Heading
Portuguese Synonym. Zona.
Darkman's Budge, subs. phr. (old).—A
housebreaker's confederate,
who slips into a house during the
day, hides there, and opens the
door at night.—[Grose, 1785.]
Darky, or Darkey, subs. (old).—1.
A dark lantern; a bull's eye.
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Stow the darkee and bolt, the cove of the cub is fly.
2. (old).—The night; the twilight. Also (nautical) darks.
1789. Geo. Parker, Life's Painter, p. 124. Bless your eyes and limbs, lay out a mag with poor Chirruping Joe. I don't come here every darkey.
1851-61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 216. We could average our 'duey bionk peroon a darkey,' or two shillings each, in the night.
1878. C. Hindley, Life and Times of Jas. Catnach. The cleanest angler on the pad in daylight or the darkey.
3. (common).—A negro. [From his complexion.] For synonyms, see Snowball.
1840. Dana, Two Years before the Mast, ch. xvii. Tom Cringle says that no one can fathom a negro's affection for a pig; and I believe he is right, for it almost broke our poor darky's heart when he heard that Bess was to be taken ashore.
1870. Negro Hymn. Walk in, darkies, troo de gate; Hark, de kullered angels holler; Go 'way, white fokes, ye're too late, We's de winnin' kuller! Wait, Till de trumwet blow to foller!
1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 594. I wish de legislatur' would set dis darkie free, Oh! what a happy place den de darkie land would be; We'd have a darkie Parliament An' darkie codes of law, An' darkie judges on the bench, Darkie barristers and aw'.
Darn, Darned, verb and ppl. adj. (colloquial).—Euphemistic forms of 'damn' and 'damned'; used to avoid 'cussing bar'-foot.' Also darnation, dangnation, darn burn it, and darn or dash my buttons or wig.—See Dadbinged and Oaths for synonyms.
c. 1840. West of England Ballad [quoted in Literary World, 11 Apr., 1890, p. 347, col. 1]. But if he'd know'd he'd got so much money He darned his buttons if he'd gi'ed 'un the shillin'.
1880. G. R. Sims, Zeph and other Stories, p. 87. I shall bring you to your senses, Bess, now, my girl, and you won't be so darned fast refusin' a good offer.
1888. Harper's Magazine. My experience has taught me that in Colorado the man who tells the first story has a darned poor show.
Dart, subs. (pugilistic).—A
straight-armed blow.
D.A.'s, subs. (general).—The menstrual
flux. [An abbreviation of
domestic afflictions (q.v.)
and for synonyms see Flag-up.]
Dash, subs. (old).—1. A tavern
waiter.
2. (common).—A small quantity; a 'drink'; a 'go' (q.v.) for synonyms). Also a small quantity of one fluid to give a flavour to another, e.g., a lemon and a dash = a bottle of lemonade with just a suggestion of bitter beer in it.
Verb (brewers').—1. To adulterate.
1871. Times, 4 April. 'Leader on Licensing Bill.' The brewers are careless of the characters of their tenants; they compel them to take all their beer from themselves, and too often at such prices that they are driven to adulterate or dash the liquor.
2. Also dash it! or dash my buttons, wig, timbers, etc., intj. phr. (common).—Colloquial
