1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue eBook

Francis Grose
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 343 pages of information about 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue eBook

Francis Grose
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 343 pages of information about 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Pluck.  Courage.  He wants pluck:  he is a coward. 
  Against the pluck; against the inclination.  Pluck the
  Ribbon; ring the bell.  To pluck a crow with one; to
  settle a dispute, to reprove one for some past transgression. 
  To pluck a rose; an expression said to be used by women
  for going to the necessary house, which in the country usually
  stands in the garden.  To pluck also signifies to deny a
  degree to a candidate at one of the universities, on account
  of insufficiency.  The three first books of Euclid, and as
  far as Quadratic Equations in Algebra, will save a man
  from being plucked.  These unfortunate fellows are designated by
  many opprobrious appellations, such as the twelve
  apostles, the legion of honor, wise men of the East, &c.

Plug tail.  A man’s penis.

Plumb.  An hundred thousand pounds.

Plummy.  It is all plummy; i.e. all is right, or as it ought
  to be.

Plump.  Fat, full, fleshy.  Plump in the pocket; full in
  the pocket.  To plump; to strike, or shoot.  I’ll give
  you a plump in the bread basket, or the victualling office: 
  I’ll give you a blow in the stomach.  Plump his peepers,
  or day-lights; give him a blow in the eyes.  He pulled out
  his pops and plumped him; he drew out his pistols and
  shot him.  A plumper; a single vote at an election.  Plump
  also means directly, or exactly; as, it fell plump upon
  him:  it fell directly upon him.

Plump currant.  I am not plump currant; I am out of
  sorts.

PLUMPERS.  Contrivances said to be formerly worn by old
  maids, for filling out a pair of shrivelled cheeks.

Plyer.  A crutch; also a trader.

Pogy.  Drunk.

Point.  To stretch a point; to exceed some usual limit, to
  take a great stride.  Breeches were usually tied up with
  points, a kind of short laces, formerly given away by the
  churchwardens at Whitsuntide, under the denomination
  of tags:  by taking a great stride these were stretched.

Poisoned. Big with child:  that wench is poisoned, see
  how her belly is swelled.  Poison-pated:  red-haired.

Poke.  A blow with the fist:  I’ll lend you a poke.  A poke
  likewise means a sack:  whence, to buy a pig in a poke,
  i.e. to buy any thing without seeing or properly examining it.

Poker.  A sword.  Fore pokers; aces and kings at cards. 
  To burn your poker; to catch the venereal disease.

Pole.  He is like a rope-dancer’s polo, lead at both ends;
  a saying of a stupid sluggish fellow.

Polish.  To polish the king’s iron with one’s eyebrows; to be
  in gaol, and look through the iron grated windows.  To
  polish a bone; to eat a meal.  Come and polish a bone
  with me; come and eat a dinner or supper with me.

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1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.