Tom Topper, subs. phr. (common).—A ferryman; a river hand: also Tom Tug.
Tom Towly, subs. phr. (old).—A
simpleton: see Buffle.
1583. Stanyhurst, Æneid, Dedic. What Tom Towly is so simple that wyl not attempt to be a rithmoure?
Tom-trot, subs. phr. (common).—'A
sweetmeat: sugar, butter,
and treacle melted together'
(Halliwell).
1844. Disraeli, Coningsby, i. I want toffy; I have been eating Tom Trot all day.
Tom Tug, subs. phr. (rhyming).—1.
A fool; a mug (q.v.): see
Buffle.
2. See Tom Topper.
Tom-tumbler, subs. phr. (old).—'?The
name of a fiend. See Scot,
Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1584,
as quoted in Ritson's Essay on
Fairies, p. 45' (Halliwell).
Tom Turdman. See Turd.
Tom Tyler, subs. phr. (old).—A
common fellow; a Mr Nobody:
cf. Smith and Jones.
1583. Stanyhurst, Æneid, 154, s.v.
Ton. See Bon-ton.
Tone, indef. pron. (old literary:
now vulgar).—That one: see
Tother.
Tong, subs. (American).—1. In pl.,
see quot. and Kicks.
1870. Judd, Margaret, i. The boys dressed in tongs, a name for pantaloons or overalls that had come into use.
2. (dentists' and medical).—In pl. = forceps: dental or midwifery.
Pair of tongs, subs. phr. (common).—A lanky person; a lamp-post (q.v.): also Tongs! (a sarcastic address).
Not to be touched without a pair of tongs, phr. (common).—A simile of disgust: also except at the end of a barge-pole.
1668. Lestrange, Quevedo (1678), 22. Your Beauties can never want gallants to lay their Appetites. . . . Whereas No-body will touch the ill-favoured without a pair of tongs.
Hammer and tongs. See ante, s.v. Hammer.
Tongue, subs. (colloquial).—Generic
for speech: esp. (1) gabble;
(2) abuse, or (3) impudence. As
verb (to tongue it, or to
flash the tongue) = (l) to
talk down; (2) to talk at, to
chide; (3) to mouth (q.v.);
and (4) to sauce (q.v.). Whence
numerous derivatives and combinations:
thus, to tongue-bang
= to scold roundly, to
rate: tongue-banger = a scold;
tongue-battery = a torrent of
words, a flood of talk; tongue-biter
= an indistinct speaker: also
to bite the tongue = to keep
silence; tongue-doughty =
bragging, word-valiant; tongue-fence
= debate, argument:
tongue fencer = (1) a master of
words, and (2) a mouthing-speaker;
tongue-lashing =
wordy abuse; tongue-man = (1)
an orator, (2) a chatterbox, and
(3) a scold: also tongue-pad (see
quot. 1696) and tonguester;
tongue-powder = fluency of
phrase; tongue-shot = as far as
the voice will reach: cf. 'ear-shot';
tongue-sore = an evil tongue,
ill-speaking; tongue-valiant
= (1) free of talk: hence (2)
