Rag and Famish
The Army and Navy Club in London, England.
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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.
real jam
Anything exceptionally good.
Red Liner
An officer of the Society for the Suppression of Mendicity.
resurrection pie
A pie supposed to be made of the scraps and leavings of previous meals.
right as ninepence
Perfectly all right; in sound condition.
ring the changes
To pass counterfeit money.
robin redbreast
A Bow Street Runner (from the colour of his waistcoat).
rogue's yarn
A thread of red, blue or gold worsted, worked into the ropes manufactured in the government Royal dockyards, to identify them if stolen. Red for Pompey (Portsmouth), Blue for Guz (Plymouth), Gold for Chatham. Also a blue thread worked into canvas for the same purpose.
rum cull
A theatrical manager, especially one in charge of a travelling troupe.
running stationer
A street hawker of books and newspapers.
r. m. d
Cash down, immediate payment. The initial letters of READY MONEY DOWN. Another version of this is P. Y. C. (pay your cash), often seen in the market quotations,—as, "Meat fetched 6s. 4d. a stone, P. Y. C., and 6s. 6d. for the account."
rabbit
A Welch rabbit; bread and cheese toasted, i.e. a Welch rare bit. Rabbits were also a sort of wooden canns to drink out of, now out of use.
rabbit
When a person gets the worst of a bargain, he is said "to have bought the RABBIT." From an old story about a man selling a cat to a foreigner for a rabbit.
rabbit suckers
Young spendthrifts taking up goods on trust at great prices.
rack rent
Rent strained to the utmost value. To lie at rack and manger; to be in great disorder.
rackaback
A gormagon. See GORMAGON.
racket
A dodge, manœuvre, exhibition; a disturbance.
racks
The bones of a dead horse. Term used by horse-slaughterers.
raclan
A married woman. Originally Gipsy, but now a term with English tramps.
rafe
Or RALPH, a pawnbroker’s duplicate.—Norwich.
raff
A dirty, dissipated fellow; RAFFISH, looking like a RAFF.
raffs
An appellation given by the gownsmen of the university of Oxford to the inhabitants of that place.
rag
Bank notes. Money in general. The cove has no rag; the fellow has no money.
rag
To divide or share; "let’s RAG IT," or "go RAGS," i.e., share it equally between us.—Norwich.
rag fair
An inspection of the linen and necessaries of a company of soldiers, commonly made by their officers on Mondays or Saturdays.
rag water
Gin, or any other common dram: these liquors seldom failing to reduce those that drink them to rags.
ragamuffin
A ragged fellow, one all in tatters, a
ragamuffin
An ill-clad vagabond, a tatterdemalion.
rainbow
Knight of the rainbow; a footman: from being commonly clothed in garments of different colours. A meeting of gentlemen, styled of the most ancient order of the rainbow, was advertised to be held at the Foppington's Head, Moorfields.
rainy day
a time of financial difficulty
raise the wind
To obtain credit, or money,—generally by pawning or selling property, but not unusually by borrowing. Sometimes varied to WHISTLE UP THE BREEZE.
raker
TO GO A, is, in racing parlance, to put more money than usual on a certain horse. "Going a RAKER" often leads to "coming a cropper."
rammer
The arm. The busnapper's kenchin seized my rammer; i.e. the watchman laid hold of my arm. CANT.
rammish
Rank. Rammish woman; a sturdy virago.
ramp
To hustle, to rob with violence, to levy blackmail in a ferocious manner; to extort by means of threats. RAMPING is generally done in gangs.
rampage
TO BE ON THE, on the drink, on the loose. Dickens, in Great Expectations, refers to Mrs. Jo as being on the RAMPAGE when she is worse tempered than usual.
ramper
A ruffian of the most brutal description, who infests racecourses and similar places on welching expeditions during summer, and finds pleasure and profit in garrotte robberies during winter.
ramshackle
Queer, rickety, knocked about, as standing corn is after a high wind. Corrupted from RAM-SHATTER, or possibly from RANSACK.
ramshackled
Out of repair. A ramshackled house; perhaps a corruption of RANSACKED, i.e. plundered.
ran-tan
"on the RAN-TAN," drunk.
rancho
Originally a Spanish-American word, signifying a hunting-lodge, or cattle-station, in a wood or desert far from the haunts of men. A hunting or fishing station in the Highlands or elsewhere. In Washington, with their accustomed ingenuity in corrupting words and meanings, the Americans use the appellation for a place of evil report. The word is generally pronounced RANCH now.
randall
(Jack), a Few Selections from his Scrap-book; to which are added Poems on the late Fight for the Championship, 12mo. 1822.
randall’s
(Jack, the Pugilist, formerly of the "Hole in the Wall," Chancery Lane) Diary of Proceedings at the House of Call for Genius, edited by Mr. Breakwindow, to which are added several of Mr. B.’s minor pieces, 12mo. 1820.
randan
A boat impelled by three rowers, the midship man sculling, and the bowman and strokesman rowing with oars.
randle
A set of nonsensical verses, repeated in Ireland by schoolboys, and young people, who have been guilty of breaking wind backwards before any of their companions; if they neglect this apology, they are liable to certain kicks, pinches, and fillips, which are accompanied with divers admonitory couplets.
random
Three horses driven in line. See TANDEM, SUDDEN DEATH, HARUM-SCARUM.
randy
Obstreperous, unruly, rampant.
randy
Rampant, violent, warm.—North. RANDY-BEGGAR, a gipsy tinker.
rangling
Intriguing with a variety of women.
rank
Stinking, rammish, ill-flavoured; also strong, great. A rank knave; a rank coward: perhaps the latter may allude to an ill savour caused by fear.
rank
To cheat. Modification of RAMP.
ranker
A commissioned officer in the army who has risen from the ranks. Usually employed in a disparaging sense. Purely military. Also, among street folk, a corruption of RANK DUFFER.
rantallion
One whose scrotum is so relaxed as to be longer than his penis, i.e. whose shot pouch is longer that the barrel of his piece.
rantipole
A rude romping boy or girl; also a gadabout dissipated woman. To ride rantipole; the same as riding St. George. See ST. GEORGE.
rantipoll
A noisy rude girl, a madcap.
rantum scantum
Playing at rantum scantum; making the beast with two backs.
rap
A halfpenny; frequently used generically for money, thus:—"I haven’t a RAP," i.e., I have no money whatever; "I don’t care a RAP," &c. Originally a species of counterfeit coin used for small change in Ireland, against the use of which a proclamation was issued, 5th May, 1737. Small copper or base metal coins are still called RAPPEN in the Swiss cantons. Irish robbers were formerly termed RAPPAREES.
rapparees
Irish robbers, or outlaws, who in the time of Oliver Cromwell were armed with short weapons, called in Irish RAPIERS, used for ripping persons up.
rapper
A swinging great lie.
rapping
Enormous; "a RAPPING big lie."