3. (colloquial).—The Chinese. The Chinese Empire is spoken of as the
Celestial Empire.
Cellier, subs. (old).—An out-and-out, unmitigated lie. [A word of great
interest, illustrating the temporary use for certain purposes of the
name of a certain person, as in the cases of Burke, Boycott, Bishop,
and Salisbury (q.v.). The Meal-tub Plot in 1680 was the concoction of
Thomas Dangerfield and Elizabeth Cellier, a Roman Catholic midwife.
Forged documents which Dangerfield hid in Colonel Mansel’s lodgings
were upon his deposition found there by Government officers; but the
fraud was soon discovered, and Dangerfield was committed to Newgate. On
his trial he endeavoured to throw the entire blame on Mrs. Cellier, and
asserted that the original papers were all to be found in her house
hidden in a meal tub. This turned out to be true, and Mrs. Cellier was
committed to prison. On her trial she managed to prove that Dangerfield
was wholly unworthy of credit, and her marvellous impudence and
vigorous mendacity led to her own acquittal, and made her name for the
time the equivalent of ‘an out-and-out lie.’ After her trial she
thanked the jurors for giving her a good deliverance, and offered to
‘serve their ladies with the same fidelity in their deliveries.’] For
synonyms, see Whopper.
1682. Popes Harbinger, p. 79. That’s a Celier, Sir, a modern and
most proper phrase to signifie any Egregious Lye.
Cellar-Flap, subs. (common).—A step or dance performed within the
compass of (say) a Cellar-Flap. The object of the Whitechapel artist in
the dance is to achieve as many changes of step as possible without
shifting his ground: his action being restricted to the feet and legs.
An old equivalent is To Cut Capers on a Trencher; also Double-Shuffle
(q.v.).
1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 219. Others again
would indulge in a break-down, or cellar-flap dance, dreadfully to
the discomfort of the men in the cells below.
Cent. Not worth a cent, phr.—See Care and Fig.
Cent Per Cent, subs. (common).—A usurer. [Literally one who charges an
exorbitant rate of interest, here symbolized as a hundred for every
hundred. Quoted by Grose (1785).] For synonyms, see Sixty per Cent.
Centre-of-Bliss, subs. (common).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see
Monosyllable.
Centurion, subs. (cricket).—A batsman who scores a hundred runs. [From
centurion, the commander of a ‘century,’ in the Roman Army.]
1886. Graphic, 31 July, p. 107, col. 2. Some other centurions have
been Chatterton (108) for M.C.C., Shuter (103, not out) for Trent.
Century, subs. (turf).—A hundred pounds; or at cricket, etc., a score
of a hundred. Originally a division of the Roman Army numbering 100
men. In English it was and is in common use to signify a group of a
hundred. Shakspeare, in Cymbeline, iv., 2, 391 [1611], writes a
‘century’ of prayers. See also A. C. Swinburne, A Century of Rondels
and W. E. Henley, A Century of Artists (1889). Cf., Monkey, Pony, etc.
1864. Derby Day, p. 131. ‘I’m open to a bet. I’ll lay you an even
century about Nimrod.’
1869. Daily News, July 29. ‘Police Court Report.’ After this he
said he searched the breeches pockets that were lying by the side
of the bed, and took half a century worth of property from them.
1883. Echo, Nov. 1, p. 4, col. 2. Golding ... purchased Passaic
from F. Archer for a century.
1883. Graphic, August 11, p. 138, col. 2. His batting this year has
been of the highest order, as witnesses among his many good
performances that against the Players, when he marked his century.
Cert, subs. (sporting).—A certainty, of which it is an abbreviation.
With special reference in racing circles to events looked upon as
absolutely sure. Variants are a dead, or moral, certainty; A dead ’un;
and a moral.
1859. Letter from Edward S. Taylor to John Camden Hotten, 22 Dec.
This edition will sell to a dead certainty.
1889. Man of the World, June 29. ‘Love-in-Idleness is bound to take
the Rous Memorial, and I hear Pioneer is a cert. for the St.
James’s.’
Certainties, subs. (printers’).—Infants of the male sex.—See
Uncertainties.
Chafe, verb (old).—To thrash soundly. [Chafe = ‘to warm,’ ‘to rub with
the hand.’ Cf., Anoint.] For synonyms, see Tan.
1673. R. Head, Canting Acad., p. 36.
1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Chafed: well beaten.
Chafer, verb (common).—To copulate. [Probably a corruption of chauver.]
For synonyms, see Ride.
Chaff, subs. (colloquial).—1. Ironical or sarcastic banter; fooling;
humbug; ridicule. [A word of uncertain derivation, which, except in two
instances, both doubtful, does not appear in English literature, in
either its substantive or its verbal form, before the beginning of the
present century. Of the two the substantive seems to be the earlier. If
this be correct, Murray thinks it may have arisen from a figurative
employment of the orthodox word, in the sense of ‘refuse,’ ‘worthless
matter,’ etc., connected with which is the proverb ‘an old bird is not
caught with chaff.’ On the other hand there is an Arabic word Jaf or
chaf, ‘dry, withered’ (like the Greek καρφος), used metaphorically and
vulgarly in a sense similar to ‘humbug.’ To chaff a man is vulgo, to
humbug him; for humbug, like chaff, is what may be scattered before the
wind—what is light, trivial, or unfounded—an act of folly or
knavery.—See, however, verb, sense 1.]
[Murray in dealing with this word leads off his illustrative
quotations with one (see quot. 1648) which he thinks may be
uncertainly placed, as it may mean ‘scolding.’ There is, however,
another instance, which, though also uncertain, may be a link in
the chain of evidence. In this case chaffing may bear its modern
slang signification, though as has been said, it is open to another
reading.]
For synonyms, see Gammon, sense 1.
164(?). The Downfall of Charing-Cross. Percy Ballads, II., p. 327
[ed. 1765]. Undone, undone, the Lawyers are, They wander about the
towne, Nor find the way to Westminster, Now Charing-Cross is downe:
At the end of the Strand they make a stand, Swearing they are at a
loss, And chaffing say that’s not the way, They must go by
Charing-Cross.
1648. Jenkyn, Blind Guide, iv., 76. You pretend to nothing but
chaffe and scoffes. [m.]
1821. The Fancy, vol. I., 250. He could not of course put up with
chaff in the streets.
1853. Diogenes, II., 79. ‘Maxims for Cabmen.’ If you want oats for
your horses you must cease giving chaff to your passengers.
1864. Athenæum, 29 Oct., No. 1931, P. 557, col. 3. Julius Cæsar
passed his boyhood in a vicious locality, where cant phrases
abounded, but the latter are not recorded. We have heard of the
Famæ non nimium bonæ puellæ, Quales in mediâ sedent Suburrâ—but we
hear only faint echoes of the chaff that was scattered thereupon by
the passers-by.
1890. Globe, Feb. 13, p. 5, col. 2. The extract you send to me from
some letter from Lord Rosebery about the House of Lords looks to me
very like chaff, and was probably intended as such.
2. (Christ’s Hospital).—A small article or plaything, e.g., ‘a pocket
chaff.’ Connected with ‘chattel,’ ‘chapman,’ etc.—Blanch. Cf., verbal
(sense 2), adjectival, and interjectional senses.
Verb.—1. To banter; to jest; to ‘gammon’ or ‘quiz.’ An analogous term
formerly in use was queer (q.v.). So also chaffing and chaffingly. For
synonyms, see Gammon, sense 1.
1851. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, I., p. 35. Though he’s only
twelve years old he’ll chaff down a peeler so uncommon severe that
the only way to stop him is to take him in charge.
1864. H. Aïdé, Mr. and Mrs. Faulconbridge, I., 279. ‘Pshaw!’ said
Sir Richard, with a lofty good humour, ‘Don’t chaff your uncle,
sir.’
1889. T. Mackay, on ‘Shoeblacks,’ in Times, Aug., p. 135. I have
known courageous men who would rather try to chaff a bus driver
than a shoeblack.