1749. Robertson of Struan, Poems, 259. Thou drunken sot, go Home and spue, And piss a Bed, as thou art wont.
1772. Burlesque Trans. Homer, iii. 181. But what I mostly fear is this, Some God has steep'd a rod in piss.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Piss-proud . . . The old fellow thought he had an erection, but his prick was only piss-proud; said of any old fellow who marries a young wife. Ibid. Piss-burned, piss-maker, and Piss-prophet. Ibid. Piss Pot Hall. A house at Clapton, near Hackney, built by the potter chiefly out of the profits of chamber pots, in the bottom of which the portrait of Dr. Sacheverel was depicted.
1821. Byron, Occasional Pieces (ed. 1840), p. 574. Posterity will ne'er survey a nobler grave than this: Here lie the bones of Castlereagh; stop, traveller, p—-!
Pistol, subs. (venery).—1. The
penis: see Prick.
1598. Shakspeare, 2 Hen. IV., ii. 4. Fal. Here Pistol . . . do you discharge upon mine hostess. Pistol. I will discharge upon her, Sir John, with two bullets. Fal. She is pistol-proof, sir. . . . Pist. Then to you Mistress Dorothy. . . . Dol. Charge me! . . . you lack-linen mate! Away . . . I am meat for your master.
1623. Webster, Duchess of Malfi, ii. 2. Serv. There was taken even now a Switzer in the duchess' bed-chamber . . . with a pistol in his great cod-piece.
2. (old).—A swaggering bully: see Furioso.
1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives, Dram. Pers. Bardolph, Pistol, Nym, sharpers attending on Falstaff. Ibid. (1598), 2 Hen. IV., ii. 4. First D. Sir, Ancient Pistol's below. Dol. Hang him, swaggering rascal! . . . it is the foul-mouthed'st ' rogue in England.
1598. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Pistolfo . . . a roguing begger, a cantler, an upright man that liveth by cosenage.
1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, xlvi. He snatched his hat and hanger, and assuming the looks, swagger, and phrase of Pistol, burst out, &c.
Also see Pocket-pistol.
Pistol-shot, subs. phr. (common).—A
drink; a go (q.v.):
see Drinks and cf. pocket-pistol.
Pit, subs. (old).—1. A breast
pocket in a coat. Also, a fob.—Grose
(1785); Vaux (1819).
Hence pitman = a pocket-book.
2. (venery).—The female pudendum: also bottomless pit, pit-hole, pit-mouth, and pit of darkness: see Monosyllable. Hence, to lay pit and boxes (or back and front shops) into one (see quot. 1785).
d.1674. Herrick, Poems, 'Cherry-pit.' Julia and I . . . playing for sport at Cherry-pit:. . . I got the Pit, and she the stone.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Pit. To lay pit and boxes into one; an operation in midwifery or copulation, whereby the division between the anus and vagina is cut through, broken, and demolished: a simile borrowed from the playhouse, when, for the benefit of some favourite player, the pit and boxes are laid together.
3. (old).—See quot. 1696.—Grose (1785).
c.1696. B.E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Pit, the hole under the gallows into which those that Pay not the Fee, viz., 6s. 8d., are cast and Buried.
Knight of the pit, subs. phr. (old).—A cocker.
To shoot (or fly) the pit, verb. phr. (old).—To turn tail [Cocking].
1740. North, Examen, 327. The whole nation . . . expressing utmost detestation and abhorence of the Whig principles, which made the whole party shoot the pit and retire.
1740. Richardson, Pamela, ii. 308. We were all to blame to make madam here fly the pit as she did.
