Half-crowner, subs. (booksellers').—A publication costing 2s. 6d.
Half-cut, adv. (common).—Half-drunk.
For synonyms, see Drinks
and Screwed.
Half-fly Flat, subs. phr. (thieves').—A
thief's jackal; a man (or
woman) hired to do rough or
dirty work.
Half-grown Shad, subs. phr.
(American).—A dolt. For synonyms,
see Buffle and Cabbage-head.
1838. Neal, Charcoal Sketches. No more interlect than a half-grown shad.
Half Laugh and Purser's Grin,
subs. phr. (nautical).—A sneer;
a half-and-half meaning.—Clark
Russell.
Halflings, adj. (Scots').—Betwixt
and between. [Usually said of a
boy or girl just leaving childhood.]
1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, xi. In my youth, nay, when I was a hafflins callant.
Half-man, subs. (nautical).—A
landsman rated as A. B.
Half-marrow, subs. (old Scots').—1.
A faithless spouse; also a
parcel husband or wife.
1600-61. Rutherford, Letters, i., 123. Plead with your harlot-mother, who hath been a treacherous half-marrow to her husband Jesus.
2. (nautical).—An incompetent seaman.
Half-moon, subs. (old).—1. A
wig; and (2) the female pudendum.
For synonyms, see Periwinkle
and Monosyllable.
1611. Lodowick Barry, Ram Alley (Dodsley, Old Plays, vii., 326, ed. 1875). Is not her half-moon mine?
Half-mourning, subs. (common).—A
black eye. Full-mourning
= two black eyes or deep grief.
Half-nab (or nap), adv. (old).—See
quot.
1791. Bampfylde-Moore Carew, Life. Half-nab—at a venture, unsight unseen, hit or miss.
Half-on, adj. (colloquial).—Half-drunk.
Half-rocked, adv. (common).—Half-witted;
silly. [From a West
Country saying that all idiots
are nursed bottom upwards.] See
Apartments and Tile Loose.
Half-saved, adv. (common).—Weak-minded;
shallow-brained.
See Apartments and Tile
Loose.
1834. Southey, The Doctor, ch. x. William Dove's was not a case of fatuity. Though all was not there, there was a great deal. He was what is called half-saved.
1874. M. Collins, Frances, ch. xlii. This groom was what they call in the west country half-saved.
Half-screwed, adj. (common).—More
or less in liquor. See
Drinks and Screwed.
1839. Lever, Harry Lorrequer, ch. ii. He was, in Kilrush phrase, half-screwed, thereby meaning more than half tipsy.
Half-seas Over, adv. phr.
(colloquial).—Loosely applied to
various degrees of inebriety.
Formerly = half way on one's
course, or towards attainment.
For synonyms, see Screwed.
