White swelling. A woman big with child
is said to have
a white swelling.
White tape. Geneva.
White wool. Geneva.
Whitechapel. Whitechapel portion; two smocks,
and
what nature gave. Whitechapel breed;
fat, ragged, and
saucy: see st. Giles’s
breed. Whitechapel beau;
one who dresses with a needle and thread,
and undresses
with a knife. To play at whist Whitechapel
fashion;
i.e. aces and kings first.
Whitewashed. One who has taken the benefit of
an act
of insolvency, to defraud his creditors,
is said to have been
whitewashed.
WHITFIELITE. A follower of George Whitfield, a Methodist.
Whither-go-ye. A wife: wives
being sometimes apt to
question their husbands whither they are
going.
Whittington’s college. Newgate;
built or repaired by
the famous lord mayor of that name.
Whore’s bird. A debauched fellow,
the largest of all birds.
He sings more like a whore’s bird
than a canary bird; said
of one who has a strong manly voice.
Whore’s curse. A piece of gold
coin, value five shillings
and three pence, frequently given to women
of the town by
such as professed always to give gold,
and who before the
introduction of those pieces always gave
half a guinea.
WHOHE’S KITLING, or whore’s son. A bastard.
Whore-monger. A man that keeps more
than one mistress.
A country gentleman, who kept a female
friend, being reproved
by the parson of the parish, and styled
a whore-monger,
asked the parson whether he had a cheese
in his
house; and being answered in the affirmative,
‘Pray,’
says he, ‘does that one cheese make
you a cheese-monger?’
Whore pipe. The penis.
WHOW ball. A milk-maid: from their
frequent use of the
word whow, to make the cow stand still
in milking. Ball
is the supposed name of the cow.
WIBBLE. Bad drink.
WIBLING’S witch. The four of clubs:
from one James
Wibling, who in the reign of King James
I. grew rich by
private gaming, and was commonly observed
to have that
card, and never to lose a game but when
he had it not.
Wicket. A casement; also a little door.
WIDOW’S weeds. Mourning clothes of
a peculiar fashion,
denoting her state. A grass widow;
a discarded mistress.
a widow bewitched; a woman whose husband
is abroad,
and said, but not certainly known, to
be dead.
Wife. A fetter fixed to one leg.
Wife in water colours. A
mistress, or concubine;
water colours being, like their engagements,
easily effaced,
or dissolved.


