TURF SLANG.

Evening Star, Issue 3178, 28 April 1873, Page 3

TURF SLANG.

The slang of the turf and the betting ring (writes ‘ A Man at the Clubs,” in Sporting Life), like the English language itself, isa compound of many sources, but as a rule is of a distinctive character, and often really admirable for its pith and point. Again, too, like the English language proper, the same word often conveys different meanings, according to the sense in which it is used. The word “ safe,” when applied to a burly bookmaker, is much more satisfactory to the poor backer than when the same adjective is prefixed to a horse on which he has invested his coin ; and the epithet of a “ safe un” has sent the cold shivers down many a spine. And yet a 11 safe horse over a country is very" desirable in steeple-chasing. The expressions used to intimate that the horse has not tried are very many—many more, indeed, than I can probably call to mind. Several of the phrases appear to be derived from the knacker’s business —such as a “ dead ’un,” “ in the cart,” a “ stiff ’un’” and “ as good as boiled. ” “Up a tree” savors of a somewhat similar source, as, when an old horse killed fortbc hounds, he is quartered after being flayed, and as there is generally a tree or two in the proximity of the kennels, his limbs arc hung on the branches. This is the kind of animal that a bookmaker ' ‘ in the know” delights to ' ‘ slate,” and over which the “flats” drop their “pieces.” Sometimes, however, the operation known as “ doing a double ” is performed, in which case the bookmaker is “ put in the hole,” and as he has not time or opportunity to “get out” or, perhaps, as he does not “ pipe” until after he has been “ rounded upon”—he may fairly be said to be “ carted.” This last word has probably several origins, the most reasonable being from a custom which prevails in some parts of the country, especially in Wales, where the farmer and his wife make their weekly journeys to the market town together. On such # occasions & bundle of straw is always put in the cart, and while the wife sells the butter and cheese, the husband imbibes the toddy and smokes the genial pipe. In the end it generally happens that the good man gets top heavy, the bundle has to be spread out, and the worthy farmer “carted” in the bottom of the vehicle* while the better-half drives home. To be carted thus is evidently to be in a position of perfect helplessness. I should not like to venture on a complete list of all the names givpn to money, but the following are in frequent use. Thus sovereigns are termed “ quids,” 1 canaries (in reference to their color), “jimmies,” “thick ’uns,” and “fat ’uns” (in reference to their weight); crown pieces arc “bull” or “cartwheels (in reference to their size); and “half a bull” is a favorite coin with small “ punters.” Shillings are “bobs” or_ “white uns,and sixpences rejoice in a variety of appellations, such as “tizzies,” “benders,” “sprats,” “kicks.” Banknotes are “flimsies,” and so, ascending the scale, wc come to the “pony” as the equivalent of five-and-twenty pounds, and the “monkey” as signifying five hundred pounds. It was attempted to make a gorilla jj, substitute for a thousand pounds, but the newly-discovered animal was not a popular favorite, and the old “ thou” held its own. All money is understood by “ pieces,” “ mopuscs,” “swag,” “dibs,” “chips;” and if a man has got his “kick,” or pockets, well “lined,” and “ sports” a yellow “super,” as a gold watch is termed, and a “ sparkler,” or diamond ring, on his finger, he must be a very doubtful character if they don’t “stand” him for a “century” or two. If a man is to be “ touched for pieces,” it is understood that he is to be requested to settle a little outstanding account; but the delicacy of the “touch” is often aggravated to the fero ity of the “ bustle,” in which case, should the victim be sensitive and the creditor of a particular school of rough tongued “pencilled,” it is certain that if he “ holds” the coin at all, he will “part” with it as quickly as possible, to avoid the shower of abuse which is the chief concomitant of the bustling process. Like the word safe, so “square ” is used for the most contradictory meanings, and when an owner or rider of a horse is “square,” it is all right; but if he is “squared” it is all wrong. Erom this ijt may be deduced that if you square a man who is already square, you totally alter the character of the individual. This sounds jqst as ridiculous as squaring the circle, but the effect is very different, and is not practically such a simple operation, although, when a man can be “squared,” he is sgid to be “open tq reason.” Those patrons and lovers qf the good old English game'of “ coddems in which the great art consists in “ working the piece that is, for the partners op one side to endeavor to mislead their opponents as to which hand thp piece of money is in when requested to “tip it ’’—can appreciate the application of the word ♦‘work” to the execution of a commission, qr the effecting of some important arrangement regarding a race or a bet; for to * work a Commission” nowadays requires infinite tact and mystification, or otherwise somebody pise “ has the market,” and the rightful party are “ forestalled.” Anybody can give a “tip,” but what the shrewd investor wants is the “ whisper,” the “office,” or the “griffin,” sometimes abbreviated to “ griff,” which latter is supposed to emanate direct from “the parties intimately connected with the horse regarding whose chance the advice is given. The “ office ” is given something in this way Owner to friend, just before the race : “ Have you done anything?” Friend to owner: “No; I don’t think I shall have a ‘ deal ’ this time.” Owner to friend: “What do they ky against my horse ?” Friend to owner : “ They offer 6 to 1, and want 7 to 1.” Owner to friend : “Well, go and get a bet on as soon as you can, for we’ve tried him a ‘moral.’” This being the straight “ griff,” friend rushes off to find his favorite bookmaker- not cool and collected, but in a hurry, and bursting with the importance of his mission. Bookmaker secs his eagerness, and offers 4 to' 1 only. “ Sba’nt take it,” says friend. “ I’ve just laid four ‘ponies to So-and-so,” says bookmaker, “and you can have the same if you like—No ?—well, put 90 to 20 ! ’ Friend, afraid the “market” is going, takes the bet. “Ninety to twenty, Silvershoc ; Captain Roberts,” says the bookmaker to his clerk, and the race begins. Bilvershoe wins, but it is mortifying to Capt, Roberts to see in the papers next morning that six fifties were “ going begging ” about the filly, and he feels that he has been ••jNstod,” ttfi eeriwaty tQ th? fowl*’

maker on the subject, and on giving his authority, is told that there is nothing in “paper prices.” He rather fancies himself he has been “bested” a little bit, especially as the owner’s il average was 7 to 1,” but looking at it philosophically, that as a winner ho is in pocket, and that as a loser, it wouldn’t have mattered, be “takes kindly to the kid,” or, in other words, adapts himself to the situation, as the sole did in the frying-pan, and looks_ cheerful. The proverb has it that “ speech is silvern, but silence is golden,” and probably in nothing more than racing is the value of this saying seen. To be “mum” and yet to bo_ ny are valuable acquirements in certain sections of the turf community, and these qualifications arc the essential requisites of a “mouse.” laking the word mouse in its literal sense, as applying to the little rodent itself, the application to the individual homo who is supposed to the qualities of the mouse is admirable and witty. A mouse —m ns proper, with four legs, I mean—is one of the most sly yet sociable, artful yet open, cunning yet friendly little animals in existence. He is observing and “ when nobody suspects his presence, and if his presence were suspected be would be taken comparatively little notice of. Now, a human “mouse,” in turf phraseology, possesses many of these characteristics, but first of all I may describe what a “mouse” signifies, A “mouse is a kind of sub-snb-agont to a betting firm or individual. He is supposed to be continually about—here, there, and everywhere—nicking up bits of news, like his four-footed friend would bits of cheese. He enjoys a quiet kind of reputation of Ids own, and is a sociable little fellow. If he takes a bet or lays a bet, everybody knows the money is right, tic is, in fact, acting under orders whenever he “nibbles,’ and those orders are known to emanate from a trustworthy source. Many indeed know or surmise who he is actually working for, and openly call the “mouse” a “mouse !” There are different kinds of mice, as there are in natural history, and the comparison throughout can be made to hold fairly good.