Hang

subs. (colloquial).—1.  The general drift, tendency, or bent: as in TO GET THE HANG OF = to get conversant with; to acquire the trick, or knack, or knowledge of.

  1847.  J. M. FIELD, The Drama in Pokerville, p. 67. The theatre was cleared in an instant, as was the box-office of its receipts, all running to ‘GET THE HANG’ OF the scrape.

  1848.  W. T. THOMPSON, Major Jones’s Sketches of Travel, p. 70. By this time I begun to GIT THE HANG of the place a little better.

  1851.  J. J. HOOPER, The Widow Rugby’s Husband, etc., p. 64. To be efficient a solicitor must GET THE HANG OF his customers.

  1845.  N. S. PRIME, A History of Long Island, p. 82. If ever you must have an indifferent teacher for your children, let it be after they have got a fair start, and have ACQUIRED ‘THE HANG OF the tools’ for themselves.

  1884.  MILLIKEN, Punch, 11 Oct. They ain’t GOT THE ’ANG OF it, Charlie the toffs ain’t.

  1890.  Daily Chronicle, 4 April, p. 7, c. 2. When the Raw Cadet enters Woolwich Academy, it is sometime before he GETS what some call THE HANG OF the place.

  1892.  Illustrated Bits, Oct. 22, p. 6, c. 2. When I GET THE HANG OF them I shall be a regular dab at theosophy.

  2.  (colloquial).—A little bit; a bit; a DAMN. See CARE. Fr., s’en contreficher or s’en tamponner le coquard (or coquillard).

  1861.  H. KINGSLEY, Ravenshoe, ch. xliii. She looks as well as you by candlelight, but she can’t ride a HANG.

  Verb (generally HANG IT!).—An exclamation of vexation, disgust, or disappointment; also, more forcibly, a euphemism for DAMN IT! Fr., Ah! mince alors.

  1598.  SHAKESPEARE, 2 Henry IV., ii. 4. He a good wit? HANG HIM, baboon!

  1609.  JONSON, Epicœne, or the Silent Woman, ii., 2. A mere talking mole, HANG HIM.

  1614.  JONSON, Bartholomew Fair, v. 3. Ay, and BE HANGED.

  1694.  DUNTON, Ladies’ Dictionary, p. 229. Aristænetus telling a brisk buxom Lass of a proper fine Man that would make her a good Husband, HANG HIM [reply’d she] he has no Mony.

  1772.  E. COLES, English-Latin Dictionary, s.v. Hanged. GO AND BE HANGED.

  1780.  HANNAH COWLEY, The Belle’s Stratagem, iv., 1. Dor. HANG Harriet, and Charlotte, and Maria—the name your father gave ye!

  1833.  W. T. MONCRIEFF, Tom and Jerry, ii., 5. HANG cards! bring me a bobstick of rum slim.

  1836.  M. SCOTT, The Cruise of the Midge, p. 169. ‘You BE HANGED, Felix,’ quoth his ally, with a most quizzical grin.

  1863.  C. READE, Hard Cash, ii., 218. HANG the grub; it turns my stomach.

  1883.  R. L. STEVENSON, Treasure Island, p. 161. You can GO HANG!

  1889.  The Sporting Times, 6 July. Hebrew Scholar: Rub up your Hebrew. Or GO AND HANG yourself.

  1890.  GRANT ALLEN, The Tents of Shem, ch. xvii. HANG IT ALL, if that’s English law, you know, I don’t thing very much of the wisdom of our ancestors.

  1891.  N. GOULD, The Double Event, p. 164. HANG IT ALL.

  1892.  MILLIKEN, ’Arry Ballads, p. 7. But ’ANG IT, I can’t stand the style of the silent and the stare-me-down sort.

  1892.  T. A. GUTHRIE (‘F. Anstey’), Voces Populi, ‘On the Ice,’ p. 122. Stick by me, old fellow, till I begin to feel my —— Oh, HANG IT ALL!

  TO HANG AN ARSE, verb. phr. (old).—To hang back; to hesitate.

  1598.  MARSTON, Satyres, ‘Ad Rythmum.’ But if you HANG AN ARSE like Tubered, When Chremes dragged him from his brothel bed.

  1637.  MASSINGER, The Guardian, v., 5. Nay, no HANGING AN ARSE.

  1639–61.  Rump Songs, ii., 86.

  1748.  SMOLLETT, Roderick Random, ch. lxv. My lads, I’m told you HANG AN ARSE.

  1780.  R. TOMLINSON, A Slang Pastoral, st. ii. My ARSE HANGS behind me as heavy as lead.

  1785.  GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

  TO HANG IN, verb. phr. (common).—To get to work; to do one’s best; to WIRE IN (q.v.).

  TO HANG IN THE BELLROPES, verb. phr. (common).—To defer marriage after being ‘asked’ in church.

  TO HANG ON BY ONE’S EYELASHES, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To persist at any cost, and in the teeth of any discouragement.

  TO HANG ON BY THE SPLASHBOARD, verb. phr. (common).—To ‘catch’ a tram, omnibus, etc., when it is on the move; hence to succeed by the ‘skin of one’s teeth.’ Fr., arcpincer l’omnibus.

  TO HANG AROUND (or ABOUT), verb. phr. (American).—To loiter; to loaf; to haunt.

  TO HANG OUT, verb (common).—To live; to reside. Also (subs.), a residence; a lodging; and (American university) a feast; an entertainment.

  1811.  GROSE and CLARKE, Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. HANG OUT. The traps scavey where we HANG OUT; the officers know where we live.

  1836.  DICKENS, Pickwick Papers, ch. xxx. ‘I say, old boy, where do you HANG OUT?’ Mr. Pickwick replied that he was at present suspended at the George and Vulture.

  1852.  BRISTED, Five Years in an English University, p. 80. The fourth of July I celebrated by a HANG-OUT.

  1871.  City Press, 31 Jan. ‘Curiosities of Street Literature.’ He HANGS OUT in Monmouth-court.

  1892.  MILLIKEN, ’Arry Ballads, p. 14. I should like to go in for blue blood, and ’ANG OUT near the clubs and the parks.

  TO HANG OUT A SHINGLE, verb. phr. (American).—To start or carry on business.

  1871.  Public Opinion, Dec. Tom Stowell HUNG OUT HIS SHINGLE as a lawyer at the Tombs, afterwards at Essex-market, and eventually in Brooklyn.

  TO HANG ONE’S LATCHPAN, verb. phr. (common).—To be dejected; to pout. Fr., faire son aquilin.

  TO HANG IT OUT, verb. phr. (common).—To skulk; TO MIKE (q.v.).

  TO HANG UP, verb. phr. (common).—1.  To give credit; to score (or chalk) up: said of a reckoning. Also ‘to put on the slate’ or (American) ON THE ICE (q.v.).

  1725.  A New Canting Dictionary, s.v. HANG-IT-UP, speaking of the Reckoning at a Bowsing-Ken, when the Rogues are obliged, for want of Money, to run on Tick.

  1785.  GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.

  2.  (American).—To bear in mind; to remember.

  1859.  G. W. MATSELL, Vocabulum; or, The Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v. HANG IT UP. Think of it; remember it.

  3.  (American).—To pawn. For synonyms, see POP.

  4.  (thieves’).—To rob with violence on the street; TO HOLD UP (q.v.). Fr., la faire an père François.

  5.  (common).—To be in extremis; to know not which way to turn for relief: e.g., A MAN HANGING = one to whom any change must be for the better.

  6.  (colloquial).—To postpone; to leave undecided.

  1887.  Cornhill Magazine, June, p. 624. TO HANG UP A BILL is to pass it through one or more of its stages, and then to lay it aside, and defer its further consideration for a more or less indefinite period.

  TO HANG ON, verb. phr. (colloquial).—(1) To sponge; and (2) to pursue an individual or a design.

  1601.  SHAKESPEARE, Henry VIII., iii. 2.

  TO HANG OFF, verb. phr. (printers’).—To fight shy of.

  TO HANG UP ONE’S FIDDLE, verb. phr. (American).—To retire; to desist. TO HANG UP ONE’S FIDDLE ANYWHERE = To adapt oneself to circumstances.

  TO HANG UP ONE’S HAT, verb. phr. (common).—1.  To die. For synonyms, see ALOFT.

  1854.  Notes and Queries, Vol. X., p. 203. He has HUNG UP HIS HAT. This sentence, which is sometimes used in reference to persons deceased, etc.

  1882.  Punch, lxxxii., 185, c. 1.

  2.  (common).—To make oneself permanently at home.