Исторический английский фразеологический словарь

Cooper. A publican’s term for half ale and half porter. See “Entire.”

Copenhagen Street. From Copenhagen Fields, where stood a noted tea-house opened by a Dane.

Copper. A policeman, from the thieves’ slang cop, to take, catch.

Copperheads. A political faction of North America during the Civil War, regarded as secret foes, and so called after the copperhead serpent, which steals upon its enemy unawares.

Cordeliers. Franciscan Friars distinguished from the parent Order by the knotted waist-cord.

Corduroy. In French Cord du Roy, “King’s cord,” because ribbed or corded material was originally worn only by the Kings of France.

Cordwainer. The old name for a shoemaker, because the leather he worked upon was Cordwain, a corruption of Cordovan, brought from the city of Cordova.

Cork. From the Gaelic corroch, a swamp.

Cork Street. From the residence of Lord Cork, one of the four brothers of the Boyle family.

Corncrackers. The Kentuckians, from a native bird of the crane species called the Corncracker.

Corner. The creation of a monopoly of prices in respect of natural produce or manufactured goods. The allusion 67here is to speculators who agreed in a quiet corner, at or near the Exchange, to buy up the whole market.

Cornhill. The ancient city corn market.

Cornwall. Pursuant to the Saxon Wahl, the horn of land peopled by foreigners.

Corpus Christi College. At Cambridge, founded by the united guilds or fraternities of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin.

Corsica. A PhCnician term for “wooded isle.”

Cossack. The Russian form of the Tartar term kasake, a horseman.

Costa Rica. Spanish for “rich coast.”

Costermonger. In Shakespeare’s time a Costardmonger, or trader in a famous species of apple so called.

Cottonopolis. Manchester, the city identified with English cotton manufacture.

Cotton Plantation State. Alabama, from its staple industry.

Cotton to. An Americanism meaning to cling to a man as cotton would cling to his garments.

Counter-jumper. The derisive nickname of a draper’s assistant, on account of his agility in leaping over the counter as a short cut from one department to another.

Country Dance. A corruption of the French contre danse, from the opposite positions of the dancers.

Coup de Grace. The merciful finishing stroke of the executioner after a criminal had been tortured by having all his bones broken on a wheel. One blow on the head then put him out of his misery.

Court Cards. Properly Coat Cards, on account of their heraldic devices.

Court of Arches. The ecclesiastical Court of Appeal for the Archbishopric of Canterbury which in ancient times was held in the crypt of St Mary-le-Bow, or St Mary of the Arches at Cheapside. See “Bow Church.”

68Court Plaster. The plaster out of which ladies of the Court fashioned their decorative (?) face patches.

Covenanters. Those who entered into a Solemn League or Covenant to resist the religious and political measures of Charles I. in 1638.

Covent Garden. A corruption of Convent Garden, the site of which was converted into a market, temp. Charles II. The convent and garden belonged to the Abbey at Westminster.

Coventry. A corruption of Conventry–i.e. Convent town. Before the Reformation it was far famed for the number of its conventual establishments. The suffix try is Celtic for “dwelling.”

Coventry Street. From the residence of Henry Coventry, Secretary of State, temp. Charles II.

Cowcross Street. Where the cattle crossed the brook in days when this now congested neighbourhood was pleasant pasture land watered by the “River of Wells.”

Coxcomb. A vain, empty-pated individual. So called from the cock’s comb worn on the cap by the licensed jesters, because they were allowed to crow over their betters.

Cracker. Although the origin of this term when applied to a juvenile firework would appear to be self-evident, it is really a corruption of Cracque, the Norman description of “Greek Fire.”

Crackers. The people of Georgia, owing, it is said, to the unintelligibility of their speech.

Cranbourn Street. From the long, narrow stream of this name, when the whole district hereabouts was open fields.

Crank. One whose notions of things are angular, eccentric, or crooked. His ideas do not run in a straight line.

Cravat. Introduced into Western Europe by the Cravates or Croatians in the seventeenth century.

69Craven Street. From the residence of Lord Craven prior to his removal to Drury House in Drury Lane.

Cream City. Milwaukee, from the cream-coloured bricks of which its houses are built.

Credit Draper. The modern designation of a “Tallyman.”

Cree Church. See “St Katherine Cree.”

Creed Lane. Where the monks recited the Credo in procession to St Paul’s. See “Ave Maria Lane.”

Cremorne Gardens. Laid out on the site of the mansion and grounds of Thomas Dawson, Lord Cremorne.

Creole State. Louisiana. In New Orleans particularly a Creole is a native of French extraction.

Crescent City. New Orleans, built in the form of a crescent.

Crimea. From the Kimri or Cymri who settled in the peninsula.

Cripplegate. From the city gate around which gathered cripples begging for alms, the neighbouring church being dedicated to St Giles, their patron.

Crokers. Potatoes, because first raised in Croker’s Field at Youghal, Ireland.

Cromwell Road. From the mansion and grounds of Richard Cromwell, son of the Lord Protector.