Act of Parliament
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007A military term for small beer, five pints of which, by an act of parliament, a landlord was formerly obliged to give to each soldier gratis.
–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
Archive for October, 2007
wigsby
Monday, October 29th, 2007Wigsby; a man wearing a wig.
–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
But of course!
walking poulterer
Friday, October 26th, 2007One who steals fowls, and hawks them from door to door.
–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
There’s just something about the phrase…one who steals fowls… 
nailed
Thursday, October 25th, 2007Secured, fixed. He offered me a decus, and I nailed him; he offered me a crown, and I struck or fixed him.
–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
jilted
Wednesday, October 24th, 2007Rejected by a woman who has encouraged one’s advances.
–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
jilt
Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007A tricking woman, who encourages the addresses of a man whom she means to deceive and abandon.
–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
Covent Garden nun
Monday, October 22nd, 2007A prostitute.
–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
bluffer
Friday, October 19th, 2007An inn-keeper. Cant.
–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
Mr. Wicket from The Earl of Her Dreams was a bluffer. 
ferret
Thursday, October 18th, 2007A tradesman who sells goods to young unthrift heirs, at excessive rates, and then continually duns them for the debt. To ferret; to search out or expel any one from his hiding-place, as a ferret drives out rabbits; also to cheat. Ferret-eyed; red-eyed: ferrets have red eyes.
–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
