Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
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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.

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Entries releated to DEVIL

 

ARTICLE  A wench. A prime article. A handsome girl. She's a prime article (WHIP SLANG), she's a devilish good piece, a hell of a GOER.
 
BLACK SPY  The Devil.
 
BLUE DEVILS  Low spirits.
 
BUSY  As busy is the devil in a high wind; as busy as a hen with one chick.
 
CARVEL'S RING  The private parts of a woman. Ham Carvel, a jealous old doctor, being in bed with his wife, dreamed that the Devil gave him a ring, which, so long as he had it on his finger, would prevent his being made a cuckold: waking he found he had got his finger the Lord knows where. See Rabelais, and Prior's versification of the story.
 
CLOVEN FOOT  To spy the cloven foot in any business; to discover some roguery or something bad in it: a saying that alludes to a piece of vulgar superstition, which is, that, let the Devil transform himself into what shape he will, he cannot hide his cloven foot
 
COOK RUFFIAN  He who roasted the devil in his feathers. A bad cook.
 
COVEY  A collection of whores. What a fine covey here is, if the Devil would but throw his net!
 
DANDY GREY RUSSET  A dirty brown. His coat's dandy grey russet, the colour of the Devil's nutting bag.
 
DAVID JONES  The devil, the spirit of the sea: called Necken in the north countries, such as Norway, Denmark, and Sweden.
 
DERRICK  The name of the finisher of the law, or hangman about the year 1608. - 'For he rides his circuit with the Devil, and Derrick must be his host, and Tiburne the inne at which he will lighte.' Vide Bellman of London, in art. PRIGGIN LAW. - 'At the gallows, where I leave them, as to the haven at which they must all cast anchor, if Derrick's cables do but hold.'
 
DEVIL  A printer's errand-boy. Also a small thread in the king's ropes and cables, whereby they may be distinguished from all others. The Devil himself; a small streak of blue thread in the king's sails. The Devil may dance in his pocket; i.e. he has no money: the cross on our ancient coins being jocularly supposed to prevent him from visiting that place, for fear, as it is said, of breaking his shins against it. To hold a candle to the Devil; to be civil to any one out of fear: in allusion to the story of the old woman, who set a wax taper before the image of St. Michael, and another before the Devil, whom that saint is commonly represented as trampling under his feet: being reproved for paying such honour to Satan, she answered, as it was uncertain which place she should go to, heaven or hell, she chose to secure a friend in both places. That will be when the Devil is blind, and he has not got sore eyes yet; said of any thing unlikely to happen. It rains whilst the sun shines, the Devil is beating his wife with a shoulder of mutton: this phenomenon is also said to denote that cuckolds are going to heaven; on being informed of this, a loving wife cried out with great vehemence, 'Run, husband, run!'The Devil was sick, the Devil a monk would be; The Devil was well, the Devil a monk was he.a proverb signifying that we are apt to forget promises made in time of distress. To pull the Devil by the tail, to be reduced to one's shifts. The Devil go with you and sixpence, and then you will have both money and company.
 
DEVIL  The gizzard of a turkey or fowl, scored, peppered, salted and broiled: it derives its appellation from being hot in the mouth.
 
DEVIL CATCHER, or DEVIL DRIVER  A parson. See SNUB DEVIL.
 
DEVIL DRAWER  A miserable painter.
 
DEVIL'S BOOKS  Cards.
 
DEVIL'S DAUGHTER  It is said of one who has a termagant for his wife, that he has married the Devil's daughter, and lives with the old folks.
 
DEVIL'S DAUGHTER'S PORTION  Deal, Dover, and Harwich, The Devil gave with his daughter in marriage; And, by a codicil to his will, He added Helvoet and the Brill; a saying occasioned by the shameful impositions practised by the inhabitants of those places, on sailors and travellers.
 
DEVIL'S DUNG  Assafoetida.
 
DEVIL'S GUTS  A surveyor's chain: so called by farmers, who do not like their land should be measured by their landlords.
 
DEVILISH  Very: an epithet which in the English vulgar language is made to agree with every quality or thing; as, devilish bad, devilish good; devilish sick, devilish well; devilish sweet, devilish sour; devilish hot, devilish cold, etc. etc.
 
DILIGENT  Double diligent, like the Devil's apothecary; said of one affectedly diligent.
 
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.
 
HARRY  A country fellow. - Old Harry; the Devil.
 
HERRING  The devil a barrel the better herring; all equally bad.
 
HOBNAIL  A country clodhopper: from the shoes of country farmers and ploughmen being commonly stuck full of hob-nails, and even often clouted, or tipped with iron. The Devil ran over his face with hobnails in his shoes; said of one pitted With the small pox.
 
HOLY WATER  He loves him as the Devil loves holy water, i.e. hates him mortally. Holy water, according to the Roman Catholics, having the virtue to chase away the Devil and his imps.
 
HUG  To hug brown bess; to carry a firelock, or serve as a private soldier. He hugs it as the Devil hugs a witch: said of one who holds any thing as if he was afraid of losing it.
 
HYP  The hypochondriac: low spirits. He is hypped; he has got the blue devils, etc.
 
KILL DEVIL  New still-burnt rum.
 
NICK  Old nick; the Devil.
 
OLD HARRY  A composition used by vintners to adulterate their wines; also the nick-name for the devil.
 
OLD NICK  The Devil: from NEKEN, the evil spirit of the north.
 
OLD ONE  The Devil. Likewise an expression of quizzical familiarity, as "how d'ye do, OLD ONE?"
 
OLD POGER  The Devil.
 
PAY  To smear over. To pay the bottom of a ship or boat; to smear it over with pitch: The devil to pay, and no pitch hot or ready. SEA TERM. - Also to beat: as, I will pay you as Paul paid the Ephesians, over the face and eyes, and all your d - -d jaws. To pay away; to fight manfully, also to eat voraciously. To pay through the nose: to pay an extravagant price.
 
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.
 
RUFFIAN  The devil. - May the ruffian nab the cuffin queer, and let the harmanbeck trine with his kinchins about his colquarren; may the Devil take the justice, and let the constable be hanged with his children about his neck. The ruffian cly thee; the Devil take thee. Ruffian cook ruffian, who scalded the Devil in his feathers; a saying of a bad cook. Ruffian sometimes also means, a justice.
 
SCRATCH  Old Scratch; the Devil: probably from the long and sharp claws with which he is frequently delineated.
 
SICK AS A HORSE  Horses are said to be extremely sick at their stomachs, from being unable to relieve themselves by vomiting. Bracken, indeed, in his Farriery, gives an instance of that evacuation being procured, but by a means which he says would make the Devil vomit. Such as may have occasion to administer an emetic either to the animal or the fiend, may consult his book for the recipe.
 
SNUB DEVIL  A parson.
 
STUB-FACED  Pitted with the smallpox: the devil ran over his face with horse stabs (horse nails) in his shoes.
 
TATTOO  A beat of the drum, of signal for soldiers to go to their quarters, and a direction to the sutlers to close the tap, anddtew nomore liquor for them; it is generally beat at nine in summer and eight in winter. The devil's tattoo; beating with one's foot against the ground, as done by persons in low spirits.
 
UNFORTUNATE GENTLEMEN  The horse guards, who thus named themselves in Germany, where a general officer seeing them very awkward in bundling up their forage, asked what the devil they were; to which some of them answered, unfortunate gentlemen.
 
UNGRATEFUL MAN  A parson, who at least once a week abuses his best benefactor, i.e. the devil.