subs. (printers’).—1. A compositor; pressmen are in turn called PIGS (q.v.).
ENGLISH SYNONYMS.—Ass; moke; galley-slave.
FRENCH SYNONYMS.—Un mulet (printers’); un compositeur mie de pain (an unskilled or clumsy workman; mie de pain, also = a louse); un marron (a compositor working on his own account with another printer’s plant); un homme de lettres (= a man of letters); un singe (= a monkey); un amphibie (a compositor who is DONKEY and PIG [q.v.] together).
1857. In Notes and Queries, 2 S., iv., 192. Compositors are jocosely called mokes or DONKEYS.
2. (nautical).—A sailor’s chest.
3. (colloquial).—A blockhead. For synonyms, see CABBAGE-HEAD and BUFFLE.
A PENNY, TWOPENCE or THREEPENCE MORE AND UP GOES THE DONKEY, phr. (common).—An exclamation of derision. [Street acrobats’: the custom was to finish off the pitch by balancing a donkey at the top of a ladder on receipt of ‘tuppence more’; which sum, however often subscribed, was always re-demanded, so that the donkey never ‘went up’ at all.]
1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 41, col. 2. Mr. Joseph Muggins begs to inform his old crony, Punch, that the report of Sir John Pullon, ‘as to the possibility of elevating an ass to the head of the poll by bribery and corruption’ is perfectly correct, provided there is no abatement in the price. Let him canvass again, and Mr. J. M. pledges himself, whatever his weight, if he will only stand ONE PENNY MORE, UP GOES THE DONKEY!
1850. F. E. SMEDLEY, Frank Fairlegh, ch. xv. He … has left the key in the lock; so I shall take the liberty of exploring a little; I’ve a strong though undeveloped taste for architectural antiquities. TWOPENCE MORE, AND UP GOES THE DONKEY! Come along! So saying, he flung open the door.
WHO STOLE THE DONKEY? phr. (common).—A street cry once in vogue on the appearance of a man in a white hat. With a similar expression ‘Who stole the leg of mutton?’ applied to the police, it had its rise in a case of larceny. J. H. Dixon, writing to Hotten, Nov. 6th, 1864, remembered both. The first occurred at Hatton Garden Police Court, where a man, wearing a white hat, was charged with stealing a costermonger’s donkey.
1889. The Sporting Times, 3 Aug., p. 3, col. 5. WHO STOLE THE DONKEY? The man with the white hat! This was a very popular street colloquy some years ago.
TO RIDE THE DONKEY, verb. phr. (common).—To cheat with weights and measures. Also DONKEY-RIDING = cheating as aforesaid. Cf., AMBUSH.
1859. G. W. MATSELL, Vocabulum; or, The Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v. DONKEY-RIDING. Cheating in weight or measure; miscounting.
TO TALK THE HIND LEG OFF A DONKEY.—See TALK.
