Chapter 10

Gab,subs.(vulgar).—1. The mouth; alsoGob. For synonyms,seePotato-trap.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.1785.Burns,Jolly Beggars. And aye he gies the touzie drab The tither skelpin kiss, While she held up her greedygab, Just like an aumos dish.1820.Scott,The Abbot, ch. xiv. ‘And now, my mates,’ said the Abbot of Unreason, ‘once again digut yourgabsand be hushed—let us see if the Cock of Kennaguhair will fight or flee the pit.’1890.Rare Bits, 12 Apr., p. 347. ‘Clap a stopper on yourgaband whack up, or I’ll let ’er speak!’2. (vulgar).—Talk; idle babble. AlsoGabb,Gabber, andGabble.1712.Spectator, No. 389. Having no language among them but a confusedgabble, which is neither well understood by themselves or others.1811.Poole,Hamlet Travestied, I., 3. Then hold yourgab, and hear what I’ve to tell.1863.C. Reade,Hard Cash, ch. xxxiv. ‘Hush yourgab,’ said Mr. Green, roughly.1887.Punch, 10 Sept., p. 111. Gladstone’sgababout ‘masses and classes’ is all tommy rot.Verb.(vulgar: O. E., and now preserved inGabble).—To talk fluently; to talk brilliantly; to lie.1383.Chaucer,Canterbury Tales1652. Igabbenought, so have I joye or blis.1402. [?T. Occleve],Letter of Cupid, in Arber’sGarner, vol. IV., p. 59. A foul vice it is, of tongue to be light, Forwhoso mochil clappeth, gabbeth oft.1601.Shakspeare,Twelfth Night, Act II., Sc. iii.Mal.… Have you no wit, manners, nor honesty, but togabblelike tinkers at this time of night.1663.Butler,Hudibras, pt. I., ch. i., p. 5. Which made some think when he didgabbleTh’ had heard three Labourers ofBabel.1786.Burns,Earnest Cry and Prayer, st. 10. But could I like Montgomeries fight, Orgablike Boswell.1880.G. R. Sims,Zeph, ch. vii. An elderly clergyman …gabbledthe funeral service as though he were calling back an invoice at a draper’s entering desk.1887.Punch, 10 Sept., p. 111. Gals do like a chap as cangab.Gift of the Gab(orGob),subs. phr.(colloquial).—The gift of conversation; the talent for speech. Fr.,n’avoir pas sa langue dans sa poche.d.1653.Z. Boyd,Book of Job, quoted in Brewer’sPhrase and Fable, s.v., ‘gab.There was a good man named Job, Who lived in the land of Uz, He had a good gift of thegob.’1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew.Gift of the gob, a wide, open Mouth; also a good Songster, or Singing-master.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.1820.Shelley,Œdipus Tyrannus, Act I. You, Purganax, who have thegift o’ the gab, Make them a solemn speech.[95]1837.Dickens,Oliver Twist, ch. xliii. And we’ll have a big-wig, Charley: one that’s got the greatestgift of the gab: to carry on his defence.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, I., 250. People reckon me one of the best patterers in the trade. I’m reckoned to have the gift—that is,the gift of the gab.1869.Whyte-Melville,M. or N., p. 29. I’vegot the gift of the gab, I know, and I stick at nothing.1870.Lond. Figaro, 18 Sept. ‘Of all gifts possessed by man,’ said George Stephenson, the engineer, to Sir William Follett, ‘there is none like thegift of the gab.’1876.Hindley,Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 193. Others, although they have thegift of the gabwhen they are on the ground, as soon as they mount the cart are dumbfounded.To blow the gab,verb. phr.(vulgar).—To inform;to peach(q.v.). Alsoto blow the gaff(q.v.).1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1834.Ainsworth,Rookwood, bk. III., ch. 5. Neverblow the gabor squeak.To flash the gab,verb. phr.(common).—To show off(q.v.) in talk;cf.,Air one’s vocabulary.1819.Moore,Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 2. While his Lordship … that very great dab At the flowers of rhet’ric isflashing his gab.Gabble,subs.(colloquial).—1. A gossip. AlsoGabbler,Gabble-grinder,Gabble-merchant, andGabble-monger.2. (colloquial).—A voluble talker.Gabble-mill,subs.(American).—1. The United States Congress. AlsoGabble-manufactory.2. (common).—A pulpit. For synonyms,seeHumbox.3. (common).—The mouth. For synonyms,seePotato-trap.Gable,subs.(common).—The head. AlsoGable-end. For synonyms,seeCrumpet.Gabster,subs.(common).—A voluble talker, whether eloquent or vain; one having thegift of the gab(q.v.).Gab-string.—SeeGob-string.Gaby(alsoGabbeyandGabby),subs.(common).—A fool; a babbler; a boor. Icl.gapi= a foolish person, fromgapa= to gape.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.1856.T. Hughes,Tom Brown’s School Days, pt. 1, ch. iii. Two boys, who stopped close by him, and one of whom, a fatgabyof a fellow, pointed at him and called him young ‘mammy-sick.’1859.H. Kingsley,Geoffrey Hamlyn, ch. ix. Don’t stand laughing there like a greatgaby.1875.Ouida,Signa, vol. I., ch. iv., p. 47. ‘You have never dried your clothes, Bruno,’ said his sister-in-law, ‘What agabya man is without a wife!’Gad,subs.(common).—An idle slattern. An abbreviation ofgad-about(q.v.).Intj.(common).—An abbreviation ofby Gad!Cf.Agad,Egad—themselves corruptions ofby God,Lit.On the gad,adv. phr.(old).—1. On the spur of the moment.1605.Shakspeare,Lear, i., 2. All this is doneupon the gad.2. (colloquial).—On the move, on the gossip.1818.Austen,Persuasion. I have no very good opinion of Mrs. Charles’ nursery maid.… She is alwaysupon the gad.[96]3. (colloquial).—On the spree (especially of women); and, by implication, on the town.To gad the hoof,verb. phr.(common).—To walk or go without shoes;to pad the hoof(q.v.). Also, more loosely, to walk or roam about.1857.Snowden,Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 447. Going without shoes,gadding the hoof.Gadabout,subs.(colloquial).—A trapesing gossip; as a housewife seldom seen at home, but very often at her neighbours’ doors.[FromGad= to wander, to stray (Cf.,Lycidas: ‘the gadding vine’) +About.] Used also as an adjective;e.g., ‘aGad-abouthussey.’Gadso,subs.(old)—Thepenis. Italiancazzo. For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick.Intj.(old: still literary and colloquial).—An interjection. [A relic of phallicism with which many popular oaths and exclamations have a direct connection, especially in Neo-Latin dialects. A Spaniard cries out,Carajo!(—the member), orCojones!(—the testicles); an Italian saysCazzo(thepenis); while a Frenchman exclaims by the act itself,Foutre!The female equivalent, (coñowith the Spaniard,connowith the Italian,conwith the Frenchman, andcuntwith ourselves), was, and is, more generally used as an expression of contempt, which is also the case with the testicles. (Cf.,ante,All Balls!) Germanic oaths are profane rather than obscene; except, perhaps, inPotz!andPotztaufend!and the English equivalentPox!which last is obsolete.SeeCatso.In Florio (A Worlde of Wordes, 1598),Cazzo= ‘a man’s privie member,’ andcazzo di mare= a pintle fish; whilecazzica= ‘an interjection of admiration and affirming. What? Gad’s me, Gad forfend, tush.’]1697.Vanbrugh,Provoked Wife, iii., 1.Sir?Gadso!we are to consult about playing the devil to night.1770.Foote,Lame Lover, i.Gadso! a little unlucky.1838.Dickens,Oliver Twist, ch. iv. ‘Gadso!’ said the undertaker … ‘that’s just the very thing I wanted to speak to you about.’Gadzooks!intj.(old and colloquial).—A corruption ofGadzo(q.v.).Gaff,subs.(old).—1. A fair.1754.Discoveries of John Poulter, p. 32. The first thing they do at agaffis to look for a room clear of company.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. The drop coves maced the joskins at thegaff; the ring-droppers cheated the countryman at the fair.1821.Haggart,Life, p. 22. We stopped at this place two days, waiting to attend thegaff.1823.Jon. Bee,Dict. of the Turf, etc., s.v. A fair is agaffas well as all the transactions enacted there.2. (common).—A cheap, low music-hall or theatre; frequentlypenny-gaff,Cf., quot. 1823, sense 1. Alsodookie. Fr.,un beuglant(= a low music-hall;beugler= to bellow);un bouisbouis(boui= brothel);une guinche(popular).Seealso quot. 1889.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, I., p. 46. They court for a time, going to raffles andgaffstogether, and then the affair is arranged.1869.Greenwood,Seven Curses of London, p. 68. Agaffis a place where stage plays, according to the strict interpretation[97]of the term, may not be represented. The actors of a drama may not correspond in colloquy, only in pantomime; but the pieces brought out at thegaffare seldom of an intricate character, and the not over-fastidious auditory are well content with an exhibition of dumb-show and gesture.1870.Orchestra, 18 Feb. The absolute harm done by thesegaffsdoes not consist in the subjects represented.1889.Notes and Queries, 7 S. vii., p. 395. I have often heard the British soldier make use of the word when speaking of the entertainment got up for his benefit in barracks.3. (prison).—A hoax; an imposture.Cf., Fr.,gaffe= joke, deceit.1877.Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 312. I also saw that Jemmy’s blowing up of me wos allgaff.He knew as well as I did the things left the shop all right.1892.Hume Nisbet,Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 227. Can you put me up to this othergaff.4. (old sharpers’).—A ring worn by the dealer. [Fromgaffe= a hook.]5. (American cock-pit).—A steel spur.6. (anglers’).—A landing spear, barbed in the iron.Verb.(old).—1. To toss for liquor.Seegaffing.1823.Jon Bee,Dict. of the Turf, s.v.2. (theatrical).—To play in agaff(q.v.sense 2).To blow the gaff, orgab(q.v.),verb. phr.(common). To give information; to let out a secret. For synonyms,seePeach.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue.To blow the gab(cant), to confess, or impeach a confederate.1833.Marryat,Peter Simple, ch. xliii. One of the French officers, after he was taken prisoner, axed me how we had managed to get the gun up there; but I wasn’t going toblow the gaff.1877.Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. ii., p. 122. The prisoner, burning for revenge, quietly bides his time till the chief warder comes round, then asks to speak to him, andblows the gaff.1891.Referee, 8 Mar. Under sacred promise not toblow the gaffI was put up to the method.Gaffer,subs.(old).—1. An old man; the masculine ofGammer(q.v.). Also a title of address:e.g., ‘Good day,gaffer!’Cf.,UncleandDaddy.Also (seequot. 1710), a husband.1710.Dame Hurdle’s Letter(quoted byNares). Mygafferonly said he would inform himself as well as he could against next election, and keep a good conscience.1714.Gay,Shepherd’s Week. ForGafferTreadwell told us, by-the-bye, Excessive sorrow is exceeding dry.1842.Tennyson,The Goose. RanGaffer, stumbled Gammer.2. (common).—A master; an employer; aboss(q.v.); (athletic) a pedestrian trainer and ‘farmer’; and (navvies’) a gang-master organger(q.v.).1719.Durfey,Pills, etc., iv., 123. In comes ourgafferUnderwood, And sits him on the bench.1748.T. Dyche,Dict.(5th ed.)Gaffer(S.) a familiar word mostly used in the country for master.1885.Daily News, 24 Jan., p. 3, c. 1. They go and work at fivepence, and some on ’em as low as threepence halfpenny, an hour; that’s just half what we get, and thegafferskeep ’em on and sack us.1888.Sportsman, 20 Dec. Comic enough were some of the stories ‘Jemmy’ told of his relations with ‘thegaffer.’1889.Broadside Ballad, ‘The Gaffers of the Gang.’ We are the boys that can do the excavations, We are the lads for the ’atin’ and the dhrinkin’, With the ladies we are so fascinatin’, Because we are thegaffersof the gang.[98]3. (old).—A toss-penny; a gambler with coins. Fromgaffing(q.v.).1828.Jon Bee,Living Picture of London, p. 241. If the person calling for ‘man’ or ‘woman’ is not right or wrong at five guesses, neither of thegafferswin or lose, but go again.Verb.(venery).—To copulate. For synonyms,seeGreensandRide.Gaffing,subs.(old).—Seequot.1821.Pierce Egan,Life in London, p. 279.Gaffingwas unfortunately for him introduced.Ibid.Note.—A mode of tossing for drinks, etc., in which three coins are placed in a hat, shaken up, and then thrown on the table. If the party to ‘call’ calls ‘heads’ (or ‘tails’) and all three coins are as he calls them, he wins; if not, he pays a settled amount towards drinks.1839.Brandon,Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, s.v.Gag,subs.(common).—1. A joke; an invention; a hoax.1823.Jon Bee,Dict. of the Turf, s.v.Gag—a grand imposition upon the public; as a mountebank’s professions, his cures, and his lottery-bags, are so manybroadgags.1871.All the Year Round, 18 Feb., p. 288. You won’t bear malice now, will you? Allgagof mine, you know, about old Miss Ponsonby.1885.Daily News, 16 May, p. 5, c. 2. ‘The Mahdi sends you lies from Khartoum, and laughs when you believe them,’ said a native, lately. We need not gratify the Mahdi by believing any bazaar-gaghe may circulate.2. (theatrical).—Expressions interpolated by an actor in his part: especially such as can be repeated again and again in the course of performance. Certain plays, asThe Critic, are recognised ‘gag-pieces,’ and in these the practice is accounted legitimate.Cf.,Hamlet, iii., 2: ‘And let those, that play your clowns, say no more than is set down for them.’Cf.,Wheeze. Fr.,la cocotte(specifically additions to vocal scores). A typical example is the ‘I believe you, my boy!’ of the late Paul Bedford. In the quot. under 1851–61, it is probable thatgag=patter(q.v.)1841.Punch, i., p. 105. I shall do the liberal in the way of terms, and get up thegagproperly.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, iii., p. 148. When I go out I always do my owngag, and I try to knock out something new.1866.W. D. Howells,Venetian Life, ch. v.… I have heard some very passablegagsat the Marionette, but the realcommedia a bracciono longer exists.1889.Globe, 12 Oct., p. 4, c. 4. In a high-class music hall it is a rule that no song must be sung till it is read and signed by the manager, and this applies even to thegag.1890.Pall Mall Gazette, 5 Mar., p. 4, c. 3. Mr. Augustus Harris pointed out that if the clause were carried the penalty would, in many cases, be incurred twenty times in one scene, for actors and singers were continually introducinggaginto their business.3. (American).—A commonwealth of players in which the profits are shared round.Cf.,Conscience.1847.Darley,Drama in Pokerville, p. 124. The artist … merely remarking that he had thought of agagwhich would bring them through, mounted a ladder, and disappeared.4. (American).—A fool;i.e., a thing to laugh at. For synonyms,seeCabbage-andBuffle-headandSammy Soft.1838–40.Haliburton,The Clockmaker, p. 46. ‘Sam,’ says he, ‘they tell me you broke down the other day in the House of Representatives and made a propergagof yourself.’[99]5. (Christ’s Hospital).—Boiled fat beef.Gag-eater= a term of reproach.1813.Lamb,Christ’s Hospital, in wks., p. 324 (ed. 1852). L. has recorded the repugnance of the school to gags, or the fat of fresh beef boiled; and sets it down to some superstition.… Agag-eaterin our time was equivalent to a ghoul … and held in equal estimation.6. (Winchester College).—An exercise (said to have been invented by Dr. Gabell) which consists in writing Latin criticisms on some celebrated piece, in a book sent in about once a month. In the Parts below Sixth Book and Senior Part, thegagsconsisted in historical analysis. [An abbreviation of ‘gathering.’]1870.Mansfield,School-life at Winchester College, p. 108. From time to time, also, they had to write … an analysis of some historical work; these productions were calledgatherings(orgags).Verb,trs.andintrs.(theatrical).—1. To speakgags(q.v.), sense 2. Fr.,cascader.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, III., 149. He has togag, that is, to make up words.1852.Dickens,Bleak House, ch. xxxix. The same vocalistgagsin the regular business like a man inspired.1883.Referee, 15 April, p. 3, c. 1. Toole … cannot repress a tendency togagand to introduce more than is set down for him by the author.2. (old).—To hoax; to puff.1781.G. Parker,View of Society, II., 154. Having discovered the weak side of him he means togag.1823.Jon Bee,Dict. of the Turf, etc., s.v. A showman cries ‘Walk in, ladies and gentlemen, they’re all alive,’ but the spectators soon perceive’tis all stuff, reproach Mr. Merryman, and he, in excuse, swears he said ‘theywere’ and not ‘are alive’ He thusgagsthe public.1876.Hindley,Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 325. Then theygagthe thing up, and send their bills out about the immense cost of scenery and dresses, and other expenses they are at, etc.3. (thieves’).—To inform; toround on(q.v.); alsoto blow the gag.Cf.,Gaff,Gab, etc. For synonyms,seePeach.1891.Morning Advertiser, 28 Mar. She … besought them with (crocodile) tears not togagon them, in other words not to give information to the police.On the high gag.adv. phr.(old).—On the whisper; telling secrets;cf.,verb, sense 3.1823.Kent,The Modern Flash Dict., s.v.1848.Duncombe,Sinks of London, etc., s.v.On the low gag,adv. phr.(old).—On the last rungs of beggary, ill-luck, or despair.1823.Kent,The Modern Flash Dict., s.v.1848.Duncombe,The Sinks of London, etc., s.v.To strike the gag,verb. phr.(old).—To cease from chaffing.1839.Ainsworth,Jack Sheppard(ed. 1889), p. 43. ‘A clever device,’ replied Jonathan; ‘but it won’t serve your turn. Let us pass, sir.Strike the gag, Blueskin.’Gage(GaugeorGag),subs.(old).—1. A quart pot (i.e., a measure). Also a drink orgo(q.v.).1567.Harman,Caveat(1814), p. 65. Agage, a quart pot.1610.Rowlands,Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874).Gage, a quart pot.1622.J. Fletcher,Beggar’s Bush. I crown thy nab with agageof benbouse.[100]1656.Broome,Jovial Crew, Act ii., I bowse no lage, but a wholegageOf this I bowse to you.1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Cant. Crew.Gage,c.A pot or pipe. Tip me agage,c.give me a pot, or pipe.1714.Memoirs of John Hall(4th ed.), p. 12.Gage, a pot.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue.Gage, a quart pot, also a pint (cant).1821.Haggart,Life, p. 40. We drank ourgaugeand parted good friends.2. (18th century).—A chamber-pot.3. (old).—A pipe.1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Cant. Crew(Seequot. 1690 under sense 1).1796.Grose,Vulg. Tongue(3rd Ed.), s.v.1834.H. Ainsworth,Rookwood, Bk. III., ch. v. In the mean time, tip me agageof fogus, Jerry.4. (American).—A man. For synonyms,seeCove.1859.Matsell,Vocabulum,or Rogues Lexicon. Deck thegage, see the man.Gagers,subs.(American).—The eyes. For synonyms,seeGlims.1859.Matsell,Vocabulum, s.v.Gagga,subs.(old).—Seequot.1796.Grose,Vulg. Tongue(3rd Ed). Cheats who by sham pretences and wonderful stories of their sufferings impose on the credulity of good people.Gagger,subs.(theatrical).—A player who deals ingags(q.v.), sense 2. AlsoGaggist,Gagmaster, andGagster.1841.Punch, Vol. I., p. 169. Men with ‘swallows’ like Thames tunnels, in fact accomplishedgaggersand unrivalled ‘wiry watchers.’1887.Burnandanda’BeckettinFortn. Review, April, p. 548. Robson … was an inveterategagger.1890.Globe, 3 March, p. 1, c. 4. The low comedy was much toned down.… In other words, thegaggerswere gagged.Gaggery,subs.(theatrical).—The practice ofGagging(q.v.), sense 3.Gagging,subs.(old).—1.Bluff(q.v.); specifically,bunco-steering(q.v.), the art of talking over and persuading a stranger that he is an old acquaintance.Cf.,Gag,verb, sense 2.1828.G. Smeaton,Doings in London, p. 28. One of the modes of raising money, well known in town by the flash name ofgagging, has been practised of late to a considerable extent on simple countrymen, who are strangers to the ‘ways of town.’2. (cabmen’s).—Loitering about for ‘fares’; ‘crawling.’1851–61.H. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. III., p. 366. The means used aregagging, that is to say, driving about and loitering in the thoroughfares for jobs.3. (theatrical).—Dealing ingags(q.v.), sense 1. Also asppl. adj.1883.The Echo, 5 Jan., p. 2, c. 3. A protest, by no means unneeded, against the insolence or ignorance of some playwrights, andgaggingactors.1889.Answers, 27 July, p. 143, c. 2.Gaggingis a thing about which the public know little.Gaggler’s Coach,subs. phr.(old).—A hurdle.1823.Kent,Modern Flash Dict., s.v.1848.Duncombe,Sinks of London,s.v.Gail,subs.(old).—A horse. For synonyms,seePrad.[101]Gaily-like,adj.(American).—Showy; expensive:bang-up(q.v.).1872.Clemens(Mark Twain),Undertaker’s Chat. Now, you know how difficult it is to roust out such agaily-likething as that in a little one-horse town like this.Gain-pain,subs.(old).—A sword; specifically, in the Middle Ages, that of a hired soldier. [From Fr.,gagner= to gain +pain= bread.Cf.,Breadwinner(prostitutes’) andPotboiler(artists’).] For synonyms,seeCheese-toasterandPoker.Gait,subs.(colloquial).—Walk in life; profession; mode of making a living;game(q.v.).1859.Matsell,Vocabulum. ‘I say, Tim, what’s yourgaitnow?’ ‘Why, you see, I’m on the crack’ (burglary).Gaiters,subs.(American colloquial).—Half boots; shoes.Gal,subs.(common).—1. A girl; a servant-maid; a sweetheart.Best girl= favourite flame.2. (common).—A prostitute. For synonyms, seeBarrack-hackandTart.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, I., p. 535. Upon the most trivial offence in this respect, or on the suspicion of an offence, thegalsare sure to be beaten cruelly and savagely by their ‘chaps.’3. (American).—A female rough.Galaney. SeeGaleny.Galanty(GallantyorGalantee)Show,subs. phr.(common).—A shadow pantomime: silhouettes shown on a transparency or thrown on a white sheet by a magic lantern. Specifically, the former.SeePunch and Judy.1851–61.H. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. III., p. 81. Thegalanteeshow don’t answer, because magic lanterns are so cheap in the shops.1884.Cassell’s Technical Educator, pt. 10, p. 244. That reminiscence of the nursery, thegalanty show.1888.Notes and Queries, 7 S. v., p. 265. A flourish on the panpipes and a rumble on the drum was followed by the cry,galanty-show!Gal-boy,subs.(American).—A romp; atom-boy(q.v.).Galen,subs.(common).—An apothecary. For synonyms,seeGallipot.Galena,subs.(American).—Salt pork. [From Galen, Ill., a chief hog-raising and pork-packing centre].Galeny(orGalany),subs.(old).—The domestic hen; now (West of England) a Guinea fowl. [Latin,gallina]. For synonyms,seeCackling-cheat.1887.Temple Bar, Mar., p. 333 It’s a sin to think of the money you’d be spending on girls and things as don’t know a hen’s egg from agaleeny’s.Galimaufrey,subs.(old).—1. A medley; a jumble; a chaos of differences. [Fr.,gallimaufrée= a hash].1592.Nashe,Pierce Penilesse, in wks., ii., 93. Coblers, Tinkers, Fencers, none escapt them, but they mingled them all on onegallimafreyof glory.1592.John Day,Blind Beggar, Act iv., Sc. 1, p. 75.Can.Let me be torn into mammocks with wilde Bears if I make not agallemaufryof thy heart and keep thy Skull for my quaffing bowl.1604.Shakspeare,Winter’s Tale, Act iv., Sc. 4. And they have a dance which the wenches say is agallimaufryof gambols, because they are not in’t.1690.Durfey,Collin’s Walk, ch. ii., p. 58. But, like thy Tribe of canting Widgeons, Agallimaufryof Religions.[102]1781.G. Parker,View of Society, i., 207. A compound ofPlayer,Soldier,Stroller,Sailor, andTinker!An oddgallimaufry!1860.Haliburton(Sam Slick),The Season Ticket, No. 7. This portion of my journal, which includes a variety of topics and anecdotes, some substantial like solid meat, some savoury as spicy vegetable ingredients, and some fragments to swell the bulk, which, though not valuable as materials, help to compound thegallimaufry.2. (old).—A hodge-podge of scraps and leavings.1724.Coles,Eng. Dict.; 1728.Bailey,Eng. Dict.; 1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue; 1811.Lexicon Balatronicum.3. A mistress.1596.Shakspeare,Merry Wives, ii., 1. He loves thygallymawfry; Ford, perpend.4. (venery).—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.Gall,subs.(common).—Effrontery;cheek(q.v.);brass(q.v.);e.g., ‘Ain’t he got agallon him?’1789.Grose,Vulg. Tongue(3rd Ed.), s.v. Hisgallis not yet broken, a saying used in prisons of a man just brought in who appears melancholy and dejected, [i.e., ‘He is not yet embittered enough to care for nothing, and meet everything with a front of brass.’]1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.a1891.New York Sun(quoted inSlang, Jargon, and Cant, s.v.). ‘What do you think he had thegallto do to-day?’ Brown: ‘He has thegallto do anything.’ Dumley: ‘He asked me to drink with him; but he’ll never repeat the impudence.’Gallant,subs.(old).—Adandy(q.v.); a ladies’ man; a lover; a cuckold-maker, whetherin posseorin esse(Shakspeare).1596.Shakspeare,Merry Wives, ii. One that is well-nigh worn to pieces with age to show himself a younggallant!1598.Shakspeare,1 Henry IV., ii., 4.Gallants, lads, boys, hearts of gold, all the titles of good fellowship come to you.1663.Dryden,The Wild Gallant[Title.]1690.B. E.,A New Dict.Gallanta very fine man; also a Man of Metal, or a brave Fellow; also one that Courts, or keeps, or is Kept by, a Mistress.1719.Durfey,Pills, etc., iv., 110 There’s never agallantbut sat at her hand.1751–4.Jortin,Eccles. Hist.(quoted inEncyclopædic Dict.). As to Theodora, they who had been hergallantswhen she was an actress, related that dæmons, or nocturnal spirits, had often driven them away to lie with her themselves.Adj.(old).—(1). Valiant (2) showy; (3) amorous.1719.Durfey,Pills, etc., i., 40. O London is a fine town, and agallantcity.Verb.(old).—To sweetheart; to squire; to escort; to pursue or to enjoy.To Gallant a Fan.verb. phr.(old).—To break with design, to afford an opportunity of presenting a better.—B. E. (1690).Gallant Fiftieth,subs. phr.(military).—The Fiftieth Foot. [For its share in Vimiera, 1808.] Also,blind half hundred(q.v.); anddirty half hundred(q.v.).Gallantry,subs.(1).Sparkishness(q.v.); dandyism; (2) the habit, or pursuit, of the sexual favour.A life of gallantry= a life devoted to the other sex.[103]Gallery,subs.(Winchester College).—A commoner bedroom. [From a tradition ofgalleriesin Commoners.]Seegallery-nymphs.To play to the Gallery,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To act so as to win the applause of the vulgar:i.e., to abandon distinction and art for coarseness of means and cheapness of effect. Said indifferently of anyone in any profession who exerts himself to win the suffrages of the mob; as a political demagogue, a ‘popular’ preacher, a ‘fashionable’ painter, and so on.1872.Standard, 23 Oct. ‘New York Correspondence.’ His dispatches were, indeed, too long and too swelling in phrase; for herein he was alwaysplaying to the galleries.Hence,Gallery-hit,shot,stroke, etc. = a touch designed for, and exclusively addressed to, the non-critical.To play the Gallery,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To make an audience; to applaud.1870.Echo, 23 July, p. 5, c. 4. He seemed altogether a jovial, amusing sort of fellow, and as we were close by him, and constantly called in toplay the galleryto his witty remarks, we asked him, when his friends left him, to join our party.Gallery Nymph,subs. phr.(Winchester College).—A housemaid.SeeGallery.Galley—put a brass galley down your back,verb. phr.(printers’).—An admonition to appear before a principal; implying that the galley will serve as a screen.Galley-foist,subs.(old).—The state barge, used by the Lord Mayor when he was sworn in at Westminster.1609.Ben Jonson,Silent Woman, iv., 2. Out of my doores, you sons of noise and tumult, begot on an ill May day, or when thegalleyfoistis afloate to Westminster.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.Galley-growleror-stoker,subs.(nautical).—A loafer; amalingerer(q.v.); agrumble-guts(q.v.).Galley-halfpenny,subs.(old).—A base coin,tempusHenry IV. [So called because it was commonly imported in the Genoese galleys.SeeLeake,English Money, p. 129; Ruding,Annals of Coinage, i., 250; and Stow,Survey(ed. 1842) p. 50.]Galley-Slave,subs.(printers’).—A compositor. [From the oblong tray whereon the matter from the composing stick is arranged in column or page.] For synonyms,seeDonkey.1683.Moxon, s.v.Galleywest,adj.oradv.(American).—An indefinite superlative.Cf.,About-east.1884.Clemens, (M. Twain)Huck. Finn, xxxvii., 382. Then she grabbed up the basket and slammed it across the house, and knocked the catgalleywest.1887.Francis,Saddle and Mocassin(quoted inSlang, Jargon, and Cant). I’ll be darned if this establishment of yours, Hunse, don’t knock any one of themgalley-west!—galleywest, sir, that’s what it does.Galley-yarn(ornews),subs. phr.(nautical).—A lying story; a swindle ortake-in(q.v.). Frequently abbreviated to ‘G.Y.’1884.Henley and Stevenson,Admiral Guinea, iii., 4. What? lantern and cutlass yours; you the one that knew the house; you the one that saw; you the one overtaken and denounced; and you spin me agalley-yarnlike that.[104]Gallied,ppl. adj.(old).—‘Harried; vexed; over-fatigued; perhaps like a galley-slave’ (Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.). In Australia, frightened.Gallinipper,subs.(West Indian).—A large mosquito.1847.Porter,Big Bear, etc., p. 119. In the summer time the lakes and snakes … musketoes andgallinippers, buffalo gnats and sandflies … preventedtheInjins from gwine through the country.1888.Lippincott’s Magazine.I thought thegallinipperswould fly away with me before the seed ticks had sucked all my blood.Gallipot,subs.(common).—An apothecary.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1836.M. Scott,Cringle’s Log, ch. xiv. In truth, sir, I thought our surgeon would be of more use than any outlandishgallipotthat you could carry back.1848.Thackeray,Book of Snobs, ch. xxvii. ‘Half a-dozen littlegallipots,’ interposed Miss Wirt.English Synonyms.—Bolus; bum-tender; clyster-giver; clyster-pipe; croaker; crocus; drugs; Ollapod (from a creation of the Younger Coleman’s); gage-monger; Galen (from the great physician); jakes-provider; pill-box; pill-merchant; pills; squirt; salts-and-senna; squire of the pot.French Synonyms.—Un mirancu(obsolete: a play onmire en cul, respecting whichcf., Béralde, in Molière,Malade Imaginaire: ‘On voit bien que vous n’avez pas accoutumé de parler à des visages’);un limonadier de postérieurs(popular:cf., ‘bum-tender’);un flûtencul(common);un insinuant(popular: one who ‘insinuates’ the clyster-pipe).German Synonyms.—Rokeach,Raukeach, orRaukack(from the Hebrew).Gallivant,verb.(colloquial).—1. To gad about with, or after, one of the other sex; to play the gallant; to ‘do the agreeable.’1838.Dickens,Nicholas Nickleby, ch. lxiv. You were out all day yesterday, andgallivantingsomewhere, I know.1862.H. Beecher Stowe, inThe Independent, 27 Feb. What business had he to flirt andgallivantall summer with Sally Kittridge?1886.Hawley Smart,Struck Down, xi. The ramparts is a great place forgallivanting.1863.H. Kingsley,Austin Elliot, i., 112. It’s them gals, Mr. Austin. Come in afore she sees you, else she’ll not be at home. She isgallivantingin the paddock with Captain Hertford.2. (colloquial).—Totrapes(q.v.); to fuss; to bustle about.1859.Boston Post, 10 Dec. Senator Seward isgallivantinggaily about Europe. Now at Compiègne, saying soft things to the Empress and studying despotism, now treading the battle-field of Waterloo, then back at Paris, and so on.1871.C. D. Warner,My Summer in a Garden. More than half the Lima beans, though on the most attractive sort of poles, which budded like Aaron’s rod, wentgallivantingoff to the neighboring grape trellis.1848.Ruxton,Far West, p. 145. The three remaining brothers were absent from the Mission … Fray Jose,gallivantingat Pueblo de los Angeles.1863.Norton,Lost and Saved, p. 255. A pretty story, if, when her services were most wanted by the person who paid for them, she was to be gadding andgallivantingafter friends of her own.1865.M. E. Braddon,Henry Dunbar, ch. x. A pretty thing it would have been if your pa had come all the way from India to find his only daughtergallivantingat a theaytre.1870.London Figaro, 6 Dec. You’re never content but when you’regalavantingabout somewhere or other.[105]Gallivate,verb(American).—To frisk; to ‘figure about’;cf.,Gallivant.Gallon.What’s a gallon of rum among one?phr.(American).—The retort sarcastic; applied,e.g., to those with ‘eyes too big for their stomach’; to disproportionate ideas of the fitness of things, and so forth.Gallon Distemper,subs. phr.(common).—1. Delirium tremens; (2.) the lighter after-effects of drinking.English Synonyms.—(1) For the former, barrel-fever; black-dog; blue-devils; blue Johnnies (Australian); B. J’s. (idem.); blues; bottle-ache; D. T.; horrors; jim-jams; jumps; pink-spiders; quart-mania; rams; rats; shakes; snakes in the boots; trembles; triangles; uglies.2. For the latter: a head; hot-coppers; a mouth; a touch of the brewer; a sore head (Scots).French Synonyms.—Avoir mal aux cheveux(familiar = the hair-ache);les papillons noirs(Cf., pink spiders; also = hypochondria);avoir fumé dans une pipe neuve(= sick of a new clay).Galloper,subs.(old).—1. A blood horse; a hunter.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. The toby gill clapped his bleeders to hisgalloperand tipped the straps the double.2. (military).—An aide-de-camp.Gallow-grass,subs. phr.(old).—Hemp. [i.e., halters in the rough.]1578.Lyte,Trans. of Dodoens History of Plantes, fol. 72. Hempe is called in … English, Neckweede, andgallowgrass.Gallows,subs.(old).—1. A rascal; a wretch deserving the rope.1594.Shakspeare,Love’sLabour’sLost, v., 2. A shrewd unhappygallowstoo.1754.B. Martin,Eng. Dict.(2nd ed.). s.v. = a wicked rascal.1837.Dickens,Oliver Twist. (To Oliver). Now younggallows.1838.Jas. Grant,Sketches in London, ch. ii., p. 58. Blow me tight, younggallows, if I don’t pound your ribs to powder!2. (common: generallyin. pl.=Gallowses).—A pair of braces.1835.Haliburton,Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xv. Chock-full of spring, like the wire end of a bran new pair of trousergalluses.1848.Durivage,Stray Subjects, p.168. If I wouldn’t spile his picter bust my boots andgallowses.1851–61.H. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 431. The braces, which in some parts of the country are called ‘gallowses.’c.1852.Traits of American Humor, p. 58. Hole on, dod drot you, wait till I unbutton mygallowses.1864.James, etc.,Italian-English Dict.Gallowses,batilla.1883.G. A. S[ala], inIll. Lond. News, Sept. 22, p. 275, c. i. Braces (which, when I was young, used, in the north of England, to be known by the expressive name ofgallowses.)Adv.(old).—Excessively; same asbloody,bleeding, (q.v.), etc. (Asadj.) great; uncommon; real.c.1551.L. Shepherd.John Bonin Arber’sGarner, Vol. IV., p. 109. Ye, are much bound to God for such a spittle holiness. Agallowsgift!1789.Parker,Life’s Painter, p. 120. Some they pattered flash withgallowsfun and joking.1827.Egan,Anecdotes of the Turf, etc., p. 44. Then your blowen will waxgallowshaughty! [Also quoted in notes toDon Juan.][106]1830.Lytton,Paul Clifford, p. 293. (ed. 1854). Ah, Dame Lobkin, if so be as our little Paul vas a vith you, it would be agallowscomfort to you in your latter hend!1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, III., 90. I’ll be smothered if I’m going to look down thatgallowslong chimney.1861.H. Kingsley,Ravenshoe, ch. xli. And the pleece come in, and gotgalluswell kicked about the head.1869.Greenwood,Seven Curses of London, p. 244. Put it on your face sogallusthick that the devil himself won’t see through it.Gallows-bird(alsoNewgate-bird),subs.(common).—1. A son of the rope; an habitual criminal; a vagabond or scoundrel, old or young; a crack-rope or wag-halter (Cotgrave); a gallows-clapper (Florio). Fr.,gibier de Cayenne, orde potence.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v. One that deserves hanging.1822.Scott,Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xi. That verygallows-birdwere enough to corrupt a whole ante-chamber of pages.2. (common).—A corpse on, or from, the gallows.1861.Reade,Cloister and Hearth, ch. xxviii. I ne’er minced (dissected) ape norgallows-bird.Gallows-faced,adj.(old).—Evil-looking; hang-dog. Alsogallows-looking.1766.H. Brooke,Fool of Quality, ii. 16. Art thou there, thou rogue, thou hang-dog, thougallows-facedvagabond?1768.Goldsmith,Good-natured Man, Act v. Hold him fast, he has thegallowsin hisface.1837.Barham, I. L. (Misadv. at Margate). A littlegallows-lookingchap—dear me! what could he mean?Gallows-minded,adj.(colloquial).—Criminal in habit and idea; also, evil-hearted.Gallowsness,subs.(old).—Rascality; recklessness; mischievousness.1859.G. Eliot,Adam Bede, ch. vi. I never knew your equal forgallowsness.Gallows-ripe,adj.(old).—Ripe for the rope.1837.Carlyle,French Revolution, Pt. II., bk. v., ch. iii. Loose again, as one not yetgallows-ripe.Gallus.—SeeGallows.Gally-foist.—SeeGalley-foist.Gallyslopes,subs.(Old Cant).—Breeches. For synonyms,seeKicks.Galoot(alsogallootandgeeloot),subs.(general).—A man (sometimes in contempt); also (in America) a worthless fellow (or thing,seequot. 1888); a rowdy; acad(q.v.).1835.Marryat,Jacob Faithful, ch. xxxiv. Four greatergallootswere never picked up, but never mind that.1869.S. L. Clemens(Mark Twain)Innocents at Home, p. 22. He could lam anygalootof his inches in America.1871.John Hay,Jim Bludso. I’ll hold her nozzle agin the bank Till the lastgaloot’sashore.1885.Saturday Review, Feb. 7, p. 167.‘I’ll never draw a revolver on a man again as long as I live.’… ‘Guess I’ll go for thegalootwith a two-scatter shoot-gun.’1888.New York Tribune, May 16. It is better to have a Carrot for a President than a dead beat for a son-in-law. In this way we again score a live beat on thegaloot.1892.R. L. StevensonandL. Osbourne,The Wrecker, p. 137. ‘My dear boy, I may be agalootabout literature, but you’ll always be an outsider in business.’On the gay galoot,adv. phr.(common).—On the spree.1892.Milliken,’Arry Ballads, p. 3. I’m offon the gay galootsomewheres.[107]GaloptiousorGaluptious,adj.(popular).—Delightful; a general superlative.1887.Judy, 21 Sept., p. 140. Four young ladies represented thegalopshussum of 20,000,000 dollars.Galore(alsogalloreandgolore),adv.(old; now recognised).—In abundance; plenty. [Irish and Gaelicgo leor= in plenty.]1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1848.Ruxton,Life in the Far West, p 14.Galoreof alcohol to ratify the trade.1856.C. Reade,Never Too Late, ch. lx. He found roguesgalore, and envious spirits that wished the friends ill.1891.Licensed Vic. Mirror, 30 Jan., p. 1, c. 1. Of chit-chat this week we havegalore, and the difficulty is how to sift the wheat from the chaff.Galumph,verb.(American).—To bump along (Onomatopœia).1888.New York World, 13 May. The young man tackled the driver of a green bobtail car thatgalumphedthrough Lewis Street at a high rate of speed.Galvanised Yankee,subs. phr.(American Civil War).—AGrey-back(q.v.) who took the oath to the North and served in its armies.Gam,subs.(thieves’).—1. Pluck; gameness.1888.Cassell’s Saturday Journal, 8 Dec., p. 260. I’m not so sure about his lack of cunnin’, speed, orgam.2. (American thieves’).—Stealing (Matsell, 1859).Verb.(American thieves’).—1. To steal.2. (American).—To engage in social intercourse; to make a call; to have a chat.SeeGamming.Gamaliel,subs.(colloquial).—A pedant; a person curious of the letter and the form:e.g., ‘theseGamalielsof the theory’ = these ultra-puritans, to whom the spirit is nothing.Gamaruche,subs.(venery).—SeeCunnilingistandCock-Teaser.Verb(venery).—To irrumate; toBag-pipe(q.v.). Also tocunnilinge(q.v.). Fr.,gamahucher.Gamb(orGam),subs.(old).—A leg. In use also in this sense as an heraldic term. [It.,gambe; Fr.,jambe; probably through Lingua Franca.] For synonyms,seeDrumsticksandPins.1789.Geo. Parker,Life’s Painter, p. 143. If a man has bow legs, he has queergams,gamsbeing cant for legs.1796.Grose,Vulg. Tongue(3rd ed.), s.v.1819.Moore,Memorial, p. 61. Back to his home, with totteringgams.1887.Henley,Villon’s Good Night. At you I merely lift mygam.[To flutter a gam= to dance;to lift a gam= to break wind;to gam it= to walk; to run away;to leg it(q.v.)].Gamble,subs.(colloquial).—A venture: aflutter(q.v.).1892.R. L. StevensonandL. Osbourne,The Wrecker, p. 250. And you know the Flying Scud was the biggestgambleof the crowd.

ab,subs.(vulgar).—1. The mouth; alsoGob. For synonyms,seePotato-trap.

1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1785.Burns,Jolly Beggars. And aye he gies the touzie drab The tither skelpin kiss, While she held up her greedygab, Just like an aumos dish.

1820.Scott,The Abbot, ch. xiv. ‘And now, my mates,’ said the Abbot of Unreason, ‘once again digut yourgabsand be hushed—let us see if the Cock of Kennaguhair will fight or flee the pit.’

1890.Rare Bits, 12 Apr., p. 347. ‘Clap a stopper on yourgaband whack up, or I’ll let ’er speak!’

2. (vulgar).—Talk; idle babble. AlsoGabb,Gabber, andGabble.

1712.Spectator, No. 389. Having no language among them but a confusedgabble, which is neither well understood by themselves or others.

1811.Poole,Hamlet Travestied, I., 3. Then hold yourgab, and hear what I’ve to tell.

1863.C. Reade,Hard Cash, ch. xxxiv. ‘Hush yourgab,’ said Mr. Green, roughly.

1887.Punch, 10 Sept., p. 111. Gladstone’sgababout ‘masses and classes’ is all tommy rot.

Verb.(vulgar: O. E., and now preserved inGabble).—To talk fluently; to talk brilliantly; to lie.

1383.Chaucer,Canterbury Tales1652. Igabbenought, so have I joye or blis.

1402. [?T. Occleve],Letter of Cupid, in Arber’sGarner, vol. IV., p. 59. A foul vice it is, of tongue to be light, Forwhoso mochil clappeth, gabbeth oft.

1601.Shakspeare,Twelfth Night, Act II., Sc. iii.Mal.… Have you no wit, manners, nor honesty, but togabblelike tinkers at this time of night.

1663.Butler,Hudibras, pt. I., ch. i., p. 5. Which made some think when he didgabbleTh’ had heard three Labourers ofBabel.

1786.Burns,Earnest Cry and Prayer, st. 10. But could I like Montgomeries fight, Orgablike Boswell.

1880.G. R. Sims,Zeph, ch. vii. An elderly clergyman …gabbledthe funeral service as though he were calling back an invoice at a draper’s entering desk.

1887.Punch, 10 Sept., p. 111. Gals do like a chap as cangab.

Gift of the Gab(orGob),subs. phr.(colloquial).—The gift of conversation; the talent for speech. Fr.,n’avoir pas sa langue dans sa poche.

d.1653.Z. Boyd,Book of Job, quoted in Brewer’sPhrase and Fable, s.v., ‘gab.There was a good man named Job, Who lived in the land of Uz, He had a good gift of thegob.’

1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew.Gift of the gob, a wide, open Mouth; also a good Songster, or Singing-master.

1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

1820.Shelley,Œdipus Tyrannus, Act I. You, Purganax, who have thegift o’ the gab, Make them a solemn speech.[95]

1837.Dickens,Oliver Twist, ch. xliii. And we’ll have a big-wig, Charley: one that’s got the greatestgift of the gab: to carry on his defence.

1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, I., 250. People reckon me one of the best patterers in the trade. I’m reckoned to have the gift—that is,the gift of the gab.

1869.Whyte-Melville,M. or N., p. 29. I’vegot the gift of the gab, I know, and I stick at nothing.

1870.Lond. Figaro, 18 Sept. ‘Of all gifts possessed by man,’ said George Stephenson, the engineer, to Sir William Follett, ‘there is none like thegift of the gab.’

1876.Hindley,Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 193. Others, although they have thegift of the gabwhen they are on the ground, as soon as they mount the cart are dumbfounded.

To blow the gab,verb. phr.(vulgar).—To inform;to peach(q.v.). Alsoto blow the gaff(q.v.).

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

1834.Ainsworth,Rookwood, bk. III., ch. 5. Neverblow the gabor squeak.

To flash the gab,verb. phr.(common).—To show off(q.v.) in talk;cf.,Air one’s vocabulary.

1819.Moore,Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 2. While his Lordship … that very great dab At the flowers of rhet’ric isflashing his gab.

Gabble,subs.(colloquial).—1. A gossip. AlsoGabbler,Gabble-grinder,Gabble-merchant, andGabble-monger.

2. (colloquial).—A voluble talker.

Gabble-mill,subs.(American).—1. The United States Congress. AlsoGabble-manufactory.

2. (common).—A pulpit. For synonyms,seeHumbox.

3. (common).—The mouth. For synonyms,seePotato-trap.

Gable,subs.(common).—The head. AlsoGable-end. For synonyms,seeCrumpet.

Gabster,subs.(common).—A voluble talker, whether eloquent or vain; one having thegift of the gab(q.v.).

Gab-string.—SeeGob-string.

Gaby(alsoGabbeyandGabby),subs.(common).—A fool; a babbler; a boor. Icl.gapi= a foolish person, fromgapa= to gape.

1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1856.T. Hughes,Tom Brown’s School Days, pt. 1, ch. iii. Two boys, who stopped close by him, and one of whom, a fatgabyof a fellow, pointed at him and called him young ‘mammy-sick.’

1859.H. Kingsley,Geoffrey Hamlyn, ch. ix. Don’t stand laughing there like a greatgaby.

1875.Ouida,Signa, vol. I., ch. iv., p. 47. ‘You have never dried your clothes, Bruno,’ said his sister-in-law, ‘What agabya man is without a wife!’

Gad,subs.(common).—An idle slattern. An abbreviation ofgad-about(q.v.).

Intj.(common).—An abbreviation ofby Gad!Cf.Agad,Egad—themselves corruptions ofby God,Lit.

On the gad,adv. phr.(old).—1. On the spur of the moment.

1605.Shakspeare,Lear, i., 2. All this is doneupon the gad.

2. (colloquial).—On the move, on the gossip.

1818.Austen,Persuasion. I have no very good opinion of Mrs. Charles’ nursery maid.… She is alwaysupon the gad.[96]

3. (colloquial).—On the spree (especially of women); and, by implication, on the town.

To gad the hoof,verb. phr.(common).—To walk or go without shoes;to pad the hoof(q.v.). Also, more loosely, to walk or roam about.

1857.Snowden,Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 447. Going without shoes,gadding the hoof.

Gadabout,subs.(colloquial).—A trapesing gossip; as a housewife seldom seen at home, but very often at her neighbours’ doors.[FromGad= to wander, to stray (Cf.,Lycidas: ‘the gadding vine’) +About.] Used also as an adjective;e.g., ‘aGad-abouthussey.’

Gadso,subs.(old)—Thepenis. Italiancazzo. For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick.

Intj.(old: still literary and colloquial).—An interjection. [A relic of phallicism with which many popular oaths and exclamations have a direct connection, especially in Neo-Latin dialects. A Spaniard cries out,Carajo!(—the member), orCojones!(—the testicles); an Italian saysCazzo(thepenis); while a Frenchman exclaims by the act itself,Foutre!The female equivalent, (coñowith the Spaniard,connowith the Italian,conwith the Frenchman, andcuntwith ourselves), was, and is, more generally used as an expression of contempt, which is also the case with the testicles. (Cf.,ante,All Balls!) Germanic oaths are profane rather than obscene; except, perhaps, inPotz!andPotztaufend!and the English equivalentPox!which last is obsolete.SeeCatso.In Florio (A Worlde of Wordes, 1598),Cazzo= ‘a man’s privie member,’ andcazzo di mare= a pintle fish; whilecazzica= ‘an interjection of admiration and affirming. What? Gad’s me, Gad forfend, tush.’]

1697.Vanbrugh,Provoked Wife, iii., 1.Sir?Gadso!we are to consult about playing the devil to night.

1770.Foote,Lame Lover, i.Gadso! a little unlucky.

1838.Dickens,Oliver Twist, ch. iv. ‘Gadso!’ said the undertaker … ‘that’s just the very thing I wanted to speak to you about.’

Gadzooks!intj.(old and colloquial).—A corruption ofGadzo(q.v.).

Gaff,subs.(old).—1. A fair.

1754.Discoveries of John Poulter, p. 32. The first thing they do at agaffis to look for a room clear of company.

1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. The drop coves maced the joskins at thegaff; the ring-droppers cheated the countryman at the fair.

1821.Haggart,Life, p. 22. We stopped at this place two days, waiting to attend thegaff.

1823.Jon. Bee,Dict. of the Turf, etc., s.v. A fair is agaffas well as all the transactions enacted there.

2. (common).—A cheap, low music-hall or theatre; frequentlypenny-gaff,Cf., quot. 1823, sense 1. Alsodookie. Fr.,un beuglant(= a low music-hall;beugler= to bellow);un bouisbouis(boui= brothel);une guinche(popular).Seealso quot. 1889.

1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, I., p. 46. They court for a time, going to raffles andgaffstogether, and then the affair is arranged.

1869.Greenwood,Seven Curses of London, p. 68. Agaffis a place where stage plays, according to the strict interpretation[97]of the term, may not be represented. The actors of a drama may not correspond in colloquy, only in pantomime; but the pieces brought out at thegaffare seldom of an intricate character, and the not over-fastidious auditory are well content with an exhibition of dumb-show and gesture.

1870.Orchestra, 18 Feb. The absolute harm done by thesegaffsdoes not consist in the subjects represented.

1889.Notes and Queries, 7 S. vii., p. 395. I have often heard the British soldier make use of the word when speaking of the entertainment got up for his benefit in barracks.

3. (prison).—A hoax; an imposture.Cf., Fr.,gaffe= joke, deceit.

1877.Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 312. I also saw that Jemmy’s blowing up of me wos allgaff.He knew as well as I did the things left the shop all right.

1892.Hume Nisbet,Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 227. Can you put me up to this othergaff.

4. (old sharpers’).—A ring worn by the dealer. [Fromgaffe= a hook.]

5. (American cock-pit).—A steel spur.

6. (anglers’).—A landing spear, barbed in the iron.

Verb.(old).—1. To toss for liquor.Seegaffing.

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

2. (theatrical).—To play in agaff(q.v.sense 2).

To blow the gaff, orgab(q.v.),verb. phr.(common). To give information; to let out a secret. For synonyms,seePeach.

1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue.To blow the gab(cant), to confess, or impeach a confederate.

1833.Marryat,Peter Simple, ch. xliii. One of the French officers, after he was taken prisoner, axed me how we had managed to get the gun up there; but I wasn’t going toblow the gaff.

1877.Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. ii., p. 122. The prisoner, burning for revenge, quietly bides his time till the chief warder comes round, then asks to speak to him, andblows the gaff.

1891.Referee, 8 Mar. Under sacred promise not toblow the gaffI was put up to the method.

Gaffer,subs.(old).—1. An old man; the masculine ofGammer(q.v.). Also a title of address:e.g., ‘Good day,gaffer!’Cf.,UncleandDaddy.Also (seequot. 1710), a husband.

1710.Dame Hurdle’s Letter(quoted byNares). Mygafferonly said he would inform himself as well as he could against next election, and keep a good conscience.

1714.Gay,Shepherd’s Week. ForGafferTreadwell told us, by-the-bye, Excessive sorrow is exceeding dry.

1842.Tennyson,The Goose. RanGaffer, stumbled Gammer.

2. (common).—A master; an employer; aboss(q.v.); (athletic) a pedestrian trainer and ‘farmer’; and (navvies’) a gang-master organger(q.v.).

1719.Durfey,Pills, etc., iv., 123. In comes ourgafferUnderwood, And sits him on the bench.

1748.T. Dyche,Dict.(5th ed.)Gaffer(S.) a familiar word mostly used in the country for master.

1885.Daily News, 24 Jan., p. 3, c. 1. They go and work at fivepence, and some on ’em as low as threepence halfpenny, an hour; that’s just half what we get, and thegafferskeep ’em on and sack us.

1888.Sportsman, 20 Dec. Comic enough were some of the stories ‘Jemmy’ told of his relations with ‘thegaffer.’

1889.Broadside Ballad, ‘The Gaffers of the Gang.’ We are the boys that can do the excavations, We are the lads for the ’atin’ and the dhrinkin’, With the ladies we are so fascinatin’, Because we are thegaffersof the gang.[98]

3. (old).—A toss-penny; a gambler with coins. Fromgaffing(q.v.).

1828.Jon Bee,Living Picture of London, p. 241. If the person calling for ‘man’ or ‘woman’ is not right or wrong at five guesses, neither of thegafferswin or lose, but go again.

Verb.(venery).—To copulate. For synonyms,seeGreensandRide.

Gaffing,subs.(old).—Seequot.

1821.Pierce Egan,Life in London, p. 279.Gaffingwas unfortunately for him introduced.Ibid.Note.—A mode of tossing for drinks, etc., in which three coins are placed in a hat, shaken up, and then thrown on the table. If the party to ‘call’ calls ‘heads’ (or ‘tails’) and all three coins are as he calls them, he wins; if not, he pays a settled amount towards drinks.

1839.Brandon,Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, s.v.

Gag,subs.(common).—1. A joke; an invention; a hoax.

1823.Jon Bee,Dict. of the Turf, s.v.Gag—a grand imposition upon the public; as a mountebank’s professions, his cures, and his lottery-bags, are so manybroadgags.

1871.All the Year Round, 18 Feb., p. 288. You won’t bear malice now, will you? Allgagof mine, you know, about old Miss Ponsonby.

1885.Daily News, 16 May, p. 5, c. 2. ‘The Mahdi sends you lies from Khartoum, and laughs when you believe them,’ said a native, lately. We need not gratify the Mahdi by believing any bazaar-gaghe may circulate.

2. (theatrical).—Expressions interpolated by an actor in his part: especially such as can be repeated again and again in the course of performance. Certain plays, asThe Critic, are recognised ‘gag-pieces,’ and in these the practice is accounted legitimate.Cf.,Hamlet, iii., 2: ‘And let those, that play your clowns, say no more than is set down for them.’Cf.,Wheeze. Fr.,la cocotte(specifically additions to vocal scores). A typical example is the ‘I believe you, my boy!’ of the late Paul Bedford. In the quot. under 1851–61, it is probable thatgag=patter(q.v.)

1841.Punch, i., p. 105. I shall do the liberal in the way of terms, and get up thegagproperly.

1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, iii., p. 148. When I go out I always do my owngag, and I try to knock out something new.

1866.W. D. Howells,Venetian Life, ch. v.… I have heard some very passablegagsat the Marionette, but the realcommedia a bracciono longer exists.

1889.Globe, 12 Oct., p. 4, c. 4. In a high-class music hall it is a rule that no song must be sung till it is read and signed by the manager, and this applies even to thegag.

1890.Pall Mall Gazette, 5 Mar., p. 4, c. 3. Mr. Augustus Harris pointed out that if the clause were carried the penalty would, in many cases, be incurred twenty times in one scene, for actors and singers were continually introducinggaginto their business.

3. (American).—A commonwealth of players in which the profits are shared round.Cf.,Conscience.

1847.Darley,Drama in Pokerville, p. 124. The artist … merely remarking that he had thought of agagwhich would bring them through, mounted a ladder, and disappeared.

4. (American).—A fool;i.e., a thing to laugh at. For synonyms,seeCabbage-andBuffle-headandSammy Soft.

1838–40.Haliburton,The Clockmaker, p. 46. ‘Sam,’ says he, ‘they tell me you broke down the other day in the House of Representatives and made a propergagof yourself.’[99]

5. (Christ’s Hospital).—Boiled fat beef.Gag-eater= a term of reproach.

1813.Lamb,Christ’s Hospital, in wks., p. 324 (ed. 1852). L. has recorded the repugnance of the school to gags, or the fat of fresh beef boiled; and sets it down to some superstition.… Agag-eaterin our time was equivalent to a ghoul … and held in equal estimation.

6. (Winchester College).—An exercise (said to have been invented by Dr. Gabell) which consists in writing Latin criticisms on some celebrated piece, in a book sent in about once a month. In the Parts below Sixth Book and Senior Part, thegagsconsisted in historical analysis. [An abbreviation of ‘gathering.’]

1870.Mansfield,School-life at Winchester College, p. 108. From time to time, also, they had to write … an analysis of some historical work; these productions were calledgatherings(orgags).

Verb,trs.andintrs.(theatrical).—1. To speakgags(q.v.), sense 2. Fr.,cascader.

1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, III., 149. He has togag, that is, to make up words.

1852.Dickens,Bleak House, ch. xxxix. The same vocalistgagsin the regular business like a man inspired.

1883.Referee, 15 April, p. 3, c. 1. Toole … cannot repress a tendency togagand to introduce more than is set down for him by the author.

2. (old).—To hoax; to puff.

1781.G. Parker,View of Society, II., 154. Having discovered the weak side of him he means togag.

1823.Jon Bee,Dict. of the Turf, etc., s.v. A showman cries ‘Walk in, ladies and gentlemen, they’re all alive,’ but the spectators soon perceive’tis all stuff, reproach Mr. Merryman, and he, in excuse, swears he said ‘theywere’ and not ‘are alive’ He thusgagsthe public.

1876.Hindley,Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 325. Then theygagthe thing up, and send their bills out about the immense cost of scenery and dresses, and other expenses they are at, etc.

3. (thieves’).—To inform; toround on(q.v.); alsoto blow the gag.Cf.,Gaff,Gab, etc. For synonyms,seePeach.

1891.Morning Advertiser, 28 Mar. She … besought them with (crocodile) tears not togagon them, in other words not to give information to the police.

On the high gag.adv. phr.(old).—On the whisper; telling secrets;cf.,verb, sense 3.

1823.Kent,The Modern Flash Dict., s.v.

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

On the low gag,adv. phr.(old).—On the last rungs of beggary, ill-luck, or despair.

1823.Kent,The Modern Flash Dict., s.v.

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

To strike the gag,verb. phr.(old).—To cease from chaffing.

1839.Ainsworth,Jack Sheppard(ed. 1889), p. 43. ‘A clever device,’ replied Jonathan; ‘but it won’t serve your turn. Let us pass, sir.Strike the gag, Blueskin.’

Gage(GaugeorGag),subs.(old).—1. A quart pot (i.e., a measure). Also a drink orgo(q.v.).

1567.Harman,Caveat(1814), p. 65. Agage, a quart pot.

1610.Rowlands,Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874).Gage, a quart pot.

1622.J. Fletcher,Beggar’s Bush. I crown thy nab with agageof benbouse.[100]

1656.Broome,Jovial Crew, Act ii., I bowse no lage, but a wholegageOf this I bowse to you.

1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Cant. Crew.Gage,c.A pot or pipe. Tip me agage,c.give me a pot, or pipe.

1714.Memoirs of John Hall(4th ed.), p. 12.Gage, a pot.

1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue.Gage, a quart pot, also a pint (cant).

1821.Haggart,Life, p. 40. We drank ourgaugeand parted good friends.

2. (18th century).—A chamber-pot.

3. (old).—A pipe.

1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Cant. Crew(Seequot. 1690 under sense 1).

1796.Grose,Vulg. Tongue(3rd Ed.), s.v.

1834.H. Ainsworth,Rookwood, Bk. III., ch. v. In the mean time, tip me agageof fogus, Jerry.

4. (American).—A man. For synonyms,seeCove.

1859.Matsell,Vocabulum,or Rogues Lexicon. Deck thegage, see the man.

Gagers,subs.(American).—The eyes. For synonyms,seeGlims.

1859.Matsell,Vocabulum, s.v.

Gagga,subs.(old).—Seequot.

1796.Grose,Vulg. Tongue(3rd Ed). Cheats who by sham pretences and wonderful stories of their sufferings impose on the credulity of good people.

Gagger,subs.(theatrical).—A player who deals ingags(q.v.), sense 2. AlsoGaggist,Gagmaster, andGagster.

1841.Punch, Vol. I., p. 169. Men with ‘swallows’ like Thames tunnels, in fact accomplishedgaggersand unrivalled ‘wiry watchers.’

1887.Burnandanda’BeckettinFortn. Review, April, p. 548. Robson … was an inveterategagger.

1890.Globe, 3 March, p. 1, c. 4. The low comedy was much toned down.… In other words, thegaggerswere gagged.

Gaggery,subs.(theatrical).—The practice ofGagging(q.v.), sense 3.

Gagging,subs.(old).—1.Bluff(q.v.); specifically,bunco-steering(q.v.), the art of talking over and persuading a stranger that he is an old acquaintance.Cf.,Gag,verb, sense 2.

1828.G. Smeaton,Doings in London, p. 28. One of the modes of raising money, well known in town by the flash name ofgagging, has been practised of late to a considerable extent on simple countrymen, who are strangers to the ‘ways of town.’

2. (cabmen’s).—Loitering about for ‘fares’; ‘crawling.’

1851–61.H. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. III., p. 366. The means used aregagging, that is to say, driving about and loitering in the thoroughfares for jobs.

3. (theatrical).—Dealing ingags(q.v.), sense 1. Also asppl. adj.

1883.The Echo, 5 Jan., p. 2, c. 3. A protest, by no means unneeded, against the insolence or ignorance of some playwrights, andgaggingactors.

1889.Answers, 27 July, p. 143, c. 2.Gaggingis a thing about which the public know little.

Gaggler’s Coach,subs. phr.(old).—A hurdle.

1823.Kent,Modern Flash Dict., s.v.

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

Gail,subs.(old).—A horse. For synonyms,seePrad.[101]

Gaily-like,adj.(American).—Showy; expensive:bang-up(q.v.).

1872.Clemens(Mark Twain),Undertaker’s Chat. Now, you know how difficult it is to roust out such agaily-likething as that in a little one-horse town like this.

Gain-pain,subs.(old).—A sword; specifically, in the Middle Ages, that of a hired soldier. [From Fr.,gagner= to gain +pain= bread.Cf.,Breadwinner(prostitutes’) andPotboiler(artists’).] For synonyms,seeCheese-toasterandPoker.

Gait,subs.(colloquial).—Walk in life; profession; mode of making a living;game(q.v.).

1859.Matsell,Vocabulum. ‘I say, Tim, what’s yourgaitnow?’ ‘Why, you see, I’m on the crack’ (burglary).

Gaiters,subs.(American colloquial).—Half boots; shoes.

Gal,subs.(common).—1. A girl; a servant-maid; a sweetheart.Best girl= favourite flame.

2. (common).—A prostitute. For synonyms, seeBarrack-hackandTart.

1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, I., p. 535. Upon the most trivial offence in this respect, or on the suspicion of an offence, thegalsare sure to be beaten cruelly and savagely by their ‘chaps.’

3. (American).—A female rough.

Galaney. SeeGaleny.

Galanty(GallantyorGalantee)Show,subs. phr.(common).—A shadow pantomime: silhouettes shown on a transparency or thrown on a white sheet by a magic lantern. Specifically, the former.SeePunch and Judy.

1851–61.H. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. III., p. 81. Thegalanteeshow don’t answer, because magic lanterns are so cheap in the shops.

1884.Cassell’s Technical Educator, pt. 10, p. 244. That reminiscence of the nursery, thegalanty show.

1888.Notes and Queries, 7 S. v., p. 265. A flourish on the panpipes and a rumble on the drum was followed by the cry,galanty-show!

Gal-boy,subs.(American).—A romp; atom-boy(q.v.).

Galen,subs.(common).—An apothecary. For synonyms,seeGallipot.

Galena,subs.(American).—Salt pork. [From Galen, Ill., a chief hog-raising and pork-packing centre].

Galeny(orGalany),subs.(old).—The domestic hen; now (West of England) a Guinea fowl. [Latin,gallina]. For synonyms,seeCackling-cheat.

1887.Temple Bar, Mar., p. 333 It’s a sin to think of the money you’d be spending on girls and things as don’t know a hen’s egg from agaleeny’s.

Galimaufrey,subs.(old).—1. A medley; a jumble; a chaos of differences. [Fr.,gallimaufrée= a hash].

1592.Nashe,Pierce Penilesse, in wks., ii., 93. Coblers, Tinkers, Fencers, none escapt them, but they mingled them all on onegallimafreyof glory.

1592.John Day,Blind Beggar, Act iv., Sc. 1, p. 75.Can.Let me be torn into mammocks with wilde Bears if I make not agallemaufryof thy heart and keep thy Skull for my quaffing bowl.

1604.Shakspeare,Winter’s Tale, Act iv., Sc. 4. And they have a dance which the wenches say is agallimaufryof gambols, because they are not in’t.

1690.Durfey,Collin’s Walk, ch. ii., p. 58. But, like thy Tribe of canting Widgeons, Agallimaufryof Religions.[102]

1781.G. Parker,View of Society, i., 207. A compound ofPlayer,Soldier,Stroller,Sailor, andTinker!An oddgallimaufry!

1860.Haliburton(Sam Slick),The Season Ticket, No. 7. This portion of my journal, which includes a variety of topics and anecdotes, some substantial like solid meat, some savoury as spicy vegetable ingredients, and some fragments to swell the bulk, which, though not valuable as materials, help to compound thegallimaufry.

2. (old).—A hodge-podge of scraps and leavings.

1724.Coles,Eng. Dict.; 1728.Bailey,Eng. Dict.; 1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue; 1811.Lexicon Balatronicum.

3. A mistress.

1596.Shakspeare,Merry Wives, ii., 1. He loves thygallymawfry; Ford, perpend.

4. (venery).—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.

Gall,subs.(common).—Effrontery;cheek(q.v.);brass(q.v.);e.g., ‘Ain’t he got agallon him?’

1789.Grose,Vulg. Tongue(3rd Ed.), s.v. Hisgallis not yet broken, a saying used in prisons of a man just brought in who appears melancholy and dejected, [i.e., ‘He is not yet embittered enough to care for nothing, and meet everything with a front of brass.’]

1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

a1891.New York Sun(quoted inSlang, Jargon, and Cant, s.v.). ‘What do you think he had thegallto do to-day?’ Brown: ‘He has thegallto do anything.’ Dumley: ‘He asked me to drink with him; but he’ll never repeat the impudence.’

Gallant,subs.(old).—Adandy(q.v.); a ladies’ man; a lover; a cuckold-maker, whetherin posseorin esse(Shakspeare).

1596.Shakspeare,Merry Wives, ii. One that is well-nigh worn to pieces with age to show himself a younggallant!

1598.Shakspeare,1 Henry IV., ii., 4.Gallants, lads, boys, hearts of gold, all the titles of good fellowship come to you.

1663.Dryden,The Wild Gallant[Title.]

1690.B. E.,A New Dict.Gallanta very fine man; also a Man of Metal, or a brave Fellow; also one that Courts, or keeps, or is Kept by, a Mistress.

1719.Durfey,Pills, etc., iv., 110 There’s never agallantbut sat at her hand.

1751–4.Jortin,Eccles. Hist.(quoted inEncyclopædic Dict.). As to Theodora, they who had been hergallantswhen she was an actress, related that dæmons, or nocturnal spirits, had often driven them away to lie with her themselves.

Adj.(old).—(1). Valiant (2) showy; (3) amorous.

1719.Durfey,Pills, etc., i., 40. O London is a fine town, and agallantcity.

Verb.(old).—To sweetheart; to squire; to escort; to pursue or to enjoy.

To Gallant a Fan.verb. phr.(old).—To break with design, to afford an opportunity of presenting a better.—B. E. (1690).

Gallant Fiftieth,subs. phr.(military).—The Fiftieth Foot. [For its share in Vimiera, 1808.] Also,blind half hundred(q.v.); anddirty half hundred(q.v.).

Gallantry,subs.(1).Sparkishness(q.v.); dandyism; (2) the habit, or pursuit, of the sexual favour.A life of gallantry= a life devoted to the other sex.[103]

Gallery,subs.(Winchester College).—A commoner bedroom. [From a tradition ofgalleriesin Commoners.]Seegallery-nymphs.

To play to the Gallery,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To act so as to win the applause of the vulgar:i.e., to abandon distinction and art for coarseness of means and cheapness of effect. Said indifferently of anyone in any profession who exerts himself to win the suffrages of the mob; as a political demagogue, a ‘popular’ preacher, a ‘fashionable’ painter, and so on.

1872.Standard, 23 Oct. ‘New York Correspondence.’ His dispatches were, indeed, too long and too swelling in phrase; for herein he was alwaysplaying to the galleries.

Hence,Gallery-hit,shot,stroke, etc. = a touch designed for, and exclusively addressed to, the non-critical.

To play the Gallery,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To make an audience; to applaud.

1870.Echo, 23 July, p. 5, c. 4. He seemed altogether a jovial, amusing sort of fellow, and as we were close by him, and constantly called in toplay the galleryto his witty remarks, we asked him, when his friends left him, to join our party.

Gallery Nymph,subs. phr.(Winchester College).—A housemaid.SeeGallery.

Galley—put a brass galley down your back,verb. phr.(printers’).—An admonition to appear before a principal; implying that the galley will serve as a screen.

Galley-foist,subs.(old).—The state barge, used by the Lord Mayor when he was sworn in at Westminster.

1609.Ben Jonson,Silent Woman, iv., 2. Out of my doores, you sons of noise and tumult, begot on an ill May day, or when thegalleyfoistis afloate to Westminster.

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

1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Galley-growleror-stoker,subs.(nautical).—A loafer; amalingerer(q.v.); agrumble-guts(q.v.).

Galley-halfpenny,subs.(old).—A base coin,tempusHenry IV. [So called because it was commonly imported in the Genoese galleys.SeeLeake,English Money, p. 129; Ruding,Annals of Coinage, i., 250; and Stow,Survey(ed. 1842) p. 50.]

Galley-Slave,subs.(printers’).—A compositor. [From the oblong tray whereon the matter from the composing stick is arranged in column or page.] For synonyms,seeDonkey.

1683.Moxon, s.v.

Galleywest,adj.oradv.(American).—An indefinite superlative.Cf.,About-east.

1884.Clemens, (M. Twain)Huck. Finn, xxxvii., 382. Then she grabbed up the basket and slammed it across the house, and knocked the catgalleywest.

1887.Francis,Saddle and Mocassin(quoted inSlang, Jargon, and Cant). I’ll be darned if this establishment of yours, Hunse, don’t knock any one of themgalley-west!—galleywest, sir, that’s what it does.

Galley-yarn(ornews),subs. phr.(nautical).—A lying story; a swindle ortake-in(q.v.). Frequently abbreviated to ‘G.Y.’

1884.Henley and Stevenson,Admiral Guinea, iii., 4. What? lantern and cutlass yours; you the one that knew the house; you the one that saw; you the one overtaken and denounced; and you spin me agalley-yarnlike that.[104]

Gallied,ppl. adj.(old).—‘Harried; vexed; over-fatigued; perhaps like a galley-slave’ (Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.). In Australia, frightened.

Gallinipper,subs.(West Indian).—A large mosquito.

1847.Porter,Big Bear, etc., p. 119. In the summer time the lakes and snakes … musketoes andgallinippers, buffalo gnats and sandflies … preventedtheInjins from gwine through the country.

1888.Lippincott’s Magazine.I thought thegallinipperswould fly away with me before the seed ticks had sucked all my blood.

Gallipot,subs.(common).—An apothecary.

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

1836.M. Scott,Cringle’s Log, ch. xiv. In truth, sir, I thought our surgeon would be of more use than any outlandishgallipotthat you could carry back.

1848.Thackeray,Book of Snobs, ch. xxvii. ‘Half a-dozen littlegallipots,’ interposed Miss Wirt.

English Synonyms.—Bolus; bum-tender; clyster-giver; clyster-pipe; croaker; crocus; drugs; Ollapod (from a creation of the Younger Coleman’s); gage-monger; Galen (from the great physician); jakes-provider; pill-box; pill-merchant; pills; squirt; salts-and-senna; squire of the pot.

French Synonyms.—Un mirancu(obsolete: a play onmire en cul, respecting whichcf., Béralde, in Molière,Malade Imaginaire: ‘On voit bien que vous n’avez pas accoutumé de parler à des visages’);un limonadier de postérieurs(popular:cf., ‘bum-tender’);un flûtencul(common);un insinuant(popular: one who ‘insinuates’ the clyster-pipe).

German Synonyms.—Rokeach,Raukeach, orRaukack(from the Hebrew).

Gallivant,verb.(colloquial).—1. To gad about with, or after, one of the other sex; to play the gallant; to ‘do the agreeable.’

1838.Dickens,Nicholas Nickleby, ch. lxiv. You were out all day yesterday, andgallivantingsomewhere, I know.

1862.H. Beecher Stowe, inThe Independent, 27 Feb. What business had he to flirt andgallivantall summer with Sally Kittridge?

1886.Hawley Smart,Struck Down, xi. The ramparts is a great place forgallivanting.

1863.H. Kingsley,Austin Elliot, i., 112. It’s them gals, Mr. Austin. Come in afore she sees you, else she’ll not be at home. She isgallivantingin the paddock with Captain Hertford.

2. (colloquial).—Totrapes(q.v.); to fuss; to bustle about.

1859.Boston Post, 10 Dec. Senator Seward isgallivantinggaily about Europe. Now at Compiègne, saying soft things to the Empress and studying despotism, now treading the battle-field of Waterloo, then back at Paris, and so on.

1871.C. D. Warner,My Summer in a Garden. More than half the Lima beans, though on the most attractive sort of poles, which budded like Aaron’s rod, wentgallivantingoff to the neighboring grape trellis.

1848.Ruxton,Far West, p. 145. The three remaining brothers were absent from the Mission … Fray Jose,gallivantingat Pueblo de los Angeles.

1863.Norton,Lost and Saved, p. 255. A pretty story, if, when her services were most wanted by the person who paid for them, she was to be gadding andgallivantingafter friends of her own.

1865.M. E. Braddon,Henry Dunbar, ch. x. A pretty thing it would have been if your pa had come all the way from India to find his only daughtergallivantingat a theaytre.

1870.London Figaro, 6 Dec. You’re never content but when you’regalavantingabout somewhere or other.[105]

Gallivate,verb(American).—To frisk; to ‘figure about’;cf.,Gallivant.

Gallon.What’s a gallon of rum among one?phr.(American).—The retort sarcastic; applied,e.g., to those with ‘eyes too big for their stomach’; to disproportionate ideas of the fitness of things, and so forth.

Gallon Distemper,subs. phr.(common).—1. Delirium tremens; (2.) the lighter after-effects of drinking.

English Synonyms.—(1) For the former, barrel-fever; black-dog; blue-devils; blue Johnnies (Australian); B. J’s. (idem.); blues; bottle-ache; D. T.; horrors; jim-jams; jumps; pink-spiders; quart-mania; rams; rats; shakes; snakes in the boots; trembles; triangles; uglies.

2. For the latter: a head; hot-coppers; a mouth; a touch of the brewer; a sore head (Scots).

French Synonyms.—Avoir mal aux cheveux(familiar = the hair-ache);les papillons noirs(Cf., pink spiders; also = hypochondria);avoir fumé dans une pipe neuve(= sick of a new clay).

Galloper,subs.(old).—1. A blood horse; a hunter.

1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. The toby gill clapped his bleeders to hisgalloperand tipped the straps the double.

2. (military).—An aide-de-camp.

Gallow-grass,subs. phr.(old).—Hemp. [i.e., halters in the rough.]

1578.Lyte,Trans. of Dodoens History of Plantes, fol. 72. Hempe is called in … English, Neckweede, andgallowgrass.

Gallows,subs.(old).—1. A rascal; a wretch deserving the rope.

1594.Shakspeare,Love’sLabour’sLost, v., 2. A shrewd unhappygallowstoo.

1754.B. Martin,Eng. Dict.(2nd ed.). s.v. = a wicked rascal.

1837.Dickens,Oliver Twist. (To Oliver). Now younggallows.

1838.Jas. Grant,Sketches in London, ch. ii., p. 58. Blow me tight, younggallows, if I don’t pound your ribs to powder!

2. (common: generallyin. pl.=Gallowses).—A pair of braces.

1835.Haliburton,Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xv. Chock-full of spring, like the wire end of a bran new pair of trousergalluses.

1848.Durivage,Stray Subjects, p.168. If I wouldn’t spile his picter bust my boots andgallowses.

1851–61.H. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 431. The braces, which in some parts of the country are called ‘gallowses.’

c.1852.Traits of American Humor, p. 58. Hole on, dod drot you, wait till I unbutton mygallowses.

1864.James, etc.,Italian-English Dict.Gallowses,batilla.

1883.G. A. S[ala], inIll. Lond. News, Sept. 22, p. 275, c. i. Braces (which, when I was young, used, in the north of England, to be known by the expressive name ofgallowses.)

Adv.(old).—Excessively; same asbloody,bleeding, (q.v.), etc. (Asadj.) great; uncommon; real.

c.1551.L. Shepherd.John Bonin Arber’sGarner, Vol. IV., p. 109. Ye, are much bound to God for such a spittle holiness. Agallowsgift!

1789.Parker,Life’s Painter, p. 120. Some they pattered flash withgallowsfun and joking.

1827.Egan,Anecdotes of the Turf, etc., p. 44. Then your blowen will waxgallowshaughty! [Also quoted in notes toDon Juan.][106]

1830.Lytton,Paul Clifford, p. 293. (ed. 1854). Ah, Dame Lobkin, if so be as our little Paul vas a vith you, it would be agallowscomfort to you in your latter hend!

1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, III., 90. I’ll be smothered if I’m going to look down thatgallowslong chimney.

1861.H. Kingsley,Ravenshoe, ch. xli. And the pleece come in, and gotgalluswell kicked about the head.

1869.Greenwood,Seven Curses of London, p. 244. Put it on your face sogallusthick that the devil himself won’t see through it.

Gallows-bird(alsoNewgate-bird),subs.(common).—1. A son of the rope; an habitual criminal; a vagabond or scoundrel, old or young; a crack-rope or wag-halter (Cotgrave); a gallows-clapper (Florio). Fr.,gibier de Cayenne, orde potence.

1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v. One that deserves hanging.

1822.Scott,Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xi. That verygallows-birdwere enough to corrupt a whole ante-chamber of pages.

2. (common).—A corpse on, or from, the gallows.

1861.Reade,Cloister and Hearth, ch. xxviii. I ne’er minced (dissected) ape norgallows-bird.

Gallows-faced,adj.(old).—Evil-looking; hang-dog. Alsogallows-looking.

1766.H. Brooke,Fool of Quality, ii. 16. Art thou there, thou rogue, thou hang-dog, thougallows-facedvagabond?

1768.Goldsmith,Good-natured Man, Act v. Hold him fast, he has thegallowsin hisface.

1837.Barham, I. L. (Misadv. at Margate). A littlegallows-lookingchap—dear me! what could he mean?

Gallows-minded,adj.(colloquial).—Criminal in habit and idea; also, evil-hearted.

Gallowsness,subs.(old).—Rascality; recklessness; mischievousness.

1859.G. Eliot,Adam Bede, ch. vi. I never knew your equal forgallowsness.

Gallows-ripe,adj.(old).—Ripe for the rope.

1837.Carlyle,French Revolution, Pt. II., bk. v., ch. iii. Loose again, as one not yetgallows-ripe.

Gallus.—SeeGallows.

Gally-foist.—SeeGalley-foist.

Gallyslopes,subs.(Old Cant).—Breeches. For synonyms,seeKicks.

Galoot(alsogallootandgeeloot),subs.(general).—A man (sometimes in contempt); also (in America) a worthless fellow (or thing,seequot. 1888); a rowdy; acad(q.v.).

1835.Marryat,Jacob Faithful, ch. xxxiv. Four greatergallootswere never picked up, but never mind that.

1869.S. L. Clemens(Mark Twain)Innocents at Home, p. 22. He could lam anygalootof his inches in America.

1871.John Hay,Jim Bludso. I’ll hold her nozzle agin the bank Till the lastgaloot’sashore.

1885.Saturday Review, Feb. 7, p. 167.‘I’ll never draw a revolver on a man again as long as I live.’… ‘Guess I’ll go for thegalootwith a two-scatter shoot-gun.’

1888.New York Tribune, May 16. It is better to have a Carrot for a President than a dead beat for a son-in-law. In this way we again score a live beat on thegaloot.

1892.R. L. StevensonandL. Osbourne,The Wrecker, p. 137. ‘My dear boy, I may be agalootabout literature, but you’ll always be an outsider in business.’

On the gay galoot,adv. phr.(common).—On the spree.

1892.Milliken,’Arry Ballads, p. 3. I’m offon the gay galootsomewheres.[107]

GaloptiousorGaluptious,adj.(popular).—Delightful; a general superlative.

1887.Judy, 21 Sept., p. 140. Four young ladies represented thegalopshussum of 20,000,000 dollars.

Galore(alsogalloreandgolore),adv.(old; now recognised).—In abundance; plenty. [Irish and Gaelicgo leor= in plenty.]

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

1848.Ruxton,Life in the Far West, p 14.Galoreof alcohol to ratify the trade.

1856.C. Reade,Never Too Late, ch. lx. He found roguesgalore, and envious spirits that wished the friends ill.

1891.Licensed Vic. Mirror, 30 Jan., p. 1, c. 1. Of chit-chat this week we havegalore, and the difficulty is how to sift the wheat from the chaff.

Galumph,verb.(American).—To bump along (Onomatopœia).

1888.New York World, 13 May. The young man tackled the driver of a green bobtail car thatgalumphedthrough Lewis Street at a high rate of speed.

Galvanised Yankee,subs. phr.(American Civil War).—AGrey-back(q.v.) who took the oath to the North and served in its armies.

Gam,subs.(thieves’).—1. Pluck; gameness.

1888.Cassell’s Saturday Journal, 8 Dec., p. 260. I’m not so sure about his lack of cunnin’, speed, orgam.

2. (American thieves’).—Stealing (Matsell, 1859).

Verb.(American thieves’).—1. To steal.

2. (American).—To engage in social intercourse; to make a call; to have a chat.SeeGamming.

Gamaliel,subs.(colloquial).—A pedant; a person curious of the letter and the form:e.g., ‘theseGamalielsof the theory’ = these ultra-puritans, to whom the spirit is nothing.

Gamaruche,subs.(venery).—SeeCunnilingistandCock-Teaser.Verb(venery).—To irrumate; toBag-pipe(q.v.). Also tocunnilinge(q.v.). Fr.,gamahucher.

Gamb(orGam),subs.(old).—A leg. In use also in this sense as an heraldic term. [It.,gambe; Fr.,jambe; probably through Lingua Franca.] For synonyms,seeDrumsticksandPins.

1789.Geo. Parker,Life’s Painter, p. 143. If a man has bow legs, he has queergams,gamsbeing cant for legs.

1796.Grose,Vulg. Tongue(3rd ed.), s.v.

1819.Moore,Memorial, p. 61. Back to his home, with totteringgams.

1887.Henley,Villon’s Good Night. At you I merely lift mygam.

[To flutter a gam= to dance;to lift a gam= to break wind;to gam it= to walk; to run away;to leg it(q.v.)].

Gamble,subs.(colloquial).—A venture: aflutter(q.v.).

1892.R. L. StevensonandL. Osbourne,The Wrecker, p. 250. And you know the Flying Scud was the biggestgambleof the crowd.

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