Slang and its analogues, 2 | Project Gutenberg

1608. Penniles Parl, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), I., 182. They that drink too much Spanish sack, shall, about July, be served with a fiery faces.

1663. Dryden, Wild Gallant, Act ii. Vour. You are very smart upon one another, gentlemen. Fail. This is nothing between us; I was to tell him of his title, fiery facias; and his setting dog, that runs into ale-houses before him.

Fiery Lot, subs. phr. (common).—Fast (q.v.); rollicking; applied to a hot member (q.v.).

Fiery Snorter, subs. phr. (common).—A red nose.

Fifer, subs. (tailors’).—1. A waistcoat ‘hand.’ [392]

2. (Scots’ colloquial).—A native of the Kingdom (q.v.), i.e., the county of Fife.

Fi-fi or fie-fie, adj. (common).—Indecent; ‘blue’ or ‘smutty.’ [From Fie = an exclamation signifying contempt, impatience, or disapproval.] A Thackerayean term.

1861. A. Trollope, Framley Parsonage, ch. vi. And then Mrs. Proudie began her story about Mr. Slope, or rather recommenced it. She was very fond of talking about this gentleman who had once been her pet chaplain, but was now her bitterest foe; and, in telling the story, she had sometimes to whisper to Miss Dunstable, for there were one or two fie-fie little anecdotes about a married lady, not altogether fit for young Mr. Robart’s ears.

1874. M. Collins, Frances, ch. xviii. Flood was a gay bachelor, with a few fie-fie stories floating through club atmosphere about him.

Fifteener, subs. (bibliographical).—A book printed in the 15th century.

1890. ‘Grangerising’ in Cornhill Mag., Feb., p. 139. Some of them torn from fifteeners, or ‘incurables,’ books of the fathers of printing.

Fifth Rib. To hit, dig, or poke one under the fifth rib, verb. phr. (common).—To deliver a heavy blow; to dumbfound.

1890. Globe, 26 Feb., p. 1, col. 5. It strikes the man who has been dallying with strange tailors … under the fifth rib.

Fig, subs. (colloquial).—1. A gesture of contempt made by thrusting forth the thumb between the fore and middle fingers: whence the expression ‘I do not care, or would not give, a fig for you.’ Fr., je ne voudrais pas en donner un ferret d’aiguillette. Cf., Care, and for other similes of worthlessness, see Curse, Straw, Rush, Chip, Cent, Dam, etc. [Italian: When the Milanese revolted against the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, they set his Empress hind before upon a mule, and thus expelled her. Frederick afterwards besieged and took the city, and compelled all his prisoners, on pain of death, to extract with his (or her) teeth a fig from the fundament of a mule and, the thing being done, to say in announcement, ‘ecco la fica.’ Thus far la fica became an universal mode of derision. Fr., faire la figue; Ger., die Feigen weisen; It., far le fiche; Dutch, De vÿghe setten.

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V., iii., 6. Pistol. Die and be damned and fico for thy friendship. Fluellen. It is well. Pistol. The fig of Spain.

1610. Ben Jonson, The Alchemist, i. 1. Subtle. What to do? Lick figs out of mine arse.

1861. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. vi. A fig for Poll Ady and fat Sukey Wimble; I now could jump over the steeple so nimble; With joy I be ready to cry.

2. (common).—Dress. [From Fig, verb. sense = that which shows off a man or woman, as a fig of ginger shows off a horse. Cf., quot., 1819, in Fig up.] In full fig = in full dress.

1861. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. i. He waits on me in hall, where we go in full fig of cap and gown at five, and get very good dinners, and cheap enough.

1873. Cassell’s Magazine, Jan., p. 246, col. 2. ‘London Cured.’ They are rather prone to dress flashily, and wear when in full fig no end of jewellery. [393]

To fig out, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To show off; to dress; to don one’s war paint (q.v.). [From the verb.]

1825. The English Spy, vol. 1, p. 177. Eglantine (to the ostler). Well, Dick, what sort of a stud, hey? Come, fig out two lively ones.

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. vi. He began to inveigh against the waiter’s costume, as he styled the dress I had figged myself out in.

To fig up, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To restore; to reanimate (as a gingered horse).

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 24. In vain did they try to fig up the old lad, ’Twas like using persuaders upon a dead prad.

Figaro, subs. (common).—A barber. [From Le Nozze di Figaro.]

1886. Globe, 18 March, p. 3, col. 2. [Referring to recent order of French War Minister permitting soldiers to wear their beards.] There is wailing and weeping among a certain section of that army, the figaros, which has been despoiled at one fell swoop.

Figdean, verb (old).—To kill. For synonyms, see Cook one’s goose.

Figged.—See Jigged.

Figger or Figure.—See Fagger.

Figging- or Fagging-lay, subs. phr. (old).—Pocket-picking: cf., Fagger.

Fight, subs. (common).—A party; e.g., Tea fight, Wedding-fight, etc. Cf., Scramble, and Worry: also Row (q.v.).

1870. London Figaro, 20 July. The other day a gentleman of San Francisco, hitherto only noted for deeds of daring in fighting the tiger, was seated asleep in the smoking-car of the evening train from Sacramento on the Vallejo route.

1886. Daily Telegraph, 18 Oct., p. 5, col. 3. If they subsequently fight the tiger at the games of faro or roulette.

One that can fight his weight in wild cats, subs. phr. (American).—A brilliant desperado.

1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly. John Halkett, as I learned afterwards, could fight his weight in wild cats.

Fighting-Cove, subs. phr. (tramps’).—A professional pugilist: specifically one who ‘boxes’ for a livelihood at fairs, race-meetings, etc.

1880. Greenwood, Odd People in Odd Places, p. 56. You see them two there, sitting on t’other end of the table and eating fried fish and bread. That’s their mittens they’ve got tied up in that hankercher. They’re fighting coves.

Fighting Fifth, subs. phr. (military)—The Fifth Foot. [So distinguished in the Peninsular.] Other nicknames were the shiners (in 1764 from its clean and smart appearance); the old bold fifth (also Peninsular); and Lord Wellington’s body guard (it was at head-quarters in 1811). Cf., Fighting Ninth. [394]

1871. Chambers’ Journal, 23 Dec., p. 802, col. 2. The Fighting Fifth was distinguished by its men wearing a white plume in the cap, when the similar ornament of the other regiments was a red and white tuft.

1890. Standard, 25 April, p. 3, col. 4, ‘St. George’s Day.’ With the exception of the annual observances by the Northumberland Fusiliers, better known as the Fighting Fifth, and a concert at the Crystal Palace, there does not seem to have been the smallest notice taken of what was, not a hundred years ago, a recognised popular festival throughout the length and breadth of once merrie England.

Fighting Ninth, subs. phr. (military).—The Ninth Foot. [Also Holy Boys (Peninsular), from its selling its Bibles for drink.] Cf., Fighting Fifth.

Fighting Tight, adv. phr. (American).—Drunk and quarrelsome. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

Fig-leaf, subs. (common).—An apron. In fencing, the padded shield worn over the lower abdomen and right thigh. Fr., une petite bannette. Cf., Belly-cheat and Flag.

Figs (also Figgins), subs. (colloquial).—A grocer.

Figure, subs. (colloquial).—1. Appearance; conduct; e.g., to cut a good or bad figure, a mean figure, sorry figure, etc.

1712. Spectator, No. 479. Men cannot, indeed, make a sillier figure, than in repeating such pleasures and pains to the rest of the world.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xvii. Peradventure our youth is fast, and aspires to be a man of figure.

d. 1863. Thackeray [quoted in Annandale]. Accommodating the youngster, who had just entered the regiment, with a glandered charger at an uncommonly stiff figure.

1864. London Society, Oct., p. 480. She had saved … about four hundred a year out of the wreck … and so, on the whole, did not do badly in life. Happiness has been found at even a lower ‘figure.’

1883. Sala, Living London, p. 184. The ‘figure’ to be paid to Madame Adelina Patti for her forthcoming season.

1886. Cornhill Mag., March, p. 304. ‘About what is their figure?’ asked Mr. Corder. ‘Slim and graceful,’ answered the lady. ‘I don’t mean that,’ said the ex-smoked-mother-of-pearl-button manufacturer; ‘I mean, what is each of them worth in money?’

3. (colloquial).—Paps and posteriors; said only of women. No figure = wanting in both particulars.

[Figure, like fetch, comes in for a good deal of hard work in America. It is colloquially equivalent to ‘count upon’; as, ‘you may figure on getting a reply by return mail’; also = to strive for. To figure on [a thing] = to think it over; to figure out = to estimate; to figure up = to add up; to cut a figure, see cut; to go the whole figure = to be thorough; to go the big figure = to launch out; to miss a figure = to make a mistake.]

Figure-dancer, subs. (thieves’).—A manipulator of the face value of banknotes, cheques, and paper security generally.—Grose [1785].

Figure-fancier, subs. (venery).—An amateur of large-made women.

Figure-head, subs. (nautical).—The face. For synonyms, see Dial.

Figure-maker, subs. (venery).—A wencher. [In allusion to the enlarged ‘figures’ of pregnant women.] For synonyms, see Molrower. [395]

Figure (or Number) Six, subs. phr. (thieves’).—A lock of hair brought down from the forehead, greased, twisted spirally, and plastered on the face. For synonyms, see Aggerawator.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, v. I., p. 36. As for the hair, they [coster-lads] say it ought to be long in front, and done in figure-six curls or twisted back to the ear, ‘Newgate-knocker style.’

Filbert. Cracked in the filbert, adv. phr. (common).—Crazy; a variant of wrong in the nut (q.v.) or upper storey. For synonyms, see Apartments to let and Tile loose.

Filch, verb (Old Cant: now recognised).—1. To steal: specifically to pilfer in small ways [Dekker: from the ‘filches’ or hooks used by thieves in stealing out of open windows; Skeat: for filk from O.E. fele, Icel. fela, to steal, like talk and tell, stalk (verb) and steal where k is a formative element.—See Phil. Soc. Trans., 1865, p. 188.] For synonyms, see Prig. Filch, properly filchman (q.v.), = a hooked staff; on the filch or filching = stealing.

1580. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. 63, st. 13, p. 143 (E.D.S.). The champion robbeth by night, And prowleth and filcheth by day.

1611. Middleton, Roaring Girl, Act iv., Sc. 1. What she leaves Thou shalt come closely in and filch away.

1729. Swift, Intelligencer, No. 4, p. 35 (2nd ed.). The servants having all that time to themselves to intrigue, to junket, to filch and steal.

1830. Marryat, King’s Own, ch. x. I could filch a handkerchief as soon as I was high enough to reach a pocket, and was declared to be a most promising child.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 246. She were an out-and-outer in going into shops on the filch.

Subs. (old).—A thief. [From the verb.] Also Filcher (q.v.). For synonyms, see Area-sneak.

1810. Poole, Hamlet Travestie, II., iii. A very filch, that more deserves to hang, Than any one of the light-finger’d gang.

Filcher or Filch (q.v.). subs. (Old Cant: now recognised). A thief. [From filch (q.v.) = to steal + er.] For synonyms, see Area-sneak and Thieves.

1580. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. 10, st. 54, p. 25 (E.D.S.). Purloiners and filchers, that loveth to lurke.

1596. Jonson, Every man in his Humour, IV., ix. How now, Signior Gull! are you turned filcher of late? Come, deliver my cloak.

1636. Davenant, The Wits, Act. V., The old blade Skulks there like a tame filcher, as he had New stolen ’bove eggs from market-women, Robb’d an orchard, or a cheese-loft.

1887. J. W. Ebsworth, Cavalier Lyrics (In Alsatia, etc.). Filchers, who grabble at other folks’ chink.

Filchman or Filch, subs. (old).—A thief’s hooked staff used as described in quot., 1632.

1567. Frat. of Vacabondes, p. 3. The trunchion of a staffe, which staffe they cal a filtchman.

1589. Nashe, Countercuffe to Martin Junior, in wks., vol. I., p. 80. Pasquill met him … with a Hatte like a sawcer vppon hys crowne, a Filch-man in his hande.

1632–48. Dekker, English Villanies. He carries a short staff in his hand, which is called a filch, having in the nab or head [396]of it a ferme (that is to say a hole) into which, upon any piece of service, when he goes a filching, he putteth a hooke of iron, with which hooke he angles at a window in the dead of night for shirts, smockes, or any other linen or woollen.

1665. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 49 (1874), s.v.; 1724. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

File, subs. (old). 1. A pickpocket. Also file cloy or bung-nipper; cf., Buttock. Fr., une poisse à la détourne.

1754. Fielding, Jon. Wild, bk. IV., ch. xii. The greatest character among them was that of a pickpocket, or, in truer language, a file.

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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon. The file is one who is generally accompanied by two others, one of whom is called the ‘Adam tyler,’ and the other the ‘bulker,’ or ‘staller.’ It is their business to jostle or ‘ramp’ the victim, while the file picks his pocket, and then hands the plunder to the ‘Adam tyler,’ who makes off with it.

2. (common).—A man: i.e., a cove (q.v.). Thus silent file (Fr., un lime sourde) = a dumb man; close-file = a miser, or a person not given to blabbing; Hard-file = a grasper (q.v.); old file = an elder; and so forth.

1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry (ed. 1890), p. 54. He was one of the deepest files in London; indeed, he was ‘awake’ on every suit.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 360 (ed. 1857). ‘Wot a perverse old file it is!’ exclaimed Sam, ‘always agoin’ on about werdicks and alleybis, and that. Who said anysthings about the werdick?’

1837. C. Dickens, Oliver Twist, p. 233. The Dodger … desired the jailer to communicate the names of them two files as were on the bench.

1849. Thackeray, Hoggarty Diamond, ch. xi. ‘You beat Brough; you do, by Jove! for he looks like a rogue—anybody would swear to him: but you! by Jove, you look the very picture of honesty!’ ‘A deep file,’ said Aminadab, winking and pointing me out to his friend, Mr. Jehoshaphat.

1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, ch. xiii. If you were not such a steady old file I should think you were in love with her.

Filing-lay, subs. (thieves’).—Pocket-picking. [From file = to steal from the person + lay = business, occupation.]

1754. Jon. Wild, bk. IV., ch. ii. I am committed for the filing-lay, man, and we shall be both nubbed together.

Filling at the Price, adv. phr. (common).—Satisfying.

1870. London Figaro, 28 May. ‘Penny Pleasures.’ We believe that baked taturs are accepted as Penny Pleasures, and as being filling at the price.

Fill One’s Pipe, verb. phr. (obsolete).—To attain to easy circumstances.

1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry (ed. 1890), p. 32. It has often been the subject of sincere regret that such persons, with very few exceptions, have lived just long enough, according to a vulgar phrase, to fill their pipe, and leave others to enjoy it.

Fill the Bill, verb. phr. (theatrical).—To excel in conspicuousness: as a star actor whose name is ‘billed’ to the exclusion of the rest of the company. Hence, by implication, out of the common run of things; e.g., That fills the bill = ‘that takes the cake,’ for a lie, an effect, an appearance—anything.

Fill the Bin, verb. phr. (American).—To be beyond question; to come up to the mark; e.g., ‘Is the news reliable?’ Yes, it fills the bin. Cf., To Fill the Bill. [397]

1862. Speech of W. G. Brownlow of Tenn. in N. Y. Herald, 16 May. ‘Sir,’ said he,—and he [W. L. Yancey] is a beautiful speaker and personally a very fine-looking man,—‘are you the celebrated Parson Brownlow?’ ‘I’m the only man on earth,’ I replied, ‘that fills the bin.’

Fillupey, adj. and adv. (obsolete).—Satisfying. [From fill + up + y.]

Filly, subs. (common).—A girl; specifically a wanton. Among thieves, a daughter.

1668. Etherege, She Would if She Could, II., ii. (1704), p. 112. I told you they were a couple of skittish fillies, but I never knew ’em boggle at a man before.

1846. Thackeray, V. Fair, ch. xi. Well, I heard him say, ‘By jove, she’s a neat little filly!’ meaning your humble servant, and he did me the honour to dance two country dances with me.

Filly-hunting, subs. (venery).—Questing adventures; grousing (q.v.).

Filth, subs. (old venery).—A prostitute.

1609. Shakspeare, Timon of Athens, iv., 1. To general filths Convert, o’ the instant, green virginity.

Fimble-Famble, subs. (common).—A lame excuse; a prevaricating answer.

Fin, subs. (common).—1. The arm; also the hand. [Fr., nageoire, but for synonyms, see Daddle. To tip the fin = to shake hands.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 116. I wagged my head at this one, and nodded to another, and salaam’d with my fins with all the grace of a wounded turtle, to a third.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxxvii., p. 323. ‘Smauker, my lad, your fin,’ said the gentleman with the cocked hat. Mr. Smauker dovetailed the top joint of his right hand little finger into that of the gentleman with the cocked hat, and said he was charmed to see him looking so well.

1844. Puck, p. 134. The sun shines fair in Carey Street, And eke in Lincoln’s Inn, When Brown and Johnson gaily meet And shake the friendly fin.

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lv. The young surgeon … succeeded in getting the General’s dirty old hand under what he called his own fin.

1850. F. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, p. 152. I’ll drive you there instead; it will be better for your scorched fin (pointing to my injured arm), than jolting about outside a horse.

Find, subs. (Harrow).—A mess of three or four upper boys which teas and breakfasts in the rooms of one or other of the set. Find-fag = a fag who provides for or ‘finds’ upper boys.

Finder, subs. (thieves’).—1. A thief; specifically a meat-market thief.

Fine, subs. (thieves’).—Punishment; a term of imprisonment. For synonyms, see Dose. To fine = to sentence. [From the payment of money imposed as a punishment for an offence.]

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon. The cove had a fine of two stretches and a half imposed upon him for relieving a joskin of a load of cole. [398]

To get one down fine and close, verb. phr. (American).—To find out all about a man; to deliver a stinging blow.

All very fine and large, adj. phr. (common).—An interjection of (1) approval; (2) derision; and (3) incredulity. [The refrain of a music-hall song excessively popular about 1886–88.]

Fine words butter no parsnips, phr. (colloquial).—A sarcastic retort upon large promises.

Fine-drawing, subs. (tailors’).—Accomplishing an end without discovery.

Fineer, verb, Fineering, subs. (old).—See quot.

1765. Goldsmith, Essays, VIII. The second method of running into debt is called fineering; which is getting goods made in such a fashion as to be unfit for every other purchaser, and if the tradesman refuses to give them on credit, then threatens to leave them upon his hands.

Fine-Madam, subs. phr. (common).—An epithet of envy or derision for a person (feminine) above her station.

Finger, subs. (American).—A ‘nip’; usually applied to spirituous liquors. Thus, Three fingers of clear juice = Three ‘goes’ of whiskey.

1888. Newport Journal, 25 Feb. ‘Which is correct, spoonfuls or spoons-ful, uncle?’ Denver uncle—‘Um—er—the fact is I don’t know, my boy. In Denver, we don’t use either, we say fingers.’

Verb (venery).—To take liberties with a woman. For synonyms, see Firkytoodle.

To put the finger in the eye, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To weep. For synonyms, see Nap a bit.—[Grose, 1785.]

Finger and Thumb, subs. phr. (rhyming slang).—A road or highway, i.e., ‘drum.’ For synonyms, see Drum.

Finger-Better, subs. (American).—A man who bets on credit; also one who points out cards.

Finger-fucking, subs. phr. (venery).—Masturbation (said of women only). For synonyms, see Frig.

Finger-post, subs. (common).—A clergyman. For synonyms, see Devil-dodger.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. A parson: so called, because.… Like the finger-post he points out … the way to heaven.

Finger-Smith, subs. (thieves’).—1. A pickpocket.

1883. Horsley, Jottings from Jail [in Echo], 25 Jan., p. 2, col. 4. The delicate expression fingersmith, as descriptive of the trade which a blunt world might call that of a pickpocket.

2. (common).—A midwife. Fr., Madame tire-monde or tire-pouce (Rabelaisian); Madame tire-mômes (môme = ‘kid’); une mômière (thieves’); Madame tâte-minette, [399]Madame guichet or Madame portière du petit guichet (17th century phrases). Cf., Carver and Gilder.

Finish, verb (common).—To kill. For synonyms, see Cook one’s goose.

Finisher, subs. (colloquial).—Something that gives the last, the settling touch to anything. Cf., Corker, Clincher, etc.

1788–1841. Th. Hook [quoted in Annandale]. ‘This was a finisher,’ said Lackington.

Finjy! intj. (Winchester College).—An exclamation excusing one from participation in an unpleasant or unacceptable task, which he who says the word last has to undertake.

Finnuf.—See Finnup.

Finnup, (also finnip, finnuf, finnif, finnie, finn, or fin), subs. (thieves’).—A five-pound note or flimsy (q.v.). [A Yiddish pronunciation of German fünf = five.] Also finnup-ready (ready = money). In America finnup = a five dollar bill. Double finnup = a ten pound note.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 396. The notes were all finnies (£5 notes), and a good imitation.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 444. Five-pound notes, Finnips, ten-pound notes, Double finnips.

1883. Horsley, Jottings from Jail. When we got into the rattler they showed me the pass. Yes, there it was, fifty quids in double finns.

Fippenny, subs. (Australian thieves’).—A clasp knife. For synonyms, see Chive.

Fire, subs. (thieves’).—Danger.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon. This place is all on fire; I must pad like a bull or the cops will nail me.

Like a house on fire, adv. phr. (common).—Easily and rapidly. Cf., house, winking, one o’clock, cake, brick, etc.

To fire a gun, verb. phr. (old).—To introduce a story by head and shoulders; to lead up to a subject.—[Grose, 1785.]

To pass through the fire, verb. phr. (venery).—To be clapped (q.v.), or poxed (q.v.).

To set the Thames on fire, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be clever, or the reverse; used in sarcasm.

Fire and Light, subs. phr. (nautical).—A master-at-arms.

Fired, adj. (American).—Arrested; turned out; and (among artists) rejected.

Fire-eater, subs. (common).—In Old Cant a quick-worker; and in modern English, a duellist or bully. Also Fire-eating.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xii. Sir Ascot was none of your sighing, despairing, fire-eating adorers. [400]

1868. Ouida, Under Two Flags, ch. xv. A soldier, who … was one of the most brilliant fire-eaters of his regiment.

Fire-escape, subs. (common).—A clergyman. For synonyms, see Devil-dodger.

Fire-prigger, subs. (old).—A thief whose venue is a conflagration.—Grose [1785].

Fireship, subs. (old).—A tainted whore. For general synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

Fire-spaniel, subs. (military).—A soldier who ‘nurses’ the barrack-room fire. Some English synonyms are, fire-dog; fire-worshipper; chimney-ornament; fender-guard; and cuddle-chimney.

Firewater, subs. (American).—Ardent spirits.

1861. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xiv. Yes. And awful firewater we used to get. The governor supplied me, like a wise man.

Fireworks, subs. (common).—A state of disturbance; mental excitement: e.g., fireworks on the brain = to be in a fluster.

Firk, verb (old).—To beat.

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V., iv., 6. Pistol. I’ll fer him, and firk him, and ferret him.

Firkytoodle, verb (common).—To indulge in sexual endearments. Also Firkytoodling = preliminary caresses.

English Synonyms.—To canoodle; to fiddle; to mess (or pull) about; to slewther (Irish); to spoon; to crooky; to fam; to dildo; to caterwaul; to feel; to finger; to fumble; to grope; to clitorize; to touch up; to tip the long (or middle) finger; to guddle (Scots.)

French Synonyms. Mignoter (popular); jouer de la harpe (familiar: Leroux, in Dict. Comique, says: ‘Jouer de la harpe signifie jouer des mains auprès d’une femme, la patiner, lui toucher la nature, la farfouiller, la clitoriser, la chatouiller avec les doigts’); la petite oie (= preliminary favours); faire des horreurs (popular: des horreurs = broad or ‘blue’ talk; dire des horreurs = to talk bawd); bécoter (popular: = to make hot love); chouchouter (familiar: chouchou = darling).

Spanish Synonyms. Garatusa (= an act of endearment); caroca (generally used in plural, carocas = endearments); amoricones (vulgar).

Firmed.—See Well-firmed.

First-chop, adj. (common).—First rate. [From Hind., chaap, a stamp, an official mark on weights and measures; hence used to signify quality.] Also second-chop (q.v.).

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. iv. ‘As for poetry, I hate poetry.’ ‘Pen’s is not first-chop,’ says Warrington.

1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. lxviii. Old Beeswax thinks that if he can get me up to swear that he and his crew are real first-chop hands, that will hit the governor hard.

First Flight. In the first flight, subs. phr. (sporting).—Those first in at the finish; in fox-hunting those in at the death.

1852. F. E. Smedley, Lewis Arundel, ch. xxxix. Then you promise you will dine with me at Lovegrove’s, on Thursday, [401]and I’ll pick up half-a-dozen fellows that I know you’ll like to meet, regular top-sawyers, that you’re safe to find in the first flight, be it where it may.

First-nighter, subs. phr. (journalistic).—An habitué of first performances.

1886. G. Sutherland, Australia, p. 125. The first-nighter is almost unknown in the colonies.

First-Night Wrecker.—See Wrecker.

Fish, subs. (common).—1. A man; generally in contempt or disparagement as odd fish, loose fish, queer fish, scaly fish, shy fish (all of which see). Cf., Cove.

3. (venery).—Generic for the female pudendum: e.g., a bit of fish = a grind (q.v.); fish-market = a brothel; and to go fishing = to go grousing (q.v.).

Verb (colloquial).—To attempt to obtain by artifice; to seek indirectly; to curry favour.

Pretty kettle of fish, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A perplexing state of affairs; a quandary.

To have other fish to fry, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To have other business on hand.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 90. He shouted to us, and pointed to his cargo; but we had other fish to fry, and accordingly never relaxed in our pulling.

To be neither fish nor flesh, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be neither one thing nor another; said of waverers and nondescripts; sometimes extended to neither fish, flesh, fowl, nor good red herring.

1598. Shakspeare, II. Henry IV., iv., 3. Falstaff. Why, she’s neither fish nor flesh; a man knows not where to have her.

1631–1700. Dryden [quoted in Annandale]. Damned neuters in their middle way of steering, Are neither fish, nor flesh, nor good red herring.

Fish-Broth, subs. (common).—Water. For synonyms, see Adam’s ale, to which may be added: Fr., le bouillon de canard (thieves’); l’agout (thieves’): Four. vetta.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe. The churlish frampold waves gave him his belly-full of fish-broath.

Fisher, subs. (common).—A lickspittle; only used contemptuously.

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

Fishmarket, subs. (gaming).—The lowest hole at bagatelle; Simon (q.v.).—See also Fish, subs., sense 3.

Fishy, adj. (common).—Effete, dubious, or seedy (of persons); unsound, or equivocal (of things). Also Fishiness = unsoundness.

1858. Shirley Brooks, The Gordian Knot, p. 14. Highly fishy they were. Something about breach of trust, and the embezzling his brother’s money—a man in India.

1859. Punch, vol. XXXVI., p. 82. The affair is decidedly fishy. However somebody must have the place, and so our friend Sam Warren … takes the mastership, resigning his seat. [402]

1868. Orchestra, 29 Feb., p. 365. When he commented on the words in the libel of Greek derivation, he professed to have forgotten all he ever learnt at school, said that ichthyophagous meant fishy, a word that thoroughly described the plaintiffs case.

1870. London Figaro, 31 Oct. Captain Spratt is the right man in the right place, though his appointment to such a post is certainly, on the face of it, fishy.

1884. F. Anstey, Giant’s Robe, ch. xxii. There’s something fishy about it all, and I mean to get at it.

1890. St. James’ Gazette, 9 April, p. 3, col. 1. Unfortunately the Bill is fishy; and there are ‘very awkward and stiff considerations about it.’

Fist, subs. (common).—1. Hand-writing. Fr., la cape.

1864. Derby Day, p. 8. Must say though that your friend writes a tolerable fist.

1598. Shakspeare, II. Henry IV., ii., 1. Fang. An I but Fist him once! An a’ come but within my vice.

2. (colloquial).—To take hold, e.g., Just you fist that scrubbing-brush, and set to work.

3. (venery).—To fist it = to take a man by the penis, for intromission or masturbation.

To put up one’s fist, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To acknowledge a fact; cf., fill the bin and acknowledge the corn.

Fit, adj. and adv. (colloquial).—Suitable; in good form.

1884. A. Lang, in Longman’s Mag., IV., 140. The really best moment in life is that which finds us young and fit, bowling on a lively wicket, and conscious that we have considerable command of the ball.

1889. Evening Standard, 25 June. ‘Sir C. Russell’s Speech in Durham-Chetwynd Case.’ Now, Mr. Lowther, I am not suggesting—and I wish to be perfectly understood—that to run a horse that is not perfectly fit does not stand alone as an offence against the honourable conduct of any man on the turf.

Fit as a fiddle, adj. phr. (colloquial).—Awfully fit, i.e., in perfect condition.

To fit to a T, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To fit to a nicety. [In reference to the T square used in drawing.]

To fit ends (or end to end), verb. phr. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms, see Ride.

Fitch’s Grenadiers, subs. phr. (military).—The Eighty-Third Foot. [From the small stature of the men and the name of the first colonel.]

Fits. To beat into fits, verb. phr.—See Beat and Creation. [403]

Fitter, subs. (thieves’).—A burglar’s locksmith.

Fit up, subs. phr. (theatrical).—A small company. Also used adjectively; see Conscience.

1889. Answers, p. 40. One young fellow, who had come down with me, shook his head when he found that the company was one known as a fit up, that is to say, one where the stage is really carried about with the company.

Five-Fingers, subs. phr. (cards).—The five of trumps in the game of ‘Don’ or ‘Five Cards.’

1611. Chapman, May-Day, V., ii., in wks. (1873), ii., 401. For my game stood, me thought, vpon my last two tricks, when I made sure of the set, and yet lost it, hauing the varlet and the fiue finger to make two tricks.

1674. Cotton, Compleat Gamester [at the game of five-cards]. The five fingers (alias, five of trumps) is the best card in the pack … the Ace of Hearts wins the Ace of Trumps, and the Five Fingers not only wins the Ace of Trumps, but also all other cards whatever.

Fiver, subs. (colloquial).—Anything that counts as five; specifically a five-pound note. Cf., Finn.

1853. Wh. Melville, Digby Grand, ch. i. Spooner … loses a five-pound note, or, as he calls it, a fiver, to my antagonist.

1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. xxv. Wouldn’t lend me a fiver to save me from gaol.

1871. Daily News, 26 Dec. ‘Workhouse Xmas Depravity.’ Why, there’s Jemima Ann … has … been bleeding me of a fiver to send to some Christmas Dinner Fund for juvenile mudlarks.

1872. Fun, Sept. I lent a fiver unto a friend—He managed somehow that to spend.

Five over Five, adv. phr. (common).—Said of people who turn in their toes.

Fivepence. As fine, (or as grand), as fivepence (or as fippence), phr. (colloquial).—As fine as possible. Cf., As neat as ninepence.

1672. Wycherly, Love in a Wood, V., wks. (1713), 421. Whilst his mistress is as fine as fippence, in embroidered sattens.

1738. Swift, Polite Convers., Dial. 3. Pray how was she drest? Lady Sm. Why, as fine as fi’pence.

1857. A. Trollope, Barchester Towers, ch. xxxix. There’s … the lot of ’em all sitting as grand as fivepence in madam’s drawing-room.

1866. G. A. Sala, Trip to Barbary, ch. xiii. They [the Jews] continue to sit ‘all of a row’ with their daughters dressed ‘all in green,’ or all in pink or salmon-colour, and as fine as fivepence on their ceremonial days, waiting, waiting, always waiting, for the restoration of the Temple and the end of the dolour.

Fives, subs. (common).—1. The fingers. Bunch of fives = the fist. Formerly also = the feet. For synonyms, see Forks.

c. 1629. Ballad in Arber’s English Garner, vol. VII., p. 13. Her cheeks were like the cherry.… Her waist exceeding small. The fives did fit her shoe.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ii., 7. Smart chap that cabman—handled his fives well.

1887. Judy, 18 May, p. 236. Both the men of sin handled their fives with almost professional dexterity.

Fix, subs. (common).—A dilemma; frequently in conjunction with awful (q.v.) and regular (q.v.), e.g., an awful fix = a terrible position. Variants are cornered; up a tree; up a close; under a cloud; in a [404]scrape. Fr., avoir des mots avec les sergots = to run amuck of the police.

1837. R. H. Barham, The Ingoldsby Legends, (ed. 1862), p. 405. But, alas! and alack!—He had stuffed her sack So full that he found himself quite in a fix.

1840. Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop, ch. lxi. It can’t be helped you know. He ain’t the only one in the same fix.

1858. Shirley Brookes, The Gordian Knot, p. 88. John Claxton, what a fix I am in. That Mrs. Spencer will never go out of town.

1864. Tangle Talk, p. 271. Just as you are in a capital fix, exquisitely placed for being made a laughing stock, your friend will turn round upon you.

1869. Mrs. H. Wood, Roland Yorke, ch. xxi. Oh, but I could tell you of worse fixes than that.

1789. G. Parker, Variegated Characters. If any of us was to come in by ourselves and should happen to take a snooze you’d snitch upon us and soon have the traps fix us.

2. (American colloquial).—A general verb of action. Everything is fixed except the meaning of the word itself. The farmer fixes his fences, the mechanic his work-bench, the seamstress her sewing-machine, the fine lady her hair, and the schoolboy his books. The minister has to fix his sermon, the doctor to fix his medicines, the lawyer to fix his brief. Dickens was requested to ‘un-fix his straps’; eatables are fixed for a meal; a girl unfixes herself to go to bed, and fixes herself up to go for a walk. At public meetings it is fixed who are to be the candidates for office; rules are fixed to govern an institution, and when the arrangements are made the people contentedly say, ‘Now everything is fixed nicely.’ [This use is thought by Proctor to have arisen from some confusion between ‘fingency’ and ‘fixation’: as if the word had the meaning of the Latin fingo, fingere, instead of that of the Latin figo, figere. At least there is no use of fix in American which would not fairly represent the meaning of both.—See Philol. Soc. Trans. for 1865, p. 188.] The universality of the verb is only equalled by its antiquity, for, as J. R. Lowell points out, as early as 1675, the Commissioners of the United Colonies ordered ‘their arms well fixed and fit for service.’

1842. Dickens, American Notes, ch. x., p. 86. You call upon a gentleman in a country town, and his help informs you that he is fixing himself just now, but will be down directly: by which you are to understand that he is dressing. You inquire, on board a steamboat, of a fellow-passenger, whether breakfast will be ready soon, and he tells you he should think so, for when he was last below, they were fixing the tables; in other words, laying the cloth. You beg a porter to collect your luggage, and he entreats you not to be uneasy, for he’ll fix it presently, and if you complain of indisposition, you are advised to have recourse to Doctor so and so, who will fix you in no time.

1888. Scribner’s Mag. I do hope you’ll like everything; it’s the first time we ever took boarders, but we try to fix things nice.

To fix one’s flint, verb. phr. (American).—‘To settle one’s hash.’ For synonyms, see Cook one’s goose.

1835–40. Haliburton, Clockmaker, S., ch. xii. Their manners are rude, [405]overbearin’, and tyrannical. They want their flints fixed for ’em as we did last war.

Fixings, subs. (American).—A noun of all work. Applied to any and everything.

1842. Dickens, American Notes, ch. x., p. 86. ‘Will you try,’ said my opposite neighbour, handing me a dish of potatoes, broken up in milk and butter, ‘will you try some of these fixings.’

1872. Daily Telegraph, 30 Sept. Still stoutly asserted by some sceptical Down-Easter to have been an itinerant dealer in hardware and kitchen fixings from Salem, Mass.

Fix up, verb. phr. (American).—To settle; to arrange. Cf., Fix.

Fiz, or Fizz, subs. (common).—Champagne; sometimes lemonade and ginger-beer. For synonyms, see Boy.

1864. Punch, vol. XLVII., p. 100. So away we went to supper For hungry we had grown, And ordered some fizz, which the right thing is, With a devilled turkey bone.

1869. St. James’ Mag., July. Her great object is to get one of these fellows to order the champagne. On each bottle of this stuff disposed of she has a percentage. She terms it fizz, and will pretend to fall into ecstacies at the prospect of a glass of the chemical essence of gooseberry sweetened up with tartaric acid and sugar of lead.

1871. Morning Advertiser, 11 Sept. Shall the Admirals of England now their former prowess drop, All courage ooze from tarry hands, like fiz from uncorked ‘pop?’

1879. Justin McCarthy, Donna Quixote, ch. xvii. I can open a bottle of soda or fizz … and never as much as wink.

1883. Referee, 22 April, p. 3, col. 3. I have seen you wince when it has come to your turn to stand treat, and you have been called upon to pay twelve shillings for a bottle of fizz.

Fiz-Gig, subs. (schoolboys’).—A firework.

Fizzer, subs. (common).—Anything first-rate. Cf., fizzing.

1866. London Miscellany, 19 May, p. 235. If the mare was such a fizzer why did you sell her?

Fizzing, adj. (common).—First-rate.

English Synonyms.—A1; cheery; clean wheat; clipping; crack; creamy; crushing; first chop; first class; first-rate, or (in America) first-rate and a half; hunky; jammy; jonnick; lummy; nap; out-and-out; pink; plummy; proper; real jam; right as ninepence; ripping; rooter; rum; screaming; scrumptious; ship-shape; slap-up; slick; splendacious; splendiferous; to rights; tip-top; true marmalade; tsing-tsing.

French Synonyms.—Aux oiseaux (pop.: very fine, very good); bath or bate (pop.: tip-top; for origin see under A1); c’est du flan (thieves’: it is excellent); c’est hurf (general: = true marmalade); c’est un peu ça (popular); c’est bath aux pommes (cf., bath ante); chenátre (thieves’); chic or chique (chique is literally a quid of tobacco); chicard, chicancardo or chicandard (superlatives of chic); chocnoso, chocnosof, chocnosogue or kosenoff (= crushing; nobby); chouette, chouettard, or chouettaud (chouette = literally a screech-owl); épatarouflant or êpatant (general = stunning); farineux (lit. farinaceous); flambant (lit. blazing, flaming); frais (used ironically); grand ’largue (largue = offing); mirobolant (fam. and pop. = slap-up); muche (= bully or ripping); numéro un (i.e., A1); obéliscal or obélisqual (common); ruisselant d’inouisme [406](familiar); rup (popular); schpile (popular); sgoff (popular); snoboye (fam. and pop.); superlificoquentieux (= splendiferous).

1885. Daily Telegraph, 1 August, p. 2, col. 2. ‘She’ll do fizzing,’ remarked Mr. Menders, regarding the transformed effigy admiringly, ‘to stick up at the head of the barrer.’

Fizzle, subs. (American).—A ridiculous failure; a flash in the pan. [The figure is adapted from wet powder which burns with a hiss, and then goes out.] In many of the United States colleges, the term = a blundering recitation. To hit just one third of the meaning constitutes ‘a perfect fizzle.’—Hall’s College Words. The ‘Brunonian,’ Feb. 24, 1877, defines the word to mean ‘where the student thinks he knows, but can’t quite express it,’ or ‘he tries to express it, and the professor thinks he doesn’t quite know.’