TO TALK FORTY (more commonly NINETEEN) TO THE DOZEN, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To chatter incessantly; to gabble. TO WALK OFF FORTY TO THE DOZEN = to decamp in quick time.
1891. FARJEON, The Mystery of M. Felix, p. 107. He run agin me, he did, and I sed, ‘Who are yer pushing of?’ He didn’t say nothink, but walked off FORTY TO THE DOZEN.
ROARING FORTIES, subs. phr. (nautical).—The Atlantic between the fortieth and fiftieth degrees of latitude; also applied to the same region in southern latitudes.
