1811 Dictionary in the Vulgar Tongue: Section Q

1811 Dictionary in the Vulgar Tongue, by Francis Grose is part of HackerNoon’s Book Blog Post series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here: [LINK TO TABLE OF LINK]. Section Q

QUACK. An ungraduated ignorant pretender to skill in physic, a vender of nostrums.

QUACK-SALVER. A mountebank: a seller of salves.

QUACKING CHEAT. A duck.

QUAG. Abbreviation of quagmire; marshy moorish around.

QUAIL-PIPE. A woman's tongue; also a device to take birds of that name by imitating their call. Quail pipe boots; boots resembling a quail pipe, from the number of plaits; they were much worn in the reign of Charles II.

QUAKERS. A religious sect so called from their agitations in preaching.

QUAKING CHEAT. A calf or sheep.

QUANDARY. To be in a quandary: to be puzzled. Also one so over-gorged, as to be doubtful which he should do first, sh—e or spew. Some derive the term quandary from the French phrase qu'en dirai je? what shall I say of it? others from an Italian word signifying a conjuror's circle.

QUARREL-PICKER. A glazier: from the small squares in casements, called CARREUX, vulgarly quarrels.

QUARROMES, or QUARRON. A body. CANT.

QUARTERED. Divided into four parts; to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, is the sentence on traitors and rebels. Persons receiving part of the salary of an office from the holder of it, by virtue of an agreement with the donor, are said to be quartered on him. Soldiers billetted on a publican are likewise said to be quartered on him.

TO QUASH. To suppress, annul or overthrow; vulgarly pronounced squash: they squashed the indictment.

QUEAN. A slut, or worthless woman, a strumpet.

QUEEN DICK. To the tune of the life and death of Queen
  Dick. That happened in the reign of Queen Dick; i.e.,
  never.

QUEEN STREET. A mart governed by his wife, is said to
  live in Queen street, or at the sign of the Queen's Head.

QUEER, or QUIRE. Base, roguish, bad, naught or worthless.
  How queerly the cull touts; how roguishly the fellow
 looks. It also means odd, uncommon. CANT.

QUEER AS DICK'S HATBAND. Out of order, without knowing
  one's disease.

TO QUEER. To puzzle or confound. I have queered the
  old full bottom; i.e. I have puzzled the judge. To queer
  one's ogles among bruisers; to darken one's day lights.

QUEER WEDGES. Large buckles.

QUEER BAIL. Insolvent sharpers, who make a profession of bailing persons arrested: they are generally styled Jew bail, from that branch of business being chiefly carried on by the sons of Judah. The lowest sort of these, who borrow or hire clothes to appear in, are called Mounters, from their mounting particular dresses suitable to the occasion. CANT.

QUEER BIRDS. Rogues relieved from prison, and returned to their old trade.

QUEER BIT-MAKERS. Coiners. CANT.

QUEER BITCH. An odd, out-of-the-way fellow.

QUEER BLUFFER. The master of a public-house the resort of rogues and sharpers, a cut-throat inn or alehouse keeper.

QUEER BUNG. An empty purse.

QUEER CHECKERS. Among strolling players, door-keepers who defraud the company, by falsely checking the number of people in the house.

QUEER COLE FENCER. A putter off, or utterer, of bad money.

QUEER COLE MAKER. A maker of bad money.

QUEER COVE. A rogue. CANT.

QUEER CUFFIN. A justice of the peace; also a churl.

QUEER DEGEN. An ordinary sword, brass or iron hilted.

QUEER KEN. A prison. CANT.

QUEER KICKS. A bad pair of breeches.

QUEER MORT. A diseased strumpet. CANT.

QUEER NAB. A felt hat, or other bad hat.

QUEER PLUNGERS. Cheats who throw themselves into the water, in order that they may be taken up by their accomplices, who carry them to one of the houses appointed by the Humane Society for the recovery of drowned persons, where they are rewarded by the society with a guinea each; and the supposed drowned persons, pretending he was driven to that extremity by great necessity, also frequently sent away with a contribution in his pocket.

QUEER PRANCER. A bad, worn-out, foundered horse; also a cowardly or faint-hearted horse-stealer.

QUEER ROOSTER. An informer that pretends to be sleeping,
  and thereby overhears the conversation of thieves in
  night cellars.

QUEER STREET. Wrong. Improper. Contrary to one's
  wish. It is queer street, a cant phrase, to signify
  that it is wrong or different to our wish.

QUITAM. A quitam horse; one that will both carry and
  draw. LAW WIT.

TO QUIBBLE. To make subtle distinctions; also to play
  upon words.

QUICK AND NIMBLE. More like a bear than a squirrel.
  Jeeringly said to any one moving sluggishly on a business
  or errand that requires dispatch.

QUID. The quantity of tobacco put into the mouth at one
  time. To quid tobacco; to chew tobacco. Quid est
  hoc? hoc est quid; a guinea. Half a quid; half a guinea.
  The swell tipped me fifty quid for the prad; the gentleman
  gave fifty pounds for the horse.

QUIDS. Cash, money. Can you tip me any quids? can
  you lend me some money?

QUIFFING. Rogering. See TO ROGER.

QUIDNUNC. A politician: from a character of that name in the farce of the Upholsterer.

QUILL DRIVER. A clerk, scribe, or hackney writer.

QUIM. The private parts of a woman: perhaps from the
  Spanish quemar, to burn. (CAMBRIDGE) A piece's furbelow.

QUINSEY. Choked by a hempen quinsey; hanged.

QUIPPS. Girds, taunts, jests.

QUIRE, or CHOIR BIRD. A complete rogue, one that has
  sung in different choirs or cages, i.e. gaols. CANT.

QUIRKS AND QUILLETS. Tricks and devices. Quirks in
  law; subtle distinctions and evasions.

QUIZ. A strange-looking fellow, an odd dog. OXFORD.

QUOD. Newgate, or any other prison. The dab's in quod; the poor rogue is in prison.

QUOTA. Snack, share, part, proportion, or dividend. Tip
  me my quota; give me part of the winnings, booty, or
  plunder. CANT.

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Grose, Francis. 2004. 1881 Dictionary in the Vulgar Tongue. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved April 2022 from https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5402/pg5402.html

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