History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends The Flemish | Page 116

introduced in vagabonds' cant from LG. or Du.; Du. has a verb dralen, to loiter, linger,
delay (in Kilian, draelen, ‘cunctari, morari, trahere moram’), LG. drâlen.
In the 17th century the following cant and slang terms appear. Skellum (1611), a
rascal, scamp, scoundrel, villain; ad. Du. schelm, ad. G. schelm, rascal, devil,
pestilence; the word passed from LG. into Scand. as ON. skelmir, Da. skelm, Sw.
skälm.
Another term of abuse is Skitterbrook (1632), one who befouls his breeches, a
coward; ad. Du. schijte-broek, with the first element assimilated to skitter.
Kelder (1646), the womb; ad. Du. kelder, cellar. The word occurs a little earlier in the
phrase, Hans-in-Kelder (1635), the slang term for an unborn child; from the Du.
phrase which means literally ‘Jack in cellar’.
Mump (1651), to overreach, cheat; (1673), to beg, play the parasite; probably ad. Du.
mompen, to cheat. Mumper (1673), a beggar, is from mump and the suffix -er.
Ogle (1682), to cast amorous, coquettish glances; it appeared first as a cant word
apparently from Du. or LG.; compare LG. oegeln, frequentative of oegen, to look at,
also e.mod.Du. oogheler, oegheler, flatterer (Kilian), and for the sense Du. oogen, to
direct or cast the eyes.
Most of the cant and slang terms recorded first in the 18th and 19th centuries were
probably introduced into the language long before. We owe our knowledge of many of
them to the interest in the canting speech which found expression in such
compilations as Tuft's Glossary of Thieves' Jargon (1798), and J.H. Vaux's Flash
Dictionary (1812).
Smouse (1705), a Jew; ad. Du. smous, a Jew usurer, supposed to be the same word
as the G. dialectal schmus, talk, patter, ad. Jewish schmuoss, tales, news, the
reference being to the persuasive eloquence of the Jew pedlar.
Houndsfoot (1710), scoundrel, rascal, worthless fellow; ad. Du. hondsvot (G.
hundsfott), scoundrel, rascal, lit. cunnus canis, an appellation which is extremely
coarse, but whose exact equivalent I have heard in the modern slang of Rotherhithe:
Scott revived the term in Waverley, probably with no inkling of its real meaning.
Funk, vb. and sb. (1737-9), vb. to flinch through fear; sb. cowering fear; the word is
first mentioned in Oxford slang, and is perhaps, as Lye suggests, ad. Flem. fonck
(Kilian).
Nix (1789), nothing, nobody; ad. colloquial Du. and G. nix for nichts; the word has
been revived in modern slang under the influence of the American film caption, and in
American it is probably from the New York dialect and so probably Du.
Prad (1798), a horse; by metathesis from Du. paard, horse; this metathesis may have
been made deliberately under one of the many systems of alteration of word-form in
order to mystify the uninitiated; this is by no means impossible, but alteration to darp
or drap would be more likely.

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