A Dictionary of Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words / Used at the Present Day in the Streets of London; the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; the Houses of Parliament; the Dens of St. Giles; and the Palaces of St. James.

by John Camden Hotten

SPITFIRE, a passionate person.

SPLENDIFEROUS, sumptuous, first-rate.

SPLICE, to marry; “and the two shall become one flesh.”—Sea.

SPLICE THE MAIN BRACE, to take a drink.—Sea.

SPLIT, to inform against one’s companions, to tell tales. “To SPLIT with a person,” to cease acquaintanceship, to quarrel.

SPLODGER, a lout, an awkward countryman.

SPOFFY, a bustling busy-body is said to be SPOFFY.

SPONGE, “to throw up the SPONGE,” to submit, give over the struggle,—from the practice of throwing up the SPONGE used to cleanse the combatants’ faces, at a prize fight, as a signal that the “mill” is concluded.

SPOON, synonymous with SPOONEY. A SPOON has been defined to be “a thing that touches a lady’s lips without kissing them.”

SPOONEY, a weak-minded and foolish person, effeminate or fond; “to be SPOONEY on a girl,” to be foolishly attached to one.