Chapter 9

2. (old).—The posteriors, orWestern End(Marvell). Probably an abbreviation of fundament. For synonyms,seeBlind CheeksandMonocular Eye-glass.1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew. I’ll kick yourfun, c., I’ll kick your arse.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.Verb.(old).—1. To cheat; to trick. Alsoto put the fun on.1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew. What do youfunme? Do you think to Sharp or Trick me?Ibid.He put thefunupon the cull, c., he sharp’d the Fellow.Ibid.Ifunn’dhim, c., I was too hard for him; I outwitted or rook’d him.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.1859Matsell,Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.To poke fun at,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To joke; to ridicule; to make a butt.1837.Barham,Ingoldsby Legends, i., p. 280. O fie! Mister Noakes,—for shame, Mr. Noakes! To bepoking your funat us plain-dealing folks.1855.Haliburton(‘Sam Slick’)Human Nature, p. 124. I thought you waspokin’ funat me; for I am a poor ignorant farmer, and these people are always making game of me.1865.Neal,Charcoal Sketches(in Bartlett). Jeames, if you don’t be quitpoking funat me, I’ll break your mouth, as sure as you sit there.To have been making fun,verb. phr.(common).—Intoxicated. For synonyms,seeDrinksandScrewed.To have(ordo)a bit of fun,verb. phr.(venery).—To procure or enjoy the sexual favour. For synonyms,seeGreens.FunctiororFuncture,subs.(Winchester College).—An iron bracket candlestick, used for the nightlight in college chambers. [The word, saysWinchester Notions, looks likefulctura, an earlier form offulture, meaning a prop or stay with phonetic change oflinton.]1870.Mansfield,School Life at Winchester, p. 68. Beside the window yawned the great fireplace, with its dogs, on which rested the faggots and bars for the reception of the array of boilers. Above it was a rushlight, fixed in a circular iron pan fastened to a staple in the wall; it was called thefunctior.Fundamental Features,subs. phr.(common).—The posteriors. For synonyms,seeBlind CheeksandMonocular Eye-glass.1818.Moore,Fudge Family, ix., Aug. 21. O can we wonder, best of speechers, When Louisseatedthus we see, That France’s ‘fundamental features’ Are much the same they used to be?Funds,subs.(colloquial).—Finances;e.g.‘myfundsare very low.’[87]Funeral.It’s not my(oryour)funeral,verb. phr.(American).—i.e., It is no business of mine, or yours. Fr.,nib dans mes blots(= that is not my affair). Also used affirmatively.1867.Mrs. Whitney,A Summer in Leslie Goldthwaite’s Life, p. 183. ‘It’snone of my funeral, I know, Sin Saxon,’ said Miss Craydocke. ‘I’m only an eleventh-hour helper; but I’ll come in for the holiday business … that’s more in my line.’1871.De Vere,Americanisms, p.239. This isnone of your funeralis heard quite frequently as an indirect rebuke for intermeddling, with the ludicrous undercurrent of thought, that the troublesome meddler has no right to be crying at a strange man’s funeral.1877.Hartford Times, 17 Oct. Senators Blaine and Barnum passed down to New York,en routeto Washington, on Wednesday last, when Barnum asked Blaine how he liked the news from Ohio. ‘Oh, thatisn’t my funeral, I want you to understand,’ replied the plucky Maine Senator.1888.Missouri Republican, 8 Apr. After a lot of slides had been exhibited the audience howled for Miss Debar. It got so noisy that Mr. Marsh reluctantly exclaimed—‘Well, is thisyour funeralor mine?’Fungus,subs.(old).—An old man.Funk,subs.(old).—1. Tobacco smoke; also a powerful stink.Cf., Ger.,funke; Walloonfunki.1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew. What afunkhere is! What a thick smoke. Smoak of Tobacco is here!Ibid.Here’s a damn’dfunk, here’s a great stink.2. (vulgar).—A state of fear; trepidation, nervousness, or cowardice; astew(q.v.). Generally, with an intensitive,e.g., a ‘mortal,’ ‘awful,’ ‘bloody,’ ‘blue,’ or ‘pissing’funk. Fr.,la guenette;le flubart(thieves’);la frousse(also = diarrhœa). It.,filo= thread.1796.Wolcott,Pindarina, p. 59. If they find no brandy to get drunk, Their souls are in a miserablefunk.1819.Moore,Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 21. Up he rose in afunk.1821.P. Egan,Tom and Jerry(1890), p. 91. I was in a completefunk.1837.Barham, I. L.,Look at the Clock, ed. 1862, p. 39. Pryce, usually brimful of valour when drunk, Now experienced what schoolboys denominatefunk.1848.Ruxton,Life in the Far West, p. 9. The mules, which was a-snorting withfunkand running before the Injuns … followed her right into the corral, and thar they was safe.1850.Literary World(New York), 30 Nov. So my friend’s fault is timidity.… I grant, then, that thefunkis sublime, which is a true and friendly admission.1856.Thomas Hughes,Tom Brown’s School-days, p. 196. If I was going to be flogged next minute, I should be in a bluefunk.1859.Whitty,Political Portraits, p. 30. Lord Clarendon did not get through the business without these failures, which result from the intellectual process termed freelyfunk.1861.Macmillan’s Magazine, p. 211. I was in a real bluefunk.1861.Hughes,Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xxxvi. I was in a real bluefunkand no mistake.1870.London Figaro, 19 Oct. After the Fire. He was in a mortalfunk, no doubt.1871.Maxwell, inLife(1882), xvi., 382. Certainlyχλωρὸν θéοςis the Homeric for a bluefunk.1888.Cassell’s Saturday Journal, 29 Dec., p. 305. You’re always in afunkabout nothing at all.3. (schoolboys’).—A coward.1882.F. Anstey,Vice Versâ, ch. v. Bosher said, ‘Let’s cut it,’ and he and Peebles bolted. (They were neither of themfunks, of course, but they lost their heads.)Verb.(common).—1. To smoke out.SeeFunk the cobbler.[88]1720.Durfey,Wit and Mirth, vi., 303. With a sober dose Of coffeefunkshis nose.1578.Grose,Vulg. Tongue.funk, to smoke, figuratively to smoke or stink through fear.1823.Moncrieff,Tom and Jerry, ii., 2.Tom.But, I say, only see how confoundedly the dustman’s getting hold of Logic—we’llfunkhim. (Tom and Jerry smoke Logic),Log.Oh, hang your cigars, I don’t like it; let’s have nofunking.1841.Punch, I., p. 172. Look here … isn’t it considerable clear they’re a allfunkinglike burnt cayenne in a clay pipe, or couldn’t they have made a raise somehow to get a ship of their own, or borrow one to send after that caged-up coon of a Macleod.2. (common).—To terrify; to shrink or quail through nervousness or cowardice.1858.A. Mayhew,Paved with Gold, Bk. III., ch. vi., p. 294. Perhaps we’re onlyfunkingourselves useless, and it mayn’t be the farm chaps at all.3. (colloquial).—To fear; to hesitate; to shirk; and (among pugilists)to come it(q.v.).1836.Smith,The Individual, ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’ But dearer to me Sue’s kisses far Than grunting peck or other grub are, And I neverfunkthe lambskin men When I sits with her in the boozing ken.1846.Punch, X., p. 163. But as yet no nose is bleeding, As yet no man is down; For the gownsmenfunkthe townsmen, And the townsmenfunkthe gown.1848.J. R. Lowell,Biglow Papers.Tofunkright out o’ p’lit’cal strife ain’t thought to be the thing.1873.M. Collins,Squire Silchester’s Whim, ch. xvii. Come along! don’tfunkit, old fellow.English Synonyms.—To come it; to lose one’s guts; to shit one’s breeches; to get the needle (athletic).French Synonyms.—Paniquer(thieves’:Panique= sudden fright);blaguer(familiar: = to swagger:Il avait l’air de blaguer mais il n’était pas à la noce= he put on a lot of side, but he didn’t like it);avec la cœur en gargousse(sailors’ = with sinking heart);avoir une fluxion(popular:fluxion= inflammation);avoir la flemme(popular: also = to be idle);avoir le tracortrak(general);foirer(popular:foire= excrement);léziner(popular: also = to cheat).Spanish Synonym.—Pajarear.Italian Synonym.—Filare(= to run: Fr.,filer).4. (colloquial).—To be nervous; to lose heart.1827. ‘Advice to Tommy,’Every Night Book(by the author of ‘The Cigar’). Do not go out of your depth, unless you have available assistance at hand, in case you shouldfunk.1856.Hughes,Tom Brown’s School Days, ii., p. 5. He’sfunking; go in Williams!1857.Moncrieff,The Bashful Man, ii., 4. Ah! Gyp, hope I sha’n’t getplucked;funkconfoundedly: no matter, I must put a bold face on it.1857.Hood,Pen and Pencil Pictures, p. 144. I have seen him out with the governor’s hounds: hefunkedat the first hedge, and I never saw him again!1863.Reade,Hard Cash, ii., p. 135.I told him I hadn’t a notion of what he meant! ‘O yes I did,’ he said, ‘Captain Dodd’s fourteen thousand pounds! It had passed through my hands.’ Then I beganto funkagain at his knowing that.… I was flustered, ye see.1865.H. Kingsley,The Hillyars and the Burtons, ch. xxxiii. The sound of the table falling was the signal for a[89]rush of four men from the inner room, who had to use a vulgar expression,funkedfollowing the valiant scoundrel Sykes, but who now tried to make their escape, and found themselves hand to hand with the policemen.1871.Morning Advertiser, 11 Sept. ‘Holy Abr’ham!’ mused he vauntingly, ‘shall British sailorsfunk, While tracts refresh their spirits, tea washes down their junk?’1890.Pall Mall Gazette, 17 Oct. p. 2, col. 1. They wanted badly to get one steamer loaded and sent to New Zealand. The non-union menfunkedloading her on account of the union men.1891.Licensed Vict. Gazette, 13 Feb. Smith’s friends thought he wasfunking, and shouted to Tom to go in and punch him.5. (schoolboys’).—To move the hand forward unfairly in playing marbles; tofudge(q.v.).1811.Lexicon Balatronicum.Funk, to use an unfair motion of the hand in plumping at taw.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., p. 144. I’ve noticed them, too, playing at ring-taw, and one of their exclamations is ‘Knuckle down fair, and nofunking.’To funk the cobbler,verb. phr.(schoolboys’).—To smoke out a schoolmate: a trick performed with asafœtida and cotton stuffed into a hollow tube or cow’s horn; the cotton being lighted, the smoke is blown through the keyhole.1698–1700.Ward,London Spy, Pt. IX., p. 197. We smoak’d theBeansalmost as bad as unlucky schoolboys us’d to do thecoblers, till they sneak’d off one by one, and left behind ’em more agreeable Company.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue, s.v.SeealsoPeter Funk.Funker,subs.(old).—1. A pipe; a cigar; a fire. [Fromfunk= to smoke +er.]2. (thieves’).—A low thief.1848.Duncombe,Sinks of London, etc., s.v.1859.Matsell,Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon.Funkers, the very lowest order of thieves.3. (colloquial).—A coward.4. (prostitutes’).—A girl that shirks her trade in bad weather.Funking-room,subs.(medical).—The room at the Royal College of Surgeons where the students collect on the last evening of their final during the addition of their marks, and whence each is summoned by an official announcing failure or success.1841.Punch, I., p. 225, col. 2. On the top of a staircase he enters a room, wherein the partners of his misery are collected. It is a long, narrow apartment, commonly known as thefunking-room.Funkster,subs.(Winchester College).—A coward; one thatfunks(q.v.).Funky,adj.(colloquial).—Nervous; frightened; timid.1845.Naylor,Reynard the Fox, 46. I do seem somewhatfunky.1863.C. Reade,Hard Cash, I., 143. On his retiring with twenty-five, scored in eight minutes, the remaining Barkingtonians were lessfunky, and made some fair scores.1876.Hindley,Life and Adventures of a Cheapjack, p. 237. The second round commences with a little cautious sparring on both sides, the bouncing Elias looking veryfunky.1891.Hume Nisbet,Bail Up!p. 51. ‘I’ll noyfunky,’ returned the Chinaman impressively.Funnel,subs.(common).—The throat. For synonyms,seeGutter Alley.[90]1712.Blackmore,Creation, Bk. VI.Some the longfunnel’scurious mouth extend, Through which the ingested meats with ease descend.Funniment,subs.(colloquial).—1. A joke, either practical or verbal.2. (venery).—The femalepudendum.For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.Funny,subs.(nautical).—A clinker-built, narrow boat for sculls.1837.Barham, I. L.,Sir Rupert the Fearless. Sprang up through the waves, popped him into hisfunny, Which some others already had half-filled with money.1882.Field, 28 Jan. The only obtainable craft, besidesfunnies, pair-oars, and randans, were a couple of six-oars.To feel funny,verb. phr.(common).—To be overtaken with (1) emotion, or (2) drink:e.g., to wax amorous, orget the flavour(q.v.); to begin to be the worse for liquor.Funny Bit,subs. phr.(venery).—The femalepudendum.Funny Bone,subs.(popular).—The elbow, with the passage of the ulnar nerve connecting the two bones: the extremity of thehumerus.1837.Barham, I. L.(Blondie Jacke). They have pull’d you down flat on your back! And they smack, and they thwack, Till yourfunny bonescrack, As if you were stretch’d on the rack.1853.Thackeray, ‘Shabby Genteel Story,’ ch. ix. He had merely received a blow on that part which anatomists call thefunny bone.1870.Lowell Courier.Thanks for your kind condolence; I would write A merry rhyme in answer if I might; But then—confound the fall!—the very stone That broke myhumerushurt myfunny bone!Funny-man,subs.(common).—A circus clown. Also a joker in private life.1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor., III., p. 129. What I’ve earned as clown, or thefunny man.Fur,subs.(venery).—The pubic hair. For synonyms,seeFleece.To make the fur fly.—SeeFly.To have one’s fur out,verb. phr.(Winchester College).—To be angry. For synonyms,seeNab the rust.Fur and Feathers,subs. phr.(sporting).—Generic for game.Fur-below,subs.(venery).—The female pubic hair. For synonyms,seeFleece.16(?).Old Catch.Adam caught Eve by thefur-below, And that’s the oldest catch I know.Furioso,subs.(old).—A blusterer; Ital.,furioso= raving.1692.Hacket.Life of Archbishop Williams, ii., p. 218. A violent man and afuriosowas deaf to all this.English Synonyms.—Barker; blower; bobadil; bouncer; bulldozer (American); cacafogo; Captain Bounce; Captain Bluff; Captain Grand; Captain Hackam; cutter; fire-eater; hector; huff-cap; humguffin; gasser; gasman; mouth; mouth-almighty; pissfire; pump-thunder; ramper; roarer; ruffler; shitefire; slangwhanger; spitfire; swashbuckler; swasher; teazer; Timothy Tearcat.French Synonyms.—Un avale-tout-cru(popular: = an eat-all-he-kills);un fendartorfendart[91](popular: = a cutter);un avaleur de charrettes fereés(popular);un mata(printers’: frommatador= a bull-fighter);un bousineur(popular:bousin= uproar, shindy);un bourreau de crânes(military): = a scull-destroyer;un bœufier(popular: = an ugly customer);un mauvais gas(familiar: fromgarçon);un homme qui a l’air de vouloir tout avaler(familiar: a man who looks as though he’d swallow the world);un croquet(popular).Spanish Synonyms.—Perdonavidas;fierabras(fiera= a wild beast);botarate;macareno cacafuoco(= a shitfire).Furk,Ferk,Firk,verb.(Winchester College).—To expel; to send (as on a message); to drive away. Alsoto furk upandfurk down. [Old Englishfercian, High Germanferken, Middle English to lead or send away.]Furmen,subs.(old).—Aldermen. From their fur-trimmed robes.1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v.1785.Grose,Vulg. Tongue, s.v.Furmity-faced,adj. phr.(old).—White-faced (furmityis described byGroseas ‘wheat boiled to a jelly’). To simper like afurmitykitten (Grose),seeSimper.Furnish,verb.(common).—To fill out; to improve in strength and appearance.Furniture Picture,subs. phr.(artists’).—A ‘picture’ sold not as a piece of art but as a piece of upholstery, such things being turned out by the score, as pianos are, or three-legged stools; the worst and cheapest kind ofpotboiler(q.v.).Furrow,subs.(venery). AlsoCupid’s(or theOne-ended)furrow, etc.—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.To draw a straight furrow.SeeDraw.to fall in the furrow,verb. phr.(venery).—To achieve emission.To fail(ordie)in the furrow,verb. phr.(venery).—To do adry-bob(q.v.).Furry Tail,subs. phr.(printers’).—A non-unionist; arat(q.v.). Specifically, a workman accepting employment at less than ‘Society’ wages.Cf.,Dung,Flint, etc.Further.I’ll see you further first,phr.(colloquial).—A denial.I’ll sooner die first(q.v.).1861–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., p. 29. I gave a country lad 2d. to mind him (the donkey) in a green lane there. I wanted my own boy to do so, but he said,I’ll see you further first. A London boy hates being by himself in a lone country part. He’s afraid of being burked.Fur Trade,subs. phr.(old).—Barristers.1839.Reynolds,Pickwick Abroad, ch. xxvi. Let nobs in thefur tradehold their jaw, And let the jug be free.Furze-Bush,subs. phr.(venery).—The female pubic hair. For synonyms,seefleece.[92]Fussock, andFussocks,subs.(old).—Opprobrious for a fat woman.1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew.Fussocks, a meerfussocks, a Lazy Fat-Arsed Wench, a fatfussocks, a Flusom, Fat, Strapping Woman.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue, s.v.Fust(orFust out),verb.(American).—To end in smoke; to go to waste; to end in nothing.Cf.,fizzle.Fustian,subs.andadj.(old).—1. Bombast; bad rhetoric; sound without sense: bombastic; ranting. Now accepted.1598.Shakspeare,2 Henry IV., II., 4. Thrust him downstairs; I cannot endure such afustianrascal.1602.Shakspeare,Twelfth NightII., 5. Afustianriddle.1602.Shakspeare,Othello, II., 3. And discoursefustianwith one’s own shadow.1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew.Fustian-verse, verse in words of lofty sound and humble sense.1828–45.Hood,Poems, i., p. 105 (ed. 1846). The saints!—the bigots that in public spout, Spread phosphorous of zeal on scraps offustian, And go like walking ‘Lucifers’ about These living bundles of combustion.2. (common).—Wine;white fustian= champagne;red fustian= port.1834.W. H. Ainsworth,Rookwood, p. 51 (ed. 1864). I’m as dry as a sandbed. Famous wine this—beautiful tipple—better than all your redfustian.Ah, how poor Sir Piers used to like it!Fustilarian,subs.(old).—A low fellow; a common scoundrel.1598.Shakspeare,2 Henry IV., II., 1. Away, you scullion! you rampallian! youfustilarian! I’ll tickle your catastrophe.Fustilug(orFustilugs),subs.(old).—A piece of grossness, male or female; a coarse and dirty Blowzalinda; a foul slut; a fat stinkard.1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew.Fustiluggs, a Fulsom, Beastly, Nasty Woman.1739.Junius(quoted inEncly. Dict.). You may daily see suchfustilugswalking in the streets, like so many tuns.1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.Futter,verb.(venery).—To copulate. Fr.,foutre. [A coinage of Sir. R. Burton’s, who makes continual use of it in theThousand Nights and a Night.] For synonyms,seeGreensandRide. Alsoto do a futter.1885.Burton,Thousand Nights, II., 332. Eating and drinking andfutteringfor a year of full twelve months.1890.Burton,Priapeia, Ep. xii. Thee, my girl, I shaltfutter.Future,to deal in futures,verb.phr.(Stock Exchange).—To speculate for a rise or fall.1862.Globe, 1 Dec. Hedeals in futures,i.e., speculates in cotton with Stock Exchange folks, or speculates in securities.Fuzz,verb.(old).—1. ‘To shuffle cards minutely; also to change the pack.’ [Grose.]2. (old).—To be, or to make, drunk.1685.Life of Amb. Wood, 14 July. Came home wellfuzd.[93]Fuzziness,subs.(old).—The condition of being in drink. Hence blurredness; incoherence; bewilderment.Fuzzy,adj.(common).—1. Drunk. For synonyms,seeDrinksandScrewed. Hence blurred (as a picture); tangled; incoherent or inconsequent.1876.Hindley,Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 324. Her husband or any other man might have drunk six glasses, with no more hurt than just making him a littlefuzzy.2. (popular).—Rough; as in afuzzyhead; afuzzycloth; afuzzybit (= a full-grown wench); afuzzycarpet; etc.Fuzzy-wuzzy,subs.(military). A Soudanese tribesman.1890.Rudyard Kipling,National Observer, 8 Mar., p. 438, col. 1. So ’ere’s to youFuzzy-wuzzyAnd your ’ome in the Soudan, You’re a pore benighted ’eathen but a first-class fighting man; And ’ere’s to youFuzzy-wuzzywith your ’ay-rick ’ead of ’air, You big, black bouncing beggar, for you bruk a British square.Fye-buck,subs.(old).—A sixpence. For synonyms,seeBender.1781.G. Parker,View of Society, II., 56. You give a shilling to buy a comb, for which he gives sixpence, soworksyou for anotherfye-buck.1885.Household Words, 20 June, p. 155. ‘Buck’ is most likely a corruption offye-buck, a slang name for sixpence, which is now almost, if not altogether, obsolete.Fylche.—SeeFilch.Fyst.—SeeFoist.[94]

2. (old).—The posteriors, orWestern End(Marvell). Probably an abbreviation of fundament. For synonyms,seeBlind CheeksandMonocular Eye-glass.

1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew. I’ll kick yourfun, c., I’ll kick your arse.

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

Verb.(old).—1. To cheat; to trick. Alsoto put the fun on.

1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew. What do youfunme? Do you think to Sharp or Trick me?Ibid.He put thefunupon the cull, c., he sharp’d the Fellow.Ibid.Ifunn’dhim, c., I was too hard for him; I outwitted or rook’d him.

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

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

To poke fun at,verb. phr.(colloquial).—To joke; to ridicule; to make a butt.

1837.Barham,Ingoldsby Legends, i., p. 280. O fie! Mister Noakes,—for shame, Mr. Noakes! To bepoking your funat us plain-dealing folks.

1855.Haliburton(‘Sam Slick’)Human Nature, p. 124. I thought you waspokin’ funat me; for I am a poor ignorant farmer, and these people are always making game of me.

1865.Neal,Charcoal Sketches(in Bartlett). Jeames, if you don’t be quitpoking funat me, I’ll break your mouth, as sure as you sit there.

To have been making fun,verb. phr.(common).—Intoxicated. For synonyms,seeDrinksandScrewed.

To have(ordo)a bit of fun,verb. phr.(venery).—To procure or enjoy the sexual favour. For synonyms,seeGreens.

FunctiororFuncture,subs.(Winchester College).—An iron bracket candlestick, used for the nightlight in college chambers. [The word, saysWinchester Notions, looks likefulctura, an earlier form offulture, meaning a prop or stay with phonetic change oflinton.]

1870.Mansfield,School Life at Winchester, p. 68. Beside the window yawned the great fireplace, with its dogs, on which rested the faggots and bars for the reception of the array of boilers. Above it was a rushlight, fixed in a circular iron pan fastened to a staple in the wall; it was called thefunctior.

Fundamental Features,subs. phr.(common).—The posteriors. For synonyms,seeBlind CheeksandMonocular Eye-glass.

1818.Moore,Fudge Family, ix., Aug. 21. O can we wonder, best of speechers, When Louisseatedthus we see, That France’s ‘fundamental features’ Are much the same they used to be?

Funds,subs.(colloquial).—Finances;e.g.‘myfundsare very low.’[87]

Funeral.It’s not my(oryour)funeral,verb. phr.(American).—i.e., It is no business of mine, or yours. Fr.,nib dans mes blots(= that is not my affair). Also used affirmatively.

1867.Mrs. Whitney,A Summer in Leslie Goldthwaite’s Life, p. 183. ‘It’snone of my funeral, I know, Sin Saxon,’ said Miss Craydocke. ‘I’m only an eleventh-hour helper; but I’ll come in for the holiday business … that’s more in my line.’

1871.De Vere,Americanisms, p.239. This isnone of your funeralis heard quite frequently as an indirect rebuke for intermeddling, with the ludicrous undercurrent of thought, that the troublesome meddler has no right to be crying at a strange man’s funeral.

1877.Hartford Times, 17 Oct. Senators Blaine and Barnum passed down to New York,en routeto Washington, on Wednesday last, when Barnum asked Blaine how he liked the news from Ohio. ‘Oh, thatisn’t my funeral, I want you to understand,’ replied the plucky Maine Senator.

1888.Missouri Republican, 8 Apr. After a lot of slides had been exhibited the audience howled for Miss Debar. It got so noisy that Mr. Marsh reluctantly exclaimed—‘Well, is thisyour funeralor mine?’

Fungus,subs.(old).—An old man.

Funk,subs.(old).—1. Tobacco smoke; also a powerful stink.Cf., Ger.,funke; Walloonfunki.

1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew. What afunkhere is! What a thick smoke. Smoak of Tobacco is here!Ibid.Here’s a damn’dfunk, here’s a great stink.

2. (vulgar).—A state of fear; trepidation, nervousness, or cowardice; astew(q.v.). Generally, with an intensitive,e.g., a ‘mortal,’ ‘awful,’ ‘bloody,’ ‘blue,’ or ‘pissing’funk. Fr.,la guenette;le flubart(thieves’);la frousse(also = diarrhœa). It.,filo= thread.

1796.Wolcott,Pindarina, p. 59. If they find no brandy to get drunk, Their souls are in a miserablefunk.

1819.Moore,Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 21. Up he rose in afunk.

1821.P. Egan,Tom and Jerry(1890), p. 91. I was in a completefunk.

1837.Barham, I. L.,Look at the Clock, ed. 1862, p. 39. Pryce, usually brimful of valour when drunk, Now experienced what schoolboys denominatefunk.

1848.Ruxton,Life in the Far West, p. 9. The mules, which was a-snorting withfunkand running before the Injuns … followed her right into the corral, and thar they was safe.

1850.Literary World(New York), 30 Nov. So my friend’s fault is timidity.… I grant, then, that thefunkis sublime, which is a true and friendly admission.

1856.Thomas Hughes,Tom Brown’s School-days, p. 196. If I was going to be flogged next minute, I should be in a bluefunk.

1859.Whitty,Political Portraits, p. 30. Lord Clarendon did not get through the business without these failures, which result from the intellectual process termed freelyfunk.

1861.Macmillan’s Magazine, p. 211. I was in a real bluefunk.

1861.Hughes,Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xxxvi. I was in a real bluefunkand no mistake.

1870.London Figaro, 19 Oct. After the Fire. He was in a mortalfunk, no doubt.

1871.Maxwell, inLife(1882), xvi., 382. Certainlyχλωρὸν θéοςis the Homeric for a bluefunk.

1888.Cassell’s Saturday Journal, 29 Dec., p. 305. You’re always in afunkabout nothing at all.

3. (schoolboys’).—A coward.

1882.F. Anstey,Vice Versâ, ch. v. Bosher said, ‘Let’s cut it,’ and he and Peebles bolted. (They were neither of themfunks, of course, but they lost their heads.)

Verb.(common).—1. To smoke out.SeeFunk the cobbler.[88]

1720.Durfey,Wit and Mirth, vi., 303. With a sober dose Of coffeefunkshis nose.

1578.Grose,Vulg. Tongue.funk, to smoke, figuratively to smoke or stink through fear.

1823.Moncrieff,Tom and Jerry, ii., 2.Tom.But, I say, only see how confoundedly the dustman’s getting hold of Logic—we’llfunkhim. (Tom and Jerry smoke Logic),Log.Oh, hang your cigars, I don’t like it; let’s have nofunking.

1841.Punch, I., p. 172. Look here … isn’t it considerable clear they’re a allfunkinglike burnt cayenne in a clay pipe, or couldn’t they have made a raise somehow to get a ship of their own, or borrow one to send after that caged-up coon of a Macleod.

2. (common).—To terrify; to shrink or quail through nervousness or cowardice.

1858.A. Mayhew,Paved with Gold, Bk. III., ch. vi., p. 294. Perhaps we’re onlyfunkingourselves useless, and it mayn’t be the farm chaps at all.

3. (colloquial).—To fear; to hesitate; to shirk; and (among pugilists)to come it(q.v.).

1836.Smith,The Individual, ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’ But dearer to me Sue’s kisses far Than grunting peck or other grub are, And I neverfunkthe lambskin men When I sits with her in the boozing ken.

1846.Punch, X., p. 163. But as yet no nose is bleeding, As yet no man is down; For the gownsmenfunkthe townsmen, And the townsmenfunkthe gown.

1848.J. R. Lowell,Biglow Papers.Tofunkright out o’ p’lit’cal strife ain’t thought to be the thing.

1873.M. Collins,Squire Silchester’s Whim, ch. xvii. Come along! don’tfunkit, old fellow.

English Synonyms.—To come it; to lose one’s guts; to shit one’s breeches; to get the needle (athletic).

French Synonyms.—Paniquer(thieves’:Panique= sudden fright);blaguer(familiar: = to swagger:Il avait l’air de blaguer mais il n’était pas à la noce= he put on a lot of side, but he didn’t like it);avec la cœur en gargousse(sailors’ = with sinking heart);avoir une fluxion(popular:fluxion= inflammation);avoir la flemme(popular: also = to be idle);avoir le tracortrak(general);foirer(popular:foire= excrement);léziner(popular: also = to cheat).

Spanish Synonym.—Pajarear.

Italian Synonym.—Filare(= to run: Fr.,filer).

4. (colloquial).—To be nervous; to lose heart.

1827. ‘Advice to Tommy,’Every Night Book(by the author of ‘The Cigar’). Do not go out of your depth, unless you have available assistance at hand, in case you shouldfunk.

1856.Hughes,Tom Brown’s School Days, ii., p. 5. He’sfunking; go in Williams!

1857.Moncrieff,The Bashful Man, ii., 4. Ah! Gyp, hope I sha’n’t getplucked;funkconfoundedly: no matter, I must put a bold face on it.

1857.Hood,Pen and Pencil Pictures, p. 144. I have seen him out with the governor’s hounds: hefunkedat the first hedge, and I never saw him again!

1863.Reade,Hard Cash, ii., p. 135.I told him I hadn’t a notion of what he meant! ‘O yes I did,’ he said, ‘Captain Dodd’s fourteen thousand pounds! It had passed through my hands.’ Then I beganto funkagain at his knowing that.… I was flustered, ye see.

1865.H. Kingsley,The Hillyars and the Burtons, ch. xxxiii. The sound of the table falling was the signal for a[89]rush of four men from the inner room, who had to use a vulgar expression,funkedfollowing the valiant scoundrel Sykes, but who now tried to make their escape, and found themselves hand to hand with the policemen.

1871.Morning Advertiser, 11 Sept. ‘Holy Abr’ham!’ mused he vauntingly, ‘shall British sailorsfunk, While tracts refresh their spirits, tea washes down their junk?’

1890.Pall Mall Gazette, 17 Oct. p. 2, col. 1. They wanted badly to get one steamer loaded and sent to New Zealand. The non-union menfunkedloading her on account of the union men.

1891.Licensed Vict. Gazette, 13 Feb. Smith’s friends thought he wasfunking, and shouted to Tom to go in and punch him.

5. (schoolboys’).—To move the hand forward unfairly in playing marbles; tofudge(q.v.).

1811.Lexicon Balatronicum.Funk, to use an unfair motion of the hand in plumping at taw.

1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., p. 144. I’ve noticed them, too, playing at ring-taw, and one of their exclamations is ‘Knuckle down fair, and nofunking.’

To funk the cobbler,verb. phr.(schoolboys’).—To smoke out a schoolmate: a trick performed with asafœtida and cotton stuffed into a hollow tube or cow’s horn; the cotton being lighted, the smoke is blown through the keyhole.

1698–1700.Ward,London Spy, Pt. IX., p. 197. We smoak’d theBeansalmost as bad as unlucky schoolboys us’d to do thecoblers, till they sneak’d off one by one, and left behind ’em more agreeable Company.

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

SeealsoPeter Funk.

Funker,subs.(old).—1. A pipe; a cigar; a fire. [Fromfunk= to smoke +er.]

2. (thieves’).—A low thief.

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

1859.Matsell,Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon.Funkers, the very lowest order of thieves.

3. (colloquial).—A coward.

4. (prostitutes’).—A girl that shirks her trade in bad weather.

Funking-room,subs.(medical).—The room at the Royal College of Surgeons where the students collect on the last evening of their final during the addition of their marks, and whence each is summoned by an official announcing failure or success.

1841.Punch, I., p. 225, col. 2. On the top of a staircase he enters a room, wherein the partners of his misery are collected. It is a long, narrow apartment, commonly known as thefunking-room.

Funkster,subs.(Winchester College).—A coward; one thatfunks(q.v.).

Funky,adj.(colloquial).—Nervous; frightened; timid.

1845.Naylor,Reynard the Fox, 46. I do seem somewhatfunky.

1863.C. Reade,Hard Cash, I., 143. On his retiring with twenty-five, scored in eight minutes, the remaining Barkingtonians were lessfunky, and made some fair scores.

1876.Hindley,Life and Adventures of a Cheapjack, p. 237. The second round commences with a little cautious sparring on both sides, the bouncing Elias looking veryfunky.

1891.Hume Nisbet,Bail Up!p. 51. ‘I’ll noyfunky,’ returned the Chinaman impressively.

Funnel,subs.(common).—The throat. For synonyms,seeGutter Alley.[90]

1712.Blackmore,Creation, Bk. VI.Some the longfunnel’scurious mouth extend, Through which the ingested meats with ease descend.

Funniment,subs.(colloquial).—1. A joke, either practical or verbal.

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

Funny,subs.(nautical).—A clinker-built, narrow boat for sculls.

1837.Barham, I. L.,Sir Rupert the Fearless. Sprang up through the waves, popped him into hisfunny, Which some others already had half-filled with money.

1882.Field, 28 Jan. The only obtainable craft, besidesfunnies, pair-oars, and randans, were a couple of six-oars.

To feel funny,verb. phr.(common).—To be overtaken with (1) emotion, or (2) drink:e.g., to wax amorous, orget the flavour(q.v.); to begin to be the worse for liquor.

Funny Bit,subs. phr.(venery).—The femalepudendum.

Funny Bone,subs.(popular).—The elbow, with the passage of the ulnar nerve connecting the two bones: the extremity of thehumerus.

1837.Barham, I. L.(Blondie Jacke). They have pull’d you down flat on your back! And they smack, and they thwack, Till yourfunny bonescrack, As if you were stretch’d on the rack.

1853.Thackeray, ‘Shabby Genteel Story,’ ch. ix. He had merely received a blow on that part which anatomists call thefunny bone.

1870.Lowell Courier.Thanks for your kind condolence; I would write A merry rhyme in answer if I might; But then—confound the fall!—the very stone That broke myhumerushurt myfunny bone!

Funny-man,subs.(common).—A circus clown. Also a joker in private life.

1851–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor., III., p. 129. What I’ve earned as clown, or thefunny man.

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

To make the fur fly.—SeeFly.

To have one’s fur out,verb. phr.(Winchester College).—To be angry. For synonyms,seeNab the rust.

Fur and Feathers,subs. phr.(sporting).—Generic for game.

Fur-below,subs.(venery).—The female pubic hair. For synonyms,seeFleece.

16(?).Old Catch.Adam caught Eve by thefur-below, And that’s the oldest catch I know.

Furioso,subs.(old).—A blusterer; Ital.,furioso= raving.

1692.Hacket.Life of Archbishop Williams, ii., p. 218. A violent man and afuriosowas deaf to all this.

English Synonyms.—Barker; blower; bobadil; bouncer; bulldozer (American); cacafogo; Captain Bounce; Captain Bluff; Captain Grand; Captain Hackam; cutter; fire-eater; hector; huff-cap; humguffin; gasser; gasman; mouth; mouth-almighty; pissfire; pump-thunder; ramper; roarer; ruffler; shitefire; slangwhanger; spitfire; swashbuckler; swasher; teazer; Timothy Tearcat.

French Synonyms.—Un avale-tout-cru(popular: = an eat-all-he-kills);un fendartorfendart[91](popular: = a cutter);un avaleur de charrettes fereés(popular);un mata(printers’: frommatador= a bull-fighter);un bousineur(popular:bousin= uproar, shindy);un bourreau de crânes(military): = a scull-destroyer;un bœufier(popular: = an ugly customer);un mauvais gas(familiar: fromgarçon);un homme qui a l’air de vouloir tout avaler(familiar: a man who looks as though he’d swallow the world);un croquet(popular).

Spanish Synonyms.—Perdonavidas;fierabras(fiera= a wild beast);botarate;macareno cacafuoco(= a shitfire).

Furk,Ferk,Firk,verb.(Winchester College).—To expel; to send (as on a message); to drive away. Alsoto furk upandfurk down. [Old Englishfercian, High Germanferken, Middle English to lead or send away.]

Furmen,subs.(old).—Aldermen. From their fur-trimmed robes.

1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v.

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

Furmity-faced,adj. phr.(old).—White-faced (furmityis described byGroseas ‘wheat boiled to a jelly’). To simper like afurmitykitten (Grose),seeSimper.

Furnish,verb.(common).—To fill out; to improve in strength and appearance.

Furniture Picture,subs. phr.(artists’).—A ‘picture’ sold not as a piece of art but as a piece of upholstery, such things being turned out by the score, as pianos are, or three-legged stools; the worst and cheapest kind ofpotboiler(q.v.).

Furrow,subs.(venery). AlsoCupid’s(or theOne-ended)furrow, etc.—The femalepudendum. For synonyms,seeMonosyllable.To draw a straight furrow.SeeDraw.

to fall in the furrow,verb. phr.(venery).—To achieve emission.

To fail(ordie)in the furrow,verb. phr.(venery).—To do adry-bob(q.v.).

Furry Tail,subs. phr.(printers’).—A non-unionist; arat(q.v.). Specifically, a workman accepting employment at less than ‘Society’ wages.Cf.,Dung,Flint, etc.

Further.I’ll see you further first,phr.(colloquial).—A denial.I’ll sooner die first(q.v.).

1861–61.Mayhew,Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., p. 29. I gave a country lad 2d. to mind him (the donkey) in a green lane there. I wanted my own boy to do so, but he said,I’ll see you further first. A London boy hates being by himself in a lone country part. He’s afraid of being burked.

Fur Trade,subs. phr.(old).—Barristers.

1839.Reynolds,Pickwick Abroad, ch. xxvi. Let nobs in thefur tradehold their jaw, And let the jug be free.

Furze-Bush,subs. phr.(venery).—The female pubic hair. For synonyms,seefleece.[92]

Fussock, andFussocks,subs.(old).—Opprobrious for a fat woman.

1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew.Fussocks, a meerfussocks, a Lazy Fat-Arsed Wench, a fatfussocks, a Flusom, Fat, Strapping Woman.

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

Fust(orFust out),verb.(American).—To end in smoke; to go to waste; to end in nothing.Cf.,fizzle.

Fustian,subs.andadj.(old).—1. Bombast; bad rhetoric; sound without sense: bombastic; ranting. Now accepted.

1598.Shakspeare,2 Henry IV., II., 4. Thrust him downstairs; I cannot endure such afustianrascal.

1602.Shakspeare,Twelfth NightII., 5. Afustianriddle.

1602.Shakspeare,Othello, II., 3. And discoursefustianwith one’s own shadow.

1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew.Fustian-verse, verse in words of lofty sound and humble sense.

1828–45.Hood,Poems, i., p. 105 (ed. 1846). The saints!—the bigots that in public spout, Spread phosphorous of zeal on scraps offustian, And go like walking ‘Lucifers’ about These living bundles of combustion.

2. (common).—Wine;white fustian= champagne;red fustian= port.

1834.W. H. Ainsworth,Rookwood, p. 51 (ed. 1864). I’m as dry as a sandbed. Famous wine this—beautiful tipple—better than all your redfustian.Ah, how poor Sir Piers used to like it!

Fustilarian,subs.(old).—A low fellow; a common scoundrel.

1598.Shakspeare,2 Henry IV., II., 1. Away, you scullion! you rampallian! youfustilarian! I’ll tickle your catastrophe.

Fustilug(orFustilugs),subs.(old).—A piece of grossness, male or female; a coarse and dirty Blowzalinda; a foul slut; a fat stinkard.

1690. B. E.,New Dict. of the Canting Crew.Fustiluggs, a Fulsom, Beastly, Nasty Woman.

1739.Junius(quoted inEncly. Dict.). You may daily see suchfustilugswalking in the streets, like so many tuns.

1785.Grose,Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

Futter,verb.(venery).—To copulate. Fr.,foutre. [A coinage of Sir. R. Burton’s, who makes continual use of it in theThousand Nights and a Night.] For synonyms,seeGreensandRide. Alsoto do a futter.

1885.Burton,Thousand Nights, II., 332. Eating and drinking andfutteringfor a year of full twelve months.

1890.Burton,Priapeia, Ep. xii. Thee, my girl, I shaltfutter.

Future,to deal in futures,verb.phr.(Stock Exchange).—To speculate for a rise or fall.

1862.Globe, 1 Dec. Hedeals in futures,i.e., speculates in cotton with Stock Exchange folks, or speculates in securities.

Fuzz,verb.(old).—1. ‘To shuffle cards minutely; also to change the pack.’ [Grose.]

2. (old).—To be, or to make, drunk.

1685.Life of Amb. Wood, 14 July. Came home wellfuzd.[93]

Fuzziness,subs.(old).—The condition of being in drink. Hence blurredness; incoherence; bewilderment.

Fuzzy,adj.(common).—1. Drunk. For synonyms,seeDrinksandScrewed. Hence blurred (as a picture); tangled; incoherent or inconsequent.

1876.Hindley,Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 324. Her husband or any other man might have drunk six glasses, with no more hurt than just making him a littlefuzzy.

2. (popular).—Rough; as in afuzzyhead; afuzzycloth; afuzzybit (= a full-grown wench); afuzzycarpet; etc.

Fuzzy-wuzzy,subs.(military). A Soudanese tribesman.

1890.Rudyard Kipling,National Observer, 8 Mar., p. 438, col. 1. So ’ere’s to youFuzzy-wuzzyAnd your ’ome in the Soudan, You’re a pore benighted ’eathen but a first-class fighting man; And ’ere’s to youFuzzy-wuzzywith your ’ay-rick ’ead of ’air, You big, black bouncing beggar, for you bruk a British square.

Fye-buck,subs.(old).—A sixpence. For synonyms,seeBender.

1781.G. Parker,View of Society, II., 56. You give a shilling to buy a comb, for which he gives sixpence, soworksyou for anotherfye-buck.

1885.Household Words, 20 June, p. 155. ‘Buck’ is most likely a corruption offye-buck, a slang name for sixpence, which is now almost, if not altogether, obsolete.

Fylche.—SeeFilch.

Fyst.—SeeFoist.

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