Flute, subs. (old).—1. The recorder of a corporation.
1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Tibia, a flute, a recorder, a pipe.
1690. B. E., New Dict. of the Canting Crew. Flute, c. The recorder of London or of any other town.
1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.
1825 Kent, Modern Flash Dict. Flute—the recorder of any town.
2. (venery).—The penis. Also the one-holed, the living, or the silent flute. To play a tune on the one-holed flute = to have connection. Cf., Dryden (Sixth Juvenal, line 107). 'And stretch his quail-pipe till they crack his voice.' For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.
1720. Durfey, Pills, etc., vi., 31. He took her by the middle, And taught her by the flute.
1736. Cupid, p. 163. The Flute is good that's made of Wood And is, I own, the neatest; Yet ne'ertheless I must confess, The silent flute's the sweetest.
Flutter, subs. (common).—1. An
attempt, or shy (q.v.), at anything;
a venture in earnest; a
spree; a state of expectancy (as
in betting). Hence gambling.
1883. Echo, 26 Feb. p. 4, col. 2. I have no stable tip, but I fancy the animal named will at any rate afford backers a flutter for their money.
1889. Licensed Vict. Gazette, 8 Feb. Of course he told her he only went in for a little flutter occasionally.
1890. Saturday Review, 1 Feb., p. 134, col. 1. They find out the addresses of people whom they see at the races—people whom they suspect to be fond of a flutter, and then an invitation is sent to a little soirée intime.
1887. Henley, Culture in the Slums, iii. I likes a merry little flutter, I keeps a Dado on the sly, In fact my form's the blooming Utter.
2. (common).—The act of spinning a coin.
3. (venery).—Connection defloration. To have had a flutter = (1) to have been there (cf., greens); and (2) to have lost one's maidenhead.
Verb. (common).—1. To spin a coin (for drinks); also to gamble.
2. (common).—To go in for a bout of pleasure.
To flutter the ribbons, verb. phr. (common)—To drive.
1864. Eton School Days, chap. 1, p. 11. As I was going to be saying, I used to flutter the ribands of the London Croydon and South Coast coach.
[Flutter, if not a word of all-work, is a word with plenty to do. Thus, to have (or do) a flutter = to have a look in (q.v.), to go on the spree, and (of both sexes) to have carnal connection; to be on the flutter = to be on the spree, and also (venery) to be all there (q.v.) or on the spot (q.v.); to flutter a judy—both to pursue and to possess a girl; to flutter a brown = to spin a coin; to flutter (or fret) one's kidneys = to agitate, to exasperate; to flutter a skirt = to walk the streets; and so forth.]
Flux, verb. (old).—1. To cheat;
to cozen; to overreach. For synonyms,
see Stick.
1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.
2. (old.)—To salivate. Grose, (1785).
Fly, subs. (old).—A familiar; hence,
by implication, a parasite or
sucker (q.v.). [In the sixteenth
and seventeenth century it was
held that familiar spirits, in the
guise of flies, lice, fleas, etc.,
attended witches, who for a
price professed to dispose of the
power for evil thus imparted.]
