adj. (nautical).—1. Strong; good; well fortified; usually of grog. Hence DUE NORTH = neat; TOO FAR NORTH = drunk.
1864. Glasgow Herald, 9 Nov. ‘Review of Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary.’ An old salt delights to order his steward to make his grog ‘a little more NORTH,’ ‘another point, steward’; and so on he may go until the beverage is DUE NORTH as the needle.
2. (common).—Intelligent; FLY (q.v.); UP TO SNUFF (q.v.). Cf. Fr. perdre le nord = to be confused.
1700. A Step to the Bath [quoted in J. ASHTON, Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne, v. ii. p. 168]. I ask’d what Countrey-man my Landlord was? answer was made, Full NORTH; and Faith ’twas very Evident, for he had put the Yorkshire most damnably upon us.
1859. G. A. SALA, Gaslight and Daylight, iii. p. 39. Her husband—who, however far gone he may be in liquor, is a long way too FAR NORTH to ’list in reality.
