Chapter IX: Part 9

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood. Your old dad had the gingerbread.

1864. Standard, 13 Dec. We do not find ... the word gingerbread
used for money, as we have heard it both before and within the last
six months. The origin of the use of the word may probably be the
old fairy legends wherein the coin obtained over night from the
elves was usually found in the morning to have turned into little
gingerbread cakes.

2. (colloquial).—Brummagem (q.v.); showy, but worthless ware.

Adj. (colloquial).—Showy but worthless; tinsel. Fr., en pain d’épice. Gingerbread work (nautical) = carved and gilded decorations; gingerbread quarters (nautical) = luxurious living.

1757. Smollett, Compendium of Voyages and Travels. The rooms are
too small and too much decorated with carving and gilding, which is
a kind of gingerbread work.

To take the gilt off the gingerbread. See gilt.

Gingerly, adj. and adv. (old: now recognised).—As adj., delicate; fastidious; dainty; as adv., with great care; softly.

1533. Udal, Floures for Latine Spekynge. We stayghe and prolonge
our goyng, with a nyce or tendre and softe, delicate, or gingerly
pace.

c. 1563. Jacke Jugeler, p. 40 (ed. Grosart). We used to call her at
home Dame Coye, a pretie gingerlie pice [piece].

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse, in Wks., ii., 32. That lookes as
simperingly as if she were besmeared, and sits it as gingerly as if
she were dancing the Canaries.

1611. Chapman, May-Day, Act iii., p. 294 (Plays, 1874). Come, come,
gingerly; for God’s sake, gingerly.

1659. Torriano, Vocabolario, q.v.

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

1759–67. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vol. V., ch. v. My mother was
going very gingerly in the dark.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. To go gingerly to work, i.e., to
attempt a thing gently, or cautiously.

1874. Mrs. H. Wood, Johnny Ludlow, 1 S. 12, p. 207. The Squire went
in gingerly, as if he had been treading on a spiked ploughshare.

Ginger-pop, subs. (colloquial).—1. Ginger-beer.

2. (rhyming).—A policeman; a slop (q.v.).

1887. Dagonet, Referee, 7 Nov., p. 7, c. 3. Ere her bull-dog I
could stop, She had called a ginger-pop.

Ginger-snap, subs. (American).—A hot-tempered person, especially one with carrotty hair.

Gingham, subs. (common).—An umbrella; specifically one of this material. For synonyms, see Mushroom.

1868. Miss Braddon, Trail of the Serpent, Bk. I., ch. vii. Mr.
Peters therefore took immediate possession by planting his honest
gingham in a corner of the room.

1889. Sportsman, 2 Feb. It would really put a premium on the many
little mistakes of ownership concerning ginghams at present so
common.

Gingle-boy, subs. (old).—A coin; latterly a gold piece. Also Gingler. See Actual and Canary.

1622. Massinger and Dekker, Virgin Martyr, ii., 2. The sign of the
gingleboys hangs at the door of our pockets.

Gingumbobs. See Gingambobs.

Ginicomtwig, verb. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms, see Ride.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, Scuotere il pellicione. To
ginicomtwig or occupie a woman.

Gin-lane (or Trap), subs. (common).—1. The throat. For synonyms, see Gutter-alley. Gin-trap, also = the mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1827. Egan, Anecdotes of the Turf, p. 67. Never again could ... he
feel his ivories loose within his gin-trap.

2. (common).—Generic for the habit of drunkenness.

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], p. 8. Let me advise you on
no account to fly to strong waters for consolation, Joan. One nail
drives out another, it’s true; but the worst nail you can employ is
a coffin nail. Gin Lane’s the nearest road to the churchyard.

Gin-mill, subs. (American).—A drinking saloon. For synonyms, see Lush-crib.

1872. Belgravia, Dec. ‘A Presidential Election.’ Then goes off to
rejoin his comrades, to adjourn to the nearest gin-mill.

Ginnified, subs. (common).—Dazed, or stupid, with liquor.

Ginnums, subs. (common).—An old woman: especially one fond of drink.

Ginny, subs. (old).—A housebreaker’s tool; see quot., 1754.

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

1754. Scoundrels’ Dict. An instrument to lift up a grate or
grating, to steal what is in the window. ‘The ninth is a ginny, to
lift up the grate, If he sees but the Lurry, with his Hooks he will
bait.’

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

Gin-penny, subs. (costermongers’).—Extra profit, generally spent in drink.

Gin-slinger, subs. (common).—A gin-drinker. For synonyms, see Lushington.

Gin-spinner, subs. (old).—A distiller; a dealer in spirituous liquors. Cf., Ale-spinner.

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

1827. Egan, Anecdotes of the Turf, p. 179. Just as she was about to
toddle to the gin-spinner’s for the ould folk and lisp out for a
quartern of Max.

1888. F. Green, in Notes and Queries, 7 S., vi., 153. I have always
understood that a gin spinner is a distiller who makes gin, but
could never find out why so called.

Gin-twist, subs. (common).—A drink composed of gin and sugar, with lemon and water.

1841. Comic Almanac, p. 271 What, for instance, but gin-twist could
have brought Oliver Twist to light?

Gin Up, verb. (American).—To work hard; to make things lively or hum (q.v.). For synonyms, see Wire in.

1887. Francis, Saddle and Moccassin. They were ginning her up,
that’s a fact.

Gip, subs. (American thieves’).—1. A thief. 2. Also (Cambridge University) a college servant. See Gyp. For synonyms, see Thieves.

Girl, subs. (common).—1. A prostitute; in. pl. = the stock in trade of a brothel. See Barrack Hack, Tart, and Gay. Fr., fille.

2. (colloquial).—A mistress; a mash (q.v.).

3. In. pl. (venery).—The sex—or that part of it which is given to unchastity—in general; hence the girls = lechery.

After the girls. He’s been after the girls, verb. phr. (common).—Said of one with clap or pox.

Girl and Boy, subs. phr. (rhyming). A saveloy.

Girlery, subs. (colloquial).—A brothel. Also a theatre for burlesque and comic opera.

Girl-getter, subs. (colloquial).—A mincing, womanish male.

Girling. To go Girling, verb. phr. (venery).—To quest for women; to go on the loose (q.v.).

Girlometer, subs. (venery).—The penis. Also, Girl-catcher. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.

Girl-shop, subs. phr. (common).—A brothel.

Girl-show, subs. phr. (common).—A ballet, a burlesque, a leg-piece (q.v.).

Girl Street. In Hair Court, Girl Street, subs. phr. (common).—Generic for fornication. Also the female pudendum.

Girl-trap, subs. phr. (common).—A seducer; a mutton-monger (q.v.).

Git! (or You Git!), intj. (American).—Be off with you! An injunction to immediate departure; walker! (q.v.). Sometimes a contraction of get out! Also get out and dust!

1851. Seaworthy, Bertie, p. 78. Thrue as the tin commandhers! Git
aout!

To have no git up and git, phr. (American).—To be weak, vain, mean, or slow—generally deprecatory.

Give, verb. (vulgar).—1. To lead to; to conduct; to open upon: e.g., ‘The door gave upon the street.’ Cf. the idiomatic use, in French, of donner.

2. (American).—An all-round auxiliary to active verbs: e.g., to give on praying = to excel at prayer; to give on the make = to be clever at making money, etc.

To give it to, verb. phr. (old).—1. To rob; to defraud.—Grose.

2. (common).—To scold; to thrash. Also to give what for; to give it hot; to give something for oneself; to give one in the eye, etc. Fr., aller en donner. For synonyms, see Wig and Tan respectively.

1612. Chapman, Widow’s Tears, Act i., p. 312 (Plays, 1874). This
braving wooer hath the success expected; the favour I obtained made
me witness to the sport, and let his confidence be sure, I’ll give
it him home.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 134. ‘Take that,’ exclaimed Mr.
Samuel Wilkins.... ‘Give it him,’ said the waistcoat.... Miss
J’mima Ivins’s beau and the friend’s young man lay gasping on the
gravel, and the waistcoat and whiskers were seen no more.

1889. J. M. Barrie in Time, Aug. p. 148. When he said he would tell
everybody in the street about there being a baby, I gave him one in
the eye. Ibid. If it’s true what Symons Tertius says, that Cocky
has gone and stolen my reminiscences about Albert’s curls, putting
it into his reminiscences like as if it was his own, I’ll give him
it hot.

To give in (or out), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To admit defeat; to yield; to be exhausted; to throw up the sponge. See Floored and Cave in.

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xviii. Strap, after having
received three falls on the hard stones, gave out, and allowed the
blacksmith to be the better man.

1760–1. Smollett, L. Greaves, vol. II., ch. viii. By this time the
doctor had given out, and allowed the brewer to be the better man.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 25. Poor Georgy gave in.

1837. Lytton, Ernest Maltravers, bk. IV., ch. ix. Your time is up
... you have had your swing, and a long one it seems to have
been—you must now give in.

1847. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 99. Jest about then both on our
pusses gin out.

1850. Buffum, Six Months in the Gold Mines, p. 73. After working
three days with the machine, the earth we had been washing began to
give out.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xxiv., p. 217. I am surprised to
hear a man of your energy talk of giving in.

To give away, verb. phr. (American).—To betray or expose inadvertently; to blow upon (q.v.): to peach (q.v. for synonyms). Also to give dead away. Largely used in combination: e.g., give-away = an exposure; give-away cue = an underhand revelation of secrets.

1883. F. M. Crawford, Doctor Claudius, ch. vi., p. 100. It always
amused him to see sanguine people angry. They looked so
uncomfortable, and gave themselves away so recklessly.

1886. A. Lang, Longman’s Mag., VII., 321. I know not whether the
American phrase, to give a person away, to give yourself away,
meaning to reveal your own or another’s secret, is of provincial
English origin. Did it cross over with the Pilgrim Fathers in the
May Flower, or is it a recent bit of slang? ‘Who giveth this woman
away?’ asked the rural American parson in the wedding service. ‘I
could,’ came the voice of a young man from the gallery, ‘but I’d
never be so mean.’

1888. Detroit Free Press, Aug. Careful what we say, for it will
give us dead away.

1889. Answers, 20 Apr., p. 326. My closely cropped hair, however,
gave me away.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 195. For the
sake of the joke I’ll give myself away.

To give one best, verb. phr. (schoolboys’).—1. To acknowledge one’s inferiority, a defeat. Also (thieves’) to leave, to cut (q.v.).

1887. Horsley, Jottings from Jail. But after a time I gave him best
(left him), because he used to want to bite my ear (borrow) too
often.

To give the collar, verb. phr. (American).—To seize; to arrest; to collar (q.v.). For synonyms, see Nab.

To give the bullet (sack, bag, kick-out, pike, road, etc.), verb. phr. (common).—To discharge from an employ.

Give us a rest! phr. (American).—Cease talking! An injunction upon a bore.

To give nature a fillip, verb. phr. (old).—To indulge in wine or women.—B. E. (1690).

To give way, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To permit the sexual embrace: by women only.

1870. Weekly Times, 1 May. She was sorry to say, she gave way to
him. (Laughter.) Mr. Maude remarked she was a foolish woman, and,
being a widow, ought to have known what giving way would come
to.—Complainant said of course she did, but she thought he meant to
marry her.

[Other combinations will be found under the following: auctioneer;
back cap; bag; bail; baste; beans; beef; biff; black eye; bone;
bucket; bullet; bull’s feather; clinch; double; fig; gas; go by;
gravy; hoist; hot beef; jesse; kennedy; key of the street; land;
leg up; lip; miller; mitten; mouth; needle; office; points; pussy;
rub of the thumb; sack; sky-high; slip; tail; taste of cream;
turnips; weight; white alley; word.]

Giver, subs. (pugilistic).—A good boxer; an artist in punishment (q.v.).

1824. Reynolds, (‘Peter Corcoran’), The Fancy, p. 73. She knew a
smart blow from a handsome giver Would darken lights.

Gixie, subs. (obsolete).—A wanton wench; a strumpet; an affected mincing woman.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. Faina, a mincing, coie, nice,
puling, squeamish woman, an idle huswife, a flurt, a gixgi. Also as
Foina [i.e., ‘a pole-cat’; while Foirare = ‘to lust for beastly
leacherie, to be salt as a bitch.’]

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie, s.v. Gadrouillette, a minx, gigle,
flirt, callet gixie: (a fained word applyable to any such cattell).
[See further, gadriller (a wench) = ‘to rump or play the rig’].

Gizzard, to fret one’s gizzard, verb. phr. (common).—To worry oneself. See Fret.

To stick in one’s gizzard, verb. phr. (common).—To remain as something unpleasant, distasteful or offensive; to be hard of digestion; to be disagreeable or unpalatable.

c. 1830. Finish of Tom and Jerry, p. 241. It had always stuck in
his gizzard to think as how he had been werry cruelly used.

To grumble in the gizzard, verb. phr. (common).—To be secretly displeased. Hence, grumble-gizzard (q.v.).

Gladstone, subs. (common)—1. Cheap claret. [Mr. Gladstone, when in office in 1869, reduced the duty on French wines.] See Drinks.

1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, ch. ix. Claret certainly
good, too—none of your Gladstone tap; sherry probably rather
coarse.

1885. A. Birrell, Obiter Dicta, p. 86. To make him unbosom himself
over a bottle of Gladstone claret in a tavern in Leicester Square.

2. (colloquial).—A travelling bag. [So named in honour of Mr. Gladstone.]

Gladstonize, verb. (colloquial).—To talk about and round; to evade or prevaricate; to speak much and mean nothing.

Glanthorne, subs. (old).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

1789. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 42. Drop the glanthorne = part
with money.

Glasgow Greys, subs. phr. (military).—The 70th Foot. [Which in the beginning was largely recruited in Glasgow.]

1886. Tinsley’s Mag., Apr., p. 321. The 70th were long known as the
Glasgow Greys.

Glasgow Magistrate, subs. phr. (common).—A herring, fresh or salted, of the finest. [From the practice of sending samples to the Baillie of the River for approval.] Also Glasgow Baillie.

1855. Strang, Glasgow and its City Clubs. This club ... better
known by the title of the Tinkler’s club, particularly when the
brotherhood changed the hour of meeting ... and when the steak was
exchanged for a ‘Welsh rabbit’ or Glasgow magistrate.

English Synonyms. (for herrings generally).—Atlantic ranger; Californian; Cornish duck; Digby chicken; Dunbar wether; gendarme; Gourock ham; magistrate; pheasant (or Billingsgate pheasant); reds; sea-rover; soldier; Taunton turkey; two-eye’d steak; Yarmouth capon. Fr.: gendarme.

Glass, subs. (American thieves’).—An hour. [An abbreviation of ‘hour-glass.’]

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. The badger piped his Moll about a
glass and a half before she cribbed the flat.

There’s a deal of glass about, phr. (common).—1. Applied to vulgar display = ‘It’s the thing’ (q.v.).

2. (common).—Said in answer to an achievement in assertion. A memory of the proverb, ‘People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.’

Who’s to pay for the broken glass? verb. phr. (colloquial).—See Stand the Racket.

Been looking through a glass, adv. phr. (common).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Glass-eyes, subs. (old).—A man wearing spectacles; four-eyes (q.v.); gig-lamps (q.v.).

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Glass-house. To live in a glass house, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To lay oneself open to attack or adverse criticism.

Glass-work, subs. (card-sharpers’).—An obsolete method of cheating at cards. A convex mirror the size of a small coin was fastened with shellac to the lower corner of the left palm opposite the thumb, enabling the dealer to ascertain by reflection the value of the cards he dealt.

Glaze, subs. (old),—A window.

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

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 12. Glaze, a Window.

1754. Discoveries of John Poulter, p. 43. Undub the Jeger and jump
the glaze.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant (3rd ed.), p. 445. A window, glaze.

c. 1830. Finish to Tom and Jerry [1872], p. 82. A random shot
milling the glaze.

Verb (old).—To cheat at cards. See quot. and Glass-work.

1821. P. Egan, Real Life, I., 297. If you take the broads in hand
in their company, you are sure to be work’d, either by glazing,
that is, putting you in front of a looking glass, by which means
your hand is discovered by your antagonist, or by private signals
from the pal.

To mill (or star a glaze), verb. phr. (old).—To break a window.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, iii., 2. Jerry. What are you about,
Tom? Tom. I’m going to mill the glaze—I’ll——(Is about to break the
glass, when Kate and Sue appear as the Miss Trifles.).

1823. Jon Bee, Dict. of the Turf. Glaze, s.v., to mill the glaze,
the miller may adopt a stick or otherwise, as seems most
convenient.

On the glaze, adv. phr. (thieves’).—Robbing jewellers’ shops by smashing the windows. See Glazier.

1724–34. C. Johnson, Highwaymen and Pyrates, q.v.

1889. Ally Sloper, 4 May. Getting a reprieve he went to Dublin on
the glaze.

Glazier, subs., in. pl. (old).—1. The eyes. For synonyms, see Glims. Fr.: les ardents.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 64. Glasyers, eyes.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874).
Glasiers, eyes.

1611. Middleton and Dekker, Roaring Girl, v., 1. These glasiers of
mine, mine eyes.

1656. Brome, Jovial Crew, ii. You’re out with your glaziers.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. The cove has rum
glaziers, c. that Rogue has excellent Eyes, or an Eye like a Cat.

1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Glaziers, c. eyes.

1725. New Canting Dict. ‘Song.’ Her glaziers, too, are quite
benighted.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue s.v.

2. (old).—A window thief. Cf., Glaze.

1725. New Cant. Dict. Song ‘The Twenty Craftsmen.’... A glazier who
when he creeps in, To pinch all the lurry he thinks it no sin.

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

Gleaner, subs. (old).—A thief. Cf., Hooker, Angler, etc. For synonyms, see Thieves.

Glib, subs. (common).—1. The tongue. Slacken your glib = loose your tongue. For synonyms, see Clack.

2. (old).—A ribbon.

1754. Discoveries of John Poulter, p. 42. A lobb full of glibbs, a
box full of ribbons.

Adj. (old, now recognised).—Smooth; slippery; voluble; glib-tongued or glib-gabbit (cf., Gab) = talkative; ready of speech.

1605. Shakspeare, Lear, Act i., Sc. 1. I want that glib and oily
art, To speak and purpose not.

1659. Torriano, Vocabolario, s.v.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Smooth, without a Rub.
Glib-tongued. Voluble or Nimble-tongued.

1890. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 31 Jan. The rest who were so glib with
their promises.

Glibe, subs. (American thieves’).—Writing; specifically, a written statement.

Glim (or Glym), subs. (old).—1. A candle, or dark lanthorn; a fire or light of any kind. To douse the glim = to put out the light. Fr.: estourbir la cabande. Also short for Glimmer or Glymmar (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. A Dark Lanthorn used in
Robbing Houses; also to burn in the Hand.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 12. Glim, a Candle.

1728. Bailey, Eng. Dict. Glim, s.v. A candle or light.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Bring bess and glym; i.e., bring the
instrument to force the door, and the dark lanthorn.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii., 2. Tom. Then catch—here’s the
gentlemen’s tooth-picker, and here’s his glim. (Throws stick and
lanthorn to Jerry.)

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. 5. Every star its glim at
hiding.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. 16. Let’s have a glim ... or we
shall go breaking our necks.

1837. Lytton, Ernest Maltravers, Bk. I., ch. 10. ‘Hush, Jack!’
whispered one; ‘hang out the glim and let’s look about us.’

1852. Judson, Myst., etc., of New York, ch. iv. Old Jack bade
Harriet trim the glim.

1883. R. L. Stevenson, Treasure Island, p. 89. Sure enough, they
left their glim here.

1884. Henley and Stevenson, Admiral Guinea, ii., 6. Now here is my
little glim; it aint for me because I’m blind.

2. (old).—A sham account of a fire as sold by flying stationers (q.v.).

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., 233. His papers
certify any and every ‘ill that flesh is heir to’.... Loss by fire
is a glim.

3. in. pl. (common).—The eyes.

English Synonyms.—Blinkers; daylights; deadlights; glaziers; lights; lamps; ogles; optics; orbs; peepers; sees; squinters; toplights; windows; winkers.

French Synonyms.—Les quinquets (popular = bright eyes, Vidocq); les mirettes (popular and thieves’; Italian: mira = sight); les reluits (thieves’: also daymans—or lightmans [q.v.]); les calots (thieves’ = marbles); les châsses or les châssis (popular = hunters’); les lampions (thieves’ = lamps (q.v.); Italian: lanterna and lampante); les apics (thieves’); les ardents (thieves’ = piercers); les œillets (popular = eyelets); les lanternes de cabriolet (popular = giglamps); les clignots (popular = winkers); les carreaux (thieves’ = windows); les clairs (thieves’ = shiners); les coquards (thieves’).

Italian Synonyms.—Lanterna (= a lamp); calchi; balchi; brunotti (= brownies); lampante.

Spanish Synonyms.—Fanal (= lantern); lanterna (= idem); visantes (vulgar); vistosos (vulgar).

German Synonyms.—Dierling (from stieren = to stare); Linzer; Scheinling (from Schein = daylights (q.v.)).

1824. P. Egan, Boxiana, iv., 417. His glims I’ve made look like a
couple of rainbows.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 47 [ed. 1854]. Queer my glims, if
that ben’t little Paul!

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II., 339. Harold escaped with the
loss of a glim.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 56. A pooty gal, gentle, or
simple, as carn’t use her glims is a flat.

4. in. pl. (common).—A pair of spectacles. For synonyms, see Barnacles.

5. (common).—Gonorrhœa or clap (q.v.). [From sense 1 = fire.]

Verb (old).—To brand or burn in the hand.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. As the cull was Glimm’d,
he gangs to the Nubb, c., if the Fellow has been Burnt in the Hand,
he’ll be Hang’d now.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall, p. 15. Profligate women are glimm’d for
that villany, for which, rather than leave it, they could freely
die martyrs.

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

To puff the glims, verb. phr. (veterinary).—To fill the hollow over the eyes of old horses by pricking the skin and blowing air into the loose tissues underneath, thus giving the full effect of youth.

Glim-fenders, subs. (old).—1. Andirons, or fire-dogs.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Glimfenders, c.
Andirons. Rum Glimfenders, Silver Andirons.

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

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

2. (old).—Handcuffs. [A pun on sense 1.]

1823. Jon Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v.

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

Glimflashly (or Glim-flashey), adj. (old).—Angry. See Nab the Rust and Hair.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Glimflashly, c., Angry,
or in a Passion. The Cull is Glimflashly, c. the Fellow is in a
Heat.

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

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. xxxi. No, Captain, don’t be
glim-flashey! You have not heard all yet.

Glim-jack, subs. (old).—A link boy; a moon-curser (q.v.); but, in any sense, a thief.

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

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

Glim-lurk, subs. (tramps’).—A beggars’ petition, based on a fictitious fire or glim (sense 2).

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 233. The
patterer becomes a ‘lurker,’—that is, an imposter; his papers
certify any and every ‘ill that flesh is heir to.’ Shipwreck is
called a shake-lurk; loss by fire is a glim.

Glimmer (or Glymmar), subs. (old).—Fire. See quot.

1567. Harman, Caveat. These Demaunders for Glymmar be for the moste
parte wemen.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38. (H. Club’s Rept., 1874).
Glymmer, Fire.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 49 (1874).
Glymmer, Fire.

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

1725. New Canting Dict., Song, ‘The Maunder’s Praise of his
Strowling Mort.’ Doxy, Oh! thy Glaziers shine, As Glymmar by the
Solomon.

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

Glimmerer, subs. (old).—A beggar working with a petition giving out that he is ruined by fire. Also glimmering mort = a female glimmerer.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Glimmerer, c., the
Twenty-second Rank of the Canting Tribe, begging with Sham
Licences, pretending to Losses by Fire, etc.

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

Glimstick, subs. (old).—A candlestick. [From glim = a light + stick.] Fr.: une occasion.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Glimstick, c., a
Candlestick. Rum Glimsticks, c., Silver Candlesticks. Queer
Glimsticks, c., Brass, Pewter, or Iron Candlesticks.

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

Glister, subs. phr. (thieves’).—See quot., glister of fish-hooks.

1889. Clarkson and Richardson, Police, p. 321. A glass of Irish
whiskey ... a glister of fish-hooks.

Glistner, subs. (old).—A sovereign. For synonyms, see Canary.

Gloak (or Gloach), subs. (old).—A man. For synonyms, see Chum and Cove.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, pp. 48 and 172. Gloach, a man;
cove.

Globe, subs. (old).—1. A pewter pot; pewter.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

2. in. pl. (common).—The paps. For synonyms, see Dairy.

Globe-rangers, subs. (nautical).—The Royal Marines.

Globe-trotter, subs. (colloquial).—A traveller; primarily one who races from place to place, with the object of covering ground or making a record. Fr.: un pacquelineur.

1886. Graphic, 7 Aug., 147/1. Your mere idle gaping globetrotter
will spin endless pages of unobservant twaddle, and will record his
tedious wanderings with most painful minuteness.

1888. Academy, 17 Mar. The inevitable steamboat, the world, and the
omnivorous globe-trotter.

1889. Echo, 9 Feb. The British globe-trotter knows Japan as he
knows England, and English books about Japan are turned out by the
ton.

1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 27 Jan., p. 5, c. 2. This popular definition
of a quick-mover has now become effete. Miss Bly is a
globe-galloper or she is nothing.

Globe-trotting, subs. (colloquial).—Travelling after the manner of globe-trotters (q.v.).

1888. Academy, 22 Sept. In fact, globe-trotting, as the Americans
somewhat irreverently term it, is now frequently undertaken as a
mere holiday trip.

Glope, verb. (Winchester College).—To spit. (Obsolete).

Glorious, adj. (common).—Excited with drink; ‘in one’s altitudes’; boozed. For synonyms, see drinks and screwed.

1791. Burns, Tam o’ Shanter. Kings may be blessed, but Tam was
glorious, O’er a’ the ills of life victorious.

1853. Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, ch. xviii., p. 252. I knew nothing
of the vow, or indeed of the tipsy frolic which was the occasion of
it; I was taken up glorious, as the phrase is, by my servants, and
put to bed.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 9 Feb. But as they all began to get
glorious, personalities became more frequent and very much
stronger.

Glorious Sinner, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A dinner.

Glory, subs. (common).—The after life; kingdom come (q.v.). Usually, the coming glory.

1841. Punch, 17 July, p. 2. Clara pines in secret—Hops the twig,
and goes to glory in white muslin.

In one’s glory, adv. phr. (colloquial).—In the full flush of vanity, pride, taste, notion, or idiosyncracy.

Gloves, to go for the gloves, verb. phr. (racing).—To bet recklessly; to bet against a horse without having the wherewithal to pay if one loses—the last resource of the plunging turfite. The term is derived from the well-known habit of ladies to bet in pairs of gloves, expecting to be paid if they win, but not to be called upon to pay if they lose.

1877. Hawley Smart, Play or Pay, ch. xi. One of the boldest
plungers of the day, who had begun badly, was going for the gloves
upon this match.

1886. Badminton Library, ‘Racing,’ p. 255. Hardly worth mentioning
are the backers who come in for a hit-or-miss dash at the ring—to
go for the gloves, as it is called in ring parlance.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 3 Apr. Although we frequently read in
stories of the hero backing the right horse at a long price, and so
getting out of sundry monetary difficulties, we rarely find the
idea realised in practice. Many a bookmaker has gone for the
gloves.

Glow, adj. (tailors’).—Ashamed.

Glue, subs. (common).—1. Thick soup. (Because it sticks to the ribs.)

English Synonyms.—Deferred stock; belly-gum; giblets-twist; gut-concrete; rib-tickler; stick-in-the-ribs.

French Synonyms.—La menêtre (thieves’); la lavasse (= a mess of pot liquor); la laffe (thieves’); la jaffe (popular); l’ordinaire (popular: soup and boiled beef at an ordinary); le fond d’estomac (= thick soup); la mousse; la mouillante (= the moistener).

German Synonyms.—Jauche; Polifke.

2. (common).—Gonorrhœa.

Glue-pot, subs. (common).—A parson. [Because he joins in wedlock.] For synonyms, see Devil-dodger and Sky-pilot.

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

Glum, adj. (old: now recognised).—Sullen; down in the mouth; stern. Fr.: faire son nez = to look glum; also, n’en pas mener large.

1712. Arbuthnot, Hist. of John Bull, pt. IV., ch. vii. Nic. looked
sour and glum, and would not open his mouth.

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

17(?). Broadside Ballad, ‘Sam Hall, The parson he will come, And
he’ll look so bloody glum.’

1816. Johnson, Dict. of the English Language. Glum, s.v., a low
cant word formed by corrupting ‘gloom.’

1847. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ii., ch. vi. ‘I wonder whether Lady
Southdown will go away; she looked very glum upon Mrs. Rawdon,’ the
other said.

1888. Referee, 21 Oct. Who found him looking glum and gray, And
thought his accent gruff and foreign.

1892. A. W. Pinero, The Times, v., i. What are you so glum about.

Glump, verb. (provincial).—To sulk. Hence glumpy, glumping, and glumpish = sullen or stubborn.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary. Glumping, sullen, or sour looking.
Exm.

1835. Th. Hook, Gilbert Gurney. He was glumpy enough when I called.

1860. G. Eliot, Mill on the Floss, Bk. VI., ch. iv. ‘An’ it worrets
me as Mr. Tom ’ull sit by himself so glumpish, a-knittin’ his brow,
an’ a lookin’ at the fire of a night.’

Glutman, subs. (old).—See quot.

1797. Police of the Metropolis, p. 64. An inferior officer of the
Customs, and particularly one of that class of supernumerary tide
waiters, who are employed temporarily when there is a press or
hurry of business. These glutmen are generally composed of persons
who are without employment, and, being also without character,
recommend themselves principally from the circumstance of being
able to write.

Glutton, subs. (common).—1. A horse which lasts well; a stayer (q.v.).

2. (pugilists’).—A pugilist who can take a lot of punishment (q.v.).

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, xvi. Thus Theocritus, in his Milling Match,
calls Amycus a glutton, which is well known to be the classical
phrase at Moulsey-Hurst for one who, like Amycus, takes a deal of
punishment before he is satisfied.

1891. Licensed Vict. Mirror, 30 Jan., p. 6, c. 3. He was known to
be an awfully heavy hitter with both hands, a perfect glutton at
taking punishment.

Gnarler, subs. (thieves’).—A watch dog. For synonyms, see Tike.

Gnasp, verb. (old).—To vex. For synonyms, see Rile.

1728. Bailey, English Dict. s.v.

Gnoff.—See Gonnof.

Gnostic, subs. (colloquial).—A knowing one; a downy cove (q.v.); a whipster (q.v.). [From the Gr., gnosis = knowledge.]

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 27. Many of the words used by the Canting
Beggars in Beaumont and Fletcher’s Masque are still to be heard
among the gnostics of Dyot Street and Tothill Fields.

adj. (colloquial).—Knowing, artful (q.v.).

Gnostically, adv. (colloquial).—Knowingly.

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. iv. He was tog’d gnostically
enough.

Go, subs. (common).—1. A drink; specifically a quartern of gin. (Formerly a go-down, but Cf., quot. 1811.)

[For other combinations see abroad—all fours—aloft—aunt—baby—back
on—bad—bail—baldheaded—bath—batter—bedfordshire—beggar’s
bush—better—blazes—blind—board—bodkin—bulge—bungay—bury—bust—by-by—call—camp—chump—college—cracked—dead
broke—devil—ding—ding-dong—dock—doss—drag—flouch—flue—gamble—glaze—glory
—gloves—grain—grass—ground—hairyfordshire—hall—halves—hang—hell—high
fly—high
toby—hooks—hoop—jericho—jump—kitchen—man—majority—mill—murphy—pace—pieces—pile—pot—queen—raker—range—rope-walk—salt
river—shallow—shop—slow—smash—snacks—snooks—spout—star-gazing—sweet
violets—top—walker’s bus—west—whole
animal—woodbine—woolgathering—wrong.]

English Synonyms.—Bender; caulker; coffin nail; common-sewer; cooler; crack; cry; damp; dandy; dash; dew-hank; dewdrop; dodger; drain; dram; facer; falsh; gargle; gasp; go-down; hair of the dog, etc.; Johnny; lip; liquor up; livener; lotion; lounce; modest quencher; muzzler; nail from one’s coffin; night-cap; nip or nipper; nobbler; old crow; a one, a two, or a three; out; peg; pick-me-up; pony; quencher; reviver; rince; sensation; settler; shift; shove in the mouth; slug; small cheque; smile; snifter; something damp; something short; swig; thimbleful; tiddly; top up; tot; warmer; waxer; wet; whitewash; yard.

French Synonyms.—Un bourgeron (popular = a nip of brandy); un asticot de cercueil (= a coffin-worm, a play on verre and bière); un coup d’arrosoir (popular: a touch of the watering pot); un gargarisme (popular: = a gargle [q.v.]); un galopin (= a pony [q.v.] of beer); un larme (= a tear); un mistiche (thieves’); un misérable (popular: a glass of spirits costing one sou; une demoiselle = two sous; un monsieur = four sous; un poisson = five sous); un mince de chic (popular: in contempt); une coquille de noix (popular = a thimbleful; a very small go; a drain); un jeune homme (familiar = in capacity four litres); un Kolback (popular = a small glass of brandy, or large glass of wine); une flûte (familiar); un extravagant (popular = a long drink); un fil (= a drain); un distingué (popular); une douleur (popular = a comforter or pick-me-up); un ballon (popular).

Italian Synonym.—Schioppa (= a long drink: also a large beer glass).

Spanish Synonyms.—Chisguete (colloquial); enjuagadientes (also = a mouthful of water or wine for rinsing the mouth after eating); espolada (= a long drink).

Portuguese Synonym.—Quebrado (= broken: a small glass).

1690. D’Urfey, Collin’s Walk, canto 4. And many more whose quality
Forbids their toping openly, Will privately, on good occasion, Take
six go-downs on reputation.

1793. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Go-shop.... The Queen’s Head in
Duke’s Court.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Go-shop, s.v. The Queen’s Head, in
Duke’s Court, Bow Street, Covent Garden, frequented by the under
players, where gin and water was sold in three-halfpenny bowls,
called goes; the gin was called Arrack.

1823. Jon. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, The Streets: Night. Chops, kidneys,
rabbits, oysters, stout, cigars, and goes innumerable, are served
up amidst a noise and confusion of smoking, running,
knife-clattering, and waiter-chattering, perfectly indescribable.

1841. Punch, Vol. I., p. 11, c. 1. Waiter, a go of Brett’s best
alcohol.

1849. Thackeray, Hoggarty Diamond, ch. ii. Two more chairs, Mary,
two more tumblers, two more hot waters, and two more goes of gin!

1850. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, p. 54. Drinking alternate goes of
gin and water with a dustman for the purpose of insinuating myself
into the affections of Miss Cinderella Smut, his interesting
sister.

1853. Diogenes, Vol. II., p. 271. Shall I spend it in theatres?
shows? In numerous alcohol goes?

1870. Figaro, 28 May. Their musical performances are evidently
inspired by goes of gin.

1883. Echo, 7 Feb., p. 4, c. 3. Witness asked him what he had been
drinking. He replied, ‘Two half-goes of rum hot and a half-pint of
beer.’

2. (colloquial).—An incident; an occurrence: e.g., a rum go = a strange affair, or queer start; a pretty go = a startling business; a capital go = a pleasant business.

1803. Kenney, Raising the Wind, i., 3. Ha! ha! ha! Capital go,
isn’t it?

1820. Jack Randall’s Diary. Gemmen (says he), you all well know The
joy there is whene’er we meet; It’s what I call the primest go, And
rightly named, ’tis—quite a treat.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 251. A considerable bustle and
shuffling of feet was then heard upon the stage, accompanied by
whispers of ‘Here’s a pretty go!—what’s to be done?’

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘Misadventures at Margate.’ ‘O,
Mrs. Jones,’ says I, ‘look here! Ain’t this a pretty go!’

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 162. Stating his conviction that this was
rayther a rummy go.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lxxiii. Master Frank Clavering ...
had only time to ejaculate the words, ‘Here’s a jolly go!’ and to
disappear sniggering.

1869. Mrs. H. Wood, Roland Yorke, ch. xli. ‘I am about to try what
a month or two’s absence will do for me.’ ‘And leave us to old
Brown?—that will be a nice go!’

1876. George Eliot, Daniel Deronda, ch. vii. A rum go as ever I
saw.

1880. G. R. Sims, Three Brass Balls, pledge xvi. He ... exclaimed,
‘Well, I’m dashed if this isn’t a rum go!’

1883. R. L. Stevenson, Treasure Island, p. 55. A pretty rum go if
squire aint to talk for Doctor Livesey.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 305. ‘It was a near go,’ said
Jack.

3. (common).—The fashion; the cheese (q.v.); the correct thing. Generally in the phrase all the go.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. He is quite the go, he is quite
varment, he is prime, he is bang up.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry [ed. 1891], p. 35. Tom was the go among
the goes.

1835. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Clockmaker, 3 S., ch. xiv.
Whatever is the go in Europe will soon be the cheese here.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, I., 251. It was rather the go With
Pilgrims and Saints in the Second Crusade.

1846. Punch, vol. X., p. 163. From lowly Queen’s quadrangle, Where
muffins are the go.

1880. G. R. Sims, Ballads of Babylon (Beauty and Beast). And all
day long there’s a big crowd stops To look at the lady who’s all
the go.

4. (colloquial).—Life; spirit; energy; enterprise; impetus: e.g., plenty of go = full of spirit and dash. Fr.: avoir du chien.

1825. The English Spy, i., 178. She’s only fit to carry a dean or a
bishop. No go in her.

1865. Macdonald, Alec Forbes of How-glen, II., 269. All night
Tibbie Dyster had lain awake in her lonely cottage, listening to
the quiet heavy go of the water.

1882. Daily Telegraph, 9 Oct. Mr. Grossmith’s music is bright and
tripping, full of humour and go, as, under such circumstances,
music should be!

1883. Illustrated London News, 10 March, p. 242, c. 3. There was
any amount of dash and go in their rowing.

1887. Paton, Down the Islands. Barbadian may therefore be said to
mean a man with go and grit, energy and vim.

1889. Sportsman, 19 Jan. It all lent a certain zest and go to the
proceedings.

1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 21 Feb., p. 7, c. 1. There was so much
heartiness and go (so to speak) in the work that it reminded me of
what I had read about peasant proprietors labouring in Switzerland
and elsewhere under a Home Rule Government.

5. (colloquial).—A turn; an attempt; a chance. Cf., No go.

To have a go at, verb. phr. = to make essay of anything: as a man in a fight, a shot at billiards, and (specifically) a woman.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers (about 1827), p. 377 (ed. 1857).
Wot do you think o’ that for a go?

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. III., p. 221. I’ve twelve
this go. I did a lagging of seven, and was at the Gib. three out of
it.

1878. Jas. Payn, By Proxy, ch. iii. ‘I would practise that in the
seclusion of my own apartments,’ observed Pennicuick; ‘and after a
few goes at it, I’ll bet a guinea I’d shake the right stick out
first.’

1888. Haggard, Mr. Meeson’s Will, ch. x. You have had seven goes
and I have only had six.

6. (American).—A success. To make a go of it = to bring things to a satisfactory termination.

1888. Harper’s Mag., vol. LXXVII., p. 689. Determination to make
the venture a go.

7. (gaming). The last card at cribbage, or the last piece at dominoes. When a player is unable to follow the lead, he calls a go!

8. (old.)—A dandy (q.v. for synonyms); a very heavy swell indeed, one in the extreme of fashion.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry [people’s ed.], p. 35. In the parks, Tom
was the go among the goes.

Verb (American political).—1. To vote; to be in favour of. Cf., Go for.

2. (colloquial).—To succeed; to achieve. Cf., Go down.

1866. Public Opinion, 13 Jan., p. 51, c. 1. His London-street
railway scheme didn’t go.

1870. H. D. Traill, ‘On the Watch.’ Sat. Songs, p. 22. Eh, waddyer
say? Don’t it go? Ho, yes! my right honnerble friend. It’s go and
go over the left, it’s go with a hook at the end.

3. (colloquial).—To wager; to risk. Hence to stand treat; to afford.

1768. Goldsmith, Good Natured Man, Act iii. Men that would go forty
guineas on a game of cribbage.

1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, Prologue ii. The very dice
on the counter with which the bar-keeper used to go the miners for
drinks.

1877. S. L. Clemens (M. Twain), Life on the Mississippi, ch.
xliii., p. 390. There’s one thing in this world which a person
won’t take in pine if he can go walnut; and won’t take in walnut if
he can go mahogany.... That’s a coffin.

c. 1882. Comic Song, ‘The West End Boys,’ verse 3. Another bitter I
really can’t go.

1887. World, 20 Apr., p. 8. While making up his mind, apparently
whether he would go ‘three’ or ‘Nap.’

4. (racing).—To ride to hounds.

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 219. There would be far
too many there who had seen Gerald Rockingham go with the York and
Ainstey not to at once know that he and Jim Forrest were identical.

5. (colloquial).—To be pregnant.

1561–1626. Bacon, (quoted by Dr. Johnson). Women go commonly nine
months, the cow and ewe about six months.

1601. Shakspeare, Henry VIII., iv., 1. Great bellied women that had
not half a week to go.

Go down, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To be accepted, received, or swallowed; to wash (q.v.).

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candle-Light, in wks. (Grosart), III.,
272. For the woorst hors-flesh (so it be cheape) does best goe
downe with him.

1659. Massinger, City Madam, i., 1. But now I fear it will be spent
in poultry; Butcher’s-meat will not go down.

1663. Pepys, Diary, 9 Nov. The present clergy will never heartily
go down with the generality of the commons of England.

1742. Fielding, Joseph Andrews, bk. II., ch. xvii. ‘O ho! you are a
pretty traveller,’ cries the host, ‘and not know the Levant! ...
you must not talk of these things with me, you must not tip us the
traveller—it won’t go here.’

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xxi. He ... shook his head, and
beginning with his usual exclamation said, ‘That won’t go down with
me.’

1885. W. E. Norris, Adrian Vidal, ch. vii. In fashion or out of
fashion, they always pay and always go down with the public.

2. (University).—To be under discipline; to be rusticated.

1863. H. Kingsley, Austin Elliot, i., 179. How dare you say ‘deuce’
in my presence? You can go down, my Lord.

3. (common).—To become bankrupt. Also, to go under.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 19. Some one
had certainly gone down.

To go due north, verb. phr. (obsolete).—To go bankrupt. [That is, to go to White-cross Street Prison, once situate in north London]. See Quisby.

To go on the dub, verb. phr. (old).—To go house-breaking; to pick locks. See Dub.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew. Going upon the dub, c.
Breaking a House with picklocks.

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

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

To go to the dogs, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To go to ruin. [Cf., the Dutch proverb ‘Toe goê, toe de dogs’ = money gone, credit gone too.] See Demnition bow-wows.

1857. A. Trollope, Three Clerks, ch. i. The service, he said, would
go to the dogs, and might do for anything he cared and he did not
mind how soon.

1863. H. Kingsley, Austin Elliot, 1, 179. ‘Got a second!—bah! The
University is going to the ‘——’ Deuce!’ suggested Lord Charles, who
was afraid of something worse. ‘Dogs, Sir, dogs!’

c. 1879. Broadside Ballad, ‘Old Clo’.’ My line of business is
played out, it’s going to the dogs.

To go off on the ear, verb. phr. (American).—To get angry; to fly into a tantrum. See Nab the rust.

To go for, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To attempt; to tackle; to resolve upon; to make for (q.v.).

1871. John Hay, Jim Bludso. He see’d his duty, a dead-sure
thing—And he went for it thar and then.

1890. Athenæum, 22 Mar., p. 366, c. 1. The authors have spared
neither their creatures nor the reader one iota; whenever an
unpleasant effect was obtainable, they straightway seem to have
gone for it with unflinching zest.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 221. Some men had gone for half a
dozen, others for two or three, and very few for a single.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 118. We are strong,
my boy, strong now, and are going in for the slugging of books
also, as well as the immorality of trade.

2. (colloquial).—To attack with violence and directness, whether manually or with the tongue.

1871. Morning Advertiser, 2 Feb., ‘A curtain lecture.’ On ...
arrival home the derelict husband is to be gone for in the most
approved style of the late lamented Mrs. Caudle.

1883. James Payn, Thicker than Water, ch. xxxvii. There were
occasions ... when Charley could hardly help going for the legs of
that lofty philosopher, for higher he could not hit him.

1889. Polytechnic Magazine, 24 Oct., p. 261. He went for the jam
tarts unmercifully.

1889. Star, 24 Aug., p. 4, c. 2. As the enlightened tailor still
declined to pay the blackmail one of the anti-machinists went for
him with a chopper.

1892. Tit Bits, 19 Mar., p. 424, c. 1. So it comes to much the same
thing, with the exception that you cannot indulge in the sad
delight of going for Master Bertie sometimes as you might do were
he a member of your own household.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 123. “Well mate, go
for him, and we’ll keep the cops off till you settle his hash.”

3. (colloquial).—To support; to favour; to vote for.

4. (theatrical).—To criticise; specifically, to run down. [An extension of sense 2.] For synonyms, see Run down.

To go in for (or at), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To enter for; to apply oneself to (e.g., to go in for honours). Also to devote oneself to (e.g., to pay court); to take up (as a pastime, pursuit, hobby, or principle). Closely allied to go for.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 18 (ed. 1857). This advice
was very like that which bystanders invariably give to the smallest
boy in a street fight; namely, ‘Go in, and win’: an admirable thing
to recommend, if you only know how to do it.

1849. Dickens, David Copperfield, ch. xviii., p. 162. Sometimes I
go in at the butcher madly, and cut my knuckles open against his
face.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, iii., 3. Go in for money——Money’s
the article.

1869. Whyte Melville, M. or N., p. 31. Long before he had reached
his uncle’s house, he had made up his mind to go in, as he called
it, for Miss Bruce, morally confident of winning, yet troubled with
certain chilling misgivings, as fearing that this time he had
really fallen in love.

1870. Agricultural Jour., Feb. Men who go in for bathing, running,
etc.

1872. Besant and Rice, My Little Girl (in Once a Week, 14 Dec., p.
508). He had, after a laborious and meritorious career at Aberdeen,
gone in for Scotch mission work in Constantinople.

1873. Miss Broughton, Nancy, ch. xlv. His cheeks are flushed; he is
laughing loudly, and going in heavily for the champagne.

1883. James Payn, Thicker than Water, ch. xx. This is very nice,
but I do wonder, Mrs. Tidman, that you never go in for curries.

1890. H. D. Traill, ‘A Noble Watchword,’ Sat. Songs, p. 58. To go
in solid for the cause how noble! (though, ’tis true, We must hope
at next election that you’ll go in liquid, too).

To go in unto, verb. phr. (Biblical).—To have sexual intercourse with. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

1892. Bible, Gen. xxx. 3. Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her.

To go it, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To act with vigour and daring; to advocate or speak strongly; to live freely. Also to go it blind, fast, bald-headed, strong, etc. Cf., Dash.

1689 (in Arber, Eng. Garner, vol. VII., p. 365). When these had
shared her cargo, they parted company: the French with their shares
went it for Petty Guavas in the Grand Gustaphus.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry [people’s ed.], p. 67. Logic, under the
domino, had been going it on a few of his friends with much humour.

Ibid., p. 22. To go it, where’s a place like London?

1837. R. H. Barham, The Ingoldsby Legends (Ed. 1862), p. 375. For
of this be assured, if you go it too fast, you’ll be ‘dished’ like
Sir Guy.

1846–48. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, vol. I., ch. 26. ‘He’s going it
pretty fast,’ said the clerk.

1849. Dickens, David Copperfield, ch. 6. I say young Copperfield,
you’re going it.

1841. Dow, Sermons, vol. I., p. 176. I would have you understand,
my dear hearers, that I have no objection to some of the sons and
daughters of the earth going it, while they are young, provided
they don’t go it too strong.

1864. Fraser’s Mag., Aug., p. 54. But what if that O, brave heart?
Art thou a labourer? Labour on, Art thou a poet? Go it strong.

1880. Milliken, in Punch’s Almanack Apr. Nobby togs, high jinks,
and lots o’ lotion, That’s the style to go it, I’ve a notion.

Intj. (common).—Keep at it! Keep it up!—a general (sometimes ironical) expression of encouragement. Also go it ye gripples, crutches are cheap! (or newgate’s on fire); go it, my tulip; go it my gay and festive cuss! (Artemus Ward); or (American) go it boots! go it rags! i’ll hold your bonnet! g’lang! (usually to a man making the pace on foot or horseback.) For similar expressions see Mother. Fr., hardi!

1840. Thackeray, Cox’s Diary. Come along this way, ma’am! Go it, ye
cripples!

1854. Thackeray, The Rose and the Ring, p. 92. ‘Go it, old boy!’
cried the impetuous Smith.

1868. Miss Braddon, Trail of the Serpent, bk. I., ch. iii. Three
cheers for red! Go it—go it, red!

1890. Tit Bits, 1 Mar., p. 325. ‘Not for Joe’ ... came from a once
popular song. So did go it, you cripples.

To go out, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To fall into disuse.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 113. Pockets, ... to use the flippant
idiom of the day, are going out.

To go over, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To desert from one side to another; specifically (clerical) to join the Church of Rome; to vert (q.v.).

1861. Thackeray, Lovel the Widwer, ch. ii. I remember Pye, of
Maudlin, just before he went over, was perpetually in Miss Prior’s
back parlour with little books, pictures, medals, etc.

1878. Miss Braddon, Open Verdict, ch. vi. Mr. Dulcimer is a horrid
person to tell you such stories; and after this, I shouldn’t be at
all surprised at his going over to Rome.

2. (colloquial).—To die; i.e., to go over to join the majority. Also to go off. To go off the hooks, to go under, to go aloft, and to go up.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 4. ‘A sight, marm, this
coon’s gone over.’ Ibid., p. 3. Them three’s all gone under.

3. (thieves’).—To attack, rifle, and rob.

1889. Referee, 2 June. A few who had ... gone over the landlord,
left him skinned.

To go off, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To take place; to occur.

1866. Mrs. Gaskell, Wives and Daughters, ch. xiv. The wedding went
off much as such affairs do.

2. (colloquial).—To be disposed of (as goods on sale, or a woman in marriage).

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 208. Miss Malderton was as well
known as the lion on the top of Northumberland House, and had an
equal chance of going off.

3. (colloquial).—To deteriorate (as fish by keeping, or a woman with years).

1883. Pall Mall Gazette, 16 Apr., p. 3, c. 2. Shotover rather went
off in the Autumn, and her Leger preparation was not altogether
satisfactory.

1892. Tit-Bits, 17 Sept., p. 422, c. 3. To those ... who are apt to
go off colour, so to speak, through injudicious indulgence at
table.

4. (colloquial).—To die. For synonyms, see Aloft.

1606. Shakspeare, Macbeth, v., 7. I would the friends we miss were
safe arrived: Some must go off.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers (about 1827), p. 368 (Ed. 1857).
She’s dead, God bless her, and thank him for it!—was seized with a
fit and went off.

Go as you please, adj. phr. (athletics’).—Applied to races where the competitors can run, walk, or rest at will: e.g., in time and distance races. Hence, general freedom of action.

1884. Punch, 11 Oct. ‘’Arry at a Political Picnic’ ’Twas regular go
as you please.

To go to Bath, Putney, etc.—See Bath, Blazes, Hell, Halifax, etc.

To go through, verb. phr. (American).—1. To rob: i.e., to turn inside out. Hence, to master violently and completely; to make an end of.

1872. Evening Standard, 21 June. The roughs would work their will,
and, in their own phrase, go through New York pretty effectually.

1888. Baltimore Sun. He was garrotted, and the two robbers went
through him before he could reach the spot.

Ibid. It was a grand sight to see Farnsworth go through him; he did
not leave him a single leg to stand upon.

2. (venery).—To possess a woman. For synonyms, see Ride.

To go up (or under), verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To go to wreck and ruin; to become bankrupt; to disappear from society. Also, to die. For synonyms, see Deadbroke.

1864. The Index, June. Soon after the blockade, many thought we
should go up on the salt question.

1879. Jas. Payn, High Spirits (Finding His Level). Poor John
Weybridge, Esq., became as friendless as penniless, and eventually
went under, and was heard of no more.

1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 29 May, p. 5, c. 1. He asks us further to
state that the strike is completely at an end, the society having
gone under.

2. (colloquial).—To die: Cf. Ger.: untergehen. For synonyms, see Aloft.