Chapter 6

2. (thieves’).—To go out by the window.3. (lodging-house).—To evacuate from a window.4. (colloquial).—To attempt; to set one’s cap at.1863.H. Kingsley,Austin Elliot, ch. xii. ‘They say that youflew your kiteat that girl of George Cecil’s who has married that prig, Lord Mewstone.’To fly the blue pigeon,verb. phr.(thieves’).—To steal lead from roofs.SeeBlue-pigeon. Fr.,faire la mastar au gras-double, orla faire au mastar.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.1789.Geo.Parker,Life’s Painter. Thieves whofly the blue pigeon, that is, who steal lead off houses, or cut pipes away … cut a hundredweight of lead, which they wrap round their bodies next to the skin. This they call abible(q.v.), and what they steal and put in their pockets, they call atestament(q.v.).1887.Judy, 27 April, p. 200. A burglar whose particularlaywasflyingtheblue pigeon,i.e., stealing lead.To let fly,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To hit out. [From cock-fighting.]1859.Punch, vol. XXXVII., p. 54. ‘Essence of Parliament.’ Monday, 25 July. Lord Lyndhurstlet flyand caught him what (if pugilistic terms be not out of place when one is alluding to so pacific a personage) may be designated an extremely neat one on the conk.Not a feather to fly with,adv. phr.(common).—Penniless and ruined;dead-broke(q.v.for synonyms).[44]To break a fly on a wheel,verb. phr.(colloquial). To make a mountain of a molehill.Cf.,To crack a nut with a Nasmyth hammer= to lavish force or energy.The fly on the wheel,subs. phr.(colloquial).—One who fancies himself of mighty importance. [From the fable.]I don’t rise to that fly,phr.(common) = I don’t believe you; you won’t catch me with such bait as that. [From fly-fishing.]Off the fly,adv. phr.(colloquial).—On the quiet; laid up in dock; doing nothing: said of a strumpet retired from business, or a man (or woman) who has given over the pursuit of pleasure.On the fly,adv. phr.(popular).—1. Walking the streets; out for alark(q.v.);off work(q.v.); out on thespree(q.v.).2. (thieves’).—In motion:e.g., ‘I got in oneon the fly’ = I landed a blow while I was running.1868.Temple Bar, xxiv., p. 538. I prigged an old woman’s pokeon the fly.Fly-blow,subs.(common).—A bastard;cf.,Bye-blow. A nonce word.1875.Ouida,Signa, vol. I., ch. viii., p. 140. No doubt that littlefly-blowis his own.Fly-blown,adj.(common).—1. Intoxicated. For synonyms,seeDrinksandScrewed.1877.Judy, 18 May, p. 236. The officer assisted the pastor out, and hinted that he was slightly ‘fly-blown.’2. (Australian).—Cleaned-out; without a rap;Hard-up(q.v.for synonyms).1889.Star, 3 Jan. Our diggers go into Castlemaine to get their hair cut, and once there, they get on the spree, and come backfly-blown.3. (common).—Used, or done-up;washed-out(q.v.).4. (venery).—Deflowered. Alsostale(q.v.); ‘known for a wanton.’ Also suspected of disease.Fly-by-Night,subs.(old).—1. A sedan chair on wheels; a usage of the Regency days.2. (common).—A defaulting debtor; one whoshoots the moon(q.v.). Also applied to the act.3. (venery).—A prostitute.SeeBat, and for synonyms,Barrack-hackandTart.4. (common).—A noctambulist for business or for pleasure:i.e., a burglar or a commonspreester(q.v.).5. (obsolete).—A term of opprobrium.1796.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue(3rd ed.), s.v. An ancient term of reproach to an old woman, signifying that she was a witch, and alluding to the nocturnal excursions attributed to witches who were supposed to fly abroad to their meetings mounted on brooms.6. (venery).—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.Fly-cage,subs.(venery).—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.Fly-catcher,subs.(venery).—1. The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.[45]2. (common).—An open-mouthed ignoramus; aGapeseed(q.v.)—Sydney Smith. Fr.,gobe-mouche.Flycop,subs.(American).—A sharp officer; one well broken in to the tricks of trade. [Fromfly= knowing +cop, a policeman.]1859.Matsell,Vocabulum,or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.Fly-disperser Soup,subs. phr.(common).—Oxtail.Flyer.—1.SeeFlierin all senses.2. (old).—A shoe. For synonyms,seeTrotter-case.1690. B. E.,New Dict. of Terms, etc., s.v.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.1791.Life and Adventures of Bamfylde Moore Carew, s.v.1851.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. II., p. 34. There is another article called aflyer, that is, a shoe sold without being welted.3. (Winchester).—A half-volley at football. Amade-flyeris when the bound of the ball is gained from a previous kick, by the same side,againstcanvas or any other obstacle, or is dropped, as in a ‘drop-kick.’ This is now confused with a ‘kick-up.’Fly-flapped,adj.(obsolete).—Whipped in the stocks, or at the cart’s tail.—Grose.Fly-Flapper,subs.(old).—A heavy bludgeon.Fly-flat,subs.(turf).—A would-be connoisseur and authority. [Fromfly= knowing +flat= a fool.]Flying.—To look as if the Devil had shit him(orher)flying(common and proverbial).—Said in derision of one odd-looking, filthy, or deformed.Flying-angel.—SeeAngel.Flying Bricklayers,subs. phr.(military).—The mounted Royal Engineers.Flying Camps,subs. phr.(old).—Couples or gangs of beggars.1699. B. E.,Dict. of the Canting Crew. Beggars plying inflying camps. Beggars plying in bodies at funerals.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.Flying-caper,subs.(thieves’).—An escape from prison;leg-bail(q.v.).1864.Daily Paper, ‘Police Report.’ The blues are always ready to spot a fellow who has tried on theflying-caperwith them, and given them leg-bail.Flying-cat.—SeeCat.Flying Country,subs. phr.(hunting).—A country where thegoing(q.v.) is fast and good.1856.Whyte Melville,Kate Coventry, ch. xii. The heavy-top hounds are an establishment such as, I am given to understand, is not usually kept in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and other so-called ‘flying counties.’Flying Cove,subs. phr.(American thieves’).—An impostor who gets, or tries to get, money from persons who have been robbed by pretending to give such information as will lead to recovery. Formerly,Flying-porter(Grose).1859.Matsell,Vocabulum,or Rogues’ Lexicon, s.v.[46]Flying-dustman.—SeeStiff-un.Flying-dutchman,subs.(common).—The London and Exeter express (G. W. R.).SeealsoFlying ScotchmanandWild Irishman. Cf.,Dead-meat trainandLarky subaltern’s coach.Flying-horse(orMare),subs.(wrestling).—The throw by which an opponent is sent over the head. Introduced, says Bee, by Parkins.1754.Foote,Knights, Act I. But we don’t wrestle after your fashion; we ha’ no tripping; fath and soul! we all go upon close hugs or theflying-mare.1884.Referee, 23 March, p. 1., col. 1. In the third and last bout, Klein brought his man clean over his head—holding him by his own—with a sort offlying-mare, and elicited thunders of applause.1886.Pall Mall Gazette, 5 July, p. 4. On a Mississippi steamer he astonished a rowdy who was shocked at his unnatural objection to whisky, by performing upon him the feat known to British wrestlers as ‘theflying mare.’Flying-jigger or Gygger,subs.(thieves’).—A turnpike gate.[Jigger= a door or gate.]1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.1859.Matsell,Vocabulum,or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.Flying-man,subs.(football).—A skirmisher good at taking, and running with, the ball.1864.Eton School Days, ch. 23, p. 255. He possessed good wind, and was a very good ‘kick-off,’ and he could ‘bully’ a ball as well as any one. He was a little too heavy for ‘flying-man,’ but he made a decent ‘sidepost,’ and now and then he officiated as ‘corner.’Flying-mare.SeeFlying-horse.Flying Pasty,subs. phr.(obsolete).—Excrement wrapped in paper and thrown over a neighbour’s wall. [Grose.]Flying-porter.SeeFlying cove.Flying-stationer,subs.(street).—A hawker of street ballads; apaperworker(q.v.), orrunning patterer(q.v.).Cf.,croak. ‘Printed for theflying-stationer’ is theimprimaturon hundreds of broadsheets from the last century onwards.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. Ballad singers and hawkers of penny histories.1851–61.H. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. I, p. 228. That order or species of the pattering genus known asflying stationers, from the fact of their being continually on the move while describing the attractions of the‘papers’ they have to sell.1886.Athenæum, 31 July, p. 139. Scores of tracts were issued in the Newgate region, from Giltspur Street to Blowbladder Street, whence numbers offlying stationersdrew their supplies long before either of the Catnachs were born.Flymy.Adj.(streets).—Knowing,fast(q.v.); roguish; sprightly. FromFly(q.v.).1887.W. E. Henley,Villon’s Good Night. Youflymytitters fond of flam.Fly-my-kite,subs. phr.(rhyming).—A light.Flymy-mess,to be in a flymy-mess,verb. phr.(military).—To be hungry and have nothing to eat. For synonyms,seepeckish.Fly-slicer,subs.(common).—A cavalry-man:cf.,Mudcrusher. French lancers areallumeurs de gaz, their weapons being likened to a lamplighter’s rod.[47]1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.Fly-slicers: Life-guardmen, from their sitting on horseback, under an arch, where they are frequently observed to drive away flies with their swords.Fly the Garter,subs. phr.(schoolboys’).—Leap-frog.1863.G. A. Sala,Breakfast in Bed, Essay VIII., p. 187 (1864). He has very probably been playingfly-the-garterin the gutter instead of waiting his turn at the office.Fly-trap,subs.(common).—1. The mouth. For synonyms,seePotato trap.2. (venery).—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.Foaled,adj.(hunting).—Thrown from a horse. Fr.,faire parache.Fob, orFub,subs.(old).—1. A cheat; a trick; a swindle.To come the fob= to impose upon; to swindle;cf.,come over.1690. B. E.,Dict. of the Canting Crew.Fob, c., a cheat trick.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue,Fob, s.v.1852.Judson,Mysteries of New York, ch. vii. He come zefobon some of ze nobilitie, and zey invite him to go to Amerique.2. (old: now recognised).—A breeches pocket; a watch pocket.1678.Butler,Hudibras, III., i., 107. Had rifled all his pokes andfobsOf gimcrack whims and gingumbobs.1690. B. E.,Dict. of the Canting Crew.Fob, c., also a little pocket.1703.Marvell,Poems on Affairs of State. ‘Royal Revolutions.’ When plate was in pawn andfobat an ebb.Ibid.‘Last Instructions,’ etc. More gold in’sfob, more lace upon his coat.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.3. (common).—A watch chain or ribbon, with buckle and seals, worn hanging from the fob.Verb.(old).—1. To rob; to cheat; to pocket; alsoto fob off.1700.Congreve,Way of the World, i., 9. There were items of such a treaty in embrio; and if it shou’d come to life poorMirabellwou’d be in some sort unfortunatelyfobb’d, i’faith.1703.Mrs. Centlivre,Stolen Heiress, III., iv., wks. (1872), i., 358. I shall befobbedof my mistress by and by. Why, Frank, why, thou wilt notfobme, wilt thou?1731.Fielding,Grub Street Opera, i., 5. While ev’ry one else he isfobbing, He still may be honest to me.1789.Wolcot[P. Pinder],Rowland for an Oliver, in wks. (Dublin, 1795), Vol. II., p. 159. To use a cant phrase, we’ve been finelyfobb’d, Indeed, have very dext’rously been robb’d.1840.Howitt,Visits to Remarkable Places, p. 170. Very pretty sums he hasfobbednow and then.1842.Punch, III., p. 239, col. 2. The world turns its back on you, and neither by cards nor dice can youfobyour brother mortal out of a single guinea.2. (old).—To deceive; trifle with; disappoint; to put off dishonestly or unfairly.1598.Shakspeare,2 Henry IV., ii., 1. A hundred mark is a long loan for a poor lone woman to bear, and I have borne, and borne, and borne, and have beenfubbedoff andfubbedoff.1602.Shakspeare,Othello, IV., 2. I think it is scurvy, and begin to find myselffobbedin it.1610.Shakspeare,Coriolanus, I., 1. You must not think tofoboff our disgrace with a tale.1884.Fortnightly Review, XXXVI., p. 75. In nothing are amateur backers of horsesfobbed offby professionals with less than the legitimate odds than in backing double and triple events.[48]1864.The Tramp Exposed, p. 7. A miserable, a job lot of humanity as had ever beenfobbed offon a defrauded universe.To gut a fob,verb. phr.(old).—To pick pockets.Cf.,Fob, verbal sense 1. For synonyms,seePrig.1819.Moore,Tom Crib’s Memorial, 1. Diddling your subjects, andguttingtheirfobs.Fobus,subs.(old).—An opprobrious epithet.1677.Wycherley,Plain Dealer, II., 1. Ay, you oldfobus.2. (venery).—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.Fodder,subs.(common).—Paper for the closet,bum-fodder(q.v.).Fœtus.To tap the fœtus,verb. phr.(medical).—To procure abortion.Fog,subs.(old).—Smoke.—Grose.[1785];Modern Flash Dict.[1823];Matsell[1859]. [Cf.,Fogus.]In a Fog,subs. phr.(colloquial).—In a condition of perplexity, doubt, difficulty, or mystification: as, ‘I’m quite in afogas to wha you mean.’Verb(old).—1. To smoke.2. (colloquial).—To mystify; to perplex; to obscure.1836.W. H. Smith, ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’ There’s a nook in the boozing-ken, Where many a mug Ifog.1883.Punch, May, p. 210, col. 1. So large a picture, treated so ideally—Not thatthatmeans stricture—Fogsus to find room for it.1883.Daily Telegraph, 29 Sept. We turns what we say into tangle talk so as tofogthem.Fogey, orFogy,Fogay, orFoggi,subs.(old).—An invalid or garrison soldier or sailor. Whence the present colloquial usages: (1) a person advanced in life, and (2) an old-fashioned or eccentric person; generallyold fogey. [Derivation doubtful; suggestions are (1) from Su. G.fogdeand (2) from Eng.folk.SeeNotes and Queries, 1 S. vii., 354, 559, 632; viii., 64, 154, 256, 455, 652; 6 S. ix., 10, 195.]1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.1812. Letter quoted inNotes and Queries, 6 S., ix., 10. My company is now forming into an invalid company. Tell your grandmother we will be like the Castlefoggies.1855.Thackeray,The Ballad of Bouillabaisse. When first I saw ye,cari luoghi, I’d scarce a beard upon my face, And now, a grizzled, grimold fogy, I sit and wait for Bouillabaisse.1864.Tangled Talk, p. 104. Anold fogey, who particularly hated being ‘done.’1867.Nesmith, ‘Reminiscences of Dr. Anthon,’ inThe Galaxy, Sept., p. 611. The adherents of ‘progress’ mostly regard classics asold fogey, and ‘see no use’ in the laborious years which youth spend upon them.1883.James Payn,The Canon’s Ward, ch. xv. ‘He would have preferred some bookish sneak like Adair, or someold fogeylike Mavors.’1888.Sporting Life, 10 Dec. So it is with the sister art of music, for I (myself something of anold fogeyin such matters).So alsofogeyish= old-fashioned; eccentric.Fogeydom= the state offogeyishness; andfogeyism= a characteristic ofFogeydom.[49]1877.BesantandRice,Golden Butterfly, ch. i. They repaired arm-in-arm to their club—the Renaissance, now past its prime, and a littlefogyish.1883.Saturday Review, 31 March, p. 403, col. 1. Not the least among the pleasures offogeydom, so ably depicted by Thackeray, is the confidence that it inspires in the hearts of the fairer sex.Foggage,subs.(colloquial).—Fodder, especially green-meat.1785.Burns,To a Mouse. And naething now to bigg a new aneo’foggagegreen.Fogged,ppl. adj.(common).—1. Drunk.Cf.,foggy. For synonyms,seeDrinksandScrewed.2. (common).—Perplexed; bewildered; at a loss. [Fromfog(q.v.), to perplex]. For synonyms,seeFlabbergasted.1883.Illust. London News, 6 Jan., p. 6, col. 3. They were all treading on one another’s heels, trying to do their best, but hopelesslyfogged.1887.All the Year Round, 30 July, 30, p. 68. An Australian says that he is bushed just as an Englishman, equally characteristically, declares that he isfogged.Fogger,subs.(old).—1. A huckster; a cringing, whining beggar; a pettifogger.1614.Terence in English.I shall be exclaimed upon to be a beggarlyfogger, greedily hunting after heritage.2. (old).—A farm servant whose duty is to feed the cattle;i.e., to supply them withfoggage(q.v.).Foggy,adj.(common).—1. Drunk;i.e.,clinchedorhazy(q.v.).For synonyms,seeDrinksandScrewed.2. (colloquial).—Dull; fatwitted;thick(q.v.).Fogle,subs.(thieves’).—A silk handkerchief; also generic. [Cf., Ital.,foglia= a pocket, a purse; Fr.,fouille= a pocket]. A cotton handkerchief is called aclout.English Synonyms.—Bandanna; belcher; billy; clout; conch-clout; fam-cloth; flag; kent-rag; madam; muckender; mucketer (Florio); nose-wipe; pen-wiper; rag; sneezer; snottinger or snot-rag; stook; wipe.SeeBilly.French Synonyms.—Un cachemire(popular);un blaveorblavin(thieves’; fromO.F.,blave= blue);une fassolette(thieves’: It.,fazzoletto);un chiffonorchiffonnion(popular = a rag);un moufion(popular);les mouchettes(popular = wipes).German Synonyms.—Schneitzlingsschneiche(cf.,Snot-rag);FlammertorFlamme(also a neckerchief and an apron);Wisch(= also clothing of any kind).1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1821.Egan,Tom and Jerry(1890), p. 74, Jerry’s sneezer was touched with some convulsive efforts so that hisfoglewas continually at work.1834.Ainsworth,Rookwoodbk. iii., ch. 5.Foglesand fawnies soon went their way.1837.Dickens,Oliver Twist, ch. xviii. ‘If you don’t takefoglesand tickers——’ ‘What’s the good of talking in that way?’ interposed Master Bates: ‘he don’t know what you mean.’ ‘If you don’t take pocket-handkerchiefs and watches,’ said the Dodger.1841.Tait’s Edinburgh Mag., viii., p. 220. Fawnies orfogles, onions gay, all were the same to me.1849.Punch’s Almanack, ‘The Swell Mobsman’s Almanack.’ Theirfoglesfetch next to nothing.[50]1858.A. Mayhew,Paved with Gold, bk. II., ch. i., p. 60. They’re just made for hooking afogle[handkerchief] out of a clye.Fogle-hunter,subs.(thieves’).—A thief whose speciality isfogles(q.v.).Fr.un blavinisteorun chiffonier, but for synonyms,seeStookhauler.1827.Maginn, inBlackwood’s Mag.… thefogle huntersdoing Their morning fake in the prigging lay.1830.Lytton,Paul Clifford, ch. xvi. Who’s here so base as would be afogle-hunter?1837.Dickens,Oliver Twist, p. 44. ‘What’s the matter now?’ said the man, carelessly. ‘A youngfogle-hunter,’ replied the man who had Oliver in charge.1843.Punch, IV., p. 129. Rich charities the chapel throng. The swell mob they are there, The Bishop’s sermon is not long, Thefogle-hunterware!Fogle-hunting(ordrawing),subs. phr.(thieves’).—Stealing pocket-handkerchiefs;i.e., ‘prigging of wipes.’1823.Bee,Dict. of the Turf, etc., p. 82.Q.‘Where’s Teddy?’A.‘He’s out afogle-hunting.’ Sometimes ’tis said ‘drawingfogles,’ and ‘fogle-drawing.’Fogram, orFogrum,subs.(old).—A fussy old man. [Cf., colloquial sense ofFogey.]1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.1793.Butt,Poems. We teach old maxims, neither less nor more, Than Locke, or humble Hooker taught before, Thosefogrums, quizzes, treats, and bores, and gigs. Were held in some account with ancient prigs.1798.O’Keefe,Fontainbleau, II., 3. Never mind, oldfogrum, run away with me.1859.Matsell,Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.Adj.(old).—Fogeyish; stupid.1777.Foote,Trip to Calais, i, Father and mother are but a couple offogrumold fools.HenceFogramity= (1)Fogeyism(q.v.), and (2) the state ofFogeyishness.1796.D’Arblay,Camilla, ii., 5. Nobody’s civil now, you know, it is afogramityquite out of date.Fogue,adj.(American thieves’).—Fierce; fiery.1859.Matsell,Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.Fogus,subs.(old).—Tobacco. [Cf.,Fogus.] For synonyms,seeWeed.1671.Head,English Rogue, I., v., p. 49 (1874), s.v. 1724.Coles,English Dict., s.v. 1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue. Tip me a gage offogus.1821.Haggart,Life, p. 133. A hole in the roof of my cell, through which I handed her plenty offogus.1834.H. Ainsworth,Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. Troll us a stave, my antediluvian file, and in the meantime tip me a gage [pipe] offogus, Jerry.1859.Matsell,Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.Foiler,subs.(old).—A thief.1669.Nicker Nicked, inHarl. Misc.[ed. Park], ii., 108. Given in list of names of thieves.Foin,verb.(obsolete).—To copulate,i.e., to thrust,to poke(q.v.). Alsosubs.1598.Florio,A Worlde of Wordes.Scazzata: A thrust, a push, afoyne, or the serving to a woman of a man’s pricke.1598.Shakspeare,2 Henry IV., ii., 4. Thou whoreson little tidy Bartholomew boar pig, when wilt thou leave fighting o’days, andfoiningo’nights, and begin to patch up thine old body for heaven?Foist,Foyst, orFyst,subs.(old).—1. A cheat; a swindler; a sharper.1592.John Day,Blind Beggar(Bullen), p. 21. Your nipper, yourfoyst, your rogue, your cheat.[51]1596.Ben Jonson,Every Man in His Humouriv., 7. Prate again, as you like this, you whoresonfoistyou.1607.Dekker,Jests to Make you Meriein wks. (Grosart) II., 326. Now to ourfoysts,aliaspickpocket,aliascutpurse.1609.Dekker,Lanthorne and Candelight, in wks. (Grosart) III., 212. Afoystnor a Nip shall not walke into a Fayre or a Play-house.1611.Middleton,Roaring Girl, O. Pl., vi., 113. This brave fellow is no better than afoist.Foist!what is that? A diver with two fingers; a pickpocket; all his train study the figging law, that’s to say cutting of purses andfoisting.2. (old).—A trick; a swindle; an imposture. AlsoFoysterandFoister.1605.Ben Jonson,Volpone or the Fox, iii., 9. Put not yourfoistsupon me. I shall scent ’em.3. (old).—A silent emission of wind through the anus (see quot., sense 2); acheeser.SeeFartandFousty. [Coles has tofyst, vissio; which in his Latin part he renders tofizzle. Alsofysting cur; and in Sherwood’s English Dictionary, subjoined to Cotgrave,fysting curs, and other offenders of the same class, are fully illustrated.]1598.Florio,A Worlde of Wordes.Loffa, a fizle, afiste, a close fart.1605.Jonson,Eastward Hoe, pl. iv., 270. Marry,fysto’ your Ruidess. I thought as much.1662.Rump Songs, II., 3. That a reason be enacted (if there be not one), Why a fart hath a voice, and afysthath none, Which nobody can deny.1690. B. E.,Dict. of the Canting Crew.Foyst… also a close strong stink, without noise or report.1785.Grose.Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.FiceorFoyse.Verb.(old).—1. To trick; to swindle; to pick pockets.1607.Dekker,Jests to Make You Merie, in wks. (Grosart) II., 332. But now to the manner of thefoystingof a pocket, the sharing of the money, and how honest men may avoide them.1610.Rowlands,Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874).To foyst, to picke a pocket.1653.Middleton,Spanish Gipsy, ii., 1. I mean fitching,foisting, nimming.2. (old).—To fart. Also to copulate (Urquhart).1539.David Lyndsay,Thrie Estaitis(Works, Laing, 1879), ii., 109. Anefistandflag.1598.Florio,A Worlde of Wordes.Loffare, s.v.1611.Cotgrave,Dictionarie,Vessir, s.v.Foister, orFoyster,subs.(old).—A pick-pocket; a cheat.1598.Florio,A Worlde of Wordes.Barattiere, a barterer, a trucker, a marter, an exchanger, a briber, a cheater, a false gamester, a cousener, a broker, a fripper, a chaffrer, a cogger, afoyster, a deceiuer, a coni-catcher, a bareter, a prowler.(?).Mirrour for Magistrates, p. 483, When facingfoisters, fit for Tiburn. fraies, Are food-sick faint.Follower,subs.(colloquial).—A maid-servant’s sweetheart; a beau. For synonyms,seeJomer.1838.Dickens,Nicholas Nickleby, ch. xv. Five servants kept. No man. Nofollowers.1860.Chambers’ Journal, XIII., p. 32. Nofollowersallowed.1870.Spectator, 15 Jan. It is safer, unkind as it may seem, to forbid the presence of a ‘follower’ in the house. A girl is less likely to get into mischief when she is walking with her friend in the street or talking with him over the area gate, than when she receives him alone in the kitchen.1872.The Ladies, 29 June, p. 335. If you take into consideration that ‘followers’ are in most houses strictly forbidden,[52]what wonder is it that girls are now and then caught flirting with the butcher and the baker at the area railings?Follow-me-lads,subs. phr.(common).—Curls or ribands hanging over the shoulder;cf., Fr.,suivez-moi-jeune-homme= ribbons flying behind a lady’s dress. AlsoFollowers.1872.Spectator.‘Follow-me-lads’ are not in themselves very pretty, though, like any other fashion, they become the Princess, and they are exceedingly costly.Follow on,subs. phr.andverb(cricket).—A team eighty runs behind the other in the first innings is obliged tofollow on;i.e., to take to the wickets a second time. A run more, and itsaves the follow on.1891.Pall Mall Gazette, 5 Aug. ‘Notts.v.Surrey.’ The game, with a possible prospect of thefollow-on, being saved.Follow your nose!intj. phr.(streets’).—A retort on asking the way. The full phrase is, ‘Follow your nose, and you are sure to go straight.’1620.Percy,Folio MSS., p. 462. He went to the sea syde, andffollowed his nose.1854.Notes and Queries, x., p. 66. In what collection of tales published in 1834 shall I find the tale entitledfollow your nose?Foo-foo,subs.(American).—A person of no account; an insignificant idiot; apoop(q.v.).1837.A Glance at New York(in Bartlett). Don’t know what afoo-foois? Well, as you’re a greenhorn, I’ll enlighten you. Afoo-foo, or an outsider, is a chap that can’t come the big figure.Fool,subs.(colloquial.)—A dish of gooseberries, boiled with sugar and milk. [Fr.,groseilles en foule.] Also, agull(q.v.).1719.Durfey,Pills, etc., III., 9. ‘Praise of the Dairy Maid.’ A lady, I heard tell, Not far off did dwell, Made her husband afool, and it pleased him quite well.1774.Goldsmith,Retaliation. And by the same rule, Magnanimous Goldsmith’s a gooseberryfool.No Fool,subs. phr.(American colloquial).—A phrase laudatory, applied to neuter nouns.Cf.,No Slouch.1848.Jones,Sketches of Travel, p. 33. I tell you what, Charlston ain’t nofoolof a city.To make a fool of,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To delude. Specifically (venery), to cuckold, or to seduce under promise of marriage.To fool about(oraround),verb. phr.(American).—To dawdle; to trifle with; to be infatuated with; to hang about; to defraud.1837.A Glance at New York.Mose—Now look a-here, Liz,—I go in for Bill Sykes, ’cause he runs wid our machine; but he musn’t comefoolin’ roundmy gal, or I’ll give him fits.1884.Hawley Smart,Post to Finish, ch. xvii. From what I hear, you came to Riddleton,foolingafter my daughter. Now, I’ll have no caterwauling of that sort.1891.Gunter,Miss Nobody of Nowhere, p. 124. I should think you had too much ed-u-cash tofool aboutsuch a going on.Fool-finder,subs.(obsolete).—A bum-bailiff.—Grose.Foolish,adj.(prostitutes’).—Said of a man that pays. ‘Is heflash(q.v.) orfoolish= Is he the cully or the other.’—Grose.Fool-monger,subs.(colloquial).—A person, male or female, living by their wits,e.g., apromoter(q.v.); a betting-man; a swindler. AlsoFool-catcherandFool-trap(q.v.).[53]Foolometer,subs.(colloquial).—A standard, positive or neuter, whereby to gauge the public taste.Fool’s Father,subs. phr.(theatrical).—The pantaloon orold ’un. (q.v.)Fool-sticker,subs. phr.(venery).—Thepenis. For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick. AlsoFool-maker.Fool’s Wedding,subs. phr.(common).—A party of women. For synonyms,seeHen Party.Fool-trap,subs.(colloquial).—1. Afool-monger(q.v.).2. (venery).—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.3. (colloquial).—A high-class harlot.Foont,subs.(thieves’)—A sovereign [Probably a corruption of Ger.Pfund.] For synonyms,seeCanary.1879.J. W. Horsley, inMacm. Mag., XL., 502. The mob got me up a break (collection), and I got between five or sixfoont(sovereigns).Foot,verb.(common).—1. To acknowledge payment;e.g.,to foot a bill;cf.,Foot-up.1848.Durivage,Stray Subjects, p. 183. If our plan succeeded the landlord was tofootthe bill, and stand treat.2. (football and colloquial).—To kick; tohoof(q.v.).Cf.,Merchant of Venice, I., 3, You, that did void your rheum upon my beard, Andfootme, as you spurn a stranger cur.1852.Bristed,Upper Ten Thousand, p. 223. Both teams werefootingtheir very best.To foot it,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To walk. For synonyms,seePad the Hoof.1892.Price,From Arctic Ocean to Yellow Sea. The discomfort of having tofoot it.To foot-up,verb. phr.(American colloquial).—To sum up the total (of a bill); totot up(q.v.). Hence, to pay; to discharge one’s obligations; toreckon up(q.v.); to summarize both merits and defects, and strike a balance.Footing-up= the reckoning, the sum total. Fr.,gamberger.1865.Sala,A Trip to Barbary. The Arab abhors statistics. He won’t be tabulated if he could help it, and were you to go to Algeria, Doctor Colenso, you would find a deeply rooted objection among the people to the reckoning, orfooting-up, as the Americans call it, of anything animate or inanimate.1871.De Vere,Americanisms, p. 310.To foot a bill, by paying the amount at the bottom of the account, is a phrase equally well known abroad and with us.1882.McCabe,New York, XXI., 333. The transactions of ‘the Street’foot upan almost fabulous sum daily.1884.G. A. S[ala], inIll. Lon. News, 29 March, p. 294, col. 3. Theyfoot up(American English) to an almost alarming amount in thousands of dollars.To put one’s best foot(orleg)foremost,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To use all possible despatch; to exert oneself to the utmost.1596.Shakspeare,King John, iv., 2. Nay, but make haste; thebetter foot before.To put one’s foot into anything,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To make a mess of it; to get into a scrape.The bishop(i.e., the Devil)has put his foot in it(Old English proverb) is said of burned porridge or over-roasted meat.—Grose.Fr.,faire une gaffe.1823.Bee,Dict. of the Turf, s.v.[54]1888.Daily Telegraph, 7 May.Faire une gaffe, in modern Parisian slang, may be best rendered as toput your foot in it.To have one foot(orleg)in the grave,verb. phr.(common).—On one’s last legs;measured for a funeral sermon. Also asadj.1825.English Spy, i., pp. 199–200. Withone leg in the gravehe’ll laugh.1890.Globe, 15 May, p. 5, col. 2.One-foot-in-the-graveparalytic sort of people.To pull foot,verb. phr.(American).—To make haste. Variants areto take one’s foot in one’s hand, andto make tracks; but for synonyms,seeAbsquatulateandSkedaddle.1825.Neal,Brother Jonathan, Bk. I., ch. iv., How theypulled footwhen they seed us commin.1836.Michael Scott,Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. viii. ‘Why,pull foot, captain,’ promptly replied Paul.1843–4.Haliburton,Sam Slick in England. I look’d up; it was another shower, by gosh. Ipulls footfor dear life.To take Mr. Foot’s horse,verb. phr.(old).—To walk; togo by Shank’s mare(q.v.) For synonyms,seePad the hoof.To know the length of one’s foot,verb. phr.(old).—To be well acquainted with one’s character.1581.Lilly,Euphues, etc. But you shall not know thelength of my foot, untill by your cunning you get commendation.1614.Terence in English.He measures an otherman’s foote by his owne last. Hee considers an other mans meaning by his owne intent.Footer,subs.(Harrow: once common).—1. Short for ‘football.’2. (University).—A player of football according to Rugby rules.Foot-hot,adv.(Old English).—In hot haste;hot-foot(q.v.)1848.Burton,Waggeries, etc., p. 65. I’m darned if I don’t streak it to the Squire’sfoot-hot.Footing,subs.(common).—Money paid on entering upon new duties, or on being received into a workshop or society: as at sea when a comrade first goes aloft. Formerlyfoot-ale:cf.,Garnish. Fr.,arroser ses galons= to christen one’s uniform.1777.Howard,State of Prisons in England and Wales, quoted inJ. Ashton’sThe Fleet, p. 295. A cruel custom obtains in most of our Gaols, which is that of the prisoners demanding of a new comer garnish,footing, or (as it is called in some London Gaols) chummage.1781.G. Parker,View of Society, I., 48; I must instantly pay down two shillings for myfooting.1788.G. A. Stevens,Adv. of a Speculist, i., 211. I was drove from street to street by women of my own profession, who swore I should not come in their beats until I had paid myfooting.1830.Carleton,Collegian’s Colleen Bawn, 94. ‘Pay yourfootingnow, Master Kyrle Daly, before you go farther,’ said one.1840.Haliburton,Clockmaker, 3 S., ch. iii. ‘Waiter, half-a-dozen of iced champagne here, to pay for Mr. Slick’sfootin’.’1891.Clark Russell,An Ocean Tragedy, p. 86. I was going aloft and wished topay my footing.Footle,verb., andFootling,adj.(colloquial).—To dawdle, trifle, potter; dawdling, trifling, pottering;messing about(q.v.).Footlicker,subs.(old).—A servant: a lickspittle.1609.Shakspeare,The Tempest, IV., 1. Do that good mischief which may make this island Thine for ever, and I, thy Caliban, For aye thyfoot-licker.[55]Footlights.To smell the footlights,verb. phr.(theatrical).—To acquire a taste for theatricals. [Footlights = thefloat(q.v.); the row of burners in front of the stage.]To smell of the footlights.To carry theatrical concerns and phraseology into private life; totalk shop(q.v.).Footman’s Inn,subs. phr.(old).—A poor lodging; a jail. Fr.,Hôtel de la modestie= the Poor Man’s Arms.1608.Penniles Parliament of Threedbare Poets.Those that depend on destiny, and not on God, may chance look through a narrow lattice atFootman’s Inn.1612.Rowland,Knave of Hearts. Which at the heeles so hants his frighted ghost, That he at last inFootman’s-innemust host, Some castle dolorous compos’d of stone, Like (let me see) Newgate is such a one.Footman’s Maund,subs. phr.(old).—An artificial sore, as from a horse’s bite or kick. Thefox’s biteof schoolboys. Also theScaldrum Dodge, orMaund(q.v.).Maund= a cadger’s sale-basket.Cf.,Masons’ Maund.1690. B. E.,Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v. An artificial sore made with unslacked lime, soap, and the rust of old iron, on the back of a beggar’s hand, as if hurt by the bite or kick of a horse.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue, s.v.Foot-riding,subs.(cyclists’).—Walking and wheeling one’s machine instead of riding it.1887.T. Stevens,Round the World on a Bicycle. Already I realise that there is going to be as muchfoot-ridingas anything for the first part of my journey.Foot-scamp,subs.(old).—A foot-pad.—G. Parker.Footstool.SeeAngels’ Footstool.Foot-wobbler,subs.(old, soldier’s’).—An infantryman. For synonyms,seeMudcrusher.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue, s.v.Footy,adj.(old).—Contemptible; worthless.Fr.,foutu.—Grose.1836.Michael Scott,Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. v. My eye, Captain, no use to dodge from her; it is only datfootylittle King’s cutter on de Jamaica station.Foozle,subs.(common and sporting).—1. A boggle; a miss.2. (common).—A bore; a fogey; and (in America) a fool; agreen ’un. For synonyms,seeBuffle,Cabbage-head, andSammy soft.1867.Rhoda Broughton,Cometh up as a Flower, ch. xxvi. Frumps andfoozlesin Eaton Square.Verb.(common).—To miss; to boggle; tomuff(q.v.).1888.Field, 25 Feb. Parkfoozledhis second stroke.Foozled(orFoozley),adj.(colloquial).—Blurred in appearance and effect; fuzzy;muffed(q.v.). Often said of badly painted pictures, or parts of pictures.Fop-doodle,subs.(old).—An insignificant man; a fool.1689.Shadwell,Bury Fair. Come come, you brace offop-doodle.Fop’s Alley,subs. phr.(old).—Seequot. 1883.1782.D’Arblay,Cecilia, bk. II., ch.iv. Sir Robert Floyer, sauntering downfop’s alley.[56]1883.Sala,Echoes of the Year, p. 369.Fop’s alleywas the gangway running parallel to the footlights, between the last row of the stalls and the first row of the pit in Her Majesty’s Theatre, and in its palmiest days it was always graced by the presence of a subaltern of the Guards in full uniform, daintily swinging his bearskin.Forakers,subs.(Winchester College).—The water-closet. [Formerly speltforicusand probably a corruption offoricas, an English plural of the Latinforica.] For synonyms,seeMrs. Jones.Foraminate,verb.(venery).—To copulate. For synonyms,seeGreensandRide.Force,subs.(colloquial).—The police; properly a body of men trained for action. For synonyms,seeBeakandCopper.1868.Braddon,Trail of the Serpent, bk. IV., ch. vi. ‘I should like to … bring a child up from the very cradle to the police detective line, toseewhether I couldn’t make that ’ere child a ornament to theforce.’1883.Daily Telegraph, 5 April, p. 2, col. 1. But in all my experience ofthe force, I think I never saw a policeman’s eyes so expressive of gratitude.To force the voucher,verb. phr.(turf).—It is customary for sporting tricksters to advertise selections and enclose vouchers (similar to those sent out by respectable commission agents) for double or treble the current odds. The correspondent is informed that, in consequence of early investments, the extra odds can be laid; a remittance is requested; thevoucher is forced; and then the firm ‘dries up,’ and changes its name and address.Forcemeat Ball,subs. phr.(old)—Something endured from compulsion: as (1) a rape: (2) going to prison; (3) transportation; (4) an affiliation order; (5) abstention (from drink, pleasure, etc.) through impecuniosity.Forceps,subs.(old).—The hands. [Properly a pair of surgeon’s pincers.]—For synonyms,seeDaddle.Fore-and-Aft,verb. (venery).—To copulate.SeeGreensandRide.Fore-and-after,subs. phr.(American).—1.Seequot.1840.Haliburton,Clockmaker, 3 S., ch. xi. ‘The way she walks her chalks ain’t no matter. She is a regularfore-and-after.’2. (venery).—Adouble-barrelled(q.v.) harlot. [As in the song attributed to an eminent living man of letters: “Sing whore, sing whore, Behind and before, Her price is a shilling—She never gets more.”]Fore-buttocks,subs.(old).—The paps.—For synonyms,seeDairy.a.1745.Swift,Pope, andArbuthnot,Misc.iv., 222. Now herfore-buttocksto the navel bare.Forecaster,subs.(venery). The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.Fore-coach-wheel,subs.(common).—A half-crown. For synonyms,seeCaroon.Fore-court,subs. phr.(venery).—The femalepudendum. AlsoFore-hatch,Fore-castle, andFore-room. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.Forefoot,subs.(old).—The hand.1599.Shakspeare,Henry V., II., 1. Give me thy fist; thyforefootto me give.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.[57]Foregather,verb.(old).—To share the sexual embrace. For synonyms,seeRide.Forehatch,subs.(venery).—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable. AlsoForecastle.Foreman,subs.(old).—1. Thepenis. For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick. [Cf.,Forewoman.]1647.Ladies’ Parliament(q.v.).Foreman of the jury,subs. phr.(old).—A babbler; one with thegift of the gab(q.v.).1690. B. E.,Dict. of the Canting Crew.Foreman of the jury, he that engrosses all the talk to himself.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.Foreskin Hunter,subs. phr.(venery).—A harlot. For synonyms,seeBarrack-hackandTart.Forest,subs.(venery).—The female pubic hair. For synonyms,seeFleece.1573–1631.Donne,Elegies, xviii. Yet ere thou be where thou would’st be embayed, Thou must upon anotherforestset, Where many shipwreck and no further get.1720.Durfey,Pills, etc., vi., 146. Give me the Country lass, That trips it o’er the field, And opes herforestto the first.Fore-stall,subs.(thieves’).—In garotting, a look-out in frontofthe operator, orugly-man(q.v.); the watch behind is theback-stall(q.v.). [Fromfore+stall(q.v.).]Forewoman,subs.(old).—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.Fork,subs.(old). 1. A pickpocket. Fr., ‘Avoir les mains crochues= to be a light-fingered or lime-fingered filcher; every finger of his hand as good as a lime-twig.’—Cotgrave.

2. (thieves’).—To go out by the window.

3. (lodging-house).—To evacuate from a window.

4. (colloquial).—To attempt; to set one’s cap at.

1863.H. Kingsley,Austin Elliot, ch. xii. ‘They say that youflew your kiteat that girl of George Cecil’s who has married that prig, Lord Mewstone.’

To fly the blue pigeon,verb. phr.(thieves’).—To steal lead from roofs.SeeBlue-pigeon. Fr.,faire la mastar au gras-double, orla faire au mastar.

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

1789.Geo.Parker,Life’s Painter. Thieves whofly the blue pigeon, that is, who steal lead off houses, or cut pipes away … cut a hundredweight of lead, which they wrap round their bodies next to the skin. This they call abible(q.v.), and what they steal and put in their pockets, they call atestament(q.v.).

1887.Judy, 27 April, p. 200. A burglar whose particularlaywasflyingtheblue pigeon,i.e., stealing lead.

To let fly,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To hit out. [From cock-fighting.]

1859.Punch, vol. XXXVII., p. 54. ‘Essence of Parliament.’ Monday, 25 July. Lord Lyndhurstlet flyand caught him what (if pugilistic terms be not out of place when one is alluding to so pacific a personage) may be designated an extremely neat one on the conk.

Not a feather to fly with,adv. phr.(common).—Penniless and ruined;dead-broke(q.v.for synonyms).[44]

To break a fly on a wheel,verb. phr.(colloquial). To make a mountain of a molehill.Cf.,To crack a nut with a Nasmyth hammer= to lavish force or energy.

The fly on the wheel,subs. phr.(colloquial).—One who fancies himself of mighty importance. [From the fable.]

I don’t rise to that fly,phr.(common) = I don’t believe you; you won’t catch me with such bait as that. [From fly-fishing.]

Off the fly,adv. phr.(colloquial).—On the quiet; laid up in dock; doing nothing: said of a strumpet retired from business, or a man (or woman) who has given over the pursuit of pleasure.

On the fly,adv. phr.(popular).—1. Walking the streets; out for alark(q.v.);off work(q.v.); out on thespree(q.v.).

2. (thieves’).—In motion:e.g., ‘I got in oneon the fly’ = I landed a blow while I was running.

1868.Temple Bar, xxiv., p. 538. I prigged an old woman’s pokeon the fly.

Fly-blow,subs.(common).—A bastard;cf.,Bye-blow. A nonce word.

1875.Ouida,Signa, vol. I., ch. viii., p. 140. No doubt that littlefly-blowis his own.

Fly-blown,adj.(common).—1. Intoxicated. For synonyms,seeDrinksandScrewed.

1877.Judy, 18 May, p. 236. The officer assisted the pastor out, and hinted that he was slightly ‘fly-blown.’

2. (Australian).—Cleaned-out; without a rap;Hard-up(q.v.for synonyms).

1889.Star, 3 Jan. Our diggers go into Castlemaine to get their hair cut, and once there, they get on the spree, and come backfly-blown.

3. (common).—Used, or done-up;washed-out(q.v.).

4. (venery).—Deflowered. Alsostale(q.v.); ‘known for a wanton.’ Also suspected of disease.

Fly-by-Night,subs.(old).—1. A sedan chair on wheels; a usage of the Regency days.

2. (common).—A defaulting debtor; one whoshoots the moon(q.v.). Also applied to the act.

3. (venery).—A prostitute.SeeBat, and for synonyms,Barrack-hackandTart.

4. (common).—A noctambulist for business or for pleasure:i.e., a burglar or a commonspreester(q.v.).

5. (obsolete).—A term of opprobrium.

1796.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue(3rd ed.), s.v. An ancient term of reproach to an old woman, signifying that she was a witch, and alluding to the nocturnal excursions attributed to witches who were supposed to fly abroad to their meetings mounted on brooms.

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

Fly-cage,subs.(venery).—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.

Fly-catcher,subs.(venery).—1. The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.[45]

2. (common).—An open-mouthed ignoramus; aGapeseed(q.v.)—Sydney Smith. Fr.,gobe-mouche.

Flycop,subs.(American).—A sharp officer; one well broken in to the tricks of trade. [Fromfly= knowing +cop, a policeman.]

1859.Matsell,Vocabulum,or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Fly-disperser Soup,subs. phr.(common).—Oxtail.

Flyer.—1.SeeFlierin all senses.

2. (old).—A shoe. For synonyms,seeTrotter-case.

1690. B. E.,New Dict. of Terms, etc., s.v.

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

1791.Life and Adventures of Bamfylde Moore Carew, s.v.

1851.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. II., p. 34. There is another article called aflyer, that is, a shoe sold without being welted.

3. (Winchester).—A half-volley at football. Amade-flyeris when the bound of the ball is gained from a previous kick, by the same side,againstcanvas or any other obstacle, or is dropped, as in a ‘drop-kick.’ This is now confused with a ‘kick-up.’

Fly-flapped,adj.(obsolete).—Whipped in the stocks, or at the cart’s tail.—Grose.

Fly-Flapper,subs.(old).—A heavy bludgeon.

Fly-flat,subs.(turf).—A would-be connoisseur and authority. [Fromfly= knowing +flat= a fool.]

Flying.—To look as if the Devil had shit him(orher)flying(common and proverbial).—Said in derision of one odd-looking, filthy, or deformed.

Flying-angel.—SeeAngel.

Flying Bricklayers,subs. phr.(military).—The mounted Royal Engineers.

Flying Camps,subs. phr.(old).—Couples or gangs of beggars.

1699. B. E.,Dict. of the Canting Crew. Beggars plying inflying camps. Beggars plying in bodies at funerals.

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

Flying-caper,subs.(thieves’).—An escape from prison;leg-bail(q.v.).

1864.Daily Paper, ‘Police Report.’ The blues are always ready to spot a fellow who has tried on theflying-caperwith them, and given them leg-bail.

Flying-cat.—SeeCat.

Flying Country,subs. phr.(hunting).—A country where thegoing(q.v.) is fast and good.

1856.Whyte Melville,Kate Coventry, ch. xii. The heavy-top hounds are an establishment such as, I am given to understand, is not usually kept in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and other so-called ‘flying counties.’

Flying Cove,subs. phr.(American thieves’).—An impostor who gets, or tries to get, money from persons who have been robbed by pretending to give such information as will lead to recovery. Formerly,Flying-porter(Grose).

1859.Matsell,Vocabulum,or Rogues’ Lexicon, s.v.[46]

Flying-dustman.—SeeStiff-un.

Flying-dutchman,subs.(common).—The London and Exeter express (G. W. R.).SeealsoFlying ScotchmanandWild Irishman. Cf.,Dead-meat trainandLarky subaltern’s coach.

Flying-horse(orMare),subs.(wrestling).—The throw by which an opponent is sent over the head. Introduced, says Bee, by Parkins.

1754.Foote,Knights, Act I. But we don’t wrestle after your fashion; we ha’ no tripping; fath and soul! we all go upon close hugs or theflying-mare.

1884.Referee, 23 March, p. 1., col. 1. In the third and last bout, Klein brought his man clean over his head—holding him by his own—with a sort offlying-mare, and elicited thunders of applause.

1886.Pall Mall Gazette, 5 July, p. 4. On a Mississippi steamer he astonished a rowdy who was shocked at his unnatural objection to whisky, by performing upon him the feat known to British wrestlers as ‘theflying mare.’

Flying-jigger or Gygger,subs.(thieves’).—A turnpike gate.[Jigger= a door or gate.]

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

1859.Matsell,Vocabulum,or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Flying-man,subs.(football).—A skirmisher good at taking, and running with, the ball.

1864.Eton School Days, ch. 23, p. 255. He possessed good wind, and was a very good ‘kick-off,’ and he could ‘bully’ a ball as well as any one. He was a little too heavy for ‘flying-man,’ but he made a decent ‘sidepost,’ and now and then he officiated as ‘corner.’

Flying-mare.SeeFlying-horse.

Flying Pasty,subs. phr.(obsolete).—Excrement wrapped in paper and thrown over a neighbour’s wall. [Grose.]

Flying-porter.SeeFlying cove.

Flying-stationer,subs.(street).—A hawker of street ballads; apaperworker(q.v.), orrunning patterer(q.v.).Cf.,croak. ‘Printed for theflying-stationer’ is theimprimaturon hundreds of broadsheets from the last century onwards.

1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. Ballad singers and hawkers of penny histories.

1851–61.H. Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. I, p. 228. That order or species of the pattering genus known asflying stationers, from the fact of their being continually on the move while describing the attractions of the‘papers’ they have to sell.

1886.Athenæum, 31 July, p. 139. Scores of tracts were issued in the Newgate region, from Giltspur Street to Blowbladder Street, whence numbers offlying stationersdrew their supplies long before either of the Catnachs were born.

Flymy.Adj.(streets).—Knowing,fast(q.v.); roguish; sprightly. FromFly(q.v.).

1887.W. E. Henley,Villon’s Good Night. Youflymytitters fond of flam.

Fly-my-kite,subs. phr.(rhyming).—A light.

Flymy-mess,to be in a flymy-mess,verb. phr.(military).—To be hungry and have nothing to eat. For synonyms,seepeckish.

Fly-slicer,subs.(common).—A cavalry-man:cf.,Mudcrusher. French lancers areallumeurs de gaz, their weapons being likened to a lamplighter’s rod.[47]

1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.Fly-slicers: Life-guardmen, from their sitting on horseback, under an arch, where they are frequently observed to drive away flies with their swords.

Fly the Garter,subs. phr.(schoolboys’).—Leap-frog.

1863.G. A. Sala,Breakfast in Bed, Essay VIII., p. 187 (1864). He has very probably been playingfly-the-garterin the gutter instead of waiting his turn at the office.

Fly-trap,subs.(common).—1. The mouth. For synonyms,seePotato trap.

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

Foaled,adj.(hunting).—Thrown from a horse. Fr.,faire parache.

Fob, orFub,subs.(old).—1. A cheat; a trick; a swindle.To come the fob= to impose upon; to swindle;cf.,come over.

1690. B. E.,Dict. of the Canting Crew.Fob, c., a cheat trick.

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

1852.Judson,Mysteries of New York, ch. vii. He come zefobon some of ze nobilitie, and zey invite him to go to Amerique.

2. (old: now recognised).—A breeches pocket; a watch pocket.

1678.Butler,Hudibras, III., i., 107. Had rifled all his pokes andfobsOf gimcrack whims and gingumbobs.

1690. B. E.,Dict. of the Canting Crew.Fob, c., also a little pocket.

1703.Marvell,Poems on Affairs of State. ‘Royal Revolutions.’ When plate was in pawn andfobat an ebb.Ibid.‘Last Instructions,’ etc. More gold in’sfob, more lace upon his coat.

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

3. (common).—A watch chain or ribbon, with buckle and seals, worn hanging from the fob.

Verb.(old).—1. To rob; to cheat; to pocket; alsoto fob off.

1700.Congreve,Way of the World, i., 9. There were items of such a treaty in embrio; and if it shou’d come to life poorMirabellwou’d be in some sort unfortunatelyfobb’d, i’faith.

1703.Mrs. Centlivre,Stolen Heiress, III., iv., wks. (1872), i., 358. I shall befobbedof my mistress by and by. Why, Frank, why, thou wilt notfobme, wilt thou?

1731.Fielding,Grub Street Opera, i., 5. While ev’ry one else he isfobbing, He still may be honest to me.

1789.Wolcot[P. Pinder],Rowland for an Oliver, in wks. (Dublin, 1795), Vol. II., p. 159. To use a cant phrase, we’ve been finelyfobb’d, Indeed, have very dext’rously been robb’d.

1840.Howitt,Visits to Remarkable Places, p. 170. Very pretty sums he hasfobbednow and then.

1842.Punch, III., p. 239, col. 2. The world turns its back on you, and neither by cards nor dice can youfobyour brother mortal out of a single guinea.

2. (old).—To deceive; trifle with; disappoint; to put off dishonestly or unfairly.

1598.Shakspeare,2 Henry IV., ii., 1. A hundred mark is a long loan for a poor lone woman to bear, and I have borne, and borne, and borne, and have beenfubbedoff andfubbedoff.

1602.Shakspeare,Othello, IV., 2. I think it is scurvy, and begin to find myselffobbedin it.

1610.Shakspeare,Coriolanus, I., 1. You must not think tofoboff our disgrace with a tale.

1884.Fortnightly Review, XXXVI., p. 75. In nothing are amateur backers of horsesfobbed offby professionals with less than the legitimate odds than in backing double and triple events.[48]

1864.The Tramp Exposed, p. 7. A miserable, a job lot of humanity as had ever beenfobbed offon a defrauded universe.

To gut a fob,verb. phr.(old).—To pick pockets.Cf.,Fob, verbal sense 1. For synonyms,seePrig.

1819.Moore,Tom Crib’s Memorial, 1. Diddling your subjects, andguttingtheirfobs.

Fobus,subs.(old).—An opprobrious epithet.

1677.Wycherley,Plain Dealer, II., 1. Ay, you oldfobus.

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

Fodder,subs.(common).—Paper for the closet,bum-fodder(q.v.).

Fœtus.To tap the fœtus,verb. phr.(medical).—To procure abortion.

Fog,subs.(old).—Smoke.—Grose.[1785];Modern Flash Dict.[1823];Matsell[1859]. [Cf.,Fogus.]

In a Fog,subs. phr.(colloquial).—In a condition of perplexity, doubt, difficulty, or mystification: as, ‘I’m quite in afogas to wha you mean.’

Verb(old).—1. To smoke.

2. (colloquial).—To mystify; to perplex; to obscure.

1836.W. H. Smith, ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’ There’s a nook in the boozing-ken, Where many a mug Ifog.

1883.Punch, May, p. 210, col. 1. So large a picture, treated so ideally—Not thatthatmeans stricture—Fogsus to find room for it.

1883.Daily Telegraph, 29 Sept. We turns what we say into tangle talk so as tofogthem.

Fogey, orFogy,Fogay, orFoggi,subs.(old).—An invalid or garrison soldier or sailor. Whence the present colloquial usages: (1) a person advanced in life, and (2) an old-fashioned or eccentric person; generallyold fogey. [Derivation doubtful; suggestions are (1) from Su. G.fogdeand (2) from Eng.folk.SeeNotes and Queries, 1 S. vii., 354, 559, 632; viii., 64, 154, 256, 455, 652; 6 S. ix., 10, 195.]

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

1812. Letter quoted inNotes and Queries, 6 S., ix., 10. My company is now forming into an invalid company. Tell your grandmother we will be like the Castlefoggies.

1855.Thackeray,The Ballad of Bouillabaisse. When first I saw ye,cari luoghi, I’d scarce a beard upon my face, And now, a grizzled, grimold fogy, I sit and wait for Bouillabaisse.

1864.Tangled Talk, p. 104. Anold fogey, who particularly hated being ‘done.’

1867.Nesmith, ‘Reminiscences of Dr. Anthon,’ inThe Galaxy, Sept., p. 611. The adherents of ‘progress’ mostly regard classics asold fogey, and ‘see no use’ in the laborious years which youth spend upon them.

1883.James Payn,The Canon’s Ward, ch. xv. ‘He would have preferred some bookish sneak like Adair, or someold fogeylike Mavors.’

1888.Sporting Life, 10 Dec. So it is with the sister art of music, for I (myself something of anold fogeyin such matters).

So alsofogeyish= old-fashioned; eccentric.Fogeydom= the state offogeyishness; andfogeyism= a characteristic ofFogeydom.[49]

1877.BesantandRice,Golden Butterfly, ch. i. They repaired arm-in-arm to their club—the Renaissance, now past its prime, and a littlefogyish.

1883.Saturday Review, 31 March, p. 403, col. 1. Not the least among the pleasures offogeydom, so ably depicted by Thackeray, is the confidence that it inspires in the hearts of the fairer sex.

Foggage,subs.(colloquial).—Fodder, especially green-meat.

1785.Burns,To a Mouse. And naething now to bigg a new aneo’foggagegreen.

Fogged,ppl. adj.(common).—1. Drunk.Cf.,foggy. For synonyms,seeDrinksandScrewed.

2. (common).—Perplexed; bewildered; at a loss. [Fromfog(q.v.), to perplex]. For synonyms,seeFlabbergasted.

1883.Illust. London News, 6 Jan., p. 6, col. 3. They were all treading on one another’s heels, trying to do their best, but hopelesslyfogged.

1887.All the Year Round, 30 July, 30, p. 68. An Australian says that he is bushed just as an Englishman, equally characteristically, declares that he isfogged.

Fogger,subs.(old).—1. A huckster; a cringing, whining beggar; a pettifogger.

1614.Terence in English.I shall be exclaimed upon to be a beggarlyfogger, greedily hunting after heritage.

2. (old).—A farm servant whose duty is to feed the cattle;i.e., to supply them withfoggage(q.v.).

Foggy,adj.(common).—1. Drunk;i.e.,clinchedorhazy(q.v.).For synonyms,seeDrinksandScrewed.

2. (colloquial).—Dull; fatwitted;thick(q.v.).

Fogle,subs.(thieves’).—A silk handkerchief; also generic. [Cf., Ital.,foglia= a pocket, a purse; Fr.,fouille= a pocket]. A cotton handkerchief is called aclout.

English Synonyms.—Bandanna; belcher; billy; clout; conch-clout; fam-cloth; flag; kent-rag; madam; muckender; mucketer (Florio); nose-wipe; pen-wiper; rag; sneezer; snottinger or snot-rag; stook; wipe.SeeBilly.

French Synonyms.—Un cachemire(popular);un blaveorblavin(thieves’; fromO.F.,blave= blue);une fassolette(thieves’: It.,fazzoletto);un chiffonorchiffonnion(popular = a rag);un moufion(popular);les mouchettes(popular = wipes).

German Synonyms.—Schneitzlingsschneiche(cf.,Snot-rag);FlammertorFlamme(also a neckerchief and an apron);Wisch(= also clothing of any kind).

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

1821.Egan,Tom and Jerry(1890), p. 74, Jerry’s sneezer was touched with some convulsive efforts so that hisfoglewas continually at work.

1834.Ainsworth,Rookwoodbk. iii., ch. 5.Foglesand fawnies soon went their way.

1837.Dickens,Oliver Twist, ch. xviii. ‘If you don’t takefoglesand tickers——’ ‘What’s the good of talking in that way?’ interposed Master Bates: ‘he don’t know what you mean.’ ‘If you don’t take pocket-handkerchiefs and watches,’ said the Dodger.

1841.Tait’s Edinburgh Mag., viii., p. 220. Fawnies orfogles, onions gay, all were the same to me.

1849.Punch’s Almanack, ‘The Swell Mobsman’s Almanack.’ Theirfoglesfetch next to nothing.[50]

1858.A. Mayhew,Paved with Gold, bk. II., ch. i., p. 60. They’re just made for hooking afogle[handkerchief] out of a clye.

Fogle-hunter,subs.(thieves’).—A thief whose speciality isfogles(q.v.).Fr.un blavinisteorun chiffonier, but for synonyms,seeStookhauler.

1827.Maginn, inBlackwood’s Mag.… thefogle huntersdoing Their morning fake in the prigging lay.

1830.Lytton,Paul Clifford, ch. xvi. Who’s here so base as would be afogle-hunter?

1837.Dickens,Oliver Twist, p. 44. ‘What’s the matter now?’ said the man, carelessly. ‘A youngfogle-hunter,’ replied the man who had Oliver in charge.

1843.Punch, IV., p. 129. Rich charities the chapel throng. The swell mob they are there, The Bishop’s sermon is not long, Thefogle-hunterware!

Fogle-hunting(ordrawing),subs. phr.(thieves’).—Stealing pocket-handkerchiefs;i.e., ‘prigging of wipes.’

1823.Bee,Dict. of the Turf, etc., p. 82.Q.‘Where’s Teddy?’A.‘He’s out afogle-hunting.’ Sometimes ’tis said ‘drawingfogles,’ and ‘fogle-drawing.’

Fogram, orFogrum,subs.(old).—A fussy old man. [Cf., colloquial sense ofFogey.]

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

1793.Butt,Poems. We teach old maxims, neither less nor more, Than Locke, or humble Hooker taught before, Thosefogrums, quizzes, treats, and bores, and gigs. Were held in some account with ancient prigs.

1798.O’Keefe,Fontainbleau, II., 3. Never mind, oldfogrum, run away with me.

1859.Matsell,Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Adj.(old).—Fogeyish; stupid.

1777.Foote,Trip to Calais, i, Father and mother are but a couple offogrumold fools.

HenceFogramity= (1)Fogeyism(q.v.), and (2) the state ofFogeyishness.

1796.D’Arblay,Camilla, ii., 5. Nobody’s civil now, you know, it is afogramityquite out of date.

Fogue,adj.(American thieves’).—Fierce; fiery.

1859.Matsell,Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Fogus,subs.(old).—Tobacco. [Cf.,Fogus.] For synonyms,seeWeed.

1671.Head,English Rogue, I., v., p. 49 (1874), s.v. 1724.Coles,English Dict., s.v. 1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue. Tip me a gage offogus.

1821.Haggart,Life, p. 133. A hole in the roof of my cell, through which I handed her plenty offogus.

1834.H. Ainsworth,Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. Troll us a stave, my antediluvian file, and in the meantime tip me a gage [pipe] offogus, Jerry.

1859.Matsell,Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Foiler,subs.(old).—A thief.

1669.Nicker Nicked, inHarl. Misc.[ed. Park], ii., 108. Given in list of names of thieves.

Foin,verb.(obsolete).—To copulate,i.e., to thrust,to poke(q.v.). Alsosubs.

1598.Florio,A Worlde of Wordes.Scazzata: A thrust, a push, afoyne, or the serving to a woman of a man’s pricke.

1598.Shakspeare,2 Henry IV., ii., 4. Thou whoreson little tidy Bartholomew boar pig, when wilt thou leave fighting o’days, andfoiningo’nights, and begin to patch up thine old body for heaven?

Foist,Foyst, orFyst,subs.(old).—1. A cheat; a swindler; a sharper.

1592.John Day,Blind Beggar(Bullen), p. 21. Your nipper, yourfoyst, your rogue, your cheat.[51]

1596.Ben Jonson,Every Man in His Humouriv., 7. Prate again, as you like this, you whoresonfoistyou.

1607.Dekker,Jests to Make you Meriein wks. (Grosart) II., 326. Now to ourfoysts,aliaspickpocket,aliascutpurse.

1609.Dekker,Lanthorne and Candelight, in wks. (Grosart) III., 212. Afoystnor a Nip shall not walke into a Fayre or a Play-house.

1611.Middleton,Roaring Girl, O. Pl., vi., 113. This brave fellow is no better than afoist.Foist!what is that? A diver with two fingers; a pickpocket; all his train study the figging law, that’s to say cutting of purses andfoisting.

2. (old).—A trick; a swindle; an imposture. AlsoFoysterandFoister.

1605.Ben Jonson,Volpone or the Fox, iii., 9. Put not yourfoistsupon me. I shall scent ’em.

3. (old).—A silent emission of wind through the anus (see quot., sense 2); acheeser.SeeFartandFousty. [Coles has tofyst, vissio; which in his Latin part he renders tofizzle. Alsofysting cur; and in Sherwood’s English Dictionary, subjoined to Cotgrave,fysting curs, and other offenders of the same class, are fully illustrated.]

1598.Florio,A Worlde of Wordes.Loffa, a fizle, afiste, a close fart.

1605.Jonson,Eastward Hoe, pl. iv., 270. Marry,fysto’ your Ruidess. I thought as much.

1662.Rump Songs, II., 3. That a reason be enacted (if there be not one), Why a fart hath a voice, and afysthath none, Which nobody can deny.

1690. B. E.,Dict. of the Canting Crew.Foyst… also a close strong stink, without noise or report.

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

Verb.(old).—1. To trick; to swindle; to pick pockets.

1607.Dekker,Jests to Make You Merie, in wks. (Grosart) II., 332. But now to the manner of thefoystingof a pocket, the sharing of the money, and how honest men may avoide them.

1610.Rowlands,Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874).To foyst, to picke a pocket.

1653.Middleton,Spanish Gipsy, ii., 1. I mean fitching,foisting, nimming.

2. (old).—To fart. Also to copulate (Urquhart).

1539.David Lyndsay,Thrie Estaitis(Works, Laing, 1879), ii., 109. Anefistandflag.

1598.Florio,A Worlde of Wordes.Loffare, s.v.

1611.Cotgrave,Dictionarie,Vessir, s.v.

Foister, orFoyster,subs.(old).—A pick-pocket; a cheat.

1598.Florio,A Worlde of Wordes.Barattiere, a barterer, a trucker, a marter, an exchanger, a briber, a cheater, a false gamester, a cousener, a broker, a fripper, a chaffrer, a cogger, afoyster, a deceiuer, a coni-catcher, a bareter, a prowler.

(?).Mirrour for Magistrates, p. 483, When facingfoisters, fit for Tiburn. fraies, Are food-sick faint.

Follower,subs.(colloquial).—A maid-servant’s sweetheart; a beau. For synonyms,seeJomer.

1838.Dickens,Nicholas Nickleby, ch. xv. Five servants kept. No man. Nofollowers.

1860.Chambers’ Journal, XIII., p. 32. Nofollowersallowed.

1870.Spectator, 15 Jan. It is safer, unkind as it may seem, to forbid the presence of a ‘follower’ in the house. A girl is less likely to get into mischief when she is walking with her friend in the street or talking with him over the area gate, than when she receives him alone in the kitchen.

1872.The Ladies, 29 June, p. 335. If you take into consideration that ‘followers’ are in most houses strictly forbidden,[52]what wonder is it that girls are now and then caught flirting with the butcher and the baker at the area railings?

Follow-me-lads,subs. phr.(common).—Curls or ribands hanging over the shoulder;cf., Fr.,suivez-moi-jeune-homme= ribbons flying behind a lady’s dress. AlsoFollowers.

1872.Spectator.‘Follow-me-lads’ are not in themselves very pretty, though, like any other fashion, they become the Princess, and they are exceedingly costly.

Follow on,subs. phr.andverb(cricket).—A team eighty runs behind the other in the first innings is obliged tofollow on;i.e., to take to the wickets a second time. A run more, and itsaves the follow on.

1891.Pall Mall Gazette, 5 Aug. ‘Notts.v.Surrey.’ The game, with a possible prospect of thefollow-on, being saved.

Follow your nose!intj. phr.(streets’).—A retort on asking the way. The full phrase is, ‘Follow your nose, and you are sure to go straight.’

1620.Percy,Folio MSS., p. 462. He went to the sea syde, andffollowed his nose.

1854.Notes and Queries, x., p. 66. In what collection of tales published in 1834 shall I find the tale entitledfollow your nose?

Foo-foo,subs.(American).—A person of no account; an insignificant idiot; apoop(q.v.).

1837.A Glance at New York(in Bartlett). Don’t know what afoo-foois? Well, as you’re a greenhorn, I’ll enlighten you. Afoo-foo, or an outsider, is a chap that can’t come the big figure.

Fool,subs.(colloquial.)—A dish of gooseberries, boiled with sugar and milk. [Fr.,groseilles en foule.] Also, agull(q.v.).

1719.Durfey,Pills, etc., III., 9. ‘Praise of the Dairy Maid.’ A lady, I heard tell, Not far off did dwell, Made her husband afool, and it pleased him quite well.

1774.Goldsmith,Retaliation. And by the same rule, Magnanimous Goldsmith’s a gooseberryfool.

No Fool,subs. phr.(American colloquial).—A phrase laudatory, applied to neuter nouns.Cf.,No Slouch.

1848.Jones,Sketches of Travel, p. 33. I tell you what, Charlston ain’t nofoolof a city.

To make a fool of,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To delude. Specifically (venery), to cuckold, or to seduce under promise of marriage.

To fool about(oraround),verb. phr.(American).—To dawdle; to trifle with; to be infatuated with; to hang about; to defraud.

1837.A Glance at New York.Mose—Now look a-here, Liz,—I go in for Bill Sykes, ’cause he runs wid our machine; but he musn’t comefoolin’ roundmy gal, or I’ll give him fits.

1884.Hawley Smart,Post to Finish, ch. xvii. From what I hear, you came to Riddleton,foolingafter my daughter. Now, I’ll have no caterwauling of that sort.

1891.Gunter,Miss Nobody of Nowhere, p. 124. I should think you had too much ed-u-cash tofool aboutsuch a going on.

Fool-finder,subs.(obsolete).—A bum-bailiff.—Grose.

Foolish,adj.(prostitutes’).—Said of a man that pays. ‘Is heflash(q.v.) orfoolish= Is he the cully or the other.’—Grose.

Fool-monger,subs.(colloquial).—A person, male or female, living by their wits,e.g., apromoter(q.v.); a betting-man; a swindler. AlsoFool-catcherandFool-trap(q.v.).[53]

Foolometer,subs.(colloquial).—A standard, positive or neuter, whereby to gauge the public taste.

Fool’s Father,subs. phr.(theatrical).—The pantaloon orold ’un. (q.v.)

Fool-sticker,subs. phr.(venery).—Thepenis. For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick. AlsoFool-maker.

Fool’s Wedding,subs. phr.(common).—A party of women. For synonyms,seeHen Party.

Fool-trap,subs.(colloquial).—1. Afool-monger(q.v.).

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

3. (colloquial).—A high-class harlot.

Foont,subs.(thieves’)—A sovereign [Probably a corruption of Ger.Pfund.] For synonyms,seeCanary.

1879.J. W. Horsley, inMacm. Mag., XL., 502. The mob got me up a break (collection), and I got between five or sixfoont(sovereigns).

Foot,verb.(common).—1. To acknowledge payment;e.g.,to foot a bill;cf.,Foot-up.

1848.Durivage,Stray Subjects, p. 183. If our plan succeeded the landlord was tofootthe bill, and stand treat.

2. (football and colloquial).—To kick; tohoof(q.v.).Cf.,Merchant of Venice, I., 3, You, that did void your rheum upon my beard, Andfootme, as you spurn a stranger cur.

1852.Bristed,Upper Ten Thousand, p. 223. Both teams werefootingtheir very best.

To foot it,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To walk. For synonyms,seePad the Hoof.

1892.Price,From Arctic Ocean to Yellow Sea. The discomfort of having tofoot it.

To foot-up,verb. phr.(American colloquial).—To sum up the total (of a bill); totot up(q.v.). Hence, to pay; to discharge one’s obligations; toreckon up(q.v.); to summarize both merits and defects, and strike a balance.Footing-up= the reckoning, the sum total. Fr.,gamberger.

1865.Sala,A Trip to Barbary. The Arab abhors statistics. He won’t be tabulated if he could help it, and were you to go to Algeria, Doctor Colenso, you would find a deeply rooted objection among the people to the reckoning, orfooting-up, as the Americans call it, of anything animate or inanimate.

1871.De Vere,Americanisms, p. 310.To foot a bill, by paying the amount at the bottom of the account, is a phrase equally well known abroad and with us.

1882.McCabe,New York, XXI., 333. The transactions of ‘the Street’foot upan almost fabulous sum daily.

1884.G. A. S[ala], inIll. Lon. News, 29 March, p. 294, col. 3. Theyfoot up(American English) to an almost alarming amount in thousands of dollars.

To put one’s best foot(orleg)foremost,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To use all possible despatch; to exert oneself to the utmost.

1596.Shakspeare,King John, iv., 2. Nay, but make haste; thebetter foot before.

To put one’s foot into anything,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To make a mess of it; to get into a scrape.The bishop(i.e., the Devil)has put his foot in it(Old English proverb) is said of burned porridge or over-roasted meat.—Grose.Fr.,faire une gaffe.

1823.Bee,Dict. of the Turf, s.v.[54]

1888.Daily Telegraph, 7 May.Faire une gaffe, in modern Parisian slang, may be best rendered as toput your foot in it.

To have one foot(orleg)in the grave,verb. phr.(common).—On one’s last legs;measured for a funeral sermon. Also asadj.

1825.English Spy, i., pp. 199–200. Withone leg in the gravehe’ll laugh.

1890.Globe, 15 May, p. 5, col. 2.One-foot-in-the-graveparalytic sort of people.

To pull foot,verb. phr.(American).—To make haste. Variants areto take one’s foot in one’s hand, andto make tracks; but for synonyms,seeAbsquatulateandSkedaddle.

1825.Neal,Brother Jonathan, Bk. I., ch. iv., How theypulled footwhen they seed us commin.

1836.Michael Scott,Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. viii. ‘Why,pull foot, captain,’ promptly replied Paul.

1843–4.Haliburton,Sam Slick in England. I look’d up; it was another shower, by gosh. Ipulls footfor dear life.

To take Mr. Foot’s horse,verb. phr.(old).—To walk; togo by Shank’s mare(q.v.) For synonyms,seePad the hoof.

To know the length of one’s foot,verb. phr.(old).—To be well acquainted with one’s character.

1581.Lilly,Euphues, etc. But you shall not know thelength of my foot, untill by your cunning you get commendation.

1614.Terence in English.He measures an otherman’s foote by his owne last. Hee considers an other mans meaning by his owne intent.

Footer,subs.(Harrow: once common).—1. Short for ‘football.’

2. (University).—A player of football according to Rugby rules.

Foot-hot,adv.(Old English).—In hot haste;hot-foot(q.v.)

1848.Burton,Waggeries, etc., p. 65. I’m darned if I don’t streak it to the Squire’sfoot-hot.

Footing,subs.(common).—Money paid on entering upon new duties, or on being received into a workshop or society: as at sea when a comrade first goes aloft. Formerlyfoot-ale:cf.,Garnish. Fr.,arroser ses galons= to christen one’s uniform.

1777.Howard,State of Prisons in England and Wales, quoted inJ. Ashton’sThe Fleet, p. 295. A cruel custom obtains in most of our Gaols, which is that of the prisoners demanding of a new comer garnish,footing, or (as it is called in some London Gaols) chummage.

1781.G. Parker,View of Society, I., 48; I must instantly pay down two shillings for myfooting.

1788.G. A. Stevens,Adv. of a Speculist, i., 211. I was drove from street to street by women of my own profession, who swore I should not come in their beats until I had paid myfooting.

1830.Carleton,Collegian’s Colleen Bawn, 94. ‘Pay yourfootingnow, Master Kyrle Daly, before you go farther,’ said one.

1840.Haliburton,Clockmaker, 3 S., ch. iii. ‘Waiter, half-a-dozen of iced champagne here, to pay for Mr. Slick’sfootin’.’

1891.Clark Russell,An Ocean Tragedy, p. 86. I was going aloft and wished topay my footing.

Footle,verb., andFootling,adj.(colloquial).—To dawdle, trifle, potter; dawdling, trifling, pottering;messing about(q.v.).

Footlicker,subs.(old).—A servant: a lickspittle.

1609.Shakspeare,The Tempest, IV., 1. Do that good mischief which may make this island Thine for ever, and I, thy Caliban, For aye thyfoot-licker.[55]

Footlights.To smell the footlights,verb. phr.(theatrical).—To acquire a taste for theatricals. [Footlights = thefloat(q.v.); the row of burners in front of the stage.]

To smell of the footlights.To carry theatrical concerns and phraseology into private life; totalk shop(q.v.).

Footman’s Inn,subs. phr.(old).—A poor lodging; a jail. Fr.,Hôtel de la modestie= the Poor Man’s Arms.

1608.Penniles Parliament of Threedbare Poets.Those that depend on destiny, and not on God, may chance look through a narrow lattice atFootman’s Inn.

1612.Rowland,Knave of Hearts. Which at the heeles so hants his frighted ghost, That he at last inFootman’s-innemust host, Some castle dolorous compos’d of stone, Like (let me see) Newgate is such a one.

Footman’s Maund,subs. phr.(old).—An artificial sore, as from a horse’s bite or kick. Thefox’s biteof schoolboys. Also theScaldrum Dodge, orMaund(q.v.).Maund= a cadger’s sale-basket.Cf.,Masons’ Maund.

1690. B. E.,Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v. An artificial sore made with unslacked lime, soap, and the rust of old iron, on the back of a beggar’s hand, as if hurt by the bite or kick of a horse.

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

Foot-riding,subs.(cyclists’).—Walking and wheeling one’s machine instead of riding it.

1887.T. Stevens,Round the World on a Bicycle. Already I realise that there is going to be as muchfoot-ridingas anything for the first part of my journey.

Foot-scamp,subs.(old).—A foot-pad.—G. Parker.

Footstool.SeeAngels’ Footstool.

Foot-wobbler,subs.(old, soldier’s’).—An infantryman. For synonyms,seeMudcrusher.

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

Footy,adj.(old).—Contemptible; worthless.Fr.,foutu.—Grose.

1836.Michael Scott,Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. v. My eye, Captain, no use to dodge from her; it is only datfootylittle King’s cutter on de Jamaica station.

Foozle,subs.(common and sporting).—1. A boggle; a miss.

2. (common).—A bore; a fogey; and (in America) a fool; agreen ’un. For synonyms,seeBuffle,Cabbage-head, andSammy soft.

1867.Rhoda Broughton,Cometh up as a Flower, ch. xxvi. Frumps andfoozlesin Eaton Square.

Verb.(common).—To miss; to boggle; tomuff(q.v.).

1888.Field, 25 Feb. Parkfoozledhis second stroke.

Foozled(orFoozley),adj.(colloquial).—Blurred in appearance and effect; fuzzy;muffed(q.v.). Often said of badly painted pictures, or parts of pictures.

Fop-doodle,subs.(old).—An insignificant man; a fool.

1689.Shadwell,Bury Fair. Come come, you brace offop-doodle.

Fop’s Alley,subs. phr.(old).—Seequot. 1883.

1782.D’Arblay,Cecilia, bk. II., ch.iv. Sir Robert Floyer, sauntering downfop’s alley.[56]

1883.Sala,Echoes of the Year, p. 369.Fop’s alleywas the gangway running parallel to the footlights, between the last row of the stalls and the first row of the pit in Her Majesty’s Theatre, and in its palmiest days it was always graced by the presence of a subaltern of the Guards in full uniform, daintily swinging his bearskin.

Forakers,subs.(Winchester College).—The water-closet. [Formerly speltforicusand probably a corruption offoricas, an English plural of the Latinforica.] For synonyms,seeMrs. Jones.

Foraminate,verb.(venery).—To copulate. For synonyms,seeGreensandRide.

Force,subs.(colloquial).—The police; properly a body of men trained for action. For synonyms,seeBeakandCopper.

1868.Braddon,Trail of the Serpent, bk. IV., ch. vi. ‘I should like to … bring a child up from the very cradle to the police detective line, toseewhether I couldn’t make that ’ere child a ornament to theforce.’

1883.Daily Telegraph, 5 April, p. 2, col. 1. But in all my experience ofthe force, I think I never saw a policeman’s eyes so expressive of gratitude.

To force the voucher,verb. phr.(turf).—It is customary for sporting tricksters to advertise selections and enclose vouchers (similar to those sent out by respectable commission agents) for double or treble the current odds. The correspondent is informed that, in consequence of early investments, the extra odds can be laid; a remittance is requested; thevoucher is forced; and then the firm ‘dries up,’ and changes its name and address.

Forcemeat Ball,subs. phr.(old)—Something endured from compulsion: as (1) a rape: (2) going to prison; (3) transportation; (4) an affiliation order; (5) abstention (from drink, pleasure, etc.) through impecuniosity.

Forceps,subs.(old).—The hands. [Properly a pair of surgeon’s pincers.]—For synonyms,seeDaddle.

Fore-and-Aft,verb. (venery).—To copulate.SeeGreensandRide.

Fore-and-after,subs. phr.(American).—1.Seequot.

1840.Haliburton,Clockmaker, 3 S., ch. xi. ‘The way she walks her chalks ain’t no matter. She is a regularfore-and-after.’

2. (venery).—Adouble-barrelled(q.v.) harlot. [As in the song attributed to an eminent living man of letters: “Sing whore, sing whore, Behind and before, Her price is a shilling—She never gets more.”]

Fore-buttocks,subs.(old).—The paps.—For synonyms,seeDairy.

a.1745.Swift,Pope, andArbuthnot,Misc.iv., 222. Now herfore-buttocksto the navel bare.

Forecaster,subs.(venery). The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.

Fore-coach-wheel,subs.(common).—A half-crown. For synonyms,seeCaroon.

Fore-court,subs. phr.(venery).—The femalepudendum. AlsoFore-hatch,Fore-castle, andFore-room. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.

Forefoot,subs.(old).—The hand.

1599.Shakspeare,Henry V., II., 1. Give me thy fist; thyforefootto me give.

1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.[57]

Foregather,verb.(old).—To share the sexual embrace. For synonyms,seeRide.

Forehatch,subs.(venery).—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable. AlsoForecastle.

Foreman,subs.(old).—1. Thepenis. For synonyms,seeCreamstickandPrick. [Cf.,Forewoman.]

1647.Ladies’ Parliament(q.v.).

Foreman of the jury,subs. phr.(old).—A babbler; one with thegift of the gab(q.v.).

1690. B. E.,Dict. of the Canting Crew.Foreman of the jury, he that engrosses all the talk to himself.

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

Foreskin Hunter,subs. phr.(venery).—A harlot. For synonyms,seeBarrack-hackandTart.

Forest,subs.(venery).—The female pubic hair. For synonyms,seeFleece.

1573–1631.Donne,Elegies, xviii. Yet ere thou be where thou would’st be embayed, Thou must upon anotherforestset, Where many shipwreck and no further get.

1720.Durfey,Pills, etc., vi., 146. Give me the Country lass, That trips it o’er the field, And opes herforestto the first.

Fore-stall,subs.(thieves’).—In garotting, a look-out in frontofthe operator, orugly-man(q.v.); the watch behind is theback-stall(q.v.). [Fromfore+stall(q.v.).]

Forewoman,subs.(old).—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.

Fork,subs.(old). 1. A pickpocket. Fr., ‘Avoir les mains crochues= to be a light-fingered or lime-fingered filcher; every finger of his hand as good as a lime-twig.’—Cotgrave.

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