Chapter VIII: Part 8

to enter for the geldings’ stakes, verb. phr. (old).—To castrate a man; also used to describe a eunuch.

Gelt, subs. (old).—Money; gilt (q.v.). Also gelter.—(Duncombe, 1848).

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. There is no gelt to be
got, Trading is very dull.

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

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Gemini! (or Geminy! or Jiminy!) intj. (common).—An exclamation of surprise; a mild oath. [Generally referred to the Lat.: Gemini = the Twins (i.e., Castor and Pollux, the objects of an old Roman oath); but Palmer (Folk Etymology), traces the interjection to the German, O Gemine!; Dutch, Jemy Jemini!; both abbreviated from the Latin, O Jesu Domine!; or merely from Jesu meus!; Italian, Giesu mio! It seems to have come in at the Restoration.] Also O Jimminy!; O Jimminy Figs!; O Jimminy Gig! etc.: for the phrase has pleased the cockney mind, and been vulgarised accordingly.

1672. Dryden, The Assignation, Act ii., Sc. 3. Ben. O gemini! is it
you, sir?

1704. Steele, Lying Lover, Act iv., Sc. 3. Sim. I stay with you? Oh
gemini! Indeed, I can’t.

1731. Fielding, The Lottery, Sc. 2. Lord Lace! Oh gemini! who’s
that?

1780. Mrs. Cowley, The Belle’s Stratagem, iv., 2. Oh gemini! beg
the petticoat’s pardon.

1797. M. G. Lewis, Castle Spectre, iii., 3. Oh gemini! what would
he use with me, lady?

1798. Morton, Secrets Worth Knowing, i., 1. A parcel of lazy chaps,
I dare say—but I’ll make them stir their stumps. Well, here we are
at last.—Oh gemini gig how my poor bones do ache!

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. i. ‘Gemini! what is that
now?’ quoth Tip again.

1863. Reade, Hard Cash, I., 125. O, jiminy! This polite ejaculation
was drawn out by the speaker’s sudden recognition of Alfred.

Gemman, subs. (vulgar).—A contraction of gentleman.

1550. Docteur Double-All (the word occurs in this play).

c. 1551. L. Shepherd, John Bon in Arber’s Garner, iv., 107. Ye be
the jolliest gemman that I ever saw in my life.

1767. Colman, Oxonian in Town, I., i. I am glad to see your
honour’s well. I hope you left all the gemmin well at Oxford.

1818. Byron, Beppo, st. 86. At home our Bow-street gemmen keep the
laws.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. iii., ch. v. ... but knock down a
gemman.

1851. Borrow, Lavengro, ch. 26. Here the gipsy gemman see.

Gen, subs. (costers’).—A shilling. Back slang, but cf. Fr., argent. For synonyms, see Blow.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. i., p. 19. I’ll
try you a gen (shilling) said a coster.

1887. Saturday Review, 14 May, p. 700. The difficulty of inverting
the word shilling accounts for ‘generalize.’ from which the
abbreviation to gen is natural as well as affectionate.

Gender, verb. (old).—To copulate. [An abbreviation of Engender.] For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

1602. Shakspeare, Othello, iv., 2. A cistern for foul toads To knot
and gender in.

1659. Torriano, Vocabolario, s.v.

1778. Bailey, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1816. Johnson, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1892. Bible, Lev. xix., 19. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender
with a diverse kind.

Feminine Gender, subs. phr. (schoolboys’).—The female pudendum. [As in the old (schoolboys’) rhyme: Amo, amas, I loved a lass, And she was tall and slender, Amas, amat, I laid her flat, And tickled her feminine gender. Quoted (with modifications) by Marryat in Jacob Faithful, 1835.]

Generalize, subs. (costers’). A shilling. See Gen.

Generating Place, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum.

Generation Tool, subs. phr. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Geneva Print, subs. phr. (old).—Gin. For synonyms, see Drinks and Satin.

1584–1640. Massinger (quoted in Slang, Jargon, and Cant). And if
you meet an Officer preaching of sobriety, Unless he read it in
Geneva Print, Lay him by the heels.

Gen-net, subs. phr. (back slang).—Ten shillings.

Gennitraf, subs. (back slang).—A farthing.

Genol, adj. (back slang).—Long.

Gent, subs. (once literary: now vulgar).—1. A showily-dressed vulgarian. [A contraction of ‘gentleman.’]

1635. [Glapthorne], Lady Mother, in Bullen’s Old Plays, ii., 114.
Hees not a gent that cannot parlee. I must invent some new and
polite phrases.

1785. Burns, Epistle to J. Lapraite, st. 11. Do ye envy the city
gent, Behint a kist to lie and sklent?

1843. Thackeray, Irish Sketch Book, ch. viii. The crowd of
swaggering gents (I don’t know the corresponding phrase in the
Anglo-Irish vocabulary to express a shabby dandy), awaiting the
Cork mail.

1844. Disraeli, Coningsby, bk. IV., ch. ii. ‘Ah, not in business!
Hem! professional?’ ‘No,’ said Coningsby, ‘I am nothing.’—‘Ah! an
independent gent; hem! and a very pleasant thing too.’

1846. Sunday Paper, 24 May. Mr. Rawlinson (Magistrate at Marylebone
Police Court). What do you mean by gent? There is no such word in
our language. I hold a man who is called a gent to be the greatest
blackguard there is.

1848. Punch, vol. XIV., p. 226. His aversion for a gent is softened
by pity.

1869. Blue Budget. The gent indicates a being who apes the
gentility without the faintest shadow of a claim to it.

2. (Old Cant).—Money. [From Fr., argent.] For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

1864. Revue des Deux Mondes, 15 Sept., p. 470. Les voleurs anglais
disent gent pour ‘argent.’

3. (colloquial).—A sweetheart, a mistress: e.g., My gent = my particular friend.

Adj. (old literary).—Elegant; comely; genteel.

1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales. ‘Miller’s Tale.’ [Skeat, 1878, i.,
194]. As any wesil her body gent and small.

1553–99. Spenser. He loved as was his lot, a lady gent. Idem. A
knight had wrought against a lady gent.

1704. Mad. Knight’s Jour., p. 44. Law you, sais she, it’s right
gent, do you take it—’tis dreadfull pretty.

Gentile, subs. (colloquial). Any sort of stranger, native or foreign; among the Mormons, any person not professing the Gospel according to Joe Smith. Hence, In the Land of the Gentiles = (1) in foreign parts; and (2) in strange neighbourhoods or alien society.

Gentle, subs. (anglers’).—A maggot; vulgarly, Gentile.

1811. Songs of the Chase. ‘The Jolly Anglers.’ We have gentles in
our horns.

Gentle Craft, subs. (old).—1. The trade of shoemaking. [From the romance of Prince Crispin, who is said to have made shoes.]

1662. Rump Songs. ‘A Hymn to the Gentle Craft,’ etc., ii. 152.
Crispin and he were nere akin: The gentle craft hath a noble kin.

2. (anglers’).—Angling.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 65. Sez I, gentle craft, said I.

Gentleman, subs. (thieves’).—A crowbar. For synonyms, see jemmy.

To put a churl (or beggar) upon a gentleman, verb. phr. (old).—To drink malt liquor immediately after wine.—Grose.

Gentleman of the (Three, or Four, or Five) Outs (or Ins), subs. phr. (old).—A varying and ancient wheeze, of which the following are representative:—

Out of money, and out of clothes; Out at the heels, and out at the
toes; Out of credit, and in debt.

A man in debt, in danger, and in poverty; or in gaol, indicted, and
in danger of being hanged.

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

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. iv. Paul became a gentleman of
three outs—out of pocket, out of elbows, and out of credit.

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, Bk. III., ch. v. Jerry Juniper was
what the classical Captain Grose would designate a gentleman with
three outs, and, although he was not entirely without wit, nor his
associates avouched, without money, nor certainly, in his own
opinion, had that been asked, without manners.

Gentleman of the Back (or Backdoor), subs. (old).—A sodomist. For synonyms, see Usher.

Gentleman of fortune, subs. phr. (common).—An adventurer.

1890. R. L. Stevenson, Treasure Island, p. 149. ‘Why, in a place
like this, where nobody puts in but gentlemen of fortune, Silver
would fly the jolly roger, you don’t make no doubt of that.’

Gentleman of Observation, subs. phr. (turf).—A tout.

Gentleman of the Round, subs. phr. (old).—An invalided or disabled soldier, making his living by begging.

1596. Jonson, Every Man in, etc., 2. Your decaied, ruinous,
worme-eaten gentlemen of the round.

Gentleman of the Short Staff, subs. phr. (old).—A constable.

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard (1889), p. 12. In the language of
the gentleman of the short staff an important caption could be
effected.

Gentleman of the Fist, subs. phr. (pugilists’).—A prize-fighter.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 44. Furnish such gentlemen of the fist.

Gentleman in Brown, subs. phr. (common).—A bed bug. For synonyms, see Norfolk Howard.

1885. G. A. Sala in Daily Telegraph, 14 Aug., 5/3. Bed bugs, the
convertible term for which is ‘chintzes,’ are the disagreeable
insects known in modern polite English as ‘Norfolk Howards,’ or
gentlemen in brown.

The Little Gentleman in Brown Velvet, subs. phr. (obsolete).—A mole. [The Tory toast after the death of William III., whose horse was said to have stumbled over a mole-hill.]

Gentleman of the Green Baize Road, subs. phr. (gamesters’).—A card sharper.

Gentleman Commoner, subs. phr. (University).—1. A privileged class of commoners at Oxford, wearing a special cut of gown and a velvet cap.

2. (common).—An empty bottle. Also fellow-commoner (q.v.). [A sarcastic allusion to the mental capacity of this class of student.] For synonyms, see Dead-man.

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

Gentleman-ranker, subs. (military).—A broken gentleman serving in the ranks.

1892. Kipling, Barrack Room Ballads. ‘Gentlemen Rankers.’
Gentleman-rankers out on the spree, Damned from here to eternity,
God ha’ mercy on such as we, Baa! Yah! Bah!

Gentleman’s Companion, subs. phr. (common).—A louse. For synonyms, see Chates.

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

Gentleman’s Master, subs. phr. (old).—A highwayman.—Grose.

Gentleman’s (or Ladies’) Piece, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A small or delicate portion; a tit-bit.

Gentleman’s Pleasure-garden, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. [Hence, Gentleman’s Pleasure-Garden Padlock = menstrual cloth.]

Gentlemen’s Sons, subs. phr. (common).—The three regiments of Guards.

Gently! intj. (stables’ and colloquial).—An interjection = stand still (q.v.); hence, colloquially, = don’t get into a passion, go slow (q.v.).

Gentry Cove (or Cofe), subs. (old cant).—A gentleman; a nib-cove (q.v.). Fr., un messire de la haute.

1567. Harman, Caveat, s.v.

1656. Brome, Joviall Crew, Act ii. For all this bene Cribbing and
Peck let us then, Bowse a health to the gentry cofe of the Ken.

1654. Witts’ Recreations. As priest of the game, And prelate of the
same. There’s a gentry cove here.

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

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. Tour the bien mort twiring the
gentry cove.

1837. Disraeli, Venetia, p. 71. The gentry cove will be ramboyled
by his dam.

Gentry Cove’s Ken (or Gentry-Ken), subs. phr. (Old Cant).—A gentleman’s house.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65. A gentry cofe’s ken, a noble or
gentleman’s house. A gentry cofe, a noble or gentle man.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874).
Gentry cove’s ken, a gentleman’s house.

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

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

Gentry Mort, subs. phr. (old cant).—A lady.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65. A gentry mort, a noble or
gentle woman.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874).
Gentry mort, a gentlewoman.

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

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

Genuine, subs. (Winchester College).—Praise.

Adj. (colloquial).—Trustworthy; not false nor double-faced.

Verb. (Winchester College).—To praise. ‘He was awfully quilled and genuined my task.’ [Probably from calling a thing genuine. Cf., to blackguard, to lord, etc. But fifty years ago it was a subs. only.—Notions.]

Geordie, subs. (North Country).—1. A pitman; also, a Northumbrian in general.

2. (nautical).—A North Country collier.

3. See George.

George (or Scots’ diminutive Geordie), subs. (old). 1.—A half crown. Also (obsolete), the noble = 6s. 8d., temp., Henry VIII.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, List of cant words. george,
half-a-crown.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew. He tipt me Forty Georges for
my earnest, He paid me Five Pounds for my Share or Snack.

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

2. (old).—A guinea; also more frequently Yellow George.

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

1787. Burns, The Twa Dogs. The yellow-lettered Geordie keeks.

3. (old).—A penny.

1820. Reynolds, The Fancy, Glossary. A Penny-piece—a georgy.

Brown George.—See Ante.

By Fore, or By George.—See By George.

George Horne, intj. (printers’).—A derisive retort on a piece of stale news. Also G. H.! [From a romancing compositor of the name.]

Georgy-Porgy, verb (colloquial).—To pet; to fondle; to beslobber.

1883. R. L. Stevenson, The Treasure of Franchard, ch. iii., in
Longman’s Magazine, April, p. 685. He must be spoken to with more
respect, I tell you; he must not be kissed and georgy-porgy’d like
an ordinary child.

German. The German, subs. phr. (New York).—A round dance.

German Duck, subs. phr. (obsolete).—1. Half a sheep’s head, stewed with onions.—Grose.

2. (common).—A bed bug. For synonyms, see Norfolk Howard.

German Flutes, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A pair of boots.

Germantowner, subs. (American billiards’).—A pushing shot—when the balls played with, and at, are jarred together. Cf., Whitechapeller.

Gerry, subs. (Old Cant).—Excrement.

1567. Harman, Caveat, s.v.

Gerry Gan, intj. (Old Cant).—A retort forcible. Stow it! (q.v.). [From Gerry = excrement + Gan = mouth, i.e., literally, Shit in your mouth.] The common form is: Shit (or a turd) in your teeth; as in Ben Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, 1614. Fr., Tais ta gueule ou j’te chie dedans.

1567. Harman, Caveat. Gerry gan, the ruffian cly thee.

Gerrymander (pronounced with the ‘g’ hard, as in ‘get’), verb. (political American).—To arrange the electoral subdivisions of a State to the profit and advantage of a particular party.

[The term, says Norton, is derived from the name of Governor Gerry,
of Massachusetts, who, in 1811, signed a Bill readjusting the
representative districts so as to favour the Democrats and weaken
the Federalists, although the last-named party polled nearly
two-thirds of the votes cast. A fancied resemblance of a map of the
districts thus treated led Stuart, the painter, to add a few lines
with his pencil, and say to Mr. Russell, editor of the Boston
Sentinel. ‘That will do for a Salamander.’ Russell glanced at it:
‘Salamander,’ said he, ‘call it a Gerrymander!’ The epithet took at
once, and became a Federalist war-cry, the caricature being
published as a campaign document.]

1871. Boston Daily Advertiser, 6 Dec. Gerrimander was the name
printed under a picture of a pretended monster, whose shape was
modified from the distorted geography which Mr. Gerry’s friends
inflicted on part of the State for the sake of economizing,
majorities.

Gerrymandering, subs. (political American). See Gerrymander.

1872. New York Sunday Mercury, 31 March. The Legislature of Ohio
intends to prove itself a veritable master in the gerrymandering
business.

1890. Athenæum, 22 Feb. p. 238, c. 1. Whatever faults can be found
with Sir John’s administration, it has been good and successful
enough to afford excuse for all the gerrymandering with which he is
charged by his critics.

1891. Belfort’s Mag., Aug., p. 439. The Democrats of Michigan have
carried the art of gerrymandering to such an extent that they have
thoroughly disgusted their opponents.

Gerund-Grinder, subs. (common).—A schoolmaster, especially a pedant. Also Gerund-Grinding.

1759–67. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, iv., 112. Tutors, governors,
gerund-grinders, and bear-leaders.

1788. Knox, Winter Evenings, 59. A pedant, a mere plodder, a petty
tyrant, a gerund-grinder.

1825–7. Hone, Every Day Book, II., p. 33. Gerund-Grinding and
parsing are usually prepared for at the last moment.

Get, subs. (old).—1. A cheating contrivance; a Have (q.v.).

2. (old).—A child; the result, that is, of an act of procreation or begetting. Thus, one of his gets = one of his making; whose get is that? = Who’s the father? It’s his get, anyhow = At all events he got it.

1570. Scottish Text Society, Satirical Poems, I., 171, ‘Treason of
Dumbarton’ (1891). Ganelon’s gets, relicts of Sinon’s seed.

d. 1798. Burns, Merry Muses. ‘For a’ that.’ O’ bastard getts some
had a score, An’ some had mair than a’ that.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 41. This, again, is unusual for a
Chester, as his get are generally quiet and docile, but a bit lazy.

Get! (or You Get!) intj. (American).—Short for Get out! Usually, Git! (q.v.).

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 176. None of your
damned impertinence. Get!

To get at, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To quiz; to banter; to aggravate; to take a rise out of. Also To get back at.

1891. Sloper’s Half Holiday, 3 Jan. ‘Your family don’t seem to get
on, missie.’ ‘On!’ replied the child, with dignity flashing from
her great blue eyes; ‘on! I’ve got a father on the booze, a sister
on the music ’all, an’ a brother on the treadmill. On! who’re ye
gettin’ at?’

2. (racing and colloquial).—To influence; to bribe; to nobble (of horses), and to corrupt (of persons); applied to horse, owner, trainer, jockey, and vet. alike.

1870. Spectator, 23 April. That, of course, makes it profitable for
owners to withdraw horses they have secretly betted against, and
for scoundrels to get at horses.

1871. Saturday Review, 9 Sept. It is quite clear that some of the
foreign working men have been got at.

1883. Graphic, 17 March, p. 262, c. 2. The House of Commons ... can
also be trusted to decide in local questions without any suspicion
of being got at, as is sometimes the case elsewhere.

1883. Badminton Library, Steeplechasing, p. 404. Suspicions that
the mare had been got at, that is to say, drugged, were afterwards
noised abroad.

1888. Daily Telegraph, 17 Nov. It was strongly suspected that he
had been got at.

1890. Globe, 11 Aug., p. 1, c. 1. Fancy the professional agitator
trying to get at such men as these—men who gloried in being
soldiers and nothing else!

1892. Pall Mall Gazette, May 10, p. 3, c. 3. The scoundrels (verily
of the lowest form) who have tried to get at Orme.

1892. National Observer, vii. 630. If the horse were got at, then a
bookie who stood heavily to lose is probably assumed.

To get about, verb. phr. (venery).—To do the act of intromission. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

To get back at, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To satirise; to call to account.

1888. Daily Inter-Ocean. The newspapers are getting back at Sam.

Get back into your box! phr. (American).—An injunction to silence; stow it! (q.v. for synonyms).

To get encored, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To have a job returned for alterations.

To get even with, verb. phr. (common).—To take one’s revenge; to give tit for tat.

To get it, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be punished (morally or physically); to be called over the coals. Also (venery) to catch a clap.

To get off, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To (1) escape punishment, to be let off; (2) to utter, to deliver oneself of, to perpetrate—as to get off a joke; and (3) to get married.

To get on, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To back a horse; to put a bit on (q.v.).

2. (colloquial).—To succeed; or, simply, to fare. Thus, How are you getting on? may signify (1) To what extent are you prospering? or (2) How are you doing?

1871. Pall Mall Gaz., 29 Dec. That great Anglo-Saxon passion of
rising in the world, or getting on—that is, rising into the class
above him.

1892. A. W. Pinero, The Times: a Comedy, v. 1. We used to go very
early to such places and stay right through, now that papa has got
on, we arrive late everywhere and murmur an apology!

To get one in the cold, verb. phr. (American).—To have at an advantage; to be on the windward side (q.v.); to have on toast (q.v.).

To get one on, verb. phr. (pugilists’).—To land a blow.

To get down fine (or close), verb. phr. (American).—To know all about one’s antecedents; and (police) to know where to find one’s man.

To get into, verb. phr. (venery).—To occupy (q.v.). Also To get in and To get up. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

1620. Percy, Folio MSS., p. 197. Gett vp againe, Billy, if that
thou louest me.

To get over, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To seduce, to fascinate, to dupe. Also To come over and To get round.

To get outside of, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To eat or drink; also to accomplish one’s purpose.

1892. S. Watson, Wops the Waif, p. 9. Tickle urged Wops again and
again to drink, but Wops’s only reply was, ‘Yer go on, Tickle; git
outside the lot, if yer can; it’ll do yer good, Cully.’

2. (venery).—To receive the sexual embrace: of women only.

To get out of bed on the wrong side, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be testy or cross-grained. [A corruption of an old saying, ‘To rise on the right side is accounted lucky’; hence the reverse meant trials to temper, patience, and luck.]

1607. Marston, What You Will. You rise on your right side to-day,
marry.

1608. Machin, Dumb Knight, iv., 1. Sure I said my prayers, ris’d on
my right side, Wash’d hands and eyes, put on my girdle last; Sure I
met no splea-footed baker, No hare did cross me, nor no bearded
witch, Nor other ominous sign.

1614. Terence in English. C. What doth shee keepe house alreadie?
D. Alreadie. C. O good God!; we rose on the right side to-day.

1647. Beaumont and Fletcher, i. Women Pleased. You rose o’ your
right side.

1890. Globe, 15 May, p. 2, col. 2. Some of them had—if we may
employ such a vulgar expression—got out of bed on the wrong side.

To get out (or Round), verb. phr. (racing).—To back a horse against which one has previously laid; to Hedge (q.v.).

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 318. He had an idea
Johnson was this time cleverly working a very well authorised
commission, and that he personally had taken more than one
opportunity of what is termed getting out.

To get set, verb. phr. (cricketing).—1. To warm to one’s work at the wicket, and collar the bowling; to get one’s eye well in.

To get there, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To attain one’s object; to be successful; to make one’s jack (q.v.); to get there with both feet = to be very successful.

1887. Francis, Saddle and Mocassin. He said as he’d been gambling,
and was two hundred dollars ahead of the town. He got there with
both feet at starting.

1888. New York Herald, 29 July. Although not a delegate he got
there all the same.

2. (common).—To get drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

3. (venery).—To enjoy the sexual favour.

To get through, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To pass an examination; to accomplish.

1853. Bradley, Verd. Green, II. ch. xii. So you see, Giglamps, I’m
safe to get through.

To get up and dust, verb. phr. (American).—To depart hastily. For synonyms, see Skedaddle and Amputate.

To get up behind (or get behind) a man, verb. phr. (common).—To endorse or back a bill.

1880. Life in a Debtor’s Prison, p. 87. In other cases he figured
as the drawer, or simply as endorser. This, Mr. Whipper described
as getting up behind.

To get up the mail, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To find money (as counsels’ fees, etc.) for defence.

1889. Clarkson and Richardson, Police, 322, s.v.

[Get enters into many other combinations. See back teeth; bag or
sack; bead; beans; beat; big bird and goose; big head; billet; bit;
boat; bolt; books; bulge; bullet; bull’s feather; crocketts; dander
and monkey; dark; drop; eye; flannels; flint; game; grand bounce;
gravel-rash; grind; grindstone; hand; hang; hat; head; hip or hop;
home; horn; hot; jack; keen; length of one’s foot; measure; mitten;
needle; religion; rise; run; scot, swot, or scrape; set; shut of;
silk; snuff; straight; sun; ticket of leave; wool; wrong box.]

Getaway, subs. (American thieves’).—A locomotive or train; a puffer (q.v.).

Getter. A sure getter, subs. phr. (Scots).—A procreant male with a great capacity for fertilization.

Get-up, subs. (colloquial).—1. Dress; constitution and appearance; disguise. See Get-up, verb, sense 1.

1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. xiv. Is that killing get
up entirely for your benefit, John? I asked.

1865. G. A. Sala, Trip to Barbary, ch. x. Altogether the get up of
a Mauresque en promenade is livelier and smarter than that of a
Turkish woman.

1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, ch. xii. The graceful, well-appointed
Mr. Christian, who sneered at Scales about his get up, having to
walk back to the house with only one tail to his coat.

1882. Graphic, 9 Dec., p. 643, c. 2. Comic gets up, which will make
the house roar presently, are elaborated with the business air of a
judge in banc, or a water-rate collector.

1889. Mirror, 26 Aug., p. 2, c. 1. I cannot, however, congratulate
F. C. G. on his sketch of Blowitz; it isn’t much like the great
man, and the get up is quite too absurd.

1890. Daily Telegraph, 25 Feb., p. 7. col. 7. Dressed as a
copurchic, and, giving himself out as an Italian count—thinking to
entrap some Transatlantic heiress by his title, fascinating
appearance, and gorgeous get up.

Verb. phr. (colloquial).—(1). To prepare (a part, a paper, a case); (2) to arrange (a concert); (3) to dress (as got up regardless, to the nines, to the knocker, to kill, within an inch of one’s life); (4) to disguise (as a sailor, a soldier, Henry VIII., a butcher, a nun). See also Get into.

1828. L. Hunt, Essays (Camelot ed.), p. 13. The pocket-books that
now contain any literature are got up, as the phrase is, in the
most unambitious style.

1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. xviii. Three very
gentleman-like, good-looking men, got up to the utmost extent of
hunting splendour.

1864. Eton School Days, ch. xviii., p. 207. He felt confident in
his power of getting up so that no one would recognise him.

1866. New York Home Journal, Jan. While that admirable old dame,
Nature, has been strangely neglectful of much which might be
conducive to our comfort, she has gotten up, regardless of expense,
a few articles which are good for some purposes, as the witty Hood
has told us.

1871. London Figaro, 11 Mar. It is got up very much in the style of
the Paris journals, and is very inferior compared with any
respectable journal in England.

1889. Polytechnic Magazine, 24 Oct., p. 261. He came specially got
up in piebald trousers.

1892. Chevalier. ‘The Little Nipper.’ I’ve knowed ’im take a girl
on six feet tall; ’E’d git ’imself up dossy, Say ‘I’m goin’ out wi’
Flossie.’

G.H. See George Horne.

Ghastly, adj. and adv. (colloquial).—Very: a popular intensitive; Cf., Awful, Bloody, Fucking.

Ghost, subs. (common).—One who secretly does artistic or literary work for another person taking the credit and receiving the price. [The term was frequently used during the trial of Lawes v. Belt in 188(?).] Cf., devil.

1890. Daily Telegraph, 8 Feb. The sculptor’s ghost is conjured up
from the vasty deep of byegone lawsuits.

1892. National Observer, vii., 327. Would not the unkind describe
your ‘practical man’ as a ghost?

Verb. (common).—To prowl; to spy upon; to shadow (q.v.).

The ghost walks (or does not walk) phr. (theatrical).—There is (or is not) money in the treasury.

1853. Household Words, No. 183. When no salaries are forthcoming
the ghost doesn’t walk.

1883. Referee, 24 June, p. 3, c. 2. An Actor’s Benevolent Fund box
placed on the treasurer’s desk every day when the ghost walks would
get many an odd shilling or sixpence put into it.

1885. The Stage, p. 112. The rogues seldom appear at a loss for a
plausible story when it is time for the ghost to walk. Ibid. The
next day the ghost declines to walk.

1889. J. C. Colman (in Slang, Jargon, and Cant), p. 405.
Ghost-walking, a term originally applied by an impecunious stroller
in a sharing company to the operation of ‘holding the treasury,’ or
paying the salaries, which has become a stock facetiæ among all
kinds and descriptions of actors. Instead of enquiring whether the
treasury is open, they generally say—‘Has the ghost walked?’ or
‘What, has this thing appeared again?’ (Shakspeare).

1890. Illustrated Bits, 29 Mar., p. 11, c. 1. And a few nights with
empty benches laid the ghost completely. It could not even walk to
the tune of quarter salaries.

The ghost of a chance, subs. phr. (colloquial).—The faintest likelihood, or the slightest trace: e.g., He hasn’t the ghost of a chance.

1891. Sportsman, 26 Mar. He did not give the ghost of a chance.

Ghoul, subs. (American.)—1. A spy; specifically a man who preys on such married women as addict themselves to assignation houses.

2. (journalistic).—A newspaper chronicler of the smallest private tittle-tattle.

Gib, subs. (colloquial).—1. Gibraltar. Once a penal station: whence—2. A gaol.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 221. I did a
lagging of seven, and was at the gib three out of it.

1892. Pall Mall Gazette, 23 Mar., p. 6, c. 1. ‘Stormy Weather at
gib.’ The weather here has been fearful; 51 inches of rain have
been registered, and the land for miles round Gibraltar is
submerged.

To hang one’s gib, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To pout. See Jib.

Gibberish (or Gebberish, Gibberidge, Gibrige, etc.), subs. (old: now recognised).—Originally the lingo of gipsies, beggars, etc. Now, any kind of inarticulate nonsense. [From gibber, a variant of Jabber.] See Cant, Slang, Pedlar’s French, etc.

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller, in wks., v., 68. That all cried out
upon him mightily in their gibrige, lyke a companie of beggers.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. Gergare, to speak fustian, pedlers
french, or rogues language, or gibbrish.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie. Jargon, gibridge fustian language,
pedler’s French, a barbarus jangling.

1638. H. Shirley, Martyr’d Souldier, Act iii., Sc. 4. Feele my
pulse once again and tell me, Doctor, Tell me in tearmes that I may
understand,—I doe not love your gibberish,—tell me honestly Where
the Cause lies, and give a Remedy.

1659. Torriano, Vocabolario, s.v.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Gibberish (s.) an
unintelligible jargon, or confused way of speaking, used by the
gipsies, beggars, etc., to disguise their wicked designs; also any
discourse where words abound more than sense.

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xxx. He repeated some gibberish
which by the sound seemed to be Irish.

1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. viii. Since that d——d clerk of mine has
taken his gibberish elsewhere.

1850. D. Jerrold, The Catspaw, Act i. Odds and ends ... writ down
in such a kind of gibberish that I can’t make out one of ’em.

1858. G. Eliot, Mr. Gilfit’s Love Story, ch. iv. It’ll learn to
speak summat better nor gibberish, an’ be brought up i’ the true
religion.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 129. It was
Fo’c’s’le Jack that piped and drawled his ungrammatical gibberish.

Gibble-Gabble, subs. (colloquial).—Nonsense; gibberish (q.v.). [A reduplication of gabble (q.v.).]

1600. Dekker, Shoemaker’s Holiday, in wks. (1873) i., 21. Hee’s
some uplandish workeman, hire him good master, That I may learne
some gibble gabble, ’twill make us worke the faster.

1659. Torriano, Vocabolario, s.v.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Gibble-gabble (s), silly,
foolish, idle talk.

Gib-cat, subs. (old).—A tom-cat. [An abbreviation of Gilbert = O. Fr.: Tibert, the cat in the fable of Reynard the Fox.]

1360. Chaucer, Romaunt of the Rose, 6204 (Thibert le Cas is
rendered by gibbe, our cat).

1598. Shakspeare, 1 Henry IV., Act i., Sc. 2. I am as melancholy as
a gib-cat.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, i., 1. Before I endure such another
day with him, I’ll be drawn with a good gib-cat through the great
pond at home.

1663. Rump Songs. ‘Rump Carbonadoed,’ ii., 71. As if they had less
wit and grace than gib-cats.

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

Gibe, verb. (American).—To go well with; to be acceptable. See Gee.

Gibel, verb. (thieves’).—To bring.

1837. Disraeli, Venetia, bk. i., ch. xiv. Gibel the chive, bring
the knife.

Gib-face, subs. (colloquial).—A heavy jowl; an ugly-mug (q.v.). Cf., to hang one’s gib.

Giblets, subs. (common).—1. The intestines generally; the manifold (q.v.). Cf. trouble-giblets.

1864. Browning, Dramatis Personæ, ‘Flight of the Duchess.’ Is
pumped up briskly through the main ventricle, And floats me
genially round the giblets.

2. (colloquial).—A fat man; forty-guts (q.v.). Also Duke of Giblets.

To join giblets, verb. phr. (venery).—To copulate. Also to have or do a bit of giblet-pie. For synonyms, see Ride. Hence to cohabit as husband and wife; to live tally. Cf., plaster of warm guts.

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

1887. Notes and Queries, 7 S., iv., 511. ‘To join giblets.’—This
expression may occasionally be heard in this district, among the
lowest and vulgarest, and has a very offensive meaning.

To fret one’s giblets, verb. phr.—See Fret.

Gibraltar, subs. (American).—A party stronghold: e.g., the Gibraltar of Democracy.—Norton.

Gibson (or Sir John Gibson), subs. (old coachbuilders’).—A rest to support the body of a building coach.

Gibus, subs. (colloquial).—1. An opera, or crush hat. Fr., un accordéon. [From the name of the inventor.]

1867. Jas. Greenwood, Unsent. Journeys, iii., 21. West-End
aristocrats, with spotless jean coats and Gibus hats.

1871. Figaro, 2 Sept. Much fun may be made by wearing a Gibus, and
collapsing it at the moment of contact with the funnel.

1885. Punch, 4 Apr., p. 160. Giving his comic, shiny, curly-brimmed
hat to the swell who couldn’t by any possible chance have mistaken
it for his own Gibus.

1887. Atkin, House Scraps, p. 144. Their Gibus hats are cock’d
awry.

Giddy, adj. (colloquial).—Flighty; wanton: e.g., to play the giddy goat = to live a fast life; to be happy-go-lucky.

1892. Ally Sloper, 19 Mar., p. 91, c. 2. Fanny Robinson was
flighty; she played the giddy ox—I mean heifer.

Giffle-gaffle, subs. (old).—Nonsense; a variant of gibble-gabble (q.v.).

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary. Giff-gaff, unpremeditated discourse.

Gif-gaf (or Giff-gaff), subs. (Scots’).—A bargain on equal terms. Whence the proverb: Gif-gaf maks guid friens. Fr.: Passe-moi la casse et je t’enverrai la senne.

Gift, subs. (colloquial).—1. Anything, lightly gained or easily won.

2. (common).—A white speck on the finger nails, supposed to portend a gift.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

3. (printers’).—See Gift-house.

As full of gifts as a brazen horse of farts, phr. (old).—Mean; miserly; disinclined to part (q.v.).

1811 Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Gift of the Gab.—See Gab.

Gift-house (or Gift), subs. (printers’).—A club; a house of call; specifically for the purpose of finding employment, or providing allowances for members.

Gig (Gigg, Gigge), subs. (old).—1. a wanton; a mistress; a flighty girl. Cf., Giglet.

1373. Chaucer, House of Fame, iii. 851. This house was also ful of
gygges.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew. A young gig, a wanton lass.

1780. D’Arbley, Diary, etc., (1876), i., 286. Charlotte L—— called,
and the little gig told ... of the domestic life she led in her
family, and made them all ridiculous, without meaning to make
herself so.

1825. Planché, Success in Extravaganzas (1879) I., 26. He! he! What
a gig you look in that hat and feather!

1832. Macaulay in Life, by Trevelyan (1884), ch. v., p. 188. Be you
Foxes, be you Pitts, You must write to silly chits, Be you Tories,
be you Whigs, You must write to sad young gigs.

2. (old).—A jest; a piece of nonsense; anything fanciful or frivolous. Hence, generally, in contempt.

1590. Nashe, Pasquil’s Apologie, in wks. Vol. I., p. 234. A right
cutte of the worde, withoute gigges or fancies of haereticall and
newe opinions.

1793. Butt, Poems.... Fograms, quizzes, treats, and bores, and
gigs, Were held in some account with ancient prigs.

1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. xiv. Such a set of gigs,
my dear, I never saw in my life; large underbred horses, and not a
good-looking man amongst them.

3. (old).—The nose. For synonyms, see Conk. To snitchell the gig = to pull the nose. Grunter’s gig = a hog’s snout.

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

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

4. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. [Possibly from gig = a top, i.e., a toy; possibly, too, from It. giga = a fiddle (q.v.); but see post sense 8.]

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

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

5. (old: now recognised).—A light two-wheeled vehicle drawn by one horse.

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

1809. Windham, Speech, 25 May. Let the former riders in gigs and
whiskeys, and one horsed carriages continue to ride in them.

6. (old).—A door. See Gigger.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. It is all bob, now let’s dub the gigg of
the case: now the coast is clear, let us break open the door of the
house.

7. (Eton).—A fool; an overdressed person. For synonyms, see Sammy-soft.

1797. Colman, Heir at Law, iv., 3. Dick.—What a damn’d gig you look
like. Pangloss.—A gig! umph! that’s an Eton phrase—the Westminsters
call it Quiz.

1870. Athenæum, 16 Apr. He would now be what Eton used to call a
gig, and Westminster a Quiz.

8. (old).—Fun; a frolic; a spree. [Possibly from Fr.: gigue = a lively dance movement. Cf., gigue et jon = a Bacchanalian exclamation of sailors. In Florio, too, frottolare = ‘to sing gigges, rounds, or ... wanton verses.’] Full of gig = full of laughter, ripe for mischief.

1811. Moore, Twopenny Post-bag, Letter 3. We were all in high
gig—Roman punch and tokay travelled round, till our heads travelled
just the same way.

1820. Randall, Diary. In search of lark, or some delicious gig, The
mind delights on, when ’tis in prime twig.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i., 3. I hope we shall have many a
bit of gig together.

1888. Besant, Fifty Years Ago, p. 134. A laughter-loving lass of
eighteen who dearly loved a bit of gig.

9. (old).—The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1871. Finish to Tom and Jerry, p. 175 (ed. 1872). The bit of myrtle
in his gig.

10. (old).—A farthing. Formerly grig (q.v.).

11. (American).—See Policy Dealing.

Verb. (old).—To hamstring.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. To gigg a Smithfield hank, to
hamstring an overdrove ox.

By Gigs! intj. (old).—A mild and silly oath. See Oaths.

1551. W. Still, Gammer Gurton’s Needle, ii., 51. Chad a foule turne
now of late, chill tell it you, by gigs!

Gigamaree, subs. (American).—A thing of little worth; a pretty but useless toy; a gimcrack (q.v.).

1848. Jones, Sketches of Travel, p. 9. Byin’ fineries and northern
gigamarees of one kind or another.

Ibid. I ax’d the captain what sort of a gigamaree he had got up
there for a flag.

Gigantomachize, verb. (old).—To rise in revolt against one’s betters. Gr., Gigantomachia = the War of the Giants against the Gods. [Probably a coinage of Ben Jonson’s.]

1599. Jonson, Every Man Out, Act v., 4. Slight, fed with it the
whoreson, strummel-patched, goggle-eyed grumble-dores would have
gigantomachized their Maker.

Gigger, subs. (tailors’).—1. A sewing machine. (In allusion to noise and movement).

2. See Jigger.

Giggles-nest. Have you found a giggles-nest? phr. (old).—Asked of a person tittering, or one who laughs immoderately and senselessly.

Gig-lamps, subs. (common).—1. Spectacles. For synonyms, see Barnacles.

1848. Bradley, in Letter to J. C. H. Gig-lamps (certainly a
university term. I first heard it in 1848 or 1849, long before Mr.
Verdant Green was born or thought of).

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. ii., p. 140. You with the
gig-lamps, throw us your cigar.

1887. Punch, 30 July, p. 45. Jack’s a straw-thatched young joker in
gig-lamps.

1892. F. Anstey, Voces Populi. ‘At the Tudor Exhibition.’ Stop,
though, suppose she has spotted me? Never can tell with giglamps.

2. (common).—One who wears spectacles; a four eyes (q.v.). [Popularised by Verdant Green.]

Gigler (or Giglet, Goglet, Gigle, Gig), subs. (old).—A wanton; a mistress. Giglet (West of England) = a giddy, romping girl; and in Salop a flighty person is called a giggle. Cf., Gig, sense 1.

1533. Udal, Floures for Latine Spekynge, fo. 101. What is the
matter, foolish giglotte? What meanest thou? Whereat laughest thou?

1567. Harman, Caveat, leaf 22, back. Therefore let us assemble
secretly into the place where he hath appoynted to meet this gyleot
that is at your house.

1603. Shakspeare, Measure for Measure, v., 1. Let him speak no
more: away with those giglots too, and with the other confederate
companion.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie. Gadrouillette, minx, gigle, flirt.

1620. Massienger, Fatal Dowry, Act. iii. If this be The recompence
of striving to preserve A wanton gigglet honest, very shortly
’Twill make all mankind pandars.

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

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Gigglers, wanton women.

Adj. (old).—Loose in word and deed. Also giglet-like, and giglet-wise = like a wanton.

1598. Shakspeare, 1 Henry IV., Act v., Sc. 1. Young Talbot was not
born To be the pillage of a giglot wench.

1600. Fairfax, Jerusalem Delivered, vi., 72. That thou wilt gad by
night in giglet-wise, Amid thine armed foes to seek thy shame.

Gild, verb. (old).—To make drunk; to flush with drink.

1609. Shakspeare, Tempest, Act v., Sc. 1. This grand liquor that
hath gilded them.

1620. Fletcher, Chances, iv., 3. Is she not drunk, too? A little
gilded o’er, sir.

To gild the pill, phr. (colloquial).—To say, or do, unpleasant things as gently as may be; to impose upon; to bamboozle (q.v.).

Gilded Rooster, subs. phr. (American).—A man of importance; a howling swell (q.v.); sometimes the gilded rooster on the top of the steeple. Cf., big-bug; big dog of the tanyard, etc.

1888. New York Herald. We admit that as a metropolis Chicago is the
gilded rooster on top of the steeple, but even gilded roosters have
no right to the whole corn bin.

Gilderoy’s Kite. To be hung higher than gilderoy’s kite, verb. phr. (old).—To be punished more severely than the very worst criminals. ‘The greater the crime the higher the gallows’ was at one time a practical legal axiom. Hence, out of sight; completely gone.

Giles’ Greek. See St. Giles’ Greek.

Gilguy, subs. (nautical).—Anything which happens to have slipped the memory; equivalent to what’s-his-name or thingamytight.

Gilkes, subs. (old).—Skeleton keys.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874).
Gilkes or the Gigger, false keyes for the doore or picklockes.

Gill (or Jill), subs. (old).—1. A girl; (2) a sweetheart: e.g., ‘every Jack must have his Gill’; (3) a wanton, a strumpet (an abbreviation of gillian). For synonyms, see Jomer and Titter.

1586–1606. Warner, Albion’s England, bk. vii., ch. 37. The simplest
gill or knave.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, Palandrina, a common queane, a
harlot, a strumpet, a gill.

1620. Percy, Folio MSS., p. 104. There is neuer a Jacke for gill.

1659. Torriano, Vocabolario, s.v.

2. (common).—a drink; a go (q.v.).

1785. Burns, Scots Drink. Haill breeks, a scone, and whisky gill.

3. in. pl. ‘g’ hard (colloquial).—The mouth or jaws; the face. See Potato-trap and Dial.

1622. Bacon, Historia Naturalis. Redness about the cheeks and
gills.

1632. Jonson, Magnetic Lady, i. He ... draws all the parish wills,
Designs the legacies, and strokes the gills of the chief mourners.

b. 1738. Wolcot, Pindar’s Works (1809), i., 8. Whether you look all
rosy round the gills, Or hatchet-fac’d like starving cats so lean.

1820. Lamb, Elia (Two Races of Men). What a careless, even
deportment hath your borrower! what rosy gills!

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. viii. Binnie, as brisk and rosy
about the gills as chanticleer, broke out in a morning salutation.

1884. Punch. He went a bit red in the gills.

4. in. pl. (common).—A very large shirt collar; also stick-ups and sideboards. Fr.: cache-bonbon-à-liqueur = a stick-up.

1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 6 p., in Part 7. With a red
face, shaven to the superlative degree of shininess, with gills
white and tremendous, with a noble white waistcoat.

1884. Daily Telegraph, July 8, p. 5, c. 4. Lord Macaulay wore, to
the close of his life, ‘stick-ups,’ or gills.

To grease the gills.—verb. phr. (common).—To have a good meal; to wolf (q.v.).

To look blue (or queer, or green) about the gills, verb. phr. (common).—To be downcast or dejected; also to suffer from the effects of a debauch. Hence, conversely, to be rosy about the gills = to be cheerful.

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. ii. Most of them were very
white and blue in the gills when we sat down, and others of a dingy
sort of whitey-brown, while they ogled the viands in a most
suspicious manner.

1892. G. Manville Fenn, Witness to the Deed, ch. ii. You look
precious seedy. White about the gills.

A cant (or dig) in the gills, phr. (pugilists’).—A punch in the face. See Bang.

Gill-flirt, subs. (old).—A wanton; a flirt. For synonyms, see Barrack Hack and Tart.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie. Gaultiere, a whore, punke, drab,
queane, gill, flirt.
1690. B. E., Dict, of the Cant. Crew, s.v. A proud minx.

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

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Gilly, subs. (American).—A fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

Gilly-gaupus, subs. phr. (Scots).—A tall loutish fellow.

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

Gilt, subs. (popular).—1. Money. [Ger.: Geld; Du.: Geld.]

English Synonyms.—Add to those under Actual:—Charms; checks; cole or coal; coliander seeds; corn in Egypt; crap; darby; dots; ducats; gingerbread; kelter; lowie; lurries; moss; oil of palms; palm-oil; peck; plums; rhino; rivets; salt; sawdust; scad; screen; scuds; shigs; soap; spoon; steven; sugar; tea-spoons; tinie.

French Synonyms.—Le galtos (popular); l’odeur de gousset (obsolete); l’onguent (= palm grease, Sp., unguento; the simile is common to most languages); le morlingue (thieves’); la menouille (popular); le michon (thieves’: from miche, a loaf, cf., Loaver); les monacos (popular); le monarque (prostitutes’: primarily a five franc piece); le blé (= corn or loaver); les étoffes (thieves’).

Spanish Synonyms.—La lana (= wool); la morusa (colloquial); la mosca (= the flies); lo numerario; la pelusa (= down); lo zurraco (colloquial); lo unguento de Mejico (= Mexican Grease); a’ toca teja (colloquial: ready money); caire.

Italian Synonyms.—Cucchi; cuchieri; cucchielli; lugani.

German Synonyms.—Fuchs (= fox: an allusion to the ruddy hue of gold pieces); fuxig or fuxern = golden, red; fuchsmelochener (= goldsmith); gips or gyps (Viennese thieves’, from the Latin, gypsum); hora (= ready-money: from the Hebrew heren); kall (Han: especially small change: from Heb. kal = lowly light); kis, kies, kiss (applied both to money in general and the receptacle or purse in which it is carried); lowe, love (Han.); mepaie (from the Fr., payer) mesumme, linke mesumme (= counterfeit money); moos (from Heb., mëo = a little stone); pich, picht, or pech; staub (= dust).

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V., Act ii. Chorus. These corrupted men ...
have for the gilt of France (O guilt, indeed) Confirmed conspiracy.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 9. And from thence
conducted (provided he has gilt) over the way to Hell.

1885. Daily News, 25 May, p. 3, c. 1. Disputatious like mobs
grouped together to discuss whether Charrington or Crowder had the
most gilt.

2. subs. (old).—A thief; a pick-lock; also gilt- or rum-dubber, gilter, etc.

1669. Nicker Nicked in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), ii., 108 (given in
list of names of thieves).

1673. Character of a Quack Astrologer. For that purpose he
maintains as strict a correspondence with gilts and lifters.

1676. Warning for Housekeepers, p. 3. The gilter is one that hath
all sorts of picklocks and false keys.

1680. Cotton, Complete Gamester, p. 333. Shoals of muffs, hectors,
setters, gilts, pads, biters, etc. ... may all pass under the
general appellation of snobs.

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

1882. McCabe, New York, ch. xxxiv., 509. Gilt-dubber, a hotel
thief.

3. (thieves’).—Formerly a pick-lock or skeleton key; now a crow-bar. For synonyms, see Jemmy.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, Pt. 1, ch. v., p. 50 (1874). Gilt, a
pick-lock.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Gilt, c. a pick-lock.

1839. W. H. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, p. 183 (ed. 1840). We shall
have the whole village upon us while you’re striking the jigger.
Use the gilt, man!

To take the gilt off the gingerbread, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To destroy an illusion; to discount heavily.

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 171. You see we had a
rattling good year all round last, bar the Dancing Master. He took
the gilt off the gingerbread considerably.

Gilt-dubber, see gilt, sense 2.

Gilt-edged, adj. (American).—First-class; the best of its kind; a latter-day superlative. For synonyms, see A1 and Fizzing.

c. 1889. Chicago Tribune (quoted in Slang, Jargon, and Cant). He’s
a gilt-edged idiot to play the game.

1891. Standard, 18 June, p. 2, c. 1. ‘Gilt-edged mutton’ is the
latest of glorified and ‘boomed’ American products.

1891. Tit Bits, 8 Aug., p. 286, c. 2. Another accomplishment,
peculiar to the gilt-edged academy, is learning to eat asparagus,
oranges, grapes, etc.

Gilter, see gilt, sense 2.

Gilt-tick, subs. (costermongers’). Gold.

Gimbal- (or gimber-) Jawed, adj. (common).—Loquacious; talking nineteen to the dozen (q.v.). [Gimbals are a combination of rings for free suspension; hence applied to persons the joints of whose jaws are loose in speech.]

Gimcrack (Gincrack, or Jimcrack), subs. (old).—1. A showy simpleton, male or female; a dandy (q.v.).

1618. Beaumont and Fletcher, Loyal Subject, iv., 3. These are fine
gimcracks; hey, here comes another, a flagon full of wine in his
hand.

1637. Fletcher, Elder Brother, iii., 3. You are a handsome and a
sweet young lady, And ought to have a handsome man yoked to ye. An
understanding too; this is a gimcrack That can get nothing but new
fashions on you.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew. Gimcrack, a spruce wench.

1706. Mrs. Centlivre, Basset Table, II., Works (1872), i., 122. The
philosophical gimcrack.

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

2. (colloquial).—A showy trifle; anything pretty to look at but of very little worth.

1632. Chapman and Shirley, The Ball, Act iv. Lu. There remains, To
take away one sample. Wi. Another gimcrack?

1678. Butler, Hudibras, pt. 3, ch. i. Rifled all his pokes and
fobs. Cf., gimcracks, whims, and jiggumbobs.

1698–1700. Ward, London Spy, pt. 7, p. 148. I suppose there being
little else to lose except scenes, machines, or some such
jim-cracks.

1843. Thackeray, Irish Sketch Book, ch. i. There was the harp of
Brian Boru, and the sword of some one else, and other cheap old
gimcracks with their corollary of lies.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 63. Such rum-looking gimcracks,
my pippin.

3. (provincial).—A handy man; a jack-of-all-trades (q.v.).

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. A gimcrack also means a person who
has a turn for mechanical contrivances.

4. (venery).—The female pudendum. [A play on sense 2, and crack, (q.v.).] For synonym, see Monosyllable.

Adj. (colloquial).—Trivial; showy; worthless.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. ix. No shops so beautiful to look at
as the Brighton gimcrack shops, and the fruit shops, and the
market.

1891. W. C. Russell, An Ocean Tragedy, p. 30. Soberly clothed with
nothing more gimcrack in the way of finery upon him than a row of
waistcoat-buttons.

1892. Tit Bits, 19 Mar., p. 425 c. 2. A large cabinet or wardrobe,
beautifully carved, and very substantial, no gimcrack work.

Gimcrackery, subs. (colloquial).—The world of gimcrack (q.v.).

1884. A. Forbes, in Eng. Illustr. Mag., Jan., p. 230. The inner
life of the Empire was a strange mixture of rottenness and
gimcrackery.

Gimlet-eye, subs. (common).—A squint-eye; a piercer (q.v.). Fr.: des yeux en trou de pine.

Gimlet-eyed, adj. (common).—Squinting, or squinny-eyed; cock-eyed. As in the old rhyme: ‘Gimlet eye, sausage nose, Hip awry, bandy toes.’

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

Gimmer, subs. (Scots’).—An old woman. A variant of ‘cummer.’

Gin, subs. (Australian).—An Australian native woman.

1857. Kingsley, Two Years Ago, ch. xiii. An Australian settler’s
wife bestows on some poor slaving gin a cast-off French bonnet.

1890. Hume Nisbet, Bail Up!, p. 30.

2. (Australian).—An old woman. For synonyms, see Geezer.

Gin-and-gospel Gazette, subs. phr. (journalists’).—The Morning Advertiser: as the organ of the Licensed Victualling and Church of England party. Also the Tap-tub and beer-and-bible gazette.

Gin-and-Tidy, adv. phr. (American).—Decked out in ‘best bib and tucker.’ A pun on ‘neat spirits.’

Gin-crawl, subs. (common).—A tipple (q.v.) on gin.

1892. A. Chevalier, ‘The Little Nipper.’ I used to do a gin crawl
ev’ry night, An’ very, very often come ’ome tight.

Gingambobs (or Jiggumbobs), subs. (common).—1. Toys; baubles.

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

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

2. (venery).—The testicles; also thingambobs. For synonyms, see Cods.

Ginger, subs. (common).—1. A fast, showy horse; a beast that looks figged (q.v.).

1859. Notes and Queries, 17 Dec. p. 493. A ginger is a showy fast
horse.

2. (common).—A red-haired person; carrots (q.v.). [Whence the phrase (venery) ‘Black for beauty, ginger for pluck.’]

1885. Miss Tennant in Eng. Illustrated Magazine, June, p. 605. The
policemen are well known to the boys, and appropriately named by
them. There is ‘Jumbo,’ too stout to run; ginger, the red-haired.

3. (common).—Spirit; dash; go (q.v.). To want ginger = to lack energy and pluck (q.v.).

1888. The World, 13 May. You will remark that your spinal column is
requiring a hinge, and that considerable ginger is departing from
your resolution to bear up and enjoy yourself.

1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody of Nowhere, p. 124. If father objects
send him to me, I’ll take the ginger out of him in short order.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker; p. 207. Give
her ginger, boys.

Adj. (common).—Red-haired; foxy (q.v.); judas-haired (q.v.). Also ginger-pated, ginger-hackled, and gingery.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Red-haired; a term borrowed from
the cock-pit, where red cocks are called gingers.

1839. H. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, ch. xii. Somebody may be on the
watch—perhaps that old ginger-hackled Jew.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xix., p. 160. The very learned
gentleman who has cooled the natural heat of his gingery complexion
in pools and fountains of law, until he has become great in knotty
arguments for term-time.

1878. M. E. Braddon, Cloven Foot, ch. iv. The landlady was a
lean-looking widow, with a false front of gingery curls.

Gingerbread, subs. (old).—1. Money: e.g., ‘He has the gingerbread’ = he is rich.

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

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