Chapter X: Part 10

1830. Marryat, King’s Own, ch. viii. He always carried in his
pocket a colt (i.e., a foot and a half of rope, knotted at one end,
and whipped at the other), for the benefit of the youngsters, to
whom he was a most inordinate tyrant.

1836. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. xii. ‘He knocked me down—and
when I got up again he told me that I could stand a little more—and
then he took out his colt, and said he was determined to ride the
high horse.’

3. (thieves’).—A thief’s weapon; otherwise known as a billy (q.v.). For synonyms, see Neddy.

4. (thieves’).—A man who hires horses to burglars. In America he is called a colt-man. [Quoted by Grose, 1785.]

5. (legal).—See quot.

1887. Sir F. Pollock, Pers. Remembr., vol. I., p. 212. In April I
accompanied the newly-made Chief Baron [of Exchequer] as his colt
(the so-called attendant on a serjeant at his making) to the Lord
Chancellor’s private room at Westminster.

Verb (nautical).—1. To thrash; [From colt, sense 2.] Cf., Baste, and for synonyms, see Tan.

1836. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. xii. ‘Then he colted me for
half-an-hour, and that’s all.’

2. (common).—To cause a person to stand treat by way of being ‘made free’ of a new place; to make one ‘pay one’s footing.’ Cf., subs., sense 1.

Coltage, subs. (old).—The footing paid by colts (q.v., subs., sense 1) on their first appearance.

Colting, verbal subs. (common).—A thrashing. For general synonyms, see Tanning and Baste.

Colt-Man.—See Colt, subs., sense 4.

Colt’s Tooth. To have a colt or colt’s tooth, verbal phr. (old).—To be fond of youthful pleasures; in the case of elderly persons, to have juvenile tastes; to be of wanton disposition and capacity. [In allusion to a supposed desire to shed the teeth and see life over again.]

1500. Marlowe, 2 Tamburlaine, iv., 4. Nay, we will break the hedges
of their mouths, And pull their kicking colts out of their
pastures.

1606. Sir Gyles Goosecappe, v., 2, in Bullen’s Old Plays, iii., 87.
I shood doe my country, and Court-ship good service to beate thy
coalts teeth out of thy head, for suffering such a reverend word to
passe their guarde.

1637. Fletcher, Elder Brother, II., iii. He should love her now, As
he hath a colt’s tooth yet.

1753. Walpole, Lett. to Mann, 27 April (1833), vol. III., p. 89. I
hear that my Lord Granville has cut another colt’s tooth—in short,
they say he is going to be married again ... there are not above
two or three-and-forty years difference in their ages.

1770. Colman, The Portrait, in wks. (1777) IV., 215. Tho’ not in
the bloom of my youth, Yet still I have left a colt’s tooth.

1812. C. K. Sharpe, in Correspondence (1888), II., 5. Tyndall and I
always fought about noblemen, tho’ I suspected his colt’s tooth
with regard to Lord Apsley, who is a mighty good sort of man, but
only captivating.

Columbine, subs. (theatrical).—A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

Columbus, subs. (theatrical).—Failure. A regular Columbus = an utter failure; ‘dead frost.’ Fr., Il pleut! = the play is a failure.

Comb-Brush, subs. (old).—A lady’s maid. [A word compounded from the names of two familiar toilet requisites. Cf., whip = a coachman.]—See Abigail.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones. The maid who at present attended on
Sophia was recommended by Lady Bellaston, with whom she had lived
for some time in the capacity of a comb-brush.

Comb Cut. To have one’s comb cut, verbal phr. (popular).—To be mortified; disgraced; down on one’s luck. [A simile drawn from cock-fighting.]

Comb Down.—See Comb one’s hair.

Combie, subs. (university).—A familiar abbreviation for ‘Combination room,’ the parlour in which college dons drink wine after Hall. Also a garment; see Combination.

Combination, subs. (general).—A woman’s undergarment, shift and drawers in one. Also combie, and (American) chemiloon (q.v.), itself a combination of ‘chemise’ and ‘pantaloon.’

Comb One’s Hair, verbal phr., trs. and intr. (common).—To take to task; to scold; to keep in order. Sometimes to thrash, and generally ill-treat. Variants are to comb down; to comb one’s noddle with a three-legged or joint stool. [A.S. cemban; O.E. kemben; German, kämmen = to comb. Halliwell gives kemb (a Border form) = to comb; also comb = to cut a person’s comb, to disable him. The word seems to have always involved the idea of personal castigation, either physical or figurative. In this connection, cf., quot., 1593.] Fr., donner une peignée and laver la tête; but for synonyms in the sense of ‘to scold,’ see Wig; and in the sense of ‘to thrash,’ see Tan.

1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, i., 1. Kath ... doubt not
her cares should be to comb your noddle with a three-legg’d stool,
And paint your face, and use you like a fool.

1769. John Wallis, Antiquities of Northumberland. [Speaking of Wark
Castle.] On the west side are the outworks, now called the Kemb,
i.e., the camp of the militia designed to kemb or fight an enemy;
kemb being a word often used by the borderers when they threaten in
a passionate tone to beat an assailant,—they will kemb him, i.e.,
drub him heartily.

1836. W. Kidd, London and all its Dangers. ‘Magistrates,’ p. 12.
The Magistrate of Hatton Garden has lately had his ‘hair combed’ by
the Home Secretary for his brutal conduct.

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xxvii., p. 236. ‘If you had only
settled down, and married Joe Pouch’s widow when he died in North
America, she’d have combed your hair for you.’

1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, ch. xliii. ‘But you see, these
riots—it’s been a nasty business. I shall have my hair combed at
the sessions for a year to come.’

1869. ... Ino (played at Strand Theatre). ‘Since Ino’s combed my
wool it’s ceased to grow.’

Comb the Cat, verbal phr. (nautical).—See quot.

1867. Smyth, Sailors’ Word Book. Combing the Cat: the boatswain, or
other operator, running his fingers through the cat-o’-nine tails
to separate them.

Come, verb (venery).—1. To experience the sexual spasm; to achieve emission; to Spend (q.v.). The expression (which applies to the agents only: never to the proof, or effect, of their activity) is common to both the sexes. Cf., Cream (q.v.); Spendings; q.v.; and Letch-water (q.v.).

2. (general).—To practice; to understand; to act the part of. Cf., Come over and Come tricks.

1883. Greenwood, Tag, Rag, and Co. We ain’t two by ourselves as
comes that dodge.

3. (old).—To lend.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. Has he come it? i.e., has he lent
it?

To make drunk come, phr. (American).—To become intoxicated. For synonyms, see Screwed.

Come about [One], verbal phr. (old).—1. To circumvent. Cf., Come over and Come round.

1755. Johnson, Dict. Eng. Lang. (11 ed., 1816), s.v. ‘About’ in
common language they say to come about a man, ‘to circumvent him.’

2. (venery).—To copulate. (Said only of men by women).

Come a Buster.—See Buster (subs., sense 3).

Come a Cropper.—See Cropper.

Come and See your Pa, phr. (common).—An invitation to drink. For synonyms, see Drinks.

Come Captain Armstrong.—See Captain Armstrong.

Come-Down, subs. (popular).—A fall, whether of pride or worldly prospects; an abandonment of something for something else of less value or moment.

Verb.—[Used either independently or in combination: e.g., To come down; to come down handsome, or to come down with the dust, dues, dibs, ready, oof, shiners, blunt, needful, etc.] (common).—1. To pay, i.e., to ‘part’; or to lay down (as in payment); to ‘fork out.’ For synonyms, see Shell out.

1701. Steele, The Funeral, Act ii., Sc. 1. I must do according to
my orders ... except you’d come down a little deeper than you talk
of:—You don’t consider the charges I’ve been at already.

1727. Gay, Beggar’s Opera, Act iii., Sc. 1. Did he tip
handsomely?—How much did he come down with?

1842. Punch, vol. III., p. 136. ‘Bolt!’ she falter’d, ‘from the
gov’nor? Oh, my Colin, that won’t pay; He will ne’er come down, my
love, nor Help us, if we run away.’

1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. lxix. My uncle augurs everything
from the Begum’s generosity, and says that she will come down very
handsomely.

1889. Barrère, Sl., Jar., and Cant, (quoted in). Do you keep the
gentleman in discourse while I speak to the prisoner, and see how
he can come down.

2. (trade).—To abate prices.

Come down from the Walls, verbal phr. (American).—To abandon a position. Cf., Back seat.

Comedy-Merchant, subs. (common).—An actor. For synonyms, see Cackling-cove.

Come it, verb (colloquial).—1. To proceed at a great rate; to make a splash and dash (in extravagance); to ‘cut a figure.’ Cf., Come it strong and Go it.

1840. Thackeray, Paris Sketch Book, p. 22. ‘I think the chaps down
the road will stare,’ said Sam, ‘when they hear how I’ve been
coming it.’

2. (thieves’).—To inform. For synonyms, see Peach.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3 ed., p. 444. To inform = to come
it.

1864. Hotten, Slang Dict., p. 126. The expression come it (to
inform, tell, or disclose) is best known to the lower and most
dangerous classes.

1889. Daily Telegraph. He heard one of the others say in reply,
‘come it,’ meaning to tell—to be quiet.

3. (pugilistic).—To show fear.

4. (American).—To succeed. Especially in you can’t come it, i.e., you cannot succeed: an expression of disbelief in the ability of another. Probably a survival of old English usage. Cf., Come over.

Come it Strong, verbal phr. (popular).—To exaggerate; to ‘lay it on thick’; to carry to extremes. For synonyms, see Longbow. Cf., Come it.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 356 (ed. 1857). ‘Vell, sir,’
rejoined Sam, after a short pause, ‘I think I see your drift; and
if I do see your drift, it’s my ’pinion that you’re a comin’ it a
great deal too strong, as the mail-coachman said to the snow-storm,
ven it overtook him.’

1837. Barham, I. L. (Lay of St. Gengulphus), ed. 1862, p. 157. He
here shook his head,—Right little he said, But he thought she was
coming it rather too strong.

1846. W. M. Thackeray, Yellowplush. ‘Mr. Deuceace at Paris.’ Now,
though master was a scoundrill and no mistake, he was a gentleman
and a man of good breeding; and miss came a little too strong
(pardon the vulgarity of the expression), with her hardor and
attachmint for one of his taste.

1869. Bret Harte, The Heathen Chinee. In his sleeves, which were
long, He had twenty-four packs. Which was coming it strong.

Come John, or Lord, Audley.—See John Audley.

Come off, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To happen; to occur; to result from.—See also Come, sense 1.

1609. Jonson, Case is Altered, IV., iii. His muse sometimes cannot
curvet, nor prognosticate, and come off as it should; no matter,
I’ll hammer out a paraphrase for thee myself.

1857. Dickens, The Detective Police, in Reprinted Pieces, p. 239.
In consequence of which appointment the party came off, which we
are about to describe.

1870. Wilkie Collins, Man and Wife, in Cassell’s Mag., p. 292, col.
1. ‘The betting’s at five to four, my dear. And the race comes off
in a month from this.’

1872. Civilian, 10 Aug. Unfortunately, the event, to use the
language of the turf, did not come off, and considerable
disappointment was manifested.

1883. Graphic, August 11, p. 138, col. 2. Batting is his forte,
though he does not always come off.

Come off the Grass, or the Tall Grass! phr. (American).—‘None of your airs!’ ‘Don’t put it on so!’ ‘Don’t tell any more lies!’ The French say, As-tu fini tes manières or magnes? ne fais donc pas ta Sophie; and ne fais donc pas ton fendart.

Come out, verbal phr. (common).—1. To make an appearance; to display oneself; to express oneself vigorously; to make an impression (especially in sense 2). Sometimes in an intensified form to come out strong. cf., Come it strong.

[The first quot. is doubtful, but it looks like an anticipation.]

1637. Sl. Rutherford, Letters, No. 167, vol. I., p. 390 (ed. 1862,
2 vols.). Christ ... who hath given you eyes to discern the devil
coming out in his whites.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, II., 14. The more he [Clive] worked, the
more he was discontented with his performance, somehow; but J. J.
was coming out very strong; J. J. was going to be a stunner.

1865. G. F. Berkeley, Life, etc. II., 135. Our inclination to quiz
him [Lord Wm. Lennox] on the subject increased when in later years
he came out strong in magazines and reviews, as a sporting writer.

1865. Cornhill Magazine, IV., 218. ‘A county ball.’ The native
comes out strong in waistcoats—his array in that respect being
gorgeous.

1870. Good Words, April. ‘The Hand Nailer.’ In the nailing
communities, as elsewhere, woman manages somehow to come out
extensively on Sundays.

18(?). Aytoun, The Dreepdaily Burghs, p. 2. Let me confess it. I had of late come out rather too strong. When a man has made money easily, he is somewhat prone to launch into expense.

2. (common).—To turn out; to result; e.g., How did it come out? Cf., Come off.

3. (colloquial).—To make a first appearance in society.

To come out of the little end of the horn, phr. (American).—To fare badly; in allusion to the thin end of the Cornucopia.

Come Over, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To influence; to overreach; to cheat. (If the quots. are compared chronologically it will be seen that there has been a gradual deterioration in the meaning of this colloquialism.) Cf., come round; get over.

1609. Dekker, Gul’s Horne-Booke, ch. ii. Care not for those coorse
painted cloath rimes, made by ye University of Salerne, that come
ouer you, with ... sweete candied councell.

1667. Shirley, Love Tricks, Act ii., Sc. 1. I do not see what fault
she can find with me; and if I had some good word to come over
her—but I must help it out, an need be, with swearing.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. To come over any one: to cheat or
overreach him.

1794. Gent. Mag., p. 1085. I lately came over him for a good round
sum.

c. 1860. Broadside Ballad, I’m a young man from the country, But
you don’t get over me.

c. 1879. Music Hall Song (sung by Jenny Hill, the ‘Vital Spark’).
You may get over water-butts, You may get over fountains, But I’ll
take particular notice that you don’t get over Sal.

1884. Daily Telegraph, March 11, p. 2, col. 1. ‘But don’t you try
and come it over me, or you’ll find yourself in the wrong box.’

Come [the old Soldier, or any person or thing] Over One, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To imitate; to overbear; to wheedle; to rule by an assumption of authority. Fr., essayer de monter un bateau à quelqu’un; or monter le coup or un battage.

1713. C. Shadwell, Humours of the Army, Act iii. The Devil a
Farthing he owes me—but however, I’ll put the old soldier upon him.

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. xviii. Were it not that I think
he has scarce the impudence to propose such a thing to succeed,
curse me but I should think he was coming the old soldier over me,
and keeping up his game.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick Papers (about 1827), p. 369 (ed. 1857).
‘Ah, by jove, he has!’ replied Smangle. ‘Hear him come the four
cats in the wheelbarrow—four distinct cats, sir, I pledge you my
honour. Now you know that’s infirnal clever!’

1839. The Druid. ‘Post and Paddock.’ The only way his crime to
cover, To hide his shame from children’s eye, Is not to try and
come the lover, But stable-wards at once to fly.

1855. W. M. Thackeray, The Newcomes, II., 253. ‘I had a letter this
morning from my liberal and punctual employer, Thomas Potts,
Esquire, of the Newcome Independent, who states, in language
scarcely respectful, that Sir Barnes Newcome Newcome is trying to
come the religious dodge, as Mr. Potts calls it.’

1877. W. Black, Green Past. and Picc., ch. i. ‘She’s rather
serious, you know, and would like to come the maternal over you.’

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 167. To hear him
speak, one might imagine him as innocent as a lamb, and as green as
a schoolboy, but just try to come the hanky-panky and play the old
soldier with him.

1877. J. Greenwood, Dick Temple. Permit me, if you and your two
friends think of coming what is vulgarly called the old soldier
over me, to make you understand that you had better abandon the
intention.

Come Round, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To influence; to circumvent; to persuade. Cf., Come over, and come about, sense 1.

1846. Thackeray, V. Fair, ch. xi. Finally, the reports were that
the governess had come round everybody, wrote Sir Pitt’s letters,
did his business, managed his accounts—had the upper hand of the
whole house.

Come Souse, verbal phr. (pugilistic).—To fall heavily. Also Cosouse.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Mem. to Cong. As it was, Master Georgy
came souse with the whack, And there sprawled, like a turtle turned
queer on its back.

Come the Gum Game, verbal phr. (Western American).—To overreach by concealment. [From the preference shown by hunted opossums and racoons for gum trees as places of refuge.]

1869. Kansas City Advertiser, 7 May. You can’t come that gum game
over me any more; I’ve been to the land-office and know all about
the place.

Come Through a Side Door, verbal phr. (common).—To be born illegitimately.

c. 1880. Broadside Ballad, ‘The Blessed Orphan.’ I don’t think I
was born at all, No parents own I came here; I was left at a house
of call, Close by a Pickford’s van here, Some wicked wretches say,
but I My indignation smother, That I came through a side door In
this world from the other.

Come to Stay, verbal phr. (American).—To be endowed with permanent qualities. Thus the New York Morning Journal announces that earth fuel, a new material for cooking and firing purposes, has come to stay, i.e., its commercial success is assured.

1888. Pittsburg Bulletin. In the realm of advertising, the
illustration has evidently come to stay. It attracts and retains
the eye, and so serves a double purpose.

Come To, or Up To, Time, verbal phr. (pugilistic).—To answer the call of ‘Time!’ after the thirty seconds’ rest between round and round; hence, by analogy, to be on the alert; to be ready.

1869. Whyte Melville, M. or N., p. 11. The surprise staggered him
like a blow. From such blows, however, we soon come to time,
willing to take any amount of similar punishment.

Come Tricks.—See Come, sense 2.

Come up Smiling, verbal phr. (pugilistic).—To laugh (or grin) at ‘punishment’; hence (generally) to be superior to rebuff or disaster; to face defeat without flinching.

1887. John Strange Winter, That Imp, p. 67. And yet come up smiling
at the end of it.

Come up to the Chalk.—See Scratch.

[Some other slang uses of the verb To Come are To Come the Artful =
to essay to deceive; To Come the Heavy = to affect a vastly
superior position; To Come the ugly = to threaten; To Come the Nob,
or The Don = to put on airs; To Come the Lardy-Dardy = to dress for
the public and ‘look up to your clobber’; To Come the Serjeant = to
issue peremptory orders; To Come the Spoon = to make love; To Come
the Gypsy = to try to defraud; To Come the Rothschild = to pretend
to be rich; and To Come the Traviata (prostitutes’, now obsolete) =
to feign consumption, to put on ‘the Traviata cough’ (q.v.) with a
view to beguiling charitable males.]

Comflogisticate, verb (American).—To embarrass; put out of countenance; confuse; or hoax.—See Bamblustercate.

Comfoozled, adj. (rare).—Overcome; exhausted.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxxix., p. 340. ‘Well,’ said Sam,
‘he’s in a horrid state o’ love; reg’larly comfoozled, and done
over with it.’

Comfortable Importance or Comfortable Impudence, subs. (old).—A wife; also a mistress in a wife’s position. Fr., Mon gouvernement. For synonyms, see Dutch.

Comical, subs. (common).—A napkin.

To be Struck Comical, verb. phr. (popular).—To be astonished.

Coming, ppl. adj. (old).—1. Wanton; forward; sexual.—See Come, sense 1.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, ch. xii. I dares to swear the wench was
as willing as he, for she was always a forward kind of body. And
when wenches are so coming, young men are not so much to be blamed
neither, for to be sure they do no more than what is natural.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

2. (old).—Sexually capable.—See Come, sense 1.

Commercial, subs. (thieves’)—See quot.

1886. Tit-Bits, 31 July, p. 252. He is one of the cleverest
commercials (this is the polite name for rogues and vagabonds
generally) on the road.

2. (common).—An abbreviation of ‘commercial traveller.’

Commission or Mish, subs. (old).—A shirt. [From the Italian.—See Camesa.] For synonyms, see Flesh bag.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65, s.v.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 37 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874),
s.v.

1622. John Fletcher, The Beggar’s Bush. I crown thy nab with a gag
of benbouse, And stall thee by the salmon into clowes To maund on
the pad and strike all the Cheats To mill from the Ruffmans, and
commission, and slates.

1630. Taylor (‘The Water Poet’), wks. quoted in Nares. As from our
beds we doe oft cast our eyes, Cleane linnen yeelds a shirt before
we rise, Which is a garment shifting in condition, And in the
canting tongue is a commission; In weale or woe, in joy or
dangerous drifts, A shirt will put a man unto his shifts.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 48 (1874), s.v.

Commister, subs. (old).—A clergyman. The same as camister (q.v.). For synonyms, see Devil-dodger.

Commodity, subs. (old).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

1596. Shakspeare, King John, ii., 2. Tickling commodity;
commodity—the bias of the world.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Common-Bounce, subs. (low).—One using a lad as a decoy to prefer a charge of unnatural intercourse.

1886. M. Davitt, Leaves from a Prison Diary, p. 109. The common
bounce Of all the scoundrels that stalk abroad in the world unhung
for undetected enormities, this is the most infamous.

Common-Doings, subs. (American).—Every-day fare. [A phrase of Western origin, at first restricted in its meaning, but now including ordinary transactions as compared to those either large or peculiarly profitable; applied to men, actions, and things. ‘What shall we do?’ says a poor frontiersman’s wife, when she hears of a Federal Officer who is to take up his quarters at her cabin for a day; ‘I can’t give him common-doings.’]

1835. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Clockmaker, 3 S. I guess I’ll
order supper. What shall it be? Cornbread and common doins, or
wheatbread and chicken fixins?

Commoner-Grub, subs. (Winchester College).—A dinner formerly given by Commoners to College after cricket matches. [Commoners are boys not on the foundation.]

Commoney, subs. (schoolboys’).—A clay marble. Cf., Alley.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers (about 1827), p. 28 (ed. 1857).
On one occasion he patted the boy on the head, and after inquiring
whether he had won any alley tors or commoneys lately (both of
which I understand to be a particular species of marbles much
prized by the youth of this town), made use of this remarkable
expression—‘How should you like to have another father?’

Common-Jack, subs. (military).—A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

Common-Plugs, subs. (American).—Ordinary members of society.

Commonsensical, adj. (colloquial).—Marked with common sense.

1880. Frazer’s Magazine, Sep., p. 308. The manner in which he
(Alexander Russell) begins must have delighted the commonsensical
mind of old Charles Maclaren.

Common Sewer, subs. phr. (common).—1. A drink; dram; or ‘go.’ [From common sewer = ‘a drain.’] For synonyms, see Go.

2. (venery).—A prostitute.

Communicator. Agitate the communicator, verbal phr. (common).—To ring the bell.

Comp, subs. (printers’).—A compositor. [An abbreviated form of ‘companion’ now peculiar to compositors, but originally applied to pressmen who work in couples, as well as to compositors who work in a ‘companionship,’ or ship (q.v.).] Galley-slave (q.v.) is a variant; so are ass (q.v.) and donkey (q.v.). Cf., Pig.

1870. Sportsman, 17 Dec. ‘A Chapel Meeting.’ I stood before the
world a journeyman comp.

1886. Tit-Bits, 31 July, p. 252. At provincial newspaper offices
and other establishments applications for work from travelling
comps are frequent.

1888. W. Blades, in Notes and Queries, 7 S., vi., 365. The printers
who work together in one room are to this day called comps.

Company. To see company, verbal phr. (prostitutes’).—To live by prostitution; to take in fancy work (q.v.).

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Competition Wallah, subs. phr. (Anglo-Indian).—One who enters the Indian Civil Service by examination. [From competition + Hindustani wallah, ‘a man’ or ‘person.’]

1863. G. O. Trevelyan, Title, The Competition Wallah.

1886. Ill. Lon. News, 9 Jan., p. 31, col. 3. It is quite certain
that, if justice is ever to be done to India, our competition
wallahs must not be encouraged to look upon it as a mere Tom
Tidler’s ground, where they are to remain just so long as they
require for picking up gold and silver (in the form of pension and
savings).

Compo, subs. (nautical).—A sailor’s term for his monthly advance of wages.

Compy-Shop, subs. (workmen’s).—A truck-shop. [Probably a corruption of ‘company-shop’: workmen before the passing of certain Truck Acts, having been frequently compelled to make their weekly purchases at shops either kept by, or worked to the profit of, their employer.]

1870. Globe, 24 Sept. The Acts of Parliament which have been passed
from time to time in reference to truck are easily evaded, for as a
rule no workman is told that he must buy at the compy-shop, but the
workmen well know that if they did not resort thither they would
soon be dismissed their employment.

Con, subs. (Winchester College).—A rap on the head with the knuckles, or with anything hard, such as a cricket ball. [For suggested derivations, see verbal sense.]

Verb.—To rap with the knuckles. [The derivation formerly accepted at Winchester was from κονδυλον = a knuckle, but the editors of the Wykehamist suggest its origin in the North Country con, ‘to fillip,’ with which the French se cogner exactly corresponds.]

Concaves and Convexes, subs. phr. (cardsharpers’). Cards prepared for cheating. All from the eight to the king are cut convex, and all from the deuce to the seven concave; so that by cutting the pack broadwise you cut convex, and by cutting them lengthwise you cut concave. Sometimes they are shaped the reverse way, so that, if suspicion arise, a pack so treated may be substituted for the other to the same effect. In this trick the sharper has less in his favour than in others, because the intended victim may cut in the usual way, and so cut a low card to the dealer. But the certainty of being able to cut or deal a high or low card at pleasure, gives him an advantage against which skill is of none avail. Other modes of sharping are by means of reflectors (q.v.); longs and shorts (q.v.); pricked cards (q.v.); the bridge (q.v.); skinning (q.v.); weaving (q.v.); the gradus or step (q.v.); palming (q.v.); and the telegraph (q.v.). A French term for prepared cards is les aiguilles à tricoter les côtes (Anglicé = old gentlemen, q.v.); also une cartouchière à portées (a pack of prepared cards); and les harnais = stocked broads (q.v.).—See also stock broads.

Concern, subs. (general).—The pudenda, male or female.—See Creamstick and Monosyllable respectively for synonyms.

Concerned, ppl. adj. (old).—Drunk. For synonyms, see Screwed.

1686. Magdalen College and King James II. (Oxford Hist. Soc.),
quoted in Athenæum, 8 Jan., 1887, p. 56. When Mr. Anthony Farmer
came to the Lobster about eleven at night, he came much concerned
in drink.

17(?). Swift. [Quoted in Davies’ Supp. Lex.] (Mary, the cook-maid to Dr. Sheridan.) Which, and I am sure I have been his servant four years since October, And never call’d me worse than sweetheart, drunk or sober; Not that I know his Reverence was ever concern’d to my knowledge; Tho’ you and your come-rogues keep him out so late in your wicked college.

1834. Taylor, Ph. van Art., pt. II., iii., 3. Oh, she’s a light
skirts! yea, and at this present A little, as you see, concern’d
with liquor.

Conchers, subs. (Australian).—Tame or quiet cattle.

Condiddle, verb (old).—To purloin or steal. [From Latin con, a pleonastic prefix, + diddle, ‘to cheat.’ Condiddled is quoted by Grose in the Provincial Glossary, 1787, as signifying ‘dispersed.’]

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. iv. ‘Twig the old connoissœur,’
said the Squire to the Knight, ‘he is condiddling the drawing.’

Condog, verb (common).—To agree with. [A facetious variation of ‘concur’; ‘cur’ = dog.]

Confab, subs. (colloquial).—Familiar talk. [A contraction of confabulation; Latin confabulatio.]

1778. D’Arblay, Diary, etc. (1876), vol. I., p. 37. We had a very
nice confab about various books.

1789. Wolcot (‘P. Pindar’), Subjects for Painters, in wks. (Dublin,
1795), vol. II., p. 26. For lo, with many a King and many a Queen,
in close confab the gentleman is seen.

1841. Punch, vol. I., 75. Sibthorp, meeting Peel in the House of
Commons after congratulating him on his present enviable position,
finished the confab with the following unrivalled conundrum.

1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. xxv. ‘Mr. Harry ...
called Mr. Archer into his own room, and they had a confab.’

1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. viii. This ended our
confab and half an hour afterwards I stood in the hall shaking
hands all round.

Verb.—To talk in a familiar manner; to chat.—See subs., sense.

1778. D’Arblay, Diary, etc. (1876), vol. I. p. 85. Mrs. Thrale and
I were dressing, and, as usual, confabbing.

Confectionery, subs. (American).—A drinking bar. An analogous term is grocery, but for synonyms, see Lush-crib.

Confidence Trick, Dodge, or Buck, subs. phr. (common).—A process of swindling, the basis of which consists in obtaining trust with the deliberate intention of betraying it to your own advantage. A greenhorn meets (or rather is picked up by) a stranger who invites him to drink. The stranger admires him openly, protests his confidence in him, and to prove his sincerity hands him over a large amount of money [snide] or valuables [bogus], with which to walk off and return. The greenhorn does both, whereupon the stranger suggests that it is his turn next, and being favoured with certain proofs of ‘confidence,’ which in this case are real, decamps and is no more seen. This is the simplest form of the trick, but the confidence man is inexhaustible in devices. In many cases the subject’s idiosyncrasy takes the form of an idiotic desire to overreach his fellows; i.e., he is only a knave, wrong side out, and it is upon this idiosyncrasy that the operator works. He offers a sham gold watch at the price of a nickel one; he calls with presents from nowhere where none are expected; he writes letters announcing huge legacies to persons absolutely kinless; and as his appeal is addressed to the sister passions of greed and dishonesty he seldom fails of his reward. Fr., mener en bateau un pante pour le refaire = ‘to stick a jay and flap him.’

Conflabberated, ppl. adj. (common).—Bothered; upset; ‘flummoxed.’

Conflabberation, subs. (common).—A confused wrangle; a ‘hullabaloo.’

Confounded, adj. (colloquial).—Excessive; odious; detestable; e.g., a confounded nuisance, lie, humbug, etc. [Confound is properly ‘to mistake one for another,’ or ‘to throw into consternation.’ In its colloquial sense confounded is misused much as are ‘awful,’ ‘beastly,’ and other ‘strumpets of speech.’]

1766. O. Goldsmith, Vicar of Wakefield, ch. vii. (ed. 1827), p. 42.
Mr. Thornhill, loq.: ‘For what are tythes and tricks but an
imposition, all confounded imposture.’

Confubuscate, verb (popular).—See quot., and Cf., Confusticate.

1880. Broadside Ballad, ‘You mustn’t tickle me.’ I hope I don’t
confubuscate, I’se Topsy from the Georgia State.

Confusticate, verb (American).—To confuse.

Coniacker, subs. (thieves’).—A counterfeiter; smasher; or ‘queer-bit’ faker. [Obviously a play upon coin, money, and hack, to mutilate.] Fr., un mornifleur tarte.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 296. False coins, the makers of
which are curiously called coniackers.

Conish, adj. (old).—See quot.

1830. Sir E. B. Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 29 (ed. 1854). ‘Paul, my
ben cull,’ said he with a knowing wink, and nudging the young
gentleman in the left side, ‘vot do you say to a drop o’ blue ruin?
or, as you likes to be conish (genteel), I doesn’t care if I sports
you a glass of port.’

Conk, subs. (popular).—The nose. [Hotten says: possibly from the Latin concha, a shell. Greek, κόγχη—hence anything hollow. A parallel is testa = an earthenware pot, a shell, in Latin; and in later Latin = a skull; whence the French teste or tête = head. Cf., quot., 1838.]

English Synonyms. Boko or boco; proboscis; smeller; bowsprit; claret-jug; gig; muzzle; cheese-cutter; beak; snuff-box; snorter; post-horn; paste-horn; handle; snout; nozzle; smelling-cheat; snotter; candlestick; celestial; snottle-box; snuffler; trumpet; snorer; peak.

French Synonyms. Une bouteille (popular: literally ‘a bottle’); un Bourbon (popular: an abbreviated form of nez à la Bourbon. In allusion to the thick, prominent, and almost aquiline Bourbon nose); un blair or blaire (popular); un caillou (popular: properly ‘a flint.’ In allusion to a Bardolphian, a light-giving, quality); un tubercule (familiar: applied to a big nose. In medicine ‘a tumour,’ ‘swelling,’ or ‘protuberance’); un pivase (popular: a nose of large dimensions. Michel derives the word from pive = ‘a grog-blossom’ or ‘pin-point,’ properly a fir-apple); un piton (popular: literally a geographical term meaning ‘a peak.’ Un piton passé à l’encaustique, a red or ‘copper-nose’); un pif or pifre (general); une trompe (literally ‘a horn’ or ‘trumpet’); une truffe (popular: literally ‘a truffle,’ for which pigs are trained to search. Hence a Frenchman when he wants to call a man a pig, says il a un nez à chercher des truffes); une trompette (popular: literally ‘a trumpet’); un naze (popular and thieves’: a Provençalism); un nazaret (popular); un chandelier (popular); une tasse (popular); un sabot (popular); un os à moelle (thieves’: literally ‘a marrow-bone.’ Faire juter l’os à moelle = to use the fingers as a handkerchief); un éteignoir (popular: a large nose; literally, ‘an extinguisher’); un nazonnant (popular); un minois (thieves’: obsolete); un mirliton (popular); un morviau (popular).

German Synonyms. Muffer or Muffert (from muffen, muffeln, or murfeln = ‘to smell’); Schneitzling or Schnäuzling; Schnut (a North German form of Schnauze. Schnut is a favourite nickname among thieves, especially for those who possess long noses; also a pet name for a sweet-heart or doxy. Schnutenmelech or Schnutenkönig: the nosey king, or nosey one); Schniffling.

Italian Synonyms. Soffiante (this exactly corresponds to the English ‘snorter’; it signifies literally ‘blowing’ or ‘breathing’); fiauto or flauto (properly ‘a flute’); maremagno (literally ‘the great sea’).

1838. Comic Almanack, p. 158. I have inserted a small item from my
surgeon’s bill, for repairs of his companions’ noses, damaged by
his passion for Conchology.

1840. H. Cockton, Valentine Vox, ch. xxviii. He fancied it proper
to put on his nose before he alighted from the cab. ‘Oh! oh!
there’s a conk! there’s a smeller! Oh! oh!’ exclaimed about fifty
voices in chorus.

1859. Punch, vol. XXXVII., p. 54. ‘Essence of Parliament.’ July 25,
Monday. Lord Lyndhurst let fly and caught him what (if pugilistic
terms be not out of place when one is alluding to so pacific a
personage) may be designated an extremely neat one on the conk.

1860. Chambers’ Journal, vol. XIII., p. 348. His nose is his conk.

1887. Atkin, House Scraps. His ‘dexter ogle’ has a ‘mouse’; His
conk’s devoid of bark.

1889. Answers, 9 Feb. That portion of his countenance which is
euphemistically described in the language of lower London as a
conk.

Conoodle.—See Canoodle.

Conscience, subs. (theatrical).—Thus explained in Slang, Jargon, and Cant: A kind of association in a small company for the allotment of shares in the profits, etc. The man who is lucky enough to have a concern of his own, generally a very small affair, however badly he may act, must be the leading man or first low comedian, perhaps both. He becomes the manager, of course, and thus has one share for ‘fit-up,’ one for scenery, one and a half for management, one for wardrobe, one and a half as leading man; and the same is given to the wife, who, of course, will not play anything but the juvenile lead, but who at any other time would be glad to play first old woman.

Considerable Bend. To go on the Considerable Bend, verb. phr. (common).—To go in for a bout of dissipation.

Consonant-Choker, subs. (common).—One that clips his G’s and muffles his R’s.

Constable. To out or over-run the constable, verbal phr. (common).—To live beyond one’s means and get into debt; also, in a figurative sense, to escape from a bad argument; ‘to change the subject’; to talk about what is not understood.

1663. Butler, Hudibras, pt. I., canto iii., l. 1367. Quoth
Hudibras, Friend Ralph, thou hast Out-run the constable at last;
For thou art fallen as a new Dispute, as senseless as untrue, But
to the former opposite, And contrary as black to white.

1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xxiii. He inquired, ‘how far have
you overrun the constable?’ I told him that the debt amounted to
eleven pounds.

1766. Anstey, New Bath Guide, letter vii. And some people think
with such haste he began, That soon he the constable greatly
outran.

1782. Wolcot (‘P. Pindar’), Rights of Kings, ode xi. Got deep in
debt, the constable out-ran.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xli., p. 357. ‘He run a match agin the
constable, and vun it.’ ‘In other words, I suppose,’ said Mr.
Pickwick, ‘he got into debt.’ ‘Just that, sir,’ replied Sam.

Constician, subs. (theatrical).—A member of the orchestra.

Constitutional, subs. (colloquial).—A walk undertaken for the sake of health and exercise [i.e., for the benefit of the constitution]. Tronchiner, from Doctor Tronchin, is French for the verb, tronchinade for the act.

1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. xxix. One evening, about
a week before the examinations were to begin, I was taking my usual
constitutional after Hall.

1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. II., p.
41. At one time he was a great friend of Cocky Palmer’s, and used
to go with him to the Cock fights at Wheatley—that Village just on
the other side Shotover Hill—where we did a constitutional the
other day.

1871. City of London Directory. ‘Facts and Anomalies.’ The
valetudinarian has not much choice in the city for a
constitutional, seeing that it possesses but three walks, and ‘Long
Walk’ is the shortest.

Contango, subs. (Stock Exchange).—A fine paid by the buyer to the seller of stock for carrying over the engagement to another settling day, and representing a kind of interest for a fourteen days’ extension. [Thought to be a corruption of ‘continuation.’]

1853. Notes and Queries, 17 Dec., p. 586, col. 2. Contango: a
technical term in use among the sharebrokers of Liverpool, and I
presume elsewhere, signifying a sum of money paid for accommodating
either a buyer or seller by carrying the engagement to pay money or
deliver shares over to the next account day.

1871. Daily News, 27 Feb. A large amount of money was offered in
the Stock Exchange, in connection with the fortnightly settlement,
which began this morning, and the contangoes on British railway
securities were light, while the supply of stock was small.

1872. Evening Standard, 11 Dec. ‘City Intelligence.’ Erie Shares
are steady; the contango is 3d. to 9d.

1884. Daily News, Nov. 13, p. 5, col. 1. City shop is not less
baffling, and it is perhaps impossible for laymen to understand
what contango means. Contango, by the way, would be a proud motto
for an ennobled stockbroker, and would look well under a crest.

1887. Atkin, House Scraps. B stands for broker, for bull and for
bear, C’s the contango that’s paid by the bull.

Content, adv. (old).—Dead. For synonyms, see Aloft and Hop the twig.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. The cull’s content: the man is
past complaining (cant), saying of a person murdered for resisting
the robbers.

Continent, adv. (Winchester College).—Ill; on the sick list. [From continens cameram vel lectum, keeping one’s room or bed.]—See Abroad.

1870. Mansfield, School Life at Winchester College, p. 146. When a
boy felt ill, or inclined to quit school for a period, he had to
get leave continent which was done by sending a boy in the morning
first to get leave from his tutor, and then from the Head Master.

1878. Adams, Wykehamica, p. 224. We suggested the ‘continent room’;
and on being required to say what was to become of the sick boys?
replied, that it was notorious that there was never anything the
matter with them!

Continental. Not to care or be worth a continental or continental damn, phr. (American).—To be worthless; not to care in the least degree. [Continental was the common qualification at the time of the Revolution of whatever concerned the American Colonies before they were united into a confederacy; hence continental congress, continental money, continental troops; while the people themselves were generally spoken of as continentallers or continentals. Continental damn, a term almost universally applied to the worthless continental paper money of those days is, nevertheless held by James Grant White (Words and their Uses) to be a counterpart, if not a mere modification, of other phrases of the same kidney—a tinker’s or trooper’s damn, etc.—and as the colonial troops were called continentallers or continentals during the war, and for many years afterwards, it is probable that it began as a continental’s damn. Passing to the general phrase ‘not worth a damn’ Mr. White thinks that the ‘damn’ = A.S. cerse = watercress. Piers Ploughman (1362) says ‘wisdom and witt nowe is not worth a kerse’ and transition, by reason of identity of sound and a love of variety, from ‘not worth a curse’ to ‘not worth a damn’ is easy.]—See Care and Curse.

1869. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), The Innocents at Home, p. 20.
He didn’t give a continental for anybody. Beg your pardon, friend,
for coming so near saying a cuss-word.

1888. Missouri Republican, 16 Feb. I am not worrying about the
nomination, though. I don’t care a continental if I don’t receive
it.

Continuations, subs. (general).—Trousers. [Of analogous derivation to inexpressibles; unmentionables; musn’t-mention’ems; untalkaboutables, etc.] For synonyms, see Bags and Kicks.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 4, col. 1. Like the London dustmen, the
Newmarket jockeys, the peripatetic vendors, or buyers of ‘old
clo’,’ or the Albert continuations at one pound one, they appear to
be made to measure for the same.

1853. Whyte Melville, Digby Grand, ch. xx. To whose
wonderfully-fitting continuations, ‘pants’ he calls them, the
‘Ananyridians’ themselves are but as a Dutchman’s drawers.

Contraptions, subs. (American).—Small articles; tools; and so forth.

1838. J. C. Neal, Charcoal Sketches. For my part, I can’t say as
how I see what’s to be the end of all of them new-fangled
contraptions. [de v.]

Control Fortune, verbal phr. (card-sharpers’).—To cheat at cards.—See Rook.

Convenience, subs. (common).—A water-closet or chamber-pot.

Convenient, subs. (old).—A mistress. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1676. Etherege, Man of Mode, III., iii., in wks. (1704), 233.
Dorimant’s convenient, Madam Loveit.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, II., in wks. (1720), iv., 47. But
where’s your lady, captain, and the blowing, that is to be my
natural, my convenient, my pure? Ibid, I., iv., p. 22. Shamwell.
Thou art i’ th’ right; but, captain, where’s the convenient, the
Natural? Hackum. Why, at my house; my wife has brought her into a
good humour; she is very pretty.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Convexes.—See Concaves.

Convey, verb (old).—To steal. [In law, to transfer from one person to another; by which it will be seen that there is a certain humour in the expression.] For synonyms, see Prig. Cf., Annex.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, Act i., Sc. 3. Nym. The
good humour is, to steal at a minute’s rest. Pist. Convey, the wise
it call.

1607. Marston, What You Will, II., 260. But, as I am Crack, I will
convey, crossbite, and cheat upon Simplicius.

1883. A. Dobson, Old World Idylls, p. 237. If they hint, O
Musician, the piece that you played Is nought but a copy of Chopin
or Spohr; That the ballad you sing is but merely conveyed From the
stock of the Arnes and the Purcells of yore.

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 31 Oct., p. 3. col. 1. Three great works of
research and collaboration have been projected and partially or
wholly executed in England within the lifetime of the present
generation. They are the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Dictionary of
National Biography, and the New English Dictionary. Each of these,
but especially the last (from which the Century crew have conveyed
freely) is as perfect in its way as any human undertaking can be.

1890. Scots Observer, 14 June, p. 98, col. 1. Lest this may seem an
ungenerous suspicion, I hasten to say that it would never have
crossed my mind had not so many of the other characters in this
remarkable production (?) been obviously conveyed (delicious word!)
from well-known novels.

Conveyance, subs. (old).—A theft.—[See Convey and Conveyancer.]

1592. Shakspeare, I. Hen. VI., i., 3. Since Henry’s death, I fear
there is conveyance.

1712. Spectator, No. 305. Provided the conveyance was clean and
unsuspected, a youth might afterwards boast of it.

Conveyancer, subs. (old).—A thief. [From convey, to steal. In law, one whose occupation is to draw conveyances or transfers of property, deeds, etc.]—See Conveyer.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant (3 ed.), p. 445. To pick pockets: to
buzz, buzzmen, clyfakers, conveyancers.

Conveyancing, verbal subs. (common).—Thieving. [In law, the act or practice of drawing up deeds, leases, etc., for transferring the title to property from one person to another. Cf., Convey, to steal.]

1865. Mr. Smollett, in House of Commons, 14 March. ‘Speech on the
Nawab of the Carnatic.’ Pickpockets in London, when they
appropriated purses or watches, called the transaction
conveyancing.

1889. Modern Society (quoted in S., J. and C.), p. 269. The green
youth who attempted to decamp with ——’s watch ... was properly
punished for his verdancy in the art of conveyancing.

Conveyer, subs. (old).—A thief. [One who conveys or steals.] Fr., emposteur.

1597. Shakspeare, Richard II., iv., sub. fin. O good convey!
Conveyers are you all, That rise thus nimbly by a true king’s fall.

Cony or Tom Cony, subs. (old).—A simpleton. [From the proverbial simplicity of the rabbit or cony.]—See Cony-catch, verb, and for synonyms, Buffle-head and Cabbage-head.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vul. Tongue, s.v.

Cony-Catch, verb (old).—To cheat; deceive; trick; or ‘bite’ (q.v.). [Literally ‘to catch conies.’] Dekker, in his English Villainies, describes the system which is obviously the equivalent of the modern confidence trick (q.v.). A society of sharpers of this type was called ‘a warren,’ and their dupes ‘rabbit-suckers’ (that is, baby rabbits), or conies. At other times the gang were ‘bird-catchers,’ and their quarry was ‘a gull,’ etc. For synonyms, see Stick.

1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, v., 1. Take heed, signor
Baptista, lest you be conny-catched in this business.

1596. Nashe, Saffron Walden, in wks. III., 158. Hereby hee thought
to conny-catch the simple world.

1604. Dekker, Honest Wh., in wks. (1873) II., 12. Why, sister, do
you thinke He conny-catch you, when you are my cozen?

Cony Catcher, subs. (old).—A cheat; sharper; or trickster. [From cony-catch, verb (q.v.), + er.] For synonyms, see Rook.

1592. John Day, Blind Beggar, Act iii., Sc. 3, p. 57. We’ll go seek
out those cony-catchers; and ere I catch them, I’ll make them pay
soundly all for their roguery.

1599. Minshew, Dict., s.v. A conie-catcher: a name given to
deceivers, by a metaphor, taken from those that rob warrens, and
conie-grounds, using all means, sleights, and cunning to deceive
them, as pitching of haies before their holes, fetching them in by
tumblers, etc.

1602. Rowlands, Greene’s Ghost, p. 3. (Hunterian Club’s Repr.) And
the name of conicatchers is so odious, that now a dayes it is had
vp, and vsed for an opprobrious name for euerie one that sheweth
the least occasion for deceit.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxiii. Marry, thou hast me on
the hip there, thou old miserly cony-catcher!

Cony-Catching, verbal subs. (old).—Cheating; trickery; swindling after the manner of cony-catchers (q.v.). Shakspeare, says Nares, has once used it to express harmless roguery, playing jocular tricks, and no more [see quot., 1593]. For synonyms, see Sell.

1592. Greene, Groundwork of Conny-Catching, p. 2. ... this booke,
wherein thou shalt find the ground-worke of Conny-catching.

1593. Shakspeare, Taming of the Shrew, iv., 1. Come, you are so
full of conycatching.

1608. Middleton, Trick to Catch the Old One, III., iv. Thou hast
more cony-catching devices than all London.

1703. Ward, London Spy, pt. XI., p. 260. And being almost Drunk,
their Brains ran on coney-catching.

1884. Daily News, Jan. 5, p. 5, col. 2. Coney-catching, or its
modern equivalent, the confidence trick.

Ppl. adj. (old).—Mutatis mutandis, the same as the substantive (q.v.).

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, i., 1. Marry, sir, I have
matter in my head against you; and against your Coney-catching
rascals, Bardolph, Nym, and Pistol.

1596. Ben Jonson, Every Man in His Humour, iii., 1. Whoreson
coney-catching rascal! I could eat the very hilts for anger.

Coo-e-e-e, or Coo-ey, subs. (Australian).—A signal cry of the Australian blackfellow, adopted by the invading whites. The final ‘e’ is a very high note, a sort of prolonged screech, that resounds for miles through the bush, and thus enables parties that have lost each other to ascertain their relative positions.

1883. Graphic, July 7, p. 6, col. 3. Coo-e-e is the Australian cry
for help. When the two hands are used, and the coo properly
pitched, it can be heard a wonderful distance. Whenever a coo-e-e
is heard in the bush it is a matter of conscience to answer it and
see what is amiss.

1887. G. L. Apperson, in All the Year Round, 30 July, p. 67, col.
1. A common mode of expression is to be ‘within cooey’ of a place.
Originally, no doubt, this meant to be within the distance at which
the well-known cooey or bush cry, could be heard; now it simply
means within easy reach of a place. To be ‘within cooey’ of Sydney
is to be at the distance of an easy journey therefrom.

1889. E. S. Rawson, In Australian Wilds. ‘A Queensland Mystery.’ It
is solely on this, or the mad theory, that one could account for
the startling effects of Jim’s cooee or otherwise to the belated
wanderer it would have been a revelation of joy and rescue.

Cook, verb (colloquial).—1. To tamper with, garble, or falsify. Accounts are cooked when so altered as to look better than they are. Pictures are cooked when dodged-up for sale. Painters say that a picture will not cook when it is so excellent as to be beyond imitation.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. xcviii. Some falsified
printed accounts, artfully cooked up, on purpose to mislead and
deceive.

1856. Punch, vol. XXXI., p. 189. ‘Advertisement of Bubble Bank
Book-keeping,’ by Prof. McDooall. It is remarkable especially for
the facilities it offers for cooking the accounts, as it entirely
prevents any possibility of checking them.

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, II., p. 19. When A has been looking up
to B for thirty years, he cannot look down on him all of a sudden,
just because he catches him falsifying accounts. Why, man is a
cooking animal; commercial man especially.

1871. The Athenæum, 4 Feb. The great work of art of Ivan Turgeneff,
the Notes by a Sportsman had been what is vulgarly called cooked
for the French markets.

1872. Spencer, Study of Sociology, ch. vi., p. 119 (9 ed.). The
dishonesty implied in the adulterations of tradesmen and
manufacturers ... in cooking of railway accounts and financial
prospectuses.

1888. Grant Allen, This Mortal Coil, ch. v. Where Warren Relf was
seated cooking a sky in one of his hasty seaside sketches.

1890. Saturday Review, 1 Feb., p. 134, col. 1. We referred, in our
last article upon this [gambling] subject, to the Paris Mutuels,
and explained their working. Now money has to be found somehow for
the poorer classes to get to the Mutuel and back their fancies, and
the clerk cooks his books, and the shop-boy ‘fingers the till.’

2. See Cook one’s goose, of which it is an abbreviation.

3. (colloquial).—To swelter with heat and sweat. In this sense the Fourbesque has ansare; literally ‘to be out of breath.’

To cook one’s goose, verbal phr. (common).—To ‘settle’; ‘worst’; kill; or ruin.

English Synonyms. To anodyne; to put to bed; to snuff out; to give, or cook one’s gruel; to corpse; to cooper up; to wipe out; to spiflicate; to settle, or settle one’s hash; to squash; to shut up; to send to pot; to smash; to finish; to do for; to bugger up; to put one’s light out; to stop one’s little game; to stop one’s galloping; to put on an extinguisher; to clap a stopper on; to bottle up; to squelch; to play hell (or buggery) with; to rot; to squash up; to stash; to give a croaker. For synonyms in the sense of circumvention, see Floored.