| 18th Century Thieves Cant |
|---|
|
Food, Drink and Tobacco
|
| Ale, Beer and Porter |
|---|
| ACT OF PARLIAMENT | A military term for small beer, five pints of which, by an act of parliament, a landlord was formerly obliged to give to each soldier gratis. | 1811 |
| BELCH | any sort of Malt-liquor so called. | 1736 |
| BELCH | All sorts of beer; that liquor being apt to cause eructation. | 1811 |
| BENE BOWSE | Good beer, or other strong liquor. Cant. | 1811 |
| BRITISH CHAMPAIGNE | Porter. | 1811 |
| BUB | Strong beer. | 1811 |
| ENGLISH BURGUNDY | Porter. | 1811 |
| ENGLISH MANUFACTURE | Ale, Beer, or Cyder. | 1736 |
| HARD | Stale beer, nearly sour, is said to be hard. Hard also means severe: as, hard fate, a hard master. | 1811 |
| HUM-CAP | old, mellow, and very strong Beer. | 1736 |
| HUM CAP | Very old and strong beer, called also stingo. See STINGO. | 1811 |
| HUMMING LIQUOR | Double Ale, Stout, Pharaoh. | 1736 |
| HUMMING LIQUOR | Double ale, stout pharaoh. See PHARAOH. | 1811 |
| KNOCK DOWN | very strong Ale or Beer. | 1736 |
| KNOCK ME DOWN | Strong ale or beer, stingo. | 1811 |
| LUSH | Strong beer. | 1811 |
| NAPPY-ALE | very strong, heady. | 1736 |
| NAPPY ALE | Strong ale. | 1811 |
| OYL OF BARLEY | strong Drink. | 1736 |
| OIL OF BARLEY, or BARLEY BROTH | Strong beer. | 1811 |
| PHARAOH | very strong Malt Drink. | 1736 |
| PHARAOH | Strong malt liquor. | 1811 |
| ROT-GUT | very small or thin Beer. | 1736 |
| ROT GUT | Small beer; called beer-a-bumble--will burst one's guts before it will make one tumble. | 1811 |
| SIR JOHN BARLEYCORN | Strong beer. | 1811 |
| STINGO | Strong beer, or other liquor. | 1811 |
| STITCH-BACK | very strong Ale. | 1736 |
| STITCHBACK | Strong ale. | 1811 |
| SWIPES | Purser's swipes; small beer: so termed on board the king's ships, where it is furnished by the purser. | 1811 |
| TAPLASH | Thick and bad beer. | 1811 |
| THREE THREADS | half common Ale, and half Stout or double Beer. | 1736 |
| THREE THREADS | Half common ale, mixed with stale and double beer. | 1811 |
| WATER BEWITCHED | Very weak punch or beer. | 1811 |
| WHIP-BELLY VENGEANCE, or pinch-gut vengeance | Weak or sour beer. | 1811 |
| Brandy and Gin |
|---|
| BINGO | Geneva, or Brandy. | 1736 |
| BINGO | Brandy or other spirituous liquor. Cant. | 1811 |
| BLUE RUIN | Gin. Blue ribband; gin. | 1811 |
| BLUE RUIN | Gin. Blue ribband; gin. | 1811 |
| BLUE TAPE, or SKY BLUE | Gin. | 1811 |
| BRANDY | Brandy is Latin for a goose; a memento to prevent the animal from rising in the stomach by a glass of the good creature. | 1811 |
| BUMBO | Brandy, water, and sugar; also the negro name for the private parts of a woman. | 1811 |
| COLD-TEA | Brandy. A couple of cold Words, a Curtain-Lecture. Cold Iron, a derisory Periphrasis for a Sword. | 1736 |
| COOL-NANTZ | Brandy. | 1736 |
| COOL NANTS | Brandy. | 1811 |
| COOL TANKARD | Wine and water, with lemon, sugar, and burrage. | 1811 |
| CONNY WABBLE | Eggs and brandy beat up together. IRISH. | 1811 |
| CRANK | Gin and water; also, brisk, pert. | 1811 |
| DIDDLE | Geneva, a Liquor very much drank by the lowest Rank of People | 1736 |
| DIDDLE | Gin. | 1811 |
| DRAIN | Gin: so called from the diuretic qualities imputed to that liquor. | 1811 |
| FRENCH CREAM | Brandy; so called by the old tabbies and dowagers when drank in their tea. | 1811 |
| FROG'S WINE | Gin. | 1811 |
| HEART'S EASE | Gin. | 1811 |
| JACKEY | Gin. | 1811 |
| LADY DACRE'S WINE | Gin. | 1811 |
| LIGHTNING | Gin. A flash of lightning; a glass of gin. | 1811 |
| LINE OF THE OLD AUTHOR | a Dram of Brandy. | 1736 |
| LINE OF THE OLD AUTHOR | A dram of brandy. | 1811 |
| MAX | Gin. | 1811 |
| RAG-WATER | a common sort of strong Water. | 1736 |
| RAG WATER | Gin, or any other common dram: these liquors seldom failing to reduce those that drink them to rags. | 1811 |
| RED RIBBIN | Brandy. | 1811 |
| RIBBIN | Blue ribbin. Gin. The cull lushes the blue ribbin; the silly fellow drinks common gin. | 1811 |
| RUM-NANTZ | true French Brandy. | 1736 |
| RUM NANTZ | Good French brandy. CANT. | 1811 |
| SKY BLUE | Gin. | 1811 |
| SOUTH-SEA MOUNTAIN | Geneva. | 1736 |
| STRIP ME NAKED | Gin. | 1811 |
| SUIT AND CLOAK | good Store of Brandy or any agreeable Liquor. | 1736 |
| TAPE | Red tape; brandy. Blue or white tape; gin. | 1811 |
| WHITE RIBBIN | Gin. | 1811 |
| WHITE TAPE | Geneva. | 1811 |
| WHITE WOOL | Geneva. | 1811 |
| Wine |
|---|
| BALDERDASH | Adulterated wine. | 1811 |
| BLACK STRAP | Bene Carlo wine; also port. A task of labour imposed on soldiers at Gibraltar, as a punishment for small offences. | 1811 |
| BRISTOL MILK | A Spanish wine called sherry, much drunk at that place, particularly in the morning. | 1811 |
| CLARET | French red wine; figuratively, blood. I tapped his claret; I broke his head, and made the blood run. Claret-faced; red-faced. | 1811 |
| KILL PRIEST | Port wine. | 1811 |
| RED-FUSTIAN | Claret, or red Port-Wine. | 1736 |
| RED FUSTIAN | port wine. | 1811 |
| RUM-BOOZE | Wine; also very good or string Drink. | 1736 |
| RUM BOOZE | Wine, or any other good liquor. Rum boozing welts; bunches of grapes. CANT. | 1811 |
| RUM-GUTLERS | Canary-Wine; also fine Eating. | 1736 |
| SHAFTSBURY | A gallon pot full of wine, with a cock. | 1811 |
| Other Alcoholic Drink |
|---|
| BAPTIZED, OR CHRISTENED | Rum, brandy, or any other spirits, that have been lowered with water. | 1811 |
| BENE-BOWSE | strong Liquor. | 1736 |
| COCK ALE | A provocative drink. | 1811 |
| CUP OF THE CREATURE | strong-Liquor. | 1736 |
| CUP OF THE CREATURE | A cup of good liquor. | 1811 |
| FREEZE | a thin, small, hard Cyder, much used by Vintners and Coopers in parting their Wines, to lower the Price of them, and to advance their Gain. A Freezing Vintner, a vintner that balderdashes his Wine. | 1736 |
| FREEZE | A thin, small, hard cider, much used by vintners and coopers in parting their wines, to lower the price of them, and to advance their gain. A freezing vintner; a vintner who balderdashes his wine. | 1811 |
| GRAPPLE THE RAILS | A cant name used in Ireland for whiskey. | 1811 |
| GROG | Rum and water. Grog was first introduced into the navy about the year 1740, by Admiral Vernon, to prevent the sailors intoxicating themselves with their allowance of rum, or spirits. Groggy, or groggified; drunk. | 1811 |
| KILL-DEVIL | Rum. | 1736 |
| KILL DEVIL | New still-burnt rum. | 1811 |
| MANUFACTURE | any Liquor made of the Fruits of English Growth, as Ale, Beer, Cyder, etc. | 1736 |
| MANUFACTURE | Liquors prepared from materials of English growth. | 1811 |
| OLD-HARRY | a Composition used by Vintners when they bedevil their Wines. | 1736 |
| PERKIN | Water cyder. | 1811 |
| PUG DRINK | Watered cyder. | 1811 |
| SOUTH-SEA | a strong distill'd Liquor, so called by the Inhabitants and Clients of Newgate, etc. | 1736 |
| STINGO | humming, strong Liquor. | 1736 |
| SUCK | Wine or strong Drink. This is rum Suck; It is excellent Tipple. We'll go and Suck our Faces; but if they toute us, we'll take Rattle, and brush; Let's go to drink and be merry; but if we be smelt by the People of the House, we must scowre off. He loves to Suck his Face; He delights in Drinking. | 1736 |
| SUCK | Strong liquor of any sort. To suck the monkey; see MONKEY. Sucky; drunk. | 1811 |
| SWIZZLE | Drink, or any brisk or windy liquor. In North America, a mixture of spruce beer, rum, and sugar, was so called. The 17th regiment had a society called the Swizzle Club, at Ticonderoga, A. D. 1760. | 1811 |
| TIPPLE | Liquor. | 1811 |
| WHISKY | A malt spirit much drank in Ireland and Scotland; also a one-horse chaise. See TIM WHISKY. | 1811 |
| Mixed Drinks |
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| ALL NATIONS | A composition of all the different spirits sold in a dram-shop, collected in a vessel into which the drainings of the bottles and quartern pots are emptied. | 1811 |
| BISHOP | A mixture of wine and water, into which is put a roasted orange. Also one of the largest of Mrs. Philips's purses, used to contain the others. | 1811 |
| BRAGGET | Mead and ale sweetened with honey. | 1811 |
| CALIBOGUS | Rum and spruce beer, American beverage. | 1811 |
| COBBLERS PUNCH | Treacle, vinegar, gin, and water. | 1811 |
| DOCTOR | Milk and water, with a little rum, and some nutmeg; also the name of a composition used by distillers, to make spirits appear stronger than they really are, or, in their phrase, better proof. | 1811 |
| FLIP | Small beer, brandy, and sugar: this mixture, with the addition of a lemon, was by sailors, formerly called Sir Cloudsly, in memory of Sir Cloudsly Shovel, who used frequently to regale himself with it. | 1811 |
| HOT POT | Ale and brandy made hot. | 1811 |
| HUCKLE MY BUFF | Beer, egg, and brandy, made hot. | 1811 |
| HUMPTEY-DUMPTEY | Ale boil'd with Brandy. | 1736 |
| PURL | Ale in which wormwood has been infused, or ale and bitters drunk warm. | 1811 |
| PURL-ROYAL | Canary with a Dash of Wormwood. | 1736 |
| PURL ROYAL | Canary wine; with a dash of tincture of wormwood. | 1811 |
| STEWED QUAKER | Burnt rum, with a piece of butter: an American remedy for a cold. | 1811 |
| PUNCH | A liquor called by foreigners Contradiction, from its being composed of spirits to make it strong, water to make it weak, lemon juice to make it sour, and sugar to make it sweet. Punch is also the name of the prince of puppets, the chief wit and support of a puppet-show. To punch it, is a cant term for running away. Punchable; old passable money, anno 1695. A girl that is ripe for man is called a punchable wench. Cobler's Punch. Urine with a cinder in it. | 1811 |
| RUMBO | Rum, water, and sugar; also a prison. | 1811 |
| SIX AND TIPS | Whisky and small beer. IRISH. | 1811 |
| TAPE | Red or White, Geneva, Aniseed, Clove water, so called by Canters and Villains, and the Renters of the Trap, etc. in Newgate, ans other Prisons. | 1736 |
| TODDY | Originally the juice of the cocoa tree, and afterwards rum, water, sugar, and nutmeg. | 1811 |
| TWIST | A mixture of brandy, beer, and eggs. [also a mixture of tea and coffee] | 1811 |
| Non-alcoholic Drink |
|---|
| ADAM'S ALE | Water. | 1811 |
| AQUA PUMPAGINIS | Pump water. APOTHECARIES LATIN. | 1811 |
| CAT LAP | Tea, called also scandal broth. See SCANDAL BROTH. | 1811 |
| CHATTER BROTH | Tea. See CAT LAP and SCANDAL BROTH. | 1811 |
| CONTENT | A thick liquor, in imitation of chocolate, made of milk and gingerbread. | 1811 |
| COW JUICE | Milk. | 1811 |
| DOG'S SOUP | Rain water. | 1811 |
| GRUTS | Tea. | 1811 |
| LAG | Water; also last. | 1736 |
| LAGE | Water. CANT. | 1811 |
| LAP | Pottage, Butter-milk, or Whey. | 1736 |
| LAP | Butter-milk or whey. CANT. | 1811 |
| MAHOMETAN GRUEL | Coffee: because formerly used chiefly by the Turks. | 1811 |
| POMPAGINIS | Aqua pompaginis; pump water. See AQUA. | 1811 |
| PRATTLE BROTH | Tea. See CHATTER BROTH, SCANDAL BROTH, &c. | 1811 |
| SCANDAL BROTH | Tea. | 1811 |
| SCOTCH CHOCOLATE | Brimstone and milk. | 1811 |
| SLIPSLOPS | Tea, water-gruel, or any innocent beverage taken medicinally. | 1811 |
| SLOP | Tea. How the blowens lush the slop. How the wenches drink tea! | 1811 |
| SNOW-BROTH | Snow-water. | 1736 |
| STEPNEY | A decoction of raisins of the sun and lemons in conduit water, sweetened with sugar, and bottled up. | 1811 |
| TWIST | A mixture of half tea and half coffee; likewise brandy, beer, and eggs. A good twist; a good appetite. To twist it down apace; to eat heartily. | 1811 |
| YARUM | Milk, or Food made of Milk. | 1736 |
| YARUM | Milk. CANT. | 1811 |
| Drinkers and Drunkards |
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| ALTITUDES | The man is in his altitudes, i.e. he is drunk. | 1811 |
| BINGO-BOY | a great Geneva Drinker. | 1736 |
| BINGO BOY | A dram drinker. Cant. | 1811 |
| BINGO-CLUB | a Club of Geneva Drinkers. | 1736 |
| BINGO-MORT | a She Brandy Drinker. | 1736 |
| BINGO MORT | A female dram drinker. Cant. | 1811 |
| BUNG YOUR EYE | Drink a dram; strictly speaking, to drink till one's eye is bunged up or closed. | 1811 |
| ENSIGN BEARER | A drunken man, who looks red in the face, or hoists his colours in his drink. | 1811 |
| GOOD FELLOW | a Pot Companion or Friend of the Bottle. | 1736 |
| GUZZLE GUTS | One greedy of liquor. | 1811 |
| NAZIE-COVE | a Drunkard. | 1736 |
| NAZY-MORT | a she Drunkard. | 1736 |
| NAZY-NABS | Drunken Coxcombs. | 1736 |
| PISS MAKER | A great drinker, one much given to liquor. | 1811 |
| SOUL | one that loves Brandy. | 1736 |
| SWILL TUB | A drunkard, a sot. | 1811 |
| TICKLE-PITCHER | a Tosspot, or Pot-companion. A lewd Man or Woman. | 1736 |
| TIPLER | a Fuddle-cap, or Toss pot. | 1736 |
| TIPPLERS | Sots who are continually sipping. | 1811 |
| TOPE | to drink. An old Toper; a staunch Drunkard. To tope it about, or Dust it about; To drink briskly about. | 1736 |
| TOPER | One that loves his bottle, a soaker. SEE TO SOAK. | 1811 |
| TOSS POT | A drunkard. | 1811 |
| VICE ADMIRAL OF THE NARROW SEAS | A drunken man that pisses under the table into his companions' shoes. | 1811 |
| WET-QUAKER | a Drunkard of that Sect. | 1736 |
| Drunk |
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| BOOSEY | Drunk. | 1811 |
| BOWSY | Drunk. | 1736 |
| CHIRPING-MERRY | very pleasant over a Glass of good Liquor. | 1736 |
| CHIRPING MERRY | Exhilarated with liquor. Chirping glass, a cheerful glass, that makes the company chirp like birds in spring. | 1811 |
| CLEAR | Very drunk. The cull is clear, let's bite him; the fellow is very drunk, let's cheat him. CANT. | 1811 |
| CORNED | Drunk. | 1811 |
| CROWN OFFICE | as, He is got into the Crown Office, i.e. He's got drunk. | 1736 |
| CUP-SHOT | Drunk. | 1736 |
| CUP-SHOT | Drunk. | 1811 |
| CUT | Drunk. Deep Cut, very Drunk. Cut in the Leg or Back, the same. To Cut, also signifies to speak. To Cut bene, to speak gently, civilly or kindly; To Cut bene (or benar) Whidds, to give good Words. To Cut queere Whid's, to give ill Language. A Blow with a Stick or Cane, is also called a Cut. As, I took him a Cut cross the Shoulders. | 1736 |
| CUT | Drunk. A little cut over the head; slightly intoxicated. To cut; to leave a person or company. To cut up well; to die rich. | 1811 |
| DAVID'S SOW | As drunk as David's sow; a common saying, which took its rise from the following circumstance: One David Lloyd, a Welchman, who kept an alehouse at Hereford, had a living sow with six legs, which was greatly resorted to by the curious; he had also a wife much addicted to drunkenness, for which he used sometimes to give her due correction. One day David's wife having taken a cup too much, and being fearful of the consequences, turned out the sow, and lay down to sleep herself sober in the stye. A company coming in to see the sow, David ushered them into the stye, exclaiming, there is a sow for you! did any of you ever see such another? all the while supposing the sow had really been there; to which some of the company, seeing the state the woman was in, replied, it was the drunkenest sow they had ever beheld; whence the woman was ever after called David's sow. | 1811 |
| DISGUISED | Drunk. | 1811 |
| EMPEROR | Drunk as an emperor, i.e. ten times as drunk as a lord. | 1811 |
| DROP IN HIS EYE | almost drunk. | 1736 |
| DROP IN THE EYE | Almost drunk. | 1811 |
| FLAW'D | Drunk. | 1736 |
| FLAWD | Drunk. | 1811 |
| FLUSTER'D | Drunk. | 1736 |
| FLUSTERED | Drunk. | 1811 |
| FOXED | Drunk. | 1736 |
| FOXED | Intoxicated. | 1811 |
| GUN | as He's in the Gun; he's in Liquor. | 1736 |
| HALF SEAS OVER | almost drunk. | 1736 |
| HALF SEAS OVER | Almost drunk. | 1811 |
| HARE | as he has swallowd a Hare, he is very drunk. | 1736 |
| HARE | He has swallowed a hare; he is drunk; more probably a HAIR, which requires washing down, | 1811 |
| HICKEY | Tipsey; quasi, hickupping. | 1811 |
| HOCKEY | Drunk with strong stale beer, called old hock. See HICKEY. | 1811 |
| HOCUS | disguised in Liquor; drunk. | 1736 |
| LUSHEY | Drunk. The rolling kiddeys hud a spree, and got bloody lushey; the dashing lads went on a party of pleasure, and got very drunk. | 1811 |
| MAUDLIN DRUNK | Crying drunk: perhaps from Mary Magdalene, called Maudlin, who is always painted in tears. | 1811 |
| MAUL'D | swinglingly drunk, or soundly beat. | 1736 |
| MAULED | Extremely drunk, or soundly beaten. | 1811 |
| MAWDLIN | weepingly drunk. | 1736 |
| MELLOW | Almost drunk. | 1811 |
| NAZIE | Drunken. | 1736 |
| PIN | In or to a merry pin; almost drunk: an allusion to a sort of tankard, formerly used in the north, having silver pegs or pins set at equal distances from the top to the bottom: by the rules of good fellowship, every person drinking out of one of these tankards, was to swallow the quantity contained between two pins; if he drank more or less, he was to continue drinking till he ended at a pin: by this means persons unaccustomed to measure their draughts were obliged to drink the whole tankard. Hence when a person was a little elevated with liquor, he was said to have drunk to a merry pin. | 1811 |
| POGY | Drunk. | 1811 |
| POT-VALIANT | Drunk. | 1736 |
| SACK | also signifies to be drunk; As, He bought the Sack; i.e. He got drunk. | 1736 |
| SUCKY | drunkish, maudling, half-Seas over. | 1736 |
| SURVEYOR OF THE HIGHWAYS | One reeling drunk. | 1811 |
| TIPSY | almost drunk. | 1736 |
| TIPSEY | Almost drunk. | 1811 |
| TOP-HEAVY | Drunk. | 1736 |
| TOP HEAVY | Drunk. | 1811 |
| WOMBLE-TY-CROPT | the Indisposition of a Drunkard after a Debauch in Wine or other Liquors: As, He is Womble-ty Cropt; He is Cropsick, etc. | 1736 |
| WRAPT UP IN WARM FLANNEL | Drunk with spirituous liquors. He was wrapt up in the tail of his mother's smock; saying of any one remarkable for his success with the ladies. To be wrapt up in any one: to have a good opinion of him, or to be under his influence. | 1811 |
| Drinking Places |
|---|
| BOWSING KEN | an Ale-house. | 1736 |
| BOWSING KEN | An ale-house or gin-shop. | 1811 |
| HEDGE ALEHOUSE | A small obscure alehouse. | 1811 |
| HEDGE-TAVERN | or Alehouse; a jilting, sharping Tavern, or blind Ale-house. | 1736 |
| MUMPERS HALL | several Ale-houses in and about this City and Suburbs, in Alleys, and By-places, much used by them, and resorted to in the Evening, where they will be very merry, drunk, and frolicksome. | 1736 |
| MUMPERS HALL | An alehouse where beggars are harboured. | 1811 |
| TOUTING-KEN | a Tavern or Ale-house Bar. | 1736 |
| WASTE | House of waste; a tavern or alehouse, where idle people waste both their time and money. | 1811 |
| WHISTLING SHOP | Rooms in the King's Bench and Fleet prison where drams are privately sold. | 1811 |
| Drink Containers |
|---|
| BAWDY-HOUSE-BOTTLE | a very small one. | 1736 |
| BAWDY-HOUSE BOTTLE | A very small bottle; short measure being among the many means used by the keepers of those houses, to gain what they call an honest livelihood: indeed this is one of the least reprehensible; the less they give a man of their infernal beverages for his money, the kinder they behave to him. | 1811 |
| BLACK-JACK | a leather-Jug to drink in. | 1736 |
| BLACK JACK | A jug to drink out of, made of jacked leather. | 1811 |
| BORACHIO | A skin for holding wine, commonly a goat's; also a nick name for a drunkard. | 1811 |
| BOUNCING-CHEAT | a Bottle. | 1736 |
| BOUNCING CHEAT | A bottle; from the explosion in drawing the cork. CANT. | 1811 |
| BRUSHER | A bumper, a full glass. See BUMPER. | 1811 |
| BUBBER | a drinking Bowl; also a great Drinker, also one who steals plate from public Houses. | 1736 |
| BUBBER | A drinking bowl; also a great drinker; a thief that steals plate from public houses. CANT. | 1811 |
| BUMPER | A full glass; in all likelihood from its convexity or bump at the top: some derive it from a full glass formerly drunk to the health of the pope--AU BON PERE. | 1811 |
| CLANK | A silver tankard. CANT. | 1811 |
| DEAD-MEN | empty Pots or Bottles ona Tavern Table. | 1736 |
| FLICKER | a Drinking Glass. The Flicker snapt, the Glass is broken. Nim the Flicker. Steal the Glass. Rum Flicker, a large Glass or Rummer. Queer Flicker, a green or ordinary Glass. | 1736 |
| FLICKER | A drinking glass. CANT. | 1811 |
| GREY BEARD | Earthen jugs formerly used in public house for drawing ale: they had the figure of a man with a large beard stamped on them; whence probably they took the name: see BEN JONSON'S PLAYS, BARTHOLOMEW FAIR, &c. &c. Dutch earthen jugs, used for smuggling gin on the coasts of Essex and Suffolk, are at this time called grey beards. | 1811 |
| JINGLE-BOXES | Leathern Jacks tipt and hung with Silver Bells, formerly in use among Fuddle-caps. | 1736 |
| MARINE OFFICER | An empty bottle: marine officers being held useless by the seamen. SEA WIT. | 1811 |
| RABBITS | wooden Cans to drink out of, once used on the Roads, now almost laid by. | 1736 |
| ROMER | a drinking Glass; also wider. | 1736 |
| SCOTCH PINT | A bottle containing two quarts. | 1811 |
| SOLDIERS-BOTTLE | a large one. | 1736 |
| SOLDIER'S BOTTLE | A large one. | 1811 |
| STOUP | A vessel to hold liquor: a vessel containing a size or half a pint, is so called at Cambridge. | 1811 |
| TALL-BOY | a Pottle or two Quart Pot. | 1736 |
| TALL BOY | A bottle, or two-quart pot. | 1811 |
| WHISKINS | shallow, brown Bowls to drink out of. | 1736 |
| WHISKIN | A shallow brown drinking bowl. | 1811 |
| Drink Measures |
|---|
| BRUSHER | a very full Glass of Liquor. | 1736 |
| COGUE | of brandy, a small Cup or Dram. | 1736 |
| COGUE | A dram of any spirituous liquor. | 1811 |
| DRAM | A glass or small measure of any spirituous liquors, which, being originally sold by apothecaries, were estimated by drams, ounces, &c. Dog's dram; to spit in his mouth, and clap his back. | 1811 |
| GAGE | A quart pot, or a pint; also a pipe. CANT. | 1811 |
| GILL | a Quartern (of Brandy, Wine etc.) also a homely Woman. | 1736 |
| NYP, or NIP | A half pint, a nip of ale: whence the nipperkin, a small vessel. | 1811 |
| SHOVE IN THE MOUTH | A dram. | 1811 |
| SIZE OF ALE | Half a pint. Size of bread and cheese; a certain quantity. Sizings: Cambridge term for the college allowance from the buttery, called at Oxford battles. | 1811 |
| SNOUT | a Hogshead. | 1736 |
| SNOUT | A hogshead. CANT. | 1811 |
| Drink in General |
|---|
| BOOSE, or BOUSE | Drink. | 1811 |
| BOOZE | Vide BOWSE. | 1736 |
| BOWSE | Drink, or to drink; see Benbowse [[Bene-Bowse]] and Rumbowse [[Rumbowse is not actually defined]]. | 1736 |
| BUB | drink. Rumbub very good Tipple. | 1736 |
| FUDDLE | Drink. This is rum Fuddle, this is excellent Tipple. | 1736 |
| FUDDLE | Drunk. This is rum fuddle; this is excellent tipple, or drink. Fuddle; drunk. Fuddle cap; a drunkard. | 1811 |
| GUZZLE | Drink. | 1736 |
| GUZZLE | Liquor. To guzzle; to drink greedily. | 1811 |
| RUM-SQUEEZE | much Wine or good Liquor given among the Fidlers. | 1736 |
| SLUICE YOUR GOB | Take a hearty drink. | 1811 |
| TO SOAK | To drink. An old soaker; a drunkard, one that moistens his clay to make it stick together. | 1811 |
| SWIG | a draught of Liquor; To swig it off; To drink it all up. | 1736 |
| SWIG | A hearty draught of liquor. | 1811 |
| TO SWILL | To drink greedily. | 1811 |
| TAPLASH | wretched, sorry Drink, or Hogwash. | 1736 |
| WIBBLE | sad Drink. | 1736 |
| WIBBLE | Bad drink. | 1811 |
| Other Drinking Terms |
|---|
| BEAST | To drink like a beast, i.e. only when thirsty. | 1811 |
| BLACK EYE | We gave the bottle a black eye, i.e. drank it almost up. He cannot say black is the white of my eye; he cannot point out a blot in my character. | 1811 |
| To CAROUSE | To drink freely or deep: from the German word expressing ALL OUT. | 1811 |
| CATHARPIN FASHION | when People in Company drink cross, and not round about from the Right to the Left, or according to the Sun's Motion. | 1736 |
| CAT HARPING FASHION | Drinking cross-ways, and not, as usual, over the left thumb. SEA TERM. | 1811 |
| CHAPT | dry or thirsty. | 1736 |
| DRAM-A-TICK | A dram served upon credit. | 1811 |
| DUST IT AWAY | Drink quick about. | 1736 |
| FELLOW COMMONER | An empty bottle: so called at the university of Cambridge, where fellow commoners are not in general considered as over full of learning. At Oxford an empty bottle is called a gentleman commoner for the same reason. They pay at Cambridge 250 l. a year for the privilege of wearing a gold or silver tassel to their caps. The younger branches of the nobility have the privilege of wearing a hat, and from thence are denominated HAT FELLOW COMMONERS. | 1811 |
| TO FIRE A SLUG | To drink a dram. | 1811 |
| GENTLEMAN COMMONER | An empty bottle; an university joke, gentlemen commoners not being deemed over full of learning. | 1811 |
| GUTTING A QUART POT | Taking out the lining of it: i. e. drinking it off. Gutting an oyster; eating it. Gutting a house; clearing it of its furniture. See POULTERER. | 1811 |
| GUZZLING | drinking much. | 1736 |
| HANG IT UP | Score it up: speaking of a reckoning. | 1811 |
| HEEL TAP | A peg in the heel of a shoe, taken out when it is finished. A person leaving any liquor in his glass, is frequently called upon by the toast-master to take off his heel-tap. | 1811 |
| HERTFORDSHIRE KINDNESS | Drinking twice to the same person. | 1811 |
| HOT STOMACH | He has so hot a stomach, that he burns all the clothes off his back; said of one who pawns his clothes to purchase liquor. | 1811 |
| ISLAND | He drank out of the bottle till he saw the island; the island is the rising bottom of a wine bottle, which appears like an island in the centre, before the bottle is quite empty. | 1811 |
| TO LUSH | To drink. | 1811 |
| MOLL THOMPSON'S MARK | M. T. i.e. empty: as, Take away this bottle, it has Moll Thompson's mark upon it. | 1811 |
| MONKEY | To suck the monkey; to suck or draw wine, or any other liquor, privately out of a cask, by means of a straw, or small tube. Monkey's allowance; more kicks than halfpence. Who put that monkey on horseback without tying his legs? vulgar wit on a bad horseman. | 1811 |
| To MOP UP | To drink up. To empty a glass or pot. | 1811 |
| NYP SHOP | The Peacock in Gray's Inn Lane, where Burton ale is sold in nyps. | 1811 |
| OLD HARRY | A composition used by vintners to adulterate their wines; also the nick-name for the devil. | 1811 |
| PARELL | Whites of eggs, bay salt, milk, and pump water, beat together, and poured into a vessel of wine to prevent its fretting. | 1811 |
| REMEMBER PARSON MELHAM | Drink about: a Norfolk phrase. | 1811 |
| RUM SQUEEZE | Much wine, or good liquor, given among fiddlers. CANT. | 1811 |
| WHET | A morning's draught, commonly white wine, supposed to whet or sharpen the appetite. | 1811 |
| Food |
|---|
| ALDERMAN | A roasted turkey garnished with sausages; the latter are supposed to represent the gold chain worn by those magistrates. | 1811 |
| BELLY TIMBER | Food of all sorts. | 1811 |
| BEVER | An Afternoons Lunchion. | 1736 |
| BEVER | An afternoon's luncheon | 1811 |
| BONNY-CLAPPER | sowre Butter-milk. | 1736 |
| BOW-WOW MUTTON | Dog's flesh. | 1811 |
| BUBBLE AND SQUEAK | Beef and cabbage fried together. It is so called from its bubbling up and squeaking whilst over the fire. | 1811 |
| CACKLING-FARTS | Eggs | 1736 |
| CACKLING FARTS | Eggs. CANT. | 1811 |
| CAFFAN | Cheese. CANT. | 1811 |
| CAG MAGG | Bits and scraps of provisions. Bad meat. | 1811 |
| CAGG MAGGS | Old Lincolnshire geese, which having been plucked ten or twelve years, are sent up to London to feast the cockneys. | 1811 |
| CAPTAIN LIEUTENANT | Meat between veal and beef, the flesh of an old calf; a military simile, drawn from the officer of that denomination, who has only the pay of a lieutenant, with the rank of captain; and so is not entirely one or the other, but between both. | 1811 |
| CASH | or Cassan, cheese. | 1736 |
| CASH, or CAFFAN | Cheese; CANT. See CAFFAN. | 1811 |
| CHOUDER | A sea-dish, composed of fresh fish, salt pork, herbs, and sea-biscuits, laid in different layers, and stewed together. | 1811 |
| COLCANNON | Potatoes and cabbage pounded together in a mortar, and then stewed with butter: an Irish dish. | 1811 |
| COLT VEAL | Coarse red veal, more like the flesh of a colt than that of a calf. | 1811 |
| CRACKER | Crust, sea biscuit, or ammunition loaf; also the backside. Farting crackers; breeches. | 1811 |
| CROWDY | Oatmeal and water, or milk; a mess much eaten in the north. | 1811 |
| DEVIL | The gizzard of a turkey or fowl, scored, peppered, salted and broiled: it derives its appellation from being hot in the mouth. | 1811 |
| FIELD LANE DUCK | A baked sheep's head. | 1811 |
| FLUMMERY | Oatmeal and water boiled to a jelly; also compliments, neither of which are over-nourishing. | 1811 |
| FURMITY, or FROMENTY | Wheat boiled up to a jelly. To simper like a furmity kettle: to smile, or look merry about the gills. | 1811 |
| GALIMAUFREY | A hodgepodge made up of the remnants and scraps of the larder. | 1811 |
| GRANNAM | Corn. | 1736 |
| GERMAN DUCK | Half a sheep's head boiled with onions. | 1811 |
| GINGERBREAD | A cake made of treacle, flour, and grated ginger; also money. He has the gingerbread; he is rich. | 1811 |
| GRANNAM | Corn. | 1811 |
| GRUB | Victuals. | 1736 |
| GRUB | to eat, to dine, etc. | 1736 |
| GRUB | Victuals. To grub; to dine. | 1811 |
| GRUNTER'S GIG | A smoaked hog's face. | 1811 |
| GRUNTING-PECK | Pork. | 1736 |
| GRUNTING PECK | Pork, bacon, or any kind of hog's flesh. | 1811 |
| GUT-FOUNDERED | exceeding hungry. | 1736 |
| GUTLING | eating much. | 1736 |
| GUTTING AN OYSTER | eating it. | 1736 |
| HASTY PUDDING | Oatmeal and milk boiled to a moderate thickness, and eaten with sugar and butter. Figuratively, a wet, muddy road: as, The way through Wandsworth is quite a hasty pudding. To eat hot hasty pudding for a laced hat, or some other prize, is a common feat at wakes and fairs. | 1811 |
| HODMANDODS | Snails in their shells. | 1811 |
| IRISH APRICOTS | Potatoes. It is a common joke against the Irish vessels, to say they are loaded with fruit and timber, that is, potatoes and broomsticks. Irish assurance; a bold forward behaviour: as being dipt in the river Styx was formerly supposed to render persons invulnerable, so it is said that a dipping in the river Shannon totally annihilates bashfulness; whence arises the saying of an impudent Irishman, that he has been dipt in the Shannon. | 1811 |
| LAMB'S WOOL | Apples roasted and put into strong ale. | 1811 |
| LOBSCOUSE | A dish much eaten at sea, composed of salt beef, biscuit and onions, well peppered, and stewed together. | 1811 |
| LOLLIPOPS | Sweet lozenges purchased by children. | 1811 |
| MIDSHIPMAN'S WATCH AND CHAIN | A sheep's heart and pluck. | 1811 |
| MUNSTER PLUMS | Potatoes. IRISH. | 1811 |
| MURPHIES | Potatoes. | 1811 |
| NORFOLK CAPON | A red herring. | 1811 |
| OLD PEGG | Poor Yorkshire cheese, made of skimmed milk. | 1811 |
| PANAM | Bread. | 1736 |
| PANNAM | Bread. | 1811 |
| PAP | Bread sauce; also the food of infants. His mouth is full of pap; he is still a baby. | 1811 |
| PAPLER | Milk-Pottage. | 1736 |
| PAPLER | Milk pottage. | 1811 |
| PECK | Victuals. Peck and booze; victuals and drink. | 1811 |
| PEG | Old Peg; poor hard Suffolk or Yorkshire cheese. A peg is also a blow with a straightarm: a term used by the professors of gymnastic arts. A peg in the day-light, the victualling office, or the haltering-place; a blow in the eye, stomach, or under the ear. | 1811 |
| POPE'S NOSE | The rump of a turkey. | 1811 |
| POPLERS | Pottage. CANT. | 1811 |
| PROG | Meat. Rum Prog., nice eating. The Cull tipt us rum Prog; the Gentleman, so serve a Turn; a Cat's Foot. | 1736 |
| PROG | Provision. Rum prog; choice provision. To prog; to be on the hunt for provision: called in the military term to forage. | 1811 |
| RABBIT | A Welch rabbit; bread and cheese toasted, i.e. a Welch rare bit. Rabbits were also a sort of wooden canns to drink out of, now out of use. | 1811 |
| ROGUM POGUM, or DRAGRUM POGRAM | Goat's beard, eaten for asparagus; so called by the ladies who gather cresses, &c. who also deal in this plant. | 1811 |
| RUFF-PECK | Bacon. | 1736 |
| RUM-BOOZING-WELTS | Bunches of Grapes. | 1736 |
| RUM-RUFF-PECK | Westphalia-Ham. | 1736 |
| RUM RUFF PECK | Westphalia ham. CANT. | 1811 |
| SALMON-GUNDY | Apples, onions, veal or chicken, and pickled herrings, minced fine, and eaten with oil and vinegar; some derive the name of this mess from the French words SELON MON GOUST, because the proportions of the different ingredients are regulated by the palate of the maker; others say it bears the name of the inventor, who was a rich Dutch merchant; but the general and most probable opinion is, that it was invented by the countess of Salmagondi, one of the ladies of Mary de Medicis, wife of King Henry IV. of France, and by her brought into France. | 1811 |
| SANDWICH | Ham, dried tongue, or some other salted meat, cut thin and put between two slices of bread and butter: said to be a favourite morsel with the Earl of Sandwich. | 1811 |
| SCRATCH PLATTER, or TAYLOR'S RAGOUT | Bread sopt in the oil and vinegar in which cucumbers have been sliced. | 1811 |
| SPATCH COCK | [Abbreviation of DISPATCH COCK.] A hen just killed from the roost, or yard, and immediately skinned, split, and broiled: an Irish dish upon any sudden occasion. | 1811 |
| SPREAD | Butter. | 1811 |
| STARING QUARTER | An ox cheek. | 1811 |
| SUGAR SOPS | Toasted bread soked in ale, sweetened with sugar, and grated nutmeg: it is eaten with cheese. | 1811 |
| TOAD | Toad in a hole; meat baked or boiled in pye-crust. He or she sits like a toad on a chopping-block; a saying of any who sits ill on horseback. As much need of it as a toad of a side-pocket; said of a person who desires any thing for which he has no real occasion. As full of money as a toad is of feathers. | 1811 |
| TOMMY | Soft Tommy, or white Tommy; bread is so called by sailors, to distinguish it from biscuit. Brown Tommy: ammunition bread for soldiers; or brown bread given to convicts at the hulks. | 1811 |
| TRUNDLERS | Pease. | 1736 |
| TRUNDLERS | Peas. | 1811 |
| TWIST | half Tea, half Coffee: Likewise Brandy and Eggs mixed. Hot-Pot. Also to Eat; as, To twist lustily; To feed like a Farmer. | 1736 |
| TWIST | to eat heartily. | 1736 |
| WATCH, CHAIN, AND SEALS | A sheep's head And pluck. | 1811 |
| WOBBLE | to boil. The Pot wobbles; i.e. The Pot boils; the Meat is enough. | 1736 |
| YARMOUTH CAPON | A red herring: Yarmouth is a famous place for curing herrings. | 1811 |
| YARMOUTH-CAPON | a red Herring. | 1736 |
| YARMOUTH-PYE | made of Herrings, highly spic'd, and presented by the City of Norwich annually to the King, on pain of forfeiting their Charter. | 1736 |
| YARMOUTH PYE | A pye made of herrings highly spiced, which the city of Norwich is by charter bound to present annually to the king. | 1811 |
| Tobacco |
|---|
| BLOWER | A pipe. How the swell funks his blower and lushes red tape; what a smoke the gentleman makes with his pipe, and drinks brandy. | 1811 |
| CLOUD | Tobacco. Will you raise a Cloud? Will you smoak a Pipe? | 1736 |
| CLOUD | Tobacco. Under a cloud; in adversity. | 1811 |
| FID OF TOBACCO | A quid, from the small pieces of tow with which the vent or touch hole of a cannon is stopped. SEA TERM. | 1811 |
| FOGUS | Tobacco. Tip me a Gage of Fogus, Give me a Pipe of Tobacco. | 1736 |
| FOGUS | Tobacco. Tip me a gage of fogus; give me a pipe of tobacco. CANT. | 1811 |
| FOG | Smoke. | 1736 |
| FOG | Smoke. CANT. | 1811 |
| FUNK | Tobacco Smoak. | 1736 |
| FUNK | To smoke; figuratively, to smoke or stink through fear. I was in a cursed funk. To funk the cobler; a schoolboy's trick, performed with assafoettida and cotton,which are stuffed into a pipe: the cotton being lighted, and the bowl of the pipe covered with a coarse handkerchief, the smoke is blown out at the small end, through the crannies of a cobler's stall. | 1811 |
| GAGE | a Pot or Pipe. Tip me a Gage, give me a Pot or Pipe. | 1736 |
| GAGE | A quart pot, or a pint; also a pipe. CANT. | 1811 |
| GAGE, or FOGUS | A pipe of tobacco. | 1811 |
| MUNDUNGUS | Bad or rank tobacco: from mondongo, a Spanish word signifying tripes, or the uncleaned entrails of a beast, full of filth. | 1811 |
| QUID | The quantity of tobacco put into the mouth at one time. To quid tobacco; to chew tobacco. Quid est hoc? hoc est quid; a guinea. Half a quid; half a guinea. The swell tipped me fifty quid for the prad; the gentleman gave fifty pounds for the horse. | 1811 |
| SOT WEED | Tobacco. | 1811 |
| STEAMER | A pipe. A swell steamer; a long pipe, such as is used by gentlemen to smoke. | 1811 |
| Related Terms |
|---|
| CHAPT | Dry or thirsty. | 1811 |
| CLAMMED | Starved. | 1811 |
| DAMPER | A luncheon, or snap before dinner: so called from its damping, or allaying, the appetite; eating and drinking, being, as the proverb wisely observes, apt to take away the appetite. | 1811 |
| FIDLERS-PAY | Thanks and Wine. | 1736 |
| KICKSHAWS | French dishes: corruption of quelque chose. | 1811 |
| GUTFOUNDERED | Exceeding hungry. | 1811 |
| GUTS | My great guts are ready to eat my little ones; my guts begin to think my throat's cut; my guts curse my teeth: all expressions signifying the party is extremely hungry. | 1811 |
| HANG IT UP | speaking of the Reckoning at a Bowsing-Ken score it up. | 1736 |
| HARTFORDSHIRE KINDNESS | drinking to the same Man again. | 1736 |
| HIGH EATING | To eat skylarks in a garret. | 1811 |
| HORSE'S MEAL | A meal without drinking. | 1811 |
| KITCHEN PHYSIC | Food, good meat roasted or boiled. A little kitchen physic will set him up; he has more need of a cook than a doctor. | 1811 |
| PECKISH | Hungry. | 1811 |
| LENTEN FARE | Spare diet. | 1811 |
| PETER LUG | Who is Peter Lug? who let's the Glass stand at his Door. | 1736 |
| PLUCK THE RIBBON | Ring the Bell at the Tavern. | 1736 |
| REMEMBER PARSON MALHAM | q. d. Pray Sir drink about. A Norfolk Phrase. | 1736 |
| SCRAN | a Reckoning at a Boozing-ken, etc. | 1736 |
| SHOULDER FEAST | A dinner given after a funeral, to those who have carried the corpse. | 1811 |
| SINGLETON | A corkscrew, made by a famous cutler of that name, who lived in a place called Hell, in Dublin; his screws are remarkable for their excellent temper. | 1811 |
| To SIZE | (CAMBRIDGE) To sup at one's own expence. If a MAN asks you to SUP, he treats you; if to SIZE, you pay for what you eat--liquors ONLY being provided by the inviter. | 1811 |
| SKINKER | that fills the Glass or Cup. Who Skinks? Who pours out the Liquor. | 1736 |
| SMOUCH | Dried leaves of the ash tree, used by the smugglers for adulterating the black or bohea teas. | 1811 |
| SPUNGE | to drink at others Cost | 1736 |
| STIRRUP CUP | A parting cup or glass, drank on horseback by the person taking leave. | 1811 |
| STOMACH WORM | The stomach worm gnaws; I am hungry. | 1811 |
| STUM | The flower of fermenting wine, used by vintners to adulterate their wines. | 1811 |
| SUPERNACULUM | not so much as a Drop left to be poured upon the Thumb nail, so cleverly was the Liquor tipt off. | 1736 |
| SUPERNACOLUM | Good liquor, of which there is not even a drop left sufficient to wet one's nail. | 1811 |
| TEARS OF THE TANKARD | Drops of the good Liquor that fall beside. | 1736 |
| TEARS OF THE TANKARD | The drippings of liquor on a man's waistcoat. | 1811 |
| TIFFING | Eating or drinking out of meal time, disputing or falling out; also lying with a wench, A tiff of punch, a small bowl of punch. | 1811 |
| TOOTH Music | Chewing. | 1811 |
| TOST | or Toast; to name or begin a new Health. Who tosts now? Who Christens the Health? An old Tost; A pert, pleasant, old Fellow. | 1736 |
| WALKING UP AGAINST THE WALL | To run up a score, which in alehouses is commonly recorded with chalk on the walls of the bar. | 1811 |
| WALL | To walk or crawl up the wall; to be scored up at a public-nouse. Wall-eyed, having an eye with little or no sight, all white like a plaistered wall. | 1811 |
| WET QUAKER | One of that sect who has no objection to the spirit derived from wine. | 1811 |
| WHEEL-BAND IN THE NICK | regular drinking over the left Thumb. | 1736 |
| WHEELBAND IN THE NICK | Regular drinking over the left thumb. | 1811 |
| WHITE SERJEANT | A man fetched from the tavern or ale-house by his wife, is said to be arrested by the white serjeant. | 1811 |
| WOLF IN THE STOMACH | A monstrous or canine appetite. | 1811 |
| WORD OF MOUTH | To drink by word of mouth, i.e. out of the bowl or bottle instead, of a glass. | 1811 |
| YAFFLING | Eating. CANT. | 1811 |
| YAM | to eat heartily, to stuff lustily. | 1736 |
| TO YAM | To eat or stuff heartily. | 1811 |
