baccy
»Man works, as he thinks, for beer and _baccy_.» (T. T. T. 59. 20.)
_A »minor poet.» Conversation between ladies and gentlemen._
»You had to walk ten miles to get your _baccy_.» (Three Men In A Boat 8.
8.)
»He sent them out to buy his _baccy_,» (Novel Notes 80. 16.)
_A young gentleman._
_Baccy_ is a vulgar form of _tobacco_, more vulgar than _bacco_. The
formation of the word, with a gradual weakening of the last, unaccented
syllable, is characteristic of vulgar language: _baccoᵘ_ > _baccŏ_ (or
_backer_) > baccy.
bally
»I call the whole thing _bally_ foolishness.» (Three Men In A Boat 14. 7.)
A comparatively recent coinage, it is said, of _The Sporting Times_ from
the Irish _bally-hooly_.
The word is used in the same manner as _blooming_ and _bloody_, i. e. as
a meaningless intensive expression. _Bloody_ is an adj. used on every
possible occasion by Eng. workmen, but without meaning. Schoolboys and
grown-up persons of the better classes use _bally_.
chip in
»She took ‘the liberty _of chipping in_’, to use her own expression.»
(They And I. 226. 6.)
_An actress._
= _of joining in the conversation_.
_To chip in_ is _sport-slang_ (Cards) for »to put a chip (or counter) in
the pool»; hence, by extension, to make a contribution to, or take part
in, anything—e. g. a conversation or an enterprise.
coach
»The shy, backward boy I had _coached_ and bullied.» (Sketches 83. 10.)
_A cultivated man._
»For a fortnight past the O’Kelly had been _coaching_ me.» (P. Kelver II.
80. 7.)
_The same._
= _to prepare for an examination_.
Also: to train in physical acquirements, e. g. in (= _tutor_ or _traince_
in Standard English) cricket or rowing.
_A coach_: a person who trains another (but more disparaging); analogous
terms are _crammer_, _feeder_, _grinder_.
The word is originally _schoolboy_ and _academical_ slang, but now in
general use among all classes.
crib
»’Ow could ’e get a _crib_? no character, no references.» (P. Kelver II.
56. 12.)
_A young clerk._
= _situation, place_.
Originally _commercial slang_, like _berth_ in the same sense.
do
»He will only let us have them (the rooms) on the understanding that we
‘_do for_’ ourselves.» (P. Kelver II. 110. 26.)
_A gentleman._
= _to attend on_ (as landladies on lodgers). Probably _servants’ slang_.
jaw
»Go to hell with your snivelling _jaw_.» (Novel Notes 179. 10.)
_A convict._
_Schoolboy slang_ for _lengthy talk_—esp. in the nature of a reproof.
Cf. None of your jaw, you swab! (SMOLLETT, Roderick Random.) Shut up your
jaw! = Hold your tongue!
land
»He killed three of them before Harris could _land_ him with the
frying-pan.» (Three Men In A Boat 46. 22.)
»By-the-by, he _landed_ you pretty heavily, didn’t he?» (The Prude’s
Progress. 16. 20.)
_A gentleman._
_To land, boxers’ slang = to hit, to beat._
mash
»One day he fell in love; or to put it in the words of Teddy Tidmarsh,
who brought the news to us, ‘got _mashed on_ Gerty Lowell’.» (Sketches
55. 28.)
»It’s like ’aving an Alcock’s porous plaster _mashed on_ yer.» (Novel
Notes 212. 15.)
_Uncultivated young man._
_To be mashed on_ and _to be spoony on_ are rather common expressions for
_to be in love with_. (Cf. _to be nuts on_.)
According to _Leland_, the term _mashed_ originates from the Gipsy-word
_mash_ = _masher-ava_: allure; according to others, it is a variation of
_smash_[6]. (_Smite_, _smitten_ is used in the same sense.)
In the eighties, it came to England from America, where it was used
especially among actors.
Cf. _mash_: sweetheart. _to mash_, _to be on the mash_: to flirt.
_masher_: (1) a species of Don Juan, esp. among choristers and
actresses; (2) a dandy and, as adj., smart.
The term is, I suppose, originally _actors’ slang_.
slippy
»You make her marry the Prince; and _be slippy about it_.» (They And I.
75. 14.)
_A schoolboy._
_Schoolboy slang_ for _be quick_:
(Cf. expressions as »the ship slipped through the water».)
spoon, spoony
»_spooning_ smutty-faced servant-gals across area railings.» (T. T. T.
157. 3.)
_Uneducated young man._
»_Spoony_ couples.» (T. T. T. 129. 24.)
_A waiter._
_To spoon_, originally _student-slang_ = _flirt_, _make love_. _Spoony_ =
_enamoured_.
(A spoon, originally = a simpleton, esp. an absurd whole-hearted lover.)
stodgy
»I often feel sorry for you, having nobody but grown-up people to talk
to.»—
»They do get a bit _stodgy_ after a certain age,» agreed the Babe. (Tommy
And Co. 164. 16.)
_A young gentleman._
_Stodgy_, probably _schoolboy slang_, is something heavy, unappetizing,
or difficult to digest, lying heavily on the stomach, literally or
figuratively: e. g. ill-cooked potatoes, a man whose conversation is all
facts and no wit, etc.
Cf. _stodge_: food, a heavy meal. _stodger_: a glutton.
tuck
»Waste not your substance upon tops and marbles, nor yet upon _tuck_ (Do
ye still call it »tuck»?).» (P. Kelver I. 111. 6.)
_The author._
_Schoolboy slang_ for _pastry_, _sweetstuff_, and the like.
Cf. _tuck-shop_ = a pastrycook’s.