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they are said to be born with a burr in their throats, which
prevents their pronouncing the letter r.
CROAKERS. Forestallers, called also Kidders and Tranters.
CROCODILE'S TEARS. The tears of a hypocrite. Crocodiles
are fabulously reported to shed tears over their prey before
they devour it.
CROCUS, or CROCUS METALLORUM. A nick name for a
surgeon of the army and navy.
CROKER. A groat, or four pence.
CRONE. An old ewe whose teeth are worn out; figuratively,
a toothless old beldam.
CRONY. An intimate companion, a comrade; also a confederate
in a robbery.
CROOK. Sixpence.
CROOK BACK. Sixpence; for the reason of this name, see
CRIPPLE.
CROOK YOUR ELBOW. To crook one's elbow, and wish it
may never come straight, if the fact then affirmed is not
true according to the casuists of Bow-street and St.
Giles's, adds great weight and efficacy to an oath.
CROOK SHANKS. A nickname for a man with bandy legs.
He buys his boots in Crooked Lane, and his stockings
in Bandy-legged Walk; his legs grew in the night, therefore
could not see to grow straight; jeering sayings of men
with crooked legs.
CROP. A nick name for a presbyterian: from their cropping
their hair, which they trimmed close to a bowl-dish,
placed as a guide on their heads; whence they were likewise
called roundheads. See ROUNDHEADS.
CROP. To be knocked down for a crop; to be condemned
to be hanged. Cropped, hanged.
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CROPPING DRUMS. Drummers of the foot guards, or Chelsea
hospital, who find out weddings, and beat a point of
war to serenade the new married couple, and thereby
obtain money.
CROPPEN. The tail. The croppen of the rotan; the tail
of the cart. Croppen ken: the necessary-house. CANT.
CROPSICK. Sickness in the stomach, arising from drunkenness.
CROSS. To come home by weeping cross; to repent at the
conclusion.
CROSS DISHONEST. A cross cove; any person who lives by
stealing or in a dishonest manner.
CROSS BITE. One who combines with a sharper to draw in
a friend; also, to counteract or disappoint. CANT. This
is peculiarly used to signify entrapping a man so as to obtain
CRIM. COM. money, in which the wife, real or supposed,
conspires with the husband.
CROSS BUTTOCK. A particular lock or fall in the Broughtonian
art, which, as Mr. Fielding observes, conveyed more
pleasant sensations to the spectators than the patient.
CROSS PATCH. A peevish boy or girl, or rather an unsocial
ill-tempered man or woman.
TO CROW. To brag, boast, or triumph. To crow over any
one; to keep him in subjection: an image drawn from a
cock, who crows over a vanquished enemy. To pluck a
crow; to reprove any one for a fault committed, to settle a
dispute. To strut like a crow in a gutter; to walk proudly,
or with an air of consequence.
CROWD. A fiddle: probably from CROOTH, the Welch name
for that instrument.
CROWDERO. A fiddler.
CROWDY. Oatmeal and water, or milk; a mess much eaten
in the north.
CROW FAIR. A visitation of the clergy. See REVIEW OF
THE BLACK CUIRASSIERS.
CROWN OFFICE. The head. I fired into her keel upwards;
my eyes and limbs Jack, the crown office was full; I s k-d
a woman with her a-e upwards, she was so drunk, that her
head lay on the ground.
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CRUISERS. Beggars, or highway spies, who traverse the
road, to give intelligence of a booty; also rogues ready to
snap up any booty that may offer, like privateers or pirates
on a cruise.
CRUMMY. Fat, fleshy. A fine crummy dame; a fat woman.
He has picked up his crumbs finely of late; he has
grown very fat, or rich, of late.
CRUMP. One who helps solicitors to affidavit men, or false
witnesses. 'I wish you had, Mrs. Crump;' a Gloucestershire
saying, in answer to a wish for any thing; implying,
you must not expect any assistance from the speaker. It
is said to have originated from the following incident:
One Mrs. Crump, the wife of a substantial farmer, dining
with the old Lady Coventry, who was extremely deaf, said
to one of the footmen, waiting at table, 'I wish I had a
draught of small beer,' her modesty not permitting her to
desire so fine a gentleman to bring it: the fellow, conscious
that his mistress could not hear either the request or
answer, replied, without moving, 'I wish you had, Mrs.
Crump.' These wishes being again repeated by both parties,
Mrs. Crump got up from the table to fetch it herself;
and being asked by my lady where she was going, related
what had passed. The story being told abroad, the expression
became proverbial.
CRUMP-BACKED. Hump-backed.
CRUSTY BEAU. One that uses paint and cosmetics, to obtain
a fine complexion.
CRUSTY FELLOW. A surly fellow.
CUB. An unlicked cub; an unformed, ill-educated young
man, a young nobleman or gentleman on his travels: an
allusion to the story of the bear, said to bring its cub into
form by licking. Also, a new gamester.
CUCKOLD. The husband of an incontinent wife: cuckolds,
however, are Christians, as we learn by the following story:
An old woman hearing a man call his dog Cuckold, reproved
him sharply, saying, 'Sirrah, are not you ashamed
to call a dog by a Christian's name ?' To cuckold the
parson; to bed with one's wife before she has been churched.
CUCUMBERS. Taylors, who are jocularly said to subsist,
during the summer, chiefly on cucumbers.
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
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warm in frosty weather; called also Beating the
booby.
CUFFIN. A man.
CULL. A man, honest or otherwise. A bob cull; a good-
natured, quiet fellow. CANT.
CULLABILITY. A disposition liable to be cheated, an
unsuspecting nature, open to imposition.
CULLY. A fog or fool: also, a dupe to women: from the
Italian word coglione, a blockhead.
CULP. A kick or blow: from the words mea culpa, being
that part of the popish liturgy at which the people beat their
breasts; or, as the vulgar term is, thump their craws.
CUNDUM. The dried gut of a sheep, worn by men in the
act of coition, to prevent venereal infection; said to have
been invented by one colonel Cundum. These machines
were long prepared and sold by a matron of the name of
Philips, at the Green Canister, in Half-moon-street, in the
Strand. That good lady having acquired a fortune, retired
from business; but learning that the town was not well
served by her successors, she, out of a patriotic zeal for the
public welfare, returned to her occupation; of which she
gave notice by divers hand-bills, in circulation in the year
1776. Also a false scabbard over a sword, and the oil-skin
case for holding the colours of a regiment.
CUNNINGHAM. A punning appellation for a simple fellow.
CUNNING MAN. A cheat, who pretends by his skill in
astrology to assist persons in recovering stolen goods: and
also to tell them their fortunes, and when, how often,
and to whom they shall be married; likewise answers all
lawful questions, both by sea and land. This profession
is frequently occupied by ladies.
CUNNING SHAVER. A sharp fellow, one that trims close,
i.e. cheats ingeniously.
CUNNY-THUMBED. To double one's fist with the thumb inwards,
like a woman.
C**T. The chonnos of the Greek, and the cunnus of the Latin
dictionaries; a nasty name for a nasty thing: un con Miege.
CUP OF THE CREATURE. A cup of good liquor.
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CUP-SHOT. Drunk.
CUPBOARD LOVE. Pretended love to the cook, or any other
person, for the sake of a meal. My guts cry cupboard;
i.e. I am hungry
CUPID, BLIND CUPID. A jeering name for an ugly blind
man: Cupid, the god of love, being frequently painted
blind. See BLIND CUPID.
CUR. A cut or curtailed dog. According to the forest laws,
a man who had no right to the privilege of the chase, was
obliged to cut or law his dog: among other modes of
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