moon rakers
Wiltshire men: because it is said that some men of that county, seeing the reflection of the moon in a pond, endeavoured to pull it out with a rake.
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Expressions you’ll hear in Britain and Ireland — distinctly British usage first, then widespread staples.
moon-raker
A native of Wiltshire; because it is said that some men of that county, seeing the reflection of the moon in a pond, took it to be a cheese, and endeavoured to pull it out with a rake.
mooncurser
A link-boy: link-boys are said to curse the moon, because it renders their assistance unnecessary; these gentry frequently, under colour of lighting passengers over kennels, or through dark passages, assist in robbing them. Cant.
mooney
Intoxicated, a name for a silly fellow.
mooning
Loitering, wandering about in a purposeless manner.
moonlight
Or MOONSHINE, smuggled spirits. From the night-work of smugglers.
moonshee
A learned man, professor, or teacher.—Anglo-Indian.
moonshine
A matter or mouthful of moonshine; a trifle, nothing. The white brandy smuggled on the coasts of Kent and Sussex, and the gin in the north of Yorkshire, are also called moonshine.
moonshine
Palaver, deception, humbug.
mop
A kind of annual fair in the west of England, where farmers usually hire their servants.
mop
A hiring place (or fair) for servants. Steps are often "about to be taken" to put down these assemblies, which have been proved to be greatly detrimental to the morality of the poor. They are supposed to contribute largely to the bastardy percentages.
mop up
To drink, or empty a glass.—Old Sea term.
moped
Stupid, melancholy for want of society.
mops and brooms
Intoxicated. Supposed by an imaginative person to be the appearance presented by the world to a very drunken man. Possibly the term was first used to express sea-sickness.
mopsey
A dowdy, or homely woman.
mopsqueezer
A maid servant, particularly a housemaid.
mopusses
Money; "MOPUSSES ran taper," money ran short.
moral
A forthcoming result which appears certain—originally MORAL certainty. This is racing slang, as, "The race is a MORAL for Cremorne." These MORALS are often, however, of very uncertain tenure.
more-ish
When there is scarcely enough of an eatable or drinkable, it is said to taste MORE-ISH; as, "This wine is very good, but it has a slight MORE-ISH flavour."
morglag
A brown bill, or kind of halbert, formerly carried by watchmen; corruption of MORE, great or broad, and GLAVE, blade.
morning drop
The gallows. He napped the king's pardon and escaped the morning drop; he was pardoned, and was not hanged.
morris
Come, morris off; dance off, or get you gone. allusion to morris, i.e. MORISCO, or Moorish dancing.
morris
To decamp, be off. Probably from the ancient MORESCO, of MORRIS-DANCE. See Shakspeare.
mort
A woman or wench; also a yeoman's daughter. To be taken all-a mort; to be confounded, surprised, or motionless through fear.
mortar-board
A square college cap.
mortgage-deed
A pawnbroker’s duplicate.
moses
To stand Moses: a man is said to stand Moses when he has another man's bastard child fathered upon him, and he is obliged by the parish to maintain it.
moskeneer
To pawn with a view to obtaining more than the actual value of an article. There are, in various parts of the country, men who make MOSKENEERING a profession—that is, they buy jewellery which, though fairly good, is not so good as it seems, and pawn it as opportunity occurs.
moss
A cant term for lead, because both are found on the tops of buildings.
mossy face
The mother of all saints.
mot
A girl, or wench. See MORT.
mot
A girl of indifferent character. Formerly, Mort. Dutch, MOTT-KAST, a harlotry. MOT-CART, see LOOSE-BOX.
mother of st
PATRICK. The same. IRISH.
mouchets
Small patches worn by ladies: from the French word mouches.
mouldy
Grey-headed. Servants wearing hair-powder are usually termed MOULDY-PATES by street boys.
mouldy-grubs
Travelling showmen, mountebanks who perform in the open air without tent or covering. Doing this is called MOULDY-GRUBBING.
mount
A saddle-horse. According to quality, "a good MOUNT," or "a bad MOUNT."
mountain-dew
Whisky, advertised as from the Highlands.
mountain-pecker
A sheep’s head. See JEMMY.
mounter
A false swearer. Derived from the borrowed clothes men used to MOUNT, or dress in, when going to swear for a consideration.
mourning
"a full suit of MOURNING," two black eyes; HALF-MOURNING, one black eye.
mouse
To speak like a mouse in a cheese; i.e. faintly or indistinctly.
mouse
A black eye. By a façon de parler, any one with "a MOUSE" is supposed to have been to Blackwall.
mousetrap
The parson's mousetrap; the state of matrimony.
mouth
A noisy fellow. Mouth half cocked; one gaping and staring at every thing he sees. To make any one laugh on the wrong, or t'other side of his mouth; to make him cry or grieve.
mouth-almighty
A noisy, talkative person.
mouthpiece
A lawyer, or counsel. Thieves and their associates always speak of a counsel as a MOUTHPIECE.
move
A "dodge," or cunning trick; "up to a MOVE or two," acquainted with tricks. Probably derived from the game of chess.
moveables
Rings, watches, or any toys of value.
mow heater
A drover: from their frequent sleeping on hay mows. CANT.
mrs. grundy
The representative of the censorious world, "What will MRS. GRUNDY say?" Originally a character in the comedy of Speed the Plough.
mrs. harris
And ~Mrs. Gamp~, nicknames of the Morning Herald and Standard newspapers, while united under the proprietorship of Mr. Baldwin. MRS. GAMP, a monthly nurse, was a character in Charles Dickens’s popular novel of Martin Chuzzlewit, who continually quoted an imaginary MRS.
much of a muchness
Very similar or equivalent in character or quality
muck
To beat, or excel. "It’s no use, his luck’s dead in; he’d MUCK a thousand;" "he MUCKED me clean out," &c. To RUN A MUCK, or GO A MUCKER, to rush headlong into certain ruin. From a certain religious frenzy, or intoxication caused by bhang, which is common among the Malays, and which now and again causes an enthusiast, kreese in hand, to dash into a crowd and devote every one he meets to death until he is himself killed, or falls from exhaustion.—Malay, AMOK, slaughter.
muck-out
To clean out; often applied to one utterly ruining an adversary in gambling.
muck-snipe
One who has been "MUCKED OUT," or beggared, at gambling. See MUCK.
muckender
Or MUCKENGER, a pocket-handkerchief.—Old. Cf. SNOTTINGER. The original name of the "Neckinger" in Bermondsey was "the Devil’s Neck-handkerchief." There is still a Neckinger Road and Messrs. Bevington and Sons’ tannery in Bermondsey bears the name of the Neckinger Mills.
mucker
TO GO A, to go to grief, to ruin one’s prospects.—Oxford Univ.
muckinder
A child's handkerchief tied to the side.
mud
A fool, or thick-sculled fellow; also, among printers the same as dung among journeymen taylors. See DUNG.