tiffy
Easily offended, apt to be annoyed.
English · UK & Ireland 1611
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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.
tiger
A parasite; also a term for a ferocious woman; a boy employed to wait on gentlemen—one who waits on ladies is a page.
tight
Close, stingy; hard up, short of cash; TIGHT, spruce, strong, active; "a TIGHT lad," a smart, active young fellow; TIGHT, drunk, or nearly so, generally the result of "going on the loose;" "TIGHT-laced," puritanical, over-precise. Money is said to be TIGHT when the public, from want of confidence in the aspect of affairs, are not inclined to speculate.
tightener
A dinner, or hearty meal. See SPITALFIELDS’ BREAKFAST.
tike-
Or BUFFER-LURKING, dog-stealing.
tilbuky
Sixpence; so called from its formerly being the fare for Crossing over from Gravesend to Tilbury Fort.
tile
A hat, a covering for the head.
tilt
To tilt; to fight with a sword. To run full tilt against one; allusion to the ancient tilling with the lance.
tim whisky
A light one--horse chaise without a head.
timber toe
A man with a wooden leg.
timber-toes
A wooden-legged man. Also at the East-end one who wears clogs, i.e., wooden soled boots.
time
Cabman’s slang for money. If they wish to express 9s. 9d. they say that "it is a quarter to ten;" if 3s. 6d., half-past three; if 11s. 9d. a quarter to twelve. Cab-drivers can hardly have originated a system which has been in existence as long as the adage, "Time is money." They have, however, the full use of the arrangement, which is perhaps the simplest on record.
time o’ day
A dodge, the latest aspect of affairs; "that’s your TIME O’ DAY," i.e., that’s well done; to put a person up to the TIME O’ DAY, or let him know "what’s o’clock," is to instruct him in the knowledge needful for him.
tin
Money,—generally applied to silver.
tin-pot
"he plays a TIN-POT game," i.e., a low, mean, or shabby game. In the Contes d’Eutrapel, a French officer at the siege of Chatillon is ridiculously spoken of as Captain TIN-POT—Capitaine du Pot d’Etain. TIN-POT, as generally used, means worthless. As applied to billiards and kindred games, it means pretentious and inferior play.
tinge
The per-centage allowed by drapers and clothiers to their assistants upon the sale of old-fashioned articles. See SPIFFS.
tinkler
A bell. "Jerk the TINKLER," ring the bell. Refined or affected slangists sometimes say, "Agitate the communicator," which, though it represents "ring the bell," should more properly mean "pull the cord."
tip
Advice or information respecting anything, but mostly used in reference to horse-racing, so that the person TIPPED may know how to bet to the best advantage. The "straight TIP" is the TIP which comes direct from the owner or trainer of a horse. Of late years a "straight TIP" means a direct hint on any subject.
tip-top
The best: perhaps from fruit, that growing at the top of the tree being generally the best, as partaking most of the sun. A tip-top workman; the best, or most excellent Workman.
tip-top
First-rate, of the best kind.
tip-topper
A "swell," or dressy man, a "Gorger."
tipper
A kind of ale brewed at Brighton. Mrs. Gamp preferred the "Brighton TIPPER."
tipperary fortune
Two town lands, stream's town, and ballinocack; said of Irish women without fortune.
tipplers
Sots who are continually sipping.
tipster
A "turf" agent who collects early and generally special information of the condition and racing capabilities of horses in the training districts, and posts the same to his subscribers to guide their betting.
tiring
Dressing: perhaps abbreviation of ATTIRING. Tiring women, or tire women: women that used to cut ladies hair, and dress them.
tit
A horse; a pretty little tit; a smart little girl. a *** or tid bit; a delicate morsel. Tommy tit; a smart lively little fellow.
tit
A favourite name for a horse.
titivate
To put in order, or dress up. Originally TIDY-VATE.
titley
Drink, generally applied to intoxicating beverages.
titter
A girl; "nark the TITTER," i.e., look at the girl.—Tramp’s term.
titter tatter
One reeling, and ready to fall at the least touch; also the childish amusement of riding upon the two ends of a plank, poised upon the prop underneath its centre, called also see-saw. Perhaps tatter is a rustic pronunciation of totter.
tittle-tattle
Idle discourse, scandal, women's talk, or small talk.
tittup
A gentle hand gallop, or canter.
tizzy
A sixpence. Corruption of TESTER.
to amuse
To fling dust or snuff in the eyes of the person intended to be robbed; also to invent some plausible tale, to delude shop-keepers and others, thereby to put them off their guard. CANT.
to bam
To impose on any one by a falsity; also to jeer or make fun of any one.
to bamboozle
To make a fool of any one, to humbug or impose on him.
to bar the bubble
To except against the general rule, that he who lays the odds must always be adjudged the loser: this is restricted to betts laid for liquor.
to baste
To beat. I'll give him his bastings, I'll beat him heartily.
to bear the bell
To excel or surpass all competitors, to be the principal in a body or society; an allusion to the fore horse or leader of a team, whose harness is commonly ornamented with a bell or bells. Some suppose it a term borrowed from an ancient tournament, where the victorious knights bore away the BELLE or FAIR LADY. Others derive it from a horse-race, or other rural contentions, where bells were frequently given as prizes.
to bilk
To cheat. Let us bilk the rattling cove; let us cheat the hackney coachman of his fare. Cant. Bilking a coachman, a box-keeper, and a poor whore, were formerly, among men of the town, thought gallant actions.
to bitch
To yield, or give up an attempt through fear. To stand bitch; to make tea, or do the honours of the tea-table, performing a female part: bitch there standing for woman, species for genius.
to bite
To over-reach, or impose; also to steal.--Cant.--Biting was once esteemed a kind of wit, similar to the humbug. An instance of it is given in the Spectator: A man under sentence of death having sold his body to a surgeon rather below the market price, on receiving the money, cried, A bite! I am to be hanged in chains.--To bite the roger; to steal a portmanteau. To bite the wiper, to steal a handkerchief. To bite on the bridle; to be pinched or reduced to difficulties.
to blot the skrip and jar it
To stand engaged or bound for any one. Cant.
to blow the gab
To confess, or impeach a confederate. Cant.
to blow the grounsils
To lie with a woman on the floor. Cant.
to bluster
To talk big, to hector or bully.
to bolt
To run suddenly out of one's house, or hiding place, through fear; a term borrowed from a rabbit-warren, where the rabbits are made to bolt, by sending ferrets into their burrows: we set the house on fire, and made him bolt. To bolt, also means to swallow meat without chewing: the farmer's servants in Kent are famous for bolting large quantities of pickled pork.
to bounce
To brag or hector; also to tell an improbable story. To bully a man out of any thing. The kiddey bounced the swell of the blowen; the lad bullied the gentleman out of the girl.
to box the jesuit, and get cock roaches
A sea term for masturbation; a crime, it is said, much practised by the reverend fathers of that society.
to brush
To run away. Let us buy a brush and lope; let us go away or off. To have a brush with a woman; to lie with her. To have a brush with a man; to fight with him. The cove cracked the peter and bought a brush; the fellow broke open the trunk, and then ran away.
to budge
To move, or quit one's station. Don't budge from hence; i.e. don't move from hence, stay here.
to bug
A cant word among journeymen hatters, signifying the exchanging some of the dearest materials of which a hat is made for others of less value. Hats are composed of the furs and wool of divers animals among which is a small portion of beavers' fur. Bugging, is stealing the beaver, and substituting in lieu thereof an equal weight of some cheaper ingredient.--Bailiffs who take money to postpone or refrain the serving of a writ, are said to bug the writ.
to bullock
To hector, bounce, or bully.
to bum
To arrest a debtor. The gill bummed the swell for a thimble; the tradesman arrested the gentleman for a watch.
to cap
To take one's oath. I will cap downright; I will swear home. CANT.
to chaunt
To sing. To publish an account in the newspapers. The kiddey was chaunted for a toby; his examination concerning a highway robbery was published in the papers.
to chouse
To cheat or trick: he choused me out of it. Chouse is also the term for a game like chuck-farthing.
to chuck
To shew a propensity for a man. The mors chucks; the wench wants to be doing.