1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar TongueGrose, Francis
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1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
Grose, Francis
English language -- Slang -- Dictionaries
CACKLE. To blab, or discover secrets. The cull is leaky,
and cackles; the rogue tells all. CANT. See LEAKY.
CACKLER. A hen.
CACKLER'S KEN. A hen roost. CANT.
CACKLING CHEATS. Fowls. CANT.
CACKLING FARTS. Eggs. CANT.
CADDEE. A helper. An under-strapper.
CADGE. To beg. Cadge the swells; beg of the gentlemen.
CAFFAN. Cheese. CANT.
CAGG. To cagg; a military term used by the private soldiers,
signifying a solemn vow or resolution not to get
drunk for a certain time; or, as the term is, till their cagg
is out: which vow is commonly observed with the strictest
exactness. Ex. I have cagg'd myself for six months.
Excuse me this time, and I will cagg myself for
a year. This term is also used in the same sense among
the common people of Scotland, where it is performed
with divers ceremonies.
CAG. To be cagged. To be sulky or out of humour. The
cove carries the cag; the man is vexed or sullen.
CAG MAGG. Bits and scraps of provisions. Bad meat.
CAGG MAGGS. Old Lincolnshire geese, which having been
plucked ten or twelve years, are sent up to London to
feast the cockneys.
CAKE, or CAKEY. A foolish fellow.
CALF-SKIN FIDDLE. A drum. To smack calf's skin; to
kiss the book in taking an oath. It is held by the St.
Giles's casuists, that by kissing one's thumb instead of
smacking calf's skin, the guilt of taking a false oath is
avoided.
CALVES. His calves are gone to grass; a saying of a man
with slender legs without calves. Veal will be cheap,
calves fall; said of a man whose calves fall away.
CALVES HEAD CLUB. A club instituted by the Independents
and Presbyterians, to commemorate the decapitation
of King Charles I. Their chief fare was calves heads; and
they drank their wine and ale out of calves skulls.
CALIBOGUS. Rum and spruce beer, American beverage.
CALLE. A cloak or gown. CANT.
CAMBRIDGE FORTUNE. A wind-mill and a water-mill,
used to signify a woman without any but personal endowments.
CAMBRIDGE OAK. A willow.
CAMBRADE. A chamber fellow; a Spanish military term.
Soldiers were in that country divided into chambers, five
men making a chamber, whence it was generally used to
signify companion.
CAMESA. A shirt or shift. CANT. SPANISH.
CAMP CANDLESTICK. A bottle, or soldier's bayonet.
CAMPBELL'S ACADEMY. The hulks or lighters, on
board of which felons are condemned to hard labour.
Mr. Campbell was the first director of them. See
ACADEMY and FLOATING ACADEMY.
CANARY BIRD. A jail bird, a person used to be kept in
a cage; also, in the canting sense, guineas.
CANDLESTICKS. Bad, small, or untunable bells. Hark!
how the candlesticks rattle.
CANDY. Drunk. IRISH.
CANE. To lay Cane upon Abel; to beat any one with a
cane or stick.
CANK. Dumb.
CANNISTER. The head. To mill his cannister; to break
his head.
CANNIKIN. A small can: also, in the canting sense,
the plague.
CANT. An hypocrite, a double-tongue palavering fellow.
See PALAVER.
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