Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. in pl., breeches, trousers; a suit.

c.1786, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue .
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc.
1859		Matsell Vocabulum.
1881		Trumble Sl. Dict. (1890) 7: Articles. A suit of clothes.
1895		C. Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict 4: Articles, a suit of clothes.
1941		Baker Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. 6: articles: A suit of clothes.

2. a person, often ironically, e.g. pretty article.

1796		Sporting Mag. Dec. IX 124/1: What a splash I shall make along Cheapside! what a swagger I shall cut at Lloyd’s! [...] Oh, I’m a neat article.
1821		Egan Life in London (1869) 91: The ‘Neat Article,’ remarked for being a good time-ist in calling upon a very slight acquaintance at the juncture of meal-times.
1827		Egan Anecdotes of the Turf, the Chase etc. 179: [of a woman] Vat a nice article! Vat a prime piece!
1836		T. Haliburton Clockmaker I 270: Then comes a Doctor, and a prime article he is too.
1843–44		Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1995) 426: You’re a nice article, to turn sulky on first coming home!
1850		J.C. Neal Pic-nic Sketches 128: A husband is a very convenient article to have about the place.
1855		Bell’s Life in Sydney 14 Apr. 3/2: The lady, a very good-looking article.
1859		Matsell Vocabulum 9: Article, Man. ‘You’re a pretty article.’ A term of contempt.
1866		J. Greenwood Little Ragamuffin 166: She paused [...] to exclaim, sneeringly — ‘You’re a nice article to read prayers to!’.
1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.
1888		J. Runciman Chequers 2: A flashy article.
1899		Ade Fables in Sl. (1902) 43: Hundreds of people were Rubbering at her, and remarking in Choked Whispers, ‘Say, ain’t she the Smooth Article?’.
1903		Bulletin (Sydney) 9 July 36/2: Yer might have bought clobber fer that big gaol-bird that yer used ter be breakin’ yer neck after, in Elizabeth-street, but y’ never gave me any. A pretty article she was ter spend yer silver on, I must say!
1909		S. Ford Honk, Honk! 10: Less gray matter underneath his skull, than any two-legged article of his size I ever saw outside a cage.
1915		S. Ford Shorty McCabe on the Job 4: I might have known such crude stuff wouldn’t get under the hide of a polished article like J. Bayard.
1922		T.E. Spencer ‘A Christmas Jamberoo’ in Budgeree Ballads 128: You’re a pretty article, to get in such disgrace.
1929		‘Ellery Queen’ Roman Hat Mystery 165: Field was a really slick article.
1943		‘Myles na gCopaleen’ Faustus Kelly in ‘Flann O’Brien’ Stories & Plays (1973) 120: And the lady was no better. A very bold article, I believe, with a man’s breeches on her.
1950		S. Murphy Stone Mad (1966) 40: Isn’t the boss a queer man to put up with that daft article?
1959		A. Wesker Roots III i: He’s a queer article then.
1969		P. Boyle All Looks Yellow to the Jaundiced Eye 25: ‘Did you hear that?’ said Molly. ‘Isn’t she the bad-minded article?’.
1989		H. Leonard Out After Dark 160: You’d be a nice article to take to a foreign country.
1995		A. Higgins Donkey’s Years 28: Only ‘consequential little articles’ put on airs.

3. in pl., a brace of pistols.

1823

‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc.

4. a woman.

1811		Lex. Balatronicum n.p.: Article. A wench. A prime article. A handsome girl. She’s a prime article.
1821		Egan Life in London (1869) 191: Some of these fancy articles [...] have been so expensive in ‘Life’ in London that even the most inexhaustible purse of a personage of very high rank was found to be insufficient.
1827		J.J. Stafford Love’s Frailties II ii: She’s a nice article for a genteel, elegant man to fall in love with!
1834		Ely’s Hawk & Buzzard (NY) 15 Mar. 2/2: Pretty fair articles pass off [...] and Jackson pullets command some attention by the old bank cocks.
1840		T. Haliburton Clockmaker III 37: A neat little article, ain’t she?
1857		Trollope Three Clerks (1869) 379: She’s the very article for such a man as Peppermint.
1876		C. Hindley Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack 257: A yokel [...] blared out, ‘I say, Master Cheap Jack, how much do you want for that article inside, eh?’ thereby meaning Ben’s wife.
1888–94		‘Walter’ My Secret Life (1966) IV 729: I was abstinent, not liking the feminine articles there.
1966		(con. 1958) R. Farina Been Down So Long (1972) 100: ‘You mean to tell me,’ lowering his voice, pulling them closer, ‘that this here’s the article?’.
2001		G. Coughlan Everyday Eng. and Sl. 🌐 Article (n): a woman, usually half in jest.

5. the vagina.

1800		Sporting Mag. Apr. XVI 8/1: The flower and orange girls might be accused of double dealing, as the article they offered for sale was not the one they meant to dispose of.
1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc. 120: Monosyllable ? (the); feminine only, and described by Nat Bailey as pudenda muliebris. Of all the thousand monosyllables in our language, this one only is designated by the definite article ? the monosyllable; therefore do some men call it ‘the article,’ ‘my article,’ and ‘her article,’ as the case may be. Certes, ‘tis neither yes nor no, (those uprights and downrights of civil life) ? but it lies something between the two when first used ? never after.
1851		Life in Boston & N.Y. (Boston, MA) 28 June n.p.: [T]heir indecent assault upon a lady of color [...] One of the party was anxious to feel of the indefinite article.
1888–94		‘Walter’ My Secret Life (1966) VI 1242: ‘Is a young girl’s cunt much different from one who’s older?’ ‘Lord! It’s the same sort of article, aren’t yer seen em?’.
1905–07		Bawdy N.Y. State MS. 3: It put its nose neath Mary’s clothes, / And smelled her little article.
1962		B. Jackson Get Your Ass in the Water (1974) 224: Mary had a little lamb for which she cared no particle, / it stuck its nose under Mary’s clothes and smelled of Mary’s article.

6. the penis.

1834		‘Taking in the News’ in Randy Songster in Spedding & Watt (eds) I 207: Then of the Atlas too she peruses every particle, / Because it’s larger then [sic] the rest, and she likes a good long article!
1842		‘Toasts And Sentiments’ in Nobby Songster 48: May we always be able to insert a long article in the Ladies mag.
1842		Wkly Rake (NY) 9 July n.p.: [a toast] ‘The Editors of the Flash and the Rake — friends to the ladies — may they always be able to furnish and insert good long articles to the gratification of their female patrons’’.
c.1850		Peeping Tom (London) 18 72/3: Lucy is angry at our not inserting her article. We have only to remark that she would refuse to insert an article herself if she found it so threadbare and damaged.
1880		‘My Grandmother’s Tale’ in Pearl 11 May 19: Then holding her hips, he worked his article rapidly in and out.

7. (Irish/UK/US) a creature.

1841		Sporting Mag. Nov. 8: Remnant [i.e. a racehorse] has proved a good useful article to Mr Goodman.
1843		T. Haliburton Sam Slick in England I 41: A smart little hoss that [...] he looks like a first chop article that.
1929		W.D. Edmonds Rome Haul 232: Not so slick an article. But good. All my horses are.
1942		E. Cross Tailor and Ansty 46: I tell you, cats are the queer articles. You never know where you are with them.

8. in pl., the genitals.

1888–94

‘Walter’ My Secret Life (1966) I 74: Then there was lip kissing, cunt kissing, feeling and looking, tickling and rubbing each other’s articles.