come, v.¹ — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

come v.¹

[abbr. SE come to a climax; Williams suggests link to SE come, of butter, to form in the churn, and thus a pun on butter n.¹ (1)]

to achieve orgasm; of a man, to ejaculate.

1599		Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing V ii: marg.: Well, I will call Beatrice to you, who I think hath legs. bene.: And therefore will come?
1605		Chapman & Jonson Eastward Ho! III ii: But now he is dead, / And Laid in his bed, / And never will come again.
1613		Marston Insatiate Countesse II i: Say nothing, and take it thus quietly when your husband comes.
c.1620–50		‘I Dreamed My Love’ in Farmer Merry Songs and Ballads (1897) I 81: He plunged about, but wold not shrinke; / his Coming fforth they wayted. / Then forth he Came as one halfe lame, / weere weary, ffaint, and tyred.
1655		Mercurius Fumigosus 40 28 Feb.–7 Mar. 317: But yet the Weaver was to blame, / To shoot his shuttle as he came / Within her Loom.
1661		Mennis & Smith et al. ‘A Song’ in Wit and Drollery 103: ’Twill make a maid at midnight cry / It comes, it comes, it comes most pleasantly.
1698		Proceedings against Capt. Edward Rigby for intending to commit the Abominable Sin of Sodomy, on the Body of one William Minton 7 Dec. 2: Rigby [...] taking Minton in his Arms, wisht he might lye with him all night, and that his Lust was provoked to that degree, he had ---- in his Breeches, but not withstanding he could F--- him.
1700		‘The Wanton Trick’ in Playford Pills to Purge Melancholy II 93: He Woo’d her and Taught her, until he had brought her / To hold out a Crotchet Prick, / And by his direction, she came to Perfection, / Whoop, ’tis a Wanton Trick.
1719		D’Urfey Pills IV 93: He Woo’d her and Taught her, until he had brought her / To hold out a Crotchet Prick, / And by his direction, she came to Perfection, / Whoop, ’tis but a Wanton Trick.
1768		Gentleman’s Bottle-Companion 2: As he was taking pains to please her, / I’m coming, coming, Sir, said he! / And so--h-- am I, my dear, said she, Sir.
1786		Nunnery Amusements 18: It comes, it comes, she faulters faintly out.
1790		‘Bumper Allnight. Esquire’ Honest Fellow 9: O there, my dear, wriggle your tail, / And finely your furrows I’ll plow / [...] /There, there, it is coming, now, now.
1834		‘A Game At Push Pin’ Flash Chaunter 21: Then Mr. Shove, / Said oh, Miss Love, / No longer can I play; / You’ve beat me quite, / So love, good night! / I’ll come another day.
1841		‘The Gown Of Green’ Gentleman’s Spicey Songster 22: When I rifled her charms, she so wriggled her bum, / That it was not long before I did come.
1842		Wkly Rake (NY) 5 Nov. n.p.: ‘I boast a large circle, but none [i.e. ‘beaux’] come regular, only off and on.’ Now we can see nothing very terrible in this short speech [etc].
1863		‘Jeff Davis Dream’ T.P. Lowry Stories the Soldiers Wouldn’t Tell (1994) 50: His arse it went to bobbing — / He let a fart, and then he spent — / Says Jeffrey’s wife, ‘I’m co- co- coming’.
1879		‘The Origin Species’ Pearl 1 July 29: He wriggled, she wiggled, they both stuck to one tether / And she tickled his balls, till they both came together!
1888–94		‘Walter’ My Secret Life (1966) III 538: ‘Oh! my darling, I’m co-com-h-hing,’ said she, spending as she cried out.
1893		‘Bob Sterling’ Town-Bull 16: ‘Oh! it is heavenly — quick — I am coming’.
1897		School Life in Paris 36: Long before he was ready ‘to come’, he felt the muscles of her organ contracting for the spasm of ecstatic delight.
1909		Joyce letter 6 Dec. to Nora Barnacle in Ellman Sel. Letters (1975) 184: To fuck between your two rosy-tipped bubbies, to come on your face.
c.1918		‘Cats on the Rooftops’ in Bold (1979) 48: The bull rhinoceros, so it seems, / Seldom has to have wet dreams, / But when he does, he comes in streams.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 471: Suppose you got up the wrong side of the bed or came too quick with your best girl.
1935		L. Bogan ‘Shave ’Em Dry’ in Oliver Screening the Blues (1968) 231: I got somethin’ ’tween my legs’ll make a dead man come.
1942		P. Larkin letter 12 Aug. in Thwaite Sel. Letters (1992) 42: She tempts me to swear with the skill of a whore tempting a jaded business man. One ‘bloody’ dropped in experiment nearly made her come with excitement.
1958		Southern & Hoffenberg Candy (1970) 41: Who’s talking about ‘go’? [...] The girls want to come! Am I right, Can?
1959		‘Count Palmiro Vicarion’ Limericks 46: She said, ‘Stop your plumbing; / There’s somebody coming!’ Said the plumber still plumbing, ‘It’s me’.
1965		(con. 1940s) B. Behan Confessions 17: The flannels were a bit tight, and I had it in mind that I might come in them.
1968		N. Heard Howard Street 45: She was glad that he came quickly.
1971		T. Lewis Plender [ebook] [F]emale masturbation machines that were obsolete and boring the minute you came.
1978		L. Kramer Faggots 24: Fred was close to coming when he felt the trickle of warm piss.
1981		S. Berkoff Decadence in Decadence and Other Plays (1985) 21: A bomb under the lovers’ bed / ready to go off as she or he comes.
1986		R.G. Barrett Godson 115: ‘[T]here was quite a bit of coming and going in both our rooms last night’.
1989		B. Simon ‘Score Me the Ages’ Born in the RSA (1997) 136: You trek his draad one two three, he come like a cow in a bucket [...] It’s a quick thirty bucks.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 75: I’m comin, oh god i’m comin!
1992		D. Jarman diary 27 June Smiling in Slow Motion (2000) 156: A group of lesbians still singing: ‘She’ll be coming with a woman when she comes’.
2000		N. Griffiths Grits 38: A cahn deny that a enjoyed it; in fact a came a bucketload.
2006		D. Winslow Winter of Frankie Machine (2007) 75: You liked it, you cunt [...] He made you come.
2015		L. McInerney Glorious Heresies 151: ‘[Y]ou’re not embarrassed when [...] I kiss you or finger you or when you come.

In phrases

come a bucket (v.)

of a man, to ejaculate copiously.

1974

(con. 1960s) R. Price Wanderers 92: The moment he was in, he came a bucket.

come a river (v.)

(US) of a woman, to experience a very intense orgasm or multiple orgasms.

1976

R. Price Blood Brothers 24: Every time he went down on her she would come a river.

come in one’s pants (v.) (also come in one’s drawers)

to behave in an exaggerated, over-excited manner; the image is of extremely premature ejaculation.

1973		(con. 1940s–60s) Hogbotel & ffuckes ‘Poor Little Angeline’ in Snatches and Lays 39: The blacksmith had been put in gaol to stay / For coming in his pants, at the local dance.
1978		L. Kramer Faggots 198: What a charge! He’d come in his fucking pants!
1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 111: Red and his snake partner are ‘coming’ in their drawers to buy at a hundred grand.
1981		M. Baker Nam (1982) 79: Wow, that guy must be coming in his pants. What a fucking rush that’s got to be.
1987		(con. 1967) E. Spencer Welcome to Vietnam (1989) 27: ‘How about commanding Delta Company?’ he asks. I almost come in my pants.
1994		N. McCall Makes Me Wanna Holler (1995) 153: I betcha he comes in his pants every time he turns those keys.
1995		C. Hiaasen Stormy Weather 308: They’d showed a picture of the cash, and he’s almost come in his pants.
2001		J. Stahl Plainclothes Naked (2002) 123: Smooty’s Donuts [...] They had a choco-sprinkle-cream made you come in your pants.

come into one’s own (v.) [pun on SE]

to masturbate.

2002

Bill Healey ‘U4ME’ (poem) on Originality 🌐 Giving the tadpoles a swimming lesson, coming into your own / One-eyed target practice, polishing the bone / Doing a George Michael, stroking your poker / Makin a living as a chicken choker.

come like a parolee at the ho shack (v.) [pun on SE come; the image is of a long-term prisoner having the first sex of his freedom]

(US black) to move very fast.

1996–2000		(con. 1940s) Deuce Ofay Productions ‘The Jive Bible’ at JiveOn.com 🌐 Steady on the case: v. To undertake something with extreme dedication and perseverance; To concentrate all one’s efforts on something or someone. ‘Some Turkeys be tellin’ me to get off my lazy ass and finish de damn Jive Page. I say chill, cutty, I steady on the case. Been layin’ my melon on de stash, scratchin’ 24/7. Hang loose, it’s comin’ like a parolee at the ho-shack!!’.
2001		I. Pistoff ‘Guestbook’ on SawedOffRomeo 🌐 Yo Jack! You turkeys got action on the solid half traction ready t’ boot yo. Yeah man, I can dig it. Lemme knows when ya got a show in town and I’ll be comin’ like a parolee at the ho-shack!!

come off (v.)

to experience orgasm.

c.1618		R. Daborn Poor Man’s Comfort 800: My daughter, makes him come off at her pleasure, and yet is not one winde can keepe her Mill goeinge.
1620–50		‘Walking in a Meadow Green’ in Farmer Merry Songs and Ballads (1897) II 13: Then off he came, & blusht for shame / soe soone that he had endit.
1672		‘Song’ in Covent Garden Drollery 39: Agreed we lay’d down and tumbled Till both were weary of play, Though I spent a full share, Yet by Cupid I swear, I came off with a ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
c.1720		‘Original Black Joke. Sent from Dublin’ 🎵 He was well vers’d in Venus’d school, / Went on like Lyon came off like a fool.
1909		Joyce letter to Nora Barnacle 3 Dec. in Ellman Sel. Letters (1975) 182: [You] frigged me slowly until I came off through your fingers.
1934		‘J.M. Hall’ Anecdota Americana II 19: Just then Little Willie came off, and [...] the come dripped from branch to branch.
1965		K. Marlowe Mr Madam (1967) 36: I started messing around with Tony, just to see who could come off first.
1972		G.V. Higgins Friends of Eddie Coyle 87: She comes off like she was on electricity.
1981		J. Wambaugh Glitter Dome (1982) 226: I had some tricks once, had to see that stuff before I could make them come off.
1998		‘Bill E. Goodhead’ Nubile Treat 🌐 Every stroke of hers made him think he was going to come off right then and there.
2000		G.V. Higgins At End of Day (2001) 202: Of course they can come off six or seven times a night.

come one’s cocoa (v.)

1. to ejaculate.

1965		Guild Dict. Homosexual Terms 9: come your cocoa (v.): Orgasm in the male.
1977		D. Powis Signs of Crime 176: Came his cocoa The act of ejaculation.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak.

2. (UK police/Und.) to inform or to confess one’s crimes.

1977		D. Powis Signs of Crime 176: Came his cocoa [...] to make a complete confession of guilt. Taboo words, never used in mixed company.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak.

come one’s fat (v.)

1. to ejaculate.

1977

D. Powis Signs of Crime 176: Came his fat see Came his cocoa; a taboo expression.

2. of a suspect, to confess.

1977

D. Powis Signs of Crime 176: Came his fat see Came his cocoa; a taboo expression.

come one’s guts (v.)

see under gut n.

come one’s load (v.)

see come one’s load under load n.

come one’s lot (v.)

1. of a suspect, to confess.

1950		P. Hoskins No Hiding Place! 189/2: Come his Lot. He confessed.
1977		D. Powis Signs of Crime 177: Came his lot See Came his cocoa; again, a taboo expression.

2. to ejaculate.

1977

D. Powis Signs of Crime 177: Came his lot See Came his cocoa; again, a taboo expression.

come one’s mutton (v.)

see under mutton n.

come one’s turkey (v.)

see under turkey n.¹

SE in slang uses

In compounds

come-around (n.)

(W.I.) an unwanted hanger-on.

1995

Francis-Jackson Official Dancehall Dict. 11: Come-aroun’ an ordinary individual who usually hangs around where he/she is not welcome but is tolerated.

come-in (n.)

see come-on n. (6)

In phrases

come... (v.)

1. see also separate entries.

2. see also under relevant n. or adj.

come about (v.)

said by men of women, to have sexual intercourse.

1890–1904

Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

come all over (v.)

(Aus.) to thrash, to defeat completely.

1945

Baker Aus. Lang.

come aloft (v.)

to have an erection.

1590		Spenser Faerie Queene Bk III Canto 10 Stanza 48: Whereas his louely wife emongst them lay, / Embraced of a Satyre rough and rude, / Who all the night did minde his ioyous play: / Nine times he heard him come aloft ere day.
1667		Dryden Secret Love Act V: I am no dog to show tricks for her; I cannot come aloft for an old Woman.

come apart (v.)

see fall apart under fall v.¹

come down in the last shower (of rain) (v.) (also come down with the last rain)

(Aus.) to be stupid, to be a fool; usu. in neg. phrs. used when claiming a greater degree of experience or knowledge than that with which one is being credited, e.g. I didn’t come down in the last shower of rain.

c.1905		J. Furphy Rigby’s Romance (1921) Ch. xxxviii: 🌐 Gosh, ain’t he a man of a thousand. He didn’t come down with the las’ rain.
1907		B. Baynton Human Toll in Portable Barbara Baynton 217: ‘Ole mother Stein didn’t come down in ther last shower.’ He shook his head impressively. ‘[...] ’er knows wut side to bite a bun.’.
1913		Truth (Sydney) 16 Feb. 7/8: As if they’d arrived in Lundon / Per the werry latest shower.
1937		S.D. Porteus Primitive Intelligence and Environment 104: I’ll soon show him that he is dealing with a man who did not come down in the last shower.
1941		A. Gurney Bluey & Curley 19 Mar. [synd. cartoon strip] Took in. Me eye!! I didn’t come down in the last shower you know!!
1960		A. Seymour One Day of the Year (1977) II i: I didn’t come down in the last shower.
1986		C. Bowles G’DAY 95: Turn it up. I dint come down inner larse share. Yer all busted.
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 60/1: I didn’t come down in the last shower I am not a fool; to which the reply is: ‘You mightn’t have come down in the last shower, but you’re pretty wet all the same.’.
1993		Harris & Walkuski No Bed of Roses: Memoirs of a Madam 103: I’ll show them I didn’t come down in the last shower.
1999		R.G. Barrett Wind & Monkey (2013) [ebook] ‘Yeah, well I didn’t quite come down on the back of a turnip truck from Dirranbandi last week’.
2000		S. Maloney Big Ask 27: You must think I came down in the last shower, Mikey-boy.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988].
2020		G. Disher Consolation 231: ‘I did not come down in the last shower’.

come down off the Christmas tree (v.)

see fall off the Christmas tree under fall v.¹

come from Liquorpond Street (v.)

to be drunk [play on the real 19C Liquorpond Street, London, now the western segment of Clerkenwell Rd, EC1 and then adjacent to such criminal slums as Saffron Hill].

1828

J.B. Buckstone 23 John St, Adelphi Act I: I don’t know where you are, sir; but you seem to have come from Liquorpond Street [F&H].

come from Tripoli (v.) [? the troupes of North African dancers who were then popular in London or f. a play on SE trip, to tumble]

to be a lively, energetic performer, esp. acrobatically.

1847–81

Halliwell Dict. Archaic and Provincial Words II 889/2: To come from Tripoly, a phrase meaning to do feats of activity; to vault, or tumble.

come-fuck-me’s (n.) [fuck v. (1)]

(US gay) very tight trousers.

1972

B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 53: come-fuck-me’s (mid-late ’60s) overly tight pants.

come home by rail (v.)

(Aus.) to be so drunk that one can only proceed by hanging onto things.

1984

Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 1261/1: [caption to cartoon of a drunkard clutching railings] I’m coming home by rail.

come home by Spillsbury (v.)

to tumble, to fall over, to have a ‘spill’; to fail.

1692

J. Hacket Memorial of John Williams Pt 1 208: They might Seek their Fortune in another place, and come home by Spills-Bury.

come home by the villages (v.)

to be reeling drunk.

1770

Gent.’s Mag. 559/2: To express the condition of an Honest Fellow [...] under the Effects of good Fellowship, [...] It is also said that he has [...] Come home by the villages [...] when [a man] comes home by the Villages, he calls first at one house, then at another, and drinks at all.

come home with your knickers torn and say you found the money (v.)

see under knickers n.

come in (v.) [two-up imagery]

(Aus.) to join in, to participate.

1986

R.G. Barrett Godson 40: Les hit him with a couple of barbed sling-offs [...] but the fat casino manager wouldn’t come in at all.

come in Berlin [? a radio call-sign]

(US campus) an exhortation to pay attention, a greeting.

1978		Eble Campus Sl. Apr. 2: come in, Berlin – phrase meaning please rejoin the conversation.
1996		Eble Sl. and Sociability 43: This seems the situation in the expression Come in, Berlin, which simply means ‘pay attention’; where Berlin is chosen not merely for its distance but mainly for its rhyme.

come in (like Flynn) (v.)

(Aus.) to ‘fall for’, to ‘swallow’ a story.

1975		J. O’Grady Gone Gougin’ 70: Knowing I had been ‘got at’, knowing that I had ‘come in hook, line and sinker’, and delighting in the knowledge .
1993		Smith & Noble Neddy (1998) 226: I told him I’d seen the doctor that morning and I had cancer. Well, Abo came in like Flynn – he even got upset over it.

come-love tea (n.) [the phr. come, love seen as a mild suggestion]

(Aus.) weak tea.

1872		Sydney Morn. Herald 22 May 4/5: He will never inquire whether the lace veil or the gold brooch has been saved by economy in ribbons and gowns, or whether it has been obtained by superior management of the table in giving Irish stew and come-love-tea.
1945		Baker Aus. Lang.

come over the wall (v.) (also come crooked)

(UK und.) euph. used to explain that a given item has been stolen or come by illegally.

1935

Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks n.p.: Come over the wall (or crooked): Anything stolen.

come short home (v.)

to be imprisoned.

1611

Letter n.p.: Our ’prentices were very unruly on Shrove-Tuesday, and pulled down a house or two of good fellowship, in which service two or three of them came short home [N].

come-to-bed eyes (n.)

eyes (of either sex) that convey infinite, if not always delivered, sexual promise.

[1922		Joyce Ulysses 411: And says the one: I seen you up Faithful place with your squarepusher, the greaser off the railway, in his cometobed hat].
1948		Tomorrow 8 22: ‘Why, you remember we fell in love in the park recently?’ I asked, taking hold of her hands and looking into her velvety come-to-bed eyes.
1963		R. West Vassall Affair 9: [of a man] A number of men have told me [...] that I have ‘come to bed’ eyes.
1973		(con. mid-1960s) J. Patrick Glasgow Gang Observed 78: Big Sheila stepped oot an’ in a dead sexy voice said tae him: ‘You’ve goat lovely come-tae-bed eyes’.
1998		I. Welsh Filth 73: She’s got those come-to-bed-Bruce-Robertson eyes on.

come together (v.)

(US black) to dress in high fashion.

1971

H.E. Roberts Third Ear n.p.: come together v. to dress stylishly; e.g. She stone came together.

come-to-heaven collar (n.) [the wings of the collar presumably resemble those of an angel]

(US) a wing collar.

1925

S. Lewis Arrowsmith 82: Never thought I’d have to live up to a man with a dress-suit and a come-to-Heaven collar.

come to light (v.)

(Aus.) to produce, to deliver, esp. money.

1918		Aussie (France) VII Sept. 7/1: If you were stiff, you could be sure that he would come to light – when he had the necessary. But this latter seldom lasted more than forty-eight hours after the ghost had walked.
1951		D. Stivens Jimmy Brockett 87: With three days to go to the big match, the old nut come to light again.
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 30/1: come to light with to supply; eg ‘She came to light with a plate of sausage rolls just when we were about to ring out for a pizza.’.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988].

come-too-soon (n.) [? too soon for the parents to get married]

(US) an illegitimate child.

1940–1		Cassidy WI Atlas in DARE I (1985) 738: Come-too-soon — a child born out of wedlock.
1968–70		in DARE.

[horse-racing imagery, for the jockey to weigh in] come to scale (v.)

to come up to an acceptable standard.

1861

Hills & Plains I 28: Flora was greatly amused [...] and had many debates with herself as to which [i.e. suitor] would ‘come to scale’.

come to the heath (v.) [? pun on tip n.²/Tiptree Heath, in Essex]

to pay out or give money.

1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang. in McLachlan (1964) 233: come to the heath: a phrase signifying to pay or give money, and synonymous with Tipping, from which word it takes its rise, there being a place called Tiptree Heath, I believe, in the County of Essex.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

come to the wrong shop (v.)

see under shop n.¹

come unglued (v.)

see under unglued adj.

come unscrewed (v.)

see under screw v.

come with it (v.)

1. (US black/prison) to dare someone to do something.

1992

Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 49: Come with It Daring someone to do something.

2. (US campus) to try one’s hardest.

1998

Eble Campus Sl. Nov. 2: come with it – give one’s best effort. [...] ‘The Maryland basketball players had better come with it if they expect to win.’.

In exclamations

come on the green!

see step out on the green! under step out v.

come v.1

In phrases

SE in slang uses

In compounds

In phrases

In exclamations

come v.¹