Slang and its analogues past and present, volume III (of 7)

1871. Morning Advertiser, 2 Feb., ‘A curtain lecture.’ On … arrival home the derelict husband is to be gone for in the most approved style of the late lamented Mrs. Caudle.

1883. James Payn, Thicker than Water, ch. xxxvii. There were occasions … when Charley could hardly help going for the legs of that lofty philosopher, for higher he could not hit him.

1889. Polytechnic Magazine, 24 Oct., p. 261. He went for the jam tarts unmercifully.

1889. Star, 24 Aug., p. 4, c. 2. As the enlightened tailor still declined to pay the blackmail one of the anti-machinists went for him with a chopper.

1892. Tit Bits, 19 Mar., p. 424, c. 1. So it comes to much the same thing, with the exception that you cannot indulge in the sad delight of going for Master Bertie sometimes as you might do were he a member of your own household.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 123. “Well mate, go for him, and we’ll keep the cops off till you settle his hash.”

4. (theatrical).—To criticise; specifically, to run down. [An extension of sense 2.] For synonyms, see Run down.

To go in for (or at), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To enter for; to apply oneself to (e.g., to go in for honours). Also to devote oneself to (e.g., to pay court); to take up (as a pastime, pursuit, hobby, or principle). Closely allied to go for.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 18 (ed. 1857). This advice was very like that which bystanders invariably give to the smallest boy in a street fight; namely, ‘Go in, and win’: an admirable thing to recommend, if you only know how to do it.

1849. Dickens, David Copperfield, ch. xviii., p. 162. Sometimes I go in at the butcher madly, and cut my knuckles open against his face.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, iii., 3. Go in for money——Money’s the article.

1869. Whyte Melville, M. or N., p. 31. Long before he had reached his uncle’s house, he had made up his mind to go in, as he called it, for Miss Bruce, morally confident of winning, yet troubled with certain chilling misgivings, as fearing that this time he had really fallen in love.

1872. Besant and Rice, My Little Girl (in Once a Week, 14 Dec., p. 508). He had, after a laborious and meritorious career at Aberdeen, gone in for Scotch mission work in Constantinople.

1873. Miss Broughton, Nancy, ch. xlv. His cheeks are flushed; he is laughing loudly, and going in heavily for the champagne. [163]

1883. James Payn, Thicker than Water, ch. xx. This is very nice, but I do wonder, Mrs. Tidman, that you never go in for curries.

1890. H. D. Traill, ‘A Noble Watchword,’ Sat. Songs, p. 58. To go in solid for the cause how noble! (though, ’tis true, We must hope at next election that you’ll go in liquid, too).

To go in unto, verb. phr. (Biblical).—To have sexual intercourse with. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

To go it, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To act with vigour and daring; to advocate or speak strongly; to live freely. Also to go it blind, fast, bald-headed, strong, etc. Cf., Dash.

1689 (in Arber, Eng. Garner, vol. VII., p. 365). When these had shared her cargo, they parted company: the French with their shares went it for Petty Guavas in the Grand Gustaphus.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry [people’s ed.], p. 67. Logic, under the domino, had been going it on a few of his friends with much humour.

1837. R. H. Barham, The Ingoldsby Legends (Ed. 1862), p. 375. For of this be assured, if you go it too fast, you’ll be ‘dished’ like Sir Guy.

1846–48. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, vol. I., ch. 26. ‘He’s going it pretty fast,’ said the clerk.

1849. Dickens, David Copperfield, ch. 6. I say young Copperfield, you’re going it.

1841. Dow, Sermons, vol. I., p. 176. I would have you understand, my dear hearers, that I have no objection to some of the sons and daughters of the earth going it, while they are young, provided they don’t go it too strong.

1864. Fraser’s Mag., Aug., p. 54. But what if that O, brave heart? Art thou a labourer? Labour on, Art thou a poet? Go it strong.

1880. Milliken, in Punch’s Almanack Apr. Nobby togs, high jinks, and lots o’ lotion, That’s the style to go it, I’ve a notion.

Intj. (common).—Keep at it! Keep it up!—a general (sometimes ironical) expression of encouragement. Also go it ye gripples, crutches are cheap! (or newgate’s on fire); go it, my tulip; go it my gay and festive cuss! (Artemus Ward); or (American) go it boots! go it rags! i’ll hold your bonnet! g’lang! (usually to a man making the pace on foot or horseback.) For similar expressions see Mother. Fr., hardi!

1840. Thackeray, Cox’s Diary. Come along this way, ma’am! Go it, ye cripples!

1854. Thackeray, The Rose and the Ring, p. 92. ‘Go it, old boy!’ cried the impetuous Smith.

1868. Miss Braddon, Trail of the Serpent, bk. I., ch. iii. Three cheers for red! Go it—go it, red!

1890. Tit Bits, 1 Mar., p. 325. ‘Not for Joe’ … came from a once popular song. So did go it, you cripples.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 113. Pockets, … to use the flippant idiom of the day, are going out.

To go over, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To desert from one side to another; specifically (clerical) to join the Church of Rome; to vert (q.v.).

1861. Thackeray, Lovel the Widwer, ch. ii. I remember Pye, of Maudlin, just before he went over, was perpetually in Miss Prior’s back parlour with little books, pictures, medals, etc.

1878. Miss Braddon, Open Verdict, ch. vi. Mr. Dulcimer is a horrid person to tell you such stories; and after this, I shouldn’t be at all surprised at his going over to Rome.

2. (colloquial).—To die; i.e., to go over to join the majority. Also to go off. To go off [164]the hooks, to go under, to go aloft, and to go up.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 4. ‘A sight, marm, this coon’s gone over.’ Ibid., p. 3. Them three’s all gone under.

1889. Referee, 2 June. A few who had … gone over the landlord, left him skinned.

1866. Mrs. Gaskell, Wives and Daughters, ch. xiv. The wedding went off much as such affairs do.

2. (colloquial).—To be disposed of (as goods on sale, or a woman in marriage).

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 208. Miss Malderton was as well known as the lion on the top of Northumberland House, and had an equal chance of going off.

1883. Pall Mall Gazette, 16 Apr., p. 3, c. 2. Shotover rather went off in the Autumn, and her Leger preparation was not altogether satisfactory.

1892. Tit-Bits, 17 Sept., p. 422, c. 3. To those … who are apt to go off colour, so to speak, through injudicious indulgence at table.

1606. Shakspeare, Macbeth, v., 7. I would the friends we miss were safe arrived: Some must go off.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers (about 1827), p. 368 (Ed. 1857). She’s dead, God bless her, and thank him for it!—was seized with a fit and went off.

Go as you please, adj. phr. (athletics’).—Applied to races where the competitors can run, walk, or rest at will: e.g., in time and distance races. Hence, general freedom of action.

1884. Punch, 11 Oct. ‘’Arry at a Political Picnic’ ’Twas regular go as you please.

To go through, verb. phr. (American).—1. To rob: i.e., to turn inside out. Hence, to master violently and completely; to make an end of.

1872. Evening Standard, 21 June. The roughs would work their will, and, in their own phrase, go through New York pretty effectually.

1888. Baltimore Sun. He was garrotted, and the two robbers went through him before he could reach the spot.

Ibid. It was a grand sight to see Farnsworth go through him; he did not leave him a single leg to stand upon.

To go up (or under), verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To go to wreck and ruin; to become bankrupt; to disappear from society. Also, to die. For synonyms, see Deadbroke.

1864. The Index, June. Soon after the blockade, many thought we should go up on the salt question.

1879. Jas. Payn, High Spirits (Finding His Level). Poor John Weybridge, Esq., became as friendless as penniless, and eventually went under, and was heard of no more.

1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 29 May, p. 5, c. 1. He asks us further to state that the strike is completely at an end, the society having gone under.

18(?). Hawkeye, The Iowa Chief, p. 210. Poor Hawkeye felt, says one of his biographers, that his time had come, and [165]knowing that he must go under sooner or later, he determined to sell his life dearly.

1888. Daily Inter. Ocean, Mar. All solemnly vowed to see that the mine should be worked solely for the benefit of the girl whether Jim lived or had gone under.

1867. Hepworth Dixon, New America, i., 11. Unruly citizens are summarily hung on a cotton tree, and when any question is asked about them, the answer is briefly given, gone up—i.e., gone up the cotton tree, or suspended from one of its branches.

1889. Globe, 12 Oct., p. 1, c. 4. Always, it seems likely, there will be men going up for examinations; and every now and again, no doubt, there will be among them a wily ‘Heathen Pass-ee’ like him of whom Mr. Hilton speaks—who had cribs up his sleeve, and notes on his cuff.

To go with, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To agree or harmonise with. See Gee.

2. (colloquial).—To share the sexual embrace. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

No go, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Of no use; not to be done; a complete failure. Frequently contracted to N.G.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 18. I know something about this here family, and my opinion is, it’s no go.

1853. Diogenes, vol. II., p. 271. Dear master, don’t think of me ill; If I say—as the lists are no go—You’ve in future no fear for the till!

1884. Notes and Queries, 6 S., x., p. 125. There were on the occasion so many rounds and so many no goes.

1888. Puck’s Library, May, p. 12. He thought a moment, and shook his head. It’s no go was the dictum.

1890. Punch, 22 Feb., p. 85. He’s a long-winded lot, is Buchanan, slops over tremenjous, he do;… But cackle and splutter ain’t swimming; so Robert, my nabs, it’s no go.

1892. J. McCarthy and Mrs. Campbell-Praed, Ladies’ Gallery, p. 84. She sees it is no go with the baronet.

A little bit on the go, adv. phr. (old).—Slightly inebriated; elevated. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry [peoples’ ed.], p. 58. The Corinthian had made him a little bit on the go.

Goad, subs. (old).—1. A decoy at auctions; a horse-chaunter; a peter funk (q.v.). [One who goads (i.e., sends up) the prices.]

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candle light, ch. x. They that stand by and conycatche the chapman either with out-bidding, false praises, etc., are called goades.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Goads, those that wheedle in Chapmen for Horse-coursers,

Goal, subs. (Winchester College).—1. At football the boy who stands at the centre of each end, acting as umpire; and (2) the score of three points made when the ball is kicked between his legs, or over his head without his touching it.

1870. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 138. Midway between each of the two ends of the line was stationed another boy, as umpire (Goal, he was called) who stood with his legs wide apart, and a gown rolled up at each foot: if the ball was kicked directly over his head, or between his legs, without his touching it, it was a goal, and scored three for the party that kicked it.

Goaler’s Coach. See Gaoler’s Coach. [166]

Go-along, subs. (thieves’).—A fool; a flat (q.v.). For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage Head.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 460. In four days my adviser left me; he had no more use for me. I was a flat. He had me for a go-along, to cry his things for him.

Goat, subs. (old).—A lecher; a molrower (q.v.).

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V., iv., 4. Thou damn’d and luxurious mountain goat.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Goat, a Lecher, a very lascivious person.

1717. Cibber, Nonjuror, i., 1. At the tea-table I have seen the impudent goat most lusciously sip off her leavings.

To play the goat. verb. phr. (common).—1. To play the fool; to monkey (q.v.). Fr., faire l’oiseau.

To ride the goat, verb. phr. (common).—To be initiated into a secret society. [From the vulgar error that a live goat, for candidates to ride, is one of the standing properties of a Masonic lodge.]

Goatee, subs. (colloquial).—A tufted beard on the point of a shaven chin. [In imitation of the tuft of hair on a goat’s chin.]

English Synonyms (for a beard generally).—Charley; imperial; Newgate (or sweep’s) frill, or fringe.

French Synonyms.—Une marmouse (thieves’); un impériale (colloquial: formerly une royale); un bouc or une bouquine (= a goatee); bacchantes (thieves’: the beard, but more especially the whiskers, from bâche = awning).

Italian Synonyms.—Bosco di berlo (the forest on the face); settosa (= full of hair); spinola (= thorny).

1869. Orchestra, 18 June. Working carpenters with a straggling goatee on the chin, and a mass of unkempt hair on the head.

Goater, subs. (American thieves’).—Dress. For synonyms, see Togs.

Goat-house, subs. (old).—A brothel. [From Goat, subs., sense 1.] For synonyms, see Nanny-shop.

Goatish, adj. (old, now recognised).—Lecherous. [As vieing with a goat in lust.] Hence Goatishly, adv., and Goatishness, subs.

1622. Massinger and Dekker, Virgin Martyr, iii., 1. Give your chaste body up to the embraces of goatish lust.

1605. Shakspeare, King Lear, i. 2. An admirable evasion of whoremaster-man, to lay his goatish disposition to the charge of a star. [167]

Goat-Milker, subs. (venery).—1. A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

Goat’s Jig (or Gigg), subs. (old).—Copulation. For synonyms, see Greens.—Grose.

Go-away, subs. (American thieves’).—A railway-train.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. The knuck was working the goaways at Jersey City.

Gob (or Gobbett), subs. (old: now vulgar). 1. A portion; a mouthful; a morsel. Also a gulp; a bolt (q.v.). [Latin, gob = mouth: Old Fr., gob = a gulp.] Skeat says the shorter form gob is rare.

1380. Wycliffe, Trans. of Bible. Thei token the relifis of broken gobetis twelve cofres full.

1542. Apop. of Erasmus [1878], p. 14. A bodie thinketh hymself well emende in his substaunce and riches, to whom hath happened some good gubbe of money, and maketh a great whinyng if he haue had any losse of the same.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, in wks., v., 261. And thrust him downe his pudding house at a gobbe.

1605. Chapman, All Fools, Act iii., p. 62 (Plays, 1874). Ri. And do you think He’ll swallow down the gudgeon? Go. O my life, It were a gross gob would not down with him.

1611. L. Barry, Ram. Alley, I., i. That little land he gave, Throate the lawyer swallowed at one gob For less than half the worth.

1689. Selden, Table-Talk, p. 50 (Arber’s ed.). The meaning of the Law was, that so much should be taken from a man, such a gobbet sliced off, that yet notwithstanding he might live in the same Rank and Condition he lived in before; but now they Fine men ten times more than they are worth.

1690. B. E., Dict. Canting Crew, s.v. Gob(c) … also a Bit or Morsel; hence gobbets, now more in use for little Bits.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Gob or gobbet (s.) a piece just big enough, or fit to be put into the mouth at once.

1774. Foote, Cozeners, ii., 2. The venison was over-roasted, and stunk—but Doctor Dewlap twisted down such gobs of fat.

1869. S. L. Clemens (M. Twain), Innocents Abroad, ch. vii. It is pushed out into the sea on the end of a flat, narrow strip of land, and is suggestive of a gob of mud on the end of a shingle.

2. (common).—The mouth. Shut your gob = an injunction to silence. See Gab. A spank on the gob = a blow on the mouth. Gob-full of claret = a bleeding at the mouth. Gift of the gab or gob, see Gab. For synonyms see Potato-trap.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 18. Home-hits in the bread-basket, clicks in the gob. Ibid., p. 30.

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. 1. ‘All right—all right,’ I then exclaimed, as I thrust half a doubled-up muffin into my gob.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 469. I managed somehow to turn my gob (mouth) round and gnawed it away.

3. (common).—A mouthful of spittle. Fr., un copeau; It., smalzo di cavio (= gutter-butter). For synonyms, see Sixpences.

Verb. (common).—1. To swallow in mouthfuls; to gulp down. Also gobble (q.v.). [168]

1692. L’Estrange, Fables. Down comes a kite powdering upon them, and gobbets up both together.

Gobbie, subs. (nautical).—A coastguardsman; whence gobbie-ship, a man of war engaged in the preventive service.

1890. Scotsman, 4 Aug. When a meeting takes place the men indulge in a protracted yarn and a draw of the pipe. The session involves a considerable amount of expectoration all round, whereby our friends come to be known as gobbies, and in process of time the term came to be applied to the ships engaged in the service. Ibid. There are no fewer than three other gobbie ships in the channel fleet, each of which carries a considerable number of coastguardsmen putting in their annual period of drill.

Gobble (or Gobble up), verb. (vulgar).—To swallow hastily or greedily; hence (American) to seize, capture, or appropriate. Also gob: e.g., gob that!

1602. Dekker, Satiro-mastix, in wks. (1873) i. 233. They will come to gobble downe Plummes.

1728. Swift, Misc. Poems, in wks. (1824) xiv. 232. The time too precious now to waste, The supper gobbled up in haste.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. cvi. Summoned in such a plaguy hurry from his dinner, which he had been fain to gobble up like a cannibal.

1846–48. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, vol. 1, ch. v. Mr. Jos. … helped Rebecca to everything on the table, and himself gobbled and drank a great deal.

1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xiii. There was a wily old monkey who thrust the cat’s paw out, and proposed to gobble up the smoking prize.

Gobble-prick, subs. (old).—A lecherous woman.—Grose.

Gobbler, subs. (old).—1. A duck.—Harman.

1851. Hooper, Widow Rugby’s Husband, etc., p. 94. Her face was as red as a gobbler’s snout.

Gobbling, subs. (vulgar).—Gorging.

1846–48. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ch. iii., vol. 1. His mouth was full of it, his face quite red with the delightful exercise of gobbling ‘Mother, it’s as good as my own curries in India.’

Go-between, subs. (old).—A pimp or bawd. Now an intermediary of any kind.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, Act ii., sc. 2. Even as you came into me, her assistant, or go-between, parted from me.

Goblin, subs. (old).—A sovereign. For synonyms, see Canary.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Straight Tip. Your merry goblins soon stravag: Boose and the blowens cop the lot.

Gob-box, subs. (common).—The mouth. [From gob, subs.] For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1773. Forster, Goldsmith, Bk. IV., ch. xiv., p. 414 (5th ed.). Shuter protesting in his vehement odd way that ‘the boy could patter,’ and ‘use the gob-box as quick and smart as any of them.’

1819. Scott, Bride of Lammermoor, ch. i. Your characters … made too much use of the gob-box; they patter too much. [169]

Gob-stick, subs. (old).—A silver table-spoon. (In use in America = either spoon or fork); (nautical), a horn or wooden spoon.

Gob-string (or Gab-string), subs. (old).—A bridle.

Go-by, subs. (colloquial).—The act of passing; an evasion; a deception. To give one the go-by = to cut; to leave in the lurch. Cf., Cut (subs. sense 2, verb. sense 2).

1876. Hindley, Cheap Jack, p. 214. When we came in contact with a travelling bookseller we could give him the go-by with our library.

1892. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, ch. ix. She gave us the go-by in the fog—as I wish from the heart that ye had done yoursel’!

1892. Sala’s Journal, 25 June, p. 194. Now can you understand how it is possible, and, I think, expedient, to give politics the go-by, so far as one conveniently can?

Go-by-the-Ground, subs. (old).—A dumpy man or woman.—Grose.

God, subs. (common).—1. in. pl., the occupants of the gallery at a theatre. [Said to have been first used by Garrick because they were seated on high, and close to the sky-painted ceiling.] Fr., paradis = gallery; also poulailler. In feminine, Goddess.

1772. Cumberland, Fashionable Lover [probably spoken by printer’s devil]. ’Tis odds For one poor devil to face so many gods.

1812. J. and H. Smith, Rejected Addresses, p. 128 [ed. 1869]. Each one shilling god within reach of a nod is, And plain are the charms of each gallery goddess.

1843. Thackeray, Irish Sketch Book, ch. xxvii. The gallery was quite full … one young god, between the acts, favoured the public with a song.

1872. M. E. Braddon, Dead Sea Fruit, ch. xiv. There come occasionally actors and actresses of higher repute, eager to gather new laurels in these untrodden regions, and not ill pleased to find themselves received with noisy rapture and outspoken admiration by the ruder gods and homelier goddesses of a threepenny gallery.

1890. Globe, 7 Apr., p. 2, c. 2. The gods, or a portion of them, hooted and hissed while the National Anthem was being performed.

1892. Sydney Watson, Wops the Waif, iii., iv. It is only when we have paid our ‘tuppence’ and ascended to the gallery just under the roof, known as ‘among the gods,’ that we begin to understand what is meant by the lowest classes, the ‘great unwashed.’

1892. Pall Mall Gaz., 20 Apr., p. 2, c. 3. If theatre managers would only give the public the chance of as good a seat as can be got at the Trocadero or the Pavilion, at the same price, and manage the ventilation of their houses so as not to bake the gods and freeze the ‘pitites,’ I venture to think that fewer people would go to the music halls.

3. (tailors’).—A block pattern. Gods of cloth = ‘classical tailors.’—Grose. See Snip.

1881. Pascoe, Life in our Public Schools. A god at Eton is probably in a more exalted position, and receives more reverence than will ever afterwards fall to his lot.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 31. Stringy Bark prepared to greet his native land, was a sight for the gods to behold with satisfaction, and men to view from afar with awed respect. [170]

God Pays! phr. (old).—An expression at one time much in the mouth of disbanded soldiers and sailors (who assumed a right to live on the public charity). The modern form is, ‘If I don’t pay you, God Almighty will.’

1605. London Prodigal, ii., 3. But there be some that bear a soldier’s form, That swear by him they never think upon; Go swaggering up and down, from house to house, Crying, God pays.

1630. Taylor, in wks. These feather’d fidlers sing, and leape, and play, The begger takes delight, and God doth pay.

1640. Ben Jonson, Epigr. XII. To every cause he meets, this voice he brays, His only answer is to all, God pays.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Come Iddio vel dica., a phrase, as wee would say: God himselfe tell you, I cannot.

Goddess Diana, subs. phr. (rhyming). A sixpence. For synonyms, see Tanner.

1864. The Press, 12 Nov. Goddess diana is the rhyming equivalent for a tanner which signifies sixpence.

God-dot! intj. (old).—An oath. By God! [A contraction of ‘God wot!’] For synonyms, see Oaths.

Godfather, subs. (old).—A juryman.

1598. Shakspeare, Merchant of Venice, iv. 1. In christ’ning thou shalt have two godfathers, Had I been judge, thou should’st have had ten more, To bring thee to the gallows, not the font.

1616. Ben Jonson, Devil’s An Ass, v., 5. Not I, If you be such a one, sir, I will leave you To your god-fathers in law. Let twelve men work.

1638. Randolph, Muses’ Looking Glass, ix. 251. I had rather zee him remitted to the jail, and have his twelve godvathers, good men and true, condemn him to the gallows.

To stand Godfather, verb. phr. (common).—To pay the reckoning. [Godfathers being the objects of much solicitude and expectation.]

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Will you stand godfather, and we will take care of the brat? = repay you another time.

Go-down, subs. (old).—1. A draught of liquor; a go (q.v.).

1881. New York Times, 18 Dec., quoted in ‘N and Q’ 6, S. v. 65. Go Down.—A cutting in the bank of a stream for enabling animals to cross or to get to water.

God-permit, subs. (old).—A stage coach. [Which was advertised to start Deo volente.]

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. God-permit, a stage coach, from that affectation of piety, frequently to be met with in advertisements of stage coaches or waggons, where most of their undertakings are promised with if God permit, or God willing.

God’s-mercy, subs. (old).—Ham (or bacon) and eggs. [‘There’s nothing in the house but God’s mercy’: at one time a common answer in country inns to travellers in quest of provant.]

God’s-penny, subs. (old).—An earnest penny.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. God’s Penny, Earnest Money, to Bind a Bargain.

1765. Percy, Reliques, ‘The heir of Linne.’ Then John he did him to record draw, And John he cast him a God’s pennie.

Go-easter, subs. (American cowboys’).—A portmanteau; a peter (q.v.). [Because seldom used except in going city- or east-wards.] [171]

Goer, subs. (old).—1. The foot. For synonyms, see Creepers.

1557–1634. Chapman, in Encyclop. Dict. A double mantle, cast Athwart his shoulders, his faire goers grac’t With fitted shoes.

2. (colloquial).—An expert or adept; as in drawing, talking, riding; one well up to his (or her) work: generally with an adjective, as e.g., a fast (or hell of a) goer = a good goer.

1857. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. xx. Nevertheless, she was always deeply engaged, and generally to the best goers in the room.

Goff. See Mrs. Goff.

Goggles, subs. (common).—1. A goggle-eyed person. Also Goggler.

1891. Clark Russell, Ocean Tragedy, p. 51. No use sending blind man aloft, gogglers like myself, worse luck.

2. in. pl. (common).—The eyes: specifically those with a constrained or rolling stare; also Goggle-eyes. Goggle-eyed = squint-eyed.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, Strabo, he that looketh a squint or is goggle-eide.

c. 1746. Robertson of Struan, Poems, 69. An eagle of a dwarfish size, With crooked Beak, and gogle eyes.

1691–1763. Byrom, Dissection of a Beau’s Head. Those muscles, in English, wherewith a man ogles, When on a fair lady he fixes his goggles.

1821. Pierce Egan, Life in London, p. 241. Rolling your goggles about after all manner of people.

1577–87. Holinshed, Description of Ireland, ch. i. They goggle with their eyes hither and thither.

1880. Millikin, Punch’s Almanack, April. Scissors! don’t they goggle and look blue.

Gogmagog, subs. (colloquial).—A goblin; a monster; a frightful apparition.—Hood.

Going, subs. (colloquial).—The condition of a road, a piece of ground, a cinder-path: i.e., the accommodation for travelling. E.g., the going is bad.

1872. Morning Post, 19 Aug. The Lamb’s starting in the Frankfort steeple-chase will depend upon the state of the ground, and, avoiding Wiesbaden, where the going is indifferent.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 23 Nov. The going was wonderfully clean for the time of year.

Goings-on, subs. (colloquial).—Behaviour; proceedings; conduct. Cf., Carryings on.

1845. Douglas Jerrold, Mrs. Caudle, Lecture viii. Pretty place it must be where they don’t admit women. Nice goings-on, I daresay, Mr. Caudle.

1870. Lloyd’s Newspaper, 11 Sept. ‘Review.’ Elsie is beloved by Gawthwaite, the village schoolmaster, and he takes her to task for her goings-on.

Goldarned (or Goldurned, Goldasted, etc.), adj. (common).—A mild form of oath: = Blamed (q.v.); Bloody (q.v.). See Oaths. As intj., Goldarn it! etc.

1888. American Humorist. ‘Bill, are you hurt?’ ‘Yes, by gum; I’ve broke my goldarned neck.’ [172]

1888. Cincinnati Enquirer. Finally, Deacon Spalding broke out with: ‘That goldasted St. Louis mugwump has made suckers of us again with his cracks about coming into the league. I move we adjourn.’

Gold-backed ’Un, subs. (common).—A louse. Also Grey-backed ’un. For synonyms, see Chates.

Gold Bug, subs. phr. (American).—A man of wealth and (inferentially) distinction; a millionaire. See Bug.

1888. St. Louis Globe Democrat, Mar. 5. I do not think the feeling against silver is anything like as strong as it was. Of course, a few gold bugs might fight him.

Gold-dropper, subs. (old).—A sharper. An old-time worker of the confidence trick. See quots. Also Gold-finder.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Gold-finder (s.) … also a cant name for a cheat, who under the pretence of finding a piece of money, and inviting a by-stander to partake of a treat, etc., out of it, endeavours to get him to play at cards, dice, etc., in order to win or cheat him of his money; they are sometimes also called guinea-droppers.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Sharpers who drop a piece of gold, which they pick up in the presence of some unexperienced person, for whom the trap is laid, this they pretend to have found, and, as he saw them pick it up, they invite him to a public house to partake of it: when there, two or three of their comrades drop in, as if by accident, and propose cards, or some other game, when they seldom fail of stripping their prey.

Golden-cream, subs. (thieves’).—Rum.

Gold-end Man, subs. phr. (old).—An itinerant jeweller; a buyer of old gold and silver. [Gold-end = a broken piece of jewellery.] Also Goldsmith’s Apprentice. See Eastward Hoe.

1610. Jonson, Alchemist, ii., 1. I know him not, he looks like a gold-end man.

1622. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, iii., 1. Hig. Have ye any ends of gold or silver?

Golden Grease, subs. phr. (old).—A fee; also a bribe. For synonyms, see Palm Oil.

Goldfinch, subs. (old).—1. A well-to-do man; a warm ’un (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Goldfinch, c. He that has alwaies a Purse or Cod of Gold in his Fob.

1852. Judson, Mysteries, etc., of New York, ch. iv. ‘Was the swell a goldfinch?’ ‘He wasn’t nothin’ else. Got a clean ten times ten out of him.’

Ibid. ‘It’ll be a great lay, if the game’s fat. Is it a goldfinch?’ ‘Fifty thousand, hard dust.’

1700. Farquhar, Constant Couple, ii., 2. Sir H. Don’t you love singing-birds, madam? Angel (aside). That’s an odd question for a lover; (aloud) Yes, sir. Sir H. Why, then, madam, here is a nest of the prettiest goldfinches that ever chirped in a cage.

1822. Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, ch. iv. Put your monies aside, my lord; it is not well to be seen with such goldfinches chirping about one in the lodgings of London.

1826. Buckstone, Luke the Labourer, iii., 4. Good-night, noble captain. Pipe all hands at five o’clock, for I’ve a day’s work to do. We’ll jig it to-morrow, to the piping of gold-finches.

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 101 (ed. 1864). Here’s a handful of goldfinches ready to fly.

Goldfinch’s Nest, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

1827. The Merry Muses, p. 70. And soon laid his hand on the goldfinch’s nest. [173]

Gold-finder, subs. (old).—1. An emptier of privies. Also Tom-turd-man; Gong-man; and Night-man. Fr., un fouille-merde; un fifi. Also passer la jambe à Jules = to upset Mrs. Jones, i.e., to empty the privy tub.

1635. Feltham, Resolves. As our goldfinders … in the night and darkness thrive on stench and excrements.

1653. Middleton, Sp. Gipsy, ii., 2, p. 398 (Mermaid series). And if his acres, being sold for a maravedii a turf for larks in cages, cannot fill this pocket, give ’em to goldfinders.

1704. Gentleman Instructed, p. 445 (1732). We will commit the further discussion of the poet to a committee of goldfinders, or a club of rake-kennels.

Gold Hat-band, subs. (old University).—A nobleman undergraduate; a tuft (q.v.).

1628. Earle, Microcosmography. His companion is ordinarily some stale fellow that has been notorious for an ingle to gold hatbands, whom hee admires at first, afterwards scornes.

1889. Gentleman’s Mag., June, p. 598. Noblemen at the universities, since known as ‘tufts,’ because of the gold tuft or tassle to their cap, were then known as gold hatbands.

Goldie-locks, subs. (old).—A flaxen-haired woman. Goldy-locked = golden haired.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. Biondella … a golden-lockt wench, as we say a goldilocks.

1605. Ben Jonson, The Fox, i., 1. Thence it fled forth, and made quick transmigration to goldy-locked Euphorbus.

Gold Mine, subs. phr. (common).—A profitable investment; a store of wealth, material or intellectual.

1664. H. Peacham, Worth of a Penny, in Arber’s Garner, vol. VI., p. 249. Some men … when they have met with a gold mine, so brood over and watch it, day and night, that it is impossible for Charity to be regarded, Virtue rewarded, or Necessity relieved.

1830 Tennyson, Dream of Fair Women, p. 274. Gold-mines of thought—to lift the hidden ore.

1882. Thormanby, Famous Racing Men, p. 81. Mendicant … ran nowhere in the Cup … in reality she was destined to prove a gold mine, for ten years afterwards she brought her owner £80,000 through her famous son, Beadsman.

1883. Sat. Review, 28 Apr. 533/2. His victory proved a gold mine to the professional bookmakers.

1887. Froude, Eng. in West Indies, ch. v. Every one was at law with his neighbour, and the island was a gold mine to the Attorney-General.

Golgotha, subs. (old).—1. The Dons’ gallery at Cambridge; also applied to a certain part of the theatre at Oxford. [That is, ‘the place of skulls’: Cf., Luke xxiii. 33, and Matthew xxvii. 33, whence the pun: Dons being the heads of houses.]

1730. Jas. Miller, Humours of Oxford, Act ii., p. 23 (2nd ed.). Sirrah, I’ll have you put in the black-book, rusticated,—expelled—I’ll have you coram nobis at Golgotha, where you’ll be bedevilled, Muck-worm, you will.

1791. G. Huddesford, Salmagundi, (Note on, p. 150). Golgotha, ‘The place of a Scull,’ a name ludicrously affixed to the Place in which the Heads of Colleges assemble.

1808. J. T. Conybeare in C. K. Sharpe’s Correspondence (1888), i., 324. The subject then, of the ensuing section is Oxford News … we will begin by golgotha … Cole has already obtained the Headship of Exeter, and Mr. Griffiths … is to have that of University. [174]

English Synonyms.—Battle of the Nile (rhyming, i.e., a tile [q.v.]); bell-topper; billy-cock; beaver; box-hat; cady; canister cap; castor; chummy; cathedral; chimney; chimney-pot; cock; colleger; cock-and-pinch; cowshooter; David; deerstalker; digger’s delight; fantail; felt; Gibus; gomer (Winchester); goss; moab; molocher; mortar-board; muffin-cap; mushroom; nab; nap; napper; pantile; pimple-cover; pill-box; plug-hat; pot; shako; shovel; sleepless hat; sou’wester; stove-pipe; strawer; thatch; tile; topper; truck; upper-crust; wash-pot; wee-jee; wide-awake.

French Synonyms.—Un accordéon (popular: an opera hat); une ardoise (= a tile); une bâche (thieves’: also an awning); une biscope or viscope (vulgar); un blockaus (vulgar: a shako); un bloumard or une bloume (popular); une boîte à cornes (a horn case; i.e., a cover for a cuckold); un Bolivar (from the hero of 1820); un boisseau (also = a bushel); un bosselard (schoolboys’: from bosselé = bruised or dented); un cabas (popular: = old hat; also basket or bag); un cadratin (printers’ = a stove-pipe); un caloquet (thieves’); cambriau, cambrieux, or cambriot (popular); un capet (from old French, capel); une capsule (popular = a percussion cap); un carbeluche galicé (a silk hat); une casque (= helmet); un chapska (= a shako); une cheminée (popular: = chimney-pot); une corniche (popular: = a cornice); un couvercle (popular: = pot-lid); une couvrante; un couvre-amour (military); un cylindre (= a stove-pipe); un Desfoux (from the maker’s name); un epicéphale (students’: from the Greek); un gadin (an old hat); un galure or galurin (popular); un Garibaldi; un Gibus (from the inventor’s name); un lampion (thieves’: = grease-pot); un loubion (thieves’); un marquin (thieves’); un monument (popular); un nid d’hirondelle; un niolle (thieves’: an old hat); un tromblon (obsolete = blunderbuss); un tubard, tube, or tube à haute pression (= a cylinder); une tuile (= a tile); une tuyau de poêle (= a stove-pipe).

Italian Synonyms.—Bufala, baccha or biffacha; cresta or cristiana (= a cruet); fungo (= mushroom).

Goliath, subs. (colloquial).—1. A big man.

2. A man of mark among the Philistines (q.v.). [Mr. Swinburne described the late Matthew Arnold as ‘David, the son of Goliath.’]

Goll, subs. (old).—The hand; usually in. pl. See Bunch of Fives and Daddle.

1601. B. Jonson, Poetaster, v., Bring the whoreson detracting slaves to the bar, do; make them hold vp their spread golls.

1602. Dekker, Satiro-Mastrix, in wks. (1873), i., 203. Holde up thy hand: I ha seene the day thou didst not scorne to holde vp thy golles.

1634. S. Rowley, Noble Souldier, Act ii., Sc. 2. Bal. Saist thou me so? give me thy goll, thou art a noble girle.

1659. Massinger, City Madam, iv., i. All the gamesters are ambitious to shake the golden golls of worshipful master Luke.

1661. T. Middleton, Mayor of Quinborough, v., i. Down with his golls, I charge you.

1672. Dryden, The Assignation, Act iii., Sc. 1. A simperer at lower end of a table, With mighty golls, rough-grained, and red with starching.

1803. C. K. Sharpe in Correspondence (1888), i., 179. Miss Reid with her silk coat and greasie golls.

Gollop, verb. (common).—To swallow greedily; to gulp. For synonyms, see Wolf.

Gollumpus, subs. (old).—A clumsy lout.—Grose.

Golly!—A contraction of By Golly! (q.v.).

Goloptious (or Golopshus), adj. (common).—Splendid; fine; delicious; luscious.

1888. Sporting Life, 7 Dec. It would better scoop the situation if it were described as goloptious.

Goloshes, subs. (colloquial).—India rubber overshoes. But see Grose.

1796. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Goloshes, i.e. Goliah’s shoes. Large leathern clogs, worn by invalids over their ordinary shoes.

Gombeen-man, subs. (Irish).—A usurer; a money-lender; a sharking middleman. For synonyms, see Sixty-per-cent.

Gomer, subs. (Winchester College).—1. A large pewter dish used in college.

Gommy, subs. (old).—1. A dandy. Fr., gommeux. [Anglo-Saxon, guma = a man; a person: gomme = gommer = gammer. Cf., Gomus. Beaumont has gom = a man.]

1883. Weekly Dispatch, 11 Mar., p. 7, c. 4. There has recently been considerable debate as to the meaning of the term gommie. It is very simple. A gommie is one who calls Mr. Gladstone a G.O.M. [Grand Old Man], and thinks he has made a good joke.

Gomus, subs. (Irish).—A fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

Gondola, subs. (American).—1. A railway platform car, sideless or low-sided. Also a flat-bottomed boat.

Gondola of London, subs. phr. (common).—A hansom cab; a shoful (q.v.). [The description is Lord Beaconsfield’s.]