1608. Middleton, A Mad World, My Masters, i. 1. I must let fly my civil fortunes, turn wild-brain, lay my wits upo' th' tenters, you rascals.
Wild-cat, adj. phr. (American
commercial).—Reckless, hazardous,
unsound: orig. applied to
banking enterprises of doubtful
(if of no worse) character: cf.
Blue-pup, Red-dog, etc.
[Bartlett: A bank in Michigan
had a large vignette on its notes
representing a panther, familiarly
called a Wild-cat. This bank
failed, a large amount of its notes
were in circulation, which were
denominated Wild-cat money,
and the bank issuing them the
Wild-cat bank. Other banks
stopped payment soon after, and
the term became general in
Michigan, to denote banking
institutions of an unsound
character.] Hence Wild-cat
currency, schemes, etc.
1842. Clavers, Forest Life, i. 91. We had to sell some of our land to pay taxes on the rest,—and then took our pay in Wild-cat money that turned to waste paper before we could get it off our hands.
1858. Baltimore Sun, 8 July. Certain it is that we are overrun with a wild-cat currency.
1877. Galaxy, 632. When the Yankee mind stoops to criminal pursuits, it is likely to manifest itself in the way of bank forgeries, embezzlements, or the formation of petroleum bubbles or wild-cat banking institutions.
1896. Lillard, Poker Stories, 56. He went to the bartender and got a lot of wild-cat money, wrapped it around with a couple of twenties, and put some fives in the middle.
1901. Free Lance, 9 Feb., 471. 1. Old ladies sell out of Consols to raise money with which to gamble in a wild-cat mining company, and end as dependents on the charity of their friends.
Wild-dell, subs. phr. (Old Cant).—A
dell (q.v.) or girl begotten
and born under a hedge.
Wild-goose, subs. phr. (old
military).—A recruit for the Irish
Brigade in the service of France
in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries.
Wild-goose Chase, subs. phr.
(common).—The pursuit of anything
unprofitable or absurd; a
blind hunt. [Dyce: Orig. 'a
kind of horse-race, in which two
horses were started together, and
whichever rider could get the
lead, the other was obliged to
follow him over whatever ground
he chose to go.']
1595. Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, ii. 4. If our wits run the wild-goose chase, I have done; for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits, than I have in my whole five.
d. 1650. Fletcher, Poems, 202. No hints of truth on foot? no sparks of grace? No late sprung light to dance the wild-goose chase?
Wild Indians (The), subs. phr.
(military).—The Prince of Wales's
Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians).
Both battalions trace
some sort of connection with the
Indians of N. America and the
'Indians' of the East: the first
battalion having formerly been
the 100th Foot, an expression of
Canadian loyalty at the time of
the Mutiny, and the 2nd battalion,
the 109th (Bombay Infantry)
Regiment, originally raised by
the Hon. East India Company.
Wild Irishman (The), subs. phr. (railway).—The evening mail train between Euston and Holyhead: cf. Flying Dutchman, etc.
Wild-mare, subs. phr. (old).—The nightmare.
