- did or smutty (q.v.) matter in
decent language.—Ray (1767).
To cool in one's linen, verb. phr. (old).—To die.
d. 1796. Burns, Poems. 'O Merry Hae I Been.' Blessed be the hour she cooled in her linens.
Linen-arbor, subs. (American cadets').—A
dormitory.
Linen-armourer, subs. (common).—A
tailor. For synonyms see
Snip.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
Linen-draper, subs. (rhyming).—Paper.
Linenopolis, subs. (common).—Belfast:
cf. Cottonopolis.
1886. The State, 20 May, p. 210. There is no town of any dimensions in all Ireland more charmingly situated than Linenopolis.
Liner, subs. (journalistic).—1. A
casual reporter, paid by lineage
(q.v.). Short for penny-a-liner.
1861. Dutton Cook, Paul Foster's Daughter, xix. Because now and then a liner is found in the gutter, it doesn't do to cry shame on every man that wields a pen.
1864. J. H. Burton, Scot Abroad,. . . The most fashionable penny-a-liner of the Morning Post.
2. (artistic).—A picture hung on the line (q.v.).
1887. W. P. Frith, Autobiog., i. 114. The work advanced rapidly and I thought successfully, and in due time made its appearance in Trafalgar Square, where it was amongst the fortunate liners.
Ling-grappling, subs. phr. (venery).—Groping
a woman; bird's-nesting
(q.v.). Cf. stink-finger.
Lingo, subs. (colloquial).—A foreign
language; unintelligible speech.
1699. Congreve, Way of the World, iv. 4. I shall understand your lingo one of these days, Cousin: in the mean while I must answer in plain English.
1719. Durfey, Pills to Purge etc., iii. 100. We teach them their lingua, to crave and to cant.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, Bk. vi. ch. ii. I have often warned you not to talk the court gibberish to me. I tell you, I don't understand the lingo; but I can read a journal, or the 'London Evening Post.'
1775. Sheridan, St. Patrick's Day, i. 1. He's a gentleman of words; he understands your foreign lingo.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1839. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, Pt. i. ch. 2. It's plain he don't understand our lingo.
1846. Marryat, Peter Simple, xviii. Recollect that I cannot speak a word of their lingo.
1857. Thackeray, Four Georges (George I). He recited a portion of the Swedish Catechism to his Most Christian Majesty and his Court, not one of whom understood his lingo.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.
1883. Clark Russell, Sailor's Language, s.v. Lingo.—Sailor's name for a language he does not understand.
1888. Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, viii. Droll lingo, wasn't it?
1892. Milliken, 'Arry Ballads, 60. I can't git the 'ang of his lingo.
Lingua Franca, subs. phr. (colloquial).—Specifically
the corrupt
Italian (dating from the period of the
Genoese and Venetian supremacy)
employed as the language of commercial
intercourse with the Levant.
[Other examples are Hindustani in
India, Swahilli and Houssa in
Africa, Pidgin in China, and
Chinook in America].
1619. Wilson, Belphegor, iii. 5. Mat. What kind of people are ye? Rod.
