Verb (thieves’).—To look; to pipe (q.v.); e.g., the bulky’s dicking =
the policeman is watching you. [From the gypsy dikk.] Fr., gaffer. For
synonyms, see Pipe.
Dick in the green, phr. (thieves’).—Weak; inferior. Cf., Dicky.
1812. Vaux, Memoirs, s.v.
In the reign of Queen Dick, adv. phr. (common).—Never; ‘when two
Sundays come in a week.’ For synonyms, see Greek Kalends.
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
1864. Standard, 13 Dec., Rev. of Sl. Dicy. Moreover ... a few days
since, a ‘bus driver in altercation with his conductor, who
threatened him with paying off soon, replied, ‘Oh yes, in the reign
of queen dick,’ which, on inquiry we found to be synonymous with
‘Never,’ or ‘Tib’s eve.’’
To swallow the Dick, verb. phr. (common).—To use long words without
knowledge of their meaning; to high falute (American).
Up to Dick, adv. phr. (common).—Not to be ‘taken in’; ‘artful’; ‘fly’;
wide-awake. For synonyms, see Downy. Also = up to the mark, i.e.,
perfectly satisfactory.
1877. J. Greenwood, Under the Blue Blanket. ‘Ain’t that up to dick,
my biffin?’ ‘I never said it warn’t.’
1887. Walford’s Antiquarian, April, p. 251. Betwixt you and me I
think you’ll agree That of course I look ‘up to Dick.’
Dickens, subs. (old).—The devil (q.v.) or deuce (q.v.); used
interchangeably. [A corruption of nick (q.v.).] For synonyms, see
Skipper.
1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, Act III., Sc. ii. I
cannot tell what the dickens his name is.
1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, bk. I., prol. (Bohn), vol. I., p. 99. But
hearken, joltheads, you vie-dayes, or dickens take ye.
1727. John Gay, Beggar’s Opera, Act I. Sc. 1. Peach. What a dickens
is the woman always whimpering about murder for! No gentleman is
ever looked upon the worse for killing a man in his own defence.
1754. Foote, Knights, Act II. Mally Pengrouse! Who the dickens is
she?
1824. R. B. Peake, Americans Abroad, i., 1. Oh! the dickens—I’m
stunded.
1880. G. R. Sims, Zeph. ch. xv. ‘Inez is fretting after Pedro,’ he
said to himself, ‘but what the dickens is Totty blubbering about?’
1889. C. Haddon Chambers, Ne’er-do-Well, ‘In Australian Wilds.’
What the dickens could I do? I believe I swore a little at first,
and then I flourished my whip.
Dicker, subs. and verb: also Dickering, subs. (American).—Barter; swap
(q.v.): generally applied to trade in small articles.
1830. Cobbett, in Rural Rides, I., 199 (1886). It is barter, truck,
change, dicker, as the Yankees call it, but, as our horse-jockeys
call it, swap, or chop.
1831–90. Whittier, Poems. For peddling dicker, not for honest
sales.
1888. New York Weekly Times, 28 March. He had perhaps been
considering the advisability of making a dicker with his old
political opponents in the hope of bettering his condition.
1888. Denver Republican, 7 April. After some dickering a style of
coffin was selected and a price decided upon.
Dickey, subs. (old).—1. A woman’s under petticoat.
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.