To flay or skin a flint, verb. phr. (old).—To be mean or miserly. See
Skinflint.
1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v. He’ll flay or
skinn a flint of a Meer Scrat or Miser.
1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, vol. II., p. 194 (ed. 1846). Report
says she would skin a flint if she could.
Flaybottom or Flaybottomist, subs. (common).—A schoolmaster, with a
play on the word phlebotomist = a blood-letter.—Grose. Fr.,
fouette-cul; and (Cotgrave) “Fesse-cul, a pedantical whip-arse.”
Flavour, to catch (or get) the flavour. verb. phr. (common).—1. To be
intoxicated. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.
2. (venery). To be ‘half-on’ for coition; to wax proud (q.v.): said of
men and women both.
Flax, verb. (American).—To beat severely; to give it hot (q.v.). For
synonyms, see Tan.
Flax-wench, subs. (old).—A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack
and Tart.
1604. Shakspeare, Winter’s Tale, i., 2. My wife’s a hobby-horse;
deserves a name As rank as any flax-wench.
Flea. To send away with a flea in the ear. verb. phr. (common).—To
dismiss with vigour and acerbity.
1854. Notes and Queries, 8 Apl., p. 322, col. 2. The luckless
applicant is peremptorily dismissed with an imperative ‘flee!’ ...
or, facetiously, with a flee in his ear.
To have a flea in the ear = (1) to fail in an enterprise; and (2) to
receive a scolding, or annoying suggestion.
To sit on a bag of fleas, verb. phr. (common).—To sit uncomfortably; on
a bag of hen fleas = very uncomfortably indeed.
To catch fleas for, verb. phr. (venery).—To be on terms of extreme
intimacy: e.g., ‘I catch her fleas for her’ = She has nothing to refuse
me. Cf., Shakspeare (Tempest, III., 2.), ‘Yet a tailor might scratch
her wheree’er she did itch.’
In a flea’s leap, adv. phr. (old).—In next to no time; instanter
(q.v.).
Flea-and-louse, subs. (rhyming slang). A house. For synonyms, see Ken.
Flea-bag, subs. (common).—A bed; Fr. un pucier. For synonyms, see Kip.
1839. Lever, Harry Lorrequer, ch. xl. ‘Troth, and I think the
gentleman would be better if he went off to his flea-bag himself.’
Flea-bite, subs. (old).—A trifle.
1630. Taylor, Works. If they doe lose by pirates, tempests, rocks,
’Tis but a fleabite to their wealthy stockes; Whilst the poore
cutpurse day and night doth toile, Watches and wardes, and doth
himselfe turmoile.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
Flea-biting, subs. (old).—A trifle.
1621. Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy. Their miseries are but
flea-bitings to thine.
Flea- (or Flay-) Flint, subs. (old.)—A miser: Cf., Skin flint (q.v.).
1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 141. The flea-flints ... strip me
bare.
Flear, verb. (old).—To grin. A flearing fool = a grinning idiot.
1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew.
Fleece, subs. (old).—An act of theft. Cf., old proverb, ‘to go out to
shear and come home shorn.’ For synonyms, see Skin.
1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Fleece, to Rob,
Plunder, or strip.
1703. Mrs. Centlivre, Beau’s Duel, ii., 2. Had a fleece at his
purse.
2. (venery).—The female pubic hair. Fr. toison (Baudelaire); It.,
barbiglioni (Florio). For foreign synonyms, see Mott.
English Synonyms.—Banner (Durfey); bandoliers (old); beard; bearskin;
belly-bristles; belly-thicket; belly-whiskers; Boskage of Venus; broom;
brush; bush; cat-skin; clover-field; cunny-skin (Durfey); Cupid’s
Arbour; cunt-curtain; damber-, dilberry-, gooseberry-, furze-, quim-,
or whin-bush; down; Downshire; front-doormat; feather (Prior and
Moore); fluff; forest (Donne); fud (Burns); fur; fur-below (old catch);
‘grove of eglantine’ (Carew); hedge on the dyke; lower-wig (Burton);
moss; mott-carpet; mustard-and-cress; nether eye-brow (or -lashes);
nether-whiskers; parsley (Durfey); plush; quim-whiskers; quim-wig; scut
(Shakspeare); shaving-brush (cf., Lather); scrubbing-brush; shrubbery;
sporran; stubble (see Pointer); sweet-briar; thatch; tail-feathers;
‘toupee’; ‘tufted honours’; twat-rug.
Verb (now recognised).—To cheat; to shear or be shorn (as a sheep).
1593. Nashe, Christ’s Teares, in wks. (Grosart) IV. 140. Tell me
(almost) what gentleman hath been cast away at sea, or disasterly
souldiourizd it by lande, but they (usurers) have enforst him
thereunto by their fleecing.
1598. Shakspeare, I King Henry IV., ii., 2. Down with them: fleece
them!
1620. Dekker, His Dreame, in wks. (Grosart) III. 52. Catchpolles,
and varlets, who did poore men fleece (To their undoing) for a
twelve-peny peece.
1712. Arbuthnot, Hist. of John Bull, pt. IV., ch. ii. When a poor
man has almost undone himself for thy sake, thou art for fleecing
him.
1822. Scott, Fort. of Nigel, ch. xxiii. He is now squeezed and
fleeced by them on every pretence.
1836. M. Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 106. He was stabbed by the
Ragamuffin he had fleeced.
1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. xxxi. Bloundell is a professional
blackleg, and travels the Continent, where he picks up young
gentlemen of fashion and fleeces them.
1859. Times, 25 Oct. ‘Review of Dean Ramsay’s Reminiscences.’ I
don’t know whether they are black or white sheep, but I know that
if they are long there they are pretty certain to be fleeced.
1891. Licensed Victuallers’ Gazette, 16 Jan. How you would be
fleeced! You’ve got a lot to learn yet.
Hence fleeced = ruined; dead-broke (q.v. for synonyms).
Fleecer, subs. (old).—A thief.
1600–69. Prynne, Breviate. Not fleecers, but feeders.
Fleece-Hunter, or -Monger, subs. phr. (venery).—A whore-master. For
synonyms, see Molrower.
Fleeter-Face, subs. (old).—A pale-face; a coward. Cf., Shakspeare’s
‘cream-faced loon.’
1647. Beaumont and Fletcher, Queen of Corinth. You know where you
are, you fleeter-face.
Fleet-Note, subs. (old).—A forged note.
1821. Real Life in London.
Fleet of the Desert, subs. phr. (common).—A caravan; cf., ship of the
desert = camel.
Fleet-Street, subs. phr. (colloquial).—The estate of journalism,
especially journalism of the baser sort.
Fleet-Streeter, subs. (colloquial).—A journalist of the baser sort; a
spunging prophet (q.v.); a sharking dramatic critic; a spicy (q.v.)
paragraphist; and so on.
Fleet-Streetese, subs. phr. (colloquial).—The so-called English,
written to sell by the Fleet-Streeter (q.v.), or baser sort of
journalist: a mixture of sesquipedalians and slang, of phrases worn
threadbare and phrases sprung from the kennel; of bad grammar and worse
manners; the like of which is impossible outside Fleet-Street (q.v.),
but which in Fleet-Street commands a price, and enables not a few to
live.
Fleg, verb. (old).—To whip. Bailey.
Flemish Account, subs. phr. (old).—A remittance less than was expected;
hence, an unsatisfactory account. [Among the Flemings (the merchants of
Western Europe when commerce was young) accounts were kept in livres,
sols, and pence; but the livre or pound only = 12s., so that what the
Antwerp merchant called one livre thirteen and fourpence would in
English currency be only 20s.]
1668. T. Brown, The Accurate Accomptant, etc. Quoted in N. and Q.
1. S. I., 286. London, August 10th, 1668. To Roger Pace, Factor,
etc., for 10 pieces cont. 746 Ells Fl. at 10s. Flem. per Ell is
£373 Flem. Exchange at 35s. makes Sterling Money £213 2s. 10d.
1774–1826. Typ. Antiq., p. 1773. A person resident in London is
said to have had most of Caxton’s publications. He sent them to
Amsterdam for inspection, and on writing for them was informed that
they had been destroyed by accident. ‘I am very much afraid,’ says
Herbert, ‘my kind friend received but a Flemish account of his
Caxton’s.’
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tong. Flemish account, a losing or bad
account.
Flesh, subs. (old).—Generic for the organs of generation, male or
female. Also (of women) Fleshly-part.
1604. Shakspeare, Winter’s Tale, iv., 3. She would not exchange
flesh with one that loved her.
1605. Cymbeline, i., 5. If you buy ladies’ flesh at a million a
dram you cannot preserve it from tainting.
1620. Percy, Folio MSS. [Hales & Furnivall, 1867]. ‘As I was
ridinge by the way.’ Sweet hart, shall I put my flesh in thine?
Flesh, verb., or, Flesh It; or, to be fleshed in (venery).—To have
carnal knowledge of—to be ‘one flesh with’—a woman. [For synonyms, see
Greens and Ride.] An equivalent in the passive sense is to feel his
flesh in one’s body (said by women only).
1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, Andar in Carnafau. To go a
fleshing or a wenching: (Carnafau = the brat-getting place; the
hole of content).
Flesh and Blood, subs. phr. (common).—Brandy and port in equal
proportions. See Drinks.
Flesh-bag, subs. (common).—A shirt or chemise.
English Synonyms.—Biled rag (American); camesa; carrion-case;
commission; dickey (formerly a worn-out shirt); gad (gipsy); lully;
mill tog; mish; narp (Scots’); shaker; shimmy (= a chemise, Marryat);
smish.
French Synonyms.—Une liquette or limace (thieves’: from the Gypsy. The
form also occurs also in the Italian lima); un panais (popular).
German Synonyms.—Kamis, Kamsel, Kemsel, or Gemsel (from med. Lat.,
Camisiale; Fr. camisole); Kesones, Kusones, or Ksones (also = cotton
and underclothing); Staude or Stauden; Hanfstandt (Liber Vagatorum:
literally hempshrub).
Italian Synonym.—Lima (see Fr., limace).
1820. London Magazine; i., 29. They are often without a flesh-bag
to their backs.
Flesh-broker, subs. (old).—1. A match-maker.
1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Flesh-broker, a
match-maker; also a bawd; between whom but little difference, for
they both (usually) take money.
2. A procuress [Grose]. Cf., Flesh-fly, Flesh-monger, and Flesh-market.
For synonyms, see Mother.
Flesh-fly (also, Flesh-maggot), subs. (old).—A whoremaster. For
synonyms, see Molrower.
1781. Cowper, Progress of Error, 323–324. Oh! that a verse had
power, and could command far, Far away, these flesh-flies of the
land.
Flesh-market, or Flesh-shambles, subs. (common).—A brothel or
flash-house (q.v.); also the pavement, in Piccadilly or Regent-street,
for instance, where whores do congregate. Cf., Meatmarket.
1608. John Day, Humour out of Breath, II. I Asp. ... She may bee
well discended; if shee be, Shee’s fit for love, and why not then
for me. Boy. And you be not fitted in Venice ’tis straunge, for
’tis counted the best flesh-shambles in Italie.
Flesh-monger, subs. (old).—A procurer; a whore-master. [From Eng. Flesh
+ monger]. For synonyms, see Mother and Molrower. Cf., Flesh-fly,
Flesh-market, and Flesh-broker.
1603. Shakspeare, Measure for Measure, V., 1. And was the duke a
flesh-monger, a fool, and a coward, as you then reported him to be?
Fleshmongering. To go flesh-mongering, verb. phr. (venery).—To quest
for women; to go on the prowl (q.v.)., or after meat. See Greens and
Ride.
Flesh-pot. Sighing for the flesh-pots of Egypt. phr.
(common).—Hankering for good things no longer at command. [Biblical].
1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 131. Do you think it is
a hankering after the flesh-pots, and that the canon’s cook
reconciles me to the canon’s opinions?
Flesh-tailor, subs. (old).—A surgeon. For synonyms, see Sawbones.
1633. Ford, ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore, iii. Oh, help! help! help! Oh,
for a flesh-tailor quickly.
Fleshy, subs. (Winchester College).—See Cat’s Head.
Fletch, subs. (prison). A spurious coin. Cf., Flatch.
Flick, or Flig, subs. (colloquial).—1. A cut with a whip-lash; hence, a
blow of any sort. A flicking is often administered by schoolboys with a
damp towel or pocket-handkerchief. For synonyms, see tanning.
1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VI., ch. ii. ‘I do know you are a
woman,’ cries the squire, ‘and it’s well for thee, that art one; if
had’st been a man, I promise thee I had lent thee a flick long
ago.’
1787. Grose, Provincial Glossary, s.v. vlick.
2. (common).—A jocular salutation; usually old flick. Cf., Codger and
My Tulip.
1883. Punch, 28 July, p. 38, col. 1. Well, last night, They’d a
feet in these gardens, old flick, as was something too awfully
quite.
Verb. (thieves’).—1. To cut.
1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Flicking, c., to cut,
cutting.
1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict. (flick is given as a ‘country word’).
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. Flick me some pannam and cassan,
cut me some bread and cheese; flick the peter, cut off the cloak
bag or portmanteau.
1791. Carew, Life and Adventures, q.v.
1837. Disraeli, Venetia, ch. xiv. Flick the bread, cut the bread.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v. Flick the Peter
and rake the swag for I want to pad my beaters.