charley horse
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
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charley lancaster
A handkercher,—vulgar pronunciation of handkerchief.
Charley More
A British naval term for anything honest or reasonable, It originated in the tavern sign of a publican in Malta, in 1840, which read " Charley More — the Fair Thing,"
charley-pitcher
A low, cheating gambler.
Charlie
The Vietcong (Victor Charlie); (by extension, sometimes) any enemy.
Charlie Dunn
To give a Charlie Dunn (Austr.). To expel for cheating. The origin of this phrase is obscure.
charlies
A woman’s breasts. Also called dairies and bubbies.
charm offensive
A campaign of flattery and friendliness to influence someone
charm the birds from the trees
to delight or charm someone very much
charmed life
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Charon's Toll
A com, about equal to a penny, placed in the mouth or hand of the dead by the ancient Greeks to pay Charon (see STYX) for ferrying the spirit across the river Styx to the Elysian fields.
charren
The smoke of Charren.--His eyes water from the smoke of Charren; a man of that place coming out of his house weeping, because his wife had beat him, told his neighbours the smoke had made his eyes water.
charts and darts
A fixed-order word pair (irreversible binomial); full definition pending editorial review.
chase a rainbow
Pursue an unrealistic or unattainable goal
chase after
Pursue someone or something enthusiastically
chase away
to make someone or something leave
chase off
to scare or drive someone or something away
chase one's tail
To spend time on a task that is pointless or achieves nothing
chase rainbows
Pursue unrealistic or unattainable goals
chase tail
To engage in a futile effort
chase the dragon
to pursue a elusive or addictive goal
chassé
To dismiss.
Chastity Girdle
A padded, metal appliance in the shape of a belt that a man could fasten around his wife in such a way as to preclude possibility of unfaithfulness during his pro- longed absence. It is said to have come into vogue in the times of the Crusades when men set forth on protracted journeys and cam- paigns. One or two examples only are to be found in museums.
chat up
to talk to someone in a friendly and flirtatious way
Chateau Cardboard
Box wine.
chats
Chatham.
chats
Lice, or body vermin. Prov., any small things of the same kind.
chatter box
One whose tongue runs twelve score to the dozen, a chattering man or woman.
chatter broth
Tea. See CAT LAP and SCANDAL BROTH.
chatter-basket
Common term for a prattling child amongst nurses.
chatter-box
An incessant talker or chatterer.
chatterton betrayed his forgeries
He wrote in a poem purporting to be the work of a 15th- century priest, "Life and its goods I scorn," but the word was not in use till more than two centuries later than his supposed time, it (hit) and his being the possessive case.
chatts
Lice: perhaps an abbreviation of chattels, lice being the chief live stock of chattels of beggars, gypsies, and the rest of the canting crew. CANT.--Also, according to the canting academy, the gallows.
chatty
A filthy person, one whose clothes are not free from vermin; CHATTY DOSS, a lousy bed. A CHATTY DOSSER or a CRUMMY DOSSER is a filthy tramp or houseless wanderer.
Chatty G
ChatGPT.
chaunt
To sing the contents of any paper in the streets. CANT, as applied to vulgar language, may have been derived from CHAUNT.
chaunter culls
Grub-street writers, who compose songs, carrols, &c. for ballad-singers. CANT.
chaunters
Those street sellers of ballads, last copies of verses, and other broadsheets, who sang or bawled the contents of their papers. They often termed themselves PAPER WORKERS. Cheap evening papers and private executions have together combined to improve these folks’ occupations off the face of the earth. See HORSE-CHAUNTERS.
chaw
To steal.
chaw
To chew; CHAW UP, to get the better of one, finish him up; CHAWED UP, utterly done for.
chaw bacon
A countryman. A stupid fellow.
chaw over
To repeat one’s words with a view to ridicule.
chaw-bacon
A rustic. Derived from the popular idea that a countryman lives entirely on bread and fat bacon. A country clown, a joskin, a yokel, a clodcrusher. These terms are all exchangeable.
chazzer
A pig.
cheap
"doing it on the CHEAP," living economically, or keeping up a showy appearance with very little means.
Cheap as a Sardinian
A Roman phrase referring to the great crowds of Sardinian prisoners brought to Rome by Tiberius Gracchus, and offered for sale at almost any price.
cheap drunk
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
cheap jack
A travelling vendor of small wares, who is usually ready to "cheapen" his goods, Le. take less for them than the price he first named.
cheap jacks
Or JOHNS, oratorical hucksters and patterers of hardware, who put an article up at a high price, and then cheapen it by degrees, indulging all the time in volleys of coarse wit, until it becomes to all appearance a bargain, and as such it is bought by one of the crowd. The popular idea is that the inverse method of auctioneering saves them paying for the auction licence.—See DUTCH AUCTION.
cheap thrill
A brief, exciting experience that is not expensive or meaningful
cheap-arse Tuesday
a day for affordable entertainment or activities
cheaper by the dozen
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
cheapside
He came at it by way of Cheapside; he gave little or nothing for it, he bought it cheap.
cheapside bargain
A weak pun, meaning that the article was bought cheap or under its market value. Cheapside, is on the south side of the Cheap (or Chepe), one of the principal market-places of Old London, so called from A.S. ceapian* to buy, cypan, to sell, ceap, a price or sale.
cheat on
To be unfaithful to someone in a relationship
cheat sheet
A concise guide or reference aid
cheating the devil
Mincing an oath; doing evil for gain, and giving part of the profits to the Church, etc. In a literal sense, cheating the devil is by no means unusual m monkish traditions. Thus the "Devils' Bridge," over the Fall of the Reuss, in the canton of the Uri, Switzerland, is a single arch over a cataract.
cheats
Sham sleeves to put over a dirty shift or shirt. See SHAMS.
cheats never prosper
Dishonest people will ultimately fail
check and balance
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
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