A Dictionary of Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words

GAWKY, a lanky, or awkward person; a fool. Saxon, GEAC; Scotch, GOWK.

GAY, loose, dissipated; “GAY woman,” a kept mistress, or prostitute.

GEE, to agree with, or be congenial to a person.

GEN, a shilling. Also, GENT, silver. Abbreviation of the French, ARGENT.

GENT, a contraction of “gentleman,” – in more senses than one. A dressy, showy, foppish man, with a little mind, who vulgarises the prevailing fashion.

GENT, silver. From the French, ARGENT.

GET-UP, a person’s appearance, or general arrangements. Probably derived from the decorations of a play.

“There’s so much GETTING UP to please the town,It takes a precious deal of coming down.”Planché’s Mr. Buckstone’s Ascent of Parnassus.

GHOST, “the GHOST does’nt walk,” i. e., the manager is too poor to pay salaries as yet. —Theat.; Ho. Words, No. 183.

GIB-FACE, properly the lower lip of a horse; “TO HANG ONE’S GIB,” to pout the lower lip, be angry or sullen.

GIBBERISH, unmeaning jargon; the language of the Gipseys, synonymous with SLANG, another Gipsey word. Somner says, “French, GABBER; Dutch, GABBEREN; and our own GAB, GABBER; hence also, I take it, our GIBBERISH, a kind of canting language used by a sort of rogues we vulgarly call Gipseys, a gibble gabble understood only among themselves.” —Gipsey. See Introduction.

GIFFLE GAFFLE, nonsense. – See CHAFF. Icelandic, GAFLA.

GIFT, any article which has been stolen and afterwards sold at a low price.

GIG, a farthing. Formerly, GRIG.

GIG, fun, frolic, a spree.

“In search of lark, or some delicious gig,The mind delights on, when ’tis in prime twig.” Randall’s Diary, 1820.

GIGLAMPS, spectacles. In my first edition I stated this to be a University term. Mr. Cuthbert Bede, however, in a communication to Notes and Queries, of which I have availed myself in the present edition, says – “If the compiler has taken this epithet from Verdant Green, I can only say that I consider the word not to be a ‘University’ word in general, but as only due to the inventive genius of Mr. Bouncer in particular.” The term, however, has been adopted, and is now in general use.

GILL, a homely woman; “Jack and GILL,” &c. —Ben Jonson.

GILLS, the lower part of the face. —Bacon. “To grease one’s GILLS,” “to have a good feed,” or make a hearty meal.

GILLS, shirt collars.

GILT, money. German, GELD; Dutch, GELT.

GIMCRACK, a bijou, a slim piece of mechanism. Old slang for “a spruce wench.” —N. Bailey.

GIN AND GOSPEL GAZETTE, the Morning Advertiser, so called from its being the organ of the dissenting party, and of the Licensed Victuallers’ Association. Sometimes termed the TAP TUB, or the ’TIZER.

GINGER, a showy, fast horse – as if he had been FIGGED with GINGER under his tail.

GINGERLY, to do anything with great care. —Cotgrave.

GINGER HACKLED, having flaxen light yellow hair. —See HACKLE.

GINGUMBOB, a bauble.

GIVE, to strike or scold; “I’ll GIVE it to you,” I will thrash you. Formerly, to rob.

GLASGOW MAGISTRATES, salt herrings. —Scotch.

GLAZE, glass – generally applied to windows.

GLIM, a light, a lamp; “dowse the GLIM,” put the candle out. —Sea, and old cant.

GLIM LURK, a begging paper, giving a certified account of a dreadful fire – which never happened.

GLOAK, a man. —Scotch.

GLUMP, to sulk.

GLUMPISH, of a stubborn, sulky temper.

GNOSTICS, knowing ones, or sharpers. Nearly obsolete in this vulgar sense.

GO, a GO of gin, a quartern of that liquor; GO is also synonymous with circumstance or occurrence; “a rummy GO,” and “a great GO,” signify curious and remarkable occurrences; “no GO,” no good; “here’s a pretty GO!” here’s a trouble! “to GO the jump,” to enter a house by the window; “all the GO,” in fashion. —See LITTLE GO.

“Gemmen (says he), you all well knowThe joy there is whene’er we meet;It’s what I call the primest GO,And rightly named, ’tis – ‘quite a treat.’” Jack Randall’s Diary, 1820.

GO-ALONG, a thief. —Household Words, No. 183.

GOB, the mouth; mucus, or saliva. —North. Sometimes used for GAB, talk —

“There was a man called Job,Dwelt in the land of Uz;He had a good gift of the GOB;The same case happen us.”Zach. Boyd.

GOB, a portion.

GODS, the people in the upper gallery of a theatre; “up amongst the GODS,” a seat amongst the low persons in the gallery – so named from the high position of the gallery, and the blue sky generally painted on the ceiling of the theatre; termed by the French, PARADIS.

GODS, the quadrats used by printers in throwing on the imposing stone, similar to the movement in casting dice. —Printers’ term.

GO IT, a term of encouragement, implying “keep it up!” Sometimes amplified to GO IT, YE CRIPPLES; said to have been a facetious rendering of the last line of Virgil’s Eclogues—

“Ite domum Saturæ, Venit Hesperus, ite capellæ;”

or, “GO IT, YE CRIPPLES, CRUTCHES ARE CHEAP.”

GOLDFINCH, a sovereign.

GOLGOTHA, a hat, “place of a skull.”

GOLOPSHUS, splendid, delicious, luscious. —Norwich.

GOOSE, to ruin, or spoil. Also, to hiss a play. —Theatrical.

GOOSE, a tailor’s pressing iron. – Originally a slang term, but now in most dictionaries.

GOOSEBERRY, to “play up old GOOSEBERRY” with any one, to defeat or silence a person in a quick or summary manner.

GOOSECAP, a booby, or noodle. —Devonshire.

GOOSER, a settler, or finishing blow.

GORMED, a Norfolk corruption of a profane oath. So used by Mr. Peggotty, one of Dickens’ characters.

GORGER, a swell, a well dressed, or gorgeous man – probably derived from that word.

GOSPEL GRINDER, a city missionary, or tract distributor.

GOSS, a hat – from the gossamer silk with which modern hats are made.

GONNOF, or GUN, a fool, a bungler, an amateur pickpocket. A correspondent thinks this may be a corruption of gone off, on the analogy of GO-ALONG; but the term is really as old as Chaucer’s time. During Kett’s rebellion in Norfolk, in the reign of Edward VI., a song was sung by the insurgents in which the term occurs —

“The country GNOFFES, Hob, Dick, and Hick,With clubbes and clouted shoon,Shall fill up Dussyn daleWith slaughtered bodies soone.”

GOUROCK HAM, salt herrings. Gourock, on the Clyde, about twenty-five miles from Glasgow, was formerly a great fishing village. —Scotch.

GOVERNMENT SIGNPOST, the gallows.

GOVERNOR, a father, a master or superior person, an elder; “which way, GUV’NER, to Cheapside?”

GRABB, to clutch, or seize.

GRABBED, caught, apprehended.

GRABBERS, the hands.

GRACE-CARD, the ace of hearts.

GRAFT, to work; “where are you GRAFTING?” i. e., where do you live, or work?

GRANNY, to know, or recognise; “de ye GRANNY the bloke?” do you know the man?

GRANNY, importance, knowledge, pride; “take the GRANNY off them as has white hands,” viz., remove their self-conceit. —Mayhew, vol. i., p. 364.

GRAPPLING IRONS, fingers. —Sea.

GRASS, “gone to GRASS,” dead, – a coarse allusion to burial; absconded, or disappeared suddenly; “oh, go to GRASS,” a common answer to a troublesome or inquisitive person, – possibly a corruption of “go to GRACE,” meaning, of course, a directly opposite fate.

GRASS-WIDOW, an unmarried mother; a deserted mistress. In the United States, during the gold fever in California, it was common for an adventurer to put both his GRASS-WIDOW and his children to school during his absence.

GRAVEL, to confound, to bother; “I’m GRAVELLED,” i. e., perplexed or confused. —Old.

GRAVEL-RASH, a scratched face, – telling its tale of a drunken fall.

GRAY-COAT-PARSON, a lay impropriator, or lessee of great tithes.

GRAYS, or SCOTCH GRAYS, lice. —Scotch.

GRAYS, halfpennies, with either two “heads” or two “tails,” – both sides alike. Low gamblers use GRAYS, and they cost from 2d. to 6d. each.

GREASE-SPOT, a minute remnant, the only distinguishable remains of an antagonist after a terrific contest.

GREASING a man is bribing; SOAPING is flattering him.

GREEKS, the low Irish. St. giles’ greek, slang or cant language. Cotgrave gives MERIE GREEK as a definition for a roystering fellow, a drunkard. —Shakespere.—See MEDICAL GREEK.

GREEN, ignorant, not wide awake, inexperienced. —Shakespere. “Do you see any GREEN in my eye?” ironical question in a dispute.

GREEN-HORN, a fresh, simple, or uninitiated person.

GRIDDLER, a person who sings in the streets without a printed copy of the words.

GRIEF, “to come to GRIEF,” to meet with an accident, be ruined.

GRIFFIN, in India, a newly arrived cadet; general for an inexperienced youngster. “Fast” young men in London frequently term an umbrella a GRIFFIN.

GRIND, “to take a GRIND,” i. e., a walk, or constitutional. —University.

GRIND, to work up for an examination, to cram with a GRINDER, or private tutor. – Medical.

GRINDERS, teeth.

GROGGY, tipsy; when a prize-fighter becomes “weak on his pins,” and nearly beaten, he is said to be GROGGY. —Pugilistic. The same term is applied to horses in a similar condition. Old English, AGGROGGYD, weighed down, oppressed. —Prompt. Parvulorum.

GRUB, meat, or food, of any kind, – GRUB signifying food, and BUB, drink.

GRUBBING-KEN, or SPINIKIN, a workhouse; a cook-shop.

GRUBBY, musty, or old-fashioned. —Devonshire.

GULFED, a University term, denoting that a man is unable to enter for the classical examination, from having failed in the mathematical. Candidates for classical honours were compelled to go in for both examinations. From the alteration of the arrangements the term is now obsolete. —Camb.

GULPIN, a weak, credulous fellow.

GUMMY, thick, fat – generally applied to a woman’s ancles, or to a man whose flabby person betokens him a drunkard.

GUMPTION, or RUMGUMPTION, comprehension, capacity. From GAUM, to comprehend; “I canna GAUGE it, and I canna GAUM it,” as a Yorkshire exciseman said of a hedgehog.

GURRELL, a fob.

GUTTER BLOOD, a low or vulgar man —Scotch.

GUTTER LANE, the throat.

GUY, a fright, a dowdy, an ill-dressed person. Derived from the effigy of Guy Fawkes carried about by boys on Nov. 5.

GYP, an undergraduate’s valet at Cambridge. Corruption of GYPSEY JOE (Saturday Review); popularly derived by Cantabs from the Greek, GYPS (γύπς), a vulture, from their dishonest rapacity. At Oxford they are called SCOUTS.

HACKLE, “to show HACKLE,” to be willing to fight. Hackles are the long feathers on the back of a cock’s neck, which he erects when angry, – hence the metaphor.

HADDOCK, a purse. —See BEANS.

HALF A BEAN, half a sovereign.

HALF A BULL, two shillings and sixpence.

HALF A COUTER, half a sovereign.

HALF A HOG, sixpence; sometimes termed HALF A GRUNTER.

HALF A STRETCH, six months in prison.

HALF A TUSHEROON, half a crown.

HALF AND HALF, a mixture of ale and porter, much affected by medical students; occasionally Latinized into DIMIDIUM DIMIDIUMQUE. —See COOPER.

HALF BAKED, soft, doughy, half-witted, silly.

HALF FOOLISH, ridiculous; means often wholly foolish.

HALF JACK. —See JACKS.

HALF ROCKED, silly, half-witted. – Compare HALF BAKED.

HALF SEAS OVER, reeling drunk. —Sea. Used by Swift.

HAND, a workman, or helper, a person. “A cool HAND,” explained by Sir Thomas Overbury to be “one who accounts bashfulness the wickedest thing in the world, and therefore studies impudence.”

HANDER, a second, or assistant, in a prize fight.

HANDLE, a nose; the title appended to a person’s name; also a term in boxing, “HANDLING one’s fists.”

HAND-SAW, or CHIVE FENCER, a man who sells razors and knives in the streets.

HANDSELLER, or CHEAP JACK, a street or open air seller, a man who carries goods to his customers, instead of waiting for his customers to visit him.

HANG OUT, to reside, – in allusion to the ancient custom of hanging out signs.

HANGMAN’S WAGES, thirteenpence halfpenny.

HANSEL, or HANDSALE, the lucky money, or first money taken in the morning by a pedlar. —Cocker’s Dictionary, 1724. “Legs of mutton (street term for sheep’s trotters, or feet) two for a penny; who’ll give me a HANSEL? who’ll give me a HANSEL?” —Cry at Cloth Fair at the present day. Hence, earnest money, first fruits, &c. In Norfolk, HANSELLING a thing, is using it for the first time, as wearing a new coat, taking seizin of it, as it were. —Anglo Saxon. N. Bailey.

HA’PURTH OF LIVELINESS, the music at a low concert, or theatre.

HARD LINES, hardship, difficulty. —Soldiers’ term for hard duty on the lines in front of the enemy.

HARD UP, in distress, poverty stricken. —Sea.

HARD-UPS, cigar-end finders, who collect the refuse pieces of smoked cigars from the gutter, and having dried them, sell them as tobacco to the very poor.

HARRY, or OLD HARRY (i. e. Old Hairy?) the Devil; “to play OLD HARRY with one,” i. e., ruin or annoy him.

HARRY-SOPH (ἐρίσοφος, very wise indeed), an undergraduate in his last year of residence. —Cambridge.

HASH, a mess, confusion; “a pretty HASH he made of it;” to HASH UP, to jumble together without order or regularity.

HATCHET, “to throw the HATCHET,” to tell lies.

HAWSE HOLES, the apertures in a ship’s bows through which the cables pass; “he has crept in through the HAWSE-HOLES,” said of an officer who has risen from the grade of an ordinary seaman. —Navy.

HAY BAG, a woman.

HAZY, intoxicated. —Household Words, No. 183.

HEAD OR TAIL, “I can’t make HEAD OR TAIL of it,” i. e., cannot make it out.

HEAP, “a HEAP of people,” a crowd; “struck all of a HEAP,” suddenly astonished.

HEAVY WET, porter or beer, – because the more a man drinks of it, the heavier he becomes.

HEDGE, to secure a doubtful bet by making others. —Turf.

HEEL-TAPS, small quantities of wine or other beverage left in the bottom of glasses, considered as a sign that the liquor is not liked, and therefore unfriendly and unsocial to the host and the company.

HEIGH HO! a cant term for stolen yarn, from the expression used to apprize the dishonest manufacturer that the speaker has stolen yarn to sell. —Norwich cant.

HELL, a fashionable gambling house. In printing offices, the term is generally applied to the old tin box in which is thrown the broken or spoilt type, purchased by the founders for re-casting. Nearly obsolete.

HEN AND CHICKENS, large and small pewter pots.

HEN-PECKED, said of one whose wife “wears the breeches.”

HERRING POND, the sea; “to be sent across the HERRING POND,” to be transported.

HIDING, a thrashing. Webster gives this word, but not its root, HIDE, to beat, flay by whipping.

HIGGLEDY-PIGGLEDY, all together, – as hogs and pigs lie.

HIGH AND DRY, an epithet applied to the soi disant “orthodox” clergy of the last century, for whom, while ill-paid curates did the work, the comforts of the establishment were its greatest charms.

“Wherein are various ranks, and due degrees,

The Bench for honour, and the Stall for ease.”

Though often confounded with, they are utterly dissimilar to, the modern High Church or Anglo-Catholic party. Their equally uninteresting opponents deserved the corresponding appellation of LOW AND SLOW; while the so-called “Broad Church” is defined with equal felicity as the BROAD AND SHALLOW.

HIGH FLY, “ON THE HIGH FLY,” on the begging or cadging system.

HIGH JINKS, “ON THE HIGH JINKS,” taking up an arrogant position, assuming an undue superiority.

HIGH-FLYER, a genteel beggar, or swindler.

HIGH FLYERS, large swings, in frames, at fairs and races.

HIGH-LOWS, laced boots reaching a trifle higher than ancle-jacks.

HIGHFALUTEN, showy, affected, tinselled, affecting certain pompous or fashionable airs, stuck up; “come, none of yer HIGHFALUTEN games,” i. e., you must not show off or imitate the swell here. —American slang from the Dutch, VERLOOTEN.

HIP INSIDE, inside coat pocket.

HIP OUTSIDE, outside coat pocket.

HIVITE, a student of St. Begh’s College, Cumberland; pronounced ST. BEE’S. —University.

HOAX, to deceive, or ridicule, —Grose says was originally a University cant word. Corruption of HOCUS, to cheat.

HOCKS, the feet; CURBY HOCKS, round or clumsy feet.

HOCUS, to drug a person, and then rob him. The HOCUS generally consists of snuff and beer.

HOCUS POCUS, Gipsey words of magic, similar to the modern “presto fly.” The Gipseys pronounce “Habeas Corpus,” HAWCUS PACCUS (see Crabb’s Gipsey’s Advocate, p. 18); can this have anything to do with the origin of HOCUS POCUS? Turner gives OCHUS BOCHUS, an old demon. Pegge, however, states that it is a burlesque rendering of the words of the unreformed church service at the delivery of the host, HOC EST CORPUS, which the early Protestants considered as a species of conjuring, and ridiculed accordingly.

HODGE, a countryman or provincial clown. I don’t know that it has been elsewhere remarked, but most country districts in England have one or more families of the name of HODGE; indeed, GILES and HODGE appear to be the favourite hobnail nomenclature. Not in any way writing disrespectfully, was the slang word taken from Hog – with the g soft, which gives the dg pronunciation? In old canting dictionaries HODGE stands for a country clown; so, indeed, does ROGER, another favourite provincial name. —Vide Bacchus and Venus.

HOG, “to go the whole HOG,” to do anything with a person’s entire strength, not “by halves;” realised by the phrase “in for a penny in for a pound.” Bartlett claims this to be a pure American phrase; whilst Ker, of course, gives it a Dutch origin. —Old.

HOG, a shilling. —Old cant.

HOISTING, shoplifting.

HOLLOW, “to beat HOLLOW,” to excel.

HOLY LAND, Seven Dials, – where the St. Giles’ Greek is spoken.

HOOK, to steal or rob. —See the following.

HOOK OR BY CROOK, by fair means or foul – in allusion to the hook which footpads used to carry to steal from open windows, &c., and from which HOOK, to take or steal, has been derived. Mentioned in Hudibras as a cant term.

HOOK IT, “get out of the way,” or “be off about your business;” “TO HOOK IT,” to run away, to decamp; “on one’s own HOOK,” dependant upon one’s own exertions. —See the preceding for derivation.

HOOKS, “dropped off the HOOKS,” said of a deceased person – derived from the ancient practice of suspending on hooks the quarters of a traitor or felon sentenced by the old law to be hung, drawn, and quartered, and which dropped off the hooks as they decayed.

HOOKEY WALKER! ejaculation of incredulity, usually shortened to WALKER! – which see. A correspondent thinks HOOKEY WALKER may have been a certain Hugh K. Walker.

HOOK-UM SNIVEY (formerly “hook and snivey”), a low expression meaning to cheat by feigning sickness or other means. Also a piece of thick iron wire crooked at one end, and fastened into a wooden handle, for the purpose of undoing from the outside the wooden bolt of a door.

HOP, a dance. —Fashionable slang.

HOP THE TWIG, to run away, or BOLT, which see. —Old.

HOP-MERCHANT, a dancing-master.

HOPPING GILES, a cripple. St. Ægidius or Giles, himself similarly afflicted, was their patron saint. The ancient lazar houses were dedicated to him.

HORRID HORN, term of reproach amongst the street Irish, meaning a fool, or half-witted fellow. From the Erse OMADHAUN, a brainless fellow. A correspondent suggests HERRIDAN, a miserable old woman.

HORRORS, the low spirits, or “blue devils,” which follow intoxication.

HORSE, contraction of Horsemonger-lane Gaol.

HORSE CHAUNTER, a dealer who takes worthless horses to country fairs and disposes of them by artifice. He is flexible in his ethics, and will put in a glass-eye, or perform other tricks. —See COPER.

HORSE NAILS, money. —Compare BRADS.

HORSE’S NIGHTCAP, a halter; “to die in a HORSE’S NIGHTCAP,” to be hung.

HORSE MARINE, an awkward person. In ancient times the “JOLLIES” or Royal Marines, were the butts of the sailors, from their ignorance of seamanship. “Tell that to the MARINES, the blue jackets won’t believe it!” was a common rejoinder to a “stiff yarn.” Now-a-days they are deservedly appreciated as the finest regiment in the service. A HORSE MARINE (an impossibility) was used to denote one more awkward still.

HOT COPPERS, the feverish sensations experienced next morning by those who have been drunk over night.

HOT TIGER, an Oxford mixture of hot-spiced ale and sherry.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, a water-closet.

HOXTER, an inside pocket. —Old English, OXTER.

HUEY, a town or village.

HUFF, to vex, or offend; a poor temper.

HUFF, a dodge or trick; “don’t try that HUFF on me,” or “that HUFF won’t do.” —Norwich.

HULK, to hang about in hopes of an invitation. —See MOOCH.

HULKY, extra sized. —Shropshire.

HUM AND HAW, to hesitate, raise objections. —Old English.

HUMBLE PIE, to “eat HUMBLE PIE,” to knock under, be submissive. The UMBLES, or entrails of a deer, were anciently made into a dish for servants, while their masters feasted off the haunch.

HUMBUG, an imposition, or a person who imposes upon others. A very expressive but slang word, synonymous at one time with HUM AND HAW. Lexicographers have fought shy at adopting this word. Richardson uses it frequently to express the meaning of other words, but omits it in the alphabetical arrangement as unworthy of recognition! In the first edition of this work, 1785 was given as the earliest date at which the word could be found in a printed book. Since then I have traced HUMBUG half a century farther back, on the title-page of a singular old jest-book – “The Universal Jester; or a pocket companion for the Wits: being a choice collection of merry conceits, facetious drolleries, &c., clenchers, closers, closures, bon-mots, and HUMBUGS,” by Ferdinando Killigrew. London, about 1735–40.

I have also ascertained that the famous Orator Henley was known to the mob as Orator Humbug. The fact may be learnt from an illustration in that exceedingly curious little collection of Caricatures, published in 1757, many of which were sketched by Lord Bolingbroke – Horace Walpole filling in the names and explanations. Halliwell describes HUMBUG as “a person who hums,” and cites Dean Milles’ MS., which was written about 1760. It has been stated that the word is a corruption of Hamburgh, from which town so many false bulletins and reports came during the war in the last century. “Oh, that is Hamburgh [or HUMBUG],” was the answer to any fresh piece of news which smacked of improbability. Grose mentions it in his Dictionary, 1785; and in a little printed squib, published in 1808, entitled Bath Characters, by T. Goosequill, HUMBUG is thus mentioned in a comical couplet on the title page: —

“Wee Thre Bath Deities bee,Humbug, Follie, and Varietee.”

Gradually from this time the word began to assume a place in periodical literature, and in novels not written by squeamish or over-precise authors. In the preface to a flat, and, I fear, unprofitable poem, entitled, The Reign of HUMBUG, a Satire, 8vo., 1836, the author thus apologises for the use of the word – “I have used the term HUMBUG to designate this principle [wretched sophistry of life generally], considering that it is now adopted into our language as much as the words dunce, jockey, cheat, swindler, &c., which were formerly only colloquial terms.” A correspondent, who in a late number of Adersaria ingeniously traced bombast to the inflated Doctor Paracelsus Bombast, considers that HUMBUG may, in like manner, be derived from Homberg, the distinguished chemist of the court of the Duke of Orleans, who, according to the following passage from Bishop Berkeley’s “Siris,” was an ardent and successful seeker after the philosopher’s stone!