Page:A Glossary of Berkshire Words and Phrases.djvu/143

126 PE-US O' WORK.—Fuss.

"A maayde a ter'ble pe-us o' work when I tawld 'un as a cood'nt hev the donkey to-daay."

PHAYBE, pronounced FABY.— Phoebe.

PICK-A-BACK.—To go on another's back with arms round his neck and legs supported by his arms.

PICK-ED.—Sharply pointed. "A run a pick-ed staayke into his voot."

PICKLE.—A mischievous child. To have a "stick in pickle" is to keep one ready to beat such a child.

PIDDLE.—A small enclosed field, as the "Church piddle" at Hampstead Norreys.

PIES.—Fruit tarts of all kinds when cooked in dishes are so called, the word "tart" being confined to the small open tarts.

PIGEON'S-MILK.—It is a joke to send a child to a shop for a pennyworth of "pigeon's milk." There are others of the same kind, such as sending it to its mother to tell her "to tie ugly up;" or to say that it will "die after" having slightly scratched its finger.

PIGEONY.—Small pimples, showing specially at back of the neck in elderly people; sometimes also called "goosey."

PIGGIN' UT, or PEGGIN' UT.—Living in a very dirty way with poor surroundings.

PIG-KE-UPIN', or PEG-KE-UPIN',—Pigkeeping; driving pigs to corn stubble and having whips to prevent them from straying; this work is much appreciated by boys.

PIG PUZZLE, or PEG PUZZLE.—A gate fixed to swing both ways to meet a post, so that an animal pushing it from either side cannot get through.

PIG-RING.—A game at marbles where a ring is made about four feet in diameter, and boys "shoot" in turn from any point in the circumference keeping such marbles as they may knock out of the ring, but losing their own "taw" if it should stop within.

PINCH.—To be good "at a pinch" is to be ready of resource, or equal to any emergency.

PINCH AND SCREW,—To try to avoid expenditure by extreme carefulness and even meanness.