Flat as a flounder (or Pancake), phr. (colloquial).—Very flat indeed.
Also flat as be blowed.
1882. Punch, vol. LXXXII., p. 177, col. 1.
To brush up a flat. See Brusher.
To pick up a flat, verb. phr. (prostitutes’). To find a client. Fr.,
lever or faire un miché (miche = bread, from michon = money. Compare
Breadwinner: under Monosyllable (q.v.)).
1869. Greenwood, Seven Curses of London. On the chance that she
will, in the course of the evening, pick up a flat.
To have (or do) a bit of flat, verb. phr. (venery).—To indulge in
sexual intercourse. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.
Flat-back, subs. (common).—A bed-bug. For synonyms, see Norfolk Howard.
Flat-broke, adj. (colloquial).—Utterly ruined; dead-broke (q.v.).
Flat-catcher, subs. (common).—An impostor.
1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i., 6. Cope (speaking of a horse).
Well, Master Gull’em, do you think we shall get the flat-catcher
off to-day?
1841. Blackwood’s Mag., l., 202. Buttoners are those accomplices of
thimble-riggers ... whose duty it is to act as flat-catchers or
decoys, by personating flats.
1856. Mayhew, Great World of London, p. 46. And flat-catchers, or
‘ring-droppers,’ who cheat by pretending to find valuables in the
street.
1864. London Review, June 18, p. 643. ‘The Bobby’ or chinked-back
horse, is another favourite flat-catcher.
1869. Whyte-Melville, M. or N., p. 110. Rather a flat-catcher, Tom?
said that nobleman, between the whiffs of a cigar.
Flat-catching, subs. (common).—Swindling.
1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry, p. 118, The no-pinned hero, on being
elevated, gave, as a toast, ‘Success to flat-catching,’ which
produced roars of laughter and shouts of approbation.
1869. Greenwood, Seven Curses of London. To mark the many kinds of
bait that are used in flat-catching, as the turf slang has it.
Flatch, adj. (back-slang).—A half. flatch-kennurd = half drunk;
flatch-yenork = half-a-crown; flatch-yennep = a half-penny (see subs.,
sense 1).
Subs. 1.—A half-penny. [An abbreviation of flatch-yennep.] For
synonyms, see Mag.
c. 1866. Vance, The Chickaleary Cove. I doesn’t care a flatch as
long as I’ve a tach.