scaldrum dodge
A beggar's trick of burning the body with a mixture of acids and gunpowder, so as to appear to have been injured in an accident.
English · UK & Ireland 2057
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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.
scarlet fever
Romantic attraction to soldiers in preference to other people.
Scotch coffee
Ship's biscuits toasted and boiled in water.
Scotch fiddle
Scabies; an itch.
screw loose
A state of insanity or eccentricity.
seeley's pigs
Unused blocks of iron kept in government dockyards.
serve out
To win a set, or by extension a match, by holding serve (winning a game as the server).
shell out
A game played on a billiard table, a variation of pool.
shivering Jemmy
A person who goes half-naked on the streets in order to beg for money.
shoot the moon
To abscond without paying one's rent.
shot in the locker
Money or other resources available on hand.
shove in the mouth
A glass of spirits drunk quickly in one go.
sit under
To be in the habit of hearing the preaching or teaching of (someone).
sit upon
Synonym of sit on (“block, suppress, hold back”).
slap-bang shop
A low-class restaurant.
socket money
Money that people are asked to contribute to birth or marriage festivities.
Spike Park
The Queen's Bench Prison in south London, England.
spirit away
To remove without anyone's noticing.
sporting door
The outer (lockable) door of a set of rooms in a college or similar institution.
square up
to get ready for a fight
stall off
Dated form of stall (“to employ delaying tactics against”).
stand in
To substitute for; to replace; (theater) to serve as an understudy.
stiff 'un
Synonym of dead 'un.
stump up
To pay for something, often with reluctance.
suck the monkey
To surreptitiously drink alcohol from a cask through an inserted tube.
sudden death
A meal of a chicken freshly slaughtered and spatchcocked.
Swell Street
The West End of London.
sacheverel
The iron door, or blower, to the mouth of a stove: from a divine of that name, who made himself famous for blowing the coals of dissension in the latter end of the reign of queen Ann.
sack
A pocket. To buy the sack: to get drunk. To dive into the sack; to pick a pocket. To break a bottle in an empty sack; a bubble bet, a sack with a bottle in it not being an empty sack.
sack
To "get the SACK," to be discharged by an employer. Varied in the North of England to "get the BAG." In London it is sometimes spoken of as "getting the EMPTY." It is common now to speak of "getting the BULLET," an evident play on the word discharge.
sad dog
A wicked debauched fellow; one of the ancient family of the sad dogs. Swift translates it into Latin by the words TRISTIS CANIS.
sad dog
A merry fellow, a joker, a "gay" or "fast" man.
saddle
To saddle the spit; to give a dinner or supper. To saddle one's nose; to wear spectacles. To saddle a place or pension; to oblige the holder to pay a certain portion of his income to some one nominated by the donor. Saddle sick: galled with riding, having lost leather.
saddle
An additional charge made by the manager to a performer upon his benefit night.—Theatrical.
safe
Trusty, worthy of confidence. A SAFE card is a man who knows "what’s o’clock." A SAFE man among betters is one who is sure to fulfil his engagements.
sails
Nickname for the sail-maker on board ship.
saint
A piece of spoilt timber in a coach-maker's shop, like a saint, devoted to the flames.
saint geoffrey's day
Never, there being no saint of that name: tomorrow-come-never, when two Sundays come together.
saint luke's bird
An ox; that Evangelist being always represented with an ox.
saint monday
A holiday most religiously observed by journeymen shoemakers, and other inferior mechanics. A profanation of that day, by working, is punishable by a fine, particularly among the gentle craft. An Irishman observed, that this saint's anniversary happened every week.
sal
An abbreviation of SALIVATION. In a high sal; in the pickling tub, or under a salivation.
sal
A salary.—Theatrical.
salaam
A compliment or salutation.—Anglo-Indian.
salamander
A street acrobat and juggler who eats fire.
salesman's dog
A barker. Vide BARKER.
salmon-gundy
Apples, onions, veal or chicken, and pickled herrings, minced fine, and eaten with oil and vinegar; some derive the name of this mess from the French words SELON MON GOUST, because the proportions of the different ingredients are regulated by the palate of the maker; others say it bears the name of the inventor, who was a rich Dutch merchant; but the general and most probable opinion is, that it was invented by the countess of Salmagondi, one of the ladies of Mary de Medicis, wife of King Henry
salt
Lecherous. A salt bitch: a bitch at heat, or proud bitch. Salt eel; a rope's end, used to correct boys, &c. at sea: you shall have a salt eel for supper.
salt junk
Navy salt beef. See OLD HORSE.
salt-box
The condemned cell in Newgate.
saltee
A penny. Pence, &c., are thus reckoned:—
salve
Praise, flattery, chaff.
sam
I.e., DICKY-SAM, a native of Liverpool.
sampan
A small boat.—Anglo-Chinese.
samshoo
A fiery, noxious spirit, distilled from rice. Spirits generally.—Anglo-Chinese.
samson and abel
A group of wrestlers in the centre of Brasenose quadrangle. Some said it represented Samson killing a Philistine; others Cain killing Abel. So the matter was compromised as above.—Oxford University.
sandwich
Ham, dried tongue, or some other salted meat, cut thin and put between two slices of bread and butter: said to be a favourite morsel with the Earl of Sandwich.
sandwich
A human advertising medium, placed between two boards strapped, one on his breast the other on his shoulders. A "toad in the hole" is the term applied to the same individual when his person is confined by a four-sided box. A gentleman with a lady on each arm is sometimes called a SANDWICH. The French phrase for this kind of SANDWICH, l’âne à deux pannières, is expressive.
sandy pate
A red haired man or woman.
sangaree
Rack punch was formerly so called in bagnios.
sanguinary james
A raw sheep’s-head. See BLOODY JEMMY.