Heading
Dirty-Dishes, subs. (common).—Poor relations.
Dirty Half-Hundred, subs. phr.
(military).—The Fiftieth Foot.
[From the fact that, in action,
during the Peninsular War, the
men wiped their faces with their
black facings.] Also nicknamed
the Blind Half-Hundred.
1841. Lever, Charles O'Malley, ch. xciv. A kind of neutral tint between green and yellow, like nothing I know of except the facings of the 'dirty half-hundred.'
Dirty-Puzzle, subs. (old).—A
slut.—Grose [1785].
Dirty Shirt March, subs. phr.
(vulgar).—On Sunday mornings
the male population of Drury
Lane, Whitechapel, and other
crowded districts loaf about the
streets, before attiring themselves
in their Sunday clothes. This
promenade is called a 'dirty
shirt march.'
Dirty-Shirts, subs. (military).—The
Hundred and First Foot.
[They fought in their shirt-sleeves
at Delhi in 1857.]
1887. Daily News, 11 July. As the old Bengal European Regiment . . . they [the 2nd Munster Fusiliers] had won their honourable sobriquet of the dirty shirts, half-a-century earlier.
Disgruntled, adj. (old).—Offended:
still colloquial in U.S.A.
Undisgruntled = unoffended.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1869. Springfield Republican, 20 Nov. Rev. Dr. Newman Hall, of London, tells how when he was journeying to Chicago, an apple-peddling boy, on the cars, without any preliminaries took hold of and immediately examined his breast-pin. Nevertheless the reverend gentleman, quite undisgruntled, remarked, 'Was it not there to be seen? Was he not a man and a brother?'
1877. Providence Journal, 1 March. We have had enough exercise of extraordinary power, and this continual grasping after authority for the purpose of meeting the individual case of some disgruntled persons should receive the stamp of this committee's disapprobation.
Disguised, adj. (old).—Drunk.
For synonyms, see Drinks and
Screwed.
1622. Massinger, Virgin Martyr, III., iii. Harp. I am a prince disguised. Hir. Disguised! How? Drunk!
1625. Jonson, Staple of News, IV. Come, I will shew you the way home, if drink Or too full diet have disguised you.
1663. Dryden, Wild Gallant, Act I. Fail. Will not ale serve the turn, Will? Bib. I had too much of that last night; I was a little disguised, as they say.
1704. Steele, Lying Lover, Act IV., Sc. i. Sim. You are a little disguis'd in Drink tho' Mr. John.
1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act IV. A damned up and down hand, as if it was disguised in liquor.
1884. W. C. Russell, Jack's Courtship, ch. xvi. I met a third mate I knew, slightly disguised in liquor.
Dish, verb (common).—To cheat;
to circumvent; to disappoint; to
ruin.
1798. Monthly Mag. [quoted in N. and Q., 1 S., iv., p. 313. In the Monthly Mag., in 1798, is a paper on peculiarities of expression among which are . . . 'done up,' dish'd, etc.
1811. E. Nares, Thinks I to Myself, i., 208. He was completely dished—he could never have appeared again.
1819. Moore, Tom Crib's Memorial, p. 26. . . . Could old Nap himself, in his glory, have wish'd To show up a fat Gemman more handsomely dish'd?
1821. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, i. 7. No, I'm out of spirits because I have been dished and doodled out of forty pounds to-day.
1884. W. C. Russell, Jack's Courtship, ch. xvi. I oughtn't to show a youngster like you any sympathy in this job of dishing a parent's hopes.
Dish-Clout, subs. (common).—A
dirty, slatternly woman.
