1892. Rudyard Kipling, Barrack Room Ballads. ‘The Sons of the
Widow.’ Did you hear of the Widow of Windsor with a hairy gold
crown on her head?
3. (venery).—Desirable; full of sex; fuckable (q.v.). [Said only of
women: e.g., Hairy Bit = an amorous and taking wench.] See Hair.
To feel hairy, verb. phr. (venery).—To be inclined for coition; to have
a must (q.v.).
Hairyfordshire, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. To go to
Hairyfordshire = to copulate. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.
Hairy-oracle (or -ring), subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. Working
the hairy-oracle = wenching. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.
Halbert. To get the halbert, verb. phr. (old military).—To rise to
sergeant’s rank. [The weapon was carried by sergeants of foot.] To be
brought to the halberts = to be flogged; to carry the halbert in one’s
face = to show that one rose from the ranks (of officers in
commission).
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
Half. It’s half past kissing time and time to kiss again. phr.
(common).—The retort impudent (to females) when asked the time. A
snatch from a ballad. [In Swift (Polite Conversation) = an hour past
hanging time.]
Half-a-crack (or jiffy, or tick).—Half a second.
Half-and-half, subs. (colloquial).—Equal quantities of ale and porter;
Cf., Four-half and Drinks.
1824. Reynolds, Peter Corcoran, 41. Over my gentle half-and-half.
1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 111. We were never tired of
wondering how the hackney-coachmen on the opposite stand could ...
drink pots of half-and-half so near the last drop.
1841. Albert Smith (in Punch). ‘The Physiology of the London
Medical Student.’ Half-and-half ... is ... ale and porter, the
proportion of the porter increasing in an inverse ratio to the
respectability of the public house you get it from.
1854. Martin and Aytoun, Bon Gaultier Ballads. ‘My Wife’s Cousin.’
Half-and-half goes down before him, Gurgling from the pewter-pot;
And he moves a counter motion For a glass of something hot.
1872. Fun, July. ‘The Right Tap.’ If the lever, meaning a plumper,
were labelled ‘stout,’ and those recording a split vote half and
half, the illusion would be complete.
Adj. (common).—Half-drunk; half-on (q.v.). For synonyms, see Drinks and
Screwed.
1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London. Half and half, half seas over,
tipsy.
Half-and-half-coves (or men, boys, etc.), subs. (old).—Cheap or
linsey-woolsey dandies; half-bucks (q.v.) and half-tigers (q.v.).
1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i., 7. Jerry. The half-and-half
coves are somewhat different from the swaddies, and gay tyke boys,
at the dog pit—Eh, Tom?
Half-an-eye. To see with half an eye, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To
discern readily; to be quick at conclusions.
Half-baked (or Soft-baked), adj. (common).—Halfwitted; cracked; soft
(q.v.); doughy (q.v.); also half-rocked (q.v.). For synonyms, see
Apartments and Tile Loose. Fr., n’avoir pas la tête bien cuite.
1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ii., 221. He must scheme forsooth,
this half-baked Scotch cake! He must hold off and on, and be
cautious, and wait the result, and try conclusions with me, this
lump of natural dough!
1857. C. Kingsley, Two Years Ago, ch. iv. ‘A sort of half-baked
body,’ said Kate.
1886. W. Besant, Children of Gibeon, Bk. II., ch. xiv. A daughter
of seventeen not quite right in her head—half-baked, to use the
popular and feeling expression.
1890. Answers, Xmas No., p. 19, c. 3. ‘You needn’t be so crusty,’
said Todkins to his better half. ‘Better be a little crusty than
not half-baked,’ was the reply of his amiable spouse.
1892. Pall Mall Gaz., 1 Nov., p. 2, c. 3. Mr. Vane Tempest as
serenest of half-baked cynics, and Mr. H. Vincent as most credulous
of bibulous optimists.
Half-breed, subs. (American political).—A nick-name applied to certain
New York Republicans, who wavered in their allegiance during an
election to the Senate in 1881.—Norton.
Half-cocked, adv. (common).—Half-drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and
Screwed.
1887. H. Smart, Saddle and Sabre, ch. xvii. ‘Black Bill,’ as he was
called by his brother jockeys, was very often half-cocked when he
got up to ride.... The man could ride as well half-drunk as sober.
To go off at half-cock (or half-cocked), verb. phr. 1. (sporting).—To
fail through hasty and ill considered endeavours; and 2. (venery) = to
ejaculate before completing erection.
1848. Lowell, Biglow Papers [Wk. 1891], p. 231. Now don’t go off
half-cock: folks never gains By usin’ pepper-sarse instid o’
brains.
Half-cracked, adv. (common).—Lacking in intelligence. See Apartments
and Tile Loose.
1887. W. P. Frith, Autobiog., i., 129. Who was what is vulgarly
called half-cracked.
Half-crown Word, subs. phr. (common).—1. A difficult or uncommon
vocable; a jaw-breaker (q.v.) or crack-jaw. Also (tailors’) = a
sleeveboard (q.v.).
Half-crowner, subs. (booksellers’).—A publication costing 2s. 6d.
Half-cut, adv. (common).—Half-drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and
Screwed.
Half-fly Flat, subs. phr. (thieves’).—A thief’s jackal; a man (or
woman) hired to do rough or dirty work.
Half-grown Shad, subs. phr. (American).—A dolt. For synonyms, see
Buffle and Cabbage-head.
1838. Neal, Charcoal Sketches. No more interlect than a half-grown
shad.
Half Laugh and Purser’s Grin, subs. phr. (nautical).—A sneer; a
half-and-half meaning.—Clark Russell.
Halflings, adj. (Scots’).—Betwixt and between. [Usually said of a boy
or girl just leaving childhood.]
1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, xi. In my youth, nay, when I was
a hafflins callant.
Half-man, subs. (nautical).—A landsman rated as A.B.
Half-marrow, subs. (old Scots’).—1. A faithless spouse; also a parcel
husband or wife.
1600–61. Rutherford, Letters, i., 123. Plead with your
harlot-mother, who hath been a treacherous half-marrow to her
husband Jesus.