As easy as a. b. c., adv. phr. (popular).—Extremely facile; the acme of
ease, i.e., from an adult’s point of view; children, however, probably
view the matter in a different light. In this, as in much else,
distance lends enchantment to the scene. This colloquialism is by no
means of modern growth; Shakspeare speaks of answer ‘coming like A. B.
C. book.’
A-Bear, v. (provincial and vulgar).—To suffer, or to tolerate. [From
old English abearan, to bear or carry].—This term, though hoary with
age, and long of honorable usage (from A.D. 885 downward), must now be
classed with degenerate words, or at all events with non-literary
English. Though still largely dialectical, its use amongst people of
education is reckoned vulgar. It is now invariably employed in
conjunction with ‘cannot’—‘I can’t abear furriners.’
Abelwhackets.—See Ablewhackets.
Aberdeen Cutlet, subs. phr. (familiar).—A dried haddock.—Cf.,
Billingsgate pheasant.
Abide, v. (vulgar).—To tolerate; to put up with. This, like abear
(q.v.), has ancient sanction for its use. In the senses of to endure,
suffer, bear, or sustain—meanings which are now obsolete—the word can
be traced back as far as A.D. 1205; the modern vulgar usage, rarely
employed affirmatively, dates from about A.D. 1526, when Tindale
translated John viii. 43, by ‘He cannot abyde the hearyng of my words.’
Abide, therefore, may be classed amongst those words which, once
respectable, have now fallen into disrepute. Shakspeare puts into the
mouth of one of his characters a phrase which, to those acquainted with
the speech of the uneducated classes, has a very modern appearance, ‘I
cannot abide the smell of hot meat.’
Abigail, subs. (popular).—A lady’s maid. There can be little doubt that
the familiar use of this name for the genus ‘waiting woman,’ was
primarily an allusion to the title of handmaid assumed by Abigail, the
wife of Nabal, in speaking to the servants of King David. ‘Behold, let
thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my
Lord’ (1 Sam. xxv. 41). Other names recorded in the Bible, and for the
matter of that elsewhere, have been used much in the same way as
marking distinctive character. Abigail has thus become associated with
the idea of a female servant; so, too, a giant is spoken of as a
Goliath; a patient man as a Job; a shrew as a Jezebel; a coward as a
Bob Acres, cum multis aliis. In Beaumont and Fletcher’s comedy of The
Scornful Lady (1616), one of the characters, Mrs. Youngton, a ‘waiting
gentlewoman,’ is named Abigail. This play, having a long run of public
favour,—Pepys in his Diary [1666], iv. 195, specially mentions
it,—possibly led to the popularization of the nickname. At all events
it subsequently appeared on more than one occasion in the same
connection in the plays of the period. There is no reason to suppose
that the term was derived from the notorious Abigail Hill, better known
as Mrs. Masham, a poor relative of the Duchess of Marlborough, by whom
she was introduced to a subordinate place about the person of Queen
Anne; nor will the contention that it was first established in public
usage by Dean Swift, who employed it in a letter to Stella, hold good;
although likely enough he caused it to take deeper root than before.
The terms on which he was with the Mashams rendered him the last person
in the world likely to have used such a term, unless it had been so
long in familiar use as to be deprived of all appearance of personal
allusion to them.
1663. T. Killigrew, Parson’s Wedding, II., vi. in Dodsley, O.P.
(1780), xi., 425. [In this play, a waiting woman is termed an
Abigail.]
1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, book XI., ch. ii. The mistress was no
sooner in bed than the maid prepared to follow her example. She
began to make many apologies to her sister Abigail for leaving her
alone in so horrid a place as an inn.
1858. G. Eliot, Mr. Gilfil’s Love-Story, ch. iii. The next morning,
Mrs. Sharp, then a blooming Abigail of three-and-thirty, entered
her lady’s private room.
It has been stated that Old English writers used the word Abigail to
signify a termagant woman, and also a female bigamist, but there is no
evidence to support these views. It may be mentioned that the French
use the word in the popular English sense. A waiting woman was also
formerly called a comb-brush (q.v.).
Ablewhackets, also Abelwhackets, Abelwackets, subs. (nautical).—[From
able (uncertain, perhaps alluding to able seaman) + whack]. A game of
cards played by sailors, in which the loser receives a whack or blow
with a knotted handkerchief for every game (or point) he loses. Smyth,
in his Sailor’s Word Book [1867], says it is very popular with
horny-fisted salts. It is quoted by Grose as far back as 1785, but
Clark Russell, in Sailor’s Language [1883], refers to it as obsolete.
Abound, v. (American).—To be prominent; en évidence.
1873. Evening Standard, 28 January. When we are told of a professed
wit more than usually abounding at an evening party, there is no
temptation to recruit our dictionaries from the English
manufactured in the United States.
About East, adv. phr. (American).—To the frontiersman or pioneer, the
Eastern or New England States are typical of all that he cherishes most
and loves best. The vicissitudes of his rough Western life, the toil
and hardships he has undergone while battling with nature and building
up a new habitation far from the old homestead, all predispose him to
turn with longing eyes and undying, though quaintly exaggerated love to
the East—the home of his fathers. A famous Yankee character (Major Jack
Downing) makes use of the expression that he would ‘Go East of sunrise
any day to see sich a place.’ Everybody and everything connected with
the East, i.e., his native land, is commendable. To his mind they
cannot be surpassed—hence the things he would hold up to admiration he
says are about East, i.e., ‘about right.’ Indeed, it is surprising what
a strong hold this idea has upon the minds of men. Many a familiar
phrase recalls the old times and the old folks to memory, which, in
this respect, is evergreen. They talk of going down East, that is, to
New England, while the Down-Easter is neither more nor less than the
pure and veritable Yankee.—Farmer’s Americanisms, Old and New.
About Right, adv. phr. (vulgar).—Correctly; to the purpose;
properly—general satisfaction on the part of the speaker concerning a
given thing or action. ’Arry sometimes varies the locution by ter
rights (q.v.).
1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. iv. ‘You’re about right,
there, Mr. Lawless; you’re down to every move, I see, as usual.’
1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. xxii. ‘I am afraid your schemes
went a little awry yesterday,’ observed Mrs. Daventry.... ‘You’re
about right; they did.’
About the Size of It, adv. phr. (American).—1. An expression covering a
wide field—assent, general satisfaction, approval, etc. Synonymous with
about right; o.k.; ter rights, etc.
2. Used also for ‘how’; ‘how much,’ etc.—a measure of quantity or
quality.
1876 (?). James Greenwood, New ‘Roughs’ Guide’ in ‘Odd People in
Odd Places.’ Got no home, no wittles, and never a ’a’penny to buy
none with. That’s about the size of how destitoot we are, sir.
1881. Punch, May 14, p. 228. Sir G[orgius] M[idas] goes in for
Culture. “Look ’ere, Clarke. ‘Appy thought! I’ll make this little
room the libery, you know; ’ave a lot o’ books. Mind you order me
some.’ ‘Yes, Sir Gorgius. What sort of books shall I order?’ ‘Oh,
the best, of course, with binding and all that to match!’ ‘Yes, Sir
Gorgius, how many shall I order?’ ‘Well,—let me see,—suppose we say
a couple o’ ’undred yards of ’em, hay? That’s about the size of it,
I think.”
Above Board, adv. phr. (common).—Without disguise or concealment; with
an absence of artifice. Jamieson refers this to the language of the
gaming table, the players when changing cards putting their hands on,
i.e., above the table or board to ensure fair dealing. It appears,
however, even in its figurative sense to be a colloquialism of long
standing.—See Murray’s New English Dictionary.
Above One’s Bend, adv. phr. (American).—See Bend.
Above Par, adv. phr. (familiar).—Used figuratively in a multitude of
senses, e.g. (1) in reference to one’s health or spirits, in good
condition; (2) applied to a man in liquor it signifies a state of
moderate drunkenness; or (3) used in regard to pecuniary matters it is
synonymous with being ‘flush,’ having ‘the needful’—‘best bliss of
earth,’ as Duncombe puts it. Derived from the technical, commercial
meaning. Stocks are said to be at par when purchasable at their ‘face’
value; when at a premium they are above par; and when selling at a
decline in value, i.e., at a discount, they are said to be below par;
hence the colloquial usage. See example in quotation. Synonyms, up to,
or above the mark.
1880. Punch, June 5, p. 253. Fred on Pretty Girls and Pictures.
Awful fellow that Ted at his letters!—he writes for the
Scanmag, you know;
And his style never falls below ‘par.’ Not my joke, heard him
putting it so——.
And the pars in the Scanmag—he does them—are proper, and chock
full of ‘go.’
Only paper I care to grind through, never preachy, or gushing,
or slow!
Abracadabra, subs. (scientific jargon).——1.—A cabalistic word used in
incantations. When written in a manner similar to that shown in
accompanying diagram, so as to be read in different directions, and
worn as an amulet, it was supposed to cure certain ailments.
A B R A C A D A B R A
A B R A C A D A B R
A B R A C A D A B
A B R A C A D A
A B R A C A D
A B R A C A
A B R A C
A B R A
A B R
A B
A
Hence (2), any word-charm, empty jingle of words, gibberish, nonsense,
or extravagant idea. Littré’s derivation from the Hebrew—ab father,
mach spirit, and dabar word—is regarded by many authorities as
fanciful; as also is T. A. G. Balfour’s reference of it to a
composition of the first letters of the Hebrew words signifying
‘Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.’ Other authorities, though by no means
in accord, generally agree that a Persian origin is the most likely.
Mr. R. S. Charnock (Notes and Queries, 7 S., iii., 504) thinks it
related to the cabalistic word abraxas composed of the Greek letters α,
β, ρ, α, ξ, α, ς, making, according to the Greek numeration, the number
365.
Des auteurs beaucoup plus anciens n’ont vu dans le mot abraxas,
qu’une réunion des lettres numériques, qui étant additionées
donnent le nombre 365, ou l’année entière, en sorte qu’ abraxas
serait le symbole du soleil ou de sa révolution annuelle
presumée.—Depping.
In Persian, according to Grotenford, abraxas means the ‘Sun God’; if
this be so its use as a talisman is easily understood. Yet another
derivation is from a corrupt form of the Hebrew—dabar is verbū, and
abraca is benedixit, i.e., verbum benedixit. If, however, the word is
Semitic at all, and nothing more than an unintelligible jargon of
letters, it could possibly be better explained than by Littré, by
Abra(i) seda bra(i), ‘Out, bad spirit, out!’ as a magic formula for
driving out the demon which causes the fever. It is interesting in this
connection to compare Mark i. 25, ix. 25, and parallel passages.
1687. Aubrey’s Remaines of Gentilisme, p. 124 (1881). [In this work
abracadabra is given arranged as a spell.]
1711. Spectator, No. 221. They [the signatures] are, perhaps,
little amulets or charms to preserve the paper against the
fascination and malice of evil eyes; for which reason I would not
have my reader surprised, if hereafter he sees any of my papers
marked with a Q, a Z, a Y, an &c., or with the word abracadabra.
1722. Defoe, Journal of the Plague (ed. Brayley, 1835, p. 56).
‘This mysterious word, which, written in the form of a triangle or
a pyramid, was regarded as a talisman or charm of wonderful power,
is said to have been the name of a Syrian god, whose aid was
considered to be invoked by the wearers of the amulet. It
originated in the superstitions of a very remote period, and was
recommended as an antidote by Serenus Sammonicus, a Roman
physician, who lived in the early part of the third century, in the
reigns of the emperors Severus and Caracalla. Its efficacy was
reputed to be most powerful in agues and other disorders of a
febrile kind, and particularly against the fever called by the
physicians Hemitritæus.’
1879. Literary World, 5 Dec., p. 358, col. 2 [m]. The new
abracadabra of science, ‘organic evolution.’
Abraham, subs. (popular).—A clothier’s shop of the lowest description,
where slop-made garments of shoddy cloth form the staple commodity
together with second-hand clothes or hand-me-downs (q.v.). Chiefly
localized in the East End of London, where these establishments are
kept by Jews; hence probably the derivation of the term; adj. (old
cant).—See Abram.
Abraham-Cove, Abraham-Man, Abram-Cove, Abram-Man, Tom of Bedlam’s Man,
or Bedlam Beggar, subs. (old cant).—It is difficult now-a-days to trace
with certainty the origin of these terms, notwithstanding a wealth of
matter on the subject. Nares describes the fraternity as a set of
vagabonds who wandered about the country soon after the dissolution of
the religious houses: the provision for the poor in those places being
cut off and no other substituted. Thus, primarily, an Abraham-man was a
vagabond, a beggar—tattered, unwashed, unkempt—and a thief withal.
‘What an Abram!’ an exclamation for a naked fellow. Harman, the
earliest authority, refers to them as feigning madness (see quot.), and
as having been resident in Bethlehem Hospital. Wards in the ancient
Bedlam bore distinctive names of some saint or patriarch; that named
after Abraham was devoted to a class of mendicant lunatics, who on
certain days were permitted to go out begging. It is an open question
whether the ward gave the name to the men or vice versâ. In either
case, however, the use of the term ‘Abraham’ is in this connection
possibly an allusion to the beggar Lazarus in Luke xvii. These
mendicants bore a badge, but many assumed the distinction without
right, and begged feigning lunacy. Hence, it may be, the more popular
signification of the term—
2. An impostor, wandering about the country pretending to be mad,
begging in the streets, and laying hands upon all trifles ‘considered’
or ‘unconsidered’ in his way. Dekker, in his English Villanies [1632],
has many curious particulars of the habits of this class of impostors
who were said to sham Abraham. Shakspeare also, in King Lear [1605],
Act ii., Scene 3, describes and puts into the mouth of one of these
characters the following words:
... the basest and most poorest shape,
That ever penury in contempt of man,
Brought near to beast: my face I’ll grime with filth;
Blanket my loins; elf all my hair in knots;
And with presented nakedness outface
The winds, and persecutions of the sky.
The country gives me proof and precedent
Of Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices,
Strike in their numb’d and mortified bare arms
Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary;
And with this horrible object, from low farms,
Poor pelting villages, sheep-cotes and mills,
Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers,
Enforce their charity.
The term is now obsolete, though Scott used it as late as 1824, and
from the Quarterly Review (1813), IX., p. 167, it seems to have then
been in pretty general use. The modern prototype is called a tramp or
cadger. To sham Abraham, i.e., to feign sickness or distress is,
however, still in vogue. The French equivalent is Fagotin (m).—See also
Abraham sham and Abram.
1573. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 29. These Abraham men be those that
fayn themselves to have bene mad, and have bene kept either in
Bethlehem, or in some other pryson a good time, and not one amongst
twenty that ever came in prison for any such cause.
1625. Massinger, New Way to Pay Old Debts, II., i. Are they padders
or Abram-men that are your consorts?
1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Abram cove, naked or poor man.
1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. xxi. ‘There is a trick for you
to find an Abram-man, and save sixpence out when he begs of you as
a disbanded seaman.’
Abraham Grains, subs. (thieves’).—A publican who brews his own beer.
Abraham Newland, subs. (popular).—A bank note. Abraham Newland was
chief cashier to the Bank of England, from 1778 to 1807.
1829. Sir W. Scott, letter to Croker in Croker Papers, vol. II., p.
36. A bank note seems to terrify everybody out of their wits, and
they will rather give up their constitution to Hunt and Cobbett
than part with an Abraham Newland to preserve it.
Abraham’s Balsam, subs. (old).—Death by hanging.—See To die in one’s
boots.
Abraham Sham, subs. (old cant).—1.—Feigned sickness or distress. See
Abraham-man. Usually spoken of as to sham Abraham, or Abram (q.v.).
From this primary meaning, joined with an allusion to the name of a
once well-known chief cashier of the Bank of England, was derived the
secondary meaning of the term shamming Abraham, to forge bank-notes.
Abraham Newland was in office in the years 1778–1807, and a popular
song of the period ran as follows:
‘I have heard people say that sham Abraham you may,
But you mustn’t sham Abraham Newland.’
Further point is added to this stanza by the fact that bank notes were
themselves termed Abraham Newlands (q.v.), and that forgery was felony
by statute.
1759. Goldsmith, Citizen of the World, cxix. “He swore that I
understood my business perfectly well, but that I shammed Abraham
merely to be idle.”
1849. C. Bronté, Shirley, ch. xxxiii. Matthew, sceptic and scoffer,
had already failed to subscribe a prompt belief in that pain about
the heart; he had muttered some words, amongst which the phrase
shamming Abraham had been very distinctly audible.
Abraham Suit, subs. phr. (thieves’).—False pretences; fraudulent
representations to excite sympathy. The term is applied to any trick or
artifice calculated to extract money from the charitable, whether by
means of begging letter, a faked-up appearance, or other contrivance.
Those who resort to such practices are said to go on the Abraham suit.
Cf., Abraham sham.
Abraham’s Willing, subs. phr. (rhyming slang).—A shilling.
Abraham Work, subs. phr. (popular).—Shams of all kinds are so
designated, from a bubble company down to the most trumpery ‘city
pen’orth.’
Abram, subs. (old and also modern sea slang).—1. The same as
Abraham-man (q.v.).—2. A malingerer; one who gets put on the sick list
to shirk work.
Adj. (old cant).—1. Mad.
1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 36 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874).
Abram madde. He maunds Abram, he begs as a madde man.