Chapter XVIII: Part 18

1567. Harman, Caveat [ed. 1869, E.E.T. Soc.], p. 87. He dokte the
dell.

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candlelight. ‘Canting Rithmes.’ Docked
the dell for a Coper meke.

1611. Middleton and Dekker, Roaring Girl, v., 1. And couch till a
pallyard docked my dell.

2. (Winchester College).—To scratch out; to tear out (as from a book); also to strike down.

To go into dock, verb. phr. (nautical).—To undergo salivation.

To be docked smack smooth, verb. phr. (old).—To have suffered amputation of the penis.

Docker, subs. (legal).—1. A brief handed to counsel by a prisoner in the dock. Legal etiquette compels acceptance if ‘marked’ with a minimum fee of £1 3s. 6d.

2. (colloquial).—A dock labourer.

Dock-walloper, subs. (American).—A loafer; one who loiters about docks and wharves; also an unemployed emigrant.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 344.... A dock-walloper is an
object of great contempt to Jack.

Dockyarder, subs. (nautical).—A skulker. Cf., Strawyarder (q.v.).

Dockyard-horse, subs. (naval).—An officer better at correspondence than at active service.

Doctor, subs. (old).—1. A false die; sometimes a manipulated card.—See To put the doctor on one.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, I., in wks. (1720), iv., 18. Belf.
Sen. Tatts, and Doctor! what’s that? Sham. The tools of sharpers,
false dice.

1709. Centlivre, Gamester, Act i. Now, sir, here is your true dice,
a man seldom gets anything by them; here is your false, sir; hey,
how they run! Now, sir, those we generally call doctors.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones. Here, said he, taking some dice out of
his pockets, here are the little doctors which cure the distempers
of the purse.

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

1823. Scott, Peveril, ch. xxviii. The dicers with their doctors in
their pockets, I presume.

2. (common).—An adulterant. Cf., To keep the doctor.

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v. A composition used by
distillers to make spirits appear stronger than they really are.

1828. G. Smeaton, Doings in London. Maton, in his ‘Tricks of Bakers
Unmasked,’ says alum, which is called the Doctor, ground and
unground, is sold to the bakers at fourpence per pound.

3. (licensed victuallers’).—Brown sherry. [Because a ‘doctored’ (q.v.), wine. Cf., sense 2.]

4. (nautical and up-country Australian).—A ship’s cook.

5. (Winchester College).—The head master.

1870. Mansfield, School Life at Winchester College, p. 27. The head
master, or the Doctor, as he is always called, lives in ‘Commoners’
buildings.’

6. (Old gamesters’).—The last throw of dice or ninepins.

Verb (common).—1. To patch; adulterate; falsify; ‘cook.’

1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends [ed. 1862], p. 464. She
doctor’d the punch and she doctor’d the negus, Taking care not to
put in sufficient to flavour it.

1862. H. Greeley, in N. Y. Independent. The news [of success to the
United States armies, said the English leading journals] all came
through Northern channels, and was doctored by the government which
controlled the telegraph.

2. (sporting).—To poison a horse.

To keep the doctor, verb. phr. (licensed victuallers’).—To make a practice of adulterating the liquor sold. Cf., doctor, subs., sense 2.

To put the doctor on one, verb. phr. (common).—To cheat.

Doctor Draw-fart, subs. phr. (common).—A wandering quack.

Doctored, ppl. adj. (common).—Patched; adulterated; falsified; ‘cooked.’

1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, ch. xxviii. The Cross-keys ... had
doctored ale, an odour of bad tobacco, and remarkably strong
cheese.

Dod Burn it! intj. phr. (American).—A euphemistic oath; on the model of dadbinged (q.v.).

Dodder, subs. (Irish).—Burnt tobacco taken from the bottom of a pipe and placed on the top of a fresh plug to give a stronger flavor.

Dodderer, subs. (street).—A meddler; always used in contempt. Sometimes doddering old sheep’s head, which also = a fool.

Doddy, subs. (provincial).—In Norfolk a person of low stature. Sometimes hodmandod and hoddy-doddy, all head and no body. Dodman in the same dialect = a snail.

Dodfetched, adj. (American).—A euphemistic oath. [Dod = God.] Most of its kind have originated in New England, where the descendants of the Puritans form the largest portion of the population.

1888. Texas Siftings, 7 July. Then the poet was sore grieved, and
he said unto himself, ‘I’m a dodfetched fool.’

Dodgasted, adj. (American).—See dodfetched.

1888. Detroit Free Press. It’s a dodgasted funny thing, Uncle Zeke,
but it’s a fact, never knew it to fail; straight as a string, too.

Dodge, subs. and verb, [and derivative. Dodging, verb. subs.] (colloquial).—To trick; to swindle; to elude. Once slang, now recognised. Used in various combinations: the pious dodge = a pretence of piety; the tidy-dodge = begging in the streets with tidily but poorly dressed children, etc. Also, to ‘nart.’ For synonyms, see Lay.

1708. Swift, Abolishing of Christianity in prose wks. (Camelot
Cl.), p. 235. The chaffering with Dissenters, and dodging about
this or the other ceremony.

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2nd ed.). To dodge.... 2. To be off
and on. 3. To prevaricate, or play shifting tricks.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 135 (ed. 1857). ‘It was all
false, of course?’ ‘All, sir,’ replied Mr. Weller, ‘reg’lar do,
sir; artful dodge.’

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. i., p. 227.
Conscious how much their own livelihood depends upon assumption and
trickery, they naturally consider that others have some dodge, as
they call it, or some latent object in view when any good is sought
to be done them.

1856. Punch, vol. XXXI., p. 217. Long though your sentence and your
task severe, The pious dodge a ticket soon will send.

1865. Spectator, 2 Dec., Women’s Tact. [Mrs. Caudle.] Nagged, and
nagging is universally useful only with maids. She lost her temper
occasionally, and the suffering angel dodge is a very much more
effective as well as Christian resource.

1865. Spectator (On the Academy Dinner), p. 492. Earl Russell ...
broke loose from one conventionality of public dinners to fall into
another. He dodged the toast of Her Majesty’s Ministers, and did
not promise the Academy.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 23 March, p. 6, col. 1. He is naturally
anxious to ascertain if any new dodge has been brought to light,
and what was the amount of the penalty imposed for its
perpetration.

Dodger, subs. (common).—1. A trickster. Cf., The ‘Artful Dodger’ (Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. viii.). Fr., être ficelle = ‘to be a dodger.’

1611. Cotgrave, Dict., Caqueraffe, a base micher, scurvie hagler,
lowsie dodger, etc.

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. xxviii. A sly cock, this Frank
Tyrrel, thought the traveller; a very complete dodger—but no
matter—I shall wind him, were he to double like a fan.

1887. Baumann, Londonismen, vi. So from hartful young dodgers, From
vaxy old codgers, From the blowens ve got Soon to know vot is vot.

2. (popular).—A dram; provincially, a nightcap. For synonyms, see Go.

3. (American).—A hard-baked cake or biscuit, more usually termed corn-dodger. When mixed with beef, beef-dodgers.

4. (American).—A handbill.

1888. Texas Siftings, 15 Sept. Then I would have a great quantity
of little dodgers printed to throw around everywhere.

Dodo, subs. (old).—A stupid, old man.

Dodrotted, ppl. adj. (American).—A euphemistic oath. See Oaths.

1887. Century Magazine. You ketch us with yer dodrotted foolin’,
says he; we hain’t the kind to be fooled.

Does it? phr. (common).—A sarcastic retort.—See Does your Mother know you’re out?

Does your Mother know you’re out? phr. (streets’).—A popular locution, vague as to meaning and inexact in application—an expression expressive of contempt, incredulity, sarcasm, anything you please.—See All my eye, Street cries, and infra.

English Variants.—Has your mother sold her mangle? Not to-day, or it won’t do, Mr. Ferguson! Sawdust and treacle! Draw it mild! And the rest! Who are you? All round my hat! Go it, ye cripples! Shoo, fly! How does the old thing work? Well, you know how it is yourself! How’s your poor feet? Why, certainly! I’ll have your whelk! Not to-day, baker, call to-morrow, and we’ll take a crusty one! Do you see any green in my eye? Put that in your pipe and smoke it! Where are you going on Sunday? Go to Putney! Who stole the donkey: the man in the white hat! Cough, Julia! Over the bender! There you go with your eye out! etc., etc.

French Variants.—Et les mois de nourrice = (and the rest!); du combustible (popular: = go it you cripples); tu t’en ferais péter le cylindre (popular: = don’t you wish you may get it); chiche! (popular: a defiant refusal); chaleur! (popular: expressive of contempt, disbelief, and ironical admiration); croyez ça et buvez de l’eau (popular: = believe that and drink water); à Chaillot ( = ‘go to Bath and get your head shaved’); tu t’en ferais crèver (pop.: = don’t you wish you may get it?); colle-toi ça dans l’cornet (pop.: = put that in your pipe and smoke it!) je la connais (pop.: = do you see any green?); j’entrave pas dans tes vannes (thieves’: = you don’t take me in); de la bourrache! (popular: = no go); un sale truc pour la fanfare (popular: an expression of disgust); de quoi (popular: what next? also = wealth, money, etc.); allez donc raconter cela à dache (thieves’: = tell that to the marines!); des dattes! (pop.: = take a carrot!); et ta sœur (popular: indicative of refusal, contempt, and insult); faut pas m’la faire (popular: = Walker!); et le pouce (pop.: = and the rest!)

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 6, col. 2. Where are they that should
protect thee In this darkling hour of doubt? Love could never thus
neglect thee! Does your mother know you’re out?

1864. Sun, 28 Dec. ‘Review of Hotten’s Slang Dictionary.’
Ridiculous street cries, such as does your mother know you’re out?
or, Has your Aunt sold her mangle? or, You don’t lodge here, Mr.
Fergusson—whatever those sapient remarks may mean.

Dog, subs. (colloquial).—1. A man; sometimes used contemptuously (Cf., Cat = a woman), but more frequently in half-serious chiding; e.g., a sad dog, gay dog, old dog, etc. For synonyms, see Cove. Sometimes adjectively = male; see quot., 1856. An old dog at it = expert, or accustomed to.

1596. Nashe, Have with you, Epis. Ded. par. 5. O, he hath been olde
dogge at that drunken, staggering kinde of verse.

1697. Vanbrugh, Æsop, part II., Sc. iii. Why, I’m a strong young
dog, you old gent, you.

1703. Mrs. Centlivre, Stolen Heiress, I., wks, (1872), i., 336. She
is in love, forsooth, with a young beggarly dog not worth a groat.

1736. Fielding, Don Quixote, II. iv. A comical dog, I fancy; go,
give my service to him.

b. 1764, d. 1817. J. G. Holman, Abroad and at Home, I., 3. And my praise to withhold none so currish, With a girl so divine! Such dinners! such wine! What a d—d clever dog was Jack Flourish!

1810. Crabbe, The Borough, Letter 6, Law. For he’d a way that many
judg’d polite, A cunning dog—he’d fawn before he’d bite.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 369. (ed. 1857). Curse me,
they’re friends of mine from this minute and friends of Mivins,
too. Infernal pleasant, gentlemenly, dog Mivins, isn’t he? said
Smangle, with great feeling.

1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. vii. Then comes Ascot, for
which meeting they leave the metropolis, and enjoy some quiet
retreat in the neighbourhood of Windsor, taking with them many
potables, and what they call a dog cook.

2. (thieves’).—A burglar’s iron. For synonyms, see Jemmy.

1888. American Humorist, 31 Mar. The safe was rifled, and every
appearance of robbery was manifest. In this case the murderer was
discovered by means of a dog, which was described in the newspapers
as having certain peculiar scratches on it.

Verb (venery).—To copulate on all fours.

To go, or throw to the dogs.—See Go and Demnition Bow-wows.

Hair of the dog that bit you.—See Hair.

To blush like a blue dog.—See Blush.

Dogberry, subs. (common).—A stupid constable, or magistrate. [From Much Ado about Nothing.] For synonyms, see Beak and Copper.

1864. M. E. Braddon, Aurora Floyd, ch. xxxviii. The detective had
reason to know that the dogberries of Doncaster, ... were on the
wrong scent.

1869. Gent. Mag., July, p. 195. I trust I shall not be accounted a
dogberry, lavish in my tediousness, if I bestow one more anecdote
upon my readers.

Dog Biting Dog, adv. phr. (theatrical).—Said of actors who spitefully criticise each others performance.

Dog-Cheap, adj. (colloquial).—Very cheap; of little worth; foolish. [Skeat: from Swed., dog, = very; Latham: the first syllable is god = good, transposed + cheap, from chapman, a merchant—hence, a good bargain (Fr., bon marché).]

1598. Shakspeare, 1 Henry IV., iii. 3. The sack ... would have
bought me lights as good-cheap at the dearest chandler’s in Europe.

1606. Dekker, Newes from Hell, in wks. (Grosart), ii., 116. Three
things there are dog-cheap, learning, poore men’s sweat, and
others.

1663. Dryden, Wild Gallant, Act II. No fat over-grown virgin of
forty ever offered herself so dog cheap, or was more despised.

1772. Foote, Nabob, Act II. dog-cheap; neck-beef; a penny-loaf for
a halfpenny.

1830. Marryat, Kings Own, ch. xxx. I’ll sell mine, dog-cheap, if
any one will buy it.

1851. Carlyle, John Sterling, pt. I., ch. x. There lay in a certain
neighbouring creek of the Irish coast, a worn-out royal gun-brig
condemned to sale, to be had dog-cheap.

Dog-Collar, subs. (common).—A ‘stand-up’ shirt collar; an all-rounder (q.v.).

1883. Grenville-Murray, People I have Met, p. 42. The dog-collar
which rose above the black cloth was of spotless purity.

Dog-Drawn (old), adj. phr.—Said of a bitch from which a dog has been removed by force during coition. Sometimes applied to women.

Dogger, verb (Charterhouse).—To cheat; to sell rubbish.

Doggery, subs. (popular).—1. Transparent cheating. Cf., dogger.

[Carlyle in Frederick uses doggery = the doings of a scurvy set of
soldiers.]

2. (American).—A low drinking saloon.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 315. Doggeries are only found near
the shanties of Irish laborers or in remote western and southern
settlements.

Doggoned, adj. (American).—A euphemistic oath.—See Oaths.

1852. Gladstone, Englishman in Kansas, p. 46. If there’s a
dog-goned abolitionist aboard this boat, I should like to see him.
I’m the man to put a chunk o’ lead into his woolly head right off.

1873. Carlton, Farm Ballads, p. 80. But when that choir got up to
sing, I couldn’t catch a word; They sung the most dog-gondest thing
A body ever heard!

1879. Eggleston, The Hoosier Schoolmaster. I never knowed but one
gal in my life as had cyphered into fractions, and she was so dog
on stuck up, that she turned up her nose one night at an
apple-peelin’ bekase I tuck a sheet off the bed to splice out the
table-cloth, which was rather short.

Doggy, subs. (mining).—See quot.

1845. Disraeli, Sybil, bk. III., ch. i., note. A Batty in the
mining districts is a middleman; a doggy is his manager.

Adj. (colloquial).—1. Connected with, or relating to dogs.

1883. Graphic, 24 Feb., p. 199, col. 3. Liverpool and the Adelphi
Hotel in particular, are now [time of Altcar coursing meeting] the
headquarters of all the doggy men of the three kingdoms.

2. (colloquial).—Stylish.

Dog in a Blanket, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A pudding of preserved fruit spread on thin dough, rolled up, and boiled; also called roly-poly and stocking.

1887. G. A. Sala, in Ill. Lon. News, 12 Feb., p. 174, col. 3.
Bubble and squeak ... is a colloquialism, and no more slangy than
‘toad in the hole’ or dog in a blanket.

Like a dog in shoes, adv. phr. (Irish).—A pattering sound; as the noise of a brisk walk.

Dog in the Manger, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A selfish churl; who does not want himself, yet will not let others enjoy. [From the fable.]

1621. Burton, Anat. of Mel., I., II., III., xii., 189 (1836). Like
a hog, or dog in the manger, he doth only keep it, because it shall
do nobody else good.

1673. Dryden, Amboyna, Act ii. You’re like dogs in the manger, you
will neither manage it yourselves nor permit your neighbours.

1757. Garrick, Irish Widow, II. That’s the dog in the manger; you
can’t eat the oats, and won’t let those who can.

1836. Marryat, Japhet, ch. lxxii. Why, what a dog in the manger you
must be—you can’t marry them both.

Dog-Latin, subs. (colloquial).—Barbarous or sham Latin; also Kitchen, Bog, Garden, or Apothecaries’ Latin.

1856. H. Mayhew, Great World of London, p. 149. A Spaniard ... who
called himself a physician, and who, being unable to speak English,
communicated with the doctor in a kind of Spanish dog-Latin.

Dogs, subs. (university).—1. Sausages; otherwise Bags of Mystery (q.v.), or Chambers of Horrors (q.v.).

2. (Stock Exchange).—Newfoundland Land Company’s shares; now amalgamated with the Anglo-American United, and called Anglos.

To go to the dogs.—See under Go.

To let sleeping dogs lie.—See Sleeping Dogs.

Dog’s-Body, subs. (nautical).—Pease pudding.

1851. Chambers’ Papers, No. 52, p. 16. Peas-pudding (alias dog’s
body) is often allowed upon pork days.

1883. W. Clark Russell, Sailors’ Language, p. 42. dogs-body.—A mess
made of pea-soup, powdered biscuit, and slush.

1889. Chambers’ Journal, 3 Aug., p. 495, col. 1.

Dog’s-eared, adj. (colloquial).—Crumpled, as the leaves of a page with much reading.

Dog’s Match. To make a dog’s match of it, verb. phr. (vulgar).—To copulate by the wayside.

Dog’s Meat, subs. (colloquial).—Anything worthless; as a bad book, a common tale, a villainous picture, etc.

Dog-shooter, subs. (old).—1. A volunteer.

2. (Royal Military Academy).—See quot.

1889. Barrère, Slang, Jargon and Cant, p. 317. Cadets thus term a
student who accelerates, that is, who, being pretty certain of not
being able to obtain a commission in the engineers, or not caring
for it, elects to join a superior class before the end of the term.

Dog’s-nose, subs. (common).—A mixture of gin and beer.—See Drinks.

1812. Vaux, Flash Dict., s.v.

1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxxiii., p. 285. dog’s nose ... your
committee find upon enquiry, to be compounded of warm porter, moist
sugar, gin, and nutmeg.

1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xl. Ah! that’s not bad
tipple after such a ducking as we’ve had. dog’s nose, isn’t it?

Dog’s-paste, subs. (common).—Sausage or mince-meat. Cf., bags of mystery and chambers of horror (q.v.).

Dog’s-portion, subs. (common).—‘A lick and a smell,’ i.e., next to nothing.

Dog’s Sleep, subs. phr. (colloquial).—The lightest possible form of slumber.

Dog’s-soup, subs. (common).—Water. For synonyms, see Adam’s Ale and Fish Broth.

1836. W. H. Smith. ‘The Thieves’ Chaunt.’ For she never lushes
dog’s-soup or lap.

Dog’s-tail, subs. (nautical).—The constellation of Ursa minor or Little Bear.

Dog-stealer, subs. (common).—A dog-dealer; applied sarcastically.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xiii. Now nodding to a
trainer, now indulging in quaint badinage, which the vulgar call
‘chaff,’ with a dog-stealer.

Doldrums, subs. (colloquial).—Low spirits; the dumps or hump (q.v.). [Properly parts of the ocean near the Equator abounding in calms and light, baffling winds.]

1865. M. Browne, in the ‘Argosy,’ I., 36. An Apology for the
Nerves. All I say is, do not let us have any abuse of the nerves.
Do not confound nervousness with the megrims, or the doldrums, or
any other complaint. Do not confound it with cowardice or
ill-temper.

1883. James Payn, The Canon’s Ward, ch. xi. She treated all
subjects in the same light way; ... from aversion to serious
thoughts of any kind, which she stigmatised generally as the
doldrums.

Dole, subs. (Winchester College).—A stratagem or trick. [From Latin dolus.]

Dolifier, subs. (Winchester College).—One who contrives a trick.—See Dole.

Dollar, subs. (common).—A five-shilling piece. Half-dollar = half-a-crown, or two shillings. For synonyms, see Caroon.

Dollop, subs. and verb (common).—A lot; All the dollop = the whole thing. Cf., quot., 1812. In Norfolk to dollop = to dole out; also to ‘plank.’ Dolloping = throwing down.

1812. Vaux, Flash Dict., s.v. = the whole sum of money.

1853. Notes and Queries, 16 July, p. 65, col. 2. Applied to lumps
of any substances, whether food or otherwise. Such a phrase as this
might be heard: What a dollop of fat you have given me.

1871. Beli’s Life, 23 Dec. All we wish to convey is, that a large
bait is absolutely necessary to a heavy bag of chub. Exceptions may
arise, as giants may dally with crumbs, but as a rule these fish
desire a dollop.

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 28. I have
known men literally give their goods away, or to throw them at each
other, which is termed dolloping.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 8 March, p. 4, col. 1. A dollop of something
having a mortar-like appearance, imaginatively styled pudding.

Dolly, subs. (venery).—1. A mistress. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1647–48. Herrick, Hesperides, p. 38. Drink, and dance, and pipe,
and play, Kisse our dollies night and day.

1843. Punch, vol. V., p. 8. Dol is a pure Anglo-Saxon word
signifying dull, erring—whence the English Dolly, any one who has
made a faux pas.

2. (tailors’).—A piece of cloth used as a sponge.

3. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

Adj. (popular).—Silly.

1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, bk. I., chap. 4. You are a chit
and a little idiot, returned Bella, or you wouldn’t make such a
dolly speech.

Dolly-mop, subs. (common).—Specifically, a professional strumpet, but see quot., 1851. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. iv. The captain says we are to
take the young gentleman on board directly. His liberty’s stopped
for getting drunk and running after the Dolly-Mops!

1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 234. Those women
who, for the sake of distinguishing them from the professionals, I
must call amateurs, are generally spoken of as Dolly-mops.

Dolly-Shop, subs. (common).—A marine store: really an illegal pawn-shop and fence (q.v.); also leaving-shop. No questions are asked; all goods are received on the understanding that they may be repurchased within a given time; so much per day is charged; no duplicate is given; and no books are kept. [From the black doll (q.v.) suspended outside as a sign.]

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 142. If
she hasn’t, or if the neighbours hasn’t it, she borrows it at a
dolly-shop (the illegal pawnshop).

1860–68. Chambers’ Encyclopædia, s.v.

1871. Echo, 16 March. Chimney sweeps having lent their machines to
dolly-shop keepers for the price of a spree, could not redeem them
to commence business.

Dome, subs. (common).—The head. For synonyms, see Crumpet.

Domestic-Afflictions, subs. (common).—The menstrual flux; a woman’s flower-time. For synonyms, see Flag-up.

Dome-stick, subs. (common).—A ‘domestic’ servant.

Dominie, subs. (old).—A clergyman; modern Scots = a pedagogue or schoolmaster. [From Latin dominus, a lord or master.]

1616. Beaumont and Fletcher, Scornful Lady, II., i. Wel.
[addressing parson], Adieu, dear Domine!

1754. Foote, Knights, Act ii. She falls in love with young Sleek,
her father’s chaplain; ... what does me I, but slips on Domine’s
robes, you; passed myself upon her for him, and we were tacked
together.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 21. And, take him at
ruffianing work (though, in common, he Hums about Peace and all
that, like a Domine.

1883. Brinsley-Richards, Seven Years at Eton, xii., 122. The Scotch
dominie, from whom he had learnt Latin ... knew nothing of
elegiacs.

Dominie Do-Little, subs. phr. (old).—An impotent old man.

Domino! intj. (common).—An ejaculation of completion: e.g., for sailors and soldiers at the last lash of a flogging; and for ’bus conductors when an omnibus is full inside and out [N. and Q., 6 S., v., 229]; also, by implication, a knock-down blow, or the last of a series. [From the call at the end of a game of dominoes.]

Domino-Box, subs. (old).—The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1812. Vaux, Flash Dictionary, s.v.

Dominoes, subs. (popular).—1. The teeth. For synonyms, see Grinders.

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, ii., 6. Mr. J. Sluice your
dominos—vill you? Green. Vot! I never plays at dominos—It’s too
wulgar. Mr. J. Vy, then vash your ivories? Green. I’ve got no
hiveries to vash. Mr. J. Drink, vill you? don’t you understand
Hinglish?

1856. H. Mayhew, Gt. World of London, p. 6, note. Fanciful
metaphors contribute largely to the formation of slang. It is upon
this principle that the mouth has come to be styled the
‘tater-trap’; the teeth, dominoes.

1864. E. D. Forgues, in Revue des deux Mondes, 15 Sept., p. 470. Le
mot ‘dents’ est remplacé par celui de dominos aussi bien sur les
bordes de la Tamise que sur ceux de la Seine.

2. (colloquial).—The keys of a piano.

To sluice one’s dominoes, verb. phr. (common).—To drink.—See quot., 1823 ante.

Domino-thumper, subs. (common).—A pianist.

Dommerar, Dommerer, or Dummerer, subs. (old).—A beggar feigning to be deaf and dumb; also, a madman.

1567. Harman, Caveat, p. 57. These Dommerars are leud and most
subtyll people: the moste part of these are Walch men, and wyll
neuer speake, vnlesse they haue extreame punishment, but wyll gape,
and with a maruelous force wyll hold downe their toungs doubled,
groning for your charyty, and holding vp their handes full
pitiously, so that with their deepe dissimulation they get very
much.

1621. Burton, Anat. of Mel., I., II., IV., vi., 233 (1836). It
compels some miserable wretches to counterfeit several diseases, to
dismember, make themselves blind, lame, to have a more plausible
cause to beg ... we have dummerers, Abraham men, etc.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v. (Repr. 1874), p. 49.
Dommerar, a Madman.

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Dommeror, a Madman.

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

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum. Dommerer, a fellow that pretends to be
deaf and dumb.

Don, subs. (colloquial).—An adept; a swell; also a man that ‘puts on side.’ At the Universities a fellow or officer of a college; whence the vulgar usage. [From Latin, dominus, a lord, through the Spanish title.]

1665. Dryden, Indian Emperor, Epilogue, 21. For the great dons of
wit—Phœbus gives them full privilege alone, To damn all others, and
cry up their own.

1698–1700. Ward, London Spy, pt. xiii., p. 299. Like the Great Old
Dons of the Law, when they dance the Measures in an Inns-of-Court
Hall upon the first day of Christmas.

1730. Jas. Miller, Humours of Oxford, Act I., p. 7 (2 ed.) The old
dons ... will come cringing, cap in hand, to offer to show the
ladies the curiosities of the college.

1826. Reynolds (‘Peter Corcoran’), Song on the Fancy. Dull
innocence! Twaddle on, Thy weary worshipper—and fain Would give
thee up, to be a don, And beat the watch in Drury Lane.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xi. Does not go much into society,
except ... once or twice to the houses of great country dons who
dwell near him in the country.

c. 1880. Broadside Ballad, sung by Jenny Hill. ‘’Arry, ’Arry, There
you are now, ’Arry, I say, ’Arry, by Jove, you are a Don.’

Adj. (common).—Clever, expert; first rate. [From the subs. sense.]

Dona, Donna, Donny, or Doner, subs. (vulgar).—A woman. [From the Italian.] For synonyms, see Petticoat.

1875. Athenæum, 24 April, p. 545, col. 2. A circus man almost
always speaks of a circus woman, not as a woman, but a dona.

Donaker, subs. (old).—A cattle-lifter.

1669. Nicker Nicked, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), ii., 108.

Done! intj. (common).—An interjection of acceptance or agreement.

1602. Dekker, Honest Whore, in wks. (1873), ii., 17. Cast. ... I’le
wage a hundred duckats upon the head on’t, that it moves him, frets
him, and galles him. Pio. Done, ’tis a lay, joyne gols [hands]
on’t.

1761. Colman, Jealous Wife, IV., in wks. (1777), i., 106. Why, it’s
a match, miss! it’s done and done on both sides.

1762. Goldsmith, Life of Nash, in wks., p. 546 (Globe). Why, if you
think me a dab I will get this strange gentleman, or this, pointing
to the flat. done! cries the sailor, but you shall not tell him.

1840. Thackeray, Paris Sketch-book, p. 196. ‘I will bet thee thy
water for a year that none of the three will pray for thee.’
‘Done!’ said Rollo. ‘Done! said the daemon.’

Ppl. adj. (common).—Exhausted; ruined; cheated; convicted.

[See Do in most of its senses.]

Done-over, adj. (common).—1. Intoxicated. For synonyms, see Screwed.

2. (venery). Possessed in kind; said only of women.

Donkey, subs. (printers’).—1. A compositor; pressmen are in turn called Pigs (q.v.).

English Synonyms.—Ass; moke; galley-slave.

French Synonyms.—Un mulet (printers’); un compositeur mie de pain (an unskilled or clumsy workman; mie de pain also = a louse); un marron (a compositor working on his own account with another printer’s plant); un homme de lettres (= a man of letters); un singe (= a monkey); un amphibie (a compositor who is donkey and pig [q.v.] together).

1857. In Notes and Queries, 2 S., iv., 192. Compositors are
jocosely called mokes or donkeys.

2. (nautical).—A sailor’s chest.

3. (colloquial).—A blockhead. For synonyms, see Cabbage-head and Buffle.

A penny, twopence or threepence more and up goes the donkey, phr. (common).—An exclamation of derision. [Street acrobats’: the custom was to finish off the pitch by balancing a donkey at the top of a ladder on receipt of ‘tuppence more’; which sum, however often subscribed, was always re-demanded, so that the donkey never ‘went up’ at all.]

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 41, col. 2. Mr. Joseph Muggins begs to
inform his old crony, Punch, that the report of Sir John Pullon,
‘as to the possibility of elevating an ass to the head of the poll
by bribery and corruption’ is perfectly correct, provided there is
no abatement in the price. Let him canvass again, and Mr. J. M.
pledges himself, whatever his weight, if he will only stand one
penny more, up goes the donkey!

1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. xv. He ... has left the
key in the lock; so I shall take the liberty of exploring a little;
I’ve a strong though undeveloped taste for architectural
antiquities. Twopence more, and up goes the donkey! Come along! So
saying, he flung open the door.

Who stole the donkey? phr. (common).—A street cry once in vogue on the appearance of a man in a white hat. With a similar expression ‘Who stole the leg of mutton’? applied to the police, it had its rise in a case of larceny. J. H. Dixon, writing to Hotten, Nov. 6th, 1864, remembered both. The first occurred at Hatton Garden Police Court, where a man, wearing a white hat, was charged with stealing a costermonger’s donkey.

1889. Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 3, col. 5. Who stole the donkey?
The man with the white hat! This was a very popular street colloquy
some years ago.

To ride the donkey, verb. phr. (common).—To cheat with weights and measures. Also donkey-riding = cheating as aforesaid. Cf., Ambush.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon. Donkey-Riding.
Cheating in weight or measure; miscounting.

To talk the hind leg off a donkey.—See Talk.

Donkey-Drops, subs. phr. (cricket).—See quot.

1890. The Hon. and Rev. E. Lyttelton, Cricket, p. 69. Slow
round-hand bowling, such as is seldom seen in good matches, but is
effective against boys, and is known by the contumelious
designation of donkey-drops.

Donkey’s-ears, subs. (old).—An old-fashioned shirt-collar with long points.

Donna.—See Dona.

Donnish, adj. Donnism, Donnishness, subs. (University).—Arrogant; arrogance. [From Don (q.v.).]

1823. Hints for Oxford, p. 66. The Bachelors, we imagine, are the
most pleasant set of beings in Oxford.... They have luckily not
been so long emancipated as to have become stiff, and donnish, and
disagreeable.

c. 1830. Ballad, quoted in N. and Q., 2nd S., xii., 154. Our
Yankee, who’d commenced the fight and rather to be donnish meant,
Sam squabbled felt (as well he might) with genu-ine astonishment.

1853. Thackeray, in Scribner’s Mag., Oct., 1887, p. 415. At Boston
is very good literate company indeed; it is like Edinburgh for
that,—a vast amount of toryism and donnishness everywhere.

1888. Mrs. Ward, Robt. Elsmere, vol. I., bk. I., ch. ii., p. 48. He
was a curious man, a refined-looking, melancholy creature, with a
face that reminded you of Wordsworth, and cold donnish ways, except
to his children and the poor.

Donny.—See Dona.

Donovans, subs. (old).—Potatoes. Cf., Murphy. [Donovan, like Murphy, is a common Irish patronym.]

Don’s Week, subs. phr. (tailors’).—The week before a general holiday.

Don’t get your Back up.—See Back, and Hold your Hair on.

Don’t-name-’ems, subs. phr. (common).—Trousers. For synonyms, see Kicksies.

Don’t you wish you may get it, phr. (street).—A retort forcible.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862), p. 179. A thousand
marks, continued the confessor.... Sir Guy shrank from the monk’s
gaze; he turned to the window, and muttered to himself something
that sounded like, ‘don’t you wish you may get it?’

1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 22, col. 2. Who would own her heart thine,
Though a monarch beset it, And love on unchanged, ‘don’t you wish
you may get it?’

1844. Puck, p. 14. The Proctor caught him in a spree, Asked his
name and college with courtesie; ‘Don’t you wish you may get it?’
and off he ran, Did my spicy swell small college man.

Doodle, subs. (old).—1. A dolt. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head. [Thought to be a corruption of Dawdle, to trifle.]

1775. Ash, Eng. Dict., s.v.

1830. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. v. I know it was
every word composed by that abominable old addlehead, Dr. ——, a
doodle that he is!

2. (old).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick.

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

Doodled, ppl. adj. (old).—Cheated, ‘done.’

1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i., 7. No, I’m out of spirits
because I have been dished and doodled out of forty pounds to-day.

Doodle-dasher, subs. (venery).—A masturbator. [From Doodle, the penis + dasher.]

Doodle-doo-man, subs. (old cock-pit).—A cockfighter or breeder. [From the childish name for poultry.]

Doodlesack, subs. (old).—The female pudendum. Also Doodle-case and Doodle-trap. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Doog, adj. (back-slang).—Good.

Dookie, subs. (theatrical).—A penny show or unlicensed theatre. Cf., Gaff.

Dookin and Dookering, subs. (thieves’ and gypsies’).—Fortune-telling.

1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 444.

Dookin-Cove, subs. (common).—A fortune-teller. [From dookin = fortune-telling + cove, a man.]

Door-nail. Dead as a door-nail.—See Dead.

Doorsman, subs. (common).—See Barker and Clicker.

Doorstep, subs. (common).—A thick slice of bread and butter. Fr., une fondante.

1885. Miss Tennant, in Eng. Ill. Mag., June, p. 604. Doorsteps, I
found, were thick slices of bread spread with jam.

1890. Spectator, 3 May, Rev. of vol. I., ‘Slang and its
Analogues.’... The extraordinary ‘bouncer’ that a very common
request at Lockhart’s coffee-houses in London is for ‘a doorstep
and a sea-rover,’ i.e., for a halfpenny slice of bread and butter
and a herring, &c.

Dooteroomus or Doot, subs. (American).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, s.v.

Dope, verb (American).—To drug with tobacco. Also doping = the practice.

Dopey, subs. (old).—1. A beggar’s trull.

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

2. (old).—The podex.

Dor, subs. (Old Westminster School).—1. See quot.

1715. J. Kersey, English Dictionary. Sub voce, a term used at
Westminster School for leave to sleep awhile.

2. (old).—An affront.

1600. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels.

Doras, subs. (Stock Exchange).—South-Eastern Railway Deferred Ordinary Stock, sometimes applied to the ‘A’ Stock.

Dorbie, subs. (Scots Masonic).—An initiate.

The Dorbies’ knock, subs. phr.—A peculiar rap given by masons as a signal amongst themselves. It may be represented by the time of the following notes: [Music notes].

Dorcas, subs. (colloquial).—A sempstress; especially one employing herself for charitable purposes.

Dorse.—See Doss.

Dose, subs. (thieves’).—1. A sentence of imprisonment; specifically three months’ hard labour.

English Synonyms.—Spell, time, drag, three moon, length, stretch, seven-pennorth, sixer, twelver, lagging.

French Synonym.—Une marque.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 22. ‘What’s yer
dose?’ looking on to my badge; ‘five, oh, you can do that little
lot on yer ’ed easy.’

2. (thieves’).—A burglary.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

3. (pugilistic).—A beating.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress p. 17. Sandy tipp’d
him a dose of that kind, that, when taken, It isn’t the stuff, but
the patient that’s shaken.

4. (colloquial).—As much liquor as one can hold.

To have a dose of the balmy, verbal phr. (common).—To ‘do a sleep.’—See Balmy and Doss.

To take a grown man’s dose, verb. phr. (common).—To take a very large quantity of liquor.

Doss or Dorse, subs. (vagrants’).—A bed, or lodging; also a sleep, or lib (q.v.). [Origin uncertain.] For synonyms, see Kip and Balmy.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 165. Dorsed. The place where
a person sleeps, or a bed. ‘I dorsed there last darkey.’

1858. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, p. 118. Into this branch curtained
retreat, the lads crept on all fours, one after another, to enjoy
their doss, as, in their slang, they called sleep.

1883. Daily News, 3 April, p. 3, col. 5. He replied that he had
only come there to have a doss (sleep).

1889. Pall Mall Gazette, 9 Sep., p. 3, col. 2. If you want a doss,
a doss is provided. A wooden framework, about as wide as the widest
part of a coffin, and a wooden pillow and a blanket of leather.

Verb (vagrants’).—To sleep. For synonyms, see Balmy and infra. Also Dorse.

English Synonyms.—To go to the arms of Murphy (q.v.); to have forty winks; to go to Bedfordshire; to take a little (or do a dose) of the balmy; to chuck (or do) a doss; to snooze; to go to by-by; to read the paper; to shut one’s eyes to think; to retire to the land of Nod.

French Synonyms.—Battre la couverte (military); se foutre un coup de traversin (= to have a little turn up with the bolster); se bâcher, pagnotter or percher (to roost); se mettre dans la bâche; se bourser (popular); éteindre son gaz (popular: to put out one’s light; = also to die); entrer aux quinze-vingts (Les Quinze-vingts = a government hospital for the blind); dormir en chien de fusil (i.e., to sleep sitting, the head between the knees); dormir en gendarme (popular: ‘to sleep with one eye round the corner’); fermer les châssis (to put up shutters or ‘peepers’); se coller dans le pieu (popular).

Spanish Synonyms.—Acostarse con las gallinas (= to go to bed by cock-light); encamarse; tomarle á uno el sueño; tumbar (literally, to tumble down).

1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v. To dorse with a woman
signifies to sleep with her.

1846. Punch, vol. XI., p. 165. Then silent flowed the tears of
those maidens as perforce, Each saw her favourite champion sent, as
Bell’s Life says, dorse.

1850. Lloyd’s Weekly, 3 Feb., ‘Low Lodging House of London.’ One
said, Mate, how long have you been knocking about; where did you
doss? I didn’t know what they meant, and when they’d told me, they
meant, where did I sleep?

Dosser, subs. (vagrants’).—One who frequents a doss house (q.v.).

’Appy-dossers, subs. (vagrants’).—Houseless vagrants who creep in, sleep on stairs, in passages, and in empty cellars.

1880. G. R. Sims, How the Poor Live, p. 43. A ’appy dosser can make
himself comfortable anywhere. I heard of one who used to crawl into
the dust-bin, and pull the lid down.

1883. Referee, 15 July, p. 7, col. 2. The Lazaruses of to-day don’t
lie exactly at Dives’s front door—the police are too active to
allow such happy dossing as that.

The dosser, subs.—The father of a family.

Doss-house or Dossing-crib or Ken, subs. (vagrants’).—A common lodging-house. [From doss, to sleep + crib, or ken, a place of abode.] Fr., un bastengue and un garno. English variants: Libken, two-penny-rope, padding-ken, and kidden (all of which see). Doss-money = the price of a night’s lodging.

1838. Comic Almanack, April. The hulks is now my bowsing-crib, the
hold my dossing-ken.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 150.
When their funds are insufficient to defray the charge of a bed, or
a part of one, at a country dossing-crib (his lodging-house).

1885. Daily Telegraph, 22 August, p. 2. col. 1. Her’s is no common
dossing-crib, with a squalid kitchen, common to all comers.

1889. Globe, 29 Aug., p. 2, col. 2. Various other smart people who
are at present residing in the doss-houses of London.

1890. Speaker, 22 Feb., p. 211, col. 1. Equally bad doss-houses
exist in Notting Hill and near Drury Lane.

Dossy, adj. (common).—Elegant, ‘spiff’ (q.v.).

Dot, subs. (old).—A ribbon. Dot-drag = a watch ribbon.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171, s.v.

Dot-and-Carry-, or Go-one, subs. phr. (common).—1. Properly, a man with a wooden leg; by implication, a hopping-giles or limping jesus (q.v.). Fr., un (or une) banban. Cf., verbal sense.

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

1822. Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, ch. v. That was his father....
You old dotard. Dot-and-carry-one that you are.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (Lay of S. Nicholas). How he rose
with the sun, limping dot and go one.

1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, Act i., Sc. 4. Kit. Of all
the rummy chaps I ever did see, that dot-and-carry-one-of-old
poetry is the queerest; he’s as green as a babby, and as deep as a
wooden spoon.

2. (old).—A writing-master or teacher of arithmetic. [Grose, 1785.]

Verb (old).—To ‘hirple’; especially applied to a person with one leg shorter than the other, or, ‘with an uneven keel.’

Do tell! intj. (American).—A useful interjection, for listeners who feel that some remark is expected; equivalent to the English Really? and Indeed? A similar phrase in the South is the old English, You don’t say so? which a Yankee will vary by, I want to know! Do tell is also used with inexperienced Munchausens who by its means may often be lured to repeat themselves.

1824. R. B. Peake, Americans Abroad, Act I., Sc. ii. Mrs. L. But
when they order nothing at all— Dou: What then, du pray tell?

1854. N. and Q., 1 S., x., p. 84, R. Does Jeremiur behave well now?
S. No, he’s very ugly. He tried to burn the barn. R. do tell!

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 598 s.v.

Dots, subs. (American journalist).—1. Items of news.

2. (popular).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.

Dotter, subs. (common).—A reporter; penny-a-liner. Cf., Dots, sense 1.

Dottle, subs. (common).—The same as Dodder (q.v.).

1885. John Coleman, in Longm. Mag., VII., 69. During the
performance of ‘It’s Never Too Late to Mend,’ some gentleman of the
proletariat, in knocking out the burning dottle of his pipe,
succeeded in setting the gallery on fire.

Dotty, adj. and adv. (common).—1. Feeble; dizzy; idiotic; e.g., dotty in the crumpet = weak in the head; dotty in the pins = unsteady on the legs. [Totty is given in Cole’s Eng. Dict. (1724) = dizzy, but cf., dotish and dotage.] For synonyms, see Apartments, Balmy, and Cf., Cabbage-head.

1870. Sportsman, 9 April. Although he begins to go a little stiff
in his limbs and dotty on his feet he enjoys good health.

1884. Daily Telegraph, 9 April, p. 2, col. 6. His bad leg grows
worse ... and, as usual, he [a race-horse] pulled up in a dotty
condition.

1889. Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday, 3 Aug., p. 242, col. 3. As poor
Doody on his knees had dropt In front of lovely Tottie, And the
fatal question just had pop’t. He really look’d quite dotty.

Subs. (common).—The fancy man of prostitutes of the lowest type.

Doubite, subs. (old).—A street.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.

Double, subs. (colloquial).—1. A trick.

2. (theatrical).—An actor playing two parts in the same piece; used also as a verb.

1825. Egan, Life of an Actor, ‘The Country Manager.’ I make no
reserve for myself, like all other managers; indeed, I am to double
any character, and only anxious to make the most of every little
bit.

3. (thieves’).—See quot.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl., 501. I piped a slavey
(servant) come out of a chat (house), so when she had got a little
way up the double (turning) I pratted (went) in the house.

4. (printers’).—Repetition of a word or sentence.

[Double, adj. and adv., is also used as an intensitive in many
obscene or offensive connotations: e.g., double-arsed = large in
the posteriors; double-duggs (and double-dugged or diddied) = heavy
breasted; double-guts (and double-gutted) = excessively corpulent;
double-cunted = stretched beyond service; double-hocked =
abnormally thick ankled; double-shung = extravagantly large in the
genitals; double-mouthed = mouth-almighty (q.v.); and so forth.]

To put the double on, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To circumvent.

To tip or give the double, verb. phr. (common).—To run or slip away openly or unperceived; to double as a hare; formerly to escape one’s creditors. Also to tip one the Dublin packet. For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, I., 174, s.v.

1860. The Druid, ‘Post and Paddock.’ Alas! my innocent rural
police, Your fondest hopes were a bubble; Your attempts to prevent
a breach of the peace, Your race o’er the Derbyshire stubble; You
must freely own that you felt like geese, When Sam Rogers gave you
the double.

1870. Daily News, 26 May. ‘The Metropolitan Police.’ The policeman
must do his best to ‘keep square’ with the sergeant who looks after
him and his beats, who can be down upon him at any moment and
double upon him three or four times a-night.

1884. Hawley Smart, Post to Finish, ch. i. Old Gregson would never
put the double upon us. No, it’s right enough, you may depend upon
it.

Double-back, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To go back upon oneself; an action; an opinion.

Double-barrel, subs. (popular).—A field or opera glass.

1890. H. D. Traill, Saturday Songs, p. 61. Intently as the masher
plies O’er all the stage his double-barrel That Eightyer mute had
fixed his eyes Upon his honoured guest’s apparel.

Double-barrelled, adj. (venery).—Said of a harlot working both before and behind.

Double-bottomed, adj. (colloquial).—Insincere; saying one thing and meaning another.

Double-breasted feet, subs. phr. (common).—Club feet. Also Double Breasters.

Double-cross or Double-double, subs. (sporting).—Winning or doing one’s best to win after engaging to lose or ‘mike’; (q.v.).

1887. Referee, 21 Aug., 1, 3. When the pair raced before, Teemer
declared, and Hanlan did not deny, that a double cross was brought
off. Teemer promised to sell the match, and finished by selling
those who calculated on his losing.

Double-distilled, adj. (colloquial).—Superlative: e.g., ‘a double-distilled whopper’ = a tremendous lie.

Double-dutch, adj. (colloquial).—Unintelligible speech; jargon; gibberish. ‘It was all Double-dutch to me’ = I didn’t understand a word of it.

Double-event, subs. (sporting).—1. Backing a horse for two races.

1883. Grenville Murray, People I Have Met, p. 155. His lordship,
who had won largely on a double event.

2. (venery).—Gonorrhœa and syphilis at once. Said also of simultaneous defloration and impregnation.

Double-finn, subs. (common).—A £10 note.—[See Finn.]

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., xl., 505. Yes, there it was,
fifty quid in double finns (£10 notes).

Double-header, subs. (common).—A false coin with a head on the obverse and reverse, made by soldering two split coins. Cf., Cover and Heading ’em.

1887. Walford’s Antiquarian, p. 252. A double-header is the usual
property of the gutter sharper.

Double-juggs, subs. (old).—The posteriors (Burton). For synonyms, see Blind cheeks, Bum, and Monocular eyeglass.

Double-lines, subs. (nautical).—Ship casualties. So called from the manner of entering at Lloyd’s.

Doubler, subs. (pugilistic).—A blow in the side or stomach, causing a man to bend from pain or lack of wind. Cf., Double up, sense 1. For synonyms, see Dig.

1821. The Fancy, vol. I., p. 255. In the fourth round he came in
all abroad, and got a doubler in the bread-basket, which spoiled
him for the remainder of the fight.

Double-ribbed, adj. phr. (common).—Pregnant. For synonyms, see Lumpy.

Double-shotted, adj. (colloquial).—Said of a whiskey (or brandy) and soda, containing twice the normal quantity of alcohol.

Double-shuffle, subs. (common). 1. A hornpipe step in which each foot is shuffled twice in succession, the more rapidly and neatly the better.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 47. The waterman ... is dancing
the double shuffle, in front of the pump, to keep his feet warm.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. i., p. 542. I
used to talk to him and whistle. I can just whistle ... and to
dance him the double-shuffle.

1871. Echo, 11 Dec., ‘Sunday among the Silk Weavers.’ The clumsy
high low with which they execute scientific ‘elephant dances’ and
double-shuffles.

2. subs. (common).—A trick or fakement.

Double-Slang.—See Slangs.

Double-Sucker, subs. (venery).—A term descriptive of an abnormal development of the tissues of the labia majora.

Doublet, subs. (thieves’).—A doctored diamond or other precious stone. Cf., Triplet. [The quots. show derivation.]

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Doublet, a precious stone of two pieces
joyned.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxxi. Your een are sharp enough
to look after gowd and silver, gems, rubies, and the like of
that.... Look at them—they are a’right and tight, sound and round,
not a doublet crept in amongst them.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 273. Most jewellers
and pawnbrokers are well acquainted with what are called doublets.
These are rubies or emeralds made of two pieces. The face is a real
ruby, emerald, or sapphire, as the case may be, and this is backed
up by a piece of coloured glass.

Double-Thumper, subs. (common).—A prodigious lie.

Double-Tongued, adj. (colloquial).—Mendacious; given to change opinions in changing company.

Double-tongued Squib, subs. phr. (common).—A double-barrelled gun. For synonyms, see Squib.

1864. G. W. Reynolds, Pickwick Abroad. A double-tongued squib to
keep in awe The chaps that flout at me.

Double-up, verb (pugilistic).—1. To punish. Also to be collapsed. Cf., Doubler.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 20. Doubled him up, like a bag
of old duds.

1827. Reynolds (‘Peter Corcoran’), The Fancy, note on p. 89.
Randall doubles up an opponent, as a friend lately declared, as
easily as though he were picking a flower or pinching a girl’s
cheek.

1830. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. xii. Accompanied by
a tremendous doubling up body-blow, as in an instant brought him
senseless to the ground.

1845. Punch, vol. IX., p. 163. Ben’s reference to the Premier’s
friend, Canning, completely doubled him up.

1849. Thackeray, Dr. Birch, p. 6. I reflect as I go up and set him
a sum, that he [Champion] could whop me in two minutes, double up
Prince and the other assistant and pitch the Doctor out of the
window.

1866. London Miscellany, 5 May, p. 202. Doubled you up, I mean,
sir. Smashed you.

2. (common).—To pair off, to chum with.

1885. W. Westall, Larry Lohengrin, ch. iii. He ... promised the
steward a handsome tip if nobody were doubled up with him,—i.e., if
no other person were put into the same cabin.

Dough, subs. (public schools’).—Pudding.

Dough-baked, adj. phr. (colloquial).—Deficient in intellect. U.S.A. = Easily moulded: said of politicians. For synonyms, see Apartments.

1675. Wycherley, Country Wife, IV., iv. in wks. (1713), 212. These
dow-baked, sensless, indocile animals, women.

Doughy, subs. (common).—A baker.—See Burncrust, and for synonyms, master of the rolls.

Douse.—See Dowse.

Dover, subs. (hotel).—A made dish; hash; rechauffé.

Dovers, subs. (Stock Exchange).—South Eastern Railway Ordinary Stock. [From one of the termini on the line.]

Doves, subs. (University).—Members of St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge.—See quot. Obsolete.

1888. C. Whibley, Three Centuries of Cambridge Wit, p. xxix. It is
said that the members of St. Catharine’s Hall were first of all
called ‘Puritans,’ from the derivation of the name of their
patroness from καθαίρειν. The ‘dove’ being the emblem of purity, to
change a name from ‘Puritans’ to doves was but one short step.

Soiled-Doves, subs. (common).—High-class prostitutes. For synonyms, see Barrack-Hack and Tart.

Dove-Tart, subs. (colloquial).—A pigeon pie. (Doo-tairt is excellent Scots for the same thing.) Cf., Snake Tart = eel pie.

1857. Rev. E. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. II.,
ch. vii. Why, a dove tart is what mortals call a pigeon-pie.

Dowlas, subs. (common).—A draper. [From dowlas, now a kind of towelling, but mentioned by Shakspeare (1 Henry IV., III., iii., 1597) as a material for shirts. Popularised as a sobriquet by Colman’s Daniel Dowlas in The Heir at Law.—See Dickey Diaper, and cf., Dripping = cook; Grindo = miller; Gallipot = chemist; Lint-scraper = surgeon, (q.v.).

Dowling, subs. (public school).—See quot.

1871. Newspaper Report, 18 Feb., of a charge of assault against the
head boy of Shrewsbury School. Mr. Chandler addressed the Bench for
the defence. He said the game of dowling was practised at Eton,
Harrow, Rugby, Westminster and other large schools, etc.

1877. Everyday Life in our Public Schools. There are four or five
compulsory games a week (football) known as dowlings δοῦλος.

Down, subs. (thieves’).—1. Suspicion; alarm; a diversion. There is no down = All is quiet, it is safe to go on.

1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171. Down, alarm; rose the
down, gave the alarm.

2. (American).—Small beer. Up = bottled ale.

Adv. (colloquial).—1. Dispirited; hard-up; in disgrace. Found in various combinations: e.g., down in the mouth, or dumps = dejected; down on one’s luck = reduced in circumstances; down at heel = shabby; down on one’s back-seam = out of luck; down to bed-rock (American) = penniless, etc., etc.

1608–11. Bishop Hall, Epistles, i., 6. The Roman orator was down in
the mouth; finding himself thus cheated by the money-changer.

1693. Congreve, Old Batchelor, Act iv., Sc. 9. Sir J. Witt. Now am
I slap-dash down in the mouth, and have not one word to say!

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. xlix. He ... told the
physician that he was like the root of the tongue, as being
cursedly down in the mouth.

1836. C. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 6, (ed. 1857). I see—never
ruined—accidents will happen—best regulated families—never say
die—down upon your luck—pull him up.

1840. Comic Almanack, p. 208. Let’s not be down upon our luck Nor
out of heart at our condition.