moey
The mouth.—Gipsy and Hindoo. Shakspeare has MOE, to make mouths.
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Expressions you’ll hear in Britain and Ireland — distinctly British usage first, then widespread staples.
mofussilite
An inhabitant of an up-country district.—Anglo-Indian.
mohair
A man in the civil line, a townsman, or tradesman: a military term, from the mohair buttons worn by persons of those descriptions, or any others not in the army, the buttons of military men being always of metal: this is generally used as a term of contempt, meaning a bourgeois, tradesman, or mechanic.
moiety
Half, but vulgarly used to signify a share or portion: as, He will come in for a small moiety.
moisten your chaffer
A slang phrase equivalent to "take something to drink." Also "moisten your clay," originally applied to smokers, now general, and supposed to have reference to the human clay.
moke
A donkey.—Gipsy, but now general to all the lower orders. A "coster" and his "moke" are almost inseparable terms. Probably derived originally from the Arabic al mocreve, a carrier.
moko
A name given by sportsmen to pheasants killed by mistake during September, before the pheasant-shooting comes in. They pull out their tails, and roundly assert that they are no pheasants at all, but MOKOS.
moll
A girl; nickname for Mary.—Old Cant.
moll thompson's mark
M. T. i.e. empty: as, Take away this bottle, it has Moll Thompson's mark upon it.
moll thomson’s mark
That is, M. T.—empty; as, "Take away this bottle, it has MOLL THOMSON’S MARK on it." See M. T.
moll-tooler
A female pickpocket.
molled
Followed, or accompanied by a woman. When a costermonger sees a friend walking with a woman he does not know, he says on the first opportunity afterwards, "I see yer the other night when yer was MOLLED up and too proud to speak."
mollisher
A low girl or woman; generally a female cohabiting with a man who gets his living by thieving.
mollsack
A reticule, or market basket.
molly
A Miss Molly; an effeminate fellow, a sodomite.
mollycoddle
An effeminate man; one who "coddles" amongst the women, or does their work.
mollygrubs
Or MULLIGRUBS, stomach ache, or sorrow—which to the costermonger is much the same, as he believes, like the ancients, that the viscera is the seat of all feeling. Costermongers are not alone, even in the present day, in this belief.
molrowing
"out on the spree," in company with so-called "gay women." In allusion to the amatory serenadings of the London cats. Another form of this is, "out on the tiles."
moncrieff’s
Tom and Jerry, or Life in London, a Farce in Three Acts, 12mo. 1820.
monday
Saint Monday. See SAINT.
mondayish
Or Mondayfied, disinclined for work. "St. Monday" is a great institution among artizans and small tradesmen.
money
A girl's private parts, commonly applied to little children: as, Take care, Miss, or you will shew your money.
money droppers
Cheats who drop money, which they pretend to find just before some country lad; and by way of giving him a share of their good luck, entice him into a public house, where they and their confederates cheat or rob him of what money he has about him.
mongrel
A hanger on among cheats, a spunger; also a child whose father and mother are of different countries.
monk
A term of contempt; probably an abbreviation of MONKEY.
monkery
The country, or rural districts. Originally an old word for a quiet or monastic life.—Hall.
monkey
To suck the monkey; to suck or draw wine, or any other liquor, privately out of a cask, by means of a straw, or small tube. Monkey's allowance; more kicks than halfpence. Who put that monkey on horseback without tying his legs? vulgar wit on a bad horseman.
monkey
Spirit or ill temper; "to get one’s MONKEY up," to rouse his passion. A man is said to have his MONKEY up or the MONKEY on his back, when he is "riled," or out of temper; this is old, and was probably in allusion originally to the evil spirit which was supposed to be always present with a man; also under similar circumstances a man is said to have his back or hump up.
monkey-board
The place or step attached to an omnibus, on which the conductor stands.
monkey-boat
A peculiar, long, narrow, canal boat.
monkey’s allowance
To get blows instead of alms, more kicks than halfpence.
monks and friars
Terms used by printers: monks are sheets where the letters are blotted, or printed too black; friars, those letters where the ink has failed touching the type, which are therefore white or faint.
monniker
A person’s name or signature.
monosyllable
A woman's commodity.
month of Sundays
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
mooch
To sponge; to obtrude oneself upon friends just when they are about to sit down to dinner, or other lucky time—of course quite accidentally. Compare HULK. To slink away, and allow your friend to pay for the entertainment. In Wiltshire, TO MOOCH is to shuffle. See the following.
mooching
Or ON THE MOOCH, on the look-out for any articles or circumstances which may be turned to a profitable account; watching in the streets for odd jobs, horses to hold, &c.; also scraps of food, drinks, old clothes, &c.
moon
A month; generally used to express the length of time a person has been sentenced by the magistrate; thus "one MOON" is one month of four weeks. A calendar month is known as a "callingder" or long MOON. A "lunar MOON," ridiculous as the phrase may seem, is of constant use among those who affect slang of this description.
moon rakers
Wiltshire men: because it is said that some men of that county, seeing the reflection of the moon in a pond, endeavoured to pull it out with a rake.
moon-raker
A native of Wiltshire; because it is said that some men of that county, seeing the reflection of the moon in a pond, took it to be a cheese, and endeavoured to pull it out with a rake.
mooncurser
A link-boy: link-boys are said to curse the moon, because it renders their assistance unnecessary; these gentry frequently, under colour of lighting passengers over kennels, or through dark passages, assist in robbing them. Cant.
mooney
Intoxicated, a name for a silly fellow.
mooning
Loitering, wandering about in a purposeless manner.
moonlight
Or MOONSHINE, smuggled spirits. From the night-work of smugglers.
moonshee
A learned man, professor, or teacher.—Anglo-Indian.
moonshine
A matter or mouthful of moonshine; a trifle, nothing. The white brandy smuggled on the coasts of Kent and Sussex, and the gin in the north of Yorkshire, are also called moonshine.
moonshine
Palaver, deception, humbug.
mop
A kind of annual fair in the west of England, where farmers usually hire their servants.
mop
A hiring place (or fair) for servants. Steps are often "about to be taken" to put down these assemblies, which have been proved to be greatly detrimental to the morality of the poor. They are supposed to contribute largely to the bastardy percentages.
mop up
To drink, or empty a glass.—Old Sea term.
moped
Stupid, melancholy for want of society.
mops and brooms
Intoxicated. Supposed by an imaginative person to be the appearance presented by the world to a very drunken man. Possibly the term was first used to express sea-sickness.
mopsey
A dowdy, or homely woman.
mopsqueezer
A maid servant, particularly a housemaid.
mopusses
Money; "MOPUSSES ran taper," money ran short.
moral
A forthcoming result which appears certain—originally MORAL certainty. This is racing slang, as, "The race is a MORAL for Cremorne." These MORALS are often, however, of very uncertain tenure.
more-ish
When there is scarcely enough of an eatable or drinkable, it is said to taste MORE-ISH; as, "This wine is very good, but it has a slight MORE-ISH flavour."
morglag
A brown bill, or kind of halbert, formerly carried by watchmen; corruption of MORE, great or broad, and GLAVE, blade.
morning drop
The gallows. He napped the king's pardon and escaped the morning drop; he was pardoned, and was not hanged.
morris
Come, morris off; dance off, or get you gone. allusion to morris, i.e. MORISCO, or Moorish dancing.
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