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Queer Rooster (Grose 1811 Dictionary)

Queer Rooster

An informer that pretends to be sleeping, and thereby overhears the conversation of thieves in night cellars.

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

Queer Prancer * Queer Street

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.

Queer Cole Maker
Queer Cove
Queer Cuffin
Queer Degen
Queer Ken
Queer Kicks
Queer Mort
Queer Nab
Queer Plungers
Queer Prancer
Queer Rooster
Queer Street
Quitam
To Quibble
Quick and Nimble
Quid
Quids
Quiffing
Quidnunc
Quill Driver
Quim