1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, List of cant words. george, half-a-crown.
1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew. He tipt me Forty Georges for my earnest, He paid me Five Pounds for my Share or Snack.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
2. (old).—A guinea; also more frequently Yellow George.
1785 Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1787. Burns, The Twa Dogs. The yellow-lettered Geordie keeks.
3. (old).—A penny.
1820. Reynolds, The Fancy, Glossary. A Penny-piece—a georgy.
Brown George.—See Ante.
By Fore, or By George.—See By George.
George Horne, intj. (printers').—A
derisive retort on a piece of
stale news. Also G. H.! [From
a romancing compositor of the
name.]
Georgy-Porgy, verb (colloquial).—To
pet; to fondle; to be-*slobber.
1883. R. L. Stevenson, The Treasure of Franchard, ch. iii., in Longman's Magazine, April, p. 685. He must be spoken to with more respect, I tell you; he must not be kissed and georgy-porgy'd like an ordinary child.
German. The German, subs. phr.
(New York).—A round dance.
German Duck, subs. phr. (obsolete).—1.
Half a sheep's head, stewed
with onions.—Grose.
2. (common).—A bed bug. For synonyms, see Norfolk Howard.
German Flutes, subs. phr. (rhyming).—A pair of boots.
Germantowner, subs. (American
billiards').—A pushing shot—when
the balls played with, and
at, are jarred together. Cf.,
Whitechapeller.
Gerry, subs. (Old Cant).—Excrement.
1567. Harman, Caveat, s.v.
Gerry Gan, intj. (Old Cant).—A
retort forcible. Stow it! (q.v.).
[From Gerry = excrement + Gan
= mouth, i.e., literally, Shit in
your mouth.] The common form
is: Shit (or a turd) in your teeth;
as in Ben Jonson, Bartholomew
Fair, 1614. Fr., Tais ta gueule
ou j'te chie dedans.
1567. Harman, Caveat. Gerry gan, the ruffian cly thee.
Gerrymander (pronounced with
the 'g' hard, as in 'get'), verb.
(political American).—To arrange
the electoral subdivisions of a
State to the profit and advantage
of a particular party.
[The term, says Norton, is derived from the name of Governor Gerry, of Massachusetts, who, in 1811, signed a Bill readjusting the representative districts so as to favour the Democrats and weaken the Federalists, although the last-named party polled nearly two-thirds of the votes cast. A fancied resemblance of a map of the districts thus treated led Stuart, the painter, to add a few lines with his pencil, and say to Mr. Russell, editor of the Boston Sentinel. 'That will do for a Salamander.' Russell glanced at it: 'Salamander,' said he, 'call it a Gerrymander!' The epithet took at once, and became a Federalist war-cry, the caricature being published as a campaign document.]
1871. Boston Daily Advertiser, 6 Dec. Gerrimander was the name printed under a picture of a pretended monster, whose shape was modified from the distorted geography which Mr. Gerry's friends inflicted on part of the State for the sake of economizing. majorities.
