and keep together his party to vote at divisions. To give him greater
influence, the ministerial WHIP holds, or is supposed to hold, the minor
patronage of the Treasury.
~Whipjack~, a sham shipwrecked sailor, called also a turnpike-sailor.
~Whip the cat~, when an operative works at a private house by the day.
Term used amongst tailors and carpenters.
~Whipper-snapper~, a waspish, diminutive person.
~Whisper~, a tip given in secret, a rumour which is spread under the
pretence of its being a secret. To “give the WHISPER,” is to give a
quick tip to any one. An owner’s final instruction to his jockey is
called “the WHISPER at the post.”
~Whisper~, to borrow money—generally small sums—as, “He WHISPERED me
for a tanner.”
~Whisperer~, a constant borrower.
~Whistle~, “as clean as a WHISTLE,” neatly, or “slickly done,” as an
American would say; “To whet (or more vulgarly wet) one’s WHISTLE,” to
take a drink. This last is a very old expression. Chaucer says of the
Miller of Trumpington’s wife (_Canterbury Tales_, 4153)—
“So was hir joly WHISTAL well y-wet.”
“To WHISTLE for anything,” to stand small chance of getting it, from the
nautical custom of WHISTLING for a wind in a calm, which of course comes
none the sooner for it. “To pay for one’s WHISTLE,” to pay extravagantly
for any fancy.
~Whistling-Billy~, or PUFFING-BILLY, a locomotive engine.
~Whistling-shop~, a place in which spirits are sold without a licence.
~Whitechapel~ or WESTMINSTER BROUGHAM, a costermonger’s donkey-barrow.
~Whitechapel~, anything mean or paltry. Potting one’s opponent at
billiards is often known as “WHITECHAPEL play.”
~Whitechapel~, in tossing, when “two out of three wins.” _See_ SUDDEN
DEATH.
~Whitechapel fortune~, a clean gown and a pair of pattens.
~White eye~, military slang for a very strong and deleterious kind of
whisky, so called because its potency is believed to turn the eyes round
in the sockets, leaving the whites only visible.
~White feather~, “to show the WHITE FEATHER,” to evince cowardice. In
times when great attention was paid to the breeding of game-cocks, a
white feather in the tail was considered a proof of cross-breeding.
~White horses~, the foam on the crests of waves, seen before or after a
storm.
“Now the wild white horses play.
Champ and chafe and toss in the spray.
Children, dear, let us away,
This way, this way.”—_Matthew Arnold._
~White lie~, a harmless lie, one told to reconcile people at variance.
“Mistress is not at home, sir,” is a WHITE LIE often told by servants.
~White-livered~, or LIVER-FACED, cowardly, much afraid, very mean.
~White prop~, a diamond pin.—_East London._
~White satin~, gin,—term amongst women. _See_ SATIN.
~White serjeant~, a man’s superior officer in the person of his better
half.
~White tape~, gin,—term used principally by female servants. _See_
RIBBON.
~White un~, a silver watch.
~White wine~, the fashionable term for gin.
“Jack Randall then impatient rose,
And said, ‘Tom’s speech were just as fine
If he would call that first of GOES
By that genteeler name—WHITE WINE.’”
_Randall’s Diary_, 1820.
~Whitewash~, to rehabilitate. A person who took the benefit of the
Insolvent Act was said to have been WHITEWASHED. Now said of a person
who compromises with his creditors.
~Whitewash~, a glass of sherry as a finale, after drinking port and
claret.
~Whittle~, to nose or peach.—_Old Cant._ To cut and hack as with a
pocket-knife.—_American._
~Whop~, to beat, or hide. Corruption of WHIP; sometimes spelt WAP.
~Whop-straw~, cant name for a countryman; Johnny WHOP-STRAW, in allusion
to threshing.
~Whopper~, a big one, a lie. A lie not easily swallowed.
~Widdle~, to shine. _See_ OLIVER.
~Wide-awake~, a broad-brimmed felt or stuff hat,—so called because it
never had a nap, and never wants one.
~Wido~, wide awake, no fool.
~Wife~, a fetter fixed to one leg.—_Prison._
~Wiffle-woffles~, in the dumps, sorrow, stomach-ache.
~Wig~, move off, go away.—_North Country Cant._
~Wigging~, a rebuke before comrades. If the head of a firm calls a clerk
into the parlour, and rebukes him, it is an EARWIGGING; if done before
the other clerks, it is a WIGGING.
~Wild~, a village.—_Tramps’ term._ _See_ VILE.
~Wild~, vexed, cross, passionate,—said to be from WILLED (SELF-WILLED),
in opposition to “tamed” or “subdued.” In the United States the word
“mad” is supplemented with a vulgar meaning similar to our Cockneyism
WILD; and to make a man mad on the other side of the Atlantic is to vex
him, or “rile” his temper—not to render him a raving maniac, or a fit
subject for Bedlam.
~Wild Irishman~, the train between Euston and Holyhead, in connection
with the Kingstown mail-boats.
~Wild oats~, youthful pranks. A fast young man is said to be “sowing his
WILD OATS.”
~William~, a bill. The derivation is obvious.
~Willow~, a cricket-bat. From the material of which it is made. The
great batsman, W. G. Grace, is often called “champion of the WILLOW.”
~Wind~, “to raise the WIND,” to procure money; “to slip one’s WIND,” a
coarse expression, meaning to die. _See_ RAISE.
~Wind~, “I’ll WIND your cotton,” _i.e._, I will give you some trouble.
The Byzantine General, Narses, used the same kind of threat to the Greek
Empress,—“I will spin a thread that they shall not be able to unravel.”
~Windows~, the eyes, or “peepers.”
~Winey~, intoxicated.
~Winged~, hurt, but not dangerously, by a bullet. Originally to be shot
in the arm or shoulder. To slightly wound birds is to WING them.
~Winkin~, “he went off like WINKIN,” _i.e._, very quickly. From WINK, to
shut the eye quickly.
~Winks~, periwinkles.
~Winn~, a penny—_Ancient Cant._ _See_ introductory chapter.
~Wipe~, a pocket-handkerchief.—_Old Cant._
~Wipe~, a blow. Frequently sibilated to SWIPE, a cricket-term.
~Wipe~, to strike; “he fetcht me a WIPE over the knuckles,” he struck me
on the knuckles; “to WIPE a person down,” to flatter or pacify; “to wipe
off a score,” to pay one’s debts, in allusion to the slate or chalk
methods of account-keeping; “to WIPE a person’s eye,” to shoot game
which he has missed; hence to obtain an advantage by superior activity.
With old topers “WIPING one’s eye,” is equivalent to giving or taking
another drink.
~Wipe-out~, to kill or utterly destroy. This is an Americanism, but is
in pretty general use here.
~Wire-in~, a London street phrase in general use, which means to go in
with a will. In its original form of “WIRE-IN, and get your name up,” it
was very popular among London professional athletes. The phrase is now
general, and any one who has a hard task before him, knows he must
WIRE-IN to bring matters to a successful issue.
~Wire-pullers~, powerful political partisans, who do their work from
“behind the scenes.”
~With and without~, words by themselves, supposed to denote the
existence or non-existence of sugar in grog. Generally “warm WITH” and
“cold WITHOUT.”
~Wobble-shop~, a shop where beer is sold without a licence.
~Wobbler~, a foot soldier, a term of contempt used by cavalrymen.
~Wobbly~, rickety, unsteady, ill-fitting.
~Wolf~, to eat greedily.
~Wooden spoon~, the last junior optime who takes a University
degree; denoting one who is only fit to stay at home, and stir
porridge.—_Cambridge._ The expression is also parliamentary slang, and
is applied to the member of the ministry whose name appears in the
division lists least frequently. At the ministerial dinner annually held
at Greenwich, such member sometimes has a wooden spoon presented to him.
~Wooden surtout~, a coffin, generally spoken of as a WOODEN SURTOUT with
nails for buttons.
~Wooden wedge~, the last name in the classical honours’ list at
Cambridge. The last in mathematical honours had long been known as the
WOODEN SPOON; but when the classical Tripos was instituted in 1824, it
was debated among the undergraduates what sobriquet should be given to
the last on the examination list. Curiously enough, the name that year
which happened to be last was WEDGEWOOD (a distinguished Wrangler).
Hence the title.
[Illustration]
~Wool~, courage, pluck; “you are not half-WOOLED,” term of reproach from
one thief to another.
~Wool~, bravery, pluck. Term much in use among pugilists and their
admirers. The highest praise that can be bestowed on a man of courage in
lower-class circles is that which characterizes him as being “a reg’lar
wooled un,” or “a rare WOOL-TOPPED UN.” Derived from the great pluck and
perseverance shown by many pugilists of whole or partial colour, from
Molyneux down to Bob Travers.
~Woolbird~, a lamb; “wing of a WOOLBIRD,” a shoulder of lamb.
~Wool-gathering~, said of any person’s wits when they are wandering, or
in a reverie.
~Wool-hole~, the workhouse.
~Woolly~, out of temper.
~Woolly~, a blanket.
~Work~, to plan, or lay down and execute any course of action, to
perform anything; “to WORK the bulls,” _i.e._, to get rid of false crown
pieces; “to work the oracle,” to succeed by manœuvring, to concert a
wily plan, to victimize,—a possible reference to the stratagems and
bribes used to corrupt the Delphic oracle, and cause it to deliver a
favourable response. “To WORK a street or neighbourhood,” to try at each
house to sell all one can, or to bawl so that every housewife may know
what is to be sold. The general plan is to drive a donkey-barrow a short
distance, and then stop and cry. The term implies thoroughness; to “WORK
a street well” is a common saying with a coster. “To WORK a benefit” is
to canvass among one’s friends and acquaintances.
~Worm.~ _See_ PUMP.
~Worm~, a policeman.
~Worming~, removing the beard of an oyster or mussel.
~W. P.~, or WARMING-PAN. A clergyman who holds a living _pro tempore_,
under a bond of resignation, is styled a W. P., or WARMING-PAN rector,
because he keeps the place warm for his successor. WARMING-PAN was a
term first popularly applied to a substitute in the reign of James II.
~Wrinkle~, an idea, or a fancy; an additional piece of knowledge.
~Write~, as “to WRITE one’s name on a joint,” to leave the impression of
one’s handiwork thereon, to have the first cut at anything; to leave
visible traces of one’s presence anywhere.
~Wylo~, be off.—_Anglo-Chinese._
~X.~, or LETTER X, a method of arrest used by policemen with desperate
ruffians,—by getting a firm grasp on the collar, and drawing the
captive’s hand over the holding arm, and pressing the fingers down in a
peculiar way—the captured person’s arm in this way can be more easily
broken than extricated.
~Yack~, a watch; to “church a YACK,” to take it out of its case to avoid
detection, otherwise to “christen a YACK.”
~Yaffle~, to eat.—_Old English._
~Yahoo~, a person of coarse or degraded habits. Derived from the use of
the word by Swift.
~Yam~, to eat. This word is used by the lowest class all over the world;
by the Wapping sailor, West Indian negro, or Chinese coolie. When the
fort, called the Dutch Folly, near Canton, was in course of erection by
the Hollanders, under the pretence of being intended for an hospital,
the Chinese observed a box containing muskets among the alleged hospital
stores. “Hy-aw!” exclaimed John Chinaman, “How can sick man YAM gun?”
The Dutch were surprised and massacred the same night.
~Yappy~, soft, foolish; mostly applied to an over-generous person, from
the fact that it originally meant one who paid for everything. YAP is
back slang for pay, and often when a man is asked to pay more than he
considers correct, he says, “Do you think I’m YAPPY?” do you think I’m
paying mad? Thus slang begets slang.
~Yard of clay~, a long, old-fashioned tobacco pipe; also called a
churchwarden.
~Yarmouth capon~, a bloater, or red herring.
~Yarmouth mittens~, bruised hands.—_Sea._
~Yarn~, a long story, or tale; “a tough YARN,” a tale hard to be
believed; “spin a YARN,” to tell a tale.—_Sea._
~Yay-nay~, “a poor YAY-NAY” fellow, one who has no conversational power,
and can only answer YEA or NAY to a question.
~Yellow-belly~, a native of the fens of Lincolnshire, or the Isle of
Ely—in allusion to the frogs and yellow-bellied eels caught there.
~Yellow-boy~, a sovereign, or any gold coin.
~Yellow-gloak~, a jealous man.
~Yellow-Jack~, the yellow fever prevalent in the West Indies.
~Yellow-man~, a yellow silk handkerchief.
~Yellows~, a term of reproach applied to Bluecoat and other charity
school boys.
~Yid~, or YIT, a Jew. YIDDEN, the Jewish people. The Jews use these
terms very frequently.
~Yokel~, a countryman. Probably from yoke, representative of his
occupation. Some fancy, however, that the word was originally YOWKEL, in
imitation of the broad tones of country labourers.
~Yokuff~, a chest, or large box.
~Yorkshire~, “to YORKSHIRE,” or “come YORKSHIRE over any person,” to
cheat or cozen him. The proverbial over-reaching of the rustics of this
county has given rise to the phrase, which is sometimes pronounced
Yorshar. To put Yorshar to a man, is to trick or deceive him. This
latter is from a work in the Lancashire dialect, 1757.
~Yorkshire compliment~, a gift of something useless to the giver.
Sometimes called a North-country compliment.
~Yorkshire estates;~ “I will do it when I come into my YORKSHIRE
ESTATES,”—meaning if I ever have the money or the means.
~Yorkshire reckoning~, a reckoning in which every one pays his own
share.
~Younker~, in street language, a lad or a boy. Term in general use
amongst costermongers, cabmen, and old-fashioned people. Barnefield’s
_Affectionate Shepherd_, 1594, has the phrase, “a seemelie YOUNKER.”
_Danish_ and _Friesic_, JONKER. In the navy, a naval cadet is usually
termed a YOUNKER.
~Your nibs~, yourself. _See_ NIBS.
~Yoxter~, a convict returned from transportation before his time.
~Ziff~, a juvenile thief.
~Ziph~, LANGUAGE OF, a way of disguising English in use among the
students at Winchester College. Compare MEDICAL GREEK. De Quincey, in
his _Autobiographic Sketches_, says that he acquired this language as a
boy, from a Dr. Mapleton, who had three sons at Winchester who had
imported it from thence as their sole accomplishment, and that after the
lapse of fifty years he could, and did with Lord Westport, converse in
it with ease and rapidity. It was communicated at Winchester to
new-comers for a fixed fee of half a guinea. The secret is this,—repeat
the vowel or diphthong of every syllable, prefixing to the vowel so
repeated the letter G, and placing the accent on the intercalated
syllable. Thus, for example, “Shall we go away in an hour?” “Shagall
wege gogo agawagay igin agan hougour?” “Three hours we have already
stayed,” “Threegee hougours wege hagave agalreageadygy stagayed.” De
Quincey could hardly have been considered complimentary to his own
memory if he supposed that he, or for the matter of that any one
possessed of brains, could forget anything so simple; or that, if
forgotten until suddenly recalled, it could not be mastered by any
sensible person in a minute. The language of ZIPH is far inferior to any
of the slangs manufactured by the lower classes. Evidently any consonant
will answer the purpose; F or L would be softer, and so far better. This
ZIPH system is not confined to Winchester College, as it is recorded and
described amongst many other modes of cryptical communication, oral and
visual, spoken, written, and symbolic, in an _Essay towards a Real
Character and a Philosophic Language_ (founded on or suggested by a
treatise published just before, by Geo. Dalgarne), by John Wilkins,
Bishop of Chester, published by order of the Royal Society, fol. 1668,
and as the bishop does not speak of it as a recent invention, it may
probably at that time have been regarded as an antique device for
conducting a conversation in secrecy amongst bystanders—which says very
little for either the designers or the bystanders.
~Zounds!~ a sudden exclamation—abbreviation of “God’s wounds!”
FOOTNOTES:
[57] Since the first edition of this work a great alteration has taken
place in this respect. Though topical ballads are now often sung, the
singers confine themselves to low neighbourhoods, and as soon as a
policeman approaches, if ever he does, they make themselves scarce. The
practice is singular. One man gets as far through a line as he can, and
when his voice cracks his companion takes up. For this reason the
business is as a rule conducted by a man and woman, or sometimes by a
woman and child. The writing of these ditties is generally work of a
character for which even 7_s._ 6_d._ would be a high rate of pay.—ED.
[58] Eurasian is not a child of mixed race, but one born of European
parents in an Asiatic clime. A similar error exists with regard to the
word creole, which is generally supposed to mean a man or woman in whom
white and black strains are mixed. I need not say how wrong this is, but
the vulgar error is none the less current.—ED.
[59] There is something so extremely humorous and far-fetched about this
explanation, that though it is utterly unworthy of its place in a
dictionary, I, finding it there, have not the heart to cut it out.—ED.
[60] Of course by those who don’t know the scientific way used in
“canine exhibitions” and dog-fights—of biting their tails till they
turn round to bite the biter.—ED.
SOME ACCOUNT
OF
THE BACK SLANG.
The costermongers of London number between thirty and forty thousand.
Like other low tribes, they boast a language, or secret tongue, by which
they hide their designs, movements, and other private affairs. This
costers’ speech offers no new fact, or approach to a fact, for
philologists; it is not very remarkable for originality of construction,
neither is it spiced with low humour, as other cant. But the
costermongers boast that it is known only to themselves; that it is far
beyond the Irish, and puzzles the Jews. This is, however, but a poor
fiction; for, as will be seen, the slang current among them is of the
crudest conception, and only difficult to the most ignorant. Any one of
the smallest pretensions to ability could learn back slang—could, in
fact, create it for himself—as far as the costers’ vocabulary extends,
in a couple of hours. Since the early editions of this work were
published back slang has become very common; and is now mostly spoken,
mixed however, with various other kinds of slang, in the public
markets—the new dead-meat market being, perhaps, strongest in the way
of pure—if the term may be used—back slang.
The main principle of this language is spelling the words backwards—or
rather, pronouncing them rudely backwards. Sometimes, for the sake of
harmony, an extra syllable is prefixed or annexed; and occasionally the
word receives quite a different turn, in rendering it backwards, from
what an uninitiated person would have expected. One coster told Mayhew
that he often gave the end of a word “a new turn, just as if he chorused
it with a tol-de-rol.” But then costermongers, and more especially those
who confided their joys and sorrows to the gentleman just named, are not
to be relied on. The coster has, of course, his own idea of the proper
way of spelling words, and is not to be convinced but by an overwhelming
show of learning,—and frequently not then, for he is a very headstrong
fellow. By the time a coster has spelt an ordinary word of two or three
syllables in the proper way, and then spelt it backwards, it has become
a tangled knot that no etymologist could unravel. The word “generalize,”
for instance, is considered to be “shilling” spelt backwards, while
“genitraf” is supposed to represent farthing. Sometimes slang and cant
words are introduced, and even these, when imagined to be tolerably well
known, are pronounced backwards. Very often, instead of a word being
spelt backwards right through, the syllables retain their original
order; the initial _h_ is pronounced as though _c_ were before it,
“tatch” being back slang for hat, and “flatch” the word supposed to
represent half. Again, the full words are shortened, as “gen” for
“generalize,” a shilling; and various other artifices are resorted to,
in the hope of adding to the natural difficulties of back slang.
This back language, back slang, or “kacab genals,” as it is called by
the costermongers themselves, is supposed to be regarded by the rising
generation of street-sellers as a distinct and regular mode of
intercommunication. People who hear this slang for the first time never
refer words, by inverting them, to their originals; and the “yanneps,”
“esclops,” and “nammows,” are looked upon as secret terms. Those who
practise the slang soon obtain a considerable stock vocabulary, so that
they converse rather from the memory than the understanding. Amongst the
senior costermongers, and those who pride themselves on their
proficiency in back slang, a conversation is often sustained for a whole
evening—that is, the chief words are in the back slang—especially if
any “flats” are present whom they wish to astonish or confuse.
The addition of an _s_ invariably forms the plural, so that this is
another source of complication. For instance, woman in the back slang is
“nammow,” and “nammows” is “women.” The explorer, then, in undoing the
back slang, and turning the word once more into English, would have a
novel and very extraordinary rendering of women. Where a word is
refractory in submitting to a back rendering, as in the case of “pound,”
letters are made to change positions for the sake of harmony; thus we
have “dunop,” a pound, instead of “dnuop,” which nobody could pleasantly
pronounce. Also all words of one syllable which end with two
consonants—such, for instance, as cold, drunk—become dissyllables when
read backwards, the vowel e being imagined between the then first and
second consonants, as “deloc,” “kennurd.” Others take the vowel as an
initial, girl being pronounced “elrig.” This arrangement, as a
modification to suit circumstances, may remind the reader of the Jews’
“Old clo’! old clo’!” instead of “Old clothes! old clothes!” which it is
supposed would tire the patience of even a Jew to repeat all day.
The back slang has been in vogue for many years. It is, as before
stated, very easily acquired, and is principally used by the
costermongers and others who practise it (as the specimen Glossary will
show) for communicating the secrets of their street tradings, the cost
of and profit on goods, and for keeping their natural enemies, the
police, in the dark. “Cool the esclop” (look at the police) is often
said among them, when one of the constabulary makes his appearance. It
is only fair to assume, however, that the police know as much or more
about the back slang than do the costers; and every child in a “shy”
neighbourhood knows the meaning of the phrase just quoted. Those who
regard the London costermonger as a fearful being are very much
mistaken,—he is singularly simple-minded and innocent, and has, indeed,
very little to conceal; but he certainly does like to wrap himself up as
in a garment of mystery, and sometimes believes that the few words of
slang he knows, mixed as they are, and troublesome as they have been to
him, form an impenetrable barrier between him and the rest of the world.
He is fond of exhibiting what knowledge he possesses, and so talks slang
in public much more than in private; but at most the slang words used
bear not forty per cent. proportion to the rest of his conversational
structure, even when he exerts himself to the uttermost limits of his
ability and education, and even when he is a leader in his walk of life.
Perhaps on no subject is the costermonger so silent as on his money
affairs. All costs and profits, he thinks, should be kept profoundly
secret. The back slang, therefore, gives the various small amounts very
minutely, but, as has been before remarked, these words are known
wherever common folk most do congregate, and are peculiar only for their
variations from the original in the way of pronunciation:—