1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar TongueGrose, Francis
History
1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
Grose, Francis
English language -- Slang -- Dictionaries
HUZZA. Said to have been originally the cry of the huzzars
or Hungarian light horse; but now the national shout of
the English, both civil and military, in the sea phrase
termed a cheer; to give three cheers being to huzza thrice.
HYP, or HIP. A mode of calling to one passing by. Hip,
Michael, your head's on fire; a piece of vulgar wit to a
red haired man.
HYP. The hypochondriac: low spirits. He is hypped; he
has got the blue devils, &c.
JABBER. To talk thick and fast, as great praters usually
do, to chatter like a magpye; also to speak a foreign
language. He jabbered to me in his damned outlandish
parlez vous, but I could not understand him; he chattered
to me in French, or some other foreign language, but
I could not understand him.
JACK. A farthing, a small bowl serving as the mark for
bowlers. An instrument for pulling off boots.
JACK ADAMS. A fool. Jack Adams's parish; Clerkenwell.
JACK AT A PINCH, A poor hackney parson.
JACK IN A BOX, A sharper, or cheat. A child in the mother's
womb.
JACK IN AN OFFICE, An insolent fellow in authority.
JACK KETCH. The hangman; vide DERRICK and KETCH.
JACK NASTY FACE. A sea term, signifying a common
sailor.
JACK OF LEGS. A tall long-legged man; also a giant, said
to be buried in Weston church, near Baldock, in Hertfordshire,
where there are two stones fourteen feet distant,
said to be the head and feet stones of his grave. This
giant, says Salmon, as fame goes, lived in a wood here, and
was a great robber, but a generous one; for he plundered
the rich to feed the poor: he frequently took bread for
this purpose from the Baldock bakers, who catching him
at an advantage, put out his eyes, and afterwards hanged
him upon a knoll in Baldock field. At his death he made
one request, which was, that he might have his bow and
arrow put into his hand, and on shooting it off, where the
arrow fell, they would bury him; which being granted,
the arrow fell in Weston churchyard. Above seventy
years ago, a very large thigh bone was taken out of the
church chest, where it had lain many years for a show,
and was sold by the clerk to Sir John Tradescant, who,
it is said, put it among the rarities of Oxford.
JACK PUDDING. The merry andrew, zany, or jester to a
mountebank.
JACK ROBINSON. Before one could say Jack Robinson; a
saying to express a very short time, originating from a
very volatile gentleman of that appellation, who would call
on his neighbours, and be gone before his name could
be announced.
JACK SPRAT. A dwarf, or diminutive fellow.
JACK TAR. A sailor.
JACK WEIGHT. A fat man.
JACK WHORE. A large masculine overgrown wench.
JACKANAPES. An ape; a pert, ugly, little fellow.
JACKED. Spavined. A jacked horse.
JACKMEN. See JARKMEN.
JACKEY. Gin.
JACOB. A soft fellow. A fool.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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