Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to speak a foreign language, esp. to speak French.

[1700		‘Twangdillo’ in Playford Pills to Purge Melancholy II 226: To sing and talk French had been breed; / She’d dance Northern Nancy, / Ask’d Parler vous Fransay].
1765		Foote The Commissary 34: la fleur.: Le Maitre pour donner d’eloquence. z. fun.: What does the puppy say [...] you know I can’t parler vous.
1793		J. O’Keeffe Sprigs of Laurel 15: She squall’d, parlevoud.
1815		‘Poor Mrt Spriggs’ in Vocal Mag. 1 Mar. 82: She sung, parlez vou’d, danc’d waltzes and jigs.
1825		‘Poor Mr Spriggs’ in Universal Songster I 8/1: She sung, parlez vou’d, danc’d waltzes and jigs.
1837		R. Barham ‘The Bagman’s Dog’ Ingoldsby Legends (1840) 326: They soon reach’d the hut [...] Grimacing, and what Sailors call parley-vooing.
[1843		Satirist & Sporting Chron. (Sydney) 4 Feb. 3/2: If i were to stop here [i.e. France] for a month, I should parley as well as the natives].
1845		D. Corcoran Pickings from N.O. Picayune (1847) 208: What brought a vizard faced fellow like you here, to parley-vous with a daycent girl; clear out now.
1849		A. Harris Emigrant Family I 207: Pshaw! and that fool would have stood parley-vouing here till the chance was lost.
1888		Soldiers’ Stories and Sailors’ Yarns 3: We’ll take an interpreter, so in the event of meeting any of the natives he can parley-voo’ them.
1889		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 28 Dec. 2/3: And then I praised her dainty foot / In very awful French. / And parleyvood In guileful mood / [etc].
1901		Truth (Sydney) 20 Jan. 5/7: [of an Italian] The wine-man in his lingo / Starts to yelp & parley-voo.
1905		‘Doss Chiderdoss’ ‘A Polyglot Policeman’ Sporting Times 1 Apr. 1/4: Is it that the blighters have so little work to do / That they’re learning all this parly-vooing hank?
1913		Truth (Sydney) 16 Feb. 7/8: Here she fell in with a feller / [...] / Who did come across from Parey, / And, in coorse, could parley voo.
1918		K.F. Purdon Dinny on the Doorstep 98: A fat lot of good it would do the kiddies here to be able to parley-voo!
1921		(con. WWI) E. Lynch Somme Mud 170: My parlez vousing was a great help in making life better behind the lines.
1927		F. Chester [perf. Frederick Chester] ‘Algy's absolutely full of tact’ 🎵 Once Algy went to Paris, though he couldn’t parley voo.
1932		B.M. Harvey Me and Bad Eye and Slim 199: The skipper don’t know much about parley-vooing.
1934		Z.N. Hurston Jonah’s Gourd Vine (1995) 126: Yeah man, parlez vous, man, don’t come bookooin’ ’roun heah [...] Ah could uh married one uh dem French women but shucks, gimme uh brown skin eve’y time.
1949		(con. 1943–5) A. Murphy To Hell and Back (1950) 188: I told you I could parlez-vous this lingo.
1950		C. Harris Three-Ha’Pence to the Angel 205: I dunno why yer didn’ stay, become one of ’em, learn all yer kids ter parly-voo and eat spaghetti.

2. to talk, esp. to chatter meaninglessly.

1830		J. Galt Lawrie Todd I Pt II 120: I have myself obstinacious objections – a considerable some – against ’em ere parley voos.
1917		‘Henry Handel Richardson’ Aus. Felix (1971) 21: When that’s been done [...] then it’ll be time enough to parlez-vous about the colour of the flag.
1919		Noble Sissle ‘How Ya Gonna Keep ’Em Down on the Farm?’ 🎵 They’ll never want to see a rake or plow, / And who the deuce can parlez-vous a cow?
1922		S. Lewis Babbitt (1974) 27: Well, it’s been nice to stop and parleyvoo a second.
1939		Howsley Argot: Dict. of Und. Sl. 36: parlevous – to have a talk with.
1941		M. Panter-Downes ‘Battle of the Greeks’ Wartime Stories (1999) 62: As Daddy says, it’s not the poor things’ fault that they can’t speak the King’s English proper. We should look nice fools, Mrs. Twistle, parleyvooing in Athens, no doubt.
1993		S. King Dolores Claiborne 47: Sometimes she’d talk French, and I don’t mean that parley-voo island French, either.