Slang and its analogues, 2 | Project Gutenberg

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 66. To couch a hogshead: to ly downe and slepe. Ibid, I couched a hogshead in a skypper this darkemans.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). Cowch a hogshead: to lie doune and sleepe; this phrase is like an Alminacke that is out of date: now the duch word to slope is with them vsed, to sleepe, and liggen, to lie downe.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. iv., p. 37 (1874). The fumes of drink had now ascended into their brain, wherefore they coucht a hogs-head, and went to sleep.

1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, ch. xxx. ‘We’ll couch a hogshead, and so better had you.’ They retired to repose, accordingly.

Councillor of The Pipowder Court, subs. (old).—A pettifogging lawyer. [The Pipowder Court was one held at fairs, where justice was done to any injured person before the dust of the fair was off his feet; the name being derived from the French pié poudré. Some, however, think that it had its origin in pied-pouldreux, a pedlar, and signifies a pedlars’ court.

Council-of-Ten, subs. phr. (common).—The toes of a man who walks duck-footed (q.v.). Cf., Ten commandments. Fr., arpions.

Counsellor, subs. (Irish).—A barrister. Fr., un gerbier.

1889. Answers, 9 Feb. I referred him to my solicitors, who very kindly lent their services for nothing, giving the £3 he had to the counsellor (thieves always call barristers counsellors) employed.

Count, subs. (common).—A man of fashion; a swell.—See quot., 1883, and Dandy for synonyms.

1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 6 p.m., par. 20. Tremendous counts are the clerks in the secretary’s office, jaunty bureaucrats, who ride upon park hacks, and are ‘come for’ by ringlets in broughams at closing time.

1883. G. A. S[ala], in Ill. London News, April 21, p. 379, col. 2. Fops flourished before my time, but I can remember the ‘dandy,’ who was superseded by the count, the ‘toff,’ and other varieties of the ‘swell.’

Counter, verb (pugilistic).—To strike while parrying. Also used as a verbal subs., countering. Figuratively, to oppose; to circumvent.

1853. C. Bede, Verdant Green, pt. I., p. 106. His kissing traps countered, his ribs roasted. [190]

1857. O. W. Holmes, Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, ch. vii. He will certainly knock the little man’s head off, if he strikes him. Feinting, dodging, stopping, hitting, countering—little man’s head not off yet.

1871. Daily News, 17 April, p. 2, col. 2. The Jockey Club met on Wednesday last, when they countered the Hunt Committee … by refusing to father the said ‘wrangling stakes’ by a majority of eleven to three.

1873. Conservative, 15 Feb. If ‘The Druid’ is the prettier sparrer, ‘The Ædile’ must be admitted to have shown unexpected powers of countering, and has stood up gamely to his bigger opponent.

Counterfeit-Cranke, subs. (old).—Explained in quots.—See Cranke.

1567. Harman, Caveat. These that do counterfet the cranke be yong knaves and yonge harlots, that deeply dissemble the falling sickness.

1621. Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, p. 159. A lawyer of Bruges hath some notable examples of such counterfeit cranks. Ibid. 436. Thou art a counterfeit crank, a cheater.

1622. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii., 1. And these, what name or title e’er they bear, Jarkman, or Patrico, Cranke, or Clapper-dudgeon, Frater, or Abram-man, I speak to all That stand in fair election for the title Of king of beggars.

Counter-Jumper (or Skipper), subs. (common).—A draper’s assistant; a shopman. Fr., chevalier du mètre. For synonyms, see Knight of the yard. Also counter-jump = to act as a shop-assistant, and counter-jumping, verbal subs.

1855. C. Kingsley, Westward Ho. ‘Why,’ said he, stifling his anger, ‘it seems free enough to every counter-jumper in the town.’

1860. Guide to Eton, p. 236. They are like the young counter-jumper, mentioned by Dickens, on the outside of a coach, who lighted a great many cigars, and threw them away when he thought no one was looking.

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, II., 189. Mamma, dear, you open that gigantic wardrobe of yours, and I’ll oil my hair, whitewash my mug (a little moan from Mrs. D.), and do the counter-jumping business to the life.

1864. G. A. Sala, in Temple Bar, Dec., p. 40. He is as dextrous as a Regent Street counter-jumper in the questionable art of ‘shaving the ladies.’

1876. M. E. Braddon, Joshua Haggard, ch. viii. I don’t want my son and heir to keep company with counter jumpers.

Count-Noses, verbal phr. (parliamentary).—To count the ‘Ayes’ and ‘Noes.’ [A punning allusion to the latter.] Generally, to take the sense of any assembly.

Country, subs. (cricket).—That part of the ground at a great distance from the wicket; thus, a fielder at ‘deep-long-off,’ or ‘long-on’ is said ‘to be in the Country,’ and a ball hit to the far boundary is ‘hit into the Country.’

Country-Put, subs. (old).—An ignorant, country fellow. For synonyms, see Joskin.

1717. Mrs. Centlivre, Bold Stroke for a Wife, Act iv., Sc. 2. Col. F. Enough. Now for the country-put.

County-Crop, subs. (general).—The hair cut close to the skull; a mode once common to all prisoners, but now to convicts only. Also prison-crop. [An abbreviation of county-prison crop.] Used likewise adjectively.

1867. Jas. Greenwood, Unsent. Journeys, xxv., 199. A slangy, low-browed, [191]bull-necked, county-cropped … crew.

Couple- (also Buckle-) Beggar, subs. (old).—A celebrant of irregular marriages—as the Chaplain of the Fleet; a hedge priest. A Spanish colloquialism for such a marriage is bodijo.

1737. Swift, Proposal for Badges to the Beggars. Nay, their happiness is often deferred until they find credit to borrow, or cunning to steal, a shilling to pay their popish priest, or infamous couple-beggar.

1842. Lever, Handy Andy, ch. xxix. This was a degraded clergyman, known in Ireland under the title of Couple-Beggar, who was ready to perform irregular marriages on such urgent occasions as the present.

Couple of Shakes.—See Brace of Shakes.

Coupling-House, subs. (old).—A brothel. [From coupling, the act of copulating, + house.] For synonyms, see Nanny-shop.

Couranne.—See Caroon.

Court-Card, subs. (old).—A beau, or ‘swell.’ For synonyms, see Dandy.

Court Holy Water or Court Promises, subs. phr. (old).—Fair speeches without performance.

Cousin Betty, subs. (colloquial).—A half-witted person. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1860. Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia’s Lovers, ch. xiv. I dunnot think there’s a man living—or dead for that matter—as can say Foster’s wrong him of a penny, or gave short measure to a child or a cousin betty.

Cousin-Trumps, subs. (old).—One of a kind: brother smut; brother chip.

Couter or Cooter, subs. (common).—A sovereign. For synonyms, see Canary, sense 3. Half a couter = half-a-sovereign.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 243. ‘A foulcher, with flimsies and couters for a score of quid in it.’

1880. James Payn, A Confidential Agent, I., 207. ‘Well, he gave us half a couter at all events,’ pleaded John in mitigation.

Cove, Covey, Cofe, Cuffing, and, in the feminine, Covess, subs. (general).—1. A person; a companion. [Some derive cove from the Gypsy cova, covo = that man, covi = that woman; Cova, says Pott (quoted in Annandale), has a far wider application than the Latin res; there is no expression more frequent in a gypsy’s mouth. Others connect it with the north country coof; a lout or dolt.] Cove enters into many combinations: e.g.,

English Synonyms. Boy; chap; cull; cully; customer; kiddy; homo or omee; fish; put; bloke; gloak; party; cuss; codger; buffer; gaffer; damber; duck; chip.

French Synonyms. Bête à pain (popular: literally a bread-eater; also a man who ‘keeps’ a woman); un bonhomme (familiar); un type (prostitutes’ = a dupe); un gonce, gonse or gonze, and une gonzesse (thieves’); un goncier (thieves’); un gonsalé (thieves’); un gadouille; un nière or niert; un pante (thieves’: from pantin, a puppet); un mastic (thieves’: properly cement or putty); une mazette (military); une mecque (thieves’); un marquant (thieves’: especially applied to bullies or Sunday-men); un marpaut or marpeau (old cant); un lancier (thieves’); un lascar (thieves’); un messier or messière (thieves’: from mézière, a fool); un orgue (thieves’); un gas (thieves’); un gosselin (popular = Eng. covey; une fignolé gosseline = a ‘natty piece’); un gniasse (thieves’); un loncegue (thieves’).

German Synonyms. Baal (perhaps one of the most comprehensive terms in the Gaunersprache, and signifying not only a ‘cove’ [i.e., an individual], but also a master, husband, possessor, artist, expert, artisan—in fact, one owning or capable of anything. Combinations are Balbajis, Balbos [fem. Balboste, Balboëste] = master of the house; Baldower = a principal or leader of a gang, an adviser, the creator of opportunities, the spy; Baleze, Baleize = an adviser, also a chief of police; Balhoche [from Baal and hocho (there)], prostitutes’ = ‘one in possession’ but removeable; Balhoche (thieves’) = one with an opportunity of theft; Balhei is merely the abbreviation or Baalhe or hei; Balmassematten [masso umattan], the business man, the leader of a gang; Balmelocho, the artisan; Balmelochestift, the artisan’s apprentice; Balplete, Balpleite, the runaway; Balschochad, any official who takes bribes; Balspiess = a common lodging-house; Balm, Balmach, Balmachan, Palm, Palmer, Palmach, Pallmack, Pallmagen = a soldier; the Hanov. has Palemachome [Palemachen, Pallemacher]; Balverschmai = an inquisitor or judge); Brooker (Hanoverian = one in trousers, from the North German Broek or Bracca, trousers); Gatscho (from the Gypsy gaxo); Isch (from the Hebrew isch).

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight, in wks. (Grosart) III., 196. The word cove, or cofe, or cuffin, signifies a Man, a Fellow, etc.

1654. Witts, Recreations. As priest of the game, And prelate of the same, There’s a gentry cove here.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. x. ‘Do you see that old cove at the book-stall?’

1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. ii.: [a misquotation of a far older song.] ‘The ministers talk a great deal about port, And they makes Cape wine very dear, But blow their hi’s if ever they tries, To deprive a poor cove of his beer.’

1871. Figaro, 15 April. We need hardly say that the cove in question is not a man.

2. (Up-country Australian).—The master, ‘boss,’ or ‘gaffer’ of a sheep station.

Cove of Dossing-Ken, subs. phr. (thieves’).—The landlord of a common lodging-house. Fr., marchand de sommeil.

Covent-Garden, subs. (rhyming slang).—A ‘farden’ or farthing.

Covent-Garden Abbess, subs. (old).—A procuress. [Covent Garden at one time teemed with brothels: as Fielding’s Covent Garden Tragedy (1751–2) suggests. Cf., Bankside ladies, and Barnwell ague.]—See Covent-Garden ague and Abbess. For synonyms, see Mother.

Covent-Garden Ague, subs. phr. (old).—A venereal disease. [An allusion to brothels in the neighbourhood in question.] Cf., Bankside ladies. For synonyms, see Ladies’ fever.

Covent-Garden Nun, subs. phr. (old).—A prostitute.—[See Covent-garden ague and Nun.]

Coventry. To send one to, or to be in Coventry, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To exclude from social intercourse, or notice; to be in disgrace. [Variously but indecisively explained:—(1) From Coventry Gaol, as a place of imprisonment for Royalists during the Parliamentary war. (2) From the fact that in Coventry, as elsewhere, the privilege of trading was anciently confined to certain privileged persons. (3) As a corruption of put or sent into quarantine, the transition from ‘Coventry’ formerly pronounced and written Cointrie—(‘his breech of Cointrie blewe.’ Drayton’s Dowsabell: 1593)—being easy and natural, in which connection, see quot., 1821. The expression appears first in Grose, but ‘Quarantine’ used analogically is found in Swift.

1821. Croker, in Croker Papers, vol. I., p. 203. I found MacMahon in a kind of Coventry, and was warned not to continue my acquaintance with him.

1838. Lytton, Alice, bk. IV., ch. iii. ‘If any one dares to buy it, we’ll send him to Coventry.’

1869. Spencer, Study of Sociology, ch. x., p. 244 (9 ed.). The skilful artizan, who in a given period can do more than his fellows, but who dares not do it because he would be sent to Coventry by them.

1872. Post, 21 June. Another representation on behalf of Lieutenant Tribe, of the 9th Lancers, now for some months past in Coventry, will be made in the course of a few days to the Minister for War and to his Royal Highness Commanding-in-Chief.

Cover, subs. (thieves’).—A pickpocket’s confederate: one who ‘fronts,’ i.e., distracts the attention of, the victim; a stall (q.v.).

1868. Glasgow Gazette, 13 Nov. ‘A Sensitive Thief.’ I saw Merritt lift up the tail of a gentleman’s coat and thrust his hand into the pocket.… Jordan and O’Brien were covering Merritt while so acting. I knew them all to be regular thieves.

3. (venery).—To ‘have’ or ‘possess’ a woman. [Properly used of a stallion and a mare.]

1653. Urquhart, Translation of Rabelais. Madam, it would be a very great benefit to the commonwealth, delightful to you, honourable to your progeny, and necessary for me, that I cover you for the propagating of my race. [194]

Cover-arse Gown, subs. phr. (Univ., obsolete).—A gown without sleeves.

Cover-Down, subs. (thieves’).—An obsolete term for a false tossing coin.—See Cap.

Cover-Me-Decently, verbal phr. (old).—A coat. For synonyms, see Capella.

1821. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, p. 5. (Dicks’ ed., 1889.) Tom. This, what do you call it?—this cover-me-decently, was all very well at Hawthorn Hall, I daresay.

Covess, subs. (old).—A woman.—See Cove.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 144. He was well acquainted with the cove and covess.

1827. Sir E. B. Lytton, Pelham, p. 310 (ed. 1864). Ah, Bess my covess, strike me blind if my sees don’t tout your bingo muns in spite of the darkmans.

Covey, subs. (common).—A man; a diminutive of cove (q.v.).

1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act iii., Sc. 3. Tom. Well there’s a flimsy for you; serve the change out in max to the covies.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. viii. Upon this, the boy crossed over; and, walking close up to Oliver, said, ‘Hullo, my covey! what’s the row?’

1854. Aytoun and Martin, The Bon Gaultier Ballads. ‘The Laureate’s Tourney.’ ‘Undo the helmet! cut the lace! pour water on his head!’ ‘It ain’t no use at all, my lord; ’cos vy? the covey’s dead.’

1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 19. Ah! Ah! you half-starved, hungry, ugly-looking covey, why, if they had you in the country where I came from they’d boil you down for the pigs.

Cow, subs. (old).—1. A woman. The term is now opprobrious; but in its primary and natural sense the usage is ancient. Howell [1659] says: ‘There are some proverbs that carry a kind of authority with them, as that which began in Henrie the Fourth’s time. “He that bulls the cow must keep the calf.” ’ For synonyms, see Petticoat.

2. (general).—A prostitute. [By analogy from sense 1.] Fr., une vache. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1870. Athenæum, 10 Sept. ‘Liverpool.’ All over Lancashire a horse is called a cow, which everywhere else where slang prevails is a cant term for a thousand pounds.

Cowan, subs. (common).—A sneak or prying individual. Among masons the uninitiate in general.

Cow-and-Calf, verb (rhyming slang).—To laugh.

Coward’s-Castle or Corner, subs. phr. (popular).—A pulpit. [Because a clergyman may deliver himself therefrom without fear of contradiction or argument.] For synonyms, see Hum-box.

1883. Notes and Queries, 6 S., viii., p. 147. Coward’s Castle.… An epithet … in use not inaptly for a [195]pulpit. Ibid. p. 238. I have often heard the pulpit called the Coward’s Castle, it being said to be ‘six feet above argument.’

Cowcumber, subs. (vulgar).—A corruption of ‘cucumber.’

1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act iii., Sc. 3. Bob. Very vell, two pound, vith a pickled cowcumber, and a pen’orth o’ ketchup.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xxv. In case there should be such a thing as a cowcumber in the house will you be so kind as bring it, for I’m rayther partial to ’em myself, and they does a world of good in a sick room.

Cow- (also Bushel- and Sluice-) Cunted, adj. phr. (venery).—term of opprobrium applied to women deformed by parturition or debauchery.

Cow-Grease or Cow-Oil, subs. (common).—Butter. For synonyms, see Cart-grease.

Cow-Juice, subs. (popular).—Milk. Cf., Bung-juice and Cow-grease. For synonyms, see Sky-blue.

Cow-Lick, subs. (common).—A peculiar lock of hair, greased, curled, brought forward from the ear, and plastered on the cheek. Once common amongst costermongers and tramps. For synonyms, see Aggerawators.

Cow-Oil.—See Cow-grease.

Cow-Puncher, subs. (American).—A cowboy or herdsman.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 21 July. He was a cowboy, or, in Western parlance, a cow-puncher.

Cow-Quake, subs. (Irish).—The roar of a bull.

Cows-and-Kisses, subs. (rhyming slang).—The ‘missus,’ or mistress; also women generally.

1887. Horsley, Jottings from Jail. Come, cows-and-kisses, put the battle of the Nile on your Barnet fair, and a rogue and villain in your sky-rocket.

Cow’s-Baby or Babe, subs. (common).—A calf. In Old Cant bleating-cheat (q.v.). For synonyms, see Mooer; Cf., Cow-juice and Cow’s-spouse. Also a poltroon; Fr., un fouinard, un fouetteux de chats, un fouailleur, un foie, un flemard or flaquadin, or un frileux.

Cow-Shooter, subs. (Winchester College).—A ‘deerstalker’ hat: only worn by præfects and ‘candle-keepers.’

Cow’s-Spouse, subs. (old).—A bull.—Grose [1785].

Cow With the Iron Tail, subs. phr. (general).—A pump; the source of the ‘cooling medium’ for ‘regulating’ milk. Thus, Dr. Wendell Holmes, in The Professor at the Breakfast Table (1860):—It is a common saying of a jockey that he is all horse, and I have often fancied that milkmen get a stiff upright carriage, and an angular movement that reminds one of a pump and the working of a handle. Also black-cow; one-armed man; and Simpson’s cow (q.v.).

1872. Standard, 25 Dec. Simpson … is, however, universally accepted as the title for that combined product of the Cow natural, and the cow with the iron tail. [196]

1876. Once a Week, 23 August. Every drop of milk brought into Paris is tested at the barriers by the lactometer, to see if the iron tailed cow has been guilty of diluting it; if so, the whole of it is remorselessly thrown into the gutter—the Paris milk is very pure in consequence.

Coxy, adj. (public schools’).—Stuck up; conceited; impudent.

1856. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-days, p. 202. He’s the coxiest young blackguard in the house—I always told you so. Ibid, p. 214. ‘Confoundly coxy those young rascals will get if we don’t mind,’ was the general feeling.

1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. iv. ‘Now then young Bultitude, you used to be a decent fellow enough last term, though you were coxy. So, before we go any further—what do you mean by this sort of thing?’

Coyduck, verb (old).—To decoy. [An ingenious blend of conduct and decoy.]

1829. A Laconic Narrative of the Life and Death of James Wilson. That awful monster, William Burke. Like Reynard sneaking on the lurk, Coyducked his prey into his den And then the woeful work began.

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

Cozza, subs. (cheap Jacks’).—See quot.

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack. p. 28. Mo … declared he would never eat another bit of cozza, i.e., pork, as long as he lived.

Crab, subs. (auction).—The same as bonnet (q.v.), subs., sense 1.

Verb (thieves’).—To expose; to inform; to offend or insult; and especially to interrupt, to get in the way of, to spoil. [Properly to render harsh, sour, or peevish; to make crabbed.] Also used adjectively. For synonyms, see Peach and Rile, respectively.

1825. The English Spy, vol. I., p. 179. Liveryman, Eglantine. What coming crabb over us, old fellow? Very well, I shall bolt and try Randall, and that’s all about it.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 232. If a patterer has been crabbed, that is offended at any of the ‘cribs’ (houses), he mostly chalks a signal on or near the door. Ibid, vol. II., p. 568. ‘We don’t crab one another when we are sweeping; if we was to crab one another, we’d get to fighting and giving slaps of the jaw to one another.’

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, pp. 5–6. Others, however, would be what we termed crabbed.

1880. Millikin, Punch’s Almanack. Crab your enemies,—I’ve got a many, You can pot ’em proper for a penny.

To catch a crab; also to cut a crab; to catch or cut a cancer or lobster, verbal phr. (common).—There are various ways of catching a crab, as, for example, (1) to turn the blade of the oar or ‘feather’ under water at the end of the stroke, and thus be unable to recover; (2) to lose control of the oar at the middle of the stroke by ‘digging’ too deeply; or (3) to miss the water altogether.

Crab Louse, subs. (old).—The pulex pubis, the male whereof is called a cock, the female a hen.—Grose [1785].

Crabs, subs. (thieves’).—1. The feet. [A punning comparison of the feet and ten toes to the ten-footed, short-tailed crustaceans popularly known as ‘crabs.’] For synonyms, see Creepers. In Haggart (see Glossary, 1821) crabs = shoes. [197]

1768. Lord Carlisle, in Jesse’s Selwyn, II., 238 (1882). I hope you have left off hazard. If you are still so foolish, and will play, the best thing I can wish you is, that you may win and never throw crabs.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (Hard Times), p. 4, ed. 1851. Well, we know in these cases Your crabs and ‘Deuce Aces’ Are wont to promote frequent changes of places.

1874. G. A. Lawrence, Hagarene, ch. iii. ‘My annuity drops with me; and if this throw comes off crabs, there won’t be enough to bury me, unless I die a defaulter.’

To turn out crabs or a case of crabs, verbal phr. (common).—A matter turns out crabs when it is brought to a disagreeable conclusion. [Cf., Crab, verb, in the sense of to interrupt; to get in the way of; to spoil.]

Crabshells, subs. (popular).—Shoes. [From crabs, subs., sense 1 (q.v.), + shells, an outer covering.] For synonyms, see Trotter-cases.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 210, ‘Now these ’ere shoes,’ he said … ‘even now, with a little mending, they’ll make a tidy pair of crab-shells again.’

1889. Answers, July 20, p. 121, col. 2. The state of my crabshells, or boots, pointed to the fact that I had come down in the world.

Crack, subs. (old).—A crazy person, or soft-head. [From crack = to impair, or to be impaired.] For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight, in wks. (Grosart) III., 212. A Foyst nor a Nip shall not walke into a Fayre or a Play-house, but euerie cracke will cry looke to your purses.

b. 1672, d. 1719. Addison (quoted in Annandale). I cannot get the Parliament to listen to me, who look upon me as a crack.

2. (old).—A prostitute, see sense 4. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1698. Farquhar, Love and a Bottle, Act v., Sc. 3. You imagine I have got your whore, cousin, your crack.

1705–7. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. II., pt. II., p. 27. Old Leachers, Harridans, and Cracks.

1715. Vanbrugh, Country House, II., v. For you must know my sister was with me, and it seems he took her for a crack, and I being a forward boy he fancied I was going to make love to her under a hedge, ha, ha.

3. (old).—A lie. Cf., Cracker (the modern form), and for synonyms, see Whopper.

1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act ii. Miss N. There’s something generous in my cousin’s manner. He falls out before faces to be forgiven in private. Tony. That’s a damned confounded crack.

5. (thieves’).—A burglary. Cf., Crack a crib, and for synonyms, see Panny. [The term originated about the beginning of the present century. Fr., une fraction.]

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood p. 120 (ed. 1864). We’ll overhaul the swag here, when the speak is spoken over. This crack may make us all for life. [198]

1841. G. W. Reynolds, Pickwick Abroad, ch. xxvi. But should the traps be on the sly, For a change we’ll have a crack.

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, Act i., Sc. 5. Come on, then! A sweet ride of a dozen miles, just to cool one’s head, then for the crack; and then back to London.

1889. Answers, 13 April, p. 313. Such inscriptions as ‘Poor Joe from the Dials in for a crack,’ meaning ‘Poor Joe from Seven Dials in for a burglary,’ are numerous.

1749. Life of Bampfylde-Moore Carew. Suffer none, from far or near, With their rights to interfere; No strange Abram, ruffler crack.

1857. Punch, 31 Jan. (from slang song). That long over Newgit their Worships may rule, As the High-toby, mob, crack, and screeve model school.

1825. English Spy, p. 255. Most noble cracks and worthy cousin trumps, permit me to introduce a brother of the togati.

1864. Glasgow Herald, 5 April. ‘Report of R. N. Y. Club.’ This vessel (one of Fyfe’s cracks) being almost new, and coppered, will be free from the objectionable fouling which is so great a drawback to the use of iron yachts.

1871. London Figaro, 17 Oct. Does it mean that the crack is a thing of the past, and that the learned author is no longer to be considered as a crack?

1889. Answers, March 23, p. 265, col. 3. Warders are not, thank goodness, first-rate shots, but even a crack would find it difficult to hit a man’s head appearing for only a moment or two in probably a heavy fog.

8. (turf).—A racehorse eminent for speed. Hunting: a famous ‘mount.’ [An extension of the usage in sense 7.]

1853. Diogenes, II., 271. ‘The Betting Boy’s Lament.’ Cesarewitch, Cambridgeshire now No longer for me have a charm; the cracks may be ranged in a row, But for me they’ve no fear nor alarm.

1864. Derby Day, p. 38. Sir Bridges Sinclair would not scratch a horse—no, not if it was ever so, let alone a Derby crack.

1871. Standard, 6 Nov. Unlimited gossip as to the welfare and chances of forthcoming cracks.

1883. The Echo, Feb. 7, p. 3, col. 6. I give below a few of the probable starters for the Waterloo Cup, including all the cracks.

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 155. Of course he was au courant with all the rumours concerning the Panton Lodge crack.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 358. The next process is to look for some crack (some dry wood to light a fire).

Adj. (colloquial).—Approaching perfection; used in a multitude or combinations. A crack hand is an adept or ‘dabster’; a crack corps, a brilliant regiment; a crack whip, a good coachman; etc. As a connecting link between the adjective and the earlier use of crack, cf., The crack.

1836. W. H. Smith, The Individual, 13 Nov. ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’ Her duds are bob—she’s a kinchin crack, and I hopes as how she’ll never back.

1839. Thackeray, Fatal Boots (July). And such a crack-shot myself, that fellows were shy of insulting me.

1859. Whitty, Political Portraits, p. 106. But he [the Earl of Shaftesbury] has insisted on a recognition of the facts of our appalling civilisation, and that was a good deal to do, which none other than a Peer and crack Christian could hope to do. Ibid, p. 288. The whippers-in will never receive instructions to find the addresses of the brilliances of Union debating clubs, bar messes, and crack newspapers.

1865. M. E. Braddon, Henry Dunbar, ch. xx. Who was moreover a crack shot, a reckless cross-country-going rider, and a very tolerable amateur artist. [199]

Verb (old).—1. To talk to; to boast. [The verb was once good English, and in the sense of to talk or gossip is still good Scots. The modern form to crack-up, is well within the borderland between literary and colloquial English. The following quots., together with those under crack-up, form an unbroken series].

1597. G. Harvey, Trimming of Nashe, in wks. (Grosart) III., 31. So you may cracke your selfe abroad, and get to be reported the man you are not.

1621. Burton, Anat. of Mel., I., II., III., xiv., 199, (1876). Your very tradesmen, if they be excellent, will crack and brag, and show their folly in excess.

1654. Witts, Recreations. And let them that crack In the praises of sack, Know malt is of mickle might.

2. (thieves’).—To force open; to commit a burglary. [A shorter form of crack a crib (q.v.)]

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xix. The crib’s barred up at night like a jail; but there’s one part we can crack, safe and softly.

3. (American thieves’).—To forge or utter worthless paper. [An extension by analogy of ‘to crack,’ i.e., ‘to force,’ and ‘cracksman,’ a burglar.]

b. 1631. d. 1701. Dryden [quoted in Annandale]. The credit of the exchequer cracks when little comes in and much goes out.

c. 1850, but date uncertain. Broadside Ballad, ‘Bates’ Farm.’ I mean to crack a crib to-night, but pals don’t crack on me.

To crack a bottle or a quart, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To drink. Analogous and equally old is ‘to crush a cup.’ Fr., étouffer une négresse or un enfant de chœur. For synonyms, see Lush.

1598. Shakspeare, II. Henry IV., v., 3, 66. Shal. By the mass, you’ll crack a quart together.

1711. Spectator. No. 234. He hems after him in the public street, and they must crack a bottle at the next tavern.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VIII., ch. vii. ‘What,’ says the wife, ‘you have been tippling with the gentleman! I see.’ ‘Yes,’ answered the husband, ‘we have cracked a bottle together.’

1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. viii. ‘You have cracked my silver-mounted cocoa-nut of sack, and tell me that you cannot sing!’

1853. Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, ch. xvii., p. 221. ‘I chose to invite the landlords of the ‘Bell’ and the ‘Lion’ to crack a bottle with me.’

To crack a crib, swag, or ken, verbal phr. (thieves’).—To commit a burglary; to break into a house. [From crack, to force open, + crib, a house.]

English Synonyms. To stamp a ken or crib; to work a panny; to jump a house (also applied to simple robbery without burglary); to do a crack; to practice the black art; to screw; to bust a crib; to flimp; to buz; to tool; to wire; to do a ken-crack-lay.

French Synonyms. Faire un cassement de porte (thieves’); faire une condition (thieves’); faire copeaux (thieves’: in allusion to the splinters from a forced door); écorner une boutanche or un boucard (thieves’ = to enter shops burglariously); faire un vol à l’esquinte (thieves’); [200]maquiller une cambriole (thieves’: maquiller = to do, to ‘fake’—an almost universal verb of action); faire fric-frac; nettoyer un bocart (thieves’).

German Synonyms. Aufnollen (to ‘burgle’ with skeleton keys); aufplatzen (literally ‘to wrench’ or ‘break open’); aufschränken (schränken [from Schranke, O.H.G. screnchan, M.H.G. schranne, schrange, schrand] = a burglary with violence. Schränker = burglar. Up to the middle of the present century burglars used to be called Schränker a zierlicher; Schränkmassematten = a burglary with violence; Schränkzeug, Schränkschaure, Schränkschurrich = burglars’ tools); blaupfeifen (Viennese thieves’); Cassne handeln or melochenen (to commit burglary with open violence); einen Massematten handeln (Massematten is a word whose Hebraic components very nearly correspond to the English ‘debit and credit’; it signifies commerce and activity—of the kind that pertains to cracksmanship; e.g., einen Massematten baldowern, to make an opportunity for theft; einen Massematten stehen haben, to have ‘dead-lurked’ a crib, or prepared a burglary; Massematten bekoach, a burglary with violence.)

1830. Bulwer Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 297, ed. 1854. And you ‘members as now I met Harry and you—there, and I vas all afeard at you—cause vy? I had never seen you afore and ve vas a going to crack a swell’s crib.’

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, Act i., Sc. 5. Jer. Now comes the grand spec; we go to crack a ken; Kit’s in, so’s the captain. Steady’s the word; I go first, you all follow.

1871. Standard, 26 Dec. If their pals outside, the gentry who hocus Jack ashore in the east, pick the pockets of Lord Dundreary in the west, and crack cribs in the lonely outskirts could only realise how miserable the Christmas-day was for them, we might look out for a needful retrenchment in the estimates of penal expenditure.

1871. Morning Advertiser, 11 May. ‘Leader.’ He took to burglary, employing professional burglars to assist him, whenever it became necessary to crack a crib.

To crack a crust, phr. (common).—To rub along in the world. A superlative for doing very well is, To crack a tidy crust.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 445. I am now just managing to crack an honest crust; and while I can do that I will never thieve more.

To crack a ken, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To commit a burglary; to crack a crib (q.v.).—[See Crack, verb, sense 2 and Ken.]

To crack a whid, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To talk. [Whid (q.v.) = a word: Old Cant.] Cf., Cut, verb, sense 1. For synonyms, see Patter.

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 22. The whids as the words or set phrases used by Cheap Johns in disposing of their articles are called are very much alike … many little circumstances occur when they (the whids) are being cracked which are lost to a reader.

To crack on, verb. phr. (common).—To ‘put on speed’; increase one’s pace.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xi. ‘I shot a wild goose at River Philip last year, with the rice of Varginny fresh in his crop; he must have cracked on near about as fast as them other geese, the British travellers.’ [201]

1876. Broadside Ballad [quoted in C. G. Leland’s Captain Jonas]. We carried away the royal yards, and the stuns’le boom was gone. Says the skipper, ‘they may go or stand, I’m darned if I don’t crack on.’

To crack up, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To praise; eulogize. A superlative is to crack up to the nines. Fr., faire l’article, (commercial travellers’) and faire son boniment or son petit boniment (cheap jacks’ and showmen’s).

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit. Ch. 33 … We must be cracked up, said Mr. Chollop, darkly.

1856. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-days, p. 139. Then don’t object to my cracking up the old school house, Rugby.

1878. Jas. Payn, By Proxy, ch. i. ‘We find them cracking up the country they belong to, no matter how absurd may be the boast.’

The crack, or all the crack, phr. (general).—The go (q.v.); ‘the thing’; the ‘kick’; the general craze of the moment.

In a crack, phr. (colloquial).—Instantaneously; in the twinkling of an eye. For synonyms, see Bedpost.

1725. Ramsay, Gentle Shepherd, Act i. I trow, when that she saw, within a crack, She came with a right thieveless errand back.

1763. Foote, Mayor of Garrett, Act i. Nic Goose, the taylor, from Putney, they say, will be here in a crack.

1819. Byron, Don Juan, ch. i., st. 135. ‘They’re on the stair just now, and in a crack will all be here.’

1842. Punch, vol. III., p. 136. In a crack the youth and maiden To a flowery bank did come.

Cracked or Cracked-Up, ppl. adj. phr. (colloquial).—1. Ruined; ‘bust up’; ‘gone to smash’ or to ‘pot.’ For synonyms, see Dead broke.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 2 [also pp. 24, 47]. If a Catholic coster,—there’s only a very few of them—is cracked up (penniless) he’s often started again, and the others have a notion that it’s through some chapel fund. Ibid, p. 22. ‘If we’re cracked up, that is, if we’re forced to go into the Union.’

1870. Britannia, June. ‘Speculation in 1870.’ Of these there only remain now 122 companies, with a capital of a hundred and eighty millions, the rest having one and all cracked up, as the Americans would say.

1872. Daily Telegraph, 3 Sept. ‘Police Court Report.’ Mr. Bushby: Is her head affected? The Prisoner: Am I cracked? Of course—in the nut. You’ll be to-morrow.

Cracker, subs. (common).—Anything approaching perfection. Used in both a good and bad sense; e.g., a rattling pace, a large sum of money, a bad fall, an enormous lie, a dandy (male or female) of the first magnitude, and so forth. [Cf., Crack, subs.; senses 3 and 7, adj., and verb, sense 1.]

1861. Whyte Melville, Good for Nothing, ch. vi. ‘I remember … Belphegor’s year. What a cracker I stood to win on him and the Rejected!’

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, I., 28. You know the University was in a manner beaten, and he took the blame. He never cried; that was a cracker of those fellows.

1869. Daily News, Nov. 8. ‘Leader.’ Now he’s gone a cracker over head and ears.

1871. Daily News, Nov. 1. ‘Prince of Wales’ Visit to Scarborough.’ The shooting party, mounting their forest ponies, came up the straight a cracker, Lord Carrington finishing a good first. [202]

1883. Graphic, March 24, p, 303, col. 1. He [the Oxford stroke] could also depend on his own men for not falling to pieces through being taken off at a cracker.

Crackey.—See Crikey.

Crack-Halter, or Crack-Rope, subs. (old).—A vagabond; an old equivalent of jail-bird. Cf., Hemp-seed.

1566. Gascoigne, Supposes, i., 4. You crackhalter, if I catch you by the ears, I’ll make you answer directly.

1607. Dekker, Northward Hoe, IV., i. Featherstone’s boy, like an honest crack-halter, laid open all to one of my prentices.

1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, ch. xxx. ‘Hark ye, ye crack-rope padder, born-beggar, and hedge-thief,’ replied the hag.

Crack-Hunter, or Haunter, subs. (venery).—The penis. Cf., Crack, subs., sense 4. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Cracking, verbal subs. (thieves’).—House-breaking. [From crack, verb, sense 2.]

1862. Cornhill Mag., vol. VI., 651. We are going a-flimping, buzzing, cracking, tooling, etc.

Crackish, adj. (old).—Wanton, said only of women. [From crack, subs., sense 4.] Cf., Coming.

Crack-Jaw Words, Names, etc., subs. (colloquial).—Long words difficult to pronounce. [From crack, to break, + jaw, speech.] Variants are half-crown words, jaw-breakers, and cramp words.

1876. M. E. Braddon, Joshua Haggard’s Daughter, ch. vii. ‘He brings her plants with crackjaw names.’

1883. Daily Telegraph, June 25, p. 3, col. 1. ‘Some of the ways with the crack-jaw names of cooking it would give it a foreign flavour to me.’

Crackle or Crackling, subs. (University).—The velvet bars on the gowns of the Johnian ‘hogs’ (q.v.). [From their resemblance to the scored rind on roast pork.] The covered bridge between one of the courts and the grounds of John’s is called the Isthmus of Suez (Latin sus, a swine).

1885. Cuthbert Bede, in Notes and Queries, 6 S., xi., 414. The word crackle refers to the velvet bars on the students’ gowns.

Crackmans or Cragmans, subs. (old).—A hedge.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. The cull thought to have loped, by breaking through the crackmans, but we fetched him back by a nope.

Crack or Break One’s Egg, or Duck, verbal phr. (cricket).—To begin to score. [To make no run is to ‘lay, or make, a duck’s egg’; to make none in either innings is ‘to get a double-duck,’ or to come off with a pair of spectacles.]

1890. Polytechnic Magazine, 5 June, p. 367, col. 2. Watson bowled splendidly, taking 8 wickets at a very small cost, two of his foemen being unable to crack their egg.

Crack-Pot, subs. (popular).—A pretentious, worthless person. For synonyms, see Swash-Buckler.

1883. Broadside Ballad, ‘I’m Living with Mother now.’ My aunty knew lots, and called them crack-pots.

Crack-Rope.—See Crack-halter. [203]

Cracksman, subs. (popular).—1. A housebreaker. [From crack, verb, sense 2, + man; literally one who cracks or forces his way into a house.] For synonyms, see Thieves.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 298, ed. 1854. I have no idea of a gentleman turning cracksman.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, p. 123. You’ll be a fine young cracksman afore the old file now.

1837. Barham, I. L. (Lay of St. Aloys). Your cracksman, for instance, thinks night-time the best To break open a door or the lid of a chest.

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard (1889), p. 70. I’ll turn cracksman, like my father.

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 21 Nov., p. 6, col. 1. The latest dodge among cracksmen is to personate an electric-light man.

Cradle, Altar, and Tomb Column, subs. phr. (American).—The births, marriages, and deaths column in newspaper. An English equivalent is hatch, match, and dispatch column.

Crag.—See Scrag.

Cram, subs. (popular).—1. A lie; oftentimes crammer. [The idea is that of stuffing with nonsense.] For synonyms, see Whopper.

Cross-cove	= a robber.
Flash-cove	= a thief or swindler.
Kinchin-cove	= a little man.
Flogging-cove	= a beadle.
Smacking-cove	= a coachman.
Narry-cove	= a drunkard.
Topping-cove	= a highwayman.
Abram-cove	= a beggar.
Queer-cove	= a rogue.
Nubbing-cove	= the hangman.
Gentry-cove	= a gentleman.
Downy-cove	= a shrewd man.
Rum-cove	= a doubtful character.
Nib-cove	= a gentleman,

Pony	= £25.
Century	= £100.
Monkey	= £500.
Plum	= £100,000.
Marigold	= £1,000,000.