3. (common).—Habit; game (q.v.): e.g., 'That's my form = That's what I'm in the way of doing'; or 'That's the sort of man I am.'
1884. Punch, 11 Oct. 'Arry at a Political Picnic.' Athletics ain't hardly my form.
Forney, subs (thieves').—A ring;
a variant of fawney (q.v.).
1871. Egan, Finish of Tom and Jerry, p. 243. He sports a diamond forney on his little finger.
Fornicating-engine (-member;
-tool), subs. phr. (venery).—The
penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick
and Prick.
Fornicator, subs. (venery).—1. The
penis. For synonyns, see Creamstick
and Prick.
2. In pl. (obsolete),—The old-fashioned flap trousers.
Fornicator's Hall, subs. phr.
(venery).—The female pudendum.
For synonyms, see Monosyllable.
Fort, subs. (venery).—The female
pudendum. For synonyms, see
Monosyllable.
1620. Percy, Folio MSS. [Hales & Furnivall, 1867]. 'Come, Wanton Wenches.' When they your ffort beleauger; grant but a touch or a kisse ffor a tast.
Fortune-biter, subs. (obsolete).—A
sharper.
1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., ii. 'Hey! for Richmond Ball'! Fortune-biters, Hags, bum-fighters, Nymphs of the Woods, And stale City goods.
Fortune-teller, subs. (old).—A
magistrate.
1690. B E., Dict. of the Canting Crew. Fortune-tellers, c. the Judges of Life and Death, so-called by the Canting Crew.
1785. Grose, Dict. of the Vulg. Tongue. Fortune-teller, or cunning man; a judge who tells every prisoner his fortune, lot, or doom; to go before the fortune-teller, lambskin man or conjuror, to be tried at an assize.
1871. Egan, Finish of Tom and Jerry, p. 242. He had been werry cruelly used by the fortune-tellers.
Forty. To talk forty (more
commonly nineteen) to the
dozen, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To
chatter incessantly; to gabble.
To walk off forty to the
dozen = to decamp in quick time.
1891. Farjeon, Mystery of M. Felix, p. 107. He run agin me, he did, and I ased, 'Who are yer pushing of?' He didn't say nothink, but walked off forty to the dozen.
Roaring forties, subs. phr. (nautical).—The Atlantic between the fortieth and fiftieth degrees of latitude; also applied to the same region in southern latitudes.
Forty-faced, adj. (colloquial).—An
arrant deceiver: e.g., a
forty-faced liar, a forty-faced
flirt, and so forth.
Forty-five, subs. (American).—A
revolver. For synonyms, see
Meat in the pot.
Forty-foot or Forty-guts, subs.
(common).—A fat, dumpy man,
or woman. In contempt.
English Synonyms.—'All arse, and no body'; arse-and-corporation; all-belly (Cotgrave); all guts (idem); bacon-belly; barrel-belly; belly-god; bladder-figured; bosse-belly; Bosse of Billingsgate (Florio = a fat woman); chuff (Shakspeare); Christmas beef; double-guts; double-tripe; fat-cock; fat-guts (Shakspeare and Cotgrave); fatico; fattymus or
