The Gridiron, subs. phr. (common).—The Grafton Club. [Where the grill
is a speciality.]
On the Gridiron, adv. phr. (common).—Troubled; harassed; in a bad way;
on toast (q.v.).
The Whole Gridiron, subs. phr. (common).—See Whole Animal.
Grief, To Come to Grief, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To come to ruin; to
meet with an accident; to fail. In quot., 1891 = trouble.
1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. x. We drove on to the Downs, and we
were nearly coming to grief. My horses are young, and when they get
on the grass they are as if they were mad.
1888. Cassell’s Saturday Jour., 8 Dec., p. 249. In the United
States he had started a ‘Matrimonial Agency,’ in which he had come
to grief, and he had been obliged to return to this country for a
similar reason.
1891. Sportsman, 28 Feb. The flag had scarcely fallen than the
grief commenced, as Midshipmite and Carlo rolled over at the first
fence, Clanranald refused at the second, and Dog Fox fell at the
third.
Griffin (or Griff), subs. (common).—1. A new-comer; a raw hand; a
Greenhorn (q.v.) See Snooker and Sammy Soft. [Specific uses are
(Anglo-Indian) = a new arrival from Europe; (military) = a young
subaltern; (Anglo-Chinese) = an unbroken horse.] Griffinage (or
Griffinism) = the state of greenhornism.
1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffry Hamlyn, ch. xxviii. All the griffins
ought to hunt together.
1878. Besant and Rice, By Celia’s Arbour, ch. xxx. We were in the
Trenches; there had been joking with a lot of griffs, young
recruits just out from England.
1882. Miss Braddon, Mount Royal, ch. xxii. There was only one of
the lads about the yard when he left, for it was breakfast-time,
and the little griffin didn’t notice.
1883. Graphic, 17 March, p. 286, c. 3. Many a youngster has got on
in his profession ... by having the good fortune to make a friend
of the old Indian who took him in as a griffin or a stranger.
2. (colloquial).—A woman of forbidding manners or appearance; a Gorgon.
Also a caretaker, chaperon, or sheep-dog (q.v.) [A reflection of the
several griffins of ornithology and of heraldry: the former a feeder on
birds, small mammals, and even children; the latter (as in Milton) a
perfection of vigilance.]
1824. R. B. Peake, Americans Abroad, i., 2. It is always locked up
by that she-griffin with a bunch of keys.
3. (thieves’).—A signal: e.g., to tip the griffin = to warn; to give
the office (q.v.), or tip (q.v.). The straight griffin = the straight
tip.
1888. Cassell’s Sat. Jour., 22 Dec., p. 305. Plank yourself at the
corner to give the griffin if you hear or see owt.
1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 22. He’s got the straight griff
for something.
1891. J. Newman, Scamping Tricks, p. 95. When he wanted to give the
chaps in the office the straight griffin, he used to say, ‘Nelson’s
my guide.’
4. in. pl. (trade).—The scraps and leavings from a contract feast,
which are removed by the purveyor.
Griff-metoll, subs. (old).—Sixpence. For synonyms, see Tanner.
1754. Discoveries of John Poulter, s.v.
Grig, subs. (old).—1. An active, lively, and jocose person: as in the
phrase ‘Merry as a Grig.’ [An allusion to the liveliness of the
grasshopper, sand-eel, or to grig (= Greek: cf., Troilus and Cressida
i. 2; iv. 4).]
1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie. Gale-bon-temps. A merry grig.
1673. Wycherley, Gent. Danc. Master, i., 1., wks. (1713) 251. Hah,
ah, ah, cousin, dou art a merry grigg—ma foy.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Grig s.v. A merry grig; a merry
fellow.
1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 43. The statesman that talks on the
Woolsack so big, Could hustle to the open as merry as a grig.
1765. Goldsmith, Essays VI. I grew as merry as a grig, and laughed
at every word that was spoken.
1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xix, p. 159. The learned gentleman
... is as merry as a grig at a French watering-place.