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The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue dates from 1811 and this is probably the only full, uncensored and searchable
version of this dictionary on the internet. All the original crudities have been restored and it offers an
interesting perspective on Common English from the time of the Regency and Jane Austen.
Select a letter or type a word and click Find. Searches are automatically wild-carded and clicking on words in the first column will look for all occurrences of that word, or related word.
Example:You click A and one of the results is ARSE. If you now click on ARSE the full list of related content will be displayed.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Select a letter or type a word and click Find. Searches are automatically wild-carded and clicking on words in the first column will look for all occurrences of that word, or related word.
Example:You click A and one of the results is ARSE. If you now click on ARSE the full list of related content will be displayed.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Entries releated to KEEP
| ALE DRAPER | An alehouse keeper. | |
| ANCHOR | Bring your arse to an anchor, i.e. sit down. To let go an anchor to the windward of the law; to keep within the letter of the law. SEA WIT. | |
| BANKRUPT CART | A one-horse chaise, said to be so called by a Lord Chief Justice, from their being so frequently used on Sunday jaunts by extravagant shop-keepers and tradesmen. | |
| BAWDY-HOUSE BOTTLE | A very small bottle; short measure being among the many means used by the keepers of those houses, to gain what they call an honest livelihood: indeed this is one of the least reprehensible; the less they give a man of their infernal beverages for his money, the kinder they behave to him. | |
| BEGGAR MAKER | A publican, or ale-house keeper. | |
| BLAB | A tell-tale, or one incapable of keeping a secret | |
| BLACK BOOK | He is down in the black book, i.e. has a stain in his character. A black book is keep in most regiments, wherein the names of all persons sentenced to punishment are recorded. | |
| BLUFFER | An inn-keeper. | |
| BOOK-KEEPER | One who never returns borrowed books. Out of one's books; out of one's fevor. Out of his books; out of debt. | |
| BOOTS | The youngest officer in a regimental mess, whose duty it is to skink, that is, to stir the fire, snuff the candles, and ring the bell. See SKINK. - To ride in any one's old boots; to marry or keep his cast-off mistress. | |
| BUFFER | One that steals and kills horses and dogs for their skins; also an inn-keeper: in Ireland it signifies a boxer. | |
| BUM TRAP | A sheriff's officer who arrests debtors. Ware hawke! the bum traps are fly to our panney; keep a good look out, the bailiffs know where our house is situated. | |
| COCK BAWD | A male keeper of a bawdy-house. | |
| COLLEGIATES | Prisoners of the one, and shopkeepers of the other of those places. | |
| COLT'S TOOTH | An old fellow who marries or keeps a young girl, is said to have a colt's tooth in his head. | |
| CONSCIENCE KEEPER | A superior, who by his influence makes his dependants act as he pleases. | |
| CUFF | An old cuff; an old man. To cuff Jonas; said of one who is knock-kneed, or who beats his sides to keep himself warm in frosty weather; called also Beating the booby. | |
| DARK CULLY | A married man that keeps a mistress, whom he visits only at night, for fear of discovery. | |
| DIVIDE | To divide the house with one's wife; to give her the outside, and to keep all the inside to one's self, i.e. to turn her into the street. | |
| DRAPER | An ale draper; an alehouse keeper. | |
| DUDDERS, or WHISPERING DUDDERS | Cheats who travel the country, pretending to sell smuggled goods: they accost their intended dupes in a whisper. The goods they have for sale are old shop-keepers, or damaged; purchased by them of large manufactories. See DUFFER. | |
| FEUTERER | A dog-keeper: from the French vautrier, or vaultrier, one that leads a lime hound for the chase. | |
| FLASH | To shew ostentatiously. To flash one's ivory; to laugh and shew one's teeth. Don't flash your ivory, but shut your potatoe trap, and keep your guts warm; the Devil loves hot tripes. | |
| HOBBY HORSICAL | A man who is a great keeper or rider of hobby horses; one that is apt to be strongly attached to his systems of amusement. | |
| HOSTELER | Oat stealer. Hosteler was originally the name for an inn-keeper; inns being in old English styled hostels, from the French signifying the same. | |
| IRONMONGER'S SHOP | To keep an ironmonger's shop by the side of a common, where the sheriff sets one up; to be hanged in chains. Iron-bound; laced. An iron-bound hat; a silver-laced hat. | |
| JOGG-TROT | To keep on a jogg-trot; to get on with a slow but regular pace. | |
| KEEP | To inhabit. Lord, where do you keep? i.e. where are your rooms? ACADEMICAL PHRASE. Mother, your tit won't keep; your daughter will not preserve her virginity. | |
| KEEP IT UP | To prolong a debauch. We kept it up finely last night; metaphor drawn from the game of shuttle- cock. | |
| KEEPING CULLY | One who keeps a mistress, as he supposes, for his own use, but really for that of the public. | |
| KERRY SECURITY | Bond, pledge, oath, and keep the money. | |
| KIMBAW | To trick, cheat or cozen; also to beat or to bully. Let's kimbaw the cull; let's bully the fellow. To set one's arms a-kimbaw, vulgarly pronounced a-kimbo, is to rest one's hands on the hips, keeping the elbows square, and sticking out from the body; an insolent bullying attitude. | |
| LAG | To drop behind, to keep back. Lag last; the last of a company. | |
| LEAKY | Apt to blab; one who cannot keep a secret is said to be leaky. | |
| LEAST IN SIGHT | To play least in sight; to hide, keep out of the way, or make one's self scarce. | |
| LEGGERS | Sham leggers; cheats who pretend to sell smuggled goods, but in reality only deal in old shop-keepers or damaged goods. | |
| LONG TONGUED | Loquacious, not able to keep a secret. He is as long-tongued as Granny: Granny was an idiot who could lick her own eye. See GRANNY. | |
| PLAY | To play booty; to play with an intention to lose. To play the whole game; to cheat. To play least in sight; to hide, or keep out of the way. To play the devil; to be guilty of some great irregularity or mismanagement. | |
| PORRIDGE | Keep your breath to cool your porridge; ie: held your tongue. | |
| QUEER BLUFFER | The master of a public-house the resort of rogues and sharpers, a cut-throat inn or alehouse keeper. | |
| QUEER CHECKERS | Among strolling players, door-keepers who defraud the company, by falsely checking the number of people in the house. | |
| ROAST AND BOILED | A nick name for the Life Guards, who are mostly substantial house-keepers; and eat daily of roast and boiled. | |
| SHY COCK | One who keeps within doors for fear of bailiffs. | |
| SKULKER | A soldier who by feigned sickness, or other pretences, evades his duty; a sailor who keeps below in time of danger; in the civil line, one who keeps out of the way, when any work is to be done. To skulk; to hide one's self, to avoid labour or duty. | |
| SLOP SELLER | A dealer in those articles, who keeps a slop shop. | |
| SPOIL PUDDING | A parson who preaches long sermons, keeping his congregation in church till the puddings are overdone. | |
| SPORT | To exhibit: as, Jack Jehu sported a new gig yesterday: I shall sport a new suit next week. To sport or flash one's ivory; to shew one's teeth. To sport timber; to keep one's outside door shut; this term is used in the inns of court to signify denying one's self. N.B. The word SPORT was in great vogue ann. 1783 and 1784. | |
| SWANNERY | He keeps a swannery; i.e. all his geese are swans. | |
| TURF | On the turf; persons who keep running horses, or attend and bet at horse-races, are said to be on the turf. | |
| VINEGAR | A name given to the person who with a whip in his hand, and a hat held before his eye, keeps the ring clear, at boxing-matches and cudgel-playing; also, in cant terms, a cloak. | |
| WATER | His chops watered at it; he longed earnestly for it. To watch his waters; to keep a strict watch on any one's actions. In hot water: in trouble, engaged in disputes. | |
| WHORE-MONGER | A man that keeps more than one mistress. A country gentleman, who kept a female friend, being reproved by the parson of the parish, and styled a whore-monger, asked the parson whether he had a cheese in his house; and being answered in the affirmative, 'Pray,' says he, 'does that one cheese make you a cheese-monger?' | |