Que le Seigneur en récompense
Veuille augmenter votre finance...
Qu’il vous garde de gens qui pipent...
D’hommes roux ayant les yeux verds.
Judas was red-haired, as everyone knows. Shakespeare makes the
following allusion:--
_Rosalind._--His hair is of the dissembling colour.
_Celia._--Something browner than Judas’s: marry, his kisses
are Judas’s own children.
_As You Like It._
Un ---- à l’arnache, or harnache, _a detective_.
Un jour, avec ma largue, je venais d’ballader,
J’vois la rousse à l’arnach’ qui voulait l’emballer.
Je m’dis pas de bêtises, en vrai barbillon,
Pour garer ma marquis’ j’ai décroché l’tampon.
_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._
La ---- à la flan, _city police_. Flasquer du poivre à la ----, _to
keep out of the way of the police_, _to escape their clutches_.
ROUSSELETTE, _f._ (popular and thieves’), _spy_, or “nark.” Termed also
une riflette, un baladin.
ROUSSI, _m._ (thieves’), _prisoner who acts as a spy on
fellow-prisoners_.
Ton orgue tapissier aura été fait marron.... Il faut être
arcasien. C’est un galifard. Il se sera laissé jouer
l’harnache par un roussin, peut-être même par un roussi,
qui lui aura battu comtois ... je n’ai pas taf, je ne
suis pas un taffeur, c’est colombé, mais il n’y a plus
qu’à faire les lézards, ou autrement on nous la fera
gambiller.--=V. HUGO=, _Les Misérables_. (_Your friend the
innkeeper must have been taken in the attempt. One ought to
be wide awake. He is a flat. He must have been bamboozled
by a detective, perhaps even by a prison spy, who played
the simpleton. I am not afraid, I am no coward, that’s well
known; the only thing to be done now is to run away, else
we are done for._)
ROUSSIN, _m._ (thieves’), _police officer_, “crusher;” _detective_.
Entre eux, ils sont un peu frères, un peu cousins;
Aussi dénichent-ils des gosses, des petites,
Qu’ils envoient mendier, en guettant les roussins,
Pour se payer deux ronds de frites.
=RICHEPIN=, _Les Mômes_.
ROUSSINER (popular), _to call the attention of the police to one_.
ROUSTAMPONNE, _f._ (thieves’), _police_, “reelers, or frogs.”
ROUSTI, _adj._ (popular and thieves’), _ruined_, “smashed;”
_apprehended_, “nailed, or nabbed.”
ROUSTIR (popular and thieves’), _to cheat_, “to stick;” _to rob one of
all his valuables_.
A l’heure qu’il est l’entonne est roustie.--=VIDOCQ.= (_And
now the church is stripped of all its valuables._)
Neuf plombes. La fête bat son plein ... eul’ joueur
d’bonneteau m’a déjà rousti vingt ronds.--=TRUBLOT=, _Le
Cri du Peuple_, Sept., 1886.
ROUSTISSEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _thief_, “prig.”
ROUSTISSEUSE, _f._ (popular), _woman of lax morals_, “poll.”
ROUSTISSURE, _f._ (theatrical), _insignificant part_; (popular) _bad
joke_; _swindle_; _worthless thing_.
ROUSTONS, _m. pl._ (popular), _testiculæ_.
ROUSTURE, _f._ (thieves’), _man under police surveillance_.
ROUTE, _m._ (popular), mettre au ----, _to rout_; _to break_; _to
destroy_.
Vous avez beau dire ... faut que tout ça soit foutu au
route, qu’i n’en reste pu miette.--_Le Drapeau Rouge de la
Mère Duchesne_, 1792.
Old word roupte, from the Low Latin rupta, signifying _rout_. The word
is used by Villon:--
De maulx briguans puissent trouver tel route
Que tous leurs corps fussent mis par morceux.
_Ballade Joyeuse des Taverniers._
ROUTIÈRE, _f._ (popular), _prostitute who plies her trade on the high
road_. See GADOUE.
ROVEAU, or ROBAU, _m._ (old cant), _mounted police_.
RU, _m._ (thieves’), _brook_ (old word).
Je vais dans le ru pêcheur à la ligne.
Beaux poissons d’argent je vous ferai signe.
Voyez au soleil briller mon couteau,
Oh! oh!
Avec mon couteau
Je vous ferai signe
Dans l’eau.
=RICHEPIN=, _La Chanson des Gueux_.
RUB DE RIF, _m._ (thieves’), _railway train_, “rattler.”
RUBAN DE QUEUE, _m._ (popular), _never-ending road_.
RUBIS, _m._ (popular), sur pieu, _ready money_; ---- cabochon
(obsolete), see FLAGEOLET.
Deux perles orientales
Et un rubis cabochon.
_Parnasse des Muses._
RUBLIN, _m._ (thieves’), _ribbon_.
RUDE, _m._ (popular), _brandy_. See TORD-BOYAUX.
RUDEMENT, _adv._ (familiar and popular), _awfully_.
RUE, _f._ (popular), au pain, _throat_, “gutter lane;” ---- barrée, or
où l’on pave, _street in which a creditor lives, and which is to be
avoided_; ---- du bec dépavée, _gap-toothed mouth_, _one with_ “snaggle
teeth.” (Rag-pickers’) Aller voir Madame la ----, _to go to work
picking rags, &c., in the street_.
RUELLE, _f._ (popular), il ne tombera pas dans la ----, _is said of a
drunken man lying in the gutter, and who in consequence does not risk
falling from the wall side of his bed_. In English slang he is said,
when in that state, to “lap the gutter.”
RUETTE, _f._ (popular), _mouth_, or “kisser.”
RUF, _m._ (thieves’), _prison warder_.
RUFAN, _m._ (Breton cant), _fire_. Italian cant ruffo.
RUFFANTE. See ABBAYE.
RUINÉ, _adj._ (horse-trainers’), un cheval ---- sur son devant, _a
horse with bent knees, inclined_ “to say his prayers.”
RUISSELANT D’INOUISME, _adj._ (familiar), _superlatively fine_;
_marvellous_, “crushing.”
RUMFORT (familiar), voyage à la ----, _is said of one who goes on a
pretended journey, so as to escape the toll of new year’s gratuities
and gifts_.
RUP, or RUPIN, _adj. and m._ (popular), _excellent_; _fine_; _handsome_.
Su’ le moment, ça vous a bonn’ mine;
C’est frais, c’est pimpant, c’est rupin;
Que’qu’ temps après, la blanche hermine
S’transforme en vulgaire peau d’lapin.
=JULES JOUY=, _La Neige_.
Avoir l’aspect ----, _to look rich_.
Ils s’emparent des portières et les défendent contre les
gens qui n’ont pas l’aspect rupin. Ils ne les laissent
libres que pour les gens qui leur paraissent avoir de la
douille.--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._
C’est un ----, _he is clever, understands thoroughly his business_,
“he is a regular tradesman.” No better compliment, says the _Slang
Dictionary_, can be passed on an individual, whether his profession be
house-breaking, prize-fighting, or that of a handicraftsman, than the
significant “He is a regular tradesman.” Le ---- des rupins, _the best
of the thing_.
Et puis, l’plus bath! Le rupin des rupins,
C’est qu’on n’sait pus où nous parquer.
Parole!
Ainsi dans l’doute on nous laisse là.
_Le Contentement du Récidiviste, à l’ancre._
(Thieves’) Rupin, _rich_, “well ballasted.”
Les plus rupins, depuis qu’on a imprimé des dictionnaires
d’argot, entravent bigorne comme nouzailles.--=VIDOCQ.=
Rupin, _gentleman_, or “nib cove.”
Ils s’enquièrent où demeurent quelques marpeaux pieux,
rupins et marcandiers dévots, qu’ils bient trouver en leur
creux.--_Le Jargon de l’Argot._
The word rupin is derived from the Gypsy rup, Hindustani rupa, _money_.
In Breton cant rup has the meaning of _citizen or wealthy man_.
RUPINE, _f._ (thieves’), _lady_.
RUPINSKOFF, _adj._ (popular), _excellent_, “out and out;” _rich_.
RURAL, _m._, _name given to the Conservative members of the Assemblée
Nationale in 1871_.
RUSSES, _adj. and m._ (military), bas, or chaussettes ----, _strips
of linen wrapped round the feet at the time when soldiers were not
provided with regulation socks_.
De bas russes tu garniras
Tes bottes où tu plongeras
Les dix arpions de tes pieds plats.
=DUBOIS DE GENNES.=
(Common) Des ----, _short whiskers_.
RUSTAU, _m._ (thieves’), _variety of receiver of stolen property_,
“fence.”
Le remisage, tenu par le rustau, est le fourgat des voleurs
ou assassins de grandes routes travaillant en province et
opérant jusqu’à l’étranger.--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._
S
SABACHE, _adj. and m._ (popular), _foolish_; _dunce_, or “dunderhead.”
A corruption of “sabot,” a disparaging slangy epithet.
SABLE, _m._ (thieves’), _sugar_; _stomach_, or “middle piece.” Les
sables, _the cells_. (Popular) Sable, _money_. An allusion to the
colour of gold. (Freemasons’) Sable blanc, _salt_; ---- jaune, _pepper_.
SABLER (thieves’), _to kill one by striking him with an eel-skin bag
filled with sand_.
SABOCHE, _f._ (popular), _awkward person_; _bad workman_. A corruption
of sabot.
SABOCHER, SABOTER (popular), _to do bad work_.
SABORD, _m._ (popular), jeter un coup de ----, _to examine the accuracy
of the work_; _to control_.
SABORDER (sailors’), _to thrash_.
SABOT, _m._ (popular), _nose_, or “boko;” _bad workman_; _carriage_, or
“rumbler;” (popular and familiar) _bad billiard table_; _bad musical
instrument_; _small boat_; (thieves’) _ship_.
SABOTEUR, _m._ (popular), _slovenly workman_.
SABOULER (popular), _to work carelessly_; _to clean boots_, “to japan
trotter-cases.”
SABOULEUR, _m._ (popular), _shoe-black_.
SABOULEUX, _m._ (old cant), _rogue who shams epilepsy_. Termed
now-a-days “batteur de dig-dig.” These impostors chew a piece of soap
to make it appear that they are frothing at the mouth. Now, _soap_ is
sabo in the old Provençal, so that “sabouleux” literally means _soapy_.
SABRE, _m._ (old cant), _cudgel_, or “toko.” Also _wood_, from the
furbesche “sorbe,” which has the same signification. (Popular) Avoir
un ----, _to be drunk_, or “screwed.” Probably from the fact that a
drunkard stumbles about as if he were impeded by a sword beating about
his legs. See POMPETTE. Avoir un coup de ---- sur le ventre _is said of
a woman who has a military man for her lover, who has_ “an attack of
scarlet fever.” Un joli coup de ----, _a large mouth_, like a slit made
by a cut of a sword, a “sparrow mouth.”
SABRÉE, _f._ (old cant), _a yard measure_.
SABRENAS, _m._ (popular), _cobbler_, “snob.” An allusion to a maker
of wooden shoes, as “sabre” had the meaning of _wood_. Also _clumsy
workman_.
SABRENASSER, or SABRENAUDER, _to work in a slovenly manner_.
SABRENEUX, _m._ (popular), _good-for-nothing fellow_. Literally sale
breneux.
SABRER (shopmen’s), _to measure cloth with a yard_; (popular) _to do a
thing hurriedly and badly_.
SABRE-TOUT, _m._ (general), _fire-eater_.
SABREUR, _m._ (popular), _slovenly workman_.
SABRI, _m._ (thieves’), _wood_; _forest_. See SABRE.
SABRIEU, _m._ (thieves’), _rogue who steals wood_.
SAC, _m._ (thieves’), un ----, or un millet, _one hundred francs_.
(Familiar) N’avoir rien dans son ----, _to be devoid of ability_.
Donner le ----, _to dismiss from one’s employ_, “to give the sack.” Un
---- à vin, _drunkard_, or “lushington.” (Popular) Avoir le ---- plein,
_to be drunk_; _to be pregnant_, or “lumpy.” Cracher, or éternuer dans
le ----, _to be guillotined_. See FAUCHÉ. En avoir plein son ----, _to
be completely drunk_, or “obfuscated.” Le ---- de pommes de terre,
_protuberance of the muscles_.
Un tout jeune homme ... frêle et charmant dans une veste de
chasse, dont le coutil laissait apercevoir aux biceps le
“sac de pommes de terre” du savetier.--=E. DE GONCOURT=,
_La Fille Elisa_.
Sac à diables, _knowing, cunning person_, _a_ “downy, or leary” _one_.
But stick to this while you can crawl,
To stand till you’re obliged to fall,
And when you’re wide awake to all,
You’ll be a leary man.
_The Leary Man._
Un ---- à os, _a thin, skinny person_, a “bag o’ bones.” Un ---- au
lard, _a shirt_, or “flesh-bag.” Un ---- à puces, _a dog_, or “buffer.”
En avoir plein son ----, or son ----, _to have enough of_, _to be
disgusted with_.
J’en ai mon sac, moi, d’mon épouse;
Mince d’crampon; j’y trouv’ des ch’veux,
C’est rien de l’dire. C’que j’me fais vieux!
Par là-d’sus madame est jalouse!
=GILL.=
(Military) Le ---- à malices, _a bag which contains a soldier’s
brushes, thread, needles, &c._ De mon ----, insulting expression,
signifying _worthless, good-for-nothing_.
S’pèce de canaille! sale pâtissier de mon sac! bougre
d’escroc!--=CHARLES LEROY.=
SACCADE, _f._ (obsolete), donner la ----, _to sacrifice to Venus_.
Elle aura par Dieu la saccade, puisqu’il y a moines
autour.--=RABELAIS.=
SACDOS, _m._ (popular), _thin, skinny person_, a “bag o’ bones.”
SACDOSER (popular), _to become thin_.
SACHETS, _m. pl._ (popular), _stockings or socks_.
SACQUÉ, _adj._ (popular), être ----, _to be well off_, _to be_ “well
ballasted.”
SACQUER (popular), _to throw_; _to dismiss one from one’s employ_, “to
give the sack.”
SACRÉ-CHIEN, _m._ (familiar and popular), _coarse brandy_.
Vous vous râperez le gosier avec du rhum et du rack, avec
le troix-six et le sacré-chien dans toute sa pureté, tandis
qu’ils se l’humecteront avec les onctueuses liqueurs des
îles.--=TH. GAUTIER.=
SACRER (thieves’), _to affirm_.
SACRISTAIN, _m._ (obsolete), formerly _husband of an_ “abbesse,” _the
mistress of a house of ill-fame_, “abbaye des s’offre à tous.”
SACRISTIE, _f._ (popular), _privy_, “chapel of ease.”
SAFFRE, _m._ (popular), _gormandizer_, “grand paunch.” Saffre is an
old French word to be found in _Le Roman de la Rose_, 13th and 14th
centuries.
SAFRAN, _m._ (popular), accommoder au ----, _to be unfaithful to one’s
spouse_. Saffron is of the colour said to be the favourite one of
injured husbands.
--Paraît que ce sera très gai chez Madame Brischkoff: rien
que des femmes mariées!
--Un bal jaune, quoi!--_Journal Amusant._
SAIGNANTE, _f._ (thieves’). See LAVER.
SAIGNEMENT DE NEZ, _m._ (thieves’), _examination of a prisoner_,
“cross-kidment.”
SAIGNER (thieves’), faire ---- du nez, _to kill_, “to hush;” _to
cross-examine_, or “to cross-kid.” (Popular) Faire ---- du nez, _to
borrow money_, “to bite the ear,” or “to break shins.”
SAINT-CIBOIRE, _m._ (popular), _heart_, “panter.”
SAINT-CRÉPIN, _m._ (popular), _shoe-makers’ tools_. The brothers Crépin
and Crépinien, after preaching the Gospel in Gaul in the third century,
settled down at Soissons as shoemakers, and one of them is the patron
of shoemakers. Etre dans la prison de ----, _to have tight shoes on_.
Saint-Crépin, or Saint-Frusquin, _savings_; _property_.
SAINT DE CARÊME, _m._ (popular), _hypocrite_, “mawworm.”
SAINT-DÔME, _m._ (popular), _tobacco_. From Saint-Domingue, where
tobacco was grown in large quantities.
SAINTE CHIETTE, _m._ (popular), _good-for-nothing fellow_.
SAINTE-ESPÉRANCE, _f._ (popular), _the eve of the pay-day_.
SAINTE-NITOUCHE, or SAINTE-SUCRÉE, _f._ (popular), _prude_. Faire sa
----, _to play the prude_.
SAINTE-TOUCHE, _f._ (popular), _pay-day_.
SAINT-FRUSQUIN, _m._ (familiar and popular), _one’s property_;
_effects_. Manger tout son ----, _to spend all one’s means_. An
imaginary saint, from “frusques,” _clothes_; “rusca,” in furbesche.
SAINT-HUBERT, _m._ (popular), médaille de ----, _five-franc piece_.
Alluding to the medal of the knightly order of Saint-Hubert, founded by
a German duke in 1444.
SAINT-JEAN, _m._ (printers’), _effects_. Probably from the expression,
être nu comme un petit Saint-Jean, the lack of effects being taken to
mean the effects themselves. Also _printers’ tools_. Prendre son ----,
_to leave the workshop for good_. (Popular) Faire son petit ----, _to
put on innocent airs_; _to play the fool_. Saint-Jean le rond, _the
behind_; ---- Baptiste, _landlord of a wine-shop_. An allusion to the
water he adds to his wine.
SAINT-JEAN-PORTE-LATINE, _m._ (printers’), _the fête-day of printers_.
SAINT-LÂCHE, _m._ (popular), _patron of lazy people_.
SAINT-LAMBIN, _m._ (popular), _slow man_.
SAINT-LAZ, _m._ (popular), abbreviation of Saint-Lazare, _a prison for
unfaithful wives and prostitutes_. La confrérie de ----, _the world of_
“unfortunates.” Bijou de ----, _prostitute imprisoned in Saint-Lazare_.
SAINT-LICHARD, _m._ (popular), _gormandizer_, “grand paunch.”
SAINT-LONGIN, _m._ (popular). See LONGIN.
SAINT-LUNDI, _f._ (popular), fêter la ----, _to get drunk_. See
SCULPTER.
SAINT-PANSART, _m._ (popular), _man with a large paunch_, “forty guts.”
SAINT-PRIS. See ENTRER.
SAISISSEMENT, _m._ (thieves’), _straps which bind the arms and legs of
a convict who is being led to the guillotine_.
SALADE, _f._ (thieves’), _answer_. A play on the word raiponce
(réponse), _a kind of salad called rampion_; (popular) _whip_. Salade
de Gascon (obsolete), _rope_, _string_. Salade de cotret, _cudgelling_.
Je me souvien qu’i me menère chez trois ou quatre
capitaines qui leur dirent qu’ils leur ficheroient une
salade de coteret.--_Dialogue sur les Affaires du Temps._
SALADIER, _m._ (popular), _bowl of sweetened wine_, which is mixed in a
salad basin.
SALAIRE, _m._ (thieves’), _shoe_, “daisy root.” Corruption of soulier.
SALBIN, _m._ (thieves’), _oath_.
SALBINER (thieves’), _to take the oath_.
SALBRENAUD (thieves’), _shoemaker, or cobbler_, “snob.”
SALE, _adj._ (popular), coup, or ---- truc pour la fanfare, _a bad
job for us_, _a sad look-out_. The expression is generally expressive
of disappointment, or when any disagreeable affair occurs which there
is no means of averting. “Here’s the devil to pay, and no pitch hot,”
English sailors will say. Avoir une ---- jactance, “to be the one to
jaw,” or “to be the one to palaver.” (Bullies’) Un ---- gibier, _a
prostitute who does not bring in much money_.
SALÉ, _m._ (printers’), _wages paid in advance_, or “dead horse.”
Morceau de ----, _part payment of debt_. Demander du ---- à la banque,
_to ask for an advance on wages_. Le grand ----, _the sea_, or “briny.”
SALER (popular), _to scold_, “to haul over the coals;” ---- quelqu’un,
_to charge too much_, _to make one_ “pay through the nose,” or “to
shave” _him_. C’est un peu salé _is said of an extravagant bill_.
SALIÈRE, _f._ (popular), répandre la ---- dessus, _to charge too much_,
“to shave.” Montrer ses salières _is said of a woman with thin breasts
who wears low dresses_. Elle a deux salières et cinq plats _is said of
a woman with skinny breasts_. A play on the words “seins plats,” _flat
bosoms_.
SALIN, _m._ (thieves’), _yellow_.
SALIR, or SOLIR (thieves’), _to sell_. A corruption of saler, _to
charge too much_. (Popular) Se ---- le nez, _to get drunk_. See
SCULPTER.
SALIVERNE, or SALIVERGNE (old cant), _cup_; _plate_; _platter_, or
“skew,” in English beggars’ and Scottish gipsies’ lingo. Rabelais uses
the word salverne with the signification of _cup_. When Pantagruel and
Panurge pay a visit to “l’oracle de la Bouteille,” they found:--
Le trophée d’un buveur bien mignonnement insculpé: sçavoir
est ... bourraches, bouteilles, fioles, ferrières,
barils, barreaulx, bomides, pots ... en aultre, cent
formes de verre à pied ... hanaps, breusses, jadeaulx,
salvernes.--_Pantagruel._
Salverne, from the Spanish salva. Saliverne nowadays signifies _salad_.
SALLE, _f._ (theatrical), de papier, _a playhouse full of people with
free tickets_. (Saumur school of cavalry) La ---- Cambronne, _the
W.C._ Alluding to General Cambronne’s more than energetic alleged
reply at Waterloo when called upon to surrender. (Popular) Salle à
manger, _mouth_. N’avoir plus de chaises dans sa ---- à manger, _to
be toothless_. (Bullies’) Salle de danse, _the behind_. Thus termed
because they think it is the proper object on which to exercise one’s
feet.
SALONNIER, _m._ (familiar), _art critic who reviews the art exhibition_.
SALOPETTE, _f._ (popular), _pair of canvas trousers worn over another
pair_.
SALOPIAT, or SALOPIAUD, _m._ (popular), _dirty or mean fellow_, “snot.”
A diminutive of salope, which itself comes from the English sloppy.
SALSIFIS, _m._ (popular), _fingers_, “dooks, or dukes.”
SALTIMBE, _m._ (popular), abbreviation of saltimbanque, _mountebank_.
SALUER LE PUBLIC (theatrical), _to die_. See PIPE.
SALUTATIONS À CUL OUVERT, _f. pl._ (popular), _much bowing and scraping
of feet_.
SANCTUS, _m._ (obsolete), _mark_, _seal_. A play on the words saint and
seing.
Ils sont sortis; le gendarme n’a plus été qu’un jean-f...,
l’officier l’y a foutu son sanctus, que le manche de son
épée l’y faisoit emplâtre.--_Journal de la Rapée._
SANG, _m._ (popular and thieves’), de poisson, _oil_. See PRINCE. Se
manger les sangs, _to fret_.
SANG-DE-VERSAILLAIS, _adj._ (familiar), facetious term for _deep red_.
An allusion to the epithet of Versaillais given to the supporters of
the government during the insurrection of 1871. Journaliste ----, _a
journalist who is of rabid Republican opinions_.
Le bel Antony, journaliste Sang-de-Versaillais et orateur
dynamitard.--=A. SIRVEN.=
SANGLÉ, _adj._ (popular), _short of cash_, with one’s resources at “low
tide.”
SANGLER (popular), se ----, _to stint oneself_.
SANGLIER, _m._ (thieves’), _priest_. Literally _wild boar_. An allusion
to his black robe, or from the words sans, _without_, and glier,
_infernal regions_. The priest, or rather he who performed the marriage
ceremony, was termed in old English cant, “patrico.” Dekker says of the
“patrico” that he performs the marriage ceremony under a tree, in a
wood, or in the open fields. The bridegroom and bride place themselves
on each side of a dead horse or other animal. The “patrico” then bids
them live together until death do part them. Thereupon they shake
hands, and all adjourn to a neighbouring tavern.
SANGSUE, _f._ (popular), _kept woman who ruins her lover_. (Printers’)
Poser une ----, _to correct a piece of composition for an absentee_.
SANGSURER (popular), _to draw largely on one’s purse_. Se ----, _to
ruin oneself in favour of another_.
SANS (thieves’), condé, _without permission or passport_. Condé
signified _mayor_, _authorities_, and the word was imported by Spanish
quacks. Sans dab, _orphan_. The word “dab” has the signification of
_father_, _chief_, _king_. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
“dabo” meant _master of a house_, and probably was derived from dam,
damp (dominus), used by Rabelais with the signification of _lord_.
The English slang has “dab,” _expert_, which the _Slang Dictionary_
believes comes from the Latin adeptus. It is more likely the origin is
the French dab, dabo. Etre ---- canne _is said of a convict under the
surveillance of the police who has broken bounds_.
SANS-BEURRE, _m._ (popular), _rag-picker_, or “tot-picker.”
SANS-BOUT, _m._ (popular), _hoop_.
SANS-CAMELOTTE, _m._ (thieves’). Termed also solliceur de zif,
_swindler who gets money advanced on imaginary goods supposed to be in
his possession_.
SANS-CHAGRIN, _m._ (thieves’), _thief_, “prig.” See GRINCHE.
SANS-CHÂSSES, _m._ (thieves’), _blind man_, “groper, or puppy.”
SANS-CŒUR, _m._ (popular), _usurer_.
SANS-CULOTTE, _m._, _name given to the Republicans of 1793_, either
because they discarded the old-fashioned breeches for trousers, or as
an allusion to the scanty dress of the Republican soldiers. The word
has passed into the language.
SANS-DOS, _m._ (popular), _stool_.
SANS-FADE, _m._ (thieves’), être ----, _to be penniless_, or “dead
broke.”
SANS-FEUILLE, _f._ (thieves’), _gallows_. This expression corresponds
to the “leafless tree” of Paul Clifford’s song. Hanging was termed
formerly, “être élevé sur une bûche de quinze pieds, épouser cette
veuve qui est à la Grève, danser sous la corde, danser une cabriole
en l’air sans toucher à terre, avoir le collet secoué, être tué de
la lance d’un puits, regarder par une fenêtre de chanvre, jouer du
hautbois.” For other synonyms see MONTE-À-REGRET. American thieves use
the expression “to twist,” _i.e._ _to hang_.
SANS-LE-SOU, _m._ (popular), _needy man_, _one who is_ “hard up.”
SANS-LOCHES, _adj._ (thieves’), être ----, _to be deaf_.
SANS-MIRETTES, _adj. and m._ (thieves’), _blind_; _blind man_, “groper,
or puppy.”
SANSONNET, _m._ (popular), _penis_. Properly _starling_.
SANTACHE, _f._ (popular), _health_.
SANTAILLE, _f._ (popular), _the prison of La Santé_.
SANTARELLE, _f._ (card-sharpers’), faire une ----, _to give cards to
one’s partner in such a way as to be able to see them_.
SANTU, _f._ (thieves’), _health_.
SAOUL COMME UN ÂNE (familiar and popular), “drunk as a lord;” a
common saying, says the _Slang Dictionary_, probably referring to the
facilities a man of fortune has for such a gratification. The phrase
had its origin in the old hard-drinking days, when it was almost
compulsory on a man of fashion to get drunk regularly after dinner.
SAOULLE, _f._ (thieves’), _blackguard_.
SAP, _m._ (popular), _coffin_, “eternity box.” From sapin, _fir wood_.
Taper dans le ----, _to be dead_, “to have been put to bed with a
shovel.”
SAPAJOU, _m._ (popular), vieux ----, _old debauchee_, _old_ “rip.” One
as lecherous as a monkey.
SAPEMENT, _m._ (thieves’), or gerbement, _sentence_.
SAPER (thieves’), _to sentence_; ---- au glaive, _to sentence to death_.
SAPEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _judge_, or “beak;” (popular) _cigar partly
smoked_.
SAPIN, _m._ (familiar and popular), _hackney coach_, or “shoful.”
Elle causait de l’intérieur de son landau, égayée, le
trouvant cocasse, au milieu des embarras de voiture, quand
“il s’engueulait avec les sapins.”--=ZOLA.=
(Popular) Redingote de ----, _coffin_, or “cold meat box.” Sentir, or
sonner le ----, _to look dangerously ill_.
Elle avait un fichu rhume qui sonnait joliment le
sapin.--=ZOLA.=
(Thieves’) Sapin, _floor_; _garret_; ---- de muron, _garret where salt
is stored away_; ---- des cornants (obsolete), _the earth_; _a field_.
Compare with the modern expression “plancher des vaches.”
SAPINIÈRE, _f._ (popular), _common grave for poor people_.
SAQUET, _m._ (popular), _shaking_.
SARDINE, _f._ (popular). Serrer les cinq sardines, _to shake hands_.
Rabelais uses the verb fourcher with a like signification. (Military)
Sardines, _stripes on the sleeves of a tunic_. Sardines blanches,
_those worn by gendarmes_.
Deux gendarmes un beau dimanche,
Chevauchaient le long d’un sentier.
L’un avait la sardine blanche,
L’autre le jaune baudrier.
=G. NADAUD=, _Les Deux Gendarmes_.
SARDINÉ, _m._ (military), _non-commissioned officer_.
SARRASIN, _m._ (printers’), _workman who works at reduced wages, or
refuses to join in strikes_, a “knob-stick.”
SARRASINAGE, SARRASINER. See SARRASIN.
SATIN, _f._ (popular), _a “tribade.”_ Defined by Littré as “une femme
qui abuse de son sexe avec une autre femme.” From a character in Zola’s
_Nana_.
SATONNADE, _f._ (convicts’), _bastinado_. La ---- roule à balouf igo,
_there is much giving of bastinado here_.
SATOU, or SATTE, _m._ (thieves’), _wood_; _forest_; _stick_; _itinerant
mountebank’s plant_.
SATOUSIER, _m._ (thieves’), _joiner_.
SATTE. See SATOU.
SAUCE, _f._ (popular), _reprimand_, “wigging.” Gare à la ----! _look
out for squalls!_ Gober la ----, _to be reprimanded or punished for
others_. Il va tomber de la ----, _it is going to rain_. Accommoder
à la ---- piquante. See ACCOMMODER. (Prostitutes’) Sauce tomate,
_menses_. Formerly donner la ----, had the signification given as
follows:--
Manière de parler libre, qui ... signifie donner du mal
vénérien.--=LE ROUX.=
SAUCÉ, _adj._ (familiar), être ----, _to be wet to the skin_.
SAUCIER, _m._ (restaurants’), _cook who has charge of the making of
sauces in good restaurants_. SAUCISSE, _f._ (popular), _prostitute_, or
“mot;” ---- plate, _thin prostitute_; ---- municipale, _poisoned meat
thrown to straying dogs_. Moi ----, _I also_. For moi aussi.
SAUCISSON, _m._ (popular), à pattes, or de Bologne, _short and fat
person_, “humpty dumpty.” (Thieves’) Saucisson, _lead_, or “bluey.”
Termed also “gras-double.”