»I will drift into being a _blooming_ milkman.» (T. T. T. 157. 2.) _Uneducated Londoner._ »I ain’t got a _blooming_ sixpence on me.» (Sketches 128. 11.) _The same._ »Underneath my sneering phiz I’m a _blooming_ ’Arry.» (Novel Notes 204. 10.) _The same._ »D’ye think I am a _bloomin’_ kid?» (Tommy And Co. 16. 20.) _The same._ »She gives me the _blooming_ ’ump.» (Novel Notes 202. 25.) _A workman._ »I ain’t no _blooming_ Smythe.» (Novel Notes 203. 8.) _The same._ _Blooming_ (bloomin’) is a term in high favour among the ‘vulgus’. It is a euphemism, similar to _blessed_, _blamed_, _blarmed_, etc., and is frequently used by the lower classes to emphasize words. to blue Mrs. D. »What have you done—_blued the lot_?» Mr. D. »Belinda, your _vulgar_ expressions pain me.» (The Prude’s Progr. 37. 2.) _To blue_ means here: to spend, to get rid of money quickly. _Have you blued the lot?_ = have you spent all the money? Cf. _to be blued_ = to be robbed. boss-eyed »You _boss-eyed_ old cow, you.» (Stage-Land. 58. 22.) _Uneducated young man._ _Boss-eyed_ means _squint-eyed_ or _with one eye injured_. Here it is probably the former, the expression alluding to a woman. The term may be connected with the schoolboy slang word »boss» as in »boss a shot» = make a bad shot—in which case it would refer to imperfection of the vision, rather than to obliquity in the position of the eye. bullyrag »They turn round and _bully-rag_ me for being argumentative.» (They And I. 164. 14.) _A cultivated man._ »It ain’t no use my taking her now, I’ll only get _bullyragged_ for disturbing ’em.» (P. Kelver I. 242. 30.) _Old woman of the working class._ _Bullyrag_ (or _Ballyrag_) = _to abuse_, _to scold vehemently_. (Swedish: skälla ut.) clout »I do not blame the dog (contenting myself with merely _clouting_ his head or throwing stones at him).» (Three Men In A Boat 162. 30.) = _to strike_. The word is originally a _provincialism_, but is used in vulgar language also. cockey »Yer won’t tell?—Say, ‘I swear’.» »I swear-» »Good-bye, _cockey_.» (P. Kelver I. 75. 30.) _Dialogue between two »street Arabs»._ The term has probably nothing to do with _cock-eye_ (squinting eye), but is a vulgar mode of address and diminutive of _cock_ (cf. _sonny_, _matey_, _slavey_, _chummy_ etc.), as in »a fine old cock», where the word indicates a certain superiority. cop, copper »It’s only the fools as gets _copped_.» (T. T. T. 162. 15.) _Uncultivated Londoner._ »I nearly got _copped_.» (Miss Hobbs 42. 18.) _Easy conversation between gentlemen._ »I have seen her fling her petticoats about, when the _copper_ wasn’t by.» (T. T. T. 132. 16.) _A waiter._ = _to seize_, _to catch_. The word is probably originally _thieves’ cant_, and has here the sense of _arrest_. A _cop_ or _copper_: a policeman.