1885. Daily News, 24 Jan., p. 3, c. 1. They go and work at fivepence, and some on ’em as low as threepence halfpenny, an hour; that’s just half what we get, and the gaffers keep ’em on and sack us.
1888. Sportsman, 20 Dec. Comic enough were some of the stories ‘Jemmy’ told of his relations with ‘the gaffer.’
1889. Broadside Ballad, ‘The Gaffers of the Gang.’ We are the boys that can do the excavations, We are the lads for the ’atin’ and the dhrinkin’, With the ladies we are so fascinatin’, Because we are the gaffers of the gang. [[98]]
3. (old).—A toss-penny; a gambler with coins. From gaffing (q.v.).
1828. Jon Bee, Living Picture of London, p. 241. If the person calling for ‘man’ or ‘woman’ is not right or wrong at five guesses, neither of the gaffers win or lose, but go again.
Verb. (venery).—To copulate. For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.
Gaffing, subs. (old).—See quot.
1821. Pierce Egan, Life in London, p. 279. Gaffing was unfortunately for him introduced. Ibid. Note.—A mode of tossing for drinks, etc., in which three coins are placed in a hat, shaken up, and then thrown on the table. If the party to ‘call’ calls ‘heads’ (or ‘tails’) and all three coins are as he calls them, he wins; if not, he pays a settled amount towards drinks.
1839. Brandon, Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, s.v.
Gag, subs. (common).—1. A joke; an invention; a hoax.