Le triomphe est une vieille coutume de Saint-Cyr, qui
consiste à promener sur une prolonge d’artillerie les
vainqueurs du jour (lors de l’inspection), tandis que
les élèves forment dans la cour une immense farandole et
chantent le chœur légendaire de la galette.--_Figaro._
TRIPAILLON DE SORT! (popular), _ejaculation expressive of intense
disappointment_.
TRIPASSE, _f._ (popular), _ugly and fat woman_.
TRIPER (popular), _to suckle an infant_.
TRIPES, _f. pl._ (popular), _large, soft breasts_. Secouer les ----
à quelqu’un, _to thrash one_. See VOIE. Porter son argent aux ----
(obsolete), _to employ one’s money in the purchase of very cheap
articles_. Used to be said by fishwives to customers who cheapened too
much.
TRIPIÈRE, _f._ (popular), _girl or woman with well-developed breasts_.
Forte ----, _one with enormous breasts_.
TRIPOLI, _m._ (popular), _rank brandy_, “French cream” and “bingo” in
old English cant. Un coup de ----, _a glass of brandy_.
TRIPOT, _m._ (popular and thieves’), _police officer_; _municipal
guard_.
TRIPOTER (familiar), le carton, _to play cards_.
Un braconnier, qui n’a pas employé sa journée à tripoter le
carton, sort d’un fourré avec son arme.--=P. MAHALIN.=
Comme les héroïnes de Molière n’ont d’esprit que l’éventail
en main, d’Axel ne retrouvait un peu de vie qu’en tripotant
le “carton.”--=A. DAUDET.=
(Artists’) Tripoter la couleur, _to paint_. Tripoté, _painted in
masterly style_.
Comme c’est tripoté!... quel beurre! Il est impossible
d’être plus chaud et plus grouillant.--=TH. GAUTIER=, _Les
Jeune France_.
TRIQUAGE, _m._ (rag-pickers’), _sorting of rags_.
TRIQUART, _m._, or TRIQUE, _f._ (thieves’), _liberated convict under
the surveillance of the “haute police.”_ Similarly to ticket-of-leave
convicts in England, a man under the surveillance of the police is
obliged to report himself from time to time, and a place of residence
is assigned to him which he cannot leave without permission.
TRIQUE, _f._ (thieves’), _tooth_, or “ivory;” _cab_, or “cask;” _a
convict returned from transportation before his time_, or “yoxter.”
Also _one under police supervision_. (Popular) Trique à larder, or
---- à picoter, _sword-stick_. Faire flamber la ---- à larder, _to
use a sword-stick_. Trique, properly _cudgel_, termed “trucco” in the
Italian cant.
TRIQUEBILLE, _m._ (obsolete). See FLAGEOLET.
TRIQUER (popular), _to sort rags_; _to cudgel_; (thieves’) _to be under
police surveillance as a ticket-of-leave_.
TRIQUET, _m._ (thieves’), _police spy_, one who watches ticket-of-leave
men, termed “triques.”
TRIQUEUR, _m._ (popular), _master rag-picker_, _one who sorts rags_.
TROEZ (Breton cant), _porridge_.
TROGNADE (schoolboys’), _dainties, such as sweets, fruit, cakes_.
TROGNER (schoolboys’), _to eat dainties_.
TROGNEUR, _m._ (schoolboys’), _one who eats dainty things_.
TROGNON, _m._ (popular), _head_, or “nut.”
Comment Scrongnieugnieu, faut donc que j’vous l’répète
cinquante fois, qu’ c’est à cause des sales idées qu’ vous
m’avez foutues dans l’trognon, vous et Kelsalbecq, que
d’puis huit jours j’suis dévasté d’un embêtement vraiment
consécutif.--=G. FRISON.=
Dévisser le ----, _to kill_. (Familiar and popular) Mon petit ----,
_my sweet little one_, _my little_ “ducky.” Other fond expressions
are: “mon loup, mon chien, mon petit chou, mon chat, mon loulou, mon
gros minet, ma petite chatte, ma bichette, ma minette, ma poule, ma
poupoule, mon gros poulet, ma petite cocotte,” and others quite as
ridiculous. Our fathers used the endearing term, “mon petit bouchon,”
from bouchonner, _to fondle_.
_Sganarelle_ (embrassant sa bouteille). Ah! petite
friponne. Que je t’aime, mon petit bouchon.--=MOLIÈRE=, _Le
Médecin malgré lui_.
TROISIÈME. See DESSOUS.
TROIS-MÂTS, _m._ (military), _veteran with three stripes_.
TROIS-PONTS, _m._ (familiar), _high silk cap_. Casquette à ----,
_prostitute’s bully_. See POISSON.
TRÔLEUR, _m._ (popular), _commissionnaire_; _vagrant_, “pikey;”
_rabbit-skin man_.
TRÔLEUSE, _f._ (popular), _street-walker_. See GADOUE. From the verb
trôler, _to go about_, derived from the German trollen. In English, to
troll, hence trull.
TROMBILLE, _f._ (thieves’), _beast_.
TROMBINE, _f._ (popular), _head_, or “tibby;” _physiognomy_, or “phiz.”
See TRONCHE. Trombine en dèche, _ugly face_, “knocker-face.” Une rude
----, _a grotesque face_.
TROMBLON, _m._ (familiar), _hat_, or “stove-pipe.”
TROMBOLLER (roughs’), _to love_; ---- les gonzesses, _to be fond of
women_.
TROMBONE, _m._ (military), faire ----, _to pretend to take money out of
one’s pocket to pay for the reckoning_. The movement to and fro of the
hand is likened to the action of playing the trombone.
TROMPE, _f._ (popular), _nose_.
TROMPE-CHASSES, _m._ (thieves’), _picture_.
TROMPE-LA-MORT, _m._ (familiar), _swell_, “masher.”
TROMPETTE, _f._ (popular), _face_, or “mug;” _mouth_, or “rattle-trap;”
_nose_, or “conk;” _cigar_.
TROMPEUR, _m._ (obsolete), _melon_. Thus termed probably from its
yellow colour, which is supposed to be that in favour with deceived
husbands.
TROMPION, _m._ (military), _bugler_.
TRONCHE, _f._ (thieves’ and roughs’), _head_, or “tibby.”
--J’espère bien qu’on lui coupera la tronche à celui-là.
--Je parie que je l’attrape à la sorbonne avec un trognon
de chou.--=TH. GAUTIER.=
The slang synonyms are: “le baldaquin, le coco, la boule, la balle,
la ciboule, la calebasse, la boussole, la pomme, la coloquinte, le
caillou, la cafetière, le caisson, le tesson, la cocarde, la bobine,
le citron, la poire, le grenier à sel, la boîte au sel, la boîte à
sardines, la boîte à surprises, la tire-lire, la hure, la gouache,
la noisette, le char, le réservoir, le chapiteau, le bourrichon, la
goupine, la tourte, le trognon, la guitare, la guimbarde, le soliveau,
le bobéchon, la bobinasse, le kiosque, le vol-au-vent, l’omnibus,
la sorbonne, la caboche, le ciboulot, l’ardoise, le soufflet, le
jambonneau, l’armoire à glace, la baigneuse, le schako;” and in the
English slang: “knowledge-box, tibby, costard, nut, chump, upper
storey, crumpet, and nab.” Tronche à la manque, _police officer_, or
“reeler.” See POT-À-TABAC. The proper signification of tronche is
_billet of wood_, _piece of wood which has been cut off the trunk_.
TRONCHER (thieves’), _to kiss_. Termed also “sucer la pomme.”
TRONCHINER (obsolete), used to signify _to take a morning walk_,
a “constitutional.” From the name of a celebrated doctor of the
eighteenth century, by name Tronchin, whom it was then the fashion to
consult. Tronchinade had the meaning of _walk_.
TRONCHINETTE, _f._ (roughs’), _young girl’s head or face_.
TRÔNE, _m._ (popular), _night-stool_. Etre sur le ----, _to be at the
W.C._
TROPLOC, _m._ (popular), _employer_, “boss.”
TROQUET, _m._ (popular), abbreviation of mastroquet, _landlord of
wine-shop_. Called also “bistrot, empoisonneur, mannezingue.”
Tout ce que je sais, c’est que je sortais du troquet
quand j’ai reçu mon atout par trois zigs qui ont pu
me déshabiller, après avoir eu des nouvelles de mon
biceps. S’ils m’ont donné des châtaignes, je les ai bien
arrangés.--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude_.
TROT, _m._ (prostitutes’), aller au ----, _to walk the street as a
prostitute in full_ “fig.” (Military) Au ----! a favourite expression
in the cavalry, _look sharp!_
Allez mettre votre blouse, et au trot! qu’est-ce qui m’a
bâti un pierrot comme ça!--=G. COURTELINE.=
TROTACH (Breton cant), _soup_.
TROTTANT, _m._ (thieves’), _rat_.
TROTTANTE, _f._ (thieves’), _mouse_.
TROTTER (popular), se ----, or se la ----, _to go away_.
Il m’a donné du poignon pour me trotter toute seule à
Paris. Je suis revenue, avec le sac de l’homme sauvage, à
la turne de l’ogresse.--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude_.
TROTTE-SEC, _m._ (cavalry), _foot-soldier_, “mud-crusher.”
TROTTEUSE, _f._ (popular), _railway engine_, “puffing, or whistling
Billy.”
TROTTIGNOLE, _f._ (popular and thieves’), _foot_, “crab;” _shoe_,
“crab-shell.” Du cabochard aux trottignoles, _from head to foot_.
TROTTIN, _m._ (popular), _errand boy or girl_.
Les trottins se feront des révérences comme les marquises
de l’ancien temps.--_Le Voltaire_, Nov., 1886.
Trottins, _feet_, or “everlasting shoes;” _shoes_, or “trotter-cases.”
Des trottins feuilletés, _worn-out, leaky shoes_. (Thieves’) Trottin,
_horse_, or “prad.”
TROTTINARD, _m._ (popular), _child_, “kid.”
TROTTINET, _m._ (popular), _lady’s shoe_.
TROTTOIR, _m._ (familiar), femme de ----, _prostitute_, or “common
Jack.” Le grand ----, _fashionable cocottes_, _high-class_ “tarts” _of
that description_. Le petit ----, _the street-walking females_, or
“unfortunates.” (Theatrical) Le grand ----, _stock of classical plays_.
Le petit ----, _class of lighter productions_.
TROU, _m._ (familiar), faire son ----, _to get on in the world_.
(Popular) Le ---- aux pommes de terre, _the mouth_, “potato-trap.” Le
---- de balle, de bise, or du souffleur, _anus_. Avoir un ---- sous le
nez, _to be a great bibber of wine_. Etre dans le ----, _to be dead and
buried_, “to have been put to bed with a shovel;” _to be in prison_,
_in_ “quod.” Un ---- du cul, _an arrant fool_, “bally flat;” _a mean
fellow_, or “skunk.” On lui boucherait le ---- du cul avec un grain de
sable--explained thus by Rigaud:--
Se dit en parlant de quelqu’un que la peur paralyse,
parceque, alors, selon l’expression vulgaire, il “serre les
fesses.”--_Dict. d’Argot Moderne._
Faire un ---- à la lune, _to fail in business_, _to be bankrupt_. It
formerly signified _to disappear_. Literally to _vanish behind the
moon_. (Thieves’) Trou, _prison_, or “quod.”
Vive le vin! vive la bonne chère!
Vive la grinche! vive les margotons!
Vive les cigs! vive la bonne bière!
Amis, buvons à tous les vrais garçons!
Ce temps heureux a fini bien trop vite,
Car aujourd’hui nous v’là tous dans l’trou.
_Song written by_ =CLÉMENT=, _a burglar._
TROUBADE, or TROUBADOUR, _m._ (popular), _infantry soldier_.
Ta tournure guerrière,
Ta de rata, tata, ta de rata, ta taire,
Sait captiver la plus fière!
Et, pour le parfait amour,
En filant un doigt de cour,
Tu te montreras toujours
Plus fort que dix troubadours.
=DUBOIS DE GENNES.=
TROUÉE, _f._ (thieves’), _lace_, or “driz.”
TROUFIGNARD, TROUFIGNON, _m._ (popular), _the behind_; _the anus_.
TROUFION, _m._ (popular), _soldier_.
TROUILLARDE, _f._ (popular), _prostitute_. From the verb trôler, _to
roam about_.
TROUILLE, _f._ (popular), _dirty servant_; _slut_; _dissipated-looking
woman_; _trull_; (thieves’) _fear_. Avoir la ----, _to be afraid_.
Synonymous of “avoir le taf, le trac, le flubart, la frousse.”
TROUILLOTER (popular), _to stink_.
TROUPE, _f._ (theatrical), d’argent, _second-rate company_; ---- de
carton, _company composed of very inferior actors_; ---- de fer-blanc,
_one numbering actors of ordinary ability_. Termed also “troupe d’été,”
the Paris season taking place in winter; ---- d’or, or d’hiver,
_first-rate theatrical company_. In the language of journalists the
expressions, “troupe de fer-blanc,” “troupe d’or,” are used to denote
respectively _a middling or excellent staff of writers_.
TROUSSE, _f._ (thieves’), _anus_.
TROUSSEQUIN, _m._ (popular), _the behind_, or “Nancy.” See VASISTAS.
TROUVÉ, _adj._ (artists’ and journalists’), _new_, _original_.
TROUVER (familiar), la ---- mauvaise, _to be highly dissatisfied_.
Trouver des puces, _to have a quarrel, or to get a thrashing_. Se ----
mal sur, _to appropriate another’s property_.
TROYEN, _m._ (domino players’), _three of dominoes_.
TRUC, _m._ (familiar and popular), _affair_; _mode_; _knack_; _dodge_.
Avoir le ----, _to have the knack_, _to have the secret_.
Est-ce que je ne connais pas toutes les couleurs? J’ai le
truc de chaque commerce.--=BALZAC.=
Avoir le ----, _to find a dodge_.
Ce farceur de Mes-Bottes avait eu le truc d’épouser une
dame très décatie.--=E. ZOLA.=
Truc, _any kind of small trade in the streets_. Avoir du ----, _to be
ingenious_; _to possess a mind fertile in resource_. Le ---- vert,
_billiards_, or “spoof.” (Popular and thieves’) Piger le ----, _to
discover the fraud_, _the dodge_. Le ---- de la morgane et de la lance,
_christening_.
A la chique à six plombes et mèche pour que le ratichon
maquille son truc de la morgane et de la lance.--=VIDOCQ.=
Le ----, _thieving_, “lay.” Le grand ----, _murder_. Des trucs,
_things_, _objects_. Donner le ----, _to give the watchword_. Boulotter
le ----, _to reveal the watchword_. (Theatrical) True, _engine
used to effect a transformation scene_. Pièce à trucs, _play with
transformation scenes_. (Prostitutes’) Faire le ----, _to walk the
streets_. (Military) Truc, _room_.
Nous arrivons dans une espèce de sale truc, grand à peu
près comme v’là la chambre, seul’ment pas t’tafait aussi
haut.--=G. COURTELINE.=
Also _military equipment_. Truc, from the Provençal tric, _deceit_.
Then we have the old-fashioned word “triche,” which corresponds to the
English trick at cards. A thief in Italian lingo is termed “truccante.”
Literally _trickster_. In old French “truc” meant _blow_, and in
the Italian jargon “trucco” is used to denominate a _stick_, from a
correlation between the effect and the cause.
TRUCAGE, _m._, _selling new articles for antiquities_.
TRUCAGEUR, _m._, _manufacturer of articles sold as genuine antiquities_.
TRUCARD, _m._ (popular), _artful dodger_.
TRUCHE, _f._ (thieves’ and tramps’), _begging_, “cadging.”
Je suis ce fameux argotier,
Le grand Coesre de ces mions.
J’enterve truche et doubler
Dedans les boules et frémions.
_La Chanson des Argotiers._
La faire à la ----, _to beg_, “to cadge.”
TRUCHER (old cant), _to beg_, “to cadge;” ---- sur l’entiffe, _to beg
on the road_. From truc.
TRUCHEUR, or TRUCHEUX, _m._ (old cant), beggar, or “cadger;” _tramp_,
or “pikey.”
Qui veut rouscailler,
D’un appelé du grand Coesre,
Dabusche des argotiers,
Et des trucheurs le grand maître,
Et aussi de tous ses vassaux.
Vive les enfans de la truche,
Vive les enfans de l’argot.
_La Chanson des Argotiers._
TRUCSIN, _m._ (thieves’), _house of ill-fame_, “flash-drum, nanny-shop,
or Academy.” In America certain establishments of this description are
termed “panel-cribs.” I find the following description in a book called
the _Slang Dictionary of New York, London, and Paris_ (the last-named
town might have been left out): Panel-crib, a place especially fitted
up for the robbery of gentlemen, who are enticed thereto by women who
make it their business to pick up strangers. Panel-cribs are sometimes
called badger-cribs, shake-downs, and touch-cribs, and are variously
fitted for the admission of those who are in the secret, but which defy
the scrutiny of the uninitiated. Sometimes the casing of the door is
made to swing on well-oiled hinges which are not discoverable in the
room, while the door itself appears to be hung in the usual manner, and
well secured by bolts and lock. At other times the entrance is effected
by means of what appears to be an ordinary wardrobe, the back of which
revolves like a turnstile on pivots. When the victim has got into bed
with the woman, the thief enters, and picking his pocket-book out of
his pocket, abstracts the money, and supplying its place with a small
roll of paper, returns the book to its place. He then withdraws, and
coming to the door raps and demands admission, calling the woman by the
name of wife. The frightened victim dresses himself in a hurry, feels
his pocket-book in its proper place, and escapes through another door,
congratulating himself on his happy deliverance. The panel-thief who
fits up a panel-crib tries always to pick up gentlemen that are on a
visit to the city on business or pleasure, who are not likely to remain
and prosecute the thieves.
TRUELLE, _f._ (freemasons’), _spoon_. Termed also “pelle.”
TRUFFARD, or TRUFFARDIN, _m._ (popular), _soldier_, “swaddy.” Truffard
also means _happy_, _lucky_.
TRUFFE, _f._ (popular), _nose of considerable proportions_, or
“conk;” _potato_, “spud;” ---- de savetier, _chestnut_. Aux truffes,
_excellent_, “first-class, fizzing, out-and-out, nap.” Il a un nez à
chercher des truffes _is used to compare a man to a pig_, as a porcine
assistant is necessary for the finding and rooting up of truffles.
TRUFFÉ, _adj. and m._ (familiar), _arrant_, _or_ “captious” _fool_;
---- de chic, _superlatively elegant or stylish_, “tsing tsing.”
TRUFFER (popular), _to deceive_, “to cram up.”
TRUFFERIE, _f._ (popular), _fib_, “cramming up.”
TRUFFEUR, _m._ (popular), _one who tells fibs_, _who_ “throws the
hatchet,” or “draws the long-bow.” The English slang expressions come
from the wonderful stories which used to be told of the Norman archers,
and more subsequently of Indians’ skill with the tomahawk.
TRUFFIER, _m._, TRUFFIÈRE, _f._ (popular), _fat person_. An allusion
to a pig used for finding truffles, and which is called truffier in
certain parts of France. It appears that peasants, in order to discover
an animal with a fine nose, go to the fair with a bit of truffle in
their shoe, and they know a good truffle-finder at once, as he never
fails to sniff at their heels.
TRUMEAU, _m._ (popular), _woman of indifferent character_. See GADOUE.
Vieux ----! _old fool_, “doddering old sheep’s head.”
TRUQUAGE, _m._ (artists’), _putting the name of an old master to a
modern picture_.
TRUQUER, _m._ (popular), _to live by one’s wits_; (thieves’) _to
swindle_, “to bite;” _to give oneself up to prostitution_; ---- de la
pogne, _to beg_, “to cadge.” (Tradespeoples’) Truquer, _to manufacture
articles sold as genuine antiquities_.
TRUQUEUR (popular), _one who lives by his wits_; _swindler_, _one of
the_ “swell-mob;” _card-sharper_, “rook;” _Sodomist_, “gentleman of the
back door;” _seller of theatre checks_; _one who does sundry odd jobs,
such as opening the doors of carriages_, _&c._, “one who lives on the
mooch,” _or who sells small articles in the streets_; _pedlar_.
Je vous assure qu’il me répugne de verser le raisiné de ces
deux truqueurs.--=VIDOCQ.=
TRUQUEUR DE CAMBROUSE, _tramp_, or “pikey.”
Les deux truqueurs de cambrouse nous entendront si on
rebâtit le sinve.--=VIDOCQ.=
TRUYE, _f._ fils de ---- (obsolete), _used to be said of a man who
vanishes_, alluding to La Truye qui file, the signboard of a celebrated
wine-shop of the seventeenth century.
TUAL (Breton cant), _fox_.
TUANT, _adj._ (familiar), _dull in the superlative degree_.
TUBARD, _m._ (popular), _silk hat_. Various kinds of covering for the
head are termed: “capet, carbeluche, combre, combrieu, capsule, tuyau
de poêle, tromblon, tube, tube à haute pression, casque, viscope,
bolivar, couvre-amour, tuile, épicéphale, galurin, lampion, nid
d’hirondelle, caloquet, cadratin, ardoise, marquin, bâche, décalitre,
corniche, couvercle, couvrante, loupion, bosselard;” and in the
English slang: “tile, chimney-pot, stove-pipe, goss.” To complete this
_chapitre des chapeaux_, which has nothing in common with the one
said by Sganarelle to have been written by Aristotle, we may add that
Fielding calls hats “principles,” and in explanation of the term he
says:--
As these persons wore different “principles,” _i.e._
hats, frequent dissensions grew among them. There were
particularly two parties, viz. those who wore hats fiercely
cocked, and those who preferred the “nab” or trencher hat,
with the brim flapping over their eyes. The former were
called “cavaliers” and “tory rory ranter boys,” &c. The
latter went by the several names of “wags, roundheads,
shakebags, oldnolls,” and several others. Between these
continual jars arose, insomuch that they grew in time to
think there was something essential in their differences,
and that their interests were incompatible with each other,
whereas, in truth, the difference lay only in the fashion
of their hats.--_Jonathan Wild._
TUBE, _m._ (familiar and popular), _silk hat_, “stove-pipe.” See TUBARD.
Et ... le tube sur l’oreille ... suivi d’horizontales, de
verticales, de déhanchées et d’agenouillées, on le verra
s’en aller dans les rues.--_Le Voltaire._
(Popular) Le ----, _the throat_, “gutter-lane, or whistler;” _the
nose_, or “smeller.” See MORVIAU. Se coller quelquechose dans le ----,
_to eat_, “to grub.” Se piquer le ----, _to get drunk_, or “tight.” Se
flanquer du terreau dans le ----, _to take snuff_. Un ----, _a musket_,
or “dag.” Un ---- à haute pression, _silk hat_.
TUBER (popular), _to smoke_. Tubons en une, _let’s_ “blow a cloud.”
TUBERCULE, _m._ (familiar), _big nose_, “conk.”
TUÉ, _adj._ (familiar), _astounded, aghast_, “flabbergasted.”
TUER (thieves’), le ver, _to silence the calls of one’s conscience_,
a not unusual thing for thieves to do. (Popular) Tuer les mouches à
quinze pas, _to have an offensive breath_; ---- le colimaçon, _to have
a morning glass of white wine_; ---- le ver, _to have an early glass of
spirits_, a “dew-drink.”
Ensuite on tue le ver abondamment: vin blanc, mêlé-cassis,
anisette de Bordeaux, d’aucunes grognardes, à la peau
couleur de tan ne crachent pas sur une couple de
perroquets, le demi-setier de casse-poitrine ou la chopine
d’eau-de-vie de marc.--=P. MAHALIN.=
TUFFRE, _m._ (thieves’), _tobacco_, “stuff.”
TUILE, _f._ (freemasons’), _plate_; (familiar) _disagreeable and
unforeseen event_; (roughs’) _hat_, or “tile.”
TUILEAU, _m._ (roughs’), _cap_, “tile.”
I’m a gent, I’m a gent,
In the Regent-Street style,--
Examine my costume
And look at my tile.
_Popular Song._
TUILER (popular), _to measure_, _to judge of one’s character or
abilities_; _to survey one with suspicious eye_. Se ----, _to reach the
stage of intoxication when the drunkard looks apoplectic, when he is
as_ “drunk as Davy’s sow.”
TULIPE ORAGEUSE, _f._, _a step of the cancan_, a pas seul danced in
such places as Bullier or L’Elysée Montmartre by a young lady with
skirts and the rest tucked up so as to disclose enough of her person to
shock the sense of decorum of virtuous lookers-on, whose feelings must
be further hurt by the energetic and suggestive gyratory motions of the
performer’s body. This pas is varied by the “présentez armes!” when
the lady handles her leg as a soldier does his musket on parade. Other
choregraphic embellishments are, “le passage du guet, le coup du lapin,
la chaloupe en détresse, le pas du hareng saur,” &c.
TUNE, or THUNE, _f._ (thieves’), _money_, or “pieces;” _five-franc
piece_.
J’suis un grinche, un voleur, un escarpe; je buterais le
Père Eternel pour affurer une tune, mais ... trahir des
amis, jamais!--=VIDOCQ.=
La ----, or tunebée (old cant), _the old prison of Bicêtre_. In the
fifteenth century the king of mendicants was called Roi de Thune,
or Tunis, as mentioned by V. Hugo in his description of La Cour des
Miracles under Louis XI. (see _Notre Dame de Paris_), in imitation of
the title of Roi d’Egypte, which the head of the gipsies bore at that
time. It is natural that rogues should have given the appellation to
the prison of Bicêtre, where so many of the members of the “canting
crew” were given free lodgings, and which was thus considered as a
natural place of meeting for the subjects of the King of Thune.
TUNEÇON, _f._ (old cant), _prison_, or “stir.”
TUNER (old cant), _to beg_, “to maunder.” The latter term seems to be
derived from mendier, _to beg_.
TUNEUR, _m._ (old cant), _beggar_, “maunderer.”
TUNNEL, _m._ (medical students’), _the anus_.
TUNODI (Breton cant), _to talk cant_, “to patter flash.”
TUNODO (Breton cant), _cant expressions_; ---- minson, _falsehoods_.
TURBIN, _m._ (popular), _annoyance_.
Bon sang d’bon Dieu! quel turbin!
J’viens d’mett’mon pied dan’ eun’ flaque:
C’est l’hasard qui m’offre un bain,
Vlan! v’là l’vent qui m’fiche eun’ claque.
=RICHEPIN.=
Turbin, _work_, “graft.”
Après six jours entiers d’turbin
J’me sentais la gueule un peu sale.
Vrai, j’avais besoin d’prend’un bain;
Seul’ment j’l’ai pris par l’amygdale.
=RICHEPIN.=
(Thieves’) Le ----, _thieving_. (Prostitutes’) Le ----,
_prostitution_. Aller au ----, _to walk the streets as a
street-walker_.
TURBINER (popular), _to work_, _to do_ “elbow grease.”
Plus joyeux encore l’ouvrier qui turbine en plein air,
suspendu sur un échafaudage, plus près du bleu, éventé par
les souffles de l’horizon.--=RICHEPIN=, _Le Pavé_.
Turbiner une verte, _to drink a glass of absinthe_. (Thieves’)
Turbiner, _to thieve_.
TURBINEUR, _m._ (popular), _labourer_.
TURC, _m._ (thieves’), _a native of Touraine_. See TÊTE, FACE.
TURCAN, _m._ (thieves’), _the town of Tours_.
TURIN, _m._ (thieves’), _earthenware pot_. This word is no doubt a
corruption of terrine.
TURLURETTE, _f._ (popular), _fast girl_.
TURLUTAINE, _f._ (popular), _caprice_, _whim_.
TURLUTINE, _f._ (military), _campaigning ration consisting of pounded
biscuit, rice, and bacon_.
TURNE, _f._ (familiar and popular), _ill-furnished, wretched room or
lodgings_. This word is derived from the Gipsy “turno,” _castle_.
L’immeuble ... je me suis tout de suite
Souvenu de cette turne.
=XAVIER MONTÉPIN.=
TURQUIE, _f._ (thieves’), _Touraine_.
TUTOYER (popular), une chose, _to take hold of a thing
unceremoniously_; _to purloin_; ---- un porte-morningue, _to steal a
purse_.
TUTU, _m._ (familiar), _kind of short muslin drawers worn by ballet
girls_. Termed also “cousu.”
Son maillot tendu sans un pli, avant d’enfiler cette sorte
de jupon-caleçon de mousseline, bouffant aux hanches,
fermé au-dessus du genou et qui répond au joli petit nom
harmonieux de tutu ou cousu.--=A. SIRVEN.=
TUYAU, _m._ (popular), _ear_, or “wattle;” _throat_, or “red lane.”
Se jeter quelque chose dans le ----, _to eat or drink_. Avoir le ----
bouché, _to have a cold in the head_. (Familiar and popular) Tuyau de
poêle, _silk hat_, “stove-pipe.”
Ni blouses, ni vestes, ni casquettes: redingotes, paletots,
tuyaux de poêle.--=A. SIRVEN.=
(Military) Tuyau de poêle, _regulation boots_. (Popular) Les tuyaux,
legs, “pins.” Ramoner ses tuyaux, _to run away_; _to wash one’s feet_.
See PATATROT.
(Sporting) Tuyau, “tip,” that is, confidential information about a
horse that is likely to win. Given in le tuyau de l’oreille.
Après mon opération, le cheval que j’ai pris devient
subitement le tuyau.--_Le Gil Blas._
Donner un ----, _to give such information_, “to give the office.”
TUYAUX DE POÊLE, _m. pl._ (popular), _high boots_; _worn-out shoes_.
Des tuyaux de poêle qui reniflent la poussière des
ruisseaux.--=E. DE LA BÉDOLLIÈRE.=
TYPE, _m._ (familiar and popular), _individual_, “bloke, cove,” or
“cuss,” as the Americans say.
Nous ne parlerons que pour mémoire du garçon de café
qui, dédaignant aujourd’hui le pourboire, ne rend jamais
exactement la monnaie, lorsqu’il a flairé un type à ne pas
compter.--=A. SIRVEN.=
Type has also the signification of _odd fellow_, “queer fish.” The
term “type” was first used by cocottes as synonymous of _dupe_, or
“flat,” as appears from the following dialogue between two “soupeuses,”
frequenters of Brébant’s restaurant.
--Avec qui as-tu passé ta soirée?
--M’en parle pas: avec deux types qui m’ont embêtée à cent
francs par tête.--=P. AUDEBRAND=, _Petits Mémoires d’une
Stalle d’Orchestre_.
TYPESSE, _f._ (familiar and popular), _woman_.
TYPO, _m._ (popular), _compositor_.
TYPOTE, _f._ (popular), _female compositor_.
U
ULCÈRE, _m._ (popular), faire dégorger son ----, _to make oneself
vomit_.
UNCH’ (popular), the first words of a mild form of swearing, nom
d’un....
Bravo ... Nom d’unch! C’est presque aussi bien qu’à
l’Ambigu.--=VICTOR HUGO.=
UN PEU DE COURAGE À LA POCHE (mountebanks’), _a phrase used as an
appeal to the generosity of the public when the sum required before
the performance of any feat is not forthcoming_. May be rendered by
“tuppence more and up goes the donkey,” a vulgar street phrase, says
the _Slang Dictionary_, for extracting as much money as possible before
performing any task. The phrase had its origin with a travelling
showman, the finale of whose performance was the hoisting of a donkey
on a pole or ladder. (Familiar) Un de plus _refers to an injured
husband_.
UONIK (Breton cant), _the sun_.
URF, _adj._ (popular), _excellent_, _first-class_. C’est rien ----!
_excellent_, “real jam.” Le monde ----, _fine people_.
URGE, _m._ The word is used by the ladies or “tartlets” of the
Boulevards to qualify a man’s financial status. The scale ranges from
the humble “un urge,” denoting a poor or very stingy man, to the
superlative “dix urges.” A stingy man is also said to wear gloves of
the size 6½, whilst a generous One sports the 8½.
Ainsi un gandin passe d’un air dégagé sur le boulevard,
lorgnant les femmes qui font espalier à la porte des cafés.
Trois urges! diront celles-ci en l’apercevant. Trois urges,
c’est-à-dire: ce monsieur n’est pas généreux, il gante
dans les numéros bas. Si, au contraire, elles disent:
Six urges! ou huit urges! oh! alors, c’est un banquier
mexicain qui passe là, elles le savent, il leur en a donné
des preuves la veille ou l’avant-veille. L’échelle n’a
que dix échelons; le premier urge s’emploie à propos des
pignoufs; le dixième urge seulement à propos des grands
seigneurs.--=DELVAU.=
URINE DE LAPIN (popular), _bad and weak brandy_.
URLE, _f._ (thieves’), _the room where prisoners have interviews with
visitors_.
URNE, _f._ (popular), _head_, or “tibby.” Avoir un député dans l’----,
_to be enceinte_.
URPINO, _adj._ (popular), _excellent_, “fizzing;” _elegant_. For
rupino, rupin. C’est ---- aux pommes, _it is the height of elegance_.
URSULE, _f._ (familiar), _old maid_.
USAGER (popular), _is said of a man with genteel manners_.
USER (military), son matricule, _to serve in the army_. Le numéro
matricule is _the soldier’s number_. (Gamesters’) User le tapis, _to
play low_; (familiar) ---- sa salive, _to argue uselessly_. Ne pas
avoir usé ses culottes sur les bancs, _to be ignorant_. (Thieves’) User
la pierre ponce, _to be a convict at a penal servitude settlement_.
From a simile. Pumice stone takes a long time to wear away.
USINE, _f._ (popular), _place where one works_.
USINER (popular), _to work_, “to graft.”
USTENSILE, _m._ (bullies’), _mistress_.
USTENSILIER, _m._ (theatrical), _one who has charge of the minor
articles of the plant_.
USTOCHES, _m. pl._ (popular), _scissors_. Deformation of eustache,
_knife_.
UT! (printers’), _your health!_ First word of a sentence formerly used
by printers when drinking together, “Ut tibi prosit meri potio!” The
Germans use the expression, “prosit!”
UTILITÉ, _f._ (theatrical), _useful actor_, _an_ “all round” _one_.
V
VACHARD, _m._ (popular), _man with no energy_; _lazy fellow_, “bummer.”
VACHE, _f._ (popular), _woman of indifferent character_; ---- à lait,
_prostitute_. See GADOUE. Vache! _an insulting epithet applied to
either sex_.
Ce fut, pendant une minute, une clameur
assourdissante....
--Cochon!
--Salaud!
--Bougre de vache!--=G. COURTELINE.=
Etre ----, faire la ----, _to be lazy_. Prendre la ---- et le veau, _to
marry a girl who is pregnant_. Le train des vaches, _the tramcar_. A
play on the word tramway. (Thieves’) La ----, _the police_, “reelers.”
Une ----, _police spy_, _or policeman_.
Elle avait été amenée là par deux horribles petits
drôles.... Ils étaient en train de dresser la “gonzesse”
avant de l’envoyer battre le trimar (le trottoir) lorsque
les roussins, les vaches, survinrent.--=ALBERT CIM=,
_Institution de Demoiselles_.
Mort aux vaches! _is a motto often found tattooed on malefactors’
bodies_.
VACHER, _m._ (thieves’) _police officer_, or “reeler.”
VACHERIE, _f._ (popular), _laziness_; _a place where drinks are served
by women_.
VA-COMME-JE-TE POUSSE, _f._ (popular), à la ----, _at haphazard_.
VACQUERIE, _f._ (thieves’), aller en ----, _to sally forth on a
thieving expedition_.
VADE, _f._ (thieves’), _crowd_, or “push.” Termed also “tigne.”
VA-DE-LA-GUEULE, _m._ (popular), _gormandizer_, or “grand paunch;”
_orator_.
VA-DE-LA-LANCE, _m._ (popular), _boon companion_, _a kind of_ “jolly
dog.”
VADOUX, _m._ (obsolete), _servant_.
VADROUILLARD, VADROUILLEUR, _m._ (popular), _low fellow fond of holding
revels with prostitutes_.
VADROUILLARDE, VADROUILLE, VADROUILLEUSE, _f._ (familiar and popular),
_low prostitute_, or “draggle-tail.” Vadrouille, _low graceless fellow_.
Fais-toi connaître. Il faut
Que je saches où tu perches.
Je fais mille recherches,
O gibier d’échafaud.
Et je reviens bredouille!...
Ainsi chantait T--or,
Mais l’horrible vadrouille
Ricana: cherche encor.
=RAMINAGROBIS.=
Vadrouille is properly _a swab_. Aller en ----, or faire une ----, _to
go and amuse oneself with gay girls_. (Thieves’ and roughs’) En ----,
_wandering about_, “on the mooch.”
VADROUILLER (popular), _to go with prostitutes_, _to be a_ “mutton
monger.”
VAGUE, _m._ (thieves’), aller au ----, _to go about seeking for a_
“job,” _quærens quem devoret_. Coup de ----, _theft_. Pousser un coup
de ----, _to commit a robbery_.
Un certain soir étant dans la débine.
Un coup de vague il leur fallut pousser,
Car sans argent l’on fait bien triste mine.
_Song written by_ =CLÉMENT=, _a burglar_.
(Bullies’) Envoyer une femme au ----, _to send a woman out for purposes
of prostitution_. (Popular) Du ----! _an expression of refusal_, which
may be rendered by the Americanism, “yes, in a horn.” Se lâcher du
----, lancer une gousse au ----, _to send a woman out to walk the
streets_.
VAGUER (prostitutes’), _to wander about_.
VAIN, _adj._ (thieves’), _bad_.
VAISSEAU DU DÉSERT, _m._ (popular), euphemism for chameau, _prostitute_.
VAISSELLE, _f._ (popular), de poche, _money_, “needful.” (Military)
Vaisselle, _decorations_. Mettre sa ---- à l’air, _to put on one’s
decorations_.
VALADE, _f._ (thieves’), _pocket_, or “cly.”
J’ai toujours de l’auber dans mes valades, bogue d’orient,
cadenne, rondines et frusquins.--=VIDOCQ.=
From avaler, _to swallow up_. Sonder les valades, _to feel pockets in a
crowd_.
VALET DE CŒUR, _m._ (popular), _the lover of a prostitute_, or
“Sunday-man.” See POISSON.
VALOIR (popular), ne pas ---- cher, _to have a disagreeable_, “nasty”
_temper_. Valoir son pesant de moutarde, _not worth much_; (thieves’)
---- le coup de fusil, _to be worth robbing_.
VALSER (popular), _to go away_; _to run away_, “to hook it.” Balzare in
furbesche; ---- du bec, _to have an offensive breath_.
VALTREUSE, _f._ (thieves’), _portmanteau_, or “peter.”
VALTREUSIER, _m._ (thieves’), _rogue who devotes his attentions to
portmanteaus_, “dragsman.”
VANDALE, _f._ (thieves’), _empty pocket_.
VANNAGE, _m._ (gambling cheats’), faire un ----, _to allow a_ “pigeon”
_to win the first game_. Termed also maquiller un ----.
VANNÉ, _adj._ (familiar and popular), _exhausted_, “gruelled.”
C’est vrai que je suis un peu vanné ... dit Elysée en
souriant, et il montait ses cinq étages, le dos rond,
écrasé.--=A. DAUDET.=
VANNER (thieves’), _to run away_, “to speel.” Alluding to the motions
of the body and arms of a winnower, or from the old French word
vanoyer, _to disappear_.
VANNES, _f. pl._ (popular), _falsehood_; _humbug_, “flam.”
Am I dreaming? or what? Pinch me, Jesse! I am quite awake,
am I not? And the thing is no “flam?”--_The Globe_, Dec.,
1886.
Des ----! _ejaculation of disbelief_, “over, or over the shoulder.”
C’est des ----! _that’s all humbug_, “all my eye.”
VANNEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _one who runs away_; _coward_.
VANTERNE, or VENTERNE, _f._ (thieves’), _window_, or “jump.” From the
Spanish ventana, or more probably from vent, _wind_, so that venterne
literally signifies _which lets in the wind_. Ventosa in Spanish cant.
Vanterne (for lanterne), lantern; ---- sans loches, _dark lantern_, or
“darky.”
VANTERNIER, _m._ (thieves’), _robber who effects an entrance through a
window_, “dancer, or garreter.”
VAPEUR, _f._ (popular), une demi ----, _a glass of absinthe_.
VAQUERIE, _f._ (old cant), bier en ----, _to sally forth on a thieving
expedition_.
VASE, _m. and f._ (familiar), étrusque, _chamber-pot_, or “jerry.”
Concerning this utensil Viscount Basterot, in his work _De Québec à
Lima_, speaks of a curious custom of the Peruvians. He says: “On a su
de tout temps que les Espagnols ne se font pas prier pour annoncer
bruyamment qu’ils ont bien dîné; témoin une certaine histoire du
Maréchal Bassompierre. Mais il est une certaine habitude péruvienne
dont vraiment je n’avais jamais entendu parler. Il est un peu
embarrassant de la décrire, mais pourquoi la tairais-je? Ne faut-il pas
raconter, quels qu’ils soient, les usages et les mœurs? Quel serait
sans cela l’intérêt des voyages? Le fait est qu’au Pérou, le pot de
chambre est arrivé à la hauteur d’une institution nationale. On se
mettrait plutôt en route sans malle que sans cet ustensile précieux.
Les personnes riches les font faire en argent. Mais, hélas! la vieille
aristocratie est sur son déclin, et la faience domine aujourd’hui.
Les dames surtout les étalent avec une complaisance infinie; il est
vrai qu’ils servent aussi quelquefois de meuble de toilette. On voit
arriver une brillante senora; elle tient quelque chose à la main:
c’est sans doute un bouquet de fleurs, ou un mouchoir de dentelle?
Non, c’est son vase de nuit! Encore si elles se dispensaient de s’en
servir publiquement! Mais elles pensent probablement, avec quelques
cyniques, que les choses naturelles ne sont pas indécentes.” (Popular
and thieves’) De la ----, _rain_, or “parney.” Il tombe de la ----, or
de la flotte, _it rains_.
VASER (popular and thieves’), _to rain_. Termed also “lansquiner,
tomber de la lance.”
VASINETTE, _f._ (popular), _bath_. Aller à la ----, _to bathe_. Termed
“to tosh” by the gentlemen cadets of the R. M. Academy.
VASISTAS, _m._ (popular), _monocular eye-glass_; _the behind_. The
synonyms are: “le piffe, le médaillon, l’arrière-train, le trèfle,
messire Luc, le moulin à vent, le ponant, la lune, le bienséant, le
pétard, le ballon, le moutardier, le baril de moutarde, l’obusier, la
tabatière, la tire-lire, la giberne, le proye, cadet, la figure, la
canonnière, l’oignon, la machine à moulures, la rose des vents, le
département du Bas-Rhin, le démoc, le schelingophone, le Prussien, le
panier aux crottes, le visage de campagne or sans nez, le fignard,
le pétrouskin, la face du Grand Turc, le tortillon, le fleurant, le
pedzouilie, le cadran, le foiron, le tal, le garde-manger, le naze,
le soufflet, le prouas, la contrebasse, le cyclope, le schaffouse, le
gingin.”
VASSARÈS, _f._ (thieves’), _water_.
VAS-Y-T’ASSIR, _m._ (roughs’), _chair_.
VAS-Y-VAS-Y, _m._ (roughs’), _casement of a window_. Play on vasistas.