Gen-net, subs. phr. (back slang).—Ten shillings.
Gennitraf, subs. (back slang).—A
farthing.
Genol, adj. (back slang).—Long.
Gent, subs. (once literary: now
vulgar).—1. A showily-dressed
vulgarian. [A contraction of
'gentleman.']
1635. [Glapthorne], Lady Mother, in Bullen's Old Plays, ii., 114. Hees not a gent that cannot parlee. I must invent some new and polite phrases.
1785. Burns, Epistle to J. Lapraite, st. 11. Do ye envy the city gent, Behint a kist to lie and sklent?
1843. Thackeray, Irish Sketch Book, ch. viii. The crowd of swaggering gents (I don't know the corresponding phrase in the Anglo-Irish vocabulary to express a shabby dandy), awaiting the Cork mail.
1844. Disraeli, Coningsby, bk. IV., ch. ii. 'Ah, not in business! Hem! professional?' 'No,' said Coningsby, 'I am nothing.'—'Ah! an independent gent; hem! and a very pleasant thing too.'
1846. Sunday Paper, 24 May. Mr. Rawlinson (Magistrate at Marylebone Police Court). What do you mean by gent? There is no such word in our language. I hold a man who is called a gent to be the greatest blackguard there is.
1848. Punch, vol. XIV., p. 226. His aversion for a gent is softened by pity.
1869. Blue Budget. The gent indicates a being who apes the gentility without the faintest shadow of a claim to it.
2. (Old Cant).—Money. [From Fr., argent.] For synonyms, see Actual and Gilt.
1864. Revue des Deux Mondes, 15 Sept., p. 470. Les voleurs anglais disent gent pour 'argent.'
3. (colloquial).—A sweetheart, a mistress: e.g., My gent = my particular friend.
Adj. (old literary).—Elegant comely; genteel.
1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales. 'Miller's Tale.' [Skeat, 1878, i., 194]. As any wesil her body gent and small.
1553-99. Spenser. He loved as was his lot, a lady gent. Idem. A knight had wrought against a lady gent.
1704. Mad. Knight's Jour., p. 44. Law you, sais she, it's right gent, do you take it—'tis dreadfull pretty.
Gentile, subs. (colloquial). Any
sort of stranger, native or
foreign; among the Mormons,
any person not professing the
Gospel according to Joe Smith.
Hence, In the Land of the
Gentiles = (1) in foreign parts;
and (2) in strange neighbourhoods
or alien society.
Gentle, subs. (anglers').—A
maggot; vulgarly, Gentile.
1811. Songs of the Chase. 'The Jolly Anglers.' We have gentles in our horns.
Gentle Craft, subs. (old).—1.
The trade of shoemaking. [From
the romance of Prince Crispin,
who is said to have made shoes.]
1662. Rump Songs. 'A Hymn to the Gentle Craft,' etc., ii. 152. Crispin and he were nere akin: The gentle craft hath a noble kin.
2. (anglers').—Angling.
1892. Milliken, 'Arry Ballads, p. 65. Sez I, gentle craft, said I.
Gentleman, subs. (thieves').—A
crowbar. For synonyms, see
jemmy.
To put a churl (or beggar) upon a gentleman, verb. phr. (old).—To drink malt liquor immediately after wine.—Grose.
Gentleman of the (Three, or Four, or Five) Outs (or Ins), subs. phr. (old).—A
