subs. (old gaming).—1. The Knave of Clubs. [SKEAT: A contraction of Pamphillion (Fr.) = the Knave of Clubs: see LITTRÉ].—B. E. (c. 1696); GROSE (1785); Lexicon Balatronicum (1811).
1706. R. ESTCOURT, The Fair Example, i. Scandal is the very PAM in conversation.
1712. POPE, The Rape of the Lock, III. 61. Ev’n mighty PAM, that kings and queens o’erthrew.
1713. The Guardian, No. 120, 29 July. Play … engrosses the whole woman. She quickly grows … more fond of PAM, than of her husband.
1745. WALPOLE, Letters (1833), II. 74. One gets PAM, the other gets PAM, but … no conclusion of the game, till one side has never a card left.
1777. COLMAN, The School for Scandal, Epilogue. That spirit-stirring drum!—odd trick—PAM—basto—king and queen!
1810. CRABBE, The Borough, 9, Amusements.
| Faint in the morn, no powers could she exert; | |
| At night with PAM delighted and alert. |
2. (literary).—Lord Palmerston.
1854. F. E. SMEDLEY, Harry Coverdale’s Courtship, xxxvii. I just scribbled off a line to Palmerston…. It’s very jolly to be on those terms with a man like PAM.
