Slang and its analogues past and present, volume 3 [of 7] : $b A dictionary, historical and comparative, of the heterodox speech of all classes of society for more than three hundred years. With synonyms in English, French, German, Italian, etc.Henley, William Ernest
History
Slang and its analogues past and present, volume 3 [of 7] : $b A dictionary, historical and comparative, of the heterodox speech of all classes of society for more than three hundred years. With synonyms in English, French, German, Italian, etc.
Henley, William Ernest
English language -- Slang -- Dictionaries; Slang -- Dictionaries
Half-a-crack (or jiffy, or tick).—Half a second.
Half-and-half, subs. (colloquial).—Equal quantities of ale and porter;
Cf., Four-half and Drinks.
1824. Reynolds, Peter Corcoran, 41. Over my gentle half-and-half.
1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 111. We were never tired of
wondering how the hackney-coachmen on the opposite stand could ...
drink pots of half-and-half so near the last drop.
1841. Albert Smith (in Punch). ‘The Physiology of the London
Medical Student.’ Half-and-half ... is ... ale and porter, the
proportion of the porter increasing in an inverse ratio to the
respectability of the public house you get it from.
1854. Martin and Aytoun, Bon Gaultier Ballads. ‘My Wife’s Cousin.’
Half-and-half goes down before him, Gurgling from the pewter-pot;
And he moves a counter motion For a glass of something hot.
1872. Fun, July. ‘The Right Tap.’ If the lever, meaning a plumper,
were labelled ‘stout,’ and those recording a split vote half and
half, the illusion would be complete.
Adj. (common).—Half-drunk; half-on (q.v.). For synonyms, see Drinks and
Screwed.
1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London. Half and half, half seas over,
tipsy.
Half-and-half-coves (or men, boys, etc.), subs. (old).—Cheap or
linsey-woolsey dandies; half-bucks (q.v.) and half-tigers (q.v.).
1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i., 7. Jerry. The half-and-half
coves are somewhat different from the swaddies, and gay tyke boys,
at the dog pit—Eh, Tom?
Half-an-eye. To see with half an eye, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To
discern readily; to be quick at conclusions.
Half-baked (or Soft-baked), adj. (common).—Halfwitted; cracked; soft
(q.v.); doughy (q.v.); also half-rocked (q.v.). For synonyms, see
Apartments and Tile Loose. Fr., n’avoir pas la tête bien cuite.
1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ii., 221. He must scheme forsooth,
this half-baked Scotch cake! He must hold off and on, and be
cautious, and wait the result, and try conclusions with me, this
lump of natural dough!
1857. C. Kingsley, Two Years Ago, ch. iv. ‘A sort of half-baked
body,’ said Kate.
1886. W. Besant, Children of Gibeon, Bk. II., ch. xiv. A daughter
of seventeen not quite right in her head—half-baked, to use the
popular and feeling expression.
1890. Answers, Xmas No., p. 19, c. 3. ‘You needn’t be so crusty,’
said Todkins to his better half. ‘Better be a little crusty than
not half-baked,’ was the reply of his amiable spouse.
1892. Pall Mall Gaz., 1 Nov., p. 2, c. 3. Mr. Vane Tempest as
serenest of half-baked cynics, and Mr. H. Vincent as most credulous
of bibulous optimists.
Half-breed, subs. (American political).—A nick-name applied to certain
New York Republicans, who wavered in their allegiance during an
election to the Senate in 1881.—Norton.
Half-cocked, adv. (common).—Half-drunk. For synonyms, see Drinks and
Screwed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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