glim
A light, a lamp; "dowse the GLIM," put out the candle. Sea and Old Cant. GLIMS, spectacles. Gaelic, GLINN, light. German (provincial), GLIMM, a spark.
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Expressions you’ll hear in Britain and Ireland — distinctly British usage first, then widespread staples.
glim lurk
A begging paper, giving a circumstantial account of a dreadful fire—which never happened.
glimflashy
Angry, or in a passion. CANT.
glimmerers
Persons begging with sham licences, pretending losses by fire.
glimstick
A candlestick. CANT.
gloak
A man. Term much used in old thieves’ cant.
glossaries
Of County Dialects. V. D.
gloves
To give any one a pair of gloves; to make them a present or bribe. To win a pair of gloves; to kiss a man whilst he sleeps: for this a pair of gloves is due to any lady who will thus earn them.
gluepot
A parson: from joining men and women together in matrimony.
glum
Sulky, stem; "to look GLUM," to appear annoyed or disconcerted.
glumpish
Of a stubborn, sulky temper.
glutton
A term used by bruisers to signify a man who will bear a great deal of beating.
gnarler
A little dog that by his barking alarms the family when any person is breaking into the house.
go by the ground
A little short person, man or woman.
go due north
To become bankrupt, to go to Whitecross Street.—Nearly obsolete.
go in
To enter for, to apply oneself in pursuit of. Men at the Universities are said to GO IN for honours, aquatics, or whatever their chief desire or employment may be. The expression is now general.
go it
A term of encouragement, implying, "keep it up!" Sometimes amplified to "GO IT, ye cripples;" said to have been a facetious rendering of the last line of Virgil’s Eclogues—
go over
In clerical slang, signifies to join the Church of Rome.
go shop
The Queen's Head in Duke's court, Bow street, Covent Garden; frequented by the under players: where gin and water was sold in three-halfpenny bowls, called Goes; the gin was called Arrack. The go, the fashion; as, large hats are all the go.
go, the
The dash. The mode. He is quite the go, he is quite varment, he is prime, he is bang up, are synonimous expressions.
goads
Those who wheedle in chapmen for horse-dealers.
goat
A lascivious person. Goats jigg; making the beast with two backs, copulation.
gob
The mouth; also a bit or morsel: whence gobbets. Gift of the gob; wide-mouthed, or one who speaks fluently, or sings well.
gob
Or GOBBET, a portion. Generally applied to meat by schoolboys.
god bless the duke of argyle!
A Scottish insinuation made when one shrugs his shoulders, of its being caused by parasites or cutaneous affections.—See SCOTCH FIDDLE, SCOTCH GREYS. It is said to have been originally the thankful exclamation of the Glasgow folk, at finding a certain row of iron posts, erected by his grace in that city to mark the division of his property, very convenient to rub against.
godfather
He who pays the reckoning, or answers for the rest of the company: as, Will you stand godfather, and we will take care of the brat; i.e. repay you another time. Jurymen are also called godfathers, because they name the crime the prisoner before them has been guilty of, whether felony, petit larceny, &c.
gods
The people in the upper gallery of a theatre; "up amongst the GODS," a seat amongst the persons in the gallery—so named from the high position of that part, and the blue sky generally painted on the ceiling of the theatre; termed by the French, "paradis."
gog
All-a-gog; impatient, anxious, or desirous of a thing.
gog and magog
Two giants, whose effigies stand on each side of the clock in Guildhall, London; of whom there is a tradition, that, when they hear the clock strike one, on the first of April, they will walk down from their places.
goggles
Eyes: see OGLES. Goggle eyes; large prominent eyes. To goggle; to stare.
going upon the dub
Going out to break open, or pick the locks of, houses.
gol-mol
Noise, commotion.—Anglo-Indian.
gold droppers
Sharpers who drop a piece of gold, which they pick up in the presence of some unexperienced person, for whom the trap is laid, this they pretend to have found, and, as he saw them pick it up, they invite him to a public house to partake of it: when there, two or three of their comrades drop in, as if by accident, and propose cards, or some other game, when they seldom fail of stripping their prey.
gold finder
One whose employment is to empty necessary houses; called also a tom-turd-man, and night-man: the latter, from that business being always performed in the night.
gold-mine
Any profitable investment, from a fried-fish shop to a remunerative speculation involving millions.
goldbacked uns
Body lice. Sometimes called greybacked uns.
golden cabinet
(The) of Secrets opened for Youth’s delightful Pastime, in 7 parts, the last being the "City and Country Jester;" with a Canting Dictionary, by Dr. Surman, 12mo. London, N. D. (1730.)
goldfinch
One who has commonly a purse full of gold. Goldfinches; guineas.
goldfinches
Sovereigns. Similar to Canaries.
golgotha
A hat, "place of a skull." Hence the "Don’s gallery," at St. Mary’s, Cambridge, and that part of the theatre at Oxford where the heads of houses sit.
gollumpus
A large, clumsy fellow.
golopshus
Splendid, delicious, luscious.—Norwich.
gonnof
An expert thief, a master of his craft; one of the greatest compliments a London pickpocket can pay another is to say, "he’s a reglar GONNOF."—See GUN. The word GONNOF is very old. During Kett’s rebellion in Norfolk, in the reign of Edward VI., a song was sung by the insurgents in which the term occurs—
good man
A word of various imports, according to the place where it is spoken: in the city it means a rich man; at Hockley in the Hole, or St. Giles's, an expert boxer; at a bagnio in Covent Garden, a vigorous fornicator; at an alehouse or tavern, one who loves his pot or bottle; and sometimes, though but rarely, a virtuous man
good time
An expressive phrase, which means all earthly bliss to the American mind. The finest reminiscence a Yankee can have is that of a GOOD TIME, wherever it may have been spent. No moderate amount of happiness is ever recorded in the register which denotes how often its possessor has "had a GOOD TIME."
good woman
A nondescript, represented on a famous sign in St. Giles's, in the form of a common woman, but without a head.
goods
In the sporting world, men or horses. A horse or man of exceptionable quality is called "good GOODS," and a backer will speak of either as being in his opinion "best GOODS," as compared with others in the race.
goodyer's pig
Like Goodyer's pig; never well but when in mischief.
goose
A taylor's goose; a smoothing iron used to press down the seams, for which purpose it must be heated: hence it is a jocular saying, that a taylor, be he ever so poor, is always sure to have a goose at his fire. He cannot say boh to a goose; a saying of a bashful or sheepish fellow.
goose
A tailor’s pressing iron. Originally a slang term, but now in most dictionaries.
goose riding
A goose, whose neck is greased, being suspended by the legs to a cord tied to two trees or high posts, a number of men on horseback, riding full speed, attempt to pull off the head: which if they effect, the goose is their prize. This has been practised in Derbyshire within the memory of persons now living.
gooseberry
He played up old gooseberry among them; said of a person who, by force or threats, suddenly puts an end to a riot or disturbance.
gooseberry
To "play up old GOOSEBERRY" with any one, to defeat or silence a person in a quick or summary manner.
gooseberry pudding
A woman.
gooseberry-eyed
One with dull grey eyes, like boiled gooseberries.
gooseberry-pickers
Sharp children, who are ostensibly placed in charge of their elder sisters, when the latter go out shopping, but who are in reality a check on any chance of flirtation.
goosecap
A silly fellow or woman.
goosecap
A simpleton, a booby, or noodle.—Devonshire.
gooser
A settler, or finishing blow.
goree
Money, chiefly gold: perhaps from the traffic carried on at that place, which is chiefly for gold dust. CANT.
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