subs. (theatrical and common).—An actor. [From CACKLING (see CACKLE, subs., sense 1) + COVE, an old canting term for a man.]
ENGLISH SYNONYMS. Mummery-cove; mug-faker; mummer; mugger (properly an actor who makes free play with his face); tragedy or comedy merchant; pro; stroller; cackle-faker; barnstormer; surf.
FRENCH SYNONYMS. Un prêtre (thieves’: literally ‘a priest’: a curious sidelight on the views concerning religious orders of the criminal classes); un raze or razi pour l’af (thieves’: raze or razi = priest; and affe in old French cant signified ‘life’ or ‘the soul,’ but latterly eau d’affe = ‘brandy.’ There seems, however, little connection between either of these readings and the example under consideration); un Egyptien (theatrical: a term applied to a bad or inferior actor); un acteur-guitare (a term specially applied to one who elicits applause in lacrymose scenes only—an actor with only one string to his bow); un enleveur (theatrical: one who plays in such a way as to enlever la salle, i.e., ‘to bring down the house’); une doublure (an understudy); un cab, cabot, or cabotin (used mainly in contempt, much in the same way as ‘mummer.’ Cabotinage is the life of hardship led by strolling players, and thence, by derivation, the life of the ‘profession’ generally); un brûleur de planches (theatrical: a spirited or restless actor); un acteur brûlé (popular: one that has had his day); un bouch trou (theatrical: an understudy or stop-gap); un bouleur or une bouleuse (a substitute, or understudy); un misloquier or une misloquière (thieves’); un nom (theatrical: ‘a star’).
