Chapter M (10)

RIGOUILLARD, _m._ (printers’), _funny, amusing fellow_.

RIGRI, _m._ (popular), _over-particular man_; _stingy man_, “hunks.”

RIGUINGUETTE, _f._ (popular), _cigarette_. Griller une ----, _to smoke a cigarette_.

RINCE-CROCHETS, _m._ (military), _extra ration of coffee_.

RINCÉE, _f._ (popular), _thrashing_, “walloping.” See VOIE.

RINCER (popular), _to thrash_; _to worst one at a game_; ---- la poche, _to ease one of his money_.

Dans les cours il y en a qui achèvent de se griser, de
bons jeunes gens qu’elles lâchent après avoir rincé leurs
poches.--=P. MAHALIN.=

Se ---- l’œil, _to look on with pleasure_. Se ---- l’avaloir, le bec, le bocal, la gargoine, la corne, la cornemuse, le cornet, la dalle, la dalle du cou, la dent, le fusil, le goulot, le gaviot, le sifflet, le tube, la trente-deuxième, la gargarousse, _to drink_. The synonyms to describe the act in various kinds of slang are: “se passer un glacis, s’arroser le jabot, s’affûter le sifflet, se gargariser le rossignolet, se laver le gésier, sabler, sucer, licher, se rafraîchir les barres, se suiver, pitancher, picter, siffler le guindal, graisser les roues, pier, fioler, écoper, enfler, se calfater le bec, se blinder, s’humecter l’amygdale or le pavillon, siffler, flûter, renifler, pomper, siroter, biturer, étouffer, asphyxier, se rafraîchir les barbes, s’arroser le lampas, se pousser dans le battant, pictonner, soiffer;” and in the English slang: “to wet one’s whistle, to have a gargle, a quencher, a drain, something damp, to moisten one’s chaffer, to sluice one’s gob, to swig, to guzzle, to tiff, to lush, to liquor up.” The Americans to describe the act use the terms, “to see a man, to smile.” Se faire rincer, _to lose all one’s money at a game_, _to_ “blew” _it_. Se faire ---- la dalle, _to get oneself treated to drink_. Rincer la dent, _to treat one to drink_.

C’est nous qu’est les ch’valiers d’la loupe.
. . . . . . . . .
Les galup’s qu’a des ducatons
Nous rinc’nt la dent. Nous les battons
Qu’ les murs leur en rend’nt des torgnioles.
L’soir nous sommes soûls comm’ des hann’tons
Du cabochard aux trottignolles.

=RICHEPIN.=

RINCETTE, _f._ (familiar), _brandy taken after coffee_.

RINCEUR DE CAMBRIOLE, _m._ (thieves’), _housebreaker_, or “buster.”

Le voleur à la tire, le rinceur de cambriole, ceux qui
font la grande soulasse sur les trimards, mènent une vie
charmante en comparaison.--=TH. GAUTIER.=

RINCLEUX, _m._ (popular), _miserly man_, “hunks.”

RINGUER (sporting), _to be a bookmaker_. From the English word ring, used by French bookmakers to denote their place of meeting.

RINGUEUR, _m._ (sporting), _bookmaker_.

RIOLE, or RIOLLE, _f._ (popular and thieves’), _river_; _brook_; (popular) _joy_; _amusement_. Etre en ----, _to be out_ “on the spree.”

Ouvriers en riolle, soldats en bordées, bourgeois en
goguette et journalistes en cours d’observations.
--=P. MAHALIN.=

Etre un brin en ----, _to be slightly tipsy_, “elevated”

Les braves gens semblaient être un brin en riole;
Mais l’ouvrier est bon même quand il rigole.

=GILL.=

(Thieves’) Aquiger ----, _to find amusement_.

RIPA, or RIPEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _river-thief_.

RIPATON, or RIPATIN, _m._ (popular), _foot_, “crab, dew-beater, or everlasting shoe.” Also _shoe_.

La pittoresque échoppe du savetier ... où l’on voit,
pêle-mêle entassés, le lourd ripaton du prolétaire, le
rigadin éculé du voyou, la bottine claquée de la petite
rentière.--=RICHEPIN=, _Le Pavé_.

The synonyms are: “croqueneaux, bateaux, péniches, trottinets, trottins, cocos, pompes, bateaux-mouches, rigadins, escafignons, tartines, bichons, paffes, passants, paffiers, passes, bobelins, flacons, sorlots, passifs;” and in the English slang: “trotter-cases, hock-dockies, grabbers, daisy-roots, crab-shells, bowles.” Jouer des ripatons, _to run_. See PATATROT.

RIPATONNER (popular), _to patch up old shoes_.

RIPER (popular), _to have connection_.

RIPEUR, _m._ (popular), _libertine_, “rip.”

RIPIOULEMENT, _m._ (thieves’), _bedroom_, “dossing-crib.”

RIPIOULER (thieves’), _to sleep_, “to doss.”

RIPOPÉE, or RIPOPETTE, _f._ (popular), _worthless article_; _mixture of wine left in glasses, or which flows on the counter of a wine-retailer_.

Dans la chambre de nos abbés,
L’on y boit, l’on y boit,
Du bon vin bien cacheté.
Mais nous autres,
Pauvres apôtres,
Pauvres moines, tripaillons de moines,
Ne buvons que d’la ripopée!

_Song._

RIQUIQUI, _m._ (popular), _brandy of inferior quality_, see TORD-BOYAUX; _thing badly done, or of inferior quality_. Avoir l’air ----, _is said of a woman attired in ridiculous style, who looks like a_ “guy.”

RIRE (popular), comme une baleine, _to open, when laughing, a mouth like a whale’s_; ---- comme un cul, _to laugh with lips closed and cheeks puffed out_; ---- comme une tourte, _to laugh like a fool_. Entendre ---- de l’argenterie, _to ring a bell_. Faire ---- les carafes, _to say such absurd things as to make the most sedate persons laugh_. (Theatrical) Rire du ventre, _to shake one’s sides as if in the act of laughing_.

RISQUER UN VERJUS (popular), _to discuss a glass of wine or brandy at the bar of a wine-shop_.

RIVANCHER (thieves’), _to make a sacrifice to Venus_.

Et mezig parmi le grenu
Ayant rivanché la frâline,
Dit: Volants, vous goualez chenu.

=RICHEPIN.=

Termed formerly “river.”

Dans Paris la bonne ville
L’empereur est arrivé;
Il y a eu mainte fille
Qui a eu le cul rivé.

_Recueil de Farces, Moralités et Sermons joyeux_, 1837.

RIVE GAUCHE, _f._, (students’), _a part of Paris, on the left bank of the Seine_, wherein are situated the University higher colleges and schools, such as l’Ecole de Médecine, l’Ecole de Droit, la Sorbonne, le Collège de France, &c.

J’en viens de ce coin de Paris qu’on a appelé jadis le pays
latin puis le quartier latin et ensuite le quartier des
écoles et qui aujourd’hui s’intitule simplement la rive
gauche.--=DIDIER=, _Echo de Paris_, 1886.

RIVER. See PIEU, RIVANCHER.

RIVETTE, _f._ (popular and thieves’), _prostitute_, or “punk.” See GADOUE. Also _name given by Sodomites to wretches whom they plunder under threats of disclosures_.

La rivette se récrie; le faux agent persiste, s’emporte,
jure ... il finit par obtenir une somme d’argent.
--=LÉO TAXIL.=

RIZ-PAIN-SEL, _m._ (military), _anyone connected with the commissariat_, a “mucker.”

Les deux hommes tenaient conseil. T’as entendu ce qu’a dit
le colonel?--C’est pas un colonel, c’est un riz-pain-sel.
Ça y fait rien.... Faut en finir avec nos deux
particuliers. Nous allons leur brûler la gueule d’un coup
de flingot.--=BONNETAIN=, _L’Opium_.

ROBAUX, or ROVEAUX, _m. pl._ (old cant), _gendarmes_. Attrimer les ----, _to run away from gendarmes, to show them sport_. The term seems a corruption of royaux.

ROBER (thieves’), _to steal_; _to steal a man’s clothes_. This is the old form of dérober, which formerly signified _to disrobe_, and nowadays _to purloin_. Provençal raubar. Compare with the English _to rob_. See GRINCHIR.

ROBIGNOL, _adj._ (thieves’), _extremely amusing_; _extremely good_.

ROBINSON, or PÉPIN, _m._ (popular), _umbrella_, “mush.”

ROCHET, _m._ (thieves’), _bishop_; _priest_, or “devil-dodger.”

ROGNE, _adj. and f._ (familiar and popular), être ----, _to be in a rage_, “to be shirty.” Avoir des rognes avec un gas, _to have a quarrel_. Flanquer la ----, _to get one in a rage_. Properly rogne signifies _itch_, _mange_, and it stands to reason that anyone suffering from the ailment would naturally be in anything but a good humour.

Les hôtes de la posada, intimidés et méfiants, nous
prenant pour des bandits, “avaient la frousse” selon
l’expression pittoresque de L. M. qui, mourant de faim,
comme d’habitude, déclara furieux que cette réception lui
“flanquait la rogne,” surtout lorsqu’il vit la vieille
mégère, horrible compagnonne, faire signe à son mari
de charger le tromblon.--=HECTOR FRANCK=, _A Travers
l’Espagne_.

Avoir la ----, _to be out of temper_, or “riled.” A person is then said to have his “monkey up.” An allusion to the evil spirit which was supposed to be always present with a man, but more probably to the unenviable state of mind of a man who should have such a malevolent animal firmly established on his shoulders, comparable only to the maddening sensation expressed by “avoir un rat dans la trompe,” _i.e._, “to be riled,” _to be badgered_.

ROGNER (thieves’), _to guillotine_. Literally _to pare off_. (Popular) Rogner, _to be in a rage_.

L’infirmier se fout à rogner, naturellement.--Comment, qu’y
dit, vous osez dire ça.--=G. COURTELINE.=

ROGNEUR, _m._ (military), _fourrier, or non-commissioned officer employed in the victualling department_. Literally _one who gives short commons, paring off part of the provisions_.

ROGNON, _m._ (popular), un sale ----, _a lousy, or_ “chatty” _person_. Applied especially to a low woman. (Familiar) Rognon, _facetious term applied to a man with a big sword across his loins_. Literally un rognon brochette, _broiled kidney_.

La lame, sans fourreau, attachée dans le dos par une double
chaîne pouvant se croiser sur la poitrine... Il entre et
un spectateur l’assassine de ce mot: “Tiens, un rognon
brochette! “--=A. GERMAIN=, _Le Voltaire_.

ROGNURES, _f. pl._ (theatrical), _inferior actors_. See FER-BLANC.

ROGOMMIER, _m._ (popular), _a brandy-bibber_.

ROGOMMISTE, _m._ (popular), _retailer of brandy_.

ROI DE LA MER, _m._ (popular), _prostitute’s bully_, “ponce.” See POISSON.

ROMAGNOL, or ROMAGNON, _m._ (thieves’), _hidden treasure_.

ROMAIN, _m._ (familiar), _“claqueur,” or man paid to applaud at a theatre_. An allusion to the practice of certain Roman emperors who had a kind of choir of official applauders.

Les Romains de Paris n’ont rien de commun avec les
habitants de la ville aux sept collines.... Leur champ de
bataille, c’est le parterre du théâtre ... en un mot les
romains sont ces mêmes hommes que l’on nommait vulgairement
autrefois des claqueurs.--=BALZAC.=

ROMAINE, _f._ (popular), _scolding_. Also _a mixture of rum and orgeat_.

ROMAMITCHEL, ROMANITCHEL, or ROMANICHEL, _m._ (thieves’), _gipsy_. Romnichal in England, Spain, and Bohemia has the signification of _gipsy man_, and romne-chal, romaniche, is a _gipsy woman_. In England Romany is a gipsy, or the gipsy language--the speech of the Roma or Zincali Spanish gipsies, termed Gitanos. “Can you patter Romany?” _i.e._, _Can you talk_ “black,” _or gipsy_ “lingo.” See FILENDÈCHE.

ROMANCE. See CAMP.

ROME, _f._ (thieves’), aller, or passer à ----, _to be reprimanded_.

ROMILLY. See INSURGÉ.

ROMTURE, or ROUSTURE, _f._ (thieves’), _man under police supervision_.

RONCHONNER (popular), _to grumble_; _to mutter between one’s teeth_.

RONCHONNEUR, _m._, RONCHONNEUSE, _f._ (popular), _grumbler_.

Elle m’en veut donc toujours la vieille
ronchonneuse?--=ZOLA.=

ROND, _m. and adj._ (popular), _a sou_. Termed also “rotin.”

Deux ronds d’brich’ton dans l’estomac,
C’est pas ça qui m’pès’ sur les g’noux.

=RICHEPIN.=

Avoir le ----, _to have money_; _to be well off_, or “well ballasted.” Pousser son ----, _to ease oneself by evacuation_. Rond, _drunk_, or “tight;” ---- comme balle, comme une bourrique, or comme une boule, _completely tipsy_, or “sewed up.” See POMPETTE.

Au cidre! au cidre! il fait chaud.
Tant mieux si j’me soûle.
Au cidre! au cidre! il fait chaud.
J’sons plus rond qu’eun’ boule.
Du cidre il faut
Dans la goule.
Du cidre il faut
Dans l’goulot.

=RICHEPIN.=

(Familiar) Un ---- de cuir, _employé_; _clerk_, or “quill-driver.”

RONDACHE, _f._ (thieves’), _ring_, “fawney.”

RONDELETS, _m. pl._ (obsolete), _small breasts_.

Rondement (obsolete), chier ----, _not to hesitate, to act with resolution, without dilly-dallying_.

Pardienne, mamselle, vous l’avez déjà fait. A quoi bon tant
tortiller.... Il faut chier rondement, et ne pas faire les
choses en rechignant.--_Isabelle Double_, 1756.

RONDIER, _m._ (thieves’), _watchman, or overseer at the hulks_. From faire une ronde, _to go one’s rounds_.

RONDIN, _m._ (popular), _lump of excrement_, or “quaker;” (popular and thieves’) _five-franc coin_.

--Et combien qu’ça coûte, ste bête?

--Un rondin, deux balles et dix Jacques.

--N... de D...! Sept livres dix sous!--=VIDOCQ.=

Rondin jaune, _gold coin_, “yellow boy;” ---- jaune servi, _gold coin stolen and then stowed away_.

Ah! s’il voulait cromper ma sorbonne (sauver ma tête),
quelle viocque (vie) je ferais avec mon fade de carle (ma
part de fortune), et mes rondins jaunes servis (et l’or que
je viens de cacher).--=BALZAC=, _La Dernière Incarnation de
Vautrin_.

RONDINE, _f._ (thieves’), _ring_, or “fawney;” _walking-stick_; _ball_.

RONDINER (thieves’), _to cudgel one_; (popular) _to spend money_. From rond, _a sou_; ---- des yeux, _to stare_.

RONDINET, _m._ (thieves’), _ring_, “fawney.”

ROND-POINT-DES BERGÈRES, _m._ (roughs’), _the Halles, or Paris market_.

RONDQUÉ, _m._ (popular), _one sou_.

RONFLANT, _adj._ (thieves’), _well-dressed_. Is also said of one who has a well-filled purse.

RONFLE, _f._ (popular), jouer à la ----, _to sleep soundly and to snore_. (Thieves’) Ronfle, _prostitute_, or “punk;” _woman_, or “blowen;” ---- à grippart, _same meaning_.

RONFLER (popular), faire ---- Thomas, _to ease oneself_. (Thieves’) Une poche qui ronfle, _a well-filled pocket, one_ “chockful of pieces.”

A cette époque, quand un voleur avait fait un coup,
quand la poche ronflait, toute sa bande se rendait au
Lapin Blanc, boire, manger, faire la noce aux frais du
meg.--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._

Ronfler à cri, _to pretend to sleep_.

RONGE-PATTES, _m._ (popular), _child_, or “squeaker.”

RONGEUR, _m._ (familiar), or ver rongeur, _cab taken by the hour_. Paris cabs generally go at a snail’s pace, with consequent increase of fare.

ROQUILLE, _f._ (popular), _one-fourth of a setier, or eighth part of a litre_.

ROSBIF DE RAT D’ÉGOUT! _m._ (roughs’), _insulting epithet_. Might be rendered by “you skunk!”

Hé! dis donc, éclanche de bouledogue, rosbif de rat
d’égout, tu vas te faire taper sur la réjouissance.
--=A. SCHOLL=, _L’Esprit du Boulevard_.

ROSE DES VENTS, _f._ (popular), _breech_, “blind cheek” in the English slang.

ROSIÈRE DE SAINT-LAZE, _f._ (popular), for Saint-Lazare, _an inmate of the prison of Saint-Lazare_, which serves for prostitutes and unfaithful wives. Properly une “rosière,” or rose queen, is a virtuous, well-behaved maiden. At Nanterre and other country places a maid is proclaimed rosière at a yearly ceremony in which the authorities play their part, the famous pompiers of the not less famous song being one of the most important factors in the pageant.

ROSSAILLE, _f._ (horse-dealers’), _worthless horse_, “screw.”

ROSSARD, _m._ (familiar and popular), _man with no heart for work_, a “bummer.”

Trubl’ est un rossard,
Toujours en retard,
D’mandez à Massard...
Trubl’ est un flegmard
Qui se fait du lard!

=TRUBLOT=, _Le Cri du Peuple_.

ROSSE, _f._ (familiar and popular), _lazy fellow_. Etre ----, _to be cantankerous, ill-natured_.

Vanter la neig’, c’te bêt’ féroce!
Nous somm’s pas dans l’pays des ours!
C’est gentil, j’dis pas; mais c’est rosse;
Comm’ la femm’, ça fait patt’ de v’lours.

=JULES JOUY=, _La Neige_.

Une ----, _a peevish_, _stubborn_, _or lazy woman_.

ROSSIGNANTE, _f._ (old cant), _flute_.

ROSSIGNOL, _m._, or carouble, _f._ (thieves’), _picklock_, or “betty;” (familiar) _any inferior article left unsold_. The expression specially refers to books.

ROSSIGNOLER (thieves’), _to sing_, “to lip.”

ROSSIGNOLISER (familiar), _to sell articles without any value, or soiled articles_.

ROSTO, _m._ (Ecole Polytechnique), _gas-lamp_. From the name of General Rostolan, who introduced the gas apparatus into the establishment.

ROTER (popular), en ----, _to be astounded_. Literally _to belch for astonishment_.

En disant que ... les soldats n’étaient pas de la
charcuterie, qu’on traitait les chiens mieux que ça;
enfin, un boniment à ne pas s’y reconnaître. La sœur en
rotait!--=G. COURTELINE.=

En ---- le fond de son caleçon, _superlative_ of “en roter,” _to be_ “flabbergasted.” Je montrais à des touristes Américains toutes les merveilles de la ville, ils en rotaient le fond de leur caleçon. _I showed some American tourists all the curiosities of the town; they were utterly astounded._

RÔTI, _m._, formerly _brand on convict’s shoulder_.

ROTIN, _m._ (popular), _sou_. Termed also “flèche, pélot.” (Card-sharpers’) Flamboter aux rotins, termed also “consolation anglaise,” _variety of swindling card trick_.

RÔTISSEUSE, _f._ (popular), _roast chicken_. Exhibe la ----, _look at the chicken_.

ROTOTO, _m._ (popular), coller du ----, _to cudgel_, “to larrup.” Rototo! _expression of contempt or refusal_.

ROUÂTRE, _m._ (thieves’), _bacon_, “sawney.” Jack speeled to the crib (went home) when he found Johnny Doyle had been pulling down sawney (bacon) for grub.

ROUBIGNOLE, _f._ (card-sharpers’), _small ball made of cork and used at a swindling game_.

ROUBIGNOLEUR, _m._ (card-sharpers’), _swindler who plays at_ “roubignole” (which see).

ROUBLAGE, _m._ (thieves’), _deposition of a witness_.

ROUBLARD, _adj. and m._ (thieves’), _ugly_; _inferior_, “rot;” “quyer,” in old English cant; _police officer_, or “reeler.” Soufflé par les roublards et ballonné à la pointue, _taken by the police and imprisoned in the dépôt de la Préfecture_. Un ----, _a cunning fellow_, “an artful dodger.”

C’était un vieux roublard, un antique marlou.
Jadis on l’avait vu, denté blanc comme un loup,
Vivre pendant trente ans de marmite en marmite.
Plus d’un des jeunes dos, et des plus verts, l’imite.

=RICHEPIN=, _La Chanson des Gueux_.

(Prostitutes’) Roublard, _rich man, one who possesses roubles_, “rhino, fat.”

ROUBLARDISE, _f._ (familiar and popular), _cunning_; _trickery_.

Les roublardises de la politique la laissaient
froide.--=HECTOR FRANCE=, _La Pudique Albion_.

ROUBLER (thieves’), _to make a deposition_; ---- à la manque, _to make a deposition against one, or a false one_. A false witness is called by English thieves “a rapper.”

ROUBLEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _witness_.

ROUCHI, _m._ (familiar and popular), _man of repugnant manners or morals_; _low cad_, “rank outsider.”

ROUCHIE, _m._ (familiar and popular), _low, abandoned girl or woman_, “draggle-tail;” _dirty, disgusting woman_.

ROUE, _f._ (popular and thieves’), de derrière, thune, or palet, _silver five-franc piece_. Le messière a dégaîné une roue de derrière, _the gentleman has given a five-franc piece_. In the English slang a crown is termed a “hind coach-wheel,” and half-a-crown a “fore coach-wheel.”

Ils ouvraient des quinquets grands comme des roues de
derrière en nous reluquant d’un air épaté.--=RICHEPIN.=

Roue de devant, _two-franc piece_.

ROUÉ, _m._ (thieves’), _juge d’instruction_; (card-sharpers’) _swindler who handles the cards at the three-card game, his confederate being termed_ “amorceur.”

ROUEN, _m._ (obsolete), aller à ----, _to be ruined_, “to go a mucker.” A play on the word ruiner. Envoyer à ----, _to ruin_. Michel records the following expressions formed by a similar play on words: Aller à “Dourdan,” _to be beaten_ (old word dourder, _to beat_); aller à “Versailles,” _to be upset_ (from verser); aller en “Angoulême,” _to eat_ (from en and gueule); aller à “Niort,” _to deny_ (from nier, _to deny_); aller à “Patras,” _to die_ (from ad patres); aller à “Cachan,” _to conceal oneself_ (from cacher). To kill was expressed by envoyer à “Mortaigne.” It used to be said of a person conjugally deceived, that he travelled in “Cornouaille,” alluding to the horns. An ignorant man was said to have received his education at “Asnières” (âne). A threat of dismissal was made in the words “envoyer à l’abbaye de Vatan.” A madman was a native of “Lunel,” &c. (Theatrical) Aller à Rouen, _to be hissed_, “to get the big bird.”

ROUFFIER, _m._ (thieves’), _soldier_. The old English cant had the word “ruffler” to designate beggars pretending to be old or maimed soldiers, and who robbed or even murdered people. From the Italian ruffare, _to seize_.

ROUFFION, _m._ (shopmen’s), _shop-boy at a haberdasher’s_. “Rouffionne,” _shop-girl_.

ROUFFIONNER (popular), _to break wind_; ---- sans dire fion, _to do so without apologizing_.

ROUFFLE, _f._ (thieves’), _blow_, “wipe.” Also _a kick_.

ROUFFLÉE, _f._ (military), _a terrible thrashing_, after which one is “knocked into a cocked hat.”

ROUFLAQUETTE, _f._ (familiar and popular), _lock of hair worn twisted from the temple back towards the ear_, “aggerewaters, or Newgate knockers.”

Sous l’bord noir et gras d’ma casquette,
Avec mes doigts aux ongu’ en deuil,
J’sais rien m’coller eun’ rouflaquette
Tout l’long d’la temp’, là, jusqu’à l’œil.

=RICHEPIN.=

“When men,” says the _Slang Dictionary_, “twist the hair on each side of their faces into ropes, they are sometimes called ‘bell-ropes,’ as being wherewith to _draw the belles_. Whether ‘bell-ropes’ or ‘bow-catchers,’ it is singular they should form part of a prisoner’s adornment.” These ornaments in France are sported only by prostitutes’ bullies, who on that account are termed “rouflaquettes.”

ROUGE, _adj. and m._ (obsolete), _cunning_, “downy.” The expression is used as a cant word by Villon, 15th century.

Je vis là tant de mirlificques,
Tant d’ameçons et tant d’afficques,
Pour attraper les plus huppez.
Les plus rouges y sont happez.

_Poésies attribuées à Villon._

So the proverb, “il est méchant comme un âne rouge,” signifies _he is as vicious as a cunning donkey_. The expression “les plus rouges y sont pris,” _the most cunning are deceived_, is to be found in Cotgrave. The Latins used the word ruber with the figurative signification of _cunning_. Faire tomber le ----, _to have an offensive breath_. Faire ----, _to have one’s menses_. (Thieves’), Lampion ----, _police officer_, or “reeler.” See POT-À-TABAC. C’est ---- de boudin, _the thing goes wrong_, _matters look bad_. (Military) Les culs rouges, _the chasseurs and hussars, a corps of light cavalry with red pants_. Similarly, the English hussars are termed “cherry-bums.”

ROUGEMONT, _m._ (thieves’), pivois de ----, _red wine_, “red fustian.”

ROUGET, _m._ (popular), _man with reddish hair_. Les rougets (obsolete), better explained by the following:--

Pour les ordinaires des femmes, les mois, les menstrues,
les découlements lunaires des femmes.--=LE ROUX.=

(Thieves’) Rouget, _copper_.

ROUGISTE, _m._ (literary), _one fond of Stendhal’s style of writing_. An allusion to his famous work, _Le Rouge et le Noir_.

ROUGOULE. See RENDEZ-MOI.

ROUILLARDE, or ROUILLE, _f._ (thieves’), _bottle_, “bouncing cheat;” _bottle of old wine_. From rouler.

ROULANCE, _f._ (printers’), _great noise made by stamping of feet or rattling of hammers when a brother compositor enters the workshop_. This ceremony is complimentary or the reverse, as the case may be.

ROULANT, _m._ (popular), _pedlar who sells articles of clothing_; (popular and thieves’) _hackney-coach_, “growler;” ---- vif, _railway train_, or “rattler;” _pedlar_. Roulants, _peas_.

ROULANTE, _f._ (popular), _prostitute_. See GADOUE.

ROULEAU, _m._ (thieves’), _coin_. See QUIBUS.

ROULE-EN-CUL, _m._ (bullies’), _an insulting term_. Might be rendered by the word “pensioner” with an obscene prefix. See POISSON.

ROULEMENT, _m._ (popular), _hard work_. Du ----! mes enfants! _with a will, lads!_ (Military) Roulement de gueule, _beating to dinner_; (thieves’) ---- de tambour, _barking of a dog_.

ROULER (familiar and popular), quelqu’un, _to thrash one_, “to wallop” _him_. See VOIE. Also _to swindle_, “to stick, to bilk.”

Une grande compagnie d’assurance sur la vie vient d’être
dupée d’une jolie façon. Il n’y a pas grand mal, du reste,
les compagnies ne se faisant guère scrupule de rouler le
client.--=A. SIRVEN.=

(Popular) Rouler dans la farine, _to play a trick_, _to deceive a simpleton_, “to flap a jay.” Rouler sa bosse, _to go along_, _to go away_.

C’est pas tant le gendarm’ que je r’grette!
C’est pas ça! Naviguons, ma brunette!
Roul’ ta bosse, tout est payé.

=RICHEPIN=, _La Glu_.

Rouler sa viande dans le torchon, _to go to bed_. Comment vont les affaires? Ça roule. _How is business? Not bad._ (Roughs’) Se rouler, _to amuse oneself_; _to be much amused_. (Familiar) Rouler quelqu’un, _to worst one_; _to beat another in argument or repartee_. Termed “to snork” at Shrewsbury School.

ROULETIER, _m._ (thieves’), _a thief who robs cabs or carriages by climbing up behind and cutting the straps that secure the luggage on the roof_, “dragsman.”

Des classes entières de voleurs étaient aux abois, de
ce nombre était celle des rouletiers (qui dérobent les
chargements sur les voitures).--=VIDOCQ.=

ROULEUR, _m._ (popular), _swindler_; _rag-picker_, or “tot-picker.” The _Slang Dictionary_ says, “tot” is a bone, but chiffonniers and cinder-hunters generally are called “tot-pickers” nowadays. Totting has also its votaries on the banks of the Thames, where all kinds of flotsam and jetsam are known as “tots.” Un ----, _a man whose functions are to act as a medium between workmen and masters who wish to engage them_.

ROULEUSE, _f._ (familiar), _debauched woman_.

Les rangs de l’armée du charlatan apostolique se
sont grossis de nombre de petites rouleuses sans
emploi.--=HECTOR FRANCE.=

ROULIER, or ROULETIER, _m._ (thieves’), _thief who steals property off vans_, “dragsman.”

Les rouliers ou rouletiers s’attaquent aux camions des
entrepreneurs de roulage.--=CANLER.=

ROULIS, _m._ (sailors’), avoir du ----, _to be drunk_, “to have one’s mainbrace well spliced.”

ROULON, _m._ (thieves’), _loft_, _attic_.

ROULOTAGE, _m._ (thieves’), _theft of property from vehicles_, “heaving from a drag.”

ROULOTIN, _m._ (thieves’), _driver of a van_, “rattling-cove.”

ROULOTTE, _f._ (thieves’), _vehicle_.

Puis dans un’ roulotte, on n’voit rien;
Tout d’vant vous fil’ comme un rébus.
Pour louper, faut louper en chien
L’chien n’mont’ pas dans les omnibus.

=RICHEPIN.=

Roulotte à trèpe, _omnibus_; ---- du grand trimar, _mail coach_. Faire un coup de ----, or grinchir une ---- en salade, _to steal property from a vehicle_.

ROULOTTIER, _m._ (general), _itinerant showman_.

Allez à la Place du Trône, quand la foire au pain d’épice
est dans la fièvre des derniers préparatifs, avant le
dimanche qui est la grande première des saltimbanques.
Tous les roulottiers de France s’y donnent rendez-vous.
Et parmi eux l’on a chance encore de trouver quelques
Bohémiens.--=RICHEPIN.=

Roulottier, _rogue who devotes his attention to vans, carts, or any other kind of conveyance, stealing luggage, goods, or provisions_, “dragsman.”

Une bande importante de roulottiers, voleurs qui ont pour
spécialité de dérober sur les camions qui stationnent dans
les rues ... a été arrêtée hier.--_Le Radical_, Dec., 1886.

ROULURE, _f._ (popular), _woman of the most abandoned description_.

Si bien que, la croyant en bois, il est allé ailleurs,
avec des roulures qui l’ont régalé de toutes sortes
d’horreurs.--=ZOLA=, _Nana_.

Also _despicable, degraded fellow_.

Si c’est possible, une femme honnête tromper son mari, et
avec cette roulure de Fauchery!--=ZOLA.=

ROUMARD, _m._ (thieves’), _malicious fellow_; (popular) _rake_, or “beard-splitter.”

ROUPIE, _f._ (popular), _bug_, or “heavy dragoon;” ---- de singe, _nothing_; _weak coffee_; ---- de sansonnet, _bad coffee_.

Le zingueur voulut verser le café lui-même. Il
sentait joliment fort, ce n’était pas de la roupie de
sansonnet.--=ZOLA.=

ROUPILLER (general), _to sleep_, “to doss.” Chenue sorgue, roupille sans taf, _good night, sleep without fear_.

Tout est renversé, quoi!--Et du reste, voilà le bouquet,
écoutez-moi ça, on ne dit plus: je t’aime! on dit: j’te
gobe. On ne dit plus: laisse-moi tranquille! on dit: va
t’asseoir! On ne dit plus: tu m’ennuies! on dit: tu m’la
fais à l’oseille! On ne boit plus, on liche. On ne mange
plus, on béquille. On ne dort plus, on roupille! On ne se
promène plus, on se ballade! Pour dire: je sors, on dit: je
m’la casse!--_Les Locutions Vicieuses._

Roupiller dans le grand, _to be dead_.

ROUPILLON, _m._ (thieves’), _man asleep_. Chatouiller un ----, _to pick the pockets of a sleeping man_.

ROUPIOU, _m._ (medical students’), _a student who practises in hospitals without being on the regular staff, and who administers purgatives, prepares blisters, &c._

ROUSCAILLANTE, _f._ (thieves’), _tongue_, “glib, or red rag.” Stubble your red rag, _hold your tongue_. Balancer la rouscaillante, _to talk_, “to patter.”

ROUSCAILLER (popular), _to have connection_. Probably from roussecaigne (rousse chienne, or _red bitch_), which formerly signified _prostitute_. (Thieves’) Rouscailler, _to speak_, “to patter;” ---- bigorne, _to talk the cant jargon_, “to patter flash.” Rouscailler had the signification of _to mislead_, and bigorne was an epithet applied to the police, so that “rouscailler bigorne” means literally _to mislead the police_.

ROUSCAILLEUR, _m._ (popular), _libertine_, or “mutton-monger;” (thieves’) _speaker_.

ROUSCAILLEUSE, _f._ (popular), _debauched woman_.

ROUSPÉTANCE, _f._ (popular), _bad humour_; _resistance_.

Voulez-vous me foutre la paix! vous êtes une forte tête à
ce que je vois; vous voulez faire de la rouspétance.
--=G. COURTELINE.=

(Prostitutes’) Rouspétance, _a detective whose particular functions are to watch prostitutes_.

ROUSPÉTER (popular), _to be in a bad humour_; _to resist_.

ROUSPETTAU, _m._ (thieves’), _noise_.

ROUSPETTER (popular), used in a disparaging manner, _to talk_; _to reply_. Qu’est-ce que vous me rouspettez-là? _What the deuce are you talking about?_

ROUSSE, _m. and f._ (popular and thieves’), la ----, _the police_, _the_ “reelers.” Un ----, _police officer_, or “crusher;” _detective_, or “nark.” See POT-À-TABAC.

Va, c’est pas moi qui ferais jamais un trait a un ami;
si je suis rousse (mouchard), il me reste encore des
sentiments.--=VIDOCQ.=

La ---- à l’arnac, _the detective force_. Red-haired people are supposed to be treacherous, hence the epithet “rousse” applied to the police. According to an old proverb,

Barbe rousse, noir de chevelure,
Est réputé faux de nature.

Scarron expressed the following wish:--

Que le Seigneur en récompense
Veuille augmenter votre finance...
Qu’il vous garde de gens qui pipent...
D’hommes roux ayant les yeux verds.

Judas was red-haired, as everyone knows. Shakespeare makes the following allusion:--

_Rosalind._--His hair is of the dissembling colour.

_Celia._--Something browner than Judas’s: marry, his kisses
are Judas’s own children.

_As You Like It._

Un ---- à l’arnache, or harnache, _a detective_.

Un jour, avec ma largue, je venais d’ballader,
J’vois la rousse à l’arnach’ qui voulait l’emballer.
Je m’dis pas de bêtises, en vrai barbillon,
Pour garer ma marquis’ j’ai décroché l’tampon.

_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._

La ---- à la flan, _city police_. Flasquer du poivre à la ----, _to keep out of the way of the police_, _to escape their clutches_.

ROUSSELETTE, _f._ (popular and thieves’), _spy_, or “nark.” Termed also une riflette, un baladin.

ROUSSI, _m._ (thieves’), _prisoner who acts as a spy on fellow-prisoners_.

Ton orgue tapissier aura été fait marron.... Il faut être
arcasien. C’est un galifard. Il se sera laissé jouer
l’harnache par un roussin, peut-être même par un roussi,
qui lui aura battu comtois ... je n’ai pas taf, je ne
suis pas un taffeur, c’est colombé, mais il n’y a plus
qu’à faire les lézards, ou autrement on nous la fera
gambiller.--=V. HUGO=, _Les Misérables_. (_Your friend the
innkeeper must have been taken in the attempt. One ought to
be wide awake. He is a flat. He must have been bamboozled
by a detective, perhaps even by a prison spy, who played
the simpleton. I am not afraid, I am no coward, that’s well
known; the only thing to be done now is to run away, else
we are done for._)

ROUSSIN, _m._ (thieves’), _police officer_, “crusher;” _detective_.

Entre eux, ils sont un peu frères, un peu cousins;
Aussi dénichent-ils des gosses, des petites,
Qu’ils envoient mendier, en guettant les roussins,
Pour se payer deux ronds de frites.

=RICHEPIN=, _Les Mômes_.

ROUSSINER (popular), _to call the attention of the police to one_.

ROUSTAMPONNE, _f._ (thieves’), _police_, “reelers, or frogs.”

ROUSTI, _adj._ (popular and thieves’), _ruined_, “smashed;” _apprehended_, “nailed, or nabbed.”

ROUSTIR (popular and thieves’), _to cheat_, “to stick;” _to rob one of all his valuables_.

A l’heure qu’il est l’entonne est roustie.--=VIDOCQ.= (_And
now the church is stripped of all its valuables._)

Neuf plombes. La fête bat son plein ... eul’ joueur
d’bonneteau m’a déjà rousti vingt ronds.--=TRUBLOT=, _Le
Cri du Peuple_, Sept., 1886.

ROUSTISSEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _thief_, “prig.”

ROUSTISSEUSE, _f._ (popular), _woman of lax morals_, “poll.”

ROUSTISSURE, _f._ (theatrical), _insignificant part_; (popular) _bad joke_; _swindle_; _worthless thing_.

ROUSTONS, _m. pl._ (popular), _testiculæ_.

ROUSTURE, _f._ (thieves’), _man under police surveillance_.

ROUTE, _m._ (popular), mettre au ----, _to rout_; _to break_; _to destroy_.

Vous avez beau dire ... faut que tout ça soit foutu au
route, qu’i n’en reste pu miette.--_Le Drapeau Rouge de la
Mère Duchesne_, 1792.

Old word roupte, from the Low Latin rupta, signifying _rout_. The word is used by Villon:--

De maulx briguans puissent trouver tel route
Que tous leurs corps fussent mis par morceux.

_Ballade Joyeuse des Taverniers._

ROUTIÈRE, _f._ (popular), _prostitute who plies her trade on the high road_. See GADOUE.

ROVEAU, or ROBAU, _m._ (old cant), _mounted police_.

RU, _m._ (thieves’), _brook_ (old word).

Je vais dans le ru pêcheur à la ligne.
Beaux poissons d’argent je vous ferai signe.
Voyez au soleil briller mon couteau,
Oh! oh!
Avec mon couteau
Je vous ferai signe
Dans l’eau.

=RICHEPIN=, _La Chanson des Gueux_.

RUB DE RIF, _m._ (thieves’), _railway train_, “rattler.”

RUBAN DE QUEUE, _m._ (popular), _never-ending road_.

RUBIS, _m._ (popular), sur pieu, _ready money_; ---- cabochon (obsolete), see FLAGEOLET.

Deux perles orientales
Et un rubis cabochon.

_Parnasse des Muses._

RUBLIN, _m._ (thieves’), _ribbon_.

RUDE, _m._ (popular), _brandy_. See TORD-BOYAUX.

RUDEMENT, _adv._ (familiar and popular), _awfully_.

RUE, _f._ (popular), au pain, _throat_, “gutter lane;” ---- barrée, or où l’on pave, _street in which a creditor lives, and which is to be avoided_; ---- du bec dépavée, _gap-toothed mouth_, _one with_ “snaggle teeth.” (Rag-pickers’) Aller voir Madame la ----, _to go to work picking rags, &c., in the street_.

RUELLE, _f._ (popular), il ne tombera pas dans la ----, _is said of a drunken man lying in the gutter, and who in consequence does not risk falling from the wall side of his bed_. In English slang he is said, when in that state, to “lap the gutter.”

RUETTE, _f._ (popular), _mouth_, or “kisser.”

RUF, _m._ (thieves’), _prison warder_.

RUFAN, _m._ (Breton cant), _fire_. Italian cant ruffo.

RUFFANTE. See ABBAYE.

RUINÉ, _adj._ (horse-trainers’), un cheval ---- sur son devant, _a horse with bent knees, inclined_ “to say his prayers.”

RUISSELANT D’INOUISME, _adj._ (familiar), _superlatively fine_; _marvellous_, “crushing.”

RUMFORT (familiar), voyage à la ----, _is said of one who goes on a pretended journey, so as to escape the toll of new year’s gratuities and gifts_.

RUP, or RUPIN, _adj. and m._ (popular), _excellent_; _fine_; _handsome_.

Su’ le moment, ça vous a bonn’ mine;
C’est frais, c’est pimpant, c’est rupin;
Que’qu’ temps après, la blanche hermine
S’transforme en vulgaire peau d’lapin.

=JULES JOUY=, _La Neige_.

Avoir l’aspect ----, _to look rich_.

Ils s’emparent des portières et les défendent contre les
gens qui n’ont pas l’aspect rupin. Ils ne les laissent
libres que pour les gens qui leur paraissent avoir de la
douille.--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._

C’est un ----, _he is clever, understands thoroughly his business_, “he is a regular tradesman.” No better compliment, says the _Slang Dictionary_, can be passed on an individual, whether his profession be house-breaking, prize-fighting, or that of a handicraftsman, than the significant “He is a regular tradesman.” Le ---- des rupins, _the best of the thing_.

Et puis, l’plus bath! Le rupin des rupins,
C’est qu’on n’sait pus où nous parquer.
Parole!
Ainsi dans l’doute on nous laisse là.

_Le Contentement du Récidiviste, à l’ancre._

(Thieves’) Rupin, _rich_, “well ballasted.”

Les plus rupins, depuis qu’on a imprimé des dictionnaires
d’argot, entravent bigorne comme nouzailles.--=VIDOCQ.=

Rupin, _gentleman_, or “nib cove.”

Ils s’enquièrent où demeurent quelques marpeaux pieux,
rupins et marcandiers dévots, qu’ils bient trouver en leur
creux.--_Le Jargon de l’Argot._

The word rupin is derived from the Gypsy rup, Hindustani rupa, _money_. In Breton cant rup has the meaning of _citizen or wealthy man_.

RUPINE, _f._ (thieves’), _lady_.

RUPINSKOFF, _adj._ (popular), _excellent_, “out and out;” _rich_.

RURAL, _m._, _name given to the Conservative members of the Assemblée Nationale in 1871_.

RUSSES, _adj. and m._ (military), bas, or chaussettes ----, _strips of linen wrapped round the feet at the time when soldiers were not provided with regulation socks_.

De bas russes tu garniras
Tes bottes où tu plongeras
Les dix arpions de tes pieds plats.

=DUBOIS DE GENNES.=

(Common) Des ----, _short whiskers_.

RUSTAU, _m._ (thieves’), _variety of receiver of stolen property_, “fence.”

Le remisage, tenu par le rustau, est le fourgat des voleurs
ou assassins de grandes routes travaillant en province et
opérant jusqu’à l’étranger.--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._

S

SABACHE, _adj. and m._ (popular), _foolish_; _dunce_, or “dunderhead.” A corruption of “sabot,” a disparaging slangy epithet.

SABLE, _m._ (thieves’), _sugar_; _stomach_, or “middle piece.” Les sables, _the cells_. (Popular) Sable, _money_. An allusion to the colour of gold. (Freemasons’) Sable blanc, _salt_; ---- jaune, _pepper_.

SABLER (thieves’), _to kill one by striking him with an eel-skin bag filled with sand_.

SABOCHE, _f._ (popular), _awkward person_; _bad workman_. A corruption of sabot.

SABOCHER, SABOTER (popular), _to do bad work_.

SABORD, _m._ (popular), jeter un coup de ----, _to examine the accuracy of the work_; _to control_.

SABORDER (sailors’), _to thrash_.

SABOT, _m._ (popular), _nose_, or “boko;” _bad workman_; _carriage_, or “rumbler;” (popular and familiar) _bad billiard table_; _bad musical instrument_; _small boat_; (thieves’) _ship_.

SABOTEUR, _m._ (popular), _slovenly workman_.

SABOULER (popular), _to work carelessly_; _to clean boots_, “to japan trotter-cases.”

SABOULEUR, _m._ (popular), _shoe-black_.

SABOULEUX, _m._ (old cant), _rogue who shams epilepsy_. Termed now-a-days “batteur de dig-dig.” These impostors chew a piece of soap to make it appear that they are frothing at the mouth. Now, _soap_ is sabo in the old Provençal, so that “sabouleux” literally means _soapy_.

SABRE, _m._ (old cant), _cudgel_, or “toko.” Also _wood_, from the furbesche “sorbe,” which has the same signification. (Popular) Avoir un ----, _to be drunk_, or “screwed.” Probably from the fact that a drunkard stumbles about as if he were impeded by a sword beating about his legs. See POMPETTE. Avoir un coup de ---- sur le ventre _is said of a woman who has a military man for her lover, who has_ “an attack of scarlet fever.” Un joli coup de ----, _a large mouth_, like a slit made by a cut of a sword, a “sparrow mouth.”

SABRÉE, _f._ (old cant), _a yard measure_.

SABRENAS, _m._ (popular), _cobbler_, “snob.” An allusion to a maker of wooden shoes, as “sabre” had the meaning of _wood_. Also _clumsy workman_.

SABRENASSER, or SABRENAUDER, _to work in a slovenly manner_.

SABRENEUX, _m._ (popular), _good-for-nothing fellow_. Literally sale breneux.

SABRER (shopmen’s), _to measure cloth with a yard_; (popular) _to do a thing hurriedly and badly_.

SABRE-TOUT, _m._ (general), _fire-eater_.

SABREUR, _m._ (popular), _slovenly workman_.

SABRI, _m._ (thieves’), _wood_; _forest_. See SABRE.

SABRIEU, _m._ (thieves’), _rogue who steals wood_.

SAC, _m._ (thieves’), un ----, or un millet, _one hundred francs_. (Familiar) N’avoir rien dans son ----, _to be devoid of ability_. Donner le ----, _to dismiss from one’s employ_, “to give the sack.” Un ---- à vin, _drunkard_, or “lushington.” (Popular) Avoir le ---- plein, _to be drunk_; _to be pregnant_, or “lumpy.” Cracher, or éternuer dans le ----, _to be guillotined_. See FAUCHÉ. En avoir plein son ----, _to be completely drunk_, or “obfuscated.” Le ---- de pommes de terre, _protuberance of the muscles_.

Un tout jeune homme ... frêle et charmant dans une veste de
chasse, dont le coutil laissait apercevoir aux biceps le
“sac de pommes de terre” du savetier.--=E. DE GONCOURT=,
_La Fille Elisa_.

Sac à diables, _knowing, cunning person_, _a_ “downy, or leary” _one_.

But stick to this while you can crawl,
To stand till you’re obliged to fall,
And when you’re wide awake to all,
You’ll be a leary man.

_The Leary Man._

Un ---- à os, _a thin, skinny person_, a “bag o’ bones.” Un ---- au lard, _a shirt_, or “flesh-bag.” Un ---- à puces, _a dog_, or “buffer.” En avoir plein son ----, or son ----, _to have enough of_, _to be disgusted with_.

J’en ai mon sac, moi, d’mon épouse;
Mince d’crampon; j’y trouv’ des ch’veux,
C’est rien de l’dire. C’que j’me fais vieux!
Par là-d’sus madame est jalouse!

=GILL.=

(Military) Le ---- à malices, _a bag which contains a soldier’s brushes, thread, needles, &c._ De mon ----, insulting expression, signifying _worthless, good-for-nothing_.

S’pèce de canaille! sale pâtissier de mon sac! bougre
d’escroc!--=CHARLES LEROY.=

SACCADE, _f._ (obsolete), donner la ----, _to sacrifice to Venus_.

Elle aura par Dieu la saccade, puisqu’il y a moines
autour.--=RABELAIS.=

SACDOS, _m._ (popular), _thin, skinny person_, a “bag o’ bones.”

SACDOSER (popular), _to become thin_.

SACHETS, _m. pl._ (popular), _stockings or socks_.

SACQUÉ, _adj._ (popular), être ----, _to be well off_, _to be_ “well ballasted.”

SACQUER (popular), _to throw_; _to dismiss one from one’s employ_, “to give the sack.”

SACRÉ-CHIEN, _m._ (familiar and popular), _coarse brandy_.

Vous vous râperez le gosier avec du rhum et du rack, avec
le troix-six et le sacré-chien dans toute sa pureté, tandis
qu’ils se l’humecteront avec les onctueuses liqueurs des
îles.--=TH. GAUTIER.=

SACRER (thieves’), _to affirm_.

SACRISTAIN, _m._ (obsolete), formerly _husband of an_ “abbesse,” _the mistress of a house of ill-fame_, “abbaye des s’offre à tous.”

SACRISTIE, _f._ (popular), _privy_, “chapel of ease.”

SAFFRE, _m._ (popular), _gormandizer_, “grand paunch.” Saffre is an old French word to be found in _Le Roman de la Rose_, 13th and 14th centuries.

SAFRAN, _m._ (popular), accommoder au ----, _to be unfaithful to one’s spouse_. Saffron is of the colour said to be the favourite one of injured husbands.

--Paraît que ce sera très gai chez Madame Brischkoff: rien
que des femmes mariées!

--Un bal jaune, quoi!--_Journal Amusant._

SAIGNANTE, _f._ (thieves’). See LAVER.

SAIGNEMENT DE NEZ, _m._ (thieves’), _examination of a prisoner_, “cross-kidment.”

SAIGNER (thieves’), faire ---- du nez, _to kill_, “to hush;” _to cross-examine_, or “to cross-kid.” (Popular) Faire ---- du nez, _to borrow money_, “to bite the ear,” or “to break shins.”

SAINT-CIBOIRE, _m._ (popular), _heart_, “panter.”

SAINT-CRÉPIN, _m._ (popular), _shoe-makers’ tools_. The brothers Crépin and Crépinien, after preaching the Gospel in Gaul in the third century, settled down at Soissons as shoemakers, and one of them is the patron of shoemakers. Etre dans la prison de ----, _to have tight shoes on_. Saint-Crépin, or Saint-Frusquin, _savings_; _property_.

SAINT DE CARÊME, _m._ (popular), _hypocrite_, “mawworm.”

SAINT-DÔME, _m._ (popular), _tobacco_. From Saint-Domingue, where tobacco was grown in large quantities.

SAINTE CHIETTE, _m._ (popular), _good-for-nothing fellow_.

SAINTE-ESPÉRANCE, _f._ (popular), _the eve of the pay-day_.

SAINTE-NITOUCHE, or SAINTE-SUCRÉE, _f._ (popular), _prude_. Faire sa ----, _to play the prude_.

SAINTE-TOUCHE, _f._ (popular), _pay-day_.

SAINT-FRUSQUIN, _m._ (familiar and popular), _one’s property_; _effects_. Manger tout son ----, _to spend all one’s means_. An imaginary saint, from “frusques,” _clothes_; “rusca,” in furbesche.

SAINT-HUBERT, _m._ (popular), médaille de ----, _five-franc piece_. Alluding to the medal of the knightly order of Saint-Hubert, founded by a German duke in 1444.

SAINT-JEAN, _m._ (printers’), _effects_. Probably from the expression, être nu comme un petit Saint-Jean, the lack of effects being taken to mean the effects themselves. Also _printers’ tools_. Prendre son ----, _to leave the workshop for good_. (Popular) Faire son petit ----, _to put on innocent airs_; _to play the fool_. Saint-Jean le rond, _the behind_; ---- Baptiste, _landlord of a wine-shop_. An allusion to the water he adds to his wine.

SAINT-JEAN-PORTE-LATINE, _m._ (printers’), _the fête-day of printers_.

SAINT-LÂCHE, _m._ (popular), _patron of lazy people_.

SAINT-LAMBIN, _m._ (popular), _slow man_.

SAINT-LAZ, _m._ (popular), abbreviation of Saint-Lazare, _a prison for unfaithful wives and prostitutes_. La confrérie de ----, _the world of_ “unfortunates.” Bijou de ----, _prostitute imprisoned in Saint-Lazare_.

SAINT-LICHARD, _m._ (popular), _gormandizer_, “grand paunch.”

SAINT-LONGIN, _m._ (popular). See LONGIN.

SAINT-LUNDI, _f._ (popular), fêter la ----, _to get drunk_. See SCULPTER.

SAINT-PANSART, _m._ (popular), _man with a large paunch_, “forty guts.”

SAINT-PRIS. See ENTRER.

SAISISSEMENT, _m._ (thieves’), _straps which bind the arms and legs of a convict who is being led to the guillotine_.

SALADE, _f._ (thieves’), _answer_. A play on the word raiponce (réponse), _a kind of salad called rampion_; (popular) _whip_. Salade de Gascon (obsolete), _rope_, _string_. Salade de cotret, _cudgelling_.

Je me souvien qu’i me menère chez trois ou quatre
capitaines qui leur dirent qu’ils leur ficheroient une
salade de coteret.--_Dialogue sur les Affaires du Temps._

SALADIER, _m._ (popular), _bowl of sweetened wine_, which is mixed in a salad basin.

SALAIRE, _m._ (thieves’), _shoe_, “daisy root.” Corruption of soulier.

SALBIN, _m._ (thieves’), _oath_.

SALBINER (thieves’), _to take the oath_.

SALBRENAUD (thieves’), _shoemaker, or cobbler_, “snob.”

SALE, _adj._ (popular), coup, or ---- truc pour la fanfare, _a bad job for us_, _a sad look-out_. The expression is generally expressive of disappointment, or when any disagreeable affair occurs which there is no means of averting. “Here’s the devil to pay, and no pitch hot,” English sailors will say. Avoir une ---- jactance, “to be the one to jaw,” or “to be the one to palaver.” (Bullies’) Un ---- gibier, _a prostitute who does not bring in much money_.

SALÉ, _m._ (printers’), _wages paid in advance_, or “dead horse.” Morceau de ----, _part payment of debt_. Demander du ---- à la banque, _to ask for an advance on wages_. Le grand ----, _the sea_, or “briny.”

SALER (popular), _to scold_, “to haul over the coals;” ---- quelqu’un, _to charge too much_, _to make one_ “pay through the nose,” or “to shave” _him_. C’est un peu salé _is said of an extravagant bill_.

SALIÈRE, _f._ (popular), répandre la ---- dessus, _to charge too much_, “to shave.” Montrer ses salières _is said of a woman with thin breasts who wears low dresses_. Elle a deux salières et cinq plats _is said of a woman with skinny breasts_. A play on the words “seins plats,” _flat bosoms_.

SALIN, _m._ (thieves’), _yellow_.

SALIR, or SOLIR (thieves’), _to sell_. A corruption of saler, _to charge too much_. (Popular) Se ---- le nez, _to get drunk_. See SCULPTER.

SALIVERNE, or SALIVERGNE (old cant), _cup_; _plate_; _platter_, or “skew,” in English beggars’ and Scottish gipsies’ lingo. Rabelais uses the word salverne with the signification of _cup_. When Pantagruel and Panurge pay a visit to “l’oracle de la Bouteille,” they found:--

Le trophée d’un buveur bien mignonnement insculpé: sçavoir
est ... bourraches, bouteilles, fioles, ferrières,
barils, barreaulx, bomides, pots ... en aultre, cent
formes de verre à pied ... hanaps, breusses, jadeaulx,
salvernes.--_Pantagruel._

Salverne, from the Spanish salva. Saliverne nowadays signifies _salad_.

SALLE, _f._ (theatrical), de papier, _a playhouse full of people with free tickets_. (Saumur school of cavalry) La ---- Cambronne, _the W.C._ Alluding to General Cambronne’s more than energetic alleged reply at Waterloo when called upon to surrender. (Popular) Salle à manger, _mouth_. N’avoir plus de chaises dans sa ---- à manger, _to be toothless_. (Bullies’) Salle de danse, _the behind_. Thus termed because they think it is the proper object on which to exercise one’s feet.

SALONNIER, _m._ (familiar), _art critic who reviews the art exhibition_.

SALOPETTE, _f._ (popular), _pair of canvas trousers worn over another pair_.

SALOPIAT, or SALOPIAUD, _m._ (popular), _dirty or mean fellow_, “snot.” A diminutive of salope, which itself comes from the English sloppy.

SALSIFIS, _m._ (popular), _fingers_, “dooks, or dukes.”

SALTIMBE, _m._ (popular), abbreviation of saltimbanque, _mountebank_.

SALUER LE PUBLIC (theatrical), _to die_. See PIPE.

SALUTATIONS À CUL OUVERT, _f. pl._ (popular), _much bowing and scraping of feet_.

SANCTUS, _m._ (obsolete), _mark_, _seal_. A play on the words saint and seing.

Ils sont sortis; le gendarme n’a plus été qu’un jean-f...,
l’officier l’y a foutu son sanctus, que le manche de son
épée l’y faisoit emplâtre.--_Journal de la Rapée._

SANG, _m._ (popular and thieves’), de poisson, _oil_. See PRINCE. Se manger les sangs, _to fret_.

SANG-DE-VERSAILLAIS, _adj._ (familiar), facetious term for _deep red_. An allusion to the epithet of Versaillais given to the supporters of the government during the insurrection of 1871. Journaliste ----, _a journalist who is of rabid Republican opinions_.

Le bel Antony, journaliste Sang-de-Versaillais et orateur
dynamitard.--=A. SIRVEN.=

SANGLÉ, _adj._ (popular), _short of cash_, with one’s resources at “low tide.”

SANGLER (popular), se ----, _to stint oneself_.

SANGLIER, _m._ (thieves’), _priest_. Literally _wild boar_. An allusion to his black robe, or from the words sans, _without_, and glier, _infernal regions_. The priest, or rather he who performed the marriage ceremony, was termed in old English cant, “patrico.” Dekker says of the “patrico” that he performs the marriage ceremony under a tree, in a wood, or in the open fields. The bridegroom and bride place themselves on each side of a dead horse or other animal. The “patrico” then bids them live together until death do part them. Thereupon they shake hands, and all adjourn to a neighbouring tavern.

SANGSUE, _f._ (popular), _kept woman who ruins her lover_. (Printers’) Poser une ----, _to correct a piece of composition for an absentee_.

SANGSURER (popular), _to draw largely on one’s purse_. Se ----, _to ruin oneself in favour of another_.

SANS (thieves’), condé, _without permission or passport_. Condé signified _mayor_, _authorities_, and the word was imported by Spanish quacks. Sans dab, _orphan_. The word “dab” has the signification of _father_, _chief_, _king_. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries “dabo” meant _master of a house_, and probably was derived from dam, damp (dominus), used by Rabelais with the signification of _lord_. The English slang has “dab,” _expert_, which the _Slang Dictionary_ believes comes from the Latin adeptus. It is more likely the origin is the French dab, dabo. Etre ---- canne _is said of a convict under the surveillance of the police who has broken bounds_.

SANS-BEURRE, _m._ (popular), _rag-picker_, or “tot-picker.”

SANS-BOUT, _m._ (popular), _hoop_.

SANS-CAMELOTTE, _m._ (thieves’). Termed also solliceur de zif, _swindler who gets money advanced on imaginary goods supposed to be in his possession_.

SANS-CHAGRIN, _m._ (thieves’), _thief_, “prig.” See GRINCHE.

SANS-CHÂSSES, _m._ (thieves’), _blind man_, “groper, or puppy.”

SANS-CŒUR, _m._ (popular), _usurer_.

SANS-CULOTTE, _m._, _name given to the Republicans of 1793_, either because they discarded the old-fashioned breeches for trousers, or as an allusion to the scanty dress of the Republican soldiers. The word has passed into the language.

SANS-DOS, _m._ (popular), _stool_.

SANS-FADE, _m._ (thieves’), être ----, _to be penniless_, or “dead broke.”

SANS-FEUILLE, _f._ (thieves’), _gallows_. This expression corresponds to the “leafless tree” of Paul Clifford’s song. Hanging was termed formerly, “être élevé sur une bûche de quinze pieds, épouser cette veuve qui est à la Grève, danser sous la corde, danser une cabriole en l’air sans toucher à terre, avoir le collet secoué, être tué de la lance d’un puits, regarder par une fenêtre de chanvre, jouer du hautbois.” For other synonyms see MONTE-À-REGRET. American thieves use the expression “to twist,” _i.e._ _to hang_.

SANS-LE-SOU, _m._ (popular), _needy man_, _one who is_ “hard up.”

SANS-LOCHES, _adj._ (thieves’), être ----, _to be deaf_.

SANS-MIRETTES, _adj. and m._ (thieves’), _blind_; _blind man_, “groper, or puppy.”

SANSONNET, _m._ (popular), _penis_. Properly _starling_.

SANTACHE, _f._ (popular), _health_.

SANTAILLE, _f._ (popular), _the prison of La Santé_.

SANTARELLE, _f._ (card-sharpers’), faire une ----, _to give cards to one’s partner in such a way as to be able to see them_.

SANTU, _f._ (thieves’), _health_.

SAOUL COMME UN ÂNE (familiar and popular), “drunk as a lord;” a common saying, says the _Slang Dictionary_, probably referring to the facilities a man of fortune has for such a gratification. The phrase had its origin in the old hard-drinking days, when it was almost compulsory on a man of fashion to get drunk regularly after dinner.

SAOULLE, _f._ (thieves’), _blackguard_.

SAP, _m._ (popular), _coffin_, “eternity box.” From sapin, _fir wood_. Taper dans le ----, _to be dead_, “to have been put to bed with a shovel.”

SAPAJOU, _m._ (popular), vieux ----, _old debauchee_, _old_ “rip.” One as lecherous as a monkey.

SAPEMENT, _m._ (thieves’), or gerbement, _sentence_.

SAPER (thieves’), _to sentence_; ---- au glaive, _to sentence to death_.

SAPEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _judge_, or “beak;” (popular) _cigar partly smoked_.

SAPIN, _m._ (familiar and popular), _hackney coach_, or “shoful.”

Elle causait de l’intérieur de son landau, égayée, le
trouvant cocasse, au milieu des embarras de voiture, quand
“il s’engueulait avec les sapins.”--=ZOLA.=

(Popular) Redingote de ----, _coffin_, or “cold meat box.” Sentir, or sonner le ----, _to look dangerously ill_.

Elle avait un fichu rhume qui sonnait joliment le
sapin.--=ZOLA.=

(Thieves’) Sapin, _floor_; _garret_; ---- de muron, _garret where salt is stored away_; ---- des cornants (obsolete), _the earth_; _a field_. Compare with the modern expression “plancher des vaches.”

SAPINIÈRE, _f._ (popular), _common grave for poor people_.

SAQUET, _m._ (popular), _shaking_.

SARDINE, _f._ (popular). Serrer les cinq sardines, _to shake hands_. Rabelais uses the verb fourcher with a like signification. (Military) Sardines, _stripes on the sleeves of a tunic_. Sardines blanches, _those worn by gendarmes_.

Deux gendarmes un beau dimanche,
Chevauchaient le long d’un sentier.
L’un avait la sardine blanche,
L’autre le jaune baudrier.

=G. NADAUD=, _Les Deux Gendarmes_.

SARDINÉ, _m._ (military), _non-commissioned officer_.

SARRASIN, _m._ (printers’), _workman who works at reduced wages, or refuses to join in strikes_, a “knob-stick.”

SARRASINAGE, SARRASINER. See SARRASIN.

SATIN, _f._ (popular), _a “tribade.”_ Defined by Littré as “une femme qui abuse de son sexe avec une autre femme.” From a character in Zola’s _Nana_.

SATONNADE, _f._ (convicts’), _bastinado_. La ---- roule à balouf igo, _there is much giving of bastinado here_.

SATOU, or SATTE, _m._ (thieves’), _wood_; _forest_; _stick_; _itinerant mountebank’s plant_.

SATOUSIER, _m._ (thieves’), _joiner_.

SATTE. See SATOU.

SAUCE, _f._ (popular), _reprimand_, “wigging.” Gare à la ----! _look out for squalls!_ Gober la ----, _to be reprimanded or punished for others_. Il va tomber de la ----, _it is going to rain_. Accommoder à la ---- piquante. See ACCOMMODER. (Prostitutes’) Sauce tomate, _menses_. Formerly donner la ----, had the signification given as follows:--

Manière de parler libre, qui ... signifie donner du mal
vénérien.--=LE ROUX.=

SAUCÉ, _adj._ (familiar), être ----, _to be wet to the skin_.

SAUCIER, _m._ (restaurants’), _cook who has charge of the making of sauces in good restaurants_. SAUCISSE, _f._ (popular), _prostitute_, or “mot;” ---- plate, _thin prostitute_; ---- municipale, _poisoned meat thrown to straying dogs_. Moi ----, _I also_. For moi aussi.

SAUCISSON, _m._ (popular), à pattes, or de Bologne, _short and fat person_, “humpty dumpty.” (Thieves’) Saucisson, _lead_, or “bluey.” Termed also “gras-double.”

SAUT, _m._ (familiar), faire le ----, explained by quotation:--

Obliger une femme à se rendre, la pousser à bout, profiter
de sa faiblesse, en jouir.--=LE ROUX.=

Formerly faire le saut signified _to steal_.

SAUTE-DESSUS, _m._ (thieves’), se prendre au ----, _to assume a threatening tone_.

Après avoir provoqué à la débauche celui qui a eu le
malheur de les aborder, ils changent tout à coup de ton,
le prennent, comme ils disent, au saute-dessus et se
donnant pour des agents de l’autorité les menacent d’une
arrestation.--=TARDIEU=, _Etude Médico-légale_.

SAUTER (popular), _to stink_; ---- à la perche, _to be unable to procure food_; ---- sur le poil à quelqu’un, _to attack one_. (Thieves’) Sauter, _to steal_; _to conceal from one’s accomplices the proceeds of a robbery_; ---- à la capahut, _to murder an accomplice in order to rob him of his share of the booty_. (Familiar) Sauter le pas, _to become a bankrupt_, “to go to smash.” Also _to die_. See PIPE. Sauter le pas, _to lose one’s maidenhead_, “to have seen the elephant;” ---- une femme, _to have connection with a woman_. (Card-sharpers’) Faire ---- la coupe, _to place the cut card on the top, by dexterous manipulation, instead of at the bottom of the pack_, “to slip” _a card_. (Cavalry) Sauter le bas-flanc, _to jump over the walls of the barracks for the purpose of spending the night in town_.

SAUTERELLE, _f._ (familiar), _prostitute_; see GADOUE; (thieves’) _flea_, called sometimes “F sharp.” (Shopmen’s) Sauterelle, _woman who examines a number of articles without purchasing any_.

On appelle ainsi dans les magasins de nouveautés les femmes
qui font plier et déplier vingt ballots sans acheter.
--=L. NOIR.=

Exécuter une ----, _to summarily get rid of such a troublesome person_.

SAUTERIE, _f._ (familiar), _dance_, or “hop.”

SAUTERON, or SAUTERONDOLLES, _m._ (thieves’), _banker_; _changer_. Sauteron is only another name for thief.

SAUTEUR, _m._ (familiar), _man not to be relied on_; _political turn-coat_, “rat.” In military riding schools, _horse trained to buck jump, and ridden without a saddle or bridle_.