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DUCE. Two-pence.
DUCK. A lame duck; an Exchange-alley phrase for a
stock-jobber, who either cannot or will not pay his losses,
or, differences, in which case he is said to WADDLE OUT OF
THE ALLEY, as he cannot appear there again till his debts
are settled and paid; should he attempt it, he would be
hustled out by the fraternity.
DUCKS AND DRAKES. To make ducks and drakes: a
school-boy's amusement, practised with pieces of tile,
oyster-shells, or flattish stones, which being skimmed
along the surface of a pond, or still river, rebound many
times. To make ducks and drakes of one's money; to
throw it idly away.
DUCK F-CK-R. The man who has the care of the poultry
on board a ship of war.
DUCK LEGS. Short legs.
DUDDERS, or WHISPERING DUDDERS. Cheats who travel
the country, pretending to sell smuggled goods: they
accost their intended dupes in a whisper. The goods
they have for sale are old shop-keepers, or damaged;
purchased by them of large manufactories. See DUFFER.
DUDDERING RAKE. A thundering rake, a buck of the
first head, one extremely lewd.
DUDGEON. Anger.
DUDS. Clothes.
DUFFERS. Cheats who ply in different parts of the town,
particularly about Water-lane, opposite St. Clement's
church, in the Strand, and pretend to deal in smuggled
goods, stopping all country people, or such as they think
they can impose on; which they frequently do, by selling
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them Spital-fields goods at double their current price.
DUGS. A woman's breasts,
DUKE, or RUM DUKE. A queer unaccountable fellow.
DUKE OF LIMBS. A tall, awkward, ill-made fellow.
DUKE HUMPHREY. To dine with Duke Humphrey; to
fast. In old St. Paul's church was an aisle called Duke
Humphrey's walk (from a tomb vulgarly called his, but
in reality belonging to John of Gaunt), and persons who
walked there, while others were at dinner, were said to
dine with Duke Humphrey.
DULL SWIFT. A stupid, sluggish fellow, one long going on
an errand.
DUMB ARM. A lame arm.
DUMB-FOUNDED. Silenced, also soundly beaten.
DUMB GLUTTON. A woman's privities.
DUMB WATCH. A venereal bubo in the groin.
DUMMEE. A pocket book. A dummee hunter. A pick-pocket,
who lurks about to steal pocket books out of
gentlemen's pockets. Frisk the dummee of the screens; take
all the bank notes out of the pocket book, ding the dummee,
and bolt, they sing out beef. Throw away the pocket
book, and run off, as they call out "stop thief."
DUMPLIN. A short thick man or woman. Norfolk dumplin;
a jeering appellation of a Norfolk man, dumplins being
a favourite kind of food in that county.
DUMPS. Down in the dumps; low-spirited, melancholy:
jocularly said to be derived from Dumpos, a king of Egypt,
who died of melancholy. Dumps are also small pieces of
lead, cast by schoolboys in the shape of money.
DUN. An importunate creditor. Dunny, in the provincial
dialect of several counties, signifies DEAF; to dun, then,
perhaps may mean to deafen with importunate demands:
some derive it from the word DONNEZ, which signifies GIVE.
But the true original meaning of the word, owes its birth
to one Joe Dun, a famous bailiff of the town of Lincoln, so
extremely active, and so dexterous in his business, that it
became a proverb, when a man refused to pay, Why do not
you DUN him? that is, Why do not you set Dun to attest
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him? Hence it became a cant word, and is now as old as
since the days of Henry VII. Dun was also the general
name for the hangman, before that of Jack Ketch.
And presently a halter got,
Made of the best strong hempen teer,
And ere a cat could lick her ear,
Had tied it up with as much art,
As DUN himself could do for's heart.
Cotton's Virgil Trav. book iv.
DUNAKER. A stealer of cows and calves.
DUNEGAN. A privy. A water closet.
DUNGHILL. A coward: a cockpit phrase, all but gamecocks
being styled dunghills. To die dunghill; to repent, or shew
any signs of contrition at the gallows. Moving dunghill;
a dirty, filthy man or woman. Dung, an abbreviation of
dunghill, also means a journeyman taylor who submits to
the law for regulating journeymen taylors' wages, therefore
deemed by the flints a coward. See FLINTS.
DUNNOCK. A cow. CUNT.
TO DUP. To open a door: a contraction of DO OPE or OPEN.
See DUB.
DURHAM MAN. Knocker kneed, he grinds mustard with
his knees: Durham is famous for its mustard.
DUST. Money. Down with your dust; deposit the money.
To raise or kick up a dust; to make a disturbance or riot:
see BREEZE. Dust it away; drink about.
DUSTMAN. A dead man: your father is a dustman.
DUTCH COMFORT. Thank God it is no worse.
DUTCH CONCERT. Where every one plays or signs a
different tune.
DUTCH FEAST. Where the entertainer gets drunk before
his guest.
DUTCH RECKONING, or ALLE-MAL. A verbal or lump
account, without particulars, as brought at spungiug or
bawdy houses.
DUTCHESS. A woman enjoyed with her pattens on, or by a
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man-in boots, is said to be made a dutchess.
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