Heading
To drive pigs to market, verb. phr. (common).—To snore.—See quot. Fr., jouer à la ronfle or de l'orgue; also fumer.
1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary, &c., p. 64 (1811). He is driving his hogs over Swarston-bridge. This is a saying used in Derbyshire, when a man snores in his sleep. Swarston-bridge (or bridges, for there are several of them, one after another) is very long, and not very wide, which causes the hogs to be crowded together, in which situation they always make a loud grunting noise.
To drive turkeys to market, verb. phr. (common).—To reel and wobble in drink.
To drive French horses, verb. phr. (common).—To vomit. [From the 'Hue donc' of French carters to their teams.] For synonyms, see Accounts.
Driver's pint, subs. phr. (military).—A gallon.
Driz, subs. (thieves').—Lace. Fr.,
la miche (pop., in allusion to the
holes in a loaf of bread); la gratouse
(thieves': gratousé = adorned
with lace); la paille (thieves':
also, straw, or chaff); la galuche
(thieves'); le rayon de miel
(thieves').
1812. De Vaux, Flash Dict., s.v.
1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. [see Camesa].
1851-61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 233. Scotch Mary, with 'driz' (lace), bound to Dover and back.
Driz-Fencer, subs. (thieves').—A
seller of lace; also a receiver
of stolen material. [From Driz +
Fence.]
1851-61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 429. Among street-people the lace is called driz, and the sellers of it driz-fencers.
Dr. Johnson, subs. phr. (old).—The
penis. For synonyms, see
Creamstick.
Droddum, subs. (Scots').—The
posteriors. For synonyms, see
Blind cheeks, Bum, and Monocular
eyeglass.
1786. Burns, To a Louse.—O for some rank mercurial rozet, Some fell, red smeddum, I'd gie ye sic a hearty doze o't, Wad dress your droddum!
Dromaky, subs. (provincial).—A
prostitute: north of England,
particularly N. and S. Shields.
[From a strolling actress who
personated Andromache.]
Dromedary, subs. (old).—A bungler;
specifically, a bungling thief.
Also purple dromedary (q.v.).
Drop, subs. (old).—See Drop-game.
Verb (common).—1. To lose, give, or part with.
1812. Vaux, Flash Dict. He dropped me a quid, He gave me a guinea.
1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. xliii. That rascal Blackland got the bones out, and we played hazard on the dining-table. And I dropped all the money I had from you in the morning.
1870. London Figaro, 7 June. The money dropped by the turf prophets in the investment of advertisments, postage-stamps, and 'an office for the transaction of the increasing business of their numerous clients,' is quickly returned to them.
1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, ch. xxxi. Ladds is hard at work at ecarté with a villainous-looking stranger. And I should think, from the way Tommy is sticking at it, that Tommy is dropping pretty heavily.
1880. A Trollope, The Duke's Children, ch. lxiii. Nobody could have been more sorry than me that your Lordship dropped your money.
2. (colloquial).—To relinquish; abandon; leave: e.g., to drop an
