haberdasher of (nouns and) pronouns, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

haberdasher of (nouns and) pronouns n.

[the expanded version is late 17C–18C only]

a schoolmaster; a tutor.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Haberdasher of Nouns and Pronouns Schoolmaster or Usher.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1828		Lytton Pelham I 104: When I first went to Paris, I took a French master [...] This ‘Haberdasher of Pronouns’ was a person of the name of Margot.