milch cow
A German WWII submarine designed to carry large cargoes of supplies and transfer them to other submarines.
English · UK & Ireland 715
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Where will you be? Anywhere UK & IrelandUnited StatesOnline slangBusiness jargon
Expressions you’ll hear in Britain and Ireland — distinctly British usage first, then widespread staples.
Mrs. Jones
An outhouse; a toilet.
mullingar heifer
A girl with thick ankles.
m. b. coat
(i.e., Mark of the Beast,) a name given to the long surtout worn by some of the clergy,—a modern Puritan form of abuse, said to have been accidentally disclosed to a High Church customer by a tailor’s orders to his foreman.
m.p
Member of the police, one of the slang titles of the Force.
m.t
Railway slang used by porters and pointsmen for empties, or empty carriages. See MOLL THOMSON’S MARK.
mab
A cab, or hackney-coach.
maccaroni
An Italian paste made of flour and eggs. Also a fop: which name arose from a club, called the Maccaroni Club, instituted by some of the most dressy travelled gentlemen about town, who led the fashions; whence a man foppishly dressed, was supposed a member of that club, and by contraction styled a Maccaroni.
mace
To sponge, swindle, or beg, in a polite way: "give it him (a shopkeeper) on the MACE," i.e., obtain goods on credit and never pay for them; also termed "striking the MACE."
mace cove
A swindler, a sharper, a cheat. On the mace; to live by swindling.
maceman
Or MACER, a welcher, magsman, or general swindler; a "street-mugger."
machines
Mrs. Phillips's ware. See CUNDUM.
mackerel
A bawd: from the French maquerel. Mackerel-backed; long-backed.
madam
A kept madam; a kept mistress.
madge
The private parts of a woman.
madza
Half. Italian, MEZZA. This word enters into combination with various cant phrases, mainly taken from the Lingua Franca, as MADZA CAROON, half-a-crown, two-and-sixpence; MADZA SALTEE, a halfpenny [see SALTEE]; MADZA POONA, half-a-sovereign; MADZA ROUND THE BULL, half a pound of steak, &c. This word is, in street phraseology, invariably pronounced MEDZER.
mag
A halfpenny.—Ancient Cant, MAKE. MEGS were formerly guineas.—B. M. Carew. MAKE, the old form, is still used by schoolboys in Scotland. "Not a blessed MAG!" would be the phrase of a cadger down on his luck to express his penniless state.
maggotty
Whimsical, capricious.
maggoty
Fanciful, fidgety. Whims and fancies were formerly termed MAGGOTS, from the popular belief that a maggot in the brain was the cause of any odd notion or caprice a person might exhibit. Deer are sometimes found to have maggots in their brains, which, perhaps, accounts for the origin of the term.
maginn
(Dr.) wrote Slang songs in Blackwood’s Magazine. 1827.
magnum bonum
A bottle containing two quarts of wine. See SCOTCH PINT.
magsman
A street swindler, who watches for countrymen and "gullible" persons, and persuades them out of their possessions. MAGSMEN are wonderful actors. Their work is done in broad daylight, without any stage accessories; and often a wink, a look, or a slip of the tongue would betray their confederacy. Their ability and perseverance are truly worthy of a better cause. MAGSMEN are very often men of superior education.
mahcheen
A merchant. Chinese pronunciation of the English word.—Anglo-Chinese.
mahogany
"to have one’s feet under another man’s MAHOGANY," to sit at his table, be supported on other than one’s own resources; "amputate your MAHOGANY," i.e., go away, elaboration of "cut your stick."
mahometan gruel
Coffee: because formerly used chiefly by the Turks.
maiden sessions
A sessions where none of the prisoners are capitally convicted.
To post a letter; "this screeve is mailed by a sure hand."
main-toby
The highway, or the main road. See TOBY.
make
Any one is said to be "on the MAKE" who asks too high a price for his goods, or endeavours in any way to overreach.
make tracks
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
make weight
A small candle: a term applied to a little slender man.
make-up
Personal appearance.—Theatrical.
makings
Materials. A man is often said to have the MAKINGS of a good politician (or whatever he may aspire to be) in him, if they were but properly applied.
malapropism
An ignorant, vulgar misapplication of language, so named from Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Sheridan’s famous comedy of the Rivals. Mrs. Partington afterwards succeeded to the mantle of Mrs. Malaprop; but the phrase Partingtonism is as yet uncoined, for the simple reason that Mrs. Malaprop was the original, Mrs. Partington the imitation.
malingeror
A military term for one who, under pretence of sickness, evades his duty.
malkintrash
One in a dismal garb.
malley
A gardener.—Anglo-Indian.
malmsey nose
A red pimpled snout, rich in carbuncles and rubies.
man a-hanging
A man in difficulties. See HANGING.
man in the moon
The gentleman who is supposed to find the "pieces" to pay election expenditure and electors’ expenses, so long as the latter vote his way. See ELECTION INQUIRIES.
man of the town
A rake, a debauchee.
man of the turf
A horse racer, or jockey.
man trap
A woman's commodity.
man-handle
To use a person roughly, as to take him prisoner, turn him out of a room, or give him a beating.
mandozy
A term of endearment among East-end Jews; probably from the valiant fighter named Mendoza.
manoeuvring the apostles
Robbing Peter to pay Paul, i.e. borrowing of one man to pay another.
manufacture
Liquors prepared from materials of English growth.
marbles
Furniture, movables; "money and MARBLES," cash and personal effects.
marchioness
A little, dirty, old-fashioned maid-of-all-work; a title now in regular use, but derived from the remarkable character in the Old Curiosity Shop.
mare's nest
He has found a mare's nest, and is laughing at the eggs; said of one who laughs without any apparent cause.
marine
Or MARINE RECRUIT, an empty bottle. This expression having once been used in the presence of an officer of marines, he was at first inclined to take it as an insult, until some one adroitly appeased his wrath by remarking that no offence could be meant, as all that it could possibly imply was, "one who had done his duty, and was ready to do it again."
marine officer
An empty bottle: marine officers being held useless by the seamen. SEA WIT.
mark
To make one’s MARK is to achieve a success literary, artistic, or otherwise. Men of eminence are said to leave their MARKS on the earth’s surface. An American poet has described this ambitious, albeit somewhat rare, proceeding as leaving "footprints on the sands of time."
market-horse
A horse simply kept in the betting-lists for the purpose of being betted against.
marketeer
A betting man who devotes himself, by means of special information, to the study of favourites, and the diseases incident to that condition of equine life. The MARKETEER is the principal agent in all milking and knocking-out arrangements.
marplot
An officious bungler, who spoils everything he interferes with.
marriage lines
A marriage certificate.—Provincial.
marriage music
The squalling and crying of children.
married
Persons chained or handcuffed together, in order to be conveyed to gaol, or on board the lighters for transportation, are in the cant language said to be married together.
marrow
A mate, a fellow-workman, a pitman who works in a "shift" with another.—Northumberland and Durham.