Merry Greek, subs. phr. (old).—A roysterer; a drunkard. Cotgrave. [In
Latin, Graecare = to play the Greek—high-living and hard drinking.]
1602. Shakspeare, Troilus and Cressida, iv., 4. A woful Cressid
’mongst the merry Greeks.
Greek Fire, subs. phr. (thieves’).—Bad whiskey; Rotgut (q.v.).
1889. Clarkson and Richardson, Police, p. 321, s.v.
Greek Kalends, subs. phr. (colloquial).—Never. To defer anything to the
Greek Kalends is to put it off sine die. (The Greeks used no kalends in
their reckoning of time.)
c. 1649. Drumm. of Hawth. Consid. Parlt., wks. (1711) 185. That
gold, plate, and all silver, given to the mint-house in these late
troubles, shall be paid at the Greek Kalends.
1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, bk. I., ch. xx. The judgment or decree
shall be given out and pronounced at the next Greek Calends, that
is, never.
1823. Byron, Don Juan, c. xiii., st. 45. They and their bills,
‘Arcadians both,’ are left To the Greek Kalends of another session.
1825. Scott, Betrothed. Intro. Will you speak of your paltry prose
doings in my presence, whose great historical poem, in twenty
books, with notes in proportion, has been postponed ad Græcas
Kalendas?
1872. O. W. Holmes, Poet Breakf. T. i., 18. His friends looked for
it only on the Greek Calends, say on the 31st of April, when that
should come round, if you would modernize the phrase.
1882. Macmillan’s Mag., 253. So we go on ... and the works are sent
to the Greek Calends.
English Synonyms.—In the reign of Queen Dick; when the devil is blind;
when two Sundays come in a week; at Doomsday; at Tib’s Eve; one of
these odd-come-shortlys; when my goose pisses; when the ducks have
eaten up the dirt; when pigs fly; in a month of Sundays; once in a blue
moon.
French Synonyms.—Mardi s’il fait chaud (obsolete); Dimanche après la
grande messe (popular); quand les poules pisseront; semaine des quatre
jeudis (popular: when four Thursdays come in a week).
Green, subs. (common).—1. Rawness; simplicity. Generally, ‘Do you see
any green in my eye’? = Do you take me for a fool? See adj. sense.
1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, ii., 247. I’m not a
tailor, but I understands about clothes, and I believe that no
person ever saw anything green in my eye.
1892. Ally Sloper, 19 Mar., p. 95, c. 2. Ally Sloper the ’cute,
Ally Sloper the sly, Ally Sloper, the cove with no green in his
eye.
1892. Illustrated Bits, 22 Oct., p. 14, c. 2. Sindin’ both shlips
is it? How wud Oi have a check on ye? Do ye see inny green in me
oi?
Adj. (colloquial).—Simple; inexperienced; gullible; unsalted (q.v.).
1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, Act i., Sc. 3. Pol. Affection! pooh! you
speak like a green girl.
1605. Chapman, All Fools, Act iv., p. 67 (Plays, 1874). Shall I
then say you want experience? Y’are green, y’are credulous; easy to
be blinded.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Green (a) ... so likewise a
young or unexperienced person in arts, sciences, etc., is sometimes
said to be green, raw, etc.
1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry. Tom. No; you’re green! Jerry.
Green! Log. Ah! not fly! Tom. Yes, not awake!
1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. viii. ‘My eyes, how green!’
exclaimed the young gentleman. ‘Why a beak’s a madgst’rate.’
1841. Punch, July 17, p. 6. What a green chap you are, after all. A
public man’s consistency! It’s only a popular delusion.
1850. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, p. 19. Eh! why! what’s the matter
with you? have I done anything particularly green, as you call it?
1856. T. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School Days, pt. I., ch. ii. You try
to make us think ... that you are, even as we, of the working
classes. But bless your hearts, we ain’t so green.
1869. Literary World, 31 Dec., p. 129, c. 2. His fellow-passengers
laughed at him for being so green.
1879. Punch’s Almanack, p. 7. Seasonable Slang. For Spring.—You be
blowed! For Summer.—I’ll warm yer! For Autumn.—Not so blooming
green! For Winter.—An ice little game all round.
1887. Lippincott, July, p. 104. Within the last day or so a young
fellow has arrived who is in danger of being eaten by the cows, so
green is he.
1890. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 7 Nov. Being quite green at the time, I
rather lost my head over my good fortune.
Verb (colloquial).—To hoax; to swindle. At Eton to green up. For
synonyms, see Gammon.
1836–41. T. C. Buckland, Eton. I was again catechized on many
points personal to myself, and some mild attempts were made to
green me, as boys call it.
1889. Answers, 2 Mar., p. 218, c. 1. Whereupon the old humbug burst
into a loud guffaw, as though he were rejoicing at having greened
the toff.
1892. Anstey, Voces Populi (Second Series). ‘Bank Holiday,’ 147.
The Damsel (giggling). You go on—you don’t green me that w’y.
Greens, subs. (old).—1. Chlorosis: i.e., the green sickness.
1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 313. The maiden takes five, too,
that’s vexed with her greens.