Adj. (colloquial).—Very intimate; friendly; sociable. The analogous
French terms are chouette; chouettard; chouettaud.
1884. Harper’s Magazine, Sept., p. 536 col. 2. I ... saw them form
into small chummy groups. [m.]
1888. W. Besant, Herr Paulus, bk. III, ch. xi., vol. III., p. 204.
I liked the fellow, I confess, and we got chummy in the evenings.
1889. Answers, May 11, p. 380. When I was at Pentonville, a man in
the same ward, who had got rather chummy with his warder, asked him
to post a letter to his friends in Manchester.
Chump, subs. (common).—1. A blockhead.
1883. Hawley Smart, At Fault, II., i., 29. Such a long-winded old
chump at telling a story one don’t often see, thank goodness.
1887. Pall Mall Gazette, 2 Feb., p. 10. col. 1. Frank audibly
remarked: ‘This man is a chump. I could go ... this minute and do
better than that.’ [m.]
2. (popular).—A variant of chum, subs. (q.v.). French ma vieille
branche = my old chump.
1884. Punch, 11 Oct. ‘’Arry at a Political Picnic.’ All my Saturday
arfs are devoted to Politics. Fancy, old chump, Me doing the
sawdusty reglar, and follering swells on the stump.
3. (popular).—The head; especially in the phrase off one’s chump
(q.v.). For synonyms, see Crumpet.
Chump-of-Wood, subs. phr. (rhyming slang).—No good. Also a blockhead.
Off one’s chump, phr. (vulgar).—Insane. Cf., Off one’s Head, nut, etc.
For synonyms, see Apartments.
c. 1860. Broadside Ballad, ‘We are a merry family.’ The fire is
out, the fender’s broke, And father’s out on strike, Sister Ann’s
gone off her chump, In fact, we’re all alike.
1866. Broadside Ballad, ‘Oh, She Was Such a Beautiful Girl.’ She
diddled me, she fiddled me, She sent me off my chump.
1877. Besant and Rice, Son of Vulcan, II., xxiv., p. 377. ‘Master.’
he said, ‘have gone off his chump—that’s all.’
1883. Besant, Captain’s Room, ch. vii., p. 85 (1885). He ... was
engaged to be married to the king’s sister ... unfortunately, only
the week before I arrived, he was killed and devoured by a lion,
and the princess was gone off her royal chump.
To get one’s own chump, phr. (thieves’).—See quot.
1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 242. ‘Cut her own
grass! Good gracious, what is that?’ I asked. ‘Why, purvide her own
chump—earn her own living,’ the old man replied.
Chumpy, adj. (common).—The same as off one’s chump.
Chunk, subs. (colloquial).—1. A thick piece or lump of wood, bread,
coal, etc.
1691. Ray, S. and E. Country Wds. (E.D.S.) Chuck, a great chip....
In other countries [= districts] they call it a chunk. [m.]
1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary, ‘Chuck.’ Chuck, a great chip, Suss. In
other counties called a chunk or junk.
1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, ch. xxix. Why not keep a
clerk to read for you, and pay out the information in small chunks?
I should like to tackle Mr. Carlyle that way.
c. 1880. Broadside Ballad, ‘The Hungry Man from Clapham.’ He’d eat
everything there was in the place, He bit a chunk from his
mother-in-law’s face.