Verb (Christ’s Hospital).—To cane.
To take the cake, phr. (common).—To rank the highest; to carry off the
honours; to be the best of a kind; ‘to fill the bill’ (theatrical).
[Cake has long been employed symbolically in this connection; in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, ‘to get one’s share of the cake’
was a common colloquialism. The special application has been
popularised in the U.S.A. In certain sections of the country ‘cake
walks’ are in vogue among the coloured people. The young bucks get
themselves up most elaborately, and walk from one end of the hall to
the other, under the gaze of beauty and the critical glance of the
judges. The marking is done on a scale of numbers, and the ties are
walked off with the utmost finish and a rare attention to style. The
prize is a cake and the winner takes it.] Whimsical variations are to
take or yank the bun; to slide away with the banbury; to annex the
whole confectioner’s shop. Cf., to take the kettle = to take the prize
for lying.
1885. San Francisco News Letter, Between you ’n me, red stockings
ain’t becomin’ to all—ahem—limbs, ’n for cool cheek ’n dash. I back
some o’em against any saleslady ’t makes a livin’ by it, the way ’t
some o’ those girls ’d pin on a boutonnière took the cake.
Hurry up the cakes! phr. (American) = Look sharp! Buckwheat and other
hot cakes form a staple dish at many American tables, but the phrase
has now become pure slang.
Like hot cakes, phr. (American).—Quickly; with energy; a variant of
like winking, or like one o’clock (q.v.).
1888. Punch’s Library, p. 15. ‘Will go like hot cakes.’ Book Seller
(to Clerk). ‘Haven’t we an overstock of “Jack, the Giant Killer,”
on hand, James?’ Clerk. ‘Yes, sir.’ Book Seller. ‘Well, take ’m up
to the Polo Grounds this afternoon; they’ll sell fast enough
there.’
Cakey-Pannum Fencer.—See Pannum fencer.
Calaboose, subs. (American and nautical).—The common gaol. [This word
comes into popular use from the Spanish calabozo through the French
calabouse.] So also to calaboose = to imprison.
1840. R. H. Dana, Two Years before the Mast, ch. xxi. A few weeks
afterwards I saw the poor wretch sitting on the bare ground, in
front of the calabozo, with his feet chained to a stake, and
handcuffs about his wrists.
1888. Santa Ana Blade. Charley Read struck an old tramp in the
calaboose the other day, who looked disgusted at his headquarters
and remarked ‘Well I’ve been in every jail from Portland to Santa
Ana, but this is the d—nest snide of a calaboose I ever struck
yet.’
Calculate, verb (U.S. colloquial).—To think; expect; believe; intend;
indeed, almost any sense save the legitimate, which is ‘to estimate by
calculation.’ It belongs to the same class of colloquialisms as guess
and reckon. Calculate is sometimes, especially in New England,
corrupted into cal’late.
1830.—Galt, Lawrie, T., II., v. (1849), 56. I calculate, that ain’t
no thing to make nobody afeard.
1848.—J. R. Lowell, Biglow Papers. The Sarjunt he thout Hosea
hedn’t gut his i teeth cos he looked a kindo’s though he’d jest
come down, so he cal’lated to hook him in, but Hosy woodn’t take
none of his sarse.
1851.—Miss Wetherell, Queechy, ch. xix. ‘Your aunt sets two tables,
I calculate, don’t she?’
Caleys, subs. (Stock Exchange).—Caledonian Railway Ordinary Stock.
1881.—Atkin, House Scraps. ‘If anything tickles our fancy We buy
them, Brums, Caleys or Apes.’
Calf, subs. (colloquial).—An ignoramus; a dolt; a weakling. Cf., Calf
lolly. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.
1553.—Udall, Royster D., II., iv., in Hazl. Dodsley, III., 94. You
great calf, ye should have more wit, so ye should.
1627.—Drayton, Nymphid (1631), 171. Some silly doting brainless
calfe.
1872. Hamilton Aïdé, Morals and Mysteries, p. 60. She had a girlish
fancy for the good-looking young calf who had so signally disgraced
himself.
To eat the calf in the cow’s belly, phr. (common).—A variant of ‘to
count one’s chickens before they are hatched.’
1748. Richardson, Clarissa Harlowe [ed. 1811], III., 135. I ever
made shift to avoid anticipations: I never would eat the calf in
the cow’s belly, as Lord M’s phrase is.
Calf-Clingers, subs. (common).—Pantaloons; i.e., close-fitting
trousers. [Derivation obvious.] For synonyms, see Bags and Kicks.
1884.—J. Greenwood, Little Ragamuffins. Knee-breeches were just
going out of fashion when I was a little boy, and calf-clingers
(that is, trousers made to fit the leg as tight as a worsted
stocking) were ‘coming in.’
Calf, Cow, and Bull Week, subs. phr. (operatives’).—Before the passing
of the Factory Acts it was customary in manufacturing districts,
especially for men, women, and children, to indulge in the practice of
working very long hours for a period of three weeks before the
Christmas holidays. In the first, which was called ‘calf week,’ the
ordinary hours of work were but slightly exceeded; in the second, or
‘cow week,’ they were considerably augmented; and in the third, or
‘bull week,’ it was common for operatives to spend the greater portion
of the twenty-four of each day in their workshops. The practice
resulted in extreme exhaustion and—naturally—indulgence to excess in
stimulants.
1871.—Echo, 4 Dec. Calf, cow, and bull week. We find a good
illustration of the beneficial influence of the Factory Acts in the
reports of the Government Inspectors just issued. The district
inspector expresses the hope that the measures which he took
against some offenders in bull week last year will extinguish for
good and all this absurd and illogical custom.
Calf’s Head, subs. (common).—A stupid, witless individual. For
synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.
1600.—Shakspeare, Much Ado about Nothing, V., i., Claudio: ‘I’
faith, I thank him; he hath bid me to a calf’s head and a capon;
the which if I do not carve most curiously, say my knife’s naught.’
Calf-Lick.—See Cow-lick.
Calf-Lolly, subs. (old).—An idle simpleton; a general term of reproach.
1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, bk. I., ch. xxv. Jobbinol goosecaps,
foolish loggerheads, flutch calf-lollies.
1708. Motteux, Rabelais, iv., xvii. I was a Calf-lolly, a
doddipole.
Calf-Love, subs. (common).—A youthful, romantic fancy. [A sarcastic
allusion to the blind unreasoning character of boy and girl
attachments.]
1823. Galt, Entail, I., xxxii., 284. I made a calf-love marriage.
[m.]
1863. Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia’s Lovers, II., 104. It’s a girl’s
fancy—just a kind o’ calf-love—let it go by.
1884. Longman’s Mag., IV., 50. I was still at the early and
agonising stage of the passion which is popularly known as
calf-love.
Calfskin-Fiddle, subs. (old).—A drum.
1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.
Calf-Sticking, subs. (thieves’).—Explained by quotation. [Cf., Calf and
Stick].
1883. Daily Telegraph, 25 July, p. 2, col. 1. The venerable oarsman
grinned, and set me right by explaining that what was called
calf-sticking by those who practised it was the putting off of
worthless rubbish, on the pretence that it was smuggled goods, on
any foolish or unscrupulous person who could be inveigled into
treating for the same.
Calibogus, subs. (American).—A very old name for a mixture of rum and
spruce beer, being quoted by Grose in 1785 as ‘an American beverage.’
The last two syllables of the word are thought to be derived from the
French bagasse, the refuse of the sugar cane. This view would seem to
be supported by the fact that rum is itself a product of the sugar
cane.
1861. L. de Boileau, Recoll. Labrador Life, p. 162. Callibogus, a
mixture of Rum and Spruce-beer, more of the former and less of the
latter.
Calico, adj. (old).—Thin; wasted; attenuated. [Calicut is the name of
the Indian city whence the material of the comparison was brought. The
earliest reference for original signification given by Murray is 1505;
but he omits the cant meaning.]
1733. Nathaniel Bailey, Colloquies of Erasmus (translated), p. 37.
In such a place as that your callico body (tenui corpusculo) had
need have a good fire to keep it warm.
1861. Sala, Seven Sons of Mammon. A shrewd, down-east Yankee once
questioned a simple Dutchman out of his well-fed steed, and left
him instead a vile calico mare in exchange.
Calico-Bally, adj. (common).—Somewhat ‘fast’; applied to one always on
the look out for amusement. [Primarily used of frequenters of
calico-balls.]
18(?). Broadside Ballad, ‘The Flipperty-Flop Young Man.’ I once was
a cabby and hack young man, And a little bit calico-bally; A
picture card out of the pack young man, And frequently music hally.
California.—See Californian, sense 2.
Californian, subs. (common).—1. A red or hard-dried herring. Further
explained by quotations. Also Soldier, Atlantic ranger and Glasgow
Magistrate.
1873.—Cassell’s Mag., Jan., p. 245, Very large quantities of cured
herrings came from North Britain at that time, and, excepting those
from the Firth of Forth, they were more cured, dryer and salter
than those from Norfolk. Some were sent very dry indeed, as hard as
a stick, and of a very deep red colour; such were used, as similar
fish now are, for exportation. About the time of the gold
discoveries, some one applied the term Californian to these. The
word was appropriate, and Californians such highly-coloured
herrings are called to this day.
2. [Generally used in the plural—Californians.] Generic for gold
pieces.
California Widow, subs. phr. (American).—A married woman whose husband
is away from her for any extended period; a grass widow (q.v.) in the
least offensive sense. The expression dates from the period of the
Californian gold fever, when so many men went West, leaving their wives
and families behind them.
Calk, verb (Eton College).—To throw.
Call, subs. (Eton College).—The time when the masters do not call
absence (q.v.).
To have or get a call upon, phr. (American).—To have a preference, or
the first chance.
1888.—Puck’s Library, May, p. 23, Picture Dealer (to Professional’s
Husband): ‘No, sir; I can’t sell no more of your wife’s pictures
unless she gets down some of that flesh, and looks kinder
æstheticker. The ethereal and intellectual has got the call on the
old style of beauty now-a-days.’
To call a go, verbal phr. (vagrants’ and street patterers’).—To change
one’s stand; to alter one’s tactics; to give in at any game or
business. [From the go ‘call’ in cribbage.]
1851–61.—H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 252. To
call a go, signifies to remove to another spot, or adopt some other
patter, or, in short, to resort to some change or other in
consequence of a failure.
To call a spade a spade.—See Spade.
To call over the coals.—See Wigging.
Put and call.—See Put.
Calle, subs. (old and American thieves’).—A cloak or gown. Quoted by
Grose [1785], and still in use in the U.S.A. amongst the criminal
classes. For synonyms, see Caster.
Calp or Kelp, subs. (old).—A hat. [Origin unknown.] For synonyms, see
Golgotha.
Calvert’s Entire.—The Fourteenth Foot. [Called Calvert from their
colonel, Sir Harry Calvert (1806–1826), and entire, because three
entire battalions were kept up for the good of Sir Harry, when
adjutant-general. A play upon words in reference to Calvert’s malt
liquors.] This regiment was also called the Old and Bold.
1780. R. Tomlinson, Slang Pastoral, canto viii. Gin! What is become
of thy heart-chearing fire, And where is the beauty of Calvert’s
Intire?
1871. Chambers’ Journal, 23 Dec., p. 803, col. 1. The 14th Foot,
Calvert’s Entire.
1886. Tinsley’s Magazine, April, p. 322. A very curious name,
Calvert’s Entire, used to be attached to the 14th, but this as well
as the circumstances which gave rise to it are forgotten.
Calves. Calves gone to grass, subs. phr. (old).—Said of spindle shanks;
i.e., slender, undeveloped legs, with lack of calves.
There are many ways of dressing calves’ heads, phr. (old).—Many ways of
saying or doing a foolish thing; a simpleton has many ways of showing
his folly; or, generally, if one way won’t do, we must try another.
Calves’ heads are best hot, phr. (common).—A sarcastic apology for one
sitting down to eat with his hat on.—See Stand-up.
Calx, subs. (Eton College).—The goal line at football. [From a Latin
sense of calx = a goal, anciently marked with lime or chalk.] At Eton
calx is a space so marked off at each end of wall; good calx is the end
at which there is a door for a goal; bad calx the end where part of an
elm tree serves the purpose.
1864. Daily Telegraph, Dec. 1. The Collegers were over-weighted ...
and the Oppidans managed to get the ball down into their calx
several times. [m.]
Cambridge Oak, subs. (old).—A willow. [An allusion to the abundance of
this tree in the county in question, which is situate in the Fen
District.] Formerly many analogous sayings were in vogue; e.g., ‘A
Cotswold lion’ for ‘a sheep,’ etc.—See also Cambridgeshire nightingale.
Cambridgeshire or Fen Nightingale, subs. phr. (common).—A frog. [The
county is scored with canals and dykes; the allusion is to the natural
preponderance of the croaking of frogs over the singing of
nightingales.] Cf. Cambridge oak and Cape nightingale.
1875. Chambers’ Journal, No. 581, p. 107, col. 2. The male of the
eatable frog is distinguished ... by ... a pouch.... These pouches
increase the volume of the croak, and render it so powerful that
the possessors have, from the county in which they are particularly
plentiful, received the nickname of Cambridgeshire nightingales.
Camden-Town, subs. (rhyming slang).—A halfpenny, or ‘brown.’ For
synonyms, see Mag.
Camel’s Complaint, subs. phr. (common).—Low spirits; the hump (q.v.).
Camesa, subs. (thieves’).—A shirt chemise, or ‘shimmy.’ [From the
Spanish camisa, or Italian camicia.] The word appears in various forms
from the beginning of the seventeenth century, e.g., ‘camisa,’
‘camiscia,’ ‘kemesa,’ ‘camise,’ and in a more genuinely English dress
as ‘commission’ (q.v.), which in turn is shortened into mish (q.v.).
For synonyms, see Flesh-bag.
1690.—B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Camesa: a shirt or shift.
1785.—Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Camesa (cant,
Spanish): a shirt or shift.
1812.—Byron, Childe Harold II., Tambourgi ii. Oh! who is more brave
than a dark Suliote, In his snowy camese and his shaggy capote?
1834.—H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. With my fawnied
famms, and my onions gay, my thimble of ridge, and my driz (laced)
kemesa.
Camister, subs. (thieves’).—A preacher or clergyman. From the white
gown or surplice. [From Latin camisia, a linen tunic, alb, or shirt, +
(probably) a termination suggested by ‘minister.’] For synonyms, see
Devil-dodger.
1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 231.
[List of patterer’s words.] Camister = Minister.
Camp. To go to camp, phr. (Australian).—To go to bed; to take rest.
[From the practice in the early settlers’ days of forming a camp
whenever a halt for the night was called.]
1887. All the Year Round, 30 July, p. 66, col. 2. To go to camp, by
a transference of its original meaning, now signifies, in the mouth
of a dweller in houses, simply ‘to lie down,’ ‘to go to bed.’
To take into camp, phr. (Common).—To kill.
1878. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’) Some Rambling Notes of an Idle
Excursion, p. 66. Sure enough one night the trap took Mrs. Jones’s
principal tomcat into camp, and finished him up.
To camp, phr. (Australian).—To surpass; to ‘floor.’
18(?) H. Kendall, Billy Vickers. At punching oxen you may guess
There’s nothing out can camp him; He has, in fact, the slouch and
dress Which bullock-driver stamp him.
Campbell’s Academy, subs. phr. (old).—The hulks, or lighters, on board
of which felons were condemned to hard labour. Mr. Campbell was the
first director.—Grose.—See Academy and Floating academy. For synonyms,
see Cage.
1781. G. Parker, View of Society, II., 11. He was tried at
Guildhall, Westminster, and sentenced to improve as a pupil in Mr.
Duncan Campbell’s Floating Academy for five years.
Camp-Candlestick, subs. (military)—An empty bottle, or a bayonet.
Quoted in the Lexicon Balatronicum [1811]. For synonyms in the sense of
‘an empty bottle,’ see Dead-man.
Camp-Stool Brigade, subs. phr. (common).—Said in the first place of
people who wait outside a place of entertainment to secure the best
seats, and bring camp-stools with them to rest themselves.
1889. Pall Mall Gazette, 23 Sept., p. 5, col. 2. The first night of
the Gaiety Wanderers will not be forgotten in a hurry. Seats for
the occasion were booked a year ago last April! Can you wonder that
the camp-stool brigade besieged the pit door as early as 10 a.m.?
Can, subs. (American).—1. A dollar piece.