English Synonyms. To give the clinch; to make one kiss the clink; to
accommodate; to nobble; to bag; to box; to fist (old); to scoop; to
take up; to victimize; to run in; to give or get one the boat; to
buckle; to smug; to nab; to collar; to pinch; to nail; to rope in; to
shake; to pull up.
French Synonyms. Empioler (thieves’); tomber au plan (thieves’ = to be
apprehended); étre mis au plan (thieves’ = to be imprisoned);
enfourailler (thieves’); bâcler or boucler (thieves’: literally to
buckle, put a ring to); bloquer (military: properly to blockade); étre
le bon (popular = to be arrested; also to be the right man); boulotter
de or coucher à la boîte (military = to get frequently locked up. La
grosse boîte = a prison; boîte aux refléxions = a prison cell); mettre
quelqu’un dans la blouse (familiar = to ‘pocket,’ as at billiards); se
faire cuire (popular = to be arrested); clouer (popular: clou =
guard-room or cell); coller au bloc (popular: coller is properly to
stick, as with glue, but in a slang sense it carries the meaning of to
place or put; bloc = prison); piper (familiar); poisser (popular and
thieves’); grimer (popular); coquer (thieves’: also, to peach or
inform); enflacquer (thieves’); mettre or fourrer dedans (familiar:
literally to put inside); mettre à l’ombre (common: literally to put in
the shade); mettre au violon (popular: see violon under Cage);
grappiner (popular); poser un gluau (thieves’ = to lime, as in snaring
birds); empoigner (popular = to fist; possibly a dictionary word);
piger (popular); emballer (popular and thieves’; properly to pack up);
gripper (this has passed into the language); encoffrer (popular = to
‘box up’); encager (familiar = to cage); accrocher (properly to hook);
ramasser de la boîte (military: also ramasser quelqu’un and se faire
remasser); souffler (thieves’); faire tomber malade (popular = to make
one ill); agrafer (literally to hook or clasp; avoir son linge lavé
(thieves’ = to have one’s linen washed).
German Synonyms.—Bekaan scheften (from the Hebrew kaan); im Kühlen
sitzen (literally to sit in the cold. Cf., Fr., mettre à l’ombre);
krank werden (literally to fall ill; equivalent to the Fr. faire tomber
malade); ins Leck baun (Viennese thieves’ M.H.G. luken = to lock up);
millek sein (to be imprisoned); trefe fallen (to be apprehended under
grave circumstances; e.g., with burglar’s instruments or stolen goods);
versargen (to imprison for a long time); abfassen (students’ slang);
ankappen (popular colloquialism); klemmen (M.H.G. klembern = to press
heavily); taffen, tofes nehmen, tofes lokechnen, or tofes lekichnen
(from the Hebrew tophas); vercheweln, vercheifeln or verheifeln (from
the Hebrew chobal; also to bind or gag).
Copbusy, verb (thieves’).—See quot.
1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3 ed., p. 445. To hand over the
booty to a confederate or girl—to copbusy.
Copper, subs. (popular).—A policeman. [From cop, verb, senses 1 and 2,
(q.v.), to catch, + er; literally a catcher.] Equivalents are robin or
robin-redbreast; m.p. (i.e., member of police); copperman (an
Australian prison term); but for synonyms, see Beak, to which may be
added the following.
French Synonyms. Un chasse-coquin (popular: also = a ‘beadle’ and ‘bad
wine.’ Literally ‘a beggar-driver’: Cf., chasse-chien = a beadle
employed to drive away dogs); un chasse-noble (thieves’); le cadratin
(police; a term applied to the detective force; properly what printers
call an ‘em quad’); l’enplaque (thieves’); une fauvette à tête noire
(thieves’: literally ‘a black-cap’); un bricul or briculé (thieves’: an
inspector of police); une casserole (thieves’ = a detective; also a
prostitute. Properly ‘a saucepan’ or warming-pan); un emballeur
(thieves’: properly ‘a packer’); un ficard (thieves’); un arnacq or
arnache (thieves’); un vesto de la cuisine (thieves’ = a detective.
Vesto = haricot bean; cuisine = detective force); rabatteur de pantes
(thieves’ = a beater of game, man being the quarry); un bigorneau
(properly a periwinkle); un cognac (thieves’); un quart (pop: faire son
quart = to be on the watch); un radis noir (common: also = a priest or
devil-dodger); un renifleur (thieves’: renifler = to sniff); mari Robin
(thieves’); un marchand or solliceur de lacets (thieves’: lacets =
hand-cuffs); lapin ferré (a mounted policeman); un liêge (thieves’).
German Synonyms. Blaukragen (Viennese thieves’: for an armed policeman;
literally ‘a blue collar,’ in allusion to the uniform); Blitzableiter
(literally ‘the lightning conductor’); Bosser-Isch (a play upon words
is involved in this term. It is derived from the Hebrew bosar = meat.
Bosser-Isch signifies literally ‘meat-man,’ i.e., a butcher, or
translated into literary German, Fleischmann. In the first half of the
last century a certain Lieutenant Fleischmann was especially zealous in
‘persecuting’ the robber gangs infesting the district between Frankfurt
and Darmstadt. Every hunter of rogues and vagabonds has since then been
called a Bosser-Isch or Fleischmann. Hence its application to the
police); Greiferci (specially applied to the ‘criminal’ police);
Hadatsch or Hatschier (Viennese thieves’); aie Herren (the police force
generally; literally ‘the gentlemen’); Husche, Huscher, Husskiefel or
Husskopf (a mounted policeman); Iltis or Iltisch (thieves’); Kapdon
(from the Hebrew kophad: literally ‘to draw together,’ or
intransitively ‘to cut off’; applied to a clever policeman); Karten
(the police. Cf., Garden = guards); Koberer (the officer in charge of
the regulations over registered prostitutes; Koberer = ‘fancy-man,’ or
‘protector’); Klisto (a mounted policeman; from the Hanoverian gypsy
glisto); Kreuzritter (Viennese thieves’ = a policeman who is also a
soldier; more correctly, a police-soldier); Laileschmir (a night
policeman; from the Hebrew lailo, ‘the night’); Laterne (Viennese
thieves’); Lederzeug (a mounted policeman); Mischpoche (a Hebrew word
signifying ‘the family,’ ‘the relations’; gang of robbers; the inmates
of a prison; the police force taken as a whole); Polenk or Polente
(Hanoverian slang for the police; possibly from the Gypsy polontschero
= ‘the night-watchman’ or ‘herdsman’); Poliquetsch (a term applied
either to the force or to a single member); Quetsch (Cf., foregoing);
Schin (an abbreviation, being the Hebrew letter ש, for the turnkey of
a prison, a policeman, etc.; ein platter Schin, a policeman who makes
common cause with a burglar; miser Schin, a policeman who is hated);
Spinatwächter (soldiers’ for a police-soldier; in allusion to the green
uniform); Spitz or Spitzl (a vigilant policeman, from Spitz = pointed,
from which is derived Spitz-bube, a thief); Teckel (Hanoverian for
foot-police); Zaddik (from the Hebrew signifying ‘the just’ or ‘pious
one’; used sarcastically as a nickname for the guardians of the right);
Zenserei (Viennese thieves’: Zenserer = a police superintendent.
Apparently the modern form of the old Sens, Sins, Söns, Sims, or
Simser, of which the derivation is clearly to be found in Zent or Cent,
from the Centenæ of the Frankish kings, who divided the counties into
Centenæ and Decaniæ for the purposes of administration).
Italian Synonyms. Falcon de draghetti (literally ‘a hawk preying on
schoolboys’); sbirre.
Spanish Synonym. Abrazador (m; literally ‘one who embraces’; abrazar =
to hug, or clasp).
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, p. 21. ‘The knuck was
copped to rights, a skin full of honey was found in his kick’s poke
by the copper when he frisked him’; [i.e.] the pickpocket was
arrested, and when searched by the officer a purse was found in his
pantaloons pocket full of money.
1864. Manchester Courier, 13 June. The professors of slang,
however, having coined the word, associate that with the metal, and
as they pass a policeman they will, to annoy him, exhibit a copper
coin, which is equivalent to calling the officer copper.
1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 237. I daresay the
coppers quite expected us the next night, and looked out for us....
Coppers, I may inform the reader, is slang for police.
1889. Punch, 3 Aug., p. 49, col. 2. Young ’Opkins took the reins,
but soon in slumber he was sunk—(Indignantly) When a interfering
copper ran us in for being drunk!
Copperheads, subs. (American).—A nickname applied to different sections
of the American nation: first to the Indian; then to the Dutch colonist
(see Irving, Knickerbocker); lastly, during the Civil War, to certain
Northern Democrats who sympathised with the South. [Properly the
Trigonocephalus contortrix.]
1864. Walt Whitman, Diary, 10 April [in Century Mag., Oct., 1888].
Exciting times in Congress. The copperheads are getting furious,
and want to recognise the Southern Confederacy.
1872. Daily Telegraph, 29 Aug. Should he [Mr. Greeley] be elected,
he will owe his victory to ... the copperhead ring of the
Democratic party.
1881. W. D. Howells, Dr. Breen’s Practice, ch. ix. He lived to cast
a dying vote for General Jackson, and his son, the first Dr.
Mulbridge, survived to illustrate the magnanimity of his
fellow-townsmen during the first year of the civil war, as a
tolerated copperhead.
1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, 2 March. Gay was executed, I think, in
November, 1862, at Indianapolis. He was ... a virulent copperhead.
Copperman, subs. (Australian prison).—A policeman. Cf., Copper.
Copper-Nose, subs. (old).—The swollen, pimply nose of habitual
drunkards. A ‘jolly’ or ‘bottle’ nose; in Fr., une bette-rave, i.e., a
beetroot; also un piton passé à l’encaustique. Cf., Grog-blossom. For
synonyms for the nose generally, see Conk.
1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. x. ‘The stoutest raven dared
not come within a yard of that copper nose.’
Copper’s Nark, subs. (thieves’).—A police spy; one in the pay of the
police. [From copper (q.v.), a policeman, + nark, a spy; used as a nark
signifies to watch or look after.]
1879. Thos. Satchell, in Notes and Queries, 5 S., xi., 406.
Copper’s Nark: A police spy.
1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Good Night. Likewise you coppers’
narks and dubs What pinched me when upon the snam.
1889. Answers, 20 July, p. 121, col. 1. He instructed me ... on no
account to appear to be anxious to pry into their secrets, lest I
should be mistaken for a copper’s nark, i.e., a person in the pay
of the police.
Copperstick, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.
Copus, subs. (Univ.).—A wine or beer cup, which was commonly imposed as
a fine upon those who talked Latin in hall or committed other breaches
of etiquette. Dr. Johnson derives it from episcopus, and if this be
correct it is doubtless the same as bishop.
Copy of Countenance, subs. phr. (old).—A sham; humbug; pretence.
1579. Gosson, Apol. of the Schoole of Abuse, p. 64 (Arber). They
have eaten bulbief, and threatned highly, too put water in my
woortes, whensoeuer they catche me; I hope it is but a coppy of
their countenance.
1607. Dekker, Westward Ho, Act ii., Sc. 1. I shall love a puritan’s
face the worse, whilst I live, for that copy of thy countenance.
1637. Fletcher, Elder Brother, V., i. Nor can I change my copy, if
I purpose to be of your society.
1754. Fielding, Jonathan Wild, bk. III., ch. xiv. This, as he
afterwards confessed on his death-bed, i.e., in the court at
Tyburn, was only a copy of his countenance; for that he was at that
time as sincere and hearty in his opposition to Wild as any of his
companions.
1756. Foote, Englishman from Paris, Act i. And if the application
for my advice is not a copy of your countenance, a mask; if you are
obedient, I may set you right.
Coral Branch, subs. phr. (venery).—The penis.
Core, Coreing, verb and verbal subs. (old).—See quot.
1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171. Coreing: picking up small
articles in shops.
Corinth, subs. (old).—A brothel. For synonyms, see Nanny-shop. Cf.,
Corinthian and Corinthianism.
1609. Shakspeare, Timon of Athens, Act ii., Sc. 2. Would we could
see you at Corinth!
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.
Corinthian, subs. (old).—1. A rake; a loose liver; sometimes
specifically, a fashionable whore. Shakspeare has it, ‘a lad of
mettle,’ but in another place he uses corinth as above. In the slang
sense an allusion to the notoriety of Corinth as a centre of
prostitution, i.e., the temple-city of Aphrodite. Κορινθάεσθαι, = to
Corinthianise was Greek slang. Hence the proverb—Οὺ παντὸς ἀνδρὸς εἰς
Κόρινθον ισθ’ ὁ πλοῦς: and Horace, Epist. lib. 1, xvii., 36—
‘Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum.’
Also used as an adjective, a verbal form being to corinthianize. Cf.,
Shakspeare’s use of Ephesians in II. King Henry IV., ii. 2. For
synonyms, see Molrower.
1598. Shakspeare, I Henry IV., Act ii., Sc. 4. And tell me flatly I
am no proud Jack, like Falstaff; but a Corinthian, a lad of mettle,
a good boy.
b. 1608. d. 1674. Milton, Apology for Smect. And raps up, without pity,
the sage and rheumatic old prelatess, with all her young Corinthian
laity.
1890. Daily Telegraph, 25 Feb., p. 4, col. 7. Is it not curious
that hotel proprietors [at Monte Carlo] should countenance, if not
encourage, a Tom and Jerry tone and a wild Corinthian element, even
in well-conducted restaurants?
1890. Henley and Stevenson, Beau Austin, iii., 1. I assure you,
Aunt Evelina, we are Corinthian to the last degree.
2. A dandy; specifically applied in the early part of the present
century to a man of fashion; e.g., Corinthian Tom, in Pierce Egan’s
Life in London. For synonyms, see Dandy.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 9. ’Twas diverting to see,
as one ogled around, How Corinthians and Commoners mixed on the
ground.
1832. Pierce Egan, Book of Sports, p. 210. ‘I would be a Corinthian
to the end of the chapter if I could—but the truth is, I was not
lucky enough to be born a swell.’
1853. Wh. Melville, Digby Grand, ch. iv. Where the hospitable ‘Jem’
received his more aristocratic visitors, and to which, as
Corinthians, or ‘swells,’ we were immediately admitted.
1854. Thackeray, Leech’s Pictures in Quarterly Review, No. 191,
Dec. Corinthian, it appears, was the phrase applied to men of
fashion and ton ... they were the brilliant predecessors of the
‘swell’ of the present period.
Corinthianism, subs. (old and modern).—See Corinthian, in both senses
of which, mutatis mutandis, corinthianism is employed.
Cork, subs. (common).—1. A bankrupt. For analogous terms, see Quizby.
2. (Scotch).—The general name in Glasgow and neighbourhood for the head
of an establishment, e.g., of a factory, or the like.
To draw a cork, verbal phr. (pugilistic).—To draw blood. A variant is
to tap one’s claret.
1818. P. Egan, Boxiana, vol. I., p. 136. Several blows exchanged,
but no corks were drawn.
1819. Thos. Moore, Tom Crib’s Mem. to Cong., p. 25. ... This being
the first Royal claret let flow, Since Tom took the Holy Alliance
in tow, The uncorking produced much sensation about, As bets had
been flush on the first painted snout.
1837. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. xii. Tap his claret
cask—draw his cork!
Cork-brained, adj. phr. (old).—Light headed; foolish.
Corker, subs. (common).—1. That which closes an argument, or puts an
end to a course of action; a settler; a finisher (q.v.); specifically a
lie. Cf., whopper.
2. Anything unusually large, or of first-rate quality; remarkable in
some respect or another; e.g., a heavy blow; a monstrous lie.—See
Whopper.
1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xix. ‘Then I lets him have
it, right, left, right, jist three corkers, beginning with the
right hand, shifting to the left, and then with the right hand
ag’in.’
To play the corker.—To indulge in the uncommon; to exhibit exaggerated
peculiarities of demeanour; specifically in school and university slang
to make oneself objectionable to one’s fellows.
1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. vii. ‘Why, you’re sticking up for
him now!’ said Tom ... astonished at this apparent change of front.
‘If you choose to come back and play the corker like this, it’s
your look-out.’
Corks, subs. (general).—1. A butler. [An allusion to one of the duties
of the office.] Cf., Burn-crust, a baker; Master of the mint, a
gardener; Cinder-Garbler, a maid-of-all-work, etc.
2. (nautical).—Money. [A facetious allusion to money as the means of
‘keeping afloat.’] For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.
Corkscrewing, verbal subs. (common).—The straggling, spiral walk of
tipsiness.
Corkscrews, subs. pl. (general).—Very stiff and formal curls, once
called bottle-screws.
1890. Notes and Queries, 5 April. Bottle-screws—Dr. Murray has this
word in the N.E.D. as obsolete, meaning cork-screws, as we now call
them.
Corky, adj. (colloquial).—Sprightly; lively. [An allusion to the
buoyancy of a cork.] Shakspeare uses it in King Lear, iii., 7. Com.,
‘Bind fast his corky arms’; but with him (1605) it = ‘withered.’
Corn, subs. (American).—1. Food; sustenance; grub. [A figurative usage
of the legitimate word.]
1870. Green Bay (Wis.) Gaz., Oct. I therefore take thus to forewarn
You not to trust her with a straw, For I will never pay her corn
Unless compelled to by the law.