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A case of Crabs, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A failure.
A case of Pickles, subs. phr. (colloquial).—An incident; a bad break-down; a break up.
A case of Stump, subs. phr. (colloquial).—Said of one absolutely guiltless of the possession of coin.
Caseine, subs. (rare).—The correct
thing. A variant of the cheese
(q.v.) Cf., Cassan.
1856. C. Kingsley, Letter, May. Horn minnow looks like a gudgeon, which is the pure caseine.
Caser, subs. (thieves').—Five shillings.—See
Case and Caroon.
1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., XL., 501. One morning I found I did not have more than a caser (5s.).
Case-Vrow, subs. (old).—A prostitute
in residence in a particular
brothel; now called a dress-lodger
(q.v.). [From case(q.v.),
a house, + Dutch vrow, a woman.]
Casey, subs. (thieves').—Cheese.—See
Cassan.
Cash.—See Cassan.
Equal to cash.—Of unquestionable merit. In allusion to the fact that paper currency is largely a medium of exchange.
1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., chap. xvi. Though I say it, that shouldn't say it, they [the U.S. Americans] fairly take the shine off creation—they are actilly equal to cash.
To cash a Prescription, subs. phr. (colloquial).—To get a prescription made up.
1890. The Scots Observer, p. 399, col. 2. The Socialist, with an ear for Ibsen, and an eye for Wagner, and a prescription in his pocket that only needs to be cashed for the world to forget its past, and belie its present, and bedevil its future.
Cashels, subs. (Stock Exchange).—Great
Southern and Western
of Ireland Railway Stock. [Said
to be derived from the fact that
the line originally had no station
at Cashel.]
Cash or Pass in One's Checks.
verbal phr. (American). To die.
Derived from the game of poker,
where counters or checks, purchased
at certain fixed rates, are
equivalent to coin. The euphemism
is drawn from the analogy
between settling one's earthly
accounts, and paying in dues at
the end of the game.
18(?). John Hay, Jim Bludsoe of the Prairie Belle. 'How Jimmy Bludsoe pass'd in his checks The night of the Prairie Belle.'
1870. Bret Harte, Outcasts Poker Flat. Beneath this tree lies the body of J. O. who . . . handed in his checks on the 7th December, 1850.
1872. S. L. Clemens ('Mark Twain'), Roughing It, p. 332. 'You see,' said the miner, 'one of the boys has passed in his checks, and we want to give him a good send off.'
1882. Dodge, Plains of the Great West. As close a shave as I ever made to passing in my checks was from a buffalo stampede.
1888. New York Sun. Well, I owned the mule for several years after that, and when he finally passed in his checks I gave him as decent a burial as any pioneer ever got.
Cash-Up, verb (colloquial).—To
liquidate a debt by the transfer
of money, i.e., cash, or its
equivalent. For synonyms, see
Shell out.
1837. Barham, I. L. (M. of Venice). And Antonio grew In a deuce of a stew, For he could not cash up, spite of all he could do.
1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, I., p. 213. 'When my father's executors
