~Girl and boy~, a saveloy,—a penny sausage.
~Glorious sinner~, a dinner.
~Gooseberry pudding~ (_vulgo_ PUDDEN), a woman.
~Harry Bluff~, snuff.
~Hod of mortar~, a pot of porter.
~Hounslow Heath~, teeth.
~I desire~, a fire.
~I’m afloat~, a boat. This is also used for coat. _See ante._
~Isabeller~ (vulgar pronunciation of ISABELLA), an umbrella.
~Isle of France~, a dance.
~I suppose~, the nose.
~Jack-a-dandy~, brandy.
~Jack Randall~ (a noted pugilist), a candle.
~Jenny Linder~, a winder,—vulgar pronunciation of window.
~Joe Savage~, a cabbage.
~Lath and plaster~, a master.
~Lean and lurch~, a church.
~Lean and fat~, a hat.
~Linendraper~, paper.
~Live eels~, fields.
~Load of hay~, a day.
~Long acre~, a baker.
~Lord John Russell~, a bustle.
~Lord Lovel~, a shovel.
~Lump of coke~, a bloke—vulgar term for a man.
~Lump of lead~, the head.
~Macaroni~, a pony.
~Maids adorning~, the morning.
~Maidstone jailer~, a tailor.
~Mince pies~, the eyes.
~Mother and daughter~, water.
~Muffin baker~, a Quaker (slang term for excrement).
~Navigators~, taturs,—vulgar pronunciation of potatoes.
~Navigator Scot~, baked potatoes all hot.
~Needle and thread~, bread.
~Never fear~, beer.
~Night and day~, the play.
~Nose and chin~, a winn,—ancient cant for a penny.
~Noser my knacker~, tobacco.
~Oats and barley~, Charley.
~Oats and chaff~, a footpath.
~Orinoko~ (pronounced ORINOKER), a poker.
~Over the stile~, sent for trial.
~Paddy Quick~, thick, or a stick.
~Pen and ink~, a stink.
~Pitch and fill~, Bill,—vulgar shortening for William.
~Plates of meat~, the feet.
~Plough the deep~, to go to sleep.
~Pope o’ Rome~, home.
~Read and write~, to fight.
~River Lea~, tea.
~Rogue and villain~, a shillin,—common pronunciation of shilling.
~Roll me in the dirt~, a shirt.
~Rory o’More~, the floor. Also used to signify a whore.
~Round the houses~, trousies,—vulgar pronunciation of trousers.
~Salmon and trout~, the mouth.
~Scotch Peg~, a leg.
~Ship in full sail~, a pot of ale.
~Sir Walter Scott~, a pot,—generally of beer.
~Snake in the grass~, a looking-glass.
~Sorrowful tale~, three months in jail.
~Split asunder~, a costermonger.
~Steam-packet~, a jacket.
~St. Martin’s-le-Grand~, the hand.
~Stop thief~, beef.
~Sugar and honey~, money.
~Sugar-candy~, brandy.
~Take a fright~, night.
~Three-quarters of a peck~, the neck,—in writing, among experts,
expressed by the simple “3/4,” as it is pronounced.
~Tom Tug~, a mug (a fool).
~Tommy o’Rann~, scran,—vulgar term for food.
~Tommy Tripe~, to pipe; that is, to observe. “Tommy Tripe his plates of
meat.”
~Top Jint~ (vulgar pronunciation of joint), a pint—of beer.
~Turtle doves~, a pair of gloves.
~Two-foot rule~, a fool.
And so on as occasion requires.
CENTRE SLANG.
Within the past few years the desire to possess a mode of
intercommunication which shall be incomprehensible to those who have not
taken their degrees in vice, has led the dangerous classes—particularly
street-muggers, welchers, skittle-sharps, jerry-hunters, and the various
other gentlemen who turn out every morning, when not in charge of the
powers that be, to look for their livings—to give their attention to
another twist in the English language, and so centre slang has of late
been heard with some degree of frequency by those who penetrate to
places where there is a likelihood of finding anything new, and take
with them sufficient knowledge to comprehend it when, or if, it is
found. As this knowledge can never be acquired in any other way than by
actual observation, and is not to be obtained by hearsay, or second-hand
information, or from books, it is rarely brought to bear upon any
subject of this kind as treated in the newspapers, and the articles on
real low and criminal life which now and again appear, though extremely
amusing, amuse those about whom they are written as much as they do
those for whose information they are produced. So, perhaps, those
writers who have heard centre slang, and have had opportunity of
referring to it, did not know what it was, or certainly, as an
institution unique in its way, it would have received some little
attention. There is not much in it, of course, as its origin shows, the
key being everything towards success in experimentalizing with it.
Centre slang, then, is formed by making the central vowel of a word its
initial letter, and adding vowels and consonants sufficient to make the
sound imposing, or, as cooks say, to flavour palatably. An occasional
infusion of back slang is now and again considered advisable, but the
taste of the speaker must decide how much is requisite. Mug is a common
word to signify a fool or flat; this, in centre slang, becomes Ugmer, or
Hugmer, as the speaker likes, while fool and flat themselves become
Oolerfer and Atfler respectively. The aspirate can be added, if
relished, to any centre slang word. A welcher, by means of the new
slang, becomes an Elcherwer or Elchwer, a thief is an Evethee, and a
sticker-up of skittles is an Ickitser-pu. As the inventors of this slang
are not particular about spelling, phonography is used extensively in
its composition—that is, it would be, if it were possible to write
centre slang to any extent. However, as it is a spoken language only,
and no patent has been taken out for its use, boldness is the chief
essential for any one possessed of a mobile tongue and a desire to
become expert. There is no Glossary of this slang necessary, as it is
only made up of small parcels, as occasion requires, and does not keep
well without guiding sentences attached.
THE BIBLIOGRAPHY
OF
SLANG, CANT, AND VULGAR LANGUAGE:
A LIST OF THE
BOOKS CONSULTED IN COMPILING THIS WORK.
Slang has a literary history, the same as authorized language. More than
one hundred works have treated upon the subject in one form or other,—a
few devoting but a chapter, whilst many have given up their entire pages
to expounding its history and use. Old Harman, a worthy man, who
interested himself in suppressing and exposing vagabondism in the days
of good Queen Bess, was the first to write upon the subject. Decker
followed fifty years afterwards, but helped himself, evidently, to his
predecessor’s labours. Shakspeare, Beaumont and Fletcher, Ben Jonson,
and Brome, each employed beggars’ cant as part of the machinery of their
plays. Then came Head (who wrote _The English Rogue_ in 1680) with a
Glossary of cant words “used by the Gipsies.” But it was only a reprint
of what Decker had given sixty years before. About this time authorized
dictionaries began to insert vulgar words, labelling them “cant.” The
Jack Sheppards and Dick Turpins of the early and middle part of the last
century made cant popular, and many small works were published upon the
subject. But it was Grose, burly, facetious Grose, who, in the year
1785, collected the scattered Glossaries of cant and secret words, and
formed one large work, adding to it all the vulgar words and slang terms
used in his own day. The indelicacy and extreme vulgarity of the work
renders it unfit for ordinary use, still it must be admitted that it is
by far the most important work which has ever appeared on street or
popular language; indeed, from its pages every succeeding work has, up
to the present time, drawn its contents. The great fault of Grose’s book
consists in the author not contenting himself with slang and cant terms,
but inserting every “smutty” and offensive word that could be
discovered. However, Harman and Grose are, after all, the only authors
who have as yet treated the subject in an original manner, or who have
written on it from personal inquiry.
~Ainsworth’s~ (William Harrison) Novels and Ballads. _London_, V. D.
Some of this author’s novels, such as _Rookwood_ and _Jack Sheppard_,
abound in Cant words, placed in the mouths of the highwaymen. The
author’s ballads (especially “Nix my dolly, pals, fake away”) have long
been popular favourites.
~Amorous Gallants’ Tongue tipp’d with Golden Expressions;~ or the Art of
Courtship refined, being the best and Newest ACADEMY; containing Select
Sentences, forms of Courtship; Choice Letters; Interpretation of Dreams:
to which is added Bills, Bonds, Releases, Letters of Attorney, &c.;
together with _A Canting Academy_, or the PEDLAR’S FRENCH DICTIONARY,
13th edition. London, for C. Hitch and L. Hawes, n. d. [1740], 12mo.
~A New Dictionary of the Jaunting Crew~, 12mo. N. D.
Mentioned by John Bee in the Introduction to his _Sportsman’s Slang
Dictionary_.
~Andrews’~ (George) Dictionary of the Slang and Cant Languages, Ancient
and Modern, 12mo. _London_, 1809.
A sixpenny pamphlet, with a coloured frontispiece representing a
beggar’s carnival.
~Ash’s~ (John, LL.D.) New and Complete Dictionary of the English
Language, 2 vols. 8vo. 1775.
Contains a great number of Cant words and phrases.
~Bacchus and Venus;~ or, A Select Collection of near Two Hundred of the
most Witty and Diverting Songs and Catches in Love and Gallantry, with
Songs in the Canting Dialect, with a DICTIONARY _explaining all
Burlesque and Canting Terms_, 12mo. 1738.
Prefixed is a curious woodcut frontispiece of a _Boozing-Ken_. This work
is scarce, and much prized by collectors. The Canting Dictionary
appeared before, about 1710, with the initials B. E. on the title. It
also came out afterwards, in the year 1751, under the title of the
_Scoundrel’s Dictionary_,—a mere reprint of the two former impressions.
~Bailey’s~ (Nath.) Etymological English Dictionary, 2 vols. 8vo. 1737.
Contains a great many Cant and Vulgar Words;—indeed, Bailey does not
appear to have been very particular what words he inserted, so long as
they were actually in use. _A Collection of Ancient and Modern Cant
Words_ appears as an appendix to vol. ii. of this edition (third).
~Bang-up Dictionary;~ or, the Lounger and Sportsman’s Vade-Mecum,
containing a copious and correct Glossary of the Language of the Whips,
illustrated by a great variety of original and curious Anecdotes,
8vo. 1812.
A vulgar performance, consisting of pilferings from Grose, and made up
with meanings of a degraded character.
~Bartlett’s~ Dictionary of Americanisms; a Glossary of Words and Phrases
colloquially used in the United States, 8vo. _New York_, 1859.
It is a curious fact connected with slang that a great number of vulgar
words common in England are equally common in the United States; and
when we remember that America began to be peopled two centuries ago, and
that these colloquialisms must have crossed the sea with the first
emigrants, we can form some idea of the antiquity of popular or street
language. Many words, owing to the caprices of fashion or society, have
wholly disappeared in the parent country, whilst in the colonies they
are yet heard. The words “skink,” to serve drink in company, and the old
term “miching” or “meeching,” skulking or playing truant, for instance,
are still in use in the United States, although nearly obsolete here.
~Beaumont and Fletcher’s~ Comedy of _The Beggar’s Bush_, 4to, 1661.
Contains numerous Cant words.
~Bee’s~ (Jon.) Dictionary of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, the Pit, the
Bon Ton, and the Varieties of Life, forming the completest and most
authentic Lexicon Balatronicum hitherto offered to the notice of the
Sporting World, by John Bee [_i.e._, John Badcock], Editor of the
_Fancy_, _Fancy Gazette_, _Living Picture of London_, and the like of
that, 12mo. 1823.
This author published books on Stable Economy under the name of Hinds.
He was the sporting rival of Pierce Egan. Professor Wilson, in an
amusing article in _Blackwood’s Magazine_, reviewed this work.
~Bee’s~ (Jon.) Living Picture of London for 1828, and Stranger’s Guide
through the Streets of the Metropolis; showing the Frauds, the Arts,
Snares, and Wiles of all descriptions of Rogues that everywhere abound,
12mo. 1828.
Professes to be a guide to society, high and low, in London, and to give
an insight into the language of the streets.
~Bee’s~ (Jon.) Sportsman’s Slang; a New Dictionary of Terms used in the
Affairs of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, and the Cockpit; with those of
Bon Ton and the Varieties of Life, forming a _Lexicon Balatronicum et
Macaronicum_, &c., 12mo, PLATE. _For the Author_, 1825.
The same as the preceding, only with an altered title. Both wretched
performances, filled with miserable attempts at wit.
~Blackguardiana;~ or, Dictionary of Rogues, Bawds, &c., 8vo, WITH
PORTRAITS [by James Caulfield]. 1795.
This work, with a long and very vulgar title, is nothing but a reprint
of Grose, with a few anecdotes of pirates, odd persons, &c., and some
curious portraits inserted. It was concocted by Caulfield as a
speculation, and published at _one guinea_ per copy; and, owing to the
remarkable title, and the notification at the bottom that “only a few
copies were printed,” soon became scarce. For philological purposes it
is not worth so much as any edition of Grose.
~Book of Vagabonds.~ _See_ under LIBER VAGATORUM.
~Boxiana;~ or, Sketches of Modern Pugilism, by Pierce Egan (an account
of the prize-ring), 3 vols. 8vo. 1820.
Gives more particularly the Cant terms of pugilism, but contains
numerous (what were then styled) “flash” words.
~Brandon.~ Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime; or, The Facts, Examinations,
&c., upon which the Report was founded, presented to the House of Lords
by W. A. Miles, Esq., to which is added a Dictionary of the Flash or
Cant Language, known to every Thief and Beggar, edited by H. Brandon,
Esq., 8vo. 1839.
A very wretched performance.
~Brome’s~ (Rich.) Joviall Crew; or, The Merry Beggars. Presented in a
Comedie at the Cockpit, in Drury Lane, in the Year (4to) 1652.
Contains many Cant words similar to those given by Decker,—from whose
works they were doubtless obtained.
~Brown’s~ (Rev. Hugh Stowell) Lecture on Manliness, 12mo. 1857.
Contains a few modern Slang words.
~Brydges’~ (Sir Egerton) British Bibliographer, 4 vols. 8vo. 1810-14.
Vol. ii. p. 521, gives a list of Cant words.
~Bulwer’s~ (Sir Edward Lytton) Paul Clifford. V. D.
Contains numerous Cant words.
~Bulwer’s~ (Sir Edward Lytton) Pelham. V. D.
Contains a few Cant terms.
~Butler’s Hudibras~, with Dr. Grey’s Annotations, 3 vols. 8vo. 1819.
Abounding in colloquial terms and phrases.
~Cambridge.~ Gradus ad Cantabrigiam; or, a Dictionary of Terms,
Academical and Colloquial, or Cant, which are used at the University,
_with Illustrations_, 12mo. _Camb._, 1803.
~Canting:~ A Poem, interspersed with Tales and Additional Scraps, post
8vo. 1814.
A few street words may be gleaned from this rather dull poem.
~Canting Academy:~ or, Villanies Discovered, wherein are shown the
Mysterious and Villanous Practices of that Wicked Crew—Hectors,
Trapanners, Gilts, &c., with several new Catches and Songs; also
Compleat Canting Dictionary, 12mo, _frontispiece_. 1674.
Compiled by Richard Head.
~Canting Dictionary;~ comprehending all the Terms, Antient and Modern,
used in the several Tribes of Gypsies, Beggars, Shoplifters, Highwaymen,
Foot-Pads, and all other Clans of Cheats and Villains, with Proverbs,
Phrases, Figurative Speeches, &c., to which is added a complete
Collection of Songs in the Canting Dialect, 12mo. 1725.
The title is by far the most interesting part of the work. A mere
make-up of earlier attempts.
~Carew.~ Life and Adventures of Bamfylde Moore Carew, the King of the
Beggars, _with Canting Dictionary_, _portrait_, 8vo. 1791.
There are numerous editions of this singular biography. The Canting
Dictionary is nothing more than a filch from earlier books.
~Characterisms~, or the Modern Age Displayed; being an Attempt to Expose
the Pretended Virtues of Both Sexes, 12mo (part i., Ladies; part ii.,
Gentlemen), _E. Owen_. 1750.
An anonymous work, from which some curious matter may be obtained.
~Conybeare’s~ (Dean) Essay on Church Parties, reprinted from the
_Edinburgh Review_, No. CC., October, 1853, 12mo. 1858.
Several curious instances of religious or pulpit Slang are given in this
exceedingly interesting little volume.
~Corcoron~ (Peter.) The Fancy, a Poem, 12mo. 182-.
Abounding in Slang words and the terms of the prize-ring. Written in
imitation of Moore’s _Tom Crib’s Memorial_, by one of the authors of
_The Rejected Addresses_.
~Cotton’s~ (Charles) Genuine Poetical Works, 12mo. 1771.
“Scarronides, or Virgil Travestie, being the first and fourth Books of
Virgil’s Æneis, in English burlesque,” 8vo, 1672, and other works by
this author, contain numerous vulgar words now known as Slang.
~Decker’s~ (Thomas) The Bellman of London; bringing to light the most
notorious villanies that are now practised in the Kingdom; 4to, black
letter. _London_, 1608.
Watt says this is the first book which professes to give an account of
the Canting language of thieves and vagabonds. But this is wrong, as
will have been seen from the remarks on Harman, who collected the words
of the vagabond crew half a century before.
~Decker’s~ (Thomas) Lanthorne and Candle-light, or the Bellman’s Second
Night’s Walke, in which he brings to light a brood of more strange
villanies than ever were to this year discovered, 4to. _London_, 1608-9.
This is a continuation of the former work, and contains the _Canter’s
Dictionary_, and has a frontispiece of the London Watchman with his
staff broken.
~Decker’s~ (Thomas) Gull’s Hornbook, 4to. 1609.
“This work affords a greater insight into the fashionable follies and
vulgar habits of Queen Elizabeth’s day than perhaps any other extant.”
~Decker’s~ (Thomas) O per se O, or a new Cryer of Lanthorne and
Candle-light, an Addition of the Bellman’s Second Night’s Walke, 4to,
black letter. 1612.
A lively description of London. Contains a Canter’s Dictionary, every
word in which appears to have been taken from Harman without
acknowledgment. This is the first work that gives the Canting song, a
verse of which is inserted at page 14 of the Introduction. This Canting
song has since been inserted in nearly all dictionaries of Cant.
~Decker’s~ (Thomas) Villanies discovered by Lanthorne and Candle-light,
and the Helpe of a new Cryer called O per se O, 4to. 1616.
“With canting songs never before printed.”
~Decker’s~ (Thomas) English Villanies, eight several times prest to
Death by the Printers, but still reviving again, are now the eighth time
(as at the first) discovered by Lanthorne and Candle-light, &c.,
4to. 1648.
The eighth edition of the _Lanthorne and Candle-light_.
~Dictionary~ of all the Cant and Flash Languages, both Ancient and
Modern, 18mo. _Bailey_, 1790.
~Dictionary~ of all the Cant and Flash Languages, 12mo. _London_, 1797.
~Dictionary~ of the Canting Crew (Ancient and Modern), of Gypsies,
Beggars, Thieves, &c., 12mo. N. D. [1700.]
~Dictionnaire~ des Halle, 12mo. _Bruxelles_, 1696.
This curious Slang dictionary sold in the Stanley sale for £4 16_s._
~Ducange Anglicus.~—The Vulgar Tongue: comprising Two Glossaries of
Slang, Cant, and Flash Words and Phrases used in London at the present
day, 12mo. 1857.
A silly and childish performance, full of blunders and contradictions.
~Duncombe’s~ Flash Dictionary of the Cant Words, Queer Sayings, and
Crack Terms now in use in Flash Cribb Society, 32mo, _coloured
print_. 1820.
~Dunton’s~ Ladies’ Dictionary, 8vo. _London_, 1694.
Contains a few Cant and vulgar words.
~Egan.~ Grose’s Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, with the
addition of numerous Slang Phrases, edited by Pierce Egan, 8vo. 1823.
The best edition of Grose, with many additions, including a life of this
celebrated antiquary.
~Egan’s~ (Pierce) Life in London, 2 vols. thick 8vo, _with coloured
plates by Geo. Cruikshank, representing high and low life_. 18—.
Contains numerous Cant, Slang, sporting, and vulgar words, supposed by
the author to form the basis of conversation in life, high and low, in
London.
~Elwyn’s~ (Alfred L.) Glossary of supposed _Americanisms_—Vulgar and
Slang Words used in the United States, small 8vo. 1859.
~Gentleman’s Magazine~, 8vo. N. D.
“In a very early volume of this parent magazine were given a few pages,
by way of sample, of a Slang vocabulary, then termed Cant. If, as we
suspect, this part of the magazine fell to the share of Dr. Johnson, who
was then its editor, we have to lament that he did not proceed with the
design.”—_John Bee, in the Introduction to his Slang Dictionary_, 1825.
~Gentleman’s Magazine~, vol. xcii., p. 520.
Mention made of Slang.
~Glossaries~ of County Dialects. V. D.
Many of these will repay examination, as they contain Cant and Slang
words, wrongly inserted as provincial or old terms.
~Golden Cabinet~ (The) of Secrets opened for Youth’s delightful Pastime,
in 7 parts, the last being the “City and Country Jester;” with a Canting
Dictionary, by Dr. Surman, 12mo. _London_, N. D. (1730.)
Contains some curious woodcuts.
~Greene’s~ (Robert) Notable Discovery of Coosnage, now daily practised
by sundry lewd persons called Conie-catchers and Crosse-biters. Plainly
laying open those pernitious sleights that hath brought many ignorant
men to confusion. Written for the general benefit of all Gentlemen,
Citizens, Apprentices, Country Farmers, and Yeomen, that may hap to fall
into the company of such coosening companions. With a delightful
discourse of the coosnage of Colliers, 4to, _with woodcuts_. _Printed
by John Wolfe_, 1591.
_The first edition._ A copy of another edition, supposed to be _unique_,
is dated 1592. It was sold at the Heber sale.
~Greene’s~ (Robert) Groundworke of Conny-catching, the manner of their
pedlers’ French, and the meanes to understand the same, with the cunning
sleights of the Counterfeit Cranke. Done by a Justice of the Peace of
great Authoritie, 4to, _with woodcuts_. 1592.
Usually enumerated among Greene’s works, but it is only a reprint, with
variations, of _Harman’s Caveat_, and of which Rowland complains in his
Martin Markall. The _second_ and _third_ parts of this curious work were
published in the same year. Two other very rare volumes by Greene were
published—_The Defence of Cony-Catching_, 4to, in 1592, and THE BLACK
BOOKES MESSENGER, in 1595. They both treat on the same subjects.
~Grose’s~ (Francis, generally styled Captain) Classical Dictionary of
the Vulgar Tongue, 8vo. 178-.
The much-sought-after FIRST EDITION, but containing nothing, as far as I
have examined, which is not to be found in the _second_ and _third_
editions. As respects indecency, I find all the editions equally
disgraceful. The Museum copy of the _first edition_ is, I suspect,
Grose’s own copy, as it contains numerous manuscript additions which
afterwards went to form the second edition. Excepting the obscenities,
it is really an extraordinary book, and displays great industry, if we
cannot speak much of its morality. It is the well from which all the
other authors—Duncombe, Caulfield, Clarke, Egan, &c. &c.—drew their
vulgar outpourings, without in the least purifying what they had stolen.
~Haggart.~ Life of David Haggart, _alias_ John Wilson, _alias_ Barney
M’Coul, written by himself while under sentence of death, curious
frontispiece of the prisoner in irons, intermixed with all the Slang and
Cant words of the day, to which is added a Glossary of the same,
12mo. 1821.
~Hall’s~ (B.H.) Collection of College Words and Customs, 12mo.
_Cambridge (U.S.)_, 1856.
Very complete. The illustrative examples are excellent.
~Halliwell’s~ Archaic Dictionary, 2 vols. 8vo. 1855.
An invaluable work, giving the Cant words used by Decker, Brome, and a
few of those mentioned by Grose.
~Harlequin~ Jack Shepherd, with a Night Scene in Grotesque Characters,
8vo. (_About_ 1736.)
Contains Songs in the _Canting_ dialect.