In German, ladies so placed 'lose a shoe'; but of synonyms there are plenty.--See Leg.
Ankle-Beaters, subs. phr. (old).--A
class of boys who attended
cattle markets for the purpose
of driving to the slaughter-house
the animals purchased
by the butcher. They were
called ankle-beaters from
their driving the animals with
long wattles, and beating them
on the legs to avoid spoiling or
bruising the flesh. Also called
penny-boys (q.v.), because they
received one penny per head as
remuneration.
Anne's Fan, properly Queen
Anne's Fan, subs. phr. (common).--Putting
the tip of the
thumb of either hand to the
nose, and then spreading the
fingers in the shape of a fan.
A gesture of contempt often
intensified either by twiddling
the digits when in the position
named, or by similarly placing
the other hand in an extended
line. It is also called taking a
sight (q.v.), and biting the
thumb (q.v.).
Annex, verb. (American).--To steal;
in England the wise it call 'convey.'--See
Bone.
Anodyne, subs. (American thieves').--A
euphemism for death. From
the figurative sense of the
word--anything that soothes
wounded or excited feelings, or
that lessens the sense of misfortunes.
Cf., Old English slang
term for a halter, Anodyne
necklace.
Verb. (American thieves').--To kill. Cf., foregoing; also To cook one's goose.
Anodyne Necklace, subs. phr. (old).--A
halter. An anodyne is that
which allays or extinguishes
pain, and the hangman's rope
may indeed be regarded, from
one point of view, as a cure for
all pains. The expression is
old, being traced back to 1639.
During the period when the
death penalty was inflicted for
all kinds of comparatively trivial
offences--for sheep stealing, and
even highway robberies of not
more than forty shillings value--synonyms
equally grim and
sententious were numerous.
According to Wilyam Bullein,
an anodyne necklace was that
which 'light fellows merrily will
call ... neckweede, or Sir
Tristam's knot, or St. Andrew's
lace (q.v.).' Other terms
for the hangman's noose were
hempen cravat, horse's nightcap,
Tyburn tippet (q.v.).
1639. F. Beaumont, Bloody Brother, Act iii., Sc. 2. [Speaks of the hangman's halter as a 'necklace.']
1766. Oliver Goldsmith, Vicar of Wakefield [works, Globe ed., chap, xx., p. 43. [George Primrose's cousin exclaims] 'May I die by an anodyne necklace, but I'd rather be an underturnkey in Newgate [than an usher in a boarding-school'].
The water poet (John Taylor, a Thames waterman, 1580-1654), explaining the virtue of hemp, says:--
Some call it neck-weed, for it hath a tricke To cure the necke that's troubled with the crick.
An anodyne necklace was also the name of a quack amulet, which, for a long period, was a household word. This famous remedy occupied as prominent a position in the advertising columns of the journals of the middle of the
