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.

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Entries releated to COW

 

BOH		Said to be the name of a Danish general, who so terrified his opponent Foh, that he caused him to bewray himself. Whence, when we smell a stink, it is custom to exclaim, Foh! i.e. I smell general Foh. He cannot say Boh to a goose; i.e. he is a cowardly or sheepish fellow. There is a story related of the celebrated Ben Jonson, who always dressed very plain; that being introduced to the presence of a nobleman, the peer, struck by his homely appearance and awkward manner, exclaimed, as if in doubt, "you Ben Johnson! why you look as if you could not say Boh to a goose!" "Boh!" replied the wit.
BULLY		A cowardly fellow, who gives himself airs of great bravery. A bully huff cap; a hector. See HECTOR.
CHICKEN-HEARTED		Fearful, cowardly.
COW		To sleep like a cow, with a cunt at one's arse; said of a married man; married men being supposed to sleep with their backs towards their wives, according to the following proclamation: All you that in your beds do lie, Turn to your wives, and occupy: And when that you have done your best, Turn arse to arse, and take your rest.
COW ITCH		The product of a sort of bean, which excites an insufferable itching, used chiefly for playing tricks.
COW JUICE		Milk.
COW'S BABY		A calf.
COW'S COURANT		Gallop and shite.
COW'S SPOUSE		A bull.
COW'S THUMB		Done to a cow's thumb; done exactly.
COW-HANDED		Awkward.
COW-HEARTED		Fearful.
DUNAKER		A stealer of cows and calves.
DUNGHILL		A coward: a cockpit phrase, all but gamecocks being styled dunghills. To die dunghill; to repent, or shew any signs of contrition at the gallows. Moving dunghill; a dirty, filthy man or woman. Dung, an abbreviation of dunghill, also means a journeyman taylor who submits to the law for regulating journeymen taylors' wages, therefore deemed by the flints a coward. See FLINTS.
DUNNOCK		A cow.
FINE		Fine as five pence. Fine as a cow-t - d stuck with primroses.
HECTOR		bully, a swaggering coward. To hector; to bully, probably from such persons affecting the valour of Hector, the Trojan hero.
HEN-HEARTED		Cowardly.
LICK		To beat; also to wash, or to paint slightly over. I'll give you a good lick o' the chops; I'll give you a good stroke or blow on the face. Jack tumbled into a cow t - d, and nastied his best clothes, for which his father stept up, and licked him neatly. - I'll lick you! the dovetail to which is, If you lick me all over, you won't miss - .
LOWING RIG		Stealing oxen or cows.
MILCH COW		One who is easily tricked out of his property; a term used by gaolers, for prisoners who have money and bleed freely.
MOWER		A cow.
PLUCK		Courage. He wants pluck: he is a coward. Against the pluck; against the inclination. Pluck the Ribbon; ring the bell. To pluck a crow with one; to settle a dispute, to reprove one for some past transgression. To pluck a rose; an expression said to be used by women for going to the necessary house, which in the country usually stands in the garden. To pluck also signifies to deny a degree to a candidate at one of the universities, on account of insufficiency.
QUEER PRANCER		A bad, worn-out, foundered horse; also a cowardly or faint-hearted horse-stealer.
RANK		Stinking, rammish, ill-flavoured; also strong, great. A rank knave; a rank coward: perhaps the latter may allude to an ill savour caused by fear.
WHITE FEATHER		He has a white feather; he is a coward; an allusion to a game cock, where having a white leather is a proof he is not of the true game breed.
WHITE-LIVERED		Cowardly, malicious.
WHOW BALL		A milk-maid: from their frequent use of the word whow, to make the cow stand still in milking. Ball is the supposed name of the cow.