la calcosa (lit. 'to beat the earth.' Cf., American 'to cut dirt'); dare a lata; scoscare.
Spanish Germania. Piñarse (an old and now obsolete term); alar; alarse; alolargo (lit. 'at large'); picar (lit. 'to use the spurs'); safarse (lit. 'to escape' or 'save oneself' [from arrest]).
Amuse, verb, (old cant).--To fling
dust or snuff in the eyes of a
person intended to be robbed.
Also, to invent some plausible
tale, to delude shop-keepers and
others, thereby to put them off
their guard, and so to obtain an
opportunity of robbing them.
Amusers, subs, (old cant and American
thieves').--A certain class
of thieves' accomplices who
throw snuff, pepper, and other
noxious substances in the eyes
of the person they intend to rob,
a confederate then, while apparently
coming to the rescue, completing
the operation. In this,
as in much of the slang of the
criminal classes, there runs a
vein of brutal cynicism. Though
obsolete in England the term
survives in America amongst
the criminal classes.
Anabaptist, subs, (old slang).--A
pickpocket caught in the act,
and punished with the discipline
of the pump or horse-pond.--Grose.
Anchor. To come to an anchor,
verb. phr. (nautical and common).--To
stop; to sit down;
to rest. [From the operation
of bringing ships to a standstill
by casting anchor.]
Anchorage, subs, (common).--An
abode; where one dwells. Of
nautical origin (see Anchor).
For synonyms, see Diggings.
Ancient Mariners, subs. (Univ.
Oxford).--A term applied to
rowing dons.
And Don't You Forget It, phr.
(American).--A senseless string
of words employed indiscriminately
in season and out of
season. Like 'Who's your
hatter?' 'How's your poor
feet?' 'Not for Joe!' 'Does
your mother know you're out?'
'What! again! so soon?' and
many others, which every now
and then have caught the
'fancy' of the streets of our
large towns, the phrase under
consideration has run an almost
riotous course through the
large centres of population in
America. In most cases these
strings of words convey no
special idea, and can only be
described as utterly vulgar,
without the slightest scintilation[**P2: typo "scintillation"?]
of wit or humour of any
kind.
1888. Boston Weekly Globe, Feb. 29. There can be no two opposing opinions in that respect. Great capital demands dividends. Dividends can be had only from a prosperous business. A prosperous business must recognise the law of supply and demand, and if the public demand dirt the newspapers will furnish dirt--and don't you forget it.
1888. Detroit Free Press, Oct. 6. 'Did you see any Quakers in Philadelphia?' was asked of a Detroiter who lately returned from that city.
'Only one that I was sure of.'
'Did he 'thee' and 'thou' you ?'
'He did. He got down off his hack and said: 'If thee don't pay me 2 dols. I'll knock thy blamed head off,' and I paid, although I knew the regular fare was twelve shillings. You don't want to fool with those Quakers any, and don't you forget it.'
