FLUSH, the opposite of HARD UP, in possession of money, not poverty
stricken.—_Shakespere._
FLY, to lift, toss, or raise; “FLY the _mags_,” _i.e._, toss up the
halfpence; “to FLY a window,” _i.e._, to lift one for the purpose of
stealing.
FLY, knowing, wide awake, fully understanding another’s meaning.
FLY THE KITE, or RAISE THE WIND, to obtain money on bills, whether good
or bad, alluding to tossing paper about like children do a kite.
FLY THE KITE, to evacuate from a window,—term used in padding kens, or
low lodging houses.
FLYING-MESS, “to be in FLYING MESS” is a soldier’s phrase for being
hungry and having to mess where he can.—_Military._
FLYING STATIONERS, paper workers, hawkers of penny ballads; “Printed
for the Flying Stationers” is the _imprimatur_ on hundreds of penny
histories and sheet songs of the last and present centuries.
FLYMY, knowing, cunning, roguish.
FOALED, “thrown from a horse.”—_Hunting term._—_See_ PURLED, and SPILT.
FOGEY, or OLD FOGEY, a dullard, an old-fashioned or singular
person. _Grose_ says it is a nickname for an invalid soldier, from
the _French_, FOURGEAUX, fierce or fiery, but it has lost this
signification now. FOGGER, _old word_ for a huckster or servant.
FOGGY, tipsy.
FOGLE, a silk handkerchief—not a CLOUT, which is of _cotton_. It
has been hinted that this may have come from the _German_, VOGEL,
a bird, from the _bird’s eye_ spots on some handkerchiefs [_see_
BIRD’S-EYE-WIPE, under BILLY], but a more probable derivation is the
Italian slang (_Fourbesque_) FOGLIA, a pocket, or purse; or from the
_French argot_, FOUILLE, also a pocket.
FOGUS, tobacco.—_Old cant._ FOGO, _old word for stench_.
FOONT, a sovereign, or 20s.
FOOTING, “to pay FOOTING.”—_See_ SHOE.
FORAKERS, a water-closet, or house of office.—Term used by the boys at
_Winchester school_.
FORK OUT, to bring out one’s money, to pay the bill, to STAND FOR or
treat a friend; to hand over what does not belong to you.—Old cant
term for picking pockets, and very curious it is to trace its origin.
In the early part of the last century, a little book on purloining was
published, and of course it had to give the latest modes. FORKING was
the newest method, and it consisted in thrusting the fingers stiff and
open into the pocket, and then quickly closing them and extracting any
article.
FORKS, or GRAPPLING IRONS, fingers.
FORTY GUTS, vulgar term for a fat man.
FOUR AND NINE, or FOUR AND NINEPENNY GOSS, a cheap hat, so called from
4s. 9d., the price at which a noted advertising hat maker sold his hats—
“Whene’er to slumber you incline,
Take a _short_ NAP at 4 and 9.”—1844.