Sling your Hook. Originally an abbreviated angler’s phrase: “Sling your hook a little farther along, and then we shall both have more room.”
Slipper. A shoe into which the foot is easily slipped, more particularly among the Orientals, who dispense with the back leather clasping the heel.
Sloane Square. After Sir Hans Sloane, the original owner of the estate, whose daughter became by marriage the first Countess of Cadogan.
Slope. To run away with expedition, as it were down the slope of a hill.
Smile. An Americanism for a “drink.” Unlike the common run of Americanisms, there is warranty for the term. When drinking their native beverage, “pulque,” the Mexicans look at one another, and smile. This custom has obtained with them ever since Montezuma gulped down this tipple offered to him by the hand of his daughter. See “[Cocktail].”
Smithfield. A corruption of “Smoothfield,” a fine tract of meadow land on which mediæval tournaments were held, likewise horse races.
Smith of Antwerp. Quentin Matsys, the celebrated painter, who began life as a blacksmith.
Smalls. In theatrical parlance “the small towns.”
Smart Set. Originally an Americanism for the exclusive fashionable set of Boston society. The term has latterly travelled over to these shores, and the Smart Set of West End London does not appear to be beloved by Father Bernard Vaughan.
Snapshot. An Americanism for a photograph taken instantaneously with a portable camera. “Snap” is, however, a good old English word. We speak of a person being “snapped off” by disease--i.e. carried off suddenly.