Gambler,subs.(old, now recognised).Seequots.1778.Bailey,Eng. Dict.Gambler, a guinea-dropper; one class of sharpers.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue.Gambler, a sharper; a tricking gamester.1816.Johnson,Eng. Dict.(11th ed.).Gambler, a cant word, I suppose. A knave whose practice it is to invite the unwary to game and cheat them.[108]1890.Cassell’s Enc. Dict.Gambler, one given to playing for a stake.Gambol,subs.(booking clerks’).—A railway ticket.1882.Daily News, 6 Sept., p. 2, c. 5. … Mr. Chance [the magistrate] asked whatgambolsmeant. The inspector said doubtless the railway tickets.Gam-cases,subs.(old). Stockings (Parker,Life’s Painter). [Fromgam= leg +case.]Game,subs.(old).—1. The proceeds of a robbery;swag(q.v.).1676.Warning for Housekeepers.Song. When that we have bit the bloe, we carry away thegame.2. (old).—A company of whores. Agame-pullet= a young prostitute, or a girl inclined to lechery;cf.,adj., sense 8.1690.B. E.,New Dictionary, s.v. … also a Bawdy house, lewd women.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.game… Mother, have you anygame, Mother, have you any girls?3. (old).—A gull; a simpleton. For synonyms,seeBuffleandCabbage-head.1690. B. E.,New Dictionary.Game,c.Bubbles drawn in to be cheated.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.4. (thieves’).—Specifically,the game= thieving; also (nautical), slave trading; and (venery), the practice of copulation (e.g., good atthe game= an expert and vigorous bedfellow.Cf.,Shakspeare,Troilus, iv., 5, ‘Spoils of opportunity, daughters of thegame’). In quot. (1639) it would seem thathen of the game= a shrew, a fighting woman.1639–61.Rump, ii., 185. ‘Free Parliament Litany.’ From a dunghill Cock and aHen of the Game.1640.Ladies’ Parliament.Stamford she is forthe game, She saies her husband is to blame, For her part she loves a foole, If he hath a good toole.1668.Etheredge,She Would if She Could, i., 1. A gentleman should not have gone out of his chambers but some civil officer of thegameor other would have … given him notice where he might have had a course or two in the afternoon.17(?).Burns,Merry Muses, ‘Jenny Macraw’ (old song). Jenny Macraw was a bird ofthe game.1839.Brandon,Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, Glossary. Onthe game—thieving.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., 263. Whether thegamegot stale, or Peter became honest, is beyond the purport of my communication to settle.1857.Snowden,Mag. Assist.(3rd ed.), p. 444, s.v.1859.Matsell,Vocabulum,or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v. The particular line of rascality the rogue is engaged in; thieving; cheating.1860.Chambers’ Journal, Vol. 13, p. 281. I asked him if he meant by a trading voyage, thegame.5. (colloquial).—A source of amusement; alark(q.v.); abarney(q.v.); as,e.g., It was such agame!6. (colloquial).—A design; trick; object; line of conduct:e.g., What’s your littlegame= What are you after? Also, None of your littlegames! = None of your tricks!SeeHigh Old Game.1854.Whyte Melville,General Bounce, ch. ix.Honesty, indeed! if honesty’s thegame, you’ve a right to your share, what Mrs. Kettering intended you should have.1857.Ducange Anglicus,The Vulg. Tongue, p. 9.Gamen. Intention. ‘What’s yourgame?’ or, ‘What are you up to?’ (very generally used).1870.Standard, 27 Sept. If we accept the meanergamewhich theTimesindicates for us, it can only be by deliberate choice.1879.Justin McCarthy,Donna Quixote, ch. xiii. Come, what’s your littlegame?[109]1883.Edw. E. Morris, inLongman’s Mag., June, p. 176. A youth, who left England, and then carried on the samegamein Australia.1889.Standard, 1 May, p. 5, c. 1. The ‘gameof law and order’ is not up, in Paris.1890.Punch, 30 Aug., p. 97. Mug’sgame! They’ll soon find as the Marsters ain’t going to be worried and welched.1891.J. Newman,Scamping Tricks, p. 46. She knew how to workthe gameof fascination right.1892.R. L. StevensonandL. Osbourne,The Wrecker, p. 349, ‘It was the thing in your times, that’s right enough; but you’re old now, andthe game’sup.’Adj.(old).—1. Plucky; enduring; full of spirit andbottom(q.v.). [Cock-pit and pugilists’. The word may be said to have passed into the language with the rise to renown of Harry Pearce, surnamed theGame Chicken.]1747.Capt. Godfrey,Science of Defence, p. 64. Smallwood (a boxer) is thoroughgame, with judgment equal to any, and superior to most.1819.Moore,Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 57. Pitying raised from earth thegameold man.1821.P. Egan,Tom and Jerry(ed. 1891), p. 38. Tom, however, was toogameto acknowledge any sort of alarm at this slight visitation.1823.E. Kent,Mod. Flash Dict.Game, s.v. Sturdy, hardy, hardened.1827.Reynolds,Peter Corcoran,The Fancy. ‘The Field of Tothill.’ The highest in the fancy—all thegameones, Who are not very much beneath her weight.1855.A. Trollope,The Warden, ch. viii. He was a most courageous lad,gameto the backbone.1891.Licensed Vict. Gaz., 19 June, p. 395. The round had lasted sixteen minutes, and no one present had ever seengameror more determined fighting.2. (common).—Ready; willing; prepared. [Also from cock-fighting.Seesense 1].1836.Dickens,Pickwick, p. 99, (ed. 1857). ‘All alive to-day, I suppose?’ ‘Regulargame, sir.’1856.Reade,Never Too Late,ch. xxi. I’mgameto try.1865.Bentley, p. 182, ‘The Excursion Train.’ Again to London back we came The day the excursion ticket said, And really both of us feltgameTo travel round the world instead.1880.Punch’s Almanack.Got three quid; have cried a go with Fan,Gameto spend my money like a man.1891.Farjeon,The Mystery of M. Felix, p. 103. ‘I’mgame,’ said Sophy, to whom any task of this kind was especially inviting.1891.Hume Nisbet,Bail Up!p. 51. ‘Yes, I amgamey, you bet!’ exclaimed the Chinaman, softly.1891.J. Newman,Scamping Tricks, p. 121. It is nearly midnight. I amgamefor another hour, are you?3. (old).—Lame; crooked; disabled: as inGame Leg.1787.Grose,Prov. Glossary.Game-leg, a lame leg.1825.Scott,St. Ronan’s Well, ch. i. Catching hold of the devil’sgameleg with his episcopal crook.1851.G. Borrow,Lavengro, ch. lxvii., p. 204 (1888). Mr. Platitude, having what is vulgarly called agameleg, came shambling into the room.1875.Jas. Payn,Walter’s Word, ch. i. Well, you see, old fellow, with agame-arm (his left arm is in a sling), and agame-leg (he has limped across the platform with the aid of his friend, and also of a crutch), one feels a little helpless.4. (thieves’).—Knowing; wide-awake; and (of women)Flash(q.v.), or inclined to venery.E.g.,Game-cove= an associate of thieves;Game-woman = a prostitute:i.e., a woman who isgame(sense 2);Game-pullet(Grose) = a girl that will show sport, a femalegame-cock;game-ship(old) = a ship whose commander and officers could be corrupted by bribes to allow the cargo to be stolen (Clark Russell).[110]1676.Etheredge,Man of Mode, ii. Go on, be thegamemistress of the town and entice all our young fops as fast as they come from travel.Cock of the Game,subs. phr.(old).—A champion; an undoubted blood; a star of magnitude (cock-pit).1719.Durfey,Pills, iii., 329. Now all you tame gallants, you that have the name, And would accounted becocks of the game.1822.Scott,Nigel, xiv. I have seen a dung-hill chicken that you meant to have picked clean enough; it will be long ere his lordship ruffles a feather with acock of the game.To make game of,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To turn into ridicule; to delude; to humbug.1671.Milton,Samson, 1331. Do they not seek occasion of new quarrels, On my refusal, to distress me more; Orake a game ofmy calamities?1690. B. E.,New Dictionary. What yougameme? c. do you jeer me, or pretend to expose me tomake aMay-game ofme?1745.Hist. of Coldstream Guards, 25 Oct. If the militia are reviewed to-morrow by his Majesty, the soldiers of the third regiment of Guards are to behave civilly and not to laugh or tomake any game ofthem.To die game,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To maintain a resolute attitude to the last; to show no contrition.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue. Todie game, to suffer at the gallows without showing any signs of fear or repentance.1815.Scott,Guy Mannering, ch. liv. The ruffian lay perfectly still and silent. ‘He’s gaun todie gameony how,’ said Dinmont.1836.Dickens,Pickwick(ed. 1857), p. 363. I say that the coachman did not run away; but that hedied game—gameas pheasants; and I won’t hear nothin’ said to the contrary.1869.Spencer,Study of Sociology, ch. viii., p. 183 (9th ed.). Nor should we forget thegame-cock, supplying, as it does, a word of eulogy to the mob of roughs who witness the hanging of a murderer, and who half condone his crime if hedies game.1871.Times, 30 Jan.Critique on London, etc. The principal was acquitted, and though his accomplices were hung in Pall Mall at the scene of their act, theydied game.To get against the game,verb. phr.(American).—To take a risk; to chance it. [From the game of poker].To play the game,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To do a thing properly; to do what is right and proper.1889.Geoffrey Drage,Cyril, ch. vii. I really think he is … notplaying the game.The first game ever played,subs. phr.(venery).—Copulation. For synonyms,seeGreensandRide.Gamecock,adj.(old).—Hectoring; angry; valiant out of place.1838.Lever,Handy Andy. Smoke and fire is my desire, So blaze away mygamecocksquire.Gameness,subs.(colloquial).—Pluck; endurance; the mixture of spirit and bottom.1861.Hughes,Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xxiv. There was no doubt about hisgameness.1884.Referee, 23 March, p. 1, c. 4. Carter fought with greatgameness, but he never had a look in.Gamester,subs.(old).—1. A prostitute. For synonyms,seeBarrack-hackandTart.1598.Shakspeare,All’s Well, v. 3.She’simpudent, my lord, and was a commongamesterto the camp.1614.Jonson,Bartholomew Fair,ii. 1. Ay, ay,gamesters, mocke a plain soft wench of the suburbs, do.[111]1620.Percy,Folio MSS., p. 404. Be not att ffirst to nice nor coye whengamstersyou are courtinge.2. (old).—A ruffler; a gallant; a wencher; a man fit and ready for anything; also a player.1639–61.Rump, i., 253, ‘A Medley.’ Room for agamesterthat flies at all he sees.1676.Etheredge,Man of Mode, v., 1. Live it also like a frankgamester, on the square.Gamey,adj.(colloquial).—1. High-smelling; offensive to the nose; half-rotten.2. (colloquial).—Frisky; plucky.1843.Dickens,Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xi. There’s somethinggameyin it, young ladies, ain’t there.1869.S. Bowles,Our New West, p. 275. Horses are fresh and fat andgamey.Gaminess,subs.(colloquial).—The malodorousness proceeding from decay and—by implication—filthiness.Gaming-house,subs.(old).—A house of ill-repute—hell, tavern, or stews.1611.Cotgrave,Dictionarie,Berlan, a common tippling house, ahouse of gaming, or of any other disorder.Gammer,subs.(old).—An old wife; a familiar address; the correlative ofgaffer(q.v.).1551.Gammer Gurton’s Needle(Title).1706.Hudibras Redivivus, Part VI. And monkey faces, yawns, and stammers, Delude the pious dames andgammersTo think their mumbling guides precation So full of heavenly inspiration.1842.Tennyson,The Goose. Ran Gaffer, stumbledgammer.Gamming,subs.(nautical).—A whaleman’s term for the visits paid by crews to each other at sea.1884.G. A. Sala, inIllus. Lon. News, July 19, p. 51, c. 2. When two or more American whalers meet in mid-ocean, and there are no whales in sight, it is customary to tack topsails and exchange visits. This social intercourse the whalemen callgamming… I cannot help fancying that ‘gam’ is in greater probability an abbreviation of the Danish ‘gammen,’ sport, or that it has something to do with the nautical ‘gammoning,’the lasting by which the bowsprit is bound firmly down to the cutwater.1890.Century, Aug.To gammeans to gossip. The word occurs again and again in the log-books of the old whalers.Gammon,subs.(colloquial).—1. Nonsense; humbug; deceit. Sometimesgammon and spinach. Nogammon= no error, no lies.[Skeatsays from Mid. Eng.Gamen= a game; butR. Sherwood(Eng. Dict., 1660), gives ‘a beggar or seller of gammons of Bacon; and inCotgrave(1611),jambonnier= a beggar, also a seller of bacon, or gammons of bacon.’]c.1363.Chester Plays, i. 102. Thisgammonshall begin.1781.G. Parker,View of Society, I. 208. I thought myself pretty much a master ofgammon, but the Billingsgate eloquence of Mrs. P. … exceeded me.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.Gamon. What rumgamonthe old file pitched to the flat.1823.Mod. Flash Dict.gammon—Falsehood and bombast.1823–45.Hood,Poems(ed. 1846), vi., p. 96, Behold yon servitor of God and Mammon, Who, binding up his Bible with his ledger, Blends Gospel texts with tradinggammon.1836.Dickens,Pickwick, ch. xxvii. Lord bless their little hearts, they thinks its all right, and don’t know no better, but they’re the wictims o’gammon, Samivel, they’re the wictims o’gammon.[112]1837.Barham, I. L.,Blasphemer’s Warning. When each tries to humbug his dear Royal Brother, in Hopes by suchgammonto take one another in.1839.Comic Almanack, Jan. But if you wish to save your bacon, Give us lessgammon.1849.Dickens,David Copperfield, ch. xxii., p. 199. ‘Oh, my goodness, how polite we are!’ exclaimed Miss Mowcher.… ‘What a world ofgammon and spinnageit is!’1890.Hume Nisbet,BailUp!p. 92. I’m real grit and nogammon.2. (thieves’).—A confederate whose duty is to engage the attention of a victim during robbery; abonnet(q.v.) orcover(q.v.).Verb(colloquial).—1. To humbug: to deceive; to take in with fibs; tokid(q.v.).1700.Step to the Bath, quoted in Ashton’sSoc. Life in Reign of Queen Anne, v. ii., p. 111. We went to theGroom Porter’s… there was Palming, Hodging, Loaded Dice, Levant, andgammoning, with all the Speed imaginable.1823.Moncrieff,Tom and Jerry, ii., 6. Vile I can get fifteen bob a day bygammoninga maim, the devil may vork for me.1825.Buckstone,The Bear Hunters, ii. There! that’s just the way shegammonsme at home.1836.M. Scott,Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. ii. Why, my lad, we shallseeto-morrow morning; but yougammonsso bad about the rhino that we must prove you a bit; so Kate, my dear,—to the pretty girl who had let me in.1836.Dickens,Pickwick, ch. xiii. So then they pours him out a glass o’ wine, andgammonshim about his driving, and gets him into a reg’lar good humour.1837.Barham,Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Misadventures at Margate.’ And ’cause hegammonsso the flats, ve calls him Veeping Bill!1840.Hood,Tale of a Trumpet. Lord Bacon couldn’t havegammonedher better.1890.Hume Nisbet,Bail Up!p. 70. Oh, don’t try togammonme, you cunning young school-miss.English Synonyms.—To bam; to bamblustercate; to bamboozle; to bambosh; to barney; to be on the job; to best; to bilk; to blarney; to blow; to bosh; to bounce; to cob; to cod; to cog; to chaff; to come over (or the artful, or Paddy, or the old soldier over) one; to cram; to do; to do brown; to doctor; to do Taffy; to fake the kidment; to flare up; to flam; to flummox; to get at (round, or to windward of) one; to gild the pill; to give a cock’s egg; to gravel; to gull; to haze; to jimmify; to jaw; to jockey; to jolly; to kid; to make believe the moon is made of green cheese (Cotgrave); to mogue; to palm off on; to pickle; to plant; to plum; to poke bogey (or fun) at; to promoss; to put the kibosh on; to put in the chair, cart, or basket; to pull the leg; to queer; to quiz; to roast; to roorback; to run a bluff, or the shenanigan; to sell; to send for pigeon’s milk; to sit upon; to send for oil of strappum, etc.; to shave; to slum, or slumguzzle; to smoke; to snack; to soap, soft soap, sawder, or soft sawder; to spoof; to stick; to stall; to string, or get on a string; to stuff; to sawdust, or get on sawdust and treacle; to suck; to suck up; to sugar; to swap off; to take a rise out of; to rot; to tommy-rot; to take in, or down; to take to town; to take to the fair; to tip the traveller; to try it on; to throw dust in the eyes; to throw a tub to a whale; to pepper; to throw pepper in the eyes; to use the pepper box; to whiffle; to work the poppycock racket (Irish-American). [Note.—Many of the foregoing are used substantively,e.g., a bam, a barney, a[113]sell, bambosh = nonsense; deceit; a hoax, etc.]French Synonyms.—Donner un pont à faucher(also, thieves’ = to lay a trap);dindonner(popular: fromdindon= a gull, a gobbler);battre à la Parisienne(thieves’: = to cheat; to come the cockney);se ficher de la fiole, orde la bobine,de quelqu’un(popular: to get on with it,i.e., to try to fool);envoyer chercher le parapluie de l’escouade(military:parapluie de l’escouade= the squad’s umbrella: to send on a fool’s errand;cf., to send for pigeon’s milk, etc.);la faire à quelqu’un(popular);faucher(thieves’ = to best);enfoncer(familiar: to let in: also to surpass);cabasser(popular);monter des couleurs,le Job, orun schtosse(= to do up brown);faire le coup, ormonter le coup, à quelqu’un(popular: = to take a rise);bouffer la botte(military: = tosell(q.v.) orbilk, as a woman refusing congress after receiving thesocket-money(q.v.) in advance);bouler(popular: also towhop(q.v.));être l’autre(popular: = toget left(q.v.));mettre dans le sac(thieves’: = to bag,i.e., to trap);collerorposer un lapin(popular: = tomake a hare of(q.v.); also more generally, tobilk(q.v.));emblémer(thieves’: = to stick);faire voir le tour(popular: = to show how it’s done;connaitre le tour= to know the game);faire la queue à quelqu’un(popular: = to pull one’s leg);tirer la carotte(thieves’);canarder(popular: = to bring down);empaler(popular: = to stick);passer des curettes(popular: = to befool);monter une gaffe(popular:gaffe= a joke, a hoax);jobarder(popular:job= simpleton, and is the same asjobelin);mener en bateau un pante pour le refaire(thieves’: = to take a man on);monter un bateau(popular);promener quelqu’un(popular:cf., to take to town);compter des mistoufles(fam.:mistoufle= a scurvy trick);gourrer(popular: = to bosh);affluer(fromflouer= to cheat, to diddle);rouster(popular and thieves’);affûter(thieves’ = to run down, also to make unlawful profits);bouler(popular);juiffer(popular = to Jew);pigeonner(popular topluck a pigeon(q.v.));flancher(popular = tokid(q.v.));faire la barbe(popular = toshave(q.v.));monterorhisser un gandin(thieves’ = literally to hoist a swell);fourrerormettre dedans(popular = to take in and do for);planter un chou(fam.);être marron(popular);interver dans les vannes(= to let oneself be sucked-up);monter un godan à quelqu’un(popular);griller quelqu’un(popular = to cuckold);passer en lunette(popular);goujonner(i.e., to hook like a gudgeon);fourguer(thieves’ = also tofence(q.v.));pousser une blague(popular = to cram);paqueliner(thieves’);se baucher(thieves’);balancer(popular).German Synonyms.—Zinkennen an Almoni peloni(= to send one after Cheeks the Marine [q.v.].Almoniandpeloniare used mockingly in combination and also singly for a non-existent person);anbeulen(= to fool);jemanden arbeiten(= to haze, to cram);bekaspern, orbekaschpern, orbeschwatzen(= to fool: fromHeb.kosaw= to cheat).Spanish Synonyms.—Disparar(= also to talk nonsense; to[114]blunder);hacer á uno su dominguillo, orhacer su dominguillo de uno(colloquial:dominguillo= a figure made of straw and used at bull fights to enrage the bulls);freirsela á alguno(freir= to fry: to deceive:Cf., toroast, or have oneon toast);pegar una tostada á alguno(= to put one on toast: more generally to play a practical joke);echar de baranda(= toembroider(q.v.));bola(subs.= humbug; a hoax);borrufalla(subs.= bombast);chicolear(= to jest in gallantry);engatusar(= to rob, or hurt; also to trick without intention);candonguear(also = to jeer);abrir á chasco(also to jeer);encantar(= to enchant).Italian Synonyms.Ganezzarre;dar la stolfa;traversare(cf.,to come over);scamuffare(= to disguise oneself).2. (thieves’).—To act asbonnet(q.v.) orcover(q.v.) to a thief.Intj.(colloquial).—Nonsense;Skittles!(q.v.).1827.R. B. Peake,Comfortable Lodgings, i., 3.Sir H.(aside).Gammon!1836.M. Scott,Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. vii.Gammon, tell that to the marines: you’re a spy, messmate.1854.Thackeray,The Rose and the Ring, p. 100. Ha! said the king, you dare to saygammonto your sovereign.1861.A. Trollope,Framley Parsonage, ch. iv.Gammon, said Mr. Gowerby; and as he said it he looked with a kind of derisive smile into the clergyman’s face.Gammon and Patter,subs. phr.(thieves’).—1. (old).—The language used by thieves; 2. (modern).—A meeting; apalaver. (q.v.). 3. Commonplace talk of any kind.1789.Geo. Parker,Life’s Painter, p. 150.Gammon and Patteris the language of cant, spoke among themselves: when one of them speaks well, another says hegammonswell.1811.Lex. Bal.s.v.Gammon and Patter. Commonplace talk of any kind.To give(orkeep)in gammon.verb. phr.(thieves’).—To engage a person’s attention while a confederate is robbing him.1719.Capt. Alex. Smith,Thieves’ Grammar, s.v.1821.Haggart,Life, p. 51. Bagrie called the woman of the house,kept her in gammonin the back room, while I returned and brought off the till.Ibid., p. 68. I whidded to the Doctor and hegave me gammon.To Gammon Lushy(orqueer, etc.).verb. phr.(thieves’).—To feign drunkenness, sickness, etc.To Gammon the Twelve.verb. phr.(thieves’).—To deceive the jury.1819.Vaux,Life. A man who has been tried by a criminal court and by a plausible defence has induced the jury to acquit him, or to banish the capital part of the charge and so to save his life, is said by his associates to havegammoned the twelvein prime twig, alluding to the number of jurymen.Gammoner,subs.(old).—1. One whogammons(q.v.); a nonsense-monger. Fr.,bonisseur de loffitudes;blagueur;mangeur de frimes.1823.Moncrieff,Tom and Jerryi. Fly to thegammoners, and awake to everything that’s going on.2. (thieves’).—A confederate who covers the action of his chief; abonnet, acover, astall, all whichsee.[115]1821.Haggart,Life, p. 66. The Doctor played the part of thegammonerso well that I made my escape without being observed.Gammy,subs.(tramps’).—1. Cant.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Do you stoll thegammy? Do you understand cant?2. (common).—A nickname for a lameter; aHopping Jesus; (q.v.).3. (Australian).—A fool.1892.Hume Nisbet,Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 191. Well, of all thegammiesyou are the gammiest, Slowboy, to go and string yourself to a woman, when you might have had the pick of Melbourne.Adj.(tramps’).—1. Bad; impossible. Applied to householders of whom it is known that nothing can be got.SeeBeggars’ Marks.Gammy-vial= a town in which the police will not allow unlicensed hawking. (Vial= Fr.,Ville).1839.Brandon,Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime,Glossary, s.v.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab., i., 466. No villages that are in any waygammyare ever mentioned in these papers.Ibid., i., 404. These are left by one of the school at the houses of the gentry, a mark being placed on the door post of such as are bone orgammy, in order to inform the rest of ‘the school’ where to call, and what houses to avoid.2. Forged; false; spurious: as agammy-moneker= a forged signature;gammy-lour= counterfeit money, etc.1839.Brandon,Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, s.v.1857.Snowden,Mag. Assistant(3rd. ed.), p. 445. Spurious medicine,gammystuff, bad coin,gammy lower, p. 446.1889.C. T. ClarksonandJ. Hall Richardson,Police, p. 321. Bad money (coin).…Gammy lower.3. (theatrical).—Old; ugly.4. (common).—Same asGame, sense 3:e.g., agammyarm = an arm in dock.Gammy-eyed = blind; sore-eyed; or afflicted with ecchymosis in the region of the eyes.Gammy-leg = a lame leg. Also (subs.) a term of derision for the halt and the maimed.Gamp,subs.(common).—1. A monthly nurse; afingersmith(q.v.). [After Mrs. Sarah Gamp, a character inMartin Chuzzlewit(1843).] Also applied to a fussy and gossiping busybody.1864.Sun, 28 Dec. A regulargamp… a fat old dowdy of a monthly nurse.1868.Brewer,Phr. and Fab.(quoted fromDaily Telegraph). Mr. Gathorne Hardy is to look after thegampsand Harrises of the Strand.2. (common).—An umbrella; specifically, one large and loosely-tied; alettuce(q.v.). [The original Sarah always carried one of this said pattern.] Sometimes aSarah Gamp. For synonyms,seeRain-napper.1870.Lond. Figaro, 15 June. Though—shattered, baggy, shiveredgamp!1883.G. R. Sims,Life Boat. He donned his goloshes and shouldered hisgamp.1890.Daily Chron., 5 Mar. Sainte-Beuve insisted that though he was prepared to stand fire he was under no obligation to catch cold, and with hisgampover his head he exchanged four shots with his adversary.1892Ally Sloper, 2 Apr., p. 106, c. 3. I never had a brand new tile, a glossy silk or swagger brown, But I left home without agamp, And rain or hail or snow came down.3. (journalists’).—The Standard.Adj.(common).—Bulging. AlsoGampish.[116]1864.Derby Day, p. 18. I wasn’t joking, there is an air of long-suffering about you, as if you had been mortifying the flesh by carrying agampish umbrellaup Piccadilly, and back again.1881.Mac. Mag., Nov., p. 62. Grasping hisgampumbrella at the middle.Gamut,subs.(artists’).—Tone; general scheme;swim(q.v.). Thusin the gamut= a picture, a detail, or a shade of colour, in tone with its environment.Gan(alsoGane),subs.(old).—The mouth. [A.S.,ganian= to yawn.] Occasionally = throat, lip. For synonyms,seePotato-trap.1512–13.Douglas,Virgil, 250, 29. To behald his ouglie ene twane, His teribill vissage, and his grisliegane.1567.Harman,Caveat(1814), p. 64.Gan, a mouth.1610.Rowland,Martin Mark-all, p. 38. (H. Club’s Rept., 1874).Gan, a mouth.Ibid.A gere peck in thygan.1656.Broome,A Jovial Crew, Act ii. This bowse is better than rombowse, it sets thegana giggling.1671.R. Head,English Rogue, Pt. I., ch. v., p. 49. (1874.)Gan, a lip.1690. B. E.,Cant. Crew.Ganns, the lips.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1881.New York Slang Dict., s.v.Gander,subs.(colloquial).—A married man; in America one not living with his wife; agrass-widower(q.v.).Verb.(old).—To ramble; to waddle (as a goose). Also, to go in quest of women;to grouse(q.v.).1859.H. Kingsley,Geoff. Hamblyn, ch. x. Nell might comeganderingback in one of her tantrums.1861.H. Kingsley,Ravenshoe, ch. xlvii. Sheganderedupstairs to the dressing-room again.Gone Gander.—SeeGone Coon.To see how the gander hops,verb. phr.(American.)—To watch events. A variant of To see how the cat jumps.1847.Porter,Big Bear, p. 96.Seein’ how the gander hoppedI jumped up and hollered, Git out, Tromp, you old raskel!What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander,phr.(common).—A plea for consistency.Gander-month,subs.(common).—The month after confinement; when a certain license (or so it was held) is excusable in the male. AlsoGander-moon, the husband at such a period being called aGander-mooner.Cf.,Buck-hutchandGoose-month.1617.Middleton,A Faire Quarrell, iv., 4. Wonderinggander-mooners.1653.Brome,English MoorinFiue New Playes. I’le keep her at the least thisgander-month, while my fair wife lies-in.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.Gander-party,subs.(common).—A gathering of men; astag-party(q.v.); alsoBull-dance,Gander-gang, etc.Cf.,Hen-party= an assembly of women.Gander-pulling.SeeGoose-riding.Gander’s Wool,subs. phr.(common.)—Feathers.Gang,subs.(old: now recognised).—A troop; a company.1639–61.Rump, i., 228. ‘The Scotch War.’ With his gaygangof Blue-caps all.Ibid.,ii., 104, ‘TheGang; or, the Nine Worthies, etc.’1690. B. E.,Cant. Crew, s.v.Gang, an ill knot or crew of thieves, pickpockets or miscreants; also a society of porters under a regulation.[117]1704.Cibber,Careless Husband, i., 1.Sir C.Who was that other?More.One of Lord Foppington’sgang.1754.Fielding,Jonathan Wild, bk. i., c. 14. What then have I to do in the pursuit of greatness, but to employ agang, and to make the use of thisgangcentre in myself?Idem.bk. iii., c. 14. But in an illegal society organg, as this of ours, it is otherwise.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1859.Matsell,Vocabulum.Gang, company, squad, mob.Ganger,subs.(old: now recognised).—An overseer or foreman of a gang of workmen; one who superintends. For synonyms,seeGovernor.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab., ii., 487. Theganger, or head of the working gang, who receives his orders from the inspector, and directs the men accordingly.1884.Cornhill Mag., June, p. 614, The mother and boy do the work, while the father constitutes himself contractor for andgangerover their labour.Ganymede,subs.(old).—1. A sodomist. For synonyms,seeUsher.1598.Florio,Worlde of Wordes.Catamito, aganimed, an ingle, a boie hired to sinne against nature. [And inCotgrave(1611) underGanymedes; Any boy that’s loved for carnal abuse, an Ingle.]1598.Marston,Satyres, ii. But Ho! Whatganimedeis it doth grace The gallant’s heels.2. (popular).—A pot-boy (i.e., a cup-bearer). The masculine ofhebe(q.v.).1659.Florio-Torriano,Vocabolario.Mescitore, a skinker or filler of wine; also a mingler, aganimede.1841.PunchI., p. 101, c. 1. Lo!Ganymedeappears with a foaming tankard of ale.Gaol-bird,subs.(old: now recognised).—A person who has been often in gaol; an incorrigible rogue. Fr.,un chevronné. For synonyms,seeWrong ’Un.1680.Hist. of Edward II., p. 146. It is the piety and the true valour of an army, which gives them heart and victory; which how it can be expected out of ruffians andgaol-birds, I leave to your consideration.1701.Defoe,True Born Englishman, part II. In print my panegyrics fill the street, And hiredgaol-birds, their huzzas repeat.1762.Smollett,L. Greaves, vol. II., ch. ix. He is become a blackguardgaol-bird.1857.C. Reade,Never Too Late,ch. xi. Thegaol-birdswho piped this tune were without a single exception the desperate cases of this moral hospital; they were old offenders.1882.Pall Mall Gaz., 5 Oct. Liberating thegaol-birdsin Alexandria.Gaoler’s Coach,subs. phr.(old).—A hurdle to the place of execution.1785.Grose.Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.Gap,subs.(venery).—The femalepudendum: alsoSportsman’s gapandwater-gap(q.v.). For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.d.1746.Robertsonof Struan,Poems, p. 84. O gracious Hymen! Cure this dire Mishap, Sew up this mighty rent, or fill thegap.To blow the gap,verb. phr.(old).—The same asto blow the gaff(q.v.).1821.Egan,Real Life, etc., i., 557.He should like to smack the bit withoutblowing the gap.Gaper,subs.(venery).—The femalepudendum. Also,Gaper(andGape)over the Garter. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.Gapes,subs.(colloquial).—A fit of yawning; also the open mouth of astonishment.1818.Austen,Persuasion. Another hour of music was to give delight or thegapes.[118]1838.Haliburton,Clockmaker(ed. 1862), p. 373. But what gave me thegapeswas the scenes (at the theatre).Gapeseed,subs.(common).—1. A cause of astonishment; anything provoking the ignorant to stare with open mouth. Alsoto seek a gape’s nest.1598.Florio,Worlde of Wordes.Ansanare… to go idly loytring vp and downe as we say, to go seeking for a halfepenie worth ofgaping seede.1600.Nashe,Summer’s Last Will, in wks. (Grosart), vi., 144. That if a fellow licensed to beg, Should all his life time go from faire to faire, And buygapeseede, having no businesse there.1690. B. E.,Cant. Crew.Gapeseed, whatever the gazing crowd idly stares and gapes after; as Puppet-shows, Rope-dancers, Monsters and Mountebanks, anything to feed the eye.1694.Poor Robin.’Tis plainly clear, They for theirgapes-seeddo pay dear.1856.N. and Q., 2 S 1., 362. Plenty of persons were sowinggapeseed.1870.B. F. Clark,Mirthfulnessp. 24. Do you wish to buy somegapeseed?1884.Daily News, 8 Oct. Title (at head of sporting column).2. (common).—An open-mouthed loiterer.1885.Sportsman, June 23, p. 2, c. 4. The yearlings bred by Messrs. Graham were offered to a rather select audience of buyers, though the ring was surrounded by a fairly strong crowd ofgapeseeds.Gapped,ppl. adj.(old).—Worsted;floored(q.v.for synonyms).1753.Richardson,Sir Chas. Grandison.I will never meet at hard-edge with her; if I did … I should be confoundedlygapped.Gap-Stopper,subs.(old).—1. A whoremaster. For synonyms,seeMolrower.2. (venery).—Thepenis.[Gap= femalepudendum]. For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick.Gar.Seeby gar!Garble,to garble the coinage,verb. phr.(old).—Seequot. [Garble= to pick and choose.]1875.Jevons,Money, etc., p. 81. A practice amongst money-lenders of picking out the newest coins of full weight for export or re-melting, and passing the light ones into circulation.Garden,subs.(various).—1. (greengrocers’, fruiterers’, etc.) = Covent Garden Market; 2. (theatrical) = Covent Garden Theatre; 3. (diamond merchants’) = Hatton Garden.Cf.,House,Lane, etc.[The Garden(= Covent Garden) was frequently used for the whole neighbourhood, which was notorious as a place of strumpets and stews. Thus,Garden-house= a brothel;Garden-goddess= a woman of pleasure;Garden-gout= the pox or clap;Garden-whore= a low prostitute, etc.]1733.Bailey,Erasmus.When young men by whoring, as it commonly falls out, get the pox, which, by the way of extenuation, they call the CommonGarden-gout.1782.Geo. Parker,Humorous Sketches, p. 90 No more theGardenfemale orgies view.1851–61.W. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. I., p. 85. Not only is theGardenitself all bustle and activity, but the buyers and sellers stream to and from it in all directions, filling every street in the vicinity.1884.Jas. Payn, inCornhill Mag., Mar., p. 257. She [Miss O’Neill] talked of theGardenand ‘the Lane,’ and was very fond of recitation.1890.Tit-Bits, 29 Mar., p. 389, c. 1. Let me describe theGarden.A long, straight street, stretching almost due north and south, from Holborn Circus to Clerkenwell Road.Ibid.c. 2. The cut stones are chiefly sold to the large dealers in theGarden.[119]2. (venery).—The femalepudendum. [The simile is common to all nations, ancient and modern. Shakspeare, in Sonnet 16, seems to play upon this double meaning;e.g., Now stand you on the top of happy hours; And many maiden-gardens, yet unset, With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers.] Alsogarden of eden. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.To put one in the garden,verb. phr.(thieves’).—To defraud a confederate; to keep back part of theRegulars(q.v.), orSwag(q.v.).Gardener,subs.(common).—1. An awkward coachman. [In allusion to the gardener who on occasion drives the carriage.]Cf.,Tea-kettle Coachman.1859.Sala,Twice Round the Clock. Noon: Par. I. He can drive neither to the right nor to the left, nor backwards nor forwards.… A sarcastic saloon omnibus driver behind jeeringly bids him keep moving, accompanying the behest by the aggressive taunt ofgard’ner.2. (venery).—Thepenis.Garden(q.v.) = femalepudendum. AlsoGarden-engine. For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick.Garden-gate,subs. phr.(rhyming).—1. A magistrate. For synonyms,seeBeak.2. (venery).—Thelabia minora. [Garden-hedge= the pubic hair.]Garden-Latin,subs.(colloquial).—Barbarous or sham Latin. AlsoApothecaries’,Bog,Dog, andKitchen-Latin.Garden-Rake,subs. phr.(common).—A tooth-comb. Alsoscratching-rakeorrake.Gardy-Loo,subs.(old Scots).—A warning cry; ‘take care!’ [Fr.gardez’ (vous de) l’eau!Used before emptying slops out of window into the street. Hence the act of emptying slops itself, as in quotation dated 1818.]1771.Smollet,Humphry Clinker, (British Novelists), xxxi., p. 57. At ten o’clock the whole cargo is flung out of a back windore that looks into some street or lane, and the maid callsgardy-looto the passengers, which signifies ‘Lord have mercy on you!’1818.Scott,Heart of Midlothian, ch. xxvii. She had made thegardy-looout of the wrong window.Gargle,subs.(formerly medical students’, now common).—A drink; also generic.Cf.,Lotion, and for synonyms,seeGo.1889.Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 3, c. 1. We’re just going to have agargle—will you join us?Verb.(common).—To drink; to ‘liquor up.’ For synonyms,seeDrinksandLush.1889.Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 5. c. 5. Wegargled.…1891.Morning Advertiser, 2 Mar. It’s my birthday; let’sgargle.Gargle-Factory,subs.(common).—A public house. For synonyms,seeLush Crib.Garn,intj.(vulgar).—A corruption of Go on! Get away with you!1888.Runciman,The Chequers, p. 80.Garn, you farthin’ face! She your neck.1892.Ally Sloper, 19 Mar., p. 90, c. 3.Gar’n, you men ain’t got no sense.1892.National Observer, 6 Feb. p. 307, c. 2. And so simple is the dictum, so redolent of the unlettered Arry that we long to addgarn, oo’re you gettin’ at?[120]Garnish,subs.(old).—1. A fee orfooting(q.v.); specifically one exacted by gaolers and old prisoners from a newcomer. The practice was forbidden by 4 Geo. IV., c. 43, sec. 12. AlsoGarnish-Money.1592.Greene,Quip, in works, xi., 256. Let a poore man be arrested into one of the counters [prisons] … he shall be almost at an angel’s charge, what withgarnish[etc.].1606.T. Dekker,Seven Deadly Sinnes, p. 28 (Arber’s ed.). So that the Counters are cheated of Prisoners, to the great dammage of those that shoulde have their morning’s draught out of thegarnish.1632.Jonson,Magnetic Lady, v. 6. You are content with the ten thousand pounds Defalking the four hundredgarnish-money?1704.Steele,Lying Lover, Act iv., Sc. iv. But there is always some little trifle given to prisoners, they callgarnish.1752.Fielding,Amelia, Bk. I., ch. iii. Mr. Booth … was no sooner arrived in the prison, than a number of persons gathered round him, all demandinggarnish.1759.Goldsmith,The Bee, No. 5, p. 385 (Globeed.). There are numberless faulty expenses among the workmen—clubs,garnishes, freedoms, and such like impositions.1815.Scott,Guy Mannering, ch. xliv. [Jailorloq.] Thirty shillings a week for lodgings, and a guinea forgarnish.2. (thieves’).—Fetters; handcuffs. For synonyms,seeDarbies.Verb.(thieves’).—To fit with fetters: to handcuff.Garret,subs.(common).—1. The head;cockloft(q.v.); orupper storey(q.v.). For synonyms,seecrumpet.1625.Bacon,Apothgm, No. 17. My Lord St. Albans said that wise Nature did Never put her precious jewels into agarretfour stories high, and therefore that exceeding tall men had ever very empty heads.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.1837.Barham,Ingold. Leg.What’s called the claret Flew over thegarret.2. (old).—The fob-pocket.To have one’s garret unfurnished,verb. phr.(common). To be crazy, stupid, lumpish. For synonyms,seeApartmentsandBalmy.Garreteer,subs.(thieves’). A thief whose speciality is to rob houses by entering skylights or garret-windows. Alsodanceranddancing-master. For synonyms,seethieves.2. (journalists’).—An impecunious author; a literary hack.1849–61.Macaulay,Hist. of Eng., ch. xxv.Garreteers, who were never weary of calling the cousin of the Earls of Manchester and Sandwich an upstart.1886.Shelley(quoted inDowden’s Life), i., 47. Show them that we are no Grub-streetgarreteers.1892.National Observer, 18 Mar., p. 453. Has proclaimedurbi et orbithat governments have no business to manufacture specious sentiment by greasing the palms of ignorant and greedygarreteers.Garret-master,subs.(trade).—A cabinet-maker who works on his own account, selling his manufacture to the dealers direct.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab., ii., p. 376. These trading operatives are known by different names in different trades. In the shoe trade, for instance, they are called ‘chamber-masters,’ in the cabinet tradegarret-masters, and in the cooper’s trade the name for them is ‘small trading-masters.’[121]Garrison-hack,subs.(common).—1. A woman given to indiscriminate flirtation with officers at a garrison.1889.Daily Telegraph, 14 Feb. Lord Normantower, Philip’s dearest friend, to whom she, when agarrison-hack, had been engaged, and whom she had thrown over simply because he was poor and prospectless.1890.Athenæum, 8 Feb., p. 176, c. 1. The heroine is agarrison-hack, but the hero is an Australian.2. (common).—A prostitute; a soldier’s trull. For synonyms,seeBarrack HackandTart.Garrotte,subs.(common).—A form of strangulation (seeverb). [From the Spanishla garrota= a method of capital punishment, which consists in strangulation by means of an iron collar.]Verb.(common).—1. A method of robbery with violence, much practised some years ago. The victims were generally old or feeble men and women. Three hands were engaged: thefront-stallwho looked out in that quarter, theback-stallat the rear, and theuglyornasty-manwho did the work by passing his arm round his subject’s neck from behind, and so throttling him to insensibility.1869.Greenwood,Seven Curses of Lond.Committed for trial forgarrottingand nearly murdering a gentleman.1873.Trollope,Phineas Redux, ch. xlvi. In those days there had been muchgarrottingin the streets.2. (cards).—To cheat by concealing certain cards at the back of the neck.Garrotter,subs.(common).—A practitioner ofgarrotting(underverb, sense 1.)1869.Greenwood,Seven Curses of London, p. 201. The delectable epistle was written bygarrotterBill to his brother.Garrotting.1.SeeGarrotte(verb, sense 1).2. (gamblers’).—Hiding a part of one’s hand at the back of the neck for purposes of cheating.Garter,subs.(nautical).—1.in. pl.the irons, or bilboes. For synonyms,seeDarbies.
Gambler,subs.(old, now recognised).Seequots.1778.Bailey,Eng. Dict.Gambler, a guinea-dropper; one class of sharpers.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue.Gambler, a sharper; a tricking gamester.1816.Johnson,Eng. Dict.(11th ed.).Gambler, a cant word, I suppose. A knave whose practice it is to invite the unwary to game and cheat them.[108]1890.Cassell’s Enc. Dict.Gambler, one given to playing for a stake.Gambol,subs.(booking clerks’).—A railway ticket.1882.Daily News, 6 Sept., p. 2, c. 5. … Mr. Chance [the magistrate] asked whatgambolsmeant. The inspector said doubtless the railway tickets.Gam-cases,subs.(old). Stockings (Parker,Life’s Painter). [Fromgam= leg +case.]Game,subs.(old).—1. The proceeds of a robbery;swag(q.v.).1676.Warning for Housekeepers.Song. When that we have bit the bloe, we carry away thegame.2. (old).—A company of whores. Agame-pullet= a young prostitute, or a girl inclined to lechery;cf.,adj., sense 8.1690.B. E.,New Dictionary, s.v. … also a Bawdy house, lewd women.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.game… Mother, have you anygame, Mother, have you any girls?3. (old).—A gull; a simpleton. For synonyms,seeBuffleandCabbage-head.1690. B. E.,New Dictionary.Game,c.Bubbles drawn in to be cheated.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.4. (thieves’).—Specifically,the game= thieving; also (nautical), slave trading; and (venery), the practice of copulation (e.g., good atthe game= an expert and vigorous bedfellow.Cf.,Shakspeare,Troilus, iv., 5, ‘Spoils of opportunity, daughters of thegame’). In quot. (1639) it would seem thathen of the game= a shrew, a fighting woman.1639–61.Rump, ii., 185. ‘Free Parliament Litany.’ From a dunghill Cock and aHen of the Game.1640.Ladies’ Parliament.Stamford she is forthe game, She saies her husband is to blame, For her part she loves a foole, If he hath a good toole.1668.Etheredge,She Would if She Could, i., 1. A gentleman should not have gone out of his chambers but some civil officer of thegameor other would have … given him notice where he might have had a course or two in the afternoon.17(?).Burns,Merry Muses, ‘Jenny Macraw’ (old song). Jenny Macraw was a bird ofthe game.1839.Brandon,Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, Glossary. Onthe game—thieving.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., 263. Whether thegamegot stale, or Peter became honest, is beyond the purport of my communication to settle.1857.Snowden,Mag. Assist.(3rd ed.), p. 444, s.v.1859.Matsell,Vocabulum,or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v. The particular line of rascality the rogue is engaged in; thieving; cheating.1860.Chambers’ Journal, Vol. 13, p. 281. I asked him if he meant by a trading voyage, thegame.5. (colloquial).—A source of amusement; alark(q.v.); abarney(q.v.); as,e.g., It was such agame!6. (colloquial).—A design; trick; object; line of conduct:e.g., What’s your littlegame= What are you after? Also, None of your littlegames! = None of your tricks!SeeHigh Old Game.1854.Whyte Melville,General Bounce, ch. ix.Honesty, indeed! if honesty’s thegame, you’ve a right to your share, what Mrs. Kettering intended you should have.1857.Ducange Anglicus,The Vulg. Tongue, p. 9.Gamen. Intention. ‘What’s yourgame?’ or, ‘What are you up to?’ (very generally used).1870.Standard, 27 Sept. If we accept the meanergamewhich theTimesindicates for us, it can only be by deliberate choice.1879.Justin McCarthy,Donna Quixote, ch. xiii. Come, what’s your littlegame?[109]1883.Edw. E. Morris, inLongman’s Mag., June, p. 176. A youth, who left England, and then carried on the samegamein Australia.1889.Standard, 1 May, p. 5, c. 1. The ‘gameof law and order’ is not up, in Paris.1890.Punch, 30 Aug., p. 97. Mug’sgame! They’ll soon find as the Marsters ain’t going to be worried and welched.1891.J. Newman,Scamping Tricks, p. 46. She knew how to workthe gameof fascination right.1892.R. L. StevensonandL. Osbourne,The Wrecker, p. 349, ‘It was the thing in your times, that’s right enough; but you’re old now, andthe game’sup.’Adj.(old).—1. Plucky; enduring; full of spirit andbottom(q.v.). [Cock-pit and pugilists’. The word may be said to have passed into the language with the rise to renown of Harry Pearce, surnamed theGame Chicken.]1747.Capt. Godfrey,Science of Defence, p. 64. Smallwood (a boxer) is thoroughgame, with judgment equal to any, and superior to most.1819.Moore,Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 57. Pitying raised from earth thegameold man.1821.P. Egan,Tom and Jerry(ed. 1891), p. 38. Tom, however, was toogameto acknowledge any sort of alarm at this slight visitation.1823.E. Kent,Mod. Flash Dict.Game, s.v. Sturdy, hardy, hardened.1827.Reynolds,Peter Corcoran,The Fancy. ‘The Field of Tothill.’ The highest in the fancy—all thegameones, Who are not very much beneath her weight.1855.A. Trollope,The Warden, ch. viii. He was a most courageous lad,gameto the backbone.1891.Licensed Vict. Gaz., 19 June, p. 395. The round had lasted sixteen minutes, and no one present had ever seengameror more determined fighting.2. (common).—Ready; willing; prepared. [Also from cock-fighting.Seesense 1].1836.Dickens,Pickwick, p. 99, (ed. 1857). ‘All alive to-day, I suppose?’ ‘Regulargame, sir.’1856.Reade,Never Too Late,ch. xxi. I’mgameto try.1865.Bentley, p. 182, ‘The Excursion Train.’ Again to London back we came The day the excursion ticket said, And really both of us feltgameTo travel round the world instead.1880.Punch’s Almanack.Got three quid; have cried a go with Fan,Gameto spend my money like a man.1891.Farjeon,The Mystery of M. Felix, p. 103. ‘I’mgame,’ said Sophy, to whom any task of this kind was especially inviting.1891.Hume Nisbet,Bail Up!p. 51. ‘Yes, I amgamey, you bet!’ exclaimed the Chinaman, softly.1891.J. Newman,Scamping Tricks, p. 121. It is nearly midnight. I amgamefor another hour, are you?3. (old).—Lame; crooked; disabled: as inGame Leg.1787.Grose,Prov. Glossary.Game-leg, a lame leg.1825.Scott,St. Ronan’s Well, ch. i. Catching hold of the devil’sgameleg with his episcopal crook.1851.G. Borrow,Lavengro, ch. lxvii., p. 204 (1888). Mr. Platitude, having what is vulgarly called agameleg, came shambling into the room.1875.Jas. Payn,Walter’s Word, ch. i. Well, you see, old fellow, with agame-arm (his left arm is in a sling), and agame-leg (he has limped across the platform with the aid of his friend, and also of a crutch), one feels a little helpless.4. (thieves’).—Knowing; wide-awake; and (of women)Flash(q.v.), or inclined to venery.E.g.,Game-cove= an associate of thieves;Game-woman = a prostitute:i.e., a woman who isgame(sense 2);Game-pullet(Grose) = a girl that will show sport, a femalegame-cock;game-ship(old) = a ship whose commander and officers could be corrupted by bribes to allow the cargo to be stolen (Clark Russell).[110]1676.Etheredge,Man of Mode, ii. Go on, be thegamemistress of the town and entice all our young fops as fast as they come from travel.Cock of the Game,subs. phr.(old).—A champion; an undoubted blood; a star of magnitude (cock-pit).1719.Durfey,Pills, iii., 329. Now all you tame gallants, you that have the name, And would accounted becocks of the game.1822.Scott,Nigel, xiv. I have seen a dung-hill chicken that you meant to have picked clean enough; it will be long ere his lordship ruffles a feather with acock of the game.To make game of,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To turn into ridicule; to delude; to humbug.1671.Milton,Samson, 1331. Do they not seek occasion of new quarrels, On my refusal, to distress me more; Orake a game ofmy calamities?1690. B. E.,New Dictionary. What yougameme? c. do you jeer me, or pretend to expose me tomake aMay-game ofme?1745.Hist. of Coldstream Guards, 25 Oct. If the militia are reviewed to-morrow by his Majesty, the soldiers of the third regiment of Guards are to behave civilly and not to laugh or tomake any game ofthem.To die game,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To maintain a resolute attitude to the last; to show no contrition.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue. Todie game, to suffer at the gallows without showing any signs of fear or repentance.1815.Scott,Guy Mannering, ch. liv. The ruffian lay perfectly still and silent. ‘He’s gaun todie gameony how,’ said Dinmont.1836.Dickens,Pickwick(ed. 1857), p. 363. I say that the coachman did not run away; but that hedied game—gameas pheasants; and I won’t hear nothin’ said to the contrary.1869.Spencer,Study of Sociology, ch. viii., p. 183 (9th ed.). Nor should we forget thegame-cock, supplying, as it does, a word of eulogy to the mob of roughs who witness the hanging of a murderer, and who half condone his crime if hedies game.1871.Times, 30 Jan.Critique on London, etc. The principal was acquitted, and though his accomplices were hung in Pall Mall at the scene of their act, theydied game.To get against the game,verb. phr.(American).—To take a risk; to chance it. [From the game of poker].To play the game,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To do a thing properly; to do what is right and proper.1889.Geoffrey Drage,Cyril, ch. vii. I really think he is … notplaying the game.The first game ever played,subs. phr.(venery).—Copulation. For synonyms,seeGreensandRide.Gamecock,adj.(old).—Hectoring; angry; valiant out of place.1838.Lever,Handy Andy. Smoke and fire is my desire, So blaze away mygamecocksquire.Gameness,subs.(colloquial).—Pluck; endurance; the mixture of spirit and bottom.1861.Hughes,Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xxiv. There was no doubt about hisgameness.1884.Referee, 23 March, p. 1, c. 4. Carter fought with greatgameness, but he never had a look in.Gamester,subs.(old).—1. A prostitute. For synonyms,seeBarrack-hackandTart.1598.Shakspeare,All’s Well, v. 3.She’simpudent, my lord, and was a commongamesterto the camp.1614.Jonson,Bartholomew Fair,ii. 1. Ay, ay,gamesters, mocke a plain soft wench of the suburbs, do.[111]1620.Percy,Folio MSS., p. 404. Be not att ffirst to nice nor coye whengamstersyou are courtinge.2. (old).—A ruffler; a gallant; a wencher; a man fit and ready for anything; also a player.1639–61.Rump, i., 253, ‘A Medley.’ Room for agamesterthat flies at all he sees.1676.Etheredge,Man of Mode, v., 1. Live it also like a frankgamester, on the square.Gamey,adj.(colloquial).—1. High-smelling; offensive to the nose; half-rotten.2. (colloquial).—Frisky; plucky.1843.Dickens,Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xi. There’s somethinggameyin it, young ladies, ain’t there.1869.S. Bowles,Our New West, p. 275. Horses are fresh and fat andgamey.Gaminess,subs.(colloquial).—The malodorousness proceeding from decay and—by implication—filthiness.Gaming-house,subs.(old).—A house of ill-repute—hell, tavern, or stews.1611.Cotgrave,Dictionarie,Berlan, a common tippling house, ahouse of gaming, or of any other disorder.Gammer,subs.(old).—An old wife; a familiar address; the correlative ofgaffer(q.v.).1551.Gammer Gurton’s Needle(Title).1706.Hudibras Redivivus, Part VI. And monkey faces, yawns, and stammers, Delude the pious dames andgammersTo think their mumbling guides precation So full of heavenly inspiration.1842.Tennyson,The Goose. Ran Gaffer, stumbledgammer.Gamming,subs.(nautical).—A whaleman’s term for the visits paid by crews to each other at sea.1884.G. A. Sala, inIllus. Lon. News, July 19, p. 51, c. 2. When two or more American whalers meet in mid-ocean, and there are no whales in sight, it is customary to tack topsails and exchange visits. This social intercourse the whalemen callgamming… I cannot help fancying that ‘gam’ is in greater probability an abbreviation of the Danish ‘gammen,’ sport, or that it has something to do with the nautical ‘gammoning,’the lasting by which the bowsprit is bound firmly down to the cutwater.1890.Century, Aug.To gammeans to gossip. The word occurs again and again in the log-books of the old whalers.Gammon,subs.(colloquial).—1. Nonsense; humbug; deceit. Sometimesgammon and spinach. Nogammon= no error, no lies.[Skeatsays from Mid. Eng.Gamen= a game; butR. Sherwood(Eng. Dict., 1660), gives ‘a beggar or seller of gammons of Bacon; and inCotgrave(1611),jambonnier= a beggar, also a seller of bacon, or gammons of bacon.’]c.1363.Chester Plays, i. 102. Thisgammonshall begin.1781.G. Parker,View of Society, I. 208. I thought myself pretty much a master ofgammon, but the Billingsgate eloquence of Mrs. P. … exceeded me.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.Gamon. What rumgamonthe old file pitched to the flat.1823.Mod. Flash Dict.gammon—Falsehood and bombast.1823–45.Hood,Poems(ed. 1846), vi., p. 96, Behold yon servitor of God and Mammon, Who, binding up his Bible with his ledger, Blends Gospel texts with tradinggammon.1836.Dickens,Pickwick, ch. xxvii. Lord bless their little hearts, they thinks its all right, and don’t know no better, but they’re the wictims o’gammon, Samivel, they’re the wictims o’gammon.[112]1837.Barham, I. L.,Blasphemer’s Warning. When each tries to humbug his dear Royal Brother, in Hopes by suchgammonto take one another in.1839.Comic Almanack, Jan. But if you wish to save your bacon, Give us lessgammon.1849.Dickens,David Copperfield, ch. xxii., p. 199. ‘Oh, my goodness, how polite we are!’ exclaimed Miss Mowcher.… ‘What a world ofgammon and spinnageit is!’1890.Hume Nisbet,BailUp!p. 92. I’m real grit and nogammon.2. (thieves’).—A confederate whose duty is to engage the attention of a victim during robbery; abonnet(q.v.) orcover(q.v.).Verb(colloquial).—1. To humbug: to deceive; to take in with fibs; tokid(q.v.).1700.Step to the Bath, quoted in Ashton’sSoc. Life in Reign of Queen Anne, v. ii., p. 111. We went to theGroom Porter’s… there was Palming, Hodging, Loaded Dice, Levant, andgammoning, with all the Speed imaginable.1823.Moncrieff,Tom and Jerry, ii., 6. Vile I can get fifteen bob a day bygammoninga maim, the devil may vork for me.1825.Buckstone,The Bear Hunters, ii. There! that’s just the way shegammonsme at home.1836.M. Scott,Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. ii. Why, my lad, we shallseeto-morrow morning; but yougammonsso bad about the rhino that we must prove you a bit; so Kate, my dear,—to the pretty girl who had let me in.1836.Dickens,Pickwick, ch. xiii. So then they pours him out a glass o’ wine, andgammonshim about his driving, and gets him into a reg’lar good humour.1837.Barham,Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Misadventures at Margate.’ And ’cause hegammonsso the flats, ve calls him Veeping Bill!1840.Hood,Tale of a Trumpet. Lord Bacon couldn’t havegammonedher better.1890.Hume Nisbet,Bail Up!p. 70. Oh, don’t try togammonme, you cunning young school-miss.English Synonyms.—To bam; to bamblustercate; to bamboozle; to bambosh; to barney; to be on the job; to best; to bilk; to blarney; to blow; to bosh; to bounce; to cob; to cod; to cog; to chaff; to come over (or the artful, or Paddy, or the old soldier over) one; to cram; to do; to do brown; to doctor; to do Taffy; to fake the kidment; to flare up; to flam; to flummox; to get at (round, or to windward of) one; to gild the pill; to give a cock’s egg; to gravel; to gull; to haze; to jimmify; to jaw; to jockey; to jolly; to kid; to make believe the moon is made of green cheese (Cotgrave); to mogue; to palm off on; to pickle; to plant; to plum; to poke bogey (or fun) at; to promoss; to put the kibosh on; to put in the chair, cart, or basket; to pull the leg; to queer; to quiz; to roast; to roorback; to run a bluff, or the shenanigan; to sell; to send for pigeon’s milk; to sit upon; to send for oil of strappum, etc.; to shave; to slum, or slumguzzle; to smoke; to snack; to soap, soft soap, sawder, or soft sawder; to spoof; to stick; to stall; to string, or get on a string; to stuff; to sawdust, or get on sawdust and treacle; to suck; to suck up; to sugar; to swap off; to take a rise out of; to rot; to tommy-rot; to take in, or down; to take to town; to take to the fair; to tip the traveller; to try it on; to throw dust in the eyes; to throw a tub to a whale; to pepper; to throw pepper in the eyes; to use the pepper box; to whiffle; to work the poppycock racket (Irish-American). [Note.—Many of the foregoing are used substantively,e.g., a bam, a barney, a[113]sell, bambosh = nonsense; deceit; a hoax, etc.]French Synonyms.—Donner un pont à faucher(also, thieves’ = to lay a trap);dindonner(popular: fromdindon= a gull, a gobbler);battre à la Parisienne(thieves’: = to cheat; to come the cockney);se ficher de la fiole, orde la bobine,de quelqu’un(popular: to get on with it,i.e., to try to fool);envoyer chercher le parapluie de l’escouade(military:parapluie de l’escouade= the squad’s umbrella: to send on a fool’s errand;cf., to send for pigeon’s milk, etc.);la faire à quelqu’un(popular);faucher(thieves’ = to best);enfoncer(familiar: to let in: also to surpass);cabasser(popular);monter des couleurs,le Job, orun schtosse(= to do up brown);faire le coup, ormonter le coup, à quelqu’un(popular: = to take a rise);bouffer la botte(military: = tosell(q.v.) orbilk, as a woman refusing congress after receiving thesocket-money(q.v.) in advance);bouler(popular: also towhop(q.v.));être l’autre(popular: = toget left(q.v.));mettre dans le sac(thieves’: = to bag,i.e., to trap);collerorposer un lapin(popular: = tomake a hare of(q.v.); also more generally, tobilk(q.v.));emblémer(thieves’: = to stick);faire voir le tour(popular: = to show how it’s done;connaitre le tour= to know the game);faire la queue à quelqu’un(popular: = to pull one’s leg);tirer la carotte(thieves’);canarder(popular: = to bring down);empaler(popular: = to stick);passer des curettes(popular: = to befool);monter une gaffe(popular:gaffe= a joke, a hoax);jobarder(popular:job= simpleton, and is the same asjobelin);mener en bateau un pante pour le refaire(thieves’: = to take a man on);monter un bateau(popular);promener quelqu’un(popular:cf., to take to town);compter des mistoufles(fam.:mistoufle= a scurvy trick);gourrer(popular: = to bosh);affluer(fromflouer= to cheat, to diddle);rouster(popular and thieves’);affûter(thieves’ = to run down, also to make unlawful profits);bouler(popular);juiffer(popular = to Jew);pigeonner(popular topluck a pigeon(q.v.));flancher(popular = tokid(q.v.));faire la barbe(popular = toshave(q.v.));monterorhisser un gandin(thieves’ = literally to hoist a swell);fourrerormettre dedans(popular = to take in and do for);planter un chou(fam.);être marron(popular);interver dans les vannes(= to let oneself be sucked-up);monter un godan à quelqu’un(popular);griller quelqu’un(popular = to cuckold);passer en lunette(popular);goujonner(i.e., to hook like a gudgeon);fourguer(thieves’ = also tofence(q.v.));pousser une blague(popular = to cram);paqueliner(thieves’);se baucher(thieves’);balancer(popular).German Synonyms.—Zinkennen an Almoni peloni(= to send one after Cheeks the Marine [q.v.].Almoniandpeloniare used mockingly in combination and also singly for a non-existent person);anbeulen(= to fool);jemanden arbeiten(= to haze, to cram);bekaspern, orbekaschpern, orbeschwatzen(= to fool: fromHeb.kosaw= to cheat).Spanish Synonyms.—Disparar(= also to talk nonsense; to[114]blunder);hacer á uno su dominguillo, orhacer su dominguillo de uno(colloquial:dominguillo= a figure made of straw and used at bull fights to enrage the bulls);freirsela á alguno(freir= to fry: to deceive:Cf., toroast, or have oneon toast);pegar una tostada á alguno(= to put one on toast: more generally to play a practical joke);echar de baranda(= toembroider(q.v.));bola(subs.= humbug; a hoax);borrufalla(subs.= bombast);chicolear(= to jest in gallantry);engatusar(= to rob, or hurt; also to trick without intention);candonguear(also = to jeer);abrir á chasco(also to jeer);encantar(= to enchant).Italian Synonyms.Ganezzarre;dar la stolfa;traversare(cf.,to come over);scamuffare(= to disguise oneself).2. (thieves’).—To act asbonnet(q.v.) orcover(q.v.) to a thief.Intj.(colloquial).—Nonsense;Skittles!(q.v.).1827.R. B. Peake,Comfortable Lodgings, i., 3.Sir H.(aside).Gammon!1836.M. Scott,Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. vii.Gammon, tell that to the marines: you’re a spy, messmate.1854.Thackeray,The Rose and the Ring, p. 100. Ha! said the king, you dare to saygammonto your sovereign.1861.A. Trollope,Framley Parsonage, ch. iv.Gammon, said Mr. Gowerby; and as he said it he looked with a kind of derisive smile into the clergyman’s face.Gammon and Patter,subs. phr.(thieves’).—1. (old).—The language used by thieves; 2. (modern).—A meeting; apalaver. (q.v.). 3. Commonplace talk of any kind.1789.Geo. Parker,Life’s Painter, p. 150.Gammon and Patteris the language of cant, spoke among themselves: when one of them speaks well, another says hegammonswell.1811.Lex. Bal.s.v.Gammon and Patter. Commonplace talk of any kind.To give(orkeep)in gammon.verb. phr.(thieves’).—To engage a person’s attention while a confederate is robbing him.1719.Capt. Alex. Smith,Thieves’ Grammar, s.v.1821.Haggart,Life, p. 51. Bagrie called the woman of the house,kept her in gammonin the back room, while I returned and brought off the till.Ibid., p. 68. I whidded to the Doctor and hegave me gammon.To Gammon Lushy(orqueer, etc.).verb. phr.(thieves’).—To feign drunkenness, sickness, etc.To Gammon the Twelve.verb. phr.(thieves’).—To deceive the jury.1819.Vaux,Life. A man who has been tried by a criminal court and by a plausible defence has induced the jury to acquit him, or to banish the capital part of the charge and so to save his life, is said by his associates to havegammoned the twelvein prime twig, alluding to the number of jurymen.Gammoner,subs.(old).—1. One whogammons(q.v.); a nonsense-monger. Fr.,bonisseur de loffitudes;blagueur;mangeur de frimes.1823.Moncrieff,Tom and Jerryi. Fly to thegammoners, and awake to everything that’s going on.2. (thieves’).—A confederate who covers the action of his chief; abonnet, acover, astall, all whichsee.[115]1821.Haggart,Life, p. 66. The Doctor played the part of thegammonerso well that I made my escape without being observed.Gammy,subs.(tramps’).—1. Cant.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Do you stoll thegammy? Do you understand cant?2. (common).—A nickname for a lameter; aHopping Jesus; (q.v.).3. (Australian).—A fool.1892.Hume Nisbet,Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 191. Well, of all thegammiesyou are the gammiest, Slowboy, to go and string yourself to a woman, when you might have had the pick of Melbourne.Adj.(tramps’).—1. Bad; impossible. Applied to householders of whom it is known that nothing can be got.SeeBeggars’ Marks.Gammy-vial= a town in which the police will not allow unlicensed hawking. (Vial= Fr.,Ville).1839.Brandon,Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime,Glossary, s.v.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab., i., 466. No villages that are in any waygammyare ever mentioned in these papers.Ibid., i., 404. These are left by one of the school at the houses of the gentry, a mark being placed on the door post of such as are bone orgammy, in order to inform the rest of ‘the school’ where to call, and what houses to avoid.2. Forged; false; spurious: as agammy-moneker= a forged signature;gammy-lour= counterfeit money, etc.1839.Brandon,Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, s.v.1857.Snowden,Mag. Assistant(3rd. ed.), p. 445. Spurious medicine,gammystuff, bad coin,gammy lower, p. 446.1889.C. T. ClarksonandJ. Hall Richardson,Police, p. 321. Bad money (coin).…Gammy lower.3. (theatrical).—Old; ugly.4. (common).—Same asGame, sense 3:e.g., agammyarm = an arm in dock.Gammy-eyed = blind; sore-eyed; or afflicted with ecchymosis in the region of the eyes.Gammy-leg = a lame leg. Also (subs.) a term of derision for the halt and the maimed.Gamp,subs.(common).—1. A monthly nurse; afingersmith(q.v.). [After Mrs. Sarah Gamp, a character inMartin Chuzzlewit(1843).] Also applied to a fussy and gossiping busybody.1864.Sun, 28 Dec. A regulargamp… a fat old dowdy of a monthly nurse.1868.Brewer,Phr. and Fab.(quoted fromDaily Telegraph). Mr. Gathorne Hardy is to look after thegampsand Harrises of the Strand.2. (common).—An umbrella; specifically, one large and loosely-tied; alettuce(q.v.). [The original Sarah always carried one of this said pattern.] Sometimes aSarah Gamp. For synonyms,seeRain-napper.1870.Lond. Figaro, 15 June. Though—shattered, baggy, shiveredgamp!1883.G. R. Sims,Life Boat. He donned his goloshes and shouldered hisgamp.1890.Daily Chron., 5 Mar. Sainte-Beuve insisted that though he was prepared to stand fire he was under no obligation to catch cold, and with hisgampover his head he exchanged four shots with his adversary.1892Ally Sloper, 2 Apr., p. 106, c. 3. I never had a brand new tile, a glossy silk or swagger brown, But I left home without agamp, And rain or hail or snow came down.3. (journalists’).—The Standard.Adj.(common).—Bulging. AlsoGampish.[116]1864.Derby Day, p. 18. I wasn’t joking, there is an air of long-suffering about you, as if you had been mortifying the flesh by carrying agampish umbrellaup Piccadilly, and back again.1881.Mac. Mag., Nov., p. 62. Grasping hisgampumbrella at the middle.Gamut,subs.(artists’).—Tone; general scheme;swim(q.v.). Thusin the gamut= a picture, a detail, or a shade of colour, in tone with its environment.Gan(alsoGane),subs.(old).—The mouth. [A.S.,ganian= to yawn.] Occasionally = throat, lip. For synonyms,seePotato-trap.1512–13.Douglas,Virgil, 250, 29. To behald his ouglie ene twane, His teribill vissage, and his grisliegane.1567.Harman,Caveat(1814), p. 64.Gan, a mouth.1610.Rowland,Martin Mark-all, p. 38. (H. Club’s Rept., 1874).Gan, a mouth.Ibid.A gere peck in thygan.1656.Broome,A Jovial Crew, Act ii. This bowse is better than rombowse, it sets thegana giggling.1671.R. Head,English Rogue, Pt. I., ch. v., p. 49. (1874.)Gan, a lip.1690. B. E.,Cant. Crew.Ganns, the lips.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1881.New York Slang Dict., s.v.Gander,subs.(colloquial).—A married man; in America one not living with his wife; agrass-widower(q.v.).Verb.(old).—To ramble; to waddle (as a goose). Also, to go in quest of women;to grouse(q.v.).1859.H. Kingsley,Geoff. Hamblyn, ch. x. Nell might comeganderingback in one of her tantrums.1861.H. Kingsley,Ravenshoe, ch. xlvii. Sheganderedupstairs to the dressing-room again.Gone Gander.—SeeGone Coon.To see how the gander hops,verb. phr.(American.)—To watch events. A variant of To see how the cat jumps.1847.Porter,Big Bear, p. 96.Seein’ how the gander hoppedI jumped up and hollered, Git out, Tromp, you old raskel!What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander,phr.(common).—A plea for consistency.Gander-month,subs.(common).—The month after confinement; when a certain license (or so it was held) is excusable in the male. AlsoGander-moon, the husband at such a period being called aGander-mooner.Cf.,Buck-hutchandGoose-month.1617.Middleton,A Faire Quarrell, iv., 4. Wonderinggander-mooners.1653.Brome,English MoorinFiue New Playes. I’le keep her at the least thisgander-month, while my fair wife lies-in.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.Gander-party,subs.(common).—A gathering of men; astag-party(q.v.); alsoBull-dance,Gander-gang, etc.Cf.,Hen-party= an assembly of women.Gander-pulling.SeeGoose-riding.Gander’s Wool,subs. phr.(common.)—Feathers.Gang,subs.(old: now recognised).—A troop; a company.1639–61.Rump, i., 228. ‘The Scotch War.’ With his gaygangof Blue-caps all.Ibid.,ii., 104, ‘TheGang; or, the Nine Worthies, etc.’1690. B. E.,Cant. Crew, s.v.Gang, an ill knot or crew of thieves, pickpockets or miscreants; also a society of porters under a regulation.[117]1704.Cibber,Careless Husband, i., 1.Sir C.Who was that other?More.One of Lord Foppington’sgang.1754.Fielding,Jonathan Wild, bk. i., c. 14. What then have I to do in the pursuit of greatness, but to employ agang, and to make the use of thisgangcentre in myself?Idem.bk. iii., c. 14. But in an illegal society organg, as this of ours, it is otherwise.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1859.Matsell,Vocabulum.Gang, company, squad, mob.Ganger,subs.(old: now recognised).—An overseer or foreman of a gang of workmen; one who superintends. For synonyms,seeGovernor.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab., ii., 487. Theganger, or head of the working gang, who receives his orders from the inspector, and directs the men accordingly.1884.Cornhill Mag., June, p. 614, The mother and boy do the work, while the father constitutes himself contractor for andgangerover their labour.Ganymede,subs.(old).—1. A sodomist. For synonyms,seeUsher.1598.Florio,Worlde of Wordes.Catamito, aganimed, an ingle, a boie hired to sinne against nature. [And inCotgrave(1611) underGanymedes; Any boy that’s loved for carnal abuse, an Ingle.]1598.Marston,Satyres, ii. But Ho! Whatganimedeis it doth grace The gallant’s heels.2. (popular).—A pot-boy (i.e., a cup-bearer). The masculine ofhebe(q.v.).1659.Florio-Torriano,Vocabolario.Mescitore, a skinker or filler of wine; also a mingler, aganimede.1841.PunchI., p. 101, c. 1. Lo!Ganymedeappears with a foaming tankard of ale.Gaol-bird,subs.(old: now recognised).—A person who has been often in gaol; an incorrigible rogue. Fr.,un chevronné. For synonyms,seeWrong ’Un.1680.Hist. of Edward II., p. 146. It is the piety and the true valour of an army, which gives them heart and victory; which how it can be expected out of ruffians andgaol-birds, I leave to your consideration.1701.Defoe,True Born Englishman, part II. In print my panegyrics fill the street, And hiredgaol-birds, their huzzas repeat.1762.Smollett,L. Greaves, vol. II., ch. ix. He is become a blackguardgaol-bird.1857.C. Reade,Never Too Late,ch. xi. Thegaol-birdswho piped this tune were without a single exception the desperate cases of this moral hospital; they were old offenders.1882.Pall Mall Gaz., 5 Oct. Liberating thegaol-birdsin Alexandria.Gaoler’s Coach,subs. phr.(old).—A hurdle to the place of execution.1785.Grose.Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.Gap,subs.(venery).—The femalepudendum: alsoSportsman’s gapandwater-gap(q.v.). For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.d.1746.Robertsonof Struan,Poems, p. 84. O gracious Hymen! Cure this dire Mishap, Sew up this mighty rent, or fill thegap.To blow the gap,verb. phr.(old).—The same asto blow the gaff(q.v.).1821.Egan,Real Life, etc., i., 557.He should like to smack the bit withoutblowing the gap.Gaper,subs.(venery).—The femalepudendum. Also,Gaper(andGape)over the Garter. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.Gapes,subs.(colloquial).—A fit of yawning; also the open mouth of astonishment.1818.Austen,Persuasion. Another hour of music was to give delight or thegapes.[118]1838.Haliburton,Clockmaker(ed. 1862), p. 373. But what gave me thegapeswas the scenes (at the theatre).Gapeseed,subs.(common).—1. A cause of astonishment; anything provoking the ignorant to stare with open mouth. Alsoto seek a gape’s nest.1598.Florio,Worlde of Wordes.Ansanare… to go idly loytring vp and downe as we say, to go seeking for a halfepenie worth ofgaping seede.1600.Nashe,Summer’s Last Will, in wks. (Grosart), vi., 144. That if a fellow licensed to beg, Should all his life time go from faire to faire, And buygapeseede, having no businesse there.1690. B. E.,Cant. Crew.Gapeseed, whatever the gazing crowd idly stares and gapes after; as Puppet-shows, Rope-dancers, Monsters and Mountebanks, anything to feed the eye.1694.Poor Robin.’Tis plainly clear, They for theirgapes-seeddo pay dear.1856.N. and Q., 2 S 1., 362. Plenty of persons were sowinggapeseed.1870.B. F. Clark,Mirthfulnessp. 24. Do you wish to buy somegapeseed?1884.Daily News, 8 Oct. Title (at head of sporting column).2. (common).—An open-mouthed loiterer.1885.Sportsman, June 23, p. 2, c. 4. The yearlings bred by Messrs. Graham were offered to a rather select audience of buyers, though the ring was surrounded by a fairly strong crowd ofgapeseeds.Gapped,ppl. adj.(old).—Worsted;floored(q.v.for synonyms).1753.Richardson,Sir Chas. Grandison.I will never meet at hard-edge with her; if I did … I should be confoundedlygapped.Gap-Stopper,subs.(old).—1. A whoremaster. For synonyms,seeMolrower.2. (venery).—Thepenis.[Gap= femalepudendum]. For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick.Gar.Seeby gar!Garble,to garble the coinage,verb. phr.(old).—Seequot. [Garble= to pick and choose.]1875.Jevons,Money, etc., p. 81. A practice amongst money-lenders of picking out the newest coins of full weight for export or re-melting, and passing the light ones into circulation.Garden,subs.(various).—1. (greengrocers’, fruiterers’, etc.) = Covent Garden Market; 2. (theatrical) = Covent Garden Theatre; 3. (diamond merchants’) = Hatton Garden.Cf.,House,Lane, etc.[The Garden(= Covent Garden) was frequently used for the whole neighbourhood, which was notorious as a place of strumpets and stews. Thus,Garden-house= a brothel;Garden-goddess= a woman of pleasure;Garden-gout= the pox or clap;Garden-whore= a low prostitute, etc.]1733.Bailey,Erasmus.When young men by whoring, as it commonly falls out, get the pox, which, by the way of extenuation, they call the CommonGarden-gout.1782.Geo. Parker,Humorous Sketches, p. 90 No more theGardenfemale orgies view.1851–61.W. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. I., p. 85. Not only is theGardenitself all bustle and activity, but the buyers and sellers stream to and from it in all directions, filling every street in the vicinity.1884.Jas. Payn, inCornhill Mag., Mar., p. 257. She [Miss O’Neill] talked of theGardenand ‘the Lane,’ and was very fond of recitation.1890.Tit-Bits, 29 Mar., p. 389, c. 1. Let me describe theGarden.A long, straight street, stretching almost due north and south, from Holborn Circus to Clerkenwell Road.Ibid.c. 2. The cut stones are chiefly sold to the large dealers in theGarden.[119]2. (venery).—The femalepudendum. [The simile is common to all nations, ancient and modern. Shakspeare, in Sonnet 16, seems to play upon this double meaning;e.g., Now stand you on the top of happy hours; And many maiden-gardens, yet unset, With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers.] Alsogarden of eden. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.To put one in the garden,verb. phr.(thieves’).—To defraud a confederate; to keep back part of theRegulars(q.v.), orSwag(q.v.).Gardener,subs.(common).—1. An awkward coachman. [In allusion to the gardener who on occasion drives the carriage.]Cf.,Tea-kettle Coachman.1859.Sala,Twice Round the Clock. Noon: Par. I. He can drive neither to the right nor to the left, nor backwards nor forwards.… A sarcastic saloon omnibus driver behind jeeringly bids him keep moving, accompanying the behest by the aggressive taunt ofgard’ner.2. (venery).—Thepenis.Garden(q.v.) = femalepudendum. AlsoGarden-engine. For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick.Garden-gate,subs. phr.(rhyming).—1. A magistrate. For synonyms,seeBeak.2. (venery).—Thelabia minora. [Garden-hedge= the pubic hair.]Garden-Latin,subs.(colloquial).—Barbarous or sham Latin. AlsoApothecaries’,Bog,Dog, andKitchen-Latin.Garden-Rake,subs. phr.(common).—A tooth-comb. Alsoscratching-rakeorrake.Gardy-Loo,subs.(old Scots).—A warning cry; ‘take care!’ [Fr.gardez’ (vous de) l’eau!Used before emptying slops out of window into the street. Hence the act of emptying slops itself, as in quotation dated 1818.]1771.Smollet,Humphry Clinker, (British Novelists), xxxi., p. 57. At ten o’clock the whole cargo is flung out of a back windore that looks into some street or lane, and the maid callsgardy-looto the passengers, which signifies ‘Lord have mercy on you!’1818.Scott,Heart of Midlothian, ch. xxvii. She had made thegardy-looout of the wrong window.Gargle,subs.(formerly medical students’, now common).—A drink; also generic.Cf.,Lotion, and for synonyms,seeGo.1889.Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 3, c. 1. We’re just going to have agargle—will you join us?Verb.(common).—To drink; to ‘liquor up.’ For synonyms,seeDrinksandLush.1889.Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 5. c. 5. Wegargled.…1891.Morning Advertiser, 2 Mar. It’s my birthday; let’sgargle.Gargle-Factory,subs.(common).—A public house. For synonyms,seeLush Crib.Garn,intj.(vulgar).—A corruption of Go on! Get away with you!1888.Runciman,The Chequers, p. 80.Garn, you farthin’ face! She your neck.1892.Ally Sloper, 19 Mar., p. 90, c. 3.Gar’n, you men ain’t got no sense.1892.National Observer, 6 Feb. p. 307, c. 2. And so simple is the dictum, so redolent of the unlettered Arry that we long to addgarn, oo’re you gettin’ at?[120]Garnish,subs.(old).—1. A fee orfooting(q.v.); specifically one exacted by gaolers and old prisoners from a newcomer. The practice was forbidden by 4 Geo. IV., c. 43, sec. 12. AlsoGarnish-Money.1592.Greene,Quip, in works, xi., 256. Let a poore man be arrested into one of the counters [prisons] … he shall be almost at an angel’s charge, what withgarnish[etc.].1606.T. Dekker,Seven Deadly Sinnes, p. 28 (Arber’s ed.). So that the Counters are cheated of Prisoners, to the great dammage of those that shoulde have their morning’s draught out of thegarnish.1632.Jonson,Magnetic Lady, v. 6. You are content with the ten thousand pounds Defalking the four hundredgarnish-money?1704.Steele,Lying Lover, Act iv., Sc. iv. But there is always some little trifle given to prisoners, they callgarnish.1752.Fielding,Amelia, Bk. I., ch. iii. Mr. Booth … was no sooner arrived in the prison, than a number of persons gathered round him, all demandinggarnish.1759.Goldsmith,The Bee, No. 5, p. 385 (Globeed.). There are numberless faulty expenses among the workmen—clubs,garnishes, freedoms, and such like impositions.1815.Scott,Guy Mannering, ch. xliv. [Jailorloq.] Thirty shillings a week for lodgings, and a guinea forgarnish.2. (thieves’).—Fetters; handcuffs. For synonyms,seeDarbies.Verb.(thieves’).—To fit with fetters: to handcuff.Garret,subs.(common).—1. The head;cockloft(q.v.); orupper storey(q.v.). For synonyms,seecrumpet.1625.Bacon,Apothgm, No. 17. My Lord St. Albans said that wise Nature did Never put her precious jewels into agarretfour stories high, and therefore that exceeding tall men had ever very empty heads.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.1837.Barham,Ingold. Leg.What’s called the claret Flew over thegarret.2. (old).—The fob-pocket.To have one’s garret unfurnished,verb. phr.(common). To be crazy, stupid, lumpish. For synonyms,seeApartmentsandBalmy.Garreteer,subs.(thieves’). A thief whose speciality is to rob houses by entering skylights or garret-windows. Alsodanceranddancing-master. For synonyms,seethieves.2. (journalists’).—An impecunious author; a literary hack.1849–61.Macaulay,Hist. of Eng., ch. xxv.Garreteers, who were never weary of calling the cousin of the Earls of Manchester and Sandwich an upstart.1886.Shelley(quoted inDowden’s Life), i., 47. Show them that we are no Grub-streetgarreteers.1892.National Observer, 18 Mar., p. 453. Has proclaimedurbi et orbithat governments have no business to manufacture specious sentiment by greasing the palms of ignorant and greedygarreteers.Garret-master,subs.(trade).—A cabinet-maker who works on his own account, selling his manufacture to the dealers direct.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab., ii., p. 376. These trading operatives are known by different names in different trades. In the shoe trade, for instance, they are called ‘chamber-masters,’ in the cabinet tradegarret-masters, and in the cooper’s trade the name for them is ‘small trading-masters.’[121]Garrison-hack,subs.(common).—1. A woman given to indiscriminate flirtation with officers at a garrison.1889.Daily Telegraph, 14 Feb. Lord Normantower, Philip’s dearest friend, to whom she, when agarrison-hack, had been engaged, and whom she had thrown over simply because he was poor and prospectless.1890.Athenæum, 8 Feb., p. 176, c. 1. The heroine is agarrison-hack, but the hero is an Australian.2. (common).—A prostitute; a soldier’s trull. For synonyms,seeBarrack HackandTart.Garrotte,subs.(common).—A form of strangulation (seeverb). [From the Spanishla garrota= a method of capital punishment, which consists in strangulation by means of an iron collar.]Verb.(common).—1. A method of robbery with violence, much practised some years ago. The victims were generally old or feeble men and women. Three hands were engaged: thefront-stallwho looked out in that quarter, theback-stallat the rear, and theuglyornasty-manwho did the work by passing his arm round his subject’s neck from behind, and so throttling him to insensibility.1869.Greenwood,Seven Curses of Lond.Committed for trial forgarrottingand nearly murdering a gentleman.1873.Trollope,Phineas Redux, ch. xlvi. In those days there had been muchgarrottingin the streets.2. (cards).—To cheat by concealing certain cards at the back of the neck.Garrotter,subs.(common).—A practitioner ofgarrotting(underverb, sense 1.)1869.Greenwood,Seven Curses of London, p. 201. The delectable epistle was written bygarrotterBill to his brother.Garrotting.1.SeeGarrotte(verb, sense 1).2. (gamblers’).—Hiding a part of one’s hand at the back of the neck for purposes of cheating.Garter,subs.(nautical).—1.in. pl.the irons, or bilboes. For synonyms,seeDarbies.
Gambler,subs.(old, now recognised).Seequots.1778.Bailey,Eng. Dict.Gambler, a guinea-dropper; one class of sharpers.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue.Gambler, a sharper; a tricking gamester.1816.Johnson,Eng. Dict.(11th ed.).Gambler, a cant word, I suppose. A knave whose practice it is to invite the unwary to game and cheat them.[108]1890.Cassell’s Enc. Dict.Gambler, one given to playing for a stake.Gambol,subs.(booking clerks’).—A railway ticket.1882.Daily News, 6 Sept., p. 2, c. 5. … Mr. Chance [the magistrate] asked whatgambolsmeant. The inspector said doubtless the railway tickets.Gam-cases,subs.(old). Stockings (Parker,Life’s Painter). [Fromgam= leg +case.]Game,subs.(old).—1. The proceeds of a robbery;swag(q.v.).1676.Warning for Housekeepers.Song. When that we have bit the bloe, we carry away thegame.2. (old).—A company of whores. Agame-pullet= a young prostitute, or a girl inclined to lechery;cf.,adj., sense 8.1690.B. E.,New Dictionary, s.v. … also a Bawdy house, lewd women.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.game… Mother, have you anygame, Mother, have you any girls?3. (old).—A gull; a simpleton. For synonyms,seeBuffleandCabbage-head.1690. B. E.,New Dictionary.Game,c.Bubbles drawn in to be cheated.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.4. (thieves’).—Specifically,the game= thieving; also (nautical), slave trading; and (venery), the practice of copulation (e.g., good atthe game= an expert and vigorous bedfellow.Cf.,Shakspeare,Troilus, iv., 5, ‘Spoils of opportunity, daughters of thegame’). In quot. (1639) it would seem thathen of the game= a shrew, a fighting woman.1639–61.Rump, ii., 185. ‘Free Parliament Litany.’ From a dunghill Cock and aHen of the Game.1640.Ladies’ Parliament.Stamford she is forthe game, She saies her husband is to blame, For her part she loves a foole, If he hath a good toole.1668.Etheredge,She Would if She Could, i., 1. A gentleman should not have gone out of his chambers but some civil officer of thegameor other would have … given him notice where he might have had a course or two in the afternoon.17(?).Burns,Merry Muses, ‘Jenny Macraw’ (old song). Jenny Macraw was a bird ofthe game.1839.Brandon,Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, Glossary. Onthe game—thieving.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., 263. Whether thegamegot stale, or Peter became honest, is beyond the purport of my communication to settle.1857.Snowden,Mag. Assist.(3rd ed.), p. 444, s.v.1859.Matsell,Vocabulum,or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v. The particular line of rascality the rogue is engaged in; thieving; cheating.1860.Chambers’ Journal, Vol. 13, p. 281. I asked him if he meant by a trading voyage, thegame.5. (colloquial).—A source of amusement; alark(q.v.); abarney(q.v.); as,e.g., It was such agame!6. (colloquial).—A design; trick; object; line of conduct:e.g., What’s your littlegame= What are you after? Also, None of your littlegames! = None of your tricks!SeeHigh Old Game.1854.Whyte Melville,General Bounce, ch. ix.Honesty, indeed! if honesty’s thegame, you’ve a right to your share, what Mrs. Kettering intended you should have.1857.Ducange Anglicus,The Vulg. Tongue, p. 9.Gamen. Intention. ‘What’s yourgame?’ or, ‘What are you up to?’ (very generally used).1870.Standard, 27 Sept. If we accept the meanergamewhich theTimesindicates for us, it can only be by deliberate choice.1879.Justin McCarthy,Donna Quixote, ch. xiii. Come, what’s your littlegame?[109]1883.Edw. E. Morris, inLongman’s Mag., June, p. 176. A youth, who left England, and then carried on the samegamein Australia.1889.Standard, 1 May, p. 5, c. 1. The ‘gameof law and order’ is not up, in Paris.1890.Punch, 30 Aug., p. 97. Mug’sgame! They’ll soon find as the Marsters ain’t going to be worried and welched.1891.J. Newman,Scamping Tricks, p. 46. She knew how to workthe gameof fascination right.1892.R. L. StevensonandL. Osbourne,The Wrecker, p. 349, ‘It was the thing in your times, that’s right enough; but you’re old now, andthe game’sup.’Adj.(old).—1. Plucky; enduring; full of spirit andbottom(q.v.). [Cock-pit and pugilists’. The word may be said to have passed into the language with the rise to renown of Harry Pearce, surnamed theGame Chicken.]1747.Capt. Godfrey,Science of Defence, p. 64. Smallwood (a boxer) is thoroughgame, with judgment equal to any, and superior to most.1819.Moore,Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 57. Pitying raised from earth thegameold man.1821.P. Egan,Tom and Jerry(ed. 1891), p. 38. Tom, however, was toogameto acknowledge any sort of alarm at this slight visitation.1823.E. Kent,Mod. Flash Dict.Game, s.v. Sturdy, hardy, hardened.1827.Reynolds,Peter Corcoran,The Fancy. ‘The Field of Tothill.’ The highest in the fancy—all thegameones, Who are not very much beneath her weight.1855.A. Trollope,The Warden, ch. viii. He was a most courageous lad,gameto the backbone.1891.Licensed Vict. Gaz., 19 June, p. 395. The round had lasted sixteen minutes, and no one present had ever seengameror more determined fighting.2. (common).—Ready; willing; prepared. [Also from cock-fighting.Seesense 1].1836.Dickens,Pickwick, p. 99, (ed. 1857). ‘All alive to-day, I suppose?’ ‘Regulargame, sir.’1856.Reade,Never Too Late,ch. xxi. I’mgameto try.1865.Bentley, p. 182, ‘The Excursion Train.’ Again to London back we came The day the excursion ticket said, And really both of us feltgameTo travel round the world instead.1880.Punch’s Almanack.Got three quid; have cried a go with Fan,Gameto spend my money like a man.1891.Farjeon,The Mystery of M. Felix, p. 103. ‘I’mgame,’ said Sophy, to whom any task of this kind was especially inviting.1891.Hume Nisbet,Bail Up!p. 51. ‘Yes, I amgamey, you bet!’ exclaimed the Chinaman, softly.1891.J. Newman,Scamping Tricks, p. 121. It is nearly midnight. I amgamefor another hour, are you?3. (old).—Lame; crooked; disabled: as inGame Leg.1787.Grose,Prov. Glossary.Game-leg, a lame leg.1825.Scott,St. Ronan’s Well, ch. i. Catching hold of the devil’sgameleg with his episcopal crook.1851.G. Borrow,Lavengro, ch. lxvii., p. 204 (1888). Mr. Platitude, having what is vulgarly called agameleg, came shambling into the room.1875.Jas. Payn,Walter’s Word, ch. i. Well, you see, old fellow, with agame-arm (his left arm is in a sling), and agame-leg (he has limped across the platform with the aid of his friend, and also of a crutch), one feels a little helpless.4. (thieves’).—Knowing; wide-awake; and (of women)Flash(q.v.), or inclined to venery.E.g.,Game-cove= an associate of thieves;Game-woman = a prostitute:i.e., a woman who isgame(sense 2);Game-pullet(Grose) = a girl that will show sport, a femalegame-cock;game-ship(old) = a ship whose commander and officers could be corrupted by bribes to allow the cargo to be stolen (Clark Russell).[110]1676.Etheredge,Man of Mode, ii. Go on, be thegamemistress of the town and entice all our young fops as fast as they come from travel.Cock of the Game,subs. phr.(old).—A champion; an undoubted blood; a star of magnitude (cock-pit).1719.Durfey,Pills, iii., 329. Now all you tame gallants, you that have the name, And would accounted becocks of the game.1822.Scott,Nigel, xiv. I have seen a dung-hill chicken that you meant to have picked clean enough; it will be long ere his lordship ruffles a feather with acock of the game.To make game of,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To turn into ridicule; to delude; to humbug.1671.Milton,Samson, 1331. Do they not seek occasion of new quarrels, On my refusal, to distress me more; Orake a game ofmy calamities?1690. B. E.,New Dictionary. What yougameme? c. do you jeer me, or pretend to expose me tomake aMay-game ofme?1745.Hist. of Coldstream Guards, 25 Oct. If the militia are reviewed to-morrow by his Majesty, the soldiers of the third regiment of Guards are to behave civilly and not to laugh or tomake any game ofthem.To die game,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To maintain a resolute attitude to the last; to show no contrition.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue. Todie game, to suffer at the gallows without showing any signs of fear or repentance.1815.Scott,Guy Mannering, ch. liv. The ruffian lay perfectly still and silent. ‘He’s gaun todie gameony how,’ said Dinmont.1836.Dickens,Pickwick(ed. 1857), p. 363. I say that the coachman did not run away; but that hedied game—gameas pheasants; and I won’t hear nothin’ said to the contrary.1869.Spencer,Study of Sociology, ch. viii., p. 183 (9th ed.). Nor should we forget thegame-cock, supplying, as it does, a word of eulogy to the mob of roughs who witness the hanging of a murderer, and who half condone his crime if hedies game.1871.Times, 30 Jan.Critique on London, etc. The principal was acquitted, and though his accomplices were hung in Pall Mall at the scene of their act, theydied game.To get against the game,verb. phr.(American).—To take a risk; to chance it. [From the game of poker].To play the game,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To do a thing properly; to do what is right and proper.1889.Geoffrey Drage,Cyril, ch. vii. I really think he is … notplaying the game.The first game ever played,subs. phr.(venery).—Copulation. For synonyms,seeGreensandRide.Gamecock,adj.(old).—Hectoring; angry; valiant out of place.1838.Lever,Handy Andy. Smoke and fire is my desire, So blaze away mygamecocksquire.Gameness,subs.(colloquial).—Pluck; endurance; the mixture of spirit and bottom.1861.Hughes,Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xxiv. There was no doubt about hisgameness.1884.Referee, 23 March, p. 1, c. 4. Carter fought with greatgameness, but he never had a look in.Gamester,subs.(old).—1. A prostitute. For synonyms,seeBarrack-hackandTart.1598.Shakspeare,All’s Well, v. 3.She’simpudent, my lord, and was a commongamesterto the camp.1614.Jonson,Bartholomew Fair,ii. 1. Ay, ay,gamesters, mocke a plain soft wench of the suburbs, do.[111]1620.Percy,Folio MSS., p. 404. Be not att ffirst to nice nor coye whengamstersyou are courtinge.2. (old).—A ruffler; a gallant; a wencher; a man fit and ready for anything; also a player.1639–61.Rump, i., 253, ‘A Medley.’ Room for agamesterthat flies at all he sees.1676.Etheredge,Man of Mode, v., 1. Live it also like a frankgamester, on the square.Gamey,adj.(colloquial).—1. High-smelling; offensive to the nose; half-rotten.2. (colloquial).—Frisky; plucky.1843.Dickens,Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xi. There’s somethinggameyin it, young ladies, ain’t there.1869.S. Bowles,Our New West, p. 275. Horses are fresh and fat andgamey.Gaminess,subs.(colloquial).—The malodorousness proceeding from decay and—by implication—filthiness.Gaming-house,subs.(old).—A house of ill-repute—hell, tavern, or stews.1611.Cotgrave,Dictionarie,Berlan, a common tippling house, ahouse of gaming, or of any other disorder.Gammer,subs.(old).—An old wife; a familiar address; the correlative ofgaffer(q.v.).1551.Gammer Gurton’s Needle(Title).1706.Hudibras Redivivus, Part VI. And monkey faces, yawns, and stammers, Delude the pious dames andgammersTo think their mumbling guides precation So full of heavenly inspiration.1842.Tennyson,The Goose. Ran Gaffer, stumbledgammer.Gamming,subs.(nautical).—A whaleman’s term for the visits paid by crews to each other at sea.1884.G. A. Sala, inIllus. Lon. News, July 19, p. 51, c. 2. When two or more American whalers meet in mid-ocean, and there are no whales in sight, it is customary to tack topsails and exchange visits. This social intercourse the whalemen callgamming… I cannot help fancying that ‘gam’ is in greater probability an abbreviation of the Danish ‘gammen,’ sport, or that it has something to do with the nautical ‘gammoning,’the lasting by which the bowsprit is bound firmly down to the cutwater.1890.Century, Aug.To gammeans to gossip. The word occurs again and again in the log-books of the old whalers.Gammon,subs.(colloquial).—1. Nonsense; humbug; deceit. Sometimesgammon and spinach. Nogammon= no error, no lies.[Skeatsays from Mid. Eng.Gamen= a game; butR. Sherwood(Eng. Dict., 1660), gives ‘a beggar or seller of gammons of Bacon; and inCotgrave(1611),jambonnier= a beggar, also a seller of bacon, or gammons of bacon.’]c.1363.Chester Plays, i. 102. Thisgammonshall begin.1781.G. Parker,View of Society, I. 208. I thought myself pretty much a master ofgammon, but the Billingsgate eloquence of Mrs. P. … exceeded me.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.Gamon. What rumgamonthe old file pitched to the flat.1823.Mod. Flash Dict.gammon—Falsehood and bombast.1823–45.Hood,Poems(ed. 1846), vi., p. 96, Behold yon servitor of God and Mammon, Who, binding up his Bible with his ledger, Blends Gospel texts with tradinggammon.1836.Dickens,Pickwick, ch. xxvii. Lord bless their little hearts, they thinks its all right, and don’t know no better, but they’re the wictims o’gammon, Samivel, they’re the wictims o’gammon.[112]1837.Barham, I. L.,Blasphemer’s Warning. When each tries to humbug his dear Royal Brother, in Hopes by suchgammonto take one another in.1839.Comic Almanack, Jan. But if you wish to save your bacon, Give us lessgammon.1849.Dickens,David Copperfield, ch. xxii., p. 199. ‘Oh, my goodness, how polite we are!’ exclaimed Miss Mowcher.… ‘What a world ofgammon and spinnageit is!’1890.Hume Nisbet,BailUp!p. 92. I’m real grit and nogammon.2. (thieves’).—A confederate whose duty is to engage the attention of a victim during robbery; abonnet(q.v.) orcover(q.v.).Verb(colloquial).—1. To humbug: to deceive; to take in with fibs; tokid(q.v.).1700.Step to the Bath, quoted in Ashton’sSoc. Life in Reign of Queen Anne, v. ii., p. 111. We went to theGroom Porter’s… there was Palming, Hodging, Loaded Dice, Levant, andgammoning, with all the Speed imaginable.1823.Moncrieff,Tom and Jerry, ii., 6. Vile I can get fifteen bob a day bygammoninga maim, the devil may vork for me.1825.Buckstone,The Bear Hunters, ii. There! that’s just the way shegammonsme at home.1836.M. Scott,Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. ii. Why, my lad, we shallseeto-morrow morning; but yougammonsso bad about the rhino that we must prove you a bit; so Kate, my dear,—to the pretty girl who had let me in.1836.Dickens,Pickwick, ch. xiii. So then they pours him out a glass o’ wine, andgammonshim about his driving, and gets him into a reg’lar good humour.1837.Barham,Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Misadventures at Margate.’ And ’cause hegammonsso the flats, ve calls him Veeping Bill!1840.Hood,Tale of a Trumpet. Lord Bacon couldn’t havegammonedher better.1890.Hume Nisbet,Bail Up!p. 70. Oh, don’t try togammonme, you cunning young school-miss.English Synonyms.—To bam; to bamblustercate; to bamboozle; to bambosh; to barney; to be on the job; to best; to bilk; to blarney; to blow; to bosh; to bounce; to cob; to cod; to cog; to chaff; to come over (or the artful, or Paddy, or the old soldier over) one; to cram; to do; to do brown; to doctor; to do Taffy; to fake the kidment; to flare up; to flam; to flummox; to get at (round, or to windward of) one; to gild the pill; to give a cock’s egg; to gravel; to gull; to haze; to jimmify; to jaw; to jockey; to jolly; to kid; to make believe the moon is made of green cheese (Cotgrave); to mogue; to palm off on; to pickle; to plant; to plum; to poke bogey (or fun) at; to promoss; to put the kibosh on; to put in the chair, cart, or basket; to pull the leg; to queer; to quiz; to roast; to roorback; to run a bluff, or the shenanigan; to sell; to send for pigeon’s milk; to sit upon; to send for oil of strappum, etc.; to shave; to slum, or slumguzzle; to smoke; to snack; to soap, soft soap, sawder, or soft sawder; to spoof; to stick; to stall; to string, or get on a string; to stuff; to sawdust, or get on sawdust and treacle; to suck; to suck up; to sugar; to swap off; to take a rise out of; to rot; to tommy-rot; to take in, or down; to take to town; to take to the fair; to tip the traveller; to try it on; to throw dust in the eyes; to throw a tub to a whale; to pepper; to throw pepper in the eyes; to use the pepper box; to whiffle; to work the poppycock racket (Irish-American). [Note.—Many of the foregoing are used substantively,e.g., a bam, a barney, a[113]sell, bambosh = nonsense; deceit; a hoax, etc.]French Synonyms.—Donner un pont à faucher(also, thieves’ = to lay a trap);dindonner(popular: fromdindon= a gull, a gobbler);battre à la Parisienne(thieves’: = to cheat; to come the cockney);se ficher de la fiole, orde la bobine,de quelqu’un(popular: to get on with it,i.e., to try to fool);envoyer chercher le parapluie de l’escouade(military:parapluie de l’escouade= the squad’s umbrella: to send on a fool’s errand;cf., to send for pigeon’s milk, etc.);la faire à quelqu’un(popular);faucher(thieves’ = to best);enfoncer(familiar: to let in: also to surpass);cabasser(popular);monter des couleurs,le Job, orun schtosse(= to do up brown);faire le coup, ormonter le coup, à quelqu’un(popular: = to take a rise);bouffer la botte(military: = tosell(q.v.) orbilk, as a woman refusing congress after receiving thesocket-money(q.v.) in advance);bouler(popular: also towhop(q.v.));être l’autre(popular: = toget left(q.v.));mettre dans le sac(thieves’: = to bag,i.e., to trap);collerorposer un lapin(popular: = tomake a hare of(q.v.); also more generally, tobilk(q.v.));emblémer(thieves’: = to stick);faire voir le tour(popular: = to show how it’s done;connaitre le tour= to know the game);faire la queue à quelqu’un(popular: = to pull one’s leg);tirer la carotte(thieves’);canarder(popular: = to bring down);empaler(popular: = to stick);passer des curettes(popular: = to befool);monter une gaffe(popular:gaffe= a joke, a hoax);jobarder(popular:job= simpleton, and is the same asjobelin);mener en bateau un pante pour le refaire(thieves’: = to take a man on);monter un bateau(popular);promener quelqu’un(popular:cf., to take to town);compter des mistoufles(fam.:mistoufle= a scurvy trick);gourrer(popular: = to bosh);affluer(fromflouer= to cheat, to diddle);rouster(popular and thieves’);affûter(thieves’ = to run down, also to make unlawful profits);bouler(popular);juiffer(popular = to Jew);pigeonner(popular topluck a pigeon(q.v.));flancher(popular = tokid(q.v.));faire la barbe(popular = toshave(q.v.));monterorhisser un gandin(thieves’ = literally to hoist a swell);fourrerormettre dedans(popular = to take in and do for);planter un chou(fam.);être marron(popular);interver dans les vannes(= to let oneself be sucked-up);monter un godan à quelqu’un(popular);griller quelqu’un(popular = to cuckold);passer en lunette(popular);goujonner(i.e., to hook like a gudgeon);fourguer(thieves’ = also tofence(q.v.));pousser une blague(popular = to cram);paqueliner(thieves’);se baucher(thieves’);balancer(popular).German Synonyms.—Zinkennen an Almoni peloni(= to send one after Cheeks the Marine [q.v.].Almoniandpeloniare used mockingly in combination and also singly for a non-existent person);anbeulen(= to fool);jemanden arbeiten(= to haze, to cram);bekaspern, orbekaschpern, orbeschwatzen(= to fool: fromHeb.kosaw= to cheat).Spanish Synonyms.—Disparar(= also to talk nonsense; to[114]blunder);hacer á uno su dominguillo, orhacer su dominguillo de uno(colloquial:dominguillo= a figure made of straw and used at bull fights to enrage the bulls);freirsela á alguno(freir= to fry: to deceive:Cf., toroast, or have oneon toast);pegar una tostada á alguno(= to put one on toast: more generally to play a practical joke);echar de baranda(= toembroider(q.v.));bola(subs.= humbug; a hoax);borrufalla(subs.= bombast);chicolear(= to jest in gallantry);engatusar(= to rob, or hurt; also to trick without intention);candonguear(also = to jeer);abrir á chasco(also to jeer);encantar(= to enchant).Italian Synonyms.Ganezzarre;dar la stolfa;traversare(cf.,to come over);scamuffare(= to disguise oneself).2. (thieves’).—To act asbonnet(q.v.) orcover(q.v.) to a thief.Intj.(colloquial).—Nonsense;Skittles!(q.v.).1827.R. B. Peake,Comfortable Lodgings, i., 3.Sir H.(aside).Gammon!1836.M. Scott,Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. vii.Gammon, tell that to the marines: you’re a spy, messmate.1854.Thackeray,The Rose and the Ring, p. 100. Ha! said the king, you dare to saygammonto your sovereign.1861.A. Trollope,Framley Parsonage, ch. iv.Gammon, said Mr. Gowerby; and as he said it he looked with a kind of derisive smile into the clergyman’s face.Gammon and Patter,subs. phr.(thieves’).—1. (old).—The language used by thieves; 2. (modern).—A meeting; apalaver. (q.v.). 3. Commonplace talk of any kind.1789.Geo. Parker,Life’s Painter, p. 150.Gammon and Patteris the language of cant, spoke among themselves: when one of them speaks well, another says hegammonswell.1811.Lex. Bal.s.v.Gammon and Patter. Commonplace talk of any kind.To give(orkeep)in gammon.verb. phr.(thieves’).—To engage a person’s attention while a confederate is robbing him.1719.Capt. Alex. Smith,Thieves’ Grammar, s.v.1821.Haggart,Life, p. 51. Bagrie called the woman of the house,kept her in gammonin the back room, while I returned and brought off the till.Ibid., p. 68. I whidded to the Doctor and hegave me gammon.To Gammon Lushy(orqueer, etc.).verb. phr.(thieves’).—To feign drunkenness, sickness, etc.To Gammon the Twelve.verb. phr.(thieves’).—To deceive the jury.1819.Vaux,Life. A man who has been tried by a criminal court and by a plausible defence has induced the jury to acquit him, or to banish the capital part of the charge and so to save his life, is said by his associates to havegammoned the twelvein prime twig, alluding to the number of jurymen.Gammoner,subs.(old).—1. One whogammons(q.v.); a nonsense-monger. Fr.,bonisseur de loffitudes;blagueur;mangeur de frimes.1823.Moncrieff,Tom and Jerryi. Fly to thegammoners, and awake to everything that’s going on.2. (thieves’).—A confederate who covers the action of his chief; abonnet, acover, astall, all whichsee.[115]1821.Haggart,Life, p. 66. The Doctor played the part of thegammonerso well that I made my escape without being observed.Gammy,subs.(tramps’).—1. Cant.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Do you stoll thegammy? Do you understand cant?2. (common).—A nickname for a lameter; aHopping Jesus; (q.v.).3. (Australian).—A fool.1892.Hume Nisbet,Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 191. Well, of all thegammiesyou are the gammiest, Slowboy, to go and string yourself to a woman, when you might have had the pick of Melbourne.Adj.(tramps’).—1. Bad; impossible. Applied to householders of whom it is known that nothing can be got.SeeBeggars’ Marks.Gammy-vial= a town in which the police will not allow unlicensed hawking. (Vial= Fr.,Ville).1839.Brandon,Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime,Glossary, s.v.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab., i., 466. No villages that are in any waygammyare ever mentioned in these papers.Ibid., i., 404. These are left by one of the school at the houses of the gentry, a mark being placed on the door post of such as are bone orgammy, in order to inform the rest of ‘the school’ where to call, and what houses to avoid.2. Forged; false; spurious: as agammy-moneker= a forged signature;gammy-lour= counterfeit money, etc.1839.Brandon,Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, s.v.1857.Snowden,Mag. Assistant(3rd. ed.), p. 445. Spurious medicine,gammystuff, bad coin,gammy lower, p. 446.1889.C. T. ClarksonandJ. Hall Richardson,Police, p. 321. Bad money (coin).…Gammy lower.3. (theatrical).—Old; ugly.4. (common).—Same asGame, sense 3:e.g., agammyarm = an arm in dock.Gammy-eyed = blind; sore-eyed; or afflicted with ecchymosis in the region of the eyes.Gammy-leg = a lame leg. Also (subs.) a term of derision for the halt and the maimed.Gamp,subs.(common).—1. A monthly nurse; afingersmith(q.v.). [After Mrs. Sarah Gamp, a character inMartin Chuzzlewit(1843).] Also applied to a fussy and gossiping busybody.1864.Sun, 28 Dec. A regulargamp… a fat old dowdy of a monthly nurse.1868.Brewer,Phr. and Fab.(quoted fromDaily Telegraph). Mr. Gathorne Hardy is to look after thegampsand Harrises of the Strand.2. (common).—An umbrella; specifically, one large and loosely-tied; alettuce(q.v.). [The original Sarah always carried one of this said pattern.] Sometimes aSarah Gamp. For synonyms,seeRain-napper.1870.Lond. Figaro, 15 June. Though—shattered, baggy, shiveredgamp!1883.G. R. Sims,Life Boat. He donned his goloshes and shouldered hisgamp.1890.Daily Chron., 5 Mar. Sainte-Beuve insisted that though he was prepared to stand fire he was under no obligation to catch cold, and with hisgampover his head he exchanged four shots with his adversary.1892Ally Sloper, 2 Apr., p. 106, c. 3. I never had a brand new tile, a glossy silk or swagger brown, But I left home without agamp, And rain or hail or snow came down.3. (journalists’).—The Standard.Adj.(common).—Bulging. AlsoGampish.[116]1864.Derby Day, p. 18. I wasn’t joking, there is an air of long-suffering about you, as if you had been mortifying the flesh by carrying agampish umbrellaup Piccadilly, and back again.1881.Mac. Mag., Nov., p. 62. Grasping hisgampumbrella at the middle.Gamut,subs.(artists’).—Tone; general scheme;swim(q.v.). Thusin the gamut= a picture, a detail, or a shade of colour, in tone with its environment.Gan(alsoGane),subs.(old).—The mouth. [A.S.,ganian= to yawn.] Occasionally = throat, lip. For synonyms,seePotato-trap.1512–13.Douglas,Virgil, 250, 29. To behald his ouglie ene twane, His teribill vissage, and his grisliegane.1567.Harman,Caveat(1814), p. 64.Gan, a mouth.1610.Rowland,Martin Mark-all, p. 38. (H. Club’s Rept., 1874).Gan, a mouth.Ibid.A gere peck in thygan.1656.Broome,A Jovial Crew, Act ii. This bowse is better than rombowse, it sets thegana giggling.1671.R. Head,English Rogue, Pt. I., ch. v., p. 49. (1874.)Gan, a lip.1690. B. E.,Cant. Crew.Ganns, the lips.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1881.New York Slang Dict., s.v.Gander,subs.(colloquial).—A married man; in America one not living with his wife; agrass-widower(q.v.).Verb.(old).—To ramble; to waddle (as a goose). Also, to go in quest of women;to grouse(q.v.).1859.H. Kingsley,Geoff. Hamblyn, ch. x. Nell might comeganderingback in one of her tantrums.1861.H. Kingsley,Ravenshoe, ch. xlvii. Sheganderedupstairs to the dressing-room again.Gone Gander.—SeeGone Coon.To see how the gander hops,verb. phr.(American.)—To watch events. A variant of To see how the cat jumps.1847.Porter,Big Bear, p. 96.Seein’ how the gander hoppedI jumped up and hollered, Git out, Tromp, you old raskel!What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander,phr.(common).—A plea for consistency.Gander-month,subs.(common).—The month after confinement; when a certain license (or so it was held) is excusable in the male. AlsoGander-moon, the husband at such a period being called aGander-mooner.Cf.,Buck-hutchandGoose-month.1617.Middleton,A Faire Quarrell, iv., 4. Wonderinggander-mooners.1653.Brome,English MoorinFiue New Playes. I’le keep her at the least thisgander-month, while my fair wife lies-in.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.Gander-party,subs.(common).—A gathering of men; astag-party(q.v.); alsoBull-dance,Gander-gang, etc.Cf.,Hen-party= an assembly of women.Gander-pulling.SeeGoose-riding.Gander’s Wool,subs. phr.(common.)—Feathers.Gang,subs.(old: now recognised).—A troop; a company.1639–61.Rump, i., 228. ‘The Scotch War.’ With his gaygangof Blue-caps all.Ibid.,ii., 104, ‘TheGang; or, the Nine Worthies, etc.’1690. B. E.,Cant. Crew, s.v.Gang, an ill knot or crew of thieves, pickpockets or miscreants; also a society of porters under a regulation.[117]1704.Cibber,Careless Husband, i., 1.Sir C.Who was that other?More.One of Lord Foppington’sgang.1754.Fielding,Jonathan Wild, bk. i., c. 14. What then have I to do in the pursuit of greatness, but to employ agang, and to make the use of thisgangcentre in myself?Idem.bk. iii., c. 14. But in an illegal society organg, as this of ours, it is otherwise.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1859.Matsell,Vocabulum.Gang, company, squad, mob.Ganger,subs.(old: now recognised).—An overseer or foreman of a gang of workmen; one who superintends. For synonyms,seeGovernor.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab., ii., 487. Theganger, or head of the working gang, who receives his orders from the inspector, and directs the men accordingly.1884.Cornhill Mag., June, p. 614, The mother and boy do the work, while the father constitutes himself contractor for andgangerover their labour.Ganymede,subs.(old).—1. A sodomist. For synonyms,seeUsher.1598.Florio,Worlde of Wordes.Catamito, aganimed, an ingle, a boie hired to sinne against nature. [And inCotgrave(1611) underGanymedes; Any boy that’s loved for carnal abuse, an Ingle.]1598.Marston,Satyres, ii. But Ho! Whatganimedeis it doth grace The gallant’s heels.2. (popular).—A pot-boy (i.e., a cup-bearer). The masculine ofhebe(q.v.).1659.Florio-Torriano,Vocabolario.Mescitore, a skinker or filler of wine; also a mingler, aganimede.1841.PunchI., p. 101, c. 1. Lo!Ganymedeappears with a foaming tankard of ale.Gaol-bird,subs.(old: now recognised).—A person who has been often in gaol; an incorrigible rogue. Fr.,un chevronné. For synonyms,seeWrong ’Un.1680.Hist. of Edward II., p. 146. It is the piety and the true valour of an army, which gives them heart and victory; which how it can be expected out of ruffians andgaol-birds, I leave to your consideration.1701.Defoe,True Born Englishman, part II. In print my panegyrics fill the street, And hiredgaol-birds, their huzzas repeat.1762.Smollett,L. Greaves, vol. II., ch. ix. He is become a blackguardgaol-bird.1857.C. Reade,Never Too Late,ch. xi. Thegaol-birdswho piped this tune were without a single exception the desperate cases of this moral hospital; they were old offenders.1882.Pall Mall Gaz., 5 Oct. Liberating thegaol-birdsin Alexandria.Gaoler’s Coach,subs. phr.(old).—A hurdle to the place of execution.1785.Grose.Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.Gap,subs.(venery).—The femalepudendum: alsoSportsman’s gapandwater-gap(q.v.). For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.d.1746.Robertsonof Struan,Poems, p. 84. O gracious Hymen! Cure this dire Mishap, Sew up this mighty rent, or fill thegap.To blow the gap,verb. phr.(old).—The same asto blow the gaff(q.v.).1821.Egan,Real Life, etc., i., 557.He should like to smack the bit withoutblowing the gap.Gaper,subs.(venery).—The femalepudendum. Also,Gaper(andGape)over the Garter. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.Gapes,subs.(colloquial).—A fit of yawning; also the open mouth of astonishment.1818.Austen,Persuasion. Another hour of music was to give delight or thegapes.[118]1838.Haliburton,Clockmaker(ed. 1862), p. 373. But what gave me thegapeswas the scenes (at the theatre).Gapeseed,subs.(common).—1. A cause of astonishment; anything provoking the ignorant to stare with open mouth. Alsoto seek a gape’s nest.1598.Florio,Worlde of Wordes.Ansanare… to go idly loytring vp and downe as we say, to go seeking for a halfepenie worth ofgaping seede.1600.Nashe,Summer’s Last Will, in wks. (Grosart), vi., 144. That if a fellow licensed to beg, Should all his life time go from faire to faire, And buygapeseede, having no businesse there.1690. B. E.,Cant. Crew.Gapeseed, whatever the gazing crowd idly stares and gapes after; as Puppet-shows, Rope-dancers, Monsters and Mountebanks, anything to feed the eye.1694.Poor Robin.’Tis plainly clear, They for theirgapes-seeddo pay dear.1856.N. and Q., 2 S 1., 362. Plenty of persons were sowinggapeseed.1870.B. F. Clark,Mirthfulnessp. 24. Do you wish to buy somegapeseed?1884.Daily News, 8 Oct. Title (at head of sporting column).2. (common).—An open-mouthed loiterer.1885.Sportsman, June 23, p. 2, c. 4. The yearlings bred by Messrs. Graham were offered to a rather select audience of buyers, though the ring was surrounded by a fairly strong crowd ofgapeseeds.Gapped,ppl. adj.(old).—Worsted;floored(q.v.for synonyms).1753.Richardson,Sir Chas. Grandison.I will never meet at hard-edge with her; if I did … I should be confoundedlygapped.Gap-Stopper,subs.(old).—1. A whoremaster. For synonyms,seeMolrower.2. (venery).—Thepenis.[Gap= femalepudendum]. For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick.Gar.Seeby gar!Garble,to garble the coinage,verb. phr.(old).—Seequot. [Garble= to pick and choose.]1875.Jevons,Money, etc., p. 81. A practice amongst money-lenders of picking out the newest coins of full weight for export or re-melting, and passing the light ones into circulation.Garden,subs.(various).—1. (greengrocers’, fruiterers’, etc.) = Covent Garden Market; 2. (theatrical) = Covent Garden Theatre; 3. (diamond merchants’) = Hatton Garden.Cf.,House,Lane, etc.[The Garden(= Covent Garden) was frequently used for the whole neighbourhood, which was notorious as a place of strumpets and stews. Thus,Garden-house= a brothel;Garden-goddess= a woman of pleasure;Garden-gout= the pox or clap;Garden-whore= a low prostitute, etc.]1733.Bailey,Erasmus.When young men by whoring, as it commonly falls out, get the pox, which, by the way of extenuation, they call the CommonGarden-gout.1782.Geo. Parker,Humorous Sketches, p. 90 No more theGardenfemale orgies view.1851–61.W. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. I., p. 85. Not only is theGardenitself all bustle and activity, but the buyers and sellers stream to and from it in all directions, filling every street in the vicinity.1884.Jas. Payn, inCornhill Mag., Mar., p. 257. She [Miss O’Neill] talked of theGardenand ‘the Lane,’ and was very fond of recitation.1890.Tit-Bits, 29 Mar., p. 389, c. 1. Let me describe theGarden.A long, straight street, stretching almost due north and south, from Holborn Circus to Clerkenwell Road.Ibid.c. 2. The cut stones are chiefly sold to the large dealers in theGarden.[119]2. (venery).—The femalepudendum. [The simile is common to all nations, ancient and modern. Shakspeare, in Sonnet 16, seems to play upon this double meaning;e.g., Now stand you on the top of happy hours; And many maiden-gardens, yet unset, With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers.] Alsogarden of eden. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.To put one in the garden,verb. phr.(thieves’).—To defraud a confederate; to keep back part of theRegulars(q.v.), orSwag(q.v.).Gardener,subs.(common).—1. An awkward coachman. [In allusion to the gardener who on occasion drives the carriage.]Cf.,Tea-kettle Coachman.1859.Sala,Twice Round the Clock. Noon: Par. I. He can drive neither to the right nor to the left, nor backwards nor forwards.… A sarcastic saloon omnibus driver behind jeeringly bids him keep moving, accompanying the behest by the aggressive taunt ofgard’ner.2. (venery).—Thepenis.Garden(q.v.) = femalepudendum. AlsoGarden-engine. For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick.Garden-gate,subs. phr.(rhyming).—1. A magistrate. For synonyms,seeBeak.2. (venery).—Thelabia minora. [Garden-hedge= the pubic hair.]Garden-Latin,subs.(colloquial).—Barbarous or sham Latin. AlsoApothecaries’,Bog,Dog, andKitchen-Latin.Garden-Rake,subs. phr.(common).—A tooth-comb. Alsoscratching-rakeorrake.Gardy-Loo,subs.(old Scots).—A warning cry; ‘take care!’ [Fr.gardez’ (vous de) l’eau!Used before emptying slops out of window into the street. Hence the act of emptying slops itself, as in quotation dated 1818.]1771.Smollet,Humphry Clinker, (British Novelists), xxxi., p. 57. At ten o’clock the whole cargo is flung out of a back windore that looks into some street or lane, and the maid callsgardy-looto the passengers, which signifies ‘Lord have mercy on you!’1818.Scott,Heart of Midlothian, ch. xxvii. She had made thegardy-looout of the wrong window.Gargle,subs.(formerly medical students’, now common).—A drink; also generic.Cf.,Lotion, and for synonyms,seeGo.1889.Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 3, c. 1. We’re just going to have agargle—will you join us?Verb.(common).—To drink; to ‘liquor up.’ For synonyms,seeDrinksandLush.1889.Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 5. c. 5. Wegargled.…1891.Morning Advertiser, 2 Mar. It’s my birthday; let’sgargle.Gargle-Factory,subs.(common).—A public house. For synonyms,seeLush Crib.Garn,intj.(vulgar).—A corruption of Go on! Get away with you!1888.Runciman,The Chequers, p. 80.Garn, you farthin’ face! She your neck.1892.Ally Sloper, 19 Mar., p. 90, c. 3.Gar’n, you men ain’t got no sense.1892.National Observer, 6 Feb. p. 307, c. 2. And so simple is the dictum, so redolent of the unlettered Arry that we long to addgarn, oo’re you gettin’ at?[120]Garnish,subs.(old).—1. A fee orfooting(q.v.); specifically one exacted by gaolers and old prisoners from a newcomer. The practice was forbidden by 4 Geo. IV., c. 43, sec. 12. AlsoGarnish-Money.1592.Greene,Quip, in works, xi., 256. Let a poore man be arrested into one of the counters [prisons] … he shall be almost at an angel’s charge, what withgarnish[etc.].1606.T. Dekker,Seven Deadly Sinnes, p. 28 (Arber’s ed.). So that the Counters are cheated of Prisoners, to the great dammage of those that shoulde have their morning’s draught out of thegarnish.1632.Jonson,Magnetic Lady, v. 6. You are content with the ten thousand pounds Defalking the four hundredgarnish-money?1704.Steele,Lying Lover, Act iv., Sc. iv. But there is always some little trifle given to prisoners, they callgarnish.1752.Fielding,Amelia, Bk. I., ch. iii. Mr. Booth … was no sooner arrived in the prison, than a number of persons gathered round him, all demandinggarnish.1759.Goldsmith,The Bee, No. 5, p. 385 (Globeed.). There are numberless faulty expenses among the workmen—clubs,garnishes, freedoms, and such like impositions.1815.Scott,Guy Mannering, ch. xliv. [Jailorloq.] Thirty shillings a week for lodgings, and a guinea forgarnish.2. (thieves’).—Fetters; handcuffs. For synonyms,seeDarbies.Verb.(thieves’).—To fit with fetters: to handcuff.Garret,subs.(common).—1. The head;cockloft(q.v.); orupper storey(q.v.). For synonyms,seecrumpet.1625.Bacon,Apothgm, No. 17. My Lord St. Albans said that wise Nature did Never put her precious jewels into agarretfour stories high, and therefore that exceeding tall men had ever very empty heads.1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.1837.Barham,Ingold. Leg.What’s called the claret Flew over thegarret.2. (old).—The fob-pocket.To have one’s garret unfurnished,verb. phr.(common). To be crazy, stupid, lumpish. For synonyms,seeApartmentsandBalmy.Garreteer,subs.(thieves’). A thief whose speciality is to rob houses by entering skylights or garret-windows. Alsodanceranddancing-master. For synonyms,seethieves.2. (journalists’).—An impecunious author; a literary hack.1849–61.Macaulay,Hist. of Eng., ch. xxv.Garreteers, who were never weary of calling the cousin of the Earls of Manchester and Sandwich an upstart.1886.Shelley(quoted inDowden’s Life), i., 47. Show them that we are no Grub-streetgarreteers.1892.National Observer, 18 Mar., p. 453. Has proclaimedurbi et orbithat governments have no business to manufacture specious sentiment by greasing the palms of ignorant and greedygarreteers.Garret-master,subs.(trade).—A cabinet-maker who works on his own account, selling his manufacture to the dealers direct.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab., ii., p. 376. These trading operatives are known by different names in different trades. In the shoe trade, for instance, they are called ‘chamber-masters,’ in the cabinet tradegarret-masters, and in the cooper’s trade the name for them is ‘small trading-masters.’[121]Garrison-hack,subs.(common).—1. A woman given to indiscriminate flirtation with officers at a garrison.1889.Daily Telegraph, 14 Feb. Lord Normantower, Philip’s dearest friend, to whom she, when agarrison-hack, had been engaged, and whom she had thrown over simply because he was poor and prospectless.1890.Athenæum, 8 Feb., p. 176, c. 1. The heroine is agarrison-hack, but the hero is an Australian.2. (common).—A prostitute; a soldier’s trull. For synonyms,seeBarrack HackandTart.Garrotte,subs.(common).—A form of strangulation (seeverb). [From the Spanishla garrota= a method of capital punishment, which consists in strangulation by means of an iron collar.]Verb.(common).—1. A method of robbery with violence, much practised some years ago. The victims were generally old or feeble men and women. Three hands were engaged: thefront-stallwho looked out in that quarter, theback-stallat the rear, and theuglyornasty-manwho did the work by passing his arm round his subject’s neck from behind, and so throttling him to insensibility.1869.Greenwood,Seven Curses of Lond.Committed for trial forgarrottingand nearly murdering a gentleman.1873.Trollope,Phineas Redux, ch. xlvi. In those days there had been muchgarrottingin the streets.2. (cards).—To cheat by concealing certain cards at the back of the neck.Garrotter,subs.(common).—A practitioner ofgarrotting(underverb, sense 1.)1869.Greenwood,Seven Curses of London, p. 201. The delectable epistle was written bygarrotterBill to his brother.Garrotting.1.SeeGarrotte(verb, sense 1).2. (gamblers’).—Hiding a part of one’s hand at the back of the neck for purposes of cheating.Garter,subs.(nautical).—1.in. pl.the irons, or bilboes. For synonyms,seeDarbies.
Gambler,subs.(old, now recognised).Seequots.
1778.Bailey,Eng. Dict.Gambler, a guinea-dropper; one class of sharpers.
1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue.Gambler, a sharper; a tricking gamester.
1816.Johnson,Eng. Dict.(11th ed.).Gambler, a cant word, I suppose. A knave whose practice it is to invite the unwary to game and cheat them.[108]
1890.Cassell’s Enc. Dict.Gambler, one given to playing for a stake.
Gambol,subs.(booking clerks’).—A railway ticket.
1882.Daily News, 6 Sept., p. 2, c. 5. … Mr. Chance [the magistrate] asked whatgambolsmeant. The inspector said doubtless the railway tickets.
Gam-cases,subs.(old). Stockings (Parker,Life’s Painter). [Fromgam= leg +case.]
Game,subs.(old).—1. The proceeds of a robbery;swag(q.v.).
1676.Warning for Housekeepers.Song. When that we have bit the bloe, we carry away thegame.
2. (old).—A company of whores. Agame-pullet= a young prostitute, or a girl inclined to lechery;cf.,adj., sense 8.
1690.B. E.,New Dictionary, s.v. … also a Bawdy house, lewd women.
1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.game… Mother, have you anygame, Mother, have you any girls?
3. (old).—A gull; a simpleton. For synonyms,seeBuffleandCabbage-head.
1690. B. E.,New Dictionary.Game,c.Bubbles drawn in to be cheated.
1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
4. (thieves’).—Specifically,the game= thieving; also (nautical), slave trading; and (venery), the practice of copulation (e.g., good atthe game= an expert and vigorous bedfellow.Cf.,Shakspeare,Troilus, iv., 5, ‘Spoils of opportunity, daughters of thegame’). In quot. (1639) it would seem thathen of the game= a shrew, a fighting woman.
1639–61.Rump, ii., 185. ‘Free Parliament Litany.’ From a dunghill Cock and aHen of the Game.
1640.Ladies’ Parliament.Stamford she is forthe game, She saies her husband is to blame, For her part she loves a foole, If he hath a good toole.
1668.Etheredge,She Would if She Could, i., 1. A gentleman should not have gone out of his chambers but some civil officer of thegameor other would have … given him notice where he might have had a course or two in the afternoon.
17(?).Burns,Merry Muses, ‘Jenny Macraw’ (old song). Jenny Macraw was a bird ofthe game.
1839.Brandon,Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, Glossary. Onthe game—thieving.
1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., 263. Whether thegamegot stale, or Peter became honest, is beyond the purport of my communication to settle.
1857.Snowden,Mag. Assist.(3rd ed.), p. 444, s.v.
1859.Matsell,Vocabulum,or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v. The particular line of rascality the rogue is engaged in; thieving; cheating.
1860.Chambers’ Journal, Vol. 13, p. 281. I asked him if he meant by a trading voyage, thegame.
5. (colloquial).—A source of amusement; alark(q.v.); abarney(q.v.); as,e.g., It was such agame!
6. (colloquial).—A design; trick; object; line of conduct:e.g., What’s your littlegame= What are you after? Also, None of your littlegames! = None of your tricks!SeeHigh Old Game.
1854.Whyte Melville,General Bounce, ch. ix.Honesty, indeed! if honesty’s thegame, you’ve a right to your share, what Mrs. Kettering intended you should have.
1857.Ducange Anglicus,The Vulg. Tongue, p. 9.Gamen. Intention. ‘What’s yourgame?’ or, ‘What are you up to?’ (very generally used).
1870.Standard, 27 Sept. If we accept the meanergamewhich theTimesindicates for us, it can only be by deliberate choice.
1879.Justin McCarthy,Donna Quixote, ch. xiii. Come, what’s your littlegame?[109]
1883.Edw. E. Morris, inLongman’s Mag., June, p. 176. A youth, who left England, and then carried on the samegamein Australia.
1889.Standard, 1 May, p. 5, c. 1. The ‘gameof law and order’ is not up, in Paris.
1890.Punch, 30 Aug., p. 97. Mug’sgame! They’ll soon find as the Marsters ain’t going to be worried and welched.
1891.J. Newman,Scamping Tricks, p. 46. She knew how to workthe gameof fascination right.
1892.R. L. StevensonandL. Osbourne,The Wrecker, p. 349, ‘It was the thing in your times, that’s right enough; but you’re old now, andthe game’sup.’
Adj.(old).—1. Plucky; enduring; full of spirit andbottom(q.v.). [Cock-pit and pugilists’. The word may be said to have passed into the language with the rise to renown of Harry Pearce, surnamed theGame Chicken.]
1747.Capt. Godfrey,Science of Defence, p. 64. Smallwood (a boxer) is thoroughgame, with judgment equal to any, and superior to most.
1819.Moore,Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 57. Pitying raised from earth thegameold man.
1821.P. Egan,Tom and Jerry(ed. 1891), p. 38. Tom, however, was toogameto acknowledge any sort of alarm at this slight visitation.
1823.E. Kent,Mod. Flash Dict.Game, s.v. Sturdy, hardy, hardened.
1827.Reynolds,Peter Corcoran,The Fancy. ‘The Field of Tothill.’ The highest in the fancy—all thegameones, Who are not very much beneath her weight.
1855.A. Trollope,The Warden, ch. viii. He was a most courageous lad,gameto the backbone.
1891.Licensed Vict. Gaz., 19 June, p. 395. The round had lasted sixteen minutes, and no one present had ever seengameror more determined fighting.
2. (common).—Ready; willing; prepared. [Also from cock-fighting.Seesense 1].
1836.Dickens,Pickwick, p. 99, (ed. 1857). ‘All alive to-day, I suppose?’ ‘Regulargame, sir.’
1856.Reade,Never Too Late,ch. xxi. I’mgameto try.
1865.Bentley, p. 182, ‘The Excursion Train.’ Again to London back we came The day the excursion ticket said, And really both of us feltgameTo travel round the world instead.
1880.Punch’s Almanack.Got three quid; have cried a go with Fan,Gameto spend my money like a man.
1891.Farjeon,The Mystery of M. Felix, p. 103. ‘I’mgame,’ said Sophy, to whom any task of this kind was especially inviting.
1891.Hume Nisbet,Bail Up!p. 51. ‘Yes, I amgamey, you bet!’ exclaimed the Chinaman, softly.
1891.J. Newman,Scamping Tricks, p. 121. It is nearly midnight. I amgamefor another hour, are you?
3. (old).—Lame; crooked; disabled: as inGame Leg.
1787.Grose,Prov. Glossary.Game-leg, a lame leg.
1825.Scott,St. Ronan’s Well, ch. i. Catching hold of the devil’sgameleg with his episcopal crook.
1851.G. Borrow,Lavengro, ch. lxvii., p. 204 (1888). Mr. Platitude, having what is vulgarly called agameleg, came shambling into the room.
1875.Jas. Payn,Walter’s Word, ch. i. Well, you see, old fellow, with agame-arm (his left arm is in a sling), and agame-leg (he has limped across the platform with the aid of his friend, and also of a crutch), one feels a little helpless.
4. (thieves’).—Knowing; wide-awake; and (of women)Flash(q.v.), or inclined to venery.E.g.,Game-cove= an associate of thieves;Game-woman = a prostitute:i.e., a woman who isgame(sense 2);Game-pullet(Grose) = a girl that will show sport, a femalegame-cock;game-ship(old) = a ship whose commander and officers could be corrupted by bribes to allow the cargo to be stolen (Clark Russell).[110]
1676.Etheredge,Man of Mode, ii. Go on, be thegamemistress of the town and entice all our young fops as fast as they come from travel.
Cock of the Game,subs. phr.(old).—A champion; an undoubted blood; a star of magnitude (cock-pit).
1719.Durfey,Pills, iii., 329. Now all you tame gallants, you that have the name, And would accounted becocks of the game.
1822.Scott,Nigel, xiv. I have seen a dung-hill chicken that you meant to have picked clean enough; it will be long ere his lordship ruffles a feather with acock of the game.
To make game of,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To turn into ridicule; to delude; to humbug.
1671.Milton,Samson, 1331. Do they not seek occasion of new quarrels, On my refusal, to distress me more; Orake a game ofmy calamities?
1690. B. E.,New Dictionary. What yougameme? c. do you jeer me, or pretend to expose me tomake aMay-game ofme?
1745.Hist. of Coldstream Guards, 25 Oct. If the militia are reviewed to-morrow by his Majesty, the soldiers of the third regiment of Guards are to behave civilly and not to laugh or tomake any game ofthem.
To die game,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To maintain a resolute attitude to the last; to show no contrition.
1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue. Todie game, to suffer at the gallows without showing any signs of fear or repentance.
1815.Scott,Guy Mannering, ch. liv. The ruffian lay perfectly still and silent. ‘He’s gaun todie gameony how,’ said Dinmont.
1836.Dickens,Pickwick(ed. 1857), p. 363. I say that the coachman did not run away; but that hedied game—gameas pheasants; and I won’t hear nothin’ said to the contrary.
1869.Spencer,Study of Sociology, ch. viii., p. 183 (9th ed.). Nor should we forget thegame-cock, supplying, as it does, a word of eulogy to the mob of roughs who witness the hanging of a murderer, and who half condone his crime if hedies game.
1871.Times, 30 Jan.Critique on London, etc. The principal was acquitted, and though his accomplices were hung in Pall Mall at the scene of their act, theydied game.
To get against the game,verb. phr.(American).—To take a risk; to chance it. [From the game of poker].
To play the game,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To do a thing properly; to do what is right and proper.
1889.Geoffrey Drage,Cyril, ch. vii. I really think he is … notplaying the game.
The first game ever played,subs. phr.(venery).—Copulation. For synonyms,seeGreensandRide.
Gamecock,adj.(old).—Hectoring; angry; valiant out of place.
1838.Lever,Handy Andy. Smoke and fire is my desire, So blaze away mygamecocksquire.
Gameness,subs.(colloquial).—Pluck; endurance; the mixture of spirit and bottom.
1861.Hughes,Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xxiv. There was no doubt about hisgameness.
1884.Referee, 23 March, p. 1, c. 4. Carter fought with greatgameness, but he never had a look in.
Gamester,subs.(old).—1. A prostitute. For synonyms,seeBarrack-hackandTart.
1598.Shakspeare,All’s Well, v. 3.She’simpudent, my lord, and was a commongamesterto the camp.
1614.Jonson,Bartholomew Fair,ii. 1. Ay, ay,gamesters, mocke a plain soft wench of the suburbs, do.[111]
1620.Percy,Folio MSS., p. 404. Be not att ffirst to nice nor coye whengamstersyou are courtinge.
2. (old).—A ruffler; a gallant; a wencher; a man fit and ready for anything; also a player.
1639–61.Rump, i., 253, ‘A Medley.’ Room for agamesterthat flies at all he sees.
1676.Etheredge,Man of Mode, v., 1. Live it also like a frankgamester, on the square.
Gamey,adj.(colloquial).—1. High-smelling; offensive to the nose; half-rotten.
2. (colloquial).—Frisky; plucky.
1843.Dickens,Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xi. There’s somethinggameyin it, young ladies, ain’t there.
1869.S. Bowles,Our New West, p. 275. Horses are fresh and fat andgamey.
Gaminess,subs.(colloquial).—The malodorousness proceeding from decay and—by implication—filthiness.
Gaming-house,subs.(old).—A house of ill-repute—hell, tavern, or stews.
1611.Cotgrave,Dictionarie,Berlan, a common tippling house, ahouse of gaming, or of any other disorder.
Gammer,subs.(old).—An old wife; a familiar address; the correlative ofgaffer(q.v.).
1551.Gammer Gurton’s Needle(Title).
1706.Hudibras Redivivus, Part VI. And monkey faces, yawns, and stammers, Delude the pious dames andgammersTo think their mumbling guides precation So full of heavenly inspiration.
1842.Tennyson,The Goose. Ran Gaffer, stumbledgammer.
Gamming,subs.(nautical).—A whaleman’s term for the visits paid by crews to each other at sea.
1884.G. A. Sala, inIllus. Lon. News, July 19, p. 51, c. 2. When two or more American whalers meet in mid-ocean, and there are no whales in sight, it is customary to tack topsails and exchange visits. This social intercourse the whalemen callgamming… I cannot help fancying that ‘gam’ is in greater probability an abbreviation of the Danish ‘gammen,’ sport, or that it has something to do with the nautical ‘gammoning,’the lasting by which the bowsprit is bound firmly down to the cutwater.
1890.Century, Aug.To gammeans to gossip. The word occurs again and again in the log-books of the old whalers.
Gammon,subs.(colloquial).—1. Nonsense; humbug; deceit. Sometimesgammon and spinach. Nogammon= no error, no lies.
[Skeatsays from Mid. Eng.Gamen= a game; butR. Sherwood(Eng. Dict., 1660), gives ‘a beggar or seller of gammons of Bacon; and inCotgrave(1611),jambonnier= a beggar, also a seller of bacon, or gammons of bacon.’]
c.1363.Chester Plays, i. 102. Thisgammonshall begin.
1781.G. Parker,View of Society, I. 208. I thought myself pretty much a master ofgammon, but the Billingsgate eloquence of Mrs. P. … exceeded me.
1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.Gamon. What rumgamonthe old file pitched to the flat.
1823.Mod. Flash Dict.gammon—Falsehood and bombast.
1823–45.Hood,Poems(ed. 1846), vi., p. 96, Behold yon servitor of God and Mammon, Who, binding up his Bible with his ledger, Blends Gospel texts with tradinggammon.
1836.Dickens,Pickwick, ch. xxvii. Lord bless their little hearts, they thinks its all right, and don’t know no better, but they’re the wictims o’gammon, Samivel, they’re the wictims o’gammon.[112]
1837.Barham, I. L.,Blasphemer’s Warning. When each tries to humbug his dear Royal Brother, in Hopes by suchgammonto take one another in.
1839.Comic Almanack, Jan. But if you wish to save your bacon, Give us lessgammon.
1849.Dickens,David Copperfield, ch. xxii., p. 199. ‘Oh, my goodness, how polite we are!’ exclaimed Miss Mowcher.… ‘What a world ofgammon and spinnageit is!’
1890.Hume Nisbet,BailUp!p. 92. I’m real grit and nogammon.
2. (thieves’).—A confederate whose duty is to engage the attention of a victim during robbery; abonnet(q.v.) orcover(q.v.).
Verb(colloquial).—1. To humbug: to deceive; to take in with fibs; tokid(q.v.).
1700.Step to the Bath, quoted in Ashton’sSoc. Life in Reign of Queen Anne, v. ii., p. 111. We went to theGroom Porter’s… there was Palming, Hodging, Loaded Dice, Levant, andgammoning, with all the Speed imaginable.
1823.Moncrieff,Tom and Jerry, ii., 6. Vile I can get fifteen bob a day bygammoninga maim, the devil may vork for me.
1825.Buckstone,The Bear Hunters, ii. There! that’s just the way shegammonsme at home.
1836.M. Scott,Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. ii. Why, my lad, we shallseeto-morrow morning; but yougammonsso bad about the rhino that we must prove you a bit; so Kate, my dear,—to the pretty girl who had let me in.
1836.Dickens,Pickwick, ch. xiii. So then they pours him out a glass o’ wine, andgammonshim about his driving, and gets him into a reg’lar good humour.
1837.Barham,Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Misadventures at Margate.’ And ’cause hegammonsso the flats, ve calls him Veeping Bill!
1840.Hood,Tale of a Trumpet. Lord Bacon couldn’t havegammonedher better.
1890.Hume Nisbet,Bail Up!p. 70. Oh, don’t try togammonme, you cunning young school-miss.
English Synonyms.—To bam; to bamblustercate; to bamboozle; to bambosh; to barney; to be on the job; to best; to bilk; to blarney; to blow; to bosh; to bounce; to cob; to cod; to cog; to chaff; to come over (or the artful, or Paddy, or the old soldier over) one; to cram; to do; to do brown; to doctor; to do Taffy; to fake the kidment; to flare up; to flam; to flummox; to get at (round, or to windward of) one; to gild the pill; to give a cock’s egg; to gravel; to gull; to haze; to jimmify; to jaw; to jockey; to jolly; to kid; to make believe the moon is made of green cheese (Cotgrave); to mogue; to palm off on; to pickle; to plant; to plum; to poke bogey (or fun) at; to promoss; to put the kibosh on; to put in the chair, cart, or basket; to pull the leg; to queer; to quiz; to roast; to roorback; to run a bluff, or the shenanigan; to sell; to send for pigeon’s milk; to sit upon; to send for oil of strappum, etc.; to shave; to slum, or slumguzzle; to smoke; to snack; to soap, soft soap, sawder, or soft sawder; to spoof; to stick; to stall; to string, or get on a string; to stuff; to sawdust, or get on sawdust and treacle; to suck; to suck up; to sugar; to swap off; to take a rise out of; to rot; to tommy-rot; to take in, or down; to take to town; to take to the fair; to tip the traveller; to try it on; to throw dust in the eyes; to throw a tub to a whale; to pepper; to throw pepper in the eyes; to use the pepper box; to whiffle; to work the poppycock racket (Irish-American). [Note.—Many of the foregoing are used substantively,e.g., a bam, a barney, a[113]sell, bambosh = nonsense; deceit; a hoax, etc.]
French Synonyms.—Donner un pont à faucher(also, thieves’ = to lay a trap);dindonner(popular: fromdindon= a gull, a gobbler);battre à la Parisienne(thieves’: = to cheat; to come the cockney);se ficher de la fiole, orde la bobine,de quelqu’un(popular: to get on with it,i.e., to try to fool);envoyer chercher le parapluie de l’escouade(military:parapluie de l’escouade= the squad’s umbrella: to send on a fool’s errand;cf., to send for pigeon’s milk, etc.);la faire à quelqu’un(popular);faucher(thieves’ = to best);enfoncer(familiar: to let in: also to surpass);cabasser(popular);monter des couleurs,le Job, orun schtosse(= to do up brown);faire le coup, ormonter le coup, à quelqu’un(popular: = to take a rise);bouffer la botte(military: = tosell(q.v.) orbilk, as a woman refusing congress after receiving thesocket-money(q.v.) in advance);bouler(popular: also towhop(q.v.));être l’autre(popular: = toget left(q.v.));mettre dans le sac(thieves’: = to bag,i.e., to trap);collerorposer un lapin(popular: = tomake a hare of(q.v.); also more generally, tobilk(q.v.));emblémer(thieves’: = to stick);faire voir le tour(popular: = to show how it’s done;connaitre le tour= to know the game);faire la queue à quelqu’un(popular: = to pull one’s leg);tirer la carotte(thieves’);canarder(popular: = to bring down);empaler(popular: = to stick);passer des curettes(popular: = to befool);monter une gaffe(popular:gaffe= a joke, a hoax);jobarder(popular:job= simpleton, and is the same asjobelin);mener en bateau un pante pour le refaire(thieves’: = to take a man on);monter un bateau(popular);promener quelqu’un(popular:cf., to take to town);compter des mistoufles(fam.:mistoufle= a scurvy trick);gourrer(popular: = to bosh);affluer(fromflouer= to cheat, to diddle);rouster(popular and thieves’);affûter(thieves’ = to run down, also to make unlawful profits);bouler(popular);juiffer(popular = to Jew);pigeonner(popular topluck a pigeon(q.v.));flancher(popular = tokid(q.v.));faire la barbe(popular = toshave(q.v.));monterorhisser un gandin(thieves’ = literally to hoist a swell);fourrerormettre dedans(popular = to take in and do for);planter un chou(fam.);être marron(popular);interver dans les vannes(= to let oneself be sucked-up);monter un godan à quelqu’un(popular);griller quelqu’un(popular = to cuckold);passer en lunette(popular);goujonner(i.e., to hook like a gudgeon);fourguer(thieves’ = also tofence(q.v.));pousser une blague(popular = to cram);paqueliner(thieves’);se baucher(thieves’);balancer(popular).
German Synonyms.—Zinkennen an Almoni peloni(= to send one after Cheeks the Marine [q.v.].Almoniandpeloniare used mockingly in combination and also singly for a non-existent person);anbeulen(= to fool);jemanden arbeiten(= to haze, to cram);bekaspern, orbekaschpern, orbeschwatzen(= to fool: fromHeb.kosaw= to cheat).
Spanish Synonyms.—Disparar(= also to talk nonsense; to[114]blunder);hacer á uno su dominguillo, orhacer su dominguillo de uno(colloquial:dominguillo= a figure made of straw and used at bull fights to enrage the bulls);freirsela á alguno(freir= to fry: to deceive:Cf., toroast, or have oneon toast);pegar una tostada á alguno(= to put one on toast: more generally to play a practical joke);echar de baranda(= toembroider(q.v.));bola(subs.= humbug; a hoax);borrufalla(subs.= bombast);chicolear(= to jest in gallantry);engatusar(= to rob, or hurt; also to trick without intention);candonguear(also = to jeer);abrir á chasco(also to jeer);encantar(= to enchant).
Italian Synonyms.Ganezzarre;dar la stolfa;traversare(cf.,to come over);scamuffare(= to disguise oneself).
2. (thieves’).—To act asbonnet(q.v.) orcover(q.v.) to a thief.
Intj.(colloquial).—Nonsense;Skittles!(q.v.).
1827.R. B. Peake,Comfortable Lodgings, i., 3.Sir H.(aside).Gammon!
1836.M. Scott,Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. vii.Gammon, tell that to the marines: you’re a spy, messmate.
1854.Thackeray,The Rose and the Ring, p. 100. Ha! said the king, you dare to saygammonto your sovereign.
1861.A. Trollope,Framley Parsonage, ch. iv.Gammon, said Mr. Gowerby; and as he said it he looked with a kind of derisive smile into the clergyman’s face.
Gammon and Patter,subs. phr.(thieves’).—1. (old).—The language used by thieves; 2. (modern).—A meeting; apalaver. (q.v.). 3. Commonplace talk of any kind.
1789.Geo. Parker,Life’s Painter, p. 150.Gammon and Patteris the language of cant, spoke among themselves: when one of them speaks well, another says hegammonswell.
1811.Lex. Bal.s.v.Gammon and Patter. Commonplace talk of any kind.
To give(orkeep)in gammon.verb. phr.(thieves’).—To engage a person’s attention while a confederate is robbing him.
1719.Capt. Alex. Smith,Thieves’ Grammar, s.v.
1821.Haggart,Life, p. 51. Bagrie called the woman of the house,kept her in gammonin the back room, while I returned and brought off the till.Ibid., p. 68. I whidded to the Doctor and hegave me gammon.
To Gammon Lushy(orqueer, etc.).verb. phr.(thieves’).—To feign drunkenness, sickness, etc.
To Gammon the Twelve.verb. phr.(thieves’).—To deceive the jury.
1819.Vaux,Life. A man who has been tried by a criminal court and by a plausible defence has induced the jury to acquit him, or to banish the capital part of the charge and so to save his life, is said by his associates to havegammoned the twelvein prime twig, alluding to the number of jurymen.
Gammoner,subs.(old).—1. One whogammons(q.v.); a nonsense-monger. Fr.,bonisseur de loffitudes;blagueur;mangeur de frimes.
1823.Moncrieff,Tom and Jerryi. Fly to thegammoners, and awake to everything that’s going on.
2. (thieves’).—A confederate who covers the action of his chief; abonnet, acover, astall, all whichsee.[115]
1821.Haggart,Life, p. 66. The Doctor played the part of thegammonerso well that I made my escape without being observed.
Gammy,subs.(tramps’).—1. Cant.
1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Do you stoll thegammy? Do you understand cant?
2. (common).—A nickname for a lameter; aHopping Jesus; (q.v.).
3. (Australian).—A fool.
1892.Hume Nisbet,Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 191. Well, of all thegammiesyou are the gammiest, Slowboy, to go and string yourself to a woman, when you might have had the pick of Melbourne.
Adj.(tramps’).—1. Bad; impossible. Applied to householders of whom it is known that nothing can be got.SeeBeggars’ Marks.Gammy-vial= a town in which the police will not allow unlicensed hawking. (Vial= Fr.,Ville).
1839.Brandon,Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime,Glossary, s.v.
1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab., i., 466. No villages that are in any waygammyare ever mentioned in these papers.Ibid., i., 404. These are left by one of the school at the houses of the gentry, a mark being placed on the door post of such as are bone orgammy, in order to inform the rest of ‘the school’ where to call, and what houses to avoid.
2. Forged; false; spurious: as agammy-moneker= a forged signature;gammy-lour= counterfeit money, etc.
1839.Brandon,Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, s.v.
1857.Snowden,Mag. Assistant(3rd. ed.), p. 445. Spurious medicine,gammystuff, bad coin,gammy lower, p. 446.
1889.C. T. ClarksonandJ. Hall Richardson,Police, p. 321. Bad money (coin).…Gammy lower.
3. (theatrical).—Old; ugly.
4. (common).—Same asGame, sense 3:e.g., agammyarm = an arm in dock.Gammy-eyed = blind; sore-eyed; or afflicted with ecchymosis in the region of the eyes.Gammy-leg = a lame leg. Also (subs.) a term of derision for the halt and the maimed.
Gamp,subs.(common).—1. A monthly nurse; afingersmith(q.v.). [After Mrs. Sarah Gamp, a character inMartin Chuzzlewit(1843).] Also applied to a fussy and gossiping busybody.
1864.Sun, 28 Dec. A regulargamp… a fat old dowdy of a monthly nurse.
1868.Brewer,Phr. and Fab.(quoted fromDaily Telegraph). Mr. Gathorne Hardy is to look after thegampsand Harrises of the Strand.
2. (common).—An umbrella; specifically, one large and loosely-tied; alettuce(q.v.). [The original Sarah always carried one of this said pattern.] Sometimes aSarah Gamp. For synonyms,seeRain-napper.
1870.Lond. Figaro, 15 June. Though—shattered, baggy, shiveredgamp!
1883.G. R. Sims,Life Boat. He donned his goloshes and shouldered hisgamp.
1890.Daily Chron., 5 Mar. Sainte-Beuve insisted that though he was prepared to stand fire he was under no obligation to catch cold, and with hisgampover his head he exchanged four shots with his adversary.
1892Ally Sloper, 2 Apr., p. 106, c. 3. I never had a brand new tile, a glossy silk or swagger brown, But I left home without agamp, And rain or hail or snow came down.
3. (journalists’).—The Standard.
Adj.(common).—Bulging. AlsoGampish.[116]
1864.Derby Day, p. 18. I wasn’t joking, there is an air of long-suffering about you, as if you had been mortifying the flesh by carrying agampish umbrellaup Piccadilly, and back again.
1881.Mac. Mag., Nov., p. 62. Grasping hisgampumbrella at the middle.
Gamut,subs.(artists’).—Tone; general scheme;swim(q.v.). Thusin the gamut= a picture, a detail, or a shade of colour, in tone with its environment.
Gan(alsoGane),subs.(old).—The mouth. [A.S.,ganian= to yawn.] Occasionally = throat, lip. For synonyms,seePotato-trap.
1512–13.Douglas,Virgil, 250, 29. To behald his ouglie ene twane, His teribill vissage, and his grisliegane.
1567.Harman,Caveat(1814), p. 64.Gan, a mouth.
1610.Rowland,Martin Mark-all, p. 38. (H. Club’s Rept., 1874).Gan, a mouth.Ibid.A gere peck in thygan.
1656.Broome,A Jovial Crew, Act ii. This bowse is better than rombowse, it sets thegana giggling.
1671.R. Head,English Rogue, Pt. I., ch. v., p. 49. (1874.)Gan, a lip.
1690. B. E.,Cant. Crew.Ganns, the lips.
1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1881.New York Slang Dict., s.v.
Gander,subs.(colloquial).—A married man; in America one not living with his wife; agrass-widower(q.v.).
Verb.(old).—To ramble; to waddle (as a goose). Also, to go in quest of women;to grouse(q.v.).
1859.H. Kingsley,Geoff. Hamblyn, ch. x. Nell might comeganderingback in one of her tantrums.
1861.H. Kingsley,Ravenshoe, ch. xlvii. Sheganderedupstairs to the dressing-room again.
Gone Gander.—SeeGone Coon.
To see how the gander hops,verb. phr.(American.)—To watch events. A variant of To see how the cat jumps.
1847.Porter,Big Bear, p. 96.Seein’ how the gander hoppedI jumped up and hollered, Git out, Tromp, you old raskel!
What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander,phr.(common).—A plea for consistency.
Gander-month,subs.(common).—The month after confinement; when a certain license (or so it was held) is excusable in the male. AlsoGander-moon, the husband at such a period being called aGander-mooner.Cf.,Buck-hutchandGoose-month.
1617.Middleton,A Faire Quarrell, iv., 4. Wonderinggander-mooners.
1653.Brome,English MoorinFiue New Playes. I’le keep her at the least thisgander-month, while my fair wife lies-in.
1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
Gander-party,subs.(common).—A gathering of men; astag-party(q.v.); alsoBull-dance,Gander-gang, etc.Cf.,Hen-party= an assembly of women.
Gander-pulling.SeeGoose-riding.
Gander’s Wool,subs. phr.(common.)—Feathers.
Gang,subs.(old: now recognised).—A troop; a company.
1639–61.Rump, i., 228. ‘The Scotch War.’ With his gaygangof Blue-caps all.Ibid.,ii., 104, ‘TheGang; or, the Nine Worthies, etc.’
1690. B. E.,Cant. Crew, s.v.Gang, an ill knot or crew of thieves, pickpockets or miscreants; also a society of porters under a regulation.[117]
1704.Cibber,Careless Husband, i., 1.Sir C.Who was that other?More.One of Lord Foppington’sgang.
1754.Fielding,Jonathan Wild, bk. i., c. 14. What then have I to do in the pursuit of greatness, but to employ agang, and to make the use of thisgangcentre in myself?Idem.bk. iii., c. 14. But in an illegal society organg, as this of ours, it is otherwise.
1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1859.Matsell,Vocabulum.Gang, company, squad, mob.
Ganger,subs.(old: now recognised).—An overseer or foreman of a gang of workmen; one who superintends. For synonyms,seeGovernor.
1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab., ii., 487. Theganger, or head of the working gang, who receives his orders from the inspector, and directs the men accordingly.
1884.Cornhill Mag., June, p. 614, The mother and boy do the work, while the father constitutes himself contractor for andgangerover their labour.
Ganymede,subs.(old).—1. A sodomist. For synonyms,seeUsher.
1598.Florio,Worlde of Wordes.Catamito, aganimed, an ingle, a boie hired to sinne against nature. [And inCotgrave(1611) underGanymedes; Any boy that’s loved for carnal abuse, an Ingle.]
1598.Marston,Satyres, ii. But Ho! Whatganimedeis it doth grace The gallant’s heels.
2. (popular).—A pot-boy (i.e., a cup-bearer). The masculine ofhebe(q.v.).
1659.Florio-Torriano,Vocabolario.Mescitore, a skinker or filler of wine; also a mingler, aganimede.
1841.PunchI., p. 101, c. 1. Lo!Ganymedeappears with a foaming tankard of ale.
Gaol-bird,subs.(old: now recognised).—A person who has been often in gaol; an incorrigible rogue. Fr.,un chevronné. For synonyms,seeWrong ’Un.
1680.Hist. of Edward II., p. 146. It is the piety and the true valour of an army, which gives them heart and victory; which how it can be expected out of ruffians andgaol-birds, I leave to your consideration.
1701.Defoe,True Born Englishman, part II. In print my panegyrics fill the street, And hiredgaol-birds, their huzzas repeat.
1762.Smollett,L. Greaves, vol. II., ch. ix. He is become a blackguardgaol-bird.
1857.C. Reade,Never Too Late,ch. xi. Thegaol-birdswho piped this tune were without a single exception the desperate cases of this moral hospital; they were old offenders.
1882.Pall Mall Gaz., 5 Oct. Liberating thegaol-birdsin Alexandria.
Gaoler’s Coach,subs. phr.(old).—A hurdle to the place of execution.
1785.Grose.Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
Gap,subs.(venery).—The femalepudendum: alsoSportsman’s gapandwater-gap(q.v.). For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.
d.1746.Robertsonof Struan,Poems, p. 84. O gracious Hymen! Cure this dire Mishap, Sew up this mighty rent, or fill thegap.
To blow the gap,verb. phr.(old).—The same asto blow the gaff(q.v.).
1821.Egan,Real Life, etc., i., 557.He should like to smack the bit withoutblowing the gap.
Gaper,subs.(venery).—The femalepudendum. Also,Gaper(andGape)over the Garter. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.
Gapes,subs.(colloquial).—A fit of yawning; also the open mouth of astonishment.
1818.Austen,Persuasion. Another hour of music was to give delight or thegapes.[118]
1838.Haliburton,Clockmaker(ed. 1862), p. 373. But what gave me thegapeswas the scenes (at the theatre).
Gapeseed,subs.(common).—1. A cause of astonishment; anything provoking the ignorant to stare with open mouth. Alsoto seek a gape’s nest.
1598.Florio,Worlde of Wordes.Ansanare… to go idly loytring vp and downe as we say, to go seeking for a halfepenie worth ofgaping seede.
1600.Nashe,Summer’s Last Will, in wks. (Grosart), vi., 144. That if a fellow licensed to beg, Should all his life time go from faire to faire, And buygapeseede, having no businesse there.
1690. B. E.,Cant. Crew.Gapeseed, whatever the gazing crowd idly stares and gapes after; as Puppet-shows, Rope-dancers, Monsters and Mountebanks, anything to feed the eye.
1694.Poor Robin.’Tis plainly clear, They for theirgapes-seeddo pay dear.
1856.N. and Q., 2 S 1., 362. Plenty of persons were sowinggapeseed.
1870.B. F. Clark,Mirthfulnessp. 24. Do you wish to buy somegapeseed?
1884.Daily News, 8 Oct. Title (at head of sporting column).
2. (common).—An open-mouthed loiterer.
1885.Sportsman, June 23, p. 2, c. 4. The yearlings bred by Messrs. Graham were offered to a rather select audience of buyers, though the ring was surrounded by a fairly strong crowd ofgapeseeds.
Gapped,ppl. adj.(old).—Worsted;floored(q.v.for synonyms).
1753.Richardson,Sir Chas. Grandison.I will never meet at hard-edge with her; if I did … I should be confoundedlygapped.
Gap-Stopper,subs.(old).—1. A whoremaster. For synonyms,seeMolrower.
2. (venery).—Thepenis.[Gap= femalepudendum]. For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick.
Gar.Seeby gar!
Garble,to garble the coinage,verb. phr.(old).—Seequot. [Garble= to pick and choose.]
1875.Jevons,Money, etc., p. 81. A practice amongst money-lenders of picking out the newest coins of full weight for export or re-melting, and passing the light ones into circulation.
Garden,subs.(various).—1. (greengrocers’, fruiterers’, etc.) = Covent Garden Market; 2. (theatrical) = Covent Garden Theatre; 3. (diamond merchants’) = Hatton Garden.Cf.,House,Lane, etc.
[The Garden(= Covent Garden) was frequently used for the whole neighbourhood, which was notorious as a place of strumpets and stews. Thus,Garden-house= a brothel;Garden-goddess= a woman of pleasure;Garden-gout= the pox or clap;Garden-whore= a low prostitute, etc.]
1733.Bailey,Erasmus.When young men by whoring, as it commonly falls out, get the pox, which, by the way of extenuation, they call the CommonGarden-gout.
1782.Geo. Parker,Humorous Sketches, p. 90 No more theGardenfemale orgies view.
1851–61.W. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. I., p. 85. Not only is theGardenitself all bustle and activity, but the buyers and sellers stream to and from it in all directions, filling every street in the vicinity.
1884.Jas. Payn, inCornhill Mag., Mar., p. 257. She [Miss O’Neill] talked of theGardenand ‘the Lane,’ and was very fond of recitation.
1890.Tit-Bits, 29 Mar., p. 389, c. 1. Let me describe theGarden.A long, straight street, stretching almost due north and south, from Holborn Circus to Clerkenwell Road.Ibid.c. 2. The cut stones are chiefly sold to the large dealers in theGarden.[119]
2. (venery).—The femalepudendum. [The simile is common to all nations, ancient and modern. Shakspeare, in Sonnet 16, seems to play upon this double meaning;e.g., Now stand you on the top of happy hours; And many maiden-gardens, yet unset, With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers.] Alsogarden of eden. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.
To put one in the garden,verb. phr.(thieves’).—To defraud a confederate; to keep back part of theRegulars(q.v.), orSwag(q.v.).
Gardener,subs.(common).—1. An awkward coachman. [In allusion to the gardener who on occasion drives the carriage.]Cf.,Tea-kettle Coachman.
1859.Sala,Twice Round the Clock. Noon: Par. I. He can drive neither to the right nor to the left, nor backwards nor forwards.… A sarcastic saloon omnibus driver behind jeeringly bids him keep moving, accompanying the behest by the aggressive taunt ofgard’ner.
2. (venery).—Thepenis.Garden(q.v.) = femalepudendum. AlsoGarden-engine. For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick.
Garden-gate,subs. phr.(rhyming).—1. A magistrate. For synonyms,seeBeak.
2. (venery).—Thelabia minora. [Garden-hedge= the pubic hair.]
Garden-Latin,subs.(colloquial).—Barbarous or sham Latin. AlsoApothecaries’,Bog,Dog, andKitchen-Latin.
Garden-Rake,subs. phr.(common).—A tooth-comb. Alsoscratching-rakeorrake.
Gardy-Loo,subs.(old Scots).—A warning cry; ‘take care!’ [Fr.gardez’ (vous de) l’eau!Used before emptying slops out of window into the street. Hence the act of emptying slops itself, as in quotation dated 1818.]
1771.Smollet,Humphry Clinker, (British Novelists), xxxi., p. 57. At ten o’clock the whole cargo is flung out of a back windore that looks into some street or lane, and the maid callsgardy-looto the passengers, which signifies ‘Lord have mercy on you!’
1818.Scott,Heart of Midlothian, ch. xxvii. She had made thegardy-looout of the wrong window.
Gargle,subs.(formerly medical students’, now common).—A drink; also generic.Cf.,Lotion, and for synonyms,seeGo.
1889.Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 3, c. 1. We’re just going to have agargle—will you join us?
Verb.(common).—To drink; to ‘liquor up.’ For synonyms,seeDrinksandLush.
1889.Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 5. c. 5. Wegargled.…
1891.Morning Advertiser, 2 Mar. It’s my birthday; let’sgargle.
Gargle-Factory,subs.(common).—A public house. For synonyms,seeLush Crib.
Garn,intj.(vulgar).—A corruption of Go on! Get away with you!
1888.Runciman,The Chequers, p. 80.Garn, you farthin’ face! She your neck.
1892.Ally Sloper, 19 Mar., p. 90, c. 3.Gar’n, you men ain’t got no sense.
1892.National Observer, 6 Feb. p. 307, c. 2. And so simple is the dictum, so redolent of the unlettered Arry that we long to addgarn, oo’re you gettin’ at?[120]
Garnish,subs.(old).—1. A fee orfooting(q.v.); specifically one exacted by gaolers and old prisoners from a newcomer. The practice was forbidden by 4 Geo. IV., c. 43, sec. 12. AlsoGarnish-Money.
1592.Greene,Quip, in works, xi., 256. Let a poore man be arrested into one of the counters [prisons] … he shall be almost at an angel’s charge, what withgarnish[etc.].
1606.T. Dekker,Seven Deadly Sinnes, p. 28 (Arber’s ed.). So that the Counters are cheated of Prisoners, to the great dammage of those that shoulde have their morning’s draught out of thegarnish.
1632.Jonson,Magnetic Lady, v. 6. You are content with the ten thousand pounds Defalking the four hundredgarnish-money?
1704.Steele,Lying Lover, Act iv., Sc. iv. But there is always some little trifle given to prisoners, they callgarnish.
1752.Fielding,Amelia, Bk. I., ch. iii. Mr. Booth … was no sooner arrived in the prison, than a number of persons gathered round him, all demandinggarnish.
1759.Goldsmith,The Bee, No. 5, p. 385 (Globeed.). There are numberless faulty expenses among the workmen—clubs,garnishes, freedoms, and such like impositions.
1815.Scott,Guy Mannering, ch. xliv. [Jailorloq.] Thirty shillings a week for lodgings, and a guinea forgarnish.
2. (thieves’).—Fetters; handcuffs. For synonyms,seeDarbies.
Verb.(thieves’).—To fit with fetters: to handcuff.
Garret,subs.(common).—1. The head;cockloft(q.v.); orupper storey(q.v.). For synonyms,seecrumpet.
1625.Bacon,Apothgm, No. 17. My Lord St. Albans said that wise Nature did Never put her precious jewels into agarretfour stories high, and therefore that exceeding tall men had ever very empty heads.
1811.Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
1837.Barham,Ingold. Leg.What’s called the claret Flew over thegarret.
2. (old).—The fob-pocket.
To have one’s garret unfurnished,verb. phr.(common). To be crazy, stupid, lumpish. For synonyms,seeApartmentsandBalmy.
Garreteer,subs.(thieves’). A thief whose speciality is to rob houses by entering skylights or garret-windows. Alsodanceranddancing-master. For synonyms,seethieves.
2. (journalists’).—An impecunious author; a literary hack.
1849–61.Macaulay,Hist. of Eng., ch. xxv.Garreteers, who were never weary of calling the cousin of the Earls of Manchester and Sandwich an upstart.
1886.Shelley(quoted inDowden’s Life), i., 47. Show them that we are no Grub-streetgarreteers.
1892.National Observer, 18 Mar., p. 453. Has proclaimedurbi et orbithat governments have no business to manufacture specious sentiment by greasing the palms of ignorant and greedygarreteers.
Garret-master,subs.(trade).—A cabinet-maker who works on his own account, selling his manufacture to the dealers direct.
1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab., ii., p. 376. These trading operatives are known by different names in different trades. In the shoe trade, for instance, they are called ‘chamber-masters,’ in the cabinet tradegarret-masters, and in the cooper’s trade the name for them is ‘small trading-masters.’[121]
Garrison-hack,subs.(common).—1. A woman given to indiscriminate flirtation with officers at a garrison.
1889.Daily Telegraph, 14 Feb. Lord Normantower, Philip’s dearest friend, to whom she, when agarrison-hack, had been engaged, and whom she had thrown over simply because he was poor and prospectless.
1890.Athenæum, 8 Feb., p. 176, c. 1. The heroine is agarrison-hack, but the hero is an Australian.
2. (common).—A prostitute; a soldier’s trull. For synonyms,seeBarrack HackandTart.
Garrotte,subs.(common).—A form of strangulation (seeverb). [From the Spanishla garrota= a method of capital punishment, which consists in strangulation by means of an iron collar.]
Verb.(common).—1. A method of robbery with violence, much practised some years ago. The victims were generally old or feeble men and women. Three hands were engaged: thefront-stallwho looked out in that quarter, theback-stallat the rear, and theuglyornasty-manwho did the work by passing his arm round his subject’s neck from behind, and so throttling him to insensibility.
1869.Greenwood,Seven Curses of Lond.Committed for trial forgarrottingand nearly murdering a gentleman.
1873.Trollope,Phineas Redux, ch. xlvi. In those days there had been muchgarrottingin the streets.
2. (cards).—To cheat by concealing certain cards at the back of the neck.
Garrotter,subs.(common).—A practitioner ofgarrotting(underverb, sense 1.)
1869.Greenwood,Seven Curses of London, p. 201. The delectable epistle was written bygarrotterBill to his brother.
Garrotting.1.SeeGarrotte(verb, sense 1).
2. (gamblers’).—Hiding a part of one’s hand at the back of the neck for purposes of cheating.
Garter,subs.(nautical).—1.in. pl.the irons, or bilboes. For synonyms,seeDarbies.