Fall of the Leaf, subs. phr. (old).—Hanging. [In allusion to the fall
of the drop.] For synonyms, see Ladder.
1789. G. Parker, Variegated Characters. He was knocked down for the
crap the last sessions. He went off at the fall of the leaf at
Tuck’em Fair.
False-hereafter, subs. (American).—A bustle. For synonyms, see
Bird-cage.
Fam.—See Fambling-cheat and Famble.
Famble, Fam, or Fem, subs. (old).—The hand. Cf., Fambling-cheat. For
synonyms, see Bunch of fives and Daddle. [German slang has Fehm, Vehm,
or Vehn, and is apparently the same word as the English Fam. A likely
etymon is the Swed. and Dan. fem, five.]
1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 64, s.v.
1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874).
Fambles. handes.
1662. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii., 1. We clapt our fambles.
1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.
1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. If I had not helped you
with these very fambles (holding up her hands).
1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 28. Allowing for delicate
fams, which have merely Been handling the sceptre, and that, too
but queerly.
1878. C. Hindley, Life and Times of James Catnach. So kiddy is my
famble.
Verb (old).—To touch; to handle; especially with a view to ascertaining
the whereabouts of valuables. Also termed to fam for the plant, and to
run a rule over. To fam a donna = to take liberties with a woman; to
firky-toodle (q.v.); to cross-fam (q.v.).
Famblers, Fambling-Cheats (q.v.) or Fam-snatchers (q.v.), subs.
(old).—Gloves.
1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874),
s.v.
Fambling-cheat, Famble, or Fam, subs. (old).—A ring; also (about 1694)
gloves, which later still were also called Fam-snatchers (q.v.). [From
Famble, a hand + a.s. chete (q.v.), a thing.]
1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 64. A fambling chete, a ring on thy
hand.
1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874).
Fambling Cheates, Rings.
1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, II., in wks. (1720), iv., 47. Look
on my finger, sirrah, look here; here’s a famble.
1694. Dunton, Ladies’ Dict., s.v. Famble-cheats, rings or gloves.
1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Famble cheats, rings or gloves.
1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 180. Fam, A gold ring.
Fam-grasp, verb (old).—To shake hands. Also substantively,
hand-shaking.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
Familiars, subs. (common).—Lice. For synonyms, see Chates.
Familiar-way, subs. (common).—With child.
Family Disturbance, subs. (American).—Whiskey. For synonyms, see
Drinks.
Family-hotel, subs. (old).—A prison. For synonyms, see Cage. [Cf.,
Family-man.]
1857. Punch, 31 Jan. In a ward with one’s pals, Not locked up in a
cell, To an old hand like me its a fam-ly hotel.
Family-man, subs. (old).—A thief; specifically, a fence (q.v.). [In
allusion to the fraternities into which thieves were at one time
invariably banded.]—See Thieves.
1749. Bamfylde Moore-Carew., ‘Oath of the Canting Crew.’ No
dummerar, or romany; No member of the family.
1788. G. A. Stevens, Adv. of a Specialist, i., 221. Let the people
say what they will against gamesters, gamblers, Or family-men.
1838. Glascock, Land Sharks and Sea Gulls, II., 100. This house ...
was a favourite resort of the family, or, to speak with less
reserve, it was a thieves’ house.
1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, [3rd ed.], p. 444. Thieves:
Family-men.
Family of Love, subs. phr. (venery).—A company of prostitutes.
Family-plate, subs. (common).—Silver money. For synonyms, see Actual
and Gilt.
Family-pound, subs. (common).—A family grave.
Fam-lay, subs. (thieves’).—Shop-lifting. [From fam, a hand + lay, a
performance.]
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.
Fam-snatchers, subs. (old).—Gloves. Cf., Fambling-cheat.
c. 1824. Pierce Egan, Finish to Life in London. To Jerry Hawthorn,
Esq., I resign my fam-snatchers, i.e., my gloves.
Fam-squeeze, subs. (old).—Strangulation.
Fam-struck, adj. and adv. (thieves’).—Baffled in ascertaining the
whereabouts of valuables on the person of an intended victim; also
handcuffed.
Fan, subs. (thieves’).—A waistcoat; said by Hotten (1864) to be a
Houndsditch term, but quoted in Matsell (1859) as American.
English Synonyms.—Ben; benjie; M.B. waistcoat; Charley Prescot.
French Synonyms.—Un gilmont (thieves’); un georget (popular: = a
breast-plate); un casimir (popular); une camisole (popular: properly, a
kind of petticoat-bodice worn by women); un croisant (popular).
German Synonyms.—Brustmalbisch; Kreuzspanne (Hanoverian); Nefesch
(Ave-Lallement suggests identity with the Fischness of Zimmermann, a
word said to be derived from the English ‘fashion.’ Probably, however,
the true etymon is the Hebrew nephesch, in allusion to a waistcoat
covering the chest and heart, the seat of life. German ladies call a
scarf or shawl [which protects the same region] Seelenwärmer; i.e., a
soul-warmer); Zwängerling (= fitting closely to the body; cf.,
Weitling, Hanoverian Weitchen, the trousers = wide).
1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 444, s.v.
Verb (old).—1. To beat; to be-rate. For synonyms, see Baste and Tan.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. I fannd him sweetly, I beat him
heartily.
1887. W. O. Tristram, in Eng. Ill. Mag., v., 228. The coachman now
has recourse to all the dark arts of persuasion and the whip,
fanning them, which, in the tongue of coachmen, is whipping them.
2. (thieves’).—To feel; to handle (with a view to ascertain if a victim
has anything valuable about his person). [Cf. Fam, of which it is
possibly a corruption.] Also to steal from the person.
1851–1861. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 319. Before Joe
said anything to me, he had fanned the gentleman’s pocket, i.e.,
had felt the pocket and knew there was a handkerchief.
Queen Anne’s Fan.—See Anne’s Fan.
Fancy, subs. (old).—The fraternity of pugilists: prize-fighting being
once regarded as THE fancy par excellence. Hence, by implication,
people who cultivate a special hobby or taste. Cf., Fancy-bloke.
1818. P. Egan, Boxiana, vol. I., p. 355. The various gradations of
the Fancy hither resort, to discuss matters incidental to pugilism.
1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. xiv. Mr. William Ramm, known to
the Fancy as the Tutbury Pet.
1860. Chambers’ Journal, vol. XIII., p. 153.
Fancy-bloke, subs. (common).—1. A sporting man. [From Fancy (q.v.) +
Bloke, a man.]