Mais pour qu’à l’avenir tu fass’ mieux ton devoir,Fais réguiser ta langu’ sur la pierre infernale,Et puis j’te f’rons tourner au moulin de la halle.Amusemens à la Grecque, 1764.Moulin,hairdresser’s shop;—— à café,mitrailleuse. Thus termed on account of the revolving handle used in firing it off, like that of a coffee-mill. Alsostreet organ;—— à merde,slanderer;—— à vent,the behind. SeeVasistas. Concerning the expressionLe Rouxsays:—Moulin à vent, pour cul, derrière. Moulin à vent, parcequ’on donne l’essor à ses vents par cette ouverture-là.—Dict.Comique.(Thieves’)Moulin,receiver’s, or “fence’s,”house. Termed also “maison du meunier.”Porter du gras-double au ——,to steal lead and take it to a receiver of stolen property, “to do bluey at the fence.” (Police)Passer au —— à café,to transport a prostitute to the colonies.Moulinage,m.(popular),prattling, “clack.”Mouliner(popular),to talk nonsense;to prattle. A term specially used in reference to the fair sex, and an allusion to the rapid, regular, and monotonous motion of a mill, or to the noise produced by the paddles of a water-mill, a “tattle-box” being termedmoulin à paroles.Mouloir,m.(thieves’),mouth, “bone-box, or muns;”teeth, “ivories, or grinders.”Moulure,f.(popular),lump of excrement, or “quaker.”Machine à moulures,breech, or “Nancy.” SeeVasistas.”Mouniche,f.(thieves’),woman’s privities, “merkin,” according to theSlang Dictionary.Mounin,m.(thieves’),child, or “kid;”apprentice.Mounine,f.(thieves’),little girl.Mouquette,f.(popular),cocotte, or “poll.” SeeGadoue.Assez! Taisez vos becs!... à la porte les mouquettes!—P.Mahalin.Moure,f.(thieves’),pretty face, “dimber mug.”Mourir(popular),tu t’en ferais ——!is expressive of refusal. Literallyif I gave you what you want you would die for joy. SeeNèfles.Mouron,m.(popular),ne plus avoir de —— sur la cage,to be bald,or to sport“a bladder of lard.” For synonymous expressions seeAvoir.Mouscaille,f.(thieves’),excrement, or, as the Irish say, “quaker.”Mouscailler(thieves’),to ease oneself by evacuation. The synonyms are “mousser,enterrer son colonel,aller faire une ballade à la lune,mouler un sénateur,mouler une Vénus,gazonner,aller au numéro cent,déponer,fogner,flaquer,écrire à un Juif,déposer une pêche,poser un pépin,un factionnaire, orune sentinelle;envoyer une dépêche àBismark,flasquer,touser,faire corps neuf,déposer une médaille de papier volant, ordes Pays-Bas(obsolete),faire des cordes,mettre une lettre à la poste,faire le grand,faire une commission,débourrer sa pipe,défalquer,tarter,faire une moulure,aller quelque part,aller à ses affaires,aller où le roi va à pied,filer,aller chez Jules,ierchem,aller où le roi n’envoie personne,flaquader,fuser,gâcher du gros,galipoter,pousser son rond,filer le cable de proue,faire un pruneau,aller au buen-retiro,aller voir Bernard,faire ronfler le bourrelet,la chaise percée, orla chaire percée.” In the English slang, “to go to the West Central, to go to Mrs. Jones, or to the crapping-ken, to the bog-house, to the chapel of ease, to Sir Harry; to crap, to go to the crapping-case, to the coffee-shop, to the crapping castle,” and, as the Irish term it, “to bury a quaker.”Mouscailleur,m.(popular),scavenger employed in emptying cesspools, or “gold-finder.”Mousquetaire gris,m.(popular),louse, or “grey-backed ’un.”Moussaillon,m.(sailors’),a ship-boy, or “powder-monkey.” From mousse,ship-boy.Moussante,f.(popular and thieves’),beer, or “gatter.”Un pot de ——, a “shant of gatter.” A curious slang street melody, known in Seven Dials asBet the Coaley’s Daughter, mentions the word “gatter”:—But when I strove my flame to tell,Says she, “Come, stow that patter,If you’re a cove wot likes a gal,Vy don’t you stand some gatter?”In course I instantly complied,Two brimming quarts of porter,With sev’ral goes of gin beside,Drain’d Bet the Coaley’s daughter.Moussante mouchique,bad, flat beer, “swipes, or belly vengeance.”Moussard,m.(thieves’),chestnut tree.Mousse,f.(popular and thieves’),excrement;wine. The word is old.Villon, a poet of the fifteenth century, uses it with the latter signification. For quotation seeJouer du pouce. (Popular)De la ——!nonsense!“all my eye,” or “all my eye and Betty Martin.” Is also expressive of ironical refusal; “yes, in a horn,” as the Americans say.Moussecailloux,m.(popular),infantry soldier, “wobbler, or beetle-crusher.”Mousseline,f.(thieves’),white bread, or “pannum,” alluding to a similarity of colour. Alsoprisoner’s fetters, “darbies.”Mousser(popular),to ease oneself by evacuation. SeeMouscailler. Alsoto be wroth, “to have one’s monkey up.”Faire —— quelqu’un,to make one angry by“riling” him.Mousserie,f.(thieves’),privy, “crapping-ken.”Mousseux,adj.(literary),hyperbolic.Moussue,f.(thieves’),chestnut.Moustachu,m.(familiar),man with moustache.Moustique,m.(popular),avoir un —— dans la boîte au sel,to be“cracked,” “to have a slate off.” For synonymous expressions seeAvoir.Mout,adj.(popular),pretty,handsome.Moutarde,f.(popular),excrement.Baril à ——,the behind. For synonyms seeVasistas. The expression is old.En le lançant, il dit: prends garde,Je vise au baril de moutarde.La Suite du Virgile travesti.Moutardier,m.(popular),breech, or “tochas.” SeeVasistas.Et en face! Je n’ai pas besoin de renifler ton moutardier.—Zola.Mouton,m.(popular),mattress, or “mot cart;” (general)prisoner who is set to watch a fellow-prisoner, and, by winning his confidence, seeks to extract information from him, a “nark.”Comme tu seras au violon avant lui, il ne se doutera pas que tu es un mouton.—Vidocq.Deux sortes de coqueurs sont à la dévotion de la police: les coqueurs libres, et les coqueurs détenus autrement dit moutons.—Mémoires de Canler.Moutonnaille,f.(popular),crowd. Sheep will form a crowd.Moutonner(thieves’ and police),to play the spy on fellow-prisoners.Celui qui est mouton court risque d’être assassiné par les compagnons ... aussi la police parvient-elle rarement à décider les voleurs à moutonner leurs camarades.—Canler.Moutrot,m.(thieves’),Prefect of police.Le logis du ——,thePréfecture de Police.Mouvante,f.(thieves’),porridge.Mouvement,m.(swindlers’),concierge dans le ——,doorkeeper in league with a gang of swindlers, for a description ofwhich seeBande noire.Mouzu,m.(thieves’),woman’s breasts, “Charlies, or dairies.”Muche,adj.andm.(prostitutes’),polite, timid young man; (popular)excellent,perfect, “bully, or ripping.”Muette,f.(Saint-CyrSchool),drill exercise in which cadets purposely do not make their muskets ring. This is done to annoy any unpopular instructor. (Thieves’) Muette,conscience.Avoir une puce à la ——,to feel a pang of remorse.Mufe, ormuffle,m.andadj.(thieves’),mason; (familiar and popular)mean fellow;mean.Son pâtissier s’était montré assez mufe pour menacer de la vendre, lorsqu’elle l’avait quitté.—Zola,Nana.Mufe,scamp,cad, “bally bounder.”Elles restaient gaies, jetant simplement un “sale mufe!” derrière le dos des maladroits dont le talon leur arrachait un volant.—Zola,Nana.Muffée,f.(popular),en avoir une vraie ——,to be completely intoxicated. SeePompette.Muffeton,muffleton,m.(popular),young scamp;mason’s apprentice.Muffleman(popular),mean fellow.Mufflerie,f.(popular),contemptible action;behaviour like a cad’s.Mufle,m.(thieves’),se casser le ——,to meet with. Termed also “tomber en frime.”Tel escarpe ou assassin ne commettra pas un crime un vendredi, ou s’il s’est cassé le mufle devant un ratichon (prêtre).—Mémoires de Monsieur Claude.Mufrerie,f.(popular),disparaging epithet;—— de sort!curse my luck!Muitar,f.(thieves’),être dans la ——,to be in prison, or “in quod.”Mulet,m.(military),marine artillery man; (printers’)compositor, or “donkey.” “In the days before steam machinery was invented, the men who worked at press,” says theSlang Dictionary, “the pressmen, were so dirty and drunken a body that they earned the name of pigs. In revenge, and for no reason that can be discovered, they christened the compositors “donkeys.’” (Thieves’)Mulet,devil.Les meusniers, aussi ont une mesme façon de parler que les cousturiers, appelant leur asne le grand Diable, et leur sac, Raison. Et rapportant leur farine à ceux ausquels elle appartient, si on leur demande s’ils en ont point prins plus qu’il ne leur enfaut, respondent: Le grand Diable m’emporte, si j’en ay prins que par raison. Mais pour tout cela ils disent qu’ils ne desrobent rien, car on leur donne.—Tabourot.Muraille(familiar and popular),battre la ——,to be drunk and to reel about, now in the gutter, now against the wall.Murer(popular),je te vas ——!I’ll knock you down, or I’ll double you up!SeeVoie.Là il commença à m’embrasser. Ma foi, comme pour le verre de vin, il n’y avait pas de refus. Il ne me déplaisait pas, cet homme. Il voulut même m’habiller avec une chemise de sa femme. Mais voici qu’il me propose des choses que je ne pouvais accepter, et qu’il me menace de me murer si je dis un mot.—Echo de Paris.Muron,m.(thieves’),salt.Muronner(thieves’),to salt.Muronnière,f.(thieves’),salt-cellar.Musardine,f.(familiar),name given some forty years ago to a more than fast girl, or to a girl of indifferent character, termed sometimes by English “mashers,” a “blooming tartlet.”On dit une musardine, comme jadis on disait une lorette.—Albéric Second.The synonyms corresponding to various epochs are:—Under the Restauration “femme aimable,” a term of little significance. In Louis Philippe’s time, “lorette,” on account of the frail ones mostly dwelling in theQuartier Notre Dame de Lorette. Under the Third Empire “chignon doré” (it was then the fashion, as it still is, for such women to dye their hair a bright gold or auburn tint), or “cocodette,” the feminine of “cocodès,”young dandy. Now-a-days frequenters of theBoulevardsuse the term “boudinée,” “boudiné,bécarre, orpschutteux,” being the latest appellations for the Parisian “masher.” The term “musardine” must first have been applied to fast girls frequenting theBals Musard, attended at the time by all the “dashing” elements of Paris. “In English polite society, a fast young lady,” says theSlang Dictionary, “is one who affects mannish habits, or makes herself conspicuous by some unfeminine accomplishment, talks slang, drives about in London, smokes cigarettes, is knowing in dogs and horses,&c.”Musée,m.(popular),le —— des claqués,the Morgue.Muselé,m.(popular),dunce, or “flat;”good-for-nothing man. Alluding to a muzzled dog who cannot use his teeth.Musette,f.(popular),voice.Couper la —— à quelqu’un,to silence one, “to clap a stopper on one’s mug;”to cut one’s throat.Musicien,m.(thieves’),dictionary;variety of informer, or “snitcher;” (familiar)—— par intimidation,a street melodist who obtains money from people desirous of getting rid of him.J’y ai retrouvé aussi le “musicien par intimidation,” l’homme à la clarinette, qui s’arrête devant les cafés du boulevard en faisant mine de porter à ses lèvres le bec de son instrument. Les consommateurs épouvantés se hâtent de lui jeter quelque monnaie afin d’éviter l’harmonie.—Elie Frébault,La Vie de Paris.It, however, occurs occasionally that people annoyed by the harmonists of the street have their revenge whilst getting rid of them without having to pay toll, as in the case of the “musicien par intimidation.” One day a French artist in London, who every daywas almost driven mad by the performances of a band of green-coated German musicians, hit upon the following singular stratagem. Placing himself at the window, and facing his tormentors, he applied a lemon to his lips. The effect was instantaneous, as through an association of ideas the mouths of the musicians began to water to such an extent that, unable to proceed with their symphony, they surrendered the battlefield to the triumphant artist. (Popular)Des musiciens,beans, alluding to the wind they generate in the bowels. (Printers’) Des musiciens,large number of corrections made on the margin of pages;unskilled compositors who are unable to proceed with their work.Musique,f.(popular),second-hand articles;odd pieces of cloth sewn together;kind of penny loaf. Termed also “flûte.” Alsowhat remains in a glass; (thieves’)informing;informers.La deuxième classe, que les voleurs désignent sous le nom de musique, est composée de tous les malfaiteurs qui, après leur arrestation, se mettent à table (dénoncent).—Canler.Passer à la ——,to be placed in the presence of informers for identification; (card-sharpers’)swindling at cards.Musiquer(card-sharpers’),to mark a card with the nail.Musser(popular),to smell.Mutilés,m. pl.(military),soldiers of the punishment companies in Africa, who are sent there as a penalty for purposely maiming themselves in order to escape military service.Mylord,m.(popular),hackney coach, “growler.”
Mais pour qu’à l’avenir tu fass’ mieux ton devoir,Fais réguiser ta langu’ sur la pierre infernale,Et puis j’te f’rons tourner au moulin de la halle.Amusemens à la Grecque, 1764.
Mais pour qu’à l’avenir tu fass’ mieux ton devoir,Fais réguiser ta langu’ sur la pierre infernale,Et puis j’te f’rons tourner au moulin de la halle.Amusemens à la Grecque, 1764.
Mais pour qu’à l’avenir tu fass’ mieux ton devoir,Fais réguiser ta langu’ sur la pierre infernale,Et puis j’te f’rons tourner au moulin de la halle.Amusemens à la Grecque, 1764.
Mais pour qu’à l’avenir tu fass’ mieux ton devoir,
Fais réguiser ta langu’ sur la pierre infernale,
Et puis j’te f’rons tourner au moulin de la halle.
Amusemens à la Grecque, 1764.
Moulin,hairdresser’s shop;—— à café,mitrailleuse. Thus termed on account of the revolving handle used in firing it off, like that of a coffee-mill. Alsostreet organ;—— à merde,slanderer;—— à vent,the behind. SeeVasistas. Concerning the expressionLe Rouxsays:—
Moulin à vent, pour cul, derrière. Moulin à vent, parcequ’on donne l’essor à ses vents par cette ouverture-là.—Dict.Comique.
(Thieves’)Moulin,receiver’s, or “fence’s,”house. Termed also “maison du meunier.”Porter du gras-double au ——,to steal lead and take it to a receiver of stolen property, “to do bluey at the fence.” (Police)Passer au —— à café,to transport a prostitute to the colonies.
Moulinage,m.(popular),prattling, “clack.”
Mouliner(popular),to talk nonsense;to prattle. A term specially used in reference to the fair sex, and an allusion to the rapid, regular, and monotonous motion of a mill, or to the noise produced by the paddles of a water-mill, a “tattle-box” being termedmoulin à paroles.
Mouloir,m.(thieves’),mouth, “bone-box, or muns;”teeth, “ivories, or grinders.”
Moulure,f.(popular),lump of excrement, or “quaker.”Machine à moulures,breech, or “Nancy.” SeeVasistas.”
Mouniche,f.(thieves’),woman’s privities, “merkin,” according to theSlang Dictionary.
Mounin,m.(thieves’),child, or “kid;”apprentice.
Mounine,f.(thieves’),little girl.
Mouquette,f.(popular),cocotte, or “poll.” SeeGadoue.
Assez! Taisez vos becs!... à la porte les mouquettes!—P.Mahalin.
Moure,f.(thieves’),pretty face, “dimber mug.”
Mourir(popular),tu t’en ferais ——!is expressive of refusal. Literallyif I gave you what you want you would die for joy. SeeNèfles.
Mouron,m.(popular),ne plus avoir de —— sur la cage,to be bald,or to sport“a bladder of lard.” For synonymous expressions seeAvoir.
Mouscaille,f.(thieves’),excrement, or, as the Irish say, “quaker.”
Mouscailler(thieves’),to ease oneself by evacuation. The synonyms are “mousser,enterrer son colonel,aller faire une ballade à la lune,mouler un sénateur,mouler une Vénus,gazonner,aller au numéro cent,déponer,fogner,flaquer,écrire à un Juif,déposer une pêche,poser un pépin,un factionnaire, orune sentinelle;envoyer une dépêche àBismark,flasquer,touser,faire corps neuf,déposer une médaille de papier volant, ordes Pays-Bas(obsolete),faire des cordes,mettre une lettre à la poste,faire le grand,faire une commission,débourrer sa pipe,défalquer,tarter,faire une moulure,aller quelque part,aller à ses affaires,aller où le roi va à pied,filer,aller chez Jules,ierchem,aller où le roi n’envoie personne,flaquader,fuser,gâcher du gros,galipoter,pousser son rond,filer le cable de proue,faire un pruneau,aller au buen-retiro,aller voir Bernard,faire ronfler le bourrelet,la chaise percée, orla chaire percée.” In the English slang, “to go to the West Central, to go to Mrs. Jones, or to the crapping-ken, to the bog-house, to the chapel of ease, to Sir Harry; to crap, to go to the crapping-case, to the coffee-shop, to the crapping castle,” and, as the Irish term it, “to bury a quaker.”
Mouscailleur,m.(popular),scavenger employed in emptying cesspools, or “gold-finder.”
Mousquetaire gris,m.(popular),louse, or “grey-backed ’un.”
Moussaillon,m.(sailors’),a ship-boy, or “powder-monkey.” From mousse,ship-boy.
Moussante,f.(popular and thieves’),beer, or “gatter.”Un pot de ——, a “shant of gatter.” A curious slang street melody, known in Seven Dials asBet the Coaley’s Daughter, mentions the word “gatter”:—
But when I strove my flame to tell,Says she, “Come, stow that patter,If you’re a cove wot likes a gal,Vy don’t you stand some gatter?”In course I instantly complied,Two brimming quarts of porter,With sev’ral goes of gin beside,Drain’d Bet the Coaley’s daughter.
But when I strove my flame to tell,Says she, “Come, stow that patter,If you’re a cove wot likes a gal,Vy don’t you stand some gatter?”In course I instantly complied,Two brimming quarts of porter,With sev’ral goes of gin beside,Drain’d Bet the Coaley’s daughter.
But when I strove my flame to tell,Says she, “Come, stow that patter,If you’re a cove wot likes a gal,Vy don’t you stand some gatter?”In course I instantly complied,Two brimming quarts of porter,With sev’ral goes of gin beside,Drain’d Bet the Coaley’s daughter.
But when I strove my flame to tell,
Says she, “Come, stow that patter,
If you’re a cove wot likes a gal,
Vy don’t you stand some gatter?”
In course I instantly complied,
Two brimming quarts of porter,
With sev’ral goes of gin beside,
Drain’d Bet the Coaley’s daughter.
Moussante mouchique,bad, flat beer, “swipes, or belly vengeance.”
Moussard,m.(thieves’),chestnut tree.
Mousse,f.(popular and thieves’),excrement;wine. The word is old.Villon, a poet of the fifteenth century, uses it with the latter signification. For quotation seeJouer du pouce. (Popular)De la ——!nonsense!“all my eye,” or “all my eye and Betty Martin.” Is also expressive of ironical refusal; “yes, in a horn,” as the Americans say.
Moussecailloux,m.(popular),infantry soldier, “wobbler, or beetle-crusher.”
Mousseline,f.(thieves’),white bread, or “pannum,” alluding to a similarity of colour. Alsoprisoner’s fetters, “darbies.”
Mousser(popular),to ease oneself by evacuation. SeeMouscailler. Alsoto be wroth, “to have one’s monkey up.”Faire —— quelqu’un,to make one angry by“riling” him.
Mousserie,f.(thieves’),privy, “crapping-ken.”
Mousseux,adj.(literary),hyperbolic.
Moussue,f.(thieves’),chestnut.
Moustachu,m.(familiar),man with moustache.
Moustique,m.(popular),avoir un —— dans la boîte au sel,to be“cracked,” “to have a slate off.” For synonymous expressions seeAvoir.
Mout,adj.(popular),pretty,handsome.
Moutarde,f.(popular),excrement.Baril à ——,the behind. For synonyms seeVasistas. The expression is old.
En le lançant, il dit: prends garde,Je vise au baril de moutarde.La Suite du Virgile travesti.
En le lançant, il dit: prends garde,Je vise au baril de moutarde.La Suite du Virgile travesti.
En le lançant, il dit: prends garde,Je vise au baril de moutarde.La Suite du Virgile travesti.
En le lançant, il dit: prends garde,
Je vise au baril de moutarde.
La Suite du Virgile travesti.
Moutardier,m.(popular),breech, or “tochas.” SeeVasistas.
Et en face! Je n’ai pas besoin de renifler ton moutardier.—Zola.
Mouton,m.(popular),mattress, or “mot cart;” (general)prisoner who is set to watch a fellow-prisoner, and, by winning his confidence, seeks to extract information from him, a “nark.”
Comme tu seras au violon avant lui, il ne se doutera pas que tu es un mouton.—Vidocq.
Deux sortes de coqueurs sont à la dévotion de la police: les coqueurs libres, et les coqueurs détenus autrement dit moutons.—Mémoires de Canler.
Moutonnaille,f.(popular),crowd. Sheep will form a crowd.
Moutonner(thieves’ and police),to play the spy on fellow-prisoners.
Celui qui est mouton court risque d’être assassiné par les compagnons ... aussi la police parvient-elle rarement à décider les voleurs à moutonner leurs camarades.—Canler.
Moutrot,m.(thieves’),Prefect of police.Le logis du ——,thePréfecture de Police.
Mouvante,f.(thieves’),porridge.
Mouvement,m.(swindlers’),concierge dans le ——,doorkeeper in league with a gang of swindlers, for a description ofwhich seeBande noire.
Mouzu,m.(thieves’),woman’s breasts, “Charlies, or dairies.”
Muche,adj.andm.(prostitutes’),polite, timid young man; (popular)excellent,perfect, “bully, or ripping.”
Muette,f.(Saint-CyrSchool),drill exercise in which cadets purposely do not make their muskets ring. This is done to annoy any unpopular instructor. (Thieves’) Muette,conscience.Avoir une puce à la ——,to feel a pang of remorse.
Mufe, ormuffle,m.andadj.(thieves’),mason; (familiar and popular)mean fellow;mean.
Son pâtissier s’était montré assez mufe pour menacer de la vendre, lorsqu’elle l’avait quitté.—Zola,Nana.
Mufe,scamp,cad, “bally bounder.”
Elles restaient gaies, jetant simplement un “sale mufe!” derrière le dos des maladroits dont le talon leur arrachait un volant.—Zola,Nana.
Muffée,f.(popular),en avoir une vraie ——,to be completely intoxicated. SeePompette.
Muffeton,muffleton,m.(popular),young scamp;mason’s apprentice.
Muffleman(popular),mean fellow.
Mufflerie,f.(popular),contemptible action;behaviour like a cad’s.
Mufle,m.(thieves’),se casser le ——,to meet with. Termed also “tomber en frime.”
Tel escarpe ou assassin ne commettra pas un crime un vendredi, ou s’il s’est cassé le mufle devant un ratichon (prêtre).—Mémoires de Monsieur Claude.
Mufrerie,f.(popular),disparaging epithet;—— de sort!curse my luck!
Muitar,f.(thieves’),être dans la ——,to be in prison, or “in quod.”
Mulet,m.(military),marine artillery man; (printers’)compositor, or “donkey.” “In the days before steam machinery was invented, the men who worked at press,” says theSlang Dictionary, “the pressmen, were so dirty and drunken a body that they earned the name of pigs. In revenge, and for no reason that can be discovered, they christened the compositors “donkeys.’” (Thieves’)Mulet,devil.
Les meusniers, aussi ont une mesme façon de parler que les cousturiers, appelant leur asne le grand Diable, et leur sac, Raison. Et rapportant leur farine à ceux ausquels elle appartient, si on leur demande s’ils en ont point prins plus qu’il ne leur enfaut, respondent: Le grand Diable m’emporte, si j’en ay prins que par raison. Mais pour tout cela ils disent qu’ils ne desrobent rien, car on leur donne.—Tabourot.
Muraille(familiar and popular),battre la ——,to be drunk and to reel about, now in the gutter, now against the wall.
Murer(popular),je te vas ——!I’ll knock you down, or I’ll double you up!SeeVoie.
Là il commença à m’embrasser. Ma foi, comme pour le verre de vin, il n’y avait pas de refus. Il ne me déplaisait pas, cet homme. Il voulut même m’habiller avec une chemise de sa femme. Mais voici qu’il me propose des choses que je ne pouvais accepter, et qu’il me menace de me murer si je dis un mot.—Echo de Paris.
Muron,m.(thieves’),salt.
Muronner(thieves’),to salt.
Muronnière,f.(thieves’),salt-cellar.
Musardine,f.(familiar),name given some forty years ago to a more than fast girl, or to a girl of indifferent character, termed sometimes by English “mashers,” a “blooming tartlet.”
On dit une musardine, comme jadis on disait une lorette.—Albéric Second.
The synonyms corresponding to various epochs are:—Under the Restauration “femme aimable,” a term of little significance. In Louis Philippe’s time, “lorette,” on account of the frail ones mostly dwelling in theQuartier Notre Dame de Lorette. Under the Third Empire “chignon doré” (it was then the fashion, as it still is, for such women to dye their hair a bright gold or auburn tint), or “cocodette,” the feminine of “cocodès,”young dandy. Now-a-days frequenters of theBoulevardsuse the term “boudinée,” “boudiné,bécarre, orpschutteux,” being the latest appellations for the Parisian “masher.” The term “musardine” must first have been applied to fast girls frequenting theBals Musard, attended at the time by all the “dashing” elements of Paris. “In English polite society, a fast young lady,” says theSlang Dictionary, “is one who affects mannish habits, or makes herself conspicuous by some unfeminine accomplishment, talks slang, drives about in London, smokes cigarettes, is knowing in dogs and horses,&c.”
Musée,m.(popular),le —— des claqués,the Morgue.
Muselé,m.(popular),dunce, or “flat;”good-for-nothing man. Alluding to a muzzled dog who cannot use his teeth.
Musette,f.(popular),voice.Couper la —— à quelqu’un,to silence one, “to clap a stopper on one’s mug;”to cut one’s throat.
Musicien,m.(thieves’),dictionary;variety of informer, or “snitcher;” (familiar)—— par intimidation,a street melodist who obtains money from people desirous of getting rid of him.
J’y ai retrouvé aussi le “musicien par intimidation,” l’homme à la clarinette, qui s’arrête devant les cafés du boulevard en faisant mine de porter à ses lèvres le bec de son instrument. Les consommateurs épouvantés se hâtent de lui jeter quelque monnaie afin d’éviter l’harmonie.—Elie Frébault,La Vie de Paris.
It, however, occurs occasionally that people annoyed by the harmonists of the street have their revenge whilst getting rid of them without having to pay toll, as in the case of the “musicien par intimidation.” One day a French artist in London, who every daywas almost driven mad by the performances of a band of green-coated German musicians, hit upon the following singular stratagem. Placing himself at the window, and facing his tormentors, he applied a lemon to his lips. The effect was instantaneous, as through an association of ideas the mouths of the musicians began to water to such an extent that, unable to proceed with their symphony, they surrendered the battlefield to the triumphant artist. (Popular)Des musiciens,beans, alluding to the wind they generate in the bowels. (Printers’) Des musiciens,large number of corrections made on the margin of pages;unskilled compositors who are unable to proceed with their work.
Musique,f.(popular),second-hand articles;odd pieces of cloth sewn together;kind of penny loaf. Termed also “flûte.” Alsowhat remains in a glass; (thieves’)informing;informers.
La deuxième classe, que les voleurs désignent sous le nom de musique, est composée de tous les malfaiteurs qui, après leur arrestation, se mettent à table (dénoncent).—Canler.
Passer à la ——,to be placed in the presence of informers for identification; (card-sharpers’)swindling at cards.
Musiquer(card-sharpers’),to mark a card with the nail.
Musser(popular),to smell.
Mutilés,m. pl.(military),soldiers of the punishment companies in Africa, who are sent there as a penalty for purposely maiming themselves in order to escape military service.
Mylord,m.(popular),hackney coach, “growler.”