Chapter XII: Part 12

German Synonyms. Baal (perhaps one of the most comprehensive terms in the Gaunersprache, and signifying not only a ‘cove’ [i.e., an individual], but also a master, husband, possessor, artist, expert, artisan—in fact, one owning or capable of anything. Combinations are Balbajis, Balbos [fem. Balboste, Balboëste] = master of the house; Baldower = a principal or leader of a gang, an adviser, the creator of opportunities, the spy; Baleze, Baleize = an adviser, also a chief of police; Balhoche [from Baal and hocho (there)], prostitutes’ = ‘one in possession’ but removeable; Balhoche (thieves’) = one with an opportunity of theft; Balhei is merely the abbreviation or Baalhe or hei; Balmassematten [masso umattan], the business man, the leader of a gang; Balmelocho, the artisan; Balmelochestift, the artisan’s apprentice; Balplete, Balpleite, the runaway; Balschochad, any official who takes bribes; Balspiess = a common lodging-house; Balm, Balmach, Balmachan, Palm, Palmer, Palmach, Pallmack, Pallmagen = a soldier; the Hanov. has Palemachome [Palemachen, Pallemacher]; Balverschmai = an inquisitor or judge); Brooker (Hanoverian = one in trousers, from the North German Broek or Bracca, trousers); Gatscho (from the Gypsy gaxo); Isch (from the Hebrew isch).

1567. Harman, Caveat. Cofe: a person.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight, in wks. (Grosart) III.,
196. The word cove, or cofe, or cuffin, signifies a Man, a Fellow,
etc.

1654. Witts, Recreations. As priest of the game, And prelate of the
same, There’s a gentry cove here.

1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4 ed.), p. 12, s.v.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. x. ‘Do you see that old cove at
the book-stall?’

1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. ii.: [a misquotation of a far
older song.] ‘The ministers talk a great deal about port, And they
makes Cape wine very dear, But blow their hi’s if ever they tries,
To deprive a poor cove of his beer.’

1871. Figaro, 15 April. We need hardly say that the cove in
question is not a man.

[For examples of the use of Covey and Covess, see same.]

2. (Up-country Australian).—The master, ‘boss,’ or ‘gaffer’ of a sheep station.

Cove of Dossing-Ken, subs. phr. (thieves’).—The landlord of a common lodging-house. Fr., marchand de sommeil.

Covent-Garden, subs. (rhyming slang).—A ‘farden’ or farthing.

Covent-Garden Abbess, subs. (old).—A procuress. [Covent Garden at one time teemed with brothels: as Fielding’s Covent Garden Tragedy (1751–2) suggests. Cf., Bankside ladies, and Barnwell ague.]—See Covent-Garden ague and Abbess. For synonyms, see Mother.

Covent-Garden Ague, subs. phr. (old).—A venereal disease. [An allusion to brothels in the neighbourhood in question.] Cf., Bankside ladies. For synonyms, see Ladies’ fever.

Covent-Garden Nun, subs. phr. (old).—A prostitute.—[See Covent-garden ague and Nun.]

Coventry. To send one to, or to be in Coventry, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To exclude from social intercourse, or notice; to be in disgrace. [Variously but indecisively explained:—(1) From Coventry Gaol, as a place of imprisonment for Royalists during the Parliamentary war. (2) From the fact that in Coventry, as elsewhere, the privilege of trading was anciently confined to certain privileged persons. (3) As a corruption of put or sent into quarantine, the transition from ‘Coventry’ formerly pronounced and written Cointrie—(‘his breech of Cointrie blewe.’ Drayton’s Dowsabell: 1593)—being easy and natural, in which connection, see quot., 1821. The expression appears first in Grose, but ‘Quarantine’ used analogically is found in Swift.

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

1821. Croker, in Croker Papers, vol. I., p. 203. I found MacMahon
in a kind of Coventry, and was warned not to continue my
acquaintance with him.

1838. Lytton, Alice, bk. IV., ch. iii. ‘If any one dares to buy it,
we’ll send him to Coventry.’

1869. Spencer, Study of Sociology, ch. x., p. 244 (9 ed.). The
skilful artizan, who in a given period can do more than his
fellows, but who dares not do it because he would be sent to
Coventry by them.

1872. Post, 21 June. Another representation on behalf of Lieutenant
Tribe, of the 9th Lancers, now for some months past in Coventry,
will be made in the course of a few days to the Minister for War
and to his Royal Highness Commanding-in-Chief.

Cover, subs. (thieves’).—A pickpocket’s confederate: one who ‘fronts,’ i.e., distracts the attention of, the victim; a stall (q.v.).

Verb (thieves’).—1. To act as a pickpocket’s confederate.

1868. Glasgow Gazette, 13 Nov. ‘A Sensitive Thief.’ I saw Merritt
lift up the tail of a gentleman’s coat and thrust his hand into the
pocket.... Jordan and O’Brien were covering Merritt while so
acting. I knew them all to be regular thieves.

2. (American).—To drink. For synonyms, see Lush.

3. (venery).—To ‘have’ or ‘possess’ a woman. [Properly used of a stallion and a mare.]

1653. Urquhart, Translation of Rabelais. Madam, it would be a very
great benefit to the commonwealth, delightful to you, honourable to
your progeny, and necessary for me, that I cover you for the
propagating of my race.

Cover-arse Gown, subs. phr. (Univ., obsolete).—A gown without sleeves.

1803. Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, s.v.

Cover-Down, subs. (thieves’).—An obsolete term for a false tossing coin.—See Cap.

Cover-Me-Decently, verbal phr. (old).—A coat. For synonyms, see Capella.

1821. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, p. 5. (Dicks’ ed., 1889.) Tom.
This, what do you call it?—this cover-me-decently, was all very
well at Hawthorn Hall, I daresay.

Covess, subs. (old).—A woman.—See Cove.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 144. He was well acquainted
with the cove and covess.

1827. Sir E. B. Lytton, Pelham, p. 310 (ed. 1864). Ah, Bess my
covess, strike me blind if my sees don’t tout your bingo muns in
spite of the darkmans.

Covey, subs. (common).—A man; a diminutive of cove (q.v.).

1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act iii., Sc. 3. Tom. Well
there’s a flimsy for you; serve the change out in max to the
covies.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. viii. Upon this, the boy crossed
over; and, walking close up to Oliver, said, ‘Hullo, my covey!
what’s the row?’

1854. Aytoun and Martin, The Bon Gaultier Ballads. ‘The Laureate’s
Tourney.’ ‘Undo the helmet! cut the lace! pour water on his head!’
‘It ain’t no use at all, my lord; ’cos vy? the covey’s dead.’

1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 19. Ah!
Ah! you half-starved, hungry, ugly-looking covey, why, if they had
you in the country where I came from they’d boil you down for the
pigs.

Cow, subs. (old).—1. A woman. The term is now opprobrious; but in its primary and natural sense the usage is ancient. Howell [1659] says: ‘There are some proverbs that carry a kind of authority with them, as that which began in Henrie the Fourth’s time. “He that bulls the cow must keep the calf.”’ For synonyms, see Petticoat.

2. (general).—A prostitute. [By analogy from sense 1.] Fr., une vache. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

3. (sporting).—A thousand pounds. Other slang terms for sums of money are:—

Pony = £25.
Century = £100.
Monkey = £500.
Plum = £100,000.
Marigold = £1,000,000.

but for complete list, see Monkey.

1870. Athenæum, 10 Sept. ‘Liverpool.’ All over Lancashire a horse
is called a cow, which everywhere else where slang prevails is a
cant term for a thousand pounds.

To talk the hind leg off a cow or dog.—See Talk.

Tune the cow died of.—See Tune.

Cowan, subs. (common).—A sneak or prying individual. Among masons the uninitiate in general.

Cow-and-Calf, verb (rhyming slang).—To laugh.

Coward’s-Castle or Corner, subs. phr. (popular).—A pulpit. [Because a clergyman may deliver himself therefrom without fear of contradiction or argument.] For synonyms, see Hum-box.

1883. Notes and Queries, 6 S., viii., p. 147. Coward’s Castle....
An epithet ... in use not inaptly for a pulpit. Ibid. p. 238. I
have often heard the pulpit called the Coward’s Castle, it being
said to be ‘six feet above argument.’

Cowcumber, subs. (vulgar).—A corruption of ‘cucumber.’

1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act iii., Sc. 3. Bob. Very
vell, two pound, vith a pickled cowcumber, and a pen’orth o’
ketchup.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xxv. In case there should be
such a thing as a cowcumber in the house will you be so kind as
bring it, for I’m rayther partial to ’em myself, and they does a
world of good in a sick room.

Cow- (also Bushel- and Sluice-) Cunted, adj. phr. (venery).—term of opprobrium applied to women deformed by parturition or debauchery.

Cow-Grease or Cow-Oil, subs. (common).—Butter. For synonyms, see Cart-grease.

Cow-Juice, subs. (popular).—Milk. Cf., Bung-juice and Cow-grease. For synonyms, see Sky-blue.

Cow-Lick, subs. (common).—A peculiar lock of hair, greased, curled, brought forward from the ear, and plastered on the cheek. Once common amongst costermongers and tramps. For synonyms, see Aggerawators.

Cow-Oil.—See Cow-grease.

Cow-Puncher, subs. (American).—A cowboy or herdsman.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 21 July. He was a cowboy, or, in Western
parlance, a cow-puncher.

Cow-Quake, subs. (Irish).—The roar of a bull.

Cows-and-Kisses, subs. (rhyming slang).—The ‘missus,’ or mistress; also women generally.

1887. Horsley, Jottings from Jail. Come, cows-and-kisses, put the
battle of the Nile on your Barnet fair, and a rogue and villain in
your sky-rocket.

Cow’s-Baby or Babe, subs. (common).—A calf. In Old Cant bleating-cheat (q.v.). For synonyms, see Mooer; Cf., Cow-juice and Cow’s-spouse. Also a poltroon; Fr., un fouinard, un fouetteux de chats, un fouailleur, un foie, un flemard or flaquadin, or un frileux.

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

Cow-Shooter, subs. (Winchester College).—A ‘deerstalker’ hat: only worn by præfects and ‘candle-keepers.’

Cow’s-Spouse, subs. (old).—A bull.—Grose [1785].

Cow With the Iron Tail, subs. phr. (general).—A pump; the source of the ‘cooling medium’ for ‘regulating’ milk. Thus, Dr. Wendell Holmes, in The Professor at the Breakfast Table (1860):—It is a common saying of a jockey that he is all horse, and I have often fancied that milkmen get a stiff upright carriage, and an angular movement that reminds one of a pump and the working of a handle. Also black-cow; one-armed man; and Simpson’s cow (q.v.).

1867. Punch. The Rinderpest does not affect the cow with the iron
tail.

1872. Standard, 25 Dec. Simpson ... is, however, universally
accepted as the title for that combined product of the Cow natural,
and the cow with the iron tail.

1876. Once a Week, 23 August. Every drop of milk brought into Paris
is tested at the barriers by the lactometer, to see if the iron
tailed cow has been guilty of diluting it; if so, the whole of it
is remorselessly thrown into the gutter—the Paris milk is very pure
in consequence.

Coxy, adj. (public schools’).—Stuck up; conceited; impudent.

1856. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-days, p. 202. He’s the coxiest
young blackguard in the house—I always told you so. Ibid, p. 214.
‘Confoundly coxy those young rascals will get if we don’t mind,’
was the general feeling.

1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. iv. ‘Now then young Bultitude, you
used to be a decent fellow enough last term, though you were coxy.
So, before we go any further—what do you mean by this sort of
thing?’

Coyduck, verb (old).—To decoy. [An ingenious blend of conduct and decoy.]

1829. A Laconic Narrative of the Life and Death of James Wilson.
That awful monster, William Burke. Like Reynard sneaking on the
lurk, Coyducked his prey into his den And then the woeful work
began.

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

Cozza, subs. (cheap Jacks’).—See quot.

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack. p. 28. Mo ...
declared he would never eat another bit of cozza, i.e., pork, as
long as he lived.

Crab, subs. (auction).—The same as bonnet (q.v.), subs., sense 1.

Verb (thieves’).—To expose; to inform; to offend or insult; and especially to interrupt, to get in the way of, to spoil. [Properly to render harsh, sour, or peevish; to make crabbed.] Also used adjectively. For synonyms, see Peach and Rile, respectively.

1825. The English Spy, vol. I., p. 179. Liveryman, Eglantine. What
coming crabb over us, old fellow? Very well, I shall bolt and try
Randall, and that’s all about it.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 232. If
a patterer has been crabbed, that is offended at any of the ‘cribs’
(houses), he mostly chalks a signal on or near the door. Ibid, vol.
II., p. 568. ‘We don’t crab one another when we are sweeping; if we
was to crab one another, we’d get to fighting and giving slaps of
the jaw to one another.’

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, pp. 5–6.
Others, however, would be what we termed crabbed.

1880. Millikin, Punch’s Almanack. Crab your enemies,—I’ve got a
many, You can pot ’em proper for a penny.

To catch a crab; also to cut a crab; to catch or cut a cancer or lobster, verbal phr. (common).—There are various ways of catching a crab, as, for example, (1) to turn the blade of the oar or ‘feather’ under water at the end of the stroke, and thus be unable to recover; (2) to lose control of the oar at the middle of the stroke by ‘digging’ too deeply; or (3) to miss the water altogether.

Crab Louse, subs. (old).—The pulex pubis, the male whereof is called a cock, the female a hen.—Grose [1785].

Crabs, subs. (thieves’).—1. The feet. [A punning comparison of the feet and ten toes to the ten-footed, short-tailed crustaceans popularly known as ‘crabs.’] For synonyms, see Creepers. In Haggart (see Glossary, 1821) crabs = shoes.

2. (old).—Lice. For synonyms, see Chates, sense 2.

3. (gaming).—A pair of aces, or deuce-ace—the lowest throw at hazard.

1768. Lord Carlisle, in Jesse’s Selwyn, II., 238 (1882). I hope you
have left off hazard. If you are still so foolish, and will play,
the best thing I can wish you is, that you may win and never throw
crabs.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (Hard Times), p. 4, ed. 1851. Well,
we know in these cases Your crabs and ‘Deuce Aces’ Are wont to
promote frequent changes of places.

1874. G. A. Lawrence, Hagarene, ch. iii. ‘My annuity drops with me;
and if this throw comes off crabs, there won’t be enough to bury
me, unless I die a defaulter.’

To turn out crabs or a case of crabs, verbal phr. (common).—A matter turns out crabs when it is brought to a disagreeable conclusion. [Cf., Crab, verb, in the sense of to interrupt; to get in the way of; to spoil.]

Crabshells, subs. (popular).—Shoes. [From crabs, subs., sense 1 (q.v.), + shells, an outer covering.] For synonyms, see Trotter-cases.

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

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 210,
‘Now these ’ere shoes,’ he said ... ‘even now, with a little
mending, they’ll make a tidy pair of crab-shells again.’

1889. Answers, July 20, p. 121, col. 2. The state of my crabshells,
or boots, pointed to the fact that I had come down in the world.

Crack, subs. (old).—A crazy person, or soft-head. [From crack = to impair, or to be impaired.] For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight, in wks. (Grosart) III.,
212. A Foyst nor a Nip shall not walke into a Fayre or a
Play-house, but euerie cracke will cry looke to your purses.

b. 1672, d. 1719. Addison (quoted in Annandale). I cannot get the Parliament to listen to me, who look upon me as a crack.

2. (old).—A prostitute, see sense 4. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1698. Farquhar, Love and a Bottle, Act v., Sc. 3. You imagine I
have got your whore, cousin, your crack.

1705–7. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. II., pt. II., p. 27. Old
Leachers, Harridans, and Cracks.

1715. Vanbrugh, Country House, II., v. For you must know my sister
was with me, and it seems he took her for a crack, and I being a
forward boy he fancied I was going to make love to her under a
hedge, ha, ha.

1748. T. Dyce, Dictionary (5 ed.), s.v.

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

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

3. (old).—A lie. Cf., Cracker (the modern form), and for synonyms, see Whopper.

1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act ii. Miss N. There’s
something generous in my cousin’s manner. He falls out before faces
to be forgiven in private. Tony. That’s a damned confounded crack.

4. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

5. (thieves’).—A burglary. Cf., Crack a crib, and for synonyms, see Panny. [The term originated about the beginning of the present century. Fr., une fraction.]

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood p. 120 (ed. 1864). We’ll overhaul
the swag here, when the speak is spoken over. This crack may make
us all for life.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, p. 124. The crack failed, said Toby,
faintly.

1841. G. W. Reynolds, Pickwick Abroad, ch. xxvi. But should the
traps be on the sly, For a change we’ll have a crack.

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, Act i., Sc. 5. Come on,
then! A sweet ride of a dozen miles, just to cool one’s head, then
for the crack; and then back to London.

1889. Answers, 13 April, p. 313. Such inscriptions as ‘Poor Joe
from the Dials in for a crack,’ meaning ‘Poor Joe from Seven Dials
in for a burglary,’ are numerous.

6. (thieves’).—A burglar. [See sense 5, and cf., Cracksman.]

1749. Life of Bampfylde-Moore Carew. Suffer none, from far or near,
With their rights to interfere; No strange Abram, ruffler crack.

1857. Punch, 31 Jan. (from slang song). That long over Newgit their
Worships may rule, As the High-toby, mob, crack, and screeve model
school.

7. (colloquial).—An approach to perfection. Cf., sense 8.

1825. English Spy, p. 255. Most noble cracks and worthy cousin
trumps, permit me to introduce a brother of the togati.

1864. Glasgow Herald, 5 April. ‘Report of R. N. Y. Club.’ This
vessel (one of Fyfe’s cracks) being almost new, and coppered, will
be free from the objectionable fouling which is so great a drawback
to the use of iron yachts.

1871. London Figaro, 17 Oct. Does it mean that the crack is a thing
of the past, and that the learned author is no longer to be
considered as a crack?

1889. Answers, March 23, p. 265, col. 3. Warders are not, thank
goodness, first-rate shots, but even a crack would find it
difficult to hit a man’s head appearing for only a moment or two in
probably a heavy fog.

8. (turf).—A racehorse eminent for speed. Hunting: a famous ‘mount.’ [An extension of the usage in sense 7.]

1853. Diogenes, II., 271. ‘The Betting Boy’s Lament.’ Cesarewitch,
Cambridgeshire now No longer for me have a charm; the cracks may be
ranged in a row, But for me they’ve no fear nor alarm.

1864. Derby Day, p. 38. Sir Bridges Sinclair would not scratch a
horse—no, not if it was ever so, let alone a Derby crack.

1871. Standard, 6 Nov. Unlimited gossip as to the welfare and
chances of forthcoming cracks.

1883. The Echo, Feb. 7, p. 3, col. 6. I give below a few of the
probable starters for the Waterloo Cup, including all the cracks.

1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 155. Of course he was
au courant with all the rumours concerning the Panton Lodge crack.

9. (vagrants’).—Dry firewood.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 358. The
next process is to look for some crack (some dry wood to light a
fire).

Adj. (colloquial).—Approaching perfection; used in a multitude or combinations. A crack hand is an adept or ‘dabster’; a crack corps, a brilliant regiment; a crack whip, a good coachman; etc. As a connecting link between the adjective and the earlier use of crack, cf., The crack.

1836. W. H. Smith, The Individual, 13 Nov. ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’
Her duds are bob—she’s a kinchin crack, and I hopes as how she’ll
never back.

1839. Thackeray, Fatal Boots (July). And such a crack-shot myself,
that fellows were shy of insulting me.

1859. Whitty, Political Portraits, p. 106. But he [the Earl of
Shaftesbury] has insisted on a recognition of the facts of our
appalling civilisation, and that was a good deal to do, which none
other than a Peer and crack Christian could hope to do. Ibid, p.
288. The whippers-in will never receive instructions to find the
addresses of the brilliances of Union debating clubs, bar messes,
and crack newspapers.

1865. M. E. Braddon, Henry Dunbar, ch. xx. Who was moreover a crack
shot, a reckless cross-country-going rider, and a very tolerable
amateur artist.

Verb (old).—1. To talk to; to boast. [The verb was once good English, and in the sense of to talk or gossip is still good Scots. The modern form to crack-up, is well within the borderland between literary and colloquial English. The following quots., together with those under crack-up, form an unbroken series].

1597. G. Harvey, Trimming of Nashe, in wks. (Grosart) III., 31. So
you may cracke your selfe abroad, and get to be reported the man
you are not.

1621. Burton, Anat. of Mel., I., II., III., xiv., 199, (1876). Your
very tradesmen, if they be excellent, will crack and brag, and show
their folly in excess.

1654. Witts, Recreations. And let them that crack In the praises of
sack, Know malt is of mickle might.

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

2. (thieves’).—To force open; to commit a burglary. [A shorter form of crack a crib (q.v.)]

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xix. The crib’s barred up at night
like a jail; but there’s one part we can crack, safe and softly.

3. (American thieves’).—To forge or utter worthless paper. [An extension by analogy of ‘to crack,’ i.e., ‘to force,’ and ‘cracksman,’ a burglar.]

4. (colloquial).—To fall to ruin; to be impaired. Cf., subs., sense 1.

b. 1631. d. 1701. Dryden [quoted in Annandale]. The credit of the
exchequer cracks when little comes in and much goes out.

5. (thieves’).—To inform; to peach (q.v. for synonyms).

c. 1850, but date uncertain. Broadside Ballad, ‘Bates’ Farm.’ I
mean to crack a crib to-night, but pals don’t crack on me.

To crack a bottle or a quart, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To drink. Analogous and equally old is ‘to crush a cup.’ Fr., étouffer une négresse or un enfant de chœur. For synonyms, see Lush.

1598. Shakspeare, II. Henry IV., v., 3, 66. Shal. By the mass,
you’ll crack a quart together.

1711. Spectator. No. 234. He hems after him in the public street,
and they must crack a bottle at the next tavern.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VIII., ch. vii. ‘What,’ says the
wife, ‘you have been tippling with the gentleman! I see.’ ‘Yes,’
answered the husband, ‘we have cracked a bottle together.’

1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. viii. ‘You have cracked my silver-mounted
cocoa-nut of sack, and tell me that you cannot sing!’

1853. Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, ch. xvii., p. 221. ‘I chose to
invite the landlords of the ‘Bell’ and the ‘Lion’ to crack a bottle
with me.’

To crack a crib, swag, or ken, verbal phr. (thieves’).—To commit a burglary; to break into a house. [From crack, to force open, + crib, a house.]

English Synonyms. To stamp a ken or crib; to work a panny; to jump a house (also applied to simple robbery without burglary); to do a crack; to practice the black art; to screw; to bust a crib; to flimp; to buz; to tool; to wire; to do a ken-crack-lay.

French Synonyms. Faire un cassement de porte (thieves’); faire une condition (thieves’); faire copeaux (thieves’: in allusion to the splinters from a forced door); écorner une boutanche or un boucard (thieves’ = to enter shops burglariously); faire un vol à l’esquinte (thieves’); maquiller une cambriole (thieves’: maquiller = to do, to ‘fake’—an almost universal verb of action); faire fric-frac; nettoyer un bocart (thieves’).

German Synonyms. Aufnollen (to ‘burgle’ with skeleton keys); aufplatzen (literally ‘to wrench’ or ‘break open’); aufschränken (schränken [from Schranke, O.H.G. screnchan, M.H.G. schranne, schrange, schrand] = a burglary with violence. Schränker = burglar. Up to the middle of the present century burglars used to be called Schränker a zierlicher; Schränkmassematten = a burglary with violence; Schränkzeug, Schränkschaure, Schränkschurrich = burglars’ tools); blaupfeifen (Viennese thieves’); Cassne handeln or melochenen (to commit burglary with open violence); einen Massematten handeln (Massematten is a word whose Hebraic components very nearly correspond to the English ‘debit and credit’; it signifies commerce and activity—of the kind that pertains to cracksmanship; e.g., einen Massematten baldowern, to make an opportunity for theft; einen Massematten stehen haben, to have ‘dead-lurked’ a crib, or prepared a burglary; Massematten bekoach, a burglary with violence.)

1830. Bulwer Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 297, ed. 1854. And you
‘members as now I met Harry and you—there, and I vas all afeard at
you—cause vy? I had never seen you afore and ve vas a going to
crack a swell’s crib.’

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, Act i., Sc. 5. Jer. Now
comes the grand spec; we go to crack a ken; Kit’s in, so’s the
captain. Steady’s the word; I go first, you all follow.

1871. Standard, 26 Dec. If their pals outside, the gentry who hocus
Jack ashore in the east, pick the pockets of Lord Dundreary in the
west, and crack cribs in the lonely outskirts could only realise
how miserable the Christmas-day was for them, we might look out for
a needful retrenchment in the estimates of penal expenditure.

1871. Morning Advertiser, 11 May. ‘Leader.’ He took to burglary,
employing professional burglars to assist him, whenever it became
necessary to crack a crib.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Straight Tip. Dead-lurk a crib, or do
a crack.

To crack a judy (or her tea cup), verb. phr. (common).—To deflower a maid.

To crack a crust, phr. (common).—To rub along in the world. A superlative for doing very well is, To crack a tidy crust.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 445. I
am now just managing to crack an honest crust; and while I can do
that I will never thieve more.

To crack a ken, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To commit a burglary; to crack a crib (q.v.).—[See Crack, verb, sense 2 and Ken.]

To crack a whid, verb. phr. (thieves’).—To talk. [Whid (q.v.) = a word: Old Cant.] Cf., Cut, verb, sense 1. For synonyms, see Patter.

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 22. The
whids as the words or set phrases used by Cheap Johns in disposing
of their articles are called are very much alike ... many little
circumstances occur when they (the whids) are being cracked which
are lost to a reader.

To crack on, verb. phr. (common).—To ‘put on speed’; increase one’s pace.

1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xi. ‘I shot a wild goose at
River Philip last year, with the rice of Varginny fresh in his
crop; he must have cracked on near about as fast as them other
geese, the British travellers.’

1876. Broadside Ballad [quoted in C. G. Leland’s Captain Jonas]. We
carried away the royal yards, and the stuns’le boom was gone. Says
the skipper, ‘they may go or stand, I’m darned if I don’t crack
on.’

To crack up, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To praise; eulogize. A superlative is to crack up to the nines. Fr., faire l’article, (commercial travellers’) and faire son boniment or son petit boniment (cheap jacks’ and showmen’s).

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit. Ch. 33 ... We must be cracked up,
said Mr. Chollop, darkly.

1856. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-days, p. 139. Then don’t object to
my cracking up the old school house, Rugby.

1878. Jas. Payn, By Proxy, ch. i. ‘We find them cracking up the
country they belong to, no matter how absurd may be the boast.’

The crack, or all the crack, phr. (general).—The go (q.v.); ‘the thing’; the ‘kick’; the general craze of the moment.

In a crack, phr. (colloquial).—Instantaneously; in the twinkling of an eye. For synonyms, see Bedpost.

1725. Ramsay, Gentle Shepherd, Act i. I trow, when that she saw,
within a crack, She came with a right thieveless errand back.

1763. Foote, Mayor of Garrett, Act i. Nic Goose, the taylor, from
Putney, they say, will be here in a crack.

1819. Byron, Don Juan, ch. i., st. 135. ‘They’re on the stair just
now, and in a crack will all be here.’

1842. Punch, vol. III., p. 136. In a crack the youth and maiden To
a flowery bank did come.

Cracked or Cracked-Up, ppl. adj. phr. (colloquial).—1. Ruined; ‘bust up’; ‘gone to smash’ or to ‘pot.’ For synonyms, see Dead broke.

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 2 [also pp.
24, 47]. If a Catholic coster,—there’s only a very few of them—is
cracked up (penniless) he’s often started again, and the others
have a notion that it’s through some chapel fund. Ibid, p. 22. ‘If
we’re cracked up, that is, if we’re forced to go into the Union.’

1870. Britannia, June. ‘Speculation in 1870.’ Of these there only
remain now 122 companies, with a capital of a hundred and eighty
millions, the rest having one and all cracked up, as the Americans
would say.

2. (common).—Crazy. For synonyms, see Apartments and Tile Loose.

1872. Daily Telegraph, 3 Sept. ‘Police Court Report.’ Mr. Bushby:
Is her head affected? The Prisoner: Am I cracked? Of course—in the
nut. You’ll be to-morrow.

3. (common).—Deflowered. Also Cracked in the Ring.

Cracker, subs. (common).—Anything approaching perfection. Used in both a good and bad sense; e.g., a rattling pace, a large sum of money, a bad fall, an enormous lie, a dandy (male or female) of the first magnitude, and so forth. [Cf., Crack, subs.; senses 3 and 7, adj., and verb, sense 1.]

1861. Whyte Melville, Good for Nothing, ch. vi. ‘I remember ...
Belphegor’s year. What a cracker I stood to win on him and the
Rejected!’

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, I., 28. You know the University was in a
manner beaten, and he took the blame. He never cried; that was a
cracker of those fellows.

1869. Daily News, Nov. 8. ‘Leader.’ Now he’s gone a cracker over
head and ears.

1871. Daily News, Nov. 1. ‘Prince of Wales’ Visit to Scarborough.’
The shooting party, mounting their forest ponies, came up the
straight a cracker, Lord Carrington finishing a good first.

1883. Graphic, March 24, p, 303, col. 1. He [the Oxford stroke]
could also depend on his own men for not falling to pieces through
being taken off at a cracker.

Crackey.—See Crikey.

Crack-Halter, or Crack-Rope, subs. (old).—A vagabond; an old equivalent of jail-bird. Cf., Hemp-seed.

1566. Gascoigne, Supposes, i., 4. You crackhalter, if I catch you
by the ears, I’ll make you answer directly.

1607. Dekker, Northward Hoe, IV., i. Featherstone’s boy, like an
honest crack-halter, laid open all to one of my prentices.

1639. Massinger, Unnatural Combat, II., ii. Peace, you crack-rope!

1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, ch. xxx. ‘Hark ye, ye crack-rope
padder, born-beggar, and hedge-thief,’ replied the hag.

Crack-Hunter, or Haunter, subs. (venery).—The penis. Cf., Crack, subs., sense 4. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Cracking, verbal subs. (thieves’).—House-breaking. [From crack, verb, sense 2.]

1862. Cornhill Mag., vol. VI., 651. We are going a-flimping,
buzzing, cracking, tooling, etc.

Crackish, adj. (old).—Wanton, said only of women. [From crack, subs., sense 4.] Cf., Coming.

Crack-Jaw Words, Names, etc., subs. (colloquial).—Long words difficult to pronounce. [From crack, to break, + jaw, speech.] Variants are half-crown words, jaw-breakers, and cramp words.

1876. M. E. Braddon, Joshua Haggard’s Daughter, ch. vii. ‘He brings
her plants with crackjaw names.’

1883. Daily Telegraph, June 25, p. 3, col. 1. ‘Some of the ways
with the crack-jaw names of cooking it would give it a foreign
flavour to me.’

Crackle or Crackling, subs. (University).—The velvet bars on the gowns of the Johnian ‘hogs’ (q.v.). [From their resemblance to the scored rind on roast pork.] The covered bridge between one of the courts and the grounds of John’s is called the Isthmus of Suez (Latin sus, a swine).

1885. Cuthbert Bede, in Notes and Queries, 6 S., xi., 414. The word
crackle refers to the velvet bars on the students’ gowns.

Crackmans or Cragmans, subs. (old).—A hedge.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 57 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874),
s.v.

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

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. The cull thought to have loped, by
breaking through the crackmans, but we fetched him back by a nope.

Crack or Break One’s Egg, or Duck, verbal phr. (cricket).—To begin to score. [To make no run is to ‘lay, or make, a duck’s egg’; to make none in either innings is ‘to get a double-duck,’ or to come off with a pair of spectacles.]

1890. Polytechnic Magazine, 5 June, p. 367, col. 2. Watson bowled
splendidly, taking 8 wickets at a very small cost, two of his
foemen being unable to crack their egg.

Crack-Pot, subs. (popular).—A pretentious, worthless person. For synonyms, see Swash-Buckler.

1883. Broadside Ballad, ‘I’m Living with Mother now.’ My aunty knew
lots, and called them crack-pots.

Crack-Rope.—See Crack-halter.

Cracksman, subs. (popular).—1. A housebreaker. [From crack, verb, sense 2, + man; literally one who cracks or forces his way into a house.] For synonyms, see Thieves.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. The kiddy is a clever cracksman.

1830. Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 298, ed. 1854. I have no idea of a
gentleman turning cracksman.

1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, p. 123. You’ll be a fine young
cracksman afore the old file now.

1837. Barham, I. L. (Lay of St. Aloys). Your cracksman, for
instance, thinks night-time the best To break open a door or the
lid of a chest.

1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard (1889), p. 70. I’ll turn cracksman,
like my father.

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 21 Nov., p. 6, col. 1. The latest dodge among
cracksmen is to personate an electric-light man.

2. (common).—The penis.—See Crack, subs., sense 4.

Cradle, Altar, and Tomb Column, subs. phr. (American).—The births, marriages, and deaths column in newspaper. An English equivalent is hatch, match, and dispatch column.

Crag.—See Scrag.

Cram, subs. (popular).—1. A lie; oftentimes crammer. [The idea is that of stuffing with nonsense.] For synonyms, see Whopper.

1842. Punch, vol. II., p. 21, col. 2. It soundeth somewhat like a
cram: but our honour is at stake, and we repeat the ‘mile.’

1864. Le Fanu, Uncle Silas, ch. xxxviii. ‘It is awful, an old un
like that telling such crams as she do!’

1864. Quiver, 4 June. By some delicate distinction the falsehood
presented itself under the guise of a cram, and not of a naked lie.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Good Night. You magsmen bold that work
the cram.

2. (colloquial).—Hard, forced study. Resulting rather in a test of memory than of capacity.

1872. Morning Post, Oct. 15. Poor Toots, the head boy of Dr.
Blimber’s academy ... bloomed early and had by cram been enabled to
answer any given set of questions, and to work any papers at an
‘exam.’

1872. Daily Telegraph, July 25. ‘Speech Day at King’s College
School.’ Dr. Maclear also said a few words on the advantage of boys
going up straight from school to college without any interval of
cram.

1878. Jas. Payn, By Proxy, ch. xii. They have gained their position
by cram of the philosophic kind.

3. (colloquial).—One who prepares another for an examination; a coach; a ‘grindstone.’

1861. Dutton Cook, Paul Foster’s Daughter, ch. ix. ‘I shall go to a
coach, a cram, a grindstone.’

4. (University).—An adventitious aid to study; a translation; a ‘crib.’ For synonyms, see Pony.

1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘C. Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. II., p. 68.
The infatuated Mr. Bouncer madly persisted ... in going into the
school clad in his examination coat, and padded over with a host of
crams.

Verb (colloquial).—1. To study at high pressure for an examination. Also to prepare one for examination. Cf., Dig and Coach.

1803. Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, s.v.

1825–27. Hone, Every-day Book, Feb. 22. Shutting my room door, as
if I was ‘sported in’ and cramming Euc.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, chap. li., p. 446. ‘He crammed for it, to
use a technical but expressive term; he read up for the subject, at
my desire, in the Encyclopædia Britannica.’

1844. Puck, p. 13. Though for Great Go and for Small, I teach
Paley, cram and all.

1872. Besant and Rice, My Little Girl. The writer of one crushing
article crammed for it, like Mr. Pott’s young man.

2. (general).—To lie; to deceive, [Literally to stuff with nonsense.] For synonyms, see Stick.

1794. Gent. Mag., p. 1085. Luckily, I crammed him so well, that at
last honest Jollux tipped me the cole [money].

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xviii. A thousand ridiculous
tales ... with some specimens of which our friend Richie Moniplies
had been crammed ... by the malicious apprentice.

Crammer, subs. (general). 1. A liar; one who tells crams (q.v.). [From cram (m), a lie, + er.]

2. (common).—A lie; the same as cram, sense 1.

1861. H. C. Pennell, Puck on Pegasus, p. 17. I sucked in the
obvious crammer kindly as my mother’s milk.

1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. xxxviii. ‘What on earth
made you tell him crammers like that?’ asked Silverbridge.

c. 1884. Broadside Ballad, ‘On Monday I Met Mary Ann.’ I thought
t’would last for ever and I never should be sold, Because I was so
clever in the crammers that I told.

3. (general).—One who prepares men for examination; a coach, or grinder (q.v., for synonyms).

1812. Miss Edgeworth, Patronage, ch. iii. Put him into the hands of
a clever grinder or crammer, and they would soon cram the necessary
portion of Latin and Greek into him.

1872. Evening Standard, 16 Aug. ‘The Competition Wallah.’ The
crammer follows in the wake of competitive examinations as surely
as does the shadow the body.

Cramming, verbal subs. (common).—The act of studying hard for an examination. [From cram (q.v., sense 2) + ing.] American, boning.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 201, col. 1. Aspirants to honours in law,
physic, or divinity, each know the value of private cramming.

1863. Charles Reade, Hard Cash, I., p. 16. ‘All this term I have
been (‘training’ scratched out and another word put in: c—r oh, I
know) cramming.’ ‘Cramming, love?’ ‘Yes, that is Oxfordish for
studying.’

1869. Spencer, Study of Sociology, ch. xv., p. 574 (9 ed.). And
here, by higher culture, I do not mean mere language-learning, and
an extension of the detestable cramming system at present in use.

1872. Daily News, Dec. 20. Competitive examinations for the public
service defeated in a great measure, the object of their promoters,
which was to place rich and poor on an equality, because success
was made to depend very largely on successful cramming, which meant
a high-priced crammer.

Cramped or Crapped, ppl. adj. (old).—Hanged; also killed. For synonyms, see Ladder.

Cramping-Cull, subs. (old).—The hangman. [From the cramping of the rope, + cull, a man.] Cf., cramp rings (q.v.).

Cramp in the Hand, subs. phr. (common).—Meanness; stinginess.

Cramp-Rings, subs. (old).—Bolts; shackles; fetters. [Properly a ring of gold or silver, which after being blessed by the sovereign, was held a specific for cramp and falling-sickness.] For synonyms, see Darbies.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight [ed. Grosart, III., 203].
Straight we’re to the Cuffin Queer forced to bing; And ’cause we
are poor made to scour the cramp-ring.

1671. Head and Kirkman, The English Rogue, ‘Canting Song.’ Till
cramprings quire, tip Cove his Hire, And Quire-ken do them catch.

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

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

Cramp-Words, subs. (old).—1. Hard, unpronounceable vocables; crackjaw words (q.v.).

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Cramp words (s.): hard,
difficult, unusual or uncommon words.

1779. Mrs. Cowley, Who’s the Dupe? II., ii. I’ve been in the
Dictionary this half-hour, and have picked up cramp words enough to
puzzle and delight the old gentleman the remainder of his life.

1812. Coombe, Tour in S. of Picturesque, C. xxv. Who get cramp
words, and cant the Muse In Magazines and in Reviews.

2 (thieves’).—Sentence of death. [A figurative usage of sense 1.]

1748. Dyche, Dict., 5 ed. Cramp-words(s) ... also in the canting
dialect the sentence of death pass’d by the judge upon a criminal.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue. He has just undergone the
cramp-word.

Cranberry-Eye, subs. (American). A blood-shot eye resulting from alcoholism.

Crank, subs. (old).—1. Sometimes cranke.—See quots. and Counterfeit crank.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 33. These that do counterfet the
cranke be yong knaues and yonge harlots, that deeply dissemble the
falling sicknes. For the crank in their language is the fallinge
evill.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874).
Crancke, the falling sickenesse: and thereupon your Rogues that
counterfeit the falling sickenes, are called counterfeit crancks.

2. (old).—Gin and water:—Grose [1785].

3. (American).—An eccentric, a crotcheteer. [From the colloquial cranky (q.v.) = full of crotchets; crazy.] Cf., Counterfeit Crank.

1886. Florida Times Union, 22 May. I know perfectly well that I
shall probably be called an old fogy, if not a crank, for presuming
to think that anything in the past can be better than in the
present.

1887. New York Tribune, 4 Nov. A good deal of ridicule, mostly
good-natured, is showered upon the base-ball crank, as everybody
persists in calling the man or woman who manifests any deep
interest in the great American game.

1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, 2 Feb. The man was evidently a crank, and
said that 4,000 dollars were due him by the Government.

Adj. (nautical).—Easily upset: e.g., ‘the skiff is very crank.’

Crank-Cuffin, subs. (old).—One of the canting-crew whose specialty was to feign sickness. [From crank (q.v., sense 1), the ‘falling-sickness,’ + cuffin (see Cove), a man.]

1749. Bampfylde Moore-Carew, Oath of the Canting Crew. I,
Crank-Cuffin, swear to be True to this fraternity.

Cranky, adj. (colloquial).—Crotchetty; whimsical; ricketty; not to be depended upon; crazy. [Cf., quot., 1787.]

English Synonyms. Dicky; maggotty; dead-alive; yappy; touched; chumpish; comical; dotty; rocketty; queer; faddy; fadmongering; twisted; funny.

French Synonyms. Chevrotin (popular: applied to a bad or irritable temper); être comme un crin (popular); avoir sa chique (familiar: said of the temper).

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary. Cranky, ailing, sickly; from the Dutch
crank, sick.

1840. Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop, ch. vii., p. 33. Adding to this
retort an observation to the effect that his friend appeared to be
rather cranky in point of temper.

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, II., 113. He had repeatedly been called
into cases of mania described as sudden, and almost invariably
found the patient had been cranky for years.

1873. Mrs. Edwards, A Vagabond Heroine, in Temple Bar, June. ‘On
goes the cranky carriage, on goes the swearing driver and the high
souled Burke.’

1874. Mrs. H. Wood, Johnny Ludlow, 1 S., No. III., p. 42. ‘What’s
the matter now?’ asked Mrs. Hall, in her cranky way.

Cranny, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Cranny-Hunter, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms; see Creamstick.

Crap, subs. (old):—1. Money; sometimes crop. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.); s.v.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary and Dict. Vulg. Tongue [1785]. Crap ...
In the north it is sometimes used for money.

2. (old).—The gallows. For synonyms, see Nubbing Cheat.

1830. Bulwer Lytton, Paul Clifford, p. 255 (ed. 1854). ‘Ah!’ said
Long Ned, with a sigh, ‘that is all very well, Mr. Nabbem; but I’ll
go to the crap like a gentleman.’

1834. Harrison Ainsworth, Rookwood. And what if, at length, boys,
he comes to the crap Even rack punch has some bitter in it.

3. (printers’).—Type that has got mixed; technically known as ‘pi.’ [Here compared to excrement.]

Verb, trs. and intrs. (old).—1. To hang; to be crapped = to be hanged.

2. (common).—To ease oneself by evacuation. For synonyms, see Bury a Quaker and Mrs. Jones.

Crapped, ppl. adj. (old).—Hanged. [From crap (q.v., subs., sense 2), + ed.]—See Cropped.

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

Crapping Casa, Case, Castle or Ken, subs. (common).—A water-closet. [From crap, verb, sense 2 (q.v.), to ease oneself, + ing + casa or ken, a house.] For synonyms, see Bury a Quaker and Mrs. Jones.

Crapping-Castle, subs. (hospital).—A night-stool.

Crash, subs. (old).—1. Entertainment. Probably a cant word.—Nares.

2. (theatrical).—The machine used to suggest the roar of thunder; a noise of desperate (and unseen) conflict; an effect of ‘alarums, excursions’ generally.

Verb (old).—To kill. For synonyms, see Cook one’s goose.

Crashing-Cheats or Chetes, subs. (old).—1. The teeth. [From crash, to break to pieces. + ing + cheat, a thing, from A.S. ceat.] For synonyms, see Grinders.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 64, s.v.

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

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict., s.v.

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

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

2. (old).—See quots.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 66. Crashing chetes: appels,
peares, or any other fruit.

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 37 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874),
Crashing cheates: apples.

Crater, Cratur, or Creature, subs. (old).—Formerly, any kind of liquor, but now, Irish whiskey. [Fuller speaks of water as ‘a creature so common and needful,’ and Bacon describes light as ‘God’s first creature.’ Transition is easy.] The skin of the creature = the bottle. For synonyms, see Drinks.

1598. Shakspeare, II. King Henry IV., ii. 2. My appetite was not
princely got; for, by my troth, I do now remember the poor
creature, small beer.

1663. Howard, The Committee, Act iv. Mrs. Day. Oh fie upon’t! who
would have believ’d that we should have liv’d to have seen Obadiah
overcome with the creature.

1683. S. B. Anacreon done into English out of the original Greek.
Oxford. There goes a very pleasant Story of him, that once having
took a Cup too much of Creature, he came staggering homewards
through the Market Place, etc;

1772. Graves, Spiritual Quixote, bk. VII., ch. ii. You will never
be able to hold out as Mr. Whitfield does. He seems to like a bit
of the good cretur as well as other folks.

1816. Scott, Old Mortality, I., p. ... I do most humbly request ...
that ... thou wilt take off this measure, called by the profane a
gill, of the comfortable creature, which the carnal do denominate
brandy.

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. xiv. He produced two bottles
of brandy ... so we passed the creature round, and tried all we
could to while away the tedious night.

1842. Punch, vol. II., p. 23. And reaching home refresh myself with
a ‘kervartern of the cretur!’

1864. Good Words, p. 952. Well as an Irishman—who had already paid
for one pot of porter and a drop of the crater besides—I was not
going to hear anything against ould Ireland.

Crawl, subs. (tailors’).—A workman who curries favour with a foreman or employer; a ‘lickspittle’ or ‘bum-sucker.’

Crawler, subs. (common).—1. A cab that leaves the rank and ‘crawls’ the street in search of fares.

1860. Daily News. It is said the question of making increased
provisions for cab-stands, with a view to the restriction of the
wandering cabs called crawlers, is now under the consideration of
the Chief Commissioner of Police.

1885. Daily News, August 7, p. 5, col. 1. How often does the driver
of the crawler increase his pace just as he sees some one venturing
to attempt a crossing.

2. (common).—A contemptible person, especially a ‘bum-sucker’ or ‘lickspittle.’ For Synonyms, see Snide.

1885. Evening News, 21 Sept., p. 4, col. 1. The complainant called
her father a liar, a bester, and a crawlers.

Crawthumpers, subs. (old).—1. Roman Catholics, ‘the Pope’s cockrels’ (1629). Also called brisket-beaters and, collectively, the breast-fleet. In America a crawthumper = an Irishman or dick, i.e., an Irish Catholic.

1782. Wolcot, Lyric Odes, No. 7; in wks. (1809) I., 69. We are no
crawthumpers, no devotees.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Craw Thumpers: Roman Catholics, so
called from their beating their breasts in the confession of their
sins.

1889. Philadelphia Public Ledger [quoted in S. J. & C., p. 279].
Wanted a servant-maid. No pulings or crawthumpers need apply.

Cream, subs. (venery).—The seminal fluid; Marlowe’s ‘thrice decocted blood’; the ‘white-blow’ and the ‘father-stuff’ of Whitman. A single drop is called a snowball (q.v.).

English Synonyms. Butter; buttermilk; fuck; white honey; jelly; baby-juice; homebrewed; jam; ‘delicious jam’ (Whitman); lather; ‘lewd infusion’; love-liquor; milk; milt; ointment; the oyster; roe; seed; soap; spendings; sperm; spermatic juice (Rochester); spume; spunk; starch; stuff; the tread.—See Come.

Portuguese Synonyms. Leite (= milk); esporra; langouha (= a kind of thick gum).

Cream Cheese. To make one believe the moon is made of cream (or green) cheese, verbal phr. (popular).—To humbug; to deceive; to impose upon. For synonyms, see Bamboozle and Jockey.

Cream Fancy.—See Billy, subs., sense 1.

Cream Jugs, subs. (Stock Exchange).—1. Charkof-Krementschug Railway Bonds.

1887. Atkin, House Scraps. Oh! supposing our cream-jugs were
broken, Or ‘Beetles’ were souring the ‘Babies.’

2. (common).—The paps.

Cream of the Valley, also Cold Cream, subs. phr. (common).—Gin. Cf., Mountain Dew = whiskey. For synonyms, see Drinks.

1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, ch. i., p. 1. ‘What’s up, Jim?
... is it cream o’ the walley or fits as has overcome the lady?’

1864. Comic Almanack, p. 63. Cold Cream Internally.—Cold cream is
an excellent remedy for ‘hot coppers.’

Cream-Stick, subs. (common).—The penis. [Literally a stick supplying cream (q.v.).]

English Synonyms. Aaron’s Rod; Adam’s Arsenal (the penis and testes); the Old Adam; arbor vitæ; arse-opener; arse-wedge; athenæum; bayonet; bean-tosser; beak; beef (the penis and testes); bag of tricks (idem); belly-ruffian; Billy-my-Nag; bludgeon; Blueskin; bracmard (Urquhart); my body’s captain (Whitman); broom-handle; bum-tickler; bush-beater; bush-whacker; butter-knife; catso or gadso; child-getter; chink-stopper; clothes-prop; club; cock; concern; copper-stick; crack-hunter; cracksman; cranny-haunter; cuckoo; cunny-catcher; ‘crimson chitterling’ (Urquhart); dagger; dearest member (Burns); dicky; dibble (Scots); dirk (Scots); Don Cypriano (Urquhart); doodle; dropping member; drumstick; eye-opener; father-confessor; ‘cunny-burrow ferret’ (Urquhart); fiddle-bow; o-for-shame; flute; fornicator; garden-engine and gardener (garden = the female pudendum); gaying instrument; generation tool (C. Johnson and Urquhart); goose’s neck; cutty gun (Scots); gut-stick; hair- (or beard-) splitter; hair-divider; Hanging Johnny; bald-headed hermit; Irish root; Jack-in-the-box; Jack Robinson; jargonelle; Jezabel; jiggling-bone (Irish); jock (q.v.); Dr. Johnson; ‘Master John Goodfellow’ (Urquhart); John-Thomas; ‘Master John Thursday’ (Urquhart); man Thomas; jolly-member (Urquhart); Julius Cæsar; ‘knock-Andrew’ (Urquhart); lance of love; Langolee (Irish); leather-stretcher; life-preserver; live sausage (Urquhart); Little Davy (Scots); lollipop; lullaby; machine; ‘man-root’ (Whitman); marrow-bone; marrow-bone-and-cleaver; Member for Cockshire; merry-maker; middle-leg; mouse; mole; mowdiwort (Scots); Nebuchadnezzar (cf., Greens); nilnisistando (Urquhart); Nimrod; nudinnudo (Urquhart); ‘nine-inch knocker’ (Urquhart); old man; peace-maker; pecker; pecnoster; pego; pestle; pike (Shakspeare); pike-staff; pile-driver; pintle; pizzle; ploughshare; plug-tail; pointer; ‘poperine pear’ (Shakspeare); Polyphemus; ‘pond-snipe’ (Whitman); prick (Shakspeare and Fletcher); ‘prickle’; privates, and private property (the penis and testes); ‘privy member’ (Biblical); quim-stake; ramrod; ‘Rector of the females’ (Rochester); Roger; rolling-pin; root; rudder; rump-splitter; Saint Peter (who ‘keeps the keys of Paradise’); ‘sausage’ (Sterne); sceptre; shove-straight; sky-scraper; solicitor-general; spigot; ‘split-rump’ (Urquhart); spindle; sponge (cf., Ramrod); staff of life; stern-post; sugar-stick; tarse; tent-peg; thing; ‘thumb of love’ (Whitman); ‘tickle-gizzard’ (Urquhart); tickle-toby; tool; toy; trifle (tailors’); trouble-giblets; tug-mutton; unruly-member; vestry-man; watch-and-seals (the penis and testes); wedge; whore-pipe (Rochester); wimble; yard; Zadkiel (almanack) = the female pudendum.

French Synonyms. Le sansonnet (popular: literally a starling); le gluant (thieves’ = Old Slimy. In Argot also ‘a baby’); l’asticot (properly = a flesh-worm); le jambot (Villon).

German Synonyms. Bletzer (from Bletz = a wedge; bletzen = to beget); Breslauer (Viennese thieves’ = magnum membrum virile; also, a head-piece, and a large glass, or indeed any quantity of brandy); Bruder (also an expression belonging to the Fiesellange; literally a brother. Cf., Schwesterlein, little sister = the female pudendum); Butzelmann (in Luther’s Liber Vagatorum [1529]; Buze = little man); Fiesel (supposed to be from Faser a birch-rod or fibre; the Eng. feaze is also connected with it. Thus, Mädchenfiesel, a ‘hot member’; Pechfiesel, a shoemaker, etc. Fiesellange signifies the language of the strong, i.e., those of the ‘fellowship’ of thieves, burglars, and rowdies [Fr., coupeur], etc. In Vienna Fiesel = the lowest and most dangerous type of bawdy-house bully). Dickmann (also, an egg, or testicle); Pinke or Finke (Low German); Schmeichaz or Schmeigaz (O.H.G. smeichen = to flatter, to laugh); Schwanz (also, a fool or boaster).

Portuguese Synonyms. Pae de todos (= father of all); porra (= a strong stick); virgolleiro (= that which deprives of virginity); pica (= lance; also, a measure equal in length to the handle of a long spear; cf., Eng. yard); bacamarte (= a milk-giving gun); a montholia de Pastor (= an oil-flask).

Creamy, adj. (general).—Excellent; first-rate. For synonyms, see a1 and Fizzing.

Creation. To beat or lick creation, verbal phr. (American).—To overpower; excel; surpass; to be incomparable. English variants are ‘to beat hollow, to sticks, or to fits,’ etc. Cf., Big as all outdoors.

1848. Bartlett, Dict. of Amer. ‘Proverbs.’ When a man runs his head
against a post, he curses the post first, all creation next, and
something else last, and never thinks of cursing himself.

1862. Among the Mermaids. ‘An Old Sailor’s Yarn,’ p. 86. The notion
of finding the capting’s cask pleased me mightily cos I knowed it
would tickle the old man like all creation.

1888. Detroit Free Press, 14 Aug. I’m willin’ to take advice. Beats
all creation how I mistook, but I shan’t go agin yer words.

Creeme, verb (old).—To slip or slide anything into the hands of another.—Grose [1785].

Creeper, subs. (general).—One who cringes and ‘curries favour’; a ‘skunk,’ or snide (q.v., for synonyms).

Creepers, subs. (common).—1. The feet.

English Synonyms. Dew-beaters; beetle-crushers; understandings; trotters; tootsies; stumps (also the legs); everlasting shoes; hocks; boot-trees; pasterns; ards (Old Cant: now used as an adjective, = ‘hot’); double-breasters; daisy-beaters; kickers; crabs; trampers; hockles; hoofs; pudseys.