To dance the Paddington frisk, verb. phr. (old).—To dance on nothing;
i.e., to be hanged. [Tyburn Tree was in Paddington.] For synonyms, see
Ladder.
Frisker, subs. (old).—A dancer.
1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., ii., 20. At no Whitsun Ale there e’er
yet had been Such Fraysters and Friskers as these lads and lasses.
Frivol or Frivvle, verb. (colloquial).—To act frivolously; to trifle.
[A resuscitation of an old word used in another sense, viz., to annul,
to set aside].
1883. W. Black, Yolande, ch. xx. ‘Mind, I am assuming that you mean
business—if you want to frivole, and pick pretty posies, I shut my
door on you but, I say, if you mean business, I have told Mrs. Bell
you are to have access to my herbarium, whether I am there or not.’
Frog, subs. (common).—1. A policeman. For synonyms, see Beak and
Copper.
1881. New York Slang Dict., ‘On the Trail.’ I must amputate like a
go-away, or the frogs will nail me.
1886. Graphic, 30 Jan., p. 130, col. 1. A policeman is also called
... a ‘frog,’ the last-named because he is supposed to jump, as it
were, suddenly upon guilty parties.
2. (common).—A Frenchman. Also froggy and frog-eater. [Formerly a
Parisian; the shield of whose city bore three toads, while the quaggy
state of the streets gave point to a jest common at Versailles before
1791: Qu’en disent les grenouilles? i.e., What do the frogs (the people
of Paris) say?]
1883. Referee, 15 July, p. 7, col. 3. While Ned from Boulogne says
‘Oui mon brave,’ The Froggies must answer for ‘Tamatave.’