1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue eBook

Francis Grose
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 343 pages of information about 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue eBook

Francis Grose
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 343 pages of information about 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Bitch booby.  A country wench.  Military term.

Bite.  A cheat; also a woman’s privities.  The cull wapt
  the mort’s bite; the fellow enjoyed the wench heartily. 
  Cant.

To bite.  To over-reach, or impose; also to steal.—­Cant. 
  —­Biting was once esteemed a kind of wit, similar to the
  humbug.  An instance of it is given in the Spectator:  A
  man under sentence of death having sold his body to a surgeon
  rather below the market price, on receiving the money, cried, A
  bite!  I am to be hanged in chains.—­To bite
  the roger; to steal a portmanteau.  To bite the wiper, to
  steal a handkerchief.  To bite on the bridle; to be pinched
  or reduced to difficulties.  Hark ye, friend, whether do
  they bite in the collar or the cod-piece?  Water wit to
  anglers.

Biter.  A wench whose **** is ready to bite her a-se; a
  lascivious, rampant wench.

Blab.  A tell-tale, or one incapable of keeping a secret

Black and white.  In writing.  I have it in black and
  white; I have written evidence.

Black art.  The art of picking a lock.  Cant.

Black A-se.  A copper or kettle.  The pot calls the kettle
  black a-se.  Cant.

Black book.  He is down in the black book, i.e. has a
  stain in his character.  A black book is keep in most regiments,
  wherein the names of all persons sentenced to punishment
  are recorded.

Black box.  A lawyer.  Cant.

Black eye.  We gave the bottle a black eye, i.e. drank it
  almost up.  He cannot say black is the white of my eye;
  he cannot point out a blot in my character.

Black fly.  The greatest drawback on the farmer is the
  black fly, i.e. the parson who takes tithe of the harvest.

Black guard.  A shabby, mean fellow; a term said to be
  derived from a number of dirty, tattered roguish boys, who
  attended at the Horse Guards, and Parade in St. James’s
  Park, to black the boots and shoes of the soldiers, or to do
  any other dirty offices.  These, from their constant attendance
  about the time of guard mounting, were nick-named
  the black-guards.

Black jack.  A nick name given to the Recorder by the
  Thieves.

Black jack.  A jug to drink out of, made of jacked leather.

Black joke.  A popular tune to a song, having for the
  burden, “Her black joke and belly so white:”  figuratively
  the black joke signifies the monosyllable.  See monosyllable.

Black Indies.  Newcastle upon Tyne, whose rich coal
  mines prove an Indies to the proprietors.

BLACKLEGS.  A gambler or sharper on the turf or in the cockpit: 
  so called, perhaps, from their appearing generally in
  boots; or else from game-cocks whose legs are always black.

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1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.