Oh! there never was life like the Robber’s—soJolly, and bold, and free;And its end—why, a cheer from the crowd belowAnd a leap from a leafless tree!Penny-a-liners nowadays describe the executed felon as “taking a leap into eternity;” facetious people say that he dies in a “horse’s nightcap,”i.e., a halter, and the vulgar simply declare that he is “stretched.” The dangerous classes, to express that one is being operated upon by Jack Ketch, use the term “to be scragged,” already mentioned, or “to be topped;” and “may I be topped!” is an ejaculation often heard from the mouths of London roughs. Formerly, when the place for execution was at Tyburn, near theN. E.corner of Hyde Park, at the angle formed by the Edgware Road and the top of Oxford Street, the criminal brought here was said to put on the “Tyburn tippet,”i.e., Jack Ketch’s rope. The Latins used to describe one hanged as making the letter I with his body, or the long letter. In Plautus old Staphyla says: “The best thing for me to do, is with the help of a halter, to make with my body the long letter.” Modern Italians say of a man about to be executed, that he is sent to Picardy, “mandato in Picardia.” They also use other circumlocutions, “andare a Longone,” “andare a Fuligno,” “dar de’ calci al vento,” “ballar in campo azurro.” Again, the Italian “truccante” (thief), in his “lingue furbesche” (cant of thieves), says of a criminal who ascends the scaffold, the “sperlunga, orfaticosa”(gallows), with the “margherita, orsignora” (rope) adjusted on his “guindo” (neck) by the “cataron” (executioner), that he may be considered as “aver la fune al guindo.” The Spanish “azor” (thief, inGermania, or Spanish cant), under sentence of a “tristeza” (sentence of death), when about to be executed left the “angustia” (prison) to go to the gallows, or “balanza,” which is now a thing of the past, having been superseded by the hideous “garote.” The German “broschem-blatter” (thief, in “rothwelsch,” or German cant), when sentenced to death was doomed to the “dolm,” or “nelle,” on which he was ushered out of this world by the “caffler” (German Jack Ketch).Monter(popular),d’un cran,to obtain an appointment superior to that one possesses already;to be promoted;—— à l’arbre, orà l’échelle,to be fooled. Alluding to a bear at the Zoological Gardens being induced to climb the pole by the prospect of some dainty bit which is not thrown to him after all. Alsoto get angry, “to get one’s monkey up;”—— en graine,to grow old. Literallyto run to seed;—— des couleurs,le Job, orun schtosse,to deceive one by false representations, “to bamboozle;”—— une gamme,to scold, “to bully-rag;”—— un coup,to find a pretext;to lay a trap for one.C’est des daims huppés qui veulent monter un coup à un ennemi.—E.Sue.Monter le coup, orun battage,to deceive one by misleading statements.Ça ne prend pas, tu ne me monteras pas le coup, “No go,”I am aware of your practices and“twig”your manœuvre, or “don’t come the old soldier over me.”Faire —— à l’échelle,to make one angry, “to make one lose his shirt.”Se —— le bourrichon, orle baluchon,to fly into a passion about some alleged injustice. Alsoto be too sanguine, to form illusions about one’s abilities, or about the success of some project.Oh! je ne me monte pas le bourrichon, je sais que je ne ferai pas de vieux os.—Zola,L’Assommoir.Se —— le coup,se —— le verre en fleurs,to form illusions.Essayer de —— un bateau à quelqu’un,to seek to deceive one, “to come the old soldier”over one. (Thieves’)Monter un arcat,to swindle, “to bite;”—— un gandin,to deceive, “to stick, or to best;”—— un chopin,to make all necessary preparations for a robbery, “to lay a plant;”—— à la butte,to be guillotined.Un jour, j’ai pris mon surin pour le refroidir. Après tout, mon rêve c’est de monter à la butte.—Mémoires de Monsieur Claude.Monter sur la table,to make a clean breast of it;to inform against one, “to blow the gaff.” It also meansto tell a secret, “to split.”While his man being caught in some fact(The particular crime I’ve forgotten),When he came to be hanged for the act,Split, and told the whole story to Cotton.Ingoldsby Legends.(Theatrical)Monter une partie,to get together a small number of actors to give out of Paris one or two performances; (military)—— en ballon,practical joke at the expense of a new-comer. During the night, to both ends of the bed of the victim are fixed two running nooses, the ropes being attached high up on a partition by the side of the bed. At a given signal the ropes being pulled, the occupant of the bed finds himself lifted inthe air, with his couch upside down occasionally.Monteur,m.(theatrical),de partie,an actor whosespécialitéis to get together a few brother actors for the purpose of performing out of town; (popular)—— de coups, orde godans,swindler;one who is fond of hoaxing people;one who imposes on others, “humbug.” Concerning the latter term theSlang Dictionarysays: “A very expressive but slang word, synonymous at one time with hum and haw. Lexicographers for a long time objected to the adoption of this term. Richardson uses it frequently to express the meaning of other words, but, strange to say, omits it in the alphabetical arrangement as unworthy of recognition! In the first edition of this work, 1785 was given as the earliest date at which the word could be found in a printed book. Since then ‘humbug’ has been traced half a century further back, on the title-page of a singular old jest-book, ‘The Universal Jester, or a pocket companion for the Wits: being a choice collection of merry conceits, facetious drolleries,&c., clenchers, closers, closures, bon-mots, and humbugs, by Ferdinando Killigrew.’ London, about 1735–40. The notorious orator Henley was known to the mob as Orator Humbug. The fact may be learned from an illustration in that exceedingly curious little collection of caricatures published in 1757, many of which were sketched by Lord Bolingbroke, Horace Walpole filling in the names and explanations. Haliwell describes humbug as ‘a person who hums,’ and cites Dean Milles’sMS., which was written about 1760. In the last century the game now known as double-dummy was termed humbug. Lookup, a notorious gambler, was struck down by apoplexy when playing at this game. On the circumstance being reported to Foote, the wit said, ‘Ah, I always thought he would be humbugged out of the world at last!’ It has been stated that the word is a corruption of Hamburg, from which town so many false bulletins and reports came during the war in the last century. ‘Oh, that is Hamburg (or Humbug),’ was the answer to any fresh piece of news which smacked of improbability. Grose mentions it in hisDictionary, 1785; and in a little printed squib, published in 1808, entitledBath Characters, by T. Goosequill, humbug is thus mentioned in a comical couplet on the title-page:—Wee Thre Bath Deities beeHumbug, Follie, and Varietee.Gradually from this time the word began to assume a place in periodical literature, and in novels written by not over-precise authors. In the preface to a flat, and most likely unprofitable poem, entitledThe Reign of Humbug, a Satire,8vo, 1836, the author thus apologizes for the use of the word: ‘I have used the termhumbugto designate this principle (wretched sophistry of life generally), considering that it is now adopted into our language as much as the words dunce, jockey, cheat, swindler,&c., which were formerly only colloquial terms.’ A correspondent, who in a number ofAdversariaingeniously traced bombast to the inflated Doctor Paracelsus Bombast, considers that humbug may, in like manner, be derived from Homberg, the distinguished chemist of the Court of the Duke of Orleans,who, according to the following passage from Bishop Berkeley’sSiris, was an ardent and successful seeker after the philosopher’s stone:—Of this there cannot be a better proof than the experiment of Monsieur Homberg, who made gold of mercury by introducing light into its pores, but at such trouble and expense that, I suppose, nobody will try the experiment for profit. By this injunction of light and mercury, both bodies became finer, and produced a third different to either, to wit, real gold. For the truth of which fact I refer to the memoirs of the French Academy of Sciences.—Berkeley,Works.”The Supplementary English Glossarygives the word “humbugs” as the North-country term for certain lumps of toffy, well flavoured with peppermint. (Roughs’)Monter à cheval,to be suffering from a tumour in the groin, a consequence of venereal disease, and termedpoulain,foal, hence thejeu de mots; (wine retailers’)—— sur le tonneau,to add water to a cask of wine, “to christen”it. Adding too much water to an alcoholic liquor is termed by lovers of the “tipple” in its pure state, “to drown the miller.”Monteur de coups,m.(popular),story-teller;cheat.Monteuse de coups,f.(popular),deceitful woman;one who“bamboozles”her lover or lovers.Montparno(thieves’),Montparnasse. SeeMénilmonte.J’ai flasqué du poivre à la rousse.Elle ira de turne en garno,De Ménilmuche à Montparno,Sans pouvoir remoucher mon gniasse.Richepin.Montrer(theatrical),la couture de ses bas,to break off a stage engagement by the simple process of leaving the theatre; (familiar and popular)—— toute sa boutique,to expose one’s person.Ah! non ... remettez votre camisole. Vous savez, je n’aime pas les indécences. Pendant que vous y êtes, montrez toute votre boutique.—Zola.Montre-tout,m.(popular),short jacket. Termed also “ne te gêne pas dans le parc.” (Prostitutes’)Aller à ——,to go to the medical examination, a periodical and compulsory one, for registered prostitutes, those who shirk it being sent to the prison ofSaint-Lazare.Monu,m.(cads’),one-sou cigar.Monument,m.(popular),tall hat, or “stove-pipe.”Monzu, ormouzu,m.(old cant),woman’s breasts. Termed, in other varieties of jargon, “avant-postes,avant-scènes,œufs sur le plat,oranges sur l’étagère,” and in the English slang, “dairies, bubbies, or Charlies.”Morasse,f.(printers’),proof taken before the forme is finally arranged;——final proof of a newspaper article. Alsoworkman who remains to correct such a proof, or the time employed in the work. (Thieves’)Morasse,uneasiness;remorse.Battre ——,to make a hue and cry, “to romboyle,” in old cant, or “to whiddle beef.”Morassier,m.(printers’),one who prints off the last proof of a newspaper article.Morbaque,m.(popular),disagreeable child. SeeMorbec.Morbec,m.(popular),a variety of vermin which clings tenaciously to certain parts of the human body.Morceau,m.(freemasons’),d’architecture,speech; (popular)—— de gruyère,pockmarked face, “cribbage-face;”—— de salé,fat woman.Un ——,a slatternly girl.(Thieves’)Manger le ——,to peach, “to blow the gaff.”Le morceau tu ne mangerasDe crainte de tomber au plan.Vidocq.(Literary)Morceau de pâte ferme,heavy, dull production. (Artists’)Faire le ——,to paint details skilfully. (Military)Le beau temps tombe par morceaux,it rains.Mord(familiar and popular),ça ne —— pas,it’s no use;no go.Mordante,f.(thieves’),file;saw. The allusion is obvious.Mordre(popular),se faire ——,to be reprimanded, “to get a wigging;”to get thrashed, or “wolloped.”Moresque,f.(thieves’),danger.Morfe,f.(thieves’),meal;victuals, or “toke.”Veux-tu venir prendre de la morfe et piausser avec mézière en une des pioles que tu m’as rouscaillée?—Le Jargon de l’Argot.Morfiante,f.(thieves’),plate.Morfigner,morfiler(thieves’),to do;to eat. From the old wordmorfier.Rabelaisuses the wordmorfiallerwith the signification ofto eat,to gorge oneself.La, la, la, c’est morfiallé cela.—Rabelais,Gargantua.Morfiler, ormorfiller(thieves’),to eat, “to yam.”Un vieux fagot qui s’était fait raille pour morfiller.—Vidocq. (An old convict who had turned spy to get a living.)Termed alsomorfier. Compare withmorfire, ormorfizzare,to eat, in thelingue furbesche, or Italian cant.Se —— le dardant,to fret. Dardant,heart.Morgane,f.(old cant),salt.C’est des oranges, si tu demandais du sel ... de la morgane! mon fils, ça coûte pas cher.—Vidocq. (Here are some potatoes; just you ask for salt, my boy; it’s cheap enough.)Morganer(roughs’ and thieves’),to bite.Morgane le gonse et chair dure!Bite the cove! pitch into him!Moricaud,m.(thieves’),coal;wine-dealer’s wooden pitcher.Mori-larve,f.(thieves’),sunburnt face.Morlingue,m.(thieves’),money;purse, “skin.”Faire le ——,to steal a purse, “to fake a skin.”Mornante,f.(thieves’),sheepfold. Frommorne,sheep.Morne,f.andadj.(thieves’),sheep, or “wool-bird.” Termed “bleating cheat” by English vagabonds.Courbe de ——,shoulder of mutton.Morne,stupid;stupid man, “go along.”Mornée,f.(thieves’),mouthful.Mornier,morneux, ormarmier,m.(thieves’),shepherd.Morniffer(popular),to slap one’s face, “to fetch a bang,” or “to give a biff,” as the Americans have it. Termedto give a“clo,” at Winchester School.Mornifle,f.(thieves’),money, or “blunt.”When the slow coach paused, and the gemmen storm’d,I bore the brunt—And the only sound which my grave lips form’dWas “blunt”—still “blunt!”Lord Lytton,Paul Clifford.Mornifle tarte,spurious coin, or “queer bit.”Refiler de la —— tarte,to pass off bad coin;to be a“snide pitcher, or smasher.” Properly mornifle has the signification ofcuff on the face.Mornifleur tarte,m.(thieves’),coiner, or “queer-bit faker.”Morningue, ormorlingue,m.(thieves’),money, or “pieces;”purse.Faire le ——,to pick apocket. In the old English cant “to fang”a pocket.O shame o’ justice! Wild is hang’d,For thatten he a pocket fang’d,While safe old Hubert, and his gang,Doth pocket of the nation fang.Fielding,J.Wild.Termed in modern English cant “to fake a cly,” a pickpocket being called, according to Lord Lytton, a “buzz gloak”:—The “eminent hand” ended with—“He who surreptitiously accumulates bustle, is, in fact, nothing better than a buzz gloak.—Paul Clifford.Porte ——,purse, “skin, or poge.”Mornos,m.(thieves’),mouth, “bone-box, or muns.” Probably frommorne,mutton, the mouth’s most important function being to receive food.Morpion,m.(popular),strong expression of contempt;despicable man, or “snot.” Literallycrab-louse. Also abore, one who clings to you as the vermin alluded to.Morpionner(popular),is said of a bore that you cannot get rid of.Morse(Breton cant),barley bread.Mort,f.andadj.(popular),marchand de —— subite,physician, “pill.”C’est bien sûr le médecin en chef ... tous les marchands de mort subite vous ont de ces regards-là.—Zola.Lampe à ——,confirmed drunkard whose thirst cannot be slaked. (Familiar and popular)Un corps ——,an empty bottle. The English say, when a bottle has been emptied, “Take away this bottle; it has ‘Moll Thompson’s’ mark on it,” that is, it is M. T. An empty bottle is also termed a “marine, or marine recruit.” “This expression having once been used in the presence of an officer of Marines,” says theSlang Dictionary, “he was at first inclined to take it as an insult, until someone adroitly appeased his wrath by remarking that no offence could be meant, as all that it could possibly imply was: one who had done his duty, and was ready to do it again.” (Popular)Eau de ——,brandy. SeeTord-boyaux. (Thieves’)Etre ——,to be sentenced, “booked.”Hirondelle de la ——,gendarmeon duty at executions. (Military school ofSaint-Cyr)Se faire porter élève-mortis to get placed on the sick list. (Gamesters’)Mort,stakes which have been increased by a cheat, who slily lays additional money the moment the game is in his favour.Morte paye sur mer,f.(thieves’),the hulks(obsolete).Morue,f.(popular),dirty, disgusting woman.Vous voyez, Françoise, ce panier de fraises qu’on vous fait trois francs; j’en offre un franc, moi, et la marchande m’appelle ... Oui, madame, elle vous appelle ... morue!—Gavarni.Alsoprostitute. SeeGadoue.Grande —— dessalée,expression of the utmost contempt applied to a woman. Pedlars formerly termed “morue,”manuscripts, for the printing of which they formed an association, “clubbed” together.Morviau,m.(popular),nose. Termed also “pif,bourbon,piton,pivase,bouteille,caillou,trompe,truffe,tubercule,trompette,nazareth;” and, in English slang, “conk, boko, nob, snorter, handle, post-horn, and smeller.”Lécher le ——,to kiss. The expression is old.Lécher le morveau, manière de parler ironique, qui signifie caresser une femme, la courtiser, la servir, faire l’amour. Ditde même que lécher le grouin, baiser, être assidu et attaché à une personne.—Le Roux,Dict.Comique.The term “snorter” of the English jargon has the corresponding equivalent “soffiante”in Italian cant.Morviot,m.(popular),secretion from the mucous membrane of the nose, “snot.”Dans les veines d’ces estropiés,Au lieu d’sang il coul’ du morviot.Ils ont des guiboll’s comm’ leur stick,Trop d’bidoche autour des boyaux,Et l’arpion plus mou qu’ du mastic.Richepin.Morviot,term of contempt, not quite so forcible as the English expression “snot,” which has the signification ofcontemptible individual.Petit ——,little scamp.Moscou,m.(military),faire brûler ——,to mix a vast bowl of punch. Alluding to the burning down of Moscow by the Russians themselves in 1812.Mossieu à tubard,m.(popular),well-dressed man, a “swell cove.”Tubardis asilk hat.Mot,m.(popular),casser un ——,to have a chat, or “chin music.”Motte,f.(general),pudenda mulierum. Termed also “chat,” and formerly by the poets “le verger de Cypris.”Le Roux, concerning the expression, says:—La motte de la nature d’une femme, c’est proprement le petit bois touffu qui garnit le penil d’une femme.—Dict.Comique.Formerly the false hair for those parts was termed in English “merkin.” (Thieves’)Motte,central prison, or house of correction.Dégringoler de la ——,to come from such a place of confinement. The synonyms of prison in different varieties of slang are: “castue,caruche,hôpital,mitre,chetardorjetard,collège,grosse boîte,l’ours,le violon,le bloc,boîte aux cailloux,tuneçon,austo,mazaro,lycée,château,lazaro.” In the English lingo: “stir, clinch, bastile, steel, sturrabin, jigger, Irish theatre, stone-jug, mill,” the last-named being an abbreviation of treadmill, and signifying by analogyprison. The word is mentioned by Dickens:—“Was you never on the mill?” “What mill,” inquired Oliver. “What mill? why the mill,—the mill as takes up so little room that it’ll work inside a stone-jug.—Oliver Twist.In Yorkshire a prison goes by the appellation of “Toll-shop,” as shown by this verse of a song popular at fairs in the East Riding:—But if ivver he get out agean,And can but raise a frind,Oh! the divel may tak’ toll-shop,At Beverley town end!This “toll-shop” is but a variation of the Scottish “tolbooth.” The general term “quod” to denote a prison originates from the universities. Quod is really a shortening of quadrangle; so to be quodded is to be within four walls (SlangDict.).Motus dans l’entrepont!(sailors’),silence!“put a clapper to your mug,” or “mum’s the word.”Mou,m.(popular),avoir le —— enflé,to be pregnant, or “lumpy.”Mouchailler(popular and thieves’),to scan, “to stag;”to look at, “to pipe;”to see.J’itre mouchaillé le babillard ... je n’y itre mouchaillé floutière de vain.—Le Jargon de l’Argot.Mouchard,m.(popular),portrait hung in a room; (popular and thieves’)—— à becs,lamp-post, the inconvenient luminary being compared to a spy. Mouchard, properlyspy, one who goes busily about like a fly. It formerly had the signification ofdandy.A la fin du xviiᵉ siècle, on donnait encore ce nom aux petits-maîtres qui fréquentaient les Tuileries pour voir autant que pour être vus; C’est sur ce fameux théâtre des Tuileries, dit un écrivain de l’époque, qu’une beauté naissante fait sa première entrée au monde. Bientôt les “mouchars” de la grande allée sont en campagne au bruit d’un visage nouveau; chacun court en repaître ses yeux.—Michel.Moucharde,f.(thieves’),moon, “parish lantern, or Oliver.”Mais déjà la patrarque,Au clair de la moucharde,Nous reluque de loin.Vidocq.La —— se débine,the moon disappears, “Oliver is sleepy.”Mouche,f.,adj., and verb(general),police, or police officer;detective. Compare with the “mücke,” or spy, of German cant; (thieves’)muslin; (students’)—— à miel,candidate to theEcole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, a great engineering school. Alluding to the bee embroidered in gold on their caps. (Popular)Mouche,bad, or “snide;”ugly;stupid.C’est bon pour qui qu’est ——,it is only fit for“flats.”Mouche,weak.Il a reparu, l’ami soleil. Bravo! encore bien débile, bien pâlot, bien “mouche,” dirait Gavroche.—Richepin.Non, c’est q’ j’ me ——,ironical negative expression meant to be strongly affirmative. Synonymous of “non, c’est q’ je tousse!”Vous n’avez rien fait? Non, c’est q’ j’ me ——,you did nothing? oh! didn’t I, just!Moucher(popular),le quinquet,to kill, “to do”for one;to strike, to give a“wipe.”Allons, mouche-lui le quinquet, ça l’esbrouffera.—Th.Gautier.Moucher la chandelle,to give oneself up to solitary practices;to act according to the principles of Malthus with a view of not begetting children. For further explanation the reader may be referred to a work entitledThe Fruits of Philosophy;—— sa chandelle,to die, “to snuff it.” For synonyms seePipe.Se —— dans ses doigts(obsolete),to be clever, resolute.Se faire —— le quinquet,to get one’s head punched. (Gamesters’)Se ——,is said of attendants who, while pretending to make use of their handkerchiefs, purloin a coin or two from the gaming-table. It is said of such an attendant, who on the sly abstracts a gold piece from the stakes laid out on the table,il s’est “mouché” d’un louis.Moucheron,m.(popular),waiter at a wine-shop;child, or “kid.”Mouches,f. pl.(popular),d’hiver,snow-flakes.Tuer les ——,to emit a bad smell, capable of killing even flies. Termed alsotuer les —— à quinze pas. (Theatrical)Envoyer des coups de pied aux ——,to lead a disorderly life.Mouchettes,f. pl.(popular),pocket-handkerchief, “snottinger, or wipe.” Termed “madam, or stook,” by English thieves.Des ——!equivalent todu flan!des navets!des nèfles,&c., forcible expression of refusal; may be rendered by “Don’t you wish you may get it!” or, as the Americans say, “Yes, in a horn.”Moucheur de chandelles,m.(popular). SeeMoucher.Mouchique,adj.(popular and thieves’),base,worthless,bad, “snide.”C’était un’ tonn’ pas mouchique,C’était un girond tonneau,L’anderlique, l’anderlique,L’anderliqu’ de Landerneau!Gill.The English cant has the old word “queer,” signifying base, roguish, or worthless—the opposite of “rum,” which signified good and genuine. “Queer, in all probability,” says theSlang Dictionary, “is immediately derived from the cant language. It has been mooted that it came into use from a ‘quære’ (?) being set before a man’s name; but it is more than probable that it was brought into this country by the gipsies from Germany, wherequersignifiescross, orcrooked.” (Thieves’)Etre —— à sa section, orà la sec,to be noted as a bad character at the police office of one’s district. The word “mouchique,” saysMichel, is derived from “mujik,”a Russian peasant, which must have become familiar in 1815 to the inhabitants of the parts of the country invaded by the Russians.Mouchoir,m.(popular),d’Adam,the fingers, used by some people as a natural handkerchief, “forks;”—— de bœuf,meadow. Termed thus on account of oxen having their noses in the grass when grazing;—— de poche,pistol, or “pops.” (Familiar and popular)Faire le ——,to steal pocket-handkerchiefs, “to draw a wipe.”Coup de ——(obsolete),a box on the ear, a “wipe in the chaps.”Voyez le train qu’a m’ fait pour un coup de mouchoir que j’lui ai donné.—Pompigny, 1783.(Theatrical)Faire le ——,to pirate another author’s productions.Mouchouar-godel(Breton cant),pistol.Moudre(popular), or—— un air,to ply a street organ.Mouf(popular), abbreviation ofMouffetard, the name of a street almost wholly tenanted by rag-pickers, and situate in one of the lowest quarters of Paris.Quartier —— mouf,theQuartier Mouffetard.La tribu des Beni Mouf-mouf,inhabitants of theQuartier Mouffetard.Champagne ——, orChampagne Mouffetard,a liquid manufactured by rag-pickers with rotten oranges picked out of the refuse at the Halles. The fruit, after being washed, is thrown into a cask of water and allowed to ferment for a few days, after which some brown sugar being added, the liquid is bottled up, and does duty as champagne. It is theCliquotof poor people.Moufflanté,adj.(popular),comfortably, warmly clad.Moufflet,m.(popular),child, or “kid;”urchin;apprentice.Moufion,m.(popular),pocket-handkerchief, “snottinger, or wipe.”Moufionner(popular),to blow one’s nose. (Thieves’)Se —— dans le son,to be guillotined. Literallyto blow one’s nose in the bran. An allusion to an executed convict’s head, which falls into a basket full of sawdust. Termed also “éternuer dans le son, orle sac.” SeeFauché.Mouget,m.(roughs’),a swell, or “gorger.”Des péniches à la ——,fashionable boots, as now worn, with pointed toes and large square heels.Mouillante,f.(thieves’),cod; (popular)soup.Mouillé,adj.(popular),être ——,to be drunk, or “tight.” SeePompette.Etre ——,to be known in one’s real character. Alluding to cloths which are soaked in water to ascertain their quality. (Thieves’)Etre ——,to be well known to the police.Mouiller(popular),se ——,to drink, “to have something damp,” or as the Americans have it, “to smile, to see the man.” The term is old.Mouillez-vous pour seicher, ou seichez pour mouiller.—Rabelais.Alsoto get slightly intoxicated, or “elevated.” (Theatrical)Mouiller à, ordans,to receive a royalty for a play produced on the stage.Se ——,to take pains in one’s acting. (Thieves’)Se —— les pieds,to be transported, “to lump the lighter, or to be lagged.” (Roughs’)En ——,to perform some extraordinary feat with great expenditure of physical strength.Les frères qui en mouillent,acrobats. (Military)Mouiller,to be punished.Mouise,f.(thieves’),soup.Vous qui n’avez probablement dans le bauge que la mouise de Tunebée Bicêtre vous devez canner la pégrenne.—Vidocq.Moukala,m.(military),rifle. From the Arab.Moukère, ormoucaire,f.(popular),ugly woman;girl of indifferent character; (military)mistress.Ma ——,my young“’ooman.”Avoir sa ——,to have won the good graces of a fair one, generally a cook in the case of an infantry soldier, the cavalry having the monopoly of housemaids or ladies’ maids, and sappers showing a great penchant for nursery-maids.Moulard,m.(popular), superlative of moule,dunce, or “flat.”Moule,m.andf.(popular),une ——,face, or “mug.” Alsoa dunce,simpleton, or “muff.”Foutez-moi la paix! Vous êtes une couenne et une moule!—G.Courteline.Le —— à blagues,mouth, or “chaffer.” Literallythe humbug-box.Un —— à boutons,a twenty-franc piece.Un —— à claques,face with impertinent expression which invites punishment. Termed also—— à croquignoles.Un —— à gaufres, orà pastilles,a face pitted with small-pox marks, “crumpet-face, or cribbage-face.”Un moule à gaufresis properlya waffle-iron.Un —— à poupée(obsolete),a clumsily-built, awkward man.Ah! ah! ah! C’grand benêt! a-t-il un air jaune ... dis donc eh! c’moule à poupée, qu’ veux-tu faire de cette pique?—Riche-en-gueule.Un —— à merde,behind, “Nancy.” For synonyms seeVasistas. Alsoa foul-mouthed person.Un —— de gant,box on the ear, or “bang in the gills.”Un —— de bonnet, head, or “canister.”Un —— de pipe à Gambier,grotesque face, or “knocker face.”Un —— à melon,humpback, or “lord.” (Military)Envoyer chercher le —— aux guillemets,to send a recruit on a fool’s errand, to send him to ask the sergeant-major forthe mould for inverted commas, the joke being varied by requesting him to fetch the key of the drill-ground. Corresponds somewhat to sending a greenhorn for pigeon’s milk, or a pennyworth of stirrup-oil.Mouler(familiar and popular),un sénateur,to ease oneself by evacuation, “to bury a quaker;” (artists’)—— une Vénus,same meaning. Artists term “gazonner,”the act of easing oneself in the fields. SeeMouscailler.Moulin,m.(popular), de la halle (obsolete),the pillory.
Oh! there never was life like the Robber’s—soJolly, and bold, and free;And its end—why, a cheer from the crowd belowAnd a leap from a leafless tree!
Oh! there never was life like the Robber’s—soJolly, and bold, and free;And its end—why, a cheer from the crowd belowAnd a leap from a leafless tree!
Oh! there never was life like the Robber’s—soJolly, and bold, and free;And its end—why, a cheer from the crowd belowAnd a leap from a leafless tree!
Oh! there never was life like the Robber’s—so
Jolly, and bold, and free;
And its end—why, a cheer from the crowd below
And a leap from a leafless tree!
Penny-a-liners nowadays describe the executed felon as “taking a leap into eternity;” facetious people say that he dies in a “horse’s nightcap,”i.e., a halter, and the vulgar simply declare that he is “stretched.” The dangerous classes, to express that one is being operated upon by Jack Ketch, use the term “to be scragged,” already mentioned, or “to be topped;” and “may I be topped!” is an ejaculation often heard from the mouths of London roughs. Formerly, when the place for execution was at Tyburn, near theN. E.corner of Hyde Park, at the angle formed by the Edgware Road and the top of Oxford Street, the criminal brought here was said to put on the “Tyburn tippet,”i.e., Jack Ketch’s rope. The Latins used to describe one hanged as making the letter I with his body, or the long letter. In Plautus old Staphyla says: “The best thing for me to do, is with the help of a halter, to make with my body the long letter.” Modern Italians say of a man about to be executed, that he is sent to Picardy, “mandato in Picardia.” They also use other circumlocutions, “andare a Longone,” “andare a Fuligno,” “dar de’ calci al vento,” “ballar in campo azurro.” Again, the Italian “truccante” (thief), in his “lingue furbesche” (cant of thieves), says of a criminal who ascends the scaffold, the “sperlunga, orfaticosa”(gallows), with the “margherita, orsignora” (rope) adjusted on his “guindo” (neck) by the “cataron” (executioner), that he may be considered as “aver la fune al guindo.” The Spanish “azor” (thief, inGermania, or Spanish cant), under sentence of a “tristeza” (sentence of death), when about to be executed left the “angustia” (prison) to go to the gallows, or “balanza,” which is now a thing of the past, having been superseded by the hideous “garote.” The German “broschem-blatter” (thief, in “rothwelsch,” or German cant), when sentenced to death was doomed to the “dolm,” or “nelle,” on which he was ushered out of this world by the “caffler” (German Jack Ketch).
Monter(popular),d’un cran,to obtain an appointment superior to that one possesses already;to be promoted;—— à l’arbre, orà l’échelle,to be fooled. Alluding to a bear at the Zoological Gardens being induced to climb the pole by the prospect of some dainty bit which is not thrown to him after all. Alsoto get angry, “to get one’s monkey up;”—— en graine,to grow old. Literallyto run to seed;—— des couleurs,le Job, orun schtosse,to deceive one by false representations, “to bamboozle;”—— une gamme,to scold, “to bully-rag;”—— un coup,to find a pretext;to lay a trap for one.
C’est des daims huppés qui veulent monter un coup à un ennemi.—E.Sue.
Monter le coup, orun battage,to deceive one by misleading statements.Ça ne prend pas, tu ne me monteras pas le coup, “No go,”I am aware of your practices and“twig”your manœuvre, or “don’t come the old soldier over me.”Faire —— à l’échelle,to make one angry, “to make one lose his shirt.”Se —— le bourrichon, orle baluchon,to fly into a passion about some alleged injustice. Alsoto be too sanguine, to form illusions about one’s abilities, or about the success of some project.
Oh! je ne me monte pas le bourrichon, je sais que je ne ferai pas de vieux os.—Zola,L’Assommoir.
Se —— le coup,se —— le verre en fleurs,to form illusions.Essayer de —— un bateau à quelqu’un,to seek to deceive one, “to come the old soldier”over one. (Thieves’)Monter un arcat,to swindle, “to bite;”—— un gandin,to deceive, “to stick, or to best;”—— un chopin,to make all necessary preparations for a robbery, “to lay a plant;”—— à la butte,to be guillotined.
Un jour, j’ai pris mon surin pour le refroidir. Après tout, mon rêve c’est de monter à la butte.—Mémoires de Monsieur Claude.
Monter sur la table,to make a clean breast of it;to inform against one, “to blow the gaff.” It also meansto tell a secret, “to split.”
While his man being caught in some fact(The particular crime I’ve forgotten),When he came to be hanged for the act,Split, and told the whole story to Cotton.Ingoldsby Legends.
While his man being caught in some fact(The particular crime I’ve forgotten),When he came to be hanged for the act,Split, and told the whole story to Cotton.Ingoldsby Legends.
While his man being caught in some fact(The particular crime I’ve forgotten),When he came to be hanged for the act,Split, and told the whole story to Cotton.Ingoldsby Legends.
While his man being caught in some fact
(The particular crime I’ve forgotten),
When he came to be hanged for the act,
Split, and told the whole story to Cotton.
Ingoldsby Legends.
(Theatrical)Monter une partie,to get together a small number of actors to give out of Paris one or two performances; (military)—— en ballon,practical joke at the expense of a new-comer. During the night, to both ends of the bed of the victim are fixed two running nooses, the ropes being attached high up on a partition by the side of the bed. At a given signal the ropes being pulled, the occupant of the bed finds himself lifted inthe air, with his couch upside down occasionally.
Monteur,m.(theatrical),de partie,an actor whosespécialitéis to get together a few brother actors for the purpose of performing out of town; (popular)—— de coups, orde godans,swindler;one who is fond of hoaxing people;one who imposes on others, “humbug.” Concerning the latter term theSlang Dictionarysays: “A very expressive but slang word, synonymous at one time with hum and haw. Lexicographers for a long time objected to the adoption of this term. Richardson uses it frequently to express the meaning of other words, but, strange to say, omits it in the alphabetical arrangement as unworthy of recognition! In the first edition of this work, 1785 was given as the earliest date at which the word could be found in a printed book. Since then ‘humbug’ has been traced half a century further back, on the title-page of a singular old jest-book, ‘The Universal Jester, or a pocket companion for the Wits: being a choice collection of merry conceits, facetious drolleries,&c., clenchers, closers, closures, bon-mots, and humbugs, by Ferdinando Killigrew.’ London, about 1735–40. The notorious orator Henley was known to the mob as Orator Humbug. The fact may be learned from an illustration in that exceedingly curious little collection of caricatures published in 1757, many of which were sketched by Lord Bolingbroke, Horace Walpole filling in the names and explanations. Haliwell describes humbug as ‘a person who hums,’ and cites Dean Milles’sMS., which was written about 1760. In the last century the game now known as double-dummy was termed humbug. Lookup, a notorious gambler, was struck down by apoplexy when playing at this game. On the circumstance being reported to Foote, the wit said, ‘Ah, I always thought he would be humbugged out of the world at last!’ It has been stated that the word is a corruption of Hamburg, from which town so many false bulletins and reports came during the war in the last century. ‘Oh, that is Hamburg (or Humbug),’ was the answer to any fresh piece of news which smacked of improbability. Grose mentions it in hisDictionary, 1785; and in a little printed squib, published in 1808, entitledBath Characters, by T. Goosequill, humbug is thus mentioned in a comical couplet on the title-page:—
Wee Thre Bath Deities beeHumbug, Follie, and Varietee.
Wee Thre Bath Deities beeHumbug, Follie, and Varietee.
Wee Thre Bath Deities beeHumbug, Follie, and Varietee.
Wee Thre Bath Deities bee
Humbug, Follie, and Varietee.
Gradually from this time the word began to assume a place in periodical literature, and in novels written by not over-precise authors. In the preface to a flat, and most likely unprofitable poem, entitledThe Reign of Humbug, a Satire,8vo, 1836, the author thus apologizes for the use of the word: ‘I have used the termhumbugto designate this principle (wretched sophistry of life generally), considering that it is now adopted into our language as much as the words dunce, jockey, cheat, swindler,&c., which were formerly only colloquial terms.’ A correspondent, who in a number ofAdversariaingeniously traced bombast to the inflated Doctor Paracelsus Bombast, considers that humbug may, in like manner, be derived from Homberg, the distinguished chemist of the Court of the Duke of Orleans,who, according to the following passage from Bishop Berkeley’sSiris, was an ardent and successful seeker after the philosopher’s stone:—
Of this there cannot be a better proof than the experiment of Monsieur Homberg, who made gold of mercury by introducing light into its pores, but at such trouble and expense that, I suppose, nobody will try the experiment for profit. By this injunction of light and mercury, both bodies became finer, and produced a third different to either, to wit, real gold. For the truth of which fact I refer to the memoirs of the French Academy of Sciences.—Berkeley,Works.”
The Supplementary English Glossarygives the word “humbugs” as the North-country term for certain lumps of toffy, well flavoured with peppermint. (Roughs’)Monter à cheval,to be suffering from a tumour in the groin, a consequence of venereal disease, and termedpoulain,foal, hence thejeu de mots; (wine retailers’)—— sur le tonneau,to add water to a cask of wine, “to christen”it. Adding too much water to an alcoholic liquor is termed by lovers of the “tipple” in its pure state, “to drown the miller.”
Monteur de coups,m.(popular),story-teller;cheat.
Monteuse de coups,f.(popular),deceitful woman;one who“bamboozles”her lover or lovers.
Montparno(thieves’),Montparnasse. SeeMénilmonte.
J’ai flasqué du poivre à la rousse.Elle ira de turne en garno,De Ménilmuche à Montparno,Sans pouvoir remoucher mon gniasse.Richepin.
J’ai flasqué du poivre à la rousse.Elle ira de turne en garno,De Ménilmuche à Montparno,Sans pouvoir remoucher mon gniasse.Richepin.
J’ai flasqué du poivre à la rousse.Elle ira de turne en garno,De Ménilmuche à Montparno,Sans pouvoir remoucher mon gniasse.Richepin.
J’ai flasqué du poivre à la rousse.
Elle ira de turne en garno,
De Ménilmuche à Montparno,
Sans pouvoir remoucher mon gniasse.
Richepin.
Montrer(theatrical),la couture de ses bas,to break off a stage engagement by the simple process of leaving the theatre; (familiar and popular)—— toute sa boutique,to expose one’s person.
Ah! non ... remettez votre camisole. Vous savez, je n’aime pas les indécences. Pendant que vous y êtes, montrez toute votre boutique.—Zola.
Montre-tout,m.(popular),short jacket. Termed also “ne te gêne pas dans le parc.” (Prostitutes’)Aller à ——,to go to the medical examination, a periodical and compulsory one, for registered prostitutes, those who shirk it being sent to the prison ofSaint-Lazare.
Monu,m.(cads’),one-sou cigar.
Monument,m.(popular),tall hat, or “stove-pipe.”
Monzu, ormouzu,m.(old cant),woman’s breasts. Termed, in other varieties of jargon, “avant-postes,avant-scènes,œufs sur le plat,oranges sur l’étagère,” and in the English slang, “dairies, bubbies, or Charlies.”
Morasse,f.(printers’),proof taken before the forme is finally arranged;——final proof of a newspaper article. Alsoworkman who remains to correct such a proof, or the time employed in the work. (Thieves’)Morasse,uneasiness;remorse.Battre ——,to make a hue and cry, “to romboyle,” in old cant, or “to whiddle beef.”
Morassier,m.(printers’),one who prints off the last proof of a newspaper article.
Morbaque,m.(popular),disagreeable child. SeeMorbec.
Morbec,m.(popular),a variety of vermin which clings tenaciously to certain parts of the human body.
Morceau,m.(freemasons’),d’architecture,speech; (popular)—— de gruyère,pockmarked face, “cribbage-face;”—— de salé,fat woman.Un ——,a slatternly girl.(Thieves’)Manger le ——,to peach, “to blow the gaff.”
Le morceau tu ne mangerasDe crainte de tomber au plan.Vidocq.
Le morceau tu ne mangerasDe crainte de tomber au plan.Vidocq.
Le morceau tu ne mangerasDe crainte de tomber au plan.Vidocq.
Le morceau tu ne mangeras
De crainte de tomber au plan.
Vidocq.
(Literary)Morceau de pâte ferme,heavy, dull production. (Artists’)Faire le ——,to paint details skilfully. (Military)Le beau temps tombe par morceaux,it rains.
Mord(familiar and popular),ça ne —— pas,it’s no use;no go.
Mordante,f.(thieves’),file;saw. The allusion is obvious.
Mordre(popular),se faire ——,to be reprimanded, “to get a wigging;”to get thrashed, or “wolloped.”
Moresque,f.(thieves’),danger.
Morfe,f.(thieves’),meal;victuals, or “toke.”
Veux-tu venir prendre de la morfe et piausser avec mézière en une des pioles que tu m’as rouscaillée?—Le Jargon de l’Argot.
Morfiante,f.(thieves’),plate.
Morfigner,morfiler(thieves’),to do;to eat. From the old wordmorfier.Rabelaisuses the wordmorfiallerwith the signification ofto eat,to gorge oneself.
La, la, la, c’est morfiallé cela.—Rabelais,Gargantua.
Morfiler, ormorfiller(thieves’),to eat, “to yam.”
Un vieux fagot qui s’était fait raille pour morfiller.—Vidocq. (An old convict who had turned spy to get a living.)
Termed alsomorfier. Compare withmorfire, ormorfizzare,to eat, in thelingue furbesche, or Italian cant.Se —— le dardant,to fret. Dardant,heart.
Morgane,f.(old cant),salt.
C’est des oranges, si tu demandais du sel ... de la morgane! mon fils, ça coûte pas cher.—Vidocq. (Here are some potatoes; just you ask for salt, my boy; it’s cheap enough.)
Morganer(roughs’ and thieves’),to bite.Morgane le gonse et chair dure!Bite the cove! pitch into him!
Moricaud,m.(thieves’),coal;wine-dealer’s wooden pitcher.
Mori-larve,f.(thieves’),sunburnt face.
Morlingue,m.(thieves’),money;purse, “skin.”Faire le ——,to steal a purse, “to fake a skin.”
Mornante,f.(thieves’),sheepfold. Frommorne,sheep.
Morne,f.andadj.(thieves’),sheep, or “wool-bird.” Termed “bleating cheat” by English vagabonds.Courbe de ——,shoulder of mutton.Morne,stupid;stupid man, “go along.”
Mornée,f.(thieves’),mouthful.
Mornier,morneux, ormarmier,m.(thieves’),shepherd.
Morniffer(popular),to slap one’s face, “to fetch a bang,” or “to give a biff,” as the Americans have it. Termedto give a“clo,” at Winchester School.
Mornifle,f.(thieves’),money, or “blunt.”
When the slow coach paused, and the gemmen storm’d,I bore the brunt—And the only sound which my grave lips form’dWas “blunt”—still “blunt!”Lord Lytton,Paul Clifford.
When the slow coach paused, and the gemmen storm’d,I bore the brunt—And the only sound which my grave lips form’dWas “blunt”—still “blunt!”Lord Lytton,Paul Clifford.
When the slow coach paused, and the gemmen storm’d,I bore the brunt—And the only sound which my grave lips form’dWas “blunt”—still “blunt!”Lord Lytton,Paul Clifford.
When the slow coach paused, and the gemmen storm’d,
I bore the brunt—
And the only sound which my grave lips form’d
Was “blunt”—still “blunt!”
Lord Lytton,Paul Clifford.
Mornifle tarte,spurious coin, or “queer bit.”Refiler de la —— tarte,to pass off bad coin;to be a“snide pitcher, or smasher.” Properly mornifle has the signification ofcuff on the face.
Mornifleur tarte,m.(thieves’),coiner, or “queer-bit faker.”
Morningue, ormorlingue,m.(thieves’),money, or “pieces;”purse.Faire le ——,to pick apocket. In the old English cant “to fang”a pocket.
O shame o’ justice! Wild is hang’d,For thatten he a pocket fang’d,While safe old Hubert, and his gang,Doth pocket of the nation fang.Fielding,J.Wild.
O shame o’ justice! Wild is hang’d,For thatten he a pocket fang’d,While safe old Hubert, and his gang,Doth pocket of the nation fang.Fielding,J.Wild.
O shame o’ justice! Wild is hang’d,For thatten he a pocket fang’d,While safe old Hubert, and his gang,Doth pocket of the nation fang.Fielding,J.Wild.
O shame o’ justice! Wild is hang’d,
For thatten he a pocket fang’d,
While safe old Hubert, and his gang,
Doth pocket of the nation fang.
Fielding,J.Wild.
Termed in modern English cant “to fake a cly,” a pickpocket being called, according to Lord Lytton, a “buzz gloak”:—
The “eminent hand” ended with—“He who surreptitiously accumulates bustle, is, in fact, nothing better than a buzz gloak.—Paul Clifford.
Porte ——,purse, “skin, or poge.”
Mornos,m.(thieves’),mouth, “bone-box, or muns.” Probably frommorne,mutton, the mouth’s most important function being to receive food.
Morpion,m.(popular),strong expression of contempt;despicable man, or “snot.” Literallycrab-louse. Also abore, one who clings to you as the vermin alluded to.
Morpionner(popular),is said of a bore that you cannot get rid of.
Morse(Breton cant),barley bread.
Mort,f.andadj.(popular),marchand de —— subite,physician, “pill.”
C’est bien sûr le médecin en chef ... tous les marchands de mort subite vous ont de ces regards-là.—Zola.
Lampe à ——,confirmed drunkard whose thirst cannot be slaked. (Familiar and popular)Un corps ——,an empty bottle. The English say, when a bottle has been emptied, “Take away this bottle; it has ‘Moll Thompson’s’ mark on it,” that is, it is M. T. An empty bottle is also termed a “marine, or marine recruit.” “This expression having once been used in the presence of an officer of Marines,” says theSlang Dictionary, “he was at first inclined to take it as an insult, until someone adroitly appeased his wrath by remarking that no offence could be meant, as all that it could possibly imply was: one who had done his duty, and was ready to do it again.” (Popular)Eau de ——,brandy. SeeTord-boyaux. (Thieves’)Etre ——,to be sentenced, “booked.”Hirondelle de la ——,gendarmeon duty at executions. (Military school ofSaint-Cyr)Se faire porter élève-mortis to get placed on the sick list. (Gamesters’)Mort,stakes which have been increased by a cheat, who slily lays additional money the moment the game is in his favour.
Morte paye sur mer,f.(thieves’),the hulks(obsolete).
Morue,f.(popular),dirty, disgusting woman.
Vous voyez, Françoise, ce panier de fraises qu’on vous fait trois francs; j’en offre un franc, moi, et la marchande m’appelle ... Oui, madame, elle vous appelle ... morue!—Gavarni.
Alsoprostitute. SeeGadoue.Grande —— dessalée,expression of the utmost contempt applied to a woman. Pedlars formerly termed “morue,”manuscripts, for the printing of which they formed an association, “clubbed” together.
Morviau,m.(popular),nose. Termed also “pif,bourbon,piton,pivase,bouteille,caillou,trompe,truffe,tubercule,trompette,nazareth;” and, in English slang, “conk, boko, nob, snorter, handle, post-horn, and smeller.”Lécher le ——,to kiss. The expression is old.
Lécher le morveau, manière de parler ironique, qui signifie caresser une femme, la courtiser, la servir, faire l’amour. Ditde même que lécher le grouin, baiser, être assidu et attaché à une personne.—Le Roux,Dict.Comique.
The term “snorter” of the English jargon has the corresponding equivalent “soffiante”in Italian cant.
Morviot,m.(popular),secretion from the mucous membrane of the nose, “snot.”
Dans les veines d’ces estropiés,Au lieu d’sang il coul’ du morviot.Ils ont des guiboll’s comm’ leur stick,Trop d’bidoche autour des boyaux,Et l’arpion plus mou qu’ du mastic.Richepin.
Dans les veines d’ces estropiés,Au lieu d’sang il coul’ du morviot.Ils ont des guiboll’s comm’ leur stick,Trop d’bidoche autour des boyaux,Et l’arpion plus mou qu’ du mastic.Richepin.
Dans les veines d’ces estropiés,Au lieu d’sang il coul’ du morviot.Ils ont des guiboll’s comm’ leur stick,Trop d’bidoche autour des boyaux,Et l’arpion plus mou qu’ du mastic.Richepin.
Dans les veines d’ces estropiés,
Au lieu d’sang il coul’ du morviot.
Ils ont des guiboll’s comm’ leur stick,
Trop d’bidoche autour des boyaux,
Et l’arpion plus mou qu’ du mastic.
Richepin.
Morviot,term of contempt, not quite so forcible as the English expression “snot,” which has the signification ofcontemptible individual.Petit ——,little scamp.
Moscou,m.(military),faire brûler ——,to mix a vast bowl of punch. Alluding to the burning down of Moscow by the Russians themselves in 1812.
Mossieu à tubard,m.(popular),well-dressed man, a “swell cove.”Tubardis asilk hat.
Mot,m.(popular),casser un ——,to have a chat, or “chin music.”
Motte,f.(general),pudenda mulierum. Termed also “chat,” and formerly by the poets “le verger de Cypris.”Le Roux, concerning the expression, says:—
La motte de la nature d’une femme, c’est proprement le petit bois touffu qui garnit le penil d’une femme.—Dict.Comique.
Formerly the false hair for those parts was termed in English “merkin.” (Thieves’)Motte,central prison, or house of correction.Dégringoler de la ——,to come from such a place of confinement. The synonyms of prison in different varieties of slang are: “castue,caruche,hôpital,mitre,chetardorjetard,collège,grosse boîte,l’ours,le violon,le bloc,boîte aux cailloux,tuneçon,austo,mazaro,lycée,château,lazaro.” In the English lingo: “stir, clinch, bastile, steel, sturrabin, jigger, Irish theatre, stone-jug, mill,” the last-named being an abbreviation of treadmill, and signifying by analogyprison. The word is mentioned by Dickens:—
“Was you never on the mill?” “What mill,” inquired Oliver. “What mill? why the mill,—the mill as takes up so little room that it’ll work inside a stone-jug.—Oliver Twist.
In Yorkshire a prison goes by the appellation of “Toll-shop,” as shown by this verse of a song popular at fairs in the East Riding:—
But if ivver he get out agean,And can but raise a frind,Oh! the divel may tak’ toll-shop,At Beverley town end!
But if ivver he get out agean,And can but raise a frind,Oh! the divel may tak’ toll-shop,At Beverley town end!
But if ivver he get out agean,And can but raise a frind,Oh! the divel may tak’ toll-shop,At Beverley town end!
But if ivver he get out agean,
And can but raise a frind,
Oh! the divel may tak’ toll-shop,
At Beverley town end!
This “toll-shop” is but a variation of the Scottish “tolbooth.” The general term “quod” to denote a prison originates from the universities. Quod is really a shortening of quadrangle; so to be quodded is to be within four walls (SlangDict.).
Motus dans l’entrepont!(sailors’),silence!“put a clapper to your mug,” or “mum’s the word.”
Mou,m.(popular),avoir le —— enflé,to be pregnant, or “lumpy.”
Mouchailler(popular and thieves’),to scan, “to stag;”to look at, “to pipe;”to see.
J’itre mouchaillé le babillard ... je n’y itre mouchaillé floutière de vain.—Le Jargon de l’Argot.
Mouchard,m.(popular),portrait hung in a room; (popular and thieves’)—— à becs,lamp-post, the inconvenient luminary being compared to a spy. Mouchard, properlyspy, one who goes busily about like a fly. It formerly had the signification ofdandy.
A la fin du xviiᵉ siècle, on donnait encore ce nom aux petits-maîtres qui fréquentaient les Tuileries pour voir autant que pour être vus; C’est sur ce fameux théâtre des Tuileries, dit un écrivain de l’époque, qu’une beauté naissante fait sa première entrée au monde. Bientôt les “mouchars” de la grande allée sont en campagne au bruit d’un visage nouveau; chacun court en repaître ses yeux.—Michel.
Moucharde,f.(thieves’),moon, “parish lantern, or Oliver.”
Mais déjà la patrarque,Au clair de la moucharde,Nous reluque de loin.Vidocq.
Mais déjà la patrarque,Au clair de la moucharde,Nous reluque de loin.Vidocq.
Mais déjà la patrarque,Au clair de la moucharde,Nous reluque de loin.Vidocq.
Mais déjà la patrarque,
Au clair de la moucharde,
Nous reluque de loin.
Vidocq.
La —— se débine,the moon disappears, “Oliver is sleepy.”
Mouche,f.,adj., and verb(general),police, or police officer;detective. Compare with the “mücke,” or spy, of German cant; (thieves’)muslin; (students’)—— à miel,candidate to theEcole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, a great engineering school. Alluding to the bee embroidered in gold on their caps. (Popular)Mouche,bad, or “snide;”ugly;stupid.C’est bon pour qui qu’est ——,it is only fit for“flats.”Mouche,weak.
Il a reparu, l’ami soleil. Bravo! encore bien débile, bien pâlot, bien “mouche,” dirait Gavroche.—Richepin.
Non, c’est q’ j’ me ——,ironical negative expression meant to be strongly affirmative. Synonymous of “non, c’est q’ je tousse!”Vous n’avez rien fait? Non, c’est q’ j’ me ——,you did nothing? oh! didn’t I, just!
Moucher(popular),le quinquet,to kill, “to do”for one;to strike, to give a“wipe.”
Allons, mouche-lui le quinquet, ça l’esbrouffera.—Th.Gautier.
Moucher la chandelle,to give oneself up to solitary practices;to act according to the principles of Malthus with a view of not begetting children. For further explanation the reader may be referred to a work entitledThe Fruits of Philosophy;—— sa chandelle,to die, “to snuff it.” For synonyms seePipe.Se —— dans ses doigts(obsolete),to be clever, resolute.Se faire —— le quinquet,to get one’s head punched. (Gamesters’)Se ——,is said of attendants who, while pretending to make use of their handkerchiefs, purloin a coin or two from the gaming-table. It is said of such an attendant, who on the sly abstracts a gold piece from the stakes laid out on the table,il s’est “mouché” d’un louis.
Moucheron,m.(popular),waiter at a wine-shop;child, or “kid.”
Mouches,f. pl.(popular),d’hiver,snow-flakes.Tuer les ——,to emit a bad smell, capable of killing even flies. Termed alsotuer les —— à quinze pas. (Theatrical)Envoyer des coups de pied aux ——,to lead a disorderly life.
Mouchettes,f. pl.(popular),pocket-handkerchief, “snottinger, or wipe.” Termed “madam, or stook,” by English thieves.Des ——!equivalent todu flan!des navets!des nèfles,&c., forcible expression of refusal; may be rendered by “Don’t you wish you may get it!” or, as the Americans say, “Yes, in a horn.”
Moucheur de chandelles,m.(popular). SeeMoucher.
Mouchique,adj.(popular and thieves’),base,worthless,bad, “snide.”
C’était un’ tonn’ pas mouchique,C’était un girond tonneau,L’anderlique, l’anderlique,L’anderliqu’ de Landerneau!Gill.
C’était un’ tonn’ pas mouchique,C’était un girond tonneau,L’anderlique, l’anderlique,L’anderliqu’ de Landerneau!Gill.
C’était un’ tonn’ pas mouchique,C’était un girond tonneau,L’anderlique, l’anderlique,L’anderliqu’ de Landerneau!Gill.
C’était un’ tonn’ pas mouchique,
C’était un girond tonneau,
L’anderlique, l’anderlique,
L’anderliqu’ de Landerneau!
Gill.
The English cant has the old word “queer,” signifying base, roguish, or worthless—the opposite of “rum,” which signified good and genuine. “Queer, in all probability,” says theSlang Dictionary, “is immediately derived from the cant language. It has been mooted that it came into use from a ‘quære’ (?) being set before a man’s name; but it is more than probable that it was brought into this country by the gipsies from Germany, wherequersignifiescross, orcrooked.” (Thieves’)Etre —— à sa section, orà la sec,to be noted as a bad character at the police office of one’s district. The word “mouchique,” saysMichel, is derived from “mujik,”a Russian peasant, which must have become familiar in 1815 to the inhabitants of the parts of the country invaded by the Russians.
Mouchoir,m.(popular),d’Adam,the fingers, used by some people as a natural handkerchief, “forks;”—— de bœuf,meadow. Termed thus on account of oxen having their noses in the grass when grazing;—— de poche,pistol, or “pops.” (Familiar and popular)Faire le ——,to steal pocket-handkerchiefs, “to draw a wipe.”Coup de ——(obsolete),a box on the ear, a “wipe in the chaps.”
Voyez le train qu’a m’ fait pour un coup de mouchoir que j’lui ai donné.—Pompigny, 1783.
(Theatrical)Faire le ——,to pirate another author’s productions.
Mouchouar-godel(Breton cant),pistol.
Moudre(popular), or—— un air,to ply a street organ.
Mouf(popular), abbreviation ofMouffetard, the name of a street almost wholly tenanted by rag-pickers, and situate in one of the lowest quarters of Paris.Quartier —— mouf,theQuartier Mouffetard.La tribu des Beni Mouf-mouf,inhabitants of theQuartier Mouffetard.Champagne ——, orChampagne Mouffetard,a liquid manufactured by rag-pickers with rotten oranges picked out of the refuse at the Halles. The fruit, after being washed, is thrown into a cask of water and allowed to ferment for a few days, after which some brown sugar being added, the liquid is bottled up, and does duty as champagne. It is theCliquotof poor people.
Moufflanté,adj.(popular),comfortably, warmly clad.
Moufflet,m.(popular),child, or “kid;”urchin;apprentice.
Moufion,m.(popular),pocket-handkerchief, “snottinger, or wipe.”
Moufionner(popular),to blow one’s nose. (Thieves’)Se —— dans le son,to be guillotined. Literallyto blow one’s nose in the bran. An allusion to an executed convict’s head, which falls into a basket full of sawdust. Termed also “éternuer dans le son, orle sac.” SeeFauché.
Mouget,m.(roughs’),a swell, or “gorger.”Des péniches à la ——,fashionable boots, as now worn, with pointed toes and large square heels.
Mouillante,f.(thieves’),cod; (popular)soup.
Mouillé,adj.(popular),être ——,to be drunk, or “tight.” SeePompette.Etre ——,to be known in one’s real character. Alluding to cloths which are soaked in water to ascertain their quality. (Thieves’)Etre ——,to be well known to the police.
Mouiller(popular),se ——,to drink, “to have something damp,” or as the Americans have it, “to smile, to see the man.” The term is old.
Mouillez-vous pour seicher, ou seichez pour mouiller.—Rabelais.
Alsoto get slightly intoxicated, or “elevated.” (Theatrical)Mouiller à, ordans,to receive a royalty for a play produced on the stage.Se ——,to take pains in one’s acting. (Thieves’)Se —— les pieds,to be transported, “to lump the lighter, or to be lagged.” (Roughs’)En ——,to perform some extraordinary feat with great expenditure of physical strength.Les frères qui en mouillent,acrobats. (Military)Mouiller,to be punished.
Mouise,f.(thieves’),soup.
Vous qui n’avez probablement dans le bauge que la mouise de Tunebée Bicêtre vous devez canner la pégrenne.—Vidocq.
Moukala,m.(military),rifle. From the Arab.
Moukère, ormoucaire,f.(popular),ugly woman;girl of indifferent character; (military)mistress.Ma ——,my young“’ooman.”Avoir sa ——,to have won the good graces of a fair one, generally a cook in the case of an infantry soldier, the cavalry having the monopoly of housemaids or ladies’ maids, and sappers showing a great penchant for nursery-maids.
Moulard,m.(popular), superlative of moule,dunce, or “flat.”
Moule,m.andf.(popular),une ——,face, or “mug.” Alsoa dunce,simpleton, or “muff.”
Foutez-moi la paix! Vous êtes une couenne et une moule!—G.Courteline.
Le —— à blagues,mouth, or “chaffer.” Literallythe humbug-box.Un —— à boutons,a twenty-franc piece.Un —— à claques,face with impertinent expression which invites punishment. Termed also—— à croquignoles.Un —— à gaufres, orà pastilles,a face pitted with small-pox marks, “crumpet-face, or cribbage-face.”Un moule à gaufresis properlya waffle-iron.Un —— à poupée(obsolete),a clumsily-built, awkward man.
Ah! ah! ah! C’grand benêt! a-t-il un air jaune ... dis donc eh! c’moule à poupée, qu’ veux-tu faire de cette pique?—Riche-en-gueule.
Un —— à merde,behind, “Nancy.” For synonyms seeVasistas. Alsoa foul-mouthed person.Un —— de gant,box on the ear, or “bang in the gills.”Un —— de bonnet, head, or “canister.”Un —— de pipe à Gambier,grotesque face, or “knocker face.”Un —— à melon,humpback, or “lord.” (Military)Envoyer chercher le —— aux guillemets,to send a recruit on a fool’s errand, to send him to ask the sergeant-major forthe mould for inverted commas, the joke being varied by requesting him to fetch the key of the drill-ground. Corresponds somewhat to sending a greenhorn for pigeon’s milk, or a pennyworth of stirrup-oil.
Mouler(familiar and popular),un sénateur,to ease oneself by evacuation, “to bury a quaker;” (artists’)—— une Vénus,same meaning. Artists term “gazonner,”the act of easing oneself in the fields. SeeMouscailler.
Moulin,m.(popular), de la halle (obsolete),the pillory.