The Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang

Eric Partridge

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2003
• Print ISBN: 9780367605308
• eBook ISBN: 9781135795429
• Edition: 6
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Drawn from the Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, with the emphasis on the expressions used or coined before 1914.

S

’S

; rarely ’s. A coll euphemistic abbr. of God’s in oaths; gen. continuous with governing words as in ’SBLOOD and ’SLIFE: C.16–20; from mid-C.18, only ‘literary’.

s. and b.

; S. and B. An occasional variant (–1887; very ob.) of B. AND S.

S.S.

; P.P. SHIMM(E)Y showing; petticoat peeping: hortatory c.pp. from one girl to another, in ref. to dress disarranged: ca 1895–1915.

S.W.A.K.

‘Sealed with a kiss’ on the back of an envelope: coll: late C.19–20. Also S.W.A.L.K., where L.=loving.

sa

. Six: showmen’s, mostly Parlary: from ca 1850. P.H.Emerson, 1893, ‘I was hired out…for sa soldi a day.’ Ex Lingua Franca.

sa’

. Save, esp. in God sa’ me: C.17–mid-19: S.E. till ca 1660, then coll. Shadwell, 1668, ‘As God shall sa’ me, she is a very ingenious Woman.’

sa soldi

. Sixpence: see SA.

sabe, save

, see SAVVY.

sable Maria

. A variant of BLACK MARIA.

sabby

. A pidgin English variant (–1864) of SAVVY.

saccer

. The sacrament: Harrow School: late C.19–20. By the Oxford -er.

sack

*. A pocket: c.: late C.17–mid-19. B.E.; Mayhew, 1858. 2. A hammock: naval: C.19.

sack

, v. To ‘pocket’, take (illicit) possession of: coll: C.19–20; ob. E.S.Barrett, 1807, ‘He sacked the receipts, without letting them touch one farthing.’ 2. To dismiss one from employment or office: from ca 1840. Gen. in passive. Ex (get and/ or) give the sack, see BAG. 3. To defeat (in a contest, esp. in a game): from ca 1820 (orig. Anglo-Irish); rare after ca 1860. ?ex sack, to plunder. 4. To expel: Public Schools’: from ca 1880. Ex sense 2.

sack, bestow or confer the order of the

, see SACK, THE ORDER OF THE.

sack, break a bottle in an empty

. To make a cheating bet, a hocus wager, ‘a sack with a bottle in it not being an empty sack’, Grose, 2nd ed.: coll: late C.18–mid-19.

sack, buy the

. To become tipsy: s. > coll: ca 1720–1840. Ex sack, generic for the white wines formerly imported from Spain.

sack, dive into a

*. To pick a pocket: c.: late C.17–early 19.

sack, get or give the

, see BAG, and SACK, v., 2. cf.:

sack, the order of the

. Gen. as get or give (occ. bestow, confer) the order … A dismissal from employment, a discharge from office, a being discarded by sweetheart or mistress (rarely lover): from ca 1860. Yates, 1864, ‘I’d…confer on him the order of the sack.’ cf. ORDER OF THE…

sack ’em up men

. Resurrectionists: ca 1830–70.

sack of coals

. A black cloud (gen. black clouds) in the Southern Hemisphere: nautical: late C.19–20.

sacking

*. Prostitution; sacking law, harlotry as practised by the underworld with a view to further gain: c. of late C.16– early 17. Greene, 1592, 1591 resp. Ex the S.E. v., sack, to lay waste.

sacks to the mill!, more

. Pile it on!; there’s plenty here!: coll: late C.16–18, then dial. Nashe; Middleton & Rowley in The Spanish Gipsie; Richardson.

sacred lamp

. A ballet-girl burlesque: theatrical: 1883–ca 1900. Ex a cynicism by John Hollingshead (‘The sacred lamp of burlesque’), parodying Ruskin.

sacrifice

. A(n alleged) loss: coll >, ca 1880, S.E. Dickens, 1844, ‘Its patterns were last Year’s and going at a sacrifice,’ Esp. alarming or astounding s.

sacrifice

. To sell, or claim to sell, at less than cost price: from ca 1850: coll >, ca 1880, S.E. Ex the n.

sad

. Mischievous, troublesome, merry, dissipated: late C.17–20 (ob. except in sad dog): coll. Chiefly of a place (‘London is a sad place,’ Mackenzie, 1771) and a person, esp. in sad dog, in C.18–mid-19 a debauched fellow, and thereafter rare except in playful reproach. Farquhar, 1706, ‘S. You are an ignorant, pretending, impudent Coxcomb. B. Ay, ay, a sad dog.’

sad vulgar

. A vulgarian: Society: ca 1770–1820. Ware cites the St James’s Gazette of 17 Aug. 1883.

saddle

. The female pudend; woman as sexual pleasure: coll verging on euphemism: C.17–20, but rare since C.18. 2. ‘An additional charge upon the benefits’ from a benefit-performance: 1781, Parker: theatrical.

saddle-back

, see SADDLEBACK. saddle becomes…, see SADDLE SUITS…

saddle-leather

. The skin of the posteriors: coll: mid-C.19–20. Punning S.E. sense.

saddle on the right or wrong horse, put the

. To blame—occ., to praise—the right or wrong person (loosely, act, thing): coll: from ca 1750. Ex the earlier set…(1607) and lay…(1652), both †by 1840. An occ. variant: place, mid-C.19–20, ob. Also s. upon…

saddle one’s nose

. To wear spectacles: coll: late C.18–mid-19.

saddle-sick

. Made ill or very sore by riding: coll and dial.: late C.18–20; ob. cf. SADDLE-LEATHER.

saddle suits a sow, suit one as a

. To suit, become, fit ill; be very incongruous: coll: C.18–19. Swift, who has become for suit.

saddle the spit

. To give a meal, esp. a dinner: coll: late C.18–mid-19. Ex S.E. saddle a spit, to furnish one.

saddle upon

…, see SADDLE ON…

saddleback

. A louse: C.19–20; ob. (Not in the best circles.)

saddling-paddock

. A place where lovers tend to congregate: Australian (–1909). Semantics: RIDE, riding.

safe

*. (Gen. the safe.) Inside waistcoat pocket: c.: late C.19–20. Esp. among pick-pockets.

safe…, a

. e.g. ‘He is a safe second’, i.e. he...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• A Note on this Edition
• Abbreviations and Signs
• A Note on Arrangement
• Technical Terms
• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• X
• Y
• Z