to shoe the goose
To fritter away one's time on unnecessary work; to play about, trifle.
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to shoe the wild colt
To exact a fine called "footing" from a newcomer, who is called the "colt." Colt is a common synonym for a green- horn, or a youth not broken in. Thus Shake- speare says — aAy, that's a colt indeed, for he doth nothing but talk of his horse" (Mer- chant of Venice, i, 2.).
to shoole
To go skulking about.
to shoot a line
An R.A.F. phrase meaning to exaggerate, to tell a tall story.
to shoot at rovers
To shoot at random with- out any distinct aim. Unbelievers are said by Clobery to "shoot at rovers." — Divine Glimpses, p. 4 (1659).
to shoot one's linen
To display an unneces- sary amount of shirt-cuff; to show off.
to shoot out the lip
To show scorn. All they that see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out the lip; they shake the head . . . — Ps.
to shoot the moon
To remove one's house- hold goods by night to avoid distraint; to "do a moonlight flit.
to shoot the sun
A sailor's expression for taking the sun's meridional altitude, which is done by aiming at the reflected sun through the telescope of the sextant.
to shop a person
To put him in prison, or to inform against him so that he is arrested; similarly, a billiard player will speak of "shop- ping the white," i.e. putting his opponent's ball down in the pocket.
to show his griefs
Hamlet , 111, 1. Queen of the May. See MAY.
to show the cloven foot
To betray an evil intention. The devil is represented with a cloven hoof.
to show the white feather
To show coward- ice; a phrase from the cockpit when a game- cock is getting the worst of the fight and wants to stop, he makes the fact known by lifting his hackle — a long narrow feather on the neck. The under rim of the hackle is edged with white feathers.
to shuffle
To make use of false pretences, or unfair shifts. A shuffling fellow; a slippery shifting fellow.
to shut up shop
To retire from business, withdraw from participation in the under- taking, etc.
to side-track
Originally an American rail- road term; hence, to get rid of, shelve, put on one side indefinitely.
to simper
To smile: to simper like a firmity kettle.
to sin one's mercies
To be ungrateful for the gifts of Providence.
to sing
To call out; the coves sing out beef; they call out stop thief.
to sing in tribulation
Old slang for to confess when put to the torture. One who did this was termed in jail slang a "canary bird.
to sing out
To cry or squeal from chastise- ment; formerly said also of a prisoner who turned informer against his comrades.
to sing small
To cease boasting and assume a lower tone.
to sit cock-a-hoop
Boastful, defiant, like a game-cock with his houpe or crest erect; eagerly expectant.
to sit on
To snub, squash, smother, put in his place. Sit on has other meanings also; thus to sit on a corpse is to hold a coroner's inquest on it; to sit on the bench is to occupy a seat as a judge or magistrate.
to sit on the fence
To take care not to commit oneself; to hedge. The characteristic attitude of "Mr. Facing-Both-Ways.
to sit tight
To keep your own counsel; to remain in or as in hiding. The phrase is from poker, where, if a player does not want to continue betting and at the same time does not wish to throw in his cards, he "sits tight.
to sit under
A colloquialism for attending the ministrations of the clergyman named. The phrase was common three hundred years ago, and is still in use.
to skate over thin ice
To take unnecessary risks, especially in conversation or argument; to touch on dangerous subjects very lightly.
to skin a flint
To be very exacting in making a bargain. The French say, Tondre sur un ceuf. The Latin tana caprina (goat's wool), means something as worthless as the skin of a flint or fleece of an eggshell. Hence a skinflint, a pinch-farthing, a niggard.
to skylark about
To amuse oneself in a frolicsome way, jump around and be merry, indulge in mild horseplay. The phrase was originally nautical and referred to the sports of the boys among the rigging after work was done.
to slang a person
To abuse him, give him a piece of your mind.
to slate one
To reprove, abuse, or criticize him savagely. It is not known how the term arose, but perhaps it is because at school the names of bad boys were chalked up on the slate as an exposure.
to sleep like a top
Excellently, go the night through without waking or discomfort. When peg-tops are at the acme of their gyration they become so steady and quiet that they do not seem to move; in this state they are said to "sleep.
to sleep on a matter
To let a decision on it stand over till to-morrow. Sleeper, The. Epimenides, the Greek poet, is said to have fallen asleep in a cave when a boy, and not to have waked for fifty-seven years, when he found himself possessed of all wisdom.
to slip the collar
To escape from restraint; to draw back from a task begun.
to smack
To kiss. I had a smack at her muns: I kissed her mouth. To smack calves skin; to kiss the book, i.e. to take an oath. The queer cuffin bid me smack calves skin, but I only bussed my thumb; the justice bid me kiss the book, but I only kissed my thumb.
to smash
To break; also to kick down stairs. CANT. To smash. To pass counterfeit money.
to smite hip and thigh
To slay with great carnage. A Biblical phrase. And he smote them hip and thigh with great slaughter. — Judges xv, 8.
to smoke
To observe, to suspect.
to smoke the pipe of peace
See CALUMET. Snack (a variant ofsnatcfi).
to smush
To snatch, or seize suddenly.
to snabble
To rifle or plunder; also to kill.
to snaffle
To steal. To snaffle any ones poll; to steal his wig.
to snap one's nose off
To speak snappishly. To pull (or wring) the nose is to affront by an act of indignity; to snap one's nose is to affront by speech. Snarling dogs snap at each other's noses.
to snap the glaze
To break shop windows or show glasses.
to snilch
To eye, or look at any thing attentively: the cull snilches. CANT.
to snite
To wipe, or slap. Snite his snitch; wipe his nose, i.e. give him a good knock.
to snivel
To cry, to throw the snot or snivel about. Snivelling; crying. A snivelling fellow; one that whines or complains.
to snoach
To speak through the nose, to snuffle.
to snub
To check, or rebuke.
to snuffle
To speak through the nose.
to soak
To drink. An old soaker; a drunkard, one that moistens his clay to make it stick together.
to sow dragons' teeth
To foment conten- tions; to stir up strife or war; especially to do something that is intended to put an end to strife but which brings it about later. The Philistines "sowed dragons* teeth" when they took Samson, bound him, and put out his eyes ; the ancient Britons did the same when they massacred the Danes on St. Bryce's Day, as also did the Germans when they robbed France of Alsace Lorraine.
to sow one's wild oats. (16th century)
to engage in reckless and promiscuous behavior, typically when young
to spare
to save or keep something for future use
to speak by the book
To speak with meticulous exactness. To speak literatim) according to what is m the book.
to speak like a book
To speak with great pjecision and accuracy; to be full of informa- tion. Often used of a pedant.
to speak one's conscience
To speak one's own mind, give one's own private thoughts or opinions.
to speak with
To rob. I spoke with the cull on the cherry-coloured prancer; I robbed the man on the black horse. CANT.
to speak without book
To speak without authority; from memory only, without con- sulting or referring to the book.
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