A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
a-fe againſt alfo allufion alſo anfwered appellation bailiff beat becauſe beer beggars blow Box THE JESUIT breeches bufinefs bully called alfo Cant cant language canting crew cheat cock cuckold cull DARKMANS DOG LATIN dram dreffed drink drunk Exchange Alley eyes faid failors falfe fame faſhion faying fecret fellow fervant fhilling fhip fhoes fhop fhort fide fign fignifying filly fmall fo called fociety foldier fome fometimes formerly fpirits French frequently ftand fteal ftory fuch fuppofed fword gallows gentlemen hanged head highwayman himſelf horfe horſe houfe houſe huſband inftrument Irish JACK lame duck legs likewife link-boy liquor mafter miſtreſs mort mouth Newgate nick name nofe obferved occafion one's perfon phrafe pickpocket Pot valiant practifed pretending prifon puniſhment QUEER rogue ſaid tail term theſe thieves thofe thoſe trick Tyburn ufed uſed vulgar wench whofe whore wife woman word
Popular passages
Page lxxxvii - ... give. But the true original meaning of the word, owes its birth, to one Joe Dun, a famous bailiff of the town of Lincoln, so extremely active, and so dexterous...
Page liii - A trick often practised on ignorant country fellows, vain of their strength, by laying a wager with them that they may be pulled through a pond by a cat. The bet being made, a rope is fixed round the waist of the party to be catted, and the end thrown across the pond, to which the cat is also fastened by a packthread, and three or four sturdy fellows are appointed to lead and whip the cat...
Page cxxiii - It consists of a riotous mob, who after a printed summons dispersed through the adjacent towns, meet at Cuckold's Point, near Deptford, and march from thence in procession, through that town and Greenwich, to Charlton, with horns of different kinds upon their heads; and at the fair there are sold rams...
Page 14 - SPARROW. A cruel sport practised at wakes and fairs, in the following manner: A cock sparrow whose wings are clipped, is put into the crown of a hat; a man having his arms tied behind him, attempts to bite off the sparrow's head, but is generally obliged to desist, by the many pecks and pinches he receives from the enraged bird.
Page xliii - An Exchange Alley term for one who buys stock on speculation for time, ie agrees with the seller, called a Bear, to take a certain sum of stock at a future day, at a stated price: if at that day stock fetches more than the price agreed on, he receives the difference; if it falls or is cheaper, he either pays it, or becomes a lame duck, and waddles out of the Alley.
Page 47 - RIDING SKIMMINGTON. A ludicrous cavalcade, in ridicule of a man beaten by his wife. It consists of a man riding behind a woman, with his face to the horse's tail, holding a distaff in his hand, at which he seems to work, the woman all the while beating him with a ladle...
Page cxxii - Hoop, To run the hoop ; an ancient marine custom. Four or more boys having their left hands tied fast to an iron hoop, and each of them a rope, called a nettle, in their right, being naked to the waist, wait the -signal to begin : this being made by a stroke with a cat of nine tails, given by the boatswain to one of the boys, he...
Page cxiii - I suffer him, or any one belonging to us, to be abused by any strange abrams, rufflers, hookers, pailliards, swaddlers, Irish toyles, swigmen, whip jacks, jarkmen, bawdy baskets, dommerars, clapper dogeons, patricoes, or curtals; but will defend him, or them, as much as I can, against all other outliers whatever. I will not conceal aught I win out of libkins, or from the ruffmans, but will preserve it for the use of the company.
Page vii - The whole printed from a Copy taken on one of their Gang% in the late Scuffle between the Watchmen and a Party of them on Clerkenwell Green ; which Copy is now in the Cuftody of one of the Conftables of that Pariih.