1892. Anstey, Voces Populi, 'At the Military Tournament,' 97. Cost a pretty sight o' the People's Money.
1899. Whiteing, John St., ix. Pretty child you must ha' been . . . Oh my! Ibid. Was you knocked about much when you was a young 'un? Pretty tidy, only I alwiz stepped it when it got too 'ot.
To do the (or talk) pretty, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To affect amiability or obsequiousness.
1891. J. Newman, Scamping Tricks, 2. We can talk pretty to each other. Ibid., 46. I saw they were started on the road of mutual admiration, and travelling pretty, and that he meant calling again.
1902. Free Lance, 5 April, 8, 2. They must be spoken pretty to, caressed, humoured, coaxed.
See also Way and Horse-*breaker.
Pretty- (or merry-) dancers,
subs. phr. (Scots').—The Aurora
Borealis.
Pretty-pretty, subs. (common).—A
knick-knack; and (2) see
Pretty.
1887-9. Trollope, What I Remember, 21. My mother . . . had contrived to keep a certain number of pretty-pretties which were dear to her heart.
Previous, adv. (colloquial).—See
quot. 1885.
1885. D. Telegraph, 14 Dec. "He is a little before his time, a trifle previous, as the Americans say, but so are all geniuses."
1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 23 June, 4, 2. Next year his term of service expires, and then we shall both be . . . But to state that now is what the Americans would call a little previous. Ibid. (1901), 10 Ap., 1, 3. So there it is—an object-lesson in the inadvisability of the too previous.
Prey, subs. (old).—Money.—B. E.
(c.1696).
Prial, subs. (old gaming).—Three
cards of a sort (at commerce,
cribbage, &c.): Double-prial
= four of a kind: whence also,
of persons and things. [A corruption
of pair-royal: in quot.
1608 is seen a step towards prial,
whilst in quot. 1680 'pair-royal'
rhymes with 'trial.']
1608. Day, Humour out of Breath, sig. C2. Fl. Why two fooles? Fr. Is it not past two, doth it not come neere three, sister [meaning, to call her one]. Pa. Shew perryall and take it.
a.1680. Butler, Ballad on Parl. But when they came to trial, Each one prov'd a fool, Yet three knaves in the whole, And that made up a pair-royal.
Priap (or Priapus), subs. (venery).—1.
The penis: see Prick; (2)
= a dildo (q.v.); and (3) = a
stallion (q.v.).
1672. Butler, Dildoides. Who envying their curious frame Expos'd their Priaps to the flame. Ibid. Priapus thus, in Box opprest, Burnt like a Phœnix in his Nest.
d.1680. Rochester [Works (1718), 87]. Saying if one priapus I could shew, One holy relic of kind pearly dew. Ibid. Priapus squeez'd, one Snowball did emit.
1692. Dryden, Juvenal (1702), 114, Seen from afar and famous for his ware, He struts into the bath among the fair; Th' admiring crew to their devotion fall; And, kneeling, on their new Priapus call.
Price, verb. (colloquial).—To enquire
the cost of.
1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, ii. 261. If you priced such a one in a drawing-room here, And was asked fifty pounds, You'd not say it was dear.
1886-96. Marshall, 'Pomes' from the Pink 'Un ['The Age of Love'], 26. They priced him at fifty to one.
What price ? phr. (racing and common).—How's that? What do you think? How much? What odds?
1893. Emerson, Signor Lippo, xiv. What price you, when you fell off the scaffold.
