Flap, lead used for the coverings of roofs.
Flapper, or FLIPPER, the hand.
Flare up, a jovial social gathering, a “breakdown,” a “row.”
Flash, showy, smart, knowing; a word with various meanings. A person is said to be dressed FLASH when his garb is showy, and after a fashion, but without taste. A person is said to be FLASH when he apes the appearance or manners of his betters, or when he is trying to be superior to his friends and relations. Flash also means “fast,” roguish, and sometimes infers counterfeit or deceptive—and this, perhaps, is its general signification. As it is used by those who best understand it nowadays, the word means that which is not what it appears to be—anything spurious, as jewellery and shoddy clothes. “Flash, my young friend, or slang, as others call it, is the classical language of the Holy Land; in other words, St. Giles’s Greek.”—Tom and Jerry, by Moncreiff. Vulgar language was first termed FLASH in the year 1718, by Hitchin, author of “The Regulator of Thieves, &c., with account of flash words.” “Flash” is sometimes exchangeable with “fancy.”
“My FLASH man’s in quod,
And I’m the gal that’s willin,
So I’ll turn out to-night,
And earn an honest shillin’.
“Tooral, looral la,
What are wealth’s possessions?
Bless the man we love,
And blow the b—— Sessions.”—Lyra Flagitiosa.
Flash it, show it—said when any bargain is offered.
Flash o’ lightning, the gold band on an officer’s cap.—Sea. Also in street slang, a glass of gin.
Flat, a fool, a silly or “soft” person; the opposite of “sharp.” The terms appear to be shortenings for “sharp-witted” and “flat-witted.” Or, maybe, from musical notes.
Flat-feet, the battalion companies in the Foot Guards.