Chapter X: Part 10

18(?). Hawkeye, The Iowa Chief, p. 210. Poor Hawkeye felt, says one
of his biographers, that his time had come, and knowing that he
must go under sooner or later, he determined to sell his life
dearly.

1849. Ruxton, Life in the far West, p. 2. Them three’s all gone
under.

1888. Daily Inter. Ocean, Mar. All solemnly vowed to see that the
mine should be worked solely for the benefit of the girl whether
Jim lived or had gone under.

To go up, verb. phr. (American).—To die; specifically to die by the rope.

1867. Hepworth Dixon, New America, i., 11. Unruly citizens are
summarily hung on a cotton tree, and when any question is asked
about them, the answer is briefly given, gone up—i.e., gone up the
cotton tree, or suspended from one of its branches.

To go up for, verb. phr. (common).—To enter for (as an examination).

1889. Globe, 12 Oct., p. 1, c. 4. Always, it seems likely, there
will be men going up for examinations; and every now and again, no
doubt, there will be among them a wily ‘Heathen Pass-ee’ like him
of whom Mr. Hilton speaks—who had cribs up his sleeve, and notes on
his cuff.

To go with, verb. phr. (colloquial).—1. To agree or harmonise with. See Gee.

2. (colloquial).—To share the sexual embrace. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.

On the go, adv. phr. (colloquial).—On the move; restlessly active.

No go, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Of no use; not to be done; a complete failure. Frequently contracted to N.G.

1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 18. I know something about this
here family, and my opinion is, it’s no go.

1853. Diogenes, vol. II., p. 271. Dear master, don’t think of me
ill; If I say—as the lists are no go—You’ve in future no fear for
the till!

1884. Notes and Queries, 6 S., x., p. 125. There were on the
occasion so many rounds and so many no goes.

1888. Puck’s Library, May, p. 12. He thought a moment, and shook
his head. It’s no go was the dictum.

1890. Punch, 22 Feb., p. 85. He’s a long-winded lot, is Buchanan,
slops over tremenjous, he do;... But cackle and splutter ain’t
swimming; so Robert, my nabs, it’s no go.

1892. J. McCarthy and Mrs. Campbell-Praed, Ladies’ Gallery, p. 84.
She sees it is no go with the baronet.

A little bit on the go, adv. phr. (old).—Slightly inebriated; elevated. For synonyms, see Drinks and Screwed.

1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry [peoples’ ed.], p. 58. The Corinthian had
made him a little bit on the go.

Goad, subs. (old).—1. A decoy at auctions; a horse-chaunter; a peter funk (q.v.). [One who goads (i.e., sends up) the prices.]

1609. Dekker, Lanthorne and Candle light, ch. x. They that stand by
and conycatche the chapman either with out-bidding, false praises,
etc., are called goades.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Goads, those that
wheedle in Chapmen for Horse-coursers,

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

2. in. pl. (old).—False dice.—Chapman. For synonyms, see Ivories.

Goal, subs. (Winchester College).—1. At football the boy who stands at the centre of each end, acting as umpire; and (2) the score of three points made when the ball is kicked between his legs, or over his head without his touching it.

1870. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 138. Midway
between each of the two ends of the line was stationed another boy,
as umpire (Goal, he was called) who stood with his legs wide apart,
and a gown rolled up at each foot: if the ball was kicked directly
over his head, or between his legs, without his touching it, it was
a goal, and scored three for the party that kicked it.

Goaler’s Coach. See Gaoler’s Coach.

Go-along, subs. (thieves’).—A fool; a flat (q.v.). For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage Head.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 460. In
four days my adviser left me; he had no more use for me. I was a
flat. He had me for a go-along, to cry his things for him.

1853. Household Words, No. 183. s.v. ‘Slang.’

Goat, subs. (old).—A lecher; a molrower (q.v.).

1599. Shakspeare, Henry V., iv., 4. Thou damn’d and luxurious
mountain goat.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. Goat, a Lecher, a very
lascivious person.

1717. Cibber, Nonjuror, i., 1. At the tea-table I have seen the
impudent goat most lusciously sip off her leavings.

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

Verb (common).—1. To thrash. For synonyms, see Tan.

1864. Derby Day, p. 70. You won’t goat me? Not this journey.

To play the goat. verb. phr. (common).—1. To play the fool; to monkey (q.v.). Fr., faire l’oiseau.

2. (venery).—To lead a fast life; to be given to molrowing (q.v.).

To ride the goat, verb. phr. (common).—To be initiated into a secret society. [From the vulgar error that a live goat, for candidates to ride, is one of the standing properties of a Masonic lodge.]

Goatee, subs. (colloquial).—A tufted beard on the point of a shaven chin. [In imitation of the tuft of hair on a goat’s chin.]

English Synonyms (for a beard generally).—Charley; imperial; Newgate (or sweep’s) frill, or fringe.

French Synonyms.—Une marmouse (thieves’); un impériale (colloquial: formerly une royale); un bouc or une bouquine (= a goatee); bacchantes (thieves’: the beard, but more especially the whiskers, from bâche = awning).

German Synonym.—Soken (from the Hebrew; also = old man).

Italian Synonyms.—Bosco di berlo (the forest on the face); settosa (= full of hair); spinola (= thorny).

Spanish Synonym.—Bosque (= wood).

1869. Orchestra, 18 June. Working carpenters with a straggling
goatee on the chin, and a mass of unkempt hair on the head.

Goater, subs. (American thieves’).—Dress. For synonyms, see Togs.

Goat-house, subs. (old).—A brothel. [From Goat, subs., sense 1.] For synonyms, see Nanny-shop.

Goatish, adj. (old, now recognised).—Lecherous. [As vieing with a goat in lust.] Hence Goatishly, adv., and Goatishness, subs.

1622. Massinger and Dekker, Virgin Martyr, iii., 1. Give your
chaste body up to the embraces of goatish lust.

1605. Shakspeare, King Lear, i. 2. An admirable evasion of
whoremaster-man, to lay his goatish disposition to the charge of a
star.

Goat-Milker, subs. (venery).—1. A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack and Tart.

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

Goat’s Jig (or Gigg), subs. (old).—Copulation. For synonyms, see Greens.—Grose.

Go-away, subs. (American thieves’).—A railway-train.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. The knuck was working the goaways at
Jersey City.

Gob (or Gobbett), subs. (old: now vulgar). 1. A portion; a mouthful; a morsel. Also a gulp; a bolt (q.v.). [Latin, gob = mouth: Old Fr., gob = a gulp.] Skeat says the shorter form gob is rare.

1380. Wycliffe, Trans. of Bible. Thei token the relifis of broken
gobetis twelve cofres full.

1542. Apop. of Erasmus [1878], p. 14. A bodie thinketh hymself well
emende in his substaunce and riches, to whom hath happened some
good gubbe of money, and maketh a great whinyng if he haue had any
losse of the same.

1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, in wks., v., 261. And thrust him downe
his pudding house at a gobbe.

1605. Chapman, All Fools, Act iii., p. 62 (Plays, 1874). Ri. And do
you think He’ll swallow down the gudgeon? Go. O my life, It were a
gross gob would not down with him.

1611. L. Barry, Ram. Alley, I., i. That little land he gave,
Throate the lawyer swallowed at one gob For less than half the
worth.

1689. Selden, Table-Talk, p. 50 (Arber’s ed.). The meaning of the
Law was, that so much should be taken from a man, such a gobbet
sliced off, that yet notwithstanding he might live in the same Rank
and Condition he lived in before; but now they Fine men ten times
more than they are worth.

1690. B. E., Dict. Canting Crew, s.v. Gob(c) ... also a Bit or
Morsel; hence gobbets, now more in use for little Bits.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Gob or gobbet (s.) a piece
just big enough, or fit to be put into the mouth at once.

1774. Foote, Cozeners, ii., 2. The venison was over-roasted, and
stunk—but Doctor Dewlap twisted down such gobs of fat.

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

1816. Johnson, Eng. Dict. (12th ed.). Gob, a small quantity, a low
word.

1869. S. L. Clemens (M. Twain), Innocents Abroad, ch. vii. It is
pushed out into the sea on the end of a flat, narrow strip of land,
and is suggestive of a gob of mud on the end of a shingle.

2. (common).—The mouth. Shut your gob = an injunction to silence. See Gab. A spank on the gob = a blow on the mouth. Gob-full of claret = a bleeding at the mouth. Gift of the gab or gob, see Gab. For synonyms see Potato-trap.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Gob, the Mouth.

1819. T. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 18. Home-hits in the
bread-basket, clicks in the gob. Ibid., p. 30.

1836. M. Scott, Tom Cringle’s Log, ch. 1. ‘All right—all right,’ I
then exclaimed, as I thrust half a doubled-up muffin into my gob.

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, vol. I., p. 469. I
managed somehow to turn my gob (mouth) round and gnawed it away.

3. (common).—A mouthful of spittle. Fr., un copeau; It., smalzo di cavio (= gutter-butter). For synonyms, see Sixpences.

Verb. (common).—1. To swallow in mouthfuls; to gulp down. Also gobble (q.v.).

1692. L’Estrange, Fables. Down comes a kite powdering upon them,
and gobbets up both together.

2. (common).—To expectorate. Fr., glavioter (popular); molarder.

Gobbie, subs. (nautical).—A coastguardsman; whence gobbie-ship, a man of war engaged in the preventive service.

1890. Scotsman, 4 Aug. When a meeting takes place the men indulge
in a protracted yarn and a draw of the pipe. The session involves a
considerable amount of expectoration all round, whereby our friends
come to be known as gobbies, and in process of time the term came
to be applied to the ships engaged in the service. Ibid. There are
no fewer than three other gobbie ships in the channel fleet, each
of which carries a considerable number of coastguardsmen putting in
their annual period of drill.

Gobble (or Gobble up), verb. (vulgar).—To swallow hastily or greedily; hence (American) to seize, capture, or appropriate. Also gob: e.g., gob that!

1602. Dekker, Satiro-mastix, in wks. (1873) i. 233. They will come
to gobble downe Plummes.

1728. Swift, Misc. Poems, in wks. (1824) xiv. 232. The time too
precious now to waste, The supper gobbled up in haste.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. cvi. Summoned in such a
plaguy hurry from his dinner, which he had been fain to gobble up
like a cannibal.

1846–48. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, vol. 1, ch. v. Mr. Jos. ... helped
Rebecca to everything on the table, and himself gobbled and drank a
great deal.

1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xiii. There was a wily old monkey who
thrust the cat’s paw out, and proposed to gobble up the smoking
prize.

Gobble-prick, subs. (old).—A lecherous woman.—Grose.

Gobbler, subs. (old).—1. A duck.—Harman.

2. (colloquial).—A turkey cock; a bubbly-jock (q.v.). Also Gobble-cock.

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

1851. Hooper, Widow Rugby’s Husband, etc., p. 94. Her face was as
red as a gobbler’s snout.

3. (vulgar).—The mouth. For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

4. (colloquial).—A greedy eater. For synonyms, see Stodger.

Gobbling, subs. (vulgar).—Gorging.

1846–48. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ch. iii., vol. 1. His mouth was
full of it, his face quite red with the delightful exercise of
gobbling ‘Mother, it’s as good as my own curries in India.’

Go-between, subs. (old).—A pimp or bawd. Now an intermediary of any kind.

1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, Act ii., sc. 2. Even as
you came into me, her assistant, or go-between, parted from me.

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

Goblin, subs. (old).—A sovereign. For synonyms, see Canary.

1887. W. E. Henley, Villon’s Straight Tip. Your merry goblins soon
stravag: Boose and the blowens cop the lot.

Gob-box, subs. (common).—The mouth. [From gob, subs.] For synonyms, see Potato-trap.

1773. Forster, Goldsmith, Bk. IV., ch. xiv., p. 414 (5th ed.).
Shuter protesting in his vehement odd way that ‘the boy could
patter,’ and ‘use the gob-box as quick and smart as any of them.’

1819. Scott, Bride of Lammermoor, ch. i. Your characters ... made
too much use of the gob-box; they patter too much.

Gob-stick, subs. (old).—A silver table-spoon. (In use in America = either spoon or fork); (nautical), a horn or wooden spoon.

1789. Parker, Life’s Painter, s.v.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Gob-string (or Gab-string), subs. (old).—A bridle.

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

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Go-by, subs. (colloquial).—The act of passing; an evasion; a deception. To give one the go-by = to cut; to leave in the lurch. Cf., Cut (subs. sense 2, verb. sense 2).

1876. Hindley, Cheap Jack, p. 214. When we came in contact with a
travelling bookseller we could give him the go-by with our library.

1892. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, ch. ix. She gave us the go-by in
the fog—as I wish from the heart that ye had done yoursel’!

1892. Sala’s Journal, 25 June, p. 194. Now can you understand how
it is possible, and, I think, expedient, to give politics the
go-by, so far as one conveniently can?

Go-by-the-Ground, subs. (old).—A dumpy man or woman.—Grose.

God, subs. (common).—1. in. pl., the occupants of the gallery at a theatre. [Said to have been first used by Garrick because they were seated on high, and close to the sky-painted ceiling.] Fr., paradis = gallery; also poulailler. In feminine, Goddess.

1772. Cumberland, Fashionable Lover [probably spoken by printer’s
devil]. ’Tis odds For one poor devil to face so many gods.

1812. J. and H. Smith, Rejected Addresses, p. 128 [ed. 1869]. Each
one shilling god within reach of a nod is, And plain are the charms
of each gallery goddess.

1843. Thackeray, Irish Sketch Book, ch. xxvii. The gallery was
quite full ... one young god, between the acts, favoured the public
with a song.

1872. M. E. Braddon, Dead Sea Fruit, ch. xiv. There come
occasionally actors and actresses of higher repute, eager to gather
new laurels in these untrodden regions, and not ill pleased to find
themselves received with noisy rapture and outspoken admiration by
the ruder gods and homelier goddesses of a threepenny gallery.

1890. Globe, 7 Apr., p. 2, c. 2. The gods, or a portion of them,
hooted and hissed while the National Anthem was being performed.

1892. Sydney Watson, Wops the Waif, iii., iv. It is only when we
have paid our ‘tuppence’ and ascended to the gallery just under the
roof, known as ‘among the gods,’ that we begin to understand what
is meant by the lowest classes, the ‘great unwashed.’

1892. Pall Mall Gaz., 20 Apr., p. 2, c. 3. If theatre managers
would only give the public the chance of as good a seat as can be
got at the Trocadero or the Pavilion, at the same price, and manage
the ventilation of their houses so as not to bake the gods and
freeze the ‘pitites,’ I venture to think that fewer people would go
to the music halls.

2. in. pl. (printers’).—The quadrats used in jeffing (q.v.).

3. (tailors’).—A block pattern. Gods of cloth = ‘classical tailors.’—Grose. See Snip.

4. (Eton).—A boy in the sixth form.

1881. Pascoe, Life in our Public Schools. A god at Eton is probably
in a more exalted position, and receives more reverence than will
ever afterwards fall to his lot.

A sight for the gods, phr. (common).—A matter of wonderment.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 31. Stringy Bark
prepared to greet his native land, was a sight for the gods to
behold with satisfaction, and men to view from afar with awed
respect.

God Pays! phr. (old).—An expression at one time much in the mouth of disbanded soldiers and sailors (who assumed a right to live on the public charity). The modern form is, ‘If I don’t pay you, God Almighty will.’

1605. London Prodigal, ii., 3. But there be some that bear a
soldier’s form, That swear by him they never think upon; Go
swaggering up and down, from house to house, Crying, God pays.

1630. Taylor, in wks. These feather’d fidlers sing, and leape, and
play, The begger takes delight, and God doth pay.

1640. Ben Jonson, Epigr. XII. To every cause he meets, this voice
he brays, His only answer is to all, God pays.

God (or Bramah) Knows: I don’t, phr. (common).—An emphatic rejoinder.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Come Iddio vel dica., a phrase,
as wee would say: God himselfe tell you, I cannot.

Goddess Diana, subs. phr. (rhyming). A sixpence. For synonyms, see Tanner.

1864. The Press, 12 Nov. Goddess diana is the rhyming equivalent
for a tanner which signifies sixpence.

God-dot! intj. (old).—An oath. By God! [A contraction of ‘God wot!’] For synonyms, see Oaths.

Godfather, subs. (old).—A juryman.

1598. Shakspeare, Merchant of Venice, iv. 1. In christ’ning thou
shalt have two godfathers, Had I been judge, thou should’st have
had ten more, To bring thee to the gallows, not the font.

1616. Ben Jonson, Devil’s An Ass, v., 5. Not I, If you be such a
one, sir, I will leave you To your god-fathers in law. Let twelve
men work.

1638. Randolph, Muses’ Looking Glass, ix. 251. I had rather zee him
remitted to the jail, and have his twelve godvathers, good men and
true, condemn him to the gallows.

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

To stand Godfather, verb. phr. (common).—To pay the reckoning. [Godfathers being the objects of much solicitude and expectation.]

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Will you stand godfather, and we
will take care of the brat? = repay you another time.

Go-down, subs. (old).—1. A draught of liquor; a go (q.v.).

2. (American).—See quot.

1881. New York Times, 18 Dec., quoted in ‘N and Q’ 6, S. v. 65. Go
Down.—A cutting in the bank of a stream for enabling animals to
cross or to get to water.

God-permit, subs. (old).—A stage coach. [Which was advertised to start Deo volente.]

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. God-permit, a stage coach, from
that affectation of piety, frequently to be met with in
advertisements of stage coaches or waggons, where most of their
undertakings are promised with if God permit, or God willing.

1825. Modern Flash Dict., s.v.

God’s-mercy, subs. (old).—Ham (or bacon) and eggs. [‘There’s nothing in the house but God’s mercy’: at one time a common answer in country inns to travellers in quest of provant.]

God’s-penny, subs. (old).—An earnest penny.

1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew, s.v. God’s Penny, Earnest
Money, to Bind a Bargain.

1765. Percy, Reliques, ‘The heir of Linne.’ Then John he did him to
record draw, And John he cast him a God’s pennie.

Go-easter, subs. (American cowboys’).—A portmanteau; a peter (q.v.). [Because seldom used except in going city- or east-wards.]

Goer, subs. (old).—1. The foot. For synonyms, see Creepers.

1557–1634. Chapman, in Encyclop. Dict. A double mantle, cast
Athwart his shoulders, his faire goers grac’t With fitted shoes.

2. (colloquial).—An expert or adept; as in drawing, talking, riding; one well up to his (or her) work: generally with an adjective, as e.g., a fast (or hell of a) goer = a good goer.

1857. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. xx. Nevertheless, she
was always deeply engaged, and generally to the best goers in the
room.

Goff. See Mrs. Goff.

Goggles, subs. (common).—1. A goggle-eyed person. Also Goggler.

1647. Beaumont and Fletcher, Knight of Malta, v., 2. Do you stare,
goggles?

1891. Clark Russell, Ocean Tragedy, p. 51. No use sending blind man
aloft, gogglers like myself, worse luck.

2. in. pl. (common).—The eyes: specifically those with a constrained or rolling stare; also Goggle-eyes. Goggle-eyed = squint-eyed.

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, Strabo, he that looketh a squint
or is goggle-eide.

c. 1746. Robertson of Struan, Poems, 69. An eagle of a dwarfish
size, With crooked Beak, and gogle eyes.

1691–1763. Byrom, Dissection of a Beau’s Head. Those muscles, in
English, wherewith a man ogles, When on a fair lady he fixes his
goggles.

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

1821. Pierce Egan, Life in London, p. 241. Rolling your goggles
about after all manner of people.

3. in. pl. (common).—Spectacles. For synonyms, see Barnacles.

Verb (colloquial).—Goggle = to roll the eyes; to stare.

1577–87. Holinshed, Description of Ireland, ch. i. They goggle with
their eyes hither and thither.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Goggle, to stare.

1820–37. Walpole, Letters, iii., 174. He goggled his eyes.

1880. Millikin, Punch’s Almanack, April. Scissors! don’t they
goggle and look blue.

Gogmagog, subs. (colloquial).—A goblin; a monster; a frightful apparition.—Hood.

Going, subs. (colloquial).—The condition of a road, a piece of ground, a cinder-path: i.e., the accommodation for travelling. E.g., the going is bad.

1872. Morning Post, 19 Aug. The Lamb’s starting in the Frankfort
steeple-chase will depend upon the state of the ground, and,
avoiding Wiesbaden, where the going is indifferent.

1883. Daily Telegraph, 23 Nov. The going was wonderfully clean for
the time of year.

Goings-on, subs. (colloquial).—Behaviour; proceedings; conduct. Cf., Carryings on.

1845. Douglas Jerrold, Mrs. Caudle, Lecture viii. Pretty place it
must be where they don’t admit women. Nice goings-on, I daresay,
Mr. Caudle.

1870. Lloyd’s Newspaper, 11 Sept. ‘Review.’ Elsie is beloved by
Gawthwaite, the village schoolmaster, and he takes her to task for
her goings-on.

Goldarned (or Goldurned, Goldasted, etc.), adj. (common).—A mild form of oath: = Blamed (q.v.); Bloody (q.v.). See Oaths. As intj., Goldarn it! etc.

1888. American Humorist. ‘Bill, are you hurt?’ ‘Yes, by gum; I’ve
broke my goldarned neck.’

1888. Cincinnati Enquirer. Finally, Deacon Spalding broke out with:
‘That goldasted St. Louis mugwump has made suckers of us again with
his cracks about coming into the league. I move we adjourn.’

Gold-backed ’Un, subs. (common).—A louse. Also Grey-backed ’un. For synonyms, see Chates.

Gold Bug, subs. phr. (American).—A man of wealth and (inferentially) distinction; a millionaire. See Bug.

1888. St. Louis Globe Democrat, Mar. 5. I do not think the feeling
against silver is anything like as strong as it was. Of course, a
few gold bugs might fight him.

Gold-dropper, subs. (old).—A sharper. An old-time worker of the confidence trick. See quots. Also Gold-finder.

1690. B. E., Cant. Crew, s.v. Gold-droppers, Sweetners, Cheats,
Sharpers.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Gold-finder (s.) ... also a
cant name for a cheat, who under the pretence of finding a piece of
money, and inviting a by-stander to partake of a treat, etc., out
of it, endeavours to get him to play at cards, dice, etc., in order
to win or cheat him of his money; they are sometimes also called
guinea-droppers.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Sharpers who drop a piece of gold,
which they pick up in the presence of some unexperienced person,
for whom the trap is laid, this they pretend to have found, and, as
he saw them pick it up, they invite him to a public house to
partake of it: when there, two or three of their comrades drop in,
as if by accident, and propose cards, or some other game, when they
seldom fail of stripping their prey.

1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.

Golden-cream, subs. (thieves’).—Rum.

1889. Clarkson and Richardson, Police, p. 321, s.v.

Gold-end Man, subs. phr. (old).—An itinerant jeweller; a buyer of old gold and silver. [Gold-end = a broken piece of jewellery.] Also Goldsmith’s Apprentice. See Eastward Hoe.

1610. Jonson, Alchemist, ii., 1. I know him not, he looks like a
gold-end man.

1622. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, iii., 1. Hig. Have ye any ends of
gold or silver?

Golden Grease, subs. phr. (old).—A fee; also a bribe. For synonyms, see Palm Oil.

Goldfinch, subs. (old).—1. A well-to-do man; a warm ’un (q.v.).

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Goldfinch, c. He that has
alwaies a Purse or Cod of Gold in his Fob.

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

1852. Judson, Mysteries, etc., of New York, ch. iv. ‘Was the swell
a goldfinch?’ ‘He wasn’t nothin’ else. Got a clean ten times ten
out of him.’

Ibid. ‘It’ll be a great lay, if the game’s fat. Is it a goldfinch?’
‘Fifty thousand, hard dust.’

2. (common).—A guinea; a sovereign. For synonyms, see Canary.

1700. Farquhar, Constant Couple, ii., 2. Sir H. Don’t you love
singing-birds, madam? Angel (aside). That’s an odd question for a
lover; (aloud) Yes, sir. Sir H. Why, then, madam, here is a nest of
the prettiest goldfinches that ever chirped in a cage.

1822. Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, ch. iv. Put your monies aside,
my lord; it is not well to be seen with such goldfinches chirping
about one in the lodgings of London.

1826. Buckstone, Luke the Labourer, iii., 4. Good-night, noble
captain. Pipe all hands at five o’clock, for I’ve a day’s work to
do. We’ll jig it to-morrow, to the piping of gold-finches.

1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 101 (ed. 1864). Here’s a
handful of goldfinches ready to fly.

Goldfinch’s Nest, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

1827. The Merry Muses, p. 70. And soon laid his hand on the
goldfinch’s nest.

Gold-finder, subs. (old).—1. An emptier of privies. Also Tom-turd-man; Gong-man; and Night-man. Fr., un fouille-merde; un fifi. Also passer la jambe à Jules = to upset Mrs. Jones, i.e., to empty the privy tub.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie, Gadouard, a gould-finder,
Jakes-farmer.

1635. Feltham, Resolves. As our goldfinders ... in the night and
darkness thrive on stench and excrements.

1653. Middleton, Sp. Gipsy, ii., 2, p. 398 (Mermaid series). And if
his acres, being sold for a maravedii a turf for larks in cages,
cannot fill this pocket, give ’em to goldfinders.

1659. Torriano, Vocabolario, s.v.

1704. Gentleman Instructed, p. 445 (1732). We will commit the
further discussion of the poet to a committee of goldfinders, or a
club of rake-kennels.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v

2. (old).—A thief; a gold-dropper (q.v.).

Gold Hat-band, subs. (old University).—A nobleman undergraduate; a tuft (q.v.).

1628. Earle, Microcosmography. His companion is ordinarily some
stale fellow that has been notorious for an ingle to gold hatbands,
whom hee admires at first, afterwards scornes.

1889. Gentleman’s Mag., June, p. 598. Noblemen at the universities,
since known as ‘tufts,’ because of the gold tuft or tassle to their
cap, were then known as gold hatbands.

Goldie-locks, subs. (old).—A flaxen-haired woman. Goldy-locked = golden haired.

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. Biondella ... a golden-lockt wench,
as we say a goldilocks.

1605. Ben Jonson, The Fox, i., 1. Thence it fled forth, and made
quick transmigration to goldy-locked Euphorbus.

Gold Mine, subs. phr. (common).—A profitable investment; a store of wealth, material or intellectual.

1664. H. Peacham, Worth of a Penny, in Arber’s Garner, vol. VI., p.
249. Some men ... when they have met with a gold mine, so brood
over and watch it, day and night, that it is impossible for Charity
to be regarded, Virtue rewarded, or Necessity relieved.

1830 Tennyson, Dream of Fair Women, p. 274. Gold-mines of
thought—to lift the hidden ore.

1882. Thormanby, Famous Racing Men, p. 81. Mendicant ... ran
nowhere in the Cup ... in reality she was destined to prove a gold
mine, for ten years afterwards she brought her owner £80,000
through her famous son, Beadsman.

1883. Sat. Review, 28 Apr. 533/2. His victory proved a gold mine to
the professional bookmakers.

1887. Froude, Eng. in West Indies, ch. v. Every one was at law with
his neighbour, and the island was a gold mine to the
Attorney-General.

Golgotha, subs. (old).—1. The Dons’ gallery at Cambridge; also applied to a certain part of the theatre at Oxford. [That is, ‘the place of skulls’: Cf., Luke xxiii. 33, and Matthew xxvii. 33, whence the pun: Dons being the heads of houses.]

1730. Jas. Miller, Humours of Oxford, Act ii., p. 23 (2nd ed.).
Sirrah, I’ll have you put in the black-book,
rusticated,—expelled—I’ll have you coram nobis at Golgotha, where
you’ll be bedevilled, Muck-worm, you will.

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

1791. G. Huddesford, Salmagundi, (Note on, p. 150). Golgotha, ‘The
place of a Scull,’ a name ludicrously affixed to the Place in which
the Heads of Colleges assemble.

1808. J. T. Conybeare in C. K. Sharpe’s Correspondence (1888), i.,
324. The subject then, of the ensuing section is Oxford News ... we
will begin by golgotha ... Cole has already obtained the Headship
of Exeter, and Mr. Griffiths ... is to have that of University.

2. (common).—Hence, a hat.

English Synonyms.—Battle of the Nile (rhyming, i.e., a tile [q.v.]); bell-topper; billy-cock; beaver; box-hat; cady; canister cap; castor; chummy; cathedral; chimney; chimney-pot; cock; colleger; cock-and-pinch; cowshooter; David; deerstalker; digger’s delight; fantail; felt; Gibus; gomer (Winchester); goss; moab; molocher; mortar-board; muffin-cap; mushroom; nab; nap; napper; pantile; pimple-cover; pill-box; plug-hat; pot; shako; shovel; sleepless hat; sou’wester; stove-pipe; strawer; thatch; tile; topper; truck; upper-crust; wash-pot; wee-jee; wide-awake.

French Synonyms.—Un accordéon (popular: an opera hat); une ardoise (= a tile); une bâche (thieves’: also an awning); une biscope or viscope (vulgar); un blockaus (vulgar: a shako); un bloumard or une bloume (popular); une boîte à cornes (a horn case; i.e., a cover for a cuckold); un Bolivar (from the hero of 1820); un boisseau (also = a bushel); un bosselard (schoolboys’: from bosselé = bruised or dented); un cabas (popular: = old hat; also basket or bag); un cadratin (printers’ = a stove-pipe); un caloquet (thieves’); cambriau, cambrieux, or cambriot (popular); un capet (from old French, capel); une capsule (popular = a percussion cap); un carbeluche galicé (a silk hat); une casque (= helmet); un chapska (= a shako); une cheminée (popular: = chimney-pot); une corniche (popular: = a cornice); un couvercle (popular: = pot-lid); une couvrante; un couvre-amour (military); un cylindre (= a stove-pipe); un Desfoux (from the maker’s name); un epicéphale (students’: from the Greek); un gadin (an old hat); un galure or galurin (popular); un Garibaldi; un Gibus (from the inventor’s name); un lampion (thieves’: = grease-pot); un loubion (thieves’); un marquin (thieves’); un monument (popular); un nid d’hirondelle; un niolle (thieves’: an old hat); un tromblon (obsolete = blunderbuss); un tubard, tube, or tube à haute pression (= a cylinder); une tuile (= a tile); une tuyau de poêle (= a stove-pipe).

German Synonyms.—Bre (Viennese); Kowe (from the Hebrew, kowa).

Italian Synonyms.—Bufala, baccha or biffacha; cresta or cristiana (= a cruet); fungo (= mushroom).

Spanish Synonyms.—Tejado or techo (= tiled roof).

Goliath, subs. (colloquial).—1. A big man.

2. A man of mark among the Philistines (q.v.). [Mr. Swinburne described the late Matthew Arnold as ‘David, the son of Goliath.’]

Goll, subs. (old).—The hand; usually in. pl. See Bunch of Fives and Daddle.

1601. B. Jonson, Poetaster, v., Bring the whoreson detracting
slaves to the bar, do; make them hold vp their spread golls.

1602. Dekker, Satiro-Mastrix, in wks. (1873), i., 203. Holde up thy
hand: I ha seene the day thou didst not scorne to holde vp thy
golles.

1611. Middleton, Roaring Girl, Act i. This is the goll shall do’t.

1620. Middleton, Chaste Maid, ii., 2. What their golls can clutch.

1634. S. Rowley, Noble Souldier, Act ii., Sc. 2. Bal. Saist thou me
so? give me thy goll, thou art a noble girle.

1659. Massinger, City Madam, iv., i. All the gamesters are
ambitious to shake the golden golls of worshipful master Luke.

1661. T. Middleton, Mayor of Quinborough, v., i. Down with his
golls, I charge you.

1672. Dryden, The Assignation, Act iii., Sc. 1. A simperer at lower
end of a table, With mighty golls, rough-grained, and red with
starching.

1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary. Goll, a hand or fist; give me thy
goll.

1803. C. K. Sharpe in Correspondence (1888), i., 179. Miss Reid
with her silk coat and greasie golls.

Gollop, verb. (common).—To swallow greedily; to gulp. For synonyms, see Wolf.

Gollumpus, subs. (old).—A clumsy lout.—Grose.

Golly!—A contraction of By Golly! (q.v.).

1890. R. L. Stevenson, The Wrong Box, p. 275. Golly! what a paper!

Goloptious (or Golopshus), adj. (common).—Splendid; fine; delicious; luscious.

1888. Sporting Life, 7 Dec. It would better scoop the situation if
it were described as goloptious.

Goloshes, subs. (colloquial).—India rubber overshoes. But see Grose.

1796. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Goloshes, i.e. Goliah’s shoes.
Large leathern clogs, worn by invalids over their ordinary shoes.

Gombeen-man, subs. (Irish).—A usurer; a money-lender; a sharking middleman. For synonyms, see Sixty-per-cent.

Gomer, subs. (Winchester College).—1. A large pewter dish used in college.

2. (Winchester College).—A new hat. See Golgotha.

Gommy, subs. (old).—1. A dandy. Fr., gommeux. [Anglo-Saxon, guma = a man; a person: gomme = gommer = gammer. Cf., Gomus. Beaumont has gom = a man.]

2. (colloquial).—See quot.

1883. Weekly Dispatch, 11 Mar., p. 7, c. 4. There has recently been
considerable debate as to the meaning of the term gommie. It is
very simple. A gommie is one who calls Mr. Gladstone a G.O.M.
[Grand Old Man], and thinks he has made a good joke.

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

Gomus, subs. (Irish).—A fool. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

Gondola, subs. (American).—1. A railway platform car, sideless or low-sided. Also a flat-bottomed boat.

Gondola of London, subs. phr. (common).—A hansom cab; a shoful (q.v.). [The description is Lord Beaconsfield’s.]

Gone, adj. (colloquial).—1. Ruined; totally undone. Also, adv., an expression of completeness, e.g., Gone beaver, corbie, coon, gander, or goose = a man or an event past praying for: Cf., Go up and Go down.

1604. Shakspeare, Winter’s Tale, iv., 3. He must know ’tis none of
your daughter nor my sister; we are gone else.

1843–4. Haliburton, Sam Slick in England, ch. xviii. If a bear
comes after you, Sam, you must be up and doin’, or it’s a gone
goose with you.

1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 40. From that moment he was
gone beaver; he felt queer, he said, all over.

1857. Notes and Queries, 2 S. iii., 519. To call a person a gone
corbie, is only to say in other words, it’s all up with him.

1862. Clough, Poems. He had been into the schools; plucked almost;
all but a gone-coon.

1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, I., 178. I shall meet her again next
week; will you come? Any friend of mine is welcome. Wish me joy,
old fellow; I’m a gone coon.

Gone on, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Enamoured of; infatuated with; mashed on (q.v.); sweet on (q.v.). Generally in contempt. Fr., aimer comme ses petits boyaux. For synonyms, see Sweet on.

1887. John Strange Winter, That Imp, p. 44. He was a fine fellow,
and no mistake. And was gone on Lady Lorrimor!

1890. Illustrated Bits, 29 Mar. p. 10, c. 3. He must have been
terribly gone on this woman.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 113. ‘Poor chap, he’s very far
gone,’ thought Jack.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 31. I’ll eat my old boots if she
isn’t dead gone on.

Goner, (or Gones, Gonus, or Goney), subs. (American).—1. A fool; a simpleton. Also Gauney (q.v.). For synonyms, see Buffle or Cabbage-head.

1857. Punch, 31 Jan. But the lark’s when a goney up with us they
shut, As ain’t up to our lurks, our flash patter, and smut.

1860. Haliburton, Sam Slick, ‘The Season Ticket,’ No. X. ‘It’s only
grief, Nabby dear, my heart is broke.’ ‘Is that all, you goney?’
says she, ‘it’s lucky your precious neck ain’t broke.’

a. 1871. The Dartmouth, vol. iv. One day I heard a Senior call a
fellow a gonus. ‘Gonus,’ echoed I, ‘what does that mean?’ ‘Oh,’
said he, ‘you’re a Freshman, and don’t understand. A stupid fellow,
a dolt, a boot-jack, an ignoramus, is here called a gonus. All
Freshmen,’ he continued gravely, ‘are gonuses.’

2. (colloquial).—A person past recovery, utterly ruined, or done for in any way.

1876. S. L. Clemens (Mark Twain), Tom Sawyer, p. 99. ‘Yes, but she
ain’t dead; and, what’s more, she’s getting better too.’ ‘All
right, you wait and see. She’s a goner, just as dead sure as Muff
Potter’s a goner.’

1888. Cincinnati Enquirer. Fortunately, she did not see me, or else
I should have been a goner.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 261. ‘Make a noise or follow me,
and you’re a goner,’ said Smirk.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 212. A few more of
her meddlings and she’s a goner, that’s what she is.

Gong (or Gong-house), subs. (old).—A privy. For synonyms, see Mrs. Jones.

1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales. ‘The Parsons Tale’ [Riverside Ed.
(1880)], ii., 241. Thise fool wommen, that mowe be likned to a
commune gong, whereas men purgen hire ordure.

Gong-farmer (or Gong-man), subs. (old).—An emptier of cesspools; a gold-finder (q.v.).

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Curadestri, a iakes, goong, or
doong farmer.

Gonof (or Gonnof or Gonoph or Gnof), subs. (thieves’).—1. A thief; specifically a pick-pocket, and especially an adept. [From the Hebrew. Ancient English; a legacy from the old time Jews. It came into use again with the moderns who employ it commonly. Cf., gonov = thief in Ex. xxii, 2 and 6, viz., ‘if the gonov be found.’] See Thieves.

1857. Dickens, On Duty with Inspector Field, in ‘Reprinted Pieces’
p. 256. If the smallest gonoph about town were crouching at the
bottom of a classic bath Inspector Field would nose him.

1849. Morning Chronicle, 2 Nov. A burglar would not condescend to
sit among pickpockets. My informant has known a housebreaker to say
with a sneer, when requested to sit down with the gonoffs, ‘No, no,
I may be a thief, but at least I’m a respectable one.’

1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. III., p. 325.
The gonaff (a Hebrew word signifying a young thief, probably learnt
from the Jew ‘fences’ in the neighbourhood).

1852. Judson, Myst., etc., of New York, ch. vii. He next assumed
his present profession, and became a gnof or pickpocket.

1876. Hindley, Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 146. Oh, you tief!
you cheat! you gonnof!

1889. Referee, 12 May. Gonophs ... were frequent in Tattersall’s on
Friday.

1889. C. T. Clarkson and J. Hall Richardson, Police, p. 321. Boys
who creep into houses.... Young gunneffs or gonophs.

2. (old).—A bumpkin; a churl; a clumsy hand; a shameless simpleton.

1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 3187–8. Whilom there was, dwelling
in Oxenforde, A rich gnof, that gertes helde to borde.

c. 1547. Song (quoted by Hotten). The country gnoffes, Hob, Dick,
and Hick, With clubbes and clouted shoon, Shall fill up Dussin Dale
With slaughtered bodies soone.

Verb (old).—To wheedle; to cheat; to steal.

Gonophing, subs. (thieves’).—Picking pockets.

1857. Dickens, The Detective Police, in ‘Reprinted Pieces,’ p. 240.
From the swell mob, we diverge to the kindred topics of cracksmen,
fences ... designing young people who go out gonophing, and other
‘schools.’

Gooby, subs. (common).—A simpleton; a blockhead. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head.

1892. Ally Sloper, 19 Mar., p. 90, c. 3. Why, you old gooby, Mister
Sloper will pay us twice as much for the ducks.

Good! subs. (printers’).—An abbreviation of ‘Good Night!’

Adj. (colloquial).—Responsible; solvent; principally now with ‘for’; e.g., He is good for any amount. Also, expert.

1598. Shakspeare, Merchant of Venice, i., 3. Antonio is a good man:
my meaning in saying that he is a good man, is to have you
understand me that he is sufficient.

1824. Reynolds, Peter Corcoran, 91 Good with both hands and only
ten stone four.

Good goods, in. pl., subs. phr. (sporting).—Something worth trying for; a success. In the superlative, ‘best’ goods.

1886. Sporting Times, 17 July, 1/4. He was a nice young man for a
small tea party, And rather good goods at a Sunday-school treat.

1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 39. There’s Warner in ‘Drink’;
now, that’s business, good goods and no error.

Bit (or Piece) of Goods, subs. phr. (common).—A woman. For synonyms, see Petticoat.

Good old ... adj. phr. (popular).—A familiar address, derisive or affectionate according to circumstances. See quots.

1891. Pall Mall Gaz., 16 Sept., p. 6, c. 1. It was Mephisto’s
greeting to Mary Anne—in Marguerite’s garden—‘Good old Mary
Anne!’!!!

Ibid. The famous medico craned his neck out of the window, and,
sniffing in the smoke, cried, good old London. This is a true
story.

Ibid., 17 Sept. Mr. Chirgwin ... rouses mirth by ... exclaiming
good old spot! as he discloses the large white ace of diamonds
painted over his right optic.

1892. Chevalier ‘The Little Nipper.’ ’E calls ’is mother ‘Sally,’
And ’is father ‘good old pally,’ And ’e only stands about so ’igh,
that’s all!

To feel good, verb. phr. (American).—To be jolly; comfortable; ‘in form’; to be on perfect terms with oneself.

1887. Proctor [in Knowledge, 1 Dec., p. 29]. A friend of mine tells
me a proposition was once invitingly made to him which, to say the
least, involved no virtuous self-abnegation, and he was urged to
accept it by the plea that it would make him feel good.

1888. Texas Siftings, 15 Sept. The saloons are going Saturday
afternoon, and the men feel pretty good before they come abroad.

To be in one’s good books, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be in favour; in good opinion. Conversely, To be in one’s bad books = To be in disfavour. See Book.

Good at it (or at the Game), adj. phr. (venery).—An expert bedfellow, male or female.

To have a good swim.—See Swim.

For good (or For good and all), adv. phr. (colloquial).—Completely; entirely; finally.

1673. Wycherley, Gent. Danc. Master, ii., in wks. (1713), 276. If I
went, I would go for good and all.

1693. Congreve, Old Batchelor, Act i., Sc. 3. Sharp. Faith, e’en
give her over for good and all: you can have no hopes of getting
her for a Mistress.

1875. Ouida, Signa, vol. II., ch. v., p. 66. So the child went up
to the hills with Bruno, and stayed there for good and all.

Good as Wheat.—See Wheat.

Good as ever pissed, phr. (venery).—A qualification of extreme excellence.

1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., ii., 260. And she is as good for the
game as e’er pissed.

Good as a Play.—See Play.

Good as Gold, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Very good; usually of children.

As good as they make ’em.—See Make ’em.

Good-bye, John! phr. (American).—It’s no go; all’s U.P.

Good cess, subs. phr. (Irish).—Good luck. (Probably an abbreviation of ‘success.’) Bad Cess = the reverse.

1845. Buckstone, Green Bushes, i., 1. All. Bravo, Paddy! Good cess
to ye, Paddy! Hurrah!

Goodfellow (or Good Boy, or Good Man), subs. (old).—1. A roysterer; a boon companion.

1570. Ascham, Scholemaster. Sir Roger had been a good fellow in his
youth.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Good Fellow, a Pot companion or
Friend of the Bottle.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. A word of various imports,
according to the place where it is spoken; in the city it means a
rich man; at Hockley in the Hole, or St. Giles’s, an expert boxer;
at a bagnio in Covent Garden, a vigorous fornicator; at an alehouse
or tavern, one who loves his pot or bottle: and sometimes, though
but rarely, a virtuous man.

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xvii. Rattling Reginald
Lowestoffe of the Temple—I know him; he is a good boy.

2. (old).—A thief. See Thieves.

1608. Middleton, Trick to Catch the Old One, ii., 1. Luc. Welcome,
good fellow. Host. He calls me thief at first sight. [Footnote in
‘Mermaid Series’ Ed. Good fellow was then the cant term for a
thief.]

1870. Evening Standard, 11 Feb. ‘Police Report.’ Police detective
said that he believed the two prisoners were good men. In reply to
the magistrate he explained that he meant they were old thieves.

Good Girl (or Good One), adj. phr. (old).—A wanton.

1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie. Gaultière—A whore, punke, drab,
queane, gill, flirt, strumpet, cockatrice, mad wench, common
hackney, good one.

Goodman, subs. (old).—1. A gaoler; a dubsman (q.v.).

1721–2. Woodrow, History, ii., 636. The goodman of the Tolbooth
came to him in his chamber, and told him he might save his life, if
he would sign the petition.

2. (colloquial).—The devil. For synonyms, see Skipper.

Goodman-turd, subs. (old).—A contemptible fellow; a bad-egg (q.v.).

1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes. Dometa, an old worde for a shitten
fellow, or goodman-turde.

Good Night! intj. phr. (general).—A retort to an incredible statement or a delightful piece of news. See Carry me out!

Good-people, subs. (old colloquial).—The fairies.

1828. G. Griffin, Collegians, ch. v. An nothin’ shows itself now by
night, neither spirits nor good people.

1848. Forster, Oliver Goldsmith, bk. I., ch. 1, p. 8 (5th ed.). A
small old parsonage house (supposed afterwards to be haunted by the
fairies, or good people of the district).

1891. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, p. 168. ‘Did ever ye hear tell of
the story of the Man and the Good People?’—by which he meant the
fairies.

Good (or Good Old) Sort, subs. phr. (popular).—A man of social and other parts.

1892. Hume Nisbet, Bushranger’s Sweetheart, p. 149. Had we not
better make a clean breast of it, and trust to his generosity; he
seems a good sort?

Good Thing, subs. phr. (colloquial).—Something worth having or backing; a bon mot; good goods (q.v.). In racing a presumed cert (q.v.).

1844. Puck, p. 63. Here’s to the good thing whose neatness we
prize.

1884. Saturday Review, 2 Aug., p. 147, c. 2. The Goodwood Stakes
was considered a good thing for Florence, who has proved herself to
be an extraordinary mare.

1888. Sporting Life, 10 Dec. In a field of four, Livingstone, who
was voted a good thing, was served up a warm favourite.

1891. Daily Telegraph, 21 Mar. It had been generally anticipated
that this was a good thing for Oxford.

1892. Ally Sloper, 19 Mar., p. 90, c. 3. That them as trades in
rags and bones Makes more than them as writes good things.

Good Time, subs. phr. (old).—A carouse; a friendly gathering; an enjoyable bout at anything.

To have a good time, verb. phr. (old).—To be fortunate or lucky; to enjoy oneself; to make merry. See Cocum.

1596. Jonson, Every Man in His Humour, i., 2. As not ten housewives
pewter, again a good time, shews more bright to the world than he!
[= some festival, ‘when housewives are careful to set out their
furniture to the best advantage.’—Note by Whalley, given in
Cunningham’s Gifford’s Jonson (1870)].

1863. A. Trollope, Rachel Ray, ii., 6., 109. Eating cake and
drinking currant wine, but not having, on the whole, what our
American friends call a good time of it.

1864. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. xxxviii. And what have you been
doing? Had a good time?

1883. Bret Harte, In the Carquinez Woods, ch. ix. But we must keep
it dark until after I marry Nellie, don’t you see. Then we’ll have
a good time all round, and I’ll stand the drinks.

1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 14. My idea
of man’s chief end was to enrich the world with things of beauty,
and have a fairly good time myself while doing so.

Good ’un, subs. phr. (colloquial).—1. A man, woman, or thing of decided and undoubted merit. Cf., Good-girl.

1828–45. T. Hood, Poems, vi., p. 254 [ed. 1846]. A good ’un to look
at but bad to go.

1854. Martin and Aytoun, Bon Gaultier Ballads. ‘The Dirge of a
Drinker.’ Like a good ’un as he is.

1891. N. Gould, Double Event, p. 160. He’s a real good un, and when
his party plank the stuff down it’s generally a moral.

2. (colloquial).—An expression of derisive unbelief: e.g., a lie. See Whopper.

Good-wooled, adj. phr. (American).—Of unflinching courage; of the greatest merit; thoroughly dependable.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.

Goody, subs. (popular).—1. A matron: the correllative of goodman = husband. (Used like auntie, and mother, and gammer, in addressing or describing an inferior.) (A corruption of good-wife).

1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Mona, ... Also a nickname for
women as we say gammer, goodie, goodwife, such a one.

1689. Accts. of the Churchwardens of Sprowston. Paid goody Crabbin
for washing the surplis and church powrch, 1s. 3d.

d. 1732. Gay. Swarm’d on a rotten stick the bees I spy’d Which erst
I saw when goody Dopon dy’d.

d. 1745. Swift. Plain goody would no longer down: ’Twas Madam in
her grogram gown.

1802. Bloomfield, Rural Tales, ‘Richard and Kate.’ Come, Goody,
stop your humdrum wheel.

1816. Johnson, Eng. Dict. s.v. A low term of civility used to mean
persons.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ‘The Witches’ Frolic.’ Old Goody
Price, Had got something nice.

Hence Goodyship = ‘ladyship.’

1663. Butler, Hudibras, pt. 1, c. 3. The more shame for her
goodyship, To give so near a friend the slip.

2. (colloquial).—A religious hypocrite, male or female; the ‘unco guid’ of Burns.

1836. Kidd, London Ambulator, p. 14. Clapham is celebrated for
goodies—ladies of a certain age, who not having succeeded in
finessing for husbands, betake themselves to a religious life as a
dernier resort.

Hence goody-goodyism = sentimental piety.

1892. Pall Mall Gaz., 23 Nov., p. 3., c. 1. The Christmas tale of
adventure ... has perhaps cast off its element of goody-goodyism,
but the general features and cast are as of old.

3. generally in. pl. (colloquial).—Sweetmeats; bon-bons; cakes and buns.

1853. Mayhew, Letters Left at a Pastrycook’s. Propped up on each
side with bags of oranges, cakes, and goodies.

1855. H. A. Murray, Lands of the Slave and the Free, ch. xii.
Adjourning from time to time to some café for the purpose of eating
ices or sucking goodies.

4. (American).—The kernel of a nut.

Adj. (colloquial).—Well-meaning but petty; officiously pious. Also goody-goody.

1864. D. W. Thompson, Daydreams of a Schoolmaster, p. 230. I would
rather they were not too good; or goody. Let us have a little
naughtiness, sprinkled in at intervals.

1892. S. Watson, Wops the Waif, p. 7. He knew well enough the whole
of this enterprise had sprung from a goody-goody idea of ‘doing
something,’ born of impulse and whim.

Goodyear, subs. (old).—The pox. (A corruption of gougeer, from gouge = a soldier’s trull). For synonyms, see Ladies’ Fever.

1605. Shakspeare, Lear, v., 3. The goodyears shall devour them.

Gook, subs. (American).—A low prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack Hack and Tart.

Goose, subs. (common).—1. A tailor’s smoothing iron. (Whose handle is shaped like the neck of the bird.) Hence the old ditton, ‘A taylor be he ever so poor is sure to have a goose at his fire.’—Grose. Fr., un gendarme.

1606. Shakspeare, Macbeth, ii., 3. Come in, taylor; here you may
roast your goose.

1606. Dekker, Newes from Hell, in Wks. (Grosart) ii., 114. Every
man being armed with his sheeres and pressing Iron, which he calls
there his goose.

1638. Randolph, Hey for Honesty. ... Tailor. Oh! it is an age that,
like the Ostrich, makes me feed on my own goose.

1703. Ward, London Spy, pt. xii., p. 276. He grew as hot as a
Botcher’s goose.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Goose (s.) ... also the
large, heavy iron used by taylors, to press down their seams with
when heated very hot.

1766. Kenrick, Falstaff’s Wedding, iii., 1. Although they had been
hissing all the way like a tailor’s goose.

1861. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, Noon, Par. 12. An Irish tailor
who has had a slight dispute with his wife the night before, and
has corporeally chastised her with a hot goose—a tailor’s goose, be
it understood—to the extent of all but fracturing her skull.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. ii., p. 89. On the return of
the warders from their own breakfast, the tools—scissors,
sleeve-boards, irons, or geese—are served out.

2. (common).—A simpleton: usually only of women. Also Goosecap (q.v.).

1591. Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, ii., 4. Mercutio. Was I there
with you for the goose? Rom. Thou wast never with me that thou wast
not for the goose.

1696. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.

3. (venery).—See Winchester Goose.

4. (colloquial).—A reprimand; a wigging (q.v.); cf., verb, sense 1.

1865. G. F. Berkeley, My Life etc., i., 276. On the adventure
reaching the ears of the Duke of Wellington, the active
experimentalist received considerable goose.

5. (printers’).—See Wayz goose.

6. (colloquial).—A woman: whence, by implication, the sexual favour.

Verb. (common).—1. To hiss; to condemn by hissing. Also to get the goose or the big bird (q.v.). Among Fr. equivalents are: appeler or siffler Azor (= to whistle a dog, Azor being a common canine appellation); boire une goutte (= to be goosed); attrapper; reconduire; se faire travailler; empoigner; éreinter; polisonner; égayer.

1854. Dickens, Hard Times, ch. vi. He was goosed last night, he was
goosed the night before last, he was goosed to-day.

1858. Dickens, Xmas Stories (Going into Soc.), p. 67 (House. Ed.).
Which makes you grind your teeth at him to his face, and which can
hardly hold you from goosing him audible when he’s going through
his War-Dance.

1873. Hornet, 29 Jan., p. 211, c. 2. Ferdin. Fact! My soul is sick
on’t. Goosed last night; My salary docked.

1875. T. Frost, Circus Life, p. 281. An artiste is goosed, or gets
the goose, when the spectators or auditors testify by sibillant
sounds disapproval or dissatisfaction.

1886. Graphic, 10 Apr., p. 399. To be goosed, or, as it is
sometimes phrased, ‘to get the big bird,’ is occasionally a
compliment to the actor’s power of representing villainy, but more
often is disagreeably suggestive of a failure to please.

2. (colloquial).—To ruin; to spoil. See Cook one’s goose.

1888. Cassell’s Saturday Journal, 22 Dec., p. 301. We was pretty
nigh goosed.

3. (cobblers’).—To mend boots by putting on a new front half-way up, and a new bottom; elsewhere called footing boots. Cf., Fox.