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Top. World English Historical Dictionary

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Top. World English Historical Dictionary Dictionary Biographies Literary Criticism Welcome Terms of Service ⧏ Previous Next ⧐ Bibliographic Record Farmer’s Slang & Its Analogues. 1890–1909, rev. 2022. Top subs. (old).—1.  The head (see verb); (2) the hair, THE THATCH (q.v.): also TOP-DRESSING: spec. the forelock or TOP-KNOT. Whence TOPPER = (1) a violent blow on the head, and (2) = a hat; TOP-LIGHTS = the eyes. Also phrases: TAIL OVER TOP = headlong; TOP OVER TAIL = TOPSY-TURVY (q.v.), rashly, hastily; FROM TOP TO TOE = wholly; TOP AND TAIL = everything.

1   c. 1360.  William of Palerne [E.E.T.S.], 2776. þat sehe TOP OUER TAIL · tombled ouer þe hacches.

2   1373.  CHAUCER, The House of Fame, 880.        Thow shalt … with thyn eres heren wel TOP AND TAIL, and everydel.     Ibid. (1383), The Canterbury Tales, ‘General Prologue,’ 590. His TOP was dokked lyk a preest biforn.

3   c. 1400.  The Chester Plays, ii. 176. Thou take hym by the TOPPE and I by the tayle.

4   [?].  The Romance of Syr Tryamour, MS. Cantab., Ff. ii. 38, f. 76.        But syr James had soche a chopp, That he wyste not, be my TOPPE,     Whethur hyt were day or nyght.

5   [?].  The Adulterous Falmouth Squire, in Political … Poems (FURNIVALL), 95.        Be-hold me how þat I ame tourne, Fore I ame rente fro TOPE TO TO.

6   15[?].  The Turnament of Totenham, xv.        They did but ran ersward, And ilke a man went backward     TOPPE OUER TAYLE.

7   1544.  ASCHAM, Toxophilus [ARBER], 47. To tumble ouer and ouer, to TOPPE OUER TAYLE … may be also holesom for the body.

8   1605.  SHAKESPEARE, King Lear, ii. 4. 165.        All the starred vengeances of heaven fall On her ingrateful TOP!

9   1706.  WARD, The Wooden World Dissected, 67. It costs him many a Rub with his Paws before he can make his TOP LIGHTS to shine clearly.

10   1834.  W. H. AINSWORTH, Rookwood, ‘The Double Cross.’        Vile Jem with neat left-handed stopper, Straight threatened Tommy with a TOPPER.

11   1873.  J. B. STEPHENS, Miscellaneous Poems [1880], ‘To a Black Gin.’        The coarseness of thy tresses is distressing, With grease and raddle firmly coalescing. I cannot laud thy system of ‘TOP-DRESSING.’

12   1897.  MARSHALL, Pomes, 62. A most successful raid On a swell’s discarded TOPPER.

13   1900.  Free Lance, 6 Oct., 4. 1. The origin of the TOPPER.… The Baroness Cecile de Courlot, Lady-in-Waiting to the Princess de Lamballe, Princess of Savoy-Carignan,… writing from Paris, 19th Nivoise XI., says, ‘The latest thing for gentlemen on the Corso at a review at Longchamps was the new high hats…. Thiery, who invented them, made a wager that he would introduce the very most absurd shape imaginable, and it would become fashionable. He won his wager.’

14   3.  (common).—In pl. = top-boots: cf. SMALLS and TRUNKS. Also (rarely) upper garments.

15   [1707.  FARQUHAR, The Beaux Stratagem, iii. 1. He has TOPS to his shoes up to his mid-leg.]

16   1837.  DICKENS, Pickwick Papers, xiv. In a green coat, knee-cords, and TOPS. Ibid., v. Mr. Weller’s TOPS were newly cleaned.

17   Verb (old cant).—1.  To behead (the usage still lingers in agriculture); to hang. Whence TO BE TOPPED = to be hung: see LADDER; TOPPING-CHEAT = the gallows: see CHEAT; TOPPING-COVE (or TOPSMAN) = JACK KETCH (q.v.); also TOP, subs. = a dying speech, a croak (B. E. and GROSE).

18   2.  (colloquial).—Generic for superiority: to excel, surpass, CAP (q.v.). Thus TO TOP ONE’S PART = (a) to surpass oneself, and (b) to do zealously. As adj. (or TOPPING) = prime, first-class, distinguished, thorough, extreme: e.g., TOP (= the best) ALE; a TOP (= a principal) CHARACTER, or PART; THE TOP OF THE TREE = preëminent socially, in wealth, in a profession, etc.; a TOP (= a favourite) TOAST; a TOP (= a titled or well-to-do) FAMILY; TOP (= full) SPEED; and so forth. TOPPINGEST (or TOPLESS) = the best, supreme; and TOPPINGLY = fine, very well; also (in a baser sense) arrogantly, assumingly, badly, vilely. Also TOPPER (or TOP-SAWYER) = anybody or anything exceptional: as the largest and best fruit: usually placed on top in packing: cf. HUMPHREY TOPPERS; an expert thief; a famous horse; a beautiful woman; a man of large means, exceptional influence, high position, or remarkable genius: also (of persons) TOPPING MAN or TOPPING FELLOW (B. E. and GROSE). TO COME OUT ON TOP = to be successful, TO GET THERE (q.v.); A LITTLE BIT OFF THE TOP = some of the best; THE TOP OF DESIRE = the height of ambition, all that one cares for: cf. TIP-TOP; TOP AND TOP-GALLANT (orig. nautical) = in full FIG (q.v.), rig, array, or force.

19   1557.  TUSSER, Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie, April: ‘A Lesson for Dairie Maid.’ These TOPPINGLY gests be in number but ten.

20   1594.  PEELE, The Battle of Alcazar, iii. 3.          De Men.  Captains, he cometh hitherward amain, TOP AND TOP-GALLANT, all in brave array.

21   1602.  SHAKESPEARE, Troilus and Cressida, i. 3. 151.                    Sometimes, great Agamemnon, Thy TOPLESS deputation he puts on.     Ibid. (1605), King Lear, i. 2. 21. To TOP the legitimate.     Ibid. (1606), Macbeth, iv. 3. 57. To TOP Macbeth.     Ibid. (1610), Coriolanus, ii. 1. 23. TOPPING all others in boasting.

22   1608.  The Merry Devil of Edmonton [DODSLEY, Old Plays (REED), xi. 131]. He’ll be here TOP AND TOP-GALLANT presently.

23   1682.  DRYDEN, Mac Flecknoe, 167.        But write thy best, and TOP; and, in each line, Sir Formal’s oratory will be thine.

24   1694.  MOTTEUX, Rabelais, IV. vi. They are … TOPPING sheep, fatted sheep, sheep of quality.

25   c. 1696.  B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v. TOPPING-FELLOW, who has reacht the Pitch and greatest Eminence in any Art; the Master, and the Cock of his Profession.

26   1698.  COLLIER, A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage, 219. The fine Berinthia, one of the TOP-CHARACTERS, is Impudent and Profane.

27   1698.  FARQUHAR, Love and a Bottle, iii. 2. I have a project of turning three or four of our most TOPPING FELLOWS into doggrel.

28   1703.  STEELE, The Tender Husband, v. 1. Well, Jenny, you TOPP’D your part, indeed.

29   d. 1704.  T. BROWN, Works, ii. 258. The TOPPINGEST shop-keepers in the city us’d now and then to visit me.

30   1708.  W. KING, The Art of Love, v. Th’old man receiv’d her, and exprest much kindness for his TOPPING guest.

31   1709.  DAMPIER, Voyages, II. i. 141. Some … were TOPPING merchants and had many slaves under them.

32   d. 1713.  ELLWOOD, Life (HOWELL), 291. These two Baptists were TOPPING blades, that looked high and spake big.

33   1721.  D’URFEY, Wit and Mirth; or Pills to Purge Melancholy, ii. 22.        When the world first knew creation, A rogue was a TOP, a rogue was a TOP PROFESSION.

34   1725.  N. BAILEY, trans. The Colloquies of Erasmus, ‘Rich Beggars.’ There are TOPPING citizens too, who imitate them.

35   1734.  HEARNE, Diary, 23 Jan. TOPPING books formerly … greedily bought at great prices, … turn’d to waste paper.

36   c. 1738.  GAY, Fables, vi., ‘The Squire and his Cur.’          That politician TOPS his part, Who readily can lie with art.

37   1742.  JARVIS, Don Quixote, I. III. xi. It is the TOPPINGEST thing I ever heard. Ibid., II. III. xviii. I mean to marry her TOPPINGLY when she least thinks of it.

38   1743–5.  R. POCOCKE, A Description of the East, II. ii. 9. The humble ass serves the poorer sort of people, there being only a few of the TOP FAMILIES in the city who use horses.

39   1766.  H. BROOKE, The Fool of Quality, i. 364. Setting out at TOP speed, he soon overtook him.

40   1774.  FOOTE, The Cozeners, i. Master Moses is an absolute Proteus; in every elegance at the TOP OF THE TREE.

41   1782.  BURNEY, Cecilia, IV. vi. You must needs think what a hardship it is to me to have him turn out so unlucky, after all I have done for him, when I thought to have seen him at the TOP OF THE TREE.

42   1785.  GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. TOP … The cove was TOPPED for smashing queer screens. Ibid., s.v. TOP SAWYER signifies a man that is a master genius in any profession. It is a piece of Norfolk slang, and took its rise [?] from Norfolk being a great timber county, where the TOP SAWYERS get double the wages of those beneath them.

43   1809.  MALKIN, Gil Blas [ROUTLEDGE], 94. You TOPPED your part to perfection, and I was not quite contemptible in mine.

44   1836.  H. M. MILNER, Turpin’s Ride to York, i. 3. I shall never come to the scragging-post, unless you turn TOPSMAN.

45   1837.  R. H. BARHAM, The Ingoldsby Legends (The Merchant of Venice), II. 56.                        A young dandified Lawyer, Whose air, ne’ertheless, speaks him quite a TOP-SAWYER.

46   1838.  DICKENS, Oliver Twist, xliii. Wasn’t he always TOP-SAWYER among you all? Is there one of you that could touch him or come near him on any scent? Ibid. (1853), Bleak House, ii. My Lady Dedlock has been … at the TOP OF THE fashionable TREE.

47   1843.  W. T. MONCRIEFF, The Scamps of London, iv. Our hells are full of Greeks—they are the Corinthians of the order—the TOP SAWYERS.

48   1851–61.  H. MAYHEW, London Labour and the London Poor, III. 387. Thirty-six were cast for death, and only one was TOPPED. Ibid., I. 61. Strawberry pottles are often half cabbage leaves, a few tempting strawberries being displayed on the top of the pottle…. Ask any coster that knows the world, and he’ll tell you that all the salesmen in the market TOPS UP. Ibid., II. 137. A big pottle of strawberries that was rubbish all under the TOPPERS.

49   1854–5.  THACKERAY, The Newcomes, xv. He had paid the postboys, and travelled with a servant like a TOP-SAWYER.

50   1848.  A. H. CLOUGH, The Bothie of Tober-na-Vuolich, i., l. 24. Shady in Latin, said Lindsay, but TOPPING in Plays and Aldrich.

51   1864.  The Spectator, 15 Oct., 1186. 1. The University word ‘shady,’ meaning simply, poor and inefficient, as when a man is said to be ‘shady in Latin, but TOPPING in Greek plays,’ is obviously University slang.

52   1869.  BLACKMORE, Lorna Doone, xxxvi. ‘See-saw is the fashion of England always, and the Whigs will soon be the TOP-SAWYERS.’ ‘But,’ said I, still more confused, ‘the King is the TOP-SAWYER according to our proverb; how then can the Whigs be?’

53   1869.  WHYTE-MELVILLE, M. or N., 47. ‘I’ll marry a TOP-SAWYER,’ he used to say, whenever his uncle broached the question of his settlement in life.

54   1871.  J. R. LOWELL, My Study Windows, 326. Of all who have attempted Homer [Chapman] has the TOPPING merit of being inspired by him.

55   1872.  HARDY, Under the Greenwood Tree, iv. 4. I don’t like her to come by herself, now she’s not so terrible TOPPING in health.

56   1892.  Pall Mall Gazette, 17 Oct., 2. 1. The song ‘If I was only long enough’ landed me with one bound at the TOP OF THE TREE.

57   1898.  N. GOULD, Landed at Last, iv. When I have been beaten I have always met a better horse than my own. This year I fancy I shall be ON TOP with my pair of brothers.

58   1901.  M. JOHNSTON, The Old Dominion, i. I have the most TOPPING fellow in all London for my guest.

59   3.  (colloquial).—To put in a finishing touch; to conclude: spec. to drink (or toss off) a bumper, or to wind up a meal by a special course. Also TO TOP UP (or OFF).

60   1614.  Terence in English [NARES]. Its no heinous offence … for a young man to hunt harlots, to TOPPE OFF a canne roundly; its no great fault to breake open dores.

61   1853.  DICKENS, Bleak House, xi. Four engage to go half-price to the play at night, and TOP UP with oysters. Ibid. (1861), Great Expectations, x. What’ll you drink, Mr. Gargery? At my expense? To TOP UP with?

62   1890.  A. E. KING, A Legend of Old New York, in The Century Magazine, xli. Nov., 47. A heavy sleep evolved out of sauerkraut, sausages, and cider, lightly TOPPED OFF with a mountain of crisp waffles.

63   4.  (old).—To snuff (a candle): also TOP THE GLIM (GROSE and CLARK RUSSELL). [Amongst work-people, one cried ‘Top!’ the others followed, the last having to do duty: long obsolete.] See verb 1.

64   1607.  MIDDLETON, Your Five Gallants, i. 1. TOP the candle, sirrah! methinks the light burns blue.

65   5.  (old).—‘To cheat, to trick, to insult’ (B. E. and GROSE); TO GET THE BETTER OF (or A BULGE ON) ONE (q.v.): spec. to cheat with dice: see quots.

66   1674.  COTTON, The Compleat Gamester (1681), 12. That is, when they take up both dice, and seem to put them in the box, and shaking the box, you would think them both there, by reason of the ratling occasioned by the screwing of the box, whereas one of them is at the top of the box between his two fore-fingers, or secured by thrusting a fore-finger into the box.

67   c. 1696.  B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v. TOP. What do you TOP upon me? c. do you stick a little Wax to the Dice to keep them together, to get the Chance, you wou’d have? He thought to have TOPT upon me, c. he design’d to have Put upon me, Sharpt me, Bullied me, or Affronted me.

68   6.  (venery).—To copulate: see RIDE, and cf. TUP.

69   1602.  SHAKESPEARE, Othello, v. 2. 136.          Oth.  Cassio did TOP her…. Thy husband knew it all….   Emil.  That she was false to wedlock?   Oth.  Ay, with Cassio.

70   TO CRY IN TOP OF, verb phr. (old).—(1) To overrule; (2) to talk down, to outspeak.

71   1596.  SHAKESPEARE, Hamlet, ii. 2. 459. Others whose judgments in such matters CRIED IN THE TOP OF mine.

72   TO TOP A CLOUT, verb. phr. (old).—‘To draw the corner or end to the top of a person’s pocket, in readiness for shaking or drawing, that is, taking out, when a favourable moment occurs, which latter operation is frequently done by a second person.’ (VAUX).

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