Haddums (or Had ’em).—See quots.
1690. B. E., Cant. Crew. The Spark has been at Haddums. He is
Clapt, or Poxt.
1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. He has been at Had’em and come home
by Clapham, said of one who has caught the venereal disease.
Hag, subs. (old: now recognised).—1. A witch. Whence (2) an ugly old
woman; a she-monster. Also (3) a nightmare. At Charterhouse, a female
of any description; at Winchester, a matron. Hence, Hag-ridden =
troubled with nightmare. Hag-born = witch-born. Hag-seed (Shakspeare,
Tempest) = spawned of a witch. Hag-faced = foul-featured. In another
sense, Hags = spots of firm ground in a moss or bog.
d. 1529. Skelton, Duke of Albany, Lyke a Scottish hag.
1606. Wily Beguiled (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, ix., 277).
Like to some hellish hag or some damned fiend.
1606. Shakspeare, Macbeth, iv., 1. How now, you secret, black, and
midnight Hags!
1627. Drayton, The Moon-calf (Chalmer’s English Poets, 1810, iv.,
133). The filthy hag abhoring of the light.
1632. Jonson, Magnetic Lady, v. 6. Out hag!
1637. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, ii., 2. As if you knew the sport of
witch-hunting, Or starting of a hag.
1680. Cotton, Poems, etc., ‘To Poet E.W.’ Adulterate hags, fit for
a common stew.
1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v.
1748. Thomson, Castle of Indolence, i., 73. Fierce fiends and Hags
of hell their only nurses were.
1773–83. Hoole, Orlando Furioso, xliii., 998. But such a Hag to
paradise conveyed, Had withered by her looks the blissful shade.
1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, xliii. Hatteraick himself, and the
gypsy sailor, and that old hag.
1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 89. Old women were
there also, with hideous vice-stamped features, veritable hags all
of them.
Your Hagship! phr. (common).—In contempt (of women).
Hag-finder, subs. (old).—A witch finder.
1637. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, ii., 2. That I do promise, or I am no
good hag-finder.
Hagged, adj. (old, now [as Haggard] recognised).—Ugly; gaunt; hag-like.
1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v. Hagged, Lean, Witched, Half-starved.
1716–1771. Gray, A Long Story. The ghostly prudes with Hagged face.
Haggisland, subs. (common).—Scotland.
Haggle, verb. (old, now recognised).—To bargain keenly; to stick at, or
out for, trumpery points; to debate small issues.
1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v.
1849–61. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ch. xx. Haggling with the greedy,
making up quarrels.
Haggler, subs. (old).—Formerly a travelling merchant; a pedlar: now (in
London vegetable markets) a middleman. Cf., Bummaree.
1662. Fuller, Worthies; Dorsetshire. Horses, on which Haglers used
to ride and carry their commodities.
1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v. A Hagler, one that buys of the
Country Folks, and sells in the Market, and goes from Door to Door.
1697. Vanbrugh, Æsop, ii, 1. I’se no hagler, gadswookers; and he
that says I am—’zbud, he lies!
1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 83. A
Haggler being, as I before explained, the middle-man.
Hail. To raise hail (or Ned, or Cain, or Hell), verb. phr.
(American).—To make a disturbance; to kick up a row.
1888. Portland Transcript, 7 Mar. He is determined that they shall
have a clear deed to one hundred and sixty acres of land when the
question is settled, or he will raise hail.
To be hail fellow well met, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be on very easy
terms: also at hail-fellow.
1574–1656. Hall’s Satires, III., i., p. 40. Now man, that erst
haile-fellow was with beast, Woxe on to weene himselfe a god at
least.
1665. Homer à la Mode. The cookes too, having done, were set At
table hay fellow well met. [Quoted by Nares].
1667–1745. Swift, My Lady’s Lamentation. Hail fellow, well met, all
dirty and wet; Find out, if you can, who’s master, who’s man.
1886. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, p. 108. And at first he sings
small, and is hail-fellow-well-met with Sheamus—that’s James of the
Glens, my chieftain’s agent.
To be hailed for the last time, verb. phr. (nautical).—To die. For
synonyms, see Aloft.
1891. W. C. Russell, Ocean Tragedy, p. 322. He’s been hailed for
the last time.
Hair, subs. (venery).—1. The female pubes. Whence (2) generic for the
sex: e.g., after hair = in quest of a woman; plenty of hair = lots of
girls; hair to sell = a woman with a price; hair-monger = a wencher;
bit of hair = the sexual favour. For synonyms, see Fleece.
To go against the Hair, verb. phr. (old colloquial).—To go against the
grain, or contrary to nature. [From the texture of furs.]
1589. Nashe, Martin’s Months Minde (Grosart), i., 188. For hee euer
went against the haire.
1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives, ii., 3. If you should fight, you go
against the hair of your professions.
1661. Middleton, Mayor of Queenborough, C. P. xi., 122. Books in
women’s hands are as much against the hair, methinks, as to see men
wear stomachers, Or night-railes.
Both of a Hair, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Very much alike. Also, two of a
trade, and two in a tale.
Not worth a Hair, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Utterly worthless. Cf., Cent,
Rap, Dump, etc.
To a Hair, adv. phr.—(colloquial).—Exactly; to a nicety. Cf., To fit to
a Hair = to fit perfectly.
1697. Vanbrugh, Æsop, i, 1. Here was a young gentlewoman but just
now pencilled me out to a hair.
1738. Swift, Polite Conversation. Miss. Well I love a Lyar with all
my Heart; and you fit me to a hair.
1891. W. C. Russell, Ocean Tragedy, p. 30. The fellow fits my
temper to a hair.
To split Hairs, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To cavil about trifles; to
quibble; to be over-nice in argument.
1693. Congreve, Old Bachelor, ii., 2. Now, I must speak; it will
split a hair by the Lord Harry.
Suit of Hair, subs. phr. (American).—A head of hair (q.v.).
To raise (or lift) Hair, verb. phr. (American).—To scalp; hence,
idiomatically, to defeat; to kill. To keep one’s hair = to escape a
danger.
1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 194. Kit Carson ... had
raised more hair from the red-skins than any two men in the Western
country.
1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody, p. 101. If you’ll take the chances of
keeping your hair.
To comb one’s Hair, verb. phr. (common).—To castigate; to monkey
(q.v.). See Comb one’s Hair, ante.
To hold (or keep) one’s Hair (or Wool) on, verb. phr. (common).—To keep
one’s temper; to avoid excitement; to take easily. Also to keep one’s
shirt on, or to pull down one’s jacket (or vest). Fr., être calme et
inodore.
1885. Bret Harte, A Ship of ’49, ch. vi. ‘But what the devil——’
interrupted the young man impetuously. ‘Keep yer hair on!’
remonstrated the old man with dark intelligence.
1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 78. Do keep your ’air on, dear
pal.
1892. Cassell’s Sat. Jour., 5 Oct., p. 45, c. 1. ‘Who make devil’s
row like that all night?’ he asked. ‘Keep your hair on, Moses
Trinko,’ replied the reception officer, cheerily.
A Hair of the Black Bear (or B’ar), subs. phr. (American).—A spice of
the devil.
1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 6. Thar was old grit in him,
too, and a hair of the black b’ar at that.
To get one’s Hair Cut, verb. phr. (venery).—To visit a woman; to see a
sick friend (q.v.). For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.
1892. Anstey, Model Music Hall, 154. Tommy. What, Uncle, going? The
W. U. (with assumed jauntiness). Just to get my hair cut.
To make one’s hair stand on end, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To astonish.
1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, lv., 4. It’s well you are come: I’m
so frightened, my hair stands on end.
1886. J. S. Winter, Army Society, ch. iii. If I were to tell you
some incidents of my life since you and I last met, I should make
your hair stand on end.
A Hair of the Dog that Bit you, subs. phr. (common).—A ‘pick-me-up’
after a debauch. [Apparently a memory of the superstition, which was
and still is common, that, being bitten by a dog, one cannot do better
than pluck a handful of hair from him, and lay it on the wound. Also
figuratively, see quot. 1888.]
1531. Bovilli, Prov. ii., xvi. siècle, t. i., p. 102. Du poil de la
beste qui te mordis, Ou de son sanc sera guéris.
1546. Heywood, Proverbs [1874], 79. What how fellow, thou knave, I
pray thee let me and my fellow have A haire of the dog that bit us
last night. And bitten were we bothe to the braine aright.
1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fayre, I. ’Twas a hot night with some of
us, last night, John: shall we pluck a hair of the same wolf
to-day, proctor John?
1738. Swift, Polite Convers., Dial. 2. Lady Gur. But, Sir John,
your ale is terrible strong and heady.... Sir John. Why, indeed,
it is apt to fox one; but our way is to take a hair of the same dog
next morning.
1841. Dickens, B. Rudge, ch. lii. Put a good face upon it, and
drink again. Another hair of the dog that bit you, captain!
1888. Detroit Free Press. ‘Talk of the Day,’ 3 Nov. Travis.—‘Hello,
De Smith! You’re looking better than I expected. I understood that
you were completely crushed by that love affair. How did you
recover?’ De Smith.—‘Hair of the dog that bit me. Fell in love with
another girl.’
Hair-butcher, subs. (American).—A barber. For synonyms, see
Nob-thatcher.
1888. Puck’s Library, May, p. 15. ’Oi ’m wullin’ thot bloomin’
hair-butcher shud have a fit, av he wants.
Hair-court, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see
Monosyllable. To take a turn in Hair-court = to copulate.
Hair-divider (or -splitter), subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms,
see Creamstick and Prick. Also Beard-splitter.
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Hair-splitter, a man’s yard.
Hair-pin, subs. (American).—An individual, male or female: e.g., That’s
the sort of hair-pin I am = that’s my style.
1888. Detroit Free Press, 6 Oct. ‘That’s the kind of hairpins we
are,’ said the enthusiastic swain.
Hairy, adj. (Oxford University).—1. Difficult.
d. 1861. Arthur Clough, Long Vacation Pastoral. Three weeks hence
we return to the shop and the wash-hand-stand-bason, Three weeks
hence unbury Thicksides and hairy Aldrich.
1864. The Press, 12 Nov. Hairy for difficult is a characteristic
epithet.