cadillac problem
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
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cadmean letters
The sixteen simple Greek letters said, in Greek mythology, to have been introduced by Cadmus (tf.v.) from Phoenicia.
cadmean victory
A victory purchased with great loss. The allusion is to the armed men who sprang out of the ground from the teeth of the dragon sown by Cadmus (q.v ), who fell foul of each other, only five escaping death.
caesar's wife must be above suspicion
Those in positions of power must be beyond reproach
caesarian operation
The extraction of a child from the womb by cutting the abdomen ; so called because Julius Caesar was thus brought into the world.
cag
To be cagged. To be sulky or out of humour. The cove carries the cag; the man is vexed or sullen.
cag
To irritate, affront, anger. Schoolboy slang.
cag magg
Bits and scraps of provisions. Bad meat.
cage
A minor kind of prison. A country lock-up which contained no offices.
cagg
To cagg; a military term used by the private soldiers, signifying a solemn vow or resolution not to get drunk for a certain time; or, as the term is, till their cagg is out: which vow is commonly observed with the strictest exactness. Ex. I have cagg'd myself for six months. Excuse me this time, and I will cagg myself for a year. This term is also used in the same sense among the common people of Scotland, where it is performed with divers ceremonies.
cagg maggs
Old Lincolnshire geese, which having been plucked ten or twelve years, are sent up to London to feast the cockneys.
cagmag
Bad food, scraps, odds and ends; or that which no one could relish. Grose give CAGG MAGGS, old and tough Lincolnshire geese, sent to London to feast the poor cockneys. Gael., French, and Welsh, CAC, and MAGN. A correspondent at Trinity College, Dublin, considers this as originally a University slang term for a bad cook, κακὸς μάγειρος. There is also a Latin word used by Pliny, MAGMA, denoting dregs or dross.
cah
Because.
Cain and Abel
Two people who are closely related but have a contentious relationship
Cain-coloured Beard
Yellowish, or sandy red, symbolic of treason. In the ancient tapestries Cain and Judas are represented with yellow beards; but it is well to note that in the extract below the word, in some editions, is printed "ca«£-coloured." See YELLOW.
cake
A "flat;" a soft or doughy person, a fool.
cake and gingerbread
Something very easy to obtain or achieve
cake crumbs
Small, scattered remains of something
cake walk
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
cakehole
The mouth.
cakes and ale
Pleasurable things in life
cakes and ale
A good time. Life is not all cakes and ale. Life is not all beer and skittles — all pleasure.
cakey-pannum-fencer
Or PANNUM-FENCER, a man who sells street pastry.
calaboose
A prison.—Sea slang, from the Spanish.
calculate
A word much in use among the inhabitants of the Western States U.S., as "I CALCULATE you are a stranger here." New Englanders use the word "guess" instead of CALCULATE, while the Virginians prefer to say "reckon."
calf-skin fiddle
A drum. To smack calf's skin; to kiss the book in taking an oath. It is held by the St. Giles's casuists, that by kissing one's thumb instead of smacking calf's skin, the guilt of taking a false oath is avoided.
calibogus
Rum and spruce beer, American beverage.
california
Or CALIFORNIANS, money. Term generally applied to gold only. Derivation very obvious.
california corn flakes
Cocaine.
caligula's horse
Incitatus. It was made a priest and consul, had a manger of ivory, and drank wine from a golden goblet.
call
A notice of rehearsal, or any other occasion requiring the company’s presence, posted up in a theatre. "We’re CALLED for eleven to-morrow morning."
call a lid
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
call an audible
Change plans suddenly due to new information
call for something
to demand or request something
call it
to stop or end something
call it a night
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
call it an early night
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
call it as one sees it
To describe something honestly and objectively
call it stumps
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
call off the dogs
to stop pursuing or harassing someone
call on
to visit or meet someone for a short time
call on somebody
visit someone, especially briefly
call on somebody to do something
to ask or request someone to take action
call out
Publicly criticize or condemn someone
call roll
To take attendance by calling out names
call someone every name in the book
To insult or curse someone severely
call someone everything but a child of God
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
call someone's bluff
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
call someone's number
Challenge or confront someone directly
call to account
To hold someone responsible for their actions
call to the bar
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
call up
to remember or bring to mind
call-a-go
In street "patter," is to leave off trying to sell anything and to remove to another spot, to desist. Also to give in, yield, at any game or business. Probably from the "GO" call in cribbage.
calle
A cloak or gown. CANT.
Caller Herrings
Fresh herrings. The adjec- tive is also applied m Scotland to fresh air, water, etc.
Callippic Period
An intended cor- rection of the Metonic Cycle (q.v.} by Callip- pus, the Greek astronomer of the 4th century B.C. To remedy the defect in the Metonic Cycle Callippus quadrupled the period cf Meton, making his Cycle one of seventy-six years, and deducted a day at the end of it, by which means he calculated that the new and full moons would be brought round to the same day and hour.
calm before the storm
A period of peace before a crisis
calm seas never made a good sailor
Challenging experiences are necessary for personal growth and development
calm your farm
Calm down.
calvary clover
A common trefoil, Medi- cago echinus, said to have sprung up in the track made by Pilate when he went to the cross to see his "title affixed" (Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews).
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