Chapter C (2)

CHETARD, _m._ (thieves’), _prison_, or “stir.” See MOTTE.

CHÉTIF, _m._ (popular), _mason’s boy_.

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

CHEVAL, _m._ (popular and thieves’), de retour, _old offender_; _returned or escaped convict sent back to the convict settlement_. Termed also “trique, canne.”

Me voilà donc cheval de retour, on me remet à Toulon, cette
fois avec les bonnets verts.--=V. HUGO.=

(Military) Cheval de l’adjudant, _camp bed of cell_; (familiar) ---- qui la connaît dans les coins, _a clever horse_. Literally _skilful at turning the corners_. (Popular) Faire son ---- de corbillard, _to put on a jaunty look_; _to give oneself conceited airs_; _to bluster_, or, as the Americans say, “to be on the tall grass.”

CHEVALIER, _m._ (popular), de la courte lance, _hospital assistant_; ---- de la grippe, _thief_, or “prig.” See GRINCHE. Chevalier de la manchette, _Sodomist_; ---- de la pédale, _one who works a card-printing machine_; ---- de l’aune, _shopman_, or “knight of the yard;” ---- de salon, de tapis vert, _gamester_; ---- du bidet, _women’s bully_, or “pensioner.” See POISSON. Chevalier du crochet, _rag-picker_, or “bone-grubber;” ---- du lansquenet, _gambling cheat who has recourse to the card-sharping trick denominated_ “le pont” (which see); ---- du lustre, “_claqueur_,” _that is, one who is paid for applauding at theatres_; ---- du printemps, or de l’ordre du printemps, _silly fellow who flowers his button-hole to make it appear that he has the decoration of the “Légion d’Honneur;”_ ---- grimpant, see VOLEUR AU BONJOUR.

CHEVAU-LÉGER, _m._ (familiar), _ultra-Conservative of the Legitimist and Clerical party_. The chevau-légers were formerly a corps of household cavalry.

CHEVAUX, _m. pl._ (popular), à doubles semelles, _legs_. Compare the English expression, “to ride Shank’s mare, or pony.”

CHEVELU, _adj._ (familiar), art ----, littérateur ----, poète ----, _art, literary man, poet of the “école romantique,” of which the chief in literature was Victor Hugo_.

CHEVEU, _m._ (familiar), _difficulty_; _trouble_; _hindrance_; _hitch_. Voilà le ----, _ay, there’s the rub_. J’ai un ----, _I have some trouble on my mind, reason for uneasiness_. Il y a un ---- dans son bonheur, _there is some trouble that mars his happiness_. (Popular) Avoir un ---- pour un homme, _to fancy a man_. (Theatrical) Cheveu, _unintentional jumbling of words by transposition of syllables_. This kind of mistake when intentional Rabelais termed “équivoquer.”

En l’aultre deux ou trois miroirs ardents dont il faisait
enrager aulcunes fois les hommes et les femmes et leur
faisait perdre contenance à l’ecclise. Car il disait qu’il
n’y avait qu’une antistrophe entre femme folle à la messe
et femme molle à la fesse.--=RABELAIS=, _Pantagruel_.

See also _Œuvres de Rabelais_ (Garnier’s edition), _Pantagruel_, page 159.

CHEVEUX, _m._ (familiar and popular), avoir mal aux ----, _to have a headache caused by overnight potations_. Faire des ---- gris à quelqu’un, _to trouble one_, _to give anxiety to one_. Se faire des ---- blancs, _to fret_; _to feel annoyed at being made to wait a long time_. Trouver des ---- à tout, _to find fault with everything_. (Military) Passer la main dans les ----, _to cut one’s hair_.

CHEVILLARD, _m._ (popular), _butcher in a small way_.

CHEVILLES, _f._ (popular), _fried potatoes_. Termed “greasers” at the R. M. Academy.

CHÉVINETTE, _f._ (popular), _darling_.

CHÈVRE, _f._ (popular), gober sa ----, _to get angry_, _to bristle up_, “to lose one’s shirt,” “to get one’s monkey up.”

CHEVRON, _m._ (thieves’), _fresh offence against the law_. Properly _military stripe_.

CHEVRONNÉ, _m._ (thieves’), _old offender_, _an old_ “jail-bird.”

CHEVROTIN, _adj._ (popular), _irritable_, “cranky,” “touchy.”

CHIADE, _f._ (schoolboys’), _hustling_, _pushing_.

CHIALLER (thieves’), _to squall_; _to weep_.

Bon, tu chial’! ah! c’est pas palas.--=RICHEPIN.=

CHIARDER (schoolboys’), _to work_, “to sweat.”

CHIASSE, _f._ (popular), avoir la ----, _to suffer from diarrhœa_, or “jerry-go-nimble.”

CHIBIS, _m._ (thieves’), faire ----, _to escape from prison_; _to decamp_, “to guy.” See PATATROT.

J’ai fait chibis. J’avais la frousse
Des préfectanciers de Pantin.
A Pantin, mince de potin!
On y connaît ma gargarousse.

=RICHEPIN=, _Chanson des Gueux_.

CHIC, _m._ (English slang), “tzing tzing,” or “slap up.” The word has almost ceased to be slang, but we thought it would not be out of place in a work of this kind. (Familiar) Chic, _finish_; _elegance_; _dash_; _spirit_. Une femme qui a du ----, une robe qui a du ----, _a stylish woman or dress_. Cet acteur joue avec ----, _this actor plays in a spirited manner_. Ça manque de ----, _it wants dash, is commonplace_. Pourri de ----, _most elegant_, “nobby.” Chic, _knack_; _originality_; _manner_. Il a le ----, _he has the knack_. Il a un ---- tout particulier, _he has a manner quite his own_. Il a le ---- militaire, _he has a soldier-like appearance_. Peindre de ----, faire de ----, écrire de ----, _to paint or write with imaginative power, but without much regard for accuracy_.

Vous croyez peut-être que j’invente, que je brode
d’imagination et que je fais de chic cette seconde
vie.--=RICHEPIN.=

CHIC, CHIQUE, _adj._, _excellent_, “fizzing;” _dashing_, _stylish_. Un pékin ----, _well-dressed, rich man_. Un homme ----, _a man of fashion_, _a well-dressed one_, _a well-to-do man_. Un ---- homme, _a good, excellent man_.

CHICAN, _m._ (thieves’), _hammer_.

CHICANDARD. See CHICARD.

CHICANDER (popular), _to dance the “Chicard step.”_ See CHICARD.

CHICANE, _f._ (thieves’), grinchir à la ----, _stealing the purse or watch of a person while standing in front of him, but with the back turned towards him_--a feat which requires no ordinary dexterity.

CHICARD, _m._ (popular), _buffoon character of the carnival, in fashion from 1830 to 1850_. The first who impersonated it was a leather-seller, who invented a new eccentric step, considered to be exceedingly “chic;” hence probably his nickname of Chicard. His “get-up” consisted of a helmet with high plume, jackboots, a flannel frock, and large cavalry gloves. Pas ----, _step invented by M. Chicard_.

CHICARD, CHICANCARDO, CHICANDARD, _adj._, _superlative of_ “chic,” “tip-top,” “out and out,” “slap up,” “tzing tzing.”

CHICARDER, _to dance the Chicard step_. See CHICARD.

CHIC ET CONTRE, _warning which mountebanks address to one another_.

CHICHE! (popular), _an exclamation expressive of defiance_.

CHICKSTRAC, _m._ (military), _refuse_, _dung_, _excrement_. Corvée de ----, _fatigue duty for sweeping away the refuse, and especially for emptying cesspools_.

CHICMANN, _m._ (popular), _tailor_. A great many tailors in Paris bear Germanic names; hence the termination of the word.

CHICORÉE, _f._ (popular), c’est fort de ----, _it is really too bad!_ Ficher de la ----, _to reprimand_, “to give a wigging.” Faire sa ----, _is said of a person with affected or_ “high-falutin” _airs_. Ne fais donc pas ta ----, _don’t give yourself such airs_, “come off the tall grass,” as the Americans have it.

CHIÉ, _adj._ (popular), tout ----, “as like as two peas.”

CHIE-DANS-L’EAU, _m._ (military), _sailor_.

CHIEN, _m. and adj._ (popular), noyé, _sugar soaked in coffee_. (Journalists’) Un ---- perdu, _short newspaper paragraph_. (Schoolboys’) Un ---- de cour, _school usher_, or “bum brusher.” (Military) Un ---- de compagnie, _a sergeant major_. Un ---- de régiment, _adjutant_. (Familiar and popular) Le ---- du commissaire, _police magistrate’s secretary_. The commissaire is a police functionary and petty magistrate. He examines privately cases brought before him, sends prisoners for trial, or dismisses them at once, settles then and there disputes between coachmen and their fares, sometimes between husbands and wives, makes perquisitions. He possesses to a certain extent discretionary powers. Avoir du ----, _to possess dash, go_, “gameness.” Il faut avoir du ---- dans le ventre pour résister, _one must have wonderful staying powers to resist_. Avoir un ---- pour un homme, _to be infatuated with a man_. Faire le ----, _is said of a servant who follows with a basket in the wake of her mistress going to market_. Rester en ---- de faience, _to remain immovable, like a block_. Se regarder en ---- de faience, _to look at one another without uttering a word_. Piquer un ----, _to take a nap_. Dormir en ---- de fusil, _to sleep with the body doubled up_. Une coiffure à la ----, _mode of wearing the hair loose on the forehead_. (Military) Un officier ----, _a martinet_.

CHIENDENT, _m._, arracher le ----. See ARRACHER.

CHIER (popular), _coarse word_; ---- dans la vanette, _to be too free and easy_; ---- de petites crottes, _to earn little money_; _to live in poverty_; ---- des carottes, _to be costive_; ---- des chasses, _to weep_, “to nap a bib;” ---- du poivre, _to fail in keeping one’s promise_; _to abscond_; _to vanish when one’s services or help are most needed_; ---- sur l’œil, _to laugh at one_; ---- sur, _to show great contempt for_; _to abandon_. Ne pas ---- de grosses crottes, _to have had a bad dinner, or no dinner at all_. Vous me faites ----, _you bore me_. Un gueuleton à ---- partout, _a grand feast_. Une mine à ---- dessus, _a repulsive countenance_. (Printers’) Chier dans le cassetin aux apostrophes, _to cease to be a printer_.

CHIEUR, _m._ (popular), d’encre, _clerk_, or “quill-driver.”

CHIFFARDE, _f._ (thieves’), _summons_; _pipe_.

CHIFFE, _f._ (popular), _rag-picking_; _tongue_, “red rag.”

CHIFFERLINDE, _f._ (popular), boire une ----, _to drink a dram of spirits_.

CHIFFERTON, _m._ (popular), _rag-picker_, “bone-grubber,” or “tot-picker.”

CHIFFON, _m._ (popular), _handkerchief_, “snottinger;” ---- rouge, _tongue_, “red rag.” Balancer le ---- rouge, _to talk_, “to wag the red rag.”

CHIFFONNAGE, _m._ (popular), _plunder of a rag-picker_.

CHIFFONNIER, _m._ (thieves’), _pickpocket who devotes his attention to handkerchiefs_, “stook-hauler;” _man of disorderly habits_. (Literary). Chiffonnier de la double colline, _bad poet_.

CHIFFORNION, _m._ (popular), _silk handkerchief, or silk_ “wipe.”

CHIFFORTIN, _m._ (popular), _rag-picker_, “bone-grubber,” or “tot-picker.”

CHIGNARD, _m._ (popular), _inveterate grumbler_, “rusty guts.”

CHIGNER (popular), _to weep_, “to nap a bib.”

CHIMIQUE, _f._ (popular), _lucifer match_.

CHINAGE. See CHINE. Vol au ----, _selling plated trinkets for the genuine article_.

CHINCILLA (popular), _grey_, or “pepper and salt” _hair_.

CHINE. Aller à la ----, _to ply the trade of_ chineur (which see).

CHINER (military), _to slander one_; _to ridicule one_; (popular) _to work_; _to go in quest of good bargains_; _to buy furniture at sales and resell it_; _to follow the pursuit of an old clothes man_; _to hawk_; _to go about the country buying heads of hair from peasant girls_.

CHINEUR, or MARGOULIN, _m._ (thieves’), _one who goes about the country buying heads of hair of peasant girls_. (Military) Chineur, _slanderer_; (popular) _rabbit-skin man_; _marine store dealer_; _worker_; _hawker of cheap stuffs or silk handkerchiefs_.

En argot, chineur signifie travailleur, et vient du
verbe chiner.... Mais ce mot se spécialise pour désigner
particulièrement une race de travailleurs _sui generis_....

Elle campe en deux tribus à Paris. L’une habite le pâté de
maisons qui se hérisse entre la place Maubert et le petit
bras de la Seine, et notamment rue des Anglais. L’autre
niche en haut de Ménilmontant, et a donné autrefois son nom
à la rue de la Chine....

Les chineurs sont, d’ailleurs, des colons et non
des Parisiens de naissance. Chaque génération vient
ici chercher fortune, et s’en retourne ensuite au
pays.--=RICHEPIN=, _Le Pavé_.

CHINOIS, _m._ (popular), _an individual_, a “bloke,” a “cove;” _proprietor of coffee-house_; (familiar) _term of friendship_; (military) _term of contempt applied to civilians_, hence probably the expression “pékin,” _civilian_.

CHINOISERIE, _f._ (familiar), _quaint joke_; _intricate and quaint procedure or contrivance_.

CHIPE, _f._ (popular), _prigging_. From chiper, _to purloin_.

CHIPETTE, _f._ (popular), _trifle_; _nothing_; _Lesbian woman, that is, one with unnatural passions_.

CHIPIE, _f._ (familiar). Literally _girl or woman with a testy temper_, a “brim.” Faire sa ----, _to put on an air of supreme disdain or disgust_.

CHIPOTEUSE, _f._ (popular), _capricious woman_.

CHIQUANDAR. See CHICARD.

CHIQUE. See CHIC.

CHIQUE, _f._ Properly _quid of tobacco_. (Popular) Avoir sa ----, _to be in a bad humour_, “to be crusty,” or “cranky.” Avoir une ----, _to be drunk_, or “screwed.” See POMPETTE. Ça te coupe la ----, _that’s disappointing for you, that_ “cuts you up.” Coller sa ----, _to bend one’s head_. Couper la ---- à quinze pas, _to stink_. Poser sa ----, _to die_; _to be still_. Pose ta ---- et fais le mort! _be still!_ _shut up!_ _hold your row!_ (Thieves’) Chique, _church_.

CHIQUÉ (artists’), _smartly executed_. Also _said of artistic work done quickly without previously studying nature_. (Popular) Bien ----, _well dressed_.

CHIQUEMENT, _with_ chic (which see).

CHIQUER (familiar), _to do anything in a superior manner_; _to do artistic work with more brilliancy than accuracy_; (popular) _to thrash_, “to wallop,” see VOIE; _to eat_, “to grub,” see MASTIQUER. Se ----, _to fight_, “to drop into one another.”

CHIQUER CONTRE or BATTRE À NIORT (thieves’), _to deny one’s guilt_.

CHIQUEUR, _m._ (popular), _glutton_, “stodger;” (artists’) _an artist who paints with smartness, or one who draws or paints without studying nature_.

CHIRURGIEN, _m._ (popular), en vieux, _cobbler_.

CHNIC. See CHENIQUE.

CHOCAILLON, _m._ (popular), _female rag-picker_; _female drunkard_, or “lushington.”

CHOCNOSO, CHOCNOSOF, CHOCNOSOGUE, KOSCNOFF, _excellent_, _remarkable_, _brilliant_, “crushing,” “nobby,” “tip-top,” “fizzing.”

CHOCOTTE, _f._ (rag-pickers’), _marrow bone_; (thieves’) _tooth_.

CHOLÉRA, _m._ (popular), _zinc or zinc-worker_; _bad meat_.

CHOLET, _m._ (popular), _white bread of superior quality_.

CHOLETTE, _f._ (thieves’), _half a litre_. Double ----, _a litre_.

CHOPER (popular), _to steal_, “to prig.” See GRINCHIR. Old word choper, _to touch anything_, _to make it fall_. Se laisser ----, _to allow oneself to be caught_, _to be_ “nabbed.”

CHOPIN, _m._ (thieves’), _theft_; _stolen object_; _blow_. Faire un ----, _to commit a theft_.

CHOSE, _adj._ (familiar and popular), _ill at ease_; _sad_; _embarrassed_. Il prit un air ----, _he looked sad or embarrassed_. Je me sens tout ----, _I feel ill at ease_; _queer_.

CHOU! (thieves’ and cads’), _a warning cry to intimate that the police or people are coming up_. Termed also “Acresto!”

CHOUCARDE, _f._ (military), _wheelbarrow_.

CHOUCHOUTER (familiar), _to fondle_, “to firkytoodle;” _to spoil one_. From chouchou, _darling_.

CHOU COLOSSAL, _m._ (familiar), _a scheme for swindling the public by fabulous accounts of future profits_.

CHOUCROUTE, _f._ (popular), tête or mangeur de ----, _a German_.

CHOUCROUTER (popular), _to eat sauerkraut_; _to speak German_.

CHOUCROUTEUR, CHOUCROUTMANN, _m._, _German_.

CHOUETTE, CHOUETTARD, CHOUETTAUD, _adj._, _good_; _fine_; _perfect_, “chummy,” “real jam,” “true marmalade.” C’est rien ----, _that’s first-class!_ Quel ---- temps, _what splendid weather!_ Un ---- régiment, _a crack regiment_. (Disparagingly) Nous sommes ----, _we are in a fine pickle_.

CHOUETTE, _f. and adj._ (thieves’), être ----, _to be caught_. Faire une ----, _to play at billiards against two other players_.

CHOUETTEMENT (popular), _finely_; _perfectly_.

CHOUEZ (Breton), _house_; ---- doue, _church_.

CHOUFFLIC (popular), _bad workman_. In the German schuflick, _cobbler_.

CHOUFFLIQUER (popular), _to work in a clumsy manner_.

CHOUFFLIQUEUR, _m._ (popular), _bad workman_; (military) _shoemaker_, “snob.”

CHOUFRETEZ (Breton), _lucifer matches_.

CHOUIA (military), _gently_. From the Arabic.

CHOUIL (Breton), _work_; _insect_.

CHOUILA (Breton cant), _to work_; _to beget many children_.

CHOUISTA (Breton), _to work with a will_.

CHOUMAQUE (popular), _shoemaker_. From the German.

CHOURIN, for SURIN (thieves’), _knife_, “chive.”

Si j’ai pas l’rond, mon surin bouge.
Moi, c’est dans le sang qu’ j’aurais truqué.
Mais quand on fait suer, pomaqué!
Mieux vaut bouffer du blanc qu’ du rouge.

=RICHEPIN=, _Chanson des Gueux_.

CHOURINER, for SURINER (thieves’), _to knife_, “to chive.”

CHOURINEUR, _m._, for SURINEUR (thieves’), _one who uses the knife_; _knacker_. “Le Chourineur” is one of the characters of Eugène Sue’s _Mystères de Paris_.

C’HOUSA (Breton), _to eat_.

C’HOUSACH (Breton), _food_.

CHRÉTIEN, _adj._ (popular), _mixed with water_, “baptized.”

CHRÉTIEN, _m._ (popular), viande de ----, _human flesh_.

CHRYSALIDE, _f._ (popular), _old coquette_.

CHTIBES, _f. pl._ (popular), _boots_, “hock-dockies.”

CHYBRE, _m._ (popular), see FLAGEOLET; (artists’) _member of the Institut de France_.

CHYLE, _m._ (familiar), se refaire le ----, _to have a good meal_, a “tightener.”

CIBICHE, _f._ (popular), _cigarette_.

CIBLE, _f._ (popular), à coups de pieds, _breech_. See VASISTAS.

CIBOULE, _f._ (popular), _head_, or “block.” See TRONCHE.

CIDRE ÉLÉGANT, _m._ (familiar), _champagne_, “fiz,” or “boy.”

CIEL, _m._ (fishermens’), le ---- plumant ses poules, _clouds_.

Les nuages, c’était le ciel plumant ses poules,
Et la foudre en éclats, Michel cassant ses œufs.
Il appelait le vent du sud cornemuseux,
Celui du nord cornard, de l’ouest brise à grenouille,
Celui de suroit l’brouf, celui de terre andouille.

=RICHEPIN=, _La Mer_.

CIERGE, _m._ (thieves’), _police officer_, or “reeler.” For synonyms see POT-À-TABAC.

CIG, _m._, CIGALE, or SIGUE, _f._ (thieves’), _gold coin_, or “yellow boy.”

CIGALE, _f._ (popular), _female street singer_. Properly _grasshopper_; also _cigar_.

CIGOGNE, _f._ (thieves’), _the “Préfecture de Police” in Paris_; _the Palais de Justice_; _court of justice_. Le dab de la ----, _the public prosecutor_; _the prefect of police_.

Je monte à la cigogne.
On me gerbe à la grotte,
Au tap, et pour douze ans.

=VIDOCQ.=

CIGUE, _f._ (thieves’), abbreviation of cigale, _twenty-franc piece_.

CIMAISE (painters’), faire sa ---- sur quelqu’un, _to show up one’s own good qualities, whether real or imaginary, at the expense of another’s failings_, in other words, _to preach for one’s own chapel_.

CIMENT, _m._ (freemasons’), _mustard_.

CINGLER (thieves’), se ---- le blair, _to get drunk_, or “canon.”

CINQ-À-SEPT, _m._, _a kind of tea party from five o’clock to seven in the fashionable world_.

CINQ-CENTIMADAS, _m._ (ironical), _one-sou cigar_.

CINTIÈME, _m._ (popular), _high cap generally worn by women’s bullies_, or “pensioners.”

CINTRER (popular), _to hold_; (thieves’) ---- en pogne, _to seize hold of_; _to apprehend_, or “to smug.” See PIPER.

CIPAL, _m._ (popular), abbreviation of garde-municipal. The “garde municipale” is a picked body of old soldiers who furnish guards and perform police functions at theatres, official ceremonies, police courts, &c. It consists of infantry and cavalry, and is in the pay of the Paris municipal authorities, most of the men having been non-commissioned officers in the army.

CIRAGE, _m._ (popular), _praise_, “soft sawder,” “butter.”

CIRE, _f._, voleur à la ----, _rogue who steals a silver fork or spoon at a restaurant, and makes it adhere under the table by means of a piece of soft wax_. When charged with the theft, he puts on an air of injured innocence, and asks to be searched; then leaves with ample apologies from the master of the restaurant. Soon after a confederate enters, taking his friend’s former seat at the table, and pocketing the booty.

CIRÉ, _m._ (popular), _negro_. From cirer, _to black shoes_. Termed also “boîte à cirage, bamboula, boule de neige, bille de pot au feu.”

CIRER (popular), _to praise_; _to flatter_, “to butter.”

CIREUX, _m._ (popular), _one with inflamed eyelids_.

CISEAUX, _m. pl._ (literary), travailler à coups de ----, _to compile_.

CITÉ, _f._ (popular), d’amour, _gay girl_, “bed-fagot.”

Je l’ai traitée comme elle le méritait. Je l’ai
appelée feignante, cité d’amour, chenille, machine à
plaisir.--=MACÉ.=

CITRON, _m._ (theatrical), _squeaky note_; (thieves’ and cads’) _the head_, “nut,” or “chump.” Termed also “tronche, sorbonne, poire, cafetière, trognon, citrouille.”

CITROUILLE, _f._, CITROUILLARD, _m._ (military), _dragoon_; (thieves’) _head_, “nut,” or “tibby.”

CIVADE, _f._ (thieves’), _oats_.

CIVARD, _m._ (popular), _pasture_.

CIVE, _f._ (popular), _grass_.

CLAIRS, _m. pl._ (thieves’), _eyes_, or “glaziers.” See MIRETTES. Souffler ses ----, _to sleep_, to “doss,” or to have a “dose of the balmy.”

CLAIRTÉ, _f._ (popular), _light_; _beauty_.

CLAMPINER (popular), _to idle about_; _to lounge about lazily_, “to mike.”

CLAPOTER (popular), _to eat_, “to grub.” See MASTIQUER.

CLAQUÉ, _m. and adj._ (popular), _dead_, _dead man_. La boîte aux claqués, _the Morgue, or Paris dead-house_. Le jardin des claqués, _the cemetery_.

CLAQUEBOSSE, _m._ (popular), _house of ill-fame_, or “nanny-shop.”

CLAQUEDENTS, _m._ (popular), _house of ill-fame_, “nanny-shop;” _gaming-house_, or “punting-shop;” _low eating-house_.

CLAQUEFAIM, _m._ (popular), _starving man_.

CLAQUEPATINS, _m._ (popular), _miserable slipshod person_.

Venez à moi, claquepatins,
Loqueteux, joueurs de musette,
Clampins, loupeurs, voyous, catins.

=RICHEPIN.=

The early French poet Villon uses the word “cliquepatin” with the same signification.

CLAQUER (familiar), _to die_, “to croak;” _to eat_; _to sell_; ---- ses meubles, _to sell one’s furniture_; ---- du bec, _to be very hungry without any means of satisfying one’s craving for food_.

CLAQUES, _f. pl._ (familiar and popular), une figure à ----, _face with an impudent expression that invites punishment_.

CLARINETTE, _f._ (military), de cinq pieds, _musket, formerly_ “Brown Bess.”

CLASSE, _f._ (popular), un ---- dirigeant, _said ironically of one of the upper classes_.

CLAVIN, _m._ (thieves’), _nail_; _grapes_.

CLAVINE, _f._ (thieves’), _vine_.

CLAVINER (thieves’), _to nail_; _to gather grapes_.

CLAVINEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _vine-dresser_.

CLAVINIER, _m._ (thieves’), _nail-maker_.

CLEF, _f._ (familiar), à la ----. See A LA. Perdre sa ----, _to suffer from colic_, or “botts.” (Military) La ---- du champ de manœuvre, _imaginary object which recruits are requested by practical jokers to go and ask of the sergeant_.

CLIABEAU, _m._, expression used by the prisoners of Saint-Lazare, _doctor_.

CLICHE, _f._ (popular), _diarrhœa_, or “jerry-go-nimble.”

CLICHÉ, _m._ (familiar), _commonplace sentence ready made_; _commonplace metaphor_; _well-worn platitude_. (Printers’) Tirer son ----, _to be always repeating the same thing_.

CLIENT, _m._ (thieves’), _victim, or intended victim_.

CLIGNER (military), des œillets, _to squint_, _to be_ “boss-eyed.”

CLIGNOTS, _m. pl._ (popular), _eyes_, “peepers.” Baver des ----, _to weep_, “to nap a bib.” See MIRETTES.

CLIPET, _m._ (thieves’), _voice_.

CLIQUE, _f._ (popular), _scamp_, or “bad egg;” _diarrhœa_, or “jerry-go-nimble.” (Military) La ----, _the squad of drummers and buglers_.

Exempts de service, ils exercent généralement une
profession quelconque (barbier, tailleur, ajusteur de
guêtres, etc.) qui leur rapporte quelques bénéfices. Ayant
ainsi plus de temps et plus d’argent à dépenser que leurs
camarades, ils ont une réputation, assez bien justifiée
d’ailleurs, de bambocheurs; de là, ce nom de clique qu’on
leur donne.--_La Langue Verte du Troupier._

CLIQUETTES, _f. pl._ (popular), _ears_, or “wattles.”

CLODOCHE, _m._ (familiar), _description of professional comic dancer with extraordinarily supple legs, such as the Girards brothers, of Alhambra celebrity_.

CLOPORTE, _m._ (familiar), _door-keeper_. Properly _woodlouse_. A pun on the words clôt porte.

CLOU, _m._ (military), _guard-room_; _cells_, “jigger;” _bayonet_. Coller au ----, _to imprison_, “to roost.” (Popular) Clou, _bad workman_; _pawnshop_. Mettre au ----, _to pawn_, _to put_ “in lug.” Clou de girofle, _decayed black tooth_. (Theatrical and literary) Le ---- d’une pièce, d’un roman, _the chief point of interest in a play or novel_, literally _a nail on which the whole fabric hangs_.

CLOUER (popular), _to imprison_, “to run in;” _to pawn_, “to blue, to spout, to lumber.”

CLOUS, _m. pl._ (popular), _tools_. (Printers’) Petits ----, _type_. Lever les petits ----, _to compose_. (Military) Clous, _foot-soldiers_, or “mud-crushers.”

COAGULER (familiar), se ----, _to get drunk_. See SCULPTER.

CÔBIER, _m._, _heap of salt in salt-marshes_.

COCANGES, _f. pl._ (thieves’), _walnut-shells_. Jeu de ----, _game of swindlers at fairs_.

COCANGEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _swindler_. See COCANGES.

COCANTIN, _m._ (popular), _business agent acting as a medium between a debtor and a creditor_.

COCARDE, _f._ (popular), _head_. Avoir sa ----, _to be tipsy_. Taper sur la ----, _is said of wine which gets into the head_.

Ma joie et surtout l’petit bleu
Ça m’a tapé sur la cocarde!

_Parisian Song._

COCARDER (popular), se ----, _to get tipsy_. See SCULPTER.

Tout se passait très gentiment, on était gai, il ne fallait
pas maintenant se cocarder cochonnement, si l’on voulait
respecter les dames.--=ZOLA=, _L’Assommoir_.

COCARDIER, _m._ (military), _military man passionately fond of his profession_.

COCASSERIE, _f._ (familiar), _strange or grotesque saying, writing, or deed_.

COCHE, _f._ (popular), _fat, red-faced woman_.

COCHON, _m._ (popular), de bonheur! (ironical) _no luck!_ Ça n’est pas trop ----, _that’s not so bad_. C’est pas ---- du tout, _that’s very nice_. Mon pauvre ----, je ne te dis que ça! _my poor fellow, you are in for it!_ Etre ----, _to be lewd_. Se conduire comme un ----, _to behave in a mean, despicable way_. Soigner son ----, _is said of one who lives too well_. Un costume ----, _a suggestive dress_.

COCHONNE, _f._ (popular), _lewd girl_. (Ironically) Elle n’est pas jolie, mais elle est si cochonne!

COCHONNEMENT, _adv._ (popular), _in a disgusting manner_.

COCHONNERIE, _f._ (popular), _any article of food having pork for a basis_.

COCHONNERIES, _f. pl._ (popular), _indecent talk or actions_.

COCO, _m._ (military), _horse_. La botte à ----, _trumpet call for stables_, (literally) La botte de foin à coco. (Popular) Coco, _brandy_; _head_. See TRONCHE. Avoir le ---- déplumé, _to be bald, or to have a_ “bladder of lard.” For synonymous expressions, see AVOIR. Avoir le ---- fêlé, _to be cracked_, “to be a little bit balmy in one’s crumpet.” For synonyms see AVOIR. Colle-toi ça dans le ----, or passe-toi ça par le ----, _eat that or drink that_. Dévisser le ----, _to strangle_. Monter le ----, _to excite_. Se monter le ----, _to get excited_; _to be too sanguine_. Il a graissé la patte à ----, _is said of a man who has bungled over some affair_. (Familiar) Coco épileptique, _champagne wine_, “fiz,” or “boy.”

COCODÈTE, _f._ (familiar), _stylish woman always dressed according to the latest fashion_, a “dasher.”

COCONS, _m. pl._, stands for co-conscrits, _first-term students at the Ecole Polytechnique_.

COCOTTE, _f._ (popular), _term of endearment to horses_. Allons, hue ----! _pull up, my beauty!_ (Familiar and popular) Cocotte, _a more than fast girl or woman_, a “pretty horse-breaker,” see GADOUE; (theatrical) _addition made by singers to an original theme_.

COCOTTERIE, _f._ (familiar), _the world of the cocottes_. See COCOTTE.

COCOVIEILLES, _f. pl._, _name given by fashionable young ladies of the aristocracy to their old-fashioned elders, who return the compliment by dubbing them_ “cocosottes.”

COCUFIEUR, _m._ (popular), _one who cuckoos, that is, one who lays himself open to being called to account by an injured husband as the co-respondent in the divorce court_.

COENNE, or COUENNE, _f._ (thieves’), de lard, _brush_. (Familiar and popular) Couenne, _stupid man_, _dunce_.

COËRE, _m._ (thieves’), le grand ----, _formerly the king of rogues_.

CŒUR, _m._ (popular), jeter du ---- sur le carreau, _to vomit_. A pun on the words “hearts” and “diamonds” of cards on the one hand, avoir mal au ----, _to feel sick_, and “carreau,” _flooring_, on the other. Valet de ----, _lover_.

CŒUR D’ARTICHAUT, _m._ (popular), _man or woman with an inflammable heart_.

Paillasson, quoi! cœur d’artichaut,
C’est mon genre; un’ feuille pour tout l’monde,
Au jour d’aujourd’hui j’gobe la blonde;
Après d’main, c’est la brun’ qu’i m’faut.

=GILL=, _La Muse à Bibi_.

COFFIER (thieves’), abbreviation of escoffier, _to kill_, “to cook one’s gruel.”

COFFIN, _m._, _peculiar kind of desk at the Ecole Polytechnique_. From the inventor’s name, General Coffinières.

COGNAC, _m._ (thieves’), _gendarme or police officer_, “crusher,” “copper,” or “reeler.” See POT-À-TABAC.

COGNADE, _f._, or COGNE (thieves’), _gendarmerie_.

COGNARD, _m._, or COGNE, _gendarme and gendarmerie_; _police officer_, “copper.”

COGNE, _m. and f._ (thieves’), la ----, _the police_. Un ----, _a police officer_, or “reeler.” See POT-À-TABAC. Also _brandy_. Un noir de trois ronds sans ----, _a three-halfpenny cup of coffee without brandy_.

COIFFER (popular), _to slap_; _to deceive one’s husband_. Se ---- de quelqu’un, _to take a fancy to one_.

COIN, _m._ (popular), c’est un ---- sans i, _he is a fool_.

COIRE (thieves’), _farm_; _chief_.

Je rencontrai des camarades qui avaient aussi fait leur
temps ou cassé leur ficelle. Leur coire me proposa
d’être des leurs, on faisait la grande soulasse sur le
trimar.--=V. HUGO.=

COL, _m._ (familiar), cassé, _dandy_, or “masher.” Se pousser du ----, _to assume an air of self-importance or conceit_, “to look gumptious;” _to praise oneself up_. An allusion to the motion of one’s hand under the chin when about to make an important statement.

COLAS, COLABRE, or COLIN, _m._ (thieves’), _neck_, or “scrag.” Faire suer le ----, _to strangle_. Rafraîchir le ----, _to guillotine_. Rafraîchir means _to trim_ in the expression, “Rafraîchir les cheveux.”

COLBACK, _m._ (military), _raw recruit_, or “Johnny raw.” An allusion to his unkempt hair, similar to a busby or bearskin cap.

COLIN. See COLAS.

COLLABO, _m._ (literary), abbreviation of collaborateur.

COLLAGE, _m._ (familiar), _living as husband and wife in an unmarried state_.

L’une après l’autre--en camarade--
C’est rupin, mais l’ collage, bon Dieu!
Toujours la mêm’ chauffeus’ de pieu!
M’en parlez pas! Ça m’rend malade.

=GILL=, _La Muse à Bibi_.

Un ---- d’argent, _the action of a woman who lives with a man as his wife from mercenary motives_.

C’était selon la manie de ce corrupteur de mineures,
le sceau avec lequel il cimentait ce que Madame
Cornette appelait, en terme du métier, ses collages
d’argent!--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._

COLLANT, _m._ (familiar), _is said of one not easily got rid of_; (military) _drawers_.

COLLARDE, _m._ (thieves’), _prisoner_, _one_ “doing time.”

COLLE, _f._ (students’), _weekly or other periodical oral examinations to prepare for a final examination, or to make up the marks which pass one at the end of the year_.

COLLÈGE, _m._ (thieves’), _prison_, or “stir.” See MOTTE. Un ami de ----, _a prison chum_. Les collèges de Pantin, _the Paris prisons_.

COLLÉGIEN, _m._ (thieves’), _prisoner_.

COLLER (students’), _to stop one’s leave_; _to orally examine at periodical examinations_. Se faire ----, _to get plucked or_ “ploughed” _at an examination_. (Popular) Coller, _to place_; _to put_; _to give_; _to throw_; ---- au bloc, _to imprison_, “to run in;” ---- des châtaignes, _to thrash_, “to wallop.” See VOIE. Se ---- dans le pieu, _to go to bed_. Se ---- une biture, _to get drunk_, or “screwed.” See SCULPTER. Colle-toi là, _place yourself there_. Colle-toi ça dans le fusil, _eat or drink that_. Colle-toi ça dans la coloquinte, _bear that in mind_. (Military) Coller au bloc, _to send to the guard-room_. Collez-moi ce clampin-là au bloc, _take that lazy bones to the guard-room_. (Familiar and popular) Se ----, _to live as man and wife, to live_ “a tally.” Se faire ----, _to be nonplussed_. S’en ---- par le bec, _to eat to excess_, “to scorf.” S’en ---- pour, _to go to the expense of_. Je m’en suis collé pour dix francs, _I spent ten francs over it_.

COLLETINER (thieves’), _to collar_, _to apprehend_, “to smug.” See PIPER.

COLLEUR, _m._ (students’), _professor whose functions are to orally examine at certain periods students at private or public establishments; man who gets quickly intimate_ or “thick” _with one, who_ “cottons on to one.”

COLLIER, or COULANT, _m._ (thieves’), _cravat_, or “neckinger.”

COLLIGNON, _m._ (popular), _cabby_. An allusion to a coachman of that name who murdered his fare. The cry, “Ohé, Collignon!” is about the worst insult one can offer a Paris coachman, and he is not slow to resent it.

COLOMBE, _f._ (players’), _queen of cards_.

COLOMBÉ, _adj._ (thieves’), _known_.

COLON, _m._ (soldiers’), _colonel_. Petit ----, _lieutenant-colonel_.

COLONNE, _f._ (military), chapeau en ----, see BATAILLE. (Popular) N’avoir pas chié la ----, _to be devoid of any talent_, _not to be able to set the Thames on fire_. Démolir la ----, _to void urine_, “to lag.”

COLOQUINTE, _f._ (popular and thieves’), _head_. Avoir une araignée dans la ----, _to be cracked_, or “to have a bee in one’s bonnet.” Charlot va jouer à la boule avec ta ----, _Jack Ketch will play skittles with your canister_.

COLTIGER (thieves’), _to arrest_; _to seize_, to “smug.”

C’est dans la rue du Mail
Où j’ai été coltigé
Par trois coquins de railles.

=V. HUGO=, _Le Dernier Jour d’un Condamné_.

COLTIN, _m._ (popular), _strength_. Properly _shoulder-strap_.

COLTINER (popular), _to ply the trade of a porter_; _to draw a hand-cart by means of a shoulder-strap_.

COLTINEUR, _m._ (popular), _man who draws a hand-cart with a shoulder-strap_.

COLTINEUSE (popular), _female who does rough work_.

COMBERGE, COMBERGEANTE, _f._ (thieves’), _confession_.

COMBERGER (thieves’), _to reckon up_; _to confess_.

COMBERGO (thieves’), _confessional_.

COMBLANCE, _f._ (thieves’), par ----, _into the bargain_.

J’ai fait par comblance
Gironde larguecapé.

=VIDOCQ.=

COMBLE, COMBRE, COMBRIAU, COMBRIEU, _m._ (thieves’), _hat_, “tile.” See TUBARD.

COMBRIE, _f._ (thieves’), _one-franc piece_.

COMBRIER, _m._ (thieves’), _hat-maker_.

COMBRIEU. See COMBLE.

COMBROUSIER, _m._ (thieves’), _peasant_, or “clod.”

COMBUSTIBLE, _m._ (popular), du ----! _exclamation used to urge one on, On! go it!_

COME, _m._ (thieves’), _formerly a guard on board the galleys_.

COMÉDIE, _f._ (popular), envoyer à la ----, _to dismiss a workman for want of work to give him_. Etre à la ----, _to be out of work_, “out of collar.”

COMESTAUX, _m. pl._ (popular), for comestibles, _articles of food_, “toke.”

COMÈTE, _f._ (popular), _vagrant_, _tramp_. Filer la ----, or la sorgue, _to sleep in the open air_, or “to skipper it.”

COMIQUES, _m. pl._ (theatrical), jouer les ---- habillés, _to represent a comic character in modern costume_.

COMMANDER (thieves’), à cuire, _to send to the scaffold_.

COMMANDITE, _f._ (printers’), _association of workmen who join together for the performance of any work_.

COMME IF (popular), ironical for comme il faut, _genteel._ T’as rien l’air ----! _What a swell you look, oh crikey!_

COMMISSAIRE, _m._ (popular), _pint or pitcher of wine_. An allusion to the black robe which police magistrates wore formerly. Le cabot du ----, _the police magistrate’s secretary_. See CHIEN.

COMMODE, _f._ (thieves’), _chimney_. (Popular) Une ---- à deux ressorts, _a vehicle_, or “trap.”

COMMUNARD or COMMUNEUX, _m._, _one of the insurgents of 1871_.

COMMUNIQUÉ, _m._ (familiar), _official communication to newspapers_.

COMP. See CAN.

COMPAS, _m._ (popular), ouvrir le ----, _to walk_. Allonger le ----, _to walk briskly_. Fermer le ----, _to stop walking_.

COMPLET, _adj._ (popular), être ----, _to be quite drunk_, or “slewed.” (Familiar) Etre ----, _to be perfectly ridiculous_.

COMPRENDRE (thieves’), la ----, _to steal_, “to claim.” See GRINCHIR.

COMPTE (popular), avoir son ----, _to be tipsy_, or “screwed;” _to die_, “to snuff it.” Son ---- est bon, _he is in for it_.

COMPTER (musicians’), des payses, _to sleep_; (popular) ---- ses chemises, _to vomit_, “to cast up accounts.”

COMTE, _m._ (thieves’), de caruche, or de canton, _jailor_, or “jigger dubber;” ---- de castu, _hospital superintendent_; ---- de gigot-fin, _one who likes to live well_.

COMTOIS, _adj._ (thieves’), battre ----, _to dissemble_; _to play the fool_.

CONASSE, or CONNASSE, _f._ (prostitutes’), _a stupid or modest woman_.

Elles vantent leur savoir-faire, elles reprochent
à leurs camarades leur impéritie,
et leur donnent le nom de conasse, expression
par laquelle elles désignent ordinairement
une femme honnête.--=PARENT-DUCHATELET=,
_De la Prostitution_.

CONDÉ, _m._ (thieves’), _mayor_; demi ----, _alderman_; grand ----, _prefect_; ---- franc, _corrupt magistrate_.

CONDICE, _f._ (thieves’), _cage in which convicts are confined on their passage to the convict settlements_.

CONDITION, _f._ (thieves’), _house_, “diggings,” or “hangs out.” Faire une ----, _to break into a house_, “to crack a crib.” Filer une ----, _to watch a house in view of an intended burglary_. (Popular) Acheter une ----, _to lead a new mode of life_, _to turn over a new leaf_.

CONDUITE, _f._ (popular), faire la ----, _to drive away and thrash_. Faire la ---- de Grenoble, _to put one out of doors_.

CONE, _f._ (thieves’), _death_.

CONFIRMER (popular), _to box one’s ears_, “to warm the wax of one’s ears.”

CONFITURE, _f._ (popular), _excrement_.

CONFITURIER, _m._ (popular), _scavenger_, “rake-kennel.”

CONFORTABLE, _m._ (popular), _glass of beer_.

CONFRÈRE, _m._ (popular), de la lune, _injured husband_.

CONI, _adj._ (thieves’), _dead_.

CONILLER (popular), _to seek to escape_. Conil, _rabbit_.

CONIR (thieves’), _to conceal_; _to kill_; “to cook one’s gruel.” See REFROIDIR.

CONNAIS (popular), je la ----, _no news for me_; _do you see any green in my eye?_ _you don’t take an old bird with chaff_.

CONNAISSANCE, _f._ (popular), ma ----, _my mistress_, _or sweetheart_, _my_ “young woman.”

CONNAÎTRE (popular), le journal, _to be well informed_; _to know beforehand the menu of a dinner_; ---- le numéro, _to possess experience_; ---- le numéro de quelqu’un, _to be acquainted with one’s secrets, one’s habits_. La ---- dans les coins, _to be knowing_, _to know what’s o’clock_. An allusion to a horse clever at turning the corners in the riding school.

Regardez-le partir, le gavroche qui la connaît dans les coins.--=RICHEPIN.=

CONNERIE, _f._ (popular), _foolish action or thing_. From an obscene word which has the slang signification of _fool_.

CONOBLER (thieves’), _to recognize_.

CONOBRER (thieves’), _to know_.

CONSCIENCE, _f._ (printers’), homme de ----, _typographer paid by the day or by the hour_.

CONSCRAR, CONSCRIT, _m._, _first-term student at the “Ecole Normale,” a higher training-school for university professors_.

CONSERVATOIRE, _m._ (popular), _pawnshop_. Elève du ---- de la Villette, _wretched singer_. La Villette is the reverse of a fashionable quarter.

CONSERVES, _f._ (theatrical), _old plays_. Also _fragments of human flesh which have been thrown into the sewers or river by murderers, and which, when found, are taken to the “Morgue,” or Paris dead-house_.

Je viens de préparer pour lui les conserves
(les morceaux de chair humaine),
l’os de l’égout Jacob et la cuisse des Saints-Pères
(l’os retrouvé dans l’égout de la Rue
Jacob et la cuisse repêchée au pont des
Saints-Pères).--=MACÉ=, _Mon Premier
Crime_.

CONSIGNE, _f._ (military), à gros grains, _imprisonment in the cells_.

CONSOLATION, _f._ (popular), _brandy_; _swindling game played by card-sharpers, by means of a green cloth chalked into small numbered spaces, and dice_.

CONSOLE, _f._ (thieves’), _game played by card-sharpers or_ “broadsmen” _at races and fairs_.

CONSOLER (popular), son café, _to add brandy to one’s coffee_.

CONTER (military). Conte cela au perruquier des Zouaves, _I do not believe you_, “tell that to the Marines.” Le perruquier des Zouaves is an imaginary individual.

CONTRE, _m._ (popular), _playing for drink at a café_.

CONTRE-ALLUMEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _spy employed by thieves to baffle the police spies_.

CONTREBASSE, _f._ (popular), _breech_. Sauter sur la ----, _to kick one’s behind_, “to toe one’s bum,” “to root,” or “to land a kick.”

CONTRE-COUP, _m._ (popular), de la boîte, _foreman_, or “boss.”

CONTREFICHER (popular), s’en ----, _to care not a straw, not a_ “hang.”

CONTRE-MARQUE, _f._ (popular), du Père-Lachaise, _St. Helena medal_. Those who wear the medal are old, and le Père-Lachaise is a cemetery in Paris.

CONTRÔLE, _m._ (thieves’), _formerly the mark on the shoulder of convicts who had been branded_.

CONTRÔLER (popular), _to kick one in the face_.

CONVALESCENCE, _f._ (thieves’), _surveillance of the police on the movements of ticket-of-leave men_.

COP, _f._ (printers’), for “copie,” _manuscript_.

COPAILLE, _f._ (cads’), _Sodomist_. Termed also “tante, coquine.”

COPE, _f._ (popular), _overcharge for an article_; _action of_ “shaving a customer.” The _Slang Dictionary_ says that in England, when the master sees an opportunity of doing this, he strokes his chin as a signal to his assistant who is serving the customer.

COPEAU, _m._ (popular), _artisan in woodwork_ (properly copeaux, _shavings_); _spittle_, or “gob.” Arracher son ----. See ARRACHER. Lever son ----, _to talk_, “to jaw.”

COPEAUX, _m. pl._ (thieves’), _housebreaking_, “screwing or cracking a crib.” An allusion to the splinters resulting from breaking a door.

COPIE, _f._ (printers’), de chapelle, _copy of a work given as a present to the typographers_. (Figuratively) Faire de la ----, _to backbite_. Pisser de la ----, _to be a prolific writer_. Pisseur de ----, _a prolific writer_; _one who writes lengthy, diffuse newspaper articles_.

COQUAGE, _m._ (thieves’), _informing against one_, or “blowing the gaff.”

COQUARD, _m._ (thieves’), _eye_, or “glazier.” S’en tamponner le ----, _not to care a fig_. See MIRETTE.

COQUARDEAU, _m._ (popular), _henpecked husband_, or “stangey;” _man easily duped_, or “gulpy.”

COQUER (thieves’), _to watch one’s movements_; _to inform against one_, “to blow the gaff.”

Quand on en aura refroidi quatre ou
cinq dans les préaux les autres tourneront
leur langue deux fois avant de coquer la
pègre.--=E. SUE.=

Also _to give_; _to put_; ---- la camoufle, _to hand the candle_, “to dub the glim;” ---- la loffitude, _to give absolution_; ---- le poivre, _to poison_, “hocus;” ---- le taf, _to frighten_; ---- le rifle, _to set fire to_.

COQUEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _informer who warns the police of intended thefts_. He may be at liberty or in prison; in the latter case he goes by the appellation of “coqueur mouton” or “musicien.” The “mouton” variety is an inmate of a prison and informs against his fellow-prisoners; the “musicien” betrays his accomplices. Coqueur de bille, _man who furnishes funds_.

COQUEUSE, _female variety of the_ “coqueur.”

COQUILLARD (popular), _eye_. S’en tamponner le ----, _not to care a straw_, “not to care a hang.”

COQUILLARDS, _m. pl._ (tramps’), _tramps who in olden times pretended to be pilgrims_.

Coquillards sont les pélerins de Saint-Jacques,
la plus grande partie sont véritables
et en viennent; mais il y en a aussi
qui truchent sur le coquillard.--_Le Jargon
de l’Argot._

COQUILLON, _m._ (popular), _louse_; _pilgrim_.

COQUIN, _m._ (thieves’), _informer_, “nark,” or “nose.”

COQUINE, _f._ (cads’), _Sodomist_.

CORBEAU, _m._ (popular), _lay brother of_ “la doctrine chrétienne,” _usually styled_ “frères ignorantins.” The brotherhood had formerly charge of the ragged schools, and were conspicuous by their gross ignorance; _priest_, or “devil dodger;” _undertaker’s man_.

CORBEILLE, _f._ (familiar), _enclosure or ring at the Bourse where official stockbrokers transact business_.

CORBILLARD, _m._ (popular), à deux roues, _dismal man_, or “croaker;” ---- à nœuds, _dirty and dissolute woman_, or “draggle-tail;” ---- des loucherbem, _cart which collects tainted meat at butcher’s stalls_. Loucherbem is equivalent to boucher.

Voici passer au galop le corbillard des
loucherbem, l’immonde voiture qui vient
ramasser dans les boucheries la viande
gâtée.--=RICHEPIN=, _Le Pavé_.

CORBUCHE, _f._ (thieves’), _ulcer_; ---- lophe, _false ulcer_.

CORDE, _f._ (literary), avoir la ----, _to find true expression for accurately describing sentiments or passions_. (Popular) Dormir à la ----, _is said of poor people who sleep in certain lodgings with their heads on an outstretched rope as a pillow_. This corresponds to the English “twopenny rope.”

CORDER (popular), _to agree_, _to get on_ “swimmingly” _together_.

CORDON, _m._ (popular), s’il vous plaît! or donnez-vous la peine d’entrer! _large knot worn in the rear of ladies’ dresses_.

CORDONNIER, _m._ (popular), bec-figue de ----, _goose_.

CORNAGE, _m._ (thieves’), _bad smell_.

CORNANT, _m._, CORNANTE, _f._ (thieves’ and tramps’), _ox and cow_, or “mooer.”

CORNARD, _m._ (students’), faire ----, _to hold a council in a corner_.

CORNE, _f._ (popular), _stomach_.

CORNEMUSEUX, _m._ (codfishers’), _the south wind_.

CORNER (thieves’), _to breathe heavily_; _to stink_. La crie corne, _the meat smells_.

CORNET, _m._ (popular), _throat_, “gutter-lane.” Colle-toi ça dans l’----, _swallow that!_ N’avoir rien dans le ----, _to be fasting_, “to be bandied,” “to cry cupboard.” Cornet d’épices, _Capuchin_.

Il se voulut convertir; il bia trouver un
chenâtre cornet d’épice, et rouscailla à
sézière qu’il voulait quitter la religion prétendue
pour attrimer la catholique.--_Le
Jargon de l’Argot._

CORNICHE, _f._ (popular), _hat_, or “tile,” see TUBARD; (students’) _the military school of Saint-Cyr_.

CORNICHERIE, _f._ (popular), _nonsense_; _foolish action_.

CORNICHON, _m._ (students’), _candidate preparing for the Ecole Militaire de Saint-Cyr_. Literally _greenhorn_.

CORNIÈRE, _f._ (thieves’), _cow-shed_.

CORNIFICETUR, _m._ (popular), _injured husband_.

CORPS DE POMPE, _m._, _staff of the Saint-Cyr school, and that of the school of cavalry of Saumur_. Saint-Cyr is the French Sandhurst. Saumur is a training-school where the best riders and most vicious horses in the French army are sent.

CORRECTEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _prisoner who plays the spy_, or “nark.”

CORRESPONDANCE, _f._ (popular), _a snack taken at a wine-shop while waiting for an omnibus “correspondance.”_

CORRIDOR, _m._ (familiar), _throat_. Se rincer le ----, _to drink_, “to wet one’s whistle.” See RINCER.

CORSÉ, _adj._ (common), properly _is said of wine with full body_. Un repas ----, _a plentiful meal_, or a “tightener.”

CORSERIE, _f._ (familiar), _a set of Corsican detectives in the service of Napoleon III_. According to Monsieur Claude, formerly head of the detective force under the Empire, the chief members of this secret bodyguard were Alessandri and Griscelli. Claude mentions in his memoirs the murder of a detective who had formed a plot for the assassination of Napoleon in a mysterious house at Auteuil, where the emperor met his mistresses, and to which he often used to repair disguised as a lacquey, and riding behind his own carriage. Griscelli stabbed his fellow-detective in the back on mere suspicion, and found on the body of the dead man papers which gave evidence of the plot. In reference to the mysterious house, Monsieur Claude says:--

L’empereur s’enflamma si bien pour cette
nouvelle Ninon que l’impératrice en prit
ombrage. La duchesse alors .... loua
ma petite maison d’Auteuil que le général
Fleury avait choisie pour servir de rendez-vous
clandestin aux amours de son maître.--_Mémoires
de Monsieur Claude._

CORSET, _m._ (popular), pas de ----! _sweet sixteen!_

CORVÉE, _f._ (prostitutes’), aller à la ----, _to walk the street_, une ---- being literally _an arduous, disagreeable work_.

CORVETTE, _f._ (thieves’), _a kind of low, rascally Alexis_.

Formosum pastor Corydon ardebat Alexin,
Delicias domini.....

COSAQUE, _m._ (familiar), _stove_.

COSSER (thieves’), _to take_; ---- la hane, _to take a purse_, “to buz a skin.”

COSTEL, _m._ (popular), _prostitute’s bully_, “ponce.” See POISSON.

COSTUME, _m._ (theatrical), faire un ----, _to applaud an actor directly he makes his appearance on the stage_.

COTE, _f._ (lawyers’), _stolen goods or money_; (sporting) _the betting_. Frère de la ----, _stockbroker’s clerk_. Play on CÔTE, which see. La ---- G., _purloining of articles of small value by notaries’ clerks when making an inventory_. Literally, la cote j’ai.

CÔTE, _f._ (thieves’), de bœuf, _sword_. Frère de la ----, see BANDE NOIRE. (Familiar) Etre à la ----, _to be in needy circumstances_, “hard up.” (Sailors’) Vieux frère la ----, _old chum_, _mate_.

CÔTÉ, _m._ (theatrical), cour, _right-hand side scenes_; ---- jardin, _left-hand side scenes_. (Familiar) Côté des caissiers, _the station of the_ “Chemin de fer du Nord,” _at which absconding cashiers sometimes take train_.

CÔTELARD, _m._ (popular), _melon_.

CÔTELETTE, _f._ (popular), de menuisier, de perruquier, or de vache, _piece of Brie cheese_. (Theatrical) Avoir sa ----, _to obtain applause_. Emporteur à la ----, see EMPORTEUR.

CÔTE-NATURE, _f._ (familiar), for côtelette au naturel, _grilled chop_.

COTERIE, _f._ (popular), chum. Eh! dis donc, la ----! _I say, old chum!_ Coterie, _association of workmen_; _company_. Vous savez, la p’tite ----, _you know, chums!_

CÔTES, _f. pl._ (popular), avoir les ---- en long, _to be lazy_, _to be a_ “bummer.” Literally _to have the ribs lengthwise, which would make one lazy at turning about_. Travailler les ---- à quelqu’un, _to thrash one_, _to give one a_ “hiding.” See VOIE.

CÔTIER, _m._ (popular), _extra horse harnessed to an omnibus when going up hill_; also _his driver_.

CÔTIÈRE, _f._ (gambling cheats’), _a pocket wherein spare cards are secreted_.

Aussi se promit-il de faire agir avec plus d’adresse, plus
d’acharnement, les rois, les atouts et les as qu’il tenait
en réserve dans sa côtière.--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._

COTILLON, _m._ (popular), crotté, _prostitute_, “draggle-tail.”

Il était coureur ... il adorait le cotillon, et c’est pour
moi un cotillon crotté qui a causé sa perte.--=MACÉ=, _Mon
Premier Crime_.

Faire danser le ----, _to thrash one’s wife_.

COTON, _m._ (popular), _bread or food_ (allusion to the cotton-wick of lamp); _quarrel_; _street-fight_; _difficulty_. Il y aura du ----, _there will be a fight_; _there will be much difficulty_. Le courant est rapide, il y aura du ----, _the stream is swift, we shall have to pull with a will_.

COTRET, _m._ (popular), jus de ----, _thrashing with a stick_, or “larruping;” might be rendered by “stirrup oil.” Des cotrets, _legs_. (Thieves’) Cotret, _convict at the hulks_; _returned transport_, or “lag.”

COTTE, _f._ (popular), _blue canvas working trousers_.

COU, _m._ (popular), avoir le front dans le ----, _to be bald, or to have_ “a bladder of lard.” See AVOIR.

COUAC, _m._ (popular), _priest_, or “devil-dodger.”

COUCHE (popular), à quelle heure qu’on te ----? _a hint to one to make himself scarce_.

COUCHER (popular), à la corde, _to sleep in certain low lodging-houses with the head resting on a rope stretched across the room_, a “twopenny rope;” ---- dans le lit aux pois verts, _to sleep in the fields_. Se ---- bredouille, _to go to bed without any supper_. Se ---- en chapon, _to go to bed with a full belly_.

COUCOU, _m._ (popular), _watch_.

COUDE, _m._ (popular), lâcher le ----, _to leave one, generally when requested to do so_. Lâche moi le ----, _be off_, _leave me alone_. Prendre sa permission sous son ----, _to do without permission_.

COUENNE, _f._ (popular), _skin_, or “buff;” _fool_, or “duffer;” ---- de lard, _brush_. Gratter, râcler, or ratisser la ----, _to shave_. Gratter la ---- à quelqu’un, _to flatter one_, _to give him_ “soft sawder;” _to thrash one_. Est-il ----! _what an ass!_

COUENNES, _f. pl._ (popular), _flabby cheeks_.

COUILLÉ, _m._ (popular), _fool_, _blockhead_, “cabbage-head.”

COUILLES, _f. pl._ (popular), avoir des ---- au cul, _to be energetic, manly_, “to have spunk.”

COUILLON, _m._ (popular), _poltroon_; _foolish with the sense of abashed, crestfallen_. Il resta tout ----, _he looked foolish_. The word is used also in a friendly or jocular manner.

COUILLONNADE, _f._ (popular), _ridiculous affair_; _nonsense_.

COUILLONNER (popular), _to show cowardice_; _to shirk danger_.

COUILLONNERIE, _f._ (popular), _cowardice_; _nonsensical affair_; _take in_.

COUINER (popular), _to whimper_; _to hesitate_.

COULAGE, _m._, COULE, _f._ (familiar), _waste_; _small purloining by servants, clerks, &c._

COULANT, _m._ (thieves’), _milk_.

COULANTE, _f._ (thieves’), _lettuce_. (Cads’) LA ----, _the river Seine_.

COULE, _f._ (popular), être à la ----, _to have mastered the routine of some business_, _to be acquainted with all the ins and outs_; _to be comfortable_; _to be clever at evading difficulties_; _to be insinuating_; _to connive at_. Mettre quelqu’un à la ----, _to instruct one in_, _to make one master of the routine of some business_.

COULER (popular), en ----, _to lie_, “to cram one up.” La ---- douce, _to live comfortably_. Se la ---- douce, _to take it easy_.

COULEUR, _f._ (popular), _lie_; _box on the ear_, or “buck-horse.” Monter la ----, _to deceive_, “to bamboozle.” Etre à la ----, _to do things well_.

COULEUVRE, _f._ (popular), _pregnant or_ “lumpy” _woman_.

COULISSE, _f._ (familiar), _the set of_ coulissiers. See this word.

COULISSIER, _m._ (familiar), _unofficial jobber at the Bourse or Stock Exchange_. As an adjective it has the meaning of _connected with the back scenes_, as in the phrase, Des intrigues coulissières, _back-scene intrigues_.

COULOIR, _m._ (popular), _mouth_, or “rattle-trap;” _throat_, or “peck alley.”

COUP, _m._ (popular), _secret process_; _knack_; _dodge_. Il a le ----, _he has the knack_, _he is a dab at_. Il a un ----, _he has a process of his own_. Un ---- d’arrosoir, _a drink_. Se flanquer un ---- d’arrosoir, _to get tipsy_, or “screwed.” Un ---- de bouteille, _intoxication_. Avoir son ---- de bouteille, _to be intoxicated_, “to be boozy.” See POMPETTE. Coup de chancellerie, _action of getting a man’s head_ “into chancery,” that is, to get an opponent’s head firmly under one’s arm, where it can be pommelled with immense power, and without any possibility of immediate extrication. Un ---- de chien, _a tussle_; _difficulty_. Un ---- d’encensoir, _a blow on the nose_. Un ---- de feu, _a slight intoxication_. Un ---- de feu de société, _complete intoxication_. Un ---- de figure, _hearty meal_, or “tightener.” Un ---- de fourchette, _digging two fingers into an opponent’s eyes_. Un ---- de gaz, _a glass of wine_. Un ---- de gilquin, _a slap_. Un ---- de pied de jument or de Vénus, _a venereal disease_. Un ---- de Raguse, _action of leaving one in the lurch_; an allusion to Marshal Marmont, Duc de Raguse, who betrayed Napoleon. Un ---- de tampon, _a blow_, or “bang;” _hard shove_ (tampon, _buffer_). Un ---- de temps, _an accident_; _hitch_. Un ---- de torchon, _a fight_; _revolution_. Le ---- du lapin, _finishing blow or crowning misfortune, the straw that breaks the camel’s back_; _treacherous way of gripping in a fight_.

Coup féroce que se donnent de temps en temps les ouvriers
dans leurs battures. Il consiste à saisir son adversaire,
d’une main par les testicules, de l’autre par la gorge,
et à tirer dans les deux sens: celui qui est saisi et
tiré ainsi n’a pas même le temps de recommander son âme à
Dieu.--=DELVAU.=

Coup du médecin, _glass of wine drunk after one has taken soup_. Un ---- dur, _unpleasantness, unforeseen impediment_. Attraper un ---- de sirop, _to get tipsy_. Avoir son ---- de chasselas, de feu, de picton, or de soleil, _to be half drunk_, “elevated.” See POMPETTE. Avoir son ---- de rifle, _to be tipsy_, “screwed.” Donner le ---- de pouce, _to give short weight_; _to strangle_. Faire le ----, or monter le ---- à quelqu’un, _to deceive, to take in_, “to bamboozle” _one_. Se donner un ---- de tampon, or de torchon, _to fight_. Se monter le ----, _to be too sanguine, to form illusions_. Valoir le ----, _to be worth the trouble of doing or robbing_. Voir le ----, _to foresee an event_; _to see the dodge_. Le ---- de, _action of doing anything_. Le ---- du canot, _going out rowing_. Coup de bleu, _draught of wine_. Avoir son ---- de bleu, _to be intoxicated_, or “screwed.” Pomper un ---- de bleu, _to drink_.

Faut ben du charbon ...
Pour chauffer la machine,
Au va-nu-pieds qui chine ...
Faut son p’tit coup d’bleu.

=RICHEPIN=, _Chanson des Gueux_.

(Thieves’) Coup à l’esbrouffe sur un pantre. See FAIRE. Un ---- d’acré, _extreme unction_. Le ---- d’Anatole, or du père François. See CHARRIAGE À LA MÉCANIQUE. Un ---- de bas, _treacherous blow_. Le ---- de bonnet, _the three-card trick dodge_. Coup de cachet, _stabbing, then drawing the knife to and fro in the wound_. Un ---- de casserole, _informing against one_, “blowing the gaff.” Le ---- de manche, _calling at people’s houses in order to beg_. Un ---- de radin, _purloining the contents of a shop-till, generally a wine-shop_, “lob-sneaking.” Un ---- de roulotte, _robbery of luggage or other property from vehicles_. Un ---- de vague, _a robbery_; _action of robbing at random without any certainty as to the profits to be gained thereby_. (Military) Coup de manchette, _certain dexterous cut of the sword on the wrist which puts one hors de combat_. (Familiar) Un ---- de pied, _borrowing money_, or “breaking shins.” English thieves call it “biting the ear.” Un ---- de pistolet, _some noisy or scandalous proceeding calculated to attract attention_. Le ---- de fion, _finishing touch_. Se donner un ---- de fion, _to get oneself tidy, ship-shape_.

C’est là qu’on se donne le coup de fion. On ressangle
les chevaux, on arrange les paquetages et les turbans,
on époussette ses bottes, on retrousse ses moustaches et
on drape majestueusement les plis de son burnous.
--=H. FRANCE=, _L’Homme qui tue_.

(Servants’) Le ---- du tablier, _giving notice_.

COUPAILLON, _m._ (tailors’), _unskilful cutter_.

COUP DE TRAVERSIN, _m._ (popular), se foutre un ----, _to sleep_.

Trois heures qui sonn’nt. Faut que j’rapplique,
S’rait pas trop tôt que j’pionce un brin;
C’que j’vas m’fout’un coup d’traversin!
Bonsoir.

=GILL=, _La Muse à Bibi_.

COUP DE TROTTINET, _m._ (thieves’ and cads’), _kick_. Filer un ---- dans l’oignon, _to kick one’s behind_, or “to toe one’s bum,” “to root,” or “to land a kick.”

COUPE, _f._ (thieves’), _poverty_. (Popular) Tirer sa ----, _to swim_.

COUPÉ, _adj._ (printers’), _to be without money_.

COUPE-FICELLE, _m._ (military), _artillery artificer_.

COUPE-FILE, _m._, _card delivered to functionaries, which enables them to cross a procession in a crowd_.

COUPE-LARD, _m._ (popular), _knife_.