subs. (old).—1. The vulgar tongue; the lingo of thieves and their associates. TO PATTER FLASH = to talk in thieves’ lingo. [The derivation of FLASH, like that of French argot, is entirely speculative. It has, however, been generally referred to a district called FLASH (the primary signification as a place name is not clear), between Buxton Leek and Macclesfield: there lived many chapmen who, says Dr. Aiken (“Description of Country round Manchester”), ‘were known as FLASH-MEN … using a sort of slang or cant dialect.’]
1718. HITCHIN, The Regulator of Thieves, etc., with Account of FLASH words, etc. [Title].
1781. G. PARKER, A View of Society, II., 69. Jigger, being cant or FLASH for door.
1819. T. MOORE, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 25. With respect to that peculiar language called FLASH, or St. Jiles’ Greek, etc.
1830. BULWER-LYTTON, Paul Clifford, ch. viii. Here a tall gentleman marched up to him, and addressed him in a certain language, which might be called the freemasonry of FLASH.
1839. W. H. AINSWORTH, Jack Sheppard (1889), p. 12, ‘What does he say?’ roared the long drover. ‘He says he don’t understand FLASH,’ replied the lady in gentleman’s attire.
1843–4. HOOD, Miss Kilmansegg and Her Precious Leg.
| His cheques no longer drew the cash, | |
| Because, as his comrades explain’d in FLASH, | |
| ‘He had overdrawn his badger.’ |
1818. MAGINN, Vidocq’s Slang Song Versified. I pattered in FLASH, like a covey knowing.
1864. Athenæum, 29 Oct. The northern village of ill-repute, and bearing that name (FLASH) gave to felonious high-flying the term FLASH.
1884. HAWLEY SMART, From Post to Finish, p. 278. Why, when the late Lord Lytton wrote Pelham it was brought against him that ‘his knowledge of FLASH was evidently purely superficial.’ FLASH, my sister, is merely recondite slang or thieves’ argot.
ENGLISH ANALOGUES.—Back Slang or Kacab-Genals (the main principle consists in roughly pronouncing the word backwards, as erif for fire, dab for bad, etc.: the practice exists in most languages); CANT (q.v.); Centre Slang (the central vowel is made the initial letter, vowels and consonants being added at pleasure); Gammy (North country: mainly composed of Gypsy words); Gibberish (formed by inserting a consonant between each syllable of a word, the result being the F, G, H, M or S gibberish, according to the letter used: thus, “goming mout tomdaym,” or “gosings outs tosdays?” = going out to-day?); jargon; the Green Lingo (French thieves’); Marrowskying or Hospital Greek (manufactured by transferring the initial letters of words; plenty of rain thus becomes renty of plain: the ‘Gower St. dialect’ of Albert Smith, Mr. Ledbury); Pedlar’s French (old cant: FLORIO, 1598; COTGRAVE, 1612); RHYMING SLANG (q.v.) SLANG (q.v.); St. Giles’ Greek (last century for Slang as distinguished from Cant); Thieves’ Latin; the Vulgar Tongue; YOB-GAB (q.v.); NOTIONS (q.v.); ZIPH (q.v.).
FRENCH AND OTHER ANALOGUES.—Argot or arguche; la langue verte (properly gamesters’); le langage soudardant (soldiers’ lingo); le jars; le jargon jobelin; (COTGRAVE, Dictionarie, 1611. Jargon = ‘Gibridge, fustian language, Pedlar’s French, a barbarous jangling’); le langage de l’artis; langage en lem (formed by prefixing “l” and adding the syllable “em,” preceded by the first letter of the word); thus “main” becomes “lainmem.” A similar mode of dealing with words of more than one syllable is to replace the first consonant by the letter “l,” the word being followed by its first syllable preceded by “du”; thus, “jaquette” becomes “laquette du jaq,” or if “m” be used as a key-letter, “maquette du jaq,” etc.; le javanais—here the syllable “av” is interpolated; e.g., “jave l’avai vavu javeudavi” = (je l’ai vu jeudi). GERMAN.—Rothwalsch (from Roter = beggar or vagabond + walsch = foreign); Gaunersprache (= thieves’ lingo). ITALIAN.—Lingua gerga (abbreviated into gerga; (FLORIO, 1598 ‘gergo = Pedlar’s French, fustian, or roguish language, gibbrish’); lingua franca (Levantine: the source of some English slang); lingua furbesca. DUTCH.—Bargoens. SPANISH.—Germania (the Gypsies were supposed to have come from Germany); jerigonza. PORTUGUESE.—Calaõ (Zincali or Calo = Gypsy).
2. Hence, at one period, especially during the Regency days, the idiom of the man about town, of Tom and Jerrydom.
1819. T. MOORE, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. xxix. To the cultivation in our times, of the science of Pugilism, the FLASH Language is indebted for a considerable addition to its treasures.
1823. BADCOCK (‘Jon Bee’), Dictionary of the Turf, etc. They were invariably thieves and gamblers who used FLASH formerly; but other kinds of persons, now-a-day, who may be rippishly inclined, adopt similar terms and phrases, to evince their uppishness in the affairs of life. These gentlemen also consider all terms of art and of science as FLASH;… of course, those words and sayings which are appropriate to the turf, the ring, and field sports, are equally considered as FLASH by them, and the word has been applied (too generally we allow), to all this species of quid pro quo lingo.
3. (old).—See quot. and cf., with a Shakesperian gloss of FLASH = a burst of wit or merriment.
1748. T. DYCHE, A New General English Dictionary (5 ed.). FLASH (s.), also a boast, brag, or great pretence made by a spendthrift, quack, or pretender to more art or knowledge than he really has.
4. (old).—A showy swindler. (e.g., the Sir Petronel Flash of quot.); a blustering vulgarian.
1605. MARSTON, JONSON, and CHAPMAN, Eastward Hoe! iv. 1. ‘Sir Petronel Flash, I am sorry to see such FLASHES come from a gentleman of your quality.
1632. SHIRLEY, Love in a Maze, i., 2. The town is full of these vainglorious FLASHES.
5. (old).—A peruke or perriwig.
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Rum FLASH, a fine long wig. Queer FLASH, a miserable weather-beaten caxon.
6. (common).—A portion; a drink; or GO (q.v.). Cf., FLASH OF LIGHTNING, sense 1.
Adj. (common).—1. Relating to thieves, their habits, customs, devices, lingo, etc.
1782. G. PARKER, Humorous Sketches, p. 34. No more like a kiddy he’ll roll the FLASH song.
1830. BULWER-LYTTON, Paul Clifford, ‘Long Ned’s Song.’
| And rarely have the gentry FLASH | |
| In sprucer clothes been seen. |
1837. DICKENS, Oliver Twist, ch. viii. I suppose you don’t know what a beak is, my FLASH com-pan-i-on.
1852. SNOWDEN, Magistrates Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 448. I have seen Cheeks (a FLASH name for an accomplice).
1863. C. READE, Hard Cash, II., 244. He used some FLASH word, and they were shown a private room.
1864. Cornhill Magazine, ii., 336. In the following verse, taken from a pet FLASH song, you have a comic specimen of this sort of guilty chivalry.
2. (thieves’).—Knowing; expert; showy. Cf., DOWN, FLY, WIDE-AWAKE, etc. Hence (popularly), by a simple transition, vulgarly counterfeit, showily shoddy: possibly the best understood meanings of the word in latter-day English. TO PUT ONE FLASH TO ANYTHING = to put him on his guard; to inform.
1819. T. MOORE, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 19. Another philosopher, Seneca, has shown himself equally FLASH on the subject.
1835. DICKENS, Sketches by Boz, p. 17. Laying aside the knowing look, and FLASH air, with which he had repeated the previous anecdote.
1836. MARRYAT, Japhet, etc., ch. lvii. He considered me as … a FLASH pickpocket rusticating until some hue and cry was over.
1839. W. H. AINSWORTH, Jack Sheppard, p. 138 (ed. 1840). ‘Awake! to be sure I am, my FLASH cove,’ replied Sheppard.
1865. M. E. BRADDON, Henry Dunbar, ch. v. He … took out the little packet of bank-notes. ‘I suppose you can understand these,’ he said. The languid youth … looked dubiously at his customer. ‘I can understand as they might be FLASH uns,’ he remarked, significantly.
1888. ROOSEVELT, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, ch ii. The FLASH riders or horse-breakers, always called ‘broncho busters,’ can perform really marvellous feats.
3. (originally thieves’, now general).—Vulgar, or blackguardly; showy; applied to one aping his betters. Hence (in Australia), vainglorious or swaggering. The idea conveyed is always one of vulgarity or showy blackguardism.
1830. BULWER-LYTTON, Paul Clifford (ed. 1854), p. 21. A person of great notoriety among that portion of the élite which emphatically entitles itself FLASH.
1861. A. TROLLOPE, Framley Parsonage, ch. ix. If the dear friendship of this FLASH Member of Parliament did not represent that value, what else did do so?
1880. G. R. SIMS, Three Brass Balls, Pledge xi. The speaker was one of the FLASH young gentlemen who haunt suburban billiard-rooms, who carry chalk in their pockets, and call the marker ‘Jack.’
4. (common).—In a set style. Also used substantively.
1819. J. H. VAUX, Flash Dictionary, p. 173, s.v. A person who affects any peculiar habit, as swearing, dressing in a particular manner, taking snuff, &c., merely to be taken notice of, is said to do it out of FLASH.
1828. C. M. WESTMACOTT, The English Spy, vol. I., p. 189.
| The man upon that half-starved nag | |
| Is an Ex-S——ff, a strange wag, | |
| Half FLASH and half a clown. |
1851. H. MAYHEW, London Labour and the London Poor, i., p. 36. They all of them (coster lads) delight in dressing FLASH as they call it…. They try to dress like the men, with large pockets in their cord jackets, and plenty of them. Their trousers, too, must fit tight at the knee, and their boots they like as good as possible. A good ‘kingsman,’ a plush skull-cap, and a seam down the trousers are the great points of ambition with the coster boys.
[Hence, in combination, FLASH-CASE, CRIB, DRUM, HOUSE, KEN, or PANNY (see FLASH-KEN); FLASH-COVE (q.v.); FLASH-DISPENSARY (American = a boarding house), especially a swell brothel; FLASH-GENTRY (= the swell mob or higher class of thieves); FLASH-GIRL, MOLL, -MOLLISHER, -PIECE or -WOMAN (= a showy prostitute); FLASH-JIG (costers’ = a favourite dance); FLASH-KIDDY (= a dandy); FLASH-LINGO, or SONG (= ‘patter,’ or a song interlarded with cant words and phrases); FLASH-MAN (q.v.); FLASH-NOTE (= a spurious bank-note); FLASH-RIDER (American, see BRONCHO-BUSTER); FLASH TOGGERY (= smart clothes; FLASH VESSEL (= a gaudy looking, but undisciplined ship)].
1821. P. EGAN, Tom and Jerry [1890], p. 58. The rusticity of Jerry was fast wearing off … and he bid fair, etc. … to chaff with the FLASH MOLLISHERS.
1834. W. H. AINSWORTH, Rookwood, ‘Jerry Juniper’s Chaunt.’
| Soon then I mounted in swell-street high, | |
| And sported my FLASHIEST TOGGERY. |
1851–61. H. MAYHEW, London Labour and the London Poor, I., p. 14. The other dances are jigs—FLASH JIGS—hornpipes in fetters—a dance rendered popular by the success of the noted Jack Sheppard.
Verb (common).—1. To show; to expose.
[Among combinations may be mentioned, TO FLASH ONE’S IVORIES = to show one’s teeth, to grin (Grose); TO FLASH THE HASH = to vomit (Grose); TO FLASH THE DICKEY = to show the shirt front; TO FLASH THE DIBS = to show or spend one’s money; TO FLASH A FAWNEY = to wear a ring; TO FLASH ONE’S GAB = to talk, to swagger, to brag; TO FLASH THE BUBS = to expose the paps; TO FLASH THE MUZZLE (q.v.); TO FLASH ONE’S TICKER = to air one’s watch; TO FLASH THE DRAG = to wear women’s clothes for immoral purposes; TO FLASH THE WHITE GRIN = see GRIN; TO FLASH IT (q.v.), or TO FLASH ONE’S MEAT (cf., MEAT-FLASHER); TO FLASH A BIT (q.v.); TO FLASH THE FLAG = to sport an apron; TO FLASH THE WEDGE = to ‘fence’ the swag, etc.]
1819. J. H. VAUX, A Vocabulary of the Flash Language. Don’t FLASH YOUR STICKS, don’t expose your pistols.
1819. T. MOORE, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 2.
| While his Lordship, as usual, that very great dab | |
| At the flowers of rhet’ric, is FLASHING HIS GAB. |
1823. BADCOCK (‘Jon Bee’), Dictionary of the Turf, etc. He FLASHED THE BLUNT, made a show of money to dazzle the spectators.
1825. G. KENT, Modern Flash Dictionary. FLASHING HIS IVORY, shew his teeth.
1834. W. H. AINSWORTH, Rookwood (ed. 1864), p. 176.
1837. R. H. BARHAM, The Ingoldsby Legends, ‘The Dead Drummer.’
| When traveling, don’t ‘FLASH’ | |
| YOUR NOTES or YOUR CASH | |
| Before other people—it ’s foolish and rash! |
1887. W. E. HENLEY, Villon’s Good-Night.
| Likewise you molls that FLASH YOUR BUBS | |
| For swells to spot and stand you sam. |
1887. W. E. HENLEY, Villon’s Straight Tip to all Cross Coves. Go crying croaks, or FLASH THE DRAG.
TO FLASH A BIT, verbal phr. (venery).—To show up; to permit examination; ‘TO SPREAD’ (q.v.); to behave indecently. Said of women only.
TO FLASH IT, or TO FLASH ONE’S MEAT.—To expose the person. [Hence MEAT-FLASHER] (q.v.). Said usually of men.
TO FLASH THE MUZZLE (old).—To produce a pistol.
c. 1823. Ballad (quoted in BYRON, Don Juan, xi.).
| On the high toby-spice FLASH THE MUZZLE, | |
| In spite of each gallows old scout. |
TO FLASH IT ABOUT, or TO CUT A FLASH or DASH, verbal phr. (common).—To make a display; to live conspicuously and extravagantly.
1877. W. H. THOMSON, Five Years’ Penal Servitude, iii. 220. He FLASHED IT ABOUT a good deal for a long time, going from one place to another. Sometimes he was a lord, at others an earl.
