sow
A fat woman. He has got the wrong sow by the ear, he mistakes his man. Drunk as David's sow; see DAVID'S SOW.
English · UK & Ireland 2057
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Expressions you’ll hear in Britain and Ireland — distinctly British usage first, then widespread staples.
sow
The receptacle into which the liquid iron is poured in a gun-foundry. The melted metal poured from it is termed PIG.
spangle
A seven shilling piece.
spanish
The spanish; ready money.
spanish
Money. Probably a relic of buccaneering days.
spanish coin
Fair words and compliments.
spanish padlock
A kind of girdle contrived by jealous husbands of that nation, to secure the chastity of their wives.
spanish worm
A nail: so called by carpenters when they meet with one in a board they are sawing.
spank
(WHIP) To run neatly along, beteen a trot and gallop. The tits spanked it to town; the horses went merrily along all the way to town.
spank
A smack, or hard slap.
spanking
Large, fine, or strong; e.g., a SPANKING pace, a SPANKING breeze, a SPANKING fellow.
spark
A spruce, trim, or smart fellow. A man that is always thirsty, is said to have a spark in his throat.
sparking blows
Blows given by cocks before they close, or, as the term is, mouth it: used figuratively for words previous to a quarrel.
sparks
Diamonds. Term much in use among the lower orders, and generally applied to stones in rings and pins.
sparrow
Mumbling a sparrow; a cruel sport frequently practised at wakes and fairs: for a small premium, a booby having his hands tied behind him, has the wing of a cock sparrow put into his mouth: with this hold, without any other assistance than the motion of his lips, he is to get the sparrow's head into his mouth: on attempting to do it, the bird defends itself surprisingly, frequently pecking the mumbler till his lips are covered with blood, and he is obliged to desist: to prevent the bird from gett
sparrow-mouthed
Wide-mouthed, like the mouth of a sparrow: it is said of such persons, that they do not hold their mouths by lease, but have it from year to year; i.e. from ear to ear. One whose mouth cannot be enlarged without removing their ears, and who when they yawn have their heads half off.
spatch cock
[Abbreviation of DISPATCH COCK.] A hen just killed from the roost, or yard, and immediately skinned, split, and broiled: an Irish dish upon any sudden occasion.
speak
Any thing stolen. He has made a good speak; he has stolen something considerable.
specked whiper
A coloured hankerchief. CANT.
specklebellies
Dissenters. A term used in Worcester and the North, though the etymology seems unknown in either place.
specks
Damaged oranges.—Costermonger’s term.
speech
A tip or wrinkle on any subject. On the turf a man will wait before investing on a horse until he "gets the SPEECH," as to whether it is going to try, or whether it has a good chance. To "give the SPEECH," is to communicate any special information of a private nature.
speel
To run away, make off; "SPEEL the drum," to go off with stolen property.—North.
spell
A turn of work, an interval of time. "Take a SPELL at the capstern."—Sea. "He took a long SPELL at that tankard." "After a long SPELL."
spellken
Or SPEELKEN, a playhouse. German, SPIELEN. See KEN.—Don Juan.
spice
To rob. Spice the swell; rob the gentleman.
spice islands
A privy. Stink-hole bay or dilberry creek. The fundament.
spick and span
Completely clean and tidy
spidireen
The name of an imaginary ship, sometimes mentioned by sailors. If a sailor be asked what ship he belongs to, and does not wish to tell, he will most probably reply—"The SPIDIREEN frigate, with nine decks, and ne’er a bottom." See MERRY DUN OF DOVER.
spierized
To have your hair cut and shampooed, from the shop of Spiers in High Street.—Oxford University.
spiff
A well-dressed man, a "swell."
spiffed
Slightly intoxicated.—Scotch Slang.
spifflicate
To confound, silence, annihilate, or stifle. A corruption of the last word, or of "suffocate."
spiffs
The per-centages allowed by drapers to their young men when they effect a sale of old-fashioned or undesirable stock.
spiffy
Spruce, well-dressed, tout à la mode.
spill
To throw from a horse or chaise. See PURL.
spilt
A small reward or gift.
spin
To reject from an examination.—Army.
spin-’em rounds
A street game consisting of a piece of brass, wood, or iron, balanced on a pin, and turned quickly round on a board, when the point, arrow-shaped, stops at a number, and decides the bet one way or the other. The contrivance very much resembles a sea compass, and was formerly the gambling accompaniment of London piemen.
spindleshanks
A nickname for any one who has thin legs.
spiniken
St. Giles’s Workhouse. "Lump," Marylebone Workhouse. "Pan," St. Pancras. "Pan" and "Lump" are now terms applied to all workhouses by tramps and costers.
spinning-house
The place in Cambridge where street-walkers are locked up, if found out after a certain time at night.
spirt
Or SPURT, "to put on a SPIRT," to make an increased exertion for a brief space, to attain one’s end; a nervous effort. Abbreviation or shortening of SPIRIT, or allusion to a SPIRT of water, which dies away as suddenly as it rises.
spit
He is as like his father as if he was spit out of his mouth; said of a child much resembling his father.
spit fire
to speak or perform with great energy and passion
spitalfields’ breakfast
At the East-end of London this is understood as consisting of a tight necktie and a short pipe. Amongst workmen it is usual to tighten the apron string when no dinner is at hand. Hunters and trappers always take in their belts when supplies are short. "An Irishman’s dinner" is a low East-end term, and means a smoke and a visit to the urinal. Sometimes the phrase is, "I’ll go out and count the railings," i.e., the park or area railings, mental instead of maxillary exercise.
spitfire
A passionate person.
splash
Complexion powder used by ladies to whiten their necks and faces. The finest rice flour, termed in France poudre de riz, is generally employed. See SLAP.
splendiferous
Sumptuous, first-rate. SPLENDACIOUS sometimes used with similar meanings.
splice
To marry; "and the two shall become one flesh."—Sea. Also, a wife.
splice the main brace
To take a drink.—Sea.
spliced
Married: an allusion to joining two ropes ends by splicing. SEA TERM.
split
To inform against one’s companions, to tell tales. "To SPLIT with a person," to cease acquaintanceship; to quarrel. Also to divide a bottle of aërated water; as, "two brandies and a soda SPLIT;" in which case "to SPLIT with" a person has a very different meaning from that just given.
split crow
The sign of the spread eagle, which being represented with two heads on one neck, gives it somewhat the appearance of being split.
split iron
The nick-name for a smith.
split up
to separate or divide into parts
splodger
A lout, an awkward countryman.
spoffy
A bustling busybody is said to be SPOFFY.
spoil pudding
A parson who preaches long sermons, keeping his congregation in church till the puddings are overdone.
sponge
"to throw up the SPONGE," to submit, to give over the struggle,—from the practice of throwing up the SPONGE used to cleanse a combatant’s face at a prize-fight, as a signal that the side on which that particular SPONGE has been used has had enough—that the SPONGE is no longer required.