subs. (colloquial).—1. A cheat; a hard bargainer; a sharking usurer.
1659. R. BROME, The English Moor, in Wks. (1873), ii. 45 (Act iii. 1). The best, Sir, I can tell is, the old JEW, Quicksands, hath lost his wife.
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v. JEW. … He treated me like a JEW, he used me very barbarously.
1725. A New Canting Dictionary, s.v.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.
Verb. (colloquial).—To drive a hard bargain; to beat down. Also to cheat.
c. 1871. California Flush Times [quoted in DE VERE]. To JEW, colloquially known in England as meaning to cheat, is here often used in the sense of haggling, bargaining. ‘Don’t you think the old hunks wanted to JEW me down to three thousand dollars?’
1883. S. L. CLEMENS (‘Mark Twain’), Life on the Mississippi, xliii., p. 390. There’s one thing in this world which isn’t ever cheap. That’s a coffin. There’s one thing in this world which a person don’t ever try TO JEW you down on. That’s a coffin.
WORTH A JEW’S EYE, phr. (colloquial).—Extremely valuable; ‘worth its weight in gold.’ [In the Middle Ages the Jews were subject to great extortions, and many stories are related of eyes put out, or teeth drawn, to enforce payment.]
1593. G. HARVEY, Pierce’s Supererogation, in Works, ii. 146. Let it euerlastingly be recorded for a souerain Rule, as deare as a JEWES EYE.
1598. SHAKESPEARE, Merchant of Venice, ii. 5.
| There will come a Christian by | |
| Will be WORTH A JEWES EYE. |
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.
1811. GROSE and CLARKE, Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
1838. HALIBURTON (‘Sam Slick’), The Clockmaker, 2 S. xxi. ‘Tho’ they are no good to you they are WORTH A JEW’S EYE to us, and have ’em we will.’
