Deadman’s Lurk, subs. phr. (thieves’).—Extortion of money from the
relatives of deceased persons. [Lurk = a sham, swindle, or imposition
of any kind.]
Dead Marine.—See Dead Man.
Dead-Meat, subs. (common).—A corpse. [By comparison to butchers’
wares.] Cf., Cold meat.
English Synonyms.—Cold meat; pickles (medical students’: for specimens
direct from the subject); croaker; stiff; stiff ’un; dustman; cold pig.
French Synonyms.—Un engourdi (thieves’: properly, torpid, heavy, dull);
une falourde engourdie (popular: falourde = a heavy piece of firewood);
un dégelé (pop: dégel = death); un rebouis (thieves’: one who has been
‘polished off’); un refroidi (thieves’: refroidir = to cool, to chill;
in cant, to kill); les conserves (popular: literally, preserves; cf.,
‘pickles’: specifically used of murdered bodies recovered from the
water).
Dead-meat train.—See Cold-meat train.
Dead Men’s Shoes, subs. phr. (common).—A situation, property, or
possession formerly occupied or enjoyed by a person who is dead and
buried. Waiting for dead men’s shoes = looking forward to inheritances.
b. 1584, d. 1660. Phineas Fletcher, Poems, p. 256. And ’tis a
general shrift, that most men use, But yet ’tis tedious waiting
dead men’s shoes.
1758. A. Murphy, The Upholsterer, Act i. I grant ye, ma’am, you
have very good pretensions; but then it’s waiting for dead men’s
shoes.
1764. Wilkes [in P. Fitzgerald’s Life of] (1888), vol. I., p. 244.
As they have no other relation but Miss Wilkes, I therefore suppose
they will leave everything to her, independent of me. Yet this is,
after all, waiting for dead men’s shoes.
1878. C. H. Wall, tr. Molière II., 218. Death is not always ready
to indulge the heir’s wishes and prayers, and we may starve while
waiting for dead men’s shoes.
Dead-nap, subs. (provincial).—A thorough-going rogue.
Dead-nip, subs. (provincial).—A plan or scheme of little importance
which has turned out a failure.
Dead-oh, adv. (naval).—In the last stage of intoxication. For synonyms,
see Drinks and cf., Screwed.
Dead on, or Dead nuts on, adv. phr. (common).—Originally, having some
cause of complaint or quarrel; also, very fond of; having complete
mastery over; sure hand at. Cf., death on, Derry on and down on, all of
which are variants.—See also nuts on, an older form.
1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 288. Davies was dead
nuts upon cutting men’s hair. The whole evening long was he calling
men out to be operated upon.
Dead-set, subs. (colloquial).—A pointed and persistent effort or
attempt.
1781. G. Parker, View of Society, I., 196. He then gave me what I
term the dead set with his eye.
1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 145. He was made a
dead set at by some other prisoners, who schooled him for a career
of vice and crime.
1889. Globe, 2 Nov., p. 6, col. 2. Certain persons of the
‘thoughtful’ kind, says Rod and Gun, are making a dead set against
the field sports of Britain.
Dead Sow’s Eye, subs. phr. (tailors’).—A badly worked button-hole.
Dead Stuck, adv. phr. (theatrical).—Said of actors who break down in
the midst of a performance through sudden lapse of memory.
Dead Swag, subs. (thieves’).—‘Dead stock’ or dead cargo (q.v.); plunder
that cannot be disposed of. [Swag = booty.]
Dead to Rights, adv. phr. (common).—Certain; without doubt. An
amplification of To rights (q.v.).
1888. Cincinnati Weekly Gazette, 22 Feb. Hill claims he has the
thing down dead to rights, and that he will make the farmers sweat
who have been asserting that his claim was ‘N.G.’
Dead-’un, subs. (thieves’).—1. An uninhabited house. The cracksman who
confines his attentions to ‘busting’ of this kind is, in Fr., un
nourrisseur.
1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl., 505. Me and the screwsman
went to Gravesend, and I found a dead ’un (uninhabited house).