Slang and its analogues, 2 | Project Gutenberg

Dinarly or Dinali, subs. (theatrical).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt. Nantee or Nanti Dinarly = no money. Sp., dinero; Lingua Franca, niente dinaro = not a penny.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 149. ‘I have got no money’ is, ‘My nabs has nanti dinali’ [among strolling actors].

1870. South London Press, 8 Oct., Advt. So don’t forget when you’ve the tin To here spend your ‘Dinarley.’

Dine-out, verb. phr. (common).—To go dinnerless, to dine with Duke Humphrey (q.v.). Variants: to take a Spitalfields’ breakfast (q.v.), or an Irishman’s dinner (q.v.), also to go out and count the railings (q.v.). Fr., Se coucher bredouille = to go to bed supperless; aller voir défiler les dragons = to go and watch the dragoons march past; diner en ville = to dine in town, i.e., to munch a roll in the street or to eat nothing; lire le journal.

1888. All the Year Round, 9 June. p. 542. To ‘dine with Duke Humphrey,’ or, as it is now sometimes more shortly phrased, to ‘dine out,’ in both cases meaning not to dine at all.

Dine with Duke Humphrey, verb. phr. (old).—To go dinnerless; to dine out (q.v.).—[Origin uncertain; supposed, however, to refer to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the youngest son of Henry the Fourth, who, though really buried at St. Alban’s, was reputed to have a monument in [288]Old St. Paul’s, from which one part of the church was termed Duke Humphrey’s Walk. Old Paul’s was a regular promenade, especially for lackeys out of livery, and ruffians and sea-captains out of luck. Thus Falstaff explains of Bardolph that he ‘got him in Paul’s,’ while Jonson actually lays the scene of Every Man Out of His Humour (1599), in ‘The Middle Aisle of St. Paul’s,’ to introduce his cavaliero Shift. Shift and Bardolph, in fact, were what is now called ‘inspectors of public buildings’; they walked in Paul’s on the chance of a pick-up, and they dined by looking at the monuments. The Bodleian Library was founded by the same Duke Humphrey, and the Gentleman’s Mag. (1794, p. 529) records that when a student stayed on during the dinner hour, at which time it used to be closed, he was said to dine with Duke Humphrey. An alternative traces the saying to the report that Duke Humphrey was starved to death. Chambers, in his Historical Sketch of St. Giles’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, records a similar pleasantry concerning the tomb of the Earl of Murray, and quotes a Scots poet, one Sempill (16th cent.), who makes a hungry idler say: I dined with saints and gentlemen, E’en sweet St. Giles and the Earl of Murray. See Wharton, Hist. of Eng. Poetry (ed. 1824), vol. IV., p. 361.

1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse, in wks., ii., 18. I … retired me to Paules, to seeke my dinner with Duke Humfrey.

1592. Gab. Harvey, Four Letters. To seek his dinner in Poules with Duke Humphrey.

1608. The Penniless Parliament of Threadbare Poets. And if I prove not that a mince-pie is the better weapon, let me dine twice a week at Duke Humphry’s table.

1664. H. Peacham, Worth of a Penny, in Arber’s Garner, vol. VI., p. 273. Who, having been troubled with over much money, afterward, in no long time, have been fain, after ‘a long dinner with Duke Humphrey,’ to take a nap on ‘penniless bench,’ only to verify the old proverb, ‘A fool and his money is soon parted.’

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. lv. My mistress and her mother must have dined with Duke Humphrey, had I not exerted myself in their behalf.

1884. Daily Telegraph, 22 Jan., p. 5, col. 3. In future, not even the most impecunious of diners-out must accept an invitation from Duke Humphrey.

Ding, verb (Old Cant, in some senses).—Used as a colloquialism (as in Scott) it signifies to knock, to strike down, to pound or (as in quot., 1786) to give way: while in slang it means to get rid of; to pass to a confederate; ‘to steal by a single effort.’ To ding a castor = to snatch a hat and run with it: the booty being dinged if it has to be thrown away. Going upon the ding = to go on the prowl. Ding the tot! = Run away with the lot!

c. 1340. Hampole, Pricke of Conscience, 7015 (ed. Morris). Right swa pe devels salle ay dyng, on pe synfulle, withouten styntyng.

1600. Sir John Oldcastle, Act III., Sc. ii. For the credit of Dunstable, ding down the money to-morrow.

1610. Jonson, Alchemist, V., iii. Sur. [without]. Down with the door. Kas. [without]. ’Slight, ding it open.

1773. O. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act II. If I’m to have any good, let it come of itself; not to keep dinging it, dinging it into one so.

1821. Pierce Egan, Tom and Jerry [ed. 1890], p. 78. Oh I took him such a lick of his mummer, and dinged his rattle clean out of his hand.

b. 1793, d. 1872. Dean Ramsey. Our meenister’s dinged the guts out of twa Bibles. [289]

1846. Dickens, Dombey, ch. ix., p. 74. These were succeeded by anchor and chain-cable forges, where sledge hammers were dinging upon iron all day long.

Ding-Bat, subs. (American).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

Ding-Boy, subs. (old).—A rogue; a bully.

Ding-Dong. To go at it, or to it, ding-dong, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To tackle with vigor, or in right good earnest. Formerly, helter-skelter, (Grose, 1785).

1887. H. Smart, Saddle and Sabre, ch. xx. For the next hundred yards it was a ding-dong struggle between them.

Dinge, subs. (Royal Military Academy).—A picture or painting.

Dinged, adj. (American).—A euphemism for ‘darned’ = dammed. Sometimes Ding-goned.—See Oaths.

Dinger, subs. (old).—1. A thief who throws away his booty to escape detection. [From ding (q.v.), to throw away + er.]

Ding-fury, subs. (provincial).—Huff; anger.

Ding-goned.—See Dinged.

Dingle, adj. (old).—Hackneyed; used up.

1786. The Microcosm, No. 3. Your Mic is dead-lounge—dissipates insufferable ennui of tea-table,—fills boring intervals of conversazione,… By the by, in your next propose some new lounge.—They are all so dingle at present, they are quite a bore.

Dining-Room, subs. (common).—The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

Dining-room chairs, subs. phr. (common).—The teeth; also dinner-set (q.v.). For synonyms, see Grinders.

Dining-Room Post, subs. phr. (old).—Petty pilfering done from houses by sham postmen.

Dink, adj. (Scots’ colloquial).—Dainty; trim.

Dinner-set, subs. (common).—The teeth. ‘Your dinner-set wants looking to’ = you need to go to the dentist. For synonyms, see Grinders.

Dip, subs. (thieves’).—1. A pickpocket; also dipper and dipping-bloke. For synonyms, see Stook-Hauler.

1866. Vance, The Chickaleary Cove. Off to Paris I shall go to show a thing or two To the dipping-blokes wot hangs about the cafés.

1888. St. Louis Globe Democrat. A dip touched the Canadian sheriff for his watch and massive chain while he was reading the Riot Act.

1837. Barham, I. L. (Ingoldsby Penance.) None of your rascally dips, but sound, Best superfine wax-wicks, four to the pound.

Verb (thieves’).—1. To pick pockets. To dip a lob = to rob a till. Also to go on the dipe = to go pocket-picking. For synonyms, see Frisk.

1817. Sporting Mag. Defence of Groves at Bristol Assizes. I have dipped into 150 … pockets and not found a shilling.

1693. Dryden, Persius, vi., 160. Put out the principal in trusty hands: Live of the use; and never dip thy lands.

1711. Spectator, No. 114. What gives the unhappy man this peevishness of spirit is, that his estate is dipped, and is eating out with usury; and yet he has not the heart to sell any part of it.

1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xiv. You have but one son, and he has a fortune of his own, as I happen to know. You haven’t dipped it, Master Philip?

To dip one’s beak, verb. phr. (common).—To drink. For synonyms, see Lush.

Dipe.—See Dip, verb, sense 1.

1877. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’) Life on the Mississippi, p. 460. i felt very rough and was thinking i would have to go on the dipe again.

Dipped in Wing, adv. phr. (popular).—Worsted.

Dipper, subs. (old).—1. A baptist.—[Grose, 1785.]

Dipping-bloke.—See Dip, subs., sense 1.

Dips, subs. (nautical).—1. The purser’s boy.

Dipstick, subs. (old).—A gauger.

Dirk, subs. (Scots’).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Dirt, subs. (American).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

To eat dirt, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To submit to insult; to eat broiled crow, or humble pie (q.v.); to retract.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. x. Though they bow before a calf, is it not a golden one? though they ‘eat dirt,’ is it not dressed by a French cook?

1861. New York Evening Post, 4 Jan. After eating so much dirt, are we asked to swallow free soil?

1689. Selden, Table Talk, p. 104 (Arber’s ed.). One that writes against his Adversary, and throws all the dirt he can in his Face.

1705. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. I., pt. ii., p. 11. Scurrility’s a useful trick, Approv’d by the most politick; Fling dirt enough, and some will stick.

1875. Ouida, Signa, vol. I., ch. xv., p. 358. A wicked old tongue that could throw dirt with any man’s or woman’s either.

1885. J. S. Winter, Bootles’ Baby, p. 66. I suppose he wants to daub Bootles with some of his own mud. Thinks if he only throws enough some of it’s sure to stick.

Dirt-Baillie, subs. (Scots’).—An inspector of nuisances.

Dirt-scraper subs. (American).—An advocate who rakes up unpleasant facts in a witness’s past. [291]

Dirty-Dishes, subs. (common).—Poor relations.

Dirty Half-Hundred, subs. phr. (military).—The Fiftieth Foot. [From the fact that, in action, during the Peninsular War, the men wiped their faces with their black facings.] Also nicknamed the Blind Half-Hundred.

1841. Lever, Charles O’Malley, ch. xciv. A kind of neutral tint between green and yellow, like nothing I know of except the facings of the ‘dirty half-hundred.’

Dirty-Puzzle, subs. (old).—A slut.—Grose [1785].

Dirty Shirt March, subs. phr. (vulgar).—On Sunday mornings the male population of Drury Lane, Whitechapel, and other crowded districts loaf about the streets, before attiring themselves in their Sunday clothes. This promenade is called a ‘dirty shirt march.’

Dirty-Shirts, subs. (military).—The Hundred and First Foot. [They fought in their shirt-sleeves at Delhi in 1857.]

1887. Daily News, 11 July. As the old Bengal European Regiment … they [the 2nd Munster Fusiliers] had won their honourable sobriquet of the dirty shirts, half-a-century earlier.

Disgruntled, adj. (old).—Offended: still colloquial in U.S.A. Undisgruntled = unoffended.

1869. Springfield Republican, 20 Nov. Rev. Dr. Newman Hall, of London, tells how when he was journeying to Chicago, an apple-peddling boy, on the cars, without any preliminaries took hold of and immediately examined his breast-pin. Nevertheless the reverend gentleman, quite undisgruntled, remarked, ‘Was it not there to be seen? Was he not a man and a brother?’

1877. Providence Journal, 1 March. We have had enough exercise of extraordinary power, and this continual grasping after authority for the purpose of meeting the individual case of some disgruntled persons should receive the stamp of this committee’s disapprobation.

Disguised, adj. (old).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1622. Massinger, Virgin Martyr, III., iii. Harp. I am a prince disguised. Hir. Disguised! How? Drunk!

1625. Jonson, Staple of News, IV. Come, I will shew you the way home, if drink Or too full diet have disguised you.

1663. Dryden, Wild Gallant, Act I. Fail. Will not ale serve the turn, Will? Bib. I had too much of that last night; I was a little disguised, as they say.

1704. Steele, Lying Lover, Act IV., Sc. i. Sim. You are a little disguis’d in Drink tho’ Mr. John.

1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act IV. A damned up and down hand, as if it was disguised in liquor.

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. xvi. I met a third mate I knew, slightly disguised in liquor.

Dish, verb (common).—To cheat; to circumvent; to disappoint; to ruin.

1798. Monthly Mag. [quoted in N. and Q., 1 S., iv., p. 313. In the Monthly Mag., in 1798, is a paper on peculiarities of expression among which are … ‘done up,’ dish’d, etc.

1811. E. Nares, Thinks I to Myself, i., 208. He was completely dished—he could never have appeared again.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 26.… Could old Nap himself, in his glory, have wish’d To show up a fat Gemman more handsomely dish’d?

1821. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i. 7. No, I’m out of spirits because I have been dished and doodled out of forty pounds to-day.

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. xvi. I oughtn’t to show a youngster like you any sympathy in this job of dishing a parent’s hopes.

Dish-Clout, subs. (common).—A dirty, slatternly woman. [292]

To make a napkin of one’s dish-clout, verb. phr. (old).—To marry one’s cook; to contract a mésalliance.

Dished, ppl. adj. (printers’).—Said of electrotypes when the centre of a letter is lower than its edges.

Dismal-ditty, subs. (old).—See quot.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Dismal Ditty … also a cant expression for a psalm sung by a criminal at the gallows (s.v. Ditty).

Dispar, subs. (Winchester College).—See Cat’s-head.

Dispatches, subs. (old).—False dice; so contrived as always to throw a nick.—See Doctor.

Dissecting-job, subs. (tailors’).—Garments requiring extensive alteration.

Distiller, subs. (Australian thieves’).—A man easily vexed, and unable to dissemble his condition.

Ditto-blues, subs. (Winchester College).—A suit of clothes all of blue cloth. Cf., Dittoes.

Ditto Brother, or Sister, Smut.—See Brother Smut.

Dittoes, subs. (colloquial).—A complete suit of clothes of the same material. Fr., un complet. Occasionally applied to trousers only.

1880. Hawley Smart, Social Sinners, ch. x. A slight, dark man, of middle height, clad in an ordinary suit of dittoes, entered the room.

1882. James Payn, Thicker than Water, ch. ix. His attire, though quite as faultless and more equable—he was never seen in dittos even in September—was not so splendid as of some members of the Aglaia.

Ditty-Bag, subs. (common).—A handy bag, used by sailors as a ‘huswife.’ [From deft, dight = neat, active, handy.]

Dive, subs. (American).—A drinking-saloon; also a brothel.

1888. Troy Daily Times, 7 Feb. A plot to entrap young women for the dives of Northern Wisconsin has been discovered at Eau Claire, Wis.

1888. St. Louis Globe Democrat, 27 Feb. Even fallen women, when the rose is gone from their cheeks, are pushed aside, and from a gilded house to the lowest dive is the last and quickest step of all.

Verb (old).—To pick pockets. Cf., dip, and for synonyms, see Frisk. Also diving = picking pockets.

1631. Ben Jonson, Metam. Gipsies. Or using your nimbles [fingers], in diving the pockets.

1712. Gay, Trivia, bk. III., l., 80. Guard well thy pocket; for these sirens stand To aid the labours of the diving hand.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Dive (v.) … and in the Canting Language, to pick pockets in a crowd, church, etc.

To dive into one’s sky, verb. phr. (common).—To put one’s hands into one’s pockets. [293]

Diver, or Dive [see quot., 1608], subs. (old).—A pickpocket (as Jenny Diver in ‘The Beggar’s Opera’); a dip (q.v.). For synonyms, see Stook-Hauler.

1608. Dekker, Belman of London, in wks. (Grosart), III., 140. [One who steals from houses by putting a boy in through a window to hand out to him the plunder—is called a Diver.]

c. 1626. Dick of Devonshire, in Bullen’s Old Plays, ii., 40. Your horse and weapons I will take, but no pilferage. I am no pocketeer, no diver into slopps.

1705. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. I., pt. i., p. 24 (2nd ed.). So expert divers call aloud, Pray mind your pockets, to the crowd.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Diver (s.) … also a cant name for a pick-pocket.

1828. Jon. Bee, Picture of London, p. 56. Thieves frequently go well-dressed, especially pickpockets; good toggery being considered a necessary qualification for his calling, without which the divercould not possibly mix in genteel company nor approach such in the streets.

Divers, subs. (common).—The fingers. For synonyms, see Forks.

Divide the House with One’s Wife, verb. phr. (old).—To turn her out of doors.

Diving-bell, subs. (common).—A cellar-tavern. Cf., Dive. For synonyms, see Lush-crib.

Do, subs. (colloquial).—1. A fraud.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 17. I thought it was a do, to get me out of the house.

1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862.), p. 418. I should like to see you Try to sauter le coup With this chap at short whist or unlimited loo, By the Pope you’d soon find it a regular do.

1846. Punch, vol. XI., p. 114. What is the meaning of the rise? I’m sure I cannot tell—can you? Yes, fame with hundred tongues replies, ’Tis in one word A Do! a Do!

2. (colloquial).—One’s duty; a success; performance; what one has to do; once literary.

1663–78. Butler, Hudibras. No sooner does he peep into the world but he has done his doe.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 162. Well, I heard how a man … was making a fortune at the hot-eel and pea-soup line.… So I thought I’d have a touch at the same thing. But you see I never could rise money enough to make a do of it.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 142. Who are continually looking out for flats, in order to do them upon the broads, that is, cards.

1803. Kenney, Raising the Wind, I., i. I wasn’t born two hundred miles north of Lunnun, to be done by Mr. Diddler, I know.

1831. Disraeli, The Young Duke, bk. iv., ch. vi., p. 220 (ed. 1866). There was the juvenile Lord Dice, who boasted of having done his brothers out of their miserable £5,000.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 265. I should have a much better opinion of an individual if he’d say at once, in an honourable and gentlemanly manner, as he’d done everybody he possibly could.

1843. Comic Almanack, p. 373. England expects every man to do his duty, a strong recommendation to every man ‘to do’ the authorities who collect the duty at the Custom-house.

1871. Public Opinion, 4 Feb. Do you suppose that you can do the landlord in the ‘Lady of Lyons?’ asked a theatrical manager of a seedy actor in quest of an engagement. If I can’t do him, was the reply, he will be the first landlord I ever had anything to do with that wasn’t done by me. [294]

1889. Answers, 9 Feb. The regular hotel thieves are constantly inventing new dodges to do us.

3. (common).—To visit a place; e.g., ‘to do Italy,’ ‘to do the Row,’ ‘to do the High’ (at Oxford), etc. Early quots. are given; latterly the phrase is common enough. The Fr., faire is used in the same sense; faire ses Acacias, i.e., to walk or drive in the Allée des Acacias.

1857. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. xxxii. We did Venice very severely, with the exception of Forrester, who … declined seeing anything more than what he could view from his gondola.

1858. Shirley Brooks, The Gordian Knot, p. 53. You have been in Egypt? asked Margaret, with much interest. I did Egypt, as they say, about two years back, [said Philip].

4. (colloquial).—To perform; to ‘come’; e.g., to do the polite = to be polite; to do a book = to write one; to do the heavy, the grand, or the genteel = to put on airs.

1767. Colman, Eng. Merchant, I., in wks. (1777), ii. 17. I compose pamphlets on all subjects, compile magazines, and do newspapers.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 224. He used to talk politics to papas, flatter the vanity of mammas, do the amiable to their daughters.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xv., p. 125. There was the young lady who did the poetry in the Eatanswill Gazette, in the garb of a sultana.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xxiv. A great number of the descriptions in Cook’s Voyages, for instance, were notoriously invented by Dr. Hawkesworth, who did the book.

1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. iii. A vision of John doing the polite, and laughing as he ceremoniously introduced Captain Lovell and Miss Coventry.

1864. Glasgow Citizen, 29 Nov. Is not the exhilarating short-length of being known beyond our own Queen Street that it is not registered here? And we miss the rag trade whose worthy members do the above-named goes.

1880. Milliken, Punch’s Almanack. Nobby button ’oler very well, When one wants to do the ’eavy swell.

To do a beer, or a bitter, or a drink, or a drop, verb. phr. (common).—To take a drink.

1853. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Verdant Green, ch. x. To do bitters, as Mr. Bouncer phrased the act of drinking bitter beer.

1880. Milliken, Punch’s Almanack. Got the doldrums dreadful, that is clear, Two d left!—must go and do a beer.

To do a bill, verb. phr. (commercial).—To utter an acceptance or bill of exchange. Cf., to fly paper or kites.

1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends [ed. 1862], p. 257. Now, then, old sinner, let’s hear what you’ll say As to doing a bill at three months from to-day.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lxii. Sir Francis Clavering … had managed to sign his respectable name to a piece of stamped paper, which … Mr. Moss Abrams had carried off, promising to have the bill done by a party with whose intimacy Mr. Abrams was favoured.

To do a bit, verb. phr. (common).—To eat something. Cf., to do a beer. Also (venery), to have a woman.

To do a bunk or shift, verb. phr. (vulgar).—To ease nature.—See Bury a quaker and [295]Mrs. Jones. Also (colloquial), to go away.

To do a crib, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To break into a house, to burgle. Fr., maquiller une cambriole. For synonyms, see Crack a Crib.

To do a guy, verb. phr. (thieves’).—1. To run away; to make an escape. [From do, verb of action + guy, an escape.] For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

1889. Answers, 6 April, p. 297. They all dispersed at once—to put it in their own language, they did a guy.

To do a star pitch, verb. phr. (theatrical).—To sleep in the open air. Fr., loger à la belle étoile. For synonyms, see Hedge Square.

To do a brown.—See under Brown; also Bamboozle. Also to do brown and to do it up brown.

To do for, verb. phr. (common).—1. To ruin. Also, to kill, in which sense, cf., quots., 1650 and 1877. For synonyms, see Dead broke and Cook one’s Goose respectively.

1650. Howell, Familiar Letters. The Emperor, who, rather than becom captif to the base Tartar, burnt his castle, and did away himself, his thirty wives, and children.

1752. Fielding, Amelia, bk. vi., ch. iv. He said something, too, about my master … he said he would do for him, I am sure he said that; and other wicked, bad words, too, if I could but think of them.

1811. Jane Austen, Sense and S., ch. xli. He has done for himself completely! shut himself out for ever from all decent society!

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 233. He called out, He’s done for me; he’s done for me; send at once for Doctor Howell.

To do the handsome or the handsome thing, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To behave extremely well to one.

To do it away, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To dispose of stolen goods. Also To do the swag (q.v.); to fence (q.v.).

To do it on the B. H., verb. phr. (common).—To perform with ease. [B = bloody; H = head].

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 221. ‘What’s yer dose?’ Looking on to my badge, ‘Five, oh, you can do that little lot on yer ’ed easy.’

To do it up, verb. phr. (old).—To accomplish an object in view; to obtain one’s quest. To do it up in good twig = to live an easy life by one’s wits. [296]

To do one proud, phr. (colloquial).—To flatter: e.g., ‘Will you drink?’ ‘You do me proud.’

1836. W. G. Clark, Ollapodriana Papers. To this damsel I addressed myself, and solicited her hand in the dance. She assented; and with my brain reeling with fancies of wine and women, I really thought, for the moment, that ‘she did me proud.’

1887. Sidney Luska, Land of Love, in ‘Lippincott’s Mag.,’ p. 241. Ah? So? The frank confession does you proud.

To do out, verb. phr. (American thieves’).—To plead guilty and exonerate an accomplice.

To do over, verb. phr. (common).—1. To knock down; to persuade; to cheat; to ruin.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 50. Who could, at any time, do him over, as they phrased it, for half-a-crown or half-a-guinea.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 326 (ed. 1857). Well, said Sam, he’s in a horrid state o’ love; reg’larly comfoozled, and done over with it.

2. (thieves’).—To search a victim’s pockets without his knowing it. Cf., run the rule over.

3. (venery).—To seduce; also to copulate. For synonyms, see Dock and Ride respectively.

To do one’s business, verb. phr. (common).—To kill. For synonyms, see Cook one’s Goose. Cf., Business. Also (vulgar), to evacuate; and (venery), to serve a woman.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VIII., ch. x. He concluded he had pretty well done their business, for both of them, as they ran off, cried out with bitter oaths, that they were dead men.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. xii. Then he took down his venerable and murderous duelling-pistols, with flint locks, that had done the business of many a pretty fellow in Dublin.

1856. C. Reade, Never Too Late, ch. xvi. She was stronger than he was for a moment or two, and that moment would have done his business. She meant killing.

To do the downy, verb. phr. (common).—To lie in bed. Downy flea pasture = a bed. Cf., Balmy.

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, Act i., Sc. vi. Jer. The family’s gone to downy nap this half-hour. Why don’t the captain give the signal.

1853. C. Bede, Verdant Green, pt. ii., p. 59. This’ll never do, Giglamps! Cutting chapel to do the downy.

To do the swag, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To sell stolen property, Fr., laver la camelote or les fourgueroles. Cf., To do clobber.

To do the trick, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To accomplish one’s object; specifically (venery), to do the ‘act of kind’ effectually, and (for woman), to get rid of one’s maidenhead.

1864. Derby Day, p. 38. If the little ’un don’t do the trick me an’ him’ll fall out.

1870–2. Gallery of Comicalities. Star of the stable! Ostler Dick, Still in your calling wide awake; I warrant you can do the trick—A cunning cove, and no mistake.

18(?). W. C. Russell, Representative Actors, p. 476. Edmund Kean then whispered in his son’s ear ‘Charlie, we are doing the trick.’

1871. Times, Dec. Both … fled to New York to save doing time on the treadmill.

1884. Cornhill Mag., June, p. 614. He has repeatedly done time for drunks and disorderlies, and for assaults upon the police.

1888. Referee, 15 April, 3, 1. The robbers-in-chief, who had done time before, were sentenced to five years’ penal servitude.

To do to tie to, verb. phr. (American).—To be fit to associate with; to be trustworthy.

To do up, verb. phr. (common).—To use up; finish; or quiet. Done up = tired out; ruined; ‘sold up.’ For synonyms, see Floored.

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller, in wks. v., 170. I was cleane spent and done, there was no hope of me.

1667. Dryden, Ann. Mir., st. 70. Not so the Holland fleet, who, tired and done, Stretch’d on their decks like weary oxen lie.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxxiv. ‘How did he get back from India?’ ‘Why, how should I know? The house there was done up, and that gave us a shake at Middleburgh.’

1831. Disraeli, The Young Duke, bk. iv., ch. xii., p. 245 (ed. 1866), ‘The Universe’ and ‘The New World’ announced that the young duke was done up.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 264. A man’s done up at fifty, and seldom lives long after, if he has to keep on at coal-portering.

1870. L. Oliphant, Piccadilly, pt. iii., p. 130. I am awfully done, said Spiffy. I never went to bed at all last night.

[For the rest, do, like chuck and cop, is a verb-of-all-work, and is used in every possible and impossible connection. Thus, to do reason and to do right = to honour a toast; to do a bit of stiff = to draw a bill; to do a chuck = to eject, or to go away; to do a rub-up = to masturbate; to do a sip (back slang) = to make water; to do a cat = to vomit; to do a hall or a theatre = to visit a music hall or a playhouse; to do a fluff (theatrical) = to forget one’s part; to do a pitch (showman’s or street artists’) = to go through a performance; to do a mouch or a mike = to go on the prowl; to do a grouse = to go questing for women; to do a doss = to go to sleep; to do a cadge = to go begging; to do a tumble or a spread = to lie down to a man; to do a perpendicular or knee-trembler = to copulate standing; to do a scrap = to engage in combat; to do a rural = to ‘rear’ by the wayside; to do a dive in the dark = to copulate; etc.

Doash, subs. (Old Cant).—A cloak. For synonyms, see Capella.

Dobbin, subs. (old).—Ribbon. Dobbin Rig = stealing ribbon.

Dock, subs. (printers’).—1. The weekly work bill or pole (q.v.).

Verb (old).—1. To deflower; hence, by implication, to possess; [Gypsy dūkker, to ravish]. Feminine analogues are to have done the trick; to have had it; to have done it at last; to be cracked in the ring; to have broken her tea-cup; to have had it there; to have gone star-gazing on her back; to have given her pussy a taste of cream; to have let the pony over the dyke (Scots’); to have broken her knees or her leg; to have sprained her ankle. Fr., avoir vu le loup; laisser aller le chat au fromage; and avoir vu la lune; whilst l’avoir encore and avoir encore l’avoine is said of maids. Sp., desvirgar = to deflower: Docked = possessed. [298]

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight. ‘Canting Rithmes.’ Docked the dell for a Coper meke.

1611. Middleton and Dekker, Roaring Girl, v., 1. And couch till a pallyard docked my dell.

2. (Winchester College).—To scratch out; to tear out (as from a book); also to strike down.

To be docked smack smooth, verb. phr. (old).—To have suffered amputation of the penis.

Docker, subs. (legal).—1. A brief handed to counsel by a prisoner in the dock. Legal etiquette compels acceptance if ‘marked’ with a minimum fee of £1 3s. 6d.

Dock-walloper, subs. (American).—A loafer; one who loiters about docks and wharves; also an unemployed emigrant.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 344.… A dock-walloper is an object of great contempt to Jack.

Dockyarder, subs. (nautical).—A skulker. Cf., Strawyarder (q.v.).

Dockyard-horse, subs. (naval).—An officer better at correspondence than at active service.

Doctor, subs. (old).—1. A false die; sometimes a manipulated card.—See To put the doctor on one.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, I., in wks. (1720), iv., 18. Belf. Sen. Tatts, and Doctor! what’s that? Sham. The tools of sharpers, false dice.

1709. Centlivre, Gamester, Act i. Now, sir, here is your true dice, a man seldom gets anything by them; here is your false, sir; hey, how they run! Now, sir, those we generally call doctors.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones. Here, said he, taking some dice out of his pockets, here are the little doctors which cure the distempers of the purse.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxxiii. A gamester, one who deals with the devil’s bones and the doctors.

1823. Scott, Peveril, ch. xxviii. The dicers with their doctors in their pockets, I presume.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v. A composition used by distillers to make spirits appear stronger than they really are.

1828. G. Smeaton, Doings in London. Maton, in his ‘Tricks of Bakers Unmasked,’ says alum, which is called the Doctor, ground and unground, is sold to the bakers at fourpence per pound.

3. (licensed victuallers’).—Brown sherry. [Because a ‘doctored’ (q.v.), wine. Cf., sense 2.]

1870. Mansfield, School Life at Winchester College, p. 27. The head master, or the Doctor, as he is always called, lives in ‘Commoners’ buildings.’

1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends [ed. 1862], p. 464. She doctor’d the punch and she doctor’d the negus, Taking care not to put in sufficient to flavour it. [299]

1862. H. Greeley, in N. Y. Independent. The news [of success to the United States armies, said the English leading journals] all came through Northern channels, and was doctored by the government which controlled the telegraph.

To keep the doctor, verb. phr. (licensed victuallers’).—To make a practice of adulterating the liquor sold. Cf., doctor, subs., sense 2.

Doctor Draw-fart, subs. phr. (common).—A wandering quack.

Doctored, ppl. adj. (common).—Patched; adulterated; falsified; ‘cooked.’

1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, ch. xxviii. The Cross-keys … had doctored ale, an odour of bad tobacco, and remarkably strong cheese.

Dod Burn it! intj. phr. (American).—A euphemistic oath; on the model of dadbinged (q.v.).

Dodder, subs. (Irish).—Burnt tobacco taken from the bottom of a pipe and placed on the top of a fresh plug to give a stronger flavor.

Dodderer, subs. (street).—A meddler; always used in contempt. Sometimes doddering old sheep’s head, which also = a fool.

Doddy, subs. (provincial).—In Norfolk a person of low stature. Sometimes hodmandod and hoddy-doddy, all head and no body. Dodman in the same dialect = a snail.

Dodfetched, adj. (American).—A euphemistic oath. [Dod = God.] Most of its kind have originated in New England, where the descendants of the Puritans form the largest portion of the population.

1888. Texas Siftings, 7 July. Then the poet was sore grieved, and he said unto himself, ‘I’m a dodfetched fool.’

Dodgasted, adj. (American).—See dodfetched.

1888. Detroit Free Press. It’s a dodgasted funny thing, Uncle Zeke, but it’s a fact, never knew it to fail; straight as a string, too.

Dodge, subs. and verb, [and derivative. Dodging, verb. subs.] (colloquial).—To trick; to swindle; to elude. Once slang, now recognised. Used in various combinations: the pious dodge = a pretence of piety; the tidy-dodge = begging in the streets with tidily but poorly dressed children, etc. Also, to ‘nart.’ For synonyms, see Lay.

1708. Swift, Abolishing of Christianity in prose wks. (Camelot Cl.), p. 235. The chaffering with Dissenters, and dodging about this or the other ceremony.

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2nd ed.). To dodge.… 2. To be off and on. 3. To prevaricate, or play shifting tricks.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 135 (ed. 1857). ‘It was all false, of course?’ ‘All, sir,’ replied Mr. Weller, ‘reg’lar do, sir; artful dodge.’

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. i., p. 227. Conscious how much their own livelihood depends upon assumption and trickery, they naturally consider that others have some dodge, as they call it, or some latent object in view when any good is sought to be done them.

1856. Punch, vol. XXXI., p. 217. Long though your sentence and your task severe, The pious dodge a ticket soon will send.

1865. Spectator, 2 Dec., Women’s Tact. [Mrs. Caudle.] Nagged, and [300]nagging is universally useful only with maids. She lost her temper occasionally, and the suffering angel dodge is a very much more effective as well as Christian resource.

1865. Spectator (On the Academy Dinner), p. 492. Earl Russell … broke loose from one conventionality of public dinners to fall into another. He dodged the toast of Her Majesty’s Ministers, and did not promise the Academy.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 23 March, p. 6, col. 1. He is naturally anxious to ascertain if any new dodge has been brought to light, and what was the amount of the penalty imposed for its perpetration.

Dodger, subs. (common).—1. A trickster. Cf., The ‘Artful Dodger’ (Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. viii.). Fr., être ficelle = ‘to be a dodger.’

1611. Cotgrave, Dict., Caqueraffe, a base micher, scurvie hagler, lowsie dodger, etc.

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. xxviii. A sly cock, this Frank Tyrrel, thought the traveller; a very complete dodger—but no matter—I shall wind him, were he to double like a fan.

1887. Baumann, Londonismen, vi. So from hartful young dodgers, From vaxy old codgers, From the blowens ve got Soon to know vot is vot.

3. (American).—A hard-baked cake or biscuit, more usually termed corn-dodger. When mixed with beef, beef-dodgers.

1888. Texas Siftings, 15 Sept. Then I would have a great quantity of little dodgers printed to throw around everywhere.

Dodo, subs. (old).—A stupid, old man.

Dodrotted, ppl. adj. (American).—A euphemistic oath. See Oaths.

1887. Century Magazine. You ketch us with yer dodrotted foolin’, says he; we hain’t the kind to be fooled.

Does it? phr. (common).—A sarcastic retort.—See Does your Mother know you’re out?

Does your Mother know you’re out? phr. (streets’).—A popular locution, vague as to meaning and inexact in application—an expression expressive of contempt, incredulity, sarcasm, anything you please.—See All my eye, Street cries, and infra.

English Variants.—Has your mother sold her mangle? Not to-day, or it won’t do, Mr. Ferguson! Sawdust and treacle! Draw it mild! And the rest! Who are you? All round my hat! Go it, ye cripples! Shoo, fly! How does the old thing work? Well, you know how it is yourself! How’s your poor feet? Why, certainly! I’ll have your whelk! Not to-day, baker, call to-morrow, and we’ll take a crusty one! Do you see any green in my eye? Put that in your pipe and smoke it! Where are you going on Sunday? Go to Putney! Who stole the donkey: the man in the white hat! Cough, Julia! Over the bender! There you go with your eye out! etc., etc.

French Variants.—Et les mois de nourrice = (and the rest!); du combustible (popular: = go it you cripples); tu t’en ferais péter le cylindre (popular: = don’t you wish you may get it); chiche! (popular: a defiant refusal); chaleur! (popular: expressive of contempt, disbelief, and ironical admiration); croyez ça et buvez de l’eau (popular: = believe that and [301]drink water); à Chaillot ( = ‘go to Bath and get your head shaved’); tu t’en ferais crèver (pop.: = don’t you wish you may get it?); colle-toi ça dans l’cornet (pop.: = put that in your pipe and smoke it!) je la connais (pop.: = do you see any green?); j’entrave pas dans tes vannes (thieves’: = you don’t take me in); de la bourrache! (popular: = no go); un sale truc pour la fanfare (popular: an expression of disgust); de quoi (popular: what next? also = wealth, money, etc.); allez donc raconter cela à dache (thieves’: = tell that to the marines!); des dattes! (pop.: = take a carrot!); et ta sœur (popular: indicative of refusal, contempt, and insult); faut pas m’la faire (popular: = Walker!); et le pouce (pop.: = and the rest!)

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 6, col. 2. Where are they that should protect thee In this darkling hour of doubt? Love could never thus neglect thee! Does your mother know you’re out?

1864. Sun, 28 Dec. ‘Review of Hotten’s Slang Dictionary.’ Ridiculous street cries, such as does your mother know you’re out? or, Has your Aunt sold her mangle? or, You don’t lodge here, Mr. Fergusson—whatever those sapient remarks may mean.

Dog, subs. (colloquial).—1. A man; sometimes used contemptuously (Cf., Cat = a woman), but more frequently in half-serious chiding; e.g., a sad dog, gay dog, old dog, etc. For synonyms, see Cove. Sometimes adjectively = male; see quot., 1856. An old dog at it = expert, or accustomed to.

1596. Nashe, Have with you, Epis. Ded. par. 5. O, he hath been olde dogge at that drunken, staggering kinde of verse.

1697. Vanbrugh, Æsop, part II., Sc. iii. Why, I’m a strong young dog, you old gent, you.

1703. Mrs. Centlivre, Stolen Heiress, I., wks, (1872), i., 336. She is in love, forsooth, with a young beggarly dog not worth a groat.

1736. Fielding, Don Quixote, II. iv. A comical dog, I fancy; go, give my service to him.

b. 1764, d. 1817. J. G. Holman, Abroad and at Home, I., 3. And my praise to withhold none so currish, With a girl so divine! Such dinners! such wine! What a d—d clever dog was Jack Flourish!

1810. Crabbe, The Borough, Letter 6, Law. For he’d a way that many judg’d polite, A cunning dog—he’d fawn before he’d bite.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 369. (ed. 1857). Curse me, they’re friends of mine from this minute and friends of Mivins, too. Infernal pleasant, gentlemenly, dog Mivins, isn’t he? said Smangle, with great feeling.

1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. vii. Then comes Ascot, for which meeting they leave the metropolis, and enjoy some quiet retreat in the neighbourhood of Windsor, taking with them many potables, and what they call a dog cook.

1888. American Humorist, 31 Mar. The safe was rifled, and every appearance of robbery was manifest. In this case the murderer was discovered by means of a dog, which was described in the newspapers as having certain peculiar scratches on it.