Properly a sea-term. The light sails, which some adventurous skippers
set above the royals in calm latitudes, are termed SKY-SCRAPERS and
MOON-RAKERS.
~Sky-wannocking~, unsteady frolicking.—_Norfolk._
~Slab~, thick, as gruel, porridge, &c.
~Slack~, “to hold on the SLACK,” to skulk; a slack rope not requiring to
be held.—_Sea._
~Slam~, a term at the game of whist. When two partners gain the whole
thirteen tricks, they win a SLAM, which is considered equal to a
rubber.
~Slam~, to talk fluently. “He’s the bloke to SLAM.” From a term in use
among birdsingers at the East-end, by which they denote a certain style
of note in chaffinches.
~Slammock~, a slattern or awkward person.—_West_, and _Norfolk_.
~Slang~, low, vulgar, unwritten, or unauthorized language. _Gipsy_,
SLANG, the secret language of the gipsies, synonymous with GIBBERISH,
another gipsy word. The word is only to be found in the dictionaries of
Webster and Ogilvie. It is given, however, by Grose, in his _Dictionary
of the Vulgar Tongue_, 1785. SLANG, since it has been adopted as an
English word, generally implies vulgar language not known or recognised
as CANT; and latterly, when applied to speech, it has superseded the
word FLASH. Latterly, however, SLANG has become the generic term for all
unauthorized language. The earliest instance of the use of the word that
can be found, is the following:—
“Let proper nurses be assigned, to take care of these babes of
grace, [young thieves].... The master who teaches them should be a
man well versed in the cant language commonly called the SLANG
patter, in which they should by all means excel.”—_Jonathan Wild’s
Advice to his Successor._ LONDON, _J. Scott_, 1758.
~Slang~, a travelling show.
~Slang~, to cheat, to abuse in foul language.
~Slang~, counterfeit or short weights and measures. A SLANG quart is a
pint and a half. SLANG measures are lent out at 2d. per day to street
salesmen. The term is used principally by costermongers.
~Slang~, a watch-chain. SUPER and SLANG, a watch and chain.
~Slang~, “out on the SLANG,” _i.e._, to travel with a hawker’s licence.
~Slang-whanger~, a long-winded speaker.—_Parliamentary._
~Slangy~, flashy, vulgar; loud in dress, manner, and conversation.
~Slantingdicular~, oblique, awry,—as opposed to PERPENDICULAR.
Originally an Americanism, now a part of the vocabulary of London “high
life below stairs.”
~Slap~, paint for the face, rouge.
~Slap~, exactly, precisely; “SLAP in the wind’s eye,” _i.e._, exactly to
windward.
~Slap-bang~, suddenly, violently. From the strike of a ball being felt
before the report reaches the ear,—the SLAP first, the BANG afterwards.
~Slap-bang-shops~, originally low eating-houses where the ready-money
was paid down with a SLAP-BANG.—_Grose._ A SLAP-BANG-SHOP is now a very
pretentious eating-house.
~Slap-dash~, immediately, or quickly; at a great rate.
~Slap-up~, first-rate, excellent, very good.
~Slasher~, a powerful roysterer, a game and clever pugilist.
~Slashers~, the Twenty-eighth Regiment of Foot in the British army.
~Slate~, “he has a SLATE loose,” _i.e._, he is slightly crazy.
~Slate~, to pelt with abuse, to beat, to “lick;” or, in the language of
the reviewers, to “cut up.” Also, among bettors, to lay heavily against
a particular man or animal in a race.
~Slate~, to knock the hat over one’s eyes, to bonnet.—_North._
~Slavey~, a maid-servant.
~Slawmineyeux~, a Dutchman. Probably a corruption of the Dutch, _ja,
mynheer_; or German, _ja, mein Herr_.—_Sea._
~Sleepless-hats~, those of a napless character, better known as
WIDE-AWAKES.
~Slender~, a simple country gentleman.—_Shakspeare._
~Slewed~, drunk, or intoxicated.—_Sea term._ When a vessel changes the
tack, she, as it were, staggers, the sails flap, she gradually heels
over, and the wind catching the waiting canvas, she glides off at
another angle. The course pursued by an intoxicated, or SLEWED, man, is
supposed to be analogous to that of the ship.
~Slick~, an Americanism, very prevalent in England since the publication
of Judge Haliburton’s facetious stories, which means rapidly,
effectually, utterly.
~Slick~, smooth, unctuous; abbreviation of sleek.
~Sling~, a drink peculiar to Americans, generally composed of gin,
soda-water, ice, and slices of lemon. At some houses in London
GIN-SLINGS may be obtained.
~Sling~, to pass from one person to another. To blow the nose with the
naked fingers.
~Sling your hook~, a polite invitation to move-on. “Sling your Daniel”
has the same meaning. The pronouns may be altered to suit the context.
~Slip~, “to give the SLIP,” to run away, or elude pursuit. Shakspeare
has, “You gave me the counterfeit,” in _Romeo and Juliet_. Giving the
SLIP, however, is a sea phrase, and refers to fastening an anchor and
chain cable to a floating buoy, or water-cask, until a time arrives when
it is convenient to return and take them on board. In fastening the
cable, the home end is SLIPPED through the hawse-pipe. Weighing anchor
is a noisy task, so that giving the SLIP infers leaving quietly.
~Slip~, or let SLIP; “to SLIP into a man,” to give him a sound beating,
“to let SLIP at a cove,” to rush violently upon him, and assault with
vigour.
~Slipping~, a trick of card-sharpers, in the performance of which, by
dexterous manipulation, they place the cut card on the top, instead of
at the bottom of the pack. It is the _faire sauter la coupe_ of the
French. In pugilistic parlance, “to SLIP a man,” is to “duck and get
away” with great dexterity.
~Slips~, the sides of the gallery in a theatre are generally so called.
~Slog~, to beat or baste, to fight. _German_, SCHLACHTEN; or perhaps
from some connexion with the _Gaelic_ SLOGAN. The pretended _Greek_
derivation from σλογω is humbug, there being no such word in the
language.
~Slogdollager~, an Americanism, meaning the same as our STOCKDOLLAGER,
which _see_.
~Sloggers~, _i.e._, SLOW-GOERS, the second division of race-boats at
Cambridge. At Oxford they are called TORPIDS.—_University._ A hard
hitter at cricket is termed a SLOGGER; so is a pugilist.
~Slogging~, a good beating.
~Slop~, a policeman. At first back slang, but now modified for general
use.
~Slop~, cheap, or ready-made, as applied to clothing, is generally
supposed to be a modern appropriation; but it was used in this sense in
1691, by Maydman, in his _Naval Speculations_; and by Chaucer two
centuries before that. SLOPS properly signify sailors’ working clothes,
which are of a very cheap and inexpensive character.
~Slope~, to decamp, to run, or rather slip away. Some persons think it
came originally from LOPE, to make off; and that the _s_ probably became
affixed as a portion of the preceding word, as in the case of “Let’s
lope,” let us run. It is purely an Americanism, and is possibly but an
emendation of our own word elope. Lope, leap, and elope are kindred. A
humorous correspondent says that Tennyson is decidedly partial to slang,
and instances amongst other proofs a passage from the laureate’s famous
_Locksley Hall_:—
“Many a night, from yonder ivied casement, ere I went to rest,
Did I look on great Orion SLOPING slowly to the west.”
Though this correspondent may not have intended it, his joke has given
the key to the situation, and has shown how our cousins most probably
came to use the word in its present sense. “The sun is SLOPING fast.”
~Slops~, any weak, wet, and warm mixture. Hard drinkers regard all
effeminate beverages as SLOPS.
~Slops~, chests or packages of tea; “he shook a slum of SLOPS,” _i.e._,
stole a chest of tea. Also ready-made clothes—the substantive of SLOP.
~Slops~, liquid house-refuse.
~Slopshop~, a tailor’s shop where inferior work is done, and where cheap
goods are sold.
~Slour~, to lock, or fasten.—_Prison Cant._
~Sloured~, buttoned up; SLOURED HOXTER, an inside pocket buttoned up.
~Slowcoach~, a lumbering, dull person; one slow of comprehension.
~Slowed~, to be locked up (in prison).
~Slubberdegullion~, a paltry, dirty, sorry wretch.
“Quoth she, although thou hast deserved,
Base SLUBBERDEGULLION, to be served
As thou didst vow to deal with me,
If thou hadst got the victory”----
_Hudibras._
~Sluicery~, a gin-shop or public-house.
~Sluicing one’s bolt~, drinking.
~Slum~, a chest, or package. _See_ SLOPS.
~Slum~, a letter.—_Prison Cant._
~Slum~, an insinuation, a discreditable innuendo.
~Slum~, gammon, “up to SLUM,” wide awake, knowing.
“And this, without more SLUM began,
Over a flowing pot-house can,
To settle, without botheration,
The rigs of this here tip-top nation.”
_Jack Randall’s Diary_, 1820.
~Slum~, or BACK SLUM, a dark retreat, a low neighbourhood; as
Westminster and East-end SLUMS, favourite haunts for thieves.
~Slum~, to hide, to pass to a confederate.
~Slum~, to saunter about, with a suspicion, perhaps, of immoral
pursuits.—_Cambridge University Slang_.
~Slum the gorger~, to cheat on the sly, to be an eye-servant. SLUM in
this sense is old cant.
~Slumgullion~, any cheap, nasty, washy beverage. An Americanism best
known in the Pacific States.
~Slumming~, passing bad money.
~Slush~, the grease obtained from boiling the salt pork eaten by seamen,
and generally the cook’s perquisite.
~Slushy~, a ship’s cook.
~Sluter~, butter.—_North._
~Smack smooth~, even, level with the surface, quickly.
~Small-beer;~ “he doesn’t think SMALL-BEER of himself,” _i.e._, he has a
great opinion of his own importance. SMALL COALS is also used in the
same sense.
~Small hours~, the early hours after midnight.
~Small potatoes~, a term of contempt. “He’s very SMALL POTATOES,” he’s a
nobody. Yet no one thinks of calling an important personage “large
POTATOES.”
~Smalls~, a University term for the first general examination of the
student. It is used at Cambridge, but properly belongs to Oxford. The
Cambridge term is “little go.”
~Smash~, to become bankrupt, or worthless; “to go all to SMASH,” to
break, “go to the dogs,” or fall in pieces.
~Smash~, to pass counterfeit money.
~Smasher~, one who passes bad coin, or forged notes.
~Smashfeeder~, a Britannia-metal spoon,—the best imitation shillings
are made from this metal.
~Smash-man-Geordie~, a pitman’s oath.—_Durham_ and _Northumberland._ _See_
GEORDIE.
~Smeller~, the nose; “a blow on the SMELLER” is often to be found in
pugilistic records. Otherwise a NOSE-ENDER.
~Smish~, a shirt, or chemise.
~Smithers~, or SMITHEREENS; “all to SMITHEREENS,” all to smash, SMITHER
is a Lincolnshire word for a fragment.
~Smock-face~, a white delicate face,—a face without whiskers.
~Smoke~, London. From the peculiar dense cloud which overhangs London.
The metropolis is by no means so smoky as Sheffield, Birmingham, &c.;
yet country-people, when going to London, frequently say they are on
their way to the SMOKE; and Londoners, when leaving for the country, say
they are going out of the SMOKE.
~Smoke~, to detect, or penetrate an artifice. Originally used by London
detectives, probably on account of their clouded intellects.
~Smudge~, to smear, obliterate, daub. Corruption of SMUTCH.
~Smug~, smuggling.—_Anglo-Chinese._
~Smug~, extremely neat, after the fashion, in order.
~Smug~, sleek, comfortable. Term often applied to a seemingly pious
humbug, more of the Chadband than the Stiggins.
~Smuggings~, snatchings, or purloinings,—shouted out by boys, when
snatching the tops, or small play property, of other lads, and then
running off at full speed.
“Tops are in; spin ’em agin.
Tops are out; SMUGGING’S about.”
~Smut~, a copper boiler. Also, the “blacks” from a furnace.
~Smutty~, obscene,—vulgar as applied to conversation. Variation of
dirty.
~Snack~, a share or division of plunder. To “go SNACKS,” to divide
equally. Also, a light repast.—_Old Cant_ and _Gipsy term_.
~Snack~, to quiz or chaff with regard to a particular weakness or recent
transaction. As a substantive in this sense SNACK means an innuendo.
~Snaffle~, conversation on professional or private subjects which the
rest of the company cannot appreciate. In _East Anglia_, to SNAFFLE is
to talk foolishly.
~Snaffled~, arrested, “pulled up,”—so termed from a kind of horse’s
bit called a SNAFFLE.
~Snaggle teeth~, those that are uneven, and unpleasant looking.—_West._
~Snaggling~, angling after geese with a hook and line, the bait being a
worm or snail. The goose swallows the bait, and is quietly landed and
bagged. See Seymour’s _Sketches_.
~Snaggy~, cross, crotchety, malicious.
~Snam~, to snatch, or rob from the person. Mostly used to describe that
kind of theft which consists in picking up anything lying about, and
making off with it rapidly.
~Snaps~, share, portion; any articles or circumstances out of which
money may be made; “looking out for SNAPS,” waiting for windfalls, or
odd jobs.—_Old._ _Scotch_, CHITS, term also used for “coppers,” or
halfpence.
~Snapps~, spirits. _Dutch_, SCHNAPPS. The word, as originally
pronounced, is used by East-end Jews to describe any kind of spirits,
and the Gentiles get as near as they can.
~Sneaksman~, a shoplifter; a petty, cowardly thief.
~Sneeze-lurker~, a thief who throws snuff in a person’s face, and then
robs him.
~Sneezer~, a snuff-box; a pocket-handkerchief.
~Snell-fencer~, a street salesman of needles. SNELLS are needles.
~Snick-ersnee~, a knife.—_Sea._ Thackeray uses the term in his humorous
ballad of _Little Billee_.
~Snicker~, a drinking-cup. A HORN-SNICKER, a drinking-horn.
~Snid~, a sixpence.—_Scotch._
~Snide~, bad, spurious, contemptible. As, “a SNIDE fellow,” “SNIDE
coin,” &c. Also used as a substantive, as, “He’s a SNIDE,” though this
seems but a contraction of SNIDE ’UN.
~Snigger~, to laugh in a covert manner. Also a mild form of
swearing,—“I’m SNIGGERED if you will.” Another form of this latter is
JIGGERED.
~Sniggering~, laughing to oneself.—_East._
~Snip~, a tailor,—apparently from SNIPES, a pair of scissors, or from
the snipping sound made by scissors in cutting up anything.
~Snipe~, a long bill or account; also a term for attorneys,—a race with
a remarkable propensity for long bills.
~Snipes~, “a pair of SNIPES,” a pair of scissors. They are occasionally
made in the form of a snipe.
~Snitch~, to give information to the police, to turn approver. SNITCHING
is synonymous in thieves’ slang with “nosing” and “peaching.”
~Snitchers~, persons who turn Queen’s evidence, or who tell tales. In
_Scotland_, SNITCHERS signify handcuffs.
~Snob~, a low, vulgar, or affected person. Supposed to be from the
nickname usually applied to a cobbler or maker of shoes; but believed
by many in its later sense to be a contraction of the _Latin_, SINE
OBOLO. Others go to work for an etymology thus:—They assume that NOBS,
_i.e._, _nobiles_, was appended in lists to the names of persons of
gentle birth, whilst those who had not that distinction were marked down
as S NOB, _i.e._, _sine nobilitate_, without marks of gentility,—thus,
by a simple transposition, quite reversing the meaning. Others, again,
remark that, as at college sons of noblemen wrote after their names in
the admission lists, _fil. nob._, son of a lord, and hence all young
noblemen were called NOBS, and what they did NOBBY, so those who
imitated them would be called _quasi-nobs_, “like a nob,” which by a
process of contraction would be shortened to _si-nob_, and then SNOB,
one who pretends to be what he is not, and apes his betters. The short
and expressive terms which many think fitly represent the three great
estates of the realm—NOB, SNOB, and MOB—were all originally slang
words. The last has safely passed through the vulgar ordeal of the
streets, and found respectable quarters in the standard dictionaries.
For fuller particulars of the genus SNOB, in all its ramifications, the
reader cannot do better than apply to the general works of that great
master of the subject, William Makepeace Thackeray, though it may be as
well to remark that the SNOB for whom the novelist had such an aversion
is now very widely known as “cad.”
~Snobbish~, stuck up, proud, make-believe.
~Snob-Stick~, a workman who refuses to join in strikes, or trade-unions.
Amplification of KNOB-STICK.
~Snooks~, an imaginary personage often brought forward as the answer to
an idle question, or as the perpetrator of a senseless joke. Said to be
simply a shortening or abbreviation of “Sevenoaks,” the Kentish village.
~Snooze~, or SNOODGE (vulgar pronunciation), to sleep or doze.
~Snooze-case~, a pillow-slip.
~Snorter~, a blow on the nose. A hurry is sometimes called a “reg’lar
SNORTER.”
~Snot~, a term of reproach applied to persons by the vulgar when vexed
or annoyed, meaning really a person of the vilest description and
meanest capacity. In a Westminster school vocabulary for boys, published
in the last century, the term is curiously applied. Its proper meaning
is the glandular mucus discharged through the nose.
~Snot~, a small bream, a slimy kind of flat fish.—_Norwich._
~Snotter~, or WIPE-HAULER, a pickpocket whose chief fancy is for
gentlemen’s pocket-handkerchiefs.—_North._
~Snottinger~, a coarse word for a pocket-handkerchief. The German
_Schnupftuch_ is, however, nearly as plain. A handkerchief was also
anciently called a “muckinger” or “muckender,” and from that a
neckerchief was called a “neckinger.”
~Snow~, wet linen, or linen hung out to dry.—_Old Cant._
~Snow-gatherer~, or SNOW-DROPPER, a rogue who steals linen from hedges
and drying-grounds.
~Snuff~, “up to SNUFF,” knowing and sharp; “to take SNUFF,” to be
offended. Shakspeare uses SNUFF in the sense of anger, or passion.
~Snuff it~, to die. Term very common among the lower orders of London. A
fanciful variation of “putting one’s light out,” and used simply in
reference to the action of the person dying. Thus any one threatening to
murder another says, “I’ll put your light out,” or any one committing
suicide is said to “put his own light out;” but to “SNUFF IT” is always
to die from disease or accident. To “lay down one’s knife and fork,” to
“peg out,” or “give up,” are variations of this form of euphemism.
~Snuffy~, tipsy, drunk.
~Snuggle~, to lie closely and cosily.
~Snyder~, a tailor. _German_, SCHNEIDER.
~Soaker~, an habitual drunkard.
~Soap~, flattery. _See_ SOFT SOAP.
~Sober-water~, a jocular allusion to the uses of soda-water.
~Social evil~, a name for some years applied to our street-walking
system, in consequence of the articles in the newspapers which treat on
the evils of prostitution being so headed. A good story has been often
told on this subject, which will bear repeating:—“A well-known divine
and philanthropist was walking in a crowded street at night in order to
distribute tracts to promising subjects. A young woman was walking up
and down, and he accosted her. He pointed out to her the error of her
ways, implored her to reform, and tendered her a tract with fervent
entreaties to go home and read it. The girl stared at him for a moment
or two in sheer bewilderment; at last it dawned on her what he meant,
and for what he took her, and looking up in his face with simple
amazement, she exclaimed, ‘Lor’ bless you, sir, I ain’t a SOCIAL EVIL;
I’m waitin’ for the ’bus!’” The enthusiasm which was felt in this
direction a few years back has received considerable modification, as it
has been proved that the efforts of the promoters of midnight meetings
and other arrangements of a similar nature, praiseworthy though they
are, have little or no effect; and that the early-closing movement in
the Haymarket has done more to stamp out the SOCIAL EVIL than years of
preaching, even when accompanied by tea and buns, could ever have done.
~Sock~, the Eton College term for a treat, synonymous with “chuck” used
at Westminster and other schools. Believed to be derived from the
monkish word SOKE. An old writer speaks of a pious man “who did not SOKE
for three days,” meaning that he fasted. The word is still used by the
boys of Heriot’s Hospital School at Edinburgh, and signifies a
sweetmeat; being derived from the same source as sugar, _suck_, SUCRE,
&c.
~Sock~, credit. As, “He gets his goods on SOCK, while I pay ready.”
~Sock into him~, _i.e._, give him a good drubbing; “give him SOCK,”
_i.e._, thrash him well.
~Sockdolager.~ _See_ STOCKDOLLAGER.
~Socket-money~, money extorted by threats of exposure. To be applied to
for SOCKET-MONEY is perhaps one of the most terrible inflictions that
can befall a respectable man. SOCKETERS, as the applicants are called,
should be punished with the utmost possible severity.
~Sodom~, a nickname for Wadham, due to the similarity of the
sounds.—_Oxford University._
~Soft~, foolish, inexperienced. A term for bank-notes.
~Soft-horn~, a simpleton; literally a donkey, whose ears, the
substitutes of horns, are soft.
~Soft-sawder~, flattery easily laid on or received. Probably introduced
by Sam Slick.
~Soft-soap~, or soft-sawder, flattery, ironical praise.
~Soft-tack~, bread.—_Sea._
~Soft-tommy~, loaf-bread, in contradistinction to hard biscuit.
~Soiled doves~, the “Midnight Meeting” term for prostitutes and “gay”
ladies generally.
~Sold~, “SOLD again! and got the money,” gulled, deceived. _Vide_ SELL.
~Sold up~, or OUT, broken down, bankrupt.
~Soldier~, a red herring. Common term in seaport towns, where exchange
is made, a soldier being called by the fishy title.
~Something damp~, a dram, a drink.
~Son of a gun~, a familiar term for a man. Sometimes applied
eulogistically, never contemptuously. Generally said of an artful
person, and perhaps, originally, son of a “gun,” (or “gonnof”). In the
army it is sometimes applied to an artilleryman.
~Sonkey~, a clumsy, awkward fellow.
~Soor~, an abusive term. _Hindostanee_, a pig.—_Anglo-Indian._
~Soot-bag~, a reticule.
~Sop~, a soft or foolish man. Abbreviation of MILKSOP.
~Soph~ (abbreviation of “sophister”), a title peculiar to the University
of Cambridge. Undergraduates are junior SOPHS before passing their
“Little Go,” or first University examination,—senior SOPHS after that.
~Sort~, used in a slang sense thus—“That’s your SORT,” as a term of
approbation. “Pitch it into him, that’s your SORT,” _i.e._, that is the
proper kind of plan to adopt.
~So-so~, not particularly reputable. “A very SO-SO sort of a person,” a
person whom it is no advantage to know. “It was very SO-SO” (said of a
piece of work or an entertainment), it was neither good nor bad.
~Sound~, to pump, or draw information from a person in an artful manner.
~Souper~, an Irish Roman Catholic who pretends conversion—or
perversion—so as to obtain a share of the soup and blankets provided
for Protestants only by Christian missionaries. These recalcitrants are
also called “swaddlers.”
~Sou’-wester~, a hat with a projection behind. Much worn at sea in
“dirty” weather. A hat similar to that of a dustman or coalheaver, which
is called a “fantail.”
~Sov~, contraction of sovereign; much used in sporting parlance to
denote the amount of entrance money, forfeit, and added coin in
connexion with a race. In the published conditions of a race the word
SOVS is almost invariably used in preference to pounds, though in
reckoning the net value of a big stake, after its decision, the common £
is used.
~Sow~, the receptacle into which the liquid iron is poured in a
gun-foundry. The melted metal poured from it is termed PIG.
~Sow’s baby~, a pig; sixpence.
~Spanish~, money. Probably a relic of buccaneering days.
“Save its synonyms SPANISH, blunt, stumpy, and rowdy.”—_Barham._
~Spank~, a smack, or hard slap.
~Spank~, to move along quickly; hence a fast horse or vessel is said to
be “a SPANKER to go.”
~Spanking~, large, fine, or strong; _e.g._, a SPANKING pace, a SPANKING
breeze, a SPANKING fellow.
~Sparks~, diamonds. Term much in use among the lower orders, and
generally applied to stones in rings and pins.
~Specklebellies~, Dissenters. A term used in Worcester and the North,
though the etymology seems unknown in either place.
~Specks~, damaged oranges.—_Costermonger’s term._