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Yack . a watch; to “church a YACK,” to take it out of its case to avoid detection, otherwise to “christen a YACK.”
Yaffle . to eat.—_Old English._
Yahoo . a person of coarse or degraded habits. Derived from the use of the word by Swift.
Yam . to eat. This word is used by the lowest class all over the world; by the Wapping sailor, West Indian negro, or Chinese coolie. When the fort, called the Dutch Folly, near Canton, was in course of erection by the Hollanders, under the pretence of being intended for an hospital, the Chinese observed a box containing muskets among the alleged hospital stores. “Hy-aw!” exclaimed John Chinaman, “How can sick man YAM gun?” The Dutch were surprised and massacred the same night.
Yappy . soft, foolish; mostly applied to an over-generous person, from the fact that it originally meant one who paid for everything. YAP is back slang for pay, and often when a man is asked to pay more than he considers correct, he says, “Do you think I’m YAPPY?” do you think I’m paying mad? Thus slang begets slang.
Yard of clay . a long, old-fashioned tobacco pipe; also called a churchwarden.
Yarmouth capon . a bloater, or red herring.
Yarmouth mittens . bruised hands.—_Sea._
Yarn . a long story, or tale; “a tough YARN,” a tale hard to be believed; “spin a YARN,” to tell a tale.—_Sea._
Yay-nay . “a poor YAY-NAY” fellow, one who has no conversational power, and can only answer YEA or NAY to a question.
Yellow-belly . a native of the fens of Lincolnshire, or the Isle of Ely—in allusion to the frogs and yellow-bellied eels caught there.
Yellow-boy . a sovereign, or any gold coin.
Yellow-gloak . a jealous man.
Yellow-Jack . the yellow fever prevalent in the West Indies.
Yellow-man . a yellow silk handkerchief.
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