Pollard, subs. (old).—A counterfeit coin, worth about a halfpenny, made abroad, and smuggled into England, temp. Ed. I. [Said to be named after the original maker.]
c.1350. Fabyan, Chronicle, ii. He sodeynly dampned certayne coynes of money, called pollardes.
Poller. 1. See Pill and Poll.
2. (old).—See quot.
1676. Warning for Housekeepers, 4. They carry in one hand a dark Glim, and in the other a poller, which is a dark Lanthorn and a Pistol.
Poll-parrot, subs. phr. (common).—A
talkative woman: also poll
and polly.
1865. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, xii. If it warn't wasting good sherry wine on you, I'd chuck this at you for Poll Parroting with this man.
Pollrumptious, adj. (colloquial).—Restive;
unruly; foolishly confident.
Polly, subs. (tramps').—1. Used
as in quot.
1893. Emerson, Signor Lippo, xiv. All I get is my kip and a clean mill tog, a pair of pollies and a stoock, and what few medazas I can make out of the lodgers and needies.
2. (common).—Apollinaris water.
1894. G. Egerton, Keynotes, 59. The draught is transformed into lukewarm water, or Polly without the 'dash' in it.
1894. Illustrated Bits, 31 Mar., 10, 3. What is more gratifying—he could drink. Not sips of weak tea, or "polly," but the Extra Sec of the right year, and plenty of it.
To do polly, verb. phr. (American prison).—To pick oakum; to mill doll (q.v.).—Matsell (1859).
Pollycon, subs. phr. (American
students').—Political economy.
Polt, subs. (old).—A blow; a
stroke.—B. E. (c.1696); Grose
(1785).
1782. D'arblay, Cecilia, ii. ix. Give me a good polt of the head.
Poltroon, subs. (old: now recognised).—A
coward.—B. E.
(c.1696).
1595. Shakspeare, 3 Henry VI., i. 1. Patience is for poltroons such as he.
1778. Sheridan, The Rivals, iv. 1. Out, you poltroon!—you ha'n't the valour of a grasshopper.
Polty (or dolty), adj. (cricketers').—Easy.
Polyphemus, subs. (venery).—The
penis: see Prick. [The
Monops, the One-eyed One.]
Pommel. See Pummel.
Pompadours (The), subs. (military).—The
late 56th Regiment
of Foot, now the 2nd Batt. Essex
Regiment. [Tradition relates that,
when facings were changed in
1764, the crimson not wearing
well, the Colonel desired Blue.
The authorities, however, objected,
and he chose purple, a
favourite colour of Madame de
Pompadour, the mistress of Louis
XV. of France.] Also "The
Saucy Pompadours."
Pompaginis. Aqua pompaginis,
subs. phr. (old).—Pure water:
see Aqua.—Grose (1785).
Pompey's-pillar. Pompey's-pillar
to a stick of sealing-wax,
phr. (old).—A fanciful bet:
cf. All Lomard-street to a
China orange, and Chelsea-college
to a sentry-box.
Pompkin. See Pumpkin.
