All Smoke, Gammon and Pickles.--See Smoke.
All Sorts, subs. (common).--Explained
by quotation.--See All
nations.
/# 1859. Sala, Gaslight and Daylight, ch. vi. A counter perforated in elaborately-pricked patterns, like a convivial shroud, apparently for ornament, but really for the purpose of allowing the drainings, overflowings, and out-spillings of the gin-glasses to drop through, which, being collected with sundry washings, and a dash, perhaps, of fresh material, is, by the thrifty landlord, dispensed to his customers under the title Of ALL SORTS.
- /
All Sorts of, adj. (American).--First
rate; excellent. A phrase
very common in the South and
West, and used in many different
ways. It carries with it
the idea of smartness and chic,
as, e.g., when applied to a woman,
a horse, or a building.
Allspice, subs. (popular.)--A nickname
for a grocer; the derivation
is obvious.
All's Quiet on the Potomac, phr.
(American).--A period of undisturbed
rest, quiet enjoyment,
or peaceful possession; a phrase
dating from the Civil War,
when its frequent repetition in
the bulletins of the War Secretary
made it familiar to the
public, who quickly appropriated
it in a metaphorical sense.
It has since formed the refrain
of many a song.
/# 1862. The Picket Guard. All quiet along the Potomac, they say, Except now and then a stray picket Is shot on his beat as he walks to and fro, By a rifleman hid in a thicket.
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All T. H., adv. phr. (tailors cutters').--Said
in praise or approval;
a tailor's equivalent of
a 1;[**typo?] all right; all there--of
which last it is possibly an
abbreviated form.
All the Caboose, adv. phr.--See
Caboose.
All the Go, adv. phr. (common).--One
of the innumerable
superlatives of work-a-day
English; quite up to the mark;
in full demand; 'no deception,
gents!'--See Go.
All There, adv. phr. (popular).--Up
to the mark; first-rate;
ready for any emergency; a
phrase of general satisfaction
and approval; also, in one's
element.
/# 1877. Five Years' Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 220. 'He stayed in a place doing the grand and sucking the flats till the folks began to smoke him as not ALL THERE.'
1880. Punch, Aug. 7, p. 59. All there! Clerk {who has called to see the gas-meter). 'Is yours a wet, or a dry meter, madam?' Young Wife (who does not like to show ignorance). 'Well, it is rather damp, I'm afraid!'
1883. James Payn, Thicker than Water, ch. xx. It was his excusable boast, though expressed in somewhat vulgar language, that when anything was wanted he was 'all there.'
- /
All the Shoot.--Equivalent to
'THE WHOLE BOILING' (q.v.).
All the Way Down, adv. phr.
(popular).--Synonymous with
complete adaptibility to the
end in view; sometimes varied
by 'UP TO THE KNOCKER,' or
'UP TO THE NINES.'
All to His Own Cheek.--See
Cheek.
All to Pieces, adverbial phr. (common).--1.
[Cf. Go to pieces.]
