subs. (old).—1. A rustic; a shallowpate; also COUNTRY PUT.—B. E. (c. 1696); GROSE (1785).
1688. SHADWELL, The Squire of Alsatia, i. Belf, sen. I always thought they had been wittiest in the Universities. Sham. A company of PUTTS, meer PUTTS.
1708–10. SWIFT, Polite Conversation, ii. He’s a true COUNTRY PUT.
1772. BRIDGES, A Burlesque Translation of Homer, 531.
| Orestes, last, a country PUT, | |
| Got such a cursed knock o’ th’ gut. | |
| Ibid., 55. | |
| Just such a queer old PUT as you. |
1782. CHAMBAUD, Dictionnaire, 11. s.v.
1847. THACKERAY, Vanity Fair, I. xi. The captain has a hearty contempt for his father, I can see, and calls him an old PUT.
2. (old).—A harlot: see TART. [Fr. putain.] Hence PUTAGE = fornication. Also (3, venery) = an act of coition; intromission: also TO DO A PUT, TO HAVE A PUT-IN, TO PUT IT IN, TO PUT IN ALL, AND TO PLAY AT TWO-HANDED PUT: see GREENS and RIDE.
c. 1720. D’URFEY, Wit and Mirth; or Pills to Purge Melancholy, vi., 252.
| My Skin is White you see, | |
| My Smock above my Knee, | |
| What wou’d you more of me, PUT IN ALL. |
1730. Broadside Song, ‘Gee ho, Dobin’ [FARMER, Merry Songs and Ballads (1897), ii. 203].
| I rumpl’d her Feathers, and tickl’d her scutt, | |
| And PLAY’D the round Rubbers AT TWO HANDED PUT. |
3. (stock exchange).—See quot. 1884: also PUT AND CALL.
1721. CIBBER, The Refusal, i. Gran. And all this out of Change-Alley? Wit. Every Shilling, Sir; all out of Stocks, PUTS, Bulls, Rams, Bears, and Bubbles.
1884. L. H. BISBEE and J. C. SIMONDS, The Board of Trade and the Produce Exchange, 50. A ‘PUT’ is an option to deliver, or not deliver, at a future day.
1889. Rialto, 23 March. Having a pocket order from the promoters, which gives him the PUT AND CALL of as many shares as he requires for his purpose.
Phrases more or less colloquial merit a mention:—TO PUT OFF (-BY or -ON) = (1) to baffle, delay, or dismiss, (2) to foist or deceive, and (3) to get rid of or sell: whence A PUT-OFF (PUT-BY or PUT-ON), subs. = a shift, trick, or excuse; TO PUT TO = to ask a question, advice, &c.; TO PUT DOWN = (1) to baffle or suppress, and (2) to enter one’s name, for a speech, donation, &c.; TO PUT UPON = (1) to accuse, and (2) to inflict or oppress; TO BE PUT UPON (or ON) = to be depressed, deceived, or blamed; TO PUT IN FOR = to compete; TO PUT TWO AND TWO (or THIS AND THAT) TOGETHER = to draw conclusions; TO BE PUT UP = to be accused or PULLED UP (q.v.); TO BE PUT TO IT = (1) to be compelled, and (2) to be hard pressed or embarrassed (B. E., c. 1696); TO PUT IN ONE’S HEAD = (1) to suggest, and (2) to remind; TO PUT OUT OF ONE’S HEAD = to forget; TO PUT UP (or PUT IT UP) WITH = (1) to submit or endure, (2) to accommodate (or be received) as a lodger or guest, (3) to nominate, and (4) to spend or bet; TO PUT BACK = to hinder or refuse; TO PUT A QUARREL (or RUDENESS) ON ONE = to force to anger or incivility; TO PUT AWAY = (1) to dispose of by eating (whence PUT-AWAY, subs. = an appetite or TWIST, q.v.), sale, pawning, imprisonment, &c., and (2) to inform against, TO NARK (q.v.); TO PUT A HAND TO = (1) to begin a matter, (2) to sign or endorse a document, and (3) to steal; TO PUT FINGER IN THE EYE = to cry; TO PUT ON = to imitate, assume a character, airs, &c. (whence A PUT-ON, subs. = a trick or shift), and (2) see PUT-OFF, supra; TO PUT OUT = (1) to confuse or perplex, and (2) to vex; AS MUCH AS ONE CAN PUT IN ONE’S EYE = nothing (B. E., c. 1696); TO PUT A GOOD (or BAD) FACE ON = to appear pleased (or the reverse); PUT-UP = arranged, planned (whence A PUT-UP JOB = a concerted swindle or robbery, whence also PUTTER-UP); TO PUT ABOUT = (1) to publish a rumour, lie, or statement, (2) to change one’s tactics, and (3) to inconvenience, annoy, or embarrass; TO PUT THROUGH = (1) to succeed, and (2) to swindle; TO PUT OUT (FORTH or OFF) = to set out; TO PUT ON = to bet: see POT; TO PUT ONE ON = (1) to TIP (q.v.), (2) to bet for another, and (3) to promise a bonus if a certain horse wins; TO PUT UP TO = (1) to explain or impart information, and (2) to suggest or incite; TO PUT OUT = to vex; TO PUT IN ONE’S MOTTO = (1) to enter rashly into a discussion, and (2) to ‘lay down the law’; TO STAY PUT (American) = to remain as placed; TO PUT IN A HOLE = (1) to inconvenience, non-plus, or get the better of (see HOLE), (2) to defraud (thieves’: see WELL), and (3) to victimize; TO PUT ON ONE’S METTLE = to urge; TO BE PUT TO ONE’S TRUMPS = to be forced back on one’s resources; TO PUT BY = to save; TO PUT (or LAY) HEADS TOGETHER = to confer; TO PUT ONE’S HEAD IN THE LION’S MOUTH = to run into danger; TO PUT TO THE DOOR = to eject; TO PUT OVER (Australian) = to kill; TO PUT ON THE WOMAN = to shed tears; TO PUT A HAT ON A HEN = to attempt the impossible (RAY, 1765); TO PUT TOGETHER WITH A HOT NEEDLE (or BURNT THREAD) = to fasten insecurely; PUT UP! = Shut your mouth! (American). See also APE; BACK; BAG; BALMY; BALMY-STICK; BASKET; BED; BEST-LEG; BOOT; BUSINESS; CART; CHAIR; DOCTOR; DOUBLE; DOWN; DRAG; DUKES; END; FRILLS; GRINDSTONE; HAND; HEAD; HORSE; KIBOSH; LIGHT; MILLER; MILLER’S-EYE; NAIL; NAME; NOSE; OAR; PIN; PIPE; POT; SIDE; SPOKE; STRONG; TIME-O’-DAY; TONGUE; WAR-PAINT; WRONG-LEG.
