1846. Thackeray, Yellow Plush Papers, p. 152 (ed. 1887). You may, for instance, call a coronet a coronal (an 'ancestral coronal,' p. 74) if you like, as you might call a hat a 'swart sombrero,' a 'glossy four-and-nine,' 'a silken helm to storm impermeable, and lightsome as the breezy gossamer;' but in the long run it is safer to call it a hat.
1847. Thackeray, Mrs. Perkins's Ball (The Mulligan). The Mulligan has withdrawn his custom from the 'infernal four-and-ninepenny scoundthrel,' as he calls him. The hatter has not shut up shop in consequence.
1849. Viator, Oxford Guide. He then did raise his four-and-nine, And scratched his shaggy pate.
1867. Jas. Greenwood, Unsent. Journey's, xxx., 229. Because he wore a four-and-nine, and had a pencil stuck behind his ear.
Four-bones, subs. (thieves').—The
knees.
1857. Punch, 31 Jan. 'Dear Bill, This Stone-jug.' For them coves in Guildhall and that blessed Lord Mayor, Prigs on their four bones should chop whiners I swear.
Four-eyes, subs. (common).—A
person in spectacles: 'a chap that
can't believe his own eyes.'
Four-holed Middlings, subs.
phr. (Winchester College).—Ordinary
walking shoes; cf.
beeswaxers. Obsolete.
Four Kings. The history (or
book) of the four kings.
subs. phr. (old).—A pack of
cards; otherwise, a child's best
guide to the gallows, or the
devil's picture books. Fr.,
Livre des quatre rois.
Four-legged burglar-alarm,
subs. phr. (common).—A watch
dog.
Four-legged Frolic, subs. phr.
(venery).—The act of kind:
a reminiscence of the proverb,
'There goes more to a marriage
than four bare legs in a bed.' For
synonyms, see Greens and Ride.
Four-poster, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A
four-post bedstead.
1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xliv. 'Vill you allow me to en-quire vy you make up your bed under that ere deal table?" said Sam. Cause I was alvays used to a four-poster afore I came here, and I find the legs of the table answer just as well,' replied the cobbler.
Four Seams and a Bit of Soap,
subs. phr. (tailors').—A pair of
trousers. See Kicks.
Four—(more commonly Three)—Sheets
in the Wind, adv. phr.
(nautical).—Drunk; cf., half
seas over. For synonyms, see
Drinks and Screwed.
Fourteen Hundred, . . . phr.
(Stock Exchange).—A warning
cry that a stranger is in the
'House.'
1887. Atkin, House Scraps. So, help me Got, Mo, who is he? Instead of replying in a straightforward way, Mo raised his voice as loud as he could, and shouted with might and main, 'fourteen hundred new fives!' A hundred voices repeated the mysterious exclamation.
1890. Cassell's Saturday Journal, 26 April. The cry of 'fourteen hundred' is said to have had its origin in the fact that for a long while the number of members never exceeded 1,399; and it was customary to hail every new comer as the fourteen hundredth. It has, in its primary sense, long since lost significance, for there are now nearly three thousand members of the close corporation which has its home in Capel Court.
Fourteenth Amendment Persuasion,
subs. phr. (American).—Negroes.
[From the number
of the clause amending the Constitution
at the abolition of slavery.]
1888. Times Democrat, 5 Feb. To take the law is one of the greatest privileges in the estimation of the colored folk that the fourteenth amendment conferred, and, whether offender or defendant, they take a pride in summonses beyond describing.
