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"No," said His Holiness, "you can no more hope for mercy than this dry staff can be expected to bud again.'* Tannhauser departs in despair; but on the third day the papal staff bursts into blossom; the Pope sends in every direction for Tannhauser, but the knight is nowhere to be found, for, mercy having been refused, he has returned to end his days in the arms of Venus.
the tail end of a cooked chicken or turkey
A peculiar little part in a leg of mutton, much esteemed by lovers of that joint.
A fictitious plot implicating the Duke of York and others in high place, in- vented in 1678 by Titus Gates (1649-1705) who alleged that the Catholics were about to mas- sacre the Protestants, burn London, and assas- sinate the king. Some thirty innocent persons were executed, and Gates obtained great wealth by revealing the supposed plot, but ultimately he was pilloried, whipped, and imprisoned.
Pistols. Popshop: a pawnbroker's shop. To pop; to pawn: also to shoot. I popped my tatler; I pawned my watch. I popt the cull; I shot the man. His means are two pops and a galloper; that is, he is a highwayman.
A British volunteer force in World War II operating under the orders of Lieut.-Col. Pemakoff in a series of daring and highly successful raids in North Africa and Southern Europe The Colonel was familiarly known as "Popski" and his irregular forces wore the initials P. P. A. on their shoulders, much to the chagrin of conservative military circles.
A girl.
A political alliance by all Left Wmg parties (Labour, Liberal, Socialist, but not necessarily Communist) against reac- tionary government and especially dictator- ship.
A doctor, especially one who is idolized or considered infallible
A toilet, especially one that is frequently used
Skin that is very smooth and delicate
To cry pork; to give intelligence to the undertaker of a funeral; metaphor borrowed from the raven, whose note sounds like the word pork. Ravens are said to smell carrion at a distance.
a simple, traditional food
A lie.
The penis.
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
An obese person.
Keep your breath to cool your porridge; i. e. held your tongue.
An alley leading from St. Martin's church-yard to Round-court, chiefly inhabited by cooks, who cut off ready-dressed meat of all sorts, and also sell soup.
Left and right sides of a ship
A convent about 8 miles SW. of Versailles which in the 17th century became the headquarters of the Jansenists (tf.v,). The community was suppressed by Louis XIV m 1660, but later again sprang into prominence and was condemned by a bull of Clement XI in 1713. Two years later the convent, which had been removed to Paris about 1637, was razed to the ground.
At Edinburgh in September, 1736. John Porteous was captain of the city guard, and, at the execution of a smuggler named Andrew Wilson, ordered the guards to fire on the mob, which had become tumul- tuous; six persons were killed, and eleven wounded.
An American term for a steak which contains a small bone. In the States, tender-loin steaks are much eaten. These are from what we call the undercut of the sirloin.
to separate
A cinerary urn of transparent dark blue glass, coated with opaque white glass cut in cameo fashton, found in a tomb (supposed to be that of Alexander Seyerus) near Rome m the 17th century. In 1770 it was purchased from the Barberini Palace by Sir William Hamilton for 1,000 guineas* and came afterwards into the possession of the Duke of Portland, one of the trustees of the British Museum, who placed it in that institution for exhibition.
An artificial word made up of parts of others, and expressive of a combina- tion denoted by those parts — such as squarson, a cross between a squire and a parson. Lewis Carroll invented the term in Through the Lookmg-Glass, ch. vi; slzthy, he says, means lithe and slimy ? mimsy is flimsy and miserable, etc. So called because there are two meanings "packed up" in the one word.
A sovereign. Modification of "Queen’s picture."
A treasurer. A corruption of "purser," the name given to the treasurer in the large Anglo-Chinese mercantile establishments.—Anglo-Chinese.
A halfpenny or other coin of little value.
A halfpenny, or trifling coin. Also a generic term for money.
An excessively optimistic person
The whole force of the county — that is, all the male members of a county over fifteen, who may be summoned by a sheriff to assist in preventing a riot, the rescue of prisoners, or other unlawful dis^ orders. Clergymen, peers, and the infirm are exempt.
Traditional English proverbial phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
To pay down; "POST the pony" signifies to place the stakes played for on the table.
With great speed or expedition. The allusion is to the old coaching days, when travelling by relays of horses, or with horses placed on the road to expedite the journey, was the rule in cases of urgency.
The prime minister, who has the patronage of all posts and places.
After noon; usually contracted to "P.M." Twas post meridian half-past four, By signal I from Nancy parted.
After death; as a post- mortem examination for the purpose of ascer- taining the cause of death.
A house painter, who occasionally paints or anoints posts. Knight of the post; a false evidence, one ready to swear any thing for hire. From post to pillar; backwards and forwards.
A public facility for mailing and receiving letters and packages
The nose. See PASTE-HORN.
At Cambridge, the second examination which men who have been "plucked" have to undergo.—University.
Well acquainted with the subject in question, "up to the mark,"—metaphor drawn from the counting-house.
A person who represents or symbolizes a particular idea or movement
A person representing a particular issue or cause
A woman who represents or symbolizes a particular idea or movement
A parson who hurries over the service.
Marijuana.
The pot calls the kettle black a-se; one rogue exclaims against another.
A favourite in the betting for a race. Probably so called because it is usual to say that a heavily-backed horse carries "a POT of money." When a favourite is beaten the POT is said to be upset.
Proselytes to the Romish church, made by the distribution of victuals and money.
One who hunts more tor the sake of the prey than the sport. Pot valiant; courageous from drink. Potwallopers: persons entitled to vote in certain boroughs by having boiled a pot there.
a valuable reward or treasure
Made courageous by liquor. Pot-wallopers, before the passing of the Reform Bill (1832), were those who claimed a vote as householders, because they had boiled their own pot at their own fireplace in the parish for six months. The earlier form was pot-waller, from A.S. weallan, to boil.
A picture hurriedly painted for the purpose of "keeping the POT BOILING."—Artistic slang.
A hawker of crockery and general earthenware.
A low-crowned hat, as distinguished from the soft wideawake and the stove-pipe.
A sportsman who shoots anything he comes across, having more regard to filling his bag than to the rules which regulate the sport. A man who fires at anything, regardless of the rules which govern true sportsmen.
Just as it comes; to take POT-LUCK, i.e., one’s chance of a dinner, or of what there is for dinner. A hearty term, used to signify that whatever the pot contains the visitor is welcome to.
Courageous through application to the bottle. Possessed of Dutch courage.