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

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 204. So I may no more pogue the hone of a Woman.

Honest, adj. (old).—1. Chaste.

1596. Ben Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, ii., 1. Why’t cannot be, where there is such resort, O wanton gallants, and young revellers, That any woman should be honest long.

1599. Henry Porter, Two Angry Women of Abingdon (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, vii., 389). Is my fellow Dick in the dark with my mistress? I pray God they be honest, for there may be much knavery in the dark.

1600. Look About You, Sc. 28 (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, vii., 476). What, lecher? No, she is an honest woman. Her husband is well known.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, v., 3. De honest woman’s life is a dull scurvy life, indeed.

1663. Killigrew, The Parson’s Wedding, iii., 2 (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, xiv., 454). There’s none but honest women.

1663. Killigrew, The Parson’s Wedding, v., 4 (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, xiv., 525). Crooked, dirty-souled vermin, predestined for cuckolds, painted snails with houses on their backs, and horns as big as Dutch cows.… Can any woman be honest that lets such hodmandods crawl o’er her virgin breast and belly?

1672. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, ii., 1. A man … may bring his bashful wench, and not have her put out of countenance by the impudent honest women of the town.

1686–7. Aubrey, Gentilisme (1881), p. 163. The towne is full of wanton wenches, and … (they say) scarce three honest women in the Town.

1693. Congreve, Old Bachelor, iii., 10. Silvia. I’m not such a fool neither, but I can keep myself honest.

1695. Congreve, Love for Love, iii., 14. Mrs. Fore. Do you think any woman honest? Scan. Yes, several very honest; they’ll cheat a little at cards sometimes; but that’s nothing. Mrs. Fore. Pshaw! but virtuous, I mean.

2. (common).—Not positively illegal: as honest penny or shilling = money earned by means immoral (as by prostitution) but within the law. Also, To turn an honest penny = to make a profitable deal.

1677. Wycherley, Plain Dealer, iii., 1. You must call usury and extortion God’s blessing, or the honest turning of the penny.

1886. J. S. Winter, Army Society, ch. xxi. There was a chance of turning an honest penny in hiring them out for the donkey-race.

1629. Earle, Microcosmographie (5th ed.). ‘A Serving Man.’ The best work he does is his marrying, for he makes an honest woman, and if he follows in it his master’s direction, it is commonly the best service he does him.

1672. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, v., 6. Dap. Why she was my wench. Gripe. I’ll make her honest then. [338]

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. XV., ch. viii. Mr. Nightingale, and his love, stepped into a hackney-coach, which conveyed him to Doctors’ Commons, where Miss Nancy was, in vulgar language, soon made an honest woman.

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. xxv. My right honourable father nourished some thoughts of making an honest woman of Marie de Martigny, and a legitimate elder brother of Francis.

1827. Egan, Anecdotes of the Turf, p. 182. She had now only to play her cards well, she was sure of winning the game, also of becoming an honest woman.

Honest as the skin between the brows (or Horns), phr. (old).—As honest as may be.

1551. W. Still, Gammer Gurton’s Needle, (O.P.), ii., 67. I am as true, I wold thou knew, as skin betwene thy brows.

1599. Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, ii., 2. Punt. Is he magnanimous? Gent. As the skin between your brows, sir.

1600. Shakspeare, Much Ado, iii., 5. An old man, sir, and his wits are not so blunt, as, God help, I would desire they were, but in faith, honest, as the skin between his brows.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, iv., 5. It shall be justified to thy husband’s faish, now: tou shalt be as honesht as the skin between his hornsh, la.

Honest Injun! phr. (American).—A pledge of sincerity; honour bright (q.v.).

1884. Clemens [Mark Twain], Huckleberry Finn. She says ‘Honest Injun, now hain’t you been telling me a lot of lies?’ ‘Honest Injun’ says I.

1892. Detroit Free Press, 12 Aug. I’ll agree not to feel hard about it. Honest Injun?

Honey, subs. (American).—1. A good fellow.

Verb (American).—To cajole; to exchange endearments; to deceive by soft words or promises.

1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, iii., 4. Stew’d in corruption; honeying and making love Over the nasty sty.

1602. Marston, Antonio and Mellida, A. 4. Can’st thou not honey me with fluent speach, And even adore my toplesse villany?

1604. Marston and Webster, Malcontent, O.P., iv., 66. O unpeerable! invention rare! Thou god of policy, it honies me.

1631. Chettle, Hoffman. Clo. A pretious villaine: a good villaine too. Well if he be no worse; that is doe worse, And honey me in my death-stinging thoughts, I will preferre him.

1888. Tuskaloosa News. It is of no use to honey; payments must be made at least once a year.

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse [1842], p. 43. Thou that in thy dialogues soldst hunnie for a halfe-penie, and the choysest writers extant for cues a peece.

Honey-blobs, subs. (Scots’).—Large, ripe, yellow gooseberries.

1746. Walpole, Letters, i., 144. As he returned to the Tower, he stopped the coach at Charing Cross to buy honey-blobs, as the Scotch call gooseberries.

Honeycomb, subs. (old).—A sweetheart; a general term of endearment. [339]

1552. Huloet, Abcedarium, s.v. Darlynge, a wanton terme used in veneriall speach, as be these: honycombe, pyggisnye, swetehert, true love.

Honey-fogle (or fugle), verb. (American).—To cheat; to swindle; to humbug. For synonyms, see Gammon.

1888. Missouri Republican, 20 Jan. Noonan’s companion objected to this honey-fugling by knocking the demonstrative stranger down.

Honey-pot, subs. (old).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., iii., 342. For when you have possession got, Of Venus’ Mark, or hony-pot.

Honour Bright! intj. (common).—Upon my honour.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 36. At morning meet, and,—honour bright,—Agree to share the blunt and tatters!

1843. Selby, Antony and Cleopatra Married. Cle. Will you love me as dearly as ever? Ant. Dearer, dear Chloe, dearer! Cle. Honour? Ant. Bright and shining.

1869. F. Hall, Marginal reading to Lyndsay’s Satire of Three Estates [E.E. Text Soc.], p. 382. She is more than a match for twenty-four a night, honour bright.

1878. Hatton, Cruel London, bk. VIII, ch. ii. Honour bright, no kid, as we say in London.

1881. W. Black, Beautiful Wretch, ch. xix. ‘I do not mean to marry Mr. Jacomb, if that is what you mean.’ ‘No? Honour bright?’ ‘I shall not marry Mr. Jacomb.’

1892. Cassell’s Sat. Jour., 28 Sep., p. 29., c. 3. ‘Come, come, Mr. Smith, you’re drawing the long bow!’ ‘Honour bright, I’m not.’

1892. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 158. ‘She did, honour bright,’ said Smirk.

Hood. two faces under one hood (or Hat), phr. (old).—Double-dealing.

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. Hood. May the man be d——d and never grow fat, Who carries two faces under one hat.

1560. Nice Wanton (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, ii., 169). I could tell you who putteth a bone in your hood. Ibid. (p. 170), Then by the rood, a bone in your hood, I shall put you ere long.

Hoodlum, subs. (American).—A boy rough. Also, a rough of either sex. Also (political), a low-class voter. Originally Californian. Cf., Arab.

1872. Sacramento Weekly Union, 24 Feb., p. 2. All the boys to be trained as scriveners, tape-measurers, counter-hoppers, clerks, pettifoggers, polite loafers, street-hounds, hoodlums, and bummers.

1877. Los Angeles Express, 25 Aug. A gang of boys … associated for the purpose of stealing.… Their words of warning were ‘Huddle ’em, Huddle ’em.’ … soon contracted into hoodlum.

1877. Boston Journal, Aug. You at the East have but little idea of the hoodlums of this city. They compose a class of criminals of both sexes, far more dangerous than are to be found in the Eastern cities. They travel in gangs, and are ready at any moment for the perpetration of any crime.

1877. Congregationalist, 26 Sep. A newspaper man attempting to coin a word to designate a gang of young street Arabs under the beck of one named ‘Muldoon,’ hit upon noodlums, simply reversing the leader’s name.… The compositor, taking the n for an h, printed it hoodlum.

1877. Morning Call, 27 Oct. The rowdy element in the city … who were soon after designated as hoodlums.

1885. G. A. Sala, in Daily Telegraph, 12 Aug., p. 5, c. 5. In order to guard against the contingency of the white hoodlums, or roughs, coming down in force from the American quarter of the city [San Francisco], and ‘going for’ the Celestials. [340]

1888. Missouri Republican, 31 Mar. It is conceded by all that the hoodlums have nominated weak men, and the citizens will have easy sailing on Tuesday.

1890. Norton, Political Americanisms, s.v. hoodlums, A general name for roughs. It originated on the Pacific coast, as the designation of a company of young ruffians in San Francisco (about 1868). Subsequently it spread Eastward, and attained some political significance; as ‘the hoodlum element’ in politics.

1892. Pall Mall Gaz., 29 Feb., p. 2, c. 2. A right of public meeting dependent on the good will of the hoodlum is not worth having.

1893. National Observer, 4 Mar., ix., 398. In America, home of the Hoodlum, where they turn their murderers into mayors.

Hoodman, subs. (old).—A blind man; a groper (q.v.).

Adj. (old).—1. Blind. Also Hoodman Blind = blind drunk; cf., sense 2. Fr., berlu and sans mirettes.

Hoof, subs. (common).—A foot. For synonyms, see Creepers.

1836. M. Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 134. Contriving in their complex twirlifications not only to tread heavily on my toes with his own hoofs, but to hop his partner repeatedly over the same unfortunate members.

1838. Grant, Sketches in London, p. 213. He again put both his ugly hoofs on it.

1867. Browne (‘Artemus Ward’), Among the Mormons [People’s ed.], p. 193. Waving their lily-white hoofs in the dazzling waltz.

1892. Sydney Watson, Wops the Waif, ch. iv., p. 5. Teddy, look out, yer’ve got yer hoof on my trotters!

Verb (common).—To kick; e.g., to hoof (or toe) one’s bum; to root (q.v. for synonyms). Hence to hoof out = to eject; to dismiss; to discharge; to decline to see.

To hoof it, (or to pad or beat the hoof), verb. phr. (common).—To walk; to ‘tramp it’; to run away. For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle. Hence Hoof-padding.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives, i., 3. Rogues, hence, avaunt, vanish like hailstones, go: Trudge, plod, away o’ the hoof.

d. 1687. Cotton, Poems, ‘Epistles’ (Chalmers English Poets), vi., 736. Being then on foot away I go And bang the hoof incognito.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hoof it or beat it on the hoof, to walk on Foot.

1691–2. Wood, Athenæ Oxonienses, ii., 560. Landing at Liverpool, in Lancashire, they all beated it on the hoof thence to London.

1772. Cumberland, Fashionable Lover. Prologue. I am a devil, so please you, and must hoof Up to the poet yonder with this proof.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hoof. To beat the hoof, to travel on foot; he hoofed it, or beat the hoof, every step of the way from Chester to London.

1813. J. and H. Smith, Horace in London, ‘Hurly-Burly,’ p. 24. When hostile squadrons beat the hoof.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. ix. Charley Bates expressed his opinion that it was time to pad the hoof.

1885. Detroit Free Press, 5 Sept., p. 1, c. 1. These busted theatrical people who are hoofing it back to Detroit. They come along at all hours of the day and night.

1888. Lynch, Mountain Mystery, ch. xviii. I s’posed he was tired out, and had got over watchin’ for tricks. So I hoofed it in.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 70. Scenery’s all very proper, but where is the genuine pot who’d pad the ’oof over the moors. [341]

To see one’s hoof in (a thing), verb. phr. (common).—To detect personal influence or interference in a matter.

1863. Thackeray, Roundabout Papers, ‘On Screens in Dining Rooms’ (1887, p. 58). I am informed by the same New York correspondent that … I once said to a literary gentleman, who was possibly pointing to an anonymous article as his writing, ‘Ah! I thought I recognised your hoof in it.’

Hoof-padder, subs. (common).—A pedestrian.

Hoofy, adj. (common).—Splay (or large).

Hook, subs. (thieves’).—1. A finger. (Cf., Cunt-hooks). For synonyms, see Fork. In plural = the hands. Also, Hooks and Feelers.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 259. I one day asked a man … if the hard work of prison did not spoil his hands for delicate manipulations. ‘Oh, bless you, no!’ he replied; ‘… In a week or two a man can bring his hooks and feelers into full working trim again and no mistake.’

2. (thieves’).—A thief. Specifically, a pickpocket; a hooker (q.v.). For synonyms, see Thieves.

1562. Jacke Juggler (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, ii., 139). So, yonder cometh that unhappy hook.

1887. Horsley, Jottings from Jail. Take my tip and turn square, from a hook who is going to be lagged, would be, in common parlance, take my advice and get your living honestly.

1892. Anstey, Voces Populi (2nd Series). ‘In Trafalgar Square.’ A professional hook.

Verb (old).—1. To rob; to steal. Specifically, to steal watches, rings, etc., from a shop by cutting a small hole in the window, and fishing for such articles with a piece of string with a hook at the end.

1615. Albumazar, iii., 3. Is not this braver than sneak all night in danger, Picking of locks, or hooking cloths at windows.

1876. Clemens [Mark Twain], Tom Sawyer, p. 34. And while Aunt Polly closed with a happy Scriptural flourish, Tom hooked a doughnut.

1884. M. Twain, Huck. Finn, xxx., 312. Didn’t you have it in your mind to hook the money and hide it?

1886. J. S. Winter, Army Society, ch. xviii. I wonder if Mrs. Traff has contrived to hook him for her sweet Laura.

1892. Manville Fenn, New Mistress, ch. xxv. Have you I will—there now. Don’t you think you’re going to hook Lambent.

Intj. (Oxford Univ.).—An expression implying doubt. [Query from the note of interrogation (?) or connected with Hookey Walker (q.v.).]

1694. Congreve, Double Dealer, iv., 18. Consider I have you on the hook; you will but flounder yourself a-weary, and be nevertheless my prisoner.

To take (or sling) one’s hook (or to hook it), verb. phr. (common).—To decamp; to run away. For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle. [342]

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, ii., 137. He slipped from her and hooked it.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xlvi. ‘Hook it! Nobody wants you here,’ he ses. ‘You Hook it. You go and tramp,’ he ses.

1856. Bradley [Cuthbert Bede], Tales of College Life, p. 36. Hook it! old ’un, hook it!

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. xli. They all begins to get a bit noisy and want to fight, and so I hooked it.

1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 16 Jan., p. 43, col. 3. If you lot don’t hook it, I’ll stave in your blooming cocoa-nuts.

1891. Sportsman, 2 Apr., p. 2, col. 1. Plainly the worthy magistrate laid it down that a wife may hook it when and how she pleases.

1892. Anstey, Model Music Hall, 129–30. Take your ’ook while you can. Even now the outraged populace approaches.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 58. I went jest for a lark, and wos quietly slinging my ’ook.

1892. Kipling, Barrack-Room Ballads, ‘Loot.’ Before you sling your ’ook, at the ’ousetops take a look.

1892. Globe, 19 Oct., p. 3. Again from some neighbouring roof comes back the weird responsive cry, Hook it! hook it.

1892. Herbert Campbell, Broadside Ballad, ‘Then Up Comes I with My little Lot.’ And the houses shook and the copper took his ’ook, and down come all the tiles.

To drop (go, or pop) off the hooks, verb. phr. (common).—1. To die. For synonyms, see Aloft.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ‘Black Mousquetaire.’ I fear by his looks, Our friend, Francis Xavier, has popp’d off the hooks!

1842. Punch’s Almanack, Dec. 15. Death wandered by the sea And struck by Walton’s looks Broke Isaac’s line of life And took him off the hooks.

1872. M. E. Braddon, Dead Sea Fruit, ch. iv. ‘S’pose the odds are against Jerningham going off the hooks between this and the first spring-meeting, so as to give a party a chance with Mrs. J. herself,’ speculates young Belgravia, dreamily.

1880. Greenwood, Odd People in Odd Places, p. 37. I thought, to be sure, I was going off the hooks, and it was no use talking about it.

1890. Grant Allen, Tents of Shem, ch. xii. The old man has popped off the hooks this afternoon at Aix.

1876. M. E. Braddon, Joshua Haggard, ch. x. Some of the young chaps will be wanting her to get married. These here pretty ones go off the hooks so soon.

To hook on to, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To attach oneself to; to buttonhole (q.v.); to follow up.

On one’s own hook, adv. phr. (colloquial).—On one’s own account, risk, or responsibility; for one’s own sake; dependent on one’s own resources or exertions.

1847. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 23. The signal was given, and in poured the subscribers to the dinner, with their guest, and in poured John on his own hook.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lxix. Do we come out as Liberal Conservative, or as Government man, or on our own hook?

1861. Whyte Melville, Good for Nothing, ch. xxvii. I worked on my own hook, after that, and I rather think I paid my expenses.

1869. Greenwood, Seven Curses of London, p. 409. To steal on your own hook as a bookmaker.

1893. Emerson, Signor Lippo, ch. viii. We used to have to part company and go in twos and threes then on our own hook. [343]

By hook or by crook, phr. (colloquial).—By some means or other; by fair means or foul; at all hazards. [Probably of forestal origin.]

d. 1298. Thomas the Rhymer, On Parliaments. Their work was by hook or crook to rap and bring all under the emperor’s power.

1525. Bodmin Register. Dynmure Wood was ever open and common to the … inhabitants of Bodmin … to bear away upon their backs a burden of lop, crop, hook, crook, and bag wood.

d. 1529. Skelton, Collyn Cloute. Nor wyll suffer this boke By hooke ne by crooke Prynted for to be.

1550. Bacon, Fortress of the Faithful. Whatsoever is pleasant or profitable must be theirs by hook or by crook.

1557. Tusser, Good Husbandrie, 30 Mar. Watch therefore in Lent, to thy sheepe go and look, For dogs will have vittels by hooke and by crooke.

1566. Archbp. Parker, Correspondence (Parker Soc.), p. 252. To win him in time, by hook or crook.

1596. Spenser, Faery Queen, v., 2, 27. The spoyle of people’s euill gotten good, The which her sire had scrapt by hooke and crooke.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Barocco, a shift made for good cheere, meate and drinke gotten by hooke or crooke.

1621. Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, xi., 186 (1836). By hook and by crook he will obtain it.

1629. Fonseca [Eng. by J. M.]. Devout Contemplations. Bee it by hooke or by crooke, by right or wrong.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. By Hedge or By Style, by Hook or by Crook.

1781. Cowper, Letter to Newton, 12 July. And by hook or crook, with another book, If I live and am here, another year.

1820. Reynolds [Peter Corcoran]. The Fancy. Father, ere our purpose cool, Get down by hook or crook to Liverpool.

1824. Hitchings and Drewe, Hist. Cornwall, ii., 214. The prior’s cross, on which is cut the figure of a hook and a crook, in memory of the privilege granted … to the poor … for gathering such boughs and branches of such trees … as they could reach with a hook or by a crook … whence … they will have it by hook and by crook.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 363. We must be manned by hook or crook, you know, however unwilling to distress running ships.

1868. Reade and Boucicault, Foul Play, p. 54. Several fellow-creatures have cheated me. Well, I must get as much back, by hook or by crook, from several fellow-creatures.

1883. W. Black, Yolande, ch. xlix. I should get you a ticket by hook or by crook, if I failed at the ballot; I heard that one was sold for £40 the last time.

1888. Rider Haggard, ‘Mrs. Meeson’s Will’ [in Illustrated News, Summer Number, p. 5, c. 1]. Somehow or other, it would go hard if, with the help of the one hundred a year that he had of his own, he did not manage, with his education, to get a living by hook or by crook.

With a hook at the end, phr. (common).—A reservation of assent; over the left (q.v.); in a horn (q.v.). Cf., hook, intj.: and Hookey Walker.

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. Hookey Walker—and with a hook, usually accompanied by a significant upliftment of the hand and crooking of the forefinger, implying that what is said is a lie, or is to be taken contrary-wise.

1843. Moncrieff, Scamps of London, i., 1. Bob. Will you have some gin? Fogg. Gin—Yes! Bob (turning away). Ha—ha!—With a hook … I wish you may get it.

1870. Traill, Saturday Songs, p. 22. It’s go and go over the left, It’s go with a hook at the end.

Off the hooks, phr. (old).—Out of temper; vexed; disturbed; out of sorts. Fr., sortir de ses gonds = off the hinges (q.v.). For synonyms, see Nab the rust. [344]

1639–61. Rump Songs. ‘Bum-fodder.’ That’s a thing would please the Butchers and Cooks, To see this stinking Rump quite off the hooks.

1665. Pepys, Diary, 26 May. In the evening by water to the Duke of Albemarle, whom I found mightily off the hooks, that the ships are not gone out of the River; which vexed me to see.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hooks. Off the hooks, in an ill Mood, or out of Humour.

d. 1704. L’Estrange [quoted in Ency. Dict.]. Easily put off the hooks, and monstrous hard to be pleased again.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., iii., 22. Another that’s in the Blacksmith’s Books, And only to him for remedy looks, Is when a Man is quite off the hooks.

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. xxx. Everybody that has meddled in this St. Ronan’s business is a little off the hooks—… in plain words, a little crazy.

Hook and Snivey (or Hookum Snivey), subs. phr. (old).—1. An imposture; specifically, the getting of food on false pretences.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, ii., 79. ‘Hook and Snivey, with Nix the Buffer’ [Title].

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Hook and Snivey with Nix the Buffer. This rig consists in feeding a man and a dog for nothing.… Three men, one of whom pretends to be sick and unable to eat, go to a public house; the two well men make a bargain with the landlord for their dinner, and when he is out of sight feed their pretended sick companion and dog gratis.

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf. s.v. Hook and Snivvy—practised by soldiers in quarters when they obtain grub for nix.

1835 in Comic Almanack 1835–43 (Hotten), p. 17, Zoological Society at Hookem Snivey. A new animal has been transmitted from No-Man’s Land, which has been named the Flat-Catcher.

3. (streets).—A contemptuous or sarcastic affirmation, accompanied by the gesture of taking a sight (q.v.) or playing hookey (q.v.).

4. (thieves’).—A crook of thick iron wire in a wooden handle, used to undo the wooden bolts of doors from without.

1801. Edgeworth, Irish Bulls, With that I ranges ’em fair and even on my hook ’em snivey, up they goes.

Hooked, adj. (old).—See quot.

Hooker, subs. (Old Cant).—1. A thief; an angler (q.v.). Also, (modern) a watch-stealer; a dip (q.v.). Cf., quots. 1567 and 1888.

1567. Harman, Caveat, p. 35. These hokers, or Angglers, be peryllous and most wicked knaues, … they customably carry with them a staffe of v. or vi. foote long, in which, within one ynch of the tope thereof, ys a lytle hole bored through, [leaf 9] in which hole they putte an yron hoke, and with the same they wyll pluck vnto them quickly any thing that they may reche ther with.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 8 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874). They are sure to be clyd in the night by the angler, or hooker, or such like pilferers that liue upon the spoyle of other poore people.

d. 1626. John Davies, Scourge of Folly, p. 34. [Wks., Ed. Grosart]. A false knaue needs no brokers, but a broker Needs a false knaue (a hangman or a hooker).

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hookers, the third Rank of Canters; also Sharpers.

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. No strange Abram, ruffler crack, hooker of another pack.

1888. Tit Bits, 17 Nov., p. 82, col. 2. There are usually three men in a gang; the hooker having got into conversation with his man, number two ‘covers’ his movements, whilst number three (on the opposite side of the [345]street) keeps a look-out for the ‘enemy.’ The hooker, having by careful manipulation got a hold of the desired prize, detaches it from the chain by breaking the ring and passes it to number two, who in turn passes it on to number three, from whom it is usually transferred to a receiver and melted down within a few hours of its being purloined.

2. (American).—A prostitute: i.e., a fisher, angler, or Hooker of men. For synonyms, see Barrack Hack and Tart.

Hookey. To play hookey, verb. phr. (American).—To play truant; to do Charley-wag (q.v.).

1876. Clemens [Mark Twain], Tom Sawyer, p. 100. Took his flogging … for playing hookey the day before.

To do (or play) hookey (or hooky), verb. phr. (common).—To apply the thumb and fingers to the nose; to take a sight (q.v.); to coffee-mill (q.v.).

Hookey Walker! (or Walker!) intj. (common).—Be off! go away. Also implying doubt. Cf., with a hook. [Bee: From John Walker, a hook-nosed spy, whose reports were proved to be fabrications.]

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Hookey Walker, An expression signifying that the story is not true, or that the thing will not occur.

1843. Dickens, Christmas Carol [1843], p. 169. ‘Buy it,’ said Scrooge. ‘Walker!’ said the boy.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘Old Woman Clothed in Grey.’ For mere unmeaning talk her Parch’d lips babbled now,—such as Hookey!—and Walker!—She expired, with her last breath expressing a doubt If ‘his Mother were fully aware he was out?’

1840. ‘Characters of Freshmen’ (Whibley, Cap and Gown, p. 183). The pestilent freshman … is very pugnacious, and walking in the streets suddenly turneth and asketh a huge snob ‘what the deuce he meant by that?’ Whereat the snob (having done nothing at all) coolly answereth (as the Pestilent Freshman intended he should) Hooky Walker, provocative of a combat.

Hooking-cow, subs. (Western American).—A cow that shows fight.

1887. Francis, Saddle and Mocassin. One … was … a hooking-cow, and to escape her repeated charges tested all our ability.

Hook-pointed (or Hook-pintled), adj. (venery).—Imperfectly erected. Cf., Lob (q.v.).

Hook-pole Lay, subs. phr. (old).—Pulling a man off his horse by means of iron hooks at the end of a long pole, and plundering him. (Smith, Lives of Highwaymen, III., 192, 1720).

Hook-shop, subs. (American).—A brothel. [Hooker (q.v.) = prostitute.] For synonyms, see Nanny-shop.

Hoop, subs. (American).—1. A ring.

Verb (old).—To beat. To well hoop one’s barrel = to thrash soundly. For synonyms, see Tan.

To hoop it (or go through the hoop), verb. phr. (old).—1. To pass the Insolvent Debtor’s Court; to get hooped up = whitewashed (q.v.). For synonyms, see Dead-broke. [346]

1839. Brandon, Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, 116. I have heard them tell … boys … who have hooped it from home that they had better go back whilst they had a home to go to.

Hooper’s Hide, subs. phr. (old venery).—Copulation. For synonyms, see Greens.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., i., 278. The while that his wife with Willy Was playing at Hooper’s Hide.

Hoop-stick, subs. (common).—The arm. For synonyms, see Chalk Farm.

Hoosier, subs. (American).—A native of Indiana. [Perhaps the most reasonable of several ingenious explanations is, that in the early days the customary challenge or greeting in that region was, ‘Who’s yer?’ (who’s here?): pronounced hoosier.—Norton.]

1843. D. Corcoran, A Genuine Hoosier. An original character is your genuine Hoosier. By genuine, we mean such a one as has all the attributes that peculiarly belong to the back-woodsmen of the West.

1847. Darley, Drama in Pokerville, p. 197. None of them ‘cotton’d’ to him more kindly than an elderly hoosier from the innermost depths of Indiana.

1848. Durivage, Stray Subjects, p. 79. There is a swarm of ‘suckers,’ ‘hoosiers,’ ‘buckeyes,’ ‘corn-crackers,’ and ‘wolverines’ eternally on the qui vive in those parts.

Hooter, subs. (American).—1. A steam-whistle; an American devil (q.v.).

3. (American).—A corruption of ‘iota’: e.g., ‘I don’t care a hooter for him.’

Hooting-pudding, subs. (provincial).—A plum-pudding with such a paucity of plums that you can hear them hooting after each other.—Slang, Jargon, and Cant.

Hop, subs. (common).—A dance. [Generally informal, as a Cinderella (q.v.).] Also, as in quot. 1579, the motions of dancing. For synonyms, see Skip.

1579. Gosson, Schoole of Abuse, p. 33 (Arber’s Ed.). He gaue Dauncers great stipends for selling their hopps.

1811. Jane Austen, Sense and S., ch. ix. At a little hop at the park, he danced from eight o clock till four.

1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. Hop—a contra-dance of ordinary persons and promiscuous company is ‘a hop’ and ‘a penny-hop’ from the price formerly paid for admission.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, iv. He gave them from time to time a very agreeable hop.

1847. Thackeray, Mrs. Perkins’s Ball (Mr. Larkins). To describe this gentleman’s infatuation for dancing, let me say, in a word, that he will even frequent boarding-house hops, rather than not go.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 189. The ‘temple’ was generally cleared for a hop two or three times during the week.

1850. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, p. 121. You’ll be at old Coleman’s hop to-night, I suppose; so bye! bye! for the present.

1852. Bristed, Upper Ten Thousand, p. 129. Two undress-balls—hops they were.

1882. Daily Telegraph, 13 Nov., p. 5, c. 3. At all seasons there is an immense amount of dancing; and at Washington there are continual ‘hotel hops’ in the winter.

1887. W. S. Gilbert, Patience, ii. Prefers suburban hops To all your Monday Pops.

1889. Lippincott, Oct., p. 447. Hang me if she isn’t always on the plain, or at a hop, with one of those twin kids! [347]

1892. Kipling, Barrack Room Ballads. ‘Gentlemen Rankers.’ To dance with blowzy housemaids at the regimental hops.

Hop-and-go-kick, subs. phr. (tailors’).—A lameter; a Hop-and-go-one. Cf., Dot-and-carry-one.

To hop the wag, verb. phr. (common).—To play truant, or Charley-wag (q.v.).

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, iii., 207. They often persuaded me to hop the wag, that is play truant from school.

To hop (or jump) over the broom (or broomstick), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To live as husband and wife; to live (or go) tally (q.v.).

1811. Poole, Hamlet Travestied, ii., 3. Jump o’er a broomstick, but don’t make a farce on The marriage ceremonies of the parson.

1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, i., 336. There was always a broomstick wedding. Without that ceremony a couple weren’t looked on as man and wife.

1860. Dickens, Great Expectations, xlviii., 227. This woman in Gerrard Street, here, had been married very young, over the broomstick (as we say), to a tramping man.

c. 18(79). Broadside Ballad, ‘David Dove that Fell in Love.’ By L. M. Thornton. The girl that I had hoped to hear Pronounce my happy doom, sir, Had bolted with a carpenter, In fact hopped o’er the broom, sir.

To hop the twig, verb. phr. (common).—1. To leave; to run away; to skedaddle (q.v.). For synonyms, see amputate.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 143. Hop the twig … means to depart suddenly.

1830. Egan, Finish to Life in London, p. 217. I have lost my ticker; and all my toggery has been boned, I am nearly as naked as when I was born—and the cause—the lady bird—has hopped the twig.

1884. Daily News, 31 Oct., p. 3, c. 1. They knocked the Liberals down as fast as they could until they got too numerous and strong, and then we hopped the twig.

1888. All the Year Round, 9 June 543. To hop the twig … and the like, are more flippant than humorous.

2. (common).—To die; to ‘kick the bucket’ (q.v.); to peg out (q.v.). Also To hop off.

English Synonyms. To be content; to cock up one’s toes; to croak; to cut (or let go) the painter; to cut one’s stick; to give in; to give up; to go to Davy Jones’ locker; to go off the hooks; to go under; to go up; to kick the bucket; kickeraboo (West Indian); to lay down one’s knife and fork; to lose the member of one’s mess; to mizzle; to pass in one’s checks; to peg out; to put on a wooden surtout; to be put to bed with a shovel; to slip one’s cable; to stick one’s spoon in the wall; to snuff it; to take an earth bath; to take a ground sweat.

French Synonyms.—Passer l’arme à gauche (pop.: = to ground arms); casser sa pipe (= to break one’s pipe); dévisser or décoller son billard (= to break one’s cue); graisser ses bottes (= to grease one’s boots); avaler sa langue (= to swallow one’s tongue); avaler sa gaffe (= to lower one’s boat-hook); avaler sa cuiller or sa fourchette (= to swallow one’s spoon or one’s fork); avaler ses baguettes (military: = to swallow one’s drumsticks); n’avoir plus mal aux dents (= to get rid of the toothache: mal de dents, also = love); [348]poser sa chique (pop.: = to put down one’s quid); claquer (familiar: = to croak); saluer le public (theat.: = to go before the curtain); recevoir son décompte (military: = to get one’s quietus; décompte = also [military] a mortal wound); cracher son embouchure (= to spit one’s mouthpiece); déteindre (pop.: = to wash off one’s colour); donner son dernier bon à tirer (familiar: in American = to pass in one’s checks; properly = to send one’s last proof to press); lâcher la perche (pop.: = to hop the twig); éteindre son gaz (pop.: = to turn off one’s gas. Cf., to snuff it); épointer son foret (pop.: = to blunt one’s drill, as in boring); être exproprié (pop.: = to be dispossessed); exproprier (= to take possession of a debtor’s land); péter son lof (sailor’s); fumer ses terres; fermer son parapluie (pop.: = to close one’s umbrella); perdre son bâton (pop.: = to lose one’s walking stick); descendre la garde (pop.: = to come off guard); défiler la parade (military: = to face about); tortiller, or tourner de l’œil (pop.); perdre le goût du pain (pop.: = to lose one’s appetite); lâcher la rampe (theat.: = to chuck the footlights); faire ses petits paquets (pop.: = to pack up one’s traps); casser son crachoir (pop.: = to break one’s spittoon); remercier son boulanger (thieves’: = to thank the baker; boulanger = the Devil); canner; dévider à l’estorgue (thieves’); baiser or épouser la Camarde or camarder (pop: = to hug, or go to church with, Mother Bones [Camarde = Death]); fuir (thieves’: = to flee or escape); casser son câble (pop.: = to slip one’s cable); casser son fouet (pop.: = to break one’s whip); faire sa crêvaison (pop.: crêver = to burst up); déralinguer (sailors’: = to loose from the bolt-rope); virer de bord (sailors’: = to tack about); déchirer son faux-col (pop.: = to break one’s collar); dégeler (= to thaw); couper sa mèche (coachman’s: = to cut off one’s lash); piquer sa plaqu (sailors’); mettre la table pour les asticots (pop.: = to lay the cloth for the worms); aller manger les pissenlits par la racine (pop.: = to go grubbing off dandelion roots); laisser fuir son tonneau (familiar); calancher (vagrants’); laisser ses bottes quelque part (familiar: = to leave one’s boots about); déchirer son habit (pop.: = to tear one’s coat); déchirer son tablier (pop.: = to tear one’s apron); souffler sa veilleuse (pop.: = to blow out one’s candle: cf., to snuff it); pousser le boum du cygne (pop.); avoir son coke (familiar: = to get one’s cargo); rendre sa secousse (pop.); rendre sa bûche (tailors’); rendre sa canne au ministre (military: = to resign one’s commission); rendre sa clef (gipsy: = to give in one’s key); rendre son livret (pop.: = to pass in one’s checks); passer au dixième régiment (military); s’ennuyer (pop.: = to be at death’s door); chasser les mouches (pop.: to go fly-catching); ingurgiter son bilan (popular); resserrer son linge (pop.); faire sa malle (pop.: = to pack one’s trunk); avaler le goujon (pop.); s’habiller de sapin (pop.: = to put on a wooden surtout); avoir son compte (pop.); battre de l’œil (thieves’); s’évanouir (pop.: to mizzle); machaber (pop.: machabre = the Dance of Death); glisser (pop.); s’en aller dans le pays des marmottes (pop.: marmotte = puppet); déménager (pop.: = to move house). [349]

German Synonyms.—Krachen gehen; niftern; pegern or peigern; schochern or verschochern (= to get black); verschwarzen.

Italian Synonyms. Sbasire (= to faint); sbasire su le funi (= to faint on the rope).

Spanish Synonyms.—Hacer bodoques (= to take an earth bath); liarlas (= also to run away); obispar; corvado (= bent, curved); cierto (= certain).

1839. Dance, Alive and Merry, i., 1. Couldn’t you wait a bit till she’s hopped off, and then you and I could marry, and be ladies and gentlemen?

1841. Punch, I., 2, 2. Clare pines in secret—Hops the twig and goes to glory in white muslin.

1842. Punch, vol. II., p. 20, c. 2. Yet henceforth—dash my wig! I’ll live with thee, with thee I’ll hop the twig!

1863. Fun, vol. IV., p. 188. The night when Cromwell died a storm tore up many of the trees [of St. James’s Park]—though what connexion there may be between the destruction of their branches and the hopping the twig of the Protector, we leave to our philosophical readers to decide.

1870. Chambers’s Miscellany, No. 87, p. 26. That her disease was mortal, was past a doubt, and a month or two more or less could make no difference, provided she hopped off … before the year was expired.

On the hop, adv. phr. (common).—1. Unawares; at the nick of time; in flagrante delicto. Also On the h. o. p.

1868. Broadside Ballad, ‘The Chickaleary Cove.’ For to catch me on the hop.… You must wake up very early in the morning.

1870. London Figaro, 26 Aug. If to catch any of the more ordinary folk on the hop is to secure a laugh, what must it be to catch the Tycoon ‘on the—top?’

1872. Daily Telegraph, 3 Sept. Goodbye, Johnny: before I leave you, One more kiss before I go. For to catch me on the hop.

1892. Anstey, Model Music Hall, 32. I never saw a smarter hand at serving in a shop, For every likely customer she caught upon the ’op.

Hopeful (or Young Hopeful), subs. (colloquial).—A boy or young man; in sarcasm or contempt.

1856. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Tales of College Life, 24. He’ll be no end riled at seeing his hopeful play truant in this fashion.

Hop- (or Hap-) Harlot, subs. (old).—A coarse coverlet; Cf., Wrap-rascal.

1807–8. Hollinshed, Chronicles of England, ch. 12. Covered only with a sheet, under coverlets made of dag-swain, or hop-harlots.

Hopkins (Hoppy, or Mr. Hopkins), subs. (old).—A lameter. For synonyms, see Dot-and-go-one Giles.

Don’t Hurry, Hopkins! phr. (American).—Ironical to persons slow to move or to meet an obligation.

Hop-merchant (or Hoppy), subs. (common).—A dancing master; a caper-merchant (q.v.). Also, a fiddler.

1892. Sydney Watson, Wops the Waif, ch. iii., p. 4. Who-ay, Cully, here’s Hoppy with the rozin. [350]

Hop-o-my-thumb, subs. (common).—A dwarf.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, in Wks. v., 248. Though the greatnesse of the redde herring be not small (as small a hoppe-on-my-thumbe as hee seemeth).

1603. Dekker, etc., Patient Grissell, IV., ii., in Wks. (Grosart) vi., 195. Bab. No; he shall not haue them [children]: knocke out his braines, and saue the little hop-a-my-thombes.

1764. O’Hara, Midas, i., 5. You Stump-o’-the-gutter, you Hop-o’-my-thumb, A husband must for you from Lilliput come.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hop-o-my-Thumb. She was such a hop-o-my-thumb that a pigeon, on sitting on her shoulder, might pick a pea out of her a—se.

1821. Scott, Kenilworth, ch. xi. A mean-looking hop-o’-my-thumb sort of person.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘Account of a New Play.’ A hop-o’-my-thumb of a Page.

English Synonyms.—Go-by-the-ground; grub; grundy; Jack Sprat; little breeches; shrimp; stump-of-the-gutter; tom-tit. See also, Forty-foot.

Hopper, subs. (colloquial).—The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

Hopper-arsed (or Hipped), adj. (old).—Large in the breech. Also (as in quot. 1529) snaggy-boned. Also as subs.

d. 1529. Dunbar, Poems, ‘Complaint to the King’ (1836, i., 144). With hopper-hippis and hanches narrow.

1672. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, ii., 1. Moreover, she is bow-legged, hopper-hipped, and, betwixt pomatum and Spanish red, has a complexion like a Holland cheese.