=
Hussard de la veuve, _gendarme on duty at executions_.
Oui, c’est pour aujourd’hui, les hussards de la
veuve (autre nom, nom terrible de la mécanique) sont
commandés--=BALZAC.=
HUST-MUST (thieves’), _thank you very much_.
I
ICICAILLE, ICIGO (thieves’), _here_.
IENNA (Breton cant), _to deceive_, _impose upon_.
IERCHEM (roughs’), _to ease oneself_. A coarse word disguised. It is of
“back slang” formation, with the termination em.
IERGUE, parler en ----, _to use the word as a suffix to other words_.
IGNORANTIN (common), _a “frère des Ecoles de la Doctrine chrétienne.”_
Thus called on account of their ignorance. They are lay brothers, and
formerly had charge of what were termed in England ragged schools.
IGO (thieves’), _here_. La chamègue est ----, _the woman is here_.
IL (popular), y a de l’empile, or de l’empilage, _there is some
trickery, unfair play, cheating_; ---- y a de l’empile, la peau alors!
je me débine, _they are cheating, to the deuce then! I’ll go_; ----
y a des arêtes dans ce corps-là, _an euphemism to denote that a man
makes his living off a prostitute’s earnings_, alluding to the epithet
“poisson” applied to such creatures; ---- a plu sur sa mercerie _is
said of a woman with thin skinny breasts_; ---- tombera une roue de
votre voiture _is said of a person in too high spirits, to express an
opinion that his mirth will soon receive a damper_. (Theatrical) Il
pleut! _is used to denote that a play is a failure, that it is being
hissed down_, or “damned.”
IL EST MIDI! (popular), _an exclamation used to warn one who is talking
in the presence of strangers or others to be prudent and guarded in his
speech_. It also means _it’s of no use, it is all in vain_.
ILLICO, _m._ (popular), _grog prepared on the sly by patients in
hospitals, an extemporized medicine made of sugar, spirits, and
tincture of cinnamon_.
IMBÉCILE À DEUX ROUES, _m._ (popular), _bicyclist_.
IMBIBER (popular), s’---- le jabot, _to drink_, “to wet one’s whistle.”
IMMOBILITÉ, _f._ (painters’), mercenaire de l’----, _model who makes a
living by sitting to painters_.
IMPAIR, _m._ (familiar), faire un ----, _to make a blunder_, “to put
one’s foot in it.” (Thieves’) Impair! _look out!_ ----, acré nous v’là
noblés, _look out, be on your guard, we are recognized_.
IMPÉRATRICE, _f._, for impériale, _top of bus_.
IMPÈRE (popular), abbreviation of impériale, _or top of bus_.
IMPÉRIALE, _f._ (general), _tuft of hair on the chin_. Formerly termed
“royale.” The word has passed into the language.
IMPORTANCE (general), d’----, _strongly_, _vigorously_. J’te vas le
moucher d’----, _I’ll let him know a piece of my mind_; _I’ll snub him_.
IMPÔT, _m._ (thieves’), _autumn_.
IMPRESSIONISME, _m._ (familiar), _school of artists who paint nature
according to the personal impression they receive_. Some carry the
process too far, perhaps, for if their retina conveys to them an
impression that a horse, for instance, is indigo or ultramarine, they
will reproduce the image in Oxford or Cambridge blue on the canvas.
Needless to say, the result is sometimes startling.
IMPRESSIONISTE, _m._, _painter of the school called_ impressionisme
(which see).
IMPURE, _f._ (familiar), _kept woman_, or “demi-rep.” For the list of
synonyms see GADOUE.
INCOMMODE, _m._ (thieves’), _lantern_, _lamp-post_. Properly
_inconvenient_, thieves being lovers of darkness.
INCOMMODÉ, _adj._ (thieves’), être ----, _to be taken red-handed_, _to
be_ “nabbed” _in the act_.
INCONOBRÉ, _m. and adj._ (thieves’), _stranger_; _unknown_.
INCROYABLE, _m._ (familiar), _dandy under the Directoire at the end
of the last century_. The appellation was given to swells of that
period on account of their favourite expression, “C’est incroyable!”
pronounced c’est incoyable, according to their custom of leaving out
the r, or giving it the sound of w. For synonyms see GOMMEUX.
INDEX (popular), travailler à l’----, _to work at reduced wages_.
INDICATEUR, _m._ (general), _spy in the pay of the police_, “nark.”
Generally a street hawker, sometimes a thief.
Il y a deux genres d’indicateurs: les indicateurs sur
place, tels que les marchands de chaînes de sûreté et
les marchands d’aiguilles, bimbelotiers d’occasion, faux
aveugles, etc., et les indicateurs errants: marchands de
balais, faux infirmes, musiciens ambulants: ... Il y avait,
sous l’empire, des indicateurs jusque dans le haut commerce
parisien.--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._
INDICATRICE, _f._ (familiar), _female spy in the employ of the police_.
INDIGENT, _m._ (bus conductors’), _outside passenger on a bus_. Thus
termed on account of the outside fare being half that inside. Indigent,
properly _pauper_.
INEXPRESSIBLES, _m. pl._ (familiar), from the English, _trousers_.
INFANTERIE, _f._ (popular), entrer dans l’----, _to become pregnant_,
or “lumpy.” Compare with the English expression “infantry,” a nursery
term for _children_.
INFECT, _adj._ (general), _utterly bad_. The expression is applied to
anything. Ce cigare est ----, _that cigar is rank_. Ce livre est ----,
_that book is worthless_. Un ---- individu, _a contemptible individual_.
INFECTADOS, _m._ (familiar), _cheap cigar_, “cabbage leaf.”
INFÉRIEUR, _adj._ (popular), cela m’est ----, _that is all the same to
me_.
INFIRME, _m._ (popular), _clumsy fellow_.
Ils sonnèrent tant bien que mal ces infirmes, et les gens
accoururent au tapage.--=L. CLADEL=, _Ompdraillés_.
INGRAT, _m._ (thieves’), _clumsy thief_.
INGURGITER SON BILAN (popular), _to die_, or “to snuff it.” See PIPE.
INODORE, _adj._ (familiar), soyez calme et ----, _be cool_; _don’t get
excited_; _be calm_; _be decorous_, or, as the Americans say, “pull
your jacket down.”
INOUISME, _m._ (familiar), ruisselant d’----, _extraordinarily fine_,
_good_, _dashing_, “slap up, or tzing tzing.”
INSÉPARABLES, _m. pl._ (familiar), _cigars sold at fifteen centimes a
couple_.
INSINUANT, _m._ (thieves’), _apothecary_; _one who performs, or used to
perform, the_ “clysterium donare” _of Molière_.
INSINUANTE, _f._ (thieves’), _syringe_.
INSINUATION, _f._ (thieves’), _clyster_.
INSOLPÉ, _m. and adj._ (thieves’), _insolent_, “cheeky.”
INSPECTEUR DES PAVÉS, _m._ (popular), _workman out of work_, or “out of
collar.”
INSTITUTRICE, _f._ (popular), _female who keeps a brothel_; _the
mistress of an_ “academy.”
INSTRUIT, _adj._ (thieves’), être ----, _to be a skilful thief_, a
“gonnof.”
INSURGÉ DE ROMILLY, _m._ (popular), _lump of excrement_, or “quaker.”
INTERLOQUER (soldiers’), _to talk_. Je vais aller en ---- avec le
marchichef, _I will talk about it to the quartermaster sergeant_.
INTERVER, ENTRAVER (thieves’), _to understand_. Je n’entrave que le
dail, _I do not understand_, _I don’t_ “twig.” Interver dans les
vannes, _to allow oneself to be_ “stuffed up,” _to be_ “bamboozled.”
INTIME, _m._ (theatrical), _man who is paid to applaud at a theatre_.
Termed also “romain.”
INTRANSIGEANT, _m._ (familiar), _politician of extreme opinions
who will not sacrifice an iota of his programme_. The reverse of
opportuniste.
INUTILE, _m._ (thieves’), _notary public_.
INVALO, _m._ (popular), for invalide, _pensioner of the “Hôtel des
Invalides,” a home for old or disabled soldiers_.
INVITE, _f._ (popular), faire une ---- à l’as _is said of a woman who
makes advances to a man_.
INVITEUSE, _f._ (general), _waitress at certain cafés termed_
“caboulots.” Her duties, besides serving the customers, consist in
getting herself treated by them to any amount of liquor; but, to
prevent accidents, the drinks intended for the inviteuse are generally
water or some mild alcoholic mixture. The inviteuse often plies also
another trade--that of a semi-prostitute.
IOT FETIS (Breton cant), _porridge of buckwheat flour_.
IOULC’H (Breton cant), _giddy girl_.
IOULC’HA (Breton cant), _to play the giddy girl_.
IPÉCA, _m._ (military), le père ----, _the regimental surgeon_.
IRLANDE, _f._ (thieves’), envoyer en ----, _to send anything from
prison_.
IRRÉCONCILIABLE, _m._ (familiar), _member of the opposition under
Napoleon III_.
ISGOURDE, _f._ (popular), _ear_, “wattle,” or “lug.”
ISOLAGE, _m._ (thieves’), _abandonment_; _leaving in the lurch_.
ISOLER (thieves’), _to forsake_.
ISOLOIR, _m._ (familiar), se mettre sur l’----, _to forsake one’s
friends_.
ITALIAN (Breton cant), _rum_.
ITALIQUE, _f._ (popular), avoir les jambes en ----, _to be
bandy-legged_. Pincer son ----, _to reel about_.
ITOU, _adv._ (popular), _also_. Moi ----, _I too_.
ITRER (thieves’), _to have_.
J’itre mouchaillé le babillard.--_Le Jargon de l’Argot._
(_I have looked at the book._)
IVOIRES, _f._ (popular), _teeth_, “ivories.” Faire un effet d’----, _to
show one’s teeth_, “to flash one’s ivories.”
IZABEL (Breton cant), _brandy_.
J
JABOT, _m._ (popular), _stomach_, or “bread-basket.” Meant formerly
_heart_, _breast_. Chouette ----, _fine breasts_. Faire son ----, _to
eat_.
JACQUE, _m._ (thieves’), _a sou_.
JACQUELINE, _f._ (soldiers’), _cavalry sword_.
JACQUES, _m._ (thieves’), _crowbar_, “James, or the stick.” (Military)
Faire le ----, _to manœuvre_.
JACTANCE, _f._ (thieves’ and cads’), _speech_, _talking_, “jaw.”
Properly _silly conceit_. Caleter la ----, _to stop talking_, “to put a
clapper to one’s jaw.” Quelle sale ---- il a! _how he does talk!_ Faire
la ----, _to talk_, “to jaw;” _to question_, or “cross-kid.”
JACTER (popular and thieves’), _to speak_, “to rap;” _to cry out_; _to
slander_. Meant formerly _to boast_.
JACTEUR, _m._ (popular), _speaker_.
JAFFE, _f._ (popular), _soup_; _box on the ear_. Refiler une ----, _to
box one’s ears_. (Thieves’) Jaffes, _cheeks_, or “chops.”
JAFFIER, _m._ (thieves’), _garden_, or “smelling cheat.”
JAFFIN, _m._ (thieves’), _gardener_. Termed in English slang “master of
the mint.”
JALUZOT, _m._ (general), _umbrella_, or “rain-napper, mush, or
gingham.” From the name of the proprietor of the “Printemps,” who,
being a wealthy man, said to his shopmen that he had not the means to
buy an umbrella. So goes an idiotic song:--
Il n’a pas de Jaluzot,
Ça va bien quand il fait beau,
Mais quand il tombe de l’eau,
Il est trempé jusqu’aux os.
JAMBE, _f._ (popular), de vin, _intoxication_. S’en aller sur une
----, _to drink only a glass or a bottle of wine_. (Thieves’) Jambe en
l’air (obsolete), _the gallows_, “scrag, nobbing-cheat, or government
signpost.” (Familiar and popular) Lever la ----, _to dance the cancan_,
see CHAHUT; _is said also of a girl who leads a fast, disreputable sort
of life_. Faire ---- de vin had formerly the signification of _to drink
heavily_, “to swill.”
Dès ce matin, messieurs, j’ai fait jambe de vin.
--=LA RAPINIÈRE.=
Jambes de coq, _thin legs_, “spindle-shanks.” Jambes de coton, _weak
legs_. Jambes en manche de veste, _bandy legs_. (Military) Sortir
sur les jambes d’un autre, _to be confined to barracks or to the
guard-room_.
JAMBINET, _m._ (railway porters’), _coffee with brandy_.
JAMBON, _m._ (popular), _violin_. (Military) Faire un ----, _to break
one’s musket_, a crime sometimes punished by incorporation in the
compagnies de discipline in Africa.
JAMBONNEAU, _m._ (popular), ne plus avoir de chapelure sur le ----, _to
be bald_. For synonymous terms see AVOIR.
JAMBOT, _m._ (obsolete), _penis_. The term is used by Villon.
JAPPE, _f._ (popular), _prattling_, “jaw.” Tais ta ----, _hold your_
“jaw,” “put a clapper to your mug,” or “don’t shoot off your mouth”
(American).
JAPPER (popular), _to scream_, _to squall_.
JARDIN, _m._ (popular), faire du ----, _to quiz_, “to carry on.”
JARDINAGE, _m._ (popular), _running down_, _slandering_.
JARDINER (thieves’ and cads’), _to slander_; _to run down_; _to quiz_.
Les gonciers qui nous jardinent,
I’ s’ront vraiment j’tés.
=RICHEPIN.=
Jardiner quelqu’un, _to make one talk so as to elicit his secrets from
him_, _to_ “pump” _one_.
JARDINEUR, _m._ (popular and thieves’), _man who seeks to discover a
secret_; _inquisitive man, a kind of_ “Paul Pry.”
JARDINIER, _m._ (thieves’), see JARDINEUR; _a thief who operates in the
manner described at the word_ “charriage.”
JARGOLLE, or JERGOLE, _f._ (thieves’), _Normandy_.
JARGOLLIER, _m._ (thieves’), _a native of Normandy_.
JARGOUILLER (thieves’), _to talk incoherently_.
JARGUER (thieves’). See JARS.
JARNAFFE, _f._ (thieves’), _garter_.
JARRETIÈRE, _f._ (thieves’), _watch chain_, or “slang.”
JARS, _m._ (thieves’), _cant_, or “flash.” Dévider, jaspiner le ----,
or jarguer, _to talk cant_, “to patter flash.” Entraver or enterver
le ----, _to understand cant_. The language of thieves is also termed
“thieves’ Latin,” as appears from the following quotation:--
“Go away,” I heard her say, “there’s a dear man,” and then
something about a “queer cuffin,” that’s a justice in these
canters’ thieves’ Latin.--=KINGSLEY=, _Westward Ho_.
Entendre le ---- had formerly the signification of _to be cunning_.
JARVILLAGE, _m._ (thieves’), _conversation_; _dirt_. An illustrious
Englishman, whose name I forget, gave once the definition of dirt as
“matter in the wrong place.”
JARVILLER (thieves’), _to converse_, “to rap;” _to dirty_.
JASANTE, _f._ (thieves’), _prayer_.
JASER (thieves’), _to pray_.
JASPIN, or GY (thieves’), _yes_, or “usher.”
Y a-t-il un castu dans cette vergne? Jaspin.--_Le Jargon de
l’Argot_. (_Is there an hospital in this country? Yes._)
The word has also the meaning of _chat_, _language_, “jaw.”
J’ai bien que’qu’ part un camerluche
Qu’est dab dans la magistrat’muche.
Son jaspin esbloque les badauds.
=RICHEPIN.=
JASPINEMENT, _m._ (thieves’), _barking of a dog_.
JASPINER (thieves’), _to talk_, _to speak_, “to rap, to patter.” Termed
also “débagouler, dévider, gazouiller, jacter, jardiner, baver, tenir
le crachoir;” ---- bigorne, _to talk in slang_, “to patter flash.”
Le cabe jaspine, _the dog barks_. Jaspiner de l’orgue, _to inform
against_, “to blow the gaff.”
JASPINEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _talker_; _orator_.
JAUNE, _m._ (thieves’), _summer_; (popular) _brandy_. See TORD-BOYAUX.
Jaune, _gold_, or “redge.” Aimer avec un ---- d’œuf _is said of a
woman who deceives her husband or lover_. An allusion to the alleged
favourite colour of cuckolds.
JAUNET, JAUNIAU, or SIGUE, _m._, _gold coin_, “canary, yellow-boy,
goldfinch, yellow-hammer, quid, shiner, gingle-boy.”
JAUNIER, _m._ (popular), _retailer of spirits_. An allusion to the
colour of brandy.
JAVANAIS (familiar), _kind of jargon formed by disguising words by
means of the letters of the syllable_ “av” _properly interpolated;
thus_ “je l’ai vu jeudi,” _becomes_ “javé lavai vavu javeudavi.”
Argot de Breda où la syllabe av, jetée dans chaque syllabe,
hache pour les profanes le son et le sens des mots, idiome
hiéroglyphique du monde des filles qui lui permet de se
parler à l’oreille--tout haut.--=DE GONCOURT.=
JAVARD, _m._ (thieves’), _hemp_; (popular) _tattle-box_.
JAVOTER (popular), _to prattle_.
JAVOTTE, _f._ (popular), _tattle-box_.
JEAN, _m._ (popular), de la suie, _sweep_; ---- guêtré, _peasant_, or
“clod;” ---- houssine, _stick_, or “toco.” (Thieves’) Un ---- de la
vigne, _a crucifix_.
JEAN-BÊTE, _m._ (general), _blockhead_, “cabbage-head.”
JEAN-FESSE, or JEAN-FOUTRE (general), _scamp_.
JEANJEAN, _m._ (familiar and popular), _simpleton_.
La blanchisseuse était allée retrouver son ancien époux
aussitôt que ce jeanjean de Coupeau avait ronflé.--=ZOLA=,
_L’Assommoir_.
(Soldiers’) Jeanjean, _recruit_, “Johnny raw.”
JEANNETON, _f._ (popular), _servant wench at an inn_; _girl of doubtful
morals_, a “dolly mop.”
JEM’ENFOUTISME, _m._ (familiar), _the philosophy of utter indifference_.
Aussi, lui n’était-il ni orléaniste, ni républicain, ni
bonapartiste, il affichait le “jem’enfoutisme” qui mettait
tout le monde d’accord.--=J. SERMET.=
JÉRÔME, _m._ (popular), _stick_, or “toco.”
JÉRUSALEM (thieves’), lettre de ----, _letter written from prison to
make a request of money_. The Préfecture de police, and consequently
the lock-up, was formerly in the Rue de Jérusalem.
JÉSUITE, _m._ (thieves’), _turkey-cock_. This species of _gallinacea_
was introduced into France by the Jesuit missionaries. Termed by
English vagabonds “cobble colter.” Engrailler un ----, _to steal a
turkey_, “to be a Turkey merchant.”
JÉSUS, _m._ (thieves’), _innocent man_, thieves considering themselves
as much-injured individuals. Grippe-Jésus, _gendarme_. (Popular) Petit
----, or à quatre sous, _newly-born infant_. (Sodomists’) Un ----,
_a Sodomist in confederacy with a rogue termed_ “chanteur,” _whose
spécialité is to extort money from rich people with unnatural passions_.
Le persillard qui, une fois d’accord avec le chanteur
pour duper son douillard, devient alors son compère,
c’est-à-dire son Jésus! Tel est dénommé aujourd’hui le
persillard exploiteur.--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._
JET, _m._ (thieves’), _musket_, or “dag.”
JETAR, _m._ (military), _prison_, “Irish theatre, or mill.”
J’ai ordre du sous-officier de semaine de te faire fourrer
au jetar sitôt rentré.--=G. COURTELINE.=
JETÉ, _adj._ (popular), bien ----, or bien gratté, _well done_, _well
made_, _handsome_. Etre ----, _to be sent to the deuce_.
JETER (thieves’ and cads’), _to send roughly away_; _to send to
the deuce_; ---- avec perte et fracas, _to bundle one out of doors
forcibly_; ---- un coup, _to look_, “to pipe.” Jettes-en un coup sur le
pante, _just look at that_ “cove.” Jeter de la grille, _to summons_,
_to request in the name of the law_; ---- une mandole, _to give one
a box on the ear_, “to smack one’s chops.” (Printers’) Jeter, _to
assure_. Je vous le jette, _I assure you it’s a fact_, “my Davy on it.”
JETER DU CŒUR SUR CARREAU (general), or ---- son lest, _to vomit_, “to
cast up accounts, to shoot the cat, or to spew.” Literally _to throw
hearts on diamonds, or to throw one’s heart (which has here the meaning
of stomach) on the floor_.
JETON, _m._ (popular), _coin_.
JEU DE DOMINOS, _m._ (popular and thieves’), _set of teeth_. Montrer
son ----, _to show one’s teeth_, “to flash” _one’s_ “ivories.”
JEUNE FRANCE (literary), _name given to young men of the “Ecole
romantique” in 1830--the “Byronian” school_.
Ils ont fait de moi un Jeune France accompli ... j’ai une
raie dans les cheveux à la Raphaël ... j’appelle bourgeois
ceux qui ont un col de chemise.--=TH. GAUTIER.=
JEUNE HOMME, _m._ (familiar and popular), _measure of wine of the
capacity of four litres_. Avoir son ----, _to be drunk_, “screwed.” For
synonyms see POMPETTE.
Tiens ta langue, tu as ton jeune homme, roupille dans ton
coin.--=E. MONTEIL.=
Suivez-moi ----, _ribbons worn in the rear of ladies’ dresses_, or
“follow me, lads.”
JINGLARD. See GINGLARD.
JIROBLE, _adj._ (thieves’), for girofle, _pretty_.
JOB, _m. and adj._ (popular), _silly fellow_, or “flat.” Monter le
----, _to deceive_, “to bamboozle.” Se monter le ----, _to entertain
groundless hopes_. Job is an abbreviation of jobard.
JOBARDER (general), _to deceive_, _to dupe_, _to fool one_, “to
bamboozle.” The equivalents for _to deceive_ are in the different
varieties of jargon: “mener en bateau, monter un bateau, donner un
pont à faucher, promener quelqu’un, compter des mistoufles, gourrer,
affluer, rouster, affûter, bouler, amarrer, battre l’antif, emblêmer,
mettre dedans, empaumer, enfoncer, allumer, hisser un gandin,
entortiller, faire voir le tour, la faire à l’oseille, refaire, refaire
au même, faire la barbe, faire la queue, flancher, pigeonner, juiffer,”
&c.; and in the English slang or cant, “to stick, to bilk, to do, to
best, to do brown, to bounce, to take in, to kid, to gammon,” &c.
JOBELIN, _m._ (old word), jargon ----, _cant_.
Sergens à pied et à cheval,
Venez-y d’amont et d’aval,
Les hoirs du deffunct Pathelin,
Qui scavez jargon jobelin.
=VILLON=, _Les Repeues franches de
François Villon et de ses compagnons_,
15th century.
JOBERIE, _f._ (popular), _nonsense_, “tomfoolery.”
JOBISME, _m._ (popular), _poverty_.
Desroches a roulé comme nous sur les fumiers du
Jobisme.--=BALZAC.=
Compare with the English expression, “as poor as Job’s turkey;”
“as thin and as badly fed,” says the _Slang Dictionary_, “as that
ill-conditioned and imaginary bird.”
JOCKO, _m._ (familiar), pain ----, _loaf of an elongated shape_.
Jocko, pain long à la mode depuis 1824, année où le singe
Jocko était à la mode.--=L. LARCHEY=, _Dict. Hist. d’Argot_.
JOCRISSIADE, _f._ (familiar), _stupid action_. Jocrisse, _simpleton_.
JOJO, _adj. and m._ (popular), _pretty_; _simpleton_. Faire son ----,
_to play the fool_.
JONC, _m._ (thieves’), _gold_, or “redge.” Etre sur les joncs, _to be
in prison_, “in quod.” Un bobe, or un bobinot de ----, _a gold watch_,
a “red toy.”
JONCHER (thieves’), _to gild_.
JONCHERIE, _f._ (popular), _deceit_, _swindle_. The word is old.
Adonc le Penancier vit bien
Qu’il y ent quelque tromperie;
Quand il entendit le moyen,
Il congnent bien la joncherie.
_Poésies attribuées à Villon_,
15th century.
JONCHEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _gilder_.
JONQUILLE, _adj._ (popular), mari ----, _injured husband_. An allusion
to the alleged favourite colour of cuckolds.
JORNE, _m._ (thieves’), _day_ (Italian giorno). Refaite de ----,
_breakfast_.
JOSE, _m._ (popular), _bank-note_. From papier Joseph, _tracing paper_.
JOSEPH, _m._ (familiar), _over-virtuous man_. Faire le or son ----,
_to give oneself virtuous airs_. An allusion to the story of Madame
Potiphar and Joseph.
Je me disais aussi: voilà un gaillard qui fait le Joseph.
Il doit y avoir une raison.--=A. DUMAS FILS.=
JOSÉPHINE, _f._ (thieves’), _skeleton key_, or “betty.”
Tel grinche s’arrêtera à faire le barbot dans une
cambriolle (à voler dans une chambre). S’il a oublié sa
joséphine (fausse clef), jamais il ne se servira de la
joséphine d’un autre de peur d’attraper des punaises,
c’est-à-dire de manquer son coup ou d’avoir affaire à un
mouchard.--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._
(Popular) Faire sa ----, _is said of a woman who puts on virtuous airs,
indignantly tossing her head, or blushingly casting down her eyes, &c._
JOUASSER (familiar), _to play badly at a game or on an instrument_.
JOUASSON (familiar), _poor player_.
JOUER (popular), à la ronfle, or de l’orgue, _to snore_, “to drive
one’s pigs to market;” ---- des guibolles, _to run away_, “to leg it;”
see PATATROT; ---- du cœur, _to vomit_, “to shoot the cat;” (familiar
and popular) ---- de la harpe, _to stroke a woman’s dress as Tartuffe
with Elmire, or otherwise to take certain liberties with her_. See
HARPE. Jouer des mandibules, _to eat_, “to grub;” see MASTIQUER;
---- du Napoléon, _to be generous with one’s money_, “to come down
handsome;” an allusion to napoléon, _a twenty-franc coin_; ---- du
fifre, _to go without food_; ---- du piano _is said of a horse which
has a disunited trot, or of a man who is knock-kneed_; ---- du pouce,
_to give money_, “to fork out;” _to spend freely one’s money_. The
expression is old; Villon uses it in his dialogue of _Messieurs de
Mallepaye et de Baillevent_, 15th century:--
M. Sang bien, la mousse
M’a trop cousté. B. Et pourquoy? M. Pource.
B. Hay! hay! tout est mal compassé.
M. Comment? B. On ne joue plus du poulce.
Jouer comme un fiacre, _to play badly_; ---- la fille de l’air, _to run
away_, “to slope.” See PATATROT. (Theatrical) Jouer à l’avant-scène,
_to stand close to the footlights when acting_; ---- devant les
banquettes, _to perform before an empty house_; (thieves’) ---- à la
main chaude, _to be guillotined_. Literally _to play hot cockles_. See
FAUCHÉ. Jouer de la harpe, _to be in prison_, or “in quod;” ---- du
linve, or du vingt-deux, _to knife_, or “to chive;” ---- du violon, _to
file iron bars or irons_.
JOUJOUTER (popular), _to play_; _to frolic_.
JOUR DE LA SAINT JEAN BAPTISTE, _m._ (thieves’), _execution day_, or
“wry-neck day.”
JOURNÉE GOURD (Breton cant), _good day’s profits_.
JOURNOYER (popular), _to do nothing at all_.
JOUSTE, or _juste_ (thieves’), _near_. From the old word jouxte, Latin
juxta. Je trimardais jouste la lourde, _I was passing close to the
door_.
JOYEUSE, _f._ (thieves’), _sword_, or “poker.”
JOYEUX, _m. pl._ (military), _men of the “bataillon d’Afrique,”_ a
corps recruited with military convicts, who on being liberated serve
the remainder of their term of service in this corps.
JUBILE, _f._ (glove-makers’), _pieces of glove skins_, _the perquisites
of glove-makers_.
Jubile, peau économisée par l’ouvrier gantier sur celles
qu’on lui a confiées pour tailler une douzaine de paires de
gants.--=L. LARCHEY=, _Dict. Hist. d’Argot_.
JUDAS, _m._ (popular), barbe de ----, _red beard_. Bran de ----,
_speckles_. Le point de ----, _thirteen_.
JUDASSER (popular), _to betray_; _to act as a_ “cat in the pan,” or, in
thieves’ cant, “to turn snitch.”
JUDASSERIE, _f._ (popular), _treacherous show of friendship_.
JUDÉE, _f._ (thieves’), la petite ----, _Préfecture de police,
headquarters of the police_, situated formerly in the Rue de Jérusalem;
hence the expression.
JUGÉ, _m._ (prisoners’), _young offender who has been sentenced to be
confined in a house of correction_.
JUGE DE PAIX, _m._ (thieves’), _stick_; _a kind of roulette at
wine-shops_; (gamblers’) _pack of cards_, or “book of broads.”
JUGEOTTE, _f._ (popular), _intellect_.
JUGULANT, _adj._ (popular), _annoying_.
JUGULER (popular), _to strangle_; _to bore_; _to cry out_.
Scrongnieugneu! que j’jugulais! _darn it, I cried!_
JULES, _m._ (popular), _chamber pot_, or “jerry.” Aller chez ----, _to
ease oneself_. (Military) Prendre, pincer, or tirer les oreilles à
----, _to carry away the privy tub_. Passer la jambe à ----, _to empty
the aforesaid tub_. Travailler pour ----, _to eat_. Des jules, _socks_.
JUMELLES, _f. pl._ (popular), _breech_.
JUPONNIER, _m._ (common), _one fond of the petticoat_.
JUS, _m._ (familiar and popular), _wine_; ---- de bâton, _thrashing
with a stick_; ---- d’échalas, _wine_; ---- de réglisse, _negro_; ----
de chapeau, _weak coffee_. Avoir du ----, _to be elegant, dashing_.
Avoir du ---- de navet dans les veines, _to be devoid of energy_.
(Popular) Jus, _profits in business_. Hardi! du ---- de bras, _now,
with a will, my lads!_
Encore un tour au treuil! Hardi! Du jus de bras!
=RICHEPIN=, _La Mer_.
Se coller un coup de ----, _to get drunk_. (Sailors’) Jus de cancre,
_landsman_, or “land-lubber.” Du ---- de botte premier brin, _rum of
the best quality_.
JUSQU’À LA GAUCHE (military), _to a great extent_; _for a long time_.
Vous serez consigné jusqu’à la gauche ... c’était son mot
ce “jusqu’à la gauche,” une expression de caserne ...
qui ne signifiait pas grand chose ... mais personnifiait
l’éternité.--=G. COURTELINE.=
JUSQU’À PLUS SOIF (popular), _to excess_.
JUSTE, _f._ (thieves’), _the assizes_.
JUSTE-MILIEU, _m._ (familiar), _the behind_. See VASISTAS.
JUTER DE L’ŒIL (popular), _to weep_.
Spèce de tourte, n’jute donc pas d’ l’œil d’une façon aussi
incongrue.--=G. FRISON.=
JUTEUX, _adj._ (dandies’), _elegant_; _dashing_. (Familiar) Affaire
juteuse, _profitable transaction_, a “fat job.”
K
KÉBIR, _m._ (military), _commander of a corps_. From the Arab. Also
_colonel_.
KIF-KIF (popular), _all the same_.
Expression qui vient des Arabes, importée assurément dans
l’atelier par quelque Zéphir ou quelque Zouave typographe.
Dans le patois algérien, kif-kif signifie, semblable
à.--=BOUTMY.=
C’est ---- bourico or bourriquo, _it is all the same_; _it comes to the
same thing_.
Que tu dises comme moi ou qu’ tu dises pas comme moi ça
fait jus’ kif-kif bourrique.--=G. COURTELINE.=
KIL, _m._ (roughs’), _litre of wine_. Je me suis traversé d’un ----, _I
have drunk a litre of wine_.
KILO, _m._ (popular), _litre of wine_; _false chignon_. Déposer un
----, _to ease oneself_.
KLEBJER (popular), _to eat_.
KOLBACK, _m._ (popular), _small glass of brandy_; _a large glass of
wine_.
KOXNOFF, _adj._ (popular), _excellent_.
KRAK, _m._ (familiar), _general collapse of financial firms in Austria
some years ago_.
KROUMIR, _m._ (popular), _rough fellow_; _dirty or_ “chatty” _fellow_.
L
LA, _m._ (familiar), donner le ----, _to give the tone_.
LABADENS (theatrical), _old school-fellow_.
Depuis le vaudeville amusant de Labiche (l’affaire de
la Rue de Lourcine) qui a mis ce terme à la mode, il a
pris, avec le procès Bazaine, une valeur historique.
Quand Régnier voulut en effet être mis en la présence du
maréchal, il se fit annoncer ainsi: “Dites que c’est un
vieux Labadens.”--=LORÉDAN LARCHEY.=
LABAGO (thieves’), _is equivalent to_ là-bas, _yonder_. Gaffine ----,
la riflette t’exhibe, _look yonder, the spy has his eye on you_.
LÀ-BAS (prostitutes’), _the Saint-Lazare prison, a place of confinement
for prostitutes who offend against the law, or are detected plying
their trade without due authorization of the police_; (thieves’) _the
convict settlement in New Caledonia or at Cayenne_.
LABORATOIRE, _m._ (eating-house keepers’), _the kitchen_, a place
where food is often prepared by truly chemical processes; hence the
appellation.
L’ABSINTHE NE VAUT RIEN APRÈS DÎNER (printers’), _words used ruefully
by a typo to express his bitter disappointment at finding, on returning
from dinner, that he has corrections of his own to attend to_.
Dans cette locution, on joue sur “l’absinthe,” considérée
comme breuvage et comme plante. La plante possède une
saveur “amère.” Avec quelle “amertume” le compagnon
restauré, bien dispos, se voit obligé de se “coller” sur le
marbre pour faire un travail non payé, au moment où il se
proposait de pomper avec acharnement. Déjà, comme Perrette,
il avait escompté cet après-dîner productif.--=BOUTMY.=
LAC, _m._ (thieves’), être dans le ----, _to be very_ “hard up;” _to
be in a fix or in trouble, in a_ “hole.” Mettre dans le ----, _to
deceive_, _to make one fall into a trap_. (Gamesters’) Mettre dans le
----, _to lose all one’s money_, _to have_ “blewed” _it_.
Au cercle, où la conversation vient de rouler sur la
mort tragique du roi de Bavière, un ponte perd un louis
au baccarat, en tirant à cinq:--allons, dit-il d’un air
résigné, encore un louis dans le lac!--_Le Voltaire_, Juin,
1886.
In the above quotation an allusion is made to Louis, King of Bavaria,
who committed suicide.
LACETS, _m. pl._ (thieves’), _handcuffs_, or “bracelets.” Marchand or
solliceur de ----, _gendarme_.
LÂCHAGE, _m._ (popular), _the act of forsaking one_.
LÂCHE, _m._ (popular), Saint ----, _lazy workman_; _one who likes to
lounge about, who is_ “Mondayish.” Réciter la prière de Saint ----, _to
sleep_, or “to doss.”
LÂCHER (popular), les écluses, son écureuil, or une naïade, _to void
urine_, or “to pump ship.” Termed also “changer ses olives d’eau,
lascailler, écluser, faire le petit, changer son poisson d’eau,
faire pleurer son aveugle, lancer, quimper la lance, gâter de l’eau,
arroser les pissenlits;” ---- une pastille, _to break wind_; (familiar
and popular) ---- d’un cran, _to leave one_; _to rid him of one’s
presence_; ---- la perche, _to die_; ---- les écluses, _to weep_, _to
blubber_, “to nap a bib;” ---- le coude, _to leave one alone_.
Lâchez-nous donc le coude avec votre politique!
cria le zingueur. Lisez les assassinats, c’est plus
rigolo.--=ZOLA=, _L’Assommoir_.
Lâcher le paquet, _to disclose_.
Et Madame Lerat, effrayée, répétant qu’elle n’était même
plus tranquille pour elle, lâcha tout le paquet à son
frère.--=ZOLA=, _L’Assommoir_.
Lâcher la mousseline, _to snow_.
Le ciel restait d’une vilaine couleur de plomb, et la
neige, amassée là-haut, coiffait le quartier d’une calotte
de glace.... Gervaise levait le nez en priant le bon Dieu
de ne pas lâcher sa mousseline tout de suite.--=ZOLA=,
_L’Assommoir_.
Lâcher une femme, _to break off one’s connection with a mistress_, “to
bury a moll;” ---- un cran, _to undo a button or two after dinner_. Se
---- d’une somme, _to spend reluctantly a sum of money_. (Theatrical)
Lâcher la rampe, _to die_, see PIPE; (thieves’) ---- un pain, _to
give a blow_, or “wipe.” (General) Se ----, Rigaud says: “Produire en
société un bruit trop personnel.”
LACROMUCHE, _m._ (popular), _women’s bully_, or “Sunday man.” For
synonymous expressions see POISSON.
LAFARGER (popular), _to poison_. An allusion to the celebrated Lafarge
poisoning case.
LAFFE, _f._ (thieves’), _soup_.
LAGAD-IJEN (Breton cant), _five-franc piece_.
LAGO (thieves’), _there_. Gaffine ---- le pante se fait la débinette,
_look there, the_ “cove” _is running away_.
LAGOUT, _m._ (thieves’), _water_ (“agout” with the article).
LAIGRE, _f._ (thieves’), _fair_; _market_. Michel says this word is no
other than the adjective “alaigre,” of which the initial letter has
disappeared.
LAINE, _f._ (tailors’), _work_, “graft.” Avoir de la ----, _to have
some work to do_. (Thieves’) Tirer la ----, _was formerly the term for
stealing cloaks from the person_; hence the old expression tire-laine,
_thief who stole cloaks_.
LAINÉ, _m._ (thieves’), _sheep_, or “wool-bird.”
LAISÉE, _f._ (thieves’ and roughs’), _prostitute_, or “bunter.” See
GADOUE.
LAISSER (familiar and popular), aller le chat au fromage (obsolete),
_is said of a girl who allows herself to be seduced, who loses her
rose_; ---- tomber son pain dans la sauce (obsolete), _to manage
matters so as to get profit out of some transaction_; ---- ses bottes
quelque part, _to die_. The expression is found in Le Roux’s _Dict.
Comique_. Laisser fuir son tonneau, _to die_, “to kick the bucket.”
See PIPE. Laisser pisser le mérinos, _to wait for one’s opportunity_.
Synonymous of Laisser pisser le mouton, a proverbial saying.
LAIT, _m._ (thieves’), à broder, _ink_. (Theatrical) Boire du ----, _to
be applauded_.
A peine le couplet est-il chanté, au milieu des
applaudissements payés, que Biétry ... salue ... tous les
applaudisseurs ... il n’est pas le seul, ce soir-là, à
boire du lait, comme on dit en style de théâtre.--_Mémoires
de Monsieur Claude._
LAÏUS (familiar), _speech, or discourse_. Piquer un ----, _to make a
speech_.
LAMBIASSE, _f._ (popular), _rags_.