Capital, To work capital, verbal phr. (old).—To commit an offence
punishable with death.
1878. Charles Hindley, Life and Times of James Catnach. And though
I don’t work capital, And do not weigh my weight, sirs, Who knows
but that in time I shall.
Capivi or Capivvy (vulgar).—Balsam copaiba, a popular remedy for clap.
To cry capivvy (sporting).—To be persecuted to the death, or very near
it. In Handley Cross [1843] Mr. Jorrocks promises to make the foxes cry
capivvy.
Capon, subs. (popular).—Primarily, a red herring; but applied to other
kinds of fish, herrings now receiving the distinctive cognomen of
Yarmouth capons. The usage is a very old one, and it is notable that
Glasgow Magistrate, another name for a red herring, was formerly
Glasgow capon.
c. 1640. J. Smyth, Hundred of Berkeley (1885), 319. The Sole wee
call our Seuverne Capon. [m.]
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Yarmouth capon: a Red Herring.
1719. Ramsey, Hamilton, II., iii. A Glasgow capon and a fadge ye
thought a feast. [m.]
1812. W. Tennant, Anster F., iv. Each to his jaws A good Crail’s
capon holds [note ‘a dried haddock’]. [m.]
Cappadochio, Caperdochy, or Caperdewsie, subs. (old).—Nares says ‘a
cant term for a prison.’ [The same authority suggests that it is a
corruption of Cappadocia: ‘The king of Cappadocia, says Horace, was
rich in slaves, but had little money.’] For synonyms, see Cage.
1600. Heywood, I. Edw. IV. My son’s in Dybell here, in Caperdochy,
i’ the gaol.
1607. w. s., Puritan, in Supp. Shaks., II., 510 (n.). How captain
Idle? my old aunt’s son, my dear kinsman, in Cappadochio?
1663. Butler, Hudibras, I., ii., 832. I here engage myself to loose
ye, and free your heels from caperdewsie.
Capper, subs. (American thieves’).—1. A confederate; at cards one who
makes false bids in order to encourage a genuine player. [See Cap,
verb, sense 1.]
1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 319. In the West a striker is not
only a shoulder-hitter, as might be suspected, but a runner for
gambling establishments, who must be as ready to strike down a
complaining victim as to ensnare an unsuspecting stranger....
Cappers they are called, when the game is the famous Three-Card
Monte.
1881. New York Slang Dictionary. Gamblers are called knights of the
green cloth, and their lieutenants, who are sent out after
greenhorns, are called decoys, cappers, and steerers.
2. (auctioneers’).—A dummy bidder whose function is either to start the
bidding or to run up the price of articles for sale.
Capper-Clawing.—See Clapper-clawing.
Captain, subs. (general).—1. A familiar and jesting form of address. An
equivalent of ‘governor,’ ‘boss,’ etc. Very common in U.S.A., where
also it signifies the conductor or guard of a train—an analogy being
drawn between the phraseology of rail and water traffic. (see quot.
1862).
1598. Shakspeare, King Henry IV., pt. 2, Act ii., Sc. 4. Doll
Tearsheet. A captain! God’s light, these villains will make the
word as odious as the word ‘occupy.’
1862. Russell, Diary, North and S., I., xiii., 139. All the people
who addressed me by name prefixed ‘Major’ or ‘Colonel.’ ‘Captain’
is very low.... The conductor who took our tickets was called
‘Captain.’ [m.]
2. (old).—A gaming or bawdy house bully. Cf., Fielding’s Captain Bilkum
in Covent Garden Tragedy. Fr. un major de table d’hôte.
1731. Daily Journal, Jan. 9. ‘List of the officers established in
the most notorious gaming-houses.’ 12th. A Captain, who is to fight
any gentleman who is peevish for losing his money.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Captain (s.) ... and in the
Cant Phrase, a captain is a bully, who is to quarrel or fight with
peevish gamesters, who are testy or quarrelsome at the loss of
their money; and sometimes it signifies money itself, as, ‘the
captain is not at home,’ that is, there is no money in my pocket.
[Captain is also a fancy title for a highwayman in a good way of
business; Fletcher uses the term copper-captain, as also does
Washington Irving, for one who has no right to the title, and, in
modern athletics, we have the captain of a club or crew, with the
corresponding verb to captain.]