sight
»She had a precious _sight_ more gumption than he had ever possessed.»
(T. T. T. 213. 18.)
_A waiter._
»He tried to do others a precious _sight_ sharper than himself.» (T. T.
T. 220. 20.)
_The same._
»The dog, who ought to know a durned _sight_ more about them than he
does— —.» (Novel Notes 152. 25.)
_A sailor._
_Sight_ is a common vulgarism for »lot», »deal.» (_Precious_, intensive
adj. and adv., is colloquial, verging towards vulgar.)
sit
»She _sits_ herself again.» (T. T. T. 225. 10.)
_A waiter._
The ordinary vulgar confusion of _sit_ and _seat_. (This phrase should
not be considered as on the same level as the following: »The moment you
_stand_ or _sit_ him down he begins.» (T. T. T. 67. 2.) This is only an
ordinary graphic use of an intransitive verb in a transitive sense;
colloquial perhaps, but not vulgar.)
skunk
»I trusted him, the _skunk_.» (Woodb. Farm 58. 20.)
_Uneducated young man._
A _skunk_ is a mean, paltry wretch (_usling_.) Originally the word
signifies a _stinkard_ (Mydaus meliceps).
slap-up
»We’ll have a good, round, square, _slap-up_ meal.» (Three Men In A Boat
41. 7.)
= _fine_, _first-rate_, _of the best_.
Synonym: _bang-up_.
Cf. _slapping_: very-big, excellent; _slapper_: anything exceptional.
sort of
»This seemed to _sort of_ lighten the boat.» (Three Men In A Boat 108.
30.)
= _seemed to lighten the boat, as it were._
Often spelt and pronounced »sorter.» Compare _kind of_ (»_kinder_»). Both
especially common in American vulgar language and probably imitated from
America.
to do spoons
»The girl said he’d _gone to do spoons_—whatever that may mean.» (Barbara
18. 25.)
_A doctor._
= _to make love_, _to flirt_.
The expression may, I think, be characterised as a vulgarism; while
_spoon_, as verb, originally student slang, may be considered as slang >
colloquial.
stow
»_Stow it!_» he says. (T. T. T. 161. 14.)
_Uneducated individual._
»Oh, _stow that_», she says. (T. T. T. 141. 15.)
_The same._
= _hold your tongue!_