against the grain
Contrary to the natural inclination or feeling of someone.
Historical slang (1800s) · Tiếng lóng lịch sử (thế kỷ 19) 200
From Victorian and Georgian dictionaries (Brewer's 1898, Hotten 1874, Grose 1811) — great reading, risky in conversation.
Related topics: Colors Food Black & white Kings & rulers War & fighting Hands Clothes Devils & ghosts House & home Family Water Dogs
all serene
All is well; a cry of acquiescence or approval.
apartments to let
The condition of being stupid or crazy.
back out
To reverse (a vehicle) from a confined space.
barber's clerk
An overdressed shopboy who affects the airs and graces of a gentleman.
bawdy-house bottle
A very small bottle.
bay fever
Any illness feigned by convicts to avoid being sent to Botany Bay.
bayard of ten toes
The feet, as a means of travelling.
bellows to mend
out of breath
big house
Prison, jail.
billingsgate pheasant
A red herring or bloater.
birds of a feather
People with similar interests.
Black Maria
A police van for transporting prisoners.
black sheep
Shameful person.
blood-red fancy
A red neckerchief worn at prizefights to show support for a contender.
blow a cloud
To smoke a cigar or pipe.
blow out
To extinguish something, especially a flame, especially by means of a strong current of air or another gas.
blue Billy
The refuse ammoniacal lime from gas factories.
blue blanket
A rough overcoat made of coarse pilot cloth.
blue ruin
Low-end gin, usually home-made.
bone box
An ambulance.
bowl out
To take all the opponents' wickets (in whatever way) and thus end their innings.
brace up
To strengthen with bracing material.
break shins
To borrow money.
break the ice
To do or say something that relieves initial awkwardness and gets a conversation or event started.
Burdon's Hotel
Whitecross Street Prison, London, England.
butcher's mourning
A white hat with a black mourning hatband.
Caleb Quotem
A parish clerk.
caper merchant
A teacher of dancing.
cat and kitten sneaking
The theft of pint and quart pots and small pewter spirit measures from public houses.
chalk out
To draw or write down (something) using chalk.
chalk up
To achieve something.
chance the ducks
To take a risk.
cheek by jowl
Side by side.
chop and change
Change opinions repeatedly and abruptly.
chuck in
To give up, to quit.
chuck up
To vomit; throw up.
clean out
To clean, especially to tidy by removing the contents.
cock of the walk
One who dominates others within a group.
cock-robin shop
A small, disreputable printing office.
cold coffee
Misfortune; an unpleasant experience.
cold cook
An undertaker.
cold meat
One or more corpses, or people soon to be killed.
cold meat train
The last railway train of the night by which officers could reach Aldershot via the South Western Railway.
cold pig
The act of throwing cold water over a sleeping individual to wake them.
cold shoulder
To display aloofness and disdain.
common sewer
A communal session of drinking alcohol.
Covent Garden ague
A venereal disease; a sexually transmitted disease.
cracked up
Bankrupt; penniless.
crook one's elbow
To consume alcoholic drink.
curse of Scotland
The nine of diamonds.
daisy cutter
A well-struck ground ball.
dead horse
Tomato sauce.
devil's bed-posts
The four of clubs.
devil's delight
A riot; a row.
devil's dust
Any type of powder or dustlike substance whose use or effect is considered to be harmful or malevolent.
devil's teeth
Dice used for gambling.
Dickey Sam
A Liverpudlian.
dine out
To have dinner away from one's house, usually at a restaurant.
dog in a blanket
Synonym of roly-poly (“a kind of steamed pudding”).
dog's body
Pease pudding.
double up
To double the quantity, amount or duration of something
drive at
To mean, signify; to get at, to aim or tend to a point.
drop down
To sail, move, or row down a coast, or down a river to the sea.
Drury Lane vestal
A prostitute.
dry nurse
An inferior officer who carries on the duty on board ship, due to the captain's ignorance of seamanship.
Dutch concert
A performance in which all the musicians play different songs at the same time.
Dutch courage
Bravery induced by drinking alcohol.
Earl of Cork
The ace of diamonds.
essex lion
A calf (young cow or bull).
fancy man
Synonym of ponce (“a pimp hired by a prostitute”).
fiddler's money
small change
field-lane duck
A baked sheep's head.
five fingers
The five of trumps in the game of Don Pedro.
flare up
To burn brightly again.
flemish account
A tangled and unsatisfactory account or reckoning.
fork out
To pay out, to hand over.
forty winks
A short sleep or nap.
fox's paw
A mistake; a blunder.
gander month
One of the later months of a pregnancy, when the pregnant woman cannot engage in sexual intercourse and her partner might be expected to seek it elsewhere.
give it mouth
Speak loudly; speak up.
glasgow magistrate
A salted herring.
go along
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see go, along.
go the whole pile
To stake all of one's money on a single outcome.
good people
A good person.
gooseberry wig
A large, frizzled wig.
gospel grinder
A missionary, or distributor of religious tracts.
gourock ham
A salted herring.
greenwich goose
A Greenwich pensioner.
grist to the mill
Something used to an advantage.
Grove of the Evangelist
The district of St John's Wood in London, England.
grub and bub
Food and drink of any kind.
grubbing ken
A place where food may be procured; a workhouse or cookshop.
haberdasher of pronouns
schoolmaster
hangman's wages
The sum of thirteenpence halfpenny.
hard lines
Expressed to someone suffering misfortune.
heavy wet
A drink of strong ale and porter mixed together.
Holy Joe
A minister, chaplain, priest or preacher.
Holy Land
The Seven Dials area of London, England.
Hookey Walker
Expressing scornful rejection or disbelief.
hop merchant
A teacher of dancing.
hop the twig
Synonym of run away, (originally) especially from creditors.
horse marine
An awkward, lubberly person.
House of Commons
An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
how much
you what? huh?
husband's tea
Very weak (dilute) tea.
husbands' boat
The Saturday-afternoon packet boat from London to Margate during the summer season.
Irish cockney
A person born of Irish parents in any part of the southern counties of England.
Isthmus of Suez
The covered bridge at St. John's College, Cambridge, that connects the college with its grounds on the other side of the river.
Jack whore
A female prostitute with a large build or masculine characteristics.
Jemmy Ducks
A man employed on a ship to look after the poultry.
Jerry Lynch
A pickled pig's head.
Jerry Sneak
A henpecked husband.
Jew bail
Synonym of straw bail.
John Blunt
A straightforward, honest, outspoken man.
Johnny Raw
A beginner or newcomer; an inexperienced person.
kick the bucket
A euphemism for dying or death.
knuckle to
Synonym of knuckle under.
lame duck
A person who cannot fulfill their contracts.
leg bail
Escape from custody by running away.
limb of the law
A lawyer, or clerk articled to that profession.
little go
Any minor or preliminary activity.
lob's pound
Alternative form of lobspound (“prison”).
London Ordinary
The beach at Brighton.
louse trap
A comb (toothed implement for grooming).
milch cow
A German WWII submarine designed to carry large cargoes of supplies and transfer them to other submarines.
Mrs. Jones
An outhouse; a toilet.
mullingar heifer
A girl with thick ankles.
nail in one's coffin
An alcoholic drink.
nap the regulars
To divide up the booty.
neck and neck
Level in a race.
Ned Stokes
The four of spades.
needy mizzler
A shabby person; a tramp who runs away without paying for his lodging.
never trust me
Used in oaths, suggesting that one should never be trusted again if what one says now is not true.
newgate knocker
A lock of hair worn twisted back toward the ear.
old gentleman
A playing card that is almost imperceptibly longer than the others in the deck, used by cheats.
Old Gooseberry
The Devil; Satan.
old toast
A lively fellow who drinks excessively; a carouser.
on the fly
Carried out during the running of a program without interrupting.
Paddy's Goose
The White Swan, a celebrated public house in Ratcliff Highway, east London, England.
palm oil
Money given as a bribe.
pantile shop
Synonym of meetinghouse (“building where Quakers assemble for worship”).
Parson Trulliber
A rude, vulgar country clergyman, devoted to agricultural pursuits.
penny starver
A small bread roll costing one penny.
Peter Funk
A shill bidder at an auction.
pig's eye
The ace of diamonds.
pig's whisper
A low or inaudible whisper.
pitch into
To attack; to assault; to abuse.
poll parrot
A talkative, gossiping woman.
powdering tub
the pocky Hospital at Kingsland near London.
put the pot on
To exaggerate.
putter up
A person who seeks out information of use to burglars, for example by ingratiating himself with the members of a household, and in return receives payment after the burglary is committed.
Queen Bess
The queen of clubs.
Rag and Famish
The Army and Navy Club in London, England.
real jam
Anything exceptionally good.
Red Liner
An officer of the Society for the Suppression of Mendicity.
resurrection pie
A pie supposed to be made of the scraps and leavings of previous meals.
right as ninepence
Perfectly all right; in sound condition.
ring the changes
To pass counterfeit money.
robin redbreast
A Bow Street Runner (from the colour of his waistcoat).
rogue's yarn
A thread of red, blue or gold worsted, worked into the ropes manufactured in the government Royal dockyards, to identify them if stolen. Red for Pompey (Portsmouth), Blue for Guz (Plymouth), Gold for Chatham. Also a blue thread worked into canvas for the same purpose.
rum cull
A theatrical manager, especially one in charge of a travelling troupe.
running stationer
A street hawker of books and newspapers.
scaldrum dodge
A beggar's trick of burning the body with a mixture of acids and gunpowder, so as to appear to have been injured in an accident.
scarlet fever
Romantic attraction to soldiers in preference to other people.
Scotch coffee
Ship's biscuits toasted and boiled in water.
Scotch fiddle
Scabies; an itch.
screw loose
A state of insanity or eccentricity.
seeley's pigs
Unused blocks of iron kept in government dockyards.
serve out
To win a set, or by extension a match, by holding serve (winning a game as the server).
shell out
A game played on a billiard table, a variation of pool.
shivering Jemmy
A person who goes half-naked on the streets in order to beg for money.
shoot the moon
To abscond without paying one's rent.
shot in the locker
Money or other resources available on hand.
shove in the mouth
A glass of spirits drunk quickly in one go.
sit under
To be in the habit of hearing the preaching or teaching of (someone).
sit upon
Synonym of sit on (“block, suppress, hold back”).
slap-bang shop
A low-class restaurant.
socket money
Money that people are asked to contribute to birth or marriage festivities.
Spike Park
The Queen's Bench Prison in south London, England.
spirit away
To remove without anyone's noticing.
sporting door
The outer (lockable) door of a set of rooms in a college or similar institution.
square up
to get ready for a fight
stall off
Dated form of stall (“to employ delaying tactics against”).
stand in
To substitute for; to replace; (theater) to serve as an understudy.
stiff 'un
Synonym of dead 'un.
stump up
To pay for something, often with reluctance.
suck the monkey
To surreptitiously drink alcohol from a cask through an inserted tube.
sudden death
A meal of a chicken freshly slaughtered and spatchcocked.
Swell Street
The West End of London.
tabby party
A social meeting of women for tea and gossip.
tap the admiral
To steal some liquor from a cask that is in storage or transit.
Ten Commandments
The ten fingernails, used by women when fighting.
tenpence to the shilling
Mentally deficient.
Tib's Eve
A supposed future time that will never arrive.
timber merchant
A match-seller.
tip the double
To bolt; to run away without paying.
Tommy Dodd
The player in the coin-tossing game of odd man out who is the only player to get heads or tails, and thus wins or loses depending on the chosen rule.
Tooley Street tailor
A self-important, vainglorious person.
towzery gang
A group of swindlers who set up fraudulent auctions with shill bidders.