2. (colloquial).—A very cold day. By analogy, a chilling look, address, or retort.
French-elixir (cream, lace,
or article), subs. phr. (common).—Brandy.
[The custom
of taking of brandy with tea and
coffee was originally French.—Whence
French Cream. Laced
tea = tea dashed with spirits].
1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. ix. 'Get out the gallon punch-bowl, and plenty of lemons. I'll stand for the French article by the time I come back, and we'll drink the young Laird's health.'
1821. Real Life, i., p. 606. Not forgetting blue ruin and French lace.
English Synonyms.—Ball-of-fire; bingo; cold tea; cold nantz; red ribbon.
French Synonyms.—Le parfait amour du chiffonnier (i.e., ragman's happiness = coarse brandy); le trois-six (popular: = rot-gut); fil-en-quatre, fil-en-trois, fil-en-six (specifically, old brandy, but applied to spirits generally); le dur (= a drop of hard: common); le raide (popular = a drop of stiff): le chenique or chnic (popular:); le rude (popular: = a drop of rough, i.e., coarse brandy); l'eau d'affe (thieves'); le pissat d'âne (popular: = donkey's piss; sometimes applied to bad beer, which is likewise called pissat de vache); l'avoine (military = hay, as who should say 'a nose bag'); le blanc (popular = brandy or white wine); le possédé (thieves': bingo); le raspail (popular:); le cric (popular: also crik, crique, or cricque = rough brandy:); le schnaps (popular); le schnick (common: = bad brandy); le camphre (popular: = camphor; applied to the coarsest spirit); le sacré-chien or sacré-chien tout pur (common: = the vilest sold); casse-poitrine (common: = brandy heightened with pepper; cf., rot-gut); le jaune (rag-pickers': = a drop of yellow); tord-boyaux (popular = twist-gut); la consolation (popular = a drop of comfort); requiqui (workmen's); eau de mort (common: = death-water); le Tripoli (rank brandy); casse-gueule (= 'kill the-carter'; applied to all kinds of spirits).
French Fake. subs. phr.
(nautical).—The fashion of coiling
a rope by taking it backwards
and forwards in parallel bands,
so that it may run easily.
French Gout (or Disease,
Fever, etc.), subs. phr. (common).—Sometimes
clap (q.v.),
but more generally and correctly
syphilis, Morbus Gallicus, especially
with older writers. For
synonyms, see Ladies Fever.
Also The Frenchman. French
Pox = a very bad variety of
syphilis. The French themselves
always refer to the
ailment as the mal de Naples, for
which see Marston (1598) and
his 'Naples canker,' and Florio
(1598) mal di Napoli = French
pocks. Cf., Shakspeare, Henry
V., v., 1. News have I that my
Nell is dead i' the spital Of
malady of France.
1598. Florio, A Worlde of Wordes. Lue, a plague. . . . It is also used for the French poxe.
1611. Cotgrave, Dictionarie, Mal de Naples, the French Pocks.
1690. B. E. Dict, of the Canting Crew. (s.v.).
