Dictionary of Americanisms, by John Russell Bartlett. (NY: Bartlett and Welford, 1848)
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GA. The abbreviation for Georgia.
GAB. Loquacity; prate; idle talk. This is an old word, and still has a place in the provincial glossaries of England.
GABBLEMENT. Gabble. A Southern word.
"This court's got as good ears as any man," said the magistrate, "but they aint for to hear no old woman's gabblement, though it's under oath."--Chron. of Pineville.
GADABOUT. One who walks about without business.--Webster.
GAFF. An artificial spur put upon game-cocks.
GAL-BOY. In New England, a romping girl; called also a tom-boy.
GALLOWSES. Suspenders; braces.
His skilts [pantaloons] were supported by no braces or gallowses, and resting on his hips.--Margaret, p. 9.
GAMBREL. A hipped roof to a house, so called from its resemblance to the hind leg of a horse, which by farriers is termed the gambrel.
Here and there was a house in the then new style, three cornered, with gambled roof and dormer windows.--Margaret, p. 33.
GAME LEG. A lame leg. A term not peculiar to America.
GAMMON. Humbug; deceit; lies. Any assertion which is not strictly true, or, professions believed to be insincere; as, 'I believe you're gammoning, or, 'That's all gammon;' meaning, you are jesting with me, or, that's all a farce.
The gentry say death and distress are all gammon, And shut up their hearts to the lab'rer's appeal.--Punch, pl. 54.
GANDER-PULLING. A brutal species of amusement practised in Nova Scotia. We quote Judge Halliburton's account of it from the Sayings and Doings of Sam Slick:
"'But describe this gander-pulling.'
"'Well, I'll tell you how it is,' sais I. 'First and foremost, a ring-road is formed, like a small race-course; then two great long posts is fixed
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"'Well, the owner of the goose goes round with his hat, and gets so much a-piece in it from every one that enters for the 'Pullin'," and when all have entered, they bring their horses in a line, one arter another, and at the words "Go a-head!" off they set, as hard as they can split; and as they pass under the goose, make a grab at him, and whoever carries off the head wins.
"'Well, the goose dodges his head and flaps his wings, and swings about so, it aint no easy matter to clutch his neck; and when you do, it's so greassy, it slips right through the fingers like nothin'. Sometimes it takes so long, that the horses are fairly beat out, and can't scarcely raise a gallop; and then a man stands by the post, with a heavy loaded whip, to lash 'em on, so that they mayn't stand under the goose, which aint fair. The whootin,' and hollerin', and screamin', and bettin', and excitement, beats all; there aint hardly no sport equal to it. It is great fun to all except the poor goosey-gander.'"
GAP. This pure English word is used properly of any breach of continuity, as of the line of a saw's edge, or of the line of a mountain, as projected on the horizon. Hence it is applied to such openings in a mountain as are made by a river, or even a high road. Thus the Water-Gap; and, in Virginia, Brown's Gap, Rockfish Gap, &c.
GAT. (Dutch.) A gate or passage. A term applied to several places in the vicinity of New York, as Barnegat, Barnes's gate; Hellegat, now called Hell Gate.
GAWKY. A tall, ungainly, stupid, or awkward person.--Worcester.
Wert thou a giglet gawky like the lave, That little better than our nowt behave.--Ramsay, Gentle Shepherd.
A large half-length [portrait] of Henry Damley represents him tall, awkward, and gawky.--Pennanat's Scotland.
GARNISHEE. In law, one in whose hands the property of an absconding or absent debtor is attached, who is warned or notified cf the demand or suit, and who may appear and
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defend in the suit, in the place of the principal. State of Connecticut.--Webster.
GEE. A term used by teamsters to their horses and oxen, when they wish them to go faster. It is also used in directing oxen to the right or off-side. In most parts of England it seems to be applied in the same manner.
TO GEE. To agree ; to go on well together.--Barnes's Dorset Glossary. Also noticed in the Craven, Norfolk, and Cheshire glossaries.
GENERAL TREAT. A general treat is a treat of a glass of liquor given by a person in a tavern to the whole company present.
I nearly got myself into a difficulty with my new acquaintances by handing the landlord a share of the reckoning, for having presumed to pay a part of a general treat while laboring under the disqualification of being a stranger.--Hoffman, p. 211.
GENITON APPLE. An early apple, probably June eating. Provincial in Suffolk, England.--Moor's Glossary. In the old dictionary of Cocker, 1700, is Geunettings or Junetings, small apples ripe in June.
Dorothy gave her the better half of a geniton apple.--Margaret, p. 314.
GERRYMANDERING. To arrange the political divisions of a State, so that in an election, one party may obtain an advantage over its opponent, even though the latter may possess a majority of the votes in the State. This term came into use in the year 1811 in Massachusetts, where, for several years previous, the Federal and Democratic parties stood nearly equal. In that year the Democratic party, having a majority in the Legislature, determined so to district the State anew, that those sections which gave a large number of Federal votes might be brought into one district. The result was that the Democratic party carried everything before them at the following election, and filled every office in the State, although it appeared by the votes returned that nearly two-thirds of the voters were Federalists. Elbridge Gerry, a distinguished politician of that period, was the instigator of this plan, which was called gerrymandering after him.
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TO GET THE WRONG PIG BY THE TAIL, is to make a mistake in selecting a person for any object. If a charge is made against a man, who on inquiry proves to be the wrong one, it is said they have the wrong pig by the tail. This is also called getting the wrong sow by the ear.
At the late election in Massachusetts, a Mr. C. C. Bell was elected by the Whigs, but was afterwards induced by the opposite party to give them his vote. Soon after, for fear of being forgotten, he wrote to a high official, presenting his claims for reward, closing as follows:
"If you can assist me now in your official capacity, you will command my everlasting gratitude. I have lived in obscurity and am not ambitious for office, but if my Democratic friends will not support me now, and help me out of my dilemma, why then I must make the best of it I can.
"I did not seek the office I have now, and was not at the meeting when I was elected, but the Whigs supposed they could by some means make me a traitor to my party. But, sir, as the old saying is, they got the wrong pig by the tail."
TO GIRDLE A TREE. In America, to make a circular incision, like a belt, through the bark and alburnum of a tree to kill it.--Webster. Settlers in new countries often adopt this method to clear their land; for when the trees are dead they set them on fire, and thus save themselves the trouble of chopping them down with the axe.
The emigrants purchase a lot or two of government land, build a log house, fence a dozen ares or so, plough half of them, girdle the trees, and then sell out to a new comer.--Mrs. Clavers, Forest Life, Vol. I.
GIST. The main point of a question or action; that on which it lies or turns.--Jamieson. A word introduced from the language of law into very common use.
TO GIVE HIM JESSY, is to give him a flogging. A vulgarism of recent origin.
Well, hoss, you've slashed the hide off 'er that feller, touched his raw, and rumpled his feathers--that's the way to give him jessy.-Robb, Squatter Life, p. 33.
TO GIVE HIM THE MITTEN. This phrase is used of a girl who discards her sweetheart. She gave him the mitten means that she gave her lover his dismissal or discarded him. In England the phrase to give him the sack or give him the bag, denotes the same thing.
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TO GIVE IT TO ONE is to rate, scold, or beat him severely.--Holloway, Prov. Dict. Used in the same sense in America.
GIVEN NAME. The Christian name, or name that is given to a person, to distinguish it from the surname, which is not given but inherited.
TO GLIMPSE. To get a glimpse of; as, 'I barely glimpsed him.'
GLUT. A wooden wedge.--New England. Mr. Pickering says this word is used in England, and refers to Rees's Cyclopedia.
THE GO. The mode; the fashion. 'This is all the go.'
What! Ben, my old hero, is this your renown? Is this the new go?--kick a man when he's down! When the foe has knocked under--to tread on him then By the fist of my father, I blush for thee, Ben!--Tom Crib.
GO AHEAD. To proceed; to go forward. A seaman's phrase which has got
I was tired out and wanted a day to rest; but my face being turned towards Washington, I thought I had better go ahead.--Crockett, Tour Down East, p. 101.
We slip on a pair of India rubber boots, genuine and impenetrable, and go ahead without fear.--N. Y. Com. Adv.
The specific instructions to conquer and hold California were issued to Commodore Sloat, by Mr. Bancroft, on the 12th of July, 1846. Previous to this, however, he had been officially notified that war existed, and briefly instructed to "go ahead."--Ibid. June 13.
TO GO BY. To call; to stop at. Used in the Southern States.--Sherwood's Georgia. Mr. Pickering says this singular expression is often used at the South. "Will you go by and dine with me?" i. e. in passing my house will you stop and dine?. "Its origin," observes Mr. Pickering, "is very natural. When a gentleman is about riding a great distance through that country, where there are few great roads, and the houses or plantations are often two or three miles from them, a friend living near his route asks him to go by his plantation, and dine or lodge with him."--Vocab.
THE GO BY. To give one the go by is to deceive him; to leave him in the lurch.--Craven Glossary.
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TO GO FOR. To be in favor of. Thus, 'I go for peace with Mexico,' means I am in favor of peace with Mexico, or, as an Englishman would say, I am for peace with Mexico. This vulgar idiom is a recent one, and is greatly affected by political and other public speakers, who ought to be the guardians of the purity of the language instead of its most indefatigable corruptors. In the following extract from a religious paper, the reader of correct taste and feeling will hardly know which to admire most, the sentiment or the language:
Will Mr. Greeley say that he or any other citizen has the right to oppose "the Country"--that is, its laws--whenever he or they shall choose to pronounce them "wrong?" We say, go for your country--right, as she may be in some things--wrong, as she is, perhaps, in others; but whether right or wrong, or right and wrong, (which is always nearer the truth in all her proceedings,) still, go for your country.--Gospel Banner.
To decide in favor of, is another acceptation in which this phrase is often used, especially in stating for which man or measure any particular section of the country has decided, as, 'Ohio has gone for Clay,' 'Louisiana has gone for the annexation of Mexico.' Or still worse, 'Ohio has gone Whig,' 'Louisiana has gone Loco-foco.' Other variations of the expression follow.
TO GO IT BLIND. To accede to any object with out due consideration. Mr. Greeley, in speaking of General Taylor's claims for the presidency, says
The Whig candidate must be fair and square on all the great questions before the country. He would speak not of his own course, but the Whig people could not go it blind.--N. Y. Tribune.
Meaning that the Whigs could not vote or go for General Taylor without a knowledge of his principles.
TO GO IT STRONG. To perform an act with vigor or without scruple.
President Polk in his message goes it strong for the Sub-treasury.--N. Y. Tribune.
The Evening Post goes it good and strong for the establishment of free public baths.--Newspaper.
The Senate has of late years refused to take any part of the book plunder, but they have gone it strong on the mileage.--Letters from Washington, N. Y. Com. Advertiser.
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TO GO THE WHOLE FIGURE. To go to the fullest extent in the attainment of any object.
Go the whole figure for religious liberty; it has no meanin' here, where all are free, but it's a cant word and sounds well.--Sam Slick.
One half of you don't know what you are talking about; and t'other half are goin' the whole figure for patriotism.--Ibid.
TO GO THE BIG FIGURE. To do things on a large scale.
Why, our senators go the big figure on fried oysters and whisky punch.--Burton, Waggeries.
TO GO THE WHOLE HOG. A Western vulgarism, meaning to be out and out in favor of anything. A softened form of the phrase is to go the entire animal.
Of the Congressional and State tickets we can only form a conjecture; but the probability is that the Democrats have carried the whole, for they generally go the whole hog--they never scratch or split differences.--Newspaper.
The phrase has been caught up by some English writers.
The Tiger has leapt up heart and soul, It's clear that he means to go the whole Hog, in his hungry efforts to seize The two defianceful Bengalese.--New Tale of a Tub.
TO GO THROUGH THE MILL. A metaphor alluding to grain which has been through the mill. A Western editor observed that the mail papers looked as if they had been through the mill, so much worn were they by being shaken over the rough roads. It is often said of a person who has experienced anything, and especially difficulties, losses, &c.
GODSEND. An unexpected acquisition.
GOING. The state of the roads; the travelling. Ex. 'The going is bad, owing to the deep snow or mud in the roads;' 'The going is good since the road was repaired.'
GOINGS ON. Behavior; actions; conduct. Used by us as in England mostly in a bad sense. See Carryings on.
Pretty place it must be where they don't admit women. Nice goings on, I dare say, Mr. Caudle.--London Punch.
GOLD-THREAD. (Coptis trifolia.) A plant well known in medicine, valued for its stomachic and tonic properties.
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GOMBO. The Southern name for what is called at the North Okra, the pod of the hibiscus esculentis.
GOMBO. In the Southern States, a soup in which this plant enters largely as an ingredient.
GONDOLA. A flat-bottomed boat or scow used in New England.--Pickering.
GONE GOOSE. 'It's a gone goose with him,' means that he is past recovery. The phrase is a vulgarism in New England. In New York it is said 'He's a gone gander,' i. e. a lost man; and in the West 'He's a gone coon.'
If a bear comes after you, Sam, you must be up and doin', or it's a gone goose with you.--Sam Slick in England, ch. 18.
It may be the doctor can do something for her, though she looks to me as though it was a gone goose with her'.--Major Downing, p. 87.
GONE WITH, for become of. 'What is gone with it' 'or with him,' for What has become of it or him?--Sherwood's Georgia.
GONEY. A stupid fellow.--New England.
"How the goney swallowed it all, didn't he?" said Mr. Slick, with great glee.--Slick in England, ch. 21.
Some on 'em were fools enough to believe the goney; that's a fact.--Ib.
GOODNESS. This inoffensive word is much used in a variety of ways by people of all classes. Sometimes we hear from old ladies the exclamation, 'Oh, my goodness! denoting surprise. 'Goodness me,' 'goodness gracious,' and 'goodness sake,' are also common. It is not peculiar to the Americans; for we find a distinguished personage using it:
Now don't sleep, Caudle; do listen to me for five minutes; 'tisn't often I speak, goodness knows.--Punch.
"The devil's in the cat, I swear!
(Cried cooky): goodness gracious! there!"
Whilst Molly shrieked "Ah, wo is me!"--Reynard the Fox, 57.
-----goodness me!
My father's beams are made of wood.
But never, never half so good
As those that now I see.--Wordsworth, Rejected Addresses.
Mr. Johnson says the Railroad company charges more than he thinks himself authorized to pay; if he yields, other companies will enlarge their demands, and goodness knows where he will find himself landed.--N. Y. Com. Advertiser.
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Well, goodness me! it's mighty strange I can't call you to mind.--Georgia Scenes, p. 22.
GOOSE. A tailor's smoothing-iron. It is a jocular saying that 'A tailor, be he ever so poor, is always sure to have his goose at the fire.'--Grose, Dictionary.
Come in, tailor, here you may roast your goose.--Shakspeare.
HAVE GOT. There are several corrupt or vulgar forms of speaking which have arisen from a desire to distinguish between different uses of the same word. Thus the verb to have is used in the sense of to hold, to possess (Sp. tener), and also as an auxiliary (Sp. haber). In order to distinguish the former use from the latter, many persons, both in England and America, are accustomed to use the expressions 'I've got,' 'he's got,' &c., instead of simply I have, he has, &c.
Then forcing thee, by fire he made thee bright; Nay, thou hast got the face of man.--Herbert.
I have got a good mind to go to the play.--Pegge's Glossary.
GOUGE. Imposition; cheat; fraud.
R-- and H-- will probably receive from Mr. Polk's administration $100,000 more than respectable printers would have done the work for. There is a clean plain gouge of this sum out of the people's strong box.--N. Y. Tribune, Dec. 10, 1845.
TO GOUGE. To chouse; to cheat.
Very well, gentlemen! gouge Mr. Crosby out of the seat, if you think it wholesome to do it.--N. Y. Tribune, Nov. 26, 1845.
TO GOUGE. "Gouging is performed by twisting the forefinger in a lock of hair, near the temple, and turning the eye out of the socket with the thumb-nail, which is suffered to grow long for that purpose."--Lambert's Travels, Vol. II. p. 300.
This practice is known only by hearsay at the North and East, and appears to have existed at no time except among the lower class of people in the interior of some of the Southern States. An instance has not been heard of for years. Grose has the word in his Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, and defines it as "a cruel custom practised by the Bostonians in America!"
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GOVERNMENTAL. Pertaining to government; made by government.--Webster.
TO GRAB. To seize; to gripe suddenly.--Grose. Webster.
GRADE. (French.) 1. A degree or rank in order or dignity, civil, military, or ecclesiastical. 2. A step or degree in any ascending series; as, 'crimes of every grade.'--Webster.
This word is of comparatively modern use. It is not in the English dictionaries previous to Todd's edition of Johnson in 1818. Mr. Todd calls it "a word brought forward in some modern pamphlets," and says "it will hardly be adopted." Mr. Richardson says the word "has crept into frequent use." Mr. Knowles in the ninth edition of his dictionary introduces the word as once belonging to the language, without comment. The British Critic and other reviews have criticised the word as an unauthorized Americanism; but, as we have seen, it has been adopted at last by the English themselves.
While questions, periods, and grades and privileges are never once formally discussed.--S. Miller.
To talents of the highest grade he [Hamilton] united a patient industry not always the companion of genius.--Marshall's Life of Washington, p. 213.
TO GRADE. To reduce to a certain degree of ascent or descent, as a road or way.-Webster.
This use of the verb is not noticed by any English lexicographer.
TO GRADUATE. To take a degree at a university. "This verb," says Mr. Pickering, "was till lately used by us as a verb neuter or intransitive. Ex. 'He graduated at the University of Cambridge;' but many persons now say, 'he was graduated.' This is merely a return to former practice, the verb being originally active transitive. Examples of both uses are found in English writers.
This freshman college lived not to be matriculated, much less graduated, God in his wisdom seeing the contrary fitter.--Fuller, Worthies.
We think dissenters, merely as such, should not be deprived of the privilege of studying and graduating at the English Universities.--Eclec. Review, April, 1811.
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GRAHAM BREAD. Bread made of unbolted wheat. It is easier to digest than common wheaten bread, and is in consequence much used by invalids.
GRAHAMITES. People who rigidly follow the system of Graham in their regimen.
A glance at his round, ruddy face would shame a Grahamite or tetotaller out of his abstinence principles.--Pickings from the Picayune, p. 130
GRAHAM SYSTEM. A system of dietetics recommended by Sylvester Graham, a lecturer of some celebrity on temperance and dietetics, which excludes the use of all animal food and stimulating drinks, including tea, coffee, etc.
GRAIL. (Fr. grêle, hail.) Small particles of any kind.--Johnson.
Margaret curvetted about the mounds, she leaped the hollows (in the snow), the fine grail glancing before her and fuzzing her face and neck.--Margaret, p. 175
GRAIN. A particle; a bit. Ex. 'I don't care a grain;' 'Push the candle a grain further from you.'
GRAIN. The universal name in the United States for what is called corn in England; that is, wheat, rye, oats, barley, &c.
GRAND. Very good; excellent; pleasant. This is one of the words so much abused among us by its too frequent use and application in senses differing from its proper one. Ex. 'This is a grand day;' 'the sleighing is grand;' 'what a grand time we had at the ball;' 'grand weather,' &c. Mr. Hamilton in his remarks on the Yorkshire dialect, in England (Nugæ Literariæ, p. 318), notices this word as common there in the same sense.
GRASS. A vulgar contraction of sparrow-grass, i. e. asparagus. Further than this the force of corruption can hardly go.
GRAVY. Used in New England instead of juice, as the gravy of a pie.
GREAT. This word is used variously. A great Christian, for a pious man; great horse is applied to a small pony, meaning a horse of good qualities and bottom; great plantation, a fertile one.--Sherwood's Georgia.
GREAT. Distinguished, excellent, admirable. As, 'he is great at running;' 'she is great on the piano.'
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GREAT BIG. Very large. Often used by children.
GREATLE. A great while. Used on Long Island.
GREAT WITH. Intimate with; high in favor with.--Craven Glossary. Dr. Webster notices this word in the same sense as a vulgarism.
Tho' he was great with the king, he always doubted the king's uncles.--Froissart's Chronicles.
Those that would not censure or speak ill of a man immediately, will talk more boldly of those that are great with him, and thereby wound their honor.--Bacon.
GREEK. A soubriquet often applied to Irishmen, in jocular allusion to their Milesian (!) origin.
GREEN. Uncouth, raw, inexperienced, applied to persons, a metaphor derived from green or unripe fruit; vegetables or fruit that are growing. It answers to the English use of the word verdant.
A little sassy rascal come up before me and stood and put his thumb to the side of his nose, and looked up with an awful sassy look at me and hollered out, "Aint ye green!"--Maj. Downing, May-day, p. 45.
GREENHORN. A raw youth, easily imposed upon, unacquainted with the world.--Todd.
If by mistake, at Washington, an old-fashioned man should speak of patriotism or the welfare of his country, he would be stared at as a greenhorn just from the bush.--Hon. J. Whipple on R. Island Insurrection.
GREENS. Leaves and green vegetables used for food.
GRIT. Sand; rough, hard particles.--Johnson. With us it is often vulgarly used to mean courage, spirit.
The command of a battalion was given to Mr. Jones, a pretty decided Whig in politics, and like many other men of Zacchean stature, all grit and spirit.--N. Y. Com. Adv., Letter from Washington, June 24.
Honor and fame from no condition rise. It's the grit of a fellow that makes the man.--Crockett, Tour, p. 44.
If he hadn't a had the clear grit in him, and showed his teeth, and claws, they'd a nullified him so, you wouldn't see a grease spot of him no more.--Sam Slick in England, ch. 17.
GRITTY. Courageous; spirited.
My decided opinion is, that there never was a grittyer crowd congregated on that stream; and such dancin' and drinkin', and eatin' bar steaks and corn dodgers, and huggin' the gals, don't happen but once in a fellow's lifetime.--Robb, Squatter Life, p. 106.
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GROCERY. A grocer's shop. This word is not in the English dictionaries except in the sense of grocer's ware, such as tea, sugar, spice, etc.; in which sense we also use it in the plural.
GROG. In the language of seamen, gin and water, or any spirit and water, usually without sugar.--Todd.
We stopped serving grog, except on Saturday nights.--Cook and King's Voyages.
Grog, says Grose, was first introduced into the British navy about the year 1740, by Admiral Vernon, to prevent the sailors intoxicating themselves with their allowance of rum or spirit.
GROGGERY. A place where grog and other liquors are drunk.--Webster.
GRUB. Food; victuals.--Grose.
The Bengalese, in cool apparel, Meanwhile have reached their pic-nic barrel; In other words, they have tossed the grub Out of their great provision tub.--New Tale of a Tub.
GRUNTER. (Genus, pogonias. Cuvier.) One of the popular names of the fish called by naturalists the Banded Drum. It is common to the Atlantic coast south of New York. Grunts and Young Sheepskin are other names of the same fish.--Nat. Hist. of New York.
GRUNTER. A hog.--Craven Dialect.
GUBERNATORIAL. Pertaining to government or to a governor.--Webster.
TO GUESS. 1. To conjecture; to judge without any certain principles of judgment. 2. To conjecture rightly, or upon some just reason.--Johnson.
Incapable and shallow innocents! You cannot guess who caused your father's death.--Shakspeare.
One may guess by Plato's writings, that his meaning as to the inferior deities was, that they who would have them might, and they who would not might let them alone; but that himself had a right opinion concerning the true God.--Stillingfleet.
We thus see that the legitimate, English sense of this word is to conjecture; but with us, and especially in New England, it is constantly used in common conversation instead of to
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believe, to suppose, to think, to imagine, to fancy. From such examples as the words to fix and to guess, it will be seen that while on the one hand we have a passion for coining new and unnecessary words and often in a manner opposed to the analogies of the language, there is on the other hand a tendency to banish from common use a number of the most useful and classical English expressions, by forcing one word to do duty for a host of others of somewhat similar meaning. This latter practice is by far the more dangerous of the two; because, if not checked and guarded against in time, it will corrode the very texture and substance of the language, and rob posterity of the power of appreciating and enjoying those masterpieces of literature bequeathed to us by our forefathers, which form the richest inheritance of all that speak the English tongue.
GUFFAW. A hearty, boisterous laugh; a horse laugh.
"You didn't let the Judge stray away from the swamp road?" inquired Hoss.
"Well, I predicate I didn't, for by this time he's travellin' into the diggins most amazin' innocently;" and then the pair enjoyed a regular guffaw!--Robb, Squatter Life, p. 75.
GUINEA CORN. (Holcus sorghum.) Egyptian millet, durrah of the Arabs, a plant with a stalk of the size and appearance of maize. The grain grows in a single pendant bunch at the top.
GUINEA GRASS. A species of grass cultivated in the West Indies, used as fodder for horses.--Carmichael's W. Indies.
TO GULCH. To swallow voraciously.--Todd. Webster. In low language this word is still heard in New England.
You are all a haggling, gulching, good-for-nothing crew.--Margaret.
GULL. 1. A cheat; a fraud; a trick. 2. A stupid animal; one easily cheated.--Johnson.
I should think this a gull, but that the white-bearded fellow speaks it.--Shakspeare.
That paltry story is untrue, And forged to cheat such gulls as you.--Hudibras.
The author of the "Perils of Pearl Street," in describing one of the swindling auction stores in New York, says:
The auctioneer and Peter Funk were ready to burst with laughter at the prodigious gull they had made of the poor countryman.--P. 53.
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TO GULL. To trick; to cheat; to deceive.--Johnson. Seldom employed except in familiar conversation.
Yet love these sorc'ries did remove, and move Thee to gull thine own mother for my love.--Dame.
The Roman people were grossly gulled twice or thrice over, and as often enslaved in one century, and under the same pretence of reformation.--Dryden.
You colony chaps are gulled from year to year.--Sam Slick.
There is no people like unto this people [the Americans], so great yet so little, so shrewd yet so easily gulled, so Christian yet so easily led away from the old standards of truth.--N. Y. Com. Adv. Feb. 24, 1848.
GULLIBILITY. Credulity. A low expression.--Todd.
A silly hoax has been for some time going the rounds of the newspapers, wallowed by all with eager avidity. Verily, the gullibility of the age is marked and peculiar.--New York paper.
GULLY. A channel or hollow worn in the earth by a current of water.--Webster. This word is much used in the United States. It is from the French goulet, and in old English authors is written gullet.
The violent rain which had fallen in the night had suddenly brought down such torrents of water through the hollow or gully, where they were in the utmost danger of being swept away before it.--Hawkesworth's Voyages.
TO GULLY. To wear a hollow channel in the earth.--Webster. This conversion of the noun into a verb is an Americanism. 'The roads are much gullied,' is a common expression.
GUMMY! An exclamation, used in New England.
"Gummy!" retorted the woman. "He has been a talkin' about me, and a runnin' of me down."--Margaret, p. 337.
GUMP. A foolish person; a dolt.--Webster. It is provincial in England, and may be found in most of the glossaries.
GUMPTION. Understanding; skill.--Todd. This vulgar word is provincial in most parts of England, and is noticed in the glossaries of Pegge, Brockett, Forby, Jennings, and Halliwell. With us it is frequently heard.
What tho' young empty airy sparks May have their critical remarks;--
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'Tis sma' presumption,
To say they're but unlearned clarks,
And want the gumption.--Hamilton, Ramsay's Poems, II.
He's a clever man, and aint wantin' in gumption. He's no fool, that's a fact.--Sam Slick in England, ch. 26.
GUNNING. A colloquial word from gun. The act of going out with a gun in order to shoot game.--Ash's Dictionary. This word is commonly used by sportsmen in the Northern States in the sense given by Ash. At the South they use the word hunting.
The Americans wore, however, mostly marksmen, having been accustomed to gunning from their youth.--Hannah Adams, Hist. of New Eng.
SON OF A GUN. This phrase is heard in low language with us as in
England.
H.
HABITAN. (French.) The lower class of Canadians of French origin.
My coachman was a Habitan, and I had a fine opportunity of studying the conflicting traits of character which distinguish the race.--Lanman's Tour to the Saguenay.
HACK. A hackney coach. The term hack is also frequently applied by women to any article of dress, as a bonnet, shawl, &c., which is kept for every day use.
TO HAIL FROM. A phrase probably originating with seamen or boatmen, and meaning to come from, to belong to; as, 'He hails from Kentucky,' i. e. he is a native of Kentucky.
HAINT, for have not. A contraction much used in common conversation in New England.
HALF COCK. 'To go off at half cock,' is a metaphorical expression borrowed from the language of sportsmen, and is applied to a person who attempts a thing in a hurry without due preparation, and consequently fails.
Mr. Clayton of Georgia is a fine speaker; he is always ready, and never goes off half cock.--Crockett, Tour down East.
HALF SEAS OVER. Intoxicated; drunk. A sailor's expression.
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HALVES. An exclamation entitling the person making it to the half of anything found by his companion. In the Craven Dialect, says Mr. Carr, on such occasions, if the finder be quick he exclaims, 'No halves--finder keeper, loser seeker,' to destroy the right of the claim.
And he who sees you stoop to th' ground, Cries halves! to ev'rything you've found.--Savage, Hor. to Scæva.
HAMMER AND TONGS. In a noisy, furious manner. Thus, 'They went at it hammer and tongs,' is said of persons quarrelling. 'To live hammer and tongs,' is said of married people who seldom agree.--Holloway.
Jonathan and the Spaniard will be at hammer and tongs.--Montreal Courier.
HAMMOCK. (Carib amaca.) A swinging-bed. This word, now in such general use, especially among seamen, and the etymology of which has been so much disputed, is undoubtedly of West Indian origin.
Cotton for the making of hamaccas, which are Indian beds.--Raleigh, Disc. of Guiana, 1596.
The Brazilians call their beds hamacas; they are a sheet laced at both ends, and so they sit rocking themselves in them.--Sir R. Hawkins, Voy. to South Sea.
HAND AND GLOVE. Intimate, familiar; i. e. as closely united as a hand and its glove. 'They are hand and glove together,' meaning very intimate, is a common idiom here as in England.
TO HANDLE. To manage, to overcome an opponent; particularly in wrestling. Ex. 'You can't handle him.'
HANDS OFF. A vulgar phrase for keep off; forbear.--Johnson.
They cut a stag into parts; but as they were entering upon the dividend, "Hands off!" says the lion.--L'Estrange.
HANDSOME. In familiar language this word is used among us with great latitude, and, like some other words mentioned in this Glossary, is difficult to define. "In general," says Dr. Webster, "when applied to things, it imports that the form is agreeable to the eye, or to the taste; and when
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applied to manner, it conveys the idea of suitableness or propriety with grace."
HAND TO MOUTH. 'To live from hand to mouth,' is said of a person who spends his money as fast as he gets it, who earns just enough to live on from day to day.
In matter of learning many of us are fain to be day-laborers, and to live from hand to mouth, being not able to lay up anything.--Bishop Reynolds on the Passions, ch. 37.
I can get bread from hand to mouth, and make even at the year's end.--L'Estrange.
HANG. 'To get the hang of a thing,' is to get the knack, or habitual facility of doing it well. A low expression frequently heard among us. In the Craven Dialect of England is the word hank, a habit; from which this word hang may perhaps be derived.
If ever you must have an indifferent teacher for your children, let it be after they have got a fair start and have acquired the hang of the tools for themselves.--Prime, Hist. of Long Island, p. 82.
He had been in pursuit of the science of money-making all his life, but could never get the hang of it.--Pickings from the Picayune.
Suggs lost his money and his horse, but then he hadn't got the hang of the game.--Simon Suggs, p. 44.
"Well, now, I can tell you that the sheriffs are the easiest men for you to get the hang of; among all the public officers.--Greene on Gambling.
TO HANG AROUND. To loiter about. To 'hang around' a person, is to hang about him, to seek to be intimate with him.
Every time I come up from Louisiana, I found Jess hangin' round that gal, lookin' awful sweet, and a fellow couldn't go near her without raisin' his dander.--Robb, Squatter Life.
HANGER-ON. A dependant; one who eats and drinks without payment.--Johnson.
They all excused themselves save two, which two he reckoned his friends, and all the rest hangers-on.--L'Estrange.
HANG-NAILS. Slivers, which hang from the roots of the nails, and reach to the tips of the fingers.--Forby's Vocab.
TO HANG UP ONE'S FIDDLE. To desist; to give up.
When a man loses his temper and ain't cool, he might as well hang up his fiddle.--Sam Slick.
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TO HANKER. To have an incessant wish.--Johnson. Dr. Johnson says this word is scarcely used except in familiar language. The same observation applies to it among our selves.
The shepherd would be a merchant, and the merchant hankers after something else.--L'Estrange.
HANKERING. Strong desire; longing.--Todd.
We shall be able to part both with the body and its delights, without any great regret or reluctancy; and to live from them for ever, without any disquieting longings or hankerings after them.--Scott, Christian Life.
I took an awful hankerin' after Sofy M--, and sot in to looking anxious for matrimony, and begin to go reg'lar to meetin', to see if I could win her good opinion.--Robb, Squatter Life.
TO HAPPEN IN. To happen to call in; to come in accidentally.
HAPPIFYING. Making happy. This mongrel barbarism, according to Mr. Pickering, is sometimes heard in our pulpits.
HARD CASH. Silver or gold coin.
HARD DRINKER. One who drinks to excess; a drunkard.
HARDFISTED. Covetous; close-handed.--Todd.
None are so gripple and hardfisted as the childless.--Bishop Hall.
HARDHACK. (Spirea tomentosa.) The popular name of a well known and common plant in pastures and low grounds. It is celebrated for its astringent properties.
She made a nosegay of the mountain laurel, red cedar with blueberries, and a bunch of the white hardhack.--Margaret, p. 206.
HARDHEAD. A fish of the herring species; the menhaden; so called in the State of Maine.
HARD MONEY. A common term for silver and gold, in contradistinction from paper money.
HARD PUSHED. To be bard pressed; to be in a difficulty; and especially, as a mercantile phrase, to be hard pressed for money; to be short of cash.
As I said, at the end of six months we began to be hard pushed. Our credit, however, was still fair.--Perils of Pearl Street, p. 123.
A HARD ROW TO HOE. A metaphor derived from hoeing corn, meaning a difficult matter or job to accomplish.
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HARD RUN. To be hard pressed; and especially to be in want of money. The same as hard pushed.
We knew the Tammany party were hard run; but we did not know it was reduced to the necessty of stealing the principles of Nativism.--N. Y. Tribune, Nov. 1, 1845.
HARDWOOD. A term applied to woods of solid texture that soon decay, including generally, beech, birch, maple, ash, &c. Used by shipwrights and farmers in Maine, in opposition to oak and pine.
HARUM-SCARUM. A low but frequent expression applied to flighty persons; persons always in a hurry, as if they were hared or frightened themselves, or haring others by their precipitancy; as, he is a harum-scarum fellow.--Johnson.
HASTY-PUDDING. Indian meal stirred in boiling water into a thick batter or pudding, and eaten with milk, butter, and sugar or molasses. Joel Barlow wrote a poem on the subject, in which he thus accounts for its name:
Thy name is Hasty-Pudding! thus our sires Were wont to greet thee fuming from their fires And while they argued in thy just defence With logic clear, they thus explain'd the sense:-- "In haste the boiling cauldron o'er the blaze, Receives and cooks the ready-powder'd maize; In haste 'tis serv'd, and then in equal haste, With cooling milk, we make the sweet repast." Such is thy name, significant and clear, A name, a sound to every Yankee dear.--Canto I.
Hasty-pudding is a favorite dish in every part of the United States. In Pennsylvania and some other States it is called mush; in New York, suppawn. Hasty-pudding in England is made of milk and flour.
Sure hasty-pudding is thy chiefest dish, With bullock's liver or some stinking fish.--Dorset Poems.
HATCHET. 'To bury the hatchet,' is to make peace. A phrase alluding to the Indian ceremony of burying the war-hatchet, or tomahawk, when making a peace.
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TO HAVE A SAY. To express an opinion. A phrase in vulgar use.
I picked out "Henry Clay" for my baby's name, but they all wanted to have a say in it, and every one had a name that they liked the best of any.--Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 198.
HAW-HAW. To laugh heartily.
I sat down in front of the General, and we haw-haw'd, I tell you, for more than half an hour.--Maj. Downing's Letters, p. 189.
He burst out a larfin', and staggered over to the sophy, and laid down and haw-hawed like thunder.--Sam Slick, 3d ser. ch. vii.
HAY BARRACK. (Dutch, Hooi-berg, a hay-rick.) A straw-thatched roof, supported by four posts, capable of being raised or lowered at pleasure, under which hay is kept. A term peculiar to New York State.
TO HAZE. To haze round, is to go rioting about.
OVER HEAD AND EARS. Completely overwhelmed. 'He sank over head and ears in the river;' 'He was over head and ears in debt.'
In jingling rhymes well fortify'd and strong, He fights intrench'd o'er head and ears in song.--Granville.
HEAD-CHEESE. The ears and feet of swine cut up fine, and, after being boiled, pressed into the form of a cheese.
TO HEAD OFF. To get before; to intercept. Ex. 'The thief ran fast, but the officer managed to head him off.'
HEAP. A crowd; a throng; a rabble.--Johnson. This very old sense of the word is now provincial both in England and in this country. The expressions, 'a heap of men,' 'a heap of horses,' are given by Holloway in his Dictionary of Provincialisms. In the Western States it is in very common use; as, 'A heap of people were present at the election,' etc.
Now is that of God a full fayre grace That awhiche a lewd man's wit shall pace The wisdom of an heap of lered men?--Chaucer, The Prologue.
A cruel tyranny; a heap of vassals and slaves, no freeman, no inheritance, no stirp or ancient families.--Bacon. (Todd's J.)
An universal cry resounds aloud, The sailors run in heaps, a helpless crowd.--Dryden.
A heap of likely young fellows courted me, but I refused them all for the head coachman of Counsellor Carter.--Davis's Travels in America in 1798, p. 237.
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HEAP. A great deal; much. So used at the South and West.
A correspondent in the Commercial Advertiser thus notices the various uses of this word at the South:
Heap is a most prolific word in the Carolinas and Georgia among the common people, and with children at least, in the best regulated families. "How do you like Mr. Smith?" I asked. "Oh! I liked him a heap," will be the answer, if affirmative, in five cases out of six. It is synonymous with a majority, or a great many as, "We should have plenty of peaches, but a heap of them were killed by the frost." It is synonymous even with very, as, "I heard him preach a heap often;" "Oh! I'm lazy a heap."
I was not idle, for I had a heap of talk with the folks in the house.--Crockett, Tour, p. 87.
Baltimore used to be called Mob-town; but they are a heap better now, and are more orderly than some of their neighbors.--Ibid. p. 13.
HEARN, for heard.
TO HEAR TELL. To hear a report of; to hear of. The expression is frequently heard among illiterate people in familiar conversation. Examples of its use may be found in the earliest English writers.
For harde ye hau often time heard tell.--Chaucer, Somp. P. T.
Of which when the prince heard tell.--Spenser.
Pray, what is the meaning of Socdolager?" I asked. "I never heard of the term before." "Possible!" said he; "never heerd tell of the Socdolager? Why you don't say so!"--Sam Slick in England, ch. 15.
Now this was the very first piano that was ever heard tell of in the Purchase.--Carlton's New Purchase, Vol. II. p. 8.
Now, Capting, I'm in distress; and I've always hearn tell that you sailors was generous chaps.--Knickerbocker Mag. Aug. 1845.
I beg leave to suggest to you that the Tinnecum people don't care much about the elements of music, of which they've hearn tell these two hundred years.--Knickerbocker Mag. Vol. XVII. p. 37.
HEARTY AS A BUCK. A hunter's phrase, now in very common use.
Well, how d'ye do, any how?
So, so, middlin'. I'm hearty as a buck, but can't jump jest so high.--Crockett, Tour, p. 8.
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TO HEAVE IN SIGHT. To come in sight; to appear. This nautical phrase appears to have originated in the fact that an approaching vessel appears to raise or heave itself above the horizon.
A Carolina waggoner had just crossed the rail-road, when the engine hove in sight with the cars attached.--Crockett, Tour down East. p. 16.
HEFT. Weight; ponderousness. A colloquial term common to England and America.
Mr. Pickering says: "This noun is also used colloquially in America to signify the greater part or bulk of anything, in expressions of this kind: 'A part of the crop was good, but the heft of it was bad.'"
TO HEFT. In the United States this verb means to lift anything in order to feel or judge of its weight.
I remember the great hog up in Danwich, that hefted nigh twenty score.--Margaret, p. 111.
HELLABALOO. Riotous noise; confusion. Provincial in England.
And the men of one idea
Found fault with those who had two,
And they wrangled and jangled and got so entangled,
That truth and plain sense were outrageously mangled
In the terrible hellabaloo.--The Devil's New Walk, Boston.
HELP. The common name in New England for servants, and for the operatives in a cotton or woollen factory.
HELTER-SKELTER. In a hurry; without order; tumultuously.--Todd. Johnson.
Sir John, I am thy Pistol, and thy friend; And helter-skelter have I rode to England, And tidings do I bring.--Shakspeare.
HEN-HAWK. (Falco lineatus.) The popular name of the red-shouldered hawk of naturalists.
HERN, for hers. A vulgarism often heard among the uneducated. It is included by Pegge in his list of cockneyisms. See Hisn.
HET. Pret. and part. of to heat.--Pickering. Often heard in the mouths of illiterate people.
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TO HIDE. To beat.--Carr's Craven Dialect.
When I was a little boy--they coaxed me to take all the jawings, and all the hidings and to go first into all sorts of scrapes.--J. C. Neal, Sketches.
TO HIFER. To loiter. Used in North Pennsylvania.
TO HIGGLE. To chaffer; to be penurious in a bargain.--Johnson.
Why all this higgling with thy friend about such a paltry sum? Does this become the generosity of the noble and rich John Bull?--Arbuthnot, John Bull.
HIGGLEDY-PIGGLEDY. In confusion. A low word.--Webster.
HIGHBINDER. A riotous fellow. New York slang.
HIGH ROPES. To be on the high ropes; to be in a passion.--Grose.
HIP. to have on the hip, is to have an advantage over another. It seems to be taken from hunting, the hip or haunch of a deer being the part commonly seized by dogs.--Johnson.
If this poor brach of Venice, whom I cherish For his quick hunting, stand the putting on, I'll have our Michael Cassion on the hip.--Shakspeare, Othello.
When you want to get a man on the hip, ask him a question or two, and get his answers, and then you have him in a corner.--S. Slick in England.
HISN, for his, or his own. A vulgarism used in the United States, and embraced by Mr. Pegge in his list of London vulgar words.
HIT OR MISS. To do a thing hit or miss, is to do it at all hazards; that is, with a chance of hitting or gaining, or of missing it; at all events.
HITCH. A difficulty; an impediment.
All the hitches in the case of McNulty being got over, the gentlemen of the long robe set themselves at work in earnest.--N. Y. Com. Adv. 1845.
TO HITCH. To agree; to get along amicably.
I've been teamin' on't some for old Pendleton, and have come to drive a spell for this old feller, but I guess we shan't hitch long.--Mrs. Clavers, Forest Life, Vol. I. p. 116.
HITHER AND YON. This expression is often used in the country towns of New England for here and there. It is
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never heard in our seaport towns.--Pickering. Grose has the expression in his Prov. Glossary in the same sense. He calls it a Northern phrase, though it does not appear in Brockett's Glossary.
HO. A word used by teamsters to stop their teams. It has been used as a noun, for stop; moderation; bounds.--Webster. See Whoa.
Because, forsooth, some odd poet or some such fantastic fellows make much on him, there's no ho with him; the vile dandiprat will overlook the proudest of his acquaintance.--Lingua, Old Play.
Mr. Malone says it is yet common in Ireland; as, 'there's no ho in him,' that is, he knows no bounds. This expression is common in the United States.
HOBBLE. A scrape; a state of perplexity.--Carr's Craven Glossary.
Now, Capt. Cleveland, will you get us out of this hobble?--Pirate, III.
HOBSON'S CHOICE. An expression often used, denoting that kind of choice in which there is no alternative. The caprice of Hobson, the Cambridge carrier, who died in 1630, is said to have given rise to it.--Todd. The common phrase is, 'It's Hobson's choice--that or none.'
Hobson kept a stable of forty good cattle, always ready and fit for travelling; but when a man came for a horse, he was led into the stable, where there was a great choice, but he obliged him to take the horse next to the stable door; so that every customer was alike well served according to his chance, and every horse ridden with the same justice. From whence it became a proverb, when what ought to be your choice was forced upon you, to say, Hobson's choice.--Spectator, No. 509.
HOE-CAKE. A cake of Indian meal, baked before the fire. In the interior parts of the country, where kitchen utensils do not abound, they are baked on a hoe; hence the name.
Some talk of hoe-cake, fair Virginia's pride; Rich Johnny-cake this mouth has often tryed. Both please me well, their virtues much the same; Alike their fabric as allied their fame.--J. Barlow, Hasty Pudding.
HOG-WALLOW. On some of the Western prairies, the ground has every appearance of having been rooted or torn up by hogs, when it is very rough; hence the name.--Kendall's Santa Fé Expedition, Vol. I. p. 58.
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HOITY-TOITY. An exclamation denoting surprise or disapprobation, with some degree of contempt.--Webster.
Hoity-toity! what have I to do with dreams?--Congreve, Love for Love.
TO HOLD FORTH. To harangue; to speak in public.--Todd's Johnson.
A petty corjuror telling fortunes, held forth in the market-place.--L'Estrange.
TO HOLD ON. To wait; stop. 'Hold on a minute;' originally a sea phrase.
TO HOLD UP. In allusion to the weather, to clear up, after a storm; to stop raining.
Though nice and dark the point appear, Quoth Ralph, it may hold up and clear.--Hudibras.
TO HALLOO.}
TO HOLLOW.} To shout; to hoot; to cry out loudly.--Todd's Johnson.
This word is generally written and pronounced hollow, which Dr.
Johnson says is incorrect. In England as well as in the United States it is
vulgarly pronounced holler or hollar.
List, list; I hear
Some far-off halloo break the silent air.--Milton.
He with his hounds comes hollowing from the stable, Makes love with nods, and kneels beneath a table.--Pope.
You hollered so, and scared Obed, he's scared now.--Margaret, p. 53.
HOLLOW. All hollow is a common expression with us, and is also given by Carr in his Craven Glossary. 'He carried it all hollow;' 'He beat him all hollow;' that is, wholly, completely.
HOLPE, or HOLP. The old preterite and past part. of Help. "This antiquated inflection of the verb to help is still used in Virginia, where it is corrupted into holped."--Pickering. Johnson and Webster notice the word; and Bishop Lowth observes in his Grammar, that it was used in conversation in his day.
His great love, sharp as his spur, hath holphim To 's home before us.--Shakspeare.
HOLT, for hold. Ex. 'Death has got holt of him.'
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HOMINY. Food made of maize or Indian corn boiled, the maize being either coarsely ground, or broken, or the kernels merely hulled.--Flint, Mississippi Valley. Also written hommony. Roger Williams, in his Key to the Indian Language, has the word aupúminea, parched corn--which, with the accent on the second syllable, has much the sound of hominy.
The Indians sift the flour out of their meal, which they call samp; the remainder they call homminy. This is mixt with flour and made into puddings.--Josselyn's New England Rarities, 1672, p. 53.
HONEY-FOGLE. To swindle; to cheat; to lay plans to deceive. This singular word, I am told, is used in Louisiana. Coney-fogle, to lay plots, a Lancashire word, noticed by Mr. Halliwell in his Dictionary of Archaic and Prov. Words, may be the origin of it.
HONOR BRIGHT! A protestation of honor among the vulgar; originating with, and still retained in commemoration of, a late well-known Newcastle worthy.--Brockett, North Country Words.
Now here's another--(honor bright!) Once Reynard, as he prowled by night, Knew of a slaughtered pig, &c.--Reynard the Fox.
HOOK. (Dutch, hock, a corner.) This name is given in New York to several angular points in the North and East rivers; as, Corlear's Hook, Sandy Hook, Powles's Hook.
BY HOOK OR BY CROOK. One way or other; by any expedient.--Johnson.
It can't be done by hook or crook, Unless your Highness undertook To see me through the matter clean.--Reynard the Fox.
TO HOOK. To steal. A common vulgarism.
ON ONE'S OWN HOOK. A phrase much used in familiar language, denoting on one's own account; as, 'He is doing business on his own hook,' i. e. for himself.
The South is determined that its favorite, Mr. Calhoun, shall go into the National Convention as a candidate for the Presidency; and in case be does not get the nomination, he will run on his own hook.--Newspaper.
I now resolved to do business entirely alone--to go on my own hook. If I get rich, the money will all be mine.--Pearils of Pearl Street, p. 195.
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Are you hired to any one now, or do you go on your own hook?--Mrs. Clavers, Forest Life, Vol. I. p. 116.
We have every reason to believe that the time is fast approaching when we shall have our American Pope, our American Catholic Cardinals, and American Catholic everything on our own hook.--N. Y. Herald, Oct. 1845.
I went to the opera in London, where I kept lookin' round; and when any body laughed, I laughed too, and when they 'plauded, I 'plauded too; and sometimes, jest to make 'em think I was a reglar Frenchy, I'd laugh right out on my own hook, and 'plaud--then the fellers and gals would look at me, much as to say, He's got some gumption.--N. Y. Fam. Companion.
HOOKEY. To play hookey, is to play truant. A term used among schoolboys.
HOOPLE. (Dutch, hoepel.) The boys in the city of New York still retain the Dutch name hoople for a hoop.
HOOSIER. A nickname given at the West to a native of Indiana.
A correspondent of the Providence Journal, writing from Indiana, gives the following account of the origin of this term: "Throughout all the early Western settlements were men who rejoiced in their physical strength, and on numerous occasions, at log-rollings and house-raisings, demonstrated this to their entire satisfaction. They were styled by their fellow citizens, 'hushers,' from their primary capacity to still their opponents. It was a common term for a bully throughout the West. The boatmen of Indiana were formerly as rude and as primitive a set as could well belong to a civilized country, and they were often in the habit of displaying their pugilistic accomplishments upon the Levee at New Orleans. Upon a certain occasion there, one of these rustic professors of the 'noble art' very adroitly and successfully practised the 'fancy' upon several individuals at one time. Being himself not a native of this Western world, in the exuberance of his exultation he sprang up, exclaiming, in foreign accent, "I'm a hoosier, I'm a hoosier.' Some of the New Orleans papers reported the case, and afterwards transferred the corruption of the epithet 'husher' (hoosier) to all the boatmen from Indiana, and from thence to all her citizens.
There was a long-haired hoosier from Indiana, a couple of smart-looking suckers from Illinois, a keen-eyed, leather-belted badger from Wisconsin;
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The hoosier has all the attributes peculiar to the backwoodsmen of the West. ... One of them visited the city [New Orleans] last week. As he jumped from his flat-boat on to the Levee, he was heard to remark that he "didn't see the reason of folks livin' in a heap this way, where they grew no corn and had no bars to kill."--Pickings from the Picayune.
HOP. A dance.--Johnson. This word has always been used here as in England as a familiar term for dance; but of late years it has been employed among us in a technical sense, to denote a dance where there is less display and ceremony than at regular balls. At Saratoga Springs, where a large majority of the people are strangers to each other, it is customary to have a dance or hop at the fashionable hotel three times a week, during the season when the waters are most resorted to.
HOPED. Used among the illiterate in North Carolina as the past part. of to help. Ex. 'It can't be hoped.'--See Holp.
HOPSCOTCH. A game well known to our boys. A figure is drawn upon the ground in the form of a parallelogram, which is subdivided in several parts. A small stone is thrown successively into each, and is knocked out by a boy hopping on one leg, without resting, until he has thrown and knocked it from every division of the figure. Mr. Hartshorn notices the word in his Shropshire Glossary.
HOREHOUND. (Marrubium vulgare.) One of the most common medicinal plants, celebrated for its virtues in the cure of colds.
HORN. A horn; a glass of liquor.
The chaplain gave us a pretty stiff horn of liquor a-piece--and first-rate stuff it was, I swow.--Burton, Waggeries.
HORNS. The feelers of a snail. Hence the proverb, To pull in the horns, To repress one's ardor.--Johnson. In the United States the phrase is, To haul in one's horns.
I tell you what, the highfliers that's been tryin' to be 'stockracy folkes has hauled in their horns since Crockett cut out.--Maj. Jones's Courtship.
HORSE-COLT. "We frequently see in advertisements these terms, horse-colt, mare-colt, &c. A horse-colt is simply a colt; a mare-colt, merely a filly."--Portfolio, 2d ser. Vol. II. 309.