“Some say drinking does DISGUISE men.”—Old Song.
“The saylers and the shipmen all,
Through foul excesse of wine,
Were so DISGUISED that at the sea
They shew’d themselves like swine.”
Dish, to stop, to do away with, to suppress; DISHED, done for, floored, beaten, or silenced. To “do brown” and to “DISH,” both verbs with very similar meanings, have an evident connexion so far as origin is concerned, and most likely were both first used in the kitchen as synonymous with “done for.” The late Lord Derby made the word “DISH” famous by his latest public act, that of “DISHING the Whigs.”
Dithers, nervous or cold shiverings; “it gave me the DITHERS.”
Dittoes, A SUIT OF, coat, waistcoat, and trousers of the same material.—Tailor’s term.
Ditty-bag, the bag or huswife in which sailors keep needles, thread, buttons, &c., for mending their clothes.
Diver, a pickpocket. Also applied to fingers, no doubt from a similar reason. To DIVE is to pick pockets.
Do, this useful and industrious verb has for many years done service as a slang term. To DO a person is to cheat him. Sometimes another tense is employed, such as “I DONE him,” meaning, I cheated or “paid him out;” this is only used in the lowest grades of society. Done brown, cheated thoroughly, befooled; DONE OVER, upset, cheated, knocked down, ruined. Among thieves DONE OVER means that a man’s pockets have been all quietly searched; the term also means among low people seduced; DONE UP, used up, finished, or quieted. Done also means convicted, or sentenced; so does DONE-FOR. To DO a person in pugilism is to beat him. Humphreys, who fought Mendoza, a Jew, wrote this laconic note to his supporter—“I have DONE the Jew, and am in good health.—Rich. Humphreys.” Tourists use the expression, “I have DONE France and Italy,” meaning I have been through those countries.
Dobie, an Indian washerman; and though women wash clothes in this country, Anglo-Indians speak of a washerwoman as a DOBIE.
Doctor, to adulterate or drug liquor; to poison, to hocus; also to falsify accounts. A publican who sells bad liquors is said to keep the DOCTOR in his cellars. On board ship the cook is always termed “the DOCTOR.”—See [COOK].