Chapter XIX: Part 19

1726. Vanbrugh, Journey to London. They were all got into a sort of
hodge-podge argument for the good of the nation which I did not
well understand.

d. 1764. Lloyd, Poems (774), ‘A Tale.’ Was ever such an hodge-podge
seen.

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

Hodman, (Oxford Univ.).—A scholar from Westminster School admitted to Christ Church College, Oxford.

1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v. Hodman.

Hodmandod, subs. (old).—1. A snail in his shell—Bacon. See Doddy.

1663. Killigrew, The Parson’s Wedding, v., 4 (Dodsley, Old Plays,
4th ed., 1875, xiv., 525). Painted snails with houses on their
backs, and horns as big as Dutch cows.... Can any woman be honest
that lets such hodmandods crawl o’er her virgin breast and belly?

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v.

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

2. (old).—A Hottentot.

1686. Captain Cowley in Harris Voyages, i., 82. We walked,
moreover, without the town to the villages inhabited by the
hodmandods, to view their nasty bodies.

Hoe. To hoe in (American Univ.).—To work with vigour; to swot (q.v.).

To hoe one’s own row, verb. phr. (American).—To do one’s own work.

Hard row to hoe. See Hard Row.

Hoe-down, subs. (American).—A negro dance; a breakdown (q.v.).

Hog, subs. (old).—1. A shilling: also a sixpence: and (in America) a ten-cent piece. For synonyms, see Blow. Half-a-hog = sixpence, or five-cent piece.

1688. Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, s.v. Hog, a shilling.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hog, You Darkman Budge, will
you Fence your hog at the next Boozing ken?

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th Ed.), p. 12, s.v.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v. Half a Hog, Six-Pence.

1809–12. Miss Edgeworth, Ennui, ch. vi. ‘It’s only a tester or a
hog they want your honour to give ’em, to drink your honour’s
health,’ said Paddy. ‘A hog to drink my health?’ ‘Ay, that is a
thirteen, plase your honour; all as one as an English shilling.’

1825. Egan, Life of an Actor, ch. iv. You shall have ... eighteen
hog a week, and a benefit which never fails.

1842. Thackeray, Cox’s Diary in Comic Almanack, p. 237. Do you
think I’m a-going to kill my horses, and break my precious back,
and bust my carriage, and carry you, and your kids, and your traps,
for six hog?

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. i., p. 529. The
slang phrases are constantly used by the street lads; thus a
sixpence is a ‘tanner’; a shilling a ‘bob,’ or a hog.... The
collections of coin dealers amply show, that the figure of a hog
was anciently placed on a small silver coin.

1857. Mrs. Mathews, Tea Table Talk, p. 207. The shopwoman satisfied
Suett after her fashion, that his little lump of Suett had absorbed
flour and lard (pastry) to the amount of what her queer customer
would have termed a hog.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Hog, a ten-cent piece.

2. (colloquial).—A foul-mouthed blackguard; a dirty feeder. Also, a common glutton.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Ciro, a hogge, a swine, a
filthie fellowe.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 69. ’Arry’s a hog when he feeds.

3. (Cambridge Univ.: obsolete).—A student of St. John’s. Also, Johnian Hog. See Crackle, Bridge of Grunts, and Isthmus of Suez.

1690. Diary of Abraham de la Pryme (Surtees Society, No. 54),
quoted in Notes and Queries, 6, S. xi., 328. For us Jonians are
called abusively hoggs.

1795. Gent. Mag., lxv., 22. The Johnian hogs were originally
remarkable on account of the squalid figures and low habits of the
students, and especially of the sizars of Saint John’s College.
[Another story of how name originated is given in detail in Gent.
Mag. (1795), lxv., 107.]

1889. Whibley, In Cap and Gown, p. 28. An obsolete name for members
of St. John’s College, Cambridge.

4. (old Scots’).—A yearling sheep.

1796. Burns, Poems. What will I do gin my hoggie die, my joy, my
friend, my hoggie.

5. (American).—An inhabitant of Chicago. [That city being a notable pig-breeding and pork-packing centre.]

6. (old).—A Hampshireman.

1770. Lord Hailes, Ancient Scottish Poems, ‘Dance of the Seven
Deadly Sins.’ Note on line 115. And thus his ill-bred raillery will
be like that of Essex calves, Hampshire hogs, Middlesex mongrels,
Norfolk dumplings, Welsh goats, etc.

Verb (American).—1. To cheat; to humbug; to gammon (q.v.).

1867. Browne (Artemus Ward). ‘Among the Mormons’, ii., 10. Go my
son, and Hog the public.

2. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms see Greens and Ride.

3. (stables).—To cut short; e.g., to hog a horse’s mane.

A hog in armour, subs. phr. (old).—A lout in fine clothes. Also a Jack-in-office; Hog-in-togs = (in America) a well-dressed loafer. [Hog = Hodge (q.v.), a rustic.]

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hog ... an awkward, or mean looking
man or woman, finely dressed, is said to look like a hog in armour.

Hog and hominy, subs. phr. (American).—Plain fare; Common doings (q.v.). [Pork and maize are the two cheapest food stuffs in the U.S.A.]

To go the whole hog. See Whole Animal.

To bring one’s hogs (or pigs) to a fine market, verb. phr. (old).—To do well; to make a good deal (q.v.). Also, in sarcasm, the opposite.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew., s.v. He has brought his hoggs to a
fair market, or he has Spun a fair Thread.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hog.... He has brought his hogs to
a fine market, a saying of one who has been remarkably successful
in his affairs, and is spoken ironically to signify the contrary.

To drive one’s hogs (or pigs) to market, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To snore.

1738. Swift, Polite Conversations, ii., 455. I’gad he fell asleep,
and snored so loud that we thought he was driving his hogs to
market.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hog.... to drive one’s hogs, to
snore, the noise made by some persons in snoring being not much
unlike the notes of that animal.

Hog-age, subs. (American).—The period between boyhood and manhood. Cf., Hobbledehoy.

Hogan-mogan, subs. (old).—See quot.

1892. Aitken, Satires of Andrew Marvell, p. 128. The States General
of the United provinces were officially addressed as High and
Mighty Lords, or in Dutch, Hoogmogenden; hence English satirists
called them hogans-mogans, and applied the phrase to Dutchmen in
general. Cf., Hoganmoganides, or the Dutch Hudibras (1694), and ‘A
New Song on the hogan-mogans’ in ‘A Collection of the Newest Poems
... against Popery, etc.’ (1689).

Hog-grubber, subs. (old).—A miser; a niggard; a mean cuss (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. A hog-grubber, ... a
narrow-soul’d sneaking Fellow.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hog Grubber, a mean stingy fellow.

Hogmagundy (or Houghmagandie), subs. (Scots).—Copulation. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

1786. Burns, The Holy Fair [last stanza]. There’s some are fou o’
love divine, There’s some are fou o’ brandy; An’ mony jobs that day
begin, May end in hougmagandie Some ither day.

Hogmenay, subs. (old Scots’).—1. New Year’s Eve, which is a national festival. [The origin has been the subject of much discussion.]

1776. Brand, Popular Antiquities, p. 102. Sirs, do you what Hagmane
signifies? It is the devil be in the house.

1793. The Bee, 10 July, p. 17. The night preceding that festival
Hoggmonay.

1879. James Napier, Folk Lore, p. 154. After the Reformation, the
Scotch transferred Hagmanay [from Xmas Eve] to the last day of
December, as a preparation day for the New Year.

2. Hence a wanton. [The feast is celebrated with much drink and not a little license.]

Hogo, subs. (old).—A flavour; an aroma; a relish. Hence, in irony, and by corruption, a stink. Cf., Fogo. [From Fr., haut goût.] See High, sense 2.

1569. Erasmus, Trans. Praise of Folly, p. 13 [1709]. Pleasure that
haut-goust of Folly.

1639–61. Rump Songs. ‘A Vindication of the Rump.’ Oh! what a Hogo
was there.

1645. Howell, Letters, V., xxxviii., p. 42. He can marinat fish,
make gellies, and is excellent for a pickant sawce, and the haugou.

1653. Walton, Compleat Angler, I., ch. vii. To give the sawce a
hogoe let the dish (into which you let the Pike fall) be rubed with
it [garlick].

1656. Choyce Drollery, p. 34. And why not say a word or two Of she
that’s just? witnesse all who Have ever been at thy ho-go.

1663. Killigrew, The Parson’s Wedding, iii., 2 (Dodsley, Old Plays,
4th ed., 1875, xiv., 451). We’ll work ourselves into such a sauce
as you can never surfeit on, and yet no hogough.

1667. Cowley, Government of Oliver Cromwell, Prose Works
(Pickering, 1826), 94. Cromwell ... found out the true hogo of this
pleasure, and rejoiced in the extravagance of his ways.

1672. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, ii., 1. She has ... no more teeth
left than such as give a haut gout to her breath.

1686. Twelve Ingenious Characters. A bad husband is an
inconsiderate piece of sottish extravagance; for though he consist
of several ill ingredients, yet still good fellowship is the causa
sine qua non, and gives him the ho-go.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hogo.

1705–7. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, Vol. I., Pt. vi., p. 4. Most
stinking meat, Toss’d up with leeks into Raggoo, To overcome the
unsav’ry hogo.

1718. Durfey, Pills, iii., 177. ‘Let’s drink and be merry.’ Your
most Beautiful Bit, that hath all Eyes upon her, That her Honesty
sells for a hogo of Honour.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hogo ... it has a confounded hogo,
it stinks confoundedly.

Hogshead. To couch a hogshead, verb. phr. (Old Cant).—See quot. For synonyms, see Balmy.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 66. To couch a hogshead: to ly
downe and slepe. Ibid., I couched a hogshead in a skypper this
darkemans.

Hog-shearing, subs. (old).—Much ado about nothing; great cry and little wool.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hog. Labour in vain, which the
Latines express by Goats-wooll, as the English by the shearing of
Hoggs.

Hogs-norton. To have been born at Hogs-Norton, verb. phr. (old).—To be ill-mannered.

d. 1666. Howell, Eng. Proverbs, p. 16. I think thou wast born at
Hoggs-Norton, where piggs play upon the organs.

1676. Marvel, Mr. Smirke [Grosart], iv., p. 89. A pair of organs of
cats which he had done well to have made the pigs at Hogs-Norton
play on.

Hogstye of Venus, subs. phr. (venery).—See quot. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Porcile di venere, the
hog-stye of Venus, a womans privities or geare.

Hog-wash, subs. (common).—1. Bad liquor; specifically, rot-gut (q.v.).

2. (journalists’).—Worthless newspaper matter; slush, swash, and flub-dub (q.v.).

Hoi polloi, subs. phr. (university).—The candidates for ordinary degrees. [From the Greek.] Cf., Gulf.

Hoist, subs. (old).—A shop-lifter; also a confederate hoisting or helping a thief to reach an open window. The Hoist = shop-lifting. To go upon the hoist = to enter a house by an open window.

1796. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd Ed.), s.v. Hoist. This is done by
the assistance of a confederate called the hoist, who leans his
head against the wall, making his back a kind of step or
ascent.—Grose.

1819. Vaux, Cant. Dict. Hoist, the game of shop-lifting is called
the hoist; a person expert at this practice is said to be a good
hoist.

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 38. We were principally engaged upon the
hoys and coreing.

Verb (thieves’).—1. To practise shop-lifting; to rob by means of the hoist (q.v.).

2. (American).—To run away; to decamp. For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

1847. Porter, Quarter Race, etc., p. 174. Jist hist, and take
yourself off.

3. (common).—To drink. E.g., Will you hoist? = will you have a liquor?; Hoisting = drinking; On the hoist = on the drunk. Also a hoist in.

To give a hoist, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To do a bad turn.

To have (or do) a hoist in, verb. phr. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

Hoister, subs. (old).—1. A shop-lifter; a hoist (q.v., sense 1). Also a pickpocket.

1847–50. J. H. Jesse, London, i., 30. He that could take out a
counter without any noise was allowed to be a public hoyster.
N.B.—That a hoyster is a pickpocket.

2. (common).—A sot. For synonyms, see Lushington.

Hoisting (or Hoist-lay), subs. (thieves’).—1. Shop-lifting. The hoist (q.v.). Also shaking a man head downwards, so that his money rolls out of his pockets.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, glossary, p. 172. Hoys, shop-lifting.

1868. Temple Bar, xxiv., 534. She can secrete articles about her
dress when in a shop looking at things, and that’s one way of
hoisting.

2. (old).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hoisting, a ludicrous ceremony,
formerly performed on every soldier, the first time he appeared in
the field, after being married: as soon as the regiment, or
company, had grounded their arms, to rest awhile; three or four men
of the same company, to which the bridegroom belonged, seized upon
him, and putting a couple of bayonets out of the two corners of his
hat, to represent horns, it was placed on his head, the back part
foremost, he was then hoisted on the shoulders of two strong
fellows, and carried round the arms, a drum and fife beating and
playing, the pioneers call, named Round-heads and Cuckolds, but on
this occasion stiled the Cuckold’s March; in passing the colours,
he was to take off his hat.... This in some regiments was practised
by the officers on their brethren.

Hoit (or Hoyt), verb. (old).—To be noisily or riotously inclined.

1611. Beaumont and Fletcher, Knight of the Burning Pestle, iv., 1.
He sings, and hoyts, and revels among his drunken companions.

Hoity-toity. See Highty-tighty.

Hokey-pokey, subs. (common).—1. A cheat; a swindle; nonsense. [From Hocus Pocus.]

2. (common).—A cheap ice-cream sold in the streets.

Holborn Hill. To ride backwards up Holborn Hill, verb. phr. (old colloquial).—To go to the gallows. [The way was thence to Tyburn, criminals riding backwards.—Grose.]

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, ii., 1. Urs. Up the heavy
hill—Knock. Of Holbourn, Ursula, mean’st thou so? for what, for
what, pretty Urse? Urs. For cutting halfpenny purses, or stealing
little penny dogs out o’ the Fair.

1659. Harry White’s Humour (Nares). Item, he loves to ride when he
is weary, yet at certaine times he holds it ominous to ride up
Holborne.

1695. Congreve, Love for Love, ii., 7. Sirrah, you’ll be hanged; I
shall live to see you go up Holborn hill.

Hold, verb. (old).—1. To bet; to wager. See Do you hold?

1534. Udall, Roister Doister, i., 2 (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed.,
1875, iii., 7). I hold a groat ye will drink anon of this gear.

1551. W. Still, Gammer Gurton’s Needle, iii., 3 (Dodsley, Old
Plays, 4th ed., 1875, iii., 216, and passim). I hold thee a groat I
shall patch thy coat.

1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, ii., 1. I’ll hold you a guinea you
don’t make her tell it you.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., ii., 54. I’ll hold ye five Guineas to
four.

2. (venery) (or Hold it).—To be impregnated; to be got with child. [In certain parts of Scotland, it is said, a farm servant stating that she “disna haud” commands double wages.]

To hold on to, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To apply oneself; to be persistent: generally, to hold on like grim death.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 71. He recovered, and wisely
held on to for the future.

Hold up, verb. phr. (American and Australian).—1. To rob on the highway; to bail or stick up (q.v.). Also as subs. = a highwayman or road-agent (q.v.).

1888. Detroit Free Press, 8 Dec. One man held up six stage
passengers in Arizona the other day and robbed them of $2,000. Each
was armed, but it is customary to submit out there, and so up went
their hands.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 13 Oct. Mounted on a white horse, he
started on a land-prospecting tour and ran against a party of
hold-ups.

1892. Lippincott, Oct., p. 495. Would hold the train up until I had
finished.

2. (thieves’).—To arrest. For synonyms, see Nab.

To hold the stage, verb. phr. (theatrical).—To have the chief place on the boards and the eye of an audience. Fr., avoir les planches.

To hold a candle to (the devil, etc.), verb. phr. (colloquial).—See Devil, and add the following quot.

1868. Reade and Boucicault, Foul Play, p. 65. But you see, sir, he
has got the ear of the merchant ashore; and so I am obliged to hold
a candle to the devil.

To hold a candle to, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To vie with; to be comparable to; also to assist in or condone.

1886. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, p. 79. They had killed poor
Ransome; and was I to hold the candle to another murder?

To hold (or hang) on by the eyelids, eyelashes or eyebrows, verb. phr. (common).—To pursue an object desperately; to insist upon a point; to carry on a forlorn hope. See also quot. and Splash Board.

1883. Clark Russell, Sailor’s Language, p. 69. Holding on with his
eyelids. Said of a man aloft with nothing much to lay hold of.

To hold in hand, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To amuse; to possess the attention or the mind; to have in one’s pocket.

To hold the market, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To buy stock and hold it to so large an extent that the price cannot decline.

Do you hold? phr. (streets).—Have you money to lend? Can you stand treat? Cf. verb., sense 1.

Hold your horses, phr. (American).—Go easy; don’t get excited: a general injunction to calm in act and speech.

Hold your jaw, phr. (colloquial).—Hold your tongue; stow your gab (q.v.).

Hold hard! (or on)! intj. (colloquial).—Wait a moment! don’t be in a hurry!

1761. Colman, Jealous Wife, V., in Wks. (1777), i., 130. Hold hard!
hold hard! you are all on a wrong scent.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 280. ‘Hold hard!’ said the
conductor; ‘I’m blowed if we ha’n’t forgot the gen’lm’n as vas to
be set down at Doory-lane.’

1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. iv., p. 38 (1873). I told
Meaburn to hold on, and we’d get a rise out of Punch.

Hold-stitch.—See Stitch.

Hold-water.—See Water.

Hold-out, subs. (gambling).—An old-fashioned apparatus, in poker, for ‘holding out’ desirable cards.

Hole (venery).—1. The female pudendum. Also, Hole of Content, and Hole (or Queen) of Holes. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. To give a hole to hide it in = to grant the favour (q.v.). [Hence, by a play upon words, Holy of Holies.]

1595. Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, ii., 4. This drivelling love is
like a great natural, that runs lolling up and down to hide his
bauble (q.v.) in a hole.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Carnafau, the brat-getting
place, or hole of content.

1620. Percy, Folio MS., p. 197. ... He light in a hole ere he was
aware!

1647–80. Rochester, Poems. Thou mighty princess, lovely queen of
holes.

d. 1649. Drummond, Posthumous Poems, ‘The Statue of Alcides.’ Fair
nymph, in ancient days, your holes, by far, Were not so hugely vast
as now they are.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., iv., 72. It has a head much like a
Mole’s, And yet it loves to creep in holes: The fairest She that
e’er took Life, For love of this became a Wife.

2. (old).—A cell; cf., Hell, sense 1.

1540. Lindsay, Thrie Estaits, line 1016. Wee have gart bind him
with ane poill, And send him to the theifis hoill.

1607. Miseries of Enforced Marriage, iii., I. (Dodsley, Old Plays,
4th ed., 1875. ix., 514). If you shall think ... it shall accord
with the state of gentry to submit myself from the feather-bed in
the master’s side, or the flock-bed in the knight’s ward, to the
straw-bed in the hole.

1607. Wentworth Smith, The Puritan, iii. But if e’er we clutch him
again the Counter shall charm him. Rav. The hole shall rot him.

1657. Walks of Hogsdon. Next from the stocks, the hole, and
little-ease.

1663. Killigrew, The Parson’s Wedding, iv., 2 (Dodsley, Old Plays,
4th ed., 1875, xiv., 482). Make his mittymus to the hole at
Newgate.

3. (old).—A private printing office where unlicensed books were made; a cock-robin shop (q.v.).—Moxon, 1683.

4. (colloquial).—A difficulty; a fix; on the turf, to be in a hole = to lose (a bet) or be defeated (of horses).

1760–61. Smollett, Sir L. Greaves, ch. xvi. I should be in a deadly
hole myself if all my customers should take it into their heads to
drink nothing but water-gruel.

1868. Ouida, Under Two Flags, ch. i. ‘I am in a hole—no end of a
hole.’

5. (common).—A place of abode; specifically, a mean habitation; a dirty lodging. For synonyms, see Diggings.

6. (common).—The rectum: short for arse-hole. E.g., suck his hole = a derisive retort upon an affirmative answer to the question, ‘Do you know So-and-So?’ For synonyms, see Monocular Eyeglass.

1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, ‘The Miller’s Tale.’ And at the
window she put out hir hole.

1540. Lindsay, Thrie Estaits, line 2174. Lift vp hir clais: Kis hir
hoill with your hart.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, v., 3. A pox o’ your manners, kiss
my hole here, and smell.

1649. Drummond, Madrigals and Epigrams, ‘A Jest’ (Chalmers, English
Poets, 1810, x., 667). She turned, and turning up her hole beneath,
Said, ‘Sir, kiss here.’

d. 1732. Gay, Tales ‘In Imitation of Chaucer’s Style’ (Chalmers,
English Poets, 1810, x., 504). Thou didst forget to guard thy
postern, There is an hole which hath not crossed been.

Verb (venery).—To effect intromission; to put in (q.v.). Hence, Holed, adj. = in (q.v.).

A hole in one’s coat, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A flaw in one’s fame; a weak spot in one’s character. To pick a hole in one’s coat = to find a cause for censure.

1789. Burns, Verses on Capt. Grose. If there’s a hole in a’ your
coats, I rede you tent it.

To make (or burn) a hole in one’s pocket, verb. phr. (colloquial).—Said of money recklessly spent.

To make a hole in anything, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To use up largely.

1663. Killigrew, The Parson’s Wedding, iii., 5 (Dodsley, Old Plays,
4th ed., 1875, xiv., 456). Do it then, and make a hole in this
angel.

To make a hole in the water, verb. phr. (common).—To commit suicide by drowning.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 76. I should just make a hole in
the water, if ’tworn’t for the wife and the kids.

To make a hole, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To break; to spoil; to upset; to interrupt. Thus to make a hole in one’s manners = to be rude; to make a hole in one’s reputation = to betray, to seduce; to make a hole in the silence = to make a noise, to raise cain (q.v.).

Too drunk to see a hole in a ladder, phr. (common).—Excessively intoxicated. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Hole-and-corner, adj. (colloquial).—Secret; underhand; out of the way: e.g., hole-and-corner work = shady business. Also (venery) = copulation. [Cf., Hole, subs. sense 1.]

Holer (also Holemonger), subs. (colloquial).—A whoremaster (cf., Hole, subs., sense 1). Also (old), a harlot; a light woman (cf., Hole, verb.). Hence, Holing = whoring.

Holiday, adj. (old).—Unskilled; indifferent; careless.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Holiday, a holiday bowler, a bad
bowler.

Blind Man’s Holiday. See ante.

To have a holiday at Peckham, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To go dinnerless. All holiday at Peckham = no work and nothing to eat. [A play upon words.] See Peckish.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. All holiday at Peckham ... a saying
signifying that it is all over with the business or person spoken
of or alluded to.

1848. Forster, Oliver Goldsmith, bk. I., ch. vi., p. 55 (5th Ed.).
‘Oh, that is all a holiday at Peckham,’ said an old friend very
innocently one day.

To take a holiday, verb. phr. (common).—To be dismissed; to get the bag (q.v.) or sack (q.v.)

Gone for a holiday, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Said of a flaw, lapse, or imperfection of any kind (as dropped stitches, lost buttons, slurred painting, and so forth). See also quots.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Holiday ... a holiday is any part
of a ship’s bottom, left uncovered in painting it.

1883. Clark Russell, Sailors’ Language, p. 69, s.v. Holidays.
Places left untarred on shrouds, backstays, etc., during the
operation of tarring them.

Holler, verb. (American).—To cry enough; to give in; to cave in (q.v.).

1847. Porter, Quarter Race, etc., p. 89. The truth must come, he
warped me nice, So jist to save his time I hollered.

Hollis, subs. (Winchester College).—A small pebble. [Said to be derived from a boy.—Notions.]

Hollow, adj. (colloquial).—Complete; certain; decided. As adv. completely; utterly. E.g., to beat or lick hollow. See Beat and Creation.

1759. Townley, High Life Below Stairs, i., 2. Crab was beat hollow.

1761. Colman, Jealous Wife, V., in Wks. (1777), i., 134. So, my
lord, you and I are both distanced: a hollow thing, damme.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Hollow. It was quite a hollow
thing, i.e., a certainty, or decided business.

1814. Edgworth, Patronage, ch. iii. Squire Burton won the match
hollow.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘Bloudie Jack.’ His lines to
Apollo Beat all the rest hollow And gained him the Newdegate Prize.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. lxiv., p. 529. I have therefore
taken a ’ouse in that locality, which, in the opinion of my
friends, is a hollow bargain (taxes ridiculous, and use of fixtures
included in the rent).

1871. Durham County Advertiser, 10 Nov. ‘It licks me hollow, sir,
as I may say,’ put in the silent member.

1892. Punch, 9 July, p. 3. Booby-traps were beaten hollow.

Holloway, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Holloway, Middlesex (common).—The lower bowel; the arse-gut (q.v.).

Holt, verb. (American).—To take; to take hold of.

Holus-bolus, subs. (nautical).—The head. Also the neck.

Adv. (colloquial).—Helter skelter; altogether; first come, first served.

1868. Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone, 1st Period, ch. xv. And,
making a sudden snatch at the heap of silver, put it back,
holus-bolus, in her pocket.

Holy. More holy than righteous, adv. phr. (common).—Said of a person in rags, or of a tattered garment.

Holy-boys, subs. (military).—The Ninth Foot. [From a trick of selling bibles for drink in the Peninsula.] Also, Fighting Ninth.

1886. Tinsley’s Magazine, Apr., 322. The 9th having bartered their
Bibles in Spain for wine, and having there gained a reputation for
sacking monasteries, were long known as the Holy Boys.

Holy-father, subs. (Irish).—See quot.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Holy Father, A butcher’s boy of St.
Patrick’s Market, Dublin, or other Irish blackguard; among whom the
exclamation, or oath, by the Holy Father (meaning the Pope), is
common.

Holy Iron. See Holy Poker.

Holy Joe, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A pious person, whether hypocritical or sincere. Also (nautical), a parson.

Holy Jumping Mother of Moses. See Moses.

Holy-lamb, subs. (old).—A thorough-paced villain.—Grose.

Holy-land (or ground), subs. (old).—1. St. Giles’s; Palestine (q.v.).

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 7. For we are the
boys of the holy ground, And we’ll dance upon nothing and turn us
round.

1821. The Fancy, i., p. 250. The Holy-land, as St. Giles’s has been
termed, in compliment to the superior purity of its Irish
population.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry, ch. ii. At Mammy O’Shaughnessy’s in the
back Settlements of the Holy Land.

1823. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii., 5. Let’s have a dive
among the cadgers in the back slums, in the Holy Land.

1843. Punch’s Almanack, 1 Sept. St. Giles. The Marquis of Waterford
makes a pilgrimage to his shrine in the Holy Land.

1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, one a.m., par. 28. Unfaithful
topographers may have told you that the Holy Land being swept away
and Buckeridge Street being pulled down, St. Giles’s exists no
more.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 3 Apr. p. 215, col. 1. It would be hard
to say whether the Irishmen of the Holy Land or the Hebrew scum of
Petticoat Lane showed the finest specimens of ‘looped and windowed
raggedness.’

2. (common).—Generic for any neighbourhood affected by Jews; specifically, Bayswater, and Brighton. Cf., New Jerusalem, and Holy of Holies.

Holy Moses. See Moses.

Holy of Holies, subs. phr. (common).—1. The Grand Hotel at Brighton. [Which is largely tenanted by Jews: cf., Holy Land (sense 2), and New Jerusalem.]

2. (colloquial).—A private room; a sanctum (q.v.).

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 215. Fletcher did not venture into
that holy of holies.

1893. Westminster Gaz., 31 Jan., p. 3, c. 2. The Cabinet Council is
the holy of holies of the British Constitution, and as Mr. Bagehot
long ago regretted, no description of it at once graphic and
authentic has ever been given.

3. (venery).—See Hole, sense 1, and for synonyms, Monosyllable.

Holy Poker (or Iron), subs. phr. (university).—The mace carried by an esquire bedel (of Law, Physic, or Divinity) as a badge of authority. [The term, which is applied to the bedels themselves, is very often used as an oath.]

1840. Comic Almanack, ‘Tom the Devil,’ p, 214. A hotel’s the place
for me! I’ve thried em all, from the Club-house at Kilkinny, to the
Clarendon, and, by the holy poker, never wish mysilf worse luck
than such cantonments!

1870. London Figaro, 8 Oct., p. 2, col. 2. The bedels of a
University are very important persons, although derisive
undergraduates familiarly term them holy pokers.

1886. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, p. 169. I swear upon the holy
iron I had neither art nor part.

2. (venery).—The penis (by a play upon words). Cf., Hole, sense 1, Holy of Holies, sense 3, and Poke. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Holy-water Sprinkler, subs. phr. (old).—A mediæval weapon of offence; a morning star (q.v.).

Home, subs. (colonial).—England.

1893. Gentlemen’s Mag., Jan., p. 74. And then I learnt that by home
he meant England, which, moreover, is referred to as ‘home’ by
dusky myriads, who have never seen her cliffs rise above the waves.

To get home, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To achieve an object; to succeed perfectly; and (athletic) to reach the winning post.

1891. Sportsman, 26 Mar. A close struggle for the Palace Selling
Plate ended in favour of Rosefield, who just got home a head in
front of Mordure.

1892. Pall Mall Gaz., 23 Jan., 3, 2. It is delightful to watch Mr.
Charles Hawtrey telling lie after lie to his unbelieving wife, and
joyfully, in misplaced confidence, saying to himself, ‘I’ve got
home.’

2. (pugilists’).—To get in (a blow) with precision and effect; to land (q.v.). Also (old) to give a mortal wound.

1559. Elyot, Dictionarium, 3rd. ed. Aere meo me lacessis, thou
gevest me scoffe for scoffe, or as we saie, thou paiest me home.

1631. Chettle, Hoffman. Sax. Not any, Austria; neither toucht I
thee. Aust. Somebody toucht me home; vaine world farewell, Dying I
fall on my dead Lucibell.

1698. Farquhar, Love and a Bottle, iv., 3. But hark ye, George;
don’t push too home; have a care of whipping through the guts.

1706. Farquhar, Recruiting Officer, ii., 1. That’s home.

1888. Sporting Life, 10 Dec. In the next round got home several
times without a return.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 19 June, p. 395, c. 3. Mac got home a
terrific cross-counter with the left on Bob’s left eye, which
seemed to split the flesh open both above and below.

3. (turf).—To recover a loss; neither to win nor lose; to come out quits. Also, to bring oneself home.

4. (venery).—To get with child. Also, to compel the sexual spasm.

To make oneself at home, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To take one’s ease; to be familiar to the point of ill-breeding.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 10. As at home as a cat in a
cream-shop.

To come home to, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To reach the conscience; to touch deeply.

To go (send, or carry) home (or to one’s last home), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To die; to kill; to bury. [The Chinese say ‘to go home horizontally.’] See Aloft.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Mandar ’al palegro, to send to
ones last home.

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. Home. Gone home, dead.

Home-bird, subs. (colloquial).—A henpecked husband. Also, a milksop. Fr., chauffe-la-couche (= warming-pan).

Home for lost dogs, subs. phr. (medical).—A large and well known medical school in London. [From the fact that the majority of its inmates have strayed there from the various hospital schools, as a last resource toward taking a degree.]

Home-rule, subs. (common).—Irish whiskey. For synonyms, see Drinks and Old Man’s Milk.

Home-sweet-home, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Homo, subs. (old).—A man: generally omee (q.v.). [From the Latin.] For synonyms, see Cove.

Homoney, subs. (old).—A woman. For synonyms, see Petticoat. Also, a wife. For synonyms, see Dutch and Cf. Homo.

1754. Discoveries of John Poulter, p. 43. My homoney is in quod, my
wife is in gaol.

Homo-opathise, verb. (American).—To get bills (i.e., petitions) through Legislature, Congress, or City Council, by means of bills (i.e., bank-bills).

Hone, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 204. So I may no more pogue the hone
of a Woman.

Honest, adj. (old).—1. Chaste.

1596. Ben Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, ii., 1. Why’t cannot be,
where there is such resort, O wanton gallants, and young revellers,
That any woman should be honest long.

1599. Henry Porter, Two Angry Women of Abingdon (Dodsley, Old
Plays, 4th ed., 1875, vii., 389). Is my fellow Dick in the dark
with my mistress? I pray God they be honest, for there may be much
knavery in the dark.

1600. Look About You, Sc. 28 (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875,
vii., 476). What, lecher? No, she is an honest woman. Her husband
is well known.

1602. Shakspeare, Othello, iii., 3. I do not think but Desdemona’s
honest.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, v., 3. De honest woman’s life is a
dull scurvy life, indeed.

1663. Killigrew, The Parson’s Wedding, iii., 2 (Dodsley, Old Plays,
4th ed., 1875, xiv., 454). There’s none but honest women.

1663. Killigrew, The Parson’s Wedding, v., 4 (Dodsley, Old Plays,
4th ed., 1875, xiv., 525). Crooked, dirty-souled vermin,
predestined for cuckolds, painted snails with houses on their
backs, and horns as big as Dutch cows.... Can any woman be honest
that lets such hodmandods crawl o’er her virgin breast and belly?

1672. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, ii., 1. A man ... may bring his
bashful wench, and not have her put out of countenance by the
impudent honest women of the town.

1686–7. Aubrey, Gentilisme (1881), p. 163. The towne is full of
wanton wenches, and ... (they say) scarce three honest women in the
Town.

1693. Congreve, Old Bachelor, iii., 10. Silvia. I’m not such a fool
neither, but I can keep myself honest.

1695. Congreve, Love for Love, iii., 14. Mrs. Fore. Do you think
any woman honest? Scan. Yes, several very honest; they’ll cheat a
little at cards sometimes; but that’s nothing. Mrs. Fore. Pshaw!
but virtuous, I mean.

2. (common).—Not positively illegal: as honest penny or shilling = money earned by means immoral (as by prostitution) but within the law. Also, To turn an honest penny = to make a profitable deal.

1677. Wycherley, Plain Dealer, iii., 1. You must call usury and
extortion God’s blessing, or the honest turning of the penny.

1886. J. S. Winter, Army Society, ch. xxi. There was a chance of
turning an honest penny in hiring them out for the donkey-race.

To make an honest woman, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To marry a mistress.

1629. Earle, Microcosmographie (5th ed.). ‘A Serving Man.’ The best
work he does is his marrying, for he makes an honest woman, and if
he follows in it his master’s direction, it is commonly the best
service he does him.

1672. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, v., 6. Dap. Why she was my wench.
Gripe. I’ll make her honest then.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. XV., ch. viii. Mr. Nightingale, and
his love, stepped into a hackney-coach, which conveyed him to
Doctors’ Commons, where Miss Nancy was, in vulgar language, soon
made an honest woman.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. xxv. My right honourable father
nourished some thoughts of making an honest woman of Marie de
Martigny, and a legitimate elder brother of Francis.

1827. Egan, Anecdotes of the Turf, p. 182. She had now only to play
her cards well, she was sure of winning the game, also of becoming
an honest woman.

As honest a man as when kings are out, phr. (old).—Knavish.

Honest as the skin between the brows (or Horns), phr. (old).—As honest as may be.

1551. W. Still, Gammer Gurton’s Needle, (O.P.), ii., 67. I am as
true, I wold thou knew, as skin betwene thy brows.

1599. Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, ii., 2. Punt. Is he
magnanimous? Gent. As the skin between your brows, sir.

1600. Shakspeare, Much Ado, iii., 5. An old man, sir, and his wits
are not so blunt, as, God help, I would desire they were, but in
faith, honest, as the skin between his brows.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, iv., 5. It shall be justified to
thy husband’s faish, now: tou shalt be as honesht as the skin
between his hornsh, la.

Honest Injun! phr. (American).—A pledge of sincerity; honour bright (q.v.).

1884. Clemens [Mark Twain], Huckleberry Finn. She says ‘Honest
Injun, now hain’t you been telling me a lot of lies?’ ‘Honest
Injun’ says I.

1892. Detroit Free Press, 12 Aug. I’ll agree not to feel hard about
it. Honest Injun?

Honey, subs. (American).—1. A good fellow.

1888. Missouri Republican, 24 Feb. Dave is a honey.

2. (rhyming slang).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

3. (old colloquial).—A term of endearment.

4. (venery).—The semen. Also White Honey (q.v.). Cf., Hive.

Verb (American).—To cajole; to exchange endearments; to deceive by soft words or promises.

1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, iii., 4. Stew’d in corruption; honeying
and making love Over the nasty sty.

1602. Marston, Antonio and Mellida, A. 4. Can’st thou not honey me
with fluent speach, And even adore my toplesse villany?

1604. Marston and Webster, Malcontent, O.P., iv., 66. O unpeerable!
invention rare! Thou god of policy, it honies me.

1631. Chettle, Hoffman. Clo. A pretious villaine: a good villaine
too. Well if he be no worse; that is doe worse, And honey me in my
death-stinging thoughts, I will preferre him.

1888. Tuskaloosa News. It is of no use to honey; payments must be
made at least once a year.

To sell honey for a half-penny, verb. phr. (old).—To rate at a vile price.

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse [1842], p. 43. Thou that in thy
dialogues soldst hunnie for a halfe-penie, and the choysest writers
extant for cues a peece.

Honey-blobs, subs. (Scots’).—Large, ripe, yellow gooseberries.

1746. Walpole, Letters, i., 144. As he returned to the Tower, he
stopped the coach at Charing Cross to buy honey-blobs, as the
Scotch call gooseberries.

Honeycomb, subs. (old).—A sweetheart; a general term of endearment.

1552. Huloet, Abcedarium, s.v. Darlynge, a wanton terme used in
veneriall speach, as be these: honycombe, pyggisnye, swetehert,
true love.

Honey-fogle (or fugle), verb. (American).—To cheat; to swindle; to humbug. For synonyms, see Gammon.

1888. Missouri Republican, 20 Jan. Noonan’s companion objected to
this honey-fugling by knocking the demonstrative stranger down.

Honey-pot, subs. (old).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., iii., 342. For when you have possession
got, Of Venus’ Mark, or hony-pot.

Honour Bright! intj. (common).—Upon my honour.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 36. At morning meet, and,—honour
bright,—Agree to share the blunt and tatters!

1843. Selby, Antony and Cleopatra Married. Cle. Will you love me as
dearly as ever? Ant. Dearer, dear Chloe, dearer! Cle. Honour? Ant.
Bright and shining.

1869. F. Hall, Marginal reading to Lyndsay’s Satire of Three
Estates [E.E. Text Soc.], p. 382. She is more than a match for
twenty-four a night, honour bright.

1878. Hatton, Cruel London, bk. VIII, ch. ii. Honour bright, no
kid, as we say in London.

1881. W. Black, Beautiful Wretch, ch. xix. ‘I do not mean to marry
Mr. Jacomb, if that is what you mean.’ ‘No? Honour bright?’ ‘I
shall not marry Mr. Jacomb.’

1892. Cassell’s Sat. Jour., 28 Sep., p. 29., c. 3. ‘Come, come, Mr.
Smith, you’re drawing the long bow!’ ‘Honour bright, I’m not.’

1892. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 158. ‘She did, honour bright,’
said Smirk.

Hood. two faces under one hood (or Hat), phr. (old).—Double-dealing.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hood.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. Hood. May the man be d——d and never
grow fat, Who carries two faces under one hat.

To put a bone in one’s hood, verb. phr. (obsolete).—To cuckold.

1560. Nice Wanton (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, ii., 169). I
could tell you who putteth a bone in your hood. Ibid. (p. 170),
Then by the rood, a bone in your hood, I shall put you ere long.

Hoodlum, subs. (American).—A boy rough. Also, a rough of either sex. Also (political), a low-class voter. Originally Californian. Cf., Arab.

1872. Sacramento Weekly Union, 24 Feb., p. 2. All the boys to be
trained as scriveners, tape-measurers, counter-hoppers, clerks,
pettifoggers, polite loafers, street-hounds, hoodlums, and bummers.

1877. Los Angeles Express, 25 Aug. A gang of boys ... associated
for the purpose of stealing.... Their words of warning were ‘Huddle
’em, Huddle ’em.’ ... soon contracted into hoodlum.

1877. Boston Journal, Aug. You at the East have but little idea of
the hoodlums of this city. They compose a class of criminals of
both sexes, far more dangerous than are to be found in the Eastern
cities. They travel in gangs, and are ready at any moment for the
perpetration of any crime.

1877. Congregationalist, 26 Sep. A newspaper man attempting to coin
a word to designate a gang of young street Arabs under the beck of
one named ‘Muldoon,’ hit upon noodlums, simply reversing the
leader’s name.... The compositor, taking the n for an h, printed it
hoodlum.

1877. Morning Call, 27 Oct. The rowdy element in the city ... who
were soon after designated as hoodlums.

1885. G. A. Sala, in Daily Telegraph, 12 Aug., p. 5, c. 5. In order
to guard against the contingency of the white hoodlums, or roughs,
coming down in force from the American quarter of the city [San
Francisco], and ‘going for’ the Celestials.

1888. Missouri Republican, 31 Mar. It is conceded by all that the
hoodlums have nominated weak men, and the citizens will have easy
sailing on Tuesday.

1890. Norton, Political Americanisms, s.v. hoodlums, A general name
for roughs. It originated on the Pacific coast, as the designation
of a company of young ruffians in San Francisco (about 1868).
Subsequently it spread Eastward, and attained some political
significance; as ‘the hoodlum element’ in politics.

1892. Pall Mall Gaz., 29 Feb., p. 2, c. 2. A right of public
meeting dependent on the good will of the hoodlum is not worth
having.

1893. National Observer, 4 Mar., ix., 398. In America, home of the
Hoodlum, where they turn their murderers into mayors.

Hoodman, subs. (old).—A blind man; a groper (q.v.).

Adj. (old).—1. Blind. Also Hoodman Blind = blind drunk; cf., sense 2. Fr., berlu and sans mirettes.

2. (streets).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Hoof, subs. (common).—A foot. For synonyms, see Creepers.

1836. M. Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 134. Contriving in their
complex twirlifications not only to tread heavily on my toes with
his own hoofs, but to hop his partner repeatedly over the same
unfortunate members.

1838. Grant, Sketches in London, p. 213. He again put both his ugly
hoofs on it.

1867. Browne (‘Artemus Ward’), Among the Mormons [People’s ed.], p.
193. Waving their lily-white hoofs in the dazzling waltz.

1892. Sydney Watson, Wops the Waif, ch. iv., p. 5. Teddy, look out,
yer’ve got yer hoof on my trotters!

Verb (common).—To kick; e.g., to hoof (or toe) one’s bum; to root (q.v. for synonyms). Hence to hoof out = to eject; to dismiss; to discharge; to decline to see.

To hoof it, (or to pad or beat the hoof), verb. phr. (common).—To walk; to ‘tramp it’; to run away. For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle. Hence Hoof-padding.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives, i., 3. Rogues, hence, avaunt, vanish
like hailstones, go: Trudge, plod, away o’ the hoof.

d. 1687. Cotton, Poems, ‘Epistles’ (Chalmers English Poets), vi.,
736. Being then on foot away I go And bang the hoof incognito.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hoof it or beat it on the hoof,
to walk on Foot.

1691–2. Wood, Athenæ Oxonienses, ii., 560. Landing at Liverpool, in
Lancashire, they all beated it on the hoof thence to London.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1772. Cumberland, Fashionable Lover. Prologue. I am a devil, so
please you, and must hoof Up to the poet yonder with this proof.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hoof. To beat the hoof, to travel
on foot; he hoofed it, or beat the hoof, every step of the way from
Chester to London.

1813. J. and H. Smith, Horace in London, ‘Hurly-Burly,’ p. 24. When
hostile squadrons beat the hoof.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. ix. Charley Bates expressed his
opinion that it was time to pad the hoof.

1885. Detroit Free Press, 5 Sept., p. 1, c. 1. These busted
theatrical people who are hoofing it back to Detroit. They come
along at all hours of the day and night.

1888. Lynch, Mountain Mystery, ch. xviii. I s’posed he was tired
out, and had got over watchin’ for tricks. So I hoofed it in.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 70. Scenery’s all very proper,
but where is the genuine pot who’d pad the ’oof over the moors.

To see one’s hoof in (a thing), verb. phr. (common).—To detect personal influence or interference in a matter.

1863. Thackeray, Roundabout Papers, ‘On Screens in Dining Rooms’
(1887, p. 58). I am informed by the same New York correspondent
that ... I once said to a literary gentleman, who was possibly
pointing to an anonymous article as his writing, ‘Ah! I thought I
recognised your hoof in it.’

Hoof-padder, subs. (common).—A pedestrian.

Hoofy, adj. (common).—Splay (or large).

Hook, subs. (thieves’).—1. A finger. (Cf., Cunt-hooks). For synonyms, see Fork. In plural = the hands. Also, Hooks and Feelers.

d. 1842. Maginn, Vidocq Versified. To his clies my hooks I throw
in.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 259. I one day asked
a man ... if the hard work of prison did not spoil his hands for
delicate manipulations. ‘Oh, bless you, no!’ he replied; ‘... In a
week or two a man can bring his hooks and feelers into full working
trim again and no mistake.’

2. (thieves’).—A thief. Specifically, a pickpocket; a hooker (q.v.). For synonyms, see Thieves.

1562. Jacke Juggler (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, ii., 139).
So, yonder cometh that unhappy hook.

1887. Horsley, Jottings from Jail. Take my tip and turn square,
from a hook who is going to be lagged, would be, in common
parlance, take my advice and get your living honestly.

1892. Anstey, Voces Populi (2nd Series). ‘In Trafalgar Square.’ A
professional hook.

3. (common).—A catch; an advantage; an imposture.

Verb (old).—1. To rob; to steal. Specifically, to steal watches, rings, etc., from a shop by cutting a small hole in the window, and fishing for such articles with a piece of string with a hook at the end.

1615. Albumazar, iii., 3. Is not this braver than sneak all night
in danger, Picking of locks, or hooking cloths at windows.

b. 1796. Burns, Jolly Beggars. For mony a pursie she had hookit.

1876. Clemens [Mark Twain], Tom Sawyer, p. 34. And while Aunt Polly
closed with a happy Scriptural flourish, Tom hooked a doughnut.

1884. M. Twain, Huck. Finn, xxx., 312. Didn’t you have it in your
mind to hook the money and hide it?

2. (colloquial).—To secure, as for marriage; to marry.

1886. J. S. Winter, Army Society, ch. xviii. I wonder if Mrs. Traff
has contrived to hook him for her sweet Laura.

1892. Manville Fenn, New Mistress, ch. xxv. Have you I will—there
now. Don’t you think you’re going to hook Lambent.

Intj. (Oxford Univ.).—An expression implying doubt. [Query from the note of interrogation (?) or connected with Hookey Walker (q.v.).]

On the hook, subs. phr. (common).—1. On the thieve; on the cross (q.v.).

2. (old).—On the Hip (q.v.); at an advantage.

1694. Congreve, Double Dealer, iv., 18. Consider I have you on the
hook; you will but flounder yourself a-weary, and be nevertheless
my prisoner.

Hook and eye, subs. phr. (tailors’).—Arm in arm.

To take (or sling) one’s hook (or to hook it), verb. phr. (common).—To decamp; to run away. For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, ii., 137. He slipped
from her and hooked it.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xlvi. ‘Hook it! Nobody wants you
here,’ he ses. ‘You Hook it. You go and tramp,’ he ses.

1856. Bradley [Cuthbert Bede], Tales of College Life, p. 36. Hook
it! old ’un, hook it!

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. xli. They all begins to get a bit
noisy and want to fight, and so I hooked it.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 16 Jan., p. 43, col. 3. If you lot don’t
hook it, I’ll stave in your blooming cocoa-nuts.

1891. Sportsman, 2 Apr., p. 2, col. 1. Plainly the worthy
magistrate laid it down that a wife may hook it when and how she
pleases.

1892. Anstey, Model Music Hall, 129–30. Take your ’ook while you
can. Even now the outraged populace approaches.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 58. I went jest for a lark, and
wos quietly slinging my ’ook.

1892. Kipling, Barrack-Room Ballads, ‘Loot.’ Before you sling your
’ook, at the ’ousetops take a look.

1892. Globe, 19 Oct., p. 3. Again from some neighbouring roof comes
back the weird responsive cry, Hook it! hook it.

1892. Herbert Campbell, Broadside Ballad, ‘Then Up Comes I with My
little Lot.’ And the houses shook and the copper took his ’ook, and
down come all the tiles.

To drop (go, or pop) off the hooks, verb. phr. (common).—1. To die. For synonyms, see Aloft.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Black Mousquetaire.’ I fear by
his looks, Our friend, Francis Xavier, has popp’d off the hooks!

1842. Punch’s Almanack, Dec. 15. Death wandered by the sea And
struck by Walton’s looks Broke Isaac’s line of life And took him
off the hooks.

1872. M. E. Braddon, Dead Sea Fruit, ch. iv. ‘S’pose the odds are
against Jerningham going off the hooks between this and the first
spring-meeting, so as to give a party a chance with Mrs. J.
herself,’ speculates young Belgravia, dreamily.

1880. Greenwood, Odd People in Odd Places, p. 37. I thought, to be
sure, I was going off the hooks, and it was no use talking about
it.

1890. Grant Allen, Tents of Shem, ch. xii. The old man has popped
off the hooks this afternoon at Aix.

2. (colloquial).—To get married.

1876. M. E. Braddon, Joshua Haggard, ch. x. Some of the young chaps
will be wanting her to get married. These here pretty ones go off
the hooks so soon.

To hook on to, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To attach oneself to; to buttonhole (q.v.); to follow up.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 4. It’s nuts to ’ook on to a
swell.

On one’s own hook, adv. phr. (colloquial).—On one’s own account, risk, or responsibility; for one’s own sake; dependent on one’s own resources or exertions.

1847. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 23. The signal was given, and in
poured the subscribers to the dinner, with their guest, and in
poured John on his own hook.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lxix. Do we come out as Liberal
Conservative, or as Government man, or on our own hook?

1861. Whyte Melville, Good for Nothing, ch. xxvii. I worked on my
own hook, after that, and I rather think I paid my expenses.

1869. Greenwood, Seven Curses of London, p. 409. To steal on your
own hook as a bookmaker.

1889. Answers, p. 52, c. 3. Finally Edison went to work on his own
hook.

1893. Emerson, Signor Lippo, ch. viii. We used to have to part
company and go in twos and threes then on our own hook.

By hook or by crook, phr. (colloquial).—By some means or other; by fair means or foul; at all hazards. [Probably of forestal origin.]

d. 1298. Thomas the Rhymer, On Parliaments. Their work was by hook
or crook to rap and bring all under the emperor’s power.

1525. Bodmin Register. Dynmure Wood was ever open and common to the
... inhabitants of Bodmin ... to bear away upon their backs a
burden of lop, crop, hook, crook, and bag wood.

d. 1529. Skelton, Collyn Cloute. Nor wyll suffer this boke By hooke
ne by crooke Prynted for to be.

1550. Bacon, Fortress of the Faithful. Whatsoever is pleasant or
profitable must be theirs by hook or by crook.

1557. Tusser, Good Husbandrie, 30 Mar. Watch therefore in Lent, to
thy sheepe go and look, For dogs will have vittels by hooke and by
crooke.

1566. Archbp. Parker, Correspondence (Parker Soc.), p. 252. To win
him in time, by hook or crook.

1596. Spenser, Faery Queen, v., 2, 27. The spoyle of people’s euill
gotten good, The which her sire had scrapt by hooke and crooke.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Barocco, a shift made for good
cheere, meate and drinke gotten by hooke or crooke.

1621. Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, xi., 186 (1836). By hook and
by crook he will obtain it.