out on the loose
"on the spree," in search of adventures. See ON THE LOOSE.
English · UK & Ireland 17968
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Expressions you’ll hear in Britain and Ireland — distinctly British usage first, then widespread staples.
out on the pickaroon
PICARONE is Spanish for a thief, but this phrase does not necessarily mean anything dishonest, but is often used to mean readiness for anything in the way of excitement. It also means to be in search of anything profitable, without much care as to honesty or otherwise.
outcry
An auction.—Anglo-Indian.
outing
A day’s holiday. The Oxford and Cambridge boatrace, the Derby, and other events of a like character, are each said to be simply excuses to the Cockneys for a day’s OUTING.
outrun the constable
To escape debt or financial obligations
outs
A gentleman of three outs. See GENTLEMAN.
outsider
A person who does not habitually bet, or is not admitted to the "ring," a duffer or good-for-nothing fellow. Also, a horse whose name does not appear among the "favourites."—Sporting.
oven
A great mouth; the old woman would never have looked for her daughter in the oven, had she not been there herself.
over
Generally used in connexion with come, as, "He came it rather strong OVER me," i.e., tried to intimidate or compel me. The same phrase would also be used to imply that an excess of flattery or praise was being employed for a similar purpose, but that the adulation was being "laid on a little too thick" to be considered genuine.
over!
Or OVER THE LEFT, i.e., the left shoulder—a common exclamation of disbelief in what is being narrated,—sometimes implying that the results of a proposed plan will be OVER THE LEFT, i.e., in the wrong direction, loss instead of gain.
overs
The odd money remaining after the daily accounts are made up at a banking-house,—usually divided amongst the clerks. See MENAVELINGS and SHORTS.
overseer
A man standing in the pillory, is, from his elevated situation, said to be made an overseer.
owl
To catch the; a trick practised upon ignorant country boobies, who are decoyed into a barn under pretence of catching an owl, where, after divers preliminaries, the joke ends in their having a pail of water poured upon their heads.
owl in an ivy bush
He looks like an owl in an ivy bush; frequently said of a person with a large frizzled wig, or a woman whose hair is dressed a-la-blowze.
owlers
Those who smuggle wool over to France.
owned
A slang expression used by the ultra-Evangelicals when a popular preacher makes many converts. The converts themselves are called his "seals."
owt gen
Two shillings. } OWT is pronounced OAT.
ox house
He must go through the ox house to bed; a saying of an old fellow who marries a young girl.
oyes
Corruption of oyez, proclaimed by the crier of all courts of justice.
oyster
A gob of thick phlegm, spit by a consumptive man; in law Latin, UNUM VIRIDUM GOBBUM
o’clock
"like ONE O’CLOCK," a favourite comparison with the lower orders, implying briskness; otherwise "like winkin’." "To know what’s O’CLOCK" is to be wide-awake, sharp, and experienced.
p. p
An expression much in use among racing men, which means play or pay, i.e., either go on with the arrangement or forfeit the money. The following is a law of the turf on the subject:—
pack
To go away; "now, then, PACK off there," i.e., be off, don’t stop here any longer.—Old. "Make speede to flee, be PACKING awaie."—Baret’s Alvearie, 1580. Contraction of "PACK up and be off." Sometimes the term "sent PACKING" is used to indicate a sudden discharge, as of a servant or mistress.
packets
Hoaxing lies. Sometimes used as an exclamation of incredulity.—North.
packthread
To talk packthread; to use indecent language well wrapt up.
pad
The highway, or a robber thereon; also a bed. Footpads; foot robbers. To go out upon the pad; to go out in order to commit a robbery.
pad
"to stand PAD," to beg with a small piece of paper pinned on the breast, inscribed, "I am starving."
pad the hoof
To walk; "PADDING THE HOOF, on the high toby," tramping or walking on the high road.
padding
The light articles in the monthly magazines, of which the serial stories are the main attraction. Publishers of magazines seem to think that if they get a serial story from a popular novelist they can pack any amount of rubbish into the remaining pages. This is not so in America, as magazines like the Atlantic Monthly and the Overland Monthly show.
padding-ken
Or CRIB, tramps’ and boys’ lodging-house.
paddington fair day
An execution day, Tyburn being in the parish or neighbourhood of Paddington. To dance the Paddington frisk; to be hanged.
paddle
To go or run away.—American.
paddy
The general name for an Irishman: being the abbreviation of Patrick, the name of the tutelar saint of that island.
paddy
PAT, or PADDY WHACK, an Irishman. A nickname of PATRICK.
padre
A clergyman. From the Portuguese.
painter
I'll cut your painter for you; I'll send you off; the painter being the ropfe that holds the boat fast to the ship. SEA TERM.
pal
A partner, acquaintance, friend, an accomplice. Gipsy, a brother.
palampo
A quilt or bed-cover. Probably from PALANPORE, a town in India, renowned for its manufacture of chintz counterpanes.—Anglo-Indian.
palaver
To ask, or talk—deceitfully or otherwise, as occasion requires; "PALAVER to his nibs for a shant of bivvy," ask the master for a pot of beer. NANTEE PALAVER (pronounced PERLARVER), cease talking. In this sense used by tramps. Derived from the Portuguese.
pall
A companion. One who generally accompanies another, or who commit robberies together.
pall
To stop; "PALL that," spoken authoritatively, means, cease what you are doing. From PALL, a small instrument which is used to stop the windlass or capstan at sea. When a man says, "I am PALLED," he means he cannot or dare not say any more. A sailor, on receiving any extraordinary intelligence, will say, "You PALL me," i.e., you confound me. Most likely from the order frequently given on board ship, "Ease and PALL."
palliards
Those whose fathers were clapperdogens, or beggars born, and who themselves follow the same trade: the female sort beg with a number of children, borrowing them, if they have not a sufficient number of their own, and making them cry by pinching in order to excite charity; the males make artificial sores on different parts of their bodies, to move compassion.
palm
To impose upon. "You can’t PALM that off upon me," is said when an intending purchaser is suspicious of the quality of the article offered.
palmer
A swindler who used to visit shops under the pretence of collecting harp halfpence. To induce shopkeepers to search for them, he offered thirteenpence for one shilling’s-worth, when many persons were silly enough to empty a large quantity of copper on their counters. The PALMER, a proficient with his fingers, generally contrived to conceal some before he left the shop.
pam
The knave of clubs at the game of loo; or, in street phraseology, while the "Judicious Bottleholder" was alive, Lord Palmerston.
pannier man
A servant belonging to the Temple and Gray's Inn, whose office is to announce the dinner. This in the Temple, is done by blowing a horn; and in Gray's Inn proclaiming the word Manger, Manger, Manger, in each of the three courts.
pannum
Food, bread.—Lingua Franca, PANNEN; Latin, PANIS; Ancient Cant, YANNAM.
pannum-bound
Said of a pauper or prisoner when his food is stopped. PANNUM-STRUCK, very hungry, starving.
panny
A house. To do a panny: to rob a house. See the Sessions Papers. Probably, panny originally meant the butler's pantry, where the knives and forks, spoons, &c. are usually kept The pigs frisked my panney, and nailed my screws; the officers searched my house, and seized my picklock keys. CANT.
panny
A house—public or otherwise; "flash PANNY," a public-house used by thieves; PANNY-MEN, housebreakers. PANNY, in thieves’ cant, also signifies a burglary.
pantalettes
The drawers worn in America by little girls.
panter
A hart: that animal is, in the Psalms, said to pant after the fresh water-brooks. Also the human heart, which frequently pants in time of danger. CANT.
pantile
A hat. The term PANTILE is properly applied to the mould into which the sugar is poured which is afterwards known as "loaf sugar." Thus, PANTILE, from whence comes the phrase, "a sugar-loaf hat," originally signified a tall, conical hat, in shape similar to that usually represented as the head-gear of a bandit. From PANTILE the more modern slang term TILE has been derived. Halliwell gives PANTILE SHOP, a meeting-house, from the steeple-crowned or PANTILE hats of its frequenters.
pantiler
A Dissenting preacher. Probably from the practice of the Quakers, and many Dissenters, of not removing their hats in a place of worship; or from the sugar-loaf hats originally worn by Puritans.
pants
American term for trousers. Here used to represent the long drawers worn underneath.
panupetaston
A loose overcoat with wide sleeves, now out of fashion.—Oxford University.
pap
Bread sauce; also the food of infants. His mouth is full of pap; he is still a baby.
paper scull
A thin-scull'd foolish fellow.
paper-maker
A rag-gatherer, or gutter-raker—similar to the chiffonnier of Paris. Also, a man who tramps through the country, and collects rags on the pretence that he is an agent to a paper mill.
paper-worker
A wandering vendor of street literature; one who sells ballads, dying speeches, and confessions, sometimes termed a "running stationer."
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