morocco men
Preserved but no longer current.
Men who, about the end of the 18th century, used to visit public-houses touting for illegal lottery insurances. Their rendezvous was a tavern in Oxford Market, at the Oxford St. end of Great Portland Street.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “morocco men” mean?
Men who, about the end of the 18th century, used to visit public-houses touting for illegal lottery insurances. Their rendezvous was a tavern in Oxford Market, at the Oxford St. end of Great Portland Street.
Is “morocco men” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.