Slang and its analogues, 2 | Project Gutenberg

Dogberry, subs. (common).—A stupid constable, or magistrate. [From Much Ado about Nothing.] For synonyms, see Beak and Copper. [302]

1864. M. E. Braddon, Aurora Floyd, ch. xxxviii. The detective had reason to know that the dogberries of Doncaster, … were on the wrong scent.

1869. Gent. Mag., July, p. 195. I trust I shall not be accounted a dogberry, lavish in my tediousness, if I bestow one more anecdote upon my readers.

Dog Biting Dog, adv. phr. (theatrical).—Said of actors who spitefully criticise each others performance.

Dog-Cheap, adj. (colloquial).—Very cheap; of little worth; foolish. [Skeat: from Swed., dog, = very; Latham: the first syllable is god = good, transposed + cheap, from chapman, a merchant—hence, a good bargain (Fr., bon marché).]

1598. Shakspeare, 1 Henry IV., iii. 3. The sack … would have bought me lights as good-cheap at the dearest chandler’s in Europe.

1606. Dekker, Newes from Hell, in wks. (Grosart), ii., 116. Three things there are dog-cheap, learning, poore men’s sweat, and others.

1663. Dryden, Wild Gallant, Act II. No fat over-grown virgin of forty ever offered herself so dog cheap, or was more despised.

1772. Foote, Nabob, Act II. dog-cheap; neck-beef; a penny-loaf for a halfpenny.

1830. Marryat, Kings Own, ch. xxx. I’ll sell mine, dog-cheap, if any one will buy it.

1851. Carlyle, John Sterling, pt. I., ch. x. There lay in a certain neighbouring creek of the Irish coast, a worn-out royal gun-brig condemned to sale, to be had dog-cheap.

Dog-Collar, subs. (common).—A ‘stand-up’ shirt collar; an all-rounder (q.v.).

1883. Grenville-Murray, People I have Met, p. 42. The dog-collar which rose above the black cloth was of spotless purity.

Dog-Drawn (old), adj. phr.—Said of a bitch from which a dog has been removed by force during coition. Sometimes applied to women.

Dogger, verb (Charterhouse).—To cheat; to sell rubbish.

Doggery, subs. (popular).—1. Transparent cheating. Cf., dogger.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 315. Doggeries are only found near the shanties of Irish laborers or in remote western and southern settlements.

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

1852. Gladstone, Englishman in Kansas, p. 46. If there’s a dog-goned abolitionist aboard this boat, I should like to see him. I’m the man to put a chunk o’ lead into his woolly head right off.

1873. Carlton, Farm Ballads, p. 80. But when that choir got up to sing, I couldn’t catch a word; They sung the most dog-gondest thing A body ever heard!

1879. Eggleston, The Hoosier Schoolmaster. I never knowed but one gal in my life as had cyphered into fractions, and she was so dog on stuck up, that she turned up her nose one night at an apple-peelin’ bekase I tuck a sheet off the bed to splice out the table-cloth, which was rather short.

Doggy, subs. (mining).—See quot.

1845. Disraeli, Sybil, bk. III., ch. i., note. A Batty in the mining districts is a middleman; a doggy is his manager.

1883. Graphic, 24 Feb., p. 199, col. 3. Liverpool and the Adelphi Hotel in particular, are now [time of Altcar coursing meeting] the headquarters of all the doggy men of the three kingdoms. [303]

Dog in a Blanket, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A pudding of preserved fruit spread on thin dough, rolled up, and boiled; also called roly-poly and stocking.

1887. G. A. Sala, in Ill. Lon. News, 12 Feb., p. 174, col. 3. Bubble and squeak … is a colloquialism, and no more slangy than ‘toad in the hole’ or dog in a blanket.

Like a dog in shoes, adv. phr. (Irish).—A pattering sound; as the noise of a brisk walk.

Dog in the Manger, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A selfish churl; who does not want himself, yet will not let others enjoy. [From the fable.]

1621. Burton, Anat. of Mel., I., II., III., xii., 189 (1836). Like a hog, or dog in the manger, he doth only keep it, because it shall do nobody else good.

1673. Dryden, Amboyna, Act ii. You’re like dogs in the manger, you will neither manage it yourselves nor permit your neighbours.

1757. Garrick, Irish Widow, II. That’s the dog in the manger; you can’t eat the oats, and won’t let those who can.

1836. Marryat, Japhet, ch. lxxii. Why, what a dog in the manger you must be—you can’t marry them both.

Dog-Latin, subs. (colloquial).—Barbarous or sham Latin; also Kitchen, Bog, Garden, or Apothecaries’ Latin.

1856. H. Mayhew, Great World of London, p. 149. A Spaniard … who called himself a physician, and who, being unable to speak English, communicated with the doctor in a kind of Spanish dog-Latin.

Dogs, subs. (university).—1. Sausages; otherwise Bags of Mystery (q.v.), or Chambers of Horrors (q.v.).

2. (Stock Exchange).—Newfoundland Land Company’s shares; now amalgamated with the Anglo-American United, and called Anglos.

Dog’s-Body, subs. (nautical).—Pease pudding.

1851. Chambers’ Papers, No. 52, p. 16. Peas-pudding (alias dog’s body) is often allowed upon pork days.

1883. W. Clark Russell, Sailors’ Language, p. 42. dogs-body.—A mess made of pea-soup, powdered biscuit, and slush.

Dog’s-eared, adj. (colloquial).—Crumpled, as the leaves of a page with much reading.

Dog’s Match. To make a dog’s match of it, verb. phr. (vulgar).—To copulate by the wayside.

Dog’s Meat, subs. (colloquial).—Anything worthless; as a bad book, a common tale, a villainous picture, etc.

Dog-shooter, subs. (old).—1. A volunteer.

1889. Barrère, Slang, Jargon and Cant, p. 317. Cadets thus term a student who accelerates, that is, who, being pretty certain of not being able to obtain a commission in the engineers, or not caring for it, elects to join a superior class before the end of the term.

Dog’s-nose, subs. (common).—A mixture of gin and beer.—See Drinks. [304]

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxxiii., p. 285. dog’s nose … your committee find upon enquiry, to be compounded of warm porter, moist sugar, gin, and nutmeg.

1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xl. Ah! that’s not bad tipple after such a ducking as we’ve had. dog’s nose, isn’t it?

Dog’s-paste, subs. (common).—Sausage or mince-meat. Cf., bags of mystery and chambers of horror (q.v.).

Dog’s-portion, subs. (common).—‘A lick and a smell,’ i.e., next to nothing.

Dog’s Sleep, subs. phr. (colloquial).—The lightest possible form of slumber.

Dog’s-soup, subs. (common).—Water. For synonyms, see Adam’s Ale and Fish Broth.

1836. W. H. Smith. ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’ For she never lushes dog’s-soup or lap.

Dog’s-tail, subs. (nautical).—The constellation of Ursa minor or Little Bear.

Dog-stealer, subs. (common).—A dog-dealer; applied sarcastically.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xiii. Now nodding to a trainer, now indulging in quaint badinage, which the vulgar call ‘chaff,’ with a dog-stealer.

Doldrums, subs. (colloquial).—Low spirits; the dumps or hump (q.v.). [Properly parts of the ocean near the Equator abounding in calms and light, baffling winds.]

1865. M. Browne, in the ‘Argosy,’ I., 36. An Apology for the Nerves. All I say is, do not let us have any abuse of the nerves. Do not confound nervousness with the megrims, or the doldrums, or any other complaint. Do not confound it with cowardice or ill-temper.

1883. James Payn, The Canon’s Ward, ch. xi. She treated all subjects in the same light way; … from aversion to serious thoughts of any kind, which she stigmatised generally as the doldrums.

Dole, subs. (Winchester College).—A stratagem or trick. [From Latin dolus.]

Dolifier, subs. (Winchester College).—One who contrives a trick.—See Dole.

Dollar, subs. (common).—A five-shilling piece. Half-dollar = half-a-crown, or two shillings. For synonyms, see Caroon.

Dollop, subs. and verb (common).—A lot; All the dollop = the whole thing. Cf., quot., 1812. In Norfolk to dollop = to dole out; also to ‘plank.’ Dolloping = throwing down.

1853. Notes and Queries, 16 July, p. 65, col. 2. Applied to lumps of any substances, whether food or otherwise. Such a phrase as this might be heard: What a dollop of fat you have given me.

1871. Beli’s Life, 23 Dec. All we wish to convey is, that a large bait is absolutely necessary to a heavy bag of chub. Exceptions may arise, as giants may dally with crumbs, but as a rule these fish desire a dollop.

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 28. I have known men literally give their goods away, or to throw them at each other, which is termed dolloping.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 8 March, p. 4, col. 1. A dollop of something having a mortar-like appearance, imaginatively styled pudding.

Dolly, subs. (venery).—1. A mistress. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart. [305]

1647–48. Herrick, Hesperides, p. 38. Drink, and dance, and pipe, and play, Kisse our dollies night and day.

1843. Punch, vol. V., p. 8. Dol is a pure Anglo-Saxon word signifying dull, erring—whence the English Dolly, any one who has made a faux pas.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, bk. I., chap. 4. You are a chit and a little idiot, returned Bella, or you wouldn’t make such a dolly speech.

Dolly-mop, subs. (common).—Specifically, a professional strumpet, but see quot., 1851. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. iv. The captain says we are to take the young gentleman on board directly. His liberty’s stopped for getting drunk and running after the Dolly-Mops!

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 234. Those women who, for the sake of distinguishing them from the professionals, I must call amateurs, are generally spoken of as Dolly-mops.

Dolly-Shop, subs. (common).—A marine store: really an illegal pawn-shop and fence (q.v.); also leaving-shop. No questions are asked; all goods are received on the understanding that they may be repurchased within a given time; so much per day is charged; no duplicate is given; and no books are kept. [From the black doll (q.v.) suspended outside as a sign.]

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 142. If she hasn’t, or if the neighbours hasn’t it, she borrows it at a dolly-shop (the illegal pawnshop).

1871. Echo, 16 March. Chimney sweeps having lent their machines to dolly-shop keepers for the price of a spree, could not redeem them to commence business.

Dome, subs. (common).—The head. For synonyms, see Crumpet.

Domestic-Afflictions, subs. (common).—The menstrual flux; a woman’s flower-time. For synonyms, see Flag-up.

Dome-stick, subs. (common).—A ‘domestic’ servant.

Dominie, subs. (old).—A clergyman; modern Scots = a pedagogue or schoolmaster. [From Latin dominus, a lord or master.]

1616. Beaumont and Fletcher, Scornful Lady, II., i. Wel. [addressing parson], Adieu, dear Domine!

1754. Foote, Knights, Act ii. She falls in love with young Sleek, her father’s chaplain; … what does me I, but slips on Domine’s robes, you; passed myself upon her for him, and we were tacked together.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 21. And, take him at ruffianing work (though, in common, he Hums about Peace and all that, like a Domine.

1883. Brinsley-Richards, Seven Years at Eton, xii., 122. The Scotch dominie, from whom he had learnt Latin … knew nothing of elegiacs.

Dominie Do-Little, subs. phr. (old).—An impotent old man.

Domino! intj. (common).—An ejaculation of completion: e.g., for sailors and soldiers at the last lash of a flogging; and for ’bus conductors when an omnibus is full inside and out [N. and Q., 6 S., v., 229]; also, by implication, a knock-down blow, or the last of a series. [From the call at the end of a game of dominoes.] [306]

Domino-Box, subs. (old).—The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

Dominoes, subs. (popular).—1. The teeth. For synonyms, see Grinders.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii., 6. Mr. J. Sluice your dominos—vill you? Green. Vot! I never plays at dominos—It’s too wulgar. Mr. J. Vy, then vash your ivories? Green. I’ve got no hiveries to vash. Mr. J. Drink, vill you? don’t you understand Hinglish?

1856. H. Mayhew, Gt. World of London, p. 6, note. Fanciful metaphors contribute largely to the formation of slang. It is upon this principle that the mouth has come to be styled the ‘tater-trap’; the teeth, dominoes.

1864. E. D. Forgues, in Revue des deux Mondes, 15 Sept., p. 470. Le mot ‘dents’ est remplacé par celui de dominos aussi bien sur les bordes de la Tamise que sur ceux de la Seine.

To sluice one’s dominoes, verb. phr. (common).—To drink.—See quot., 1823 ante.

Domino-thumper, subs. (common).—A pianist.

Dommerar, Dommerer, or Dummerer, subs. (old).—A beggar feigning to be deaf and dumb; also, a madman.

1567. Harman, Caveat, p. 57. These Dommerars are leud and most subtyll people: the moste part of these are Walch men, and wyll neuer speake, vnlesse they haue extreame punishment, but wyll gape, and with a maruelous force wyll hold downe their toungs doubled, groning for your charyty, and holding vp their handes full pitiously, so that with their deepe dissimulation they get very much.

1621. Burton, Anat. of Mel., I., II., IV., vi., 233 (1836). It compels some miserable wretches to counterfeit several diseases, to dismember, make themselves blind, lame, to have a more plausible cause to beg … we have dummerers, Abraham men, etc.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v. (Repr. 1874), p. 49. Dommerar, a Madman.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum. Dommerer, a fellow that pretends to be deaf and dumb.

Don, subs. (colloquial).—An adept; a swell; also a man that ‘puts on side.’ At the Universities a fellow or officer of a college; whence the vulgar usage. [From Latin, dominus, a lord, through the Spanish title.]

1665. Dryden, Indian Emperor, Epilogue, 21. For the great dons of wit—Phœbus gives them full privilege alone, To damn all others, and cry up their own.

1698–1700. Ward, London Spy, pt. xiii., p. 299. Like the Great Old Dons of the Law, when they dance the Measures in an Inns-of-Court Hall upon the first day of Christmas.

1730. Jas. Miller, Humours of Oxford, Act I., p. 7 (2 ed.) The old dons … will come cringing, cap in hand, to offer to show the ladies the curiosities of the college.

1826. Reynolds (‘Peter Corcoran’), Song on the Fancy. Dull innocence! Twaddle on, Thy weary worshipper—and fain Would give thee up, to be a don, And beat the watch in Drury Lane.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xi. Does not go much into society, except … once or twice to the houses of great country dons who dwell near him in the country.

c. 1880. Broadside Ballad, sung by Jenny Hill. ‘’Arry, ’Arry, There you are now, ’Arry, I say, ’Arry, by Jove, you are a Don.’

Dona, Donna, Donny, or Doner, subs. (vulgar).—A woman. [From the Italian.] For synonyms, see Petticoat.

1875. Athenæum, 24 April, p. 545, col. 2. A circus man almost always speaks of a circus woman, not as a woman, but a dona.

Donaker, subs. (old).—A cattle-lifter.

Done! intj. (common).—An interjection of acceptance or agreement.

1602. Dekker, Honest Whore, in wks. (1873), ii., 17. Cast. … I’le wage a hundred duckats upon the head on’t, that it moves him, frets him, and galles him. Pio. Done, ’tis a lay, joyne gols [hands] on’t.

1761. Colman, Jealous Wife, IV., in wks. (1777), i., 106. Why, it’s a match, miss! it’s done and done on both sides.

1762. Goldsmith, Life of Nash, in wks., p. 546 (Globe). Why, if you think me a dab I will get this strange gentleman, or this, pointing to the flat. done! cries the sailor, but you shall not tell him.

1840. Thackeray, Paris Sketch-book, p. 196. ‘I will bet thee thy water for a year that none of the three will pray for thee.’ ‘Done!’ said Rollo. ‘Done! said the daemon.’

Done-over, adj. (common).—1. Intoxicated. For synonyms, see Screwed.

Donkey, subs. (printers’).—1. A compositor; pressmen are in turn called Pigs (q.v.).

French Synonyms.—Un mulet (printers’); un compositeur mie de pain (an unskilled or clumsy workman; mie de pain also = a louse); un marron (a compositor working on his own account with another printer’s plant); un homme de lettres (= a man of letters); un singe (= a monkey); un amphibie (a compositor who is donkey and pig [q.v.] together).

1857. In Notes and Queries, 2 S., iv., 192. Compositors are jocosely called mokes or donkeys.

A penny, twopence or threepence more and up goes the donkey, phr. (common).—An exclamation of derision. [Street acrobats’: the custom was to finish off the pitch by balancing a donkey at the top of a ladder on receipt of ‘tuppence more’; which sum, however often subscribed, was always re-demanded, so that the donkey never ‘went up’ at all.]

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 41, col. 2. Mr. Joseph Muggins begs to inform his old crony, Punch, that the report of Sir John Pullon, ‘as to the possibility of elevating an ass to the head of the poll by bribery and corruption’ is perfectly correct, provided there is no abatement in the price. Let him canvass again, and Mr. J. M. pledges himself, whatever his weight, if he will only stand one penny more, up goes the donkey!

1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. xv. He … has left the key in the lock; so I shall take the liberty of exploring a little; I’ve a strong though undeveloped taste for architectural antiquities. Twopence more, and up goes the donkey! Come along! So saying, he flung open the door. [308]

Who stole the donkey? phr. (common).—A street cry once in vogue on the appearance of a man in a white hat. With a similar expression ‘Who stole the leg of mutton’? applied to the police, it had its rise in a case of larceny. J. H. Dixon, writing to Hotten, Nov. 6th, 1864, remembered both. The first occurred at Hatton Garden Police Court, where a man, wearing a white hat, was charged with stealing a costermonger’s donkey.

1889. Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 3, col. 5. Who stole the donkey? The man with the white hat! This was a very popular street colloquy some years ago.

To ride the donkey, verb. phr. (common).—To cheat with weights and measures. Also donkey-riding = cheating as aforesaid. Cf., Ambush.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon. Donkey-Riding. Cheating in weight or measure; miscounting.

Donkey-Drops, subs. phr. (cricket).—See quot.

1890. The Hon. and Rev. E. Lyttelton, Cricket, p. 69. Slow round-hand bowling, such as is seldom seen in good matches, but is effective against boys, and is known by the contumelious designation of donkey-drops.

Donkey’s-ears, subs. (old).—An old-fashioned shirt-collar with long points.

Donna.—See Dona.

Donnish, adj. Donnism, Donnishness, subs. (University).—Arrogant; arrogance. [From Don (q.v.).]

1823. Hints for Oxford, p. 66. The Bachelors, we imagine, are the most pleasant set of beings in Oxford.… They have luckily not been so long emancipated as to have become stiff, and donnish, and disagreeable.

c. 1830. Ballad, quoted in N. and Q., 2nd S., xii., 154. Our Yankee, who’d commenced the fight and rather to be donnish meant, Sam squabbled felt (as well he might) with genu-ine astonishment.

1853. Thackeray, in Scribner’s Mag., Oct., 1887, p. 415. At Boston is very good literate company indeed; it is like Edinburgh for that,—a vast amount of toryism and donnishness everywhere.

1888. Mrs. Ward, Robt. Elsmere, vol. I., bk. I., ch. ii., p. 48. He was a curious man, a refined-looking, melancholy creature, with a face that reminded you of Wordsworth, and cold donnish ways, except to his children and the poor.

Donny.—See Dona.

Donovans, subs. (old).—Potatoes. Cf., Murphy. [Donovan, like Murphy, is a common Irish patronym.]

Don’s Week, subs. phr. (tailors’).—The week before a general holiday.

Don’t get your Back up.—See Back, and Hold your Hair on.

Don’t-name-’ems, subs. phr. (common).—Trousers. For synonyms, see Kicksies.

Don’t you wish you may get it, phr. (street).—A retort forcible.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862), p. 179. A thousand marks, continued the confessor.… Sir Guy shrank from the monk’s gaze; he turned to the window, and muttered to himself something that sounded like, ‘don’t you wish you may get it?’

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 22, col. 2. Who would own her heart thine, Though a monarch beset it, And love on unchanged, ‘don’t you wish you may get it?’ [309]

1844. Puck, p. 14. The Proctor caught him in a spree, Asked his name and college with courtesie; ‘Don’t you wish you may get it?’ and off he ran, Did my spicy swell small college man.

Doodle, subs. (old).—1. A dolt. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head. [Thought to be a corruption of Dawdle, to trifle.]

1830. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. v. I know it was every word composed by that abominable old addlehead, Dr. ——, a doodle that he is!

Doodled, ppl. adj. (old).—Cheated, ‘done.’

1823. 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.

Doodle-dasher, subs. (venery).—A masturbator. [From Doodle, the penis + dasher.]

Doodle-doo-man, subs. (old cock-pit).—A cockfighter or breeder. [From the childish name for poultry.]

Doodlesack, subs. (old).—The female pudendum. Also Doodle-case and Doodle-trap. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Doog, adj. (back-slang).—Good.

Dookie, subs. (theatrical).—A penny show or unlicensed theatre. Cf., Gaff.

Dookin and Dookering, subs. (thieves’ and gypsies’).—Fortune-telling.

Dookin-Cove, subs. (common).—A fortune-teller. [From dookin = fortune-telling + cove, a man.]

Door-nail. Dead as a door-nail.—See Dead.

Doorsman, subs. (common).—See Barker and Clicker.

Doorstep, subs. (common).—A thick slice of bread and butter. Fr., une fondante.

1885. Miss Tennant, in Eng. Ill. Mag., June, p. 604. Doorsteps, I found, were thick slices of bread spread with jam.

1890. Spectator, 3 May, Rev. of vol. I., ‘Slang and its Analogues.’… The extraordinary ‘bouncer’ that a very common request at Lockhart’s coffee-houses in London is for ‘a doorstep and a sea-rover,’ i.e., for a halfpenny slice of bread and butter and a herring, &c.

Dooteroomus or Doot, subs. (American).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

Dope, verb (American).—To drug with tobacco. Also doping = the practice.

Dopey, subs. (old).—1. A beggar’s trull.

Dor, subs. (Old Westminster School).—1. See quot.

1715. J. Kersey, English Dictionary. Sub voce, a term used at Westminster School for leave to sleep awhile.

Doras, subs. (Stock Exchange).—South-Eastern Railway Deferred Ordinary Stock, sometimes applied to the ‘A’ Stock.

Dorbie, subs. (Scots Masonic).—An initiate.

The Dorbies’ knock, subs. phr.—A peculiar rap given by masons as a signal amongst themselves. It may be represented by the time of the following notes:

Dorcas, subs. (colloquial).—A sempstress; especially one employing herself for charitable purposes.

Dorse.—See Doss.

Dose, subs. (thieves’).—1. A sentence of imprisonment; specifically three months’ hard labour.

English Synonyms.—Spell, time, drag, three moon, length, stretch, seven-pennorth, sixer, twelver, lagging.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 22. ‘What’s yer dose?’ looking on to my badge; ‘five, oh, you can do that little lot on yer ’ed easy.’

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress p. 17. Sandy tipp’d him a dose of that kind, that, when taken, It isn’t the stuff, but the patient that’s shaken.

To have a dose of the balmy, verbal phr. (common).—To ‘do a sleep.’—See Balmy and Doss.

To take a grown man’s dose, verb. phr. (common).—To take a very large quantity of liquor.

Doss or Dorse, subs. (vagrants’).—A bed, or lodging; also a sleep, or lib (q.v.). [Origin uncertain.] For synonyms, see Kip and Balmy.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 165. Dorsed. The place where a person sleeps, or a bed. ‘I dorsed there last darkey.’

1858. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, p. 118. Into this branch curtained retreat, the lads crept on all fours, one after another, to enjoy their doss, as, in their slang, they called sleep.

1883. Daily News, 3 April, p. 3, col. 5. He replied that he had only come there to have a doss (sleep).

1889. Pall Mall Gazette, 9 Sep., p. 3, col. 2. If you want a doss, a doss is provided. A wooden framework, about as wide as the widest part of a coffin, and a wooden pillow and a blanket of leather.

Verb (vagrants’).—To sleep. For synonyms, see Balmy and infra. Also Dorse.

English Synonyms.—To go to the arms of Murphy (q.v.); to have forty winks; to go to Bedfordshire; to take a little (or do a dose) of the balmy; to chuck (or do) a doss; to snooze; to go to by-by; to read the paper; to shut one’s eyes to think; to retire to the land of Nod.

French Synonyms.—Battre la couverte (military); se foutre un coup de traversin (= to have a [311]little turn up with the bolster); se bâcher, pagnotter or percher (to roost); se mettre dans la bâche; se bourser (popular); éteindre son gaz (popular: to put out one’s light; = also to die); entrer aux quinze-vingts (Les Quinze-vingts = a government hospital for the blind); dormir en chien de fusil (i.e., to sleep sitting, the head between the knees); dormir en gendarme (popular: ‘to sleep with one eye round the corner’); fermer les châssis (to put up shutters or ‘peepers’); se coller dans le pieu (popular).

Spanish Synonyms.—Acostarse con las gallinas (= to go to bed by cock-light); encamarse; tomarle á uno el sueño; tumbar (literally, to tumble down).

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v. To dorse with a woman signifies to sleep with her.

1846. Punch, vol. XI., p. 165. Then silent flowed the tears of those maidens as perforce, Each saw her favourite champion sent, as Bell’s Life says, dorse.

1850. Lloyd’s Weekly, 3 Feb., ‘Low Lodging House of London.’ One said, Mate, how long have you been knocking about; where did you doss? I didn’t know what they meant, and when they’d told me, they meant, where did I sleep?

Dosser, subs. (vagrants’).—One who frequents a doss house (q.v.).

’Appy-dossers, subs. (vagrants’).—Houseless vagrants who creep in, sleep on stairs, in passages, and in empty cellars.

1880. G. R. Sims, How the Poor Live, p. 43. A ’appy dosser can make himself comfortable anywhere. I heard of one who used to crawl into the dust-bin, and pull the lid down.

1883. Referee, 15 July, p. 7, col. 2. The Lazaruses of to-day don’t lie exactly at Dives’s front door—the police are too active to allow such happy dossing as that.

Doss-house or Dossing-crib or Ken, subs. (vagrants’).—A common lodging-house. [From doss, to sleep + crib, or ken, a place of abode.] Fr., un bastengue and un garno. English variants: Libken, two-penny-rope, padding-ken, and kidden (all of which see). Doss-money = the price of a night’s lodging.

1838. Comic Almanack, April. The hulks is now my bowsing-crib, the hold my dossing-ken.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 150. When their funds are insufficient to defray the charge of a bed, or a part of one, at a country dossing-crib (his lodging-house).

1885. Daily Telegraph, 22 August, p. 2. col. 1. Her’s is no common dossing-crib, with a squalid kitchen, common to all comers.

1889. Globe, 29 Aug., p. 2, col. 2. Various other smart people who are at present residing in the doss-houses of London.

1890. Speaker, 22 Feb., p. 211, col. 1. Equally bad doss-houses exist in Notting Hill and near Drury Lane.

Dossy, adj. (common).—Elegant, ‘spiff’ (q.v.).

Dot, subs. (old).—A ribbon. Dot-drag = a watch ribbon.

Dot-and-Carry-, or Go-one, subs. phr. (common).—1. Properly, a man with a wooden leg; by implication, a hopping-giles or limping jesus (q.v.). Fr., un (or une) banban. Cf., verbal sense.

1822. Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, ch. v. That was his father.… You old dotard. Dot-and-carry-one that you are.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (Lay of S. Nicholas). How he rose with the sun, limping dot and go one.

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, Act i., Sc. 4. Kit. Of all the rummy chaps I ever did see, that dot-and-carry-one-of-old poetry is the queerest; he’s as green as a babby, and as deep as a wooden spoon.

Verb (old).—To ‘hirple’; especially applied to a person with one leg shorter than the other, or, ‘with an uneven keel.’

Do tell! intj. (American).—A useful interjection, for listeners who feel that some remark is expected; equivalent to the English Really? and Indeed? A similar phrase in the South is the old English, You don’t say so? which a Yankee will vary by, I want to know! Do tell is also used with inexperienced Munchausens who by its means may often be lured to repeat themselves.

1824. R. B. Peake, Americans Abroad, Act I., Sc. ii. Mrs. L. But when they order nothing at all— Dou: What then, du pray tell?

1854. N. and Q., 1 S., x., p. 84, R. Does Jeremiur behave well now? S. No, he’s very ugly. He tried to burn the barn. R. do tell!

Dots, subs. (American journalist).—1. Items of news.

Dotter, subs. (common).—A reporter; penny-a-liner. Cf., Dots, sense 1.

Dottle, subs. (common).—The same as Dodder (q.v.).

1885. John Coleman, in Longm. Mag., VII., 69. During the performance of ‘It’s Never Too Late to Mend,’ some gentleman of the proletariat, in knocking out the burning dottle of his pipe, succeeded in setting the gallery on fire.

Dotty, adj. and adv. (common).—1. Feeble; dizzy; idiotic; e.g., dotty in the crumpet = weak in the head; dotty in the pins = unsteady on the legs. [Totty is given in Cole’s Eng. Dict. (1724) = dizzy, but cf., dotish and dotage.] For synonyms, see Apartments, Balmy, and Cf., Cabbage-head.

1870. Sportsman, 9 April. Although he begins to go a little stiff in his limbs and dotty on his feet he enjoys good health.

1884. Daily Telegraph, 9 April, p. 2, col. 6. His bad leg grows worse … and, as usual, he [a race-horse] pulled up in a dotty condition.

1889. Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday, 3 Aug., p. 242, col. 3. As poor Doody on his knees had dropt In front of lovely Tottie, And the fatal question just had pop’t. He really look’d quite dotty.

Doubite, subs. (old).—A street.

Double, subs. (colloquial).—1. A trick.

2. (theatrical).—An actor playing two parts in the same piece; used also as a verb.

1825. Egan, Life of an Actor, ‘The Country Manager.’ I make no reserve for myself, like all other managers; indeed, I am to double any character, and only anxious to make the most of every little bit.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl., 501. I piped a slavey (servant) come out of a chat (house), so when she had got a little way up the double (turning) I pratted (went) in the house.

[Double, adj. and adv., is also used as an intensitive in many obscene or offensive connotations: e.g., double-arsed = large in the posteriors; double-duggs (and double-dugged or diddied) = heavy breasted; double-guts (and double-gutted) = excessively corpulent; double-cunted = stretched beyond service; double-hocked = abnormally thick ankled; double-shung = extravagantly large in the genitals; double-mouthed = mouth-almighty (q.v.); and so forth.]

To tip or give the double, verb. phr. (common).—To run or slip away openly or unperceived; to double as a hare; formerly to escape one’s creditors. Also to tip one the Dublin packet. For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

1860. The Druid, ‘Post and Paddock.’ Alas! my innocent rural police, Your fondest hopes were a bubble; Your attempts to prevent a breach of the peace, Your race o’er the Derbyshire stubble; You must freely own that you felt like geese, When Sam Rogers gave you the double.

1870. Daily News, 26 May. ‘The Metropolitan Police.’ The policeman must do his best to ‘keep square’ with the sergeant who looks after him and his beats, who can be down upon him at any moment and double upon him three or four times a-night.

1884. Hawley Smart, Post to Finish, ch. i. Old Gregson would never put the double upon us. No, it’s right enough, you may depend upon it.

Double-back, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To go back upon oneself; an action; an opinion.

Double-barrel, subs. (popular).—A field or opera glass.

1890. H. D. Traill, Saturday Songs, p. 61. Intently as the masher plies O’er all the stage his double-barrel That Eightyer mute had fixed his eyes Upon his honoured guest’s apparel.

Double-barrelled, adj. (venery).—Said of a harlot working both before and behind.

Double-bottomed, adj. (colloquial).—Insincere; saying one thing and meaning another.

Double-breasted feet, subs. phr. (common).—Club feet. Also Double Breasters.

Double-cross or Double-double, subs. (sporting).—Winning or doing one’s best to win after engaging to lose or ‘mike’; (q.v.).

1887. Referee, 21 Aug., 1, 3. When the pair raced before, Teemer declared, and Hanlan did not deny, that a double cross was brought off. Teemer promised to sell the match, and finished by selling those who calculated on his losing.

Double-distilled, adj. (colloquial).—Superlative: e.g., ‘a double-distilled whopper’ = a tremendous lie.

Double-dutch, adj. (colloquial).—Unintelligible speech; jargon; gibberish. ‘It was all Double-dutch to me’ = I didn’t understand a word of it.

Double-event, subs. (sporting).—1. Backing a horse for two races.

1883. Grenville Murray, People I Have Met, p. 155. His lordship, who had won largely on a double event.

2. (venery).—Gonorrhœa and syphilis at once. Said also of simultaneous defloration and impregnation. [314]

Double-finn, subs. (common).—A £10 note.—[See Finn.]

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl., 505. Yes, there it was, fifty quid in double finns (£10 notes).

Double-header, subs. (common).—A false coin with a head on the obverse and reverse, made by soldering two split coins. Cf., Cover and Heading ’em.

1887. Walford’s Antiquarian, p. 252. A double-header is the usual property of the gutter sharper.

Double-juggs, subs. (old).—The posteriors (Burton). For synonyms, see Blind cheeks, Bum, and Monocular eyeglass.

Double-lines, subs. (nautical).—Ship casualties. So called from the manner of entering at Lloyd’s.

Doubler, subs. (pugilistic).—A blow in the side or stomach, causing a man to bend from pain or lack of wind. Cf., Double up, sense 1. For synonyms, see Dig.

1821. The Fancy, vol. I., p. 255. In the fourth round he came in all abroad, and got a doubler in the bread-basket, which spoiled him for the remainder of the fight.

Double-ribbed, adj. phr. (common).—Pregnant. For synonyms, see Lumpy.

Double-shotted, adj. (colloquial).—Said of a whiskey (or brandy) and soda, containing twice the normal quantity of alcohol.

Double-shuffle, subs. (common). 1. A hornpipe step in which each foot is shuffled twice in succession, the more rapidly and neatly the better.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 47. The waterman … is dancing the double shuffle, in front of the pump, to keep his feet warm.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. i., p. 542. I used to talk to him and whistle. I can just whistle … and to dance him the double-shuffle.

1871. Echo, 11 Dec., ‘Sunday among the Silk Weavers.’ The clumsy high low with which they execute scientific ‘elephant dances’ and double-shuffles.

Double-Slang.—See Slangs.

Double-Sucker, subs. (venery).—A term descriptive of an abnormal development of the tissues of the labia majora.

Doublet, subs. (thieves’).—A doctored diamond or other precious stone. Cf., Triplet. [The quots. show derivation.]

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxxi. Your een are sharp enough to look after gowd and silver, gems, rubies, and the like of that.… Look at them—they are a’right and tight, sound and round, not a doublet crept in amongst them.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 273. Most jewellers and pawnbrokers are well acquainted with what are called doublets. These are rubies or emeralds made of two pieces. The face is a real ruby, emerald, or sapphire, as the case may be, and this is backed up by a piece of coloured glass.

Double-Thumper, subs. (common).—A prodigious lie.

Double-Tongued, adj. (colloquial).—Mendacious; given to change opinions in changing company. [315]

Double-tongued Squib, subs. phr. (common).—A double-barrelled gun. For synonyms, see Squib.

1864. G. W. Reynolds, Pickwick Abroad. A double-tongued squib to keep in awe The chaps that flout at me.

Double-up, verb (pugilistic).—1. To punish. Also to be collapsed. Cf., Doubler.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 20. Doubled him up, like a bag of old duds.

1827. Reynolds (‘Peter Corcoran’), The Fancy, note on p. 89. Randall doubles up an opponent, as a friend lately declared, as easily as though he were picking a flower or pinching a girl’s cheek.

1830. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. xii. Accompanied by a tremendous doubling up body-blow, as in an instant brought him senseless to the ground.

1845. Punch, vol. IX., p. 163. Ben’s reference to the Premier’s friend, Canning, completely doubled him up.

1849. Thackeray, Dr. Birch, p. 6. I reflect as I go up and set him a sum, that he [Champion] could whop me in two minutes, double up Prince and the other assistant and pitch the Doctor out of the window.

1866. London Miscellany, 5 May, p. 202. Doubled you up, I mean, sir. Smashed you.

1885. W. Westall, Larry Lohengrin, ch. iii. He … promised the steward a handsome tip if nobody were doubled up with him,—i.e., if no other person were put into the same cabin.

Dough, subs. (public schools’).—Pudding.

Dough-baked, adj. phr. (colloquial).—Deficient in intellect. U.S.A. = Easily moulded: said of politicians. For synonyms, see Apartments.

1675. Wycherley, Country Wife, IV., iv. in wks. (1713), 212. These dow-baked, sensless, indocile animals, women.

Doughy, subs. (common).—A baker.—See Burncrust, and for synonyms, master of the rolls.

Douse.—See Dowse.

Dover, subs. (hotel).—A made dish; hash; rechauffé.

Dovers, subs. (Stock Exchange).—South Eastern Railway Ordinary Stock. [From one of the termini on the line.]

Doves, subs. (University).—Members of St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge.—See quot. Obsolete.

1888. C. Whibley, Three Centuries of Cambridge Wit, p. xxix. It is said that the members of St. Catharine’s Hall were first of all called ‘Puritans,’ from the derivation of the name of their patroness from καθαίρειν. The ‘dove’ being the emblem of purity, to change a name from ‘Puritans’ to doves was but one short step.

Soiled-Doves, subs. (common).—High-class prostitutes. For synonyms, see Barrack-Hack and Tart.

Dove-Tart, subs. (colloquial).—A pigeon pie. (Doo-tairt is excellent Scots for the same thing.) Cf., Snake Tart = eel pie.

1857. Rev. E. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. II., ch. vii. Why, a dove tart is what mortals call a pigeon-pie.

Dowlas, subs. (common).—A draper. [From dowlas, now a kind of towelling, but mentioned by Shakspeare (1 Henry IV., III., iii., 1597) as a material for shirts. [316]Popularised as a sobriquet by Colman’s Daniel Dowlas in The Heir at Law.—See Dickey Diaper, and cf., Dripping = cook; Grindo = miller; Gallipot = chemist; Lint-scraper = surgeon, (q.v.).

Dowling, subs. (public school).—See quot.

1871. Newspaper Report, 18 Feb., of a charge of assault against the head boy of Shrewsbury School. Mr. Chandler addressed the Bench for the defence. He said the game of dowling was practised at Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Westminster and other large schools, etc.

1877. Everyday Life in our Public Schools. There are four or five compulsory games a week (football) known as dowlings δοῦλος.

Down, subs. (thieves’).—1. Suspicion; alarm; a diversion. There is no down = All is quiet, it is safe to go on.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171. Down, alarm; rose the down, gave the alarm.

Adv. (colloquial).—1. Dispirited; hard-up; in disgrace. Found in various combinations: e.g., down in the mouth, or dumps = dejected; down on one’s luck = reduced in circumstances; down at heel = shabby; down on one’s back-seam = out of luck; down to bed-rock (American) = penniless, etc., etc.