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
1795. Gent. Mag., p. 20. A Harry, or errant Soph, I understand to
be either a person, four-and-twenty years of age, and of an infirm
state of health, who is permitted to dine with the fellows, and to
wear a plain, black, full-sleeved gown: or, else, he is one who,
having kept all the terms, by statute required previous to his
law-act, is hoc ipso facto entitled to wear the same garment, and,
thenceforth, ranks as bachelor, by courtesy.
1803. Gradus ad Cantabrigiam. Harry Soph; or Henry Sophister;
students who have kept all the terms required for a law act, and
hence are ranked as Bachelors of Law by courtesy. They wear a
plain, black, full-sleeved gown.
Harum-scarum, adj. and subs. (old colloquial).—1. Giddy; careless;
wild; a thoughtless or reckless fellow.
1740. Round about our Coal Fire, c. i. Peg would scuttle about to
make a toast for John, while Tom run harum scarum to draw a jug of
ale for Margery.
1780 Mad. D’Arblay, Diary, i., 358 [ed. 1842]. He seemed a mighty
rattling harem-scarem gentleman.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Harum Scarum, he was running harum
scarum, said of any one running or walking carelessly and in a
hurry, after they know not what.
1836. Marryat, Japhet, ch. xcii. I’m not one of those harum-scarum
sort, who would make up a fight when there’s no occasion for it.
1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. v. They had a quarrel with Thomas
Newcome’s own son, a harum-scarum lad, who ran away, and then was
sent to India.
1870. London Figaro, 19 Oct. ‘Within an inch.’ Tom—that’s my
son—has worked with me in the mine ever since he was quite a little
chap; and a harum-scarum young dog he was, when a boy.
2. (sporting).—Four horses driven in a line; suicide (q.v.).
Has-been, subs. (colloquial Scots’).—Anything antiquated; specifically
in commendation: as ‘the good old has-beens’; cf., never was.
1891. Sportsman, 1 Apr. Big Joe M’Auliffe proved conclusively that
he is one of the has beens or else one of the never wasers, as Dan
Rice, the circus man, always called ambitious counterfeits.
Hash, subs. (colloquial).—1. A mess; specifically in the phrase ‘to
make a hash of.’ For synonyms, see Sixes and Sevens.
1747. Walpole, Lett. to Mann, 23 Feb. (1833) Vol. II., p. 274.
About as like it, as my Lady Pomfret’s hash of plural persons and
singular verbs or infinitive moods was to Italian.
1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge, p. 115 [Ry. ed.]. Listado
never could compass Spanish, because, as he said, he had previously
learnt French, and thus spoke a hash of both.
1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘M. of Venice.’ Don’t suppose my
affairs are at all in a hash, But the fact is, at present I’m quite
out of cash.
1843. Punch’s Almanack, July (q.v.).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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