Chapter XIV: Part 14

~Screaming~, first-rate, splendid. Believed to have been first used in the Adelphi play-bills; “a SCREAMING farce,” one calculated to make the audience scream with laughter. Now a general expression.

~Screed~, an illogical or badly-written article or paper upon any subject.

~Screeve~, a letter, a begging petition.

~Screeve~, to write, or devise; “to SCREEVE a fakement,” to concoct, or write, a begging letter, or other impostor’s document. From the _Dutch_, SCHRYVEN; _German_, SCHREIBEN, to write.

~Screever~, a man who draws with coloured chalks on the pavement figures of our Saviour crowned with thorns, specimens of elaborate writing, thunderstorms, ships on fire, &c. The men who attend these pavement chalkings, and receive halfpence and sixpences from the admirers of street art, are not always the draughtsmen. The artist or SCREEVER draws, perhaps, in half-a-dozen places in the course of a morning, and rents the spots out to as many cadaverous-looking men, who, when any one looks hard at them, will commence to dabble clumsily with the short pieces of chalks they always keep at hand. There are impostors of this kind in higher walks of art.

~Screw~, an unsound or broken-down horse, that requires both whip and spur to get him along. So called from the screw-like manner in which his ribs generally show through the skin.

~Screw~, a mean or stingy person.

~Screw~, salary, or wages.

~Screw~, “to put on the SCREW,” to limit one’s credit, to be more exact and precise; “to put under the SCREW;” to compel, to coerce, to influence by strong pressure.

~Screw~, a small packet of tobacco. A “twist” of the “weed.”

~Screw~, a key—skeleton, or otherwise.

~Screw~, a turnkey.

~Screw loose.~ When friends become cold and distant towards each other, it is said there is a SCREW LOOSE betwixt them; the same phrase is also used when anything goes wrong with a person’s credit or reputation.

~Screwed~, intoxicated or drunk.

~Scrimmage~, or SCRUMMAGE, a disturbance or row.—_Ancient._ Probably a corruption of SKIRMISH.

~Scrimshaw.~ Anything made by sailors for themselves in their leisure hours at sea is termed SCRIMSHAW-WORK.

~Scrouge~, to crowd or squeeze.—_Wiltshire._

~Scruff~, the back part of the neck seized by the adversary in an encounter. “I seized him by the SCRUFF of the neck, and chucked him out.” Originally SCURF.

~Scrumptious~, nice, particular, beautiful.

~Scufter~, a policeman.—_North Country._

~Scull~, or SKULL, the head, or master of a college.—_University_, but nearly obsolete; the gallery, however, in St. Mary’s (the Oxford University church), where the “Heads of Houses” sit in solemn state, is still nicknamed the “Golgotha” by the undergraduates.

~Scurf~, a mean fellow. Literally a scurvy fellow.

~Sea-connie~, the steersman of an Indian ship. By the insurance laws he must be either a PYAH Portuguese, a European, or a Manilla man,—Lascars not being allowed to be helmsmen.

~Sea-cook~, “son of a SEA-COOK,” an opprobrious phrase used on board ship, differing from “son of a gun,” which is generally used admiringly or approvingly.

~Seals~, a religious slang term for converts. Also a Mormon term for wives. _See_ OWNED.

~See.~ Like “go” and “do,” this useful verb has long been supplemented with a slang or unauthorized meaning. In street parlance, “to SEE” is to know or believe; “I don’t SEE that,” _i.e._, “I don’t put faith in what you offer, or I know what you say to be untrue.”

~See it out~, to stay out late or early, and see the gas put out. Also to complete an undertaking.

~See the king.~ _See_ ELEPHANT.

~Seedy~, worn-out, poverty-stricken, used-up, shabby. Metaphorical expression from the appearance of flowers when off bloom and running to SEED; hence said of one who wears clothes until they crack and become shabby. “How seedy he looks,” said of any man whose clothes are worn threadbare, with greasy facings, and hat brightened up by perspiration and continual polishing and wetting. When a man’s coat begins to look worn-out and shabby he is said to look SEEDY and ready for cutting. This term has been in common use for nearly two centuries, and latterly has found its way into most dictionaries. Formerly slang, it is now a recognised word, and one of the most expressive in the English language. The French are always amused with it, they having no similar term.

“Oh, let my hat be e’er sae brown,
My coat be e’er sae SEEDY, O!
My whole turn-out scarce worth a crown,
Like gents well-bred, but needy, O!”

_Fisher’s Garland for 1835._

~Seeley’s pigs~, blocks of iron in Government dockyards. Mr. Seeley, M.P., was the first to call attention in the House of Commons to the scandalous waste of pig-iron in the dockyards. Some of the yards were found to be half paved with blocks of metal, which were thence called “SEELEY’S PIGS.”

~Sell~, a deception, or disappointment; also a lying joke.

~Sell~, to deceive, swindle, or play a practical joke upon a person. A sham is a SELL in street parlance. “SOLD again, and got the money,” a patterer cries after having successfully deceived somebody. Shakspeare uses SELLING in a similar sense, viz., blinding or deceiving.

~Sensation~, a quartern of gin.

~Serene~, all right; “it’s all SERENE,” a street phrase of very modern adoption, the burden of a song. SERENE, ALL SERENE! from the _Spanish_ SERENO, equivalent to the English “all’s well;” a countersign of sentinels, supposed to have been acquired by some filibusters who were imprisoned in Cuba, and liberated by the intercession of the British ambassador. The Sereno, the Spanish night watchman, cries out, with the hour, the state of the atmosphere. He was called the Sereno (clear), from his announcing the usual fine (sereno) night—quite different from the work of our old “Charlies,” whose usual call was one of foul weather.

~Serve out~, to punish, or be revenged on any one.

~Setter~, sevenpence. _Italian_, SETTE. _See_ SALTEE.—_Lingua Franca._

~Setter~, a person employed by the vendor at an auction to run the bidding up; to bid against _bona-fide_ bidders. Also the man who takes the box at hazard, and “sets a go.”

~Setting jewels~, taking the best portions of a clever book not much known to the general public, and incorporating them quietly with a new work by a thoroughly original author. The credit of this term belongs to Mr. Charles Reade, who explained that the process is accountable for the presence of some writing by one Jonathan Swift, in a story published at Christmas, 1872, and called _The Wandering Heir_.

~Settle~, to kill, ruin, or effectually quiet a person.

~Settled~, transported, or sent to penal servitude for life; sometimes spoken of as WINDED-SETTLED.

~Set-to~, a sparring match, a fight; “a DEAD SET” is a determined opposition in argument, or in movement.

~Sevendible~, a very curious word, used only in the North of Ireland, to denote something particularly severe, strong, or sound. It is, no doubt, derived from sevendouble—that is, sevenfold—and is applied to linen cloth, a heavy beating, a harsh reprimand, &c.

~Seven-pennorth~, transportation for seven years.

~Seven-sided animal~, a one-eyed man, as he has an inside, outside, left side, right side, foreside, backside, and blind side.

~Seven-up~, the game of all-fours, when played for seven chalks—that is, when seven points or chalks have to be made to win the game.

~Sewed-up~, done up, used up, intoxicated. _Dutch_, SEEUWT, sick.

~Sewn-up~, quite worn-out, or “dead beat.”

~Shack~, a “chevalier d’industrie.” A scamp, a blackguard.—_Nottingham._

~Shack-per-swaw~, every one for himself,—a phrase in use amongst the lower orders at the East-end of London, derived apparently from the _French_, CHACUN POUR SOI.

~Shackly~, loose, rickety.—_Devonshire._

~Shady~, an expression implying decadence. On “the SHADY side of forty” implies that a person is considerably older than forty. SHADY also means inferiority in other senses. A “shady trick” is either a shabby one, mean or trumpery, or else it is one contemptible from the want of ability displayed. The SHADY side of a question is, and fairly enough too, that which has no brightness to recommend it.

~Shake~, a disreputable man or woman.—_North._ In London a SHAKE is a prostitute.

~Shake-down~, an improvised bed.

~Shake-lurk~, a false paper carried by an impostor, giving an account of a “dreadful shipwreck.”

~Shake the elbow~, TO, a roundabout expression for dice-playing. To “crook the ELBOW” is an Americanism for “to drink.”

~Shaker~, a shirt.

~Shakers~, a Puritanical sect, almost peculiar to America, and not similar to our Quakers, as is generally believed. They have very strange notions on things in general, and especially on marriage and the connexion of the sexes.

~Shakes~, a bad bargain is said to be “no great SHAKES;” “pretty fair SHAKES” is anything good or favourable.—_Byron._ In America, a fair SHAKE is a fair trade or a good bargain.

~Shakes~, “in a brace of SHAKES,” _i.e._, in an instant.

~Shakester~, or SHICKSTER, a female. Amongst costermongers this term is invariably applied to ladies, or the wives of tradesmen, and females generally, of the classes immediately above them. Amongst Jews the word signifies a woman of shady antecedents. Supposed to be derived from the _Hebrew_, SHIKTZA. It is generally pronounced “shickser.”

~Shaky~, said of a person of questionable health, integrity, or solvency; at the Universities, of one not likely to pass his examination.

~Shaler~, a girl. Corrupt form of _Gaelic_, CAILLE, a young woman.

~Shalley-gonahey~, a smock-frock.—_Cornish._

~Shallow~, the peculiar barrow used by costermongers.

~Shallow~, a weak-minded country justice of the peace.—_Shakspeare._

~Shallow-cove~, a begging rascal, who goes about the country half naked, with the most limited amount of rags upon his person, wearing neither shoes, stockings, nor hat.

~Shallow-mot~, a ragged woman,—the frequent companion of the SHALLOW-COVE.

~Shallows~, “to go on the SHALLOWS,” to go half naked.

~Sham~, contraction of champagne. In general use among the lower class of sporting men. Sometimes extended to SHAMMY.

~Sham Abraham~, to feign sickness. _See_ ABRAHAM.

~Shandrydan~, an old-fashioned or rickety conveyance of the “shay” order.

~Shandy-gaff~, ale and gingerbeer. Origin unknown, but use very common.

~Shanks~, legs.

~Shanks’s mare~, “to ride SHANK’S MARE,” to go on foot.

~Shant~, a pot or quart; “SHANT of bivvy,” a quart of beer.

~Shanty~, a rude, temporary habitation. The word is principally employed to designate the huts inhabited by navigators, when constructing large lines of railway far distant from towns. It is derived from the _French_ CHANTIER, used by the Canadians for a log hut, and has travelled from thence, by way of the United States, to England.

~Shanty~, a song. A term in use among sailors. From CHANTER.

~Shapes~, “to cut up” or “show SHAPES,” to exhibit pranks, or flightiness.

~Shark~, a sharper, a swindler. Bow Street term in 1785, now in most dictionaries.—_Friesic_ and _Danish_, SCHURK. _See_ LAND-SHARK.

~Sharp~, or SHARPER, a cunning cheat, a rogue,—the opposite of FLAT.

~Sharp~, a similar expression to “TWO PUN’ TEN” (which _see_), used by assistants in shops to signify that a customer of suspected honesty is amongst them. The shopman in this case would ask one of the assistants, in a voice loud enough to be generally heard, “Has Mr. SHARP come in yet?” “No,” would probably be the reply; “but he is expected every minute.” The signal is at once understood, and a general look-out kept upon the suspected party.

~Sharp’s-alley blood-worms~, beef sausages and black puddings. Sharp’s Alley was, until City improvements caused it to be destroyed, a noted slaughtering-place near Smithfield.

~Shave~, a false alarm, a hoax, a sell. This term was much in vogue in the Crimea during the Russian campaign,—that is, though much used by the military before then, the term did not, until that period, become known to the general public.

~Shave~, a narrow escape. At Cambridge, “just SHAVING through,” or “making a SHAVE,” is just escaping a “pluck” by coming out at the bottom of the list.

“My terms are anything but dear,
Then read with me, and never fear;
The examiners we’re sure to queer,
And get through, if you make a SHAVE on’t.”

_The Private Tutor._

~Shave;~ “to SHAVE a customer,” charge him more for an article than the marked price. Used in the drapery trade. When the master sees an opportunity of doing this, he strokes his chin, as a signal to his assistant who is serving the customer.

~Shaver~, a sharp fellow; there are young and old SHAVERS.—_Sea._

~Shebeen~, an unlicensed place where spirituous liquors are illegally sold. A word almost peculiar to Ireland.

~Shed a tear~, to take a dram, or glass of neat spirits; jocular phrase used, with a sort of grim earnestness, by old topers to each other. “Now then, old fellow, come and SHED A TEAR!” an invitation to take “summat short.” The origin may have been that ardent spirits, taken neat by younger persons, usually bring water to their eyes. With confirmed drinkers, however, the phrase is used with an air of mingled humour and regret at their own position. A still more pathetic phrase is—“putting a NAIL IN ONE’S COFFIN,” which _see_. The term SHED A TEAR is probably derived from “eye-water.”

~Sheen~, bad money.—_Scotch._

~Sheeny~, a Jew. This word is used by both Jew and Gentile at the East-end of London, and is not considered objectionable on either side.

~Sheep’s eyes~, loving looks, “to make SHEEP’S EYES at a person,” to cast amorous glances towards one on the sly.

“But he, the beast, was casting SHEEP’S EYES at her
Out of his bullock head.”

_Colman, Broad Grins._

~Shelf~, “on the SHELF,” not yet disposed of; young ladies are said to be so situated when they cannot meet with husbands. “On the SHELF” also means pawned, or laid by in trust.

~Shell out~, to pay or count out money. Also a game played on a billiard table, a variation of pool.

~Shepherd~, to look after carefully, to place under police surveillance.

~Shice~, nothing; “to do anything for SHICE,” to get no payment. The term was first used by the Jews in the last century. Grose gives the phrase CHICE-AM-A-TRICE, which has a synonymous meaning. _Spanish_, CHICO, little; _Anglo-Saxon_, CHICHE, niggardly; or perhaps connected with the _German_, SCHEISSEN.

~Shicer~, a mean man, a humbug, a “duffer,”—a worthless person, one who will not work. This is the worst term one Jew can use to another. At the diggings it means a hole which yields nothing.

~Shickery~, shabby, bad. From SHAKY, SHAKERY.

~Shickster~, a lady. _See_ SHAKESTER.

~Shickster-crabs~, ladies’ shoes.—_Tramps’ term._

~Shigs~, money, silver.—_East London._

~Shikaree~, a hunter, a sportsman.—_Anglo-Indian._ An English sportsman who has seen many ups and downs in jungles of the East styles himself “an OLD SHIKAREE.”—_Anglo-Indian._ Also spelt SHEKARRY.

~Shilly-shally~, to trifle or fritter away time; to be irresolute. Corruption of “Shall I, shall I?”

~Shin~, an Americanism for walking. “I’m tired of SHINNING around.”

~Shindy~, a row, or noise. A SHINDY generally means a regular mêlée.

~Shine~, a row, or disturbance.

~Shine~, “to take the SHINE out of a person,” to surpass or excel him.

~Shiners~, sovereigns, or money.

~Shiney rag~, “to win the SHINEY RAG,” to be ruined,—said in gambling, when any one continues betting after “luck has set in against him.”

~Shin-plaster~, a bank-note. Originally an Americanism.

~Shins.~ “To break one’s SHINS,” figurative expression meaning to borrow money.

~Ship-shape~, proper, in good order; sometimes the phrase is varied to “SHIP-SHAPE and Bristol fashion.”—_Sea._ The latter portion of the expression went out with Bristol’s fame as a seaport.

~Shirty~, ill-tempered, or cross. When one person makes another in an ill-humour he is said to have “got his SHIRT out.”

~Shivering Jemmy~, the name given by street-folk to any cadger who exposes himself, half naked, on a cold day, to obtain alms. The “game” is unpleasant, but was, before exposure of a different kind spoilt it, exceedingly lucrative.

~Shockhead~, a head of long, unkempt, and rough hair.

~Shoddy~, old cloth worked up into new; made from soldiers’ and policemen’s coats. The old cloth is pulled to pieces, the yarn unravelled and carded over again. This produces shoddy, which is very short in the fibre, and from it are produced, on again twisting and weaving, cloth fabrics used for ladies’ mantles, &c. Also, a term of derision applied to workmen in woollen factories.—_Yorkshire._

~Shoddy~, the plutocracy created out of bogus contracts during the civil war in the United States. The SHODDYITES enriched themselves at the expense of their country in the most shameless manner, having most likely studied under those contractors who should have supplied our soldiers with necessaries during the Crimean War.

~Shoe~, to free or initiate a person,—a practice common in most trades to a new-comer. The SHOEING consists in paying for beer, or other liquor, which is drunk by the older hands. The cans emptied, and the bill paid, the stranger is considered properly SHOD. SHOEING is a variation of “paying one’s footing.”

~Shoe leather!~ a thief’s warning cry when he hears footsteps. This exclamation is used in the spirit which animated the friend who, when he suspected treachery towards Bruce at King Edward’s court, in 1306, sent him a purse and a pair of spurs, as a sign that he should use them in making his escape.

~Shoes~, “to die in one’s SHOES,” to be hanged. In the old hanging days a highwayman would often kick off his shoes when the rope was round his neck, so as—oh, vain and impotent attempt!—to defeat the prophecy that had foreshadowed his present position.

~Shoes, children’s, to make~, to suffer oneself to be made sport of, or depreciated. Commonly used in Norfolk.—_Cf._ Mrs. Behn’s comedy, _The Roundheads_.

_Hews._ “Who, pox! shall we stand MAKING CHILDREN’S SHOES all the
year? No: let’s begin to settle the nation, I say, and go
through-stitch with our work.”

~Shoful~, a Hansom cab. This favourite carriage was the invention of a Mr. Hansom, afterwards connected with the _Builder_ newspaper. It has been asserted that the term SHOFUL was derived from “shovel,” the earliest slang term applied to Hansoms by other cab-drivers, who conceived their shape to be after the fashion of a scoop or shovel. A logical friend of the present Editor’s argues thus:—SHOFUL, full of show, _ergo_, beautiful—handsome—Hansom. This is clever, but it certainly never entered into the heads of those who gave the name of SHOFUL to the Hansom cabs.

~Shoful~, bad or counterfeit money. Perhaps, as some think, from the _Danish_, SKUFFE, to shove, to deceive, cheat; _Saxon_, SCUFAN,—whence the _English_, SHOVE. The term, however, is possibly one of the many street words from the _Hebrew_ (through the low Jews); SHEPHEL, in that language, signifying a low or debased estate. _Chaldee_, SHAPHAL.—_See_ Psalm cxxxvi. 23, “in our low estate.” A correspondent suggests a very probable derivation, from the _German_, SCHOFEL, trash, rubbish,—the _German_ adjective, SCHOFELIG, being the nearest possible translation of our shabby. SHOFUL means anything mock, as SHOFUL jewellery. A SHOFUL is also a humbug, an impostor.

~Shoful-pitcher~, a passer of bad money. SHOFUL-PITCHING, passing bad money. “Snide-pitcher” and “Snide-pitching” are terms exchangeable with the preceding.

~Shoful pullet~, a “gay” or unsteady woman, especially a young woman.

~Sholl~, to bonnet one, or crush a person’s hat over his eyes.—_North._

~Shool~, to saunter idly, to become a vagabond, to beg rather than work.—_Smollett’s Roderick Random_, vol. i., p. 262.

~Shool~, Jews’ term for their synagogue.

~Shoot the cat~, to vomit. From a story of a man being sick in the back yard, and suffocating a cat and all her kittens.

~Shoot the moon~, to remove furniture from a house in the night without paying the landlord.

~Shop.~ In racing slang, to secure first, second, or third position in a race, is to get a SHOP. This is also known as a place, and as a situation. _See_ PLACE.

~Shop~, a house. “How are they all at your SHOP?” is a common question among small tradesmen.

~Shop~, the House of Commons. The only instance we have met with of the use of this word in literature occurs in Mr. Trollope’s _Framley Parsonage:_—

“‘If we are merely to do as we are bid, and have no voice of our
own, I don’t see what’s the good of our going to the SHOP at all,’
said Mr. Sowerby.”

~Shop~, to discharge a shopman. In military slang, to SHOP an officer is to put him under arrest in the guard-room. In pugilistic slang, to punish a man severely is “to knock him all over the SHOP,” _i.e._, the ring, the place in which the work is done.

~Shop-bouncer~, or SHOP-LIFTER, a person generally respectably attired, who, while being served with a small article at a shop, steals one of more value. Shakspeare has the word LIFTER, a thief.

~Shop-walker~, a person employed to walk up and down a shop, to hand seats to customers, and see that they are properly served. Contracted also to WALKER.

~Shopping~, purchasing at shops. Termed by Todd a slang word, but used by Cowper and Byron.

~Shoppy~, to be full of nothing but one’s own calling or profession; “to talk SHOP,” to converse of nothing but professional subjects.

~Short~, when spirit is drunk without any admixture of water, it is said to be taken “SHORT;” “summat SHORT,” a dram. A similar phrase is used at the counters of banks; upon presenting a cheque, the clerk asks, “How will you take it?” _i.e._, in gold, or notes. If in notes, long or short? Should it be desired to receive it in notes for the largest possible amount, the answer is, SHORT. A conductor of an omnibus, or any other servant, is said to be SHORT when he does not give all the money he receives to his master.

~Short~, hard-up; a polite term for impecuniosity used in clubs and among military men.

~Short commons~, short allowance of food. _See_ COMMONS.

~Shorter~, one who makes a dishonest profit by reducing the coin of the realm by clipping and filing. From a crown-piece a SHORTER could gain 5d. Another way was by chemical means: a guinea laid in aquafortis would, in twelve hours, precipitate 9d.-worth of sediment; in twenty-four, 1s. 6d.-worth.—_Rommany Rye._

~Shot~, from the modern sense of the word to SHOOT,—a guess, a random conjecture; “to make a bad SHOT,” to expose one’s ignorance by making a wrong guess, or random answer, without knowing whether it is right or wrong.

~Shot~, from the once general, but now provincial word, to SHOOT, to subscribe, contribute in fair proportion;—a share, from the _Anglo-Saxon_ word, SCEAT; “to pay one’s SHOT,” _i.e._, share of the reckoning, &c.

“Yet still while I have got
Enough to pay the SHOT
Of Boniface, both gruff and greedy O!”

_Fisher’s Garland_ for 1835.

~Shot~, “I wish I may be SHOT, if,” &c., a common form of mild swearing.

~Shot~, a term used among horse chaunters. To SHOT a horse, is to give him a lot of small shot, which will for a short time effectually “open his pipes,” and make him appear sound in wind.

~Shot in the locker~, money in pocket, resource of any kind in store.—_Navy._

~Shoulder~, when a servant embezzles his master’s money, he is said to SHOULDER his employer.

~Shout~, to pay for drink round. “It’s my SHOUT,” says he who pays. Possibly because the payer originally SHOUTED to the bar-keeper of an hotel to score the drink to him.—_Australian_, but now general.

~Shove-halfpenny~, a gambling pot-house pastime, played on a table. A very old game, originally called push-penny.

~Shove in the mouth~, a glass of spirits, which is taken off quickly and at once.

~Shovel~, a term applied by the vulgar crowd to the inelegant twisted hats worn by the dignitaries of the Church. Dean Alford says, “I once heard a venerable dignitary pointed out by a railway porter as “an old party in a SHOVEL.”—_Queen’s English._

~Shrimp~, a diminutive person.—_Chaucer._

~Shtumer~, a horse against which money may be laid without risk. _See_ SAFE UN.

~Shunt~, to avoid, to turn aside from. From the railway term.

~Shut of~, or SHOT OF, _i.e._, rid of. A very common expression amongst the London lower orders. One costermonger will say to another:—“Well, Ike, did yer get SHUT O’ them there gawfs [apples]?” _i.e._, did you sell them all?

~Shut up!~ be quiet, don’t make a noise; to stop short, to cease in a summary manner, to silence effectually. The following is from a literary paper:—“Only the other day we heard of a preacher who, speaking of the scene with the doctors in the Temple, remarked that the Divine disputant completely SHUT THEM UP!” SHUT UP, utterly exhausted, done for.

~Shy~, a throw. _See_ the following:—

~Shy~, to fling; COCK-SHY, a game at fairs, consisting of throwing short sticks at trinkets or cocoanuts set upon other sticks,—both name and practice derived from the old game of throwing or SHYING at live cocks. This game is best known to the London public as “three shies a penny.”

~Shy.~ “To fight SHY of a person,” to avoid his society either from dislike, fear, or other reason. SHY has also the sense of flighty, unsteady, untrustworthy.

~Shy~, to stop suddenly, or turn off, as a horse does when frightened.

~Shyster~, a duffer, a vagabond. Variation of “shicer.”

~Sices~, or SIZES, a throw of sixes at dice.

~Sick as a horse~, a popular simile,—curious, because a horse never vomits.

~Sickener~, a dose too much of anything. Too much of even a good thing will make a man sick.

~Side~, an affirmative expression in the cant language of the northern towns. “Do you stoll the gammy?” (Do you understand cant?) “SIDE, cove” (yes, mate).

~Side-boards~, or STICK-UPS, shirt collars. Name applied some years ago, before the present style of collars came into fashion.

~Sift~, to embezzle small coins, those which might pass through a sieve—as threepennies and fourpennies—and which are, therefore, not likely to be missed.

~Sight~, “to take a SIGHT at a person,” a vulgar action employed by boys and others to denote incredulity, or contempt for authority, by placing the thumb against the nose and extending the fingers, which are agitated in token of derision.

“The sacristan he says no word that indicates a doubt,
But he puts his finger to his nose, and spreads his fingers out.”

_Nell Cook._

~Silly season~, the period when nobody is supposed to be in London, when there are no parliamentary debates to publish, and when editors are at their wits’-ends to fill their papers with readable matter. All kinds of crazes on political and social subjects are then ventilated, gigantic gooseberries, monstrous births, and strange showers then become plentiful, columns are devoted to matters which would not at any other time receive consideration, and, so far as the newspapers are concerned, silliness is at a premium.

~Silver beggar~, or LURKER, a vagabond who travels through the country with “briefs” containing false statements of losses by fire, shipwrecks, accidents, &c. Forged documents are exhibited with signatures of magistrates and clergymen. Accompanying these are sham subscription books. The former, in beggar parlance, is termed “a sham,” whilst the latter is denominated “a delicate.”

~Sim~, one of a Methodistical turn in religion; a Low Churchman; originally a follower of the late Rev. Charles Simeon.—_Cambridge._

~Simon~, a sixpenny-piece.

~Simon~, or SIMPLE SIMON, a credulous, gullible person. A character in a song, but now common.

~Simon Pure~, “the real SIMON PURE,” the genuine article. Those who have witnessed Mr. Charles Mathews’s performance in Mrs. Centlivre’s admirable comedy of _A Bold Stroke for a Wife_, and the laughable coolness with which he, the false SIMON PURE, assuming the Quaker dress and character of the real one, elbows that worthy out of his expected entertainment, will at once perceive the origin of this phrase.—_See_ act v. scene i.

~Simpkin~, or SIMKIN, champagne.—_Anglo-Indian._ Derived from the manner in which native servants pronounce champagne.

~Simpson~, water used in the dilution of milk. Term in use among cow-keepers. From this the parish pump has been called Mrs. SIMPSON.

~Sing out~, to call aloud.—_Sea._

~Sing small~, to lessen one’s boasting, and turn arrogance into humility.

~Sing-song~, a harmonic meeting at a pot-house, a free-and-easy.

~Sinkers~, bad money,—affording a man but little assistance in “keeping afloat.”

~Sinks~, a throw of fives at dice. _French_, CINQ.

~Si quis~, a candidate for “orders.” From the notification commencing SI QUIS—if any one.

~Sir Harry~, a close stool.

~Sir Reverence~, a corruption of the old phrase, SAVE YOUR REVERENCE, a sort of apology for alluding to anything likely to shock one’s sense of decency. _Latin_, SALVÂ REVERENTIÂ. _See_ Shakspeare’s _Romeo and Juliet_, act i. scene iv. From this it came to mean the thing itself—human ordure generally, but sometimes other indecencies.

~Siserara~, a hard blow.—_Suffolk._ Many derive this term from the story of Sisera in the Old Testament, but it is probably a corruption of CERTIORARI, a Chancery writ reciting a complaint of hard usage.

~Sit under~, a term employed in Dissenters’ meeting-houses, to denote attendance on the ministry of any particular preacher.

~Sit upon~, to overcome or rebuke, to express contempt for a man in a marked manner. Also, to chaff or “roast” a man consumedly.

~Sit-upons~, trousers. _See_ INEXPRESSIBLES.

~Sivvy~, “’pon my SIVVY,” _i.e._, upon my soul or honour. Corruption of “asseveration,” like DAVY, which is an abridgment of “affidavit.”

~Sixes and sevens~, articles in confusion are said to be all SIXES AND SEVENS. The Deity is mentioned in the _Towneley Mysteries_ as He that “set all on seven,” _i.e._, set or appointed everything in seven days. A similar phrase at this early date implied confusion and disorder, and from these, Halliwell thinks, has been derived the phrase “to be at SIXES AND SEVENS.” A Scotch correspondent, however, states that the phrase probably came from the workshop, and that amongst needle-makers, when the points and eyes are “heads and tails” (“heeds and thraws”), or in confusion, they are said to be SIXES AND SEVENS, because those numbers are the sizes most generally used, and in the course of manufacture have frequently to be distinguished.

~Sixty~, “to go along like SIXTY,” _i.e._, at a good rate, briskly.

~Sixty-per-cent~, a bill-discounter. From the rate of interest generally charged. If bill-discounters profess to do the business for less, they generally make up the level sixty by extras.

~Six-water grog~, a sea-term for the weakest grog possible—six portions of water to one of rum—hardly enough spirit to “swear by.”

~Size~, to order extras over and above the usual commons at the dinner in college halls. Soup, pastry, &c., are SIZINGS, and are paid for at a certain specified rate per SIZE, or portion, to the college cook. Peculiar to Cambridge. Minsheu says, “SIZE, a farthing which schollers in Cambridge have at the buttery, noted with the letter _s_.”

~Sizers~, or SIZARS, certain poor scholars at Cambridge, annually elected, who got their dinners (including “sizings”) from what was left at the upper, or Fellows’ table, free, or nearly so. They paid rent of rooms, and some other fees, on a lower scale than the “Pensioners” or ordinary students, and were equal with the “battlers” and “servitors” at Oxford.

~Sizings.~ _See_ SIZE.

~Skedaddle~, to go off in a hurry. The American war introduced this new and amusing word. A Northerner who retreated “retired upon his supports,” but a Southerner was said to SKEDADDLE. The _Times_ remarked on the word, and Lord Hill wrote to prove that it was excellent Scotch. The Americans only misapply the word, which means, in Dumfries, “to spill”—milkmaids, for example, saying, “You are SKEDADDLING all that milk.” The Yankees therefore adopted the term, and altered the application.

~Skid~, a sovereign. Fashionable slang. Occasionally SKIV.

~Skid~, or SKIDPAN, an instrument for locking the wheel of a coach when going down hill. It is often said that a talkative person might put the SKID on, with advantage to his listeners, if not to himself.

~Skied~, or SKYED, thrown upwards, as “coppers” in tossing.

~Skied.~ Artists say that a picture is SKIED when it is hung on the upper line at the Exhibition of the Royal Academy. _See_ FLOORED.

~Skilligolee~, prison gruel. Also sailors’ soup of many ingredients. The term is occasionally used in London workhouses.

~Skilly~, abbreviation of SKILLIGOLEE.

~Skimmery~, St. Mary Hall, Oxford.—_University._

~Skin~, a purse. This term is mostly in use among thieves.

~Skin~, to abate, or lower the value of anything; “thin-SKINNED,” sensitive, touchy, liable to be “raw” on certain subjects.

~Skin-the-lamb~, a game at cards, a very expressive corruption of the term “lansquenet,” also a racing term. When a non-favourite wins a race, bookmakers are said to SKIN THE LAMB, under the supposition that they win all their bets, no person having backed the winner. This has been corrupted into SKINNER.

~Skinflint~, an old and popular simile for a “close-fisted,” stingy person. Sternberg, in his _Northamptonshire Glossary_, says the Eastern languages have the same expression. Abdul-Malek, one of the Ommeyade Khaliphs, noted for his extreme avarice, was surnamed Raschal-Hegiarah, literally, “the SKINNER of a FLINT.”

~Skinner~, a term among bookmakers. “May we have a SKINNER,” _i.e._, may we SKIN THE LAMB, which _see_.

~Skipper~, the master of a vessel. _Germ._, SCHIFFER, from SCHIFF, a ship; sometimes used as synonymous with “governor.”

~Skipper~, a barn.—_Ancient Cant._ From the _Welsh_, YSGUBOR, pronounced SCYBOR, or SCIBOR, the proper word in that language for a barn.

~Skipper-birds~, or KEYHOLE-WHISTLERS, persons who sleep in barns or outhouses from necessity or in preference to sleeping in lodging-houses.

~Skipper-it~, to sleep in the open air, or in a rough way.

~Skit~, a joke, a squib. Term generally used in reference to any pungent or pointed political allusion.

~Skittles~, a game similar to that of Ten Pins, which, when interdicted by the Government, was altered to Nine Pins, or SKITTLES. The pins are set up in an alley, and thrown (not bowled) at with a round piece of hard wood, shaped like a small flat cheese. The costers used to consider themselves the best players in London, but they have been frequently undeceived. SKITTLES has within the past few years received an awful blow—quite a floorer—from “the powers that be.”

~Skow-banker~, a fellow who loiters about the premises of any one willing to support him, and who objects to the necessity of working for his living; a rogue, a rascal. Common in Melbourne, Australia.

~Skrouge~, to push or squeeze.—_North._

~Skull-thatcher~, a straw-bonnet-maker,—sometimes called “a bonnet-BUILDER.”

~Skunk~, a mean or paltry fellow, one whose name stinks.

~Sky~, a disagreeable person, an enemy.—_Westminster School._ The word derived its origin from a corruption of the last syllable of the word “VOLSCI:” Westminster boys being of course understood to be the Romans.

~Sky~, to toss up towards the SKY. Term used in tossing with halfpence; “It’s all right, Jim SKIED the browns,” _i.e._, threw them up, a proof that there could have been no collusion or cheating.

~Sky-blue~, London milk much diluted with water, or from which the cream has been too closely skimmed.

“Hence, Suffolk dairy wives run mad for cream,
And leave their milk with nothing but the name;
Its name derision and reproach pursue,
And strangers tell of three-times-skimm’d—SKY-BLUE.”

_Bloomfield’s Farmer’s Boy._

The recent Adulteration Act has done away with SKY-BLUE, and made Simpson a relic of the past. SKY-BLUE formerly meant gin.

~Sky-lark.~ _See under_ LARK.

~Sky-parlour~, the garret.

~Sky-scraper~, a tall man; “Are you cold up there, old SKY-SCRAPER?” Properly a sea-term. The light sails, which some adventurous skippers set above the royals in calm latitudes, are termed SKY-SCRAPERS and MOON-RAKERS.

~Sky-wannocking~, unsteady frolicking.—_Norfolk._

~Slab~, thick, as gruel, porridge, &c.

~Slack~, “to hold on the SLACK,” to skulk; a slack rope not requiring to be held.—_Sea._

~Slam~, a term at the game of whist. When two partners gain the whole thirteen tricks, they win a SLAM, which is considered equal to a rubber.

~Slam~, to talk fluently. “He’s the bloke to SLAM.” From a term in use among birdsingers at the East-end, by which they denote a certain style of note in chaffinches.

~Slammock~, a slattern or awkward person.—_West_, and _Norfolk_.

~Slang~, low, vulgar, unwritten, or unauthorized language. _Gipsy_, SLANG, the secret language of the gipsies, synonymous with GIBBERISH, another gipsy word. The word is only to be found in the dictionaries of Webster and Ogilvie. It is given, however, by Grose, in his _Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue_, 1785. SLANG, since it has been adopted as an English word, generally implies vulgar language not known or recognised as CANT; and latterly, when applied to speech, it has superseded the word FLASH. Latterly, however, SLANG has become the generic term for all unauthorized language. The earliest instance of the use of the word that can be found, is the following:—

“Let proper nurses be assigned, to take care of these babes of
grace, [young thieves].... The master who teaches them should be a
man well versed in the cant language commonly called the SLANG
patter, in which they should by all means excel.”—_Jonathan Wild’s
Advice to his Successor._ LONDON, _J. Scott_, 1758.

~Slang~, a travelling show.

~Slang~, to cheat, to abuse in foul language.

~Slang~, counterfeit or short weights and measures. A SLANG quart is a pint and a half. SLANG measures are lent out at 2d. per day to street salesmen. The term is used principally by costermongers.

~Slang~, a watch-chain. SUPER and SLANG, a watch and chain.

~Slang~, “out on the SLANG,” _i.e._, to travel with a hawker’s licence.

~Slang-whanger~, a long-winded speaker.—_Parliamentary._

~Slangy~, flashy, vulgar; loud in dress, manner, and conversation.

~Slantingdicular~, oblique, awry,—as opposed to PERPENDICULAR. Originally an Americanism, now a part of the vocabulary of London “high life below stairs.”

~Slap~, paint for the face, rouge.

~Slap~, exactly, precisely; “SLAP in the wind’s eye,” _i.e._, exactly to windward.

~Slap-bang~, suddenly, violently. From the strike of a ball being felt before the report reaches the ear,—the SLAP first, the BANG afterwards.

~Slap-bang-shops~, originally low eating-houses where the ready-money was paid down with a SLAP-BANG.—_Grose._ A SLAP-BANG-SHOP is now a very pretentious eating-house.

~Slap-dash~, immediately, or quickly; at a great rate.

~Slap-up~, first-rate, excellent, very good.

~Slasher~, a powerful roysterer, a game and clever pugilist.

~Slashers~, the Twenty-eighth Regiment of Foot in the British army.

~Slate~, “he has a SLATE loose,” _i.e._, he is slightly crazy.

~Slate~, to pelt with abuse, to beat, to “lick;” or, in the language of the reviewers, to “cut up.” Also, among bettors, to lay heavily against a particular man or animal in a race.

~Slate~, to knock the hat over one’s eyes, to bonnet.—_North._

~Slavey~, a maid-servant.

~Slawmineyeux~, a Dutchman. Probably a corruption of the Dutch, _ja, mynheer_; or German, _ja, mein Herr_.—_Sea._

~Sleepless-hats~, those of a napless character, better known as WIDE-AWAKES.

~Slender~, a simple country gentleman.—_Shakspeare._

~Slewed~, drunk, or intoxicated.—_Sea term._ When a vessel changes the tack, she, as it were, staggers, the sails flap, she gradually heels over, and the wind catching the waiting canvas, she glides off at another angle. The course pursued by an intoxicated, or SLEWED, man, is supposed to be analogous to that of the ship.

~Slick~, an Americanism, very prevalent in England since the publication of Judge Haliburton’s facetious stories, which means rapidly, effectually, utterly.

~Slick~, smooth, unctuous; abbreviation of sleek.

~Sling~, a drink peculiar to Americans, generally composed of gin, soda-water, ice, and slices of lemon. At some houses in London GIN-SLINGS may be obtained.

~Sling~, to pass from one person to another. To blow the nose with the naked fingers.

~Sling your hook~, a polite invitation to move-on. “Sling your Daniel” has the same meaning. The pronouns may be altered to suit the context.

~Slip~, “to give the SLIP,” to run away, or elude pursuit. Shakspeare has, “You gave me the counterfeit,” in _Romeo and Juliet_. Giving the SLIP, however, is a sea phrase, and refers to fastening an anchor and chain cable to a floating buoy, or water-cask, until a time arrives when it is convenient to return and take them on board. In fastening the cable, the home end is SLIPPED through the hawse-pipe. Weighing anchor is a noisy task, so that giving the SLIP infers leaving quietly.

~Slip~, or let SLIP; “to SLIP into a man,” to give him a sound beating, “to let SLIP at a cove,” to rush violently upon him, and assault with vigour.

~Slipping~, a trick of card-sharpers, in the performance of which, by dexterous manipulation, they place the cut card on the top, instead of at the bottom of the pack. It is the _faire sauter la coupe_ of the French. In pugilistic parlance, “to SLIP a man,” is to “duck and get away” with great dexterity.

~Slips~, the sides of the gallery in a theatre are generally so called.

~Slog~, to beat or baste, to fight. _German_, SCHLACHTEN; or perhaps from some connexion with the _Gaelic_ SLOGAN. The pretended _Greek_ derivation from σλογω is humbug, there being no such word in the language.

~Slogdollager~, an Americanism, meaning the same as our STOCKDOLLAGER, which _see_.

~Sloggers~, _i.e._, SLOW-GOERS, the second division of race-boats at Cambridge. At Oxford they are called TORPIDS.—_University._ A hard hitter at cricket is termed a SLOGGER; so is a pugilist.

~Slogging~, a good beating.

~Slop~, a policeman. At first back slang, but now modified for general use.

~Slop~, cheap, or ready-made, as applied to clothing, is generally supposed to be a modern appropriation; but it was used in this sense in 1691, by Maydman, in his _Naval Speculations_; and by Chaucer two centuries before that. SLOPS properly signify sailors’ working clothes, which are of a very cheap and inexpensive character.

~Slope~, to decamp, to run, or rather slip away. Some persons think it came originally from LOPE, to make off; and that the _s_ probably became affixed as a portion of the preceding word, as in the case of “Let’s lope,” let us run. It is purely an Americanism, and is possibly but an emendation of our own word elope. Lope, leap, and elope are kindred. A humorous correspondent says that Tennyson is decidedly partial to slang, and instances amongst other proofs a passage from the laureate’s famous _Locksley Hall_:—

“Many a night, from yonder ivied casement, ere I went to rest,
Did I look on great Orion SLOPING slowly to the west.”

Though this correspondent may not have intended it, his joke has given the key to the situation, and has shown how our cousins most probably came to use the word in its present sense. “The sun is SLOPING fast.”

~Slops~, any weak, wet, and warm mixture. Hard drinkers regard all effeminate beverages as SLOPS.

~Slops~, chests or packages of tea; “he shook a slum of SLOPS,” _i.e._, stole a chest of tea. Also ready-made clothes—the substantive of SLOP.

~Slops~, liquid house-refuse.

~Slopshop~, a tailor’s shop where inferior work is done, and where cheap goods are sold.

~Slour~, to lock, or fasten.—_Prison Cant._

~Sloured~, buttoned up; SLOURED HOXTER, an inside pocket buttoned up.

~Slowcoach~, a lumbering, dull person; one slow of comprehension.

~Slowed~, to be locked up (in prison).

~Slubberdegullion~, a paltry, dirty, sorry wretch.

“Quoth she, although thou hast deserved,
Base SLUBBERDEGULLION, to be served
As thou didst vow to deal with me,
If thou hadst got the victory”----

_Hudibras._

~Sluicery~, a gin-shop or public-house.

~Sluicing one’s bolt~, drinking.

~Slum~, a chest, or package. _See_ SLOPS.

~Slum~, a letter.—_Prison Cant._

~Slum~, an insinuation, a discreditable innuendo.

~Slum~, gammon, “up to SLUM,” wide awake, knowing.

“And this, without more SLUM began,
Over a flowing pot-house can,
To settle, without botheration,
The rigs of this here tip-top nation.”

_Jack Randall’s Diary_, 1820.

~Slum~, or BACK SLUM, a dark retreat, a low neighbourhood; as Westminster and East-end SLUMS, favourite haunts for thieves.

~Slum~, to hide, to pass to a confederate.

~Slum~, to saunter about, with a suspicion, perhaps, of immoral pursuits.—_Cambridge University Slang_.

~Slum the gorger~, to cheat on the sly, to be an eye-servant. SLUM in this sense is old cant.

~Slumgullion~, any cheap, nasty, washy beverage. An Americanism best known in the Pacific States.

~Slumming~, passing bad money.

~Slush~, the grease obtained from boiling the salt pork eaten by seamen, and generally the cook’s perquisite.

~Slushy~, a ship’s cook.

~Sluter~, butter.—_North._

~Smack smooth~, even, level with the surface, quickly.

~Small-beer;~ “he doesn’t think SMALL-BEER of himself,” _i.e._, he has a great opinion of his own importance. SMALL COALS is also used in the same sense.

~Small hours~, the early hours after midnight.

~Small potatoes~, a term of contempt. “He’s very SMALL POTATOES,” he’s a nobody. Yet no one thinks of calling an important personage “large POTATOES.”

~Smalls~, a University term for the first general examination of the student. It is used at Cambridge, but properly belongs to Oxford. The Cambridge term is “little go.”

~Smash~, to become bankrupt, or worthless; “to go all to SMASH,” to break, “go to the dogs,” or fall in pieces.

~Smash~, to pass counterfeit money.

~Smasher~, one who passes bad coin, or forged notes.

~Smashfeeder~, a Britannia-metal spoon,—the best imitation shillings are made from this metal.

~Smash-man-Geordie~, a pitman’s oath.—_Durham_ and _Northumberland._ _See_ GEORDIE.

~Smeller~, the nose; “a blow on the SMELLER” is often to be found in pugilistic records. Otherwise a NOSE-ENDER.

~Smish~, a shirt, or chemise.

~Smithers~, or SMITHEREENS; “all to SMITHEREENS,” all to smash, SMITHER is a Lincolnshire word for a fragment.

~Smock-face~, a white delicate face,—a face without whiskers.

~Smoke~, London. From the peculiar dense cloud which overhangs London. The metropolis is by no means so smoky as Sheffield, Birmingham, &c.; yet country-people, when going to London, frequently say they are on their way to the SMOKE; and Londoners, when leaving for the country, say they are going out of the SMOKE.

~Smoke~, to detect, or penetrate an artifice. Originally used by London detectives, probably on account of their clouded intellects.

~Smudge~, to smear, obliterate, daub. Corruption of SMUTCH.

~Smug~, smuggling.—_Anglo-Chinese._

~Smug~, extremely neat, after the fashion, in order.

~Smug~, sleek, comfortable. Term often applied to a seemingly pious humbug, more of the Chadband than the Stiggins.

~Smuggings~, snatchings, or purloinings,—shouted out by boys, when snatching the tops, or small play property, of other lads, and then running off at full speed.

“Tops are in; spin ’em agin.
Tops are out; SMUGGING’S about.”

~Smut~, a copper boiler. Also, the “blacks” from a furnace.

~Smutty~, obscene,—vulgar as applied to conversation. Variation of dirty.

~Snack~, a share or division of plunder. To “go SNACKS,” to divide equally. Also, a light repast.—_Old Cant_ and _Gipsy term_.

~Snack~, to quiz or chaff with regard to a particular weakness or recent transaction. As a substantive in this sense SNACK means an innuendo.

~Snaffle~, conversation on professional or private subjects which the rest of the company cannot appreciate. In _East Anglia_, to SNAFFLE is to talk foolishly.

~Snaffled~, arrested, “pulled up,”—so termed from a kind of horse’s bit called a SNAFFLE.

~Snaggle teeth~, those that are uneven, and unpleasant looking.—_West._

~Snaggling~, angling after geese with a hook and line, the bait being a worm or snail. The goose swallows the bait, and is quietly landed and bagged. See Seymour’s _Sketches_.

~Snaggy~, cross, crotchety, malicious.

~Snam~, to snatch, or rob from the person. Mostly used to describe that kind of theft which consists in picking up anything lying about, and making off with it rapidly.

~Snaps~, share, portion; any articles or circumstances out of which money may be made; “looking out for SNAPS,” waiting for windfalls, or odd jobs.—_Old._ _Scotch_, CHITS, term also used for “coppers,” or halfpence.

~Snapps~, spirits. _Dutch_, SCHNAPPS. The word, as originally pronounced, is used by East-end Jews to describe any kind of spirits, and the Gentiles get as near as they can.

~Sneaksman~, a shoplifter; a petty, cowardly thief.

~Sneeze-lurker~, a thief who throws snuff in a person’s face, and then robs him.

~Sneezer~, a snuff-box; a pocket-handkerchief.

~Snell-fencer~, a street salesman of needles. SNELLS are needles.

~Snick-ersnee~, a knife.—_Sea._ Thackeray uses the term in his humorous ballad of _Little Billee_.

~Snicker~, a drinking-cup. A HORN-SNICKER, a drinking-horn.

~Snid~, a sixpence.—_Scotch._

~Snide~, bad, spurious, contemptible. As, “a SNIDE fellow,” “SNIDE coin,” &c. Also used as a substantive, as, “He’s a SNIDE,” though this seems but a contraction of SNIDE ’UN.

~Snigger~, to laugh in a covert manner. Also a mild form of swearing,—“I’m SNIGGERED if you will.” Another form of this latter is JIGGERED.

~Sniggering~, laughing to oneself.—_East._

~Snip~, a tailor,—apparently from SNIPES, a pair of scissors, or from the snipping sound made by scissors in cutting up anything.

~Snipe~, a long bill or account; also a term for attorneys,—a race with a remarkable propensity for long bills.

~Snipes~, “a pair of SNIPES,” a pair of scissors. They are occasionally made in the form of a snipe.

~Snitch~, to give information to the police, to turn approver. SNITCHING is synonymous in thieves’ slang with “nosing” and “peaching.”

~Snitchers~, persons who turn Queen’s evidence, or who tell tales. In _Scotland_, SNITCHERS signify handcuffs.

~Snob~, a low, vulgar, or affected person. Supposed to be from the nickname usually applied to a cobbler or maker of shoes; but believed by many in its later sense to be a contraction of the _Latin_, SINE OBOLO. Others go to work for an etymology thus:—They assume that NOBS, _i.e._, _nobiles_, was appended in lists to the names of persons of gentle birth, whilst those who had not that distinction were marked down as S NOB, _i.e._, _sine nobilitate_, without marks of gentility,—thus, by a simple transposition, quite reversing the meaning. Others, again, remark that, as at college sons of noblemen wrote after their names in the admission lists, _fil. nob._, son of a lord, and hence all young noblemen were called NOBS, and what they did NOBBY, so those who imitated them would be called _quasi-nobs_, “like a nob,” which by a process of contraction would be shortened to _si-nob_, and then SNOB, one who pretends to be what he is not, and apes his betters. The short and expressive terms which many think fitly represent the three great estates of the realm—NOB, SNOB, and MOB—were all originally slang words. The last has safely passed through the vulgar ordeal of the streets, and found respectable quarters in the standard dictionaries. For fuller particulars of the genus SNOB, in all its ramifications, the reader cannot do better than apply to the general works of that great master of the subject, William Makepeace Thackeray, though it may be as well to remark that the SNOB for whom the novelist had such an aversion is now very widely known as “cad.”

~Snobbish~, stuck up, proud, make-believe.

~Snob-Stick~, a workman who refuses to join in strikes, or trade-unions. Amplification of KNOB-STICK.

~Snooks~, an imaginary personage often brought forward as the answer to an idle question, or as the perpetrator of a senseless joke. Said to be simply a shortening or abbreviation of “Sevenoaks,” the Kentish village.

~Snooze~, or SNOODGE (vulgar pronunciation), to sleep or doze.

~Snooze-case~, a pillow-slip.

~Snorter~, a blow on the nose. A hurry is sometimes called a “reg’lar SNORTER.”

~Snot~, a term of reproach applied to persons by the vulgar when vexed or annoyed, meaning really a person of the vilest description and meanest capacity. In a Westminster school vocabulary for boys, published in the last century, the term is curiously applied. Its proper meaning is the glandular mucus discharged through the nose.

~Snot~, a small bream, a slimy kind of flat fish.—_Norwich._

~Snotter~, or WIPE-HAULER, a pickpocket whose chief fancy is for gentlemen’s pocket-handkerchiefs.—_North._

~Snottinger~, a coarse word for a pocket-handkerchief. The German _Schnupftuch_ is, however, nearly as plain. A handkerchief was also anciently called a “muckinger” or “muckender,” and from that a neckerchief was called a “neckinger.”

~Snow~, wet linen, or linen hung out to dry.—_Old Cant._

~Snow-gatherer~, or SNOW-DROPPER, a rogue who steals linen from hedges and drying-grounds.

~Snuff~, “up to SNUFF,” knowing and sharp; “to take SNUFF,” to be offended. Shakspeare uses SNUFF in the sense of anger, or passion.

~Snuff it~, to die. Term very common among the lower orders of London. A fanciful variation of “putting one’s light out,” and used simply in reference to the action of the person dying. Thus any one threatening to murder another says, “I’ll put your light out,” or any one committing suicide is said to “put his own light out;” but to “SNUFF IT” is always to die from disease or accident. To “lay down one’s knife and fork,” to “peg out,” or “give up,” are variations of this form of euphemism.

~Snuffy~, tipsy, drunk.

~Snuggle~, to lie closely and cosily.

~Snyder~, a tailor. _German_, SCHNEIDER.

~Soaker~, an habitual drunkard.

~Soap~, flattery. _See_ SOFT SOAP.

~Sober-water~, a jocular allusion to the uses of soda-water.

~Social evil~, a name for some years applied to our street-walking system, in consequence of the articles in the newspapers which treat on the evils of prostitution being so headed. A good story has been often told on this subject, which will bear repeating:—“A well-known divine and philanthropist was walking in a crowded street at night in order to distribute tracts to promising subjects. A young woman was walking up and down, and he accosted her. He pointed out to her the error of her ways, implored her to reform, and tendered her a tract with fervent entreaties to go home and read it. The girl stared at him for a moment or two in sheer bewilderment; at last it dawned on her what he meant, and for what he took her, and looking up in his face with simple amazement, she exclaimed, ‘Lor’ bless you, sir, I ain’t a SOCIAL EVIL; I’m waitin’ for the ’bus!’” The enthusiasm which was felt in this direction a few years back has received considerable modification, as it has been proved that the efforts of the promoters of midnight meetings and other arrangements of a similar nature, praiseworthy though they are, have little or no effect; and that the early-closing movement in the Haymarket has done more to stamp out the SOCIAL EVIL than years of preaching, even when accompanied by tea and buns, could ever have done.