Chapter XVI: Part 16

1635. Quarles, Emblems, Epig. 10. Mammon well follow’d, Cupid
bravely led; Both touchers; equal fortune makes a dead; No reed can
measure where the conquest lies; Take my advice; compound, and
share the prize.

1828–45. T. Hood, Poems, vol. I., p. 170 (ed. 1846). Away! Away!
she could ride a dead heat With the Dead who rides so fast and
fleet.

1884. Ill. London News, 18 Oct., p. 362, col. 3. St. Gatien, the
horse that ran a dead-heat for the Derby.

Dead-Horse, subs. (common).—1. Work, the wages for which have been paid in advance; by implication, distasteful, or thankless labor. Fr., la bijouterie. To pull the dead horse = to work for wages already paid. [Seamen, on signing articles, sometimes get pay in advance, and they celebrate the term of the period thus paid for by dragging a canvas horse, stuffed with straw, round the deck and dropping him into the sea amidst cheers.] Fr., manger du salé (to eat salt pork.)

1651. Cartwright, Siedge. Ply. Now you’l wish I know, you ne’r
might wear Foul linnen more, never be lowzy agen, Nor ly perdue
with the fat sutler’s wife In the provoking vertue of dead horse,
Your dear delights, and rare camp pleasures.

1669. Nicker Nicked, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), ii., 110. Sir
Humphry Foster had lost the greatest part of his estate, and then
(playing, as it is said, for a dead horse) did, by happy fortune,
recover it again.

1824. T. Fielding, Proverbs, etc. (Familiar Phrases), p. 148, s.v.

1857. Notes and Queries, 2 S., iv., p. 192. A workman ‘horses’ it
when he charges for more in his week’s work than he has really
done. Of course he has so much unprofitable work to get through in
the ensuing week, which is called dead horse.

2. (West Indian).—A shooting star. Among Jamaican negroes the spirits of horses that have fallen over precipices are thought to re-appear in this form.

To flog the dead horse, verb. phr. (common).—To work to no purpose; to dissipate one’s energy in vain; to make ‘much ado about nothing.’

1872. Globe, 1 Aug. ‘In the House,’ For full twenty minutes by the
clock the Premier ... might be said to have rehearsed that
particularly lively operation known as flogging a dead horse.

Dead-Letter, subs. (colloquial).—Anything that has lost its force or authority by lapse of time or other causes.

1755. Fielding, Voyage to Lisbon, p. 145. And to enact laws without
doing this, is to fill our statute-books, much too full already,
still fuller with dead letter, of no use but to the printer of the
Acts of Parliament.

1859. Sala, Gaslight and Daylight, ch. xxi. The Metropolitan
Buildings’ Act is a dead letter in Tattyboys Rents, for nobody ever
thinks of building.

1861. Chambers’ Encyclopædia, s.v. Bunkum. Many laws, agitated for
by popular factions, remain a dead letter, unless they happen to be
enforced by clubs organized for the purpose.

Deadlights, subs. (nautical).—The eyes. For synonyms, see Glims.

Dead Lurk, subs. (thieves’).—See quot.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. i., p. 403. The
dead lurk, for instance, is the expressive slang phrase for the art
of entering dwelling-houses during divine service.

Deadly, adv. (colloquial).—Very; extremely; excessively. In Arbuthnot: ‘So deadly cunning a man.’

Deadly Lively, adv. phr. (common).—Jovial against the grain and to no purpose.

Deadly Nevergreen, subs. phr. (old).—The gallows. Also known as the leafless tree and the tree that bears fruit all the year round. For synonyms, see Nubbing Cheat.

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

Dead Man, subs. phr. (common).—1. An empty bottle: said also to bear Moll Thompson’s mark (i.e. M.T. = empty).

English Synonyms.—Camp-candlestick; fellow-commoner; corpse; dummy; dead marine; dead recruit; dead ’un.

French Synonyms.—Une fillette (= a half-bottle); un corps mort (popular: literally, a corpse); une négresse morte (popular: a reference to color as well as condition).

1738. Swift, Polite Convers., Dial. 2. Ld. S. Come, John, bring us
a fresh bottle. Col. Ay, my lord; and pray, let him carry off the
dead men, as we say in the army [meaning the empty bottles].

1825. The English Spy, vol I., p. 152. On the right was the
sleeping room and at the foot of a neat French bed, I could
perceive the wine bin, surrounded by a regiment of dead men (empty
bottles).

1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. I., p.
59. Talk of the pleasures of the dead languages, indeed! why, how
many jolly nights have you, and I, Larkyns passed ‘down among the
dead men.’

1871. London Figaro, 15 April. We knew that, in practical use,
imperials were inconvenient and wasteful; and that, moreover, it
was far from easy to dispose of their corpses when they became dead
men.

1879. Miss Braddon, Vixen, ch. viii. And added more dead men to the
formidable corps of tall hock bottles, which the astonished butler
ranged rank and file in a lobby outside the dining room.

1888. E. Zola. Translation of L’Assommoir, ch. vii., p. 208. In a
corner of the shop, the heap of dead men increased, a cemetery of
bottles.

2. (bakers’).—A loaf, overcharged, or marked down though not delivered. In London, dead ’un is a popular term for a half-quartern loaf. Also, by implication, a baker.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 16. Dead men are bakers, so
called from the loaves falsely charged to their master’s customers.

3. (tailors’).—In pl. Misfits; hence, a scarecrow.

Deadman’s Lurk, subs. phr. (thieves’).—Extortion of money from the relatives of deceased persons. [Lurk = a sham, swindle, or imposition of any kind.]

Dead Marine.—See Dead Man.

Dead-Meat, subs. (common).—A corpse. [By comparison to butchers’ wares.] Cf., Cold meat.

English Synonyms.—Cold meat; pickles (medical students’: for specimens direct from the subject); croaker; stiff; stiff ’un; dustman; cold pig.

French Synonyms.—Un engourdi (thieves’: properly, torpid, heavy, dull); une falourde engourdie (popular: falourde = a heavy piece of firewood); un dégelé (pop: dégel = death); un rebouis (thieves’: one who has been ‘polished off’); un refroidi (thieves’: refroidir = to cool, to chill; in cant, to kill); les conserves (popular: literally, preserves; cf., ‘pickles’: specifically used of murdered bodies recovered from the water).

Dead-meat train.—See Cold-meat train.

Dead Men’s Shoes, subs. phr. (common).—A situation, property, or possession formerly occupied or enjoyed by a person who is dead and buried. Waiting for dead men’s shoes = looking forward to inheritances.

b. 1584, d. 1660. Phineas Fletcher, Poems, p. 256. And ’tis a
general shrift, that most men use, But yet ’tis tedious waiting
dead men’s shoes.

1758. A. Murphy, The Upholsterer, Act i. I grant ye, ma’am, you
have very good pretensions; but then it’s waiting for dead men’s
shoes.

1764. Wilkes [in P. Fitzgerald’s Life of] (1888), vol. I., p. 244.
As they have no other relation but Miss Wilkes, I therefore suppose
they will leave everything to her, independent of me. Yet this is,
after all, waiting for dead men’s shoes.

1878. C. H. Wall, tr. Molière II., 218. Death is not always ready
to indulge the heir’s wishes and prayers, and we may starve while
waiting for dead men’s shoes.

Dead-nap, subs. (provincial).—A thorough-going rogue.

Dead-nip, subs. (provincial).—A plan or scheme of little importance which has turned out a failure.

Dead-oh, adv. (naval).—In the last stage of intoxication. For synonyms, see Drinks and cf., Screwed.

Dead on, or Dead nuts on, adv. phr. (common).—Originally, having some cause of complaint or quarrel; also, very fond of; having complete mastery over; sure hand at. Cf., death on, Derry on and down on, all of which are variants.—See also nuts on, an older form.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 288. Davies was dead
nuts upon cutting men’s hair. The whole evening long was he calling
men out to be operated upon.

Dead-set, subs. (colloquial).—A pointed and persistent effort or attempt.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, I., 196. He then gave me what I
term the dead set with his eye.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 145. He was made a
dead set at by some other prisoners, who schooled him for a career
of vice and crime.

1889. Globe, 2 Nov., p. 6, col. 2. Certain persons of the
‘thoughtful’ kind, says Rod and Gun, are making a dead set against
the field sports of Britain.

Dead Sow’s Eye, subs. phr. (tailors’).—A badly worked button-hole.

Dead Stuck, adv. phr. (theatrical).—Said of actors who break down in the midst of a performance through sudden lapse of memory.

Dead Swag, subs. (thieves’).—‘Dead stock’ or dead cargo (q.v.); plunder that cannot be disposed of. [Swag = booty.]

Dead to Rights, adv. phr. (common).—Certain; without doubt. An amplification of To rights (q.v.).

1888. Cincinnati Weekly Gazette, 22 Feb. Hill claims he has the
thing down dead to rights, and that he will make the farmers sweat
who have been asserting that his claim was ‘N.G.’

Dead-’un, subs. (thieves’).—1. An uninhabited house. The cracksman who confines his attentions to ‘busting’ of this kind is, in Fr., un nourrisseur.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl., 505. Me and the screwsman
went to Gravesend, and I found a dead ’un (uninhabited house).

2. (common).—A half-quartern loaf. Cf., dead man, sense 2.

3. (turf).—A horse destined to be scratched or not intended to win, and against which odds may be safely laid; a safe ’un (q.v.).

1864. Bailey’s Magazine, June. These al fresco speculators have
their dead ’uns, and carry ‘milking pails,’ like their more
civilised brethren, privileged with the entrée to the clubs and the
Corner.

1868. London Review, 11 July, p. 38, col. 2. The stable and owners
might safely lay against what was technically a dead ’un from the
first.

1880. Hawley Smart, Social Sinners, ch. v. Lord, what dead ’uns he
did back, to be sure!

4. (common).—An empty bottle. For synonyms, see Dead man.

1889. Bird o’ Freedom, 7 Aug., p. 3. We submitted, and with her
help were soon surrounded with a formidable array of dead ’uns.

5. (theatrical).—An unpaid super.

Dead Unit for [or against], adv. phr. (colloquial).—Collective advocacy of (or opposition to) a subject, principle, or line of action. Cf., to go the whole hog.

1888. The Solid Muldoon (Ouray, Colorado). The Eastern Press is a
dead unit against the passage of the Postal Telegraph Bill.

Dead-wood Earnest, adv. phr. (American).—Quite earnest; ‘dead on.’ Cf., in dead earnest.

1876. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Tom Sawyer. No! oh, good licks,
are you in real dead-wood earnest?

Dead Wrong ’Un.—See Wrong ’un.

Deady (modern American, Dead-Eye), subs. (old).—Gin; a special brand of full proof spirit, also known as Stark-naked (q.v.). [From Deady, a well-known gin-spinner.] For synonyms, see Drinks.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 35. As we’d
been summon’d thus, to quaff our deady o’er some state affairs.

1834. Southey, The Doctor, inter-chapter xvi. Some of the
whole-hoggery in the House of Commons he would designate by Deady,
or Wet and Heavy; some by Weak Tea, others by Blue-Ruin.

Deal. There’s a deal of glass about, phr. (common).—Said of men and things; used as a compliment = showy, ‘its the thing.’

To wet the deal, verb. phr. (common).—To ratify a bargain by drinking; to ‘shake.’

1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 268. I
shall be back again shortly, when we will wet the deal.

To do a deal, verb. phr. (common).—To conclude a bargain.

Deal-Suit, subs. (common).—A coffin; especially one supplied by the parish. [In allusion to the wood of which cheap coffins are made.] For synonyms, see Eternity Box.

Dean, subs. (Winchester College).—A small piece of wood bound round a Bill-Brighter (q.v.); that securing a fagot is called a Bishop.

Deaner, subs. (thieves’).—A shilling. [Origin uncertain; possibly related to Latin denarius. In the 16th and 17th centuries, denier = a coin—vide Nashe, Shakspeare, Johnson, etc. Others trace it to (a) the Cornish dinair; (b) Yiddish dinoh, a coin; (c) Gypsy deanee, a pound; (d) Lingua Franca dinarly.] For synonyms, see Blow.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 444. Shilling, Deaner,
also twelver.

1864. Times, 12 October, p. 11, col. 6. One woman said where’s the
deaner?

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl., 501. I had been down three
or four days running, and could not buy anything to earn a deaner
(shilling) out of.

Dearest Member.—The penis.

Death. To be death on, verb. phr. (common).—Very fond of, or thoroughly master of—a metaphor of completeness; the same as dead on, a mark on, or some pumpkins on. Cf., nuts on. [Literally to prosecute or pursue any course of action to the death.]

To dress to death (colloquial).—To attire oneself in the very extreme of fashion. In America to dress within an inch of one’s life; to dress up drunk and to dress to kill. An old Cornish proverb has dressed to death like sally hatch (N. and Q., 3 ser., vi., 6). [Apparently a pun on killing (q.v.).]

1869. Newfoundland Fisheries [quoted in De Vere]. The next day I
met Davis and Nye, my two chums, on board the Little Rhody, dressed
to death and trunk empty, as they said of themselves.

Death-Hunter, subs. (common).—1. A vendor of the last dying speeches, or confessions of criminals; a running patterer or stationer.

1738. [From J. W. Jarvis and Son: Cat. No. 40, p. 38]. Ramble
through London, containing observations on Beggars, Pedlars,
Petticoat Pensioners, death hunters, Humours of the Exchange, etc.,
by a True-born Englishman [Title].

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., 228. The
latter include the ‘running patterers,’ or death-hunters; being men
(no women) engaged in vending last dying speeches and confessions.

2. (popular).—An undertaker. For synonyms, see Cold cook.

? Old Song, ‘Life’s a Chase.’ And e’en the death-hunter, in coffins
who deals Is at last hunted into a coffin.

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

Death or Glory Boys.—See Bingham’s dandies.

Debblish, subs. (South African).—A penny. For synonyms, see Winn.

Decapitate.—See Cut off one’s head.

Decent, Decently, Decentish, adj. and adv. (colloquial).—Moderate; tolerable; passably; fairly good.

Decoy-bird or Duck, subs. (colloquial).—One employed to decoy persons into a snare; a buttoner or bug-hunter (q.v.). Fr., un allumeur, un chatouilleur, or un arrangeur.

Decus, subs. (old).—A crown piece. [From the Latin, the motto decus et tutamen on the rims of these coins.] For synonyms, see Caroon.

1688. T. Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, ed. 1720, 2, vol. IV., p. 48.
Madam Hackum, to testify my gratitude, I make bold to equip you
with some Meggs, Decus’s, and Georges.

1822. Scott, Fort. of Nigel, ch. xxiii. ‘You see,’ he said,
pointing to the casket, ‘that noble Master Grahame, whom you call
Green, has got the decuses and the smelts.’

Dee, subs. (vagrants’).—1. A pocket-book or reader. For synonyms, see Leather.

2. (common).—A detective; also ’tec, (q.v.). Cf., Deeker, and for synonyms, see Nark.

1886. Graphic, 30 Jan., p. 130, col. 1. A detective is known as a
dee and a teck; the former is principally used by tramps and
gipsies, and is properly D, the initial letter of the word.

3. (common).—See D, sense 2.

Deeker, subs. (old).—See quot.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171. Deeker, a thief kept in
pay by a constable.

Deep, adj. (colloquial).—Artful; e.g., ‘a deep one.’ [An extension of the figurative sense = remote from comprehension, hard to penetrate—usages frequent in Biblical language.]

1672–1726. Vanbrugh, The Mistake, Act I. When you take us for
fools, we never take you for wise men. For my part, in this present
case, I take myself to be mighty deep.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, III., in wks. (1720) iv., 63.
Fools! nay, there I am sure you are out: they are all deep, they
are very deep, and sharp.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 268. I can scarcely believe my eyes. Oh!
he’s a deep one.

1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. vi. He was, too, very
deep, and some men, who could put up with his other failings, could
not endure that.

1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 17 Oct., p. 2, col. 2. His Majesty the Sultan
is ‘a deep one,’ it is clear.

Deerstalker, subs. (popular).—A felt hat. For synonyms, see Golgotha.

1870. London Figaro [letter dated Dec. 9]. Either the wind must be
bottled up or the P. of W. must start the fashion of wearing
deerstalkers ... in the windy weather.

Deferred Stock, subs. (city).—Inferior soup. [A play upon words.] For synonyms, see Glue.

1871. Pall Mall Gaz., 22 May. A few years ago, at an economical
Chancellor of Exchequer’s dinner on the Queen’s Birthday, the
Chairman of one of the Revenue Boards, after tasting the soup,
asked the Governor of the Bank of England, who happened to be
sitting next to him at the table, ‘What is this?’ ‘Deferred Stock,
I suspect,’ replied the Governor.

Degen, Degan, or Dagen, subs. (old).—A sword. [From the German.]

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, Nun the degen, steal the sword.

1827. Bulwer Lytton, Pelham, p. 325. ed. 1864. Tip him the degen.

Delicate, subs. (vagrants’).—A lurker’s (q.v.) false subscription book.

Dell, subs. (old).—1. A young girl; a virgin; a young wanton. Later, a mistress: cf., doxy. For synonyms, see Titter.

1567. Harman, Caveat, p. 75. A Dell is a yonge wenche, able for
generation, and not yet knowen or broken by the vpright man.

1574–1637. Ben Jonson, Metam. Gipsies. Sweet doxies and dells My
Roses and Nells.

1609. Thomas Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight. Docked the Dell,
for a Coper meke His wach shall feng a Prounces Nab-chete.

1622. Head and Kirkman, English Rogue. I met a dell, I viewed her
well.

1694. Dunton, Ladies’ Dictionary. Dells are young bucksom wenches,
ripe, and prone to venery, but have not yet been debauch’d.

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Dell, Doxy, a wench.

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. I., ch. ix. He was seized ... by
the bailiff of Westminster when dead drunk, his liquor having been
drugged by his dells—and was shortly afterwards hanged at Tyburn.

Delog, subs. (back slang).—Gold. For synonyms, see Redge.

Delo-Nammow, subs. (back slang).—An old woman. For synonyms, see Old Geezer.

Delve It, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To hurry with one’s work, head down and sewing fast. Cf., dig, verb.

Demand the Box, verb. phr. (nautical).—To call for a bottle.

Demaunder for Glymmar, subs. phr. (old).—See quot.

1567. Harman, Caveat, p. 61. These Demaunders for Glymmar be for
the moste parte wemen; for glymmar in their language, is fyre.
These goe with fayned lycences and counterfayted wrytings, hauing
the hands and seales of suche gentlemen as dwelleth nere to the
place where they fayne them selues to haue bene burnt, and their
goods consumed with fyre. They wyll most lamentable demaunde your
charitie, and wyll quicklye shed salte teares, they be so tender
harted. They wyll neuer begge in that Shiere where their losses (as
they say) was.

Demi-doss, subs. (vagrants’).—See quot.

1886. Daily News, 3 Nov., p. 5, col. 5. Others, unable to find the
coin wherewith to obtain even a demi-doss, i.e., penny sleep.

Demi-Rep, subs. (old slang, now recognised).—A woman of doubtful repute. [A contraction of demi-reputation.] For synonyms, see Barrack Hack and Tart.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. XV., ch. ix. That character which is
vulgarly called a demi-rep; that is to say, a woman who intrigues
with every man she likes, under the name and appearance of virtue
... in short, whom everybody knows to be what nobody calls her.

1754. Connoisseur, No. 4. An order of females lately sprung up ...
usually distinguished by the denomination of Demi-Reps; a word not
to be found in any of our dictionaries.

1846–48. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, vol. II., ch. xx. So they went on
talking about dancers, fights, drinking, demi-reps, until Macmurdo
came down.

Demnition Bow-wows, subs. phr. (common).—The ‘dogs’ which spell ‘ruin.’ Originally a Dickensism (see quot., 1838). For analogues, see Dead Broke.

1838. Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, II., 32. ‘I beg its little
pardon,’ said Mr. Mantalini, dropping the handle of the mangle, and
folding his arms together, ‘It’s all up with its handsome friend.
He has gone to the demnition bow-wows.’

1888. New York Herald, 25 March. There are some men who, if they
don’t make twice as much as they expect to make, will cry hard
times, and say that general business is going to the demnition
bow-wows, but these men would say the same thing in any event.

1889. The Nation, 19 Dec., p. 499, col. 1. Our great farming
industry—the very soil of National growth—is not going to the
demnition bow-wows.

Demnition Hot, adv. phr. (American).—Exceedingly warm; a heat supposed to be akin to that of the place where they don’t rake out the fires at night.

1888. San Francisco Weekly Examiner, 22 March. It was demnition
hot, and I commenced to hunt for soft spots in my saddle.

Demon, subs. (Australian prison).—1. A policeman. For synonyms, see Beak and Copper.

2. (colloquial).—A super-excellent adept; e.g., The demon bowler = Mr. Spofforth; The demon jockey = Fordham or Fred Archer, and so forth.

Den, subs. (common).—A place where intimates are received; one’s ‘diggings’ or ‘snuggery.’ [In Anglo-Saxon = a bed, cave, or lurking place.] For synonyms, see Diggings.

1865. Punch, vol. XLVIII., p. 111 col. 2, s.v.

Dennis, subs. (old).—A small walking stick.

Dep, subs. (common).—1. A deputy; specifically the night porter or chamberlain at padding or dossing kens.

1870. C. Dickens, Mystery of Edwin Drood, ch. v. I’m man-servant up
at the Travellers’ Twopenny in Gas Works Garding, this thing
explains, all man-servants at Travellers’ Lodgings is named Deputy.

2. (Christ’s Hospital).—A deputy Grecian, i.e., a boy in the form below the Grecians.

Derby.—See Darby.

Derrey, subs. (thieves’).—An eyeglass. To take the derrey, (tailors’) = to quiz, ridicule.

Derrick, subs. (old).—The gallows. [A corruption of Theodoric, the name of the public hangman at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries.] Now the name of an apparatus, resembling a crane. Also, used as a verb = to hang; apparently the earliest recorded sense. For synonyms, see Nubbing Cheat.

1600. W. Kemp, Nine Days’ Wonder, in Arber’s English Garner, vol.
VIII., p. 37. One that ... would pol his father, derick his dad! do
anything, how ill soever, to please his apish humour.

1607. Dekker, Jests to Make you Merie, in wks. (Grosart), ii., 318.
For might I have beene her Judge, shee should haue had her due, and
danst Derriks dance in a hempen halter.

1609. Dekker, Gul’s Horne-Booke, chap. ii. The Neapolitan will
(like Derick, the hangman) embrace you with one arme, and rip your
guts with the other.

Derwenter, subs. (Australian).—A convict. [From the penal settlement on the banks of the Derwent, Tasmania.]

Despatchers, subs. (gamesters’).—False dice with two sides, double four, five, and six.

1856. Times, 27 Nov., s.v.

Desperate, and Desperately, adj. and adv. (colloquial).—A metaphor of excessiveness; e.g., desperately mashed = over head and ears in love.

Detrimental, subs. (society).—An ineligible suitor; also a male flirt.

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 133, col. 1. Defining that zero of fortune
to stand below which constitutes a detrimental.

1859. Whitty, Political Portraits, p. 113. The fact is, that the
detrimentals won’t work; born into shifty affluence, it is easier
to struggle on in a false position than to struggle out of it.

1886. Household Words, 13 March, p. 400. A detrimental, in genteel
slang, is a lover, who, owing to his poverty is ineligible as a
husband; or one who professes to pay attentions to a lady without
serious intention of marriage, and thereby discourages the
intentions of others.

Detrimental-Club, subs. (society).—The Reform Club.

Deuce, Dewce, or Deuse, subs. (common).—1. The devil; perdition. Also used as an ejaculative, e.g., The deuce! What the deuce! Who the deuce! Deuce take you! etc. [Wedgwood: ‘The evolution of deuce from Thurs., the name of a Scandinavian demon is fully vouched.’ Skeat: Latin deus, God, deus, borrowed from French usage, being found as an interjection in early English works. Low German duus, Ger. daus are used similarly and may have the same origin; others connect it with Armor. dus, teuz, a goblin.] For synonyms, see Skipper.

b. 1670, d. 1729. Congreve. It was the prettiest prologue as he
wrote it; well, the deuce take me if I ha’n’t forgot it.

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2nd ed.), s.v. Dewce.

1780. Mrs. Cowley, The Belle’s Stratagem, Act v., Sc. i. Miss C.
Deuce take her! She’s six years younger than I am.

1827. R. B. Peake, Comfortable Lodgings, Act I., Sc. iii. De C. I
am the Intendant of Police, sir. Sir H. The deuce you are!

1837. Barham, I. L. (Jackdaw of Rheims). There’s a cry and a shout,
And a deuce of a rout, And nobody seems to know what they’re about.

1854. Aytoun and Martin, Bon Gaultier Ballads. ‘To a
forget-me-not.’ I can’t tell who the deuce it was That gave me this
Forget-me-not.

2. (vagrants’).—Twopence.

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

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 276.
‘Give him a deuce’ (2d.).

3. (gamesters’).—The two at dice or cards.

To play the deuce or devil with, verb. phr. (common).—To send, or be sent, to rack and ruin.

1881. Jas. Payn, Grape from a Thorn, ch. i. I have a presentiment
that the cooking will play the deuce with my digestion.

1885. Indoor Paupers, p. 89. Her drinking played the deuce with the
shop.

The deuce to pay, phr. (common).—Unpleasant or awkward consequences to be faced; see Devil to pay.

1854. Thackeray, The Rose and the Ring, p. 69. There has been such
a row, and disturbance, and quarrelling, and fighting, and chopping
of heads off, and the deuce to pay, that I’m inclined to go back to
Cumtartary.

1869. Mrs. H. Wood, Roland Yorke, ch. xxxiii. One or both of ’em
... report me for negligence! I get a curt telegram to come to
town, and here’s the deuce to pay!

Deuced, adj. (common).—Devilish; excessive; confounded. Also adverbially. [From deuce (q.v.), + ed.]

1836. Michael Scott, The Cruise of the Midge, vol. I. [ed. 1860],
p. 160. Quacco all this while was twisting and turning himself,
and, although evidently in a deuced quandary, trying to laugh the
affair off as a joke.

Deusea-ville, subs. (old).—The Country.—See Daisyville.

Deusea-ville Stampers, subs. phr. (old).—Country carriers.

Devil, subs. (common).—1. Formerly a barrister who devils, or ‘gets up,’ a case for a leader; as in A Tale of Two Cities, Sydney Carton for Mr. Stryver. Now common for anyone hacking for another.—(See quots., 1889.)

1872. Echo, 14 Nov. Mr. Archibald, the Attorney-General’s devil is
to be made a judge. Well, other devils have been made judges of.
Sir James Hannen, we are told, was a devil once.

1873. Daily Telegraph, 12 Feb. It will not be possible even to send
a telegram to a French journal during a sitting. Not a word must be
printed until the President’s devil has distributed the Officiel to
the different office boys who will henceforth, etc.

1889. Telegram. M— 84, B— Street, London, E.C. Strange letter
received. Will you please see devil at my chambers? R—. [In
original telegram the word ‘devil’ was queried by the P.O.
authorities!]

1889. George R. Sims, The Author’s Ghost. ‘Who are you?’ I asked in
dismay. ‘I’m a devil....’ ‘A what!’ I exclaimed with a start. ‘A
devil.... I give plots and incidents to popular authors, sir, write
poetry for them, drop in situations, jokes, work up their rough
material: in short, sir, I devil for them.’

1890. Speaker, 22 Feb., p. 211, col. 2. No one who is not in the
swim can have any conception of the amount of work and worry that
devolves upon a counsel in leading practice at the criminal bar....
He has to do the best he can, with the assistance of juniors and
devils.

2. (printers’).—An errand boy or young apprentice; in the early days of the craft, the boy who took the printed sheets as they came from the press. Fr., un attrape-science.

1754. Connoisseur, No. 9. Our publisher, printer, corrector, devil,
or any other employed in our service.

1757. Foote, Author, Act I. A printer’s prime minister, called a
devil.

1859. Punch, vol. XXXVI, p. 82. ‘An author’s paradise.’ A place
where there are no printers’ devils.

1863. Alex. Smith, Dreamthorp, p. 211. He wrote in a leisurely
world, when there was plenty of time for writing and reading; long
before the advent of the printer’s devil or of Mr. Mudie.

3. (nautical).—See quot.

1883. Illustrated London News, 16 June, p. 603, col. 2. It is
proposed to prevent the use of the devil, a kind of sharpened
anchor, at the bows of a trawler for cutting the nets of drifters
in the North Sea.

4. (old).—A firework.

1742. Fielding, Joseph Andrews, bk. III., ch. vii. The captain,
perceiving an opportunity, pinned a cracker or devil to the
cassock, and then lighted it.

5. (licensed victuallers’).—Gin seasoned with capsicums. Cf., following sense.

1828. G. Smeaton, Doings in London. The extract of Capsicums or
extract of Grains of Paradise is known in the gin-selling trade by
the appellation of the devil. They are manufactured by putting a
quantity of small East India chillies into a bottle of spirits of
wine and keeping it closely stopped for about a month.

6. (common).—A grilled bone seasoned with mustard and cayenne. Cf., Attorney.

7. (military).—A sand-storm.

1889. Daily News, 8 July. ‘The Camp at Wimbledon.’ They raised also
clouds of dust that went whirling across the common in spiral cones
like desert devils.

8. (common).—A species of firewood soaked in resin.

The or a devil of [a thing], adj. and adv. (colloquial).—An indefinite intensitive: e.g., devil of a mess, of a woman, of a row, etc.

1602. Shakspeare, Twelfth Night, ii., 3. The devil, a puritan that
he is, or anything constantly.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge [ed. 1860], p. 102. a
devil of a good fight he made of it.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge [ed. 1860], p. 298. The
devil a thing was there in sight, not even a small white speck of a
sail.

American devil, subs. phr. (workmen’s).—A steam whistle or ‘hooter’; used in place of a bell for summoning to work.

1872. Manchester Guardian, 24 Sept. Mr. Powell’s Bill contains
abundant powers for suppressing the vile nuisance known as the
American devil, and should any man suffer from it in future he will
have nobody to thank but himself.

Blue devils.—See ante.

Little (or young) devil, subs. phr. (common).—A half playful, half sarcastic, address; a term of endearment; e.g., you little devil. Cf., you young tinker.

1841. R. B. Peake, Court and City, Act i., Sc. 1. My wife was such
an unreasonable little devil, as to ask me forty questions about my
staying out so late.

Verb (common).—1. To act as a devil (q.v., subs.); to perform routine or detail work for another.

1872. Daily Telegraph, 30 Nov. Letter, ‘Called to the Bar.’ Then I
took legislative rambles in the Courts, so that I might see
practice, and that practitioners might see me; and then I devilled
and reported a little.

1883. Graphic, 12 May, p. 478, col. 2. The practice prevailing
among eminent counsel of undertaking more cases than they can
possibly manage, and handing over some to the juniors who devil for
them.

2. (American cadet).—To victimize.

What, Who, When, Where, or How the Devil, phr. (common).—An expletive of wonder, vexation, etc.

b. 1688, d. 1744. Pope [quoted in Annandale]. The things we know
are neither rich nor rare; But wonder how the devil they got there.

1776. David Garrick, Bon Ton, or High Life Above Stairs, Act ii.,
Sc. 1. Sir T. Why, what the devil do you make one at these
masqueradings.

1780. Mrs. Cowley, The Belle’s Stratagem, Act i., Sc. 3. Har. Who
the devil could have foreseen that?

1827. R. B. Peake, Comfortable Lodgings, Act i, Sc. 3. What the
devil is all this about?

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge [Ry. ed. 1860], p. 134.
How the devil can you get anything out of an empty vessel?

To play the devil with, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To ruin or molest.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry, p. 46. The passions, as I’ve said, are
far from evil, But if not well confined they play the devil.

To pull the devil by the tail, phr. (colloquial).—To go to ruin headlong; also to be reduced to one’s last shift. Cf., To play the devil with.

1890. European Mail, 2 Aug., p. 30, col. 2. The immense
disproportion between the solid assets and the liabilities of the
enterprise made experienced Parisian financiers say from the first
that the company was pulling the devil by the tail, and a perusal
of M. Monchicourt’s report must confirm this view.

To whip the devil round the stump, verb. phr. (American).—To enjoy the sweets of wickedness and yet escape the penalty.

1857. New York Evening Post. While Mr. Jones is describing his
wants in the money line, and telling the president how near through
he is, that officer is carrying on a mental addition it may be
after this manner: Jones, you’re a clever fellow, but Smith tells
me you are engaged in a coal-stock operation. I have heard also
that you have been dabbling in Erie. There is a want of candor now,
I perceive, in the statement of your affairs. There, you are now
whipping the devil around the stump: I see his foot.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 187. Nor is the slang phrase: to
whip the devil around the stump to be traced very clearly to the
backwoods.

1872. Haldeman, Pennsylvania Dutch. I whipped the devil round the
stump, And gave a cut at every jump.

Haul devil, pull baker, phr. (colloquial).—To contend with varying fortunes. In the sense of endeavouring to overreach, a variant is diamond cut diamond.

1889. Cornhill Mag., July, p. 99. I can’t get proper accounts from
her; and it’s a regular case of pull devil, pull baker, whenever I
want to look at the trades-people’s books.

And the devil knows what or who, phr. (colloquial).—A term used vaguely and indefinitely to include details not specifically mentioned or known.

1717. Mrs. Centlivre, A Bold Stroke for a Wife, Act iii., Sc. 1.
Per. Why, what a pack of trumpery has this rogue picked up! His
pagod, poluflosboio, his zonos moros musphonons, and the devil
knows what.

To go to the devil, phr. (colloquial).—To go to rack and ruin. Go to the devil! = begone! A summary form of dismissal with no heed as to what may become of the person who is sent about his business.

1801. T. Dibdin, The Birthday, Act i., Sc. 2. Capt. Hold your
tongue, Junk; you are a libellous rascal. You, and your box, too,
may go to the devil.

To hold a light or candle to, or burn a candle before, the devil, phr. (colloquial).—To propitiate through fear; to assist or wink at wrong doing. Shakspeare (Merchant of Venice, Act ii., Sc. 6), employs ‘What! must I hold a candle to my shame,’ in much the same sense. [From the practice of burning candles before the images of saints, etc.]. Not fit to hold a candle to the devil = a simile of inferiority. To hold a candle to another = to assist in, occupy a subordinate position, or (see quot., 1859) to compare to another.

c. 1461. In Paston Letters, II., 73 (ed. Gairdner). For it is a
common proverbe, ‘A man must sumtyme set a candel befor the
Devyle;’ and therefor thow it be not alder most mede and
profytabyl, yet if ij harmys the leste is to be take.

1557. Tusser, Husbandrie, p. 148. Though not for hope of good, Yet
for the feare of euill, Thou maist find ease so proffering up a
candell to the deuill.

1672. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, I., i., wks. (1713), 346. You
cannot hold a candle to the devil.

1705. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. I., pt. III., p. 17. To hold a
candle to the devil, Is not the means to stop this evil.

1828. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth, ii., 213. Here have I been holding
a candle to the devil, to show him the way to mischief.

1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffrey Hamlyn, ch. xxxii. A Frenchman is
conceited enough, but, by George, he can’t hold a candle to a
Scotchman.

The devil, or the devil and all to pay, phr. (colloquial).—A simile of fruitless effort; awkward consequences to be faced. [Nautical: originally, ‘There’s the devil to pay and no pitch hot’; the ‘devil’ being any seam in a vessel, awkward to caulk, or in sailors’ language ‘to pay.’ Hence by confusion the deuce to pay (q.v.).]

1711. Swift, Journal to Stella, 28 Sept. Letter 31. And then there
will be the devil and all to pay.

1761. Colman, Jealous Wife, III., in wks. (1777), i., 69. There’s
the devil to pay in meddling with them.

1762. Foote, Liar, iii., 3. Sir, here has been the devil to pay
within.

1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge. [Ry. ed. 1860], p. 127.
Here was the devil to pay with a vengeance.

1837. R. H. Barham, The Ingoldsby Legends. The Execution (ed.
1862), p. 198. Hollo! Hollo! Here’s a rum go. Why, Captain!—My
Lord!—Here’s the devil to pay!—The fellow’s been cut down and taken
away!

1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, ch. xxi. He made a fool of himself with
marrying at Vesoul; and there was the devil to pay with the girl’s
relations.

Talk of the devil and you’ll see his horns or tail, phr. (colloquial).—Said of a person who, being the subject of conversation, unexpectedly makes an appearance. Fr., parlez des anges et vous en voyez les ailes.

b. 1664, d. 1721. M. Prior. Hans Carvel. Since therefore ’tis to
combat evil, ’Tis lawful to employ the Devil, Forthwith the Devil
did appear, For name him and he’s always near.

Devil-may-care, adj. (colloquial).—Rollicking; reckless; rash.

1822–36. Jno. Wilson, Noctes Amb. I., 274. [The shepherd has thrown
back to the fire a live coal.] Belyve the blisters’ll be rising
like foam-bells; but deil may care.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xlix., p. 428. He was a mighty free
and easy, roving, devil-may-care sort of person, was my Uncle,
gentlemen.

1839. Lever, Harry Lorrequer, ch. xii. There was also a certain
devil-may-care recklessness about the self-satisfied swagger of his
gait.

1849. Albert Smith, in Gabarni in London (Acrobats). Unsettled,
wandering, and devil-may-care as his disposition may be, he cannot
be called idle.

1863. Hon. Mrs. Norton, Lost and Saved, p. 33. Treherne had a hot
twinge of doubt, in spite of his devil-may-care style of writing,
whether Lewellyn would answer him at all.

1865. Punch, vol. XLVIII., p. 106. Fechter’s acting [as Robert
Macaire] in The Roadside Inn may be described as the devil-may-care
style.

Devil take, or fetch, or send, or snatch, or fly away with, you, me, him! etc., phr. (colloquial).—An imprecation of impatience. Fr., le boulanger t’entrolle en son pasclin.

1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862), p. 339. Don’t use
naughty words, in the next place, and ne’er in your language adopt
a bad habit of swearin’. Never say, ‘Devil take me,’ or ‘shake me,’
or ‘bake me,’ or such-like expressions. Remember Old Nick, To take
folks at their word, is remarkably quick.

There’s the devil among the tailors, phr. (common).—A row is going on. [Edwards:—Originating in a riot at the Haymarket when Dowton announced the performance for his benefit, of a burlesque entitled ‘The Tailors: a Tragedy for Warm Weather.’ Many thousands of journeymen tailors congregated, and interrupted the performances. Thirty-three were brought up at Bow Street next day.—See Biographica Dramatica under ‘Tailors.’]

When the devil is blind, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Never, i.e., in a month of Sundays; said of anything unlikely to happen. For synonyms, see Greek Kalends.

Devil Dodger, subs. (common).—A clergyman. Also, by implication, anyone of a religious turn of mind.

English Synonyms.—Devil catcher, driver, pitcher, or scolder; snub devil; bible pounder; duck that grinds the gospel mill; commister; camister; sky-pilot; chimney-sweep; rat; rum (Johnson); pantiler; cushion smiter, duster, or thumper; couple, or buckle, beggar; rook; gospel grinder; earwig; one-in-ten (tramps’ = a tithe-monger); finger-post; parish prig; parish bull; holy Joe; green apron; black cattle (collectively); crow; the cloth (collectively); white choker; patrico; black coat; black fly; glue pot; gospel postillion; prunella; pudding-sleeves; puzzle-text; schism-monger; cod; Black Brunswicker; spiritual flesh-broker; head-clerk of the Doxology Works; Lady Green; fire-escape; gospel sharp; padre (Anglo-Indian); pound-text.

French Synonyms.—Un radicon (thieves’); un otage (popular: = hostage, in allusion to events under the Commune of 1871); un radis noir (familiar: also a police officer. In allusion to ‘the cloth’); un ratichon (pop. from ratissé, rasé = shaved); un sanglier (thieves’: a wild boar, but also a play upon words sans without, + glier, the infernal regions); un raze or razi (thieves’); un rochet (thieves’: a surplice); un pante en robe (thieves’: ‘a cove in a gown,’ also a judge); un chasublard (popular); une calotte (fam.: le régiment de la calotte = the skull-cap brigade, i.e., the company of the Society of Jesus); un corbeau (pop.: = crow); un couac (popular); un babillard (thieves’: especially a confessor, a ‘blab-monger’); un bichot (a bishop); une enseigne de cimetière (‘a cemetery signpost.’ Cf., sky-pilot and finger-post); un bâton de réglisse (thieves’: = a stick of liquorice. Also a police-officer); un barbichon (popular: a preaching friar. From barbe = beard, in allusion to the long beard characteristic of the order).

German Synonyms.—Herrle (especially applied to Catholic priests). Lefranz or Lefrenz (a transposition of Franzle or Fränzle = the Franciscan. Liber Vagatorum Lefrenzin, = a priest’s harlot, still popular in N. Germany); Schocherer (from Hebrew schochar = black. Cf., analogous English terms); Schwarzfärber (Schwarz = black; Färber = a dyer).

Italian Synonyms.—Chiodrino; capellano rosso (a cardinal; ‘a red chaplain’); farfoio (= a monk; farfoia, a nun); rossignolo (= ‘a nightingale’); pisto or pistolfo (Michel: ‘parce qu’il suit le condamné à la piste’).

Spanish Synonym.—Cleriguillo (= a little cleric: both insult and endearment).

1791. Lackington, Memoirs, Letter vi. [ed. 1803]. These
devil-dodgers happened to be so very powerful (that is, noisy) that
they soon sent John home, crying out he should be damn’d.

1889. Cornhill Mag., Jan., p. 50. He’s just a kind of a fine-haired
cuss—a gambler, or a devil-dodger. I reckon ... I’m open ter bet
he’s a preacher.

Devil-Drawer, subs. (old).—An indifferent artist.

Devilish, adv. (colloquial).—Used intensitively. Cf., Awfully, and Beastly.

1755. The World, No. 140. How arbitrary is language! and how does
the custom of mankind join words, that reason has put asunder. Thus
we often hear of hell-fire cold, of devilish handsome, and the
like.

1780. Mrs. Cowley, The Belle’s Stratagem, iii., 1. I tell you, sir,
that, for all that, she’s dev’lish sensible.

1871. Sir M. Lopez, Speech on Army Bill, H. of C., 3 July. It was
devilish hard—he meant very hard—to lay it.

Devil’s Bed-posts, or Devil’s Four-poster, subs. phr. (cards’).—The four of clubs; held as an unlucky ‘turn-up.’

1879. J. C. J., in N. and Q., 5 S., xii., 473. In London I have
always heard the four of clubs called the devil’s bedpost, and also
that it is the worst turn-up one could have.

Devil’s-Bones, subs. (old).—Dice; also Devil’s teeth. Cf., Devil’s books.

1664. Etherege, Comical Revenge, II., iii., in wks. (1704), 27. I
do not understand dice: I understand good pasture and drink—hang
the devil’s bones.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxiii. A gamester, one who
deals with the devil’s bones and the doctors.

Devil’s-Books, subs. (common).—Cards. [Of Presbyterian origin; in reproof of a synonymous term—King’s Books, or more fully, The History of the Four Kings (Fr., livre des quatre rois).] Also Books of Briefs (Fr., la cartouchière à portées).

1729. Swift, Intelligencer, No. 4, p. 43 (2nd ed.). Cards are the
devil’s own invention, for which reason, time out of mind, they are
and have been called the devil’s books.

18(?). Thackeray, Character Sketches (Capt. Rook and Mr. Pigeon). I often think that the devil’s books, as cards are called, are let out to us from Old Nick’s circulating library.

Devil’s-Claws, subs. (thieves’).—The broad arrow on convicts’ uniforms.

Devil’s-Colours or Livery, subs. (common).—Black and yellow.

Devil’s-Daughter, subs. (common).—A shrew.

Devil’s-Delight. To kick up the devil’s delight, verbal phr. (common).—To make a disturbance.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xv. His wives, five or
six on ’em, was yowlin’, and cryin’, and kickin’ up the devil’s
delight.

1863. Chas. Reade, Hard Cash, I., 278. Well then, speak quick, both
of you, said Sharpe, or I’ll lay ye both by the heels. Ye black
scoundrels, what business have you in the Captain’s cabin, kicking
up the devil’s delight?

Devil’s-Dozen, subs. (old).—Thirteen; the original baker’s-dozen (q.v.). [From the number of witches supposed to sit down together at a ‘Sabbath.’ In Fr. le boulanger (the baker) = the devil.]

Devil’s-Dung, subs. (old).—Asafœtida: the old pharmaceutical name. [From the smell.] Now recognised.

1604. Dekker, Honest Wh., in wks. (1873), ii. 40. Fust. The divel’s
dung in thy teeth: I’ll be welcome whether thou wilt or no.

1759. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vol. VIII., ch. xi. ’Tis all pepper,
garlic, staragen, salt, and devil’s dung.

1804. C. K. Sharpe, in Correspondence (1888), i. 203. I devoured
loads of devil’s dung rounded into pills.

Devil’s-dust, subs. (trade).—1. Old cloth shredded for re-manufacture. [In allusion both to the swindle and to the ‘dust’ or ‘flock’ produced by the disintegrating machine which is called a ‘devil.’ The practice and the name are old. Latimer, in one of his sermons before Edward the Sixth, treating of trade rascality, remarked that manufacturers could stretch cloth seventeen yards long, into a length of seven-and-twenty yards: ‘When they have brought him to that perfection,’ he continues, ‘they have a pretty feat to thick him again. He makes me a powder for it, and plays the pothicary. They call it flock-powder, they do so incorporate it to the cloth, that it is wonderful to consider; truly a good invention. Oh that so goodly wits should be so applied; they may well deceive the people, but they cannot deceive God. They were wont to make beds of flocks, and it was a good bed too. Now they have turned their flocks into powder, to play the false thieves with it.’ Popularised by Mr. Ferrand in a speech before the House of Commons, March 4, 1842 (Hansard, 3 S, lxi., p. 140) when he tore a piece of cloth made from devil’s dust, into shreds to prove its worthlessness.] Also Shoddy (q.v.).

1840. Carlyle, Misc., iv., 239. Does it beseem thee to weave cloth
of devil’s dust instead of true wool, and cut and sew it as if
those wert not a tailor but the fraction of a very tailor?

1851. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, II., p. 30.

1864. Times, 2 Nov. It is not many years since Mr. Ferrand
denounced the devil’s dust of the Yorkshire woollen manufacturers;
this devil’s dust arises from the grand translation of old cloth
into new.

2. (military)—Gunpowder.

1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. i. One looks up at the
snow-white walls ... and then remembers grimly what a mess the
devil’s dust, as used by modern artillery, would make of them in
these days.

Devil’s Guts, subs. (old).—A surveyor’s chain.

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

Devil’s Own, subs. (military).—1. The Eighty-Eight Foot. [A contraction of the devil’s own Connaught boys, a name given by General Picton for their gallantry in action and their irregularity in quarters during the Peninsular War, 1809–14.]

2. (volunteer)—The Inns of Court Volunteers [in allusion to the legal personnel].

1864. Mark Lemon, Jest Book, p. 211. At a review of the volunteers,
when the half-drowned heroes were defiling by all the best ways,
the devil’s own walked straight through. This being reported to
Lord B——, he remarked, ‘that the lawyers always went through thick
and thin.’

1872. Daily Telegraph, 28 Nov. In Richmond Park the Inns of Court
Rifle Volunteers, more familiarly known as the Devil’s Own, were
inspected by Colonel Daubeney.

Devil’s-Paternoster. To say the Devil’s Paternoster, verb. phr. (old).—To grumble.

1614. Terence, in English. D. What devills pater noster is this he
is saying? what would he? what saist thou honest man?

Devil’s Playthings, subs. phr. (common).—Cards.—See Devil’s Books.

Devil’s-Sharpshooters, subs. (American).—Clerics who took part in the Mexican War.

Devil’s-Smiles, subs. (common).—April weather with alternations of sunshine and rain.

Devil’s-Tattoo, subs. (common). Drumming the fingers on any resonant surface, or tapping the floor with one’s feet, acts of vacancy or impatience.

1817. Scott, Search after Happiness, st. xv. His sugar-loaves and
bales about he threw, And on his counter beat the devil’s tattoo.

1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862), p. 181. Her tears
had ceased; but her eyes were cast down, and mournfully fixed upon
her delicate little foot, which was beating the devil’s tattoo.

1841. Lytton, Night and Morning, bk. III., ch. vi. Mr. Gawtrey
remained by the fire beating the devil’s tattoo upon the
chimney-piece.

1855. Thackeray, The Newcomes, II., 130. Lady Kew (loq.): ‘Have you
been quarrelling as much as usual?’ ‘Pretty much as usual,’ says
Barnes, drumming on his hat. ‘Don’t beat that devil’s tattoo.’

Devil’s Teeth.—See Devil’s Bones.

[Also to note in this connexion are devil’s own boy = a young blackguard; imp of the devil = idem; devil’s own ship = a pirate; devil’s own luck = uncommon, or inexplicable, good fortune; to lead one the devil’s own dance = to baffle one in the pursuit of any object; the devil a bit says punch = a jocular yet decided negative; and neat but not gaudy, as the devil said when he painted his bottom pink and tied up his tail with pea green, a locution employed of aged ladies dressed in flaming colours.]

Deviltry, subs. (low).—A vulgar form of ‘devilry.’

Devor, subs. (Charterhouse).—Plum Cake. [From the Latin.]

Devotional-Habits, subs. (stable).—Said of a horse that is apt to ‘say his prayers,’ i.e., to stumble and go on his knees.

Dew-Beaters, -Dusters, or -Treaders, subs. (old).—1. Pedestrians out early in the morning, i.e., before the dew is off the ground.

1692. Hacket, Life of Williams, i., 57. It is not equity at lust
and pleasure that is moved for, but equity according to decrees and
precedents foregoing, as the dew-beaters have trod their way for
those that come after them.

2. (common).—The feet. [An extension of sense 1.] For synonyms, see Creepers.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1823. Scott, Peveril, ch. xxxvi. First hold out your dew-beaters
till I take off the darbies. Is that usual? said Peveril,
stretching out his feet.

3. (tramps’).—Shoes. [Cf., senses 1 and 2.] In Norfolk, heavy shoes for wet weather.—Forby.

Dew-bit, subs. (common).—A snack before breakfast. Cf., Dew-Drink and Dew-Beaters.

Dew-Drink, subs. (common).—A drink before breakfast. Cf., Dew-Bit and Dew-Beaters. Fr., une goutte pour tuer le ver, i.e., ‘to drown the maggot,’ or ‘to crinkle the worm.’ Not, of course, the ‘early worm’ of the proverb, but his spiritual cousin, the worm that never dies.

Dewitt, verb (old).—To lynch. [The two De Witts, opponents of William of Orange, were massacred by the mob in 1672, without subsequent enquiry.] Cf., Boycott, Burke, Cellier.

1690. Modest Enquiry into the Present Disasters (Life of Ken, p.
561). It is a wonder the English Nation ... have not in their fury
de-witted some of these men who have brought all this upon us. And
I must tell them that the crimes of the two unhappy brothers in
Holland (which gave rise to that word) were not fully so great as
some of theirs.

b. 1664, d. 1721. Prior, The Viceroy. To her I leave thee, gloomy peer, Think on thy crimes committed; Repent, and be for once sincere, Thou ne’er wilt be de-witted.

1849–1861. Macaulay, Hist. of England. One writer ... expressed his
wonder that the people had not ... dewitted the nonjuring prelates.

Dewse-a-Vyle.—The country.—See Daisyville. Cf., Rom-vile = London.

1567. Harman, Caveat, etc., s.v. 1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and
Candlelight, in wks. (Grosart), iii., 200, s.v. 1610. Rowlands,
Martin Mark-all, p. 38. (H. Club’s Repr., 1874), s.v. 1714. Memoirs
of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 12, s.v.

Dewskitch, subs. (tramps’).—A thrashing. For synonyms, see Tanning.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. i., p. 244. It
means a dewskitch (a good thrashing).

Dial or Dial-plate, subs. (common).—The face. To turn the hands on the dial = to disfigure the face.

English Synonyms.—Frontispiece; gills (the jaws); chump (also the head); phiz; physog; mug; jib; chivy, or chevy; roach and dace (rhyming); signboard; door-plate; front-window.

French Synonyms.—La binette (familiar: quelle sale binette = what an ugly mug); un abcès (pop. = ‘a red or bloated face’); la fertille (thieves’: also straw); la fiole (fam. = phial); la bobine (pop: from O. F. bobe = grimace); une balle d’amour (prostitutes’: a handsome face); une balle (pop.: also = a franc piece and head); une glutouse (thieves’); une gargouille, gargouine, or gargue (popular); une gargarousse (thieves’); une gargagoitche (thieves’); une frime (thieves’: une frime à la manque = ugly face).

German Synonyms.—Bonum or Bunem (Hanoverian: from Heb. ponim = face); Ponim (see preceding); Rauner (also = the eye; im Rauner halten = to keep an eye upon one).

Italian Synonyms.—Berlo; baleffo (literally, a gash or scar: primarily = the mouth).

Spanish Synonyms.—El mundo (also = the world); el geme (a woman’s face. Properly, the space between the extended ends of thumb, and forefinger).

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

1889. Bird o’ Freedom, 7 Aug., p. 3. An absinthe tumbler which
caught him a nasty crack across the dial finally convinced him that
discretion was the better part of valour.