Green’s Dictionary of Slang

the penis.

1904

Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

1. the penis.

1653		Urquhart (trans.) Gargantua and Pantagruel (1927) I Bk I 44: One of them would call it her pillicock, her fiddle-diddle, her staff of love, her tickle-gizzard, her gentle-titler.
1896		Farmer Vocabula Amatoria (1966) 188: Misère, f. the penis; ‘the tickle-gizzard.’.

2. a sword.

1827

W. Maginn Whitehall 254: ‘Come out,’ said he, ‘tickle- gizzard,’ drawing his cut-and-thrust, ‘come out, my old joker’.

1. a drunkard.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Tickle-pitcher, a Toss-pot, or Pot-companion.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1757		Foote Author (1811) 279/1: Now, this is our dispute, whether poor little Dicky (he’s a sweet boy) shall go to Mr. Quse-Genius's at Edgware, [...] or to Dr. Tickle-pitcher’s at Barnet.
1775		N. Bailey New Universal Etymological Eng. Dict. n.p.: TICKLE Pitcher, a Tosspot, or Pot- companion. A lewd Man or Woman.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1834		‘Jack Downing’ Andrew Jackson 189: The hoss raisin, and gamblin, and duellin, and tickle-pitchers; and those who think independence tu consist in an obstinate and hedstrong self-will.
1848		D.O. Madden Revelations of Ireland 116: Go rinse your mouth in the Liffey, you nasty tickle-pitcher.

2. a promiscuous person of either sex [pitcher n.¹ (1)].

1725		New Canting Dict. n.p.: tickle-pitcher [...] A lewd Man or Woman.
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. 1725].
1775		see sense 1.
1790		[book title] The Cabinet of Fancy or Bon Ton of the day; A Whimsical, Comical, Friendly, Agreeable Composition [...] writte [sic] and compiled by Timothy Tickle-Pitcher.

3. a sword.

1773

H. Kelly School for Wives I:iii: As this is a challenge, I shouldn't go without a sword; comedown, little tickle-pitcher. (Takes a sword).

the penis.

2021

Twitter 10 Nov. 🌐 [W]e never used to get guys at the door with their tickle tackle in hand, waving it over the doormat.

a parson.

1676		Behn Town Fop I v: Lord. Look ye here, Frank; Is this a Lady to be dislik’d? Come hither, _Frank Trusty, haste for Dr. Tickletext, my Chaplain's not in Town; I’ll have them instantly married.
1679		Behn Feign’d Curtizans 5: [He] was sent abroad under the Government of one Mr. Tickletext, his zealous Father’s Chaplain, as errant a blockhead as a man wou’d wish to hear preach.
1709		in J. Lenton (ed.) Pills to Purge Melancholy IV 303: She’s as Vitious as Fair, / And has more Business there, / Than to hear Mr. Tickle-text’s prating.
1732		Gwinnett & Thomas Honourable Lovers 230: It was said, pretty pretty Miss Collier [...] was fallen in Love with Doctor Moss of Gray’s-Inn, for his Preaching. Well, I warrant this Woman thinks to find something more than Man in this eloquent Tickle-Text.
1741		Scots Mag. 5 June 37/2: The second sort [...] under the name of Tickle-Texts, are a numerous family. Tom Tickle-Text is a man [...] more ready at words than ideas.
1765		Foote Commissary in Works (1799) II 39: I have sent to Dr Tickletext, and the business [i.e. a wedding] will be done in the parlour below.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

the vagina.

1890–1904

Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

1. the vagina.

1680		M. Stevenson Wits Paraphras’d 29: So well you tickled up my Toby, / I never cou’d endure this Looby.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

2. a sword.

1837		R. Barham ‘Grey Dolphin’ in Bentley’s Misc. Apr. 349: King Arthur’s was christened Excalibar; the Baron called his Tickletoby.
1893		Hants. Advertiser 11 Mar. 7/5: ‘Hand me down my “tickle-toby”,’ he cried [...] meaning the rusty but trusty weapon which hung over the mantlepiece.
1926		Hull Dly Mail 14 June 9/2: ‘Mr Bisley’ then made one or two attempts to get the point of this ‘Tickle-Toby’ into the cake.

3. the penis.

1890–1904

Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

4. a promiscuous woman.

1719		in D’Urfey Pills to Purge Melancholy II 242: [title] A satyr Sung in Parts: Being the Widow Tickle-Toby’s Model to the Common Councel and Livery-men of London.
1848		Paul Pry 27 Nov. n.p.: Why the pretty bar-maid, alias Miss Tickletoby, of the ‘Sun Tavern,’ Gray's-inn-road, is so vain of her charms?
1902		Sporting Times 6 Dec. 4/3: The original ‘Tickle Toby’ was an elderly spinster [...] who kept a select seminary for young ladies in or near Maidenhead, Berks.

5. a rod or birch.

1854		Delhi Sketch Bk 1 June 72/2: Oh Toby, who first put in pickle, / This rod (if report sayeth true,) / Our unfortunate tobies to tickle, / Would we could just try one on you!
1862		Birmingham Dly Post 30 Dec. 3/2: The youngsters come [...] to the great school room; the desks are removed [...] and the books, and the slates, and even great ‘tickle-toby’ are laid by.
c.1864		‘The Boarding School’ in Rakish Rhymer (1917) 50: Miss Tickletoby kept a school.
1881		‘New Year’s Day’ in Pearl Christmas Annual 66: ‘I know where Tickle Toby is kept,’ I said, getting the rod out.

6. (US) used as excl.

1844

Polynesian (Honolulu, HI) 21 Dec. 1/1: ‘Tickletoby!’ said he rumpling his hair into heroic expansiveness’.

(US teen) to call on the telephone.

1943

N. Pepper in Indianapolis Star 12 Dec. pt 4 22/6: Tickle My Ear — Call me up.

(US) to take a drink.

1885

N.Y. Mercury 16 Jan. in Ware (1909) 245/2: Thankee, mister ; that war well thought of. It’s Sunday ; but come, let’s steer for a side door, and tickle our innards, ye know.

to masturbate.

2003

Number One Adult Sexual Health Terms Advisor 🌐 Masturbation Slang Male Terms: [...] tickle your pickle.

(Aus. Und.) to inflict a judicial lashingl thus n. tickle, a cat o’ nine tails.

1829		Australian (Sydney) 12 May 4/1: The boatswain’s mate stood ready with ‘the tickle’ called cat-o’-nine-tails.
1850		Newry Examiner 18 Sept. 3/6: 🎵 May you tickle his back and the beard on his jaw, / As you done with the hangman, Hyene Hayneau.
[1859		Wkly Varieties (Boston, MA) 3 Sept. 3/4: Deserving of the Lash [...] Let him be tickled with the lash].
1890		Bulletin (Sydney) 6 Sept. 24/1: You had better go back at once without punishment, than return with your back tickled.
1933		Worker (Brisbane) 20 Sept. 9/3: The convict had his back tickled with the lash.

to flatter, to charm.

1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 13 Jan. 20/2: The man who supplies cable news to Australia feels bound to earn his salary by tickling the long ears of the Australian ass.
1989		Odessa American 9TX) 10 Dec. 43/1: The devil [...] has been calling God a liar thorugh people such as pro-choicers, women’s libbers [...] and even preachers who have anted to tickle someone’s ear.
1999		Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, KY) 15 May 24/3: Lots of people are just wandering around [...] looking for someone to tickle their ears with what they want to hear.

to give sexual pleasure, to satisify a particular sexual whim.

1714		N. Ward Miseries of Whoring 156: There’s something to be done, / A good Horn-Cap, or else a butter’d Bun, / Against her Master’s coming home at Night: This tickles Betty’s Fancy with Delight.
1779		Nocturnal Revels 2 193: Mrs Johnson [...] knew to a tittle how to tickle his Lordship’s fancy [...] and it was for some time before Lord Fumble could find an Abbess, who could his his fancies and caprices like Mother Johnson.
1787		‘Hush Cat from under the Table’ in Wardroper (1995) 171: A girl in full bloom, her name was Nancy. / I pleased her so well that ere long she did swell, / For I was a lad who could tickle her fancy.
1835		‘The Randy Young Maid’ in Knowing Chaunter 30: She bought dildoes – of each sort and size; / But, though they did tickle her fancy, ’tis true, / For the genuine substance she sighs.

to masturbate a woman, usu. performed by someone else.

1920s		in E. Cray Erotic Muse (1992) 381: Oh, mother, oh, mother, he’s teasin’ me; / He’s tickling the hole I use to pee.
a.1959		in E. Cray Erotic Muse (1992) 7: Chorus: Roly, poly, tickle my hole-y, / Smell of my slimy slough. / Then drag your nuts across my guts, / I’m one of the whorey crew.

(Aus.) to stab.

1885

Bulletin (Sydney) 31 Jan. 7/1: About 6 o’clock in the evening, Freysse waited for Garo. (etc.) in the passage, and did his utmost to tickle his liver with a couteau de chasse.

to thrash, to beat.

1811

J. Poole Hamlet Travestie III i: Now, England, if you car’st for us a button, Thou’ll sweetly tickle this young jockey’s mutton. [Ibid.] Annotations 96: To tickle one’s mutton is a popular expression; and it means, to punish by flagellation.

see tickle someone’s ribs under rib n.¹

to thrash, to beat.

1682		T. Shadwell Lancashire Witches Act IV: I am resolved to marry her to Morrow, and be revenged on her; if she serves me so then, I will tickle her Toby for her, faith I will.
1801		C. Dibdin Yngr Song Smith 106: Our foes they may brag, but a fig for their boast, / We’ll tickle their tobies from pillar to post.
c.1850		Peeping Tom (London) 14 54/2: While with a rod of myrtle she / Severely tickled Cupid’s toby.
1860		Islington Gaz. 14 Apr. 3/1: Uttering one of his peculiar cries, ‘Tickle me Toby, and I’ll tickle you,’ [he] leaped into the arena.

to play the piano.

1902		Guilelmensian (Williams Coll.) 289: One day Harold thought it would be a Good Move to tickle the Ivories at Ally’s, because his High Rolling room-mate did.
1914		Indep. Confectioner 23 147: Harry Kerst does not look like the father of a musical prodigy. Such, however, is the case, as his son can ‘tickle the ivories’ in a manner to cause wonderment.
1923		Cork Examiner 25 Apr. 4/5: The statement published from New York [...] serves to prove that ‘tickling the ivories’ is a paying job.
1923		Derby Dly Telg. 13 Jan. 5/5: ‘Tickle the Ivories’ fox-trot, one of the most successful numbers of the evening. in which the drummer and pianiste [...] were the only performers.
1926		Wood & Goddard Dict. Amer. Sl. 4: bang the ivories. Play the piano.
1929		L. Thomas Woodfill of the Regulars 74: He [...] was still livin’ in the Klondike ticklin’ the ivories.
1932		Inter-State Tatler 7 Jan. 8: That’s where Earl Hines tickled ivories.
1936		J.T. Farrell World I Never Made 104: ‘Say, how about tickling a few keys for us,’ Mort said, pointing to the piano.
1937		Andy Boy ‘House Raid Blues’ 🎵 I was playin’ the blues, about down in Liverpool, / Just whippin’ that ivory, boys, like a fool.
1937		Tampa Red ‘You Gotta Learn to Do It’ 🎵 That’s old black Bob ticklin’ the ivories there.
1942		‘Marienne’ ‘Solid Meddlin’’ in People’s Voice (NY) 16 May 25/3: Garland Wilson, rushing back uptown [...] to tickle the ivories with Eddie Steele.
1968		I. Reed Free-Lance Pallbearers 9: Dat Sammy sure can [...] tickle da ivory.
1986		L. Heinemann Paco’s Story (1987) 106: The pianist [...] sits behind an ebony baby grand in a black suit and frayed clip-on bow tie [...] ‘tickling the ivories.’.
1996		M. Peppiatt Francis Bacon 171: He was obliged to ‘tinkle the ivories’ [...] in order to eke out an existence.
1999		Indep. on Sun. Culture 26 Sept. 5: Tickling the ivories with the very lightest of touches.
2002		R.G. Barrett Mystery Bay Blues 65: See how you like tickling the ivories with a broken neck.
2015		L. McInerney Glorious Heresies 128: ‘I never learned to tickle the ivories. There’s no art in me’.

to play the lute or fiddle.

1601

Marston Jacke Drums Entertainment Act I: The wenches, ha, when I was a young man and could tickle the Minikin, and made them crie thankes sweete Timothy, I had the best stroke, the sweetest touch, but now (I may sigh to say it) I am falne from the Fidle.

(mainly Aus./N.Z.) to rob a safe, till or cashbox.

1912		Truth (Perth) 19 Oct. 4/6: We can’t understand why the poets are prone / To indulge in melodious metre, / When ’tis said in the House, when in want of a loan, / The Ministers tickle the ‘peter’.
1912		Sun (Kalgoorlie, WA) 21 July 9/3: Now, under the proposed ‘bonus for babies’ his grief would have been turned into rejoicing, the strain on the family exchequer relieved for the time being, and the necessity for tickling the peter removed by the operation of a humane maternity provision.
1929		Call News-Pictorial (Perth) 1 Mar. 2/1: When he got short of beer money, she said, he used to pinch it from the till - ‘tickling the Peter,’ as they say.
1938		Mirror (Perth) 19 Mar. 13/5: Marsh was alleged to have said, that Clarence Richard Kyrwood, manager of the butchers where he had been employed, was ‘tickling the Peter’.
1950		F.J. Hardy Power Without Glory 23: West was quite sure that Mick O’Connell and Piggy were ‘tickling the peter’ : he suspected they were failing to record and settle for some losing bets.
1955		N. Pulliam I Travelled a Lonely Land (1957) 240/2: tickle a peter – rob a cash register.
1965		F.J. Hardy Yarns of Billy Borker 59: More blokes gone bankrupt and more bank clerks tickled the peter through following systems, and listening to tips, than you could poke a stick at.
1978		V.G. O’Sullivan Boy, The Bridge, The River 97: The old case of tickling the peter.
1986		R. Beckett Dinkum Aussie Dict. 52: Tickle the Peter; Someone who tickles the Peter is a minor thief. The English equivalent is a ‘poor box John.’.
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 113/1: tickle to steal or rob, often in phr. to tickle the peter, to rob the till; NZ c.1932, Australia later.
1990		Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Tickle the peter. To embezzle small amounts over a period of time.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988].

(US) to please or amuse someone.

1962		J. Quirk No Red Ribbons (1968) 282: By God, this tickles the livin’ shit out of me!
1985		G. Tate ‘Atomic Dog’ in Flyboy in the Buttermilk (1992) 32: Man, that tickled the shit out of me.
2000		Scully ‘Paralegal job placement’ posting 21 Apr. at HolySmoke.org 🌐 One thing which should tickle the shit out of you, the insurance companies have decided that they will no longer pay attorney rates for work which can be done by paralegals, so paralegals are now worth their weight in gold. Who woulda thought that working cheaper would turn out to be a GOOD thing?