Page:Farmer - Slang and its analogues past and present - Volume 6.pdf/14

 2. (colloquial).—(1) A person keeping stated times or doing regular duty; (2) anything recurring periodically: as a daily passenger, a drink taken at fixed hours, &c.

1397. Thirnyng, in Rolls of Parliament [Oliphant, New Eng., i. 181. He uses rewelers for regulars, speaking of the clergy].

1858. Pratt, Ten Nights in a Bar-*room, ii. 1. I've been in the habit of taking my regulars ever since I was weaned.

1888. Gould, Double Event, 23. He had his breakfast before the regulars came down.

Adj. (colloquial).—Thorough; out-and-out: as a regular tartar = a shrew (male or female); a regular sell = a consummate swindle; a regular corpser = a knock-out blow; a regular pelter = a cat-and-dog rain; a regular crow = a person dismally garbed.

1850. Smedley, Frank Fairlegh, 403. Our fine letter's been no go,—turned out a regular sell, you see, eh?

1888. Cornhill Mag., March, 228. If Joanna was ever so blessed as to hear her sing 'Hoop la!' it would be a regular eye-opener to her.

Regulator, subs. (venery).—1. The female pudendum: see Monosyllable.

2. (Western American).—In pl. = a band of lynchers; a vigilance committee (q.v.). See Rustler.

1892. Scotsman, 7 May, 'Rustlers and Regulators.' By this band the regulators were besieged for about three days at the "Ta" ranche, where they had strongly entrenched themselves.

Rehoboam, subs. (old).—1. See quot.

1849. Bronte, Shirley, i. The whole surmounted by a Rehoboam, or shovel-hat, which he did not seem to think it necessary to lift.

2. (common).—A quadruple Magnum (q.v.); a double Jeroboam (q.v.): usually of champagne.

Reign, verb. (Australian thieves').—To be at liberty.

Relation. See Avuncular Relation.

Relieve, verb. (common).—To ease, (1) the bowels, (2) the testes, and (3) sexual desire.

1868. Hall [Lyndesay, Works (E. E. T. S.), 347, Magin]. He sees her come quietly into his bedroom, scans her unconcealed charms with great relish, and grows amorous, and will die, unless she relieves him.

Reliever, subs. (old).—See quot.

1850. Kingsley, Cheap Clothes ana Nasty. In some sweating places there is an old coat kept called the reliever, and this is borrowed by such men as have none of their own to go out in.

Relieving-officer, subs. phr.—See quot.

1883. Grenville-Murray, People I Have Met, 227. Now the Relieving Officer, or, for brevity's sake, the "R. O.," was a term of endearment which the Honourable Felix, in common with other young noblemen and gentlemen at Eton, applied to his father.

Religion. To get religion, verb. phr. (American).—To be 'converted.'

Religious, adj. (Western American).—1. Free from vice: specifically of horses; and (2) of a horse given to going on his knees: see Devotional habits.

Relish, subs. (old).—'Carnal connection with a woman' (Grose): see Greens and Ride.