Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/519

 12 s. ix. NOV. 26, i92i.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 425 Doss. Sleep. DOT HIM ONE. Hit a man with one's fists. DOWN (TO HAVE A) ON A MAN. To have a grudge or spite against him. DROP HIM A STICK OF BLACKING. Hit a man with one's fists. D AIM-UP (A). The act of collecting from several chums various ingredients to make a savoury extra meal. Also as verb, " to drum up." ESMA. Listen. Arabic. FADE AWAY. Make oneself scarce. FAIR COP. Fairly caught. FINI. It's finished ! All gone ! GET DOWN TO rr (TO). To sleep. " Well, I'll go and get down to it." GONE DIS. (A contraction of " disconnected " a term used by the R.E. signals.) Generally employed to indicate vacuity of mind. GONE PHUT. An expression denoting an un- satisfactory condition of affairs. GOBBLING. A soft cap with pushed-in front greatly affected by young subalterns until caught by the A.P.M. GRAFT. Work (Old Army). GUTSER. A " knock out." Also used figura- tively. HARD JACK. Bully and biscuit. IGGRI. Quickly. Arabic. (Cf. " Iggri corner," near Bullecourt, so named by the Australian troops.) IMSHI. Clear off ! Arabic. Commonly heard in France even among the Amiens paper- sellers. JAPAN. Bread. (Cf. Doopang, p. 346). JUICE. Petrol (B.A.S.C.). KI-BOSH. To put a stop to. KID (TO). Deceive, defraud ; " get round " a person. KNEE DRILL. Church parade. KNOCK ALONG. Move on. KNOCKED UP A CATCHER (TO BE). To be found out. KWAYESS. Good, all right. Arabic. LOT'S WIFE. Salt. MACONOCHIE. Meat and vegetable ration in tins. From name on one maker's tins, but applied to any make. MALEESH. It doesn't matter. Arabic. MONKEY (TO). To fool about with ; touch. " Don't monkey with that magneto." MONKEY MOTIONS. Physical drill. MUNGAREE. Bread or food. A word used by the Egyptians (who evidently thought it was English) and adopted by our troops. " Give it mungaree " give me some food. NA-POO'D. Done for ; put out of action ; killed. (In use from at least 1917.) NECK (GET IT IN THE). Receive a stiff pxmish- ment. Also be killed ; " knocked out." NECK (YOU'VE GOT A) ON YOU. You've got cheek. No BON ! No good (for supposed French non bon, i.e., pas bori). NOT HALF ! Expression of agreement or dis- agreement. PACKED UP. Killed. PERISHIN'. Used as an intensive, e.g., " Perishin' thirsty weather." PIPPED. Wounded. PONGELOW. Beer (Old Army). QUIFF. A tuft of hair brushed up on the fore- head. BATTLED. Nervous, scared ; also angry. " The- S.M. got rattled when I asked for an extra blanket." RIGHTO (RIGHTHO). All right. RISE AND SHINE. Get up. RUMBLED (TO BE). To be found out ; usually in connexion with malingering or shirking duty. SAIDA 1 Good day ! Arabic. SALLY-FAIRY-ANN. Variant for ' sanfairyan." SHUT YOUR FACE. Shut up ; hold your tongue. SKIVE. To shirk a duty. SKOFF. Food. Also to eat. SKOLKA (TO). To sell. Probably the only example of a slang term deriving from the Russian. The Russian word CKO-ILKO- (ckolko) means "How much?" or "How many ? " The term was quickly adopted by troops serving in Russia, who augmented their pay by disposing of goods (privately owned or misappropriated Government stores) to the Russian civilians. " Skolker- ing " was the phrase applied to this illicit trading, which, by the way, was regarded as a serious crime. " Skolka money " was money made in this way as distinct from Army pay. SLACKS. Trousers. SLIP (OR PUT) IT ACROSS HIM. Hit a man with one's fists. SOUVENIERED. " Won " by finding or otherwise. SPARE (TO LOOK). To have nothing to do. (Old Army). SQUARE PUSHING. Carrying on a flirtation. STICK rr. Persevere (in some dangerous or uncongenial task). SWINGING THE HAMMER. Malingering (c/~ swinging the lead). TELLING THE TALE. A defaulter trying ta explain his sins of omission and commission. TIN LIZZIE. A Ford car (R.A.S.C.). Two DOTS AND A DASH. Fried eggs and bacon. VERTICAL BREEZE. Equivalent to " wind up." VIOLETS. Onions. WEST (TO GO). To be lost or stolen (cf. ante, p. 348). WET ONE'S STRIPES (TO). Stand a treat of a newly made N.C.O. ZIG-A-ZIG (ZIGZAG). Drunk (understood by French soldiers and civilians). HERO AND LEANDER: A JAPANESE VARIANT. JOHN DUNLOP, in his * History of Fiction ' (Edinburgh, 1816), vol. ii., pp. 451-453, citing the ' Nights of Straparola,' relates the following story : Between the mainland of Ragusa and an island at some distance stood a rock entirely surrounded by the sea. On this barren cliff there was no building, except a church, and a small cottage in- habited by a young hermit, who came to seek alms sometimes at Ragusa, but more frequently at the island. There he is seen and admired by a young woman, con- fessedly the most beautiful of the inhabitants.