Go for the gloves, to lay against a horse on the chance of its losing, without having the wherewithal to pay if it wins. Probably from the custom of ladies who bet GLOVES, and expect, as the racing men say, to “stand them to nothing,” i.e., to be paid if they win, but not to pay if they lose. This is a last resource of the bankrupt turfite; and the big handicaps at the end of the year, the Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire, offer both temptation and opportunity to those who can only hope to recoup themselves for their previous losses by “GLOVING IT” successfully. When, in the sporting papers it is stated that a settling at Tattersall’s was more than usually unsatisfactory, it may be fairly assumed that the GLOVES have not been won by those who most desired them.
Go in, to enter for, to apply oneself in pursuit of. Men at the Universities are said to GO IN for honours, aquatics, or whatever their chief desire or employment may be. The expression is now general.
Go it, a term of encouragement, implying, “keep it up!” Sometimes amplified to “GO IT, ye cripples;” said to have been a facetious rendering of the last line of Virgil’s Eclogues—
“Ite domum saturæ, venit Hesperus, ite capellæ;”
or, “GO IT, ye cripples, crutches are cheap.”
Goldbacked uns, body lice. Sometimes called greybacked uns.
Goldfinches, sovereigns. Similar to [Canaries].
Gold-mine, any profitable investment, from a fried-fish shop to a remunerative speculation involving millions.
Golgotha, a hat, “place of a skull.” Hence the “Don’s gallery,” at St. Mary’s, Cambridge, and that part of the theatre at Oxford where the heads of houses sit.
Gol-mol, noise, commotion.—Anglo-Indian.