admiral of the narrow seas
One who from drunkenness vomits into the lap of the person sitting opposite to him. SEA PHRASE.
English · UK & Ireland 17968
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Expressions you’ll hear in Britain and Ireland — distinctly British usage first, then widespread staples.
admiral of the red
A person whose very red face evinces a fondness for strong potations.
adrift
Loose, turned adrift, discharged. SEA PHRASE.
affidavit men
Knights of the post, or false witnesses, said to attend Westminster Hall, and other courts of justice, ready to swear any thing for hire.
affygraphy
"It fits to an AFFYGRAPHY," i.e., to a nicety—to a T.
after-clap
A demand after the first given in has been discharged; a charge for pretended omissions; in short, any thing disagreeable happening after all consequences of the cause have been thought at an end.
afternoon farmer
One who wastes his best opportunity, and drives off the large end of his work to the little end of his time.
aggerawators
(corruption of Aggravators), the greasy locks of hair in vogue among costermongers and other street folk, worn twisted from the temple back towards the ear. They are also, from a supposed resemblance in form, termed NEWGATE KNOCKERS, and sometimes NUMBER SIXES. This style of adorning the head is, however, fast dying out, and the everyday costermonger or street thief has his hair cut like any one else. The yearly militia drill may have had a good deal to do with this alteration.
agog, all-a-gog
Anxious, eager, impatient: from the Italian AGOGARE, to desire eagerly.
aground
Stuck fast, stopped, at a loss, ruined; like a boat or vessel aground.
ainsworth’s
(William Harrison) Novels and Ballads. London, V. D.
ain’t
The vulgar abbreviation of "am not," "are not," or "is not."
air and exercise
He has had air and exercise, i.e. he has been whipped at the cart's tail; or, as it is generally, though more vulgarly, expressed, at the cart's a-se.
akeybo
A slang phrase used in the following manner:—"He beats AKEYBO, and AKEYBO beat the devil."
albertopolis
A facetious appellation given by the Londoners to the Kensington Gore district. Now obsolete.
alderman
A roasted turkey garnished with sausages; the latter are supposed to represent the gold chain worn by those magistrates.
alderman
A half-crown—possibly from its rotundity. Also a long pipe.
aldgate
A draught on the pump at Aldgate; a bad bill of exchange, drawn on persons who have no effects of the drawer.
all holiday
completely wrong or mistaken
all hollow
Completely without substance or meaning
all my eye
A remark of incredulity made in reference to an improbable story; condensation of "ALL MY EYE AND BETTY MARTIN," a vulgar phrase constructed from the commencement of a Roman Catholic prayer to St. Martin, "Oh, mihi, beate Martine," which in common with many another fell into discredit and ridicule after the Reformation.
all nations
A composition of all the different spirits sold in a dram-shop, collected in a vessel into which the drainings of the bottles and quartern pots are emptied.
all of a hugh!
All on one side; falling with a thump; the word HUGH being pronounced with a grunt.—Suffolk.
all out
By far;—"he was ALL OUT the best of the lot." Old—frequently used by Burton in his Anatomy of Melancholy.
all there
Completely sane or normal
all to pieces
Utterly, excessively; "he beat him ALL TO PIECES," i.e., excelled or surpassed him exceedingly. Also a term much in use among sporting men and expressing want of form, or decadence. A boat’s crew are said to "go ALL TO PIECES" when they through distress lose their regularity. A woman is vulgarly said to "fall to pieces," or "tumble to pieces," when she is confined.
all to smash
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
all-a-mort
Struck dumb, confounded. What, sweet one, all-a-mort? SHAKESPEARE.
all-overish
Neither sick nor well; the premonitory symptoms of illness. Also the feeling which comes over a man at a critical moment, say just when he is about to "pop the question." Sometimes this is called, "feeling all over alike, and touching nowhere."
all-rounder
A shirt collar going all round the neck and meeting in front. Once fashionable, but little worn now.
alls
The five alls is a country sign, representing five human figures, each having a motto under him. The first is a king in his regalia; his motto, I govern all: the second, a bishop in pontificals; motto, I pray for all: third, a lawyer in his gown; motto, I plead for all: fourth: a soldier in his regimentals, fully accoutred; motto, I fight for all: fifth, a poor countryman with his scythe and rake; motto, I pay for all.
alls
Tap-droppings, refuse spirits sold at a cheap rate in gin-palaces.
almighty dollar
Money, especially when pursued at the expense of other values.
altamel
A verbal or lump account, without particulars, such as is commonly produced at bawdy-houses, spunging-houses, &c. Vide DUTCH RECKONING.
altitudes
The man is in his altitudes, i.e. he is drunk.
ambassador of morocco
A Shoemaker. (See Mrs. Clarke's Examination.)
ambidexter
A lawyer who takes fees from both plaintiff and defendant, or that goes snacks with both parties in gaming.
amen
He said Yes and Amen to every thing; he agreed to every thing.
american tweezers
An instrument used by an hotel-sneak which nips the wards end of a key, and enables him to open a door from the opposite side to that on which it has been locked.
ames ace
Within ames ace; nearly, very near.
aminadab
A jeering name for a Quaker.
amorous gallants’ tongue tipp’d with golden expressions
Or the Art of Courtship refined, being the best and Newest ACADEMY; containing Select Sentences, forms of Courtship; Choice Letters; Interpretation of Dreams: to which is added Bills, Bonds, Releases, Letters of Attorney, &c.; together with A Canting Academy, or the PEDLAR’S FRENCH DICTIONARY, 13th edition. London, for C. Hitch and L. Hawes, n. d. , 12mo.
amusers
Rogues who carried snuff or dust in their pockets, which they threw into the eyes of any person they intended to rob; and running away, their accomplices (pretending to assist and pity the half-blinded person) took that opportunity of plundering him.
anabaptist
A pickpocket caught in the fact, and punished with the discipline of the pump or horse-pond.
anchor
Bring your a-se to an anchor, i.e. sit down. To let go an anchor to the windward of the law; to keep within the letter of the law. SEA WIT.
andrews’
(George) Dictionary of the Slang and Cant Languages, Ancient and Modern, 12mo. London, 1809.
anglers
Pilferers, or petty thieves, who, with a stick having a hook at the end, steal goods out of shop-windows, grates, &c.; also those who draw in or entice unwary persons to prick at the belt, or such like devices.
angling for farthings
Begging out of a prison window with a cap, or box, let down at the end of a long string.
ankle
A girl who is got with child, is said to have sprained her ankle.
anointed
I.e., eminent; used to express great rascality in any one; "an ANOINTED scoundrel," king among scoundrels.—Irish.
anointing
A good beating. A case for the application of salve.
anonyma
A lady of the demi-monde, or worse; a "pretty horsebreaker." INCOGNITA was the term at first. Product of the squeamishness of the age which tries to thrust away fact by the use of fine words.
antiscriptural
Oaths, foul language. Anything unfit for ordinary society conversation.
ape leader
a person who is followed by others without being a true leader
apostles
To manoeuvre the apostles, i.e. rob Peter to pay Paul; that is, to borrow money of one man to pay another.
apostle’s grove
The London district known as St. John’s Wood. Also called GROVE OF THE EVANGELIST.
apothecary
To talk like an apothecary; to use hard or gallipot words: from the assumed gravity and affectation of knowledge generally put on by the gentlemen of this profession, who are commonly as superficial in their learning as they are pedantic in their language.
apple cart
Down with his apple-cart; knock or throw him down.
apple-cart
The human structure, so far as the phrases with which it is connected are concerned. As "I’ll upset your APPLE-CART," "down with his APPLE-CART."
apple-pie bed
A trick played at schools on new comers, or on any boy disliked by the rest. One of the sheets is removed, and the other is doubled in the middle, so that both edges are brought to the top, and look as if both sheets were there; but the unhappy occupant is prevented getting more than half-way down, and he has to remake his bed as best he can. This trick is sometimes played by children of a larger growth.