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

1863. H. Kingsley, Austin Elliot, ch. xii. ‘They say that you flew your kite at that girl of George Cecil’s who has married that prig, Lord Mewstone.’

To fly the blue pigeon, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To steal lead from roofs. See Blue-pigeon. Fr., faire la mastar au gras-double, or la faire au mastar.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter. Thieves who fly the blue pigeon, that is, who steal lead off houses, or cut pipes away … cut a hundredweight of lead, which they wrap round their bodies next to the skin. This they call a bible (q.v.), and what they steal and put in their pockets, they call a testament (q.v.).

1887. Judy, 27 April, p. 200. A burglar whose particular lay was flying the blue pigeon, i.e., stealing lead.

1859. Punch, vol. XXXVII., p. 54. ‘Essence of Parliament.’ Monday, 25 July. Lord Lyndhurst let fly and caught him what (if pugilistic terms be not out of place when one is alluding to so pacific a personage) may be designated an extremely neat one on the conk.

Not a feather to fly with, adv. phr. (common).—Penniless and ruined; dead-broke (q.v. for synonyms). [44]

To break a fly on a wheel, verb. phr. (colloquial). To make a mountain of a molehill. Cf., To crack a nut with a Nasmyth hammer = to lavish force or energy.

The fly on the wheel, subs. phr. (colloquial).—One who fancies himself of mighty importance. [From the fable.]

I don’t rise to that fly, phr. (common) = I don’t believe you; you won’t catch me with such bait as that. [From fly-fishing.]

Off the fly, adv. phr. (colloquial).—On the quiet; laid up in dock; doing nothing: said of a strumpet retired from business, or a man (or woman) who has given over the pursuit of pleasure.

On the fly, adv. phr. (popular).—1. Walking the streets; out for a lark (q.v.); off work (q.v.); out on the spree (q.v.).

2. (thieves’).—In motion: e.g., ‘I got in one on the fly’ = I landed a blow while I was running.

Fly-blow, subs. (common).—A bastard; cf., Bye-blow. A nonce word.

1875. Ouida, Signa, vol. I., ch. viii., p. 140. No doubt that little fly-blow is his own.

Fly-blown, adj. (common).—1. Intoxicated. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1877. Judy, 18 May, p. 236. The officer assisted the pastor out, and hinted that he was slightly ‘fly-blown.’

1889. Star, 3 Jan. Our diggers go into Castlemaine to get their hair cut, and once there, they get on the spree, and come back fly-blown.

4. (venery).—Deflowered. Also stale (q.v.); ‘known for a wanton.’ Also suspected of disease.

Fly-by-Night, subs. (old).—1. A sedan chair on wheels; a usage of the Regency days.

2. (common).—A defaulting debtor; one who shoots the moon (q.v.). Also applied to the act.

3. (venery).—A prostitute. See Bat, and for synonyms, Barrack-hack and Tart.

4. (common).—A noctambulist for business or for pleasure: i.e., a burglar or a common spreester (q.v.).

1796. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v. An ancient term of reproach to an old woman, signifying that she was a witch, and alluding to the nocturnal excursions attributed to witches who were supposed to fly abroad to their meetings mounted on brooms.

Fly-cage, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Fly-catcher, subs. (venery).—1. The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. [45]

2. (common).—An open-mouthed ignoramus; a Gapeseed (q.v.)—Sydney Smith. Fr., gobe-mouche.

Flycop, subs. (American).—A sharp officer; one well broken in to the tricks of trade. [From fly = knowing + cop, a policeman.]

Fly-disperser Soup, subs. phr. (common).—Oxtail.

Flyer.—1. See Flier in all senses.

1851. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. II., p. 34. There is another article called a flyer, that is, a shoe sold without being welted.

3. (Winchester).—A half-volley at football. A made-flyer is when the bound of the ball is gained from a previous kick, by the same side, against canvas or any other obstacle, or is dropped, as in a ‘drop-kick.’ This is now confused with a ‘kick-up.’

Fly-flapped, adj. (obsolete).—Whipped in the stocks, or at the cart’s tail.—Grose.

Fly-Flapper, subs. (old).—A heavy bludgeon.

Fly-flat, subs. (turf).—A would-be connoisseur and authority. [From fly = knowing + flat = a fool.]

Flying.—To look as if the Devil had shit him (or her) flying (common and proverbial).—Said in derision of one odd-looking, filthy, or deformed.

Flying-angel.—See Angel.

Flying Bricklayers, subs. phr. (military).—The mounted Royal Engineers.

Flying Camps, subs. phr. (old).—Couples or gangs of beggars.

1699. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew. Beggars plying in flying camps. Beggars plying in bodies at funerals.

Flying-caper, subs. (thieves’).—An escape from prison; leg-bail (q.v.).

1864. Daily Paper, ‘Police Report.’ The blues are always ready to spot a fellow who has tried on the flying-caper with them, and given them leg-bail.

Flying-cat.—See Cat.

Flying Country, subs. phr. (hunting).—A country where the going (q.v.) is fast and good.

1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. xii. The heavy-top hounds are an establishment such as, I am given to understand, is not usually kept in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and other so-called ‘flying counties.’

Flying Cove, subs. phr. (American thieves’).—An impostor who gets, or tries to get, money from persons who have been robbed by pretending to give such information as will lead to recovery. Formerly, Flying-porter (Grose).

Flying-dustman.—See Stiff-un.

Flying-dutchman, subs. (common).—The London and Exeter express (G. W. R.). See also Flying Scotchman and Wild Irishman. Cf., Dead-meat train and Larky subaltern’s coach.

Flying-horse (or Mare), subs. (wrestling).—The throw by which an opponent is sent over the head. Introduced, says Bee, by Parkins.

1754. Foote, Knights, Act I. But we don’t wrestle after your fashion; we ha’ no tripping; fath and soul! we all go upon close hugs or the flying-mare.

1884. Referee, 23 March, p. 1., col. 1. In the third and last bout, Klein brought his man clean over his head—holding him by his own—with a sort of flying-mare, and elicited thunders of applause.

1886. Pall Mall Gazette, 5 July, p. 4. On a Mississippi steamer he astonished a rowdy who was shocked at his unnatural objection to whisky, by performing upon him the feat known to British wrestlers as ‘the flying mare.’

Flying-jigger or Gygger, subs. (thieves’).—A turnpike gate. [Jigger = a door or gate.]

Flying-man, subs. (football).—A skirmisher good at taking, and running with, the ball.

1864. Eton School Days, ch. 23, p. 255. He possessed good wind, and was a very good ‘kick-off,’ and he could ‘bully’ a ball as well as any one. He was a little too heavy for ‘flying-man,’ but he made a decent ‘sidepost,’ and now and then he officiated as ‘corner.’

Flying-mare. See Flying-horse.

Flying Pasty, subs. phr. (obsolete).—Excrement wrapped in paper and thrown over a neighbour’s wall. [Grose.]

Flying-porter. See Flying cove.

Flying-stationer, subs. (street).—A hawker of street ballads; a paperworker (q.v.), or running patterer (q.v.). Cf., croak. ‘Printed for the flying-stationer’ is the imprimatur on hundreds of broadsheets from the last century onwards.

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. Ballad singers and hawkers of penny histories.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. I, p. 228. That order or species of the pattering genus known as flying stationers, from the fact of their being continually on the move while describing the attractions of the ‘papers’ they have to sell.

1886. Athenæum, 31 July, p. 139. Scores of tracts were issued in the Newgate region, from Giltspur Street to Blowbladder Street, whence numbers of flying stationers drew their supplies long before either of the Catnachs were born.

Flymy. Adj. (streets).—Knowing, fast (q.v.); roguish; sprightly. From Fly (q.v.).

Fly-my-kite, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A light.

Flymy-mess, to be in a flymy-mess, verb. phr. (military).—To be hungry and have nothing to eat. For synonyms, see peckish.

Fly-slicer, subs. (common).—A cavalry-man: cf., Mudcrusher. French lancers are allumeurs de gaz, their weapons being likened to a lamplighter’s rod. [47]

1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. Fly-slicers: Life-guardmen, from their sitting on horseback, under an arch, where they are frequently observed to drive away flies with their swords.

Fly the Garter, subs. phr. (schoolboys’).—Leap-frog.

1863. G. A. Sala, Breakfast in Bed, Essay VIII., p. 187 (1864). He has very probably been playing fly-the-garter in the gutter instead of waiting his turn at the office.

Fly-trap, subs. (common).—1. The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato trap.

Foaled, adj. (hunting).—Thrown from a horse. Fr., faire parache.

Fob, or Fub, subs. (old).—1. A cheat; a trick; a swindle. To come the fob = to impose upon; to swindle; cf., come over.

1852. Judson, Mysteries of New York, ch. vii. He come ze fob on some of ze nobilitie, and zey invite him to go to Amerique.

1678. Butler, Hudibras, III., i., 107. Had rifled all his pokes and fobs Of gimcrack whims and gingumbobs.

1703. Marvell, Poems on Affairs of State. ‘Royal Revolutions.’ When plate was in pawn and fob at an ebb. Ibid. ‘Last Instructions,’ etc. More gold in’s fob, more lace upon his coat.

3. (common).—A watch chain or ribbon, with buckle and seals, worn hanging from the fob.

1700. Congreve, Way of the World, i., 9. There were items of such a treaty in embrio; and if it shou’d come to life poor Mirabell wou’d be in some sort unfortunately fobb’d, i’faith.

1703. Mrs. Centlivre, Stolen Heiress, III., iv., wks. (1872), i., 358. I shall be fobbed of my mistress by and by. Why, Frank, why, thou wilt not fob me, wilt thou?

1731. Fielding, Grub Street Opera, i., 5. While ev’ry one else he is fobbing, He still may be honest to me.

1789. Wolcot [P. Pinder], Rowland for an Oliver, in wks. (Dublin, 1795), Vol. II., p. 159. To use a cant phrase, we’ve been finely fobb’d, Indeed, have very dext’rously been robb’d.

1840. Howitt, Visits to Remarkable Places, p. 170. Very pretty sums he has fobbed now and then.

1842. Punch, III., p. 239, col. 2. The world turns its back on you, and neither by cards nor dice can you fob your brother mortal out of a single guinea.

2. (old).—To deceive; trifle with; disappoint; to put off dishonestly or unfairly.

1598. Shakspeare, 2 Henry IV., ii., 1. A hundred mark is a long loan for a poor lone woman to bear, and I have borne, and borne, and borne, and have been fubbed off and fubbed off.

1602. Shakspeare, Othello, IV., 2. I think it is scurvy, and begin to find myself fobbed in it.

1610. Shakspeare, Coriolanus, I., 1. You must not think to fob off our disgrace with a tale.

1884. Fortnightly Review, XXXVI., p. 75. In nothing are amateur backers of horses fobbed off by professionals with less than the legitimate odds than in backing double and triple events. [48]

1864. The Tramp Exposed, p. 7. A miserable, a job lot of humanity as had ever been fobbed off on a defrauded universe.

To gut a fob, verb. phr. (old).—To pick pockets. Cf., Fob, verbal sense 1. For synonyms, see Prig.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, 1. Diddling your subjects, and gutting their fobs.

Fobus, subs. (old).—An opprobrious epithet.

Fodder, subs. (common).—Paper for the closet, bum-fodder (q.v.).

Fœtus. To tap the fœtus, verb. phr. (medical).—To procure abortion.

Fog, subs. (old).—Smoke.—Grose. [1785]; Modern Flash Dict. [1823]; Matsell [1859]. [Cf., Fogus.]

In a Fog, subs. phr. (colloquial).—In a condition of perplexity, doubt, difficulty, or mystification: as, ‘I’m quite in a fog as to wha you mean.’

1836. W. H. Smith, ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’ There’s a nook in the boozing-ken, Where many a mug I fog.

1883. Punch, May, p. 210, col. 1. So large a picture, treated so ideally—Not that that means stricture—Fogs us to find room for it.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 29 Sept. We turns what we say into tangle talk so as to fog them.

Fogey, or Fogy, Fogay, or Foggi, subs. (old).—An invalid or garrison soldier or sailor. Whence the present colloquial usages: (1) a person advanced in life, and (2) an old-fashioned or eccentric person; generally old fogey. [Derivation doubtful; suggestions are (1) from Su. G. fogde and (2) from Eng. folk. See Notes and Queries, 1 S. vii., 354, 559, 632; viii., 64, 154, 256, 455, 652; 6 S. ix., 10, 195.]

1812. Letter quoted in Notes and Queries, 6 S., ix., 10. My company is now forming into an invalid company. Tell your grandmother we will be like the Castle foggies.

1855. Thackeray, The Ballad of Bouillabaisse. When first I saw ye, cari luoghi, I’d scarce a beard upon my face, And now, a grizzled, grim old fogy, I sit and wait for Bouillabaisse.

1864. Tangled Talk, p. 104. An old fogey, who particularly hated being ‘done.’

1867. Nesmith, ‘Reminiscences of Dr. Anthon,’ in The Galaxy, Sept., p. 611. The adherents of ‘progress’ mostly regard classics as old fogey, and ‘see no use’ in the laborious years which youth spend upon them.

1883. James Payn, The Canon’s Ward, ch. xv. ‘He would have preferred some bookish sneak like Adair, or some old fogey like Mavors.’

1888. Sporting Life, 10 Dec. So it is with the sister art of music, for I (myself something of an old fogey in such matters).

So also fogeyish = old-fashioned; eccentric. Fogeydom = the state of fogeyishness; and fogeyism = a characteristic of Fogeydom. [49]

1877. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, ch. i. They repaired arm-in-arm to their club—the Renaissance, now past its prime, and a little fogyish.

1883. Saturday Review, 31 March, p. 403, col. 1. Not the least among the pleasures of fogeydom, so ably depicted by Thackeray, is the confidence that it inspires in the hearts of the fairer sex.

Foggage, subs. (colloquial).—Fodder, especially green-meat.

1785. Burns, To a Mouse. And naething now to bigg a new ane o’foggage green.

Fogged, ppl. adj. (common).—1. Drunk. Cf., foggy. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

2. (common).—Perplexed; bewildered; at a loss. [From fog (q.v.), to perplex]. For synonyms, see Flabbergasted.

1883. Illust. London News, 6 Jan., p. 6, col. 3. They were all treading on one another’s heels, trying to do their best, but hopelessly fogged.

1887. All the Year Round, 30 July, 30, p. 68. An Australian says that he is bushed just as an Englishman, equally characteristically, declares that he is fogged.

Fogger, subs. (old).—1. A huckster; a cringing, whining beggar; a pettifogger.

1614. Terence in English. I shall be exclaimed upon to be a beggarly fogger, greedily hunting after heritage.

2. (old).—A farm servant whose duty is to feed the cattle; i.e., to supply them with foggage (q.v.).

Foggy, adj. (common).—1. Drunk; i.e., clinched or hazy (q.v.). For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Fogle, subs. (thieves’).—A silk handkerchief; also generic. [Cf., Ital., foglia = a pocket, a purse; Fr., fouille = a pocket]. A cotton handkerchief is called a clout.

English Synonyms.—Bandanna; belcher; billy; clout; conch-clout; fam-cloth; flag; kent-rag; madam; muckender; mucketer (Florio); nose-wipe; pen-wiper; rag; sneezer; snottinger or snot-rag; stook; wipe. See Billy.

French Synonyms.—Un cachemire (popular); un blave or blavin (thieves’; from O.F., blave = blue); une fassolette (thieves’: It., fazzoletto); un chiffon or chiffonnion (popular = a rag); un moufion (popular); les mouchettes (popular = wipes).

German Synonyms.—Schneitzlingsschneiche (cf., Snot-rag); Flammert or Flamme (also a neckerchief and an apron); Wisch (= also clothing of any kind).

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry (1890), p. 74, Jerry’s sneezer was touched with some convulsive efforts so that his fogle was continually at work.

1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood bk. iii., ch. 5. Fogles and fawnies soon went their way.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xviii. ‘If you don’t take fogles and tickers——’ ‘What’s the good of talking in that way?’ interposed Master Bates: ‘he don’t know what you mean.’ ‘If you don’t take pocket-handkerchiefs and watches,’ said the Dodger.

1841. Tait’s Edinburgh Mag., viii., p. 220. Fawnies or fogles, onions gay, all were the same to me.

1849. Punch’s Almanack, ‘The Swell Mobsman’s Almanack.’ Their fogles fetch next to nothing. [50]

1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, bk. II., ch. i., p. 60. They’re just made for hooking a fogle [handkerchief] out of a clye.

Fogle-hunter, subs. (thieves’).—A thief whose speciality is fogles (q.v.). Fr. un blaviniste or un chiffonier, but for synonyms, see Stookhauler.

1827. Maginn, in Blackwood’s Mag. … the fogle hunters doing Their morning fake in the prigging lay.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. xvi. Who’s here so base as would be a fogle-hunter?

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, p. 44. ‘What’s the matter now?’ said the man, carelessly. ‘A young fogle-hunter,’ replied the man who had Oliver in charge.

1843. Punch, IV., p. 129. Rich charities the chapel throng. The swell mob they are there, The Bishop’s sermon is not long, The fogle-hunter ware!

Fogle-hunting (or drawing), subs. phr. (thieves’).—Stealing pocket-handkerchiefs; i.e., ‘prigging of wipes.’

1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, etc., p. 82. Q. ‘Where’s Teddy?’ A. ‘He’s out a fogle-hunting.’ Sometimes ’tis said ‘drawing fogles,’ and ‘fogle-drawing.’

Fogram, or Fogrum, subs. (old).—A fussy old man. [Cf., colloquial sense of Fogey.]

1793. Butt, Poems. We teach old maxims, neither less nor more, Than Locke, or humble Hooker taught before, Those fogrums, quizzes, treats, and bores, and gigs. Were held in some account with ancient prigs.

1798. O’Keefe, Fontainbleau, II., 3. Never mind, old fogrum, run away with me.

1777. Foote, Trip to Calais, i, Father and mother are but a couple of fogrum old fools.

1796. D’Arblay, Camilla, ii., 5. Nobody’s civil now, you know, it is a fogramity quite out of date.

Fogue, adj. (American thieves’).—Fierce; fiery.

Fogus, subs. (old).—Tobacco. [Cf., Fogus.] For synonyms, see Weed.

1671. Head, English Rogue, I., v., p. 49 (1874), s.v. 1724. Coles, English Dict., s.v. 1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue. Tip me a gage of fogus.

1821. Haggart, Life, p. 133. A hole in the roof of my cell, through which I handed her plenty of fogus.

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. Troll us a stave, my antediluvian file, and in the meantime tip me a gage [pipe] of fogus, Jerry.

Foiler, subs. (old).—A thief.

1669. Nicker Nicked, in Harl. Misc. [ed. Park], ii., 108. Given in list of names of thieves.

Foin, verb. (obsolete).—To copulate, i.e., to thrust, to poke (q.v.). Also subs.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Scazzata: A thrust, a push, a foyne, or the serving to a woman of a man’s pricke.

1598. Shakspeare, 2 Henry IV., ii., 4. Thou whoreson little tidy Bartholomew boar pig, when wilt thou leave fighting o’days, and foining o’nights, and begin to patch up thine old body for heaven?

Foist, Foyst, or Fyst, subs. (old).—1. A cheat; a swindler; a sharper.

1592. John Day, Blind Beggar (Bullen), p. 21. Your nipper, your foyst, your rogue, your cheat. [51]

1596. Ben Jonson, Every Man in His Humour iv., 7. Prate again, as you like this, you whoreson foist you.

1607. Dekker, Jests to Make you Merie in wks. (Grosart) II., 326. Now to our foysts, alias pickpocket, alias cutpurse.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candelight, in wks. (Grosart) III., 212. A foyst nor a Nip shall not walke into a Fayre or a Play-house.

1611. Middleton, Roaring Girl, O. Pl., vi., 113. This brave fellow is no better than a foist. Foist! what is that? A diver with two fingers; a pickpocket; all his train study the figging law, that’s to say cutting of purses and foisting.

1605. Ben Jonson, Volpone or the Fox, iii., 9. Put not your foists upon me. I shall scent ’em.

3. (old).—A silent emission of wind through the anus (see quot., sense 2); a cheeser. See Fart and Fousty. [Coles has to fyst, vissio; which in his Latin part he renders to fizzle. Also fysting cur; and in Sherwood’s English Dictionary, subjoined to Cotgrave, fysting curs, and other offenders of the same class, are fully illustrated.]

1605. Jonson, Eastward Hoe, pl. iv., 270. Marry, fyst o’ your Ruidess. I thought as much.

1662. Rump Songs, II., 3. That a reason be enacted (if there be not one), Why a fart hath a voice, and a fyst hath none, Which nobody can deny.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew. Foyst … also a close strong stink, without noise or report.

1607. Dekker, Jests to Make You Merie, in wks. (Grosart) II., 332. But now to the manner of the foysting of a pocket, the sharing of the money, and how honest men may avoide them.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Rept., 1874). To foyst, to picke a pocket.

1539. David Lyndsay, Thrie Estaitis (Works, Laing, 1879), ii., 109. Ane fistand flag.

Foister, or Foyster, subs. (old).—A pick-pocket; a cheat.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Barattiere, a barterer, a trucker, a marter, an exchanger, a briber, a cheater, a false gamester, a cousener, a broker, a fripper, a chaffrer, a cogger, a foyster, a deceiuer, a coni-catcher, a bareter, a prowler.

(?). Mirrour for Magistrates, p. 483, When facing foisters, fit for Tiburn. fraies, Are food-sick faint.

Follower, subs. (colloquial).—A maid-servant’s sweetheart; a beau. For synonyms, see Jomer.

1838. Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, ch. xv. Five servants kept. No man. No followers.

1870. Spectator, 15 Jan. It is safer, unkind as it may seem, to forbid the presence of a ‘follower’ in the house. A girl is less likely to get into mischief when she is walking with her friend in the street or talking with him over the area gate, than when she receives him alone in the kitchen.

1872. The Ladies, 29 June, p. 335. If you take into consideration that ‘followers’ are in most houses strictly forbidden, [52]what wonder is it that girls are now and then caught flirting with the butcher and the baker at the area railings?

Follow-me-lads, subs. phr. (common).—Curls or ribands hanging over the shoulder; cf., Fr., suivez-moi-jeune-homme = ribbons flying behind a lady’s dress. Also Followers.

1872. Spectator. ‘Follow-me-lads’ are not in themselves very pretty, though, like any other fashion, they become the Princess, and they are exceedingly costly.

Follow on, subs. phr. and verb (cricket).—A team eighty runs behind the other in the first innings is obliged to follow on; i.e., to take to the wickets a second time. A run more, and it saves the follow on.

1891. Pall Mall Gazette, 5 Aug. ‘Notts. v. Surrey.’ The game, with a possible prospect of the follow-on, being saved.

Follow your nose! intj. phr. (streets’).—A retort on asking the way. The full phrase is, ‘Follow your nose, and you are sure to go straight.’

1620. Percy, Folio MSS., p. 462. He went to the sea syde, and ffollowed his nose.

1854. Notes and Queries, x., p. 66. In what collection of tales published in 1834 shall I find the tale entitled follow your nose?

Foo-foo, subs. (American).—A person of no account; an insignificant idiot; a poop (q.v.).

1837. A Glance at New York (in Bartlett). Don’t know what a foo-foo is? Well, as you’re a greenhorn, I’ll enlighten you. A foo-foo, or an outsider, is a chap that can’t come the big figure.

Fool, subs. (colloquial.)—A dish of gooseberries, boiled with sugar and milk. [Fr., groseilles en foule.] Also, a gull (q.v.).

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., III., 9. ‘Praise of the Dairy Maid.’ A lady, I heard tell, Not far off did dwell, Made her husband a fool, and it pleased him quite well.

1774. Goldsmith, Retaliation. And by the same rule, Magnanimous Goldsmith’s a gooseberry fool.

No Fool, subs. phr. (American colloquial).—A phrase laudatory, applied to neuter nouns. Cf., No Slouch.

1848. Jones, Sketches of Travel, p. 33. I tell you what, Charlston ain’t no fool of a city.

To make a fool of, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To delude. Specifically (venery), to cuckold, or to seduce under promise of marriage.

To fool about (or around), verb. phr. (American).—To dawdle; to trifle with; to be infatuated with; to hang about; to defraud.

1837. A Glance at New York. Mose—Now look a-here, Liz,—I go in for Bill Sykes, ’cause he runs wid our machine; but he musn’t come foolin’ round my gal, or I’ll give him fits.

1884. Hawley Smart, Post to Finish, ch. xvii. From what I hear, you came to Riddleton, fooling after my daughter. Now, I’ll have no caterwauling of that sort.

1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody of Nowhere, p. 124. I should think you had too much ed-u-cash to fool about such a going on.

Fool-finder, subs. (obsolete).—A bum-bailiff.—Grose.

Foolish, adj. (prostitutes’).—Said of a man that pays. ‘Is he flash (q.v.) or foolish = Is he the cully or the other.’—Grose.

Fool-monger, subs. (colloquial).—A person, male or female, living by their wits, e.g., a promoter (q.v.); a betting-man; a swindler. Also Fool-catcher and Fool-trap (q.v.). [53]

Foolometer, subs. (colloquial).—A standard, positive or neuter, whereby to gauge the public taste.

Fool’s Father, subs. phr. (theatrical).—The pantaloon or old ’un. (q.v.)

Fool-sticker, subs. phr. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick. Also Fool-maker.

Fool’s Wedding, subs. phr. (common).—A party of women. For synonyms, see Hen Party.

Fool-trap, subs. (colloquial).—1. A fool-monger (q.v.).

Foont, subs. (thieves’)—A sovereign [Probably a corruption of Ger. Pfund.] For synonyms, see Canary.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., XL., 502. The mob got me up a break (collection), and I got between five or six foont (sovereigns).

Foot, verb. (common).—1. To acknowledge payment; e.g., to foot a bill; cf., Foot-up.

1848. Durivage, Stray Subjects, p. 183. If our plan succeeded the landlord was to foot the bill, and stand treat.

2. (football and colloquial).—To kick; to hoof (q.v.). Cf., Merchant of Venice, I., 3, You, that did void your rheum upon my beard, And foot me, as you spurn a stranger cur.

1852. Bristed, Upper Ten Thousand, p. 223. Both teams were footing their very best.

To foot it, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To walk. For synonyms, see Pad the Hoof.

1892. Price, From Arctic Ocean to Yellow Sea. The discomfort of having to foot it.

To foot-up, verb. phr. (American colloquial).—To sum up the total (of a bill); to tot up (q.v.). Hence, to pay; to discharge one’s obligations; to reckon up (q.v.); to summarize both merits and defects, and strike a balance. Footing-up = the reckoning, the sum total. Fr., gamberger.

1865. Sala, A Trip to Barbary. The Arab abhors statistics. He won’t be tabulated if he could help it, and were you to go to Algeria, Doctor Colenso, you would find a deeply rooted objection among the people to the reckoning, or footing-up, as the Americans call it, of anything animate or inanimate.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 310. To foot a bill, by paying the amount at the bottom of the account, is a phrase equally well known abroad and with us.

1882. McCabe, New York, XXI., 333. The transactions of ‘the Street’ foot up an almost fabulous sum daily.

1884. G. A. S[ala], in Ill. Lon. News, 29 March, p. 294, col. 3. They foot up (American English) to an almost alarming amount in thousands of dollars.

To put one’s best foot (or leg) foremost, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To use all possible despatch; to exert oneself to the utmost.

1596. Shakspeare, King John, iv., 2. Nay, but make haste; the better foot before.

To put one’s foot into anything, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To make a mess of it; to get into a scrape. The bishop (i.e., the Devil) has put his foot in it (Old English proverb) is said of burned porridge or over-roasted meat.—Grose. Fr., faire une gaffe.

1888. Daily Telegraph, 7 May. Faire une gaffe, in modern Parisian slang, may be best rendered as to put your foot in it.

To have one foot (or leg) in the grave, verb. phr. (common).—On one’s last legs; measured for a funeral sermon. Also as adj.

1825. English Spy, i., pp. 199–200. With one leg in the grave he’ll laugh.

1890. Globe, 15 May, p. 5, col. 2. One-foot-in-the-grave paralytic sort of people.

To pull foot, verb. phr. (American).—To make haste. Variants are to take one’s foot in one’s hand, and to make tracks; but for synonyms, see Absquatulate and Skedaddle.

1825. Neal, Brother Jonathan, Bk. I., ch. iv., How they pulled foot when they seed us commin.

1836. Michael Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. viii. ‘Why, pull foot, captain,’ promptly replied Paul.

1843–4. Haliburton, Sam Slick in England. I look’d up; it was another shower, by gosh. I pulls foot for dear life.

To take Mr. Foot’s horse, verb. phr. (old).—To walk; to go by Shank’s mare (q.v.) For synonyms, see Pad the hoof.

To know the length of one’s foot, verb. phr. (old).—To be well acquainted with one’s character.

1581. Lilly, Euphues, etc. But you shall not know the length of my foot, untill by your cunning you get commendation.

1614. Terence in English. He measures an other man’s foote by his owne last. Hee considers an other mans meaning by his owne intent.

Footer, subs. (Harrow: once common).—1. Short for ‘football.’

Foot-hot, adv. (Old English).—In hot haste; hot-foot (q.v.)

1848. Burton, Waggeries, etc., p. 65. I’m darned if I don’t streak it to the Squire’s foot-hot.

Footing, subs. (common).—Money paid on entering upon new duties, or on being received into a workshop or society: as at sea when a comrade first goes aloft. Formerly foot-ale: cf., Garnish. Fr., arroser ses galons = to christen one’s uniform.

1777. Howard, State of Prisons in England and Wales, quoted in J. Ashton’s The Fleet, p. 295. A cruel custom obtains in most of our Gaols, which is that of the prisoners demanding of a new comer garnish, footing, or (as it is called in some London Gaols) chummage.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, I., 48; I must instantly pay down two shillings for my footing.

1788. G. A. Stevens, Adv. of a Speculist, i., 211. I was drove from street to street by women of my own profession, who swore I should not come in their beats until I had paid my footing.

1830. Carleton, Collegian’s Colleen Bawn, 94. ‘Pay your footing now, Master Kyrle Daly, before you go farther,’ said one.

1840. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 3 S., ch. iii. ‘Waiter, half-a-dozen of iced champagne here, to pay for Mr. Slick’s footin’.’

1891. Clark Russell, An Ocean Tragedy, p. 86. I was going aloft and wished to pay my footing.

Footle, verb., and Footling, adj. (colloquial).—To dawdle, trifle, potter; dawdling, trifling, pottering; messing about (q.v.).

Footlicker, subs. (old).—A servant: a lickspittle.

1609. Shakspeare, The Tempest, IV., 1. Do that good mischief which may make this island Thine for ever, and I, thy Caliban, For aye thy foot-licker. [55]

Footlights. To smell the footlights, verb. phr. (theatrical).—To acquire a taste for theatricals. [Footlights = the float (q.v.); the row of burners in front of the stage.]

To smell of the footlights. To carry theatrical concerns and phraseology into private life; to talk shop (q.v.).

Footman’s Inn, subs. phr. (old).—A poor lodging; a jail. Fr., Hôtel de la modestie = the Poor Man’s Arms.

1608. Penniles Parliament of Threedbare Poets. Those that depend on destiny, and not on God, may chance look through a narrow lattice at Footman’s Inn.

1612. Rowland, Knave of Hearts. Which at the heeles so hants his frighted ghost, That he at last in Footman’s-inne must host, Some castle dolorous compos’d of stone, Like (let me see) Newgate is such a one.

Footman’s Maund, subs. phr. (old).—An artificial sore, as from a horse’s bite or kick. The fox’s bite of schoolboys. Also the Scaldrum Dodge, or Maund (q.v.). Maund = a cadger’s sale-basket. Cf., Masons’ Maund.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew, s.v. An artificial sore made with unslacked lime, soap, and the rust of old iron, on the back of a beggar’s hand, as if hurt by the bite or kick of a horse.

Foot-riding, subs. (cyclists’).—Walking and wheeling one’s machine instead of riding it.

1887. T. Stevens, Round the World on a Bicycle. Already I realise that there is going to be as much foot-riding as anything for the first part of my journey.

Foot-scamp, subs. (old).—A foot-pad.—G. Parker.

Footstool. See Angels’ Footstool.

Foot-wobbler, subs. (old, soldier’s’).—An infantryman. For synonyms, see Mudcrusher.

Footy, adj. (old).—Contemptible; worthless. Fr., foutu.—Grose.

1836. Michael Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. v. My eye, Captain, no use to dodge from her; it is only dat footy little King’s cutter on de Jamaica station.

Foozle, subs. (common and sporting).—1. A boggle; a miss.

2. (common).—A bore; a fogey; and (in America) a fool; a green ’un. For synonyms, see Buffle, Cabbage-head, and Sammy soft.

1867. Rhoda Broughton, Cometh up as a Flower, ch. xxvi. Frumps and foozles in Eaton Square.

Foozled (or Foozley), adj. (colloquial).—Blurred in appearance and effect; fuzzy; muffed (q.v.). Often said of badly painted pictures, or parts of pictures.

Fop-doodle, subs. (old).—An insignificant man; a fool.

Fop’s Alley, subs. phr. (old).—See quot. 1883.

1782. D’Arblay, Cecilia, bk. II., ch. iv. Sir Robert Floyer, sauntering down fop’s alley. [56]

1883. Sala, Echoes of the Year, p. 369. Fop’s alley was the gangway running parallel to the footlights, between the last row of the stalls and the first row of the pit in Her Majesty’s Theatre, and in its palmiest days it was always graced by the presence of a subaltern of the Guards in full uniform, daintily swinging his bearskin.

Forakers, subs. (Winchester College).—The water-closet. [Formerly spelt foricus and probably a corruption of foricas, an English plural of the Latin forica.] For synonyms, see Mrs. Jones.

Foraminate, verb. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

Force, subs. (colloquial).—The police; properly a body of men trained for action. For synonyms, see Beak and Copper.

1868. Braddon, Trail of the Serpent, bk. IV., ch. vi. ‘I should like to … bring a child up from the very cradle to the police detective line, to see whether I couldn’t make that ’ere child a ornament to the force.’

1883. Daily Telegraph, 5 April, p. 2, col. 1. But in all my experience of the force, I think I never saw a policeman’s eyes so expressive of gratitude.

To force the voucher, verb. phr. (turf).—It is customary for sporting tricksters to advertise selections and enclose vouchers (similar to those sent out by respectable commission agents) for double or treble the current odds. The correspondent is informed that, in consequence of early investments, the extra odds can be laid; a remittance is requested; the voucher is forced; and then the firm ‘dries up,’ and changes its name and address.

Forcemeat Ball, subs. phr. (old)—Something endured from compulsion: as (1) a rape: (2) going to prison; (3) transportation; (4) an affiliation order; (5) abstention (from drink, pleasure, etc.) through impecuniosity.

Forceps, subs. (old).—The hands. [Properly a pair of surgeon’s pincers.]—For synonyms, see Daddle.

Fore-and-Aft, verb. (venery).—To copulate. See Greens and Ride.

Fore-and-after, subs. phr. (American).—1. See quot.

1840. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 3 S., ch. xi. ‘The way she walks her chalks ain’t no matter. She is a regular fore-and-after.’

2. (venery).—A double-barrelled (q.v.) harlot. [As in the song attributed to an eminent living man of letters: “Sing whore, sing whore, Behind and before, Her price is a shilling—She never gets more.”]

Fore-buttocks, subs. (old).—The paps.—For synonyms, see Dairy.

a. 1745. Swift, Pope, and Arbuthnot, Misc. iv., 222. Now her fore-buttocks to the navel bare.

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

Fore-coach-wheel, subs. (common).—A half-crown. For synonyms, see Caroon.

Fore-court, subs. phr. (venery).—The female pudendum. Also Fore-hatch, Fore-castle, and Fore-room. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Forefoot, subs. (old).—The hand.

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V., II., 1. Give me thy fist; thy forefoot to me give.

Foregather, verb. (old).—To share the sexual embrace. For synonyms, see Ride.

Forehatch, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. Also Forecastle.

Foreman, subs. (old).—1. The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick. [Cf., Forewoman.]

Foreman of the jury, subs. phr. (old).—A babbler; one with the gift of the gab (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Canting Crew. Foreman of the jury, he that engrosses all the talk to himself.

Foreskin Hunter, subs. phr. (venery).—A harlot. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

Forest, subs. (venery).—The female pubic hair. For synonyms, see Fleece.

1573–1631. Donne, Elegies, xviii. Yet ere thou be where thou would’st be embayed, Thou must upon another forest set, Where many shipwreck and no further get.

1720. Durfey, Pills, etc., vi., 146. Give me the Country lass, That trips it o’er the field, And opes her forest to the first.

Fore-stall, subs. (thieves’).—In garotting, a look-out in front of the operator, or ugly-man (q.v.); the watch behind is the back-stall (q.v.). [From fore + stall (q.v.).]

Forewoman, subs. (old).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Fork, subs. (old). 1. A pickpocket. Fr., ‘Avoir les mains crochues = to be a light-fingered or lime-fingered filcher; every finger of his hand as good as a lime-twig.’—Cotgrave.