Chapter II: Part 2

Calculate, verb (U.S. colloquial).—To think; expect; believe; intend; indeed, almost any sense save the legitimate, which is ‘to estimate by calculation.’ It belongs to the same class of colloquialisms as guess and reckon. Calculate is sometimes, especially in New England, corrupted into cal’late.

1830.—Galt, Lawrie, T., II., v. (1849), 56. I calculate, that ain’t
no thing to make nobody afeard.

1848.—J. R. Lowell, Biglow Papers. The Sarjunt he thout Hosea
hedn’t gut his i teeth cos he looked a kindo’s though he’d jest
come down, so he cal’lated to hook him in, but Hosy woodn’t take
none of his sarse.

1851.—Miss Wetherell, Queechy, ch. xix. ‘Your aunt sets two tables,
I calculate, don’t she?’

Caleys, subs. (Stock Exchange).—Caledonian Railway Ordinary Stock.

1881.—Atkin, House Scraps. ‘If anything tickles our fancy We buy
them, Brums, Caleys or Apes.’

Calf, subs. (colloquial).—An ignoramus; a dolt; a weakling. Cf., Calf lolly. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1553.—Udall, Royster D., II., iv., in Hazl. Dodsley, III., 94. You
great calf, ye should have more wit, so ye should.

1627.—Drayton, Nymphid (1631), 171. Some silly doting brainless
calfe.

1872. Hamilton Aïdé, Morals and Mysteries, p. 60. She had a girlish
fancy for the good-looking young calf who had so signally disgraced
himself.

To eat the calf in the cow’s belly, phr. (common).—A variant of ‘to count one’s chickens before they are hatched.’

1748. Richardson, Clarissa Harlowe [ed. 1811], III., 135. I ever
made shift to avoid anticipations: I never would eat the calf in
the cow’s belly, as Lord M’s phrase is.

Calf-Clingers, subs. (common).—Pantaloons; i.e., close-fitting trousers. [Derivation obvious.] For synonyms, see Bags and Kicks.

1884.—J. Greenwood, Little Ragamuffins. Knee-breeches were just
going out of fashion when I was a little boy, and calf-clingers
(that is, trousers made to fit the leg as tight as a worsted
stocking) were ‘coming in.’

Calf, Cow, and Bull Week, subs. phr. (operatives’).—Before the passing of the Factory Acts it was customary in manufacturing districts, especially for men, women, and children, to indulge in the practice of working very long hours for a period of three weeks before the Christmas holidays. In the first, which was called ‘calf week,’ the ordinary hours of work were but slightly exceeded; in the second, or ‘cow week,’ they were considerably augmented; and in the third, or ‘bull week,’ it was common for operatives to spend the greater portion of the twenty-four of each day in their workshops. The practice resulted in extreme exhaustion and—naturally—indulgence to excess in stimulants.

1871.—Echo, 4 Dec. Calf, cow, and bull week. We find a good
illustration of the beneficial influence of the Factory Acts in the
reports of the Government Inspectors just issued. The district
inspector expresses the hope that the measures which he took
against some offenders in bull week last year will extinguish for
good and all this absurd and illogical custom.

Calf’s Head, subs. (common).—A stupid, witless individual. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1600.—Shakspeare, Much Ado about Nothing, V., i., Claudio: ‘I’
faith, I thank him; he hath bid me to a calf’s head and a capon;
the which if I do not carve most curiously, say my knife’s naught.’

Calf-Lick.—See Cow-lick.

Calf-Lolly, subs. (old).—An idle simpleton; a general term of reproach.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, bk. I., ch. xxv. Jobbinol goosecaps,
foolish loggerheads, flutch calf-lollies.

1708. Motteux, Rabelais, iv., xvii. I was a Calf-lolly, a
doddipole.

Calf-Love, subs. (common).—A youthful, romantic fancy. [A sarcastic allusion to the blind unreasoning character of boy and girl attachments.]

1823. Galt, Entail, I., xxxii., 284. I made a calf-love marriage.
[m.]

1863. Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia’s Lovers, II., 104. It’s a girl’s
fancy—just a kind o’ calf-love—let it go by.

1884. Longman’s Mag., IV., 50. I was still at the early and
agonising stage of the passion which is popularly known as
calf-love.

Calfskin-Fiddle, subs. (old).—A drum.

1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

Calf-Sticking, subs. (thieves’).—Explained by quotation. [Cf., Calf and Stick].

1883. Daily Telegraph, 25 July, p. 2, col. 1. The venerable oarsman
grinned, and set me right by explaining that what was called
calf-sticking by those who practised it was the putting off of
worthless rubbish, on the pretence that it was smuggled goods, on
any foolish or unscrupulous person who could be inveigled into
treating for the same.

Calibogus, subs. (American).—A very old name for a mixture of rum and spruce beer, being quoted by Grose in 1785 as ‘an American beverage.’ The last two syllables of the word are thought to be derived from the French bagasse, the refuse of the sugar cane. This view would seem to be supported by the fact that rum is itself a product of the sugar cane.

1861. L. de Boileau, Recoll. Labrador Life, p. 162. Callibogus, a
mixture of Rum and Spruce-beer, more of the former and less of the
latter.

Calico, adj. (old).—Thin; wasted; attenuated. [Calicut is the name of the Indian city whence the material of the comparison was brought. The earliest reference for original signification given by Murray is 1505; but he omits the cant meaning.]

1733. Nathaniel Bailey, Colloquies of Erasmus (translated), p. 37.
In such a place as that your callico body (tenui corpusculo) had
need have a good fire to keep it warm.

1861. Sala, Seven Sons of Mammon. A shrewd, down-east Yankee once
questioned a simple Dutchman out of his well-fed steed, and left
him instead a vile calico mare in exchange.

Calico-Bally, adj. (common).—Somewhat ‘fast’; applied to one always on the look out for amusement. [Primarily used of frequenters of calico-balls.]

18(?). Broadside Ballad, ‘The Flipperty-Flop Young Man.’ I once was
a cabby and hack young man, And a little bit calico-bally; A
picture card out of the pack young man, And frequently music hally.

California.—See Californian, sense 2.

Californian, subs. (common).—1. A red or hard-dried herring. Further explained by quotations. Also Soldier, Atlantic ranger and Glasgow Magistrate.

1873.—Cassell’s Mag., Jan., p. 245, Very large quantities of cured
herrings came from North Britain at that time, and, excepting those
from the Firth of Forth, they were more cured, dryer and salter
than those from Norfolk. Some were sent very dry indeed, as hard as
a stick, and of a very deep red colour; such were used, as similar
fish now are, for exportation. About the time of the gold
discoveries, some one applied the term Californian to these. The
word was appropriate, and Californians such highly-coloured
herrings are called to this day.

2. [Generally used in the plural—Californians.] Generic for gold pieces.

California Widow, subs. phr. (American).—A married woman whose husband is away from her for any extended period; a grass widow (q.v.) in the least offensive sense. The expression dates from the period of the Californian gold fever, when so many men went West, leaving their wives and families behind them.

Calk, verb (Eton College).—To throw.

Call, subs. (Eton College).—The time when the masters do not call absence (q.v.).

To have or get a call upon, phr. (American).—To have a preference, or the first chance.

1888.—Puck’s Library, May, p. 23, Picture Dealer (to Professional’s
Husband): ‘No, sir; I can’t sell no more of your wife’s pictures
unless she gets down some of that flesh, and looks kinder
æstheticker. The ethereal and intellectual has got the call on the
old style of beauty now-a-days.’

To call a go, verbal phr. (vagrants’ and street patterers’).—To change one’s stand; to alter one’s tactics; to give in at any game or business. [From the go ‘call’ in cribbage.]

1851–61.—H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 252. To
call a go, signifies to remove to another spot, or adopt some other
patter, or, in short, to resort to some change or other in
consequence of a failure.

To call a spade a spade.—See Spade.

To call over the coals.—See Wigging.

Put and call.—See Put.

Calle, subs. (old and American thieves’).—A cloak or gown. Quoted by Grose [1785], and still in use in the U.S.A. amongst the criminal classes. For synonyms, see Caster.

Calp or Kelp, subs. (old).—A hat. [Origin unknown.] For synonyms, see Golgotha.

Calvert’s Entire.—The Fourteenth Foot. [Called Calvert from their colonel, Sir Harry Calvert (1806–1826), and entire, because three entire battalions were kept up for the good of Sir Harry, when adjutant-general. A play upon words in reference to Calvert’s malt liquors.] This regiment was also called the Old and Bold.

1780. R. Tomlinson, Slang Pastoral, canto viii. Gin! What is become
of thy heart-chearing fire, And where is the beauty of Calvert’s
Intire?

1871. Chambers’ Journal, 23 Dec., p. 803, col. 1. The 14th Foot,
Calvert’s Entire.

1886. Tinsley’s Magazine, April, p. 322. A very curious name,
Calvert’s Entire, used to be attached to the 14th, but this as well
as the circumstances which gave rise to it are forgotten.

Calves. Calves gone to grass, subs. phr. (old).—Said of spindle shanks; i.e., slender, undeveloped legs, with lack of calves.

There are many ways of dressing calves’ heads, phr. (old).—Many ways of saying or doing a foolish thing; a simpleton has many ways of showing his folly; or, generally, if one way won’t do, we must try another.

Calves’ heads are best hot, phr. (common).—A sarcastic apology for one sitting down to eat with his hat on.—See Stand-up.

Calx, subs. (Eton College).—The goal line at football. [From a Latin sense of calx = a goal, anciently marked with lime or chalk.] At Eton calx is a space so marked off at each end of wall; good calx is the end at which there is a door for a goal; bad calx the end where part of an elm tree serves the purpose.

1864. Daily Telegraph, Dec. 1. The Collegers were over-weighted ...
and the Oppidans managed to get the ball down into their calx
several times. [m.]

Cambridge Oak, subs. (old).—A willow. [An allusion to the abundance of this tree in the county in question, which is situate in the Fen District.] Formerly many analogous sayings were in vogue; e.g., ‘A Cotswold lion’ for ‘a sheep,’ etc.—See also Cambridgeshire nightingale.

Cambridgeshire or Fen Nightingale, subs. phr. (common).—A frog. [The county is scored with canals and dykes; the allusion is to the natural preponderance of the croaking of frogs over the singing of nightingales.] Cf. Cambridge oak and Cape nightingale.

1875. Chambers’ Journal, No. 581, p. 107, col. 2. The male of the
eatable frog is distinguished ... by ... a pouch.... These pouches
increase the volume of the croak, and render it so powerful that
the possessors have, from the county in which they are particularly
plentiful, received the nickname of Cambridgeshire nightingales.

Camden-Town, subs. (rhyming slang).—A halfpenny, or ‘brown.’ For synonyms, see Mag.

Camel’s Complaint, subs. phr. (common).—Low spirits; the hump (q.v.).

Camesa, subs. (thieves’).—A shirt chemise, or ‘shimmy.’ [From the Spanish camisa, or Italian camicia.] The word appears in various forms from the beginning of the seventeenth century, e.g., ‘camisa,’ ‘camiscia,’ ‘kemesa,’ ‘camise,’ and in a more genuinely English dress as ‘commission’ (q.v.), which in turn is shortened into mish (q.v.). For synonyms, see Flesh-bag.

1690.—B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Camesa: a shirt or shift.

1785.—Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Camesa (cant,
Spanish): a shirt or shift.

1812.—Byron, Childe Harold II., Tambourgi ii. Oh! who is more brave
than a dark Suliote, In his snowy camese and his shaggy capote?

1834.—H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. With my fawnied
famms, and my onions gay, my thimble of ridge, and my driz (laced)
kemesa.

Camister, subs. (thieves’).—A preacher or clergyman. From the white gown or surplice. [From Latin camisia, a linen tunic, alb, or shirt, + (probably) a termination suggested by ‘minister.’] For synonyms, see Devil-dodger.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 231.
[List of patterer’s words.] Camister = Minister.

Camp. To go to camp, phr. (Australian).—To go to bed; to take rest. [From the practice in the early settlers’ days of forming a camp whenever a halt for the night was called.]

1887. All the Year Round, 30 July, p. 66, col. 2. To go to camp, by
a transference of its original meaning, now signifies, in the mouth
of a dweller in houses, simply ‘to lie down,’ ‘to go to bed.’

To take into camp, phr. (Common).—To kill.

1878. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’) Some Rambling Notes of an Idle
Excursion, p. 66. Sure enough one night the trap took Mrs. Jones’s
principal tomcat into camp, and finished him up.

To camp, phr. (Australian).—To surpass; to ‘floor.’

18(?) H. Kendall, Billy Vickers. At punching oxen you may guess
There’s nothing out can camp him; He has, in fact, the slouch and
dress Which bullock-driver stamp him.

Campbell’s Academy, subs. phr. (old).—The hulks, or lighters, on board of which felons were condemned to hard labour. Mr. Campbell was the first director.—Grose.—See Academy and Floating academy. For synonyms, see Cage.

1781. G. Parker, View of Society, II., 11. He was tried at
Guildhall, Westminster, and sentenced to improve as a pupil in Mr.
Duncan Campbell’s Floating Academy for five years.

Camp-Candlestick, subs. (military)—An empty bottle, or a bayonet. Quoted in the Lexicon Balatronicum [1811]. For synonyms in the sense of ‘an empty bottle,’ see Dead-man.

Camp-Stool Brigade, subs. phr. (common).—Said in the first place of people who wait outside a place of entertainment to secure the best seats, and bring camp-stools with them to rest themselves.

1889. Pall Mall Gazette, 23 Sept., p. 5, col. 2. The first night of
the Gaiety Wanderers will not be forgotten in a hurry. Seats for
the occasion were booked a year ago last April! Can you wonder that
the camp-stool brigade besieged the pit door as early as 10 a.m.?

Can, subs. (American).—1. A dollar piece.

2. (Scots).—A ‘slavey.’

Canack, Canuck, Kanuck, K’nuck, subs. (American).—A Canadian, usually a K’nuck. [Obscure, and limited in its application within the Canadian frontier. There, a Canuck is understood to be a French Canadian, just as within the limits of the Union only New Englanders are termed Yankees; whereas elsewhere that appellation is given indiscriminately to natives of all the States. It is by some supposed that Canuck is a corruption of Connaught, the name applied by French-Canadians to the Irish, from which it would follow that, by a process of inversion, a nickname given by one section of a nation to another has, in course of time, been applied to the whole. Others, however, think the first syllable of ‘Canada’ has been joined to the Algonkin Indian substantive termination uc or uq.]

Canary or Canary-Bird, subs. (thieves’).—1. A prisoner; a very old cant term for habitual offenders; or, as Grose says [1785], ‘a person used to be kept in a cage’ (q.v.). The same idea occurs in some foreign equivalents, e.g., the French, oiseau de cage, and the German, Kastener, from Kasten, a chest or case. For synonyms, see Wrong ’un.

1673.—Head, Canting Academy, p. 157. Newgate is a cage of
canary-birds.

1725.—New Canting Dictionary. Canary-bird, a little, arch, or
knavish boy; a rogue or whore taken and clapped into the cage or
roundhouse.

1839.—Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], p. 55. Now for the
cage, my pretty canary-bird. Before we start I’ll accommodate you
with a pair of ruffles.

2. (general).—A mistress. [See preceding quot. (1725): the term is still in use.] For synonyms, see Tart.

3. (common).—Formerly a guinea, but now applied to a sovereign [From similarity of colour.]

English Synonyms. Yellow boy; goldfinch; yellow hammer; shiner; gingleboy; monarch; couter; bean foont; James (from Jacobus); poona; portrait; quid; thick ’un; skin; skiv; dragon; goblin. A guinea was also called a ‘ned.’

French Synonyms for the equivalent twenty franc piece are, un jaunet (popular: literally ‘butter-cup’ or ‘yellow-boy’); une sigue, sigle, sigolle or cig (thieves’); un bonnet jaune (popular: literally ‘yellow-cap’ or ‘bonnet’); un bouton (i.e., ‘a master-key’); une maltaise (old cant; according to Victor Hugo this gold coin was used on board the convict galleys at Malta); un moule à boutons (popular); une médaille d’or (popular: = a gold medal).

German Synonyms. Gelbling (gelb = yellow); Fuchs (a gold piece; literally ‘a fox’).

For synonyms of money generally, see Actual and Gilt.

1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Canary-Birds in a
canting sense, guineas.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xvi. Fifty as fair yellow
canary-birds as e’er chirped in the bottom of a green silk purse.

1842. Punch, p. 168. ‘Prolusiones etymologicæ,’ 13.
Goldfinches—Canaries.—Singing birds; the which whose possesseth
needeth never to pine for lack of notes.

4. (thieves’).—A female watcher or stall; a mollisher (q.v.). Cf. Crow = a male watcher. Fr. une marque franche.

1862. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lond. Poor, IV., 337. Sometimes a
woman, called a ‘canary,’ carries the tools [of burglars], and
watches outside.

5. (Salvation Army).—A written promise of a donation or subscription. At some of the meetings of the ‘Army’ instead of sending round the plate, the ‘officers’ distribute slips of paper on which those present are invited to record their benevolent intentions. The original colour of the slips was yellow—hence the nickname.

Cancer. To catch or capture a cancer, phr. (common).—See Crab.

1857. Hood, Pen and Pencil Pictures p. 141. He had another way of
capturing cancers, namely, by never putting his oar into the water
at all.

Candle-Keepers, subs. (Winchester College).—The eight seniors in college by election who are not præfects. They enjoy most of the privileges of præfects without their powers.

1870. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 30. The
Seven Candle-keepers (why so-called, I have no idea, nor have I
ever heard any interpretation of the appellation). These were the
seven inferiors who had been longest in the school, quite
independently of their position in it; they were generally old and
tough. Of these, the senior had almost as much power as a præfect;
he had a ‘valet’ in chambers, one or two ‘breakfast fags,’ and the
power of fagging the twenty juniors when in school, or in meads.
The junior candle keeper was called ‘the Deputy,’ and had also some
slight privileges besides that of having a valet and breakfast fag,
which was common to all of them.

1878. Adams, Wykehamica, p. 278. Presided over by a candle-keeper.

Candlestick, subs. 1. (Winchester College).—A humorous corruption of the word ‘candidate.’

1870. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 175. Each of
these [the Electors] had in turn the privilege of nominating a boy
for admission into Winchester till all vacancies were filled, of
which there were generally about twelve, but always many more
‘Candidates’ (or Candlesticks, as they were often called).

1878. H. C. Adams, Wykehamica, p. 418. Candlestick, merely a
facetious version of ‘candidate.’

2 pl. (London).—The fountains in Trafalgar Square.

1851. Mayhew, London Labour and Lon. Poor, I., p. 529. There was
his (Nelson’s) pillar at Charing Cross, just by the candlesticks
(fountains).

Candy, adj. (old).—Given by Grose in 1785, and by the Lexicon Balatronicum, in 1811, as ‘drunk—an Irish term.’

Candyman, subs. (northern).—A bailiff or process server. Originally a seller of candy. [In October, 1863, there was a great strike of miners at the collieries of Messrs. Strakers and Love, in the county of Durham. As no adjustment of the difference was possible, the owners determined to eject the miners from their cottages. For this purpose, an army of rascals were engaged, including at least one whose ordinary occupation was that of hawking candy and sweetmeats. The man was recognised and was chaffed; and candyman, which rapidly became a term of reproach, was soon applied to the whole class; and since that time is come into general use over the two northern counties whenever ejectments take place.]

1863. Newcastle Chronicle, Oct. 31. The colliery carts and waggons
stood at the doors, and the furniture was handed out, and piled
quickly but carefully upon them. It was evident that the candymen
had warmed to their work. The name of candyman has been given to
the loaders because of their avocations of ‘candy’ hawking, from
which they are supposed to have been taken to be put to this work.

1876. Notes and Queries, 5 S., v., 405. A term in the North for men
employed to carry out evictions against cottage occupiers.

1886. Notes and Queries, 7 S., i., p. 445.

Canister, subs. (general).—1. The head. [A transference of the original meaning, ‘a box or case for holding things.’] For synonyms, see Crumpet.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. To mill his cannister; to break his
head.

1821. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act ii., Sc. 4. Tom. I’ve nobb’d
him on the canister.

1885. Bell’s Life, Jan. 3, p. 8, col. 4. Once more did the star of
Australia rise, but to set from additional raps on the canister. He
fell on his knees, and his head droped on his breast.

2. (common).—A hat. [Formerly canister-cap (see sense 1); subsequently shortened to canister.] For synonyms, see Golgotha.

1887. Atkin, House Scraps. Turning round, I saw my unfortunate
beaver, or canister, as it was called by the gentry who had it in
their keeping, bounding backwards and forwards.

Cank, adj. (old).—Dumb; silent. [Curiously enough, cank also signifies ‘to chatter,’ or ‘cackle as a goose’; it only survives in this latter sense.]

1673. R. Head, Canting Acad., 36. Cank: dumb.

1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Cank: dumb.

Cannibal, subs. (Cambridge University).—In the bumping races at Cambridge, a college may be represented by more than one boat. The best talent is put into the first, but it has sometimes happened that the crew of the second have got so well together that it has disappointed the prophets and bumped the first of its own college. In this case it is termed a cannibal, it having eaten up its own kind, and a fine is enacted from it by the University Boat Club.

Cannikin or Canniken, subs. (old).—The plague. [Grose includes it in his dictionary under the sense of ‘a small can,’ but this was not a slang usage.]

1688. R. Holme, Armoury. III., iii., § 68. Cannikin, the Plague.
[m.]

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. s.v.

Cannis-Cove, subs. (American).—A dog-fancier. [Either from Latin canis, a dog, or the Fr. caniche, poodle + cove, a man.]

Cannon.—See Canon.

Cannon-Balls, subs. (political).—1. A nickname, now obsolete, given to the irreconcileable opponents of free trade in England.

1858. Saturday Review, 30 Oct., p. 413, col. 2. The amendment ...
which sealed for ever the fate of Protection, was carried [in 1852]
with only fifty dissentient voices—the celebrated cannon-balls.
[m.]

2. (venery).—The testicles. For synonyms see Cods.

Canoe. To paddle one’s own canoe, phr. (American).—To make one’s own way in life; to exhibit skill and energy; to succeed unaided; a slang phrase of Western American origin, but now universal. [Extremely careful and clever manipulation is required in the management of canoes, especially in shooting rapids; otherwise the surging body of water might swamp the boat, or sunken rocks strike and seriously damage it. Hence the adoption of such an expression to signify skill, close attention, and energy.] A variant is to bail one’s own boat; and the French have a proverbial saying, il conduit or il mène bien sa barque.

1845. Harper’s Magazine, May. Voyager upon life’s sea, to yourself
be true; And, where’er your lot may be, Paddle your own canoe.

1868. Broadside Ballad, sung by Harry Clifton. My wants are small,
I care not at all, If my debts are paid when due. And to drive away
strife on the ocean of life, I paddle my own canoe.

1870. C. H. Spurgeon. At Metropolitan Tabernacle [speaking of Mr.
John Magregor said]—He puts his trust in God and paddles his own
canoe.

1871. De Vere, English of the New World, p. 343. The familiarity
with boating, which the unsurpassed number of watercourses all over
the country naturally produces everywhere, has led to the use, not
only of paddling one’s own canoe, ... but also of ‘bailing one’s
own boat,’ in the sense of ‘minding one’s own business,’
independently and without waiting for help from others.

Canon or Cannon, adj. (thieves’).—Drunk. [The origin of this term is very obscure, although many guesses have been hazarded. Amongst these may be mentioned (1) From the ‘can’ having been used freely. Rather less absurd is (2) its derivation from the French slang expressions un canon, a glass drunk at the bar of a wine-shop; canonner, to drink wine at a wine-shop, or to be a habitual tippler; se canonner, to get drunk; and un canonneur, a tippler, wine-bibber, or drunkard. Yet another suggested origin is (3) from the German cannon, a drinking cup, from which is obtained canonised, = ‘shot’ or ‘drunk.’ A German proverb runs er ist geschossen, and Barrère points out that canon becomes naturally confused with can, German Kaune, a tankard, and Canonenstiefel, or ‘canon’ (i.e., long boots), a common pattern of tankard.] For synonyms, see Screwed.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., XL., 502. One night I was with
the mob, I got canon (drunk), this being the first time.

Canoodle, verb (American).—1. To fondle; bill and coo; indulge in endearments.—See Canoodling. [There are two suggested derivations—(1) from cannie in the sense of gentle, and (2) that the primary signification may have been ‘to act as a noodle,’ i.e., to play the fool.] For synonyms, see Firkytoodle.

1864. G. A. Sala, Temple Bar, Dec., p. 40. He is an adept in that
branch of persuasive dialectics known as conoodling. He will
conoodle the ladies (bless their dear hearts! and how sharp they
think themselves at making a bargain!) into the acquisition of
whole packages of gimcrack merchandise.

1879. Punch, March 15, p. 117, col. 2. ‘Our Representative Man.’
Then he and the matchless one struggle, snuggle, and generally
conoodle together rapturously. Then the matchless Ecstacy being the
wife, not of the Chevalier, but of Charles VI., King of France,
she, this impulsive, loving, beautiful, hugging, conoodling young
Ecstacy, has the cool impudence to declare that theirs is a
‘guiltless love.’

2. (Oxford University).—To paddle or propel a canoe.

1879. E. H. Marshall, in Notes and Queries, 5 S., xi., 375. When I
was an undergraduate at Oxford, to canoodle was the slang
expression for paddling one’s own canoe on the bosom of the
Cherwell or the Isis.

3. (American theatrical).—To share profits.

18(?). Green Room Jokes. ‘Pray, good sir, what is a canoodler?’
‘Tell you, mum, queer business, mum, but prosperous, money—heaps of
it, mum, for you and me’—and he winked significantly, jerked up a
chair, and squatted in it, all in a breath.... Undeterred, he
rattled on: ‘I’m an original thinker, mum. Invent business
opportunities. Share ’m with actors, and then we canoodle—divvy the
profits. Me and Sheridan made a big thing on the Japanese
advertising screen in “School for Scandal!” Big thing.’

4. (common).—To coax.

Canoodler.—See Canoodle.

Canoodling, verbal subs. (American).—Endearments.

1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 11 a.m., par. 8. A sly kiss, and
a squeeze, and a pressure of the foot or so, and a variety of
harmless endearing blandishments, known to our American cousins
(who are great adepts at sweet-hearting) under the generic name of
conoodling.

1864 and 1879. [See quots. under Canoodle, sense 1.]

Cant, subs. and verb.—[As regards derivation (whether noun or verb), to signify the speech, phraseology, or whine peculiar to thieves, beggars, and vagrants, authorities differ among and with themselves: the word occurs as early as 1540, and has long since achieved respectability. Grose was probably wrong in thinking it a corruption of chaunting, and it was certainly in use long prior to the two Scotch clergymen, Oliver and Andrew Cant, who are said to have preached with such a voice and such a manner as to give their name to all speaking of the same kind. A correspondent of Notes and Queries (2 S., vii., 158) suggests as a possible source the ordinary word mendicant (fr. Lat. mendico), but this is historically improbable, and the weight of evidence is in favour of the Latin cantus, singing or song, though it must be observed that neither the ancient nor the modern usage implies a mere sing-song, but rather the whine of one bent on deceit. There is a consciousness of hypocrisy by the canting in connection with religion, politics, begging, or anything else; and this principle is recognized in the attempt on the part of The Scots Observer to substitute Bleat (subs. and verb) for the cant of æstheticism, the cant which deals with art in the language of sentiment and emotion. It has been further suggested that if the word meant singing, the A.S. cantere is a much more probable source of origin than the Latin canto or cantus; but there is an argument which seems to lend additional weight to the claim of the latter language: the French chanter, to sing, is sometimes used in the sense of cant. In answer to a whining, lying tale (in reply indeed to anything incredible whether whining or brazen), a Frenchman would say, ‘Qu’est-ce que vous chantez là.’ Whatever the derivation, however, there is little doubt that Andrew Cant has little to do with it; indeed, Pennant in his Tour in Scotland, vol. I., p. 122, says that ‘Andrew canted no more than the rest of his brethren, for he lived in a whining age.’]

Subs.—1. The secret speech or jargon of the vagrant classes—gipsies, thieves, beggars, etc.; hence, contemptuously, the peculiar phraseology of a particular class or subject. Identical with Thieves’ Latin, St. Giles’ Greek, Peddlar’s French, etc. (q.v.); but for synonyms, see Flash.

1706. In Phillips. [m.]

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.) Cant (s.): a barbarous broken
sort of speech made use of by gypsies.

1856. C. Reade, Never too Late, ch. xlv. All this not in English,
but in thieves’ cant.

Here follow specimens of ancient and modern jargon. Further illustrations will be found in the canting songs in the Appendix.

[ancient cant.]

1567. Harman, Caveat (E.E.T. Soc., extra series, IX., 1869), p.
84–86. The vpright Cofe canteth to the Roge. Vpright-man.—Bene
Lightmans to thy quarromes, in what lipken hast thou lypped in this
darkemans, whether in a lybbege, or in the strummell? Roge.—I
couched a hogshead in a Skypper this darkemans. Vpright-man.—I
towre the strummel trine vpon thy nabchet and Togman. Roge.—I saye
by the Salomon I will lage it of with a gage of benebouse; then cut
to my nose watch. Man.—Why, hast thou any lowre in thy bonge to
bouse? Roge.—But a flagge, a wyn, and a make, etc., etc., etc.

[modern thieves’ lingo.]

1881. New York Slang Dictionary. ‘Oh! I’m fly. You mean jumping
Jack, who was done last week for heaving a peter from a drag. But
you talked of padding the hoof. Why, sure, Jack had a rattler and a
prad?’ ‘Yes, but they were spotted by the harmans, and so we walked
Spanish.’ ‘Was he nabbed on the scent?’ ‘No; his pal grew leaky and
cackled.’ ‘Well, Bell, here’s the bingo—sluice your gob! But who
was the cull that peached?’ ‘A slubber de gullion named Harry Long,
who wanted to pass for an out-and-out cracksman, though he was
merely a diver.’ ‘Whew! I know the kiddy like a copper, and saved
him once from lumping the lighter by putting in buck. Why, he
scarcely knows a jimmy from a round robin, and Jack deserved the
tippet for making a law with him, as all coves of his kidney blow
the gab. But how did you hare it to Romeville, Bell for I suppose
the jets cleaned you out?’ ‘I kidded a swell in a snoozing-ken, and
shook him of his dummy and thimble.’ ‘Ah! Bell! you were always the
blowen for a rum bing.’

2. (pugilistic)—a blow or toss. [In Mem. Capt. P. Drake, II., xiv., 244 (1755), occurs this passage, ‘To give me such a cant as I never had before or since, which was the whole length of the coffee-room; he pitched me on my head and shoulders under a large table at the further end.’ Transition from the nautical sense of heeling over to that embodied in ‘cant on the chops,’ is easy.] For synonyms, see Bang, Dig, and Wipe.

3. (tramps’).—Food. Also Kant, but Cf., sense 4.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, vol. III., p.
415. The house was good for a cant—that’s some food—bread or meat.

1877. Besant and Rice, Son of Vulcan, pt. I., ch. ix. The slavey’s
been always good for a kant, and the cove for a bob.

4. (tramps’).—A gift. [Possibly connected with cant, sense 3, a share or portion.]

1857. Snowden. Mag. Assistant, 3 ed., p. 444. Gift of Clothes—Cant
of Togs.

Verb.—1. To speak with the beggar’s whine.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1869), 34. ‘It shall be lawefull for the to
Cant’—that is, to aske or begge—‘for thy living in al places.’

1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 17 (B. Club’s Repr., 1874).
According to the saying that you [thieves and cadgers] haue among
your selues (If you can Cant, you will neuer worke) shewing that if
they haue beene rogues so long, that they can Cant, they will neuer
settle themselues to labour againe.

2. To speak the jargon of gipsies, beggars, and other vagrants.—See Canting.

1592. Defence of Conny-catching, in Greene’s Works, XI., 45. At
these wordes Conny-catcher and Setter, I was driven into as great a
maze, as if one had dropt out of the clowds, to heare a peasant
cant the wordes of art belonging to our trade.

1609. Dekker, English Villainies (1638), And as these people are
strange, both in names and in their conditions, so do they speake a
language (proper only to themselves) called Canting, which is more
strange. This word canting, seemes to be derived from the Latine
Verbe (Canto) which signifies in English to sing, or to make a
sounde with words, that is to say, to speake. And very aptly may
Canting take its derivation, à cantando, from singing, because
amongst these beggerly consorts that can play on no better
instruments, the language of canting is a kinde of Musicke, and he
that in such assemblies can cant best, is counted the best
musician.

1639. Ford, Lady’s Trial, V., 1. One can man a gulan, and cant, and
pick a pocket.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.) Cant (v.): to talk gibberish
like gypsies.

3. To speak; to talk.

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 66. To Cante, to speake.

1881. New York Slang Dictionary. ‘On the trail.’ ‘But cant us the
cues. What was the job?’ ‘A pinch for an emperor’s slang. We
touched his leather too, but it was very lathy.’

Cantab, subs. (colloquial).—A student at Cambridge. [An abbreviation of ‘Cantabrigian.’]

1750. Coventry, Pompey Litt. II., x. (1785), p. 18, col. 1. The
young cantab ... had come up to London. [m.]

1821. Byron, Don Juan, c. iii., st. 126. And I grown out of many
‘wooden spoons’ Of verse (the name with which we cantabs please To
dub the last of honours in degrees).

Cantabank, subs. (old).—A common ballad singer. [From Latin cantare, to sing, + banco, bench; i.e., a singer on a stage or platform.]

1589. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie (Arb.), 96. Small and popular Musickes
song by these Cantabanqui vpon benches and barrels heads. [m.]

1834. Taylor, Ph. van Art, pt. I., iii., 2. He was no tavern
cantabank that made it, But a Squire minstrel of your Highness’
court.

Cantankerous, adj. (colloquial).—Cross-grained; ill-humoured; self-willed; productive of strife. See also quot. 1773. [Thought to be derived from the M. E. contak, conteke, contention or quarrelling.] So also cantankerously and cantankerousness. For synonyms, see Crusty.

1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, II. There’s not a more
bitter cantankerous road in all Christendom.

1775. Sheridan, Rivals, Act v., Sc. 3. But I hope Mr. Faulkland, as
there are three of us come on purpose for the game, you wont be so
cantankerous as to spoil the party by sitting out.

1876. M. E. Braddon, Joshua Haggard, ch. xvi. And who was to nurse
this peevish, cantankerous old man.

Hence the American verb, to cantankerate, and adjective, cantankersome.

1835. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xxiv. You
may [by contentious writing] happify your inimies [and]
cantankerate your opponents. Ibid. 3 S., ch. xii. Plato Frisk, a
jumpin’ Quaker, a terrible cross-grained cantankersome critter.

Cante.—See Canter.

Canteen Medal, subs. phr. (military).—A good conduct stripe for the consumption of liquor.

Canter, subs. (old).—A vagrant or beggar; one who cants (q.v.) or uses the secret language otherwise called Peddlars’ French, St. Giles’ Greek, etc. The form has varied, Greene using cante, whilst many writers speak of the fraternity as the canting crew.—See Appendix. [From cant, verb, sense 1, + er.]

1592. Greene, Quip for Upst. Courtiers, Harl. Misc. V., 396. I fell
into a great laughter, to see certain Italianate cantes, humourous
cavaliers, youthful gentlemen, etc.

1625. Ben Jonson, Staple of News, Act ii. A rogue, a very canter I,
sir, one that maunds upon the pad.

1630. Taylor, (‘Water Poet’), wks. II., 239, i. Two leash of
oyster-wives hyred a coach on a Thursday after Whitsontide ... they
were so be-madam’d, be-mistrist, and ladified by the beggars, that
the foolish women began to swell with a proud supposition or
imaginary greatness, and gave all their mony to the mendicanting
canters.

1878. Charles Hindley, Life and Times of James Catnach. ‘Song of
the Young Prig.’ My mother she dwelt in Dyot’s Isle, One of the
canting crew, sirs.

Canticle, subs. (old).—A parish clerk. [From canticle, a song or psalm; one of the duties of a parish clerk being to lead the congregational singing.] So given in Grose [1785], and in the Lexicon Balatronicum [1811]. Also called an amen curler (q.v.).

Canting, verbal subs. (old).—The jargon used by beggars, thieves, gipsies, and vagrants. The same as Cant, subs., sense 1, which seems to be an abbreviated and later form of canting; Cf. ‘cab’ from ‘cabriolet’ and ‘bus’ from ‘omnibus.’

1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 6, Their language which they terms
peddelers Frenche or canting.

1610. Jonson, Alchemist, II. Supr. What a brave language here is!
next to canting.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia. I., in wks. (1720) IV., 27. A
particular language which such rogues have made to themselves,
called canting, as beggars, gipsies, thieves, and jail-birds do.

1742. Johnson, Highwayman and Pyrates, p. 57. All the canting
language (which comprehends a parcel of invented words, such as
thieves very well know, and by which they can distinguish one
another from the other classes of mankind.)

Ppl. adj.—Belonging to the jargon of thieves and beggars.

1592. Groundwork of Conny-Catching, 99. The manner of their canting
speech [m.]

1871. London Figaro, 13 May, p. 3, col. 2. ‘Bill’s dead on for a
lark with the canting bloke,’ whispered a lean and hungry-looking
‘casual’ to a no less half-starved neighbour.

Canting Crew.—See Canter.

Can’t Say National Intelligencer, phr. (American).—A euphemistic expression equivalent to ‘drunk.’ [The National Intelligencer is an old Washington newspaper.] For synonyms, see Screwed.

Can’t see a Hole in a Ladder, phr. (American).—Referring to a superlative form of intoxication. For synonyms, see Screwed.

Canuck.—See Canack.

Canvass. To receive the canvass, phr. (old).—A seventeenth century colloquialism for ‘to be dismissed’; in modern slang ‘to get the sack.’—See Bag, sense 2, and Sack.

1652. Shirley, The Brothers, Act. ii. As much as marriage comes to,
and I lose My honor, if the Don receives the canvas.

Canvasseens, subs. (nautical).—Sailors’ canvas trousers. For synonyms, see Bags and Kicks.

Canvass-Town, subs. (general).—The Volunteer Encampment at Wimbledon or Bisley when the National Rifle Association meets; also any camp or ‘baby’-city. Cf., Bull’s-eye Villas.

Cap, subs. (thieves’).—1. A false cover to a tossing coin, called a cover-down. The cap showed either head or tail as it was left on or taken off. Obsolete.

2. (old).—The proceeds of an improvised collection. [Cf., ‘to send round the cap or hat.’]

1851. Eureka; Sequel Ld. Russell’s Post Bag, 21. What amount of cap
is realised out of an average field? [m.]

3. (Westminster School).—The amount of the collection at Play and Election dinners. [From the College cap being passed round on the last night of Play for contributions. Cf., ‘to send round the cap.’]

Verb (thieves’).—1. To stand by a friend; to take part in any undertaking; to lend a hand. Grose has ‘to take one’s oath.’

1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. I will cap downright;
I will swear home.

2. (public schools’ and University).—To take off or touch one’s hat in salutation; also to cap to and to cap it.

1593. H. Smith, Serm. (1871) I., 203. How would they cap me were I
in velvets. [m.]

1803. Gradus ad Cantabrigiam p. 23. s.v. bore. Other bores are to
attend a sermon at St. Mary’s on Sunday ... to cap a fellow.

Cap one’s lucky, verbal phr. (American thieves’).—To run away. For synonyms, see Amputate.

Cap or cast one’s skin, verbal phr. (thieves’).—To strip naked. For synonyms, see Peel.

To set one’s cap at, phr. (colloquial).—To set oneself to gain the affections. Said only of women.

1773. Graves, Spiritual Quixote, bk. III., ch. xi. I know several
young ladies who would be very happy in such an opportunity of
setting their caps at him.

1773. O. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act i., Sc. 1. ‘Well, if
he refuses ... I’ll only break my glass for its flattery, set my
cap to some newer fashion, and look out for some less difficult
admirer.’

1846. Thackeray, V. Fair, ch. iii. The wily old fellow said to his
son, ‘Have a care, Joe; that girl is setting her cap at you.’

To cap a quotation, anecdote, proverb, &c., phr. (colloquial).—To fit with a second from the same, or another, author; to ‘go one better’ in the way of anecdote or legend.

1584. Peele, Arraignm. Paris, iv., ii. (1829) 48. Sh’ath capt his
answer in the cue. [m.]

1856. Vaughan, Mystics (1860) I., i. v. Now you come to Shakspeare,
I must cap your quotation with another. [m.]

To pull caps, phr. (colloquial).—To wrangle in an unseemly way.—Said only of women.

1763. Colman, Deuce is in Him, I., in wks. (1777) IV., 120. A man
that half the women in town would pull caps for.

1771. Smollet, Humphry Clinker, line 19. At length, they fairly
proceeded to pulling caps, and everything seemed to presage a
general battle.

17(?). Wolcot, P. Pindar, p. 140. Behold our lofty duchesses pull caps, And give each other’s reputation raps, As freely as the drabs of Drury’s school.

1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. vii. Well, dearest Rachel, we
will not pull caps about this man.

Cape Cod Turkey, subs. phr. (American).—A salted cod fish, another name for which is marble-head turkey. Cf., Billingsgate pheasant, Yarmouth capon, and Albany beef.

1865. C. Nordhoff, 1 May (in letter). A salted cod fish is known in
American ships as a cape cod turkey.

1890. New York Herald, 3 June. ‘Newfoundland Fishery Dispute.’
Factories have been established for the production of cape cod
turkeys; i.e., salted cod fish.

Capella, subs. (theatrical).—A coat. [From the Italian.]

English Synonyms. Benjamin; cover-me-decently; upper benjamin (a great coat); joseph; wrap-rascal; bum-cooler or arse-hole-perisher, or shaver (a short jacket); claw-hammer, swallow-tail, steel-pen (all three = a dress coat); M.B. coat; panupetaston; rock-a-low; reliever; pygostole; ulster; monkey-jacket. See also Caster, many synonyms of which = a coat.

French Synonyms. Un cache-misère (familiar: specially applied to a coat buttoned close to the throat to conceal the absence of a shirt or the soiled state of one’s linen); un alpague (also alpaga and alpag); un elbeuf; un Berry (a fatigue jacket); une menuisière (pop.: a long coat); un ne-te-gêne-pas-dans-le-parc (a short jacket; also termed un saute-en-barque, un pet-en-l’air, and un montretout).

German Synonyms. Oberhänger (an overcoat; also a cloak). Wallnusch (Hanoverian: corruption from the Hebrew malbusch = clothes); Schwalbenschweif (a dress-coat, a ‘swallow-tail’).

Italian Synonym. Tappe (clothing in general; it also signifies ‘feathers’).

Cape-Nightingale, subs. (colonial).—A frog. Cf., Cambridgeshire nightingale.

1889. H. A. Bryden, Kloof and Karroo: or Sport, Legend, and Natural
History in Cape Colony. The very smell of the water and the din of
the huge frogs, cape nightingales as we call them, revived them.

Capeovi, adj. (costers’).—Sick; seedy (q.v. for synonyms). Cf., Capivi.

Caper, subs. (vagrants’).—A device, idea, performance, or occupation. Americans use it in the same sense as racket (q.v.), e.g., the ‘real estate racket’ or ‘caper.’ [From the figurative sense of caper, signifying a fantastic proceeding, freak, or prank.] Also used in the sense of ‘the go,’ ‘the fad,’ i.e., the latest fashionable fancy.

1867. London Herald, 23 March, p. 221. ‘He’ll get five years penal
for this little caper,’ said the policeman.

1870. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 220.
Charley would reply ... ‘I have just done such and such an amount
to-day with these people,’ at the same time showing the invoice of
the goods he had just purchased at the house where he got change
for his fifty sovereigns. The conversation, as a rule, ended in
Charley’s giving them an order too. Of course, this little caper
would only ‘wash’ once.

1884. J. Greenwood, The Little Ragamuffins. ‘Are you goin’ a
‘tottin’?’ ‘No,’... ‘Then what caper are you up to?’

To cut a caper upon nothing, or to cut caper sauce, phr. (old).—To be hanged. For synonyms, see Ladder.

1708. Motteux, Rabelais. IV. xvi. Two of the honestest Gentlemen in
Catchpole-land had been made to cut a caper on nothing.

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. And my father, as
I’ve heard say, Was a merchant of capers gay, Who cut his last
fling with great applause.

Caper-Juice, subs. (American).—Whiskey. [From caper, a freak or antic + juice.] For synonyms, see Drinks.

1888. Portland Transcript, 29 Feb. Say, fellers, let’s take a
leetle mo’ uv the caper juice. [They drink again. Sam and the girl
exchange affectionate glances.]

Caper-Merchant, subs. (old).—A dancing master. [From caper, a frolicsome leap or step, + merchant.] Also called a hop-merchant (q.v. for synonyms).

1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. [Quoted as above.]

Capital, To work capital, verbal phr. (old).—To commit an offence punishable with death.

1878. Charles Hindley, Life and Times of James Catnach. And though
I don’t work capital, And do not weigh my weight, sirs, Who knows
but that in time I shall.

Capivi or Capivvy (vulgar).—Balsam copaiba, a popular remedy for clap.

To cry capivvy (sporting).—To be persecuted to the death, or very near it. In Handley Cross [1843] Mr. Jorrocks promises to make the foxes cry capivvy.

Capon, subs. (popular).—Primarily, a red herring; but applied to other kinds of fish, herrings now receiving the distinctive cognomen of Yarmouth capons. The usage is a very old one, and it is notable that Glasgow Magistrate, another name for a red herring, was formerly Glasgow capon.

c. 1640. J. Smyth, Hundred of Berkeley (1885), 319. The Sole wee
call our Seuverne Capon. [m.]

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Yarmouth capon: a Red Herring.

1719. Ramsey, Hamilton, II., iii. A Glasgow capon and a fadge ye
thought a feast. [m.]

1812. W. Tennant, Anster F., iv. Each to his jaws A good Crail’s
capon holds [note ‘a dried haddock’]. [m.]

Cappadochio, Caperdochy, or Caperdewsie, subs. (old).—Nares says ‘a cant term for a prison.’ [The same authority suggests that it is a corruption of Cappadocia: ‘The king of Cappadocia, says Horace, was rich in slaves, but had little money.’] For synonyms, see Cage.

1600. Heywood, I. Edw. IV. My son’s in Dybell here, in Caperdochy,
i’ the gaol.

1607. w. s., Puritan, in Supp. Shaks., II., 510 (n.). How captain
Idle? my old aunt’s son, my dear kinsman, in Cappadochio?

1663. Butler, Hudibras, I., ii., 832. I here engage myself to loose
ye, and free your heels from caperdewsie.

Capper, subs. (American thieves’).—1. A confederate; at cards one who makes false bids in order to encourage a genuine player. [See Cap, verb, sense 1.]

1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 319. In the West a striker is not
only a shoulder-hitter, as might be suspected, but a runner for
gambling establishments, who must be as ready to strike down a
complaining victim as to ensnare an unsuspecting stranger....
Cappers they are called, when the game is the famous Three-Card
Monte.

1881. New York Slang Dictionary. Gamblers are called knights of the
green cloth, and their lieutenants, who are sent out after
greenhorns, are called decoys, cappers, and steerers.

2. (auctioneers’).—A dummy bidder whose function is either to start the bidding or to run up the price of articles for sale.

Capper-Clawing.—See Clapper-clawing.

Captain, subs. (general).—1. A familiar and jesting form of address. An equivalent of ‘governor,’ ‘boss,’ etc. Very common in U.S.A., where also it signifies the conductor or guard of a train—an analogy being drawn between the phraseology of rail and water traffic. (see quot. 1862).

1598. Shakspeare, King Henry IV., pt. 2, Act ii., Sc. 4. Doll
Tearsheet. A captain! God’s light, these villains will make the
word as odious as the word ‘occupy.’

1862. Russell, Diary, North and S., I., xiii., 139. All the people
who addressed me by name prefixed ‘Major’ or ‘Colonel.’ ‘Captain’
is very low.... The conductor who took our tickets was called
‘Captain.’ [m.]

2. (old).—A gaming or bawdy house bully. Cf., Fielding’s Captain Bilkum in Covent Garden Tragedy. Fr. un major de table d’hôte.

1731. Daily Journal, Jan. 9. ‘List of the officers established in
the most notorious gaming-houses.’ 12th. A Captain, who is to fight
any gentleman who is peevish for losing his money.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Captain (s.) ... and in the
Cant Phrase, a captain is a bully, who is to quarrel or fight with
peevish gamesters, who are testy or quarrelsome at the loss of
their money; and sometimes it signifies money itself, as, ‘the
captain is not at home,’ that is, there is no money in my pocket.

[Captain is also a fancy title for a highwayman in a good way of business; Fletcher uses the term copper-captain, as also does Washington Irving, for one who has no right to the title, and, in modern athletics, we have the captain of a club or crew, with the corresponding verb to captain.]

3. (old).—Money.—See preceding quot. [1748].

4. (knackers’).—A glandered (horse).

Captain Armstrong. To come Captain Armstrong, phr. (turf)—To ‘pull’ a horse and thus prevent him from winning. Captain Armstrong is often used for a dishonest jockey. [A play upon words, i.e., ‘to pull with a strong arm.’]

1864. Sporting Life, 5 Nov. (Leader). Captain Armstrong is again
abroad, muscular and powerful, riding his favourite hobby in the
steeple-chase field, preparing thus early in the season for
pulling, stopping, and putting the strings on.

Captain Copperthorn’s Crew. subs. phr. (old).—All officers Said of a company where everyone wants to be first.

Captain Cork, subs. phr. (military).—A nickname for a man who is slow in passing the bottle.

Captain Crank, subs. phr. (old).—The chief of a gang of highwaymen.

Captain Grand, subs. phr. (old).—A haughty, blustering fellow. For synonyms, see Furioso.

Captain Hackum, subs. phr. (old).—A hectoring bully.—Grose.

Captain Lieutenant, subs. phr. (old).—Meat neither young enough for veal, nor old enough for beef. [The simile is drawn from the brevet officer who, while ranking as captain, receives lieutenant’s pay.]—Grose.

Captain Queernabs, subs. phr. (old).—A shabby or ill-dressed man. For synonyms, see Guy.

Captain Quiz, subs. phr. (old).—A mocker.

Captain Sharp, subs. phr. (old).—A cheating bully, or one in a set of gamblers, whose office it is to bully the ‘pigeon,’ who refuses to pay.—Grose. Cf., Captain, sense 2.

Captain Tom, subs. phr. (old).—The head or leader of a mob; also the mob itself.—Grose.

Caravan, subs. (old).—1. A dupe; gull; a subject of plunder.—See Bubble.

1676. Etherege, Man of Mode, III., iii., in wks. (1704), 233. What
spruce prig is that? A caravan, lately come from Paris.

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia. [In list of cant words prefixed
to.] Caravan: a bubble, the cheated.

1889. G. L. Apperson, in Gentleman’s Magazine (‘Seventeenth Century
Colloquialisms’), p. 598. Towards the end of the century a person
easily gulled, or ‘bubbled’ was known as a caravan, but earlier the
term ‘rook’ which is now restricted to a cheat or sharper, appears
to have been applied to the person cheated.

2. (old).—A large sum of money.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Caravan: a good round sum of money
about a man, and him that is cheated of it.

3. (pugilistic).—A railway train, especially a train expressly chartered to convey people to a prize fight. [Early in the present century caravan, now shortened to ‘van,’ was applied to a third class covered railway carriage; now a pleasure party is so described; also a gypsy’s cart; also the wheeled cages of a travelling menagerie.]

Caravansera, subs. (pugilistic).—A railway station. As thus: ‘The scratch must be toed at sharp five, so the caravan will start at four from the caravansera.’—Hotten. See Caravan, sense 3.

Card, subs. (common).—1. A device; expedient; or undertaking; that which is likely to attain its object, or through which success is sure. Thus we have such expressions as a ‘good card,’ a ‘strong card,’ a ‘safe card,’ a ‘likely, or a doubtful card.’ [Figurative; from card playing.] That’s a sure card sounds modern, but as Lowell has pointed out it is to be found in the old interlude of ‘Thursytes’ (1537).

1690. b. e., Dic. Cant. Crew. A sure card, a trusty Tool, or
Confiding Man.

1763. Fr. Brooke, Lady J. Mandeville, in Barbauld Brit. Novelists
(1820) xxvii., 23. Poor fellow! I pity him; but marriage is his
only card. [m.]

1826. Scott, Woodstock, III., xiv., 358. No card seemed to turn up
favourable to the royal cause.