before investing on a horse until he “gets the SPEECH,” as to whether it
is going to try, or whether it has a good chance. To “give the SPEECH,”
is to communicate any special information of a private nature.
~Speel~, to run away, make off; “SPEEL the drum,” to go off with stolen
property.—_North._
~Spell~, a turn of work, an interval of time. “Take a SPELL at the
capstern.”—_Sea._ “He took a long SPELL at that tankard.” “After a long
SPELL.”
~Spell~, “to SPELL for a thing,” to hanker after it, to desire
possession.
~Spell~, to advertise, to put into print. “SPELT in the leer,” _i.e._,
advertised in the newspaper.
~Spell~, contracted from SPELLKEN. “Precious rum squeeze at the SPELL,”
_i.e._, a good evening’s work at the theatre, might be the remark of a
successful pickpocket.
~Spellken~, or SPEELKEN, a playhouse. German, SPIELEN. _See_ KEN.—_Don
Juan._
~Spick and span~, applied to anything that is quite new and
fresh.—_Hudibras._
~Spidireen~, the name of an imaginary ship, sometimes mentioned by
sailors. If a sailor be asked what ship he belongs to, and does not wish
to tell, he will most probably reply—“The SPIDIREEN frigate, with nine
decks, and ne’er a bottom.” _See_ MERRY DUN OF DOVER.
~Spierized~, to have your hair cut and shampooed, from the shop of
Spiers in High Street.—_Oxford University._
~Spiff~, a well-dressed man, a “swell.”
~Spiffed~, slightly intoxicated.—_Scotch Slang._
~Spiffs~, the per-centages allowed by drapers to their young men when
they effect a sale of old-fashioned or undesirable stock.
~Spiffy~, spruce, well-dressed, _tout à la mode_.
~Spifflicate~, to confound, silence, annihilate, or stifle. A corruption
of the last word, or of “suffocate.”
~Spike Park~, the Queen’s Bench Prison. _See_ BURDON’S HOTEL.
~Spill~, to throw from a horse or chaise. _See_ PURL.
~Spin~, to reject from an examination.—_Army._
~Spindleshanks~, a nickname for any one who has thin legs.
~Spin-’em rounds~, a street game consisting of a piece of brass, wood,
or iron, balanced on a pin, and turned quickly round on a board, when
the point, arrow-shaped, stops at a number, and decides the bet one way
or the other. The contrivance very much resembles a sea compass, and was
formerly the gambling accompaniment of London piemen. The apparatus then
was placed on the tin lids of their pie-cans, and the bets were
ostensibly for pies, but were frequently for “coppers,” or for beer when
two or three apprentices or porters happened to meet. An active and
efficient police have, however, changed all that now.
~Spiniken~, St. Giles’s Workhouse. “Lump,” Marylebone Workhouse. “Pan,”
St. Pancras. “Pan” and “Lump” are now terms applied to all workhouses by
tramps and costers.
~Spinning-house~, the place in Cambridge where street-walkers are locked
up, if found out after a certain time at night.
~Spirt~, or SPURT, “to put on a SPIRT,” to make an increased exertion
for a brief space, to attain one’s end; a nervous effort. Abbreviation
or shortening of SPIRIT, or allusion to a SPIRT of water, which dies
away as suddenly as it rises.
“So here for a man to run well for a SPURT, and then to give over
... is enough to annul all his former proceedings, and to make him
in no better estate than if he had never set foot into the good
waies of God.”—_Gataker’s Spirituall Watch_, 4to. 1619, p. 10.
~Spitalfields’ breakfast.~ At the East-end of London this is understood
as consisting of a tight necktie and a short pipe. Amongst workmen it is
usual to tighten the apron string when no dinner is at hand. Hunters and
trappers always take in their belts when supplies are short. “An
Irishman’s dinner” is a low East-end term, and means a smoke and a visit
to the urinal. Sometimes the phrase is, “I’ll go out and count the
railings,” _i.e._, the park or area railings, mental instead of
maxillary exercise.
~Spitfire~, a passionate person.
~Splash~, complexion powder used by ladies to whiten their necks and
faces. The finest rice flour, termed in France _poudre de riz_, is
generally employed. _See_ SLAP.
~Splendiferous~, sumptuous, first-rate. SPLENDACIOUS sometimes used with
similar meanings.
~Splice~, to marry; “and the two shall become one flesh.”—_Sea._ Also,
a wife.
~Splice the main brace~, to take a drink.—_Sea._
~Split~, to inform against one’s companions, to tell tales. “To SPLIT
with a person,” to cease acquaintanceship; to quarrel. Also to divide a
bottle of aërated water; as, “two brandies and a soda SPLIT;” in which
case “to SPLIT with” a person has a very different meaning from that
just given.
~Split up~, long in the legs. Among athletes, a man with good length of
limb is said to be “well SPLIT UP.”
~Splodger~, a lout, an awkward countryman.
~Spoffy~, a bustling busybody is said to be SPOFFY.
~Sponge~, “to throw up the SPONGE,” to submit, to give over the
struggle,—from the practice of throwing up the SPONGE used to cleanse a
combatant’s face at a prize-fight, as a signal that the side on which
that particular SPONGE has been used has had enough—that the SPONGE is
no longer required.
~Spoon~, synonymous with SPOONEY. A SPOON has been defined to be “a
thing that touches a lady’s lips without kissing them.”
~Spooney~, a weak-minded and foolish person, effeminate or fond; “to be
SPOONEY on a girl,” to be foolishly attached to one.
~Spoons~, the condition of two persons who SPOON on each other, who are
deeply in love. “I see, it’s a case of SPOONS with them,” is a common
phrase when lovers are mentioned.
~Spoons~, a method of designating large sums of money, disclosed at the
Bankruptcy Court during the examination of the great leather failures of
Streatfield and Laurence in 1860-61. The origin of the phrase was stated
to be the reply of the bankrupt Laurence to an offer of accommodating
him with £5000,—“Oh, you are feeding me with a TEA-SPOON.” Hence, £5000
came to be known in the firm as a TEA-SPOON; £10,000, a DESSERT-SPOON;
£15,000, a TABLE-SPOON; and £20,000, as a GRAVY-SPOON. The public were
amused at this TEA-SPOON phraseology, but were disgusted that such
levity should cover a gigantic swindle of the kind. It came out in
evidence, however, that it was not the ordinary slang of the discount
world, but it may not improbably become so. To “take it with a SPOON,”
is to take anything in small quantities. The counsel for the defence in
the Tichborne perjury case was reminded a short time back by one of the
judges that he was using a TEA-SPOON instead of a shovel, to clear
through the evidence.
~Sport~, to exhibit, to wear, &c.,—a word which is made to do duty in a
variety of senses, especially at the Universities.—_See_ the _Gradus ad
Cantabrigiam_. “To SPORT a new tile;” “to SPORT an _Ægrotat_” (_i.e._, a
permission from the Dons to abstain from lectures, &c., on account of
illness); “to SPORT one’s oak,” to shut the outer door and exclude the
public,—especially duns and boring acquaintances. Common also in the
Inns of Court. _See Notes and Queries_, 2nd series, vol. viii. p. 492,
and _Gentleman’s Magazine_, December, 1794.
~Sport~, an American term for a gambler or turfite—more akin to our
sporting man than to our sportsman.
~Sporting door~, the outer door of chambers, also called the OAK. _See_
under SPORT.—_University._
~Spot~, to mark, to recognise. Originally an Americanism, but now
general. “I SPOTTED him (or it) at once.”
~Spotted~, to be known or marked by the police.
~Spout~, “up the SPOUT,” at the pawnbroker’s; SPOUTING, pawning. _See_
POP for origin.
~Spout~, to preach, or make speeches; SPOUTER, a preacher or lecturer.
~Sprat~, sixpence.
~Spread~, butter. Term with workmen and schoolboys. _See_ SCRAPE.
~Spread~, a lady’s shawl, an entertainment, a display of good things.
~Spread~, a meal. Sporting term for a dinner. A sporting man often
challenges another to compete with him at any athletic pursuit or
pastime, for so much wine and a SPREAD of large or small proportions.
~Spree~, a boisterous piece of merriment; “going on the SPREE,” starting
out with intent to have a frolic. _French_, ESPRIT. In the _Dutch_
language, SPREEUW is a jester.
~Springer-up~, a tailor who sells low-priced ready-made clothing, and
gives starvation wages to the poor men and women who “make up” for him.
The clothes are said to be SPRUNG-UP, or “blown together.”
~Sprint race~, a short-distance race, ran at the topmost speed
throughout. SPRINT is in the North synonymous with SPURT, and hence the
name.
~Sprung~, inebriated sufficiently to become boisterous.
~Spry~, active, strong, manly. Much used in America, but originally
English.
~Spuddy~, a seller of bad potatoes. In lower life, a SPUD is a raw
potato; and roasted SPUDS are those cooked in the cinders with their
skins on.
~Spun~, when a man has failed in his examination at Woolwich, he is said
to be SPUN; as at the Universities he is said to be “plucked” or
“ploughed.”
~Spunge~, a mean, paltry fellow, sometimes called a SPUNGER.
~Spunge~, to live at another’s expense in a mean and paltry manner.
~Spunging-house~, the sheriff’s officer’s house, where prisoners, when
arrested for debt, used to be taken. As extortionate charges were made
there for accommodation, the name was far from inappropriate.
~Spunk~, spirit, fire, courage, mettle, good humour.
“In that snug room, where any man of SPUNK
Would find it a hard matter to get drunk.”
_Peter Pindar_, i. 245.
Common in America, and much used in some parts of Scotland.
~Spunk-fencer~, a lucifer-match seller.
~Spunks~, lucifer-matches.—_Herefordshire_; _Scotland_. SPUNK, says Urry,
in his MS. notes to Ray, “is the excrescency of some tree, of which they
make a sort of tinder to light their pipes with.”
~Spurt.~—_Old._ _See_ SPIRT.
~Squabby~, flat, short and thick. From SQUAB, a sofa.
~Square~, honest; “on the SQUARE,” _i.e._, fair and strictly honest; “to
turn SQUARE,” to reform, and get one’s living in an honest manner,—the
opposite of “cross.” The expression is, in all probability, derived from
the well-known masonic emblem the SQUARE, the symbol of evenness and
rectitude.
“You must keep within the compass, and act upon the square with all
mankind, for your masonry is but a dead letter if you do not
habitually perform its reiterated injunctions.”—_Oliver’s Lectures
on Signs and Symbols_, p. 190.
~Square~, “to be SQUARE with a man,” to be even with him, or to be
revenged; “to SQUARE up to a man,” to offer to fight him. Shakspeare
uses SQUARE in the sense of to quarrel.
~Square cove~, an honest man, as distinguished from “cross cove.”
~Square moll~, an honest woman, one who does not “batter.”
~Squaring his nibs~, giving a policeman, or any official, money for an
immoral or unlawful purpose. The term HIS NIBS has no reference to any
functionary, as the words mean simply “him,” and may be applied to any
one.
~Square rigged~, well dressed.—_Sea._
~Square up~, to settle, to pay a debt.
~Squarum~, a cobbler’s lapstone.
~Squash~, to crush; “to go SQUASH,” to collapse.
~Squeak~, an escape. Generally used with regard to the avoidance of
casualties. Among thieves, too, a prisoner acquitted after a hard trial
is said to have had “a narrow SQUEAK for it.”
~Squeak on a person~, to inform against, to peach.
~Squeal~, to inform, to peach. A North country variation of squeak;
SQUEALER, an informer, also an illegitimate baby.
~Squeeze~, silk; also, by a very significant figure, a thief’s term for
the neck.
~Squib~, a _jeu d’esprit_, which, like the firework of that
denomination, sparkles, bounces, stinks, and vanishes.—_Grose._
Generally used in reference to political and electioneering attacks of a
smart kind, which sting for a moment and are then forgotten.
~Squibs~, paint-brushes.
~Squiffy~, slightly inebriated.
~Squinny-eyed~, said of one given to squinting.—_Shakspeare._
~Squirt~, a doctor, or chemist.
~Squish~, common term among University men for marmalade.
~Stab~, “STAB yourself and pass the dagger,” help yourself and pass the
bottle.—_Theatrical Slang._
~Stab~, “on the STAB,” _i.e._, paid by regular weekly wages on the
“establishment,” of which word STAB is an abridgment.—_Printer’s term._
~Stab-rag~, a regimental tailor.—_Military Slang._
~Stag~, a shilling.
~Stag~, a term applied during the railway mania to a speculator without
capital, who took “scrip” in proposed lines, got the shares up to a
premium, and then sold out. Caricaturists represented the house of
Hudson, “the Railway King,” at Albert Gate, with a STAG on it, in
allusion to this term.
~Stag~, to see, discover, or watch,—like a STAG at gaze; “STAG the
push,” look at the crowd. Also, to dun, or demand payment; to beg.
~Stage-whisper~, one loud enough to be heard. From the stage “asides.”
~Stagger~, to surprise. “He quite STAGGERED me with the information.”
~Stagger~, one who looks out, or watches.
~Staggering-bob~, an animal to whom the knife only just anticipates
death from natural disease or accident,—said of meat on that account
unfit for human food. Also a newly-born calf.
~Stale drunk~, unevaporated fumes of liquor. A man is said to be STALE
DRUNK when he has been drunk overnight, and has doctored himself with
stimulants a little too much in the morning—when he has tried too many
of the “hairs of the dog that bit him.” If this state of things is long
continued, it is often called “same OLD DRUNK,” from a well-known nigger
story. The nigger was cautioned by his master for being too often drunk
within a given period, when the “cullud pusson” replied, “Same old
drunk, massa—same old drunk.”
~Stalking-horse~, originally a horse covered with loose trappings, under
which the mediæval sportsman concealed himself with his bow, so as to
approach his game unobserved. Subsequently a canvas figure, made light,
so as to be easily moved with one hand. Now used to represent any
bugbear persistently paraded; any constant and unpleasant reference to
the possible consequences of an act.
~Stall~, to lodge, or put up at a public-house. Also, to act a
part.—_Theatrical._
~Stall~, to frighten or discourage. In the days of dog-fighting and
pugilism, a dog or man who had originally shown great pluck would, after
a hard battle or two, show signs of cowardice. In such case he was said
to have been STALLED by his previous encounters. A STALL is a spurious
excuse or an imposition, a dodge, &c.
~Stall-off~, to put off by means of a device, to misdirect purposely.
~Stall off~, to blind, excuse, hide, to screen a robbery during the
perpetration of it by an accomplice.
~Stall your mug~, go away; spoken sharply by any one who wishes to get
rid of a troublesome or inconvenient person.
~Stallsman~, sometimes STALL, an accomplice.
~Stampers~, shoes.—_Ancient Cant._
~Stand~, “to STAND treat,” to pay for a friend’s entertainment; to bear
expense; to put up with treatment, good or ill, as, “Will you STAND
that?” a question often asked when a man has been struck or insulted.
Also in the sense of aggregate cost, as, “This house STOOD me in £1000;”
_i.e._, cost that sum; “to STAND pad,” to beg on the kerb with a small
piece of paper pinned on the breast, inscribed, “I am starving.”
~Stand in~, to make one of a party in a bet or other speculation; to
take a side in a dispute.
~Standing~, the position at a street corner, or on the kerb of a market
street, regularly occupied by a costermonger, or street seller.
~Standing patterers~, men who take a stand on the kerb of a public
thoroughfare, and deliver prepared speeches to effect a sale of any
articles they have to vend. _See_ PATTERER.
~Stangey~, a tailor, a person under petticoat government,—derived from
the custom of “riding the STANG,” mentioned in _Hudibras_:—
“It is a custom used of course
Where the grey mare is the better horse.”
~Star~, a common abbreviation of the name of the well-known STAR AND
GARTER Inn at Richmond. Clever people, who delight in altering names,
call this hostelry the “Gar and Starter.”
~Star it~, to perform as the centre of attraction, with inferior
subordinates to set off one’s abilities.—_Theatrical._
~Star the glaze~, to break a window. Among thieves it means to break the
window or show-glass of a jeweller or other tradesman, take any valuable
articles, and run away. Sometimes the glass is cut with a diamond, and a
strip of leather fastened to the piece of glass cut out to keep it from
falling in and making a noise. Another plan is to cut the sash.
~Starchy~, stuck-up, high-notioned, showily dressed, stiff and unbending
in demeanour.
~Stark-naked~, originally STRIP-ME-NAKED, _vide Randall’s Diary_, 1820,
raw gin.
~Start~, “the START,” London,—the great starting-point for beggars and
tramps. This is a term also used by many of superior station to those
mentioned.
~Start~, a proceeding of any kind; “a rum START,” an odd circumstance;
“to get the START of a person,” to anticipate or overreach him.
~Starvation~, though now a recognised word, was originally slang. Its
derivation is composite, and it was first introduced into the English
language by Mr. Dundas, in a debate in the House of Commons on American
affairs, in 1775. “I shall not,” he said, “wait for the advent of
STARVATION from Edinburgh to settle my judgment.” From this he was
always afterwards called STARVATION Dundas.—_Horace Walpole’s Letters._
~Starve’em~, ~Rob’em~, and ~Cheat’em~, the adjoining towns of Stroud,
Rochester, and Chatham are so designated by soldiers and sailors; from
some fancied peculiarities of the inhabitants.
~Stash~, to cease doing anything, to refrain, be quiet, leave off;
“STASH it, there, you sir!” _i.e._, be quiet, sir; to give over a lewd
or intemperate course of life is to STASH it.
~Stay~, to exhibit powers of endurance at walking, running, rowing, &c.
~Stayer~, one likely to persevere, one not easily discouraged. It is
usual for _laudatores temporis acti_ connected with the turf to deplore
the want of staying power which, according to their statements,
characterizes the modern British racehorse; while others, connected and
disconnected with sport, make similar remarks with reference to the
modern British man. So far, however, both descriptions of old gentlemen
have failed signally in endeavouring to make out a good case.
~Steam-engine~, potato-pie at Manchester is so termed.
~Steel~, the House of Correction in London, formerly named the Bastile,
but since shortened to STEEL. _See_ BASTILE.
~Steel-bar drivers~, or FLINGERS, journeymen tailors.
~Stems~, the legs.
~Step it~, to run away, or make off.
~Stepper~, the treadmill; the “everlasting staircase.”
~Stick~, a derogatory expression for a person; “a rum, or odd, STICK,” a
curious man. More generally a “poor STICK.”—_Provincial._
~Stick~, “cut your STICK,” be off, or go away; either simply equivalent
to a recommendation to prepare a walking staff in readiness for a
journey—in allusion to the Eastern custom of cutting a STICK before
setting out—or from the ancient mode of reckoning by notches or tallies
on a STICK. In Cornwall the peasantry tally sheaves of corn by cuts in a
STICK, reckoning by the score. “Cut your STICK” in this sense may mean
to make your mark and pass on—and so realize the meaning of the phrase,
“in the nick (or notch) of time.” Sir J. Emerson Tennent considers the
phrase equivalent to “cutting the connexion,” and suggests a possible
origin in the prophet’s breaking the staves of “Beauty” and
“Bands,”—_vide_ Zech. xi. 10, 14.
~Stick~, to cheat; “he got STUCK,” he was taken in; “I’m STUCK,” a
common phrase to express that the speaker has spent or lost all his
money, and can neither play nor pay any longer. STICK, to forget one’s
part in a performance.—_Theatrical._ STICK up, to place in an account;
“STICK it up to me,” _i.e._, give me credit for it; STICK on, to
overcharge or defraud; STICK up for, to defend a person, especially when
slandered in his absence; STICK up to, to persevere in courting or
attacking, whether in fisticuffs or argument; “to STICK in one’s
gizzard,” to rankle in one’s heart; “to STICK to a person,” to adhere to
one, to be his friend through adverse circumstances,—to “cotton” to
him; “to STICK one’s spoon in the wall,” to die.
~Stick-up~, to keep any one waiting at an appointed place or time. To
leave a friend or acquaintance to pay the whole or an undue share of a
tavern bill.
~Stick-ups~, or GILLS, shirt collars.
~Sticker~, one not likely to be easily shaken off, a stayer.
~Stickings~, coarse, bruised, or damaged meat sold to sausage-makers and
penny pie-shops.
~Sticks~, furniture, or household chattels; “pick up your STICKS and
cut!” summary advice to a person to take himself and furniture away.
~Sticky~, wax.
~Stiff~, paper, a bill of acceptance, &c.; “how did you get it, STIFF or
hard?” _i.e._, did he pay you cash or give a bill? “To do a bit of
STIFF,” to accept a bill. _See_ KITE.
~Stiff-fencer~, a street-seller of writing paper.
~Stiff un~, a corpse. Term used by undertakers.
~Stills~, undertakers’ slang term for STILL-BORN children. The fee paid
by nurses and others for their disposal is usually 2_s._ 6_d._ A
separate coffin is never given; the STILLS are quietly introduced into
one containing an adult about to be buried. STILLS are allowed to
accumulate at an undertaker’s until they sometimes number as many as a
dozen. Some little time back a very bulky coffin was opened, and found
to contain a large quantity of small corpses packed carefully round a
large corpse. This caused a little excitement, but nothing was done in
the matter.
~Stilton~, “that’s the STILTON,” or “it’s not the STILTON,” _i.e._, that
is quite the thing, or that is not quite the thing;—affected rendering
of “that is not the CHEESE,” which _see_.
~Stingo~, strong liquor.—_Yorkshire._
~Stink~, a disagreeable exposure. “To stir up a STINK” is to make a
disclosure which is generally unpleasant in its effect.
~Stinkomalee~, a name given to the then New London University by
Theodore Hook. Probably because some cow-houses and dunghills stood on
the original site. Some question about Trincomalee was agitated at the
same time. It is still applied by the students of the old Universities,
who regard it with disfavour from its admitting all denominations.
~Stipe~, a stipendiary magistrate.—_Provincial._
~Stir~, a prison, a lock-up; “in STIR,” in gaol. _Anglo-Saxon_, STYR,
correction, punishment.
~Stir-up Sunday~, the Sunday next before Advent, the collect for that
day commencing with the words, “Stir up.” Schoolboys, growing excited at
the prospect of the vacation, irreverently commemorate it by stirring
up—pushing and poking each other. “Crib-crust Monday” and “tug-button
Tuesday” are distinguished by similar tricks; while on “pay-off
Wednesday” they retaliate small grudges in a playful facetious way.
Forby says good housewives in Norfolk consider themselves reminded by
the name to mix the ingredients for their Christmas mince-pies.
~Stock.~ “To STOCK cards” is to arrange cards in a certain manner for
cheating purposes.
~Stock~, “to take STOCK of one,” to scrutinize narrowly one whom you
have reason to suspect, or one with whom you are likely to have business
transactions; taken from the tradesmen’s term for the annual examination
and valuation of their stock of goods.
~Stockdollager~, a heavy blow, a “finisher.” _Italian_, STOCCADO,
a fencing term. Also (in a general sense), a disastrous
event.—_Americanism._
~Stodge~, to surfeit, gorge, or clog with food. STODGE is in some places
bread and milk.
~Stoll~, to understand.—_North Country Cant._
~Stomach~, to bear with, to be partial to. Mostly used in a negative
character,—as, “I can’t STOMACH that.”
~Stone-jug~, a prison.
“In a box of the stone-jug I was born.”
~Stook~, a pocket-handkerchief. A STOOK-HAULER, or “buzzer,” is a thief
who takes pocket-handkerchiefs.
~Story~, a falsehood,—the soft synonym for a lie, allowed in family
circles and boarding-schools. A Puritanism that came into fashion with
the tirade against romances, all novels and stories being considered as
dangerous and false.
~Stot~, a young bullock. In Northumberland the term STOT means to
rebound.
~Stotor~, a heavy blow, a settler.—_Old Cant._