subs. (thieves’).—In pl. = shares of a booty: see NAB.—GROSE, VAUX, and BEE.
ENGLISH SYNONYMS.—To come, or stand in; to go rags; to whack, to go whacks, or to whack up; to go snacks.
1828. BADCOCK (‘Jon Bee’), Living Picture of London, 15. He who obtained what he now calls the swagg, paying to his new pal an undefined share, which the thieves persist in calling their REGULARS, though nothing can be more uncertain than such divisions.
c. 1838. G. W. REYNOLDS, Pickwick Abroad, ‘The House Breaker’s Song.’ 223.
| I ne’er was a nose, for the REGLARS came | |
| Whenever a pannie was done. |
1843. W. T. MONCRIEFF, The Scamps of London, i. 2. What do you mean by REGULARS?
1871. Morning Advertiser, 11 May. He knew who had committed the robbery, and as they had not paid him £20 as his REGULARS he should round on them.
1891. F. W. CAREW, No. 747. being the Autobiography of a Gipsy, 414. He ’cused me o’ playin’ Ananias and Sapphira—pinchin’ the REG’LARS as we call it. Ibid., 418. I touched two-thirds and Nat and Alf napped their REG’LARS.
2. (colloquial).—(1) A person keeping stated times or doing regular duty; (2) anything recurring periodically: as a daily passenger, a drink taken at fixed hours, &c.
1397. THIRNYNG, in Rolls of Parliament [T. L. KINGTON-OLIPHANT, The New English, i. 181. He uses rewelers for REGULARS, speaking of the clergy].
1858. W. W. PRATT, Ten Nights in a Bar-room, ii. 1. I’ve been in the habit of taking my REGULARS ever since I was weaned.
1888. N. GOULD, The Double Event, 23. He had his breakfast before the REGULARS came down.
Adj. (colloquial).—Thorough; out-and-out: as a REGULAR tartar = a shrew (male or female); a REGULAR sell = a consummate swindle; a REGULAR corpser = a knock-out blow; a REGULAR pelter = a cat-and-dog rain; a REGULAR crow = a person dismally garbed.
1850. F. E. SMEDLEY, Frank Fairlegh, 403. Our fine letter’s been no go,—turned out a REGULAR sell, you see, eh?
1888. Cornhill Magazine, March, 228. If Joanna was ever so blessed as to hear her sing ‘Hoop la!’ it would be a REGULAR eye-opener to her.
