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

1841. Thackeray, Character Sketches, ‘Fashionable Authoress.’ And, gulled themselves, gull the most gullable of publics.

Gullage, subs. (old colloquial).—The act of trickery; the state of being gulled.

1605. B. Jonson, Volpone, v., 5. Had you no quirk To avoid gullage, sir, by such a creature?

1611. Chapman, May Day, Act II., p. 284 (Plays, 1874). For procuring you the dear gullage of my sweetheart, Mistress Franceschina.

Gull-catcher (or Guller, Gull-sharper, etc.), subs. (old).—A trickster; a cheat. See Gull, senses 1 and 3.

Gullery, subs. (old colloquial).—Dupery; fraud; a cheat’s device. Cf., Gullage.

1596. Jonson, Every Man in His Humour, iii., 2. Your Balsamum and your St. John’s wort are all mere gulleries and trash to it.

1608. John Day, Humour out of Breath, Act iv., Sc. 3. I am gulld, palpably gulld … and mine owne gullery grieves me not half so much as the Dukes displeasure.

1630. Taylor, Works. Neverthelesse, whosoever will but looke into the lying legend of golden gullery, there they shall finde that the poore seduced ignorant Romanists doe imitate all the idolatrous fornication of the heathen pagans and infidels.

1633. Ile of Guls. Upon you both, so, so, so, how greedily their inventions like beagles follow the sent of their owne gullery, yet these are no fooles, God forbid, not they.

1633. Marmion, Fine Companion. Lit. What more gulleries yet? they have cosend mee of my daughters, I hope they will cheate me of my wife too: have you any more of these tricks to shew, ha?

1689. Selden, Table Talk, p. 38 (Arber’s ed.). And how can it be proved, that ever any man reveal’d Confession, when there is no Witness? And no man can be Witness in his own cause. A meer gullery.

1819. H. More, Defence of Moral Cabbala, ch. iii. The sweet deception and gullery of their own corrupted fancy.

1821. Scott, Kenilworth, ch. xx. Do you think, because I have good-naturedly purchased your trumpery goods at your roguish prices, that you may put any gullery you will on me?

Gullet, subs. (old: now recognised).—The throat. For synonyms, see Gutter-alley.

1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 12, 477. [Quoted in Ency. Dict.] Out of the harde bones knocken they The mary, for they casten nought away, That may go thurgh the gullet soft and sote.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Gullet, s.v. A Derisory Term for the Throat, from Gula.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. 15. So he puts a pistol to his mouth, and he fires it down his gullet.

Gull-finch, subs. (old).—A simpleton; a fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1630. Taylor, Works. For ’tis concluded ’mongst the wizards all, To make thee master of Gul-finches hall.

Gull-groper, subs. (old).—A gamesters’ money-lender.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candle-light. The gul-groper is commonly an old mony-monger, who having travaild through all the follyes of the world in his youth, knowes them well, and shunnes them in his age, his whole felicitie being to fill his bags with golde and silver.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Gull-groper, s.v. A Bystander that Lends Money to the Gamesters.

Gully, subs. (common).—1. The throat. For synonyms, see Gutter-alley.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, bk. I., ch. xxvii. Fair gullies which are little haulch-backed demi-knives.

1785. Burns, Death and Dr. Hornbook. I red ye weel, tak care o’ skaith, See, there’s a gully.

1789. Burns, Address to Captain Grose. The knife that nickit Abel’s craig, He’ll prove ye fully It was a faulding jocteleg, Or lang-kail gully.

Verb (common).—To gull (q.v.); to dupe; to swindle. For synonyms, see Stick.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. I rode about and speechified, and everybody gullied.

Gully-fluff, subs. (colloquial).—Pocket-filth; beggar’s velvet (q.v.). Also Flue (q.v.).

Gully-gut, subs. and adj. (common).—A glutton. For synonyms, see Stodger.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Crapulatore, a surfeiter; a gormand; a glutton; a gullie-gut.

Gully-hole (or Gully), subs. (common).—1. The throat, or gullet. For synonyms, see Gutter-alley.

Gully-raker, subs. phr. (venery).—1. The penis; and (2) a wencher. For synonyms, see Creamstick, Prick, and Molrower.

1881. A. C. Grant, Bush Life in Queensland … following up his admonition by a sweeping cut of his gully-raker, and a report like a musket-shot.

Gulpin, subs. (common).—A simpleton; a gapeseed (q.v.). Fr., un gobemouche; une éponge. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1886. W. Besant, World Went Very Well Then, ch. xxix. But Jack persisted, and I rose too. ‘Go then!’ the Admiral roared, with a great oath. ‘Go then, for a brace of gulpins!’

Gulpy, adj. (common).—Easily duped.

Gulsh. To hold one’s gulsh, verb. phr. (provincial).—To hold one’s tongue; to keep quiet.

Gum, subs. (old).—1. Chatter; talk; jaw (q.v.). Also abuse.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. xiv. There’s no occasion to bowse out so much unnecessary gum.

1824. R. B. Peake, Americans Abroad, i., 1. Dou. Come, none of your gum—now you are but an underlin’, tho’ you are so uppish and twistical—where’s the chair?

3. (American).—A golosh; an india-rubber overshoe. [Short for ‘gum-shoes.’]

1872. Morning Post, 9 Jan. Forbidding him again to cross her threshold or to leave his gum-shoes in her hall.

Verb (common).—To cheat; to take in (q.v.), to roast (q.v.) or quiz. For synonyms, see Gammon. [234]

1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 6 p.m., par. I. I began to think either that he was quizzing me—gumming is the proper Transatlantic colloquialism, I think.

1875. ‘American English’ in Chamb. Journal, 25 Sept., p. 611. To ‘gum-tree’ is to elude, to cheat [from opossum], and this again is shortened into ‘to gum,’ as the phrase, ‘Now don’t you try to gum me.’

1860. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Season Ticket, No. ix. By gum, Squire Shegog, we have had the greatest bobbery of a shindy in our carriage you ever knowed in all our born days.

Bless your (or his, her, its, etc.) gums, phr. (common).—A piece of banter: a facetious way of saying ‘Bless your soul!’

Gummagy, adj. (common).—Snarling; of a scolding habit.

Gummed, adj. (billiards).—Said of a ball close to the cushion.

Gummy, subs. (common).—1. A toothless person; i.e., with nothing but gums to show. Generally, Old Gummy.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Gummey, clumsy, particularly applied to the ancles of men, or women, and the legs of horses.

Gump, subs. (common).—A dolt. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1825. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, bk. II., ch. xv. He’s … sort of a nateral too, I guess; rather a gump, hey?

Gumption, subs. (colloquial).—Cleverness; understanding; nous (q.v.). Also Rum Gumption.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Gumption, or rum gumption, s.v., docility, comprehension, capacity.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary, s.v. ‘Gawm.’ Gawm, to understand; I dinna gawm ye, I don’t understand you. Hence, possibly, gawmtion, or gumption, understanding.

1834. Atlantic Club-book, I., 33. D’ye think I’m a fellow of no more gumption than that?

1843. Comic Almanack. Poor beasts, ’tis very clear, To any one possess’d of gumption, That if they’d not come over here, They’d have been carried off by home consumption.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 25 June, p. 3, c. 2. But poor people—leastways, those that have got any gumption—know better than that.

1890. Notes and Queries, 7 S., x., 303. As familiar as the Greek word nous for what … is known … as gumption.

Gumptious, adj. (colloquial).—Shrewd; intelligent; vain.

1853. Lytton, My Novel, bk. IV., ch. xii. Landlord. There’s gumption and gumptious! Gumption is knowing, but when I say that sum un is gumptious, I mean—though that’s more vulgar like—sum un who does not think small beer of hisself. You take me, sir?

Gum-smasher (or tickler), subs. (common).—A dentist. For synonyms, see Snag-catcher.

Gum-suck, verb. (American).—To flatter; to humbug; to dupe. For synonyms, see Gammon. [235]

Gum-sucker, subs. (Australian).—1. See quot. Cf., Corn-stalk.

1887. All the Year Round, 30 July, p. 67. A gum-sucker is a native of Tasmania, and owes his elegant nickname to the abundance of gum-trees in the Tasmanian forests.

Gum-tickler, subs. (colloquial).—1. A drink. Specifically, drop or short, or a dram. For synonyms, see Go.

1814. Quarterly Review, vol. X., p. 521. A gill, taken fasting, is called a gum-tickler.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, bk. IV., ch. iii. I prefer to take it in the form of a gum-tickler.

Gum-tree. To be up a gum-tree, verb. phr. (American).—To be on one’s last legs; at the end of one’s rope. ‘He has seen his last gum-tree’ = It is all up with him.

Gun, subs. (old).—1. A lie. New Cant. Dict., 1725. For synonyms, see Whopper.

2. (common).—A thief; specifically, a magsman (q.v.) or street-artist. Also Gun-smith and Gunner. Gunning = thieving. [An abbreviation of Gonof (q.v.).] See Area-sneak and Thieves.

1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, bk. II., ch. i., p. 70. I tell you you ain’t a-going to make a gun (thief) of this here young flat.

1868. Temple Bar, xxv., 213. … returned to his old trade of gunsmith, gunning being the slang term for thieving, or going on the cross.

1889. Clarkson and Richardson, Police. Gunners and grasshoppers sneak about watching their opportunities.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Gunned. The copper gunned me as if he was fly to my mug.

2. (American).—To strive hard; to make a violent effort: e.g., to gun a stock = to use every means to produce a ‘break’; when supplies are heavy and holders would be unable to resist.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Gun, s.v., he’s in the gun, he is drunk, perhaps from an allusion to a vessel called a gun, used for ale in the universities.

1633. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, ii., 1. ’Tis right; he has spoke as true as a gun, believe it.

1694. Congreve, Double Dealer, v., 20. All turned topsy-turvy, as sure as a gun.

1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. xviii., ch. ix. As sure as a gun I have hit o’ the very right o’t.

1759. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vol. vi., ch. xxvi. Think ye not that, in striking these in,—he might, peradventure, strike something out? as sure as a gun.

1825. Egan, Life of an Actor, iv. By gum! he roared out, sir, as sure as a gun.

d. 1842. Father Prout, Reliques, I. 19. ‘Vert-Vert, the Parrot.’ Scared at the sound,—‘Sure as a gun, The bird’s a demon!’ cried the nun. [236]

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lviii. In every party of the nobility his name’s down as sure as a gun.

1892. Manville Fenn, New Mistress, xxxv. They were both down there about that school-money Betsey, as sure as a gun.

Gundiguts, subs. (common).—A fat man; a forty guts (q.v.).

Gunner’s Daughter. To Kiss (or Marry) the Gunner’s Daughter, verb. phr. (nautical). To be flogged. [Gunner’s daughter = the gun to which boys were lashed for punishment.]

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. xxxii. I don’t know what officers are made of now-a-days. I’ll marry some of you young gentlemen to the gunner’s daughter before long. Quarter-deck’s no better than a bear-garden.

Gunpowder, subs. (old).—An old woman.

Gunter.—See Cocker.

Gup, subs. (Anglo-Indian).—Gossip; scandal.

1868. Florence Marryat, Gup, xix. With regard to my title … Gup is the Hindustani for ‘Gossip.’ Voilâ tout!

1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. xxix. Our Eastern empire is much addicted to what they term gup, whereby they mean gossip, scandal, or by whatever other equivalent the taking away of one’s neighbours’ characters may be designated.

Gurtsey, subs. (American Cadet).—A fat man; a podge (q.v.). For synonyms, see Forty-guts.

Gush, subs. (colloquial).—The expression of affected or extravagant sentiment.

1883. Saturday Review, 3 Feb., p. 148, c. 2. Mr. Picton’s style is pleasant and easy, as long as he allows himself to be natural, and does not fall into gush.

1883. Miss Braddon, Golden Calf, ch. vii. ‘Yes, and you saw much of each other, and you became heart-friends,’ gushed Miss Wolf, beaming benevolently at Brian.

Gusher, subs. (colloquial).—A practitioner of gush (q.v.). Also Gushington.

1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. vi., p. 66 (1873). The enthusiastic gusher who flings his or herself upon our necks, and insists upon sharing our sorrow.

1882. Miss Braddon, Mount Royal, ch. viii. ‘But, surely there is nothing improper in the play, dear Lady Cumberbridge,’ exclaimed the eldest gusher, too long in society to shrink from sifting any question of that kind.

Gushing, adj. (colloquial).—Extravagant; affected or irrational in expression; demonstratively affectionate. Also Gushingly.

1864. ‘The Campaigner’ (No. XVI.), in Fraser’s Mag., p. 627. Donald did not belong to what, in the slang of translated Cockneys, is called the Gushing School.

1864. Punch’s Almanack, ‘Our Growling Bard.’ Some, I admit, are Milingtary Dears, As gushing ladies say, and some are Muffs.

1872. Sunday Times, 18 Aug. This however, was no surprise to the plaintiff, it having been understood from the first that the parties being past the gushing age the letters between them should be of a business character.

1880. Ouida, Moths, ch. viii. Your heroics count for nothing. All girls of sixteen are gushing and silly. [237]

1883. Hargrave Jennings, quoted in Saturday Review, 28 Apr., p. 536, c. 1. Women are not the gushingly credulous creatures that man in his constant condescension and in his appreciation of himself would deem.

1884. F. Anstey, Giant’s Robe, ch. xx. ‘It’s not precisely gushing,’ he said to himself, ‘but she couldn’t very well say more just yet.’

Gusset, subs. (common).—Generic for the female sex. Thus, Brother (or Knight, or Squire) of the Gusset = a pimp; Gussetting = wenching; Gusseteer = a wencher; etc.

d. 1796. Burns, Merry Muses, pp. 99–100. An’ he grippit her fast by the gusset of her arse.

Gut, subs. (vulgar).—The vice or habit of gluttony; the belly [as opposed to the Groin (q.v.).]

1609. Dekker, Gul’s Horne-Booke, chap. ii. The Neapolitan will (like Derick, the hangman) embrace you with one arme, and rip your guts with the other.

1640. Rawlins, The Rebellion, iii. (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, xiv., 48). Thou hast a gut could swallow a peck loaf.

1661. Brome, Poems, ‘A Satire on the Rebellion.’ The grumbling guts, the belly of the State.

1713. Bentley, On Free Thinking, sect. 53. What then was our writer’s soul? Was it brain or guts?

1754. Fielding, Jonathan Wild, bk. iv., c. 1. But so it was that the knife, missing these noble parts (the noblest of many) the guts, perforated only the hollow of his belly.

1787. Burns, Death and Dr. Hornbook, st. 27. A countra Laird had ta’en the batts, Or some curmurring in his guts.

3. in. pl. (old).—A fat man; a forty-guts (q.v.). Also Guts-and-garbage. More Guts (also More Balls) than Brains = a fool.

4. (artists’ and colloquial).—Spirit; quality; a touch of force, or energy, or fire: e.g., a picture, a book, an actor. With guts = a strong thing. Put your guts into it (aquatic) = Row the very best you can. He (or it) has no guts in him (or it) = He (or it) is a common rotter (q.v.). Hence, Gutsy, adj. = having guts, and Gutsiness, subs. = the condition of being gutsy.

1738. Swift, Polite Conversation, I. The fellow’s well enough if he had any guts in his brain.

1893. Pall Mall Budget. No. 1292 (June 29), 1906. The body of the cigar, or what might vulgarly be called the guts.

Verb (vulgar).—1. To plunder, or take out all or most of the contents (i.e., intestines) of a place or thing; to drain; to ‘clean out’: e.g., to gut a house (thieves’) = to rifle it; to gut an oyster = to eat it; to gut a book = to empty it of interesting matter; to gut a quart pot = to drain at a draught. Whence, Gutted = dead-broke.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 1. Whether diddling your subjects or gutting their jobs.

1849–61. Macaulay, Hist. of England. The king’s printing-house … was, to use a coarse metaphor, which then for the first time came into fashion, completely gutted. [238]

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 373. Well, we’ve got the guts out of you!

To have plenty of guts but no bowels, verb. phr. (common).—To be unfeeling, hard, merciless.

My great guts are ready to eat my little ones, phr. (old).—‘I am very hungry.’ Also, my guts begin to think my throat’s cut; my guts curse my teeth; and my guts chime twelve.—Grose.

Not fit to carry guts to a bear, phr. (common).—To be worthless; absolutely unmannerly; unfit for human food (q.v.).

Gut-entrance, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. Also front-gut. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Gut-foundered, adj. (old).—Exceedingly hungry.

Gut-pudding, subs. (old).—A sausage.—Nomenclator (1696). For synonyms, see Mysteries.

Gut-puller, subs. (common).—A poulterer; a chicken-butcher (q.v.).

Gut-scraper, subs. (common).—A fiddler. Also catgut scraper, and tormentor of catgut. For synonyms, see Rosin-the-bow.

1719. Durfey, Pills, ii., 218. ‘A Song’ etc. Strike up, drowsie gut-scrapers.

1785. Burns, Jolly Beggars. Her charms had struck a sturdy Caird, As weel’s a poor gut-scraper.

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 192 (ed. 1864). Make ready there, you gut-scrapers, you shawm-shavers; I’ll put your lungs in play for you presently. In the mean time—charge, pals, charge—a toast, a toast!

1834. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. xxxi. ‘You may save yourself the trouble, you dingy gut-scraper,’ replied O’Brien [addressing a fiddler].

Gut-stick, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick. To have a bit (or a taste) of the gut-stick = to copulate (of women only).

Gut-sticker, subs. phr. (venery).—A sodomite. Also gut-fucker and gut-monger. For synonyms, see Usher.

Gutter, subs. (American thieves’).—1. Porter.—Matsell. [Probably a corruption of gatter (q.v.).]

Verb (Winchester College).—To fall in the water flat on the stomach. Fr., piquer un plat-ventre.

To lap the gutter, verb. phr. (common).—To be in the last stage of intoxication. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Carry me out and leave me in the gutter, phr. (American).—See Carry me out. [239]

Gutter-alley (or Lane), subs. (common).—The throat. All goes down Gutter-lane = ‘He spends all on his stomach.’

English Synonyms.—Beer Street; common sewer; drain; funnel; Gin Lane; gulf; gullet; gully-hole; gutter; Holloway; Peck Alley; Red Lane; the Red Sea; Spew Alley; swallow; thrapple; throttle; whistle.

French Synonyms.—La carafe (tramps’); la creuse (popular = Holloway); le corridor; le cornet (popular); le couloir; le lampas; la goule (popular); le gose (popular: an abbreviation of gosier: also gésier); la gargoine (thieves’); la gargarousse (thieves’ = Old Gargles); le four (popular = the oven); le fanal (popular); l’entonnoir (popular = the funnel); l’avaloir (thieves’ = the swallow).

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary, g. (1811), p. 81. All goeth down Gutter Lane. That is, the throat. This proverb is applicable to those who spend all their substance in eating and drinking.

Gutter-blood, subs. (common).—1. See quot. Also (2) a vulgarian; an upstart from the rabble.

1822. Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, ch. v. In rushed a thorough Edinburgh gutterblood—a ragged rascal.

Gutter-chaunter, subs. (common).—A street singer.

Gutter-hotel, subs. (tramps’).—The open air. For synonyms, see Hedge-square.

Gutter-literature. See Blood-and-thunder, and Awful.

Gutter-master, subs. (old).—A term of reproach.

1607. Marston, What You Will, iii, 1. And now my soule is skipt into a perfumer, a guttermaster.

Gutter-prowler, subs. (thieves’).—A street thief. For synonyms, see Area-sneak and Thieves.

Gutter-snipe, subs. (common).—1. A street arab. Also Gutter-slush. For synonyms, see Mudlark.

3. (American Commercial).—An ‘outside’ broker who does business chiefly in the street; a kerbstone broker (q.v.). Fr., un loup-cervier.

Guttie, subs. (golfers’).—1. A gutta-percha ball.

Guttle, verb. (vulgar).—To eat greedily; to gormandize (q.v.). Also to drink: e.g., to guttle a pint = to take off, or do, a pint; ‘He’s been guttling swipes’ = he’s been drinking beer. Hence guttler = a coarse, or greedy eater; a sturdy pot-companion: a gorger (q.v.). Cf., Thackeray’s Book of Snobs for Guttlebury Fair. See Guzzle.

Guttle-shop, subs. (Rugby).—A pastry-cook’s; a tuck-shop (q.v.).

Guv, subs. (common).—An abbreviation of governor (q.v.).

Guy, subs. (colloquial).—1. A Fifth of November effigy; whence (2) an ill-dressed person. As in the old street cry, ‘Hollo, boys, there goes another guy!’ (an abbreviation of Guy Fawkes) = a figure of fun; a fright.

English Synonyms.—Caution; Captain Queer-nabs; chivey; comic bird; ragamuffin; sight.

French Synonyms. Un paquet (popular); une hallebarde (popular = a clothes-prop); un nippe-mal (popular); une bécasse (= a gaby); un carnavale (popular = a figure of fun).

1806. W. Burrell, in C. K. Sharpe’s Correspondence (1888), i., 277. A month ago there was neither shape nor make in use … no guy ever matched me.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘The Nurse’s Story.’ Did you see her, in short, that mud-hovel within, With her knees to her nose, and her nose to her chin, Leering up with that queer, indescribable grin, You’d lift up your hands in amazement and cry, ‘Well!—I never did see such a regular guy!’

1858. G. Eliot, Janet’s Repentance, ch. vi. Ned Phipps … whispered that he thought the Bishop was a guy, and I certainly remember thinking that Mr. Prendergast looked much more dignified with his plain white surplice and black hair.

1871. Morning Advertiser, 26 Jan. There is no imperative reason why a constable should be a guy.

3. (common).—A dark lantern. [Obviously a reminiscence of the Gunpowder Plot].

1889. Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 5, c. 5. There was a gee, there was a buggy, but there wasn’t a punctual Pitcher. So a cheerful guy to Waterloo was the game.

1889. Detroit Free Press, 26 Jan. His advent here created much merriment, and the operators guyed him loud enough for him to hear them.

2. (common).—To escape; to hedge (q.v.); to run away. Also to do a guy (which also = to give a false name). For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macmillan’s Mag., xl. 500. I planned with another boy to guy (run away).

1887. Fun, 23 Mar., p. 125. ‘Boat-race Day, as per usual,’ said the clerk to the court, ‘they’ll all be doing guys’ (giving false names!).

1891. New York Herald, 31 May, p. 12, c. 4. Finally, I would remind them that they are apt to guy their cause by making ‘guys’ of themselves, and that the best way of making women a power in the land is by encouraging them to be womanly women.

4. (theatrical).—To damn; to hiss; to slate (q.v.) or give the bird (q.v.).

Guzzle (or Guttle), subs. (vulgar).—1. An insatiable eater or drinker. For synonyms, see Stodger and Lushington respectively.

1876. Hindley, Adventures of Cheap Jack, 58. Doing a guzzle with money he earned.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, Bk. II., ch. i., note. It signifies rum-booze, as our gipsies call good-guzzle.

1698–1700. Ward, London Spy, part III., p. 47. A Pennyworth of burnt Bread soften’d in a Mug of Porter’s guzzle.

c. 1795. Wolcot [P. Pindar], Peter’s Pension, in wks. (Dublin, 1795), vol. i., p. 484. Lo, for a little meat and guzzle, This sneaking cur, too, takes the muzzle.

1607. Dekker, Westward Ho, v., 1. My master and Sir Gosling are guzzling; they are dabbling together fathom-deep.

1693. Dryden, Persius, vi., 51. And, lavish of suspense, Quaffs, crams, and guttles, in his own defence.

1698. Farquhar, Love and a Bottle, Act i. His education could reach no farther than to guzzle fat ale.

1727. Gay, Beggars Opera, i., 3. Tom Tipple, a guzzling soaking sot, who is always too drunk to stand himself.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Guzzle (v.) to tipple, to fuddle, to drink much and greedily.

1782. Wolcot [P. Pindar], Lyric Odes, Ode i. The poet might have guttled till he split.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lxi. Are you … to tell me that the aim of life is to guttle three courses and dine off silver?

Guzzle-guts, subs. (common).—A glutton; a hard drinker.—Lex. Bal. (1811). See Guzzle.

Guzzler, subs. (colloquial).—A hard drinker; a coarse, voracious feeder. See Guzzle.

a. 1760. T. Brown, Works, iii., 265 [ed. 1760]. Being an eternal guzzler of wine, his mouth smelt like a vintner’s vault.

1841. Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, ch. xiii. To be looked upon as a common pipe-smoker, beer-bibber, spirit-guzzler, and toss-pot.

Guzzling, subs. (vulgar).—Eating or drinking to excess; also eating or drinking in a coarse unmannerly fashion.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 28. What with snoozing, high-grubbing and guzzling like Chloe.

1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. xv. There shall be no pocketing at this table, sir. You will eat that pudding under my eye at once, and you will stay in and write out French verbs for two days. That will put an end to any more guzzling in the garden for a time, at least.

Guzzum, subs. (American).—Chatter; noise. For synonyms, see Patter.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 22 Dec. ‘Now, Jerry, if yer don’t stop yer guzzum I’ll skin yer alive!’ she exclaimed as she stood in the door and flourished a skillet at him.

G.Y. All a G.Y., adv. phr. (North Country).—Crooked; all on one side; ‘all of a hugh.’

Gybe, subs. (old).—A written paper.

1608. Dekker, Belman of London, in wks. (Grosart) III., 104. His office is to make counterfet licences, which are called gybes.

1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, ch. xxv. He knows my gybe [pass] as well as the jark [seal] of e’er a queer cuffin [justice of peace] in England.

Verb (old).—1. To whip; to castigate. E.g., gybed at the cart’s arse = whipped at the cart’s tail.

Gybing (also Gibery), subs. (old: now recognised).—Jeering.

Gyger. See Jigger.

Gymnasium, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Gyp, subs. (Cambridge University).—1. A college servant. At Oxford, a scout, at Dublin, a skip. [Etymology doubtful: according to Sat. Rev. an abbreviation of Gipsy Joe; according to Cambridge undergraduates from the Greek γύψ (gups) = a vulture; from the creature’s rapacity.]

1842. Tait’s Mag., Oct., ‘Reminiscences of Coll. Life.’ There is attached to colleges and halls a person more useful than ornamental, and better known than paid, whom Oxonians name Gyp, from his supposed moral affinity to a vulture (γύψ). The same is in Dublin denominated a Skip, because of the activity which is an indispensable item in his qualifications.

1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. xii. I’ll send you in luncheon as I go through the butteries; then, perhaps, you’d like to come down and see the race. Ask the Gyp to tell you the way.

1850. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, p. 254. Fellow you call the gyp wanted to make me believe you were out—thought I looked too like a governor to be let in, I suppose.

1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. v. Who should we see coming straight down on us but a Proctor with his bull-dogs (not dogs, you know, but the strongest gyps in the college).

Gypsies of Science, subs. phr. (literary.)—The British Association.

1846. Times, 5 Sept. On Thursday next, the Gipsies of Science (the British Association) will have pitched their tents at Southampton.

Gyrotwistive, adj. (American).—Full of evasions and tricks; a ‘portmanteau word.’

Gyte, subs. (common).—1. A child; in contempt. [A corruption of goat.]

Gyvel, subs. (Scots’ venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

d. 1796. Burns, The Merry Muses, ‘Nine Inches for a Lady,’ 33–4. Come louse and lug your battering ram, An’ thrash him at my gyvel.