Often spelt and pronounced »sorter.» Compare _kind of_ (»_kinder_»). Both especially common in American vulgar language and probably imitated from America. to do spoons »The girl said he’d _gone to do spoons_—whatever that may mean.» (Barbara 18. 25.) _A doctor._ = _to make love_, _to flirt_. The expression may, I think, be characterised as a vulgarism; while _spoon_, as verb, originally student slang, may be considered as slang > colloquial. stow »_Stow it!_» he says. (T. T. T. 161. 14.) _Uneducated individual._ »Oh, _stow that_», she says. (T. T. T. 141. 15.) _The same._ = _hold your tongue!_ Cf. _Shut it!_ toff, toffy »I’ve mixed a good deal with the _toffs_ in my time.» (T. T. T. 133. 21.) _A waiter._ »a quiet, respectable _toff_.» (T. T. T. 138. 20.) _Uneducated young man._ »There was a party of _toffs_ there.» (Novel Notes 213. 10.) _A London ’Arry._ »a bit of a _toff_ in his off-hours.» (T. T. T. 211. 2.) _A waiter._ »_Toffy_ enough she looked in her diamonds and furs.» (T. T. T. 140. 16.) _The same._ _A toff_ = a fop, a swell. _Toffy_ (tofficky) = dressy, showy, smart. At Oxford noblemen students used to wear a golden tassel (a tuft) in their cap. Hence they were called »tufts»; so we get _toff_. to be up a tree »What would he do without you?»— »Well, I’m afraid he would be a little _up a tree_, sir, if I may be permitted a _vulgarism_.» (Woodb. Farm 31. 9.) _A servant._ To be _up a tree_ or _treed_ means _to be cornered_, _done for_, _obliged to surrender_. _To be up the tree_ is a phrase often used by City tradesmen in the sense of _bankrupt_. Probably the expression derives its origin from a cant-word _tree_ = _gallows_. a wet »’Ave _a wet_?» I declined _the wet_. (Novel Notes 205. 25.) _A young workman._ Common vulgarism for _a drink_. swarry »A day’s work, and then a pipe by your own fire-side with your slippers on. That is my _swarry_.» (T. T. T. 143. 16.) _A waiter._ _Swarry_ is here probably a vulgar corruption of the French _soirée_. (Cf. _Dickens, Pickwick Papers_, where it is still further corrupted into _leg of mutton_.) VULGARISM > COLLOQUIAL ENGLISH blither »If he was to _blither_, it was only fair that she should bleat back.» (T. T. T. 22. 21.) _The author. Conversation between ladies and gentlemen._ »Don’t believe these _blithering_ idiots have ever seen a girl before.» (Tommy and Co. 229. 12.) _A young journalist._ = _to talk volubly and nonsensically_. The original form of the word is probably _blather_ (Icelandic _bladhra_, Swed. _pladdra_), _blether_ a Scottish form, while _blither_ seems to be the modern vulgar form. (Cf. _Bletherskate_: a boaster, a noisy talker.) the blues »It gave me _the blues_ for a day or two—that bit of news.» (T. T. T. 146. 20.) _A waiter._ »Nobody likes a fit of _the blues_.» (The Idle Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow 27. 3.)