chaw bacon
A countryman. A stupid fellow.
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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.
check is in the mail
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
check out of something
to leave or stop participating in something
check somebody out
Investigate or observe someone to learn more about them
check something in
Examine or verify something
check the math
Verify the calculation or logic
check through
Examine or review something carefully
checkered past
A history of questionable or controversial behavior
checks
Counters used in games at cards. In the Pacific States of America a man who is dead is said to have handed (or passed) in his checks. The gamblers there are responsible for many of the colloquialisms current.
checks and balances
A fixed-order word pair (irreversible binomial); full definition pending editorial review.
checkup from the neck up
A mental health examination
chee
A cheetah.
chee-chee
This word is used in a rather offensive manner to denote Eurasians, or children by an English father and native mother. It takes its origin in a very common expression of half-caste females, "CHEE-CHEE," equivalent to our Oh, fie!—Nonsense!—For shame!—Anglo-Indian.
cheeba
Marijuana.
cheek
Share or portion; "where’s my CHEEK?" where is my allowance? "All to his own CHEEK," all to himself.
cheek for chowl
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
cheeks
Ass; sex.
cheeks
Ask cheeks near cunnyborough; the repartee of a St. Gilse's fair one, who bids you ask her backside, anglice her a-se. A like answer is current in France: any one asking the road or distance to Macon, a city near Lyons, would be answered by a French lady of easy virtue, 'Mettez votre nez dans mon cul, & vous serrez dans les Fauxbourgs.'
cheeky monkey
A mischievous or playful person
cheer up
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
cheese
Anything good, first-rate in quality, genuine, pleasant, or advantageous, is termed the CHEESE. The London Guide, 1818, says it was from some young fellows translating "c’est une autre CHOSE" into "that is another CHEESE." But the expression CHEESE may be found in the Gipsy vocabulary, and in the Hindostanee and Persian languages. In the last CHIZ means a thing—that is the thing, i.e., the CHEESE.
cheese grater
A waiter.
cheese off
To annoy.
cheese tax
a fee or tax perceived as unfair or excessive
cheese, wine, and friends must be old to be good
Good things improve with age and experience
cheesecutter
A prominent and aquiline nose. Also a large square peak to a cap. Caps fitted with square peaks are called cheesecutter caps.
cheesed off
Extremely annoyed or irritated
cheesemongers
Once a popular name for the First Lifeguards. Until the Peninsular War the First Lifeguards, from their almost exclusive service at home, were nicknamed CHEESEMONGERS. This term then fell into desuetude; but at Waterloo the commanding officer of the regiment had not forgotten it, and when leading his men to the charge, called out, "Come on, you damned CHEESEMONGERS!" an invitation complied with so readily, that the title was restored, with the difference that it was no longer a word of reproach.
cheeser
A strong smelling fart.
cheesy
Fine or showy. The opposite of "dusty."
cheez
cheese
chelsea
A village near London, famous for the military hospital. To get Chelsea; to obtain the benefit of that hospital. Dead Chelsea, by G-d! an exclamation uttered by a grenadier at Fontenoy, on having his leg carried away by a cannon-ball.
chemise lifter
A lesbian.
cherries and berries
The police.
cherry fairs
The old counterpart of the modern tea-gardens; cherry-orchards where sales of fruit were held, such gatherings frequently developing into boisterous scenes. From their temporary character they came to be used as typifications of the evanescence of life; thus Gower says of this world, "Alle is but a cherye-fayre," a phrase frequently met with.
cherry on top
An additional pleasure or benefit that makes a good situation even better
cherry-bums
Or CHERUBIMS, a nickname given to the 11th Hussars, from their crimson trousers.
cherry-colour
Either red or black, as you wish; a term used in a cheating trick at cards. When the cards are being dealt, a knowing one offers to bet that he will tell the colour of the turn-up card. "Done!" says Mr. Green. The sum being named, Mr. Sharp affirms that it will be CHERRY-COLOUR; and as cherries are either black or red, he wins, leaving his victim a wiser man, it is to be hoped, and not a better for the future.
cherry-coloured cat
A black cat, there being black cherries as well as red.
cherry-merry
A present of money. CHERRY-MERRY-BAMBOO, a beating.—Anglo-Indian.
cherubims
Peevish children, because cherubims and seraphims continually do cry.
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