SCORE, “to run up a SCORE at a public house,” to obtain credit there
until pay day, or a fixed time, when the debt must be WIPED OFF.
SCOT, a quantity of anything, a lot, a share.—_Anglo Saxon_, SCEAT,
pronounced SHOT.
SCOT, temper, or passion,—from the irascible temperament of that
nation; “oh! what a SCOT he was in,” _i.e._, what temper he
showed,—especially if you allude to the following.
SCOTCH FIDDLE, the itch; “to play the SCOTCH FIDDLE,” to work the index
finger of the right hand like a fiddlestick between the index and
middle finger of the left. This provokes a Scotchmen in the highest
degree, it implying that he is afflicted with the itch.
SCOTCH GRAYS, lice. Our northern neighbours are calumniously reported,
from their living on oatmeal, to be peculiarly liable to cutaneous
eruptions and parasites.
SCOTCHES, the legs; also synonymous with NOTCHES.
SCOUT, a college valet, or waiter.—_Oxford._—_See_ GYP.
SCRAG, the neck.—_Old cant._ _Scotch_, CRAIG. Still used by butchers.
Hence, SCRAG, to hang by the neck, and SCRAGGING, an execution,—also
_old cant_.
SCRAN, pieces of meat, broken victuals. Formerly the reckoning at a
public-house. SCRANNING, begging for broken victuals. Also, an _Irish_
malediction of a mild sort, “Bad SCRAN to yer!”
SCRAPE, a difficulty; SCRAPE, low wit for a shave.
SCRAPE, cheap butter; “bread and SCRAPE,” the bread and butter issued
to school-boys—so called from the butter being laid on, and then
_scraped_ off again, for economy’s sake.
SCRAPING CASTLE, a water-closet.
SCRATCH, a fight, contest, point in dispute; “coming up to the
SCRATCH,” going or preparing to fight—in reality, approaching the line
usually chalked on the ground to divide the ring.—_Pugilistic._
SCRATCH, “no great SCRATCH,” of little worth.
SCRATCH, to strike a horse’s name out of the list of runners in a
particular race. “Tomboy was SCRATCHED for the Derby, at 10, a.m., on
Wednesday,” from which period all bets made in reference to him (with
one exception) are void.—_See_ P.P.—_Turf._
SCRATCH-RACE (on the _Turf_), a race where any horse, aged, winner, or
loser, can run with any weights; in fact, a race without restrictions.
At _Cambridge_ a boat-race, where the crews are drawn by lot.
SCREAMING, first-rate, splendid. Believed to have been first used in
the _Adelphi_ play-bills; “a SCREAMING farce,” one calculated to make
the audience scream with laughter. Now a general expression.
SCREEVE, a letter, a begging petition.
SCREEVE, to write, or devise; “to SCREEVE a fakement,” to concoct,
or write, a begging letter, or other impostor’s document. From the
_Dutch_, SCHRYVEN; _German_, SCHREIBEN; _French_, ECRIVANT (old form),
to write.
SCREEVER, a man who draws with coloured chalks on the pavement figures
of our Saviour crowned with thorns, specimens of elaborate writing,
thunderstorms, ships on fire, &c. The men who attend these pavement
chalkings, and receive halfpence and sixpences from the admirers of
street art, are not always the draughtsmen. The artist, or SCREEVER,
drew, perhaps, in half-a-dozen places that very morning, and rented the
spots out to as many cadaverous looking men.
SCREW, an unsound, or broken-down horse, that requires both whip and
spur to get him along.
SCREW, a key,—skeleton, or otherwise.
SCREW, a turnkey.
SCREW, a mean or stingy person.
SCREW, salary or wages.
SCREW, “to put on the SCREW,” to limit one’s credit, to be more exact
and precise.
SCREW LOOSE, when friends become cold and distant towards each other,
it is said there is a SCREW LOOSE betwixt them; said also when anything
goes wrong with a person’s credit or reputation.
SCREW, a small packet of tobacco.
SCREWED, intoxicated or drunk.
SCRIMMAGE, or SCRUMMAGE, a disturbance or row.—_Ancient._ Corruption of
_skirmish_?
SCROBY, “to get SCROBY,” to be whipped in prison before the justices.