person—in allusion to a TRUMP card; “TRUMPS may turn up,” _i.e._,
fortune may yet favour me.
~Trunks~, short trousers worn above hose or tights.—_Theatrical._
~Try it on~, to make attempt, generally applied to an effort at
imposition. An extortionate charge or a begging-letter is frequently
described as “a regular TRY-ON.”
~Tub~, the morning bath. To TUB has now become a regular verb, so far as
colloquialism is concerned, though no one uses a TUB as the word was
originally understood.
~Tub-thumping~, preaching or speech-making, from the old Puritan fashion
of “holding forth” from a tub, or beer barrel, as a mark of their
contempt for decorated pulpits.
~Tubs~, nickname for a butterman.
~Tuck~, a schoolboy’s term for fruit, pastry, &c. TUCK IN, or TUCK OUT,
a good meal.
~Tuft-hunter~, a hanger on to persons of quality or wealth—one who
seeks the society of wealthy people. Originally University slang, but
now general.
~Tufts~, at the University, noblemen, who pay high fees and are
distinguished by golden TUFTS, or tassels, in their caps.
~Tumble~, to comprehend or understand. A coster was asked what he
thought of _Macbeth_, and he replied, “The witches and the fighting was
all very well, but the other moves I couldn’t TUMBLE to exactly; few on
us can TUMBLE to the jaw-breakers; they licks us, they do.”
~Tumble to pieces~, to be safely delivered, as in childbirth.
~Tune the old cow died of~, an epithet for any ill-played or discordant
piece of music. Originally the name of an old ballad, referred to by
dramatists of Shakspeare’s time.
~Tuns~, a name at Pembroke College, Oxford, for small silver cups, each
containing half a pint. Sometimes a TUN had a handle with a whistle,
which could not be blown till the cup was empty.
~Turf~, horse-racing, and betting thereon; “on the TURF,” one who
occupies himself with race-horse business; said also of a street-walker,
or nymph of the _pavé_.
~Turkey merchants~, dealers in plundered or contraband silk. Poulterers
are sometimes termed TURKEY MERCHANTS in remembrance of Horne Tooke’s
answer to the boys at Eton, who wished in an aristocratic way to know
what _his_ father was: “A TURKEY MERCHANT,” replied Tooke—his father
was a poulterer. TURKEY MERCHANT, also, was formerly slang for a driver
of turkeys or geese to market.
~Turnip~, an old-fashioned watch, so called from its general appearance,
if of silver. Also called “a frying-pan.” Old-fashioned gold watches are
called “warming-pans.”
~Turn it up~, to quit, change, abscond, or abandon; “Ned has TURNED IT
UP,” _i.e._, run away; “I intend TURNING IT UP,” _i.e._, leaving my
present abode or employment, or altering my course of life.
~Turn-out~, personal show or appearance; a man with a showy carriage and
horses is said to have a good TURN-OUT.
~Turn-over~, an apprentice who finishes with a second master the
indentures he commenced with another, who has died or become bankrupt.
~Turn up~, a street fight; a sudden leaving, or making off. An
unexpected slice of luck. Among sporting men bookmakers are said to have
a TURN UP when an unbacked horse wins.
~Turn up~, to appear unexpectedly. Also to happen; “Let’s wait, and see
what will TURN UP.”
~Turn up~, to make sick. People are said to be TURNED UP by
sea-sickness, or when they are made ill by excessive smoking or
drinking.
~Turned over~, remanded by the magistrate or judge for want of evidence.
~Turned up~, to be stopped and searched by the police. To be discharged
from a police-court or sessions-house; to be acquitted.
~Turnpike sailors~, beggars who go about dressed as sailors. A sarcastic
reference to the scene of their chief voyages.
~Tusheroon~, a crown piece, five shillings. Otherwise a bull or
cartwheel.
~Tussle~, a row, struggle, fight, or argument.
~Tussle~, to struggle, or argue.
~Twelve godfathers~, a jury, because they give a name to the crime the
prisoner before them has been guilty of, whether murder or manslaughter,
felony or misdemeanor. Consequently it is a vulgar taunt to say, “You
will be christened by TWELVE GODFATHERS some day before long.”
~Twelver~, a shilling.
~Twice-laid~, a dish made out of cold fish and potatoes.—_Sea._ Compare
BUBBLE AND SQUEAK, and RESURRECTION PIE.
~Twig~, style. Prime TWIG, in good order and high spirits.
~Twig~, to comprehend, as, “Do you TWIG?” Also, “Hop the TWIG,” to
decamp.
~Twist~, brandy and gin mixed.
~Twist~, capacity for eating, appetite; “He’s got a capital TWIST.”
~Twitchety~, nervous, fidgety.
~Twitter~, “all in a TWITTER,” in a fright or fidgety state.
~Two eighteener~, an Americanism for a man or woman of the fastest
kind—two minutes eighteen seconds, or close thereabouts, being the
fastest time for a mile recorded in connexion with the Transatlantic
national sport, trotting. “Two forty on a plank road,” a once favourite
expression with a similar meaning, derived from a feat of the famous
trotting mare Flora Temple, has died out since trotting has become
faster, and courses have been prepared on a different principle.
~Two-eyed-steak~, a red-herring or bloater. Otherwise “Billingsgate
pheasant.”
~Two-handed~, expert at fisticuffs. Ambidextrous generally.
~Two-handed game~, a game or proposal in which the chances are fairly
even; as, “I’ll punch your head;” “Ah, that’s a TWO-HANDED GAME—you’ll
get no good at that.”
~Two to one~, the pawnbroker’s sign of three balls. So called because it
is supposed by calculating humourists to be TWO TO ONE against the
redemption of a pledged article.
~Two upon ten~, or TWO PUN’ TEN, an expression used by assistants to
each other, in shops, when a customer of suspected honesty makes his
appearance. The phrase refers to “two eyes upon ten fingers,” shortened
as a money term to TWO PUN’ TEN. When a supposed thief is present, one
shopman asks the other if that TWO PUN’ (pound) TEN matter was ever
settled. The man knows at once what is meant, and keeps a careful watch
upon the person being served. If it is not convenient to speak, a piece
of paper is handed to the same assistant, bearing the, to him, very
significant amount of
_£2: 10: 0_
_Compare_ SHARP, JOHN ORDERLY.
~Twopenny~, the head; “tuck in your TWOPENNY,” bend down your head.
~Twopenny-halfpenny~, paltry, insignificant. A TWOPENNY-HALFPENNY
fellow, a not uncommon expression of contempt.
~Twopenny-hops~, low dancing rooms, the price of admission to which was
formerly twopence. The clog hornpipe, the pipe dance, flash jigs, and
hornpipes in fetters, _à la_ Jack Sheppard, were the favourite
movements, all entered into with great spirit.
~Twopenny rope~, a lodging-house of the lowest kind, where tramps and
cadgers sleep on sacking stretched by means of ropes. Sleeping at these
places is called having “twopenn’orth of rope.”
~Tyburnia~, the Portman and Grosvenor Square district. It is facetiously
divided by the Londoners into “Tyburnia Felix,” “Tyburnia Deserta,” and
“Tyburnia Snobbica.” The old gallows at Tyburn stood near the N.E.
corner of Hyde Park, at the angle formed by the Edgware Road and the top
of Oxford Street. In 1778 this was two miles out of London.
~Tyburn tippet~, in the old hanging days, Jack Ketch’s rope.
~Tye~, or TIE, a neckerchief. Proper hosiers’ term now, but slang thirty
years ago, and as early as 1718.
~Tyke~, a Yorkshireman. Term used by themselves, as well as by
Southerners, in reference to them.
~Typo~, a printer.
~Ugly~, wicked, malicious, resentful.—_American._
~Ullages~, the wine of all sorts left in the bottoms of glasses at a
public dinner. This is emptied into a measure, and drunk behind the
screen or in any convenient place by the waiters, which accounts for
their stony glare and fishy appearance late in the evening. Maybe from
_Lat._ ULLUS, any.
~Unbleached American~, Yankee term, since the war, for coloured natives
of the United States.
~Uncle~, the pawnbroker. _See_ MY UNCLE.
~Under a cloud~, in difficulties. An evident reference to shady
circumstances.
~Under the rose.~ _See_ ROSE.
~Understandings~, the feet or boots. Men who wear exceptionally large or
thick boots, are said to possess good UNDERSTANDINGS.
~Understudy~, to STUDY a part for the stage, not with the view of
playing it at once, but so as to be ready in the event of anything
happening to its present representative. Some actors of position, who
suffer from delicate health, or mental weakness, have always other and
inferior, but more robust, artists UNDERSTUDYING their parts.
~Unfortunate~, a modern euphuism for a prostitute, derived from Thomas
Hood’s beautiful poem of _The Bridge of Sighs_:—
“One more UNFORTUNATE,
Weary of breath,
Rashly importunate,
Gone to her death.”
It is almost needless to remark that the poet had no intention of using
the word in any but its widest and most general sense.
~Unicorn~, a style of driving with two wheelers abreast and one
leader—termed in the United States a “spike team.” “Tandem” is one
wheeler and one leader. “Random,” three horses in line. “Manchester”
means three horses abreast. _See_ HARUM-SCARUM.
~Unlicked~, ill-trained, uncouth, rude, and rough; an “UNLICKED cub” is
a loutish youth who has never been taught manners; from the tradition
that a bear’s cub, when brought into the world, has no shape or symmetry
until its dam licks it into form with her tongue. Possibly said of a boy
who has been petted, _i.e._, who has been insufficiently thrashed or
licked. Case of spared rod and spoilt child.
~Unparliamentary~, or UNSCRIPTURAL, language, words unfit for use in
ordinary conversation.
~Unutterables~, or UNWHISPERABLES, trousers. _See_ INEXPRESSIBLES.
~Up~, “to be UP to a thing or two,” to be knowing, or understanding; “to
put a man UP to a move,” to teach him a trick; “it’s all UP with him,”
_i.e._, it is all over with him; when pronounced U.P., naming the two
letters separately, means settled, or done UP. “UP a tree,” _see_ TREE.
“UP to snuff,” wide awake, acquainted with the last new move; “UP to
one’s gossip,” to be a match for one who is trying to take you in; “UP
to slum,” proficient in roguery, capable of committing a theft
successfully; “what’s UP?” what is the matter? what is the news?
~U.P.~, United Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
~Upper Benjamin~, or BENJY, a great coat; originally “Joseph,” but,
because of the preponderance of tailors named BENJAMIN, altered in
deference to them.
~Upper storey~, or UPPER LOFT, a person’s head; “his UPPER STOREY is
unfurnished,” _i.e._, he does not know very much. “Wrong in his UPPER
STOREY,” crazy. _See_ CHUMP.
~Uppish~, proud, arrogant.
~Used up~, broken-hearted, bankrupt, fatigued, vanquished.
~Vakeel~, a barrister.—_Anglo-Indian._
~Vamos~, VAMOUS, or VAMOOSH, to go, or be off. Spanish, VAMOS, “Let us
go!” Probably NAMUS, or NAMOUS, the costermonger’s word, was from this.
~Vamp~, to spout, to leave in pawn. Also to cobble, as, “a VAMPED play,”
and “a VAMPED accompaniment,” both terms reflecting discredit on the
work, but not necessarily upon the musician.
~Vamps~, old, or refooted stockings. From VAMP, to piece.
~Vardo~, to look; “VARDO the carsey,” look at the house. VARDO formerly
was old cant for a waggon. This is by low Cockneys generally pronounced
VARDY.
~Vardy~, verdict, vulgarly used as opinion, thus, “My VARDY on the
matter is the same as yourn.”
~Varmint.~ “You young VARMINT, you!” you bad, or naughty boy. Corruption
of VERMIN.
~Varnisher~, an utterer of false sovereigns. Generally “snide-pitcher.”
~’Varsity~, either UNIVERSITY—more rarely University College, Oxford.
~Velvet~, the tongue; especially the tongue of a magsman. Also, men who
have succeeded in their speculations, especially on the turf, are said
to stand on VELVET.
~Veneer~, the artificiality of society, conventionality. Dickens
expressed his dislike for certain forms of VENEER repeatedly, and
especially by means of his Veneerings in _Our Mutual Friend_.
~Vet~, colloquial term for VETERINARIAN.
~Vic~, the Victoria Theatre, London. Also the street abbreviation of the
Christian name of her Majesty the Queen.
~Village~, or THE VILLAGE, _i.e._, London. Birmingham is called “the
hardware VILLAGE.” Also a Cambridge term for a disreputable suburb of
that town, viz., Barnwell, generally styled “the VILLAGE.”
~Ville~, or VILE, a town or village—pronounced PHIAL, or
VIAL.—_French._
~Vinnied~, mildewed, or sour.—_Devonshire._
~Voker~, to talk; “can you VOKER Romany?” can you speak the canting
language?—_Latin_, VOCARE; _Spanish_, VOCEAR.
~Vowel.~ “To VOWEL a debt” is to acknowledge with an I O U.
~Vulpecide~, one who shoots or traps foxes, or destroys them in any way
other than that of hunting. A foxhunter regards a VULPECIDE as rather
worse than an ordinary murderer.
~Wabble~, or WOBBLE, to move from side to side, to roll about. Johnson
terms it “a low, barbarous word.”
~Walk into~, to overcome, to demolish; “I’ll WALK INTO his affections,”
_i.e._, I will scold or thrash him. “He WALKED INTO the grub,” _i.e._,
he demolished it. WALK INTO also means to get into the debt of any one,
as “He WALKED INTO the affections of all the tradesmen in the
neighbourhood.”
~Walk-over~, a re-election without opposition.—_Parliamentary_, but
derived from the turf, where a horse which has no rivals WALKS OVER the
course. _See_ DEAD HEAT.
~Walk your chalks~, be off, or run away,—spoken sharply by any one who
wishes to get rid of a troublesome person. _See_ CHALKS.
~Walker~, a letter-carrier or postman. From an old song, called,
“Walker, the twopenny postman.”
~Walker!~ or HOOKEY WALKER! an ejaculation of incredulity, used when a
person is telling a story which you know to be all gammon, or worse. One
explanation of the phrase is this:—“Years ago there was a person named
Walker, an aquiline-nosed Jew, who exhibited an orrery, which he called
by the erudite name of ‘Eidouranion.’ He was also a popular lecturer on
astronomy, and often, telescope in hand, invited his pupils to ‘take a
sight’ at the moon and stars. The lecturer’s phrase struck his schoolboy
auditory, who frequently ‘took a sight’ with that gesture of
outstretched arm and adjustment to nose and eye which was the first
garnish of the popular saying. The next step was to assume phrase and
gesture as the outward and visible mode of knowingness in general.” This
has been denied, however, and a statement made that HOOKEY WALKER was a
magistrate of dreaded acuteness and incredulity, whose hooked nose gave
the title of “beak” to all his successors; it is also said, moreover,
that the gesture of applying the thumb to the nose and agitating the
little finger, as an expression of “Don’t you wish you may get it?” is
considerably older than the first story would seem to indicate. There
are many and various explanations of the term, given according to the
development of fancy.—_Notes and Queries_, iv. 425.
~Walking the pegs~, a method of cheating at the game of cribbage, by a
species of legerdemain, the sharper either moving his own pegs forward,
or those of his antagonist backward, according to the state of the game.
~Wallflower~, a person who goes to a ball and looks on without dancing,
either from choice or through not being able to obtain a partner. From
the position.
~Wallflowers~, left-off and “regenerated” clothes exposed for sale on
the bunks and shop-boards of Seven Dials. _See_ REACH-ME-DOWNS.
~Wallabee-track~, Colonial slang for the tramp. When a man in Australia
is “on the road” looking for employment, he is said to be on the
WALLABEE-TRACK.
~Wallop~, to beat, or thrash. John Gough Nichols derives this word from
an ancestor of the Earl of Portsmouth, one Sir John Wallop, Knight of
the Garter, who in King Henry VIII.’s time distinguished himself by
WALLOPING the French; but it is more probably connected with wheal, a
livid swelling in the skin after a blow. _See_ POT-WALLOPER.
~Walloping~, a beating or thrashing; sometimes used in an adjective
sense, as big, or very large.
~Wapping~, or WHOPPING, of a large size, great.
~Warm~, rich, or well off.
~Warm~, to thrash or beat; “I’ll WARM your jacket.” To WARM the wax of
one’s ear is to give a severe blow on the side of the head. To WARM is
also to rate or abuse roundly. Also varied, as, “to make it hot” for any
one.
~Warming-pan~, a large old-fashioned gold watch. A person placed in an
office to hold it for another. _See_ W.P.
~War-paint~, evening dress. When people go out in full costume they are
often said to have their WAR-PAINT on. Also, military “full-fig.”
~Wash~, “It wont WASH,” _i.e._, will not stand investigation, will not
“bear the rub,” is not genuine, can’t be believed.
~Waster~, a useless, clumsy, or ill-made person.
~Watch and seals~, a sheep’s head and pluck.
~Watchmaker~, a pickpocket or stealer of watches. Often called “a
WATCHMAKER in a crowd.”
~Water-bewitched~, very weak tea, the third brew (or the first at some
houses). Sometimes very weak tea is called “husband’s tea,” in allusion
to the wife taking the first brew, and leaving the rest for her husband.
Also grog much diluted.
~Water-dogs~, Norfolk dumplings.
~Water gunner~, a marine artilleryman.
~Water the dragon~, or WATER ONE’S NAG, a hint for retiring.
~Waterman~, a blue silk handkerchief. The friends of the Oxford and
Cambridge boats’ crews always wear these—light blue for Cambridge, and
a darker shade for Oxford.
~Wattles~, ears.
~Wax~, a rage. “Let’s get him in a WAX.” WAXY, cross, ill-tempered.
~Wayz-goose~, a printers’ annual dinner, the funds for which are
collected by stewards regularly appointed by “the chapel.”
~Weather eye~, the cautious eye. Any one who is supposed to have an
extra good knowledge of things in general, or to be hard to impose on or
cheat, is said to have his WEATHER EYE well open.
~Weather-headed~, so written by Sir Walter Scott in his _Peveril of the
Peak_, but it is more probably WETHER-HEADED, as applied to a person
having a “sheepish” look.
~Weaving~, a notorious card-sharping trick, done by keeping certain
cards on the knee, or between the knee and the under side of the table,
and using them when required by changing them for the cards held in the
hand.
~Weaving leather aprons.~ When a knowing blade is asked what he has been
doing lately, and does not choose to tell, his reply is, that he has
been very busy WEAVING LEATHER APRONS. (From the reports of a celebrated
trial for gold robbery on the South-Western Railway.) Other similar
replies are, “I have been making a trundle for a goose’s eye,” or a
“whim-wham to bridle a goose.” Sometimes a man will describe himself as
“a doll’s-eye WEAVER.”
~Wedge~, silver.—_Old Cant._
~Wedge-feeder~, a silver spoon.
~Weed~, a cigar; _the_ WEED, tobacco generally.
~Weed~, a hatband.
~Weight-for-age~, a sporting phrase which, applied to a race,
distinguishes it from a handicap or catch-weight event, and informs all
interested that the animals which run carry according to their ages, and
not their abilities. Winners of certain great races generally carry
penalties in addition to WEIGHT-FOR-AGE, for the purpose of equalizing
matters somewhat; but as a rule the results are fairly foreshadowed as
soon as in these races the horses are at the post, or as soon as the
starters are positively known.
~Wejee~, a chimney-pot. Often applied to any clever invention, as,
“That’s a regular WEJEE.”
~Welcher~, a person who makes a bet without the remotest chance of being
able to pay, and, losing it, absconds, or “makes himself scarce.” In the
betting ring a WELCHER is often very severely handled upon his swindling
practices being discovered. The Catterick “Clerk of the Course” once
provided some stout labourers and a tar-barrel for the special benefit
of the WELCHERS who might visit that neighbourhood. The word is modern,
but the practice is ancient.
“One Moore, the unworthy incumbent of the ‘Suffolk curacy,’
dedicated a book to ‘Duke Humphrey,’ and was then entirely lost
sight of by his old college friends, till one of them espied him
slung up in ‘the basket,’ for not paying his bets at a
cock-pit.”—_Post and Paddock._
One writer says the term “arose from a fellow who took deposits on
account of Welsh ponies, which he said he was importing, and never
delivered them.” It is not unfrequently suggested by irreverent persons
that the word was suggested by the dislike his gracious Majesty George
the Fourth had, when a young man, for settling. Others derive it from
the nursery rhyme,
“Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief.”
There can be no doubt that, from the days when the stout Earl of
Chester and others were constantly employed in checking and cutting off
the expeditions of their neighbours till comparatively recently, the
term “Welshman” has been hardly one of kindness. It is not hard,
therefore, to imagine its use on the Roodee, and its subsequent
corruption into WELCHER. The spelling of the word, WELCHER or WELSHER,
is optional.
~Well~, to pocket, to save money. Any one of fair income and miserly
habits is said to “WELL it.”
~Welt~, to thrash with a strap or stick. Probably meaning to raise
wheals.
~West central~, a water-closet, the initials being the same as those of
the London Postal District. It is said that for this reason very
delicate people refuse to obey Rowland Hill’s instructions in this
particular. An old maid, who lived in this district, was particularly
shocked at having W.C. marked on all her letters, and informed the
letter-carrier that she could not think of submitting to such an
indecent fashion. On being informed that the letters would not be
forwarded without the obnoxious initials, she remarked that she would
have them left at the Post-Office. “Then, marm,” said the fellow, with a
grin, “they will put P.O. on them, which will be more ondacenter than
the tother.”
~Wet~, a drink, a drain.
~Wet~, to drink. Low people generally ask an acquaintance to WET any
recently purchased article, _i.e._, to stand treat on the occasion. “WET
(originally WHET, to sharpen,) your whistle,” _i.e._, take a drink; “WET
the other eye,” _i.e._, take another glass. _See_ SHED A TEAR.
~Wet Quaker~, a man who pretends to be religious, and is a dram-drinker
on the sly.
~Wet un~, a diseased cow, unfit for human food, but nevertheless sold to
make into sausages. _Compare_ STAGGERING-BOB.
~Whack~, a share or lot. “Give me my WHACK,” give me my
share.—_Scotch_, SWEG, _or_ SWACK.
~Whack~, or WHACKING, a blow, or a thrashing.
~Whack~, to beat.
~Whacker~, a lie of unusual dimensions, sometimes called a “round un.”
~Whacking~, large, fine, or strong.
~Whacks~, to go WHACKS, to divide equally; to enter into partnership.
~Whale~, “very like a WHALE,” said of anything that is very improbable.
A speech of Polonius’s in _Hamlet_.
~What d’yecall’em~, a similar expression to “thingumy.”
~Wheeze~, a joke, an anecdote, or dialogue, not strictly connected with
a piece that is being played, but introduced by an actor, sometimes with
the assistance and for the benefit of others. The dialogues which take
place between the songs at nigger entertainments are also known as
WHEEZES. The word actually means a new notion as applied to dialogue.
~Wherret~, or WORRIT, to scold, trouble, or annoy.—_Old English._
~Whid~, a word. Sometimes, a fib, a falsehood, a word too much.—_Modern
Slang_, from the ancient cant.
~Whiddle~, to enter into a parley, or hesitate with many words, &c.; to
inform, or discover. _See_ WHEEDLE.
~Whim-wham~, an alliterative term, synonymous with fiddle-faddle,
riff-raff, &c., denoting nonsense, rubbish, &c.
~Whip~, after the usual allowance of wine is drunk at mess, those who
wish for more put a shilling each into a glass handed round to procure a
further supply. WHIP-ROUND is now a common term for a subscription of a
similar kind to that described.
~Whip~, to “WHIP anything up,” to take it up quickly; from the method of
hoisting heavy goods or horses on board ship by a WHIP, or running
tackle, from the yard-arm. Generally used to express anything
dishonestly taken.