1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 259. I one day asked
a man ... if the hard work of prison did not spoil his hands for
delicate manipulations. ‘Oh, bless you, no!’ he replied;... ‘In a
week or two a man can bring his hooks and feelers into full working
trim again and no mistake.’
Feet. Making feet for children’s stockings, verb. phr. (old).—Begetting
or breeding children.
Officer of feet, subs. phr. (old military).—An officer of
infantry.—Grose [1785].
How’s your poor feet? phr. (common).—A street catch phrase in the early
part of the sixties. [For suggested derivation cf., quot., 1890.]—See
Street cries.
1863. All the Year Round, p. 180, col. 1. ‘How’s your poor feet?’ a
year ago cheated half the natives of Cockaigne into the belief that
they were gifted with a special genius for repartee.
1890. Town and Country (Sydney), 11 Jan., p. 19, col. 4. Henry
Irving’s revival of ‘The Dead Heart’ has revived a bit of slang....
When the play was brought out originally, where one of the
characters says, ‘My heart is dead, dead, dead!’ a voice from the
gallery nearly broke up the drama with ‘How are your poor feet?’
The phrase lived.
To lie feet uppermost, verb. phr. (venery).—To ‘take’ a man.
Feet-Casements, subs. (common).—Boots or shoes. For synonyms, see
Trotter-Cases.
Feeze [also Feaze, Feize, and Pheeze], verb (old).—1. To copulate. For
synonyms, see Ride.
1612. Beaumont and Fletcher, The Coxcomb (q.v.).