1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue Part 41

JACOB. A soft fellow. A fool.

JACOB. A ladder: perhaps from Jacob's dream. CANT. Also the common name for a jay, jays being usually taught to say, Poor Jacob! a cup of sack for Jacob.

JACOBITES. Sham or collar s.h.i.+rts. Also partizans for the Stuart family: from the name of the abdicated king, i.e.

James or Jacobus. It is said by the whigs, that G.o.d changed Jacob's name to Israel, lest the descendants of that patriarch should be called Jacobites.

JADE. A term of reproach to women.

JAGUE. A ditch: perhaps from jakes.

JAIL BIRDS. Prisoners.

JAKES. A house of office, a cacatorium.

JAMMED. Hanged. CANT.

JANIZARIES. The mob, sometimes so called; also bailiffs, their setters, and followers.

j.a.pANNED. Ordained. To be j.a.panned; to enter into holy orders, to become a clergyman, to put on the black cloth: from the colour of the j.a.pan ware, which is black.

JARK. A seal.

JARKMEN. Those, who fabricate counterfeit pa.s.ses, licences, and certificates for beggars.

JARVIS. A hackney coachman.

JASON'S FLEECE. A citizen cheated of his gold.

JAW. Speech, discourse. Give us none of your jaw; let us have none of your discourse. A jaw-me-dead; a talkative fellow. Jaw work; a cry used in fairs by the sellers of nuts.

JAZEY. A bob wig.

IDEA POT. The knowledge box, the head. See KNOWLEDGE BOX.

JEFFY. It will be done in a jeffy; it will be done in a short s.p.a.ce of time, in an instant.

JEHU. To drive jehu-like; to drive furiously: from a king of Israel of that name, who was a famous charioteer, and mentioned as such in the Bible.

JEM. A gold ring. CANT.

JEMMY FELLOW. A smart spruce fellow.

JEMMY. A crow. This instrument is much used by housebreakers.

Sometimes called Jemmy Rook.

JENNY. An instrument for lifting up the grate or top of a show-gla.s.s, in order to rob it. CANT.

JERRYc.u.mMUMBLE. To shake, towzle, or tumble about.

JERRY SNEAK. A henpecked husband: from a celebrated character in one of Mr. Foote's plays, representing a man governed by his wife.

JESSAMY. A smart jemmy fellow, a fopling.

JESIUT. See TO BOX THE JESUIT.

JESUITICAL. Sly, evasive, equivocal. A jesuitical answer; an equivocal answer.

JET. A lawyer. Autem jet; a parson.

JEW. An over-reaching dealer, or hard, sharp fellow; an extortioner: the brokers formerly behind St. Clement's church in the Strand were called Jews by their brethren the taylors.

JEW. A tradesman who has no faith, i.e. will not give credit.

JEW BAIL. Insufficient bail: commonly Jews, who for a sum of money will bail any action whatsoever, and justify, that is, swear to their sufficiency; but, when called on, are not to be found.

JEW'S EYE. That's worth a Jew's eye; a pleasant or agreeable sight: a saying taken from Shakespeare.

JIBBER THE KIBBER. A method of deceiving seamen, by fixing a candle and lanthorn round the neck of a horse, one of whose fore feet is tied up; this at night has the appearance of a s.h.i.+p's light. s.h.i.+ps bearing towards it, run on sh.o.r.e, and being wrecked, are plundered by the inhabitants.

This diabolical device is, it is said, practised by the inhabitants of our western coasts.

JIG. A trick. A pleasant jig; a witty arch trick. Also a lock or door. The feather-bed jig; copulation.

JIGGER. A whipping-post. CANT.

JILT. A tricking woman, who encourages the addresses of a man whom she means to deceive and abandon.

JILTED. Rejected by a woman who has encouraged one's advances.

JINGLE BOXES. Leathern jacks tipped with silver, and hung with bells, formerly in use among fuddle caps.

CANT.

JINGLE BRAINS. A wild, thoughtless, rattling fellow.

JINGLERS. Horse cosers, frequenting country fairs.

IMPOST TAKERS. Usurers who attend the gaming-tables, and lend money at great premiums.

IMPUDENT STEALING. Cutting out the backs of coaches, and robbing the seats.

IMPURE. A modern term for a lady of easy virtue.

INCHING. Encroaching.

INDIES. Black Indies; Newcastle.

INDIA WIPE. A silk handkerchief.

INDORSER. A sodomite. To indorse with a cudgel; to drub or beat a man over the back with a stick, to lay CANE upon Abel.