SHEEP’S EYES, “to make SHEEP’S EYES at a person,” to cast amorous
glances towards one on the sly:—
“But he, the beast, was casting SHEEP’S EYES at her,
Out of his bullock head.”
_Colman, Broad Grins_, p. 57.
SHEEP’S FOOT, an iron hammer used in a printing office, the end of the
handle being made like a sheep’s foot.
SHELF, “on the SHELF,” not yet disposed of; young ladies are said to
be so situated when they cannot meet with a husband; “on the SHELF,”
pawned.
SHELL OUT, to pay or count out money.
SHICE, nothing; “to do anything for SHICE,” to get no payment. The
term was first used by the Jews in the last century. _Grose_ gives the
phrase CHICE-AM-A-TRICE, which has a synonymous meaning. _Spanish_,
CHICO, little; _Anglo Saxon_, CHICHE, niggardly.
SHICER, a mean man, a humbug, a “duffer,”—a person who is either
worthless or will not work.
SHICKERY, shabby, bad.
SHICKSTER; a prostitute, a lady.—_See_ SHAKESTER.
SHILLY SHALLY, to trifle or fritter away time; irresolute. Corruption
of _Shall I, shall I?_
SHINDY, a row, or noise.
SHINE, a row, or disturbance.
SHINE, “to take the SHINE out of a person,” to surpass or excel him.
SHINER, a looking-glass.
SHINERS, sovereigns, or money.
SHINEY RAG, “to win the SHINEY RAG,” to be ruined,—said in gambling,
when any one continues betting after “luck has set in against him.”
SHIP-SHAPE, proper, in good order; sometimes the phrase is varied to
“SHIP-SHAPE and _Bristol_ fashion.”—_Sea._
SHIRTY, ill-tempered, or cross. When one person makes another in an ill
humour he is said to have “got his SHIRT out.”
SHITTEN-SATURDAY (corruption of SHUT-IN-SATURDAY), the Saturday between
Good Friday and Easter Sunday, when our Lord’s body was enclosed in the
tomb.
SHIVERING JEMMY, the name given by street folk to any cadger who
exposes himself, half naked, on a cold day, to excite pity and procure
alms. The “game” is unpleasant, but exceedingly lucrative.
SHODDY, old cloth worked up into new; also, a term of derision applied
to workmen in woollen factories.—_Yorkshire._
SHOE, to free, or initiate a person,—a practice common in most trades
to a new comer. The SHOEING consists in paying for beer, or other
drink, which is drunk by the older hands. The cans emptied, and the
bill paid, the stranger is considered properly SHOD.
SHOE LEATHER! a thief’s warning cry, when he hears footsteps. This
exclamation is used in the same spirit as Bruce’s friend, who, when he
suspected treachery towards him at King Edward’s court, in 1306, sent
him a purse and a pair of spurs, as a sign that he should use them in
making his escape.
SHOES, “to die in one’s SHOES,” to be hung.
SHOOL, to saunter idly, become a vagabond, beg rather than
work.—_Smollett’s Roderick Random_, vol. i., p. 262.
SHOOT THE CAT, to vomit.
SHOOT THE MOON, to remove furniture from a house in the night, without
paying the landlord.
SHOOT WITH THE LONG BOW, to tell lies, to exaggerate. Synonymous with
THROWING THE HATCHET.
SHOP BOUNCER, or SHOP LIFTER, a person generally respectably attired,
who, while being served with a small article at a shop, steals one of
more value. _Shakespere_ has the word LIFTER, a thief.
SHOPPING, purchasing at shops. Termed by _Todd_ a slang word, but used
by _Cowper_ and _Byron_.
SHORT, when spirit is drunk without any admixture of water, it is said
to be taken “short;” “summat SHORT,” a dram. A similar phrase is used
at the counters of banks; upon presenting a cheque, the clerk asks,
“how will you take it?” _i.e._, in gold, or in notes? Should it be
desired to receive it in as small a compass as possible, the answer is,
“SHORT.”
SHORT COMMONS, short allowance of food.—_See_ COMMONS.
SHOT, from the modern sense of the word to SHOOT,—a guess, a random
conjecture; “to make a bad SHOT,” to expose one’s ignorance by making
a wrong guess, or random answer without knowing whether it is right or
wrong.
SHOT, from the once _English_, but now provincial word, to SHOOT, to
subscribe, contribute in fair proportion;—a share, the same as SCOT,
both being from the _Anglo Saxon_ word, SCEAT; “to pay one’s SHOT,”
_i.e._, share of the reckoning, &c.
SHOT, “I wish I may be SHOT, if,” &c., a common form of mild swearing.
SHOVE-HALFPENNY, a gambling street game.
SHOWFULL, or SCHOFELL, a Hansom cab,—said to have been from the name of
the inventor.—_Led de hor qu._
SHOW-FULL, or SCHOFUL, bad money. _Mayhew_ thinks this word is from the
_Danish_, SKUFFE, to shove, to deceive, cheat; _Saxon_, SCUFAN,—whence
the _English_, SHOVE. The term, however, is possibly one of the many
street words from the _Hebrew_ (through the low Jews); SHEPHEL, in
that language, signifying a _low_ or debased estate. _Chaldee_,
SHAPHAL.—_See_ Psalm cxxxvi. 23, “in our _low estate_.” A correspondent
suggests another very probable derivation, from the _German_, SCHOFEL,
trash, rubbish,—the _German_ adjective, SCHOFELIG, being the nearest
possible translation of our _shabby_.
SHOWFULL-PITCHER, a passer of counterfeit money.
SHOWFULL PITCHING, passing bad money.
SHOWFULL PULLET, a “gay” woman.