Stock Exchange terms

[The following list is imperfect, but it contains the better known and older colloquialisms. The Stock Exchange, admittedly a ‘close’ corporation, is, in fact, so close that not only was direct official information refused, but also an appeal to be put into communication with some member interested in Stock Exchange colloquialisms was declined. Perhaps, however, subscribers will be good enough to help to a supplementary list as an Appendix.]—ALES = Messrs. S. Allsopp and Sons shares; APES = The Atlantic and North Eastern Railway first mortgage bonds; AYRSHIRES = Glasgow and South-Western Railway stock; BABY WEE-WEES = Buenos Ayres Water Works shares; BAYS = Hudson Bay Company shares; BERTHAS = London Brighton and South Coast Railway stock; BERWICKS = North Eastern Railway Ordinary stock; BONES = (1) North British 4 per cent. 1st Preference shares: see BONETTAS, and (2) Wickens, Pease and Company shares; BONETTAS = North British 4 per cent. 2nd Preference shares; BOTTLES = Barrett’s Brewery and Bottling Company shares; BRUMS = London and North Western Railway stock (formerly London and Birmingham Railway); BULGARIAN ATROCITIES = Varna and Rutschuk Railway 3 per cent. Obligations; CALEYS = Caledonian Railway Ordinary stock; CASHELS = Great Southern and Western of Ireland Railway stock; CATS = Atlantic Cable 2nd Preference stock; CHATS = London Chatham and Dover Railway stock; CHINAS = Eastern Extension Australian and China Telegraph shares; CLARAS = Caledonian Railway Deferred and Ordinary stock; COFFINS = The Funeral Furnishing Company shares; COTTONS = Confederate Bonds; CREAMJUGS = Charkoff-Kremenlsching Railway bonds; DINAHS = Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Ordinary stock; DOGS = Newfoundland Land Company shares; DORAS = South Eastern Railway Ordinary “A” stock; DOVERS = South Eastern Railway Ordinary stock; DUCKS = Aylesbury Dairy Company shares; FLOATERS = Exchequer bills; GORGONZOLA HALL = The HOUSE (q.v.); GOSCHENS = The 2³/₄ per cent. Government Stock; GUINNESS’S = Guinness and Company shares; HADDOCKS = North of Scotland Railway Ordinary stock; KAFFIRS = generic for South African Mining shares: whence KAFFIR CIRCUS = the South African Market in a state of excitement; KISSES = Hotchkiss Ordinance Company shares; KNACKERS = Harrison, Barber, and Company shares; LEEDS = Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Ordinary stock; MAILS = Mexican Railway shares: see MEGS; MATCHES = Bryant and May’s shares; MEGS = Mexican Railway 1st Preference shares: see MAILS; METS = Metropolitan Railway Co. shares; MIDDIES = Midland Railway Ordinary stock; MONAS = The Isle of Man Railway shares; MUTTONS = Turkish Loans of 1865 and 1873; NEW BILLINGSGATE = The HOUSE (q.v.); NEW PLATES = English Bank of the River Plate shares: see OLD PLATES; NORAS = Great Northern Railway Deferred Ordinary stock; NUTS = Barcelona Tramway shares; OLD PLATES = London and River Plate Bank shares; PIGTAILS = Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China shares; POTS = Staffordshire Railway stock; SARAHS = Staffordshire and Lincoln Railway Deferred stock; SARAH’S BOOTS = Sierra Buttes Gold Mining Company shares; SARDINES = Royal Sardinian Railway shares; SEWERS = East London Railway shares; SILVERS = India Rubber, Gutta Percha, and Telegraph Company shares; SUNSHADES = The Sunhales Extension Buenos Ayres and Resario Railway Company shares; TERRORS = Northern Territories Co. shares; VESTAS = Railway Investment Company Deferred stock; VIRGINS = Virginia New Funded Bonds; WHIPSTICKS = Dunaberg and Witepsk Railway shares; WESTRALIANS = generic for Western Australian Mining shares. Also see BEAR; BUCKET-SHOP; BULL; COCKY; FIDDLE; FOURTEEN-HUNDRED; FUTURES; GUTTERSNIPE; HAMMER; HOUSE; JAM-TART; KERBSTONE-BROKER; KIDNEY; LAME-DUCK; LET-UP; LOAD; LONG; OMNIUM; ORCHID; PEG; PICKER-UP; PUT; RAID; RUSH; SCALP; SCOOP; SET-UP; SHOOT; SHORT; SHUNTER; STAG; STATE; SWEATER; SWIMMING; TAPES; TAPEWORM; TEN-UP; TIGHT; TWIST; UNLOAD; WADDLE; WATER; WASH-SALE; WIREWORM.