Prussian-blue, subs. phr. (obsolete).—See quot. 1868.
1837. Dickens, Pickwick, xxxiii. 'Vell, Sammy,' said the father. 'Vell, my Prooshan Blue,' responded the son.
1868. Brewer, Phrase & Table, s.v. Prooshan Blue (My). A term of great endearment. After . . . Waterloo the Prussians were immensely popular, and in connection with the Loyal True Blue Club gave rise to the toasts, "The True Blue" and the "Prussian Blue."
Pry, subs. (old: now recognised as
verb.).—A busybody; a 'peeping
Tom': now Paul Pry (q.v.):
from Poole's farce.—B.E. (c.
1696); Grose (1785).
Prygge. See Prig.
Psalm-smiter, subs. phr. (common).—A
ranting dissenter.
Pub (or Public), subs. (colloquial).—A
tavern; in the public
line = engaged as a licensed
victualler.
1816. Scott, Old Mortality, xli. This woman keeps an inn, then? interrupted Morton. A public, in a prim way, replied Blane.
1840. Lytton, Paul Clifford, xxii. Ascertaining the topography of the public at which he spake.
1866. Eliot, Felix Holt, xxviii. The Cross-Keys was a very old-fashioned PUBLIC.
c. 1871. Siliad, 16. All the great houses and the minor pubs. Ibid. Peelers . . . watch publics with a jealous eye.
1883. Payn, Thicker than Water, xxxv. One doesn't expect to see . . . the inevitable hanger-on of pubs outside, waiting for a job.
1884. Good Words, June, 400, 1. He had done twelve months for crippling the chucker-out of one of these pubs.
1885. D. Telegraph, 31 Oct. The difficulty will be to persuade him to come out of the domestic paradise into a world without pubs.
1886-87. Marshall, 'Pomes' [It's a Sad Heart that never Rejoices'], 76. The bloke at the pub.
1887. Henley, Villon's Good-Night, i. You sponges miking round the pubs.
1893. Milliken, 'Arry Ballads, 3. No pub but a sand-parloured shanty.
1899. Whiteing, John St., vii. Waiting for the opening of the pubs.
Public-buildings. Inspector
OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS, Subs. phr.
(common).—(1) An idler: from
choice or necessity: a loafer or
a man seeking work.
Public-ledger, subs. phr. (common).—A
prostitute: see Tart.
['Because (Grose), like that
paper, open to all parties.']
Public-man, subs. phr. (old).—A
bankrupt.—Grose (1785).
Public-patterer, subs. phr. (obsolete).—See
quot.
1866. Hotten, Slang Dict., s.v. Public patterers, swell mobsmen who pretend to be Dissenting preachers, and harangue in the open air to attract a crowd for their confederates to rob.
PUCK, subs. (old).—The devil: see
Skipper.
1362. Langland, Piers Plowman, xix. 282. Fro the poukes poundfalde no maynprise may ous fecche.
Pucker, verb. (showmen's).—See quot.
1851. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., i. 269. The trio at this stage of the performances began puckering (talking privately) to each other in murdered French, dashed with a little Irish.
In A PUCKER, phr. (colloquial).—Anxious; agitated; angry; confused: cf. Pudder.—Dyche (1748); Grose (1785). Whence TO pucker up = to get angry.
1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ii. The whole parish was in a pucker: some thought the French had landed.
1825. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, 1. vii. Miriam [was] in a plaguy pucker.
