sit upon
Synonym of sit on (“block, suppress, hold back”).
English · UK & Ireland 17968
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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.
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.
tabby party
A social meeting of women for tea and gossip.
tap the admiral
To steal some liquor from a cask that is in storage or transit.
teach your grandmother to suck eggs
To presume to give advice to someone far more experienced than you.
Ten Commandments
The ten fingernails, used by women when fighting.
tenpence to the shilling
Mentally deficient.
Tib's Eve
A supposed future time that will never arrive.
timber merchant
A match-seller.
tip the double
To bolt; to run away without paying.
Tommy Dodd
The player in the coin-tossing game of odd man out who is the only player to get heads or tails, and thus wins or loses depending on the chosen rule.
Tooley Street tailor
A self-important, vainglorious person.
towzery gang
A group of swindlers who set up fraudulent auctions with shill bidders.
tu quoque
The vulva or vagina.
twelve godfathers
A jury of twelve people.
two-handed game
A game or proposal in which the chances are fairly even; a situation where one will get as good as one gives.
twopenny rope
A rope stretched out in a low doss-house in order to suspend a kind of hammock of sacking on which a person can sleep.
unbleached American
A black American.
under a cloud
Under suspicion.
walk into
To collide with by walking.
water bewitched
Very weak tea or other highly diluted drink.
whip off
To remove something (especially an item of clothing) with a swift movement.
Wild Irishman
The train between Euston and Holyhead, in connection with the Kingstown mailboats.
wooden surtout
Synonym of wooden coat.
yard of clay
A long pipe for smoking; a churchwarden pipe.
yarmouth capon
A bloater, or red herring.
a 1
First-rate, the very best; "she’s a prime girl, she is; she is A 1."—Sam Slick. The highest classification of ships at Lloyd’s; common term in the United States; also at Liverpool and other English seaports. Another, even more intensitive form is "first-class, letter A, No. 1." Some people choose to say A I, for no reason, however, beyond that of being different from others.
a buck of the first head
One who in debauchery surpasses the rest of his companions, a blood or choice spirit. There are in London divers lodges or societies of Bucks, formed in imitation of the Free Masons: one was held at the Rose, in Monkwell-street, about the year 1705. The president is styled the Grand Buck. A buck sometimes signifies a cuckold.
a scold's cure
A coffin. The blowen has napped the scold's cure; the bitch is in her coffin.
abel-wackets
Blows given on the palm of the hand with a twisted handkerchief, instead of a ferula; a jocular punishment among seamen, who sometimes play at cards for wackets, the loser suffering as many strokes as he has lost games.
abigail
A lady's waiting-maid.
abigail
A lady’s-maid; perhaps obtained from old comedies. Used in an uncomplimentary sense. Some think the term is derived from Abigail Hill (Mrs. Masham), lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne, and a typical ABIGAIL in the way of intrigue.
about right
"to do the thing ABOUT RIGHT," i.e., to do it properly, soundly, correctly; "he guv it ’im ABOUT RIGHT," i.e., he beat him severely.
abraham-man
A vagabond, such as were driven to beg about the country after the dissolution of the monasteries.—See BESS O’ BEDLAM, infra. They are well described under the title of Bedlam Beggars.—Shakspeare’s K. Lear, ii. 3.
abraham-sham
Or SHAM ABRAHAM, to feign sickness or distress. From ABRAHAM-MAN, the ancient Cant term for a begging impostor, or one who pretended to have been mad.—Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy, vol. i. p. 360. When Abraham Newland was Cashier to the Bank of England, and signed their notes, it was sung:—
abram cove
A cant word among thieves, signifying a naked or poor man; also a lusty, strong rogue.
absquatulate
To run away, or abscond; a hybrid American expression, from the Latin ab, and "squat" to settle.
accounts
To cast up one's accounts; to vomit.
acorn
You will ride a horse foaled by an acorn, i.e. the gallows, called also the Wooden and Three-legged Mare. You will be hanged.--See THREE-LEGGED MARE.
acres
A coward. From Bob Acres, in Sheridan’s Rivals.
act of parliament
A military term for small beer, five pints of which, by an act of parliament, a landlord was formerly obliged to give to each soldier gratis.
acteon
A cuckold, from the horns planted on the head of Acteon by Diana.
Adam Tiler
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
adam's ale
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
added to the list
A euphuism current among sporting writers implying that a horse has been gelded. As, "Sabinus has been ADDED TO THE LIST." Another form of expression in reference to this matter is that "the knife has been brought into requisition." "ADDED TO THE LIST" is simply a contraction for "added to the list of geldings in training."
addle pate
An inconsiderate foolish fellow.
addle plot
A spoil-sport, a mar-all.
addlepate
A foolish fellow, a dullard.