Inns of Court. See “[Inn].”
In Quad. This is not altogether thieves’ slang, though the gipsy word for prison is quaid. Boys at our public schools say they are “in quad” when they are confined to their own quadrangle. The phrase became popular in connection with a prison when debtors were confined in the Fleet, the Marshalsea, and Whitecross Street, because they were free to receive visitors in the exercise court or quadrangle.
Insect. From the root seco, to cut, because this tiny species of the animal world is, as it were, cut deeply into three distinct parts: the head, thorax, and abdomen.
Interlaken. The Swiss village situated “between the lakes” Brienz and Thun.
In the Jug. Slang for “in prison.” The term is derived from the Scottish joug, a kind of iron yoke or pillory for the head designed for the punishment of rogues and vagabonds. When at a later period a round house of stone was set up in the market-place for such offenders, this earliest prison was popularly called “The Stone Jug.”
In the Nick of Time. This expression originated in the nicks or notches made in a piece of wood called a Tally, both as an acknowledgment of money paid and by way of registering a person’s arrival at a place of assembly. If, in the latter case, he arrived late, his tally would not be nicked, as evidence of having put in an appearance.
In the Odour of Sanctity. The ancient idea was that the bodies of saints after death emitted a peculiar fragrant odour. This originated in the profuse employment of incense at the administration of the last solemn rites of the Viaticum.
In the Soup. An Americanism for “out of the running.” This had reference originally to the hunting field when a rider was pitched into a ditch of foul water after leaping a hedge.
In the Stone Jug. See “[In the Jug].”
In the Straw. An expression denoting that a woman has been brought to bed with a child. Straw was the usual stuffing of a bed formerly among the poorer orders of the people.