Chapter XXI: Part 21

1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. viii. ‘The law’s hard—very severe—hanged
poor Jack Winterfield at York, despite family connexions and great
interest, all for easing a fat West-country grazier of the price of
a few beasts.’

1840. Thackeray, Paris Sketch Book, p. 109. His was the place at
the écarté table, where the Countess would ease him nightly of a
few pieces.

1849. Punch, November, ‘The Swell Mobsman’s Almanack.’ Remember,
wen you’ve eased a cove in a fogg, never cut away in an ’urry, or
crushers stop you.

2. (venery).—To content a woman.

1861. A. C. Swinburne, Poems and Ballads. ‘Hermaphroditus.’ Hath
made him man to ease a woman’s sighs.

To ease oneself, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To ‘rear.’ For synonyms, see Bury a Quaker.

2. (venery).—To ejaculate.

Eason, verb (American thieves’).—To tell.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

East-and-South, subs. (rhyming slang).—The mouth. Also Sunny South. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, The Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

Eastery, subs. (cheap-jacks’).—Private business.

1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 107. At
one eastery Aaron Jessell was going to cry the place.

Easy, To make easy, verb. phr. (old).—To gag or kill. [Grose, 1785.]

Easy as damn it, (or as my eye), adj. phr. (popular).—Excessively easy: ‘easy as lying’ [Shakspeare].

Easy does it! verb. phr. (popular).—An exclamation of encouragement and counsel = ‘Take your time and keep your coat on.’

Easy over the pimples, (or over the stones), verb. phr. (popular).—An injunction = ‘go slow,’ or ‘mind what you’re about.’

Easy Virtue.—See Lady of Easy Virtue.

Eat, verb (American).—To provision: e.g., a steamer is said to be able to eat 400 passengers and sleep about half that number.

ante 1871. Pickings from the Picayune, p. 47. Hoosier—‘Squire, what
pay do you give?’ Contractor—‘Ten bits a day.’ Hoosier—‘Why,
Squire, I was told you’d give us two dollars a-day and eat us.’

1887. R. A. Procter, on ‘Americanisms’ in Knowledge, s.v. Sometimes
a host may eat his guests in another sense. I once, when staying at
an hotel, found a finely coloured motto rather unfortunately spelt;
it ran, ‘Watch and Prey.’ Its owner carried out the idea.

Eat coke.—See Coke.

Eat crow.—See Crow.

Eat a fig, verb. phr. (rhyming slang).—To ‘crack a crib’; to break a house.

To eat one’s head off, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be retained for service and stand idle; also (quot., 1850) to cost more in ‘keep’ than one is worth.

1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. xiv. I’d rather keep her
for a week than a fortnight, I can tell you; she’d eat her head off
in a month, and no mistake.

1872. Times, 27 Aug. ‘The Autumn Manœuvres.’ The country never
would stand the maintenance all the year round of some 1,500 horses
which would have nothing to do for nine months out of the twelve
but eat their heads off.

1874. Mrs. H. Wood, Johnny Ludlow, 1 S., No. xxv., p. 446. And I
fit to eat my head off with having nothing to do.

Eat one’s head, hat, boots, etc., verb. phr. (common).—A locution of emphatic asseveration. [Probably Dickensonian, influenced by the proverbial saying, ‘To eat one’s heart out’—to undergo intense struggle, and also To eat one’s head off (q.v.).]—See Notes and Queries, 7 S., iii., 7, 94, 197, 352, 433.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, xlii., 367. ‘Well, if I knew as little of
life as that, I’D eat my hat and swallow the buckle whole,’ said
the clerical gentleman.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xiv. This was the handsome offer
with which Mr. Grimwig backed and confirmed nearly every assertion
he made; and it was the more singular in his case because, even
admitting, for the sake of argument, the possibility of scientific
improvements being ever brought to that pass which will enable a
man to eat his own head in the event of his being so disposed, Mr.
Grimwig’s head was such a particularly large one that the most
sanguine man alive could hardly entertain a hope of being able to
get through it at a sitting, to put entirely out of the question a
very thick coating of powder.

1887. E. E. Money, Little Dutch Maiden, II., viii., 148. And if you
don’t run up against him next day in Bond Street, you may eat your
hat!

To eat one’s terms, verb. phr. (legal).—To go through the prescribed course of study for admission to the bar. [In allusion to the dinners a student has to attend in the public hall of his inn.]

To eat one’s words, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To retract a statement; to own a lie.

To eat up, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To vanquish; to ruin. [Originally Zulu.]

1890. National Observer, 13 Dec, p. 88, col. 2. But buttons
tarnish, hot gospelling palls, the eating-up of white men is in
strictest consonance with regal tradition and the regal habit.

Eaves, subs. (American).—A hen-roost.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Eavesdropper, subs. (American).—A chicken thief; also generally, any petty pilferer.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Ebenezer, subs. (Winchester College).—A stroke at fives: when the ball hits ‘line’ at such an angle as to rise perpendicularly into the air.

Ebony, subs. (common).—1. A negro; otherwise Blackbird (q.v.) and Black Ivory. Thomas Fuller (1608–1661) spoke of the negro race as ‘God’s images cut in ebony.’ For synonyms, see Snowball.

2. The publisher of Maga.: i.e., Blackwood.—(See Noctes Ambrosianæ passim.)

Ebony-optics, subs. (old).—Black eyes. Ebony-optics albonized = black eyes painted white.

Edgabac, subs. (back slang).—Cabbage.

Edge. Stitched off the edge, phr. (tailors’).—Said of a glass not filled to the top.

Side-edge, subs. (tailors’).—Whiskers.

Short top edge, subs. phr. (tailors’).—A turn-up nose or celestial (q.v.).

Edge in, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To slip in; insinuate: e.g., To edge in a word (or a remark).

Edge off (or out of), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To slink away; to gradually desist. To take the edge off [a thing, or person, or idea] = to become acquainted with; to enjoy to satiety. Cf., Hamlet, iii., 2. ‘It would cost you a groaning to take off my edge.’

Edgenaro, subs. (back slang).—An orange.

Edge-ways. Not able to get a word in edge-ways, phr. (colloquial).—Having but the barest opportunity of taking part in a discussion.

Eel-Skins, subs. (old).—Tight trousers. For synonyms, see Bags and Kicks.

1827. Bulwer Lytton, Pelham, ch. xlix., p. 190. He only filched a
twopenny halfpenny gilt chain out of his master, Levy, the
pawnbroker’s window, and stuck it in his eel-skin to make a show.

E-fink, subs. (back slang).—A knife.

Efter, subs. (thieves’).—A theatre thief.

Egg.—See Bad Egg.

Egg on, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To encourage.

Eggs. Sure as eggs is eggs, phr. (popular).—Of a certainty; without doubt. [From the formula, ‘x is x.’]

To teach one’s grandmother to roast or suck eggs, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To lecture elders and superiors; Fr., les oisons veulent mener les oies paître = the goslings want to drive the geese to pasture.

Egham, Staines, and Windsor, subs. phr. (common).—See quot.

1886. G. A. Sala, in Ill. Lon. News, 23 Oct., 418, 2. Is not the
three-cornered hat of an English gentleman’s coachman in gala
livery known as an ‘Egham, Staines, and Windsor’?

Egyptian-Hall, subs. (rhyming slang).—A ball.

Eighter, subs. (prison).—An eight-ounce loaf.

Ekame, subs. (back slang).—A make (q.v.), or swindle.

Ekom, subs. (back slang).—A moke (q.v.), or donkey.

Elbow, verb (American thieves’).—To turn a corner; to get out of sight.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

To shake the elbow, verb. phr.—To play dice. [From the motion of the arm in ‘casting.’]

1680. Cotton, Compleat Gamester [gaming is compared to] a
paralytical distemper which, seizing the arm the man cannot chuse
but shake his elbow.

1705. Vanbrugh, Confederacy, Act i. He’s always shaking his heels
with the ladies and his elbows with the lords.

1709. Mrs. Centlivre, Gamester, I. (1872), i., 134. He is at
shaking his elbows over a table ... courting the dice like a
mistress, and cursing them when he is disappointed.

1713. Guardian, No. 120. But what would you say, should you see the
Sparkler shaking her elbow for a whole night together, and thumping
the table with a dice-box?

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xvii. To eke out your living By
the wag of your elbows.

To crook the elbow, verb. phr. (common).—To drink.—See Elbow-crooker. [From the action of the arm.] For synonyms, see Lush.

Elbow-Crooker, subs. (common).—A hard drinker. See infra and Drinks.

English Synonyms.—Borachio; boozington; brewer’s horse; bubber; budger; mop; lushington; worker of the cannon; wet-quaker; soaker; lapper; pegger; angel altogether; bloat; ensign-bearer; fiddle-cup; sponge; tun; toss-pot; swill-pot; wet subject; shifter; potster; swallower; pot-walloper; wetster; dramster; drinkster; beer-barrel; ginnums; lowerer; moist ’un; drainist; boozer; mopper-up; piss-maker; thirstington.

French Synonyms.—Un louave (thieves’); un litronneur (popular: litre = 1·760 pint); une grosse culotte (popular = big-breeches or fat-arse); un gavé (thieves’: gaver = to stuff); une lampe à mort (pop.: a confirmed drunkard; = a death-lamp); un zingueur (popular); un boyau rouge (pop. = red-guts); un marquant (thieves’: = conspicuous, striking, etc.); un canonneur (pop.: canon = a glass of wine; cf., English cannon); un camphrier (pop.: a dram-drinker; also = a camphor-tree); un fioleur (pop.: fiole = phial: cf., toss-pot and swill-pot); une éponge (pop.: = a sponge; also a paramour, a fool, an attorney); un bibard (thieves’: biberon = sucking-bottle); un buvard (popular: = blotting book); un pochard (colloquial); adroit du coude (pop. = artful elbowed); un artilleur (pop.: = a cannoneer; cf., cannon); un boissonneur (pop.: boisson = drink); un buvailleur or buvaillon (pop.: a man easily drunk); un chocaillon (pop.: a female drunkard); un poivrot (familiar); un sac à vin (pop. = a wine butt).

German Synonym.—Mattobolo (matto balo = a drunken pig: from the gypsy matto = drunk).

Italian Synonyms.—Fransoso (= a Frenchman); chiaritore; chiaristante.

Spanish Synonyms.—Cuero (= a goat-skin bag for wine or oil); coladra (= a wooden pail in which wine is measured and retailed); cuba (= a measure for wine); difunto de taberna (lit., a public-house corpse); odre (= a wine-skin); pellejo (= a liquor skin dressed and pitched); peneque; potista; odrina (= an ox-hide bottle).

Elbower, subs. (American thieves’).—A runaway. [Cf., elbow.]

Elbow-Grease, subs. (colloquial).—Energetic and continuous manual labour: e.g., ‘Elbow-Grease is the best furniture oil.’ Fr., huile de bras or de poignet; du foulage.

1779–1839. Galt [quoted in Imperial Eng. Dict.]. He has scartit and
dintit my guid mahogany past a’ the power o’ beeswax and
elbow-grease to smooth.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1859. G. Eliot, Adam Bede, bk. I., ch. vi. Nowhere else could an
oak clock-case and an oak table have got to such a polish by the
hand: genuine elbow-polish, as Mrs. Poyser called it, for she
thanked God she never had any of your varnished rubbish in her
house.

1870. London Figaro, 31 Oct. Often have I been ... frequently
admonished to put some elbow-grease into my work.

1876. M. E. Braddon, Joshua Haggard’s Daughter, ch. xi. There’s no
such polish in Devonshire, I should think, as poor Phœbe’s
elbow-grease.

Elbow-scraper, or Jigger, subs. (common).—A fiddler.

Elbow-shaker, subs. (old).—A gambler.—See Elbow.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Elbow-shaker (s.) a gamester,
one that practises dice-playing.

Elbow-shaking, subs. (common).—Gambling.—See Elbow.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lx. ‘It’s been doosedly dipped and
cut into, sir, by the confounded extravygance of your master, with
his helbow shakin’, and his bill discountin’.’

Electrified, ppl. adj. 1. (American).—Moderately drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

2. (colloquial).—Violently startled.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘The Lay of St. Gengulphus.’ Pig,
pudding, and soup. The electrified groups, Pop under the sofa.

Elegant, adj. (colloquial).—Excellent.

Elegant-Extracts, subs. (military).—1. The Eighty-Fifth Foot. [This regiment was remodelled in 1812, after a long sequence of court-martials: when the officers were removed, and others set in their room.]

1871. Chambers’ Journal, 23 Dec., p. 803. ‘Elegant Extracts’ was
the name given to the 85th on its being reformed with officers
picked out from those of other regiments.

2. (Cambridge University).—Students who, though ‘plucked,’ were still given their degrees. A line was drawn below the poll-list, and those allowed to pass were nicknamed the elegant extracts. [There was a similar limbo in the honour-list, called the Gulf: for ‘Between them (in the poll) and us (in the honour lists) there is a great gulf fixed.’]

Elephant, subs. (American thieves’).—A wealthy victim. Cf., To see the Elephant.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

To see the Elephant, verb. phr. (American).—1. To see the world; to ‘go out for wool and come home shorn’; by implication, to ‘go on the loose.’ Sometimes, To see the King.

b. 1533, d. 1592. Montaigne, Arrien. Hist. Ind., ch. 17. Aux Indes
Orientales la chasteté y estant en singulière recommandation,
l’usage pourtant souffroit qu’une femme mariée se peust abandonner
à qui luy presentoit un ÉlÉphant, et cela avec quelque gloire
d’avoir esté estimée à si hault prix.

1841. Kendall, Narrative of the Texan Santa Fé Expedition, i., p.
109. When a man is disappointed in any thing he undertakes, when he
has seen enough, when he gets tired and sick of any job he may have
set himself about, he has seen the elephant.

1870. L. Oliphant, Piccadilly, pt. ii., p. 39. So had Mr. Wog, who
went up to town to see what he called the elephant,—an American
expression, signifying ‘to gain experience of the world.’

1872. Besant and Rice, R. M. Mortiboy, ch. xxxiv. Just like the
Americans, when they go to see a great sight, say they are going to
see the elephant.

1888. Boston Globe, 4 March. It was in a Hanover Street dispensary,
where the tillers of the soil love to congregate, when they are
down to Bosting, inspecting the Athenian white elephant.

1889. Puck’s Library, Ap., p. 25. Forepaugh says that elephants
have a natural liking for whiskey. We have often wondered, when a
man went out to see the elephant, why he always brought back such a
strange odour with him. This seems to explain it.

2. (common).—To be seduced; Fr., avoir vu le loup. For synonyms, see Leg.

Elephant-dance.—See Cellar-flap and Double-Shuffle.

Elephant’s-trunk, subs. (rhyming slang).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Elevate, verb (colloquial).—To make or become slightly drunk.—See Elevated.

Elevated, ppl. adj. (colloquial).—Slightly drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1664. Etherege, Comical Revenge, IV., iii. in wks. (1704), 51. The
wine makes the rogue witty.... I will keep him thus elevated ’till
he has married Grace.

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xvii. The liquor mounted up to our
heads, and made us all extremely frolicsome. I, in particular, was
much elevated.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Elevated (a.) ... sometime
spoke of a person that has drank a little too freely.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. l., p. 434. Except when he’s elevated,
Bob’s the quietest creature breathing.

1837. Disraeli, Venetia, p. 274.

Elevation, subs. (colloquial).—1. A phase of drunkenness.—See Elevated.

1823. Scott, Peveril, ch. iii. The unwonted agitation of her voice
attracted the attention of the refractory steward, notwithstanding
his present state of elevation.

2. (common).—Opium.

1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ‘What’s elevation?’ ‘Opium, bor
alive.’

Elfen, verb (American thieves’).—To walk lightly; to go on tiptoe.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Ellenborough Lodge, or Spike, or Park, subs. phr. (old).—The King’s Bench. [From Lord Chief-Justice Ellenborough.] For synonyms, see Cage. Ellenborough’s Teeth = the chevaux de frize round the prison wall.

Elrig, subs. (back slang).—A girl.

Elycampane or Elecampane.—See Allacompain and quot.

1823. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii., 4. Go and get a
pennyworth of elycampane. Jerry. There’s a pair of men-milliners.

Emag, subs. (back slang).—Game: e.g., ‘I know your little emag.’

Embroider, verb (common).—To exaggerate; to add to the truth.

1877. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), The Mississippi Pilot. Tom
tried to make himself appear to be a hero too, and succeeded to
some extent, but then he always had a way of embroidering.

Embroidery, subs. (common).—Exaggeration; the American sass and trimmin’s (q.v.).—[See Embroider.]

1890. Standard, 5 April, p. 2, col. 1. Fanny Burney had many good
qualities, no doubt, but we fancy that when she tells us with such
evident unction how great folks loved and admired her she puts a
good deal of embroidery into her narrations.

Emma.—See Whoa Emma and Street-cries.

Emperor, subs. (American thieves’).—A drunken man. [An intensification of ‘drunk as a lord’; whence ‘drunk as an emperor.’]

1881. New York Slang Dict. ‘On the Trail.’ A pinch for an Emperor’s
slang.

Drunk as an Emperor, phr. (common).—An intensitive of ‘drunk as a lord.’ Fr., saoul comme trente mille hommes, or un âne.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Empty the Bag.—See Bag.

Encumbrances, subs. (common).—Children.—See Certainties and Uncertainties.

End. To be all on end, verb. phr. (American).—To be very angry; irritated. Also expectant.

At loose ends, adv. phr. (common).—Neglected; precarious.

End on, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Straight; full-tilt.

To be end on, verb. phr. (venery).—To have an erection.

To keep one’s end up, verb. phr. (American).—To rub along.

End of the Sentimental Journey, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Enemy, subs. (common).—Time: e.g., ‘How goes the enemy’ = what’s o’clock? ‘To kill the enemy’ = to kill time.

1839. Dickens, Nich. Nickleby, ch. xix., p. 149. ‘How goes the
enemy, Snobb?’ asked Sir Mulberry Hawke. ‘Four minutes gone.’

1864. Glasgow Citizen, 19 Nov. The swell who is bored by his
efforts to ‘kill the enemy.’

English Burgundy, subs. phr. (old).—Porter.—See Drinks.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Enif, adj. (back slang).—Fine.

Enin Gen, subs. phr. (back slang).—Nine shillings. Enin Yanneps = Ninepence.

Enjoy, verb (old).—To ‘possess’ a woman.

1594. Shakspeare, The Rape of Lucrece, st. 74. ‘Lucrece,’ quoth he,
‘this night I must enjoy thee; if thou deny, then force must work
my way.’

Eno, adj. (back slang).—One.

1850. Lloyd’s Weekly, 3 Feb. ‘Low Lodging Houses of London.’
There’s people there will rob their own brother. There’s people
there talk backward—for one they say eno, for two owt, for three
eerht, for four ruof, for five evif, for six exis. I don’t know any
higher.

Ensign-Bearer, subs. (old).—A drunkard; especially one with a red nose and blotchy face.—See Elbow-crooker.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Ephesian, subs. (old).—A boon companion; a ‘spreester.’ Cf., Corinthian.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, iv., 5. Art thou there?
it is thine host, thine Ephesian, calls.

1598. Shakspeare, 2 Henry IV., ii. 2. P. H. What company? Page.
Ephesians, my lord, of the old church.

Epip, subs. (back slang).—A pipe.

Epsom-races, subs. (rhyming slang).—A pair of braces.

Equal to the Genuine Limburger.—See Limburger.

Equipped, ppl. adj. (American thieves’).—Rich; well-dressed; in good circumstances. Cf., well-ballasted.

Erif, subs. (back slang).—Fire.

Eriff, subs. (American thieves’).—A young thief.

1881. New York Slang Dict. ‘On the Trail.’ It’s the gait all them
eriffs dances, observed the one-eyed man.

Errand. To send a baby on an errand, verb. phr. (common).—To undertake what is pretty sure to turn out badly.

Error.—See No Error.

Erth (back slang).—Three. Erth Gen = Three shillings. Erth-pu = Three-up, a street game, played with three halfpence. Erth Sith-Noms = Three months’ imprisonment; a ‘drag.’ Erth Yanneps = Threepence.

Esclop (back slang).—A police-constable; esclop is pronounced ‘slop’ the c is never sounded. For synonyms, see Beak and Copper.

Es-roch (back slang).—A horse. For synonyms, see Prad.

Essex-Lion, subs. (old).—A calf: e.g., ‘as valiant as an essex-lion.’ Cf., Cotswold Lion, Cambridgeshire Nightingale, etc.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary, s.v. Essex lions. Calves, great
numbers of which are brought alive in carts to the London markets.

Essex-Stile, subs. (old).—A ditch.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary. Explained to be either real stiles
which, because of the very small enclosures in Essex, are very
frequent or the ‘narrow bridges, such as are laid between marsh and
marsh in the hundreds of this county, only jocularly called stiles,
as the loose stone walls in Derbyshire are ludicrously called
hedges.’

Esuch (back slang).—A house. For synonyms, see Ken.

Eternity-Box, subs. (common).—A coffin.

English Synonyms.—Cold meat box; wooden surtout; coffee-shop; deal suit.

French Synonyms.—Boîte à dominos (popular); étui à lorgnette (popular); boîte à doche (thieves’); redingote de sapin (popular).

German Synonyms.—Pron (from the Hebrew); Teba (Hebrew leba).

Evaporate, verb (common).—To run away; to disappear. For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xxii., p. 191. Upon which the young
man, looking round, instantly evaporates.

1854. Ainsworth, Flitch of Bacon, pt. I., ch. x. You may evaporate
if you think proper, Sir G.; but split me if I stir a step.

1857. Cuthbert Bede, Verdant Green, pt. II., ch. ix. Mr. Bouncer
evaporates with a low bow, leaving the Ladies to play with their
parasols, and converse.

Evatch, verb (back slang).—To have: e.g., ‘Evatch a kool at the elrig’ = Have a look at the girl.

Everlasting-Shoes, (also Everlastings), subs. (common).—The naked feet. For synonyms, see Creepers.

Everlasting-staircase, subs. (thieves’).—The treadmill. For synonyms, see Wheel of Life.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. i., p. 300. Why
we should be very soon taking reg’lar exercise on Colonel
Chesterton’s everlasting staircase. We has a great respect for the
law—O, certainly!

1874. H. Mayhew, London Characters, p. 349. I had ‘done’ my quarter
of an hour on the everlasting staircase (treadmill).

Everton-toffee, subs. (rhyming slang).—Coffee.

Everything is lovely and the goose hangs high, phr. (American).—Everything is going swimmingly. [An allusion to the ‘sport’ of gander pulling. A gander was plucked, thoroughly greased, especially about the head and neck, and tied tight by the feet to the branch of a tree. The game was then to ride furiously at the mark, catch it by the head or neck, and attempt to bear it away. With every failure the fun would get more uproarious].

1867. Round Table, 30 July. I am not aware that any one has asked
you the meaning of the slang phrase, everything goes lovely and the
goose hangs high; but doubtless ... it is derived from the Southern
sport(!) of ‘Gander-pulling.’

Eve’s Custom-House, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum.

Evif, adj. (back slang).—Five Evif-gen = A crown, or five shillings. Evif-yanneps = five pence.

Evil, subs. (old).—A wife. For synonyms, see Dutch.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon. Evil. A wife; a
halter; matrimony.

Evlenet-gen, (back slang).—Twelve shillings. Evlenet sith-noms = twelve months: generally known as a ‘stretch.’

Ewe.—See White Ewe and Old Ewe.

Ewe-mutton, subs. (common).—An elderly strumpet or ‘piece.’

Exalted, ppl. adj. (old).—Hanged. For synonyms, see Ladder. Cf., elevated = drunk.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 226. Your
great-grandfather was exalted, was he?—that is hanged, I suppose?

Exam, subs. (school).—An abbreviation of ‘Examination.’

1883. James Payn, Thicker than Water, ch. xxi. It’s a mere question
of political economy; I read all about it for my exam.—the supply
will exceed the demand.

Exasperate, verb (common).—To over-aspirate the letter H.

1857. Cuthbert Bede, Verdant Green, pt. II., ch. ix. Mr. Bouncer
replies, with a footman’s bow, and a footman’s hexasperation of his
h’s.

Excellers, subs. (military).—The Fortieth Foot. [A pun upon its number, xl + ers.]

Excruciators, subs. (common).—Tight boots; especially with pointed toes.

Execution-day, subs. (common).—Washing day.

Exes, subs. (common).—1. An abbreviation of ‘expenses.’

1871. Fun, 4 Nov. ‘The Policeman’s Complaint.’ Nay oft I’m told
I’ve been deceived, And of my x’s I’m bereaved; So on the whole I
muchly grieved By information I received.

1883. Referee, 18 March, p. 3, col. 3. The piece was ready, but the
‘pieces’ were not, and without the exes Morton would not allow the
gas to be lighted or the curtain to go up. It was a case of no pay
no play.

1890. Montagu Williams, Leaves of a Life, I., p. 153. He was out
for a spree at the races, and I suppose he thought he’d like to pay
his exes.

2. (colloquial).—An abbreviation of ‘ex-officials,’ ‘ex-ministers,’ and so forth. As in Tom Moore’s ‘We x’s have proved ourselves not to be wise.’

Exis-evif-gen, (back slang).—Six times five shillings, i.e., 30s. All monies may be reckoned in this manner, either with yanneps or gens. Exis-evif-yanneps, literally, ‘sixpence and fivepence = elevenpence.’ Exis gen = six shillings. Exis sith-noms = six months. Exis yanneps = Sixpence.

Expecting, ppl. (colloquial).—With child.

Experience Does it, phr. (common).—A dog-English rendering of Experienta docet.

Explaterate, verb (American).—To hold forth; explain in detail. [From O.E. Explate = to unfold.]

Explosion, subs. (common).—A delivery.

Exquisite, subs. (common).—A fop. For synonyms, see Dandy.

Extensive, adv. (common).—Formerly applied to a person’s appearance or talk; ‘rather extensive that!’ intimating that the person alluded to is showing off, or ‘cutting it fat.’

Extinguisher, subs. (common).—A dog’s muzzle.

1890. Standard, 12 May, p. 5, col. 4. I had to appear before Mr.
Curtis-Bennett, at West Kensington, to answer the charge of the dog
being at large without his extinguisher en évidence.

Ex Trumps, adv. phr. (Winchester College).—Extempore. To go up to books ex trumps = to go to class without preparing one’s lesson.

Eye.—See All My Eye.

To pull wool over the eyes.—See Pull Wool.

To keep the eyes clean, skinned, or peeled, verb. phr. (American).—To be watchful; alert; with all one’s wits about one.

1837. C. Gilman, Negro Domestic’s Recollections. Mans Ben ax ’em
for sing one hymn for ’em, cause he eye clean.

1865. New York Herald. My son, afore you leave yer home, I want ter
say ter you, Thar’s lots of pitfalls in the world ter let young
roosters through; So keep a padlock on yer mouth and skin yer
weather eye, But never advertise yerself as being monstrous fly.

To have a drop in the eye, verb. phr. (common).—To be drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1738. Swift, Pol. Convers., Dial. 1. You must own you had a drop in
your eye; when I left you, you were half seas over.

1837. Barham, I. L. (Black Mousquetaire). In vain did he try With
strong waters to ply His friend, on the ground that he never could
spy Such a thing as a ghost with a drop in his eye.

In the twinkling of an eye.—See Bedpost.

To bet one’s eyes.—See Bet.

My eyes! intj. phr. (common).—An expression of surprise.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. viii. ‘My eyes, how green!’
exclaimed the young gentleman. ‘Why a beak’s a madgst’rate.’

Eyelashes. To hang on by the eyelashes or eyebrows, verb. phr. (common).—To be very tenacious; also, by implication, to be in a difficulty. Cf., Hang on by the splash-board.

Eye-limpet, subs. (common).—An artificial eye.

Eye-opener, subs. (American).—1. Drink generally; specifically, a mixed drink.

2. (general).—Anything surprising or out of the way.

1879. Notes and Queries, 5th S., xi., 140. His lecture must have
been a lively and profitable eye-opener for the somnolence of a
cathedral town.

1888. Cornhill Mag., March, p. 228. If Joanna was ever so blessed
as to hear her sing ‘Houp la!’ it would be a regular eye-opener to
her.

1889. Answers, 23 Feb., p. 194, col. 1. No doubt the enclosed will
be an eye-opener for you.

3. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Eyeteeth. To have cut one’s eyeteeth, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To have learned wisdom.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed). Eye-teeth (s.), those
immediately under the eye; also quickness or sharpness of
understanding and parts, are sometimes so called.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker 1 S., ch. xvi. Them ’ere fellers cut
their eye-teeth afore they ever sot foot in this country, I expect.

Eye-water, subs. (common).—Gin. For synonyms, see Drinks.

1869. Whyte Melville, M. or N., p. 66. On this minnit, off at six,
Buster; two bob an’ a bender, and a three of eye-water, in?

1886. Judy, 4 August, p. 58. He imbibed stupendous quantities of
jiggered gin, dog’s nose, and Paddy’s eye-water.

F

Face, subs. (colloquial).—1. Confidence; boldness; also (more frequently) impudence: e.g., ‘I like your face’ = I like your cheek. Once literary; Cf., Cheek, Jaw, Gab, Brow, Mouth, Lip, etc.

1610. Ben Jonson, The Alchemist. ‘Dramatis Personæ.’—face.

1617. Middleton, A Faire Quarrell, II., ii. I that had face enough
to do the deed, Cannot want tongue to speak it.

1668. Etherege, She Would if She Could, I., i. (1704), p. 95. I
admire thy impudence, I could never have had the face to have
wheadled the poor knight so.

1676. Etherege, Man of Mode, V., i., in wks. (1704), 265. I am
amazed to find him here! How has he the face to come near you?

1702. Defoe, Shortest Way, in Arber’s Garner, vol. VII., p. 590.
You have butchered one king! deposed another king! and made a mock
king of a third! and yet, you could have the face to expect to be
employed and trusted by the fourth.

1714. Spectator, No. 566. A man has scarce the face to make his
court to a lady, without some credentials from the service to
recommend him.

1854. F. E. Smedley, Harry Coverdale, ch. liii. I can hardly
suppose even Phil Tirrett would have the face to throw me over and
ride for O’Brien.

1870. London Figaro, 3 June. ‘Look at that girl in pink, Sancho,’
he said; ‘that’s Lord Rubric’s daughter. Ran away with the family
organist—that’s he with her. I like their face, though, to come
here; it’s awfully good.’

2. (common).—Credit. To push one’s face = to get credit by bluster.—[See sense 1 and cf., Face-Entry.]

1765. Goldsmith, Essays, VIII. There are three ways of getting into
debt: first, by pushing a face; as thus: ‘You, Mr. Lutestring, send
me home six yards of that paduasoy, damme; but, harkee, don’t think
I ever intend to pay you for it, damme.’ At this the mercer laughs
heartily; cuts off the paduasoy, and sends it home; nor is he, till
too late, surprised to find the gentleman had said nothing but the
truth, and kept his word.

1865. Bacon, Handbook of America, p. 365. To run one’s face, to
make use of one’s credit, to run one’s face for a thing is to get
it ‘on tick.’

1875. American English in Chamb. Journal, 25 Sept., p. 610. To run
your face, which means, to go upon credit.

3. (common).—A qualification of contempt: e.g., ‘Now face! where are you a-shoving of?’

Verb (old).—To bully.—See all senses, especially To Face with a card of ten.

1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, iv., 3. Face not me; thou
hast brav’d many men; brave not me; I will neither be fac’d nor
brav’d.

To face or out-face with a card of ten, verb. phr. (old).—To browbeat; to ‘bluff.’ [Nares: derived from some game (possibly primero) wherein the standing boldly upon a ten was often successful. The phrase originally expressed the confidence of one player who with a ten, as at brag, faced or outfaced one who had really a faced card against him.]

1460–1529. Skelton [quoted by Nares.] First pycke a quarrel and
fall out with him then, And so out face him with a card of ten.

1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, ii. A vengeance on your
crafty wither’d hide, Yet I have fac’d it with a card of ten.

1630. B. Jonson, New Inn, i., 3. Some may be coats, as in the
cards; but then Some must be knaves, some varlets, bawds, and
ostlers, As aces, duces, cards o’ ten to face it Out, i’ the game
which all the world is.

To face the knocker, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To go begging. For synonyms, see Cadge.

To have no face but one’s own, verb. phr. (old).—To be penniless; or (gamesters’) to hold no court cards. Fr., n’avoir pas une face = ‘not to have a sou.’

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

To make faces, verb. phr. (prison).—1. To go back, or ‘round’ upon a friend. [In allusion to the convicts’ habit of distorting their features under the lens.]

2. (old).—To beget children. Cf., Face-making.

To face the music, verb phr. (American).—To meet an emergency; also to show one’s hand. [J. Fenimore Cooper derived it from the green-room, whence actors go on the boards and literally face the music. Another traces it to militia musters, where every man is expected to appear equipped and armed, when in rank and file, facing the music. A third derives it from drumming out of the army.]

1857. Worcester Spy, 22 Sept. Although such reverses would seem to
fall with crushing weight upon some of our most substantial
citizens, a strong determination to face the music is everywhere
manifested.

1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, 20 Feb. I am sure Fred can explain
everything satisfactorily. I hope he hasn’t read the newspaper
stories about him, for it might scare him, and he’d very foolishly
skip out. That would be the worst thing he could do. He must face
the music.

Face-entry, subs. (theatrical).—Freedom of access, the personal appearance being familiar to attendants.

Face-making, verb. subs. (old).—Begetting children. Cf., making feet for children’s stockings.

Facer, subs. (pugilistic).—1. A blow in the face.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 24. In short, not to dwell on
each facer and fall, Poor Georgy was done up in no time at all.

1834. Harrison Ainsworth, Rookwood. ‘The Double Cross.’ No claret
flows, No facers sound—no smashing blows.

1837. Barham, I. L. (The Ghost). Whom sometimes there would come on
A sort of fear his spouse might knock his head off, Demolish half
his teeth, or drive a rib in, She shone so much in facers and in
‘fibbing.’

1862. Athenæum, 1 Nov., p. 557, col. 1. Before his unknown
adversary well knew what was coming, the skilled fist of the
Professor had planted such a facer as did not require repetition.

1868. C. Reade, Foul Play, ch. ii. This was followed by a quick
succession of staggering facers, administered right and left, on
the eyes and noses of the subordinates.

2. (common).—A sudden check; ‘a spoke in one’s wheel.’ [By implication from sense 1.]

1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xl. In the battle of life every man
must meet with a blow or two, and every brave one would take his
facer with good humour.

1869. Whyte Melville, M. or N., p. 189. Dick Stanmore took his
punishment with true British pluck and pertinacity. It was a facer.

3. (Irish).—A dram.

4. (old).—A bumper. [Grose, 1785.]

5. (common).—A tumbler of whiskey punch.

6. (American thieves’).—An accomplice; a stall (q.v.) or fence (q.v.).

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

1881. New York Slang Dict., s.v.

Facey, subs. (tailors’).—A fellow workman vis-à-vis. Facey on the bias = one in front either to right or left; Facey on the two thick = one working immediately behind one’s opposite.

Facings.—To be put, or go, through one’s facings, verb. phr. (popular).—To be called to account or scolded; to exemplify capacity; to ‘show off.’ [Military.]

Silk-facings, subs. (tailors’).—Stains upon work caused by droppings of beer. [In allusion to the ‘watered’ silk trimmings in front of a regimental jacket or coat.]

Fad-cattle, subs. (old).—Easy women. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart. [Cf., Faddle = to toy + cattle (q.v.).]

Faddist (also Fadmonger), subs. (colloquial).—A person (male or female) devoted to the pursuit of public fads: as ‘social purity,’ moral art, free-trade in syphilis, and so-forth.

Faddle, verb (obsolete).—To toy or trifle: as a subs. = a busybody; a ‘nancified’ affected male. Also Faddy = full of fads.

Fadge, subs. (common).—A farthing.

English Synonyms.—Fiddler; farden; gig, or grig; quartereen.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 178, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, s.v.

Verb (old).—To suit; to fit; to agree with; to come off. [A.S., fégan, fégean, to join, to fit. Nares says, ‘probably never better than a low word: it is now confined to the streets.’]

1593. Nashe, 4 Lett. Conf., in wks. (Grosart) II., 215. They haue
broght in a new kind of a quicke sight, which your decrepite
slow-mouing capacitie cannot fadge with.

1594. Shakspeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost, V., i., 154. We will haue,
if this fadge not, an Antique.

1599. Massinger, Old Law, IV., ii. Clean. My Lord! Sim. Now it
begins to fadge.

1636. T. Heywood, Love’s Mistress, Act IV. Vulcan ... I keep a
dozen journeymen at least, besides my Ciclops and my Prentises, yet
’twill not fadge.

1639. Beaumont and Fletcher, Wit without Money, III., iv. Clothes I
must get; this fashion will not fadge with me.

1678. Quack’s Academy; in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), ii., 32. That
could never make their untoward handicrafts fadge to purpose.

1750. Walpole, Lett. to Mann, 18 Oct. (1833), vol. II., p. 485.
Alack! when I came to range them, they did not fadge at all.

1819. Scott, in C. K. Sharpe’s Correspondence (1888), ii., 197.
Pray let me know ... how matters fadge in the great city of
Edinburgh.

1830. Scott, Doom of Devorgoil, Act II., Sc. 1. If this same gear
fadge right, I’ll cote and mouth her, And then! whoop! dead! dead!
dead!

1851. G. Borrow, Lavengro, ch. lv., p. 173 (1888). Any new
adventure which I can invent will not fadge well with the old tale.

Fadger, subs. (glaziers’).—A glazier’s frame; otherwise a ‘frail.’

Fadmonger, subs. (colloquial).—A Faddist (q.v.). Fadmongering, verb. phr. (colloquial) = dealing as a Faddist (q.v.) with fads.

Fag, subs. (public schools’).—1. A boy who does menial work for a schoolfellow in a higher form. [From Fag, to grow weary.]

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xviii. Bob Trotter, the diminutive
fag of the studio, who ran on all the young men’s errands, and
fetched them in apples, oranges, and walnuts.

1857. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. i. Is still enumerated
among the feats of the brave days of old, by the fags over their
evening small beer.

2. (Christ’s Hospital).—See quot.

1850. L. Hunt, Autobiography, ch. iii. Fag, with us [at Christ’s
Hospital], meant eatables. The learned derived the word from the
Greek phago, to eat.

3. (American thieves’).—A lawyer’s clerk.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Verb (public schools’).—1. To do menial work for a schoolfellow in a higher form. Cf., Fag, subs., sense 1.

1884. Temple Bar, August, p. 514. He must have completely marred
his chance of happiness at the school when he refused to fag and
took countless thrashings, snivelling.

2. (old).—To beat.

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2nd ed.).

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Fag the bloss, beat the wench.

Fagger, Figger, or Figure, subs. (old).—A boy thief whose duty is to enter houses by windows and either open the doors to his confederates (as Oliver Twist with Bill Sykes), or hand out the ‘swag’ to them; also little snakesman (q.v.); cf., Diver.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, s.v.

Fagging, or Faggery, subs. (public schools’).—Waiting upon and doing menial work for a school-fellow in a higher form. Also used adjectively.

1853. De Quincey, Autob. Sketches, i., 210. Faggery was an abuse
too venerable and sacred to be touched by profane hands.

1873. Pall Mall Gazette, 17 May. The Winchester ‘tunding’ system,
with all its faults, is hardly less objectionable than the fagging
system pursued in the Scotch endowed hospitals.

Faggot, subs. (common).—1. A term of opprobrium applied to women; a ‘baggage.’ [At one time a faggot was a popular symbol of recantation of opinions thought worthy only of burning (Bailey, 1728), and heretics who had thus escaped the stake were required either to bear a faggot and burn it in public, or to wear an imitation on the sleeve as a badge.] Also used in combination: e.g., Bed- (or Straw-) Faggot = a wife, or mistress; Tumble-faggot = a whoremaster; Carry-faggot = a mattress; and Spike- (or Tickle-) faggot (obsolete) = the penis.

1820. Reynolds (‘P. Corcoran’), The Fancy, p. 16. I have got a
faggot here, Aye, and quite a bad one; Were I married, p’rhaps my
dear Might think that he too had one.

2. (common).—See quot., 1851.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. ii., p. 255. He
then made his supper, or second meal, for tea he seldom touched, on
fagots. This preparation ... is a sort of cake, roll, or ball, a
number being baked at a time, and is made of chopped liver and
lights, mixed with gravy, and wrapped in pieces of pig’s caul. It
weighs six ounces, so that it is unquestionably a cheap [it costs
1d. hot] and, to the scavager, a savoury meal, but to other
nostrils it’s odour is not seductive.

1870. London Figaro, 2 July. Have you more than a penny? A glorious
perspective opens out before you of all the delicacies of the
season, commencing with trotters—the harmless mutton, or the
succulent swine; ‘faggots,’ etc.

1884. Cornhill Mag., June, p. 615. They can obtain hot faggots, hot
baked potatoes, hot fried fish, or a cut of pork with hot
pease-pudding.

3. (old).—A ‘dummy’ soldier; one hired to appear at a muster to hide deficiencies. Many names of dummies would appear on the muster-roll: for these the colonel drew pay, but they were never in the ranks.

1672–1719. Addison [quoted in Imperial Dict.]. There were several
counterfeit books which were carved in wood, and served only to
fill up the number like fagots in the muster of a regiment.

1728. Bailey, Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Verb (old).—1. To bind hand and foot; to tie [as sticks into a faggot]. Fr., un fagot = a convict, because bound to a common chain on their way to the hulks.

1728. Bailey, Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Faggot the culls, bind the
men.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

2. (venery).—To copulate; also to frequent the company of loose women.

Faggot-briefs, subs. (political).—Bundles of dummy papers sometimes carried by briefless barristers. [Cf., Faggot, sense 3.]

1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 10 a.m. Par. 10. The counsel
chat and poke each other in the ribs; the briefless ones, in the
high back rows, scribble caricatures on their blotting-pads, or
pretend to pore over faggot briefs.

1887. Cornhill Mag., June, p. 627.

Faggot briefs ... those bundles of dummy papers sometimes carried by the briefless ones.

Faggoteer, (also Faggot-master), subs. (venery).—A whoremonger. For synonyms, see Molrower.

Faggot-vote, subs. (political).—A vote secured by the purchase of property under mortgage, or otherwise, so as to constitute a nominal qualification without a substantial basis. [Derived by some from Faggot, sense 3; by others from the mode of manufacture, i.e., by the purchase of property which is divided into as many lots as will constitute separate votes, and given to different persons.]

1854. Notes and Queries, vol. X., p. 403. Faggot-vote.—Can you
inform me of the origin of the term used to denote a spurious or
fictitious vote, formed usually by the nominal transfer of a
sufficient qualification to an otherwise unqualified man; this is
called a faggot vote.

1879. Gladstone, 1st Midl. Speech, 25 Nov. Why, gentlemen, quite
apart from every question of principle, nothing, I venture to say,
can be so grossly imprudent as that which is familiarly known in
homely but most accurate phrase as the manufacture of faggot votes.

1887. Cornhill Mag., June, p. 627. Faggot votes ... the name is
probably taken from an old military term.

Fains! Fainits! Fain it! intj. (schoolboys’).—A call for truce during the progress of a game without which priority or place would be lost; generally understood to be preferred ‘in bounds,’ or when out of danger. [Thought to be a corruption of ‘fend.’]—See Bags!

Fair-gang, subs. (old).—Gypsies. [From their habit of visiting fairs.]

Fair-rations, subs. (sporting).—Fair dealings.

Fair-shake, subs. (American).—A good bargain. [From a measure well shaken down.] Cf., Shake.

Fair-trade, subs. (nautical).—Smuggling.

Faithful. One of the faithful, subs. phr. (old).—1. A drunkard. For synonyms, see Elbow-crooker.

1609. The Man in the Moone. This fellow is one of the faithfull, as
they prophanelie terme him, said Opinion; no Heliogabalus at meat,
but he will drinke many degrees beyond a Dutchman.

2. (common).—A tailor giving long credit.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon. Faithful. A tailor
that gives long credit. ‘I say, Sam, what kind of crib was that you
cracked?’ ‘Oh! it belonged to one of the faithful.’

Faithful Durhams, subs. phr. (military).—The Sixty-Eight Foot.

Fake, subs. (common).—An action; a proceeding; a manœuvre; a mechanical contrivance—an affair of any kind irrespective of morals or legality: generally used in a sense specifically detrimental. In America, a swindler. [Origin dubious: Barrère says, ‘a very ancient cant word,’ but gives no evidence. Fakement (q.v.) appears to be the older subs. form (1785), while the verbal usage is traced to Ainsworth’s ‘fake away’! in Rookwood (1834). Conjecturally derived from the Latin facere, to make, to do: compare to which the French slang use of faire.]

1827. Maginn, in Blackwood’s Mag. ... the fogle-hunters doing Their
morning fake in the prigging lay.

[Circa 1850, but date uncertain.] ‘Bates’ Farm.’ I’m up to every
little fake, But in me there’s no harm.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 237.
After that we had a fine fake—that was the fire of the Tower of
London—it sold rattling.

1871. London Figaro, 21 Oct. Yet they’ve been known for many a fake
To coolly set a trap.

1883. Greenwood, Tag, Rag, and Co. Naming the house in the
ridiculous way it was named was merely a fake to draw attention to
it.

1888. New York Mercury. Both ladies then came to the conclusion
that the fortune-teller was a fake, and they decided to notify the
police.

1889. Globe, 23 July, p. 2, col. 2. Good Gladstonites, flock up and
take One bottle of the Parnell fake.

Verb (common).—1. To do anything; to fabricate; to cheat; to deceive, or devise falsely; to steal; to forge. A general verb-of-all-work. In America fix (q.v.) is employed much in the same way, whilst the French slang has faire; maquiller; aquiger or quiger; and goupiner.

[In combination to fake a screeve = to write a begging letter; to
fake one’s slangs = to file through one’s fetters; to fake a cly
(q.v.) = to pick a pocket; to fake the sweetener = to kiss; to fake
the duck = to adulterate, to dodge; to fake the rubber = to stand
treat; to fake the broads = to pack the cards, or to work the
three-card trick; to fake a line (theatrical) = to improvise a
speech; to fake a dance, or a step, or a trip (theatrical) = to
perform what looks like, but is not, dancing.]

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 390. The
ring is made out of brass gilt buttons, and stunning well: it’s
faked up to rights, and takes a good judge even at this day to
detect it without a test.

1861. Reade, Cloister and Hearth, ch. lv. There the folk are
music-bitten, and they molest not beggars, unless they fake to
boot, and then they drown us out of hand.

2. (sporting).—To hocus; to nobble; to tamper.

1872. Morning Post, 7 Nov. Since the faking of the scales in
Catch-’em-alive’s year the oldest habitué of Newmarket cannot
recall so sensational a Cambridgeshire week as the last one.

3. (theatrical).—Also to fake up. To paint one’s face; to make up a character.

1885. Sporting Times, 23 May. ‘The Chorister’s Promise.’ The
landlady left, and the chorister fair Faked herself up, and frizzed
her hair.

4. (American thieves’).—To cut out the wards of a key.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Fake away! intj. phr. (common).—An ejaculation of encouragement.

1834. Harrison Ainsworth, Rookwood. The knucks in quod did my
schoolmen play, Fake away!

1846. Punch’s Almanack, ‘Song of September.’ The partridge on its
tender wing Is up at break of day, But down the bird my gun shall
bring: Bang! fizz, boys! fake away!

Fake-boodle.—See Boodle.

Faked, ppl. adj. (common).—Counterfeit; sometimes faked-up. Fr., lophe.

1889. Answers, 15 June, p. 41, col. 1. In order to prevent any
chance of a dishonest person winning by means of a faked puzzle we
shall provide a number of puzzles ourselves, and these will be used
by all competitors.

Fakement, subs. (old).—1. A counterfeit signature; a forgery; specifically a begging letter or petition. Fr., brasser des faffes = to forge documents, i.e., ‘to screeve fakements’; un fafiot (also a bank note, or shoe); and une luque or un luquet.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. Tell the macers to mind their
fakements, desire the swindlers to be careful not to forge another
person’s signature.

1856. H. Mayhew, Gt. World of London, p. 46. Dependents of beggars;
as screevers or the writers of ‘slums’ (letters) and fakements
(petitions).

1857. Ducange Anglicus, The Vulgar Tongue, p. 39. Lawyer Bob draws
fakements up; he’s tipped a peg for each.

1889. Answers, 27 July, p. 137, col. 1. I have drawn up fakements
for sham members of almost every trade, always using a leading name
at the head of the list of donors.

2. (common).—Generic for dishonest practices; but applied to any kind of action, contrivance, or trade.—See Fake, subs., of which it is an older usage. Cf., Kidment.

1838. Glascock, Land Sharks and Sea Gulls, II., 4. That’s right; I
see you’re fly to every fakement.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, The Vulg. Tongue, p. 44. For every day,
mind what I say, Fresh fakements you will find.

1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffry Hamlyn, ch. v. I cultivated his
acquaintance, examined his affairs, and put him up to the neatest
little fakement in the world.

1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 232. Stow
your gab and gauffery, To every fakement I’m a-fly. Ibid., p. 233.
I have got a pair of highly polished steel spring snuffers with
extra fakement; they will either snuff a candle out or snuff a
candle in.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 254. You worked that
little fakement in a blooming quiet way, ... said my late
neighbour.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 7 Aug., p. 6, col. 2. Pair of moleskins
[trousers], any colour ... with a double fakement down the sides,
and artful buttons at the bottom.

3. (theatrical).—Small properties; accessories.

Fakement-Charley, subs. phr. (thieves’).—An owner’s private mark.

1864. Hotten, Slang Dict., s.v.

Faker, subs. (common).—1. One who makes, does, or ‘fakes’ anything; specifically a thief. Found in many combinations: e.g., Bit-faker; Flue-faker; Grub-faker; Sham-faker, Twat-faker, etc.

1851. G. Borrow, Lavengro, ch. xxxi., p. 112 (1888). We never calls
them thieves here, but prigs and fakers.

1857. Ducange Anglicus, Vulg. Tongue. Faker, a jeweller
(theatrical).

1869. George Macdonald, Robert Falconer, pt. III., ch. x. Them
pusses is mannyfactered express for the convenience o’ the fakers.

1885. Daily Telegraph, 1 August, p. 2, col. 1. ‘I’ve turned faker
of dolls and dolls’ furniture; like what you see us working on
now.’ ‘And when you say faker you mean—‘Renowater,’ struck in Miss
Menders.’

1887. Baumann, Londonismen, p. 5. Piratical fakers Of bosh by the
acres.

2. (circus).—A circus rider or performer.

3. (venery).—A prostitute’s Fancy-man (q.v.).

Fakes and Slumboes, subs. phr. (theatrical).—Properties; accessories of any kind.

Faking, verb. subs. (common).—The act of doing anything. [From fake (q.v.) + ing.] Fr., le maquillage or le goupinage.

Fall, verb (thieves’).—1. To be arrested.

1883. Horsley, Jottings from Jail [in Echo]. A little time after
this I fell again at St. Mary Cray for being found at the back of a
house.

2. (venery).—To conceive. For synonyms, see Lumpy.

Fall of the Leaf, subs. phr. (old).—Hanging. [In allusion to the fall of the drop.] For synonyms, see Ladder.

1789. G. Parker, Variegated Characters. He was knocked down for the
crap the last sessions. He went off at the fall of the leaf at
Tuck’em Fair.

False-hereafter, subs. (American).—A bustle. For synonyms, see Bird-cage.

Fam.—See Fambling-cheat and Famble.

Famble, Fam, or Fem, subs. (old).—The hand. Cf., Fambling-cheat. For synonyms, see Bunch of fives and Daddle. [German slang has Fehm, Vehm, or Vehn, and is apparently the same word as the English Fam. A likely etymon is the Swed. and Dan. fem, five.]

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 64, s.v.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874).
Fambles. handes.

1662. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii., 1. We clapt our fambles.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. If I had not helped you
with these very fambles (holding up her hands).

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 28. Allowing for delicate
fams, which have merely Been handling the sceptre, and that, too
but queerly.

1878. C. Hindley, Life and Times of James Catnach. So kiddy is my
famble.

Verb (old).—To touch; to handle; especially with a view to ascertaining the whereabouts of valuables. Also termed to fam for the plant, and to run a rule over. To fam a donna = to take liberties with a woman; to firky-toodle (q.v.); to cross-fam (q.v.).

Famblers, Fambling-Cheats (q.v.) or Fam-snatchers (q.v.), subs. (old).—Gloves.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874),
s.v.

Fambling-cheat, Famble, or Fam, subs. (old).—A ring; also (about 1694) gloves, which later still were also called Fam-snatchers (q.v.). [From Famble, a hand + a.s. chete (q.v.), a thing.]

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 64. A fambling chete, a ring on thy
hand.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874).
Fambling Cheates, Rings.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, II., in wks. (1720), iv., 47. Look
on my finger, sirrah, look here; here’s a famble.

1694. Dunton, Ladies’ Dict., s.v. Famble-cheats, rings or gloves.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Famble cheats, rings or gloves.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 180. Fam, A gold ring.

Fam-grasp, verb (old).—To shake hands. Also substantively, hand-shaking.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Familiars, subs. (common).—Lice. For synonyms, see Chates.

Familiar-way, subs. (common).—With child.

Family Disturbance, subs. (American).—Whiskey. For synonyms, see Drinks.

Family-hotel, subs. (old).—A prison. For synonyms, see Cage. [Cf., Family-man.]

1857. Punch, 31 Jan. In a ward with one’s pals, Not locked up in a
cell, To an old hand like me its a fam-ly hotel.