Ghastly, adj. and adv. (colloquial).—Very: a popular intensitive; Cf., Awful, Bloody, Fucking.
Ghost, subs. (common).—One who secretly does artistic or literary work for another person taking the credit and receiving the price. [The term was frequently used during the trial of Lawes v. Belt in 188(?).] Cf., devil.
1890. Daily Telegraph, 8 Feb. The sculptor’s ghost is conjured up from the vasty deep of byegone lawsuits.
1892. National Observer, vii., 327. Would not the unkind describe your ‘practical man’ as a ghost?
Verb. (common).—To prowl; to spy upon; to shadow (q.v.).
The ghost walks (or does not walk) phr. (theatrical).—There is (or is not) money in the treasury.
1853. Household Words, No. 183. When no salaries are forthcoming the ghost doesn’t walk. [[138]]
1883. Referee, 24 June, p. 3, c. 2. An Actor’s Benevolent Fund box placed on the treasurer’s desk every day when the ghost walks would get many an odd shilling or sixpence put into it.
1885. The Stage, p. 112. The rogues seldom appear at a loss for a plausible story when it is time for the ghost to walk. Ibid. The next day the ghost declines to walk.
1889. J. C. Colman (in Slang, Jargon, and Cant), p. 405. Ghost-walking, a term originally applied by an impecunious stroller in a sharing company to the operation of ‘holding the treasury,’ or paying the salaries, which has become a stock facetiæ among all kinds and descriptions of actors. Instead of enquiring whether the treasury is open, they generally say—‘Has the ghost walked?’ or ‘What, has this thing appeared again?’ (Shakspeare).