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Little Snakesman (Grose 1811 Dictionary)

Little Snakesman

A little boy who gets into a house through the sink-hole, and then opens the door for his accomplices: he is so called, from writhing and twisting like a snake, in order to work himself through the narrow passage.

Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.

Little Ease * Live Lumber

Nearby

Nathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang

John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes

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About

Francis Grose was independently wealthy, having inherited money from his father, a jeweller. Finding himself overspending, he published a number of books; his Provincial Glossary seems to have been the starting-point for the Vulgar Tongue reproduced here.

Line of the Old Author
Line
Lingo
Linen Armourers
Lion
Liquor
Little Barbary
Little Breeches
Little Clergyman
Little Ease
Little Snakesman
Live Lumber
Live Stock
Loaf
Lob
Lob-1
Lob’s Pound
Lobcock
Lobkin
Loblolley Boy
Lobonian Society