CHOPS, properly CHAPS, the mouth, or cheeks; “down in the CHOPS,” or
“down in the mouth,” _i.e._, sad or melancholy.
CHOUSE, to cheat out of one’s share or portion. Hackluyt, CHAUS;
Massinger, CHIAUS. From the Turkish, in which language it signifies an
interpreter. Gifford gives a curious story as to its origin:—
In the year 1609 there was attached to the Turkish embassy in England
an interpreter, or CHIAOUS, who by cunning, aided by his official
position, managed to cheat the Turkish and Persian merchants then
in London out of the large sum of £1,000, then deemed an enormous
amount. From the notoriety which attended the fraud, and the
magnitude of the swindle, any one who cheated or defrauded was
said to _chiaous_, or _chause_, or CHOUSE; to do, that is, as this
_Chiaous_ had done.—_See Trench, Eng. Past and Present_, p. 87.
CHOUT, an entertainment.
CHOVEY, a shop.
CHRISTENING, erasing the name of the maker from a stolen watch, and
inserting a fictitious one in its place.
CHUBBY, round-faced, plump.
CHUCK, a schoolboy’s treat.—_Westminster school._ Food, provision for
an entertainment.—_Norwich._
CHUCK, to throw or pitch.
CHUCKING A JOLLY, when a costermonger praises the inferior article his
mate or partner is trying to sell.
CHUCKING A STALL, where one rogue walks in front of a person while
another picks his pockets.