Cherubims, vulgo, Cherry-bums, subs. (military).—1. The Eleventh
Hussars. [From their crimson overalls.] Also cherry-breeches and
cherry-pickers.
1865. Notes and Queries, 3 S., vii., p. 49. 11th Hussars—Cherubims
and Cherry Pickers, having had some men taken while on out-post
duty in a fruit garden in Spain.
1871. Forbes, Exper. War between France and Germany, II., 149. When
[Lord Cardigan] commanded the Cherry-breeches there were generally
more sore backs among them than in any other regiment in the
service.
1871. Chambers’ Journal, Dec. 23, p. 802. The 11th Hussars, the
‘Cherubims and Cherry Pickers.’
2. (common).—Peevish children. [A facetious allusion to a passage in
the Te Deum—‘To Thee cherubin and seraphin continually do cry.’] Quoted
by Grose [1785].
3. (common).—Chorister boys. [Either founded on the allusion quoted in
sense 2, or in reference to the fact that little more than the heads of
choristers is visible to the general congregation.]
To be in the cherubims, phr. (old).—To be in good humour; in the
clouds; unsubstantial; fanciful.
1542. Udal, Erasmus’s Apophth., p. 139. Diogenes mocking such
quidificall trifles, that were al in the cherubins, said, Sir
Plato, your table and your cuppe I see very well, but as for your
tabletee and your cupitee I see none soche.
Cheshire Cat. To grin like a Cheshire cat [chewing gravel, eating
cheese, or evacuating bones, is sometimes added], phr. (common).—To
laugh broadly—to ‘laugh all over one’s face.’ Used disparagingly.
[Origin unknown.]
1782. Wolcot (‘P. Pindar’), Pair of Lyric Epistles, in wks.
(Dublin, 1795), vol. II., p. 424. Lo, like a Cheshire cat our Court
will grin!
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xxiv. In fact, Mr. Newcome says to
Mr. Pendennis, in his droll, humourous way, ‘that woman grins like
a Cheshire cat!’ Who was the naturalist who first discovered that
peculiarity of the cats in Cheshire?
1859. Letter from Edward S. Taylor to John Camden Hotten, 22 Dec.
Cheshire cat eating cheese—I have always heard ‘evacuating bones,’
which if less decent is more expressive.
1866. Dodgson (‘Lewis Carroll’), Alice in Wonderland, ch. viii.
Chest. To chuck out one’s chest, phr. (common).—To pull oneself
together; stand firm; ‘keep a stiff upper lip.’
Chestnut, subs. (American).—A stale joke or story; an old ‘Joe’;
something frequently said or done before. As to the variants of this
phrase—their name is legion. The old songs are chestnut songs; he who
would foist a stale jest is implored to spare the chestnut tree, not to
rustle the chestnut leaves, not to set the chestnut bell a-ringing.
[The Philadelphia Press (1888) attributes the introduction of the
phrase to Mr. William Warren, a veteran Boston comedian. In a forgotten
melodrama, by William Dillon, called The Broken Sword, there were two
characters, one a Capt. Xavier, and the other the comedy part of Pablo.
Says the captain, a sort of Munchausen, ‘I entered the woods of
Colloway, and suddenly from the thick boughs of a cork tree’—when Pablo
interrupts him with the words: ‘A chestnut, captain, a chestnut.’
‘Bah!’ replies the captain. ‘Booby, I say a cork tree.’ ‘A chestnut,’
reiterates Pablo, ‘I should know as well as you, having heard you tell
the tale these twenty-seven times.’ Warren, who had often played Pablo,
was at a stage-dinner, where one of the men told a story of doubtful
age and originality. ‘A chestnut,’ quoth Warren, ‘I have heard you tell
the tale these twenty-seven times.’ The application pleased, and when
the party broke up each member helped to spread the story and the
commentary. This is the most plausible of many explanations.]
1882. Halkett Lord, in N. and Q., 7 S., vii., 53. I first heard the
word [chestnut] in 1882, in a theatrical chop-house (Brown’s) in
New York. The explanation given to me by Mr. Brown—once a
well-known member of Wallack’s company—was ‘Chestnut, because it is
old enough to have grown a beard,’ alluding to the prickly bristly
husk of the nuts.
1886. Dram. Rev., March 27, p. 86 col. 2. Minnie Palmer will give
£1000 to any one who will submit to her an idea for legitimate
advertising.... Chestnut ideas not wanted. [m.]
1888. New York Sun, Jan. 24. ‘May I venture to tell the old, old
story, Miss Maud,’ he said, tremulously; ‘the old, old, yet ever
new, story of—’ ‘Pardon me, Mr. Sampson, if I cause you pain,’
interrupted the girl, gently, ‘but to me the story you wish to tell
is a chestnut.’ ‘A chestnut?’ ‘Yes, Mr. Sampson, I’m already
engaged; but I will be a sister—’ ‘It isn’t as wormy as that one,’
murmured Mr. Sampson, feeling for his hat.
Chete.—See Cheat.
Chew, subs. (common).—A small portion of tobacco; a quid. Cf., Chew the
cud.
1880. Jas. Greenwood, Gaol Birds at Large. A piece as large as a
horse-bean, called a chew, is regarded as an equivalent for a
twelve-ounce loaf and a meat ration.
To chew oneself, verbal phr. (American).—To get angry. For synonyms,
see Nab the rust.
To chew the cud, verbal phr. (common).—To chew tobacco.
To chew the rag or fat, verbal phr. (military).—To grumble.
c. 1887. Brunlees Patterson, Life in the Ranks. Some of the
‘knowing blokes,’ prominent among whom will be the ‘grousers,’
will, in all probability, be chewing the rag or fat.
Chewallop! intj. (American).—An onomatopœia, representing, it is
thought, the sound of an object falling heavily to the ground or into
water—See Cachunk.
1835. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Clockmaker, 3 S., ch. ii. I
felt ... only one stop more [and I] was over head and ears
chewallop in the water.
1888. Hoppe, Englisch-Deutsches Supplement-Lexikon, p. 215. It
means ‘flat down,’ and is a strong expression. If a woman, for ex.,
falls head over heels and flat to the ground, they say, ‘she fell
chewallop.’
Chewre, verb (Old Cant).—To steal.
Chic, subs. (popular).—Finish; elegance; spirit; dash; style—any
quality which marks a person or thing as superior. [Originally a French
slang term of uncertain origin, Littré being inclined to trace it to
chicane, tact or skill. The French chic originally signified subtlety,
cunning, skill; and, among English painters, to chic up a picture, or
to do a thing from chic = to work without models and out of one’s own
head.]
1856. Lever, Martins of Cro’ M., 321. The French have invented a
slang word ... and by the expression chic have designated a certain
property, by which objects assert their undoubted superiority over
all their counterfeits.
1866. Yates, Land at Last, I., p. 110. A certain piquancy and chic
in her appearance.
1871. London Figaro, 28 Feb. Those rollicking break-downs, those
screeching girls who are so much admired for their chic, invariably
give me a headache.
Adj. (common).—Stylish; elegant; ‘up to Dick.’ So also chicdom. [From
chic + dom.]
1873. Daily News, 9 June. She must be ready to stick on a bow here
and there, to give herself an air of chicdom. The youthful student,
however, must not go too far in the direction of chic, ... the
chief thing which distinguishes the dress of a lady is the absence
of those prominent and inharmonious decorations, etc.
Chickabiddy, subs. (costers’).—A young girl.—See Biddy. [A nursery name
for a chicken, commonly used as an endearment.] For synonyms, see
Titter.
Chick-woman.—See ‘Much Ado about Nothing.’ Act 1, Sc. iii.
Chickaleary Cove or Bloke, subs. phr. (costers’).—An ‘artful member,’
otherwise a downy cove (q.v., for synonyms).
c. 1869. Vance, Broadside Ballad. I’m a chickaleary cove, with my
one, two, three; Whitechapel was the village I was born in.
Chicken, subs. (thieves’).—A pint pot. Cf., Hens and Chickens and Cat
and kittens.
1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I., p. 276. The hens
and chickens, of the low lodging-houses are the publican’s pewter
measures; the bigger vessels are hens, the smaller chickens.
No chicken, adv. phr. (common).—Elderly. [The term chicken is often
applied to children.]
1720. Swift, Stella’s Birthday. Pursue your trade of
scandel-picking, Your hints that Stella is no chicken.
1738. Swift, Polite Conversation (conv. i). I swear she’s no
chicken; she’s on the wrong side of thirty if she be a day.
1742. Fielding, Joseph Andrews, bk. II., ch. ix. Adams, who was no
chicken, and could bear a drubbing as well as any boxing champion
in the universe.
1771. Smollet, Humphry Clinker, l., 68. The knight swore he was no
such chicken, but a tough old rogue, that would live long enough to
plague all his neighbours.
1717–1797. Horace Walpole, Letters, III., 308. I made a visit
yesterday to the Abbess of Panthemont, General Oglethorpe’s niece,
and no chicken.
1859. Sala, Gaslight and Daylight, ch. v. I am no chicken (though
not the gray-headed old fogy that insulting Squirrel presumes to
call me).
To count one’s chickens before they are hatched, verbal phr.
(colloquial).—To reckon beforehand upon a successful issue. The Latins
said, ‘Don’t sing your song of triumph before you have won the victory’
(ante victoriam canere triumphum). ‘Don’t hallo till you are out of the
wood’ has a similar meaning, and in French, to lose a game as good as
won = la perdre belle. The expression was doubtless popularised by
Butler in his Hudibras [see quot., 1664], but it was known long prior.
1579. Gosson, Ephem., 19a. I woulde not have him to counte his
chickens so soone before they be hatcht. [m.]
1664. Butler, Hudibras, II., iii., 923. To swallow gudgeons ere
they’re catch’d. And count their chickens ere they’re hatched.
Chicken-Butcher, subs. (old).—A poulterer; also a sportsman’s term for
anyone shooting immature game.
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
Chicken-Fixings, subs. (American).—Properly a hash, stew, or fricassee
of chicken, but the term is now applied to any fare out of the common,
and also to show of any kind. French, la gueulardise. Cf., Common
doings.
1864. A Trip to the South. An extraordinary sight were the
countless waiters, held up to the car-windows at Gordonsville by
turbaned negro-women, filled with coffee-cups, eggs, and the
inevitable chicken-fixings, which it was henceforth our fate to
meet at every railway depot, till we reached New Orleans.
18(?). Carlton, New Purchase, vol. II., p. 240. These preachers dress
like big bugs, and go ridin’ about on hundred-dollar horses, a-spungin’
poor priest-ridden folks, and a-eaten chicken-fixins so powerful fast
that chickens has got scarce in these diggins.
Chi-ike or Chy-ack, subs. (costers’).—A street salute; a word of
praise.—See Coo-ey.
c. 1869. Vance, The Chick-a-leary Cove. Now my pals I’m going to
slope, see you soon again, I hope, My young woman is avaiting, so
be quick, Now join in a chyike, the ‘jolly’ we all like.
1885. Daily Telegraph, April 6, p. 6, col. 1. A prosperous butcher
... gives him what Mr. Poleaxer calls a chi-hike at his gate as he
passes that way in his cart, between five and six a.m.
1864. Hotten, Slang Dictionary, s.v.
Verb.—1. To salute or hail.
1886. Sporting Times, 17 July, 7, 2. There was no charge for
admission. Enough. They came, they saw, and they chi-iked.
2. (tailors’).—To chaff unmercifully. For synonyms, see Gammon, sense
1.
To give chi-ike with the chill off, phr.—To scold; abuse. For synonyms,
see Wig.
Child.—See This child.
Children’s Shoes.—See Make children’s shoes.
Chill or Take the Chill Off [of liquids], verb (popular).—To warm.
Chill is a contraction of the fuller phrase.
1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 264. A pint pot, the contents of
which were chilling on the hob.
With the Chill Off, phr. (popular).—An expression of (1) dissent, (2)
depreciation, or (3) disbelief. A variant of over the left (q.v.).
Chime, verb (thieves’).—To praise; extol; puff; canoodle: especially
with a view to personal advantage.
Chimney, subs. (common).—A great smoker; Fr., un locomotive.
Chimney Chops, subs. (old).—A negro. [An allusion to colour.] For
synonyms, see Snowball.
Chimney-Pot, subs. (common).—The silk hat worn by men, as also by women
on horseback. Also called a stove-pipe, beaver, bell-topper etc., but
for synonyms, see Golgotha. [An allusion to shape and colour.] The
French has une cheminée.
1861. Punch, vol. XLI., p. 258. ‘The Riding-Hat Question.’ Lucy.
‘Now tell me, Mary, which is the best?’ Mary (who is rather
horsey). ‘Well, dear, for tea in the arbour and that sort of thing,
perhaps the little round one; but if you want to look like going
across country, the Chimney-pot all to nothing.’
1864. Spectator, p. 356. The chimney-pot hat, for the power of its
transcendant ugliness beat all the artists, penmen, and men of
taste in England, ten years ago.
1871. Echo, 2 March. ‘London Trades—Hatters.’ The shape of the
chimney-pot is constantly changing, as we all know.
1880. Punch’s Almanack, p. 10. Now, why should not gentlemen
content themselves with mere underclothing, and discard the hideous
chimney-pot, Frock Coat, and Trousers of the Period, so fatal to
Pictorial Design?
1890. Daily Graphic, Jan. 7, p. 9, col. 4. Then the crowd go mad.
Up fly head-gear, chimney-pot, and wide-a-wake alike, their owners
careless of their fate.
Chimney-Sweep, subs. (common).—1. A black draught. Cf., Custom-house
officer.
2. A clergyman. [In allusion to the black wear of ‘the cloth.’] For
synonyms, see Devil-dodger. Sweeps are nicknamed clergymen.