Mohair. A man in the civil line, a townsman,
or tradesman:
a military term, from the mohair buttons
worn by persons
of those descriptions, or any others not
in the army, the
buttons of military men being always of
metal: this is
generally used as a term of contempt,
meaning a bourgeois,
tradesman, or mechanic.
Moiety. Half, but vulgarly used to signify
a share or portion:
as, He will come in for a small moiety.
Moll. A whore.
Moll PEATLY’S gig. A rogering bout.
Moll Thompson’s mark. M.
T. i.e. empty: as, Take
away this bottle, it has Moll Thompson’s
mark upon it.
Molly. A Miss Molly; an effeminate fellow, a sodomite.
Monday. Saint Monday. See saint.
Money. A girl’s private parts, commonly
applied to little
children: as, Take care, Miss, or
you will shew your
money.
Money droppers. Cheats who drop money,
which they
pretend to find just before some country
lad; and by way
of giving him a share of their good luck,
entice him into a
public house, where they and their confederates
cheat or
rob him of what money he has about him.
Mongrel. A hanger on among cheats, a spunger;
also a
child whose father and mother are of different
countries.
Monks and friars. Terms used by
printers: monks are
sheets where the letters are blotted,
or printed too black;
friars, those letters where the ink has
failed touching the
type, which are therefore white or faint.
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.
Monosyllable. A woman’s commodity.
MOONCURSER. A link-boy: link-boys are said
to curse the
moon, because it renders their assistance
unnecessary;
these gentry frequently, under colour
of lighting passengers
over kennels, or through dark passages,
assist in robbing
them. Cant.
Moon-eyed hen. A squinting wench.
Moon men. Gypsies.
Moon Rakers. Wiltshire men: because
it is said that
some men of that county, seeing the reflection
of the
moon in a pond, endeavoured to pull it
out with a rake.
Moonshine. A matter or mouthful of moonshine;
a trifle,
nothing. The white brandy smuggled
on the coasts of
Kent and Sussex, and the gin in the north
of Yorkshire,
are also called moonshine.
Mop. A kind of annual fair in the west of
England, where
farmers usually hire their servants.


