1828. Jon Bee, Living Picture of London, p. 241. If the person
calling for ‘man’ or ‘woman’ is not right or wrong at five guesses,
neither of the gaffers win or lose, but go again.
Verb. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.
Gaffing, subs. (old).—See quot.
1821. Pierce Egan, Life in London, p. 279. Gaffing was
unfortunately for him introduced. Ibid. Note.—A mode of tossing for
drinks, etc., in which three coins are placed in a hat, shaken up,
and then thrown on the table. If the party to ‘call’ calls ‘heads’
(or ‘tails’) and all three coins are as he calls them, he wins; if
not, he pays a settled amount towards drinks.
1839. Brandon, Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, s.v.
Gag, subs. (common).—1. A joke; an invention; a hoax.
1823. Jon Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. Gag—a grand imposition upon
the public; as a mountebank’s professions, his cures, and his
lottery-bags, are so many broad gags.
1871. All the Year Round, 18 Feb., p. 288. You won’t bear malice
now, will you? All gag of mine, you know, about old Miss Ponsonby.
1885. Daily News, 16 May, p. 5, c. 2. ‘The Mahdi sends you lies
from Khartoum, and laughs when you believe them,’ said a native,
lately. We need not gratify the Mahdi by believing any bazaar-gag
he may circulate.
2. (theatrical).—Expressions interpolated by an actor in his part:
especially such as can be repeated again and again in the course of
performance. Certain plays, as The Critic, are recognised ‘gag-pieces,’
and in these the practice is accounted legitimate. Cf., Hamlet, iii.,
2: ‘And let those, that play your clowns, say no more than is set down
for them.’ Cf., Wheeze. Fr., la cocotte (specifically additions to
vocal scores). A typical example is the ‘I believe you, my boy!’ of the
late Paul Bedford. In the quot. under 1851–61, it is probable that gag
= patter (q.v.)
1841. Punch, i., p. 105. I shall do the liberal in the way of
terms, and get up the gag properly.
1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, iii., p. 148. When I go
out I always do my own gag, and I try to knock out something new.
1866. W. D. Howells, Venetian Life, ch. v.... I have heard some
very passable gags at the Marionette, but the real commedia a
braccio no longer exists.
1889. Globe, 12 Oct., p. 4, c. 4. In a high-class music hall it is
a rule that no song must be sung till it is read and signed by the
manager, and this applies even to the gag.
1890. Pall Mall Gazette, 5 Mar., p. 4, c. 3. Mr. Augustus Harris
pointed out that if the clause were carried the penalty would, in
many cases, be incurred twenty times in one scene, for actors and
singers were continually introducing gag into their business.
3. (American).—A commonwealth of players in which the profits are
shared round. Cf., Conscience.
1847. Darley, Drama in Pokerville, p. 124. The artist ... merely
remarking that he had thought of a gag which would bring them
through, mounted a ladder, and disappeared.
4. (American).—A fool; i.e., a thing to laugh at. For synonyms, see
Cabbage- and Buffle-head and Sammy Soft.
1838–40. Haliburton, The Clockmaker, p. 46. ‘Sam,’ says he, ‘they
tell me you broke down the other day in the House of
Representatives and made a proper gag of yourself.’
5. (Christ’s Hospital).—Boiled fat beef. Gag-eater = a term of
reproach.
1813. Lamb, Christ’s Hospital, in wks., p. 324 (ed. 1852). L. has
recorded the repugnance of the school to gags, or the fat of fresh
beef boiled; and sets it down to some superstition.... A gag-eater
in our time was equivalent to a ghoul ... and held in equal
estimation.
6. (Winchester College).—An exercise (said to have been invented by Dr.
Gabell) which consists in writing Latin criticisms on some celebrated
piece, in a book sent in about once a month. In the Parts below Sixth
Book and Senior Part, the gags consisted in historical analysis. [An
abbreviation of ‘gathering.’]
1870. Mansfield, School-life at Winchester College, p. 108. From
time to time, also, they had to write ... an analysis of some
historical work; these productions were called gatherings (or
gags).
Verb, trs. and intrs. (theatrical).—1. To speak gags (q.v.), sense 2.
Fr., cascader.
1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, III., 149. He has to
gag, that is, to make up words.
1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xxxix. The same vocalist gags in
the regular business like a man inspired.
1883. Referee, 15 April, p. 3, c. 1. Toole ... cannot repress a
tendency to gag and to introduce more than is set down for him by
the author.