| 18th Century Thieves Cant |
|---|
| Men |
| Men : Big and Small |
|---|
| CHIT | a Dandyprat, or Durgen, a little trifling-Fellow. | 1737 |
| DANDY PRAT | An insignificant or trifling fellow. | 1811 |
| DANDYPRAT | a little puny Fellow | 1737 |
| DUMPLIN | A short thick man or woman. Norfolk dumplin; a jeering appellation of a Norfolk man, dumplins being a favourite kind of food in that county. | 1811 |
| JACK SPRAT | A dwarf, or diminutive fellow. | 1811 |
| JACK-SPRAT | a Dwarf, or very little Fellow, a Hop on my-thumb. | 1737 |
| KINCHIN COVE | a little Man. | 1737 |
| LIMBS | Duke of limbs; a tall awkward fellow. | 1811 |
| LOCKERAM-JAWED | Thin-faced, or lanthorn-jawed. See LANTHORN JAWED. | 1811 |
| LONG SHANKS | A long-legged person. | 1811 |
| LONG-SHANKS | long-legged. | 1737 |
| MACKAREL-BACK | a very tall, lank Person. | 1737 |
| RUNT | A short squat man or woman: from the small cattle called Welsh runts. | 1811 |
| SHRIMP | A little diminutive person. | 1811 |
| SWINGING | A great swinging fellow; a great stout fellow. A swinging lie; a lusty lie. | 1811 |
| TOM THUMB | A dwarf, a little hop-omy-thumb. | 1811 |
| TOM-THUMB | a Dwarf or diminutive Fellow. | 1737 |
| URCHIN | a little sorry Fellow; also a Hedge-hog. | 1737 |
| WHIPPER-SNAPPER | A diminutive fellow. | 1811 |
| Men : Clever and Sly |
|---|
| CLINKER | a crafty Fellow | 1737 |
| DRY BOOTS | A sly humorous fellow. | 1811 |
| DRY-BOB | a smart or sharp Repartee. | 1737 |
| DRY-BOOTS | a sly, close cunning Fellow. | 1737 |
| FLY | Knowing. Acquainted with anothers meaning or proceeding. The rattling cove is fly; the coachman knows what we are about. | 1811 |
| FLY | vigilant; suspicious; cunning; not easily robbed or duped; a shopkeeper or person of this description, is called a fly cove, or a leary cove ; on other occasions fly is synonymous with flash or leary, as, I'm fly to you, I was put flash to him, &c. | 1819 |
| FOX | a sharp, cunning Fellow. | 1737 |
| Fox | A sharp, cunning fellow. Also an old term for a sword, probably a rusty one, or else from its being dyed red with blood; some say this name alluded to certain swords of remarkable good temper, or metal, marked with the figure of a fox, probably the sign, or rebus, of the maker. | 1811 |
| LEARY | synonymous with fly | 1819 |
| LEARY-COVE | See Fly. | 1819 |
| LEERY | On ones guard. See PEERY. | 1811 |
| PUT FLY | See Fly. | 1819 |
| SHAVER | A cunning Shaver; A subtle, smart Fellow. He shaves close; He gripes, squeezes, or extorts very severely. | 1737 |
| SHAVER | A cunning shaver; a subtle fellow, one who trims close, an acute cheat. A young shaver; a boy. SEA TERM. | 1811 |
| SHUFFLER | or Shuffling-Fellow; a slippery, shifting Fellow. | 1737 |
| SLY BOOTS | A cunning fellow, under the mask of simplicity. | 1811 |
| SLY-BOOTS | a seeming silly, but subtle Fellow. | 1737 |
| TONGUE-PAD | a smooth, glib-tongued, insinuating Fellow. | 1737 |
| WHIPSTER | a sharp, or subtle Fellow. | 1737 |
| WHIPSTER | A sharp or subtle fellow. | 1811 |
| WILY | cunning, crafty, intriguing. | 1737 |
| Men : Clumsy, Stupid and Foolish |
|---|
| BEN | a foolish Fellow, a Simpleton. | 1737 |
| BEN | A fool. Cant. | 1811 |
| BENISH | foolish, simple. | 1737 |
| BENISH | Foolish. | 1811 |
| BIRD-WITTED | hare-brained; not solid or stayed. | 1737 |
| BIRD-WITTED | Inconsiderate, thoughtless, easily imposed on. | 1811 |
| BLUNDERBUS | an awkward Fellow. | 1737 |
| BOTTLE-HEAD | void of Wit. | 1737 |
| BOTTLE-HEADED | Void of wit. | 1811 |
| BULLY-FOP | a maggot-pated, huffing, silly, rattling Fellow. | 1737 |
| BUZZARD | a foolish, soft Fellow, drawn in and culled or tricked. | 1737 |
| CAW-HANDED | awkward, not dextrous, ready or nimble. | 1737 |
| CAW-HANDED, or CAW-PAWED | Awkward, not dextrous, ready, or nimble. | 1811 |
| CLUNCH | a clumsy Clown, an awkward or unhandy Fellow. | 1737 |
| CLUNCH | An awkward clownish fellow. | 1811 |
| CODS HEAD | A stupid fellow. | 1811 |
| CODs-HEAD | a Fool. | 1737 |
| CONY | or Tom Cony; a silly Fellow; A meer Cony, very silly indeed. | 1737 |
| CULLY | a Fop, a Fool, one who is easily drawn in and cheated by Whores and Rogues | 1737 |
| CULLY | A fog or fool: also, a dupe to women: from the Italian word coglione, a blockhead. | 1811 |
| DRUMBELO | a dull, heavy Fellow. | 1737 |
| FAT HEADED | Stupid. | 1811 |
| FLAT | A bubble, gull, or silly fellow. | 1811 |
| FLAT | In a general sense, any honest man, or square cove, in opposition to a sharp or cross-cove; when used particularly, it means the person whom you have a design to rob or defraud, who is termed the flat, or the flatty-gory. A man who does any foolish or imprudent act, is called a flat; any person who is found an easy dupe to the designs of the family, is said to be a prime fiat. It's a good flat that's never down, is a proverb among flash people ; meaning, that though a man may be repeatedly duped or taken in, he must in the end have his eyes opened to his folly. | 1819 |
| GO-ALONGER | a simple easy person, who suffers himself to be made a tool of, and is readily persuaded to any act or undertaking by his associates, who inwardly laugh at his folly, and ridicule him behind his back. | 1819 |
| GOOSE | or Goose cap; a Fool. A Taylors Goose roasted, a Red-hot smoothing Iron, to close the seams. Hot and heavy like a Taylors Goose. applied to a passionate Coxcomb. | 1737 |
| HANKTELO | a silly Fellow, a meer Codshead. | 1737 |
| HICK | any Person from whom a Booty is taken, a silly Country Fellow; a Booby. | 1737 |
| HICK | A country hick; an ignorant clown. CANT. | 1811 |
| HIGH SHOON, or CLOUTED SHOON | A country clown. | 1811 |
| HIGH-SHOON | or Clouted-Shoon; a Country Clown. | 1737 |
| HOB | a plain Country Fellow or Clown. | 1737 |
| HOB NAIL | a High-shoon or Country Clown. | 1737 |
| HOBINAL | the same [[as Hob]]. | 1737 |
| HOBNAIL | A country clodhopper: from the shoes of country farmers and ploughmen being commonly stuck full of hob-nails, and even often clouted, or tipped with iron. The Devil ran over his face with hobnails in his shoes; said of one pitted With the small pox. | 1811 |
| HULVER HEAD | a silly, foolish Fellow. | 1737 |
| HULVER-HEADED | Having a hard impenetrable head; hulver, in the Norfolk dialect, signifying holly, a hard and solid wood. | 1811 |
| JACK ADAMS | A fool. Jack Adamss parish; Clerkenwell. | 1811 |
| JACOB | A soft fellow. A fool. | 1811 |
| JINGLE BRAINS | a Maggot-pated Fellow. | 1737 |
| JINGLE BRAINS | A wild, thoughtless, rattling fellow. | 1811 |
| JOSKIN | A countryman. The dropcove maced the Joskin of twenty quid; The ring dropper cheated the countryman of twenty guineas. | 1811 |
| JOSKIN | a country-bumbkin. | 1819 |
| LEATHER-HEAD | a Thick-skilld, heavy-headed Fellow. | 1737 |
| LOB-COCK | a heavy, dull Fellow. | 1737 |
| LOBCOCK | A large relaxed penis: also a dull inanimate fellow. | 1811 |
| LOGGERHEAD | A blockhead, or stupid fellow. We three loggerheads be: a sentence frequently written under two heads, and the reader by repeating it makes himself the third. A loggerhead is also a double-headed, or bar shot of iron. To go to loggerheads; to fall to fighting. | 1811 |
| MILESTONE | a country booby. | 1819 |
| MOUTH | A silly fellow. A dupe. To stand mouth; i.e. to be duped. | 1811 |
| MOUTH | a foolish silly person; a man who does a very imprudent act, is said to be a rank mouth. | 1819 |
| NICK NINNY | A simpleton. | 1811 |
| NICK-NINNY | an emty Fellow, a meer Gods-head. | 1737 |
| NICKIN, NIKEY or NIZEY | A soft simple fellow; also a diminutive of Isaac. | 1811 |
| NICKUM-POOP | a Fool, also a silly, soft, uxorious Fellow. | 1737 |
| NICKUMPOOP, or NINCUMPOOP | A foolish fellow; also one who never saw his wifes ****. | 1811 |
| NIGIT | qu. an Ideot, i.e. a Fool. | 1737 |
| NIGMENOG | a very silly fellow. | 1737 |
| NIGMENOG | A very silly fellow. | 1811 |
| NIKIN | a Natural, or very soft Creature. | 1737 |
| NIZY | a Fool or Coxcomb. | 1737 |
| NOCKY | a silly, dull Fellow. | 1737 |
| NOCKY BOY | A dull simple fellow. | 1811 |
| NODDY | a Fool. Knave Noddy, a Game on the Cards. | 1737 |
| NODDY | A simpleton or fool. Also a kind of low cart, with a seat before it for the driver, used in and about Dublin, in the manner of a hackney coach: the fare is just half that of a coach, for the same distance; so that for sixpence one may have a set down, as it is called, of a mile and half, and frequently a tumble down into the bargain: it is called a noddy from the nutation of its head. Knave noddy; the old-fashioned name for the knave of trumps. | 1811 |
| NOKES | A ninny, or fool. John-a-Nokes and Tom-a-Stiles; two honest peaceable gentlemen, repeatedly set together by the ears by lawyers of different denominations: two fictitious names formerly used in law proceedings, but now very seldom, having for several years past been supplanted by two other honest peaceable gentlemen, namely, John Doe and Richard Roe. | 1811 |
| NUMBSCULL | A stupid fellow. | 1811 |
| OAF | A silly fellow. | 1811 |
| OAFISH | Simple. | 1811 |
| PIG-WIDGEON | a silly Fellow. | 1737 |
| PIGEON | A weak silly fellow easily imposed on. To pigeon; to cheat. To milk the pigeon; to attempt impossibilities, to be put to shifts for want of money. To fly a blue pigeon; to steal lead off a church. | 1811 |
| POLE | He is like a rope-dancers polo, lead at both ends; a saying of a stupid sluggish fellow. | 1811 |
| PUDDING-HEADED FELLOW | A stupid fellow, one whose brains are all in confusion. | 1811 |
| PUT | A Country Put, a silly, shallow pated, Fellow. Put so it, beset. | 1737 |
| PUT | A country put; an ignorant awkward clown. To put upon any one; to attempt to impose on him, or to make him the but of the company. | 1811 |
| QUEERE-CULL | a Fop or Fool, a Cods-head; also a shabby poor Fellow. | 1737 |
| RALPH SPOONER | a Fool. | 1737 |
| RALPH SPOONER | A fool. | 1811 |
| RUM CULL | A rich fool, easily cheated, particularly by his mistress. | 1811 |
| RUM NED | A very rich silly fellow. CANT. | 1811 |
| RUM-CULL | a rich Fool, that can be easily bit, or cheated by any body; also one that is very generous and kind to a Mistress. | 1737 |
| RUM-NED | a very silly Fellow. | 1737 |
| SAPSCULL | A simple fellow. Sappy; foolish. | 1811 |
| SHALLOW PATE | A simple fellow. | 1811 |
| SIMKIN | a Fool. | 1737 |
| SIMKIN | A foolish fellow. | 1811 |
| SIMPLETON | Abbreviation of simple Tony or Anthony, a foolish fellow. | 1811 |
| SINGLE-TEN | a very foolish, silly Fellow. | 1737 |
| SINGLETON | A very foolish fellow; also a particular kind of nails. | 1811 |
| SIR QUIBBLE-QUEERE | a trifling, silly shatter-brained Fellow; a meer Wittol or Punter, likewise a Whiffler. | 1737 |
| SOWSE CROWN | a Fool. | 1737 |
| SPOONY | foolish, half-witted, nonsensical; a man who has been drinking till he becomes disgusting by his very ridiculous behaviour, is said to be spoony drunk ; and, from hence it is usual to call a very prating shallow fellow, a rank spoon. | 1819 |
| SQUIRISH | foolish; also one that pretends to pay all Reckonings, and is not strong enough in the Pocket. | 1737 |
| SQUIRISH | Foolish. | 1811 |
| TOM CONY | A simple fellow. | 1811 |
| TOM-CONY | a very silly Felow. | 1737 |
| TONY | a silly Fellow or Ninny. A meer Tony; a meer Simpleton. | 1737 |
| TONY | A silly fellow, or ninny. A mere tony: a simpleton. | 1811 |
| TOTTY-HEADED | giddy-headed, hare-brained. | 1737 |
| TOTTY-HEADED | Giddy, hare-brained. | 1811 |
| WIND-MILLS IN THE HEAD | empty Projects. | 1737 |
| WINDY | Foolish. A windy fellow; a simple fellow. | 1811 |
| WINDY-FELLOW | without Sense or Reason. | 1737 |
| WISE | As wise as Walthams calf, that ran nine miles to suck a bull. | 1811 |
| WISE MAN OF GOTHAM | a Fool. | 1737 |
| WISE MEN OF GOTHAM | Gotham is a village in Nottinghamshire; its magistrates are said to have attempted to hedge in a cuckow; a bush, called the cuckows bush, is still shewn in support of the tradition. A thousand other ridiculous stories are told of the men of Gotham. | 1811 |
| WISEACRE | A foolish conceited fellow. | 1811 |
| WOOLLEY CROWN | A soft-headed fellow. | 1811 |
| WOOLLY-CROWN | a soft-headed Fellow. | 1737 |
| YANKEY, or YANKEY DOODLE | A booby, or country lout: a name given to the New England men in North America. A general appellation for an American. | 1811 |
| YEA AND NAY MAN | A quaker, a simple fellow, one who can only answer yes, or no. | 1811 |
| YEA-AND-NAY-MEN | a Phrase originally applied to Quakers; but now used for any simple Fellows. | 1737 |
| Men : Fat and Thin |
|---|
| BACON FED | Fat, greasy. | 1811 |
| FALLEN AWAY FROM A HORSE LOAD TO A CART LOAD | A saying on one grown fat. | 1811 |
| GUNDIGUTS | a fat, pursy Fellow. | 1737 |
| GUNDIGUTS | A fat, pursy fellow. | 1811 |
| GUTS | a very fat, gross Person. | 1737 |
| JACK WEIGHT | A fat man. | 1811 |
| LANTERN-JAWD | a very lean, thin-faced Fellow. | 1737 |
| LANTHORN-JAWED | Thin-visaged: from their cheeksbeing almost transparent. Or else, lenten jawed; i.e. having the jaws of one emaciated by a too rigid observation of Lent. Dark lanthorn; a servant or agent at court, who receives a bribe for his principal or master. | 1811 |
| LOCKRAM JAWD | thin, lean, sharp-visagd | 1737 |
| PUFF GUTS | A fat man. | 1811 |
| SCRAGGY | Lean, bony. | 1811 |
| SHOTTEN HERRING | A thin meagre fellow. | 1811 |
| SPOONEY | (WHIP) Thin, haggard, like the shank of a spoon; also delicate, craving for something, longing for sweets. Avaricious. That tit is damned spooney. Shes a spooney piece of goods. Hes a spooney old fellow. | 1811 |
| SQUAB | a very fat, truss Person; a new-hatchd Chick; also a Couch. | 1737 |
| SQUAB | A fat man or woman: from their likeness to a well-stuffed couch, called also a squab. A new-hatched chicken. | 1811 |
| Men : Fighters, Bullies and Cowards |
|---|
| BATTERED BULLY | an old well cudgelled and bruised huffing fellow. | 1737 |
| BLUSTRING Fellow | a rude ratling Hector. | 1737 |
| BOUNCER | a Bully. | 1737 |
| BULLY | a supposed Husband to a Bawd, or Whore; also a huffing Fellow, a pretended Bravo, but a Coward at the Bottom. | 1737 |
| CAPTAIN-HACKUM | a fighting, blustering Bully. | 1737 |
| DAMME BOY | A roaring, mad, blustering fellow, a scourer of the streets, or kicker up of a breeze. | 1811 |
| DAMME-BOY | a roaring, mad, blustring Fellow, a Scourer of the Streets. | 1737 |
| FLASH MAN | A bully to a bawdy house. A whores bully. | 1811 |
| FLASH-MAN | a favourite or fancy-man; but this term is generally applied to those dissolute characters upon the town, who subsist upon the liberality of unfortunate women; and who, in return, are generally at hand during their nocturnal perambulations, to protect them should any brawl occur, or should they be detected in robbing those whom they have picked up. | 1819 |
| HACKUM | a fighting Fellow. | 1737 |
| HACKUM | Captain Hackum; a bravo, a slasher. | 1811 |
| HECTOR | a vapouring, swaggering Coward. | 1737 |
| HECTOR | bully, a swaggering coward. To hector; to bully, probably from such persons affecting the valour of Hector, the Trojan hero. | 1811 |
| HUFF | a Bullying Fellow | 1737 |
| KNIGHT OF THE BLADE | a Hector or Bully. | 1737 |
| KNIGHT OF THE BLADE | A bully. | 1811 |
| RANTIPOLE | a rude wild Boy or Girl. | 1737 |
| RANTIPOLE | A rude romping boy or girl; also a gadabout dissipated woman. To ride rantipole; the same as riding St. George. See ST. GEORGE. | 1811 |
| Men : Hard and Soft |
|---|
| COCK ROBIN | A soft, easy fellow. | 1811 |
| COCK-ROBBIN | a soft easy Fellow. | 1737 |
| CORK-BRAIND | a very impudent, hardend, brazen-faced Fellow. | 1737 |
| CORK-BRAINED | Light-headed, foolish. | 1811 |
| COURT CARD | A gay fluttering coxcomb. | 1811 |
| COURT-CARD | a gay, fluttering Fellow | 1737 |
| SKIN FLINT | An avaricious man or woman, | 1811 |
| SKIN-FLINT | a griping, sharping, close-fisted Fellow. | 1737 |
| TURK | any cruel hard-hearted Man. | 1737 |
| TURK | A cruel, hard-hearted man. Turkish treatment; barbarous usage. Turkish shore; Lambeth, Southwark, and Rotherhithe side of the Thames. | 1811 |
| Men : Husbands and Wives |
|---|
| FREEHOLDER | he whose Wife goes with him to the Alehouse. | 1737 |
| FREEHOLDER | He whose wife accompanies him to the alehouse. | 1811 |
| HEN-PECKT-FRIGOT | whose Commander and Officers are absolutely swayed by their Wives. | 1737 |
| HENPECT-HUSBAND | whose Wife wears the Breeches. | 1737 |
| Men : Important |
|---|
| NIB | a gentleman, or person of the higher order. People who affect gentility or consequence, without any real pretensions thereto, are from hence vulgarly called Half-nibs or Half-swells; and, indeed, persons of low minds, who conceive money to be the only criterion of gentility, are too apt to stigmatize with the before-mentioned epithets any man, who, however well-bred and educated, may be reduced to a shabby external, but still preserves a sense of decorum in his manners, and avoids associating with the vagabonds among whom he may unfortunately be doomed to exist. | 1819 |
| NOB | A king. A man of rank. | 1811 |
| SWELL | A gentleman. A well-dressed map. The flashman bounced the swell of all his blunt; the girls bully frightened the gentleman out of all his money. | 1811 |
| SWELL | a gentleman ; but any well-dressed person is emphatically termed a swell, or a rank swell. A family man who appears to have plenty of money, and makes a genteel figure, is said by his associates to be in swell street. Any thing remarkable for its beauty or elegance, is called a swell article; so a swell crib, is a genteel house; a swell mollisher, an elegantly-dressed woman, &c. Sometimes, in alluding to a particular gentleman, whose name is not requisite, he is styled, the swell, meaning the person who is the object of your discourse, or attention; and whether be is called the swell, the cove, or the gory, is immaterial, as in the following (in addition to many other) examples: I was turned up at China-street, because the swell would not appear; meaning, of course, the prosecutor : again, speaking of a person whom you were on the point of robbing, but who has taken the alarm, and is therefore on his guard, you will say to your pall, It's of no use, the cove is as down as a hammer ; or, We may as well stow it, the gory's leary. See Cove and Down. | 1819 |
| Men : Insult/Negative Description |
|---|
| BOLTER OF WHITE FRYARS | one that peeps out, but dares not venture abroad. | 1737 |
| BOUNCE | as a meer Bounce, a swaggering Fellow. | 1737 |
| BY-BLOW | a Bastard. | 1737 |
| BYE BLOW | A bastard. | 1811 |
| CARRY THE KEG | a man who is easily vexed or put out of humour by any joke passed upon him, and cannot conceal his chagrin, is said to carry the keg, or is compared to a walking distiller. | 1819 |
| CRUSTY BEAU | One that uses paint and cosmetics, to obtain a fine complexion. | 1811 |
| CRUSTY-BEAU | one that lies with a Cover over his Face all Night, and uses Washes, Paint, etc. | 1737 |
| DUNGHILL | A coward: a cockpit phrase, all but gamecocks being styled dunghills. To die dunghill; to repent, or shew any signs of contrition at the gallows. Moving dunghill; a dirty, filthy man or woman. Dung, an abbreviation of dunghill, also means a journeyman taylor who submits to the law for regulating journeymen taylors wages, therefore deemed by the flints a coward. See FLINTS. | 1811 |
| HE CRIMPS IT | He plays booty. A crimping Fellow, a sneaking Cur. | 1737 |
| HOG GRUBBER | A mean stingy fellow. | 1811 |
| HOG-GRUBBER | a close-fisted, narrow sould sneaking Fellow. | 1737 |
| JACKANAPES | An ape; a pert, ugly, little fellow. | 1811 |
| JEW | any over-reaching Dealer, or hard sharp Fellow. He treated me like a Jew; He used me very barbarously. | 1737 |
| LOLLPOOP | A lazy, idle drone. | 1811 |
| LOLPOOP | a lazy, idle Drone. | 1737 |
| LOVE BEGOTTEN CHILD | A bastard. | 1811 |
| MERRY-BEGOTTEN | A bastard. | 1811 |
| MOUTH | a noisy Fellow. Mouth half cockt, gaping and staring at every Thing they see. | 1737 |
| MOUTH | A noisy fellow. Mouth half cocked; one gaping and staring at every thing he sees. To make any one laugh on the wrong, or tother side of his mouth; to make him cry or grieve. | 1811 |
| NEEDY-MIZZLER | a poor ragged object of either sex ; a shabby-looking person. | 1819 |
| NIFFYNAFFY FELLOW | A trifler. | 1811 |
| PRINCOCK | a pert, forward Fellow. | 1737 |
| SCALY | Mean. Sordid. How scaly the cove is; how mean the fellow is. | 1811 |
| SCOT | a person of an irritable temper, who is easily put in a passion, which is often done by the company he is with, to create fun; such a one is declared to be a fine scot. This diversion is called getting him out, or getting him round the corner, from these terms being used by bull-hankers, with whom also a scot is a bullock of a particular breed, which affords superior diversion when hunted. | 1819 |
| SCOTTISH | fiery, irritable, easily provoked. | 1819 |
| SLOUCH | A stooping gait, a negligent slovenly fellow. To slouch; to hang down ones head. A slouched hat: a hat whose brims are let down. | 1811 |
| SLUBBER DE GULLION | A dirty nasty fellow. | 1811 |
| SLUBBER-DEGULLION | a slovenly, dirty, nasty Fellow. | 1737 |
| SLUG-A-BED | A drone, one that cannot rise in the morning. | 1811 |
| SNEAKSBY | A mean-spirited fellow, a sneaking cur. | 1811 |
| SNOWBALL | A jeering appellation for a negro. | 1811 |
| SORRY | Vile, mean, worthless. A sorry fellow, or hussy; a worthless man or woman. | 1811 |
| SPUNGING FELLOW | one that lives upon the rest, and pays nothing. | 1737 |
| STALL WHIMPER | A bastard. CANT. | 1811 |
| STALL-WHIMPER | a Bastard. | 1737 |
| STARCHED | Stiff, prim, formal, affected. | 1811 |
| STINGRUM | A niggard. | 1811 |
| TENDER PARNELL | A tender creature, fearful of the least puff of wind or drop of rain. As tender as Parnell, who broke her finger in a posset drink. | 1811 |
| TENDER-PARNEL | a very nicely educated Creature, apt to catch cold on the least Puff of Wind. | 1737 |
| TITTER TATTER | One reeling, and ready to fall at the least touch; also the childish amusement of riding upon the two ends of a plank, poised upon the prop underneath its centre, called also see-saw. Perhaps tatter is a rustic pronunciation of totter. | 1811 |
| TITTER-TOTTER | one ready to reel, at every Jog, or Blast of Wind. | 1737 |
| TOM LONG | A tiresome story teller. It is coming by Tom Long, the carrier; said of any thing that has been long expected. | 1811 |
| TOM-LONG | tedious; as Come by Tom Long the Carrier; of what is very long a coming. | 1737 |
| UNLICKED CUB | A rude uncouth young fellow. | 1811 |
| VAIN-GLORIOUS | or Ostentatious Man, one that boasts without Reason, or, as the Canters say, pisses more than he drinks. | 1737 |
| WALKING-DISTILLER | See Carry The Keg. | 1819 |
| WHISK | a little inconsiderable, impertinent Fellow. | 1737 |
| WINTERS DAY | He is like a winters day, short and dirty. | 1811 |
| ZLOUCH | or Slouch; a slovenly ungenteel Man. | 1737 |
| Men : Lovers and Lechers |
|---|
| BUCK FITCH | A lecherous old fellow. | 1811 |
| BUCK-FITCHES | old leacherous Fellows. | 1737 |
| COLTS TOOTH | An old fellow who marries or keeps a young girl, is said to have a colts tooth in his head. | 1811 |
| DARK CULLY | a married Man, who keeps a Mistress, and creeps to her in the Night, for fear of Discovery. | 1737 |
| DARK CULLY | A married man that keeps a mistress, whom he visits only at night, for fear of discovery. | 1811 |
| DUDDERING RAKE | a thundering Rake, or of the first Rank, one devilishly lewd. | 1737 |
| DUDDERING RAKE | A thundering rake, a buck of the first head, one extremely lewd. | 1811 |
| GOAT | a Letcher, or very lascivious Person. | 1737 |
| GOAT | A lascivious person. Goats jigg; making the beast with two backs, copulation. | 1811 |
| HELL-BORN BABE | A lewd graceless youth, one naturally of a wicked disposition. | 1811 |
| HELL-BORN-BABE | a lewd, graceless, notorious Youth. | 1737 |
| HELL-HOUND | a profligate, lewd Fellow. | 1737 |
| HORN MAD | stark staring mad because Cuckolded. | 1737 |
| HORN MAD | A person extremely jealous of his wife, is said to be horn mad. Also a cuckold, who does not cut or breed his horns easily. | 1811 |
| MAN OF THE TOWN | A rake, a debauchee. | 1811 |
| MAN OTH TOWN | a lewd Spark, or very Debauchee. | 1737 |
| MUTTON MONGER | a Lover of Women; also a Sheep-stealer. | 1737 |
| MUTTON MONGER | A man addicted to wenching. | 1811 |
| PENSIONER | a mean-spirited fellow who lives with a woman of the town, and suffers her to maintain him in idleness in the character of her fancy-man. | 1819 |
| PETTICOAT PENSIONER | a Gallant maintained for secret Service. | 1737 |
| PETTICOAT PENSIONER | One kept by a woman forsecret services. | 1811 |
| RAKE | Rake-hell, Rake shame; a lewd Spark or Debauchee. | 1737 |
| RAKE, RAKEHELL, or RAKESHAME | A lewd, debauched fellow. | 1811 |
| SATYR | A libidinous fellow: those imaginary things are by poets reported to be extremely salacious. | 1811 |
| SON OF VENUS | a Lover of Women. | 1737 |
| TOP Diver | a Lover of Women. | 1737 |
| TOP DIVER | A lover of women. An old top diver; one who has loved old hat in his time. | 1811 |
| TOWN-BULL | one that rides all the Women he meets. | 1737 |
| Men : Men in General |
|---|
| COFE | as COVE. Which See. | 1737 |
| COVE | a Man, a Fellow; also a Rogue. The Cove was Bit; The Rogue was out-sharped or out-witted. The Cove has bit the Cole; The Rogue has stollen the Money. That Coves a rum Diver; That Fellow is a clever Pick-pocket. | 1737 |
| COVE | A man, a fellow, a rogue. The cove was bit; the rogue was outwitted. The cove has bit the cole; the rogue has got the money. CANT. | 1811 |
| COVE | the master of a house or shop, is called the Cove; on other occasions, when joined to particular words, as a cross-cove, a flask-cove, a leary-cove, &c., it simply implies a man of those several descriptions; sometimes, in speaking of any third person, whose name you are either ignorant of, or don't wish'to mention, the word cove is adopted by way of emphasis, as may be seen under the word Awake. | 1819 |
| CUFFIN | a Man. | 1737 |
| CUFFIN | A man. | 1811 |
| CULL | a Man, either honest, or otherwise. A Bob-Cull, a Sweet-humourd Man to a Wench. The Cull naps us; The Person robbd apprehends us. A curst Cull, an ill-naturd Fellow, a Churl to a Woman. | 1737 |
| CULL | A man, honest or otherwise. A bob cull; a good- natured, quiet fellow. CANT. | 1811 |
| GILL | a word used by way of variation, similar to cove, gloak, or gory; but generally coupled to some other descriptive term, as a flash-gill, a toby-gill, &c. | 1819 |
| GLOAK | synonymous with Gill, which see. | 1819 |
| GORY | a term synonymous with cow, gill, or gloak, and like them, commonly used in the descriptive. See Flat and Swell. | 1819 |
| Men : Old, Young and Novice |
|---|
| COLT-BOWLER | a raw or unexperienced Person | 1737 |
| GREEN HEAD | a very raw Novice, or unexperienced Fellow. | 1737 |
| OLD TOAST | a brisk old Fellow. | 1737 |
| OLD TOAST | A brisk old fellow. CANT. | 1811 |
| RUSTY GUTS | A blunt surly fellow: a jocular misnomer of RESTICUS. | 1811 |
| RUSTYGUTS | an old blunt Fellow. | 1737 |
| SQUARE TOES | An old man: square toed shoes were anciently worn in common, and long retained by old men. | 1811 |
| WHIPPER-SNAPPER | a very small sprightly Boy. | 1737 |
| Men : Physical Descriptions |
|---|
| BAG OF NAILS | He squints like a bag of nails; i. e. his eyes are directed as many ways as the points of a bag of nails. The old BAG OF NAILS at Pimlico; originally the BACCHANALS. | 1811 |
| BLUFF | (to look) To look big or like Bull-beef. | 1737 |
| BLUFF | Fierce, surly. He looked as bluff as bull beef. | 1811 |
| CARROTTY-PATED | Ginger-hackled, red-haired. See GINGER-HACKLED. | 1811 |
| CLUMP | A lump. Clumpish; lumpish, stupid. | 1811 |
| CLUMPISH | Lumpish. | 1737 |
| GROPERS | blind Men. | 1737 |
| LORD | a very crooked deformed, or ill-shapen Person. | 1737 |
| LORD | A crooked or hump-backed man. These unhappy people afford great scope for vulgar raillery; such as, Did you come straight from home? if so, you have got confoundedly bent by the way. Dont abuse the gemman, adds a by-stander, he has been grossly insulted already; dont you see his backs up? Or someone asks him if the show is behind; because I see, adds he, you have the drum at your back. Another piece of vulgar wit is let loose on a deformed person: If met by a party of soldiers on their march, one o | 1811 |
| PRICKEARD Fellow | a Crop whose Ears are longer than his Hair. | 1737 |
| ROSY GILLS | One with a sanguine or fresh-coloured countenance. | 1811 |
| ROSY-GILLS | sanguine or fresh colourd | 1737 |
| SHAMBLE-LEGGD | one that goes wide, and shuffles his Feet about. Shake your Shambles; Haste, be gone. | 1737 |
| SPARROW-MOUTHED | Wide-mouthed, like the mouth of a sparrow: it is said of such persons, that they do not hold their mouths by lease, but have it from year to year; i.e. from ear to ear. One whose mouth cannot be enlarged without removing their ears, and who when they yawn have their heads half off. | 1811 |
| SPIDER-SHANKED | Thin-legged. | 1811 |
| SPINDLE SHANKS | Slender legs. | 1811 |
| SPIT | He is as like his father as if he was spit out of his mouth; said of a child much resembling his father. | 1811 |
| SQUINT-A-PIPES | A squinting man or woman; said to be born in the middle of the week, and looking both ways for Sunday; or born in a hackney coach, and looking out of both windows; fit for a cook, one eye in the pot, and the other up the chimney; looking nine ways at once. | 1811 |
| SQUINTE-FUEGO | one that squints very much. | 1737 |
| SWIVEL-EYED | Squinting. | 1811 |
| TO LOOK LIKE BULL BEEF | to look big and grim. | 1737 |
| ZAD | crooked, like the letter Z; as, A meer Zad, used of any bandy-leggd, crouch-backd or deformed Person. | 1737 |
| ZAD | Crooked like the letter Z. He is a mere zad, or perhaps zed; a description of a very crooked or deformed person. | 1811 |
| Men : Poor and Ragged |
|---|
| BUSHY-PARK | a man who is poor is said to be at Bushy park, or in the park. | 1819 |
| CAPTAIN QUEERNABS | A shabby ill-dressed fellow. | 1811 |
| CAPTAIN-QUEERNABS | a Fellow in poor Cloaths, or Shabby. | 1737 |
| HEATHEN PHILOSOPHER | a sorry poor tattered Fellow, whose Breech may be seen through his Pocket-holes. | 1737 |
| HEATHEN PHILOSOPHER | One whose breech may be seen through his pocket-hole: this saying arose from the old philosophers, many of whom depised the vanity of dress to such a point, as often to fall into the opposite extreme. | 1811 |
| LANSPRESADO | He that comes into Company with but Two-pence in his Pocket. | 1737 |
| LANSPRISADO | One who has only two-pence in his pocket. Also a lance, or deputy corporal; that is, one doing the duty without the pay of a corporal. Formerly a lancier, or horseman, who being dismounted by the death of his horse, served in the foot, by the title of lansprisado, or lancepesato, a broken lance. | 1811 |
| OUT AT HEELS, OR OUT AT ELBOWS | In declining circumstances. | 1811 |
| OUT-AT-HEELS | or elbows; in a declining Condition going down the Wind. | 1737 |
| PARK | See Bushy-park. | 1819 |
| PICKAROON | a very shabby poor Fellow. | 1737 |
| QUEERE-DUKE | a poor decayed Gentleman, also a lean, thin, half-starved Fellow. | 1737 |
| RAG-GORGY | a rich or monied man, but generally used in conversation when a particular gentleman, or person high in office, is hinted at; instead of mentioning his name, they say, the Rag-gorgy, knowing themselves to be understood by those they are addressing. See Cove, and Swell. | 1819 |
| RAGAMUFFIN | a Taterdemallion. | 1737 |
| RAGAMUFFIN | A ragged fellow, one all in tatters, atatterdemallion. | 1811 |
| SCRUB | a Ragamuffin. | 1737 |
| SCRUB | A low mean fellow, employed in all sorts of dirty work. | 1811 |
| SHABBAROON | An ill-dressed shabby fellow; also a mean- spirited person. | 1811 |
| SHABBEROON | a Ragamuffin. | 1737 |
| SHAG-BAG | a poor shabby Fellow. | 1737 |
| SHAG-BAG, or SHAKE-BAG | A poor sneaking fellow; a man of no spirit: a term borrowed from the cock-pit. | 1811 |
| WILLOW | poor, and of no Reputation. | 1737 |
| WILLOW | Poor, and of no reputation. To wear the willow; to be abandoned by a lover or mistress. | 1811 |
| Men : Praise/Positive Description |
|---|
| BANG UP | (WHIP.) Quite the thing, hellish fine. Well done. Compleat. Dashing. In a handsome stile. A bang up cove; a dashing fellow who spends his money freely. To bang up prime: to bring your horses up in a dashing or fine style: as the swells rattler and prads are bang up prime; the gentleman sports an elegant carriage and fine horses. | 1811 |
| BANG-UP | A person, whose dress or equipage is in the first style of perfection, is declared to be bang up to the mark. A man who has behaved with extraordinary spirit and resolution in any enterprise he has been engaged in, is also said to have come bang up to the mark; any article which is remarkably good or elegant, or any fashion, act, or measure which is carried to the highest pitch, is likewise illustrated by the same emphatical phrase. | 1819 |
| BENE COVE | A good fellow. Cant. | 1811 |
| BENE-COVE | a good Fellow, a merry companion. | 1737 |
| BLEEDING CULLY | One who parts easily with his money, or bleeds freely. | 1811 |
| BLEEDING-CULLY | an easy Fellow, this is profuse with his Money, or persuaded to support all the Exravaganies of his Companion or Mistress, at his own Expence. | 1737 |
| BOUNCE | a person well or fashionably drest, is said to be a rank bounce. | 1819 |
| BUCK | as a Bold Buck. | 1737 |
| BUCK | A blind horse; also a gay debauchee. | 1811 |
| DEFT FELLOW | a tidy, neat, little Man | 1737 |
| DEFT FELLOW | A neat little man. | 1811 |
| DIMBER-COVE | a pretty Fellow. | 1737 |
| GENTRY COVE | A gentleman. CANT. | 1811 |
| GENTRY-COVE | a Gentleman. | 1737 |
| KNAVE IN GRAIN | one of the First Rate. | 1737 |
| KNAVE IN GRAIN | A knave of the first rate: a phrase borrowed from the dyehouse, where certain colours are said to be in grain, to denote their superiority, as being dyed with cochineal, called grain. Knave in grain is likewise a pun applied to a cornfactor or miller. | 1811 |
| OUT-AND-OUTER | a person of a resolute determined spirit, who pursues his object without regard to danger or difficulties; also an incorrigible depredator, who will rob friend or stranger indiscriminately, being possessed of neither honour nor principle. | 1819 |
| RUM DUKE | A jolly handsome fellow; also an odd eccentric fellow; likewise the boldest and stoutest fellows lately among the Alsatians, Minters, Savoyards, and other inhabitants of privileged districts, sent to remove and guard the goods of such bankrupts as intended to take sanctuary in those places. CANT. | 1811 |
| RUM-DUKE | a jolly handsome Man, Rum-Dukes, the boldest or stoutest Fellows (lately) amongst the Alsatians, Minters, Sawyards, etc. sent for to remove and guard the Goods of such Bankrupts as intended to take Sanctuary in those Places. | 1737 |
| SIR TIMOTHY | one that treats every Body, and pays the Reckonings every where. | 1737 |
| SIR TIMOTHY | One who, from a desire of being the head of the company, pays the reckoning, or, as the term is, stands squire. See SQUIRE. | 1811 |
| SQUARE | Honest, not roguish. A square cove, i.e. a man who does not steal, or get his living by dishonest means. | 1811 |
| SQUARE | all fair, upright, and honest practices, are called the square, in opposition to the cross. Any thing you have bought, or acquired honestly, is termed a square article; and any transaction which is fairly and equitably conducted, is said to be a square concern. A tradesman or other person who is considered by the world to be an honest man, and who is unacquainted with family people, and their system of operations, is by the latter emphatically styled a square cove, whereas an old thief who has acquired an independence, and now confines himself to square practices, is still called by his old palls a flash cove, who has tyed up prigging. See Cross and Flat. In making a bargain or contract, any overture considered to be really fair and reasonable, is declared to be a square thing, or to be upon the square. To be upon the square with any person, is to have mutually settled all accompts between you both up to that moment. To threaten another that you will be upon the square with him some time, signifies that you'll be even with him for some supposed injury, &c. | 1819 |
| SQUARE-COVE | See Square. | 1819 |
| STAUNCH | a resolute faithful associate, in whom one may place implicit confidence, is said by his palls to be a staunch cove. | 1819 |
| TERCEL GENTLE | a Knight or Gentleman of a good Estate; also any rich Man. | 1737 |
| TOPPING FELLOW | One at the top or head of his profession. | 1811 |
| TOPPING-FELLOW | who has reachd the Pitch and greatest Eminence in any Art; the Master, and the Cock of his Profession. | 1737 |
| UPON THE SQUARE | See Square. | 1819 |
| Men : Related Terms |
|---|
| CHUM | A chamber-fellow, particularly at the universities and in prison. | 1811 |
| CHUM | a fellow prisoner in a jail, hulk, &c.; so there are new chums and old chums, as they happen to have been a short or a long time in confinement. | 1819 |
| CREATURES | Men raised by others, and their Tools ever after. | 1737 |
| FLASH | a person who affects any peculiar habit, as swearing, dressing in a particular manner, taking snuff, &c., merely to be taken notice of, is said to do it out of flash. | 1819 |
| FOREMAN OF THE JURY | One who engrosses all the talk to himself, or speaks for the rest of the company. | 1811 |
| FORMAN OF THE JURY | one that engrosses all the Talk to himself. | 1737 |
| GLASS EYES | A nick name for one wearing spectacles. | 1811 |
| HALF-FLASH AND HALF-FOOLISH | this character is applied sarcastically to a person, who has a smattering of the cant language, and having associated a little with family people, pretends to a knowledge of life which he really does not possess, and by this conduct becomes an object of ridicule among his acquaintance. | 1819 |
| HOBBY | as Sir Posthumus Hobby, one that draws on his Breeches with a Shoeing-horn; a Fellow that is nice and whimsical in the Set of his Cloaths | 1737 |
| HOBBY | Sir Posthumouss hobby; one nice or whimsical in his clothes. | 1811 |
| TOOL | an Implement fit for any Turn, the Creature of any Cause or Faction; a meer Property, or Cats Foot. | 1737 |
| TURN-COAT | he that quits one and embraces another Party. | 1737 |
| TURNCOAT | One who has changed his party from interested motives. | 1811 |
