Dictionary of Americanisms - S-Sm



S.
SAFE. An iron box, frequently built into the wall, and used by merchants
as a place of deposit for their books and papers. They are now generally
made fire proof; and some of these are called 'salamander safes.'

TO SAG. To sink in the middle when supported at both ends; as a long
pole.--Worcester. Provincial in England, but in common use with us.

SAGAMORE. The title of a chief or ruler among some of the American tribes
of Indians; a sachem.--Worcester.

SADYING. A simple and unaffected mode of dancing, practised by novices in
the art.

It would do you good to see our boys and girls dancing. None of your
stradling, mincing, sadying; but a regular sifter, cut-the-buckle, chicken-
flutter set-to.--Crockett, Tour.

S. C. The common abbreviation for South Carolina.

SALMAGUNDI. A Dutch dish common in New York. It is made of pickled or
smoked shad cut into thin slices or shreds,

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and sliced onions. The whole is then acidulated with vinegar. This dish is
generally used at tea.

SALT-LICK. A saline spring, where animals resort for drink. See Lick.

SALT-WATER VEGETABLES. In New York, a cant term for oysters and clams.

SAMP. (Indian, nasaump.) Roger Williams describes nasaump as "a kind of
meale pottage unparched; from this the English call their samp, which is
Indian corn, beaten and boiled, and eaten hot or cold with milke or
butter, which are mercies beyond the natives' plaine water, and which is a
dish exceedingly wholesome for the English bodies."--Key to the Indian
Language, p. 33. For other dishes made of corn, see Hominy, Mush, Suppawn,
Suckatash.

Blue corn is light of digestion, and the English make a kind of loblolly
of it, to eat with milk, which they call sampe; they beat it in a mortar,
and sifte the flower out of it.--Josselyn's New England Rarities, 1672.

SANG. An abbreviation of ginseng. It is or was also used in Virginia as a
verb; to go a sanging, is to be engaged in gathering ginseng.

SANGAREE. (Span. sangre, blood.) A drink made of red wine, water, and
sugar, with nutmeg grated over it. This word, now very common throughout
the United States, was introduced from the West Indies.

SAND-FLEA, or BEACH-FLEA. (Genus, orchestra. Leach.) A small crustacea
common along the shores of Long Island, and other sandy places, digging
holes wherein they conceal themselves, and living upon dead animal
substances.--Nat. Hist. of New York.

SANCTIMONIOUSLYFIED. This queer word explains itself.

I recollect an old sanctimoniouslyfied fellow, who made his negroes
whistle while they were picking cherries, for fear they should eat some.--
Crockett, Tour down East.
SAPHEAD. A blockhead; a stupid fellow.--Craven Dialect.

SAPPY. Young; not firm; weak.--Johnson. Weak in intellect.--Webster. Used
only in familiar language.

SAPSUCKER. A small wood-pecker (the dentrocopus of orni-

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thologists), so called from a common belief that it sucks the sap of
trees.--Nat. Hist. of New York.

SARTIN, for certain. A vulgar pronunciation heard in many parts of England
and the United States.

SASS-TEA. A decoction of sassafras.

In the morning, Hoss Allen became dreadful poorly. The matron of the house
boiled him sass-tea, which the old man said revived him mightily.--Robb,
Squatter Life, p. 72.

SATINET. A twilled cloth made of cotton and wool.

SAUCE. (Vulgarly pronounced sass.) Culinary vegetables and roots eaten
with flesh.--Webster. This word is provincial in various parts of England
in the same sense. Forby defines it as "any sort of vegetable eaten with
flesh-meat."--Norfolk Glossary. Garden-stuff, and garden-ware, are the
usual terms in England.

Rosts, herbs, vine-fruits, and salad-flowers--they dish up in various
ways, and find them very delicious sauce to their meats, both roasted and
boiled, fresh and salt.--Beverly's Hist. of Virginia.

SAVAGE AS A MEAT AXE. Exceedingly hungry. This vulgar simile is often used
in the Northern and Western States.

"Why, you don't eat nothing!" he exclaimed; "ridin' don't agree with you,
I guess! Now, for my part, it makes me as savage as a meat axe."--Mrs.
Clavers's Forest Life, Vol. I. p. 103.

It would be a charity to give the pious brother some such feed as chicken
fixins and doins, for he looks half-starved, and as savage as a meat axe.--
Carlton's New Purchase.

SAVAGEROUS. Furious. A low word.

Well, Capting, they were mighty savagerous after liquor; they'd been
fightin' the whisky barrel.--Porter's Tales of the South-west.

SAVANNA. (W. Ind. savana.) An open plain, or meadow without wood.

He that rides past through a country may tell how, in general, the parts
lie: here a morass, and there a river; woodland in one part, and savannas
in another.--Locke.

Plains immense,
And vast savannas, where the wand'ring eye,
Unfix't, is in a verdant ocean lost.--Thomson, Summer.

SAVEY, or SABBY. (Corrupted from the Spanish saber, to know.) To know; to
comprehend. A word of very exten-

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ive use wherever a Lingua Franca has been formed of the Spanish or
Portuguese language in Asia, Africa, and America. It is used by the
negroes in some of the Southern States.

When I read these stories, the negroes looked delighted, and said: "We
savey dat well, misses."--Carmichael's West Indies.

TO SAW. To hoax; to play a joke upon one. A western term. In the State of
Maine, to saw means to scold.

SAWYER. This may truly be called an American word; for no country without
a Mississippi and Missouri could produce a sawyer.

Sawyers are formed by trees, which, growing on the banks of the river,
become undermined by the current, and fall into the stream. They are then
swept away by the current, with the branches partly above water, rising
and falling with the waves; whence the name of sawyer. They are extremely
dangerous to steamboats, which sometimes run foul of them, and are either
disabled or sunk to the bottom.

SAW-WHET. The popular name, in some of the Northern States, for the Little
Owl, or Acadian Owl of Audubon. "It has a sharp note like the filing of a
saw, and another like the tinkling of a bell."--Nat. Hist. of New York.

SAY. A speech; what one has to say.--Johnson.

He no sooner said out his say, but up rises a cunning snap.--L'Estrange.

Gentlemen of the jury--I have as yet said nothing on the important subject
engaging your attention, and I now propose to have my say.--True Sun.

Having said our say in the first instance, and now given place to our
correspondent's replication verbatim, we presume we may here very fairly
take leave of the matter.--N. Y. Com. Adv.

SCACE, for scarce. A vulgarism in the interior of the country.

SCALY. Mean; stingy.--Halliwell.

SCALAWAG. A favorite epithet in western New York for a mean fellow; a
scape-grace.

SCAMP. A worthless fellow.

SCAPE-GALLOWS. One who has escaped, though deserving of the gallows. It
seems to be synonymous with Cotgrave's pendard, which he defines, "a rake-
hell, crack-rope, gallow-

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clapper; one for whom the gallows longeth.'--Carr's Craven Dialect.

SCAPE-GRACE. A term of reproach; a graceless fellow.--Brockett.

About this time of year, we notice that three young scape-graces infest
the city, who get up their wild freaks at night, and continue them till
after day--N. Y. Express

SCARLETINA. A common name for scarlet fever.--Brande.

SCHNAPS. Schedam gin, a kind of Hollands. A Dutch term still preserved in
New York.

SCHOOL OF FISH. (Ang. Sax. sceol. Dutch, school.) An other pronunciation
of the word shoal, and applied to a large number of fish swimming
together. The expression is also provincial in England.

SCHOOL-DISTRICT. A division of a city or State for establishing schools.
The State of New York is divided into more than ten thousand such
partitions or school-districts.

SCHOOL-MA'AM. A school-mistress. This word is peculiar to New England.

SCHOONER. Both Webster and Todd derive this word from the German schoner,
which means the same; but on examining the German dictionaries we find the
word written schooner, schoner, and schuner, and characterized as English.
The following story has a circumstantiality about it that gives it an air
of truth:

"The first vessel of the kind is said to have been built at Gloucester,
Mass., by Capt. Andrew Robinson, about the year 1714. The name was given
to it from the following circumstance: Capt. R. had constructed a vessel,
which he masted and rigged in the manner that schooners now are, and on
her going off the stocks into the water, a bystander cried out, 'Oh how
she schoons!' R. instantly replied, 'A schooner let her be;' and from that
time, this class of vessels has gone by that name. Previously, vessels of
this description were unknown either in this country or Europe."--Essex,
Mass. Memorial, 1836, p. 100.

What is meant by to schoon, I cannot say.

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SCONCE. The head; pate. An old English vulgarism.

A hvst is of itself bad enough--your sconce gets a crack; then you see all
sorts of stars.--J. C. Neal, Dilly Jones.

SCOW. (Dutch, schouw.) A large flat-bottomed boat, generally used as a
ferry boat, or as a lighter for loading and unloading vessels when they
cannot approach the wharf. On Lake Ontario they are sometimes rigged like
a schooner or sloop, with a lee-board or sliding keel, when they make
tolerably fast sailers. The word is used in Scotland. A mud-scow (Dutch,
modder-schouw) is a vessel of this description, used in New York for
cleaning out the docks.

SCRANCH. (Dutch, schransen.) To crunch, crack, or break any hard thing
between the teeth.--Phillips's World of Words. This word is in vulgar use
in the United States.

Some were coming up the hill, goreing and scranching the crust [of the
snow] with their iron corks.--Margaret, p. 172.

SCRAP-BOOK. A blank book for the preservation of short pieces of poetry or
other extracts from books and papers.--Webster.

SCRAPS. The dry, husky, and skinny residuum of melted fat.--Forby's
Vocabulary. The common word in New England for the same.

SCRATCH. No great scratch. A vulgar, though common phrase, implying not
worth much--no great shakes.

There are a good many Joneses in Georgia, and I know some myself that
ain't no great scratches.--Maj. Jones's Courtship. p. 136.

SCRATCH. To come to the scratch. To come to the encounter, begin a fight.

When the landlords and tenants in New York fairly come to the scratch
[about the first of May], they make hot work of it.--Maj. Downing, May-day
in New York, p. 30.

SCRAWL. In New England, a ragged, broken branch of a tree, or other
brushwood; brush.--Webster.

SCREAMER. A bouncing fellow or girl. This, like the word roarer, is one of
the many terms transferred from animals to men by the hunters of the West.

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If he's a specimen of the Choctaws that live in these parts, they are
screamers.--Thorpe's Backwoods.

Mary is a screamer of a girl; I'd rather have her than all the rest.--Mrs.
Clavers's Western Clearings.

What's the matter with that woman? said the recorder. Policeman.--That's
the way she was carryin' on last night when I arrested her--she's a
screamer, your honor, I tell you --Pickings from the Picayune.

SCREW. One who squeezes all he can out of those with whom he has any
dealings; an extortioner; miser. Colloquial here as in England.

TO SCREW. To exact upon one in a bargain or reckoning.--Grose. Ex. 'He
screwed me down to a very low price.'

SCRIMP. Short; scanty.--Webster.

SCRIMP. A pinching miser; a niggard; a close-fisted person.--Webster.

TO SCRIMP. To contract; to shorten; to make too small or short; to limit
or straiten; as, 'to scrimp the pattern of a coat.' This, as well as the
previous words, are in common use in New England.--Webster. Used in the
north of England.--Brockett.

TO SCROUGE. To crowd; to squeeze. A word provincial in England and in this
country. It is used in the Southern States, and among children at the
North.

The ladies were obliged to stand up and he scrouged until chairs could be
brought.--Drama in Pokerville.

After hard scrouging each way some hundred yards, we came together and
held a council.--Carlton, New Purchase, Vol. II. p. 59.

Them boys that's a scrouging each other, will find plenty of room this
way.--Peter Cram, Knick. Mag.

SCROUGER. A bouncing fellow or girl. A Western vulgarism.

Tom, the engineer, was a roaring, tearing, bar State scrouge--could chaw
up any specimen of the human race, any quantity of tobacco, and drink
steam without flinching.--Robb, Squatter Life.

Some of the families in them diggins had about twenty in number; and the
gals among them warn't any on your pigeon creatures, that a fellow dassent
tech for fear of spilin 'em, but real scrougers; any of 'em could lick a
bar easy.--Ibid.

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SCRUMPTIOUS. Nice, particular, fastidious; also, nice, excellent. Probably
a corruption of scrupulous. A vulgarism.

I dont want to be scrumptious, judge; but I do want to be a man.--
Margaret, p. 304.

SCULLCAP. (Lat. scutellaria.) A medicinal plant; its properties tonic and
sudorific.

SCUP. (Indian, shcup-pauog. Roger Williams.) A fish abounding in the
waters of New York and New England. In Rhode Island they are called scup;
in New York, paugies, or porgies. In speaking of this fish, which Roger
William calls the breame, he says, "there is a great abundance which the
natives drie in the sunne and smoake; and some English begin to salt. Both
waves they keepe all the yeere; and it is hoped it may be as well accepted
as cod at a market, and better if once knowne."--Key to the Indian Lang.,
p. 103. See Porgy.

SCUP. (Dutch, schop.) A swing. A New York word.

TO SCUP. (Dutch, schoppen.) To swing. Common in New York.

SCUSS, for scarce. So pronounced by the backwoodsmen of the West.

The unfortunate traveler urged in vain [for food for his horse]. Hay was
scuss, and potatoes were scusser.--Mrs. Clavers's Western Clearings.

SEDGE. In New England, a species of coarse grass. In England it is a small
kind of flag. In New England 'a tussock of sedge, is a bunch or tuft of
coarse grass, common im swampy meadows.

Margaret was bounding through a wet bog, springing from one tussock of
sedge to another.--Margaret, p. 25

SEALER. In New England, an officer appointed by the town or other proper
authority, to examine and try weights and measures, and set a stamp on
such as are according to the standards established by the State; also an
officer who inspects leather, and stamps stick as good. These are called
sealers of weights and measures, and scalers of leather.--Webster.

SEARCHING. Piercing; keen; as, 'A searching wind.'--Carr's Craven Dialect.

p. 289

SEAWAN. An Indian word meaning the same as wampum, formerly in use among
the early colonists of New York.

A quantity of Dutch commodities was purchased on this occasion by the New
Plymouth people; especially seawan or wampum, which the English found to
be afterwards very beneficial in their trade with the natives.--
O'Callaghan, Hist. New Netherland, p. 108.

SECTION. A distinct part of a city, town, country or people; a part of a
territory separated by geographical lines, or of a people considered as
distinct. Thus we say, the Northern and Eastern section of the United
States, the Middle section, the Southern or Western section.--Webster.

The newly surveyed government lands at the West are laid out or divided
into squares of 320 acres, which are called sections. These are again
divided into four parts of eighty acres each, called quarter sections.

SECTIONAL. Pertaining to a section or distinct part of a larger body or
territory.

All sectional interests or party feelings, it is hoped, will hereafter
yield to schemes of ambition.--Judge Story.

SEE, for saw (preterite of to see.) I see him yesterday, for I saw him.
This corruption is common among the illiterate in New England. I have
heard old people use the word seed; as, 'I seed him.' Pegge says this is a
common vulgarism in London, "and passes currently with the common people,
both for our perfect tense saw, and our participle seen."--Anecdotes of
the Eng. Lang.

He lookt, he listened, yet his thoughts deride
To think that true which he both heard and see.--Fairfax's Tasso.

O rare! he doth it as like one of these hartolry players as I ever see.--
Shakspeare, First Part Henry IV., II. 4.

Mr. M---- was almost dead with the consumption, and had to carry rocks in
his pocket to keep the wind from blowing him away. Well, he's a sound and
well man, and looks as if he mought live to be a hundred years old. I
never seed such an alteration in any body in my life.--Maj. Jones's
Sketches.

TO SEE.}
TO SEE ABOUT.} To attend to; to consider.

TO SEE HOW THE CAT JUMPS. A metaphorical expression meaning, to discover
the secrets or designs of others.

p. 290

We also say, in the same sense, to see which way the wind blows. Both
phrases are used in England.

I see how the cat jumps: here's a little tid bit of an extortion now; but
you wont find that no go.--Sam Slick in England.

He has written to get up a petition in old Tammany; and then you'll see
how the cat will jump.--Maj. Downing.

I know what I knows, I've seen how the cat has been jumpin'.--Margaret, p.
141.

TO SEE THE ELEPHANT, is a South-western phrase, and means, generally, to
undergo any disappointment of high-raised expectations. It is in fact
nearly or quite synonymous with the ancient "go out for wool and come back
shorn." For instance, men who have volunteered for the Mexican war,
expecting to reap lots of glory and enjoyment, but instead have found only
sickness, fatigue, privations, and suffering, are currently said to have
'seen the elephant.' I do not remember having ever fallen in with a good
origin for the term in this employment of it. [Inman.]

A man, being brought before the Recorder in New Orleans, charged with
being found drunk the previous night, after appealing to the court, closed
with the following remarks:
Spare my feelings, Squire, and don't ask me to tell any more. Here I am in
town without a rock in my pocket, without a skirt to my coat or crown to
my hat; but, Squire, I'll say no more, I've seen the elephant." The
Recorder let him off on condition that he would leave town, as he
confessed he had seen the elephant.--Pickings from the Picayune.

Although the merchants from the South and west may buy goods in
Philadelphia, all find their way to New York to spend their pocket-money,
buy brass watches at the mock auctions, and see the elephant generally.--
Phila. Cor. of the N. Y. Tribune.

SEEN. For saw. Ex. I seen him before;' 'I seen her yesterday.' This
corruption is common in various parts of the country.

Peter Cram's fits is awful, and go ahead of anything we ever seen.--
Knickerbocker Mag., Vol. XVII

SELECTMAN. A magistrate annually elected by the freemen of a town or
township in New England, to superintend and manage the affairs and
government of the town. The number is commonly from three to five.--
Worcester.

p. 291

SENATE. In the United States, senate denotes the higher branch or house of
a legislature. Such is the Senate of the United States, or upper house of
the Congress; and in most of the States, the higher and least numerous
branch of the legislature is called the Senate. In the United States, the
Senate is an elective body.--Webster.

SERIOUS. Particularly attentive to religious concerns or one's own
religious state.--Webster.

Serious has [in New England] the cant acceptation of religious.--Kendall's
Travels.

TO SERVE UP. To expose to ridicule; to expose.

SERVICE-BERRY. A wild fruit common to the Bntish provinces in America,
described by Sir Geo. Simpson as "a sort of cross between the cranberry
and the black currant." It is a good article of food, and is sometimes
mixed with pemican. The Indian name is mis-as-quitomine.

Among the usual fruit-bearing shrubs and bushes, I here notice the service-
berry.--Scenes in the Rocky Mountains, p. 114.

SESSIONS, in some of the States, is particularly used for a court of
justice, held for granting licenses to innkeepers or taverners, for laying
out new highways, or altering old ones, and the like.--Webster.

SET. Fixed in opinion; firm.--Webster. 'He is very set in his ways.'

A DEAD SET. A concerted scheme to defraud a person by gaming.--Grose,
Slang Dict. This phrase seems to be taken from the lifeless attitude of a
pointer in marking his game. We sometimes hear the phrase applied as in
the expression, 'He made a dead set at the young lady,' i. e. a determined
effort to win her favor.

TO SET BY.}
TO SET MUCH BY.} To regard; to esteem.--Johnson. Norfolk and Craven
Glossaries. These are very old expressions, and were once in good use in
England; they are now classed among provincialisms, and are only heard in
familiar language.

David behaved himself more wisely than all, so that his name was much set
by.--1 Samuel., xviii. 30.

p. 292

TO SET STORE BY. To set value upon; to appreciate. Ex. 'These things we
set great store by.' Used only in familiar language. It is provincial in
Yorkshire and in Norfolk.--Forby's Glossary.

He [the Ohio boatman] observed very feelingly, that he set more store to
this song than to all the rest.--Hall, Letters from the West, Let. 4.

SET-TO. A scientific pugilistic combat; and figuratively, an argument,
debate, contest in words. Both senses are English.

SETTING-POLE. A pole pointed with iron, used for propelling vessels or
boats up rivers, in shoal water.

TO SETTLE. To be ordained or installed over a parish, church, or
congregation. A. B. was invited to settle in the first society at New
Haven. N. D. settled in the ministry very young.--Webster.

TO SETTLE. To liquidate an account; to pay a debt. A sense of the word not
given in the English dictionaries, but very common among our merchants and
traders. On board our steamboats it is customary, soon after leaving the
wharf, for one of the waiters to go about ringing a bell and crying out,
'Passengers what hain't paid their fare, will please step up to the
Captain's office and settle.'

TO SETTLE ONE'S HASH. To properly punish one. We also say, 'to settle his
business;' 'to fix his flint.'

Brave Prudhoe triumphant shall skim the wide main,
The hash of the Yankees he'll settle;
And ages hereafter shalll serve to proclaim
A Northumberland free o' Newcastle.--Song, Northumberlands [sic] free of
Newcastle, Brockett.

SHACK. A vagabond; a low fellow. Ex. 'He's a poor shack of a fellow.' It
is provincial in England, and applied in the same way as here.--Craven and
Shropshire Glossaries.

SHACKLY. Loose; rickety; as, 'What a shackly old carriage!'

SHAFT. A handle; as, a whip-shaft, the handle of a whip.--Jamieson,
Scottish Dictionary.


p. 293

SHAGBARKS. A common name in New England for a sort of Walnuts.

SHAKER. One of a religious denomination, styled the 'United Society,'
which first rose in Lancashire, England, in the year 1747. In the account
which the Shakers give of themselves, they mention the Quakers in the time
of Oliver Cromwell, and the French prophets of a later date, as being the
first who had a peculiar testimony from the Lord to deliver to the
Christian world. But they complain that the former degenerated, losing
that desire of love and power with which they first set out; and the
latter being of short continuance, their extraordinary communications have
long ago ceased. This testimony was revived in the persons of James
Wardley, a tailor by trade, and Jane his wife, who wrought at the same
occupation! They had belonged to the society of Shakers, but receiving the
spirit of the French prophets, and a further degree of light and power, by
which they were separated from that community, they continued for several
years disconnected from every denomination. During this time their
testimony, according to what they saw by vision and revelation from God,
was, "That the second appearing of Christ was at hand, and that the church
was rising in her full and transcendant glory, which would effect the
final downfall of Anti-Christ."


From the shaking of their bodies in religious exercises, they were called
Shakers, and some gave them the name of Shaking Quarkers. [sic]

In 1757, Ann Lee joined the Society by confessing her sins to Jane
Wardley. In 1772 she professed to have received a revelation from God to
repair to America. Accordingly, as many as firmly believed in her
testimony, and could settle their temporal concerns, and could furnish
necessaries for the voyage, concluded to follow her. They arrived in New
York in 1774, and in 1776 removed to Watervliet, eight miles from Albany,
where a society was established, which still exists, and where they now
possess 2000 acres of good land. From this society have grown several
communities; one at New Lebanon, N. Y., which consists of 600 members.
Others

p. 294

have been founded in Wayne county, N. Y., at Enfield, Connecticut, two in
Ohio (one of the latter of which contains 600 members), two in Kentucky
having about 500 members each, and one in Indiana. In 1828, the number of
societies was sixteen; the number of preachers about forty-five; members
gathered into their societies, about 4500; those not received, 900; making
in all about 5400.--Evans's Hist. of Religions, Am. Ed. Rapp's Religious
Denominations in the United States.

THE SHAKES. The fever and ague.

SHAKING QUAKER. A member of the religious sect called Shakers, which see.

SHAKES. No great shakes. Of no great value; little worth. Common in
England and the United States.

I had my hands full, and my head too, just then [when he wrote to Marino
Faliero], so it can be no great shakes.--Lord Byron to Murray.

Yit, if they their inquirations make,
In winter time some will
Condemn that place as no great shakes
Where folks ha' the cold chill.--Noakes and Styles, Essex Dialect.

Cousin Pete allowed he knowed he wasn't no great shakes all the time, and
was makin' more noise than anybody else.--Maj. Jones's Courtship.

I have forgot what little Latin I learnt to night-school; and, in fact, I
never was any great shakes at it.--Sam Slick, 3d Ser. ch. VII.

TO SHAKE A STICK AT. A ridiculous phrase very often heard in low language.
When a man is puzzled to give one an idea of a very great number, he calls
it 'more than you can shake a stick at.'

New York is an everlastin' great concern, and, as you may well suppose,
there's about as many people in it as you could shake a stick at.--Maj.
Downing, May-day in New York.

I've been licked fifty times, and got more black eyes and bloody noses
than you could shake a stick at, for the purity of our illegal rights.--J.
C. Neal, Peter Brush.

We got a little dry or so and wanted a horn; but this was a temperance
house, and there was nothing to treat a friend to that was worth shaking a
stick at.--Crockett, Tour, p. 87.

SHAKY. A term applied by lumbermen, dealers in timber,

p. 295

and carpenters, to boards which are inclined to split from defects in the
log from which they have been sawed.

SHANTY. A hut, or mean dwelling.

SHARP SET. Hungry. A colloquial expression much itself in the United
States as well as in England.

And so I thinke that if anie were so sharpe set as to eat fried flies,
buttered bees, stued snailes, either on Fridaie or Sundaie, he could not
there-fore be indicted for haulte treason.--Stanihurst's Ireland, 1596, p.
19.

I'm considerabe sharp-set afer waiting five hours and a quarter for
breakfast.--Sam Slick in England, ch. 2.

SHARP STICK. 'He's after him with a sharp stick;' i. e. he's determined to
have satisfaction, or revenge. Western.

SHAVER. One that is close in bargains, or a sharp dealer.--Webster.

To shave, is to cut off a portion of the outside; hence to strip, deprive,
take away unjustly, as a robber or hard dealer one who does this is a
shaver. This word, in the United States, is applied to money brokers, who
purchase notes at more than legal interest. Banks, when they resort to any
means to obtain a large discount, are also called shavers, or shaving
banks. Many such are known, but they evade the penalty of the usury laws
by discounting at legal interest, and giving the proceeds of the note so
discounted, in a draft on some distant place, or in uncurrent money; which
are again purchased by the bank or its agents at a discount.

They fell into the hands of the cruel mountain-people, living for the most
part by theft, and waiting for wrecks, as hawks for their prey; by these
shavers the Turks were stripp'd of all they had.--Knolles's History of the
Turks.

To sell our notes, at a great loss, to brokers, or, in other words, to get
them unmercifully shaved, was what we wished to avoid.--Perils of Pearl
Street, p. 123.

SHAVER. A shaver is a boy, a lad, one just beginning to shave; or else, on
the lucus a non lucendo principle, one who does not shave, but would if he
could! Comp. Skin-flint. The term is often humorously applied here, as in
England, to boys who ape the behavior of men.

p. 296

SHECOONERY. A whimsical corruption of the word chicanery, used at the
South.

This town's got a monstrous bad name for meanery and shecoonery of all
sorts.--Chronicles of Pineville, p. 47.

Among other topics, he dwelt upon the verdancy of his neighbors, and the
shecoonery which had been practised upon them.--Ibid. p. 48.

TO SHELL OUT, means to hand over money.

Witness the testimony of Major Noah and others in New York, who prove that
the office-holders had to shell out a part of their salary, to support
Jacksonism.--Crockett, Tour, p. 163.

The rich folks have pretty much all the money; but as we can out-vote
them, they ought to shell out.--Maj. Downing's Letters, p. 98.

If I could shell out ideas as easy as you do words, I could soon write
another book.--Crockett, Tour down East, p. 5.

SHERRYVALLIES. (Fr. chevalier.) Pantaloons made of thick velvet or
leather, buttoned on the outside of each leg, and generally worn over
other pantaloons. They are now chiefly worn by teamsters. Many years ago,
when the facilities for traveling were not as great as now, and when
journeys were made on horseback, sherryvallies were indispensable to the
traveller.

SHET. A vulgar pronunciation of shut; also used in England.

Here slouthe brouyte it so aboute,
Fro him that they ben schet withoute.--Gower, MS. quoted by Halliwell.

Hey, mister! said a shop-boy at last, I want to get shut of you, cause
we're goin' to shet up.--Neal's Sketches.

SHEEPSKIN. The parchment diploma received by students for taking their
degree at college. In the back settlements are many clergymen who have not
had the advantages of a liberal education, and who consequently have no
diploma. Some of these look upon their more favored brethren with a little
envy. A clergyman is said to have a sheepskin, or to be a sheepskin, when
educated at college.

This apostle of ourn never rubbed his back agin a college, nor toted about
no sheepskins--no, never ..... How you'd a perished in your sins, if the
first preachers had stayed till they got sheepskins.--Carlton's New
Purchase.

I can say as well as the best on them sheepskins, if you don't get religion

p. 297

and be saved, you'll be lost, tetotally and for ever. [Sermon of an
itinerant preacher at a camp-meeting].--Ibid. Vol. I. p. 203.

SHEER. Applied in the United States to fabrics of cotton or silk; as,
sheer muslin; meaning very thin, clear, or transparent.

SHEW, (pron. like shoe,) for showed. Ex. 'I shew him the difference
between black and white.' This corruption is so common among all classes
in the "American Athens," as to form a sort of shibboleth for
distinguishing a Bostonian.

Several years ago this corrupt preterite was very common in New England;
but it is now much less used than formerly. Mr. Pegge, in his ironical
defence of know'd for knew, mentions the following singular instances of
irregular preterite verbs ending in ew or ow: "The modern past tense, I
knew, seems to have been imported from the north of England, where the
expressions are, 'I sew (instead of I sow'd), my corn;' 'I mew (that is, I
mow'd) my hay;' and, 'it snew,' for it snowed."--Pickering.

TO SHIN. To borrow money. A word well understood in New York in times when
money is scarce. The author of the amusing work, entitled "Perils of Pearl
Street," page 123, thus describes it:

"By shinning, in mercantile phrase, is meant running about to one's
acquaintance, to borrow money to meet the emergency of a note at bank. It
is doubtless so called, because in the great hurry of picking up cash to
meet the hour of three, which perchance is just at hand, the borrower, not
having the fear of wheelbarrows, boxes, barrels, piles of brick, &c.
before his eyes, is very apt to run furiously against them with his shins,
the bark whereof is apt to he grievously battered off by the contact .....
So fares it with the poor merchant, while he is looking out for an
acquaintance of whom he may ask, Anything over? This is an expression used
by shinners, on applying to their acquaintances for the needful; and
means, Have you any money over and above the sum requisite for discharging
your own notes? If so, it is of course expected, that, in the way of
mercantile courtesy or of a friendly reciprocity, you will

p. 298

oblige the shinner so far as to hand it over to him. It is a common way,
amongst those who have business in banks, of obliging one another. If they
have anything over, they do not withhold it from their neighbor, lest in
turn he should do the same towards them.

"Shinners may be divided into two classes: those who shin from necessity,
and those who shin from profit. The latter may be called professional
shinners; and they consist of merchants of some standing, who make it
their business to find out, and get into the good graces of those who are
just starting in trade. Correctly judging that these last will have no
notes to pay under six months, and that they will take in considerable
money in that time, they borrow their surplus cash, promising in their
turn to lend whenever the other shall stand in need. But when the time
comes, these cunning old shinners take especial care to have nothing over;
then coldly turn their back upon the young merchant, and commence a new
shinning account with some fresh dupe, who, in like manner, is to be
abandoned whenever he requires an interchange of the favor."
The Senator was shinning around, to get gold for the rascally bank-rags,
which he was obliged to take.--N. Y. Com. Adv., Dec. 13, 1845

SHINDY. A row; a spree.

If this 'cre isn't that are singing chap agin. He's on a shindy somewhere
or other every night.--J. C. Neal, P. Ploddy, p. 18.

TO SHINE. In the Southern States the deer is often hunted by torch-light.
The custom is thus described in the 'cracker' dialect of Georgia: "You see
the way we does to shine the deer's eyes is this--we holds the pan of fire
so, on the left shoulder, and carries the gun at a trail in the right
hand. Well, when I wants to look for eyes, I turns round slow, and looks
right at the edge of my shadder, what's made by the light behind me in the
pan, and if there's a deer in gun-shot of me, his eyes'll shine 'zactly
like two balls of fire."--Chronicles of Pineville, p. 169.

He often urged me to accompany him to see how slick he could shine a
buck's eyes.--Ibid, p. 162.

SHINE. To take the shine off, is to surpass in beauty or excellence.

p. 299

Cousin P--, with his dandy cut trousers, and big whiskers, tried to take
the shine off everybody else.--Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 111.

I'm sorry he didn't bring his pitch-pipe with him, jest to take the shine
off them 'are singers.--Maj. Downing's Letters, p. 37.
SHINE. To take a shine to a person, is to take a fancy to him or her.

SHINE. To cut or make a shine, is to make a great display.

All the boys and gals were going to camp-meetin'; so, to make a shine with
Sally, I took her a new parasol.--Robb, Squatter Life.

SHINER. (Genus, Leuciscus.) The popular name of the fish known to
naturalists as the Dace. In different parts of the country, however, other
small fish are called shiners, from their glittering or shining
appearance. In New York a small fish of the genus stilbe, is known to
naturalists as the New York Shiner. It is also found in the adjoining
States.--Nat. Hist. of New York.

SHINGLE. A jocose term for a sign-board, placed over a shop-door or
office.

Doctors and dentists from the United States have stuck up their shingles
in Mexico.--N. Y. Com. Adv., Dec. 24, 1848.

Several made bold to peep inside, in spite of the "No Admittance!" which
frowned from a shingle over the door.--Drama at Pokerville.

SHINPLASTER. A cant term for a bank-note, or any paper money. It probably
came into use in 1837, when the banks suspended specie payment, and when
paper money became depreciated in value.

The people may whistle for protection, and put up with what shinplaster
rags they can get.--N. Y. Tribune, Dec. 3, 1845.

TO SHIRK. To procure by mean tricks; to steal.--Todd. To live by one's
wits; also to shirk off, to sneak away.

Tell me, you that never heard the call of any vocation, that are free of
no other company hut your idle companions, that shirke living from others,
but time from yourselves.--Bp. Rainbow, Sermons (1635), p. 40.

SHIRTING. A fabric of cotton or linen of a suitable width for making
shirts. Goods which are a yard or more wide are called sheeting; when less
than a yard, skirting.

TO SHOAL. To lounge about lazily.

You hurled up to the counter as if you were shoaling through the mar-

p. 300

ket, according to your well known habits, stealing pig's feet to make
broth of, &c.--Mathews, Puffer Hopkins, ch. 14.

SHOEMAKE. A common name for the sumach-tree.

SHOO! A word commonly used to drive away fowls.--Brocketi.

SHOOT, or SHUTE. A passage-way on the side of a steep hill or mountain
down which wood and timber are thrown or slid. There are many such on the
Hudson and Mohawk rivers. In the West the term is applied to places where
a river is artificially contracted in order to increase the depth of
water. In Lower Canada a shoot is a place where the stream, being confined
by rocks which appear above water, is shot through the aperture with great
force.--Cartwright's Labrador, p. 14. In the West, 'to take a shoot after,'
is to take a fancy to.

That gal was the prettyest creatur I ever took a shute after; her eyes
jest floated about in her head like a star's shadow on a Mississippi
wave.--Robb, Squatter Life.

TO SHOOT ONE'S GRANDMOTHER, is a common though vulgar phrase in New
England, and means to be mistaken, or to be disappointed; to imagine
oneself the discoverer of something in which he is deceived. The common
phrase is, 'You've shot your granny.' It is, in fact, synonymous with
'You've found a mare's nest.'

SHOOTING IRON. A common Western term for a rifle, or fowling piece.

SHOPPING. The act of frequenting shops.--Jodrell's Philology. This very
useful word is not noticed by Dr. Johnson; and Mr. Todd calls it a cant
word of modern origin.

For those the hour of retirement is three, which gives, till noon the day,
nine hours tor rest; and after that sufficient time for a ride, auctions,
or shopping, before the dinner hour.--Hawkins, Life of Johnson, p. 261.

What between shopping, and morning visits with mamma, &c., I contrive to
amuse myself tolerably.--Cœlebs, Vol. I. p. 356.

Mr. Smoothiy was the very prince of retailers. His store was the great
shopping mart--or perhaps the great shopping theatre; for the goods were
rather exhibited than sold. The ladies, too, while examining the
merchandise, had a chance of exhibiting themselves to the lounging beaux,
and thus under pretence of shopping, might possibly make a market for
themselves.--Perils of Pearl Street, p. 26.

p. 301

SHOPPER. One who frequents shops.

It is a most provoking thing to have anythug to do with professed
shoppers. They require more attention, without offering an equivalent,
than any other class of people in the World.--Ibid. p. 27.

SHORT-COMINGS. Defective performance; deficiency as to duty.--Worcester.

Here is proof that very little was known of the life of St. Clair by the
author; and the question instantly arises, has he any excuse for such
short-comings?--Review of Headley's Washington, Literary World.

We are willing to receive the rebukes, and suffer the exhortations of our
brethren in view of our short-comings.--Princeton Rev., July, 1847.

SHORTS. The bran and coarse part of meal, in mixture.

SHORTS. Small-clothes; breeches.-- Webster.

SHOT. Another proliunciation of the word scot, a reckoning.

As the fund of our pleasure, let each pay his shot;
Far hence be the sad, the lewd fop, and the sot.--B. Jonson.

I called for oysters and whisky, and waited for him to come back and pay
his share of the shot.--Sam Slick, 3d Series, ch. 9.

SHOT IN THE NECK. Drunk. A Southern phrase.

SHOTE. A young hog; a pig partially grown. This old English word is
written in different forms in several of the counties of England. Cotgrave
(1611) spells it shote, shoat, and shoot, and defines it, "a hog that is a
year or under a year old." Bailey, Martin, and Johnson, spell it shoot;
Ainsworth, shote; Lemon, shot; Moor and Forby, shot and shoat; Holloway,
shoot and sheet; Ray, sheat, shote, and shoot; and Ray remarks, that "In
Essex they call it a shote." In this country the common form is shote,
used for a young hog.--Worcester.

SHOTE. An idle, worthless man. 'A poor shote.' It is also provincial in
England in this sense.

SHRINKAGE. A shrinking or contraction into a less compass. 'Make an
allowance for the shrinkage of grain in drying.'--Webster.

A new carriage-wheel has been invented, the spokes of which, should they
become loose through wear or shrinkage, are made tight by a few turns with
a wrench.--N. Y. Tribune.

SHUCK. The outer husk or shell of the walnut, chestnut, &c.; or the husk
of Indian corn. In England, the word is

p. 302

applied to pods as well as husks; as, pea-shucks. Not worth shucks, is a
Southern expression meaning good for nothing.

If them thar is all he's got to offer, he aint worth shucks; and if you
don't lick him, you aint worth shucks, neither.--Robb, Squatter Life.

They had three or four hounds, and one great big yellow cow, what wasn't
worth schuks to trail.--Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 48.

SHUT. Quit; rid. To be shut of, or to get shut of, signifies to be or to
get rid of. We also say, to be or get shot of. The expression is common in
England.

Do you call those houzen--those things that have stoops to them?" as he
saw here and there a log cabin or unpainted hut, such as abound in the
sparsely settled regions of the South. "They pass for houses hereabouts,"
replied Mr. S----, "though the original owners have generally contrived to
get shut of them and gone coon-hunting to the Mississippi."--Letter in N.
Y. Journal of Commerce.

TO SHUT UP. To hold one's tongue. A vulgar expression.

Jones was singing, "'Tis the Star Spangled Banner;" but was soon made to
shut up, and Leviller's name was called.--Pickings from the Picayune.

Did vou ever see a marmaid? Well, then, I reckon you'd best shut up;
'cause I have--and marmen too, and marmisses.--Burton, Waggeries.

I order you again to shut up, said the watchman. There aint no two ways
about it--you must either shut up yourself, or I'll shut you up in a
winking.--N. O. Picayune, p. 119.

SHY. A fling.

Lord Brougham could not lay the first stone to University College Hospital
without having a fling at Oxford and Cambridge. If his Lordship gets a
stone in his hand, he must, it seems, have a shy at somebody.--London
Punch.

TO SHY. To throw a light substance, as a flat stone, or a shell, with a
careless jerk.

Just to make matters lively, I headed up alongside of Molly, and shyed a
few soft things at her, such as asking how she liked bar steaks cooked,
and if Jim warn't equal in the elbow to a mad panter's tail, and such
amusin' conversation.--Robb, Squatter's Life.

TO SHY. To turn aside, or start, as a horse; to sheer.--Forby.

This horse don't shy, does he? inquired Mr. Pickwick. Shy, sir? He
wouldn't shy, if he was to meet a vaggin load of monkeys with their tails
burnt off.--Pickwick Papers, Ch. V.

p. 303

They drove to his assistance, but the horses shyed off at the terrific
conduct of the bull.--Knickerbocker Mag., Vol. VI. p. 550.

TO SHY. To hang about.

I was kind of shying round and looking at the everlastin' sight of books,
when he came in.--Maj. Downing, May-day in New York, p. 1.

SICK AS A HORSE. 'I'm as sick as a horse,' is a vulgar phrase which is
used when a person is exceedingly sick. As a horse is larger than a man,
it is customary to use it by way of comparison to denote largeness or
excess either in a serious or ludicrous way, as horse-chestnut, horse-
leech, horse-laugh, &c. We also say, as sick as a dog.

SIDE-SADDLE FLOWER. (Lat. Sarracenia.) A plant, as well as its whole
genus, of very singular structure. It grows in swamps and meadows.--
Bigelow's Plants of Boston.

SIGHT. A great many.--Brockett, Glossary. A sight of people, is a great
multitude. A sight of things, a great many. The same expressions are used
in Yorkshire, England, where they also say, a 'vast of folks,' which is
hardly more elegant than our Western phrase, 'a heap of folks.' Sight is
used in most of the Northern and Eastern, and heap in the Southern and
Western States.

SIGHT. In North Carolina the distance that can be seen on a road is called
a sight.

TO SIGNALIZE. To communicate information by means of signals or telegraph.
A new and absurd use of the word.

The ship was signalized about eight o'clock this morning, and came up the
harbor in fine style.--N. Y. Com. Adv., Jan. 17, 1848.

SILVER FOX. A black fox, with white king-hairs interspersed on the back of
it.--Cartwright's Labrador. Like the crossfox, this variety is rare. They
are found in the United States and Canada. Their skins are used for
ladies' muffs, and bring a high price.

SIMON PURE. 'The real Simon Pure,' is a phrase meaning the genuine
article; the real thing; as, 'This whisky is the real Simon Pure.'

SIRS. This plural is adopted by many persons in commercial correspondence
in beginning their letters. Instead of the word gentlemen, addressed to a
firm, they write, Dear Sirs.


p. 304

SCARY, or SKEARY. Frightened.

I got a little scary, and a good deal mad; there I was perched up on a
sawyer, bobbin' up and down in the water.--Robb.

SIXES AND SEVENS. 'To be at sixes and sevens,' is to be in a state of
disorder and confusion. A ludicrous expression that has been long in use.--
Johnson.

John once turned his mother out of doors, to her great sorrow; for his
affairs went on at sixes and sevens.-- Arbuthnot.

California is less than ever attached to the central authority of
Mexico. Everything is at sixes and sevens.--N. O. Paper, Sept. 7, 1845.

In Mr. Johnson's arrangement of the mails, he throws everything into pi,
and all are at sixes and sevens under his vigilant administration.--N. Y.
Com. Adv., Jan. 10, 1848.

TO SIZZLE. To hiss from the action of fire.--Forby.

From the ends of the wood the sap fries and drips on the sizzling coals
below, and flies off in angry steam.-- Margeret, p. 159.

SKEERSOME. Frightful.

It's cruel skeersome about there.--Margaret, p. 275.

SKETCHILY. In a sketchy manner.

The short papers in Mr. W. A. Jones's Essays are generally analytical,
political, or sketchily descriptive.--Southern Quart. Rev., March, 1837.

TO SKEW. To walk obliquely.--Todd.

Child, you must walk strait, without skiewing and shailing to every step
you set.--L'Estrange.

Thus linked, sideling, skewing, filing as they could through the trees and
brush, they soon emerged in the road.--Margaret, p. 27.

The sleds skewed, brushed, and bumped along.-- Ibid.

SKID. A piece of light timber from ten to twenty feet in length, upon
which heavier timber is rolled or slid from place to place.

SKILTS. A sort of brown tow trowsers formerly worn in New England, very
large, and reaching just below the knees.

The lad's skilts, through which were thrust his lean dry shanks, gave him
a semblance to a peasant of Gascony on stilts.--Margaret, p. 22.

SKIN-FLINT. A niggardly, close-fisted person--one so parsimoniously mean,
that he would perform that operation were it possible.--Brockett's North
County Words.

TO SKINK. (Ang. Sax. scencan.) To serve drink. Dr. Johnson says this word
is wholly obsolete in England.

p. 305

Come, crush a glass with your dear papa, and all this nice company. You
have skinked long enough.--Margaret, p. 300.

SKIPPER. The cheese maggot.--Webster.

SKRIMMAGE. A corruption of skirmish, used in the Western States; probably
of Irish origin.

We felt confident that we should meet with large bands of Indians, with
whom we should have an occasional "skrimmage."--Kendall's Santa Fé
Expedition, Vol. I. p. 66.

SKUNK. (Mephitis putorius.) A small, carnivorous American quadruped,
allied to the weasel and badger, and very fetid. An aboriginal or Indian
term.--Worcester.

SKUNK CABBAGE. (Lat. Ictodes foetidus.) A strong-scented, repulsive plant,
exceedingly meritorious of the name it bears. The odor depends on a
volatile principle not separable by distillation. This plant has been
found useful in asthma and some other diseases.--Bigelow's Plants of
Boston.

SKUNKHEAD. The popular name, on the sea-coast, of the Pied Duck of
ornithologists.--Nat. Hist. of New York.

TO SKY A COPPER. To toss up a cent.

Didge said he was like skying a copper--head or tail.--Crockett, Tour.

SKY-RACKET. The vulgar pronunciation of sky-rocket.

SLANG-WHANGER. This curious word is defined by Mr. Pickering, as
signifying "a writer or noisy talker, who makes use of that sort of
political or other cant, which amuses the rabble, and is called by the
vulgar name of slang." The word frequently occurs in Paulding's
Salmagundi; but it is now seldom or never heard.

SLANG-WHANGING. Political cant.

Part of the customary slang-whanging against all other nations is habitual
to the English press.--N. Y. Com. Adv., Oct. 10, 1845.

TO SLAB OFF. I do not know the exact meaning of this expression.

You must take notice that I am slabb'd off from the election, and am
nothing but a "voter;" and this gives me a right to dictate to the rest.--
Crockett, Tour, p. 212.

SLAB. The outside of a piece of timber or log sawn off at a mill. As the
bark is on one side, it is useless as merchandise.

p. 306

The same term is employed in England, and is noticed by Ray and Grose.

SLANTENDICULAR. Aslant; oblique. Used in low language.

Pony got mad and sent the Elder right slap over his head
slantendircularly, on the broad of his back into the river.--Sam Slick in
England, ch. 28.

SLAP-JACKS. Pancakes made of the whole size of the frying-pan or spider. A
country girl formerly was not considered eligible for marriage until she
could make a shirt, and toss a slap-jack fairly right into the middle of
the pan. In Norfolk, England, they are called flap-jacks.

SLAT. A narrow piece of board or timber, used to fasten together large
pieces; as, the slats of a cart or chair.--Webster. Mr. Worcester calls it
"an American corruption of the word sloat."

TO SLAT. A word of uncertain derivation, signifying to throw down with
violence.--Toone's Glossary.

Slatted his brains out, then soused him in the briny sea.--Old Play, The
Malcontents.

With that, I handed him my axe, and he slatted about the chamber a spell.--
Maj. Downing's Letters. p. 200.

Suz alive! but warn't my dander up to hear myself called a flat? down I
slat the basket and upsot all the berries.--Lafayette Chronicle.

Aunt Nancy would retire to the kitchen, and, taking up the dipper, would
slat round the hot water from a kettte.--N. Y. Com. Adv., May 15, 1846.
SLAZY. A corrupt pronunciation of sleazy or sleezy; i. e. weak, wanting
substance; thin; flimsy. It is also pronounced so in some parts of
England.

SLED. A carriage or vehicle moved on runners; much used in America for
conveying heavy weights in winter, as timber, wood, stone, and the like.--
Webster.

SLEDDING. The means of conveying on sleds; snow sufficient for the running
of sleds.--Webster.

TO SLEEP. Sometimes used as an active verb; as, 'This steamboat can sleep
three hundred passengers,' i. e. can furnish sleeping accommodations for
them. We have heard of a landlady who said 'she could eat fifty people in
her house, but could not sleep half the number.'

p. 307

SLEIGH. A vehicle moved on runners, and greatly used in America for
transporting persons or goods on snow or ice.--Webster. In England it is
called a sledge. During the winter of 1844, after a fall of snow in
London, an English newspaper observed that "the Queen was making
preparations for sledge-driving," which in America few would understand to
mean, that Her Majesty was about taking a sleigh-ride.

SLEIGHING. The state of the snow which admits of running sleighs.--
Webster. As, 'good sleighing,' 'bad sleighing;' and in the winter when
there is no snow, we say there is 'no sleighing.'

2. The act of riding in a sleigh.--Webster.

SLEIGH-BELL. A small hollow ball, made of bell-metal, having a hole in it
that passes half round its circumference, and containing a small solid
ball, of a size not to escape. These bells are fastened to leathern
straps, which commonly pass round the necks of horses. They were formerly,
by the Dutch, attached to small plates, which were buckled to various
parts of the harness; but this caused a motion annoying to horses.--
Cooper, Satanstoe, Vol. I. p. 216.

SLEIGH-RIDE. Used both as a noun and as a verb.

In winter we sleigh-ride, coast, skate, and snow-ball.--Margaret.
TO SLEW, or SLUE. In seaman's language, to turn anything, as a barrel,
&c., about its perpendicular axis; to turn around.

SLEWED. Moderately drunk. A common expression in the United States, and
also used in Yorkshire, England.

SLICE. A common name in parts of New York and Canada for a large fire-
shovel formed of a bar of iron flattened at one end.

SLICK. The popular pronunciation of sleek, and so written by some
authors.--Webster. It is also used adverbially in vulgar language, like
many other adjectives.

"This word," says Todd, "was formerly written slick; and slick or slicken
is still our northern word." It is also provincial in Kent, while, in
other parts of England, the verb

p. 308

to slick, to comb or make sleek the hair, is provincial.--Holloway's Prov.
Dict.

Dr. Jamieson also notices it as used in Scotland, slik, smooth, slippery,
for sleek.

Her flesh tender as is a chicke,
With bent browes, smooth and slike.--Chaucer, Rom. of the Rose.

When silver bow'd Apollo bred, in the Pierian mead,
Both slicke and daintie, yet were both in war of wound'rous dread.--
Chapman, Homer.

Glass attracts but weakly; some slick stones, and thick glasses
indifferently.--Brown, Vulgar Errors.

That the bodie thereof is not all over smoothe and slicke (as we see in
birds' eggs), is shewed by good arguments.--Holland, Trans. of Pliny.

The rail-road company, out of sheer parsimony, have neglected to fence in
their line, which goes slick through the centre of your garden.--
Blackwood's Mag., July, 1847 [Letter from a Rail-way Witness].

Well! one comfort is, that there ain't many folks to see how bid you look
here in the woods! We ain't used to seein' folks look so dreadful slick,--
so it don't matter--Mrs. Clavers's Forest Life, Vol. 1. p. 114.

Singin' is a science which comes pretty tough at first; but it goes slick
afterwards.--Peter Cram of Tinnecum, Knick. Mag., 1841.
Then here's to women, then to liquor;
There's nothing swimmin' can be slicker.--Boatman's Song.

The Senate could not pass Mr. Stevenson through for England. The reason
was, he was a-going through right slick, till he came to his coat-pockets,
and they were so full of papers written by Ritchie ,that he stuck fast,
and hung by the flaps.--Crockett, Tour, p. 120.

TO SLICK UP. To dress up; to make fine.

Mrs. Flyer was slicked up for the occasion, in the snuff-colored silk she
was married in.--Mrs. Clavers, A New Home, p. 211.

The house was all slicked up as neat as a pin, and the things in room all
sot to rights.--Maj. Downing, May-day, p. 43.

The caps most in vogue then were made of dark, coarse, knotted twine, like
a cabbage-net, worn, as the wives said, to save slicking up, and to hide
dirt.--Carlton, The New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 72.

SLICK AS A WHISTLE. A proverbial simile, in common use throughout the
United States. To do anything as slick as a whistle, is to do it very
smoothly, perfectly, adroitly.

You know I told you in my last letter, I was going to bring Miss Mary up
to the chalk at Christmas. Well, I done it as slick as a whistle.--Maj.
Jones's Courtship, p. 94.

p. 309

SLICK AS GREASE. Another classical expression, conveving the same idea as
the foregoing.

TO LET SLIDE. To let go; as, 'that fish you have hooked is not fit to eat;
let him slide.'

SLIM. Weak; slight; slender; feeble; worthless.--Worcester.

The churcb of Rome indeed was allowed to be the principal church. But why?
Was it in regard to the succession to St. Peter? No, that was a slim
excuse.--Barrow on the Pope's Supremacy.

Now how vain and slim are all these [arguments of fatalists], if compared
with the solid and manly encouragement which our religion offers.--
Killingbeck, Sermons, p. 376.

From this central spot, the condition of things is more apparent, and
could Mr. Calhoun's friends see the truth, they might readily discover how
slim was his chance for election.--Newspaper.

Gen. What! not homesick, are you?

Doolittle. I guess I be; for I feel pretty slim. But how to get hum is the
devil on't, as Jack the sailor says.--D. Humphreys, The Yankee in England.

SLIMSEY. Flimsey; frail. Most frequently applied to cotton or other cloth.

The building is old and slimsy.--Margaret, p. 329.

SLING. A drink composed of equal parts of rum and water sweetened.--Rush.

SLINK. A sneaking fellow.

I despise a slink--Chron. of Pineville, p. 139.
SLINKY. Thin; lank.

SLIP. 1. The opening between wharves or in a dock.--Webster.

This word is peculiar to New York, where we have Peck Slip, Burling Slip,
Old Slip, Coenties Slip, etc.

2. In New England, a long seat or narrow pew in a church.-- Webster. When
there is a door, they are called pews; when without doors and free to all,
slips. This, I believe, is the difference between them.
SLIP. An escape; a desertion.--Johnson. 'To give one the slip,' means to
escape, or run away.

The more shame for her goody-ship,
To give so near a friend the slip.--Hudibras.

p. 310

The daw did not like his companion. and gave him the slip, and away into
the woods.--L'Estrange.

SLIPE. A distance.

Well, I've got a long slipe off from my steambeat, the Hunter; and I had
better look up the Captain.--Crockett, Tour, p. 145.

SLIPPER-DOWN. A vulgar name in some parts of Connecticut for hasty
pudding. The etymology is obvious.

SLIPPERY. Uncertain; changeable.--Johnson. That man's a slippery fellow;
i. e. no dependence can be placed in him. One who is disposed to cheat or
obtain undue advantage, is called a slippery fellow. It is used alike in
England and America.--See Grose, Prov. Dict.

Merchants who resort to drumming as a means for selling their goods are
apt to he considered as very slippery fellows.--Perils of Pearl Street.

[WebRoots note: We are unable to reproduce two letters used in the Sliver
definition]

SLIVER. A piece of any substance; as wood torn or split off. This word is,
in this country, commonly pronounced sl[i breve]ver; but the English
orthoëpists all pronounce it sl[long i]ver.--Worcester.

When frost will not suffer to dike and to hedge,
Then get thee a heat, with thy beetle and wedge;
Once Hallomas come, and a fire in the hall,
Such slivers do well for to lie by the wall.--Tusser, Husbandry.

Alas! that he all hole or of him some slivers
Should have his refute in so digne a place,
That Jove, him sone out of your herte race.--Chaucer, Troil. and Cress.
B. 3.

In New England this word is used as a verb as well as a noun.
As there was nothin' else to get hold of; I just slivered a great big bit
off the leg of the chair, and made a tooth-pick of it.--Sam Slick in
England.

TO LET SLIVER. To let slip, let fly, i. e. to fire.

Old Yelp smelled the bar; and as soon as I clapped peeper on him, I let
sliver, when the varmint dropped.--Robb, Squatter Life.

SLOMMACK. A slattern.

TO SLOPE. To run away. A new but very common vulgarism.

As the officers approached, some hid themselves in their ovens, some under
their beds; but a majority sloped without hats, shoes, or coats.--N. Y.
Com. Adv., Nov. 3, 1845.

p. 311

The instant an English mob sees two dragoons coming, they jist run like a
flock of sheep afore a couple of bull-dogs, and slope off, properly
skeered.--Sam Slick in England, ch. 27.

The editor of the Eagle cannot pay his board bill, and fears are
entertained that he will slope without liquidating the debt.--Robb,
Squatter Life.

The constables appeared with attachments; each person interested seized
his own goods, while the master and clerk sloped to parts unknown.--
Baltimore Patriot, July 10, 1846.

SLOPS. Large and loose trowsers, from which loose clothing is called
slops. The word, says Todd, was formerly used in the singular; as in
Chaucer:
His overest slop is not worth a mite.

Slop-clothing is the term now universally applied to ready made clothing
for seamen. It was so used in 1691.

The slop-seller is a person crept into the navy, I mean to monopolize thc
vending of clothing only, but since the restoration of King Charles the
Second.--Maydman, Naval Speculat. (1691).

SLOP-SHOP. A place where slop-clothing is sold.

SLUMP. A favorite dish in New England, called an apple slump, is made by
placing raised bread or dough around the sides of an iron pot, which is
then filled with apples and sweetened with molasses. Called in other parts
of the country an apple pot-pie.

TO SLUMP. To slip or fall into a wet or dirty place.--Brockett's North
County Words. Provincial in various parts of England, and also used in New
England. Mr. O. Wendell Holmes, in describing the school-boy, in a short
poem read at the late festival in Berkshire, Massachusetts, says:

By the side of yon river, he weeps and he slumps,
His boots filled with water, as if they were pumps,
Till, sated with rapture, he steals to his bed
With a glow in his heart and a cold in his head.

SLUMPY. Marshy; easily broken through.--Jamieson. Worcester.

We came back by another path that's slumpier than t'other [in consequence
of the rain.]--Sam Slick in England, ch. 23.

SLUNG (the pret. of sling), is often heard instead of swung.

We swung round the wharf; and when the captain told the people who I was,
they slung their hats and gave three cheers.-- Crockett, Tour down East,
p. 37.

p. 312

SLUNG-SHOT. An offensive weapon formed of two leaden or iron bullets
fastened together by a piece of rope five or sit inches long. One bullet
is held in the hand, while the other hangs outside by the rope which
passes between the second and third fingers. A blow from it on the head
will fell the strongest man.

SLUSH. Grease or fat from salt meat.--Worcester. The refuse grease from
cooking on board ship, which is one of the perquisites of the cook.

SLUSH, or SLOSH. This term is often used by the people of New England, in
speaking of the state of the roads, when they are covered with snow, and a
thaw takes place. It is very common to hear people say, 'the roads are
sloshy; it is very sloshy going,' &c. None of the English dictionaries
have this word; but all of them, I believe, except Bailey's, have the term
sludge and define it as Dr. Johnson does--'Mire, dirt mixed with water.'
Grose has sludge in the same sense, as a provincial term, peculiar to the
North of England. Marshall also has sludge among his provincialisms of the
Midland counties, sluss among those of Norfolk, and slush among those of
Yorkshire; and he defines them all nearly in the same words.--Pickering.

It sometimes happens that a fall of snow in the night time will cover the
deep water where the feiths are, with snow and slush.--State, Leslie of
Powis, 1803.

SLUSHY. Consisting of soft mud, or of snow and water.--Webster.

SMALL FRY. Young children; persons of little importance.

Let there be any question to be decided, which Gen. Jackson has set his
heart on, and you will see all the small fry as busy as pismires, and the
big bugs drumming up the drones, &c.--Crockett, Tour down East, p. 20.

SMALL POTATOES. An epithet applied to persons, and signifying mean,
contemptible; as, 'He is very small potatoes.' Small potatoes are not fit
for eating, and except for the feeding of hogs and cattle,, are worthless;
hence the expression as applied to men. It is sometimes put into the more
emphatic form of small potatoes and few in a hill; see Sam Slick in
England for an explanation of the latter, ch. 6.

p. 313

Give me an honest old soldier for the Presidency--whether a Whig or
Democrat--and I will leave your small potato politicians and petty-fogging
lawyers to those who are willing to submit the destiny of this great
nation to such hands.--N. Y. Herald, Dec. 13, 1846.

The very incidents of the meeting, and the names of the speakers [noticed
by the Washington Union], induce a strong suspicion that it was rather
small potatoes.--N. Y. Com. Adv., April 15, 1848.

SMART. Quick; active; intelligent. 'He is a smart business man.' The word
appears to be not now used in this sense in England, although Johnson
gives several meanirigs very nearly allied to it. The corresponding
English term is clever.

SMART CHANCE. A good opportunity; a fair chance. A vulgar expression.

He has a smart chance of getting a better character.--S. Slick in England,
ch. 9.

Says I, "Friend Wolfe," for I seed there was a smart chance of a row,
"play I wont."--S. Slick, 3d Ser. p. 117.

SMART CHANCE. A good deal; a large quantity; large company; a great
number. A singular expression used in the Southern and Western States, but
never heard in the Eastern.--Sherwood's Georgia.

I don't pretend to say, stranger, what sort of cattle you have in your
country, but I reckon there's a right smart chance of self-conceit among
you Yankees.--Letter from the South, N. Y. Journ. of Com.

There's a smart chance of cigars there in the bar, stranger, if you'll try
some of them, said one of the hooshiers.--Hoffman, Winter in the West.

We had a "smart chance" of snow on Thursday; it fell during the day to the
depth of two inches, which makes a considerable snow-storm in this part of
the world.--Wilmington, N. C. Commercial, Dec. 10.

SMART SPRINKLE. A good deal; a good many. Used in the interior of the
Western States.

In answer to some query about snakes, our landlord said there was a smart
sprinkle of rattlesnake on Red Run; and a powerful nice day to sun
themselves.--Carlton, The New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 85.

SMASHER. A low word denoting anything very large, or larger than another
of the same kind. It is used in the same sense in the North of England.--
Brocket's Glossary.

Put up your beneflt for that night; and if you don't have a smasher, with

p. 314

at least six wreaths, say I don't understand managing the theatres.--
Field, Drama at Pokerville.

SMEAR-CASE. (Dutch, Smeer-kaas.) A preparation of milk made to be spread
on bread, whence its name; otherwise called Cottage-cheese.

TO SMOKE. To find any one out; to discover anything meant to be kept
secret.--Halliwell.

The two free-booters, seeing themselves smoaked, told their third brother
he seemed to he a gentleman and a boone companion; they prayed him,
therefore, to sit down with silence, and sethence dinner was not yet
ready, he should heare all.--Dekker's Lanthorne, 1629.

The fellow takes me for a country dealer. Good! I'll smoke him. Ahem! sir,
how do you sell iron feather beds by the gross?--Perils of Pearl Street,
p. 77.

SMOOTH. A meadow, or grass field.

Get some plantain and dandelion on the smooth for greens.--Margaret.

TO SMOUTCH. To gouge; to take unfair advantage. Colloquial in New York.

TO SMOUZE. To demolish, as with a blow. Used in Ohio.

SMUDGE. A heap of damp combustibles placed on the wind ward side of the
house and partially ignited, that the inky steam may smother or drive away
mosquitoes.--Mrs. Clavers.

I have had a smudge made in a chafing dish at my bedside, after a serious
deliberation between choking and being devoured at small mouthfuls; and I
conscientiously recommend choking.--Mrs. Clavers's Forest Life.

TO SMUTCH. To blacken with smoke, soot, or coal.--Webster. 'I have
smutched my fingers.' The word is provincial in England, and is found in
the old writers. In the United States, as in Scotland, it is pronounced
smootch, and is never heard except colloquially.

Thou hast smutched thy nose.--Shakspeare, Winter Evening Tale, I. 2.

Have you mark'd but the fall of snow,
Before the soil hath smutched it.--Ben Jonson, Wanderer.