Dacha-Saltee, subs. (thieves’ and vagrants’).—A franc; or tenpence
English. [From the Italian dieci soldi.]—See Saltee.
1861. Reade, Cloister and Hearth, ch. lv. What with my crippledom
and thy piety, a wheeling of thy poor old dad, we’ll bleed the
bumpkins of a dacha-saltee.
Dad-Binged (also -Blamed, -Fetched), -Gasted, -Goned, -Rotted, or
-Snatched, ppl. adj. (American).—Half veiled oaths; ‘whips to beat the
devil round the stump.’ [Dad is a corrupted form of ‘God,’ which, with
other forms, (Dod-, Dog-, etc.), is found in various combinations, as
above.] For synonyms, see Oaths.
1887. Scribner’s Magazine. ‘Dadgum ye!’ cried Jeff, irritably,
‘whut—by grabs, hit’s a human critter!’
1888. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,
p. 122. A chile er two, mo ’er less, warn’t no consekens to
Sollermun, dad-fetch him. Ibid. ‘Why, Mars Tom, I doan want no
rats. Dey’s de dad-blamedest creturs to ’sturb a body ... I ever
see.’
Dad-Dad, Mum-Mum or Daddy-Mammy, subs. phr. (military).—A beginner’s
practice on the drum.
Daddle, subs. (common).—The hand; or fist. To tip the daddle, to shake
hands. For synonyms, see Bunch of fives, to which may be added the
following lists:—
English Synonyms. Chalk-farm; claw; clutch; cornstealer; duke; fam;
famble; feeler; fin; flapper; flipper; forceps; forefoot; fork;
grappling-iron or hook; goll (old); oar; paddle; palette; paw; plier;
shaker; wing; Yarmouth mitten.
French Synonyms. Les abatis or abattis (popular: a term applied to both
hands and feet; properly giblets); l’agrafe (common; hook or clasp); la
croche (thieves’: properly a quaver; possibly influenced by croc =
hook, grapnel, or drag; an allusion to the hooked appearance of the
musical note); la cuiller (popular: literally a spoon); les brancards
(popular: this expression, like abatis, is also used of the feet;
properly = shafts, as of a cart); l’arguemine (thieves’); le battoir
(popular: properly a washerwoman’s ‘bat’); un gigot (popular: a large,
thick hand, a ‘mutton fist’); le grappin; les harpions (also = feet).
Italian Synonym. Gramoso (properly ‘a wretch’); cerra.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 143, s.v.
1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Mem. to Cong., p. 23. From this to the
finish, ’twas all fiddle-faddle, Poor Georgy, at last, could scarce
hold up his daddle. Ibid. With daddles high uprais’d, and nob held
back, In awful prescience of th’ impending thwack.
1827. Scott, Two Drovers, ch. ii. Ah, this comes of living so long
with kilts and bonnets—men forget the use of their daddles.
1842. Punch, vol. III, p. 136. And her daddle link’d in his’n gone
to roam as lovers use.
1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. v. ‘Tip us your daddle, my
boy,’ said the second speaker.
Daddy, subs. (general).—1. The superintendent of a casual ward;
generally an old pauper.