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Old English Slang

 

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Ca-sa . a writ of _capias ad satisfaciendam_.—_Legal slang._
Cab . in statutory language, “a hackney carriage drawn by one horse.” Abbreviated from the _French_ CABRIOLET; originally meaning “a light low chaise.” The wags of Paris playing upon the word (quasi _cabri_ au lait) used to call a superior turn-out of the kind a _cabri au crême_. Our abbreviation, which certainly smacks of slang, has been stamped with the authority of the Legislature, and has been honoured by universal custom.
Cab . to stick together, to muck, or tumble up.—_Devonshire._
Cabbage . pieces of cloth said to be purloined by tailors. Any small profits in the way of material.
Cabbage . to pilfer or purloin. Termed by _Johnson_ a “cant word,” but adopted by later lexicographers as a respectable term. Said to have been first used in the above sense by _Arbuthnot_.
Cabbage-Head . a soft-headed person.
Cabby . popular name for the driver of a cab. This title has almost supplanted the more ancient one of jarvey.
Caboose . the galley or cook-house of a ship; a term used by tramps to indicate a kitchen.
Cackle-Tub . a pulpit.
Cackling-Cove . an actor. Also called a MUMMERY-COVE.—_Theatrical._
Cad . or CADGER (from which it is shortened), a mean or vulgar fellow; a beggar; one who would rather live on other people than work for himself; a man who tries to worm something out of another, either money or information. _Johnson_ uses the word, and gives _huckster_ as the meaning, in which sense it was originally used. Apparently from CAGER, or GAGER, the _old Cant_ term for a man. The exclusives at the English Universities apply the term CAD to all non-members. It has also been suggested that the word may be a contraction of the _French_ CADET.
Cad . an omnibus conductor. Of late years the term has been generically applied to the objectionable class immortalized by Thackeray under the title of snob. A great deal of caddism is, however, perpetrated by those who profess to have the greatest horror of it—the upper classes—a fact which goes far to prove that it is impossible to fairly ascribe a distinctive feature to any grade of society.
Cadge . to beg in an artful, wheedling manner.—_North._ In Scotland to CADGE is to wander, to go astray. _See_ under CODGER.
Cadging . begging, generally with an eye to pilfering when an opportunity occurs. To be “on the cadge” is almost synonymous with “on the make.”
Cag . to irritate, affront, anger. Schoolboy slang.
 
Old English 'word lottery' pick

Aleatory : a. Depending on some uncertain contingency; as, an aleatory contract.

 
Based on the Slang Dictionary by John Camden Hotten, published by CHATTO & WINDUS, 1913
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