tears of the tankard
The drippings of liquor on a man's waistcoat.
English · UK & Ireland 17968
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Expressions you’ll hear in Britain and Ireland — distinctly British usage first, then widespread staples.
teddy hall
St. Edmund Hall.—Oxford University.
teddy my godson
An address to a supposed simple fellow, or nysey,
teeth
"he has cut his eye TEETH," i.e., is old and ’cute enough.
teeth-drawing
Wrenching off knockers. Medical students’ term.
teetotaller
A total abstainer from alcoholic drinks. The origin of this term is not known. It is said to be from the expression of a fanatical and stuttering enthusiast in the cause of total abstinence. It has nothing to do with tea.
teetotally
Amplification of TOTALLY.
teize
To-nap the teize; to receive a whipping. CANT.
tell on
To tell about, to talk of, to inform against. (This is formed by a simple misuse of the preposition.)
temple pickling
Pumping a bailiff; a punishment formerly administered to any of that fraternity caught exercising their functions within the limits of Temple.
ten in the hundred
An usurer; more than five in the hundred being deemed usurious interest.
tenant for life
A married man; i.e. possessed of a woman for life.
tench
The Penitentiary, of which it is a contraction. See STEEL.
tender parnell
A tender creature, fearful of the least puff of wind or drop of rain. As tender as Parnell, who broke her finger in a posset drink.
termagant
An outrageous scold from Termagantes, a cruel Pagan, formerly represented in diners shows and entertainments, where being dressed a la Turque, in long clothes, he was mistaken for a furious woman.
testamur
The slip of paper on which the examiners testify (testari) to the fact that the candidate has satisfied their requirements.—University.
tester
A sixpence: from TESTON, a coin with a head on it.
tester
Sixpence. From TESTONE, a shilling in the reign of Henry VIII., but a sixpence in the time of Queen Elizabeth.—Shakspeare. French, TESTE, or TÊTE, the head of the monarch on the coin.
teviss
A shilling. Costermongers’ and tramps’ term.
thames
He will not find out a way to set the Thames on fire; he will not make any wonderful discoveries, he is no conjuror.
thatch
The human hair. "He’s well THATCHED," is said of a man with a good head of hair.
thatch-gallows
A rogue, or man of bad character.
the bubble
The party cheated, perhaps from his being like an air bubble, filled with words, which are only wind, instead of real property.
the dip
A cook's shop, under Furnival's Inn, where many attornies clerks, and other inferior limbs of the law, take out the wrinkles from their bellies. DIP is also a punning name for a tallow-chandler.
the hon
SOCIETY OF NEWMAN'S HOTEL.
the relish
The sign of the Cheshire cheese.
the tavern
New Inn Hall.—Oxford University.
the thing
The style, the proper proportion. Application varied. A good appearance, a decent dinner, or a fair bottle of wine, is said to be "the THING," sometimes "the correct THING."
the triumph of wit
Or Ingenuity displayed in its Perfection, being the Newest and most Useful Academy, Songs, Art of Love, and the Mystery and Art of Canting, with Poems, Songs, &c., in the Canting Language, 16mo. J. Clarke, 1735.
the whole art of thieving
And Defrauding Discovered: being a Caution to all Housekeepers, Shopkeepers, Salesmen, and others, to guard against Robbers of both Sexes, and the best Methods to prevent their Villanies; to which is added an Explanation of most of the Cant terms in the Thieving Language, 8vo, pp. 46. 1786.
theg
(or TEAICH) gen, eight shillings.
thick
Intimate. They are as thick as two inkle-weavers.
thick
Intimate, familiar. The Scotch use the word "chief" in this sense, as, "the two are very chief now."
thick un
A sovereign; originally a crown piece, or five shillings.
thief
You are a thief and a murderer, you have killed a baboon and stole his face; vulgar abuse.
thief in a candle
Part of the wick or snuff, which falling on the tallow, burns and melts it, and causing it to gutter, thus steals it away.
thief takers
Fellows who associate with all kinds of villains, in order to betray them, when they have committed any of those crimes which entitle the persons taking them to a handsome reward, called blood money. It is the business of these thief takers to furnish subjects for a handsome execution, at the end of every sessions.
thimble
A watch. The swell flashes a rum thimble; the gentleman sports a fine watch.
thimble
Or YACK, a watch.—Prison Cant.
thimble-rig
A noted cheating game some years back, played at fairs and places of great public thronging, consisting of two or three thimbles rapidly and dexterously placed over a pea. The THIMBLE-RIGGER, suddenly ceasing, asks under which thimble the pea is to be found. Any one not a practised hand would lose nine times out of ten any bet he might happen to make with him. The pea is generally concealed under his nail. THIMBLE-RIGGING has of late years given way to "broad-working."
thimble-twisters
Thieves who rob persons of their watches.
thin-skinned
Over-nice, petulant, apt to get a "raw." See that term.
thingstable
Mr. Thingstable; Mr. Constable: a ludicrous affectation of delicacy in avoiding the pronunciation of the first syllable in the title of that officer, which in sound has some similarity to an indecent monosyllable.
thingumbob
Mr. Thingumbob; a vulgar address or nomination to any person whose name is unknown, the same as Mr. What-d'ye-cal'em. Thingumbobs; testicles.
thingumy
THINGUMBOB, expressions used for the name of a thing which cannot be recollected at the instant.
thirding
A custom practised at the universities, where two thirds of the original price is allowed by the upholsterers to the students for household goods returned to them within the year.
thirteener
A shilling in Ireland, which there passes for thirteen pence.
thomas
Man Thomas; a man's penis.
thomas
(I.), My Thought Book, 8vo. 1825.
thomond
Like Lord Thomond's cocks, all on one side. Lord Thomond's cock-feeder, an Irishman, being entrusted with some cocks which were matched for a considerable sum, the night before the battle shut them all together in one room, concluding that as they were all on the same side, they would not disagree: the consequence was, they were most of them either killed or lamed before the morning.
thorns
To be or sit upon thorns; to be uneasy, impatient, anxious for an event.
thorough churchman
A person who goes in at one door of a church, and out at the other, without stopping.
thorough cough
Coughing and breaking wind backwards at the same time.
thorough go nimble
A looseness, a violent purging.
thorough stitch
To go thorough stitch; to stick at nothing; over shoes, over boots.
thorough-good-natured wench
One who being asked to sit down, will lie down.
thought
What did thought do? lay'in bed and beshat himself, and thought he was up; reproof to any one who excuses himself for any breach of positive orders, by pleading that he thought to the contrary.
three sheets in the wind
Unsteady from drink.—Sea.
three threads
Half common ale, mixed with stale and double beer.
three to one
He is playing three to one, though sure to lose; said of one engaged in the amorous congress.
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