Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. pleasant, admirable, well-dressed [such clothes are ‘delicious’, but note SE tasteful].

1788		J. O’Keeffe Farmer 23: I shall be so tasty this Summer; round my neck a charming thick Barcelona Handkerchief, [etc.].
1795		Sporting Mag. Sept. VI 335/1: Behold his dashing son, and tasty wife, / And view his no less tasty daughter’s life: / Eager they follow every silly mode.
1821		Egan Life in London (1869) 180: [This] rendered Primefit the ‘go’ for a tasty cut, best materials, and first-rate workmanship.
1842		Whip & Satirist of NY & Brooklyn (NY) 25 June n.p.: One of them sports a very tasty pair of whiskers [...] the other has what is termed a ‘goat’ or whiskers under the chin.
1850		Manchester Spy (NH) 5 Oct. n.p.: They wear a neat and tasty uniform.
1853		G.J. Whyte-Melville Digby Grand (1890) 291: Welcomed as ‘our best customer,’ ‘the tastiest dresser in the West End.’.
1879		C.J. Kickham Knocknagow 201: ‘She has all the latest fashions, miss,’ said Nelly, ‘after coming from Dublin. But she was always tasty.’.
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 18 Apr. 16/1: Miss Harriet Hodge, who was a most indefatigable little dancer, looked nice in pink and cream; [...] and a fair young lady and a cream veiling skirt with ruby velvet bodice was tasty.
1886		Sporting Times 27 Feb. 5/4: Shifter was calling cabs outside the pavillion in a tasty uniform.
1890		Dead Bird (Sydney) 11 Oct. 2/4: A tasty shirt of many stripes.
1899		T.W.H. Crosland ‘The Bold Militiaman’ in Absent-Minded Mule and Verses 14: Fine fellows for parade, / Done up in tasty tunics / An’ sashes an’ gold braid, / An’ loved by all the slaveys, / An’ cough-drops at their trade.
1907		Sun. Times (Perth) 20 Jan. 1/1: A tasty typewriter with a coaxing wink.
1908		H. Green Maison De Shine 142: Gimme one o’ the red ties, ’long with the collars. They’re real tasty, an’ red’s my favorite shade.
1910		Sun. Times (Perth) 13 Mar. 2nd sect. 9/1: They Say [...] That a pair of tastily-designed swimming trunks will be included in the souvenirs.
1918		K.F. Purdon Dinny on the Doorstep 76: Sure, how could you but like it! [...] It’s that nate and tasty!
1922		Joyce Ulysses 151: Shabby genteel. She used to be a tasty dresser.
1938		D. Runyon ‘The Brakeman’s Daughter’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 499: Along comes a very tasty-looking young doll.
1940		R. Service ‘Bessie’s Boil’ in Bar Room Ballads (1978) 675: So Misses goes off togged up tasty.
1958		(con. 1940s) B. Behan Borstal Boy 337: You got to go out a bit tasty.
1968		‘Hy Lit’ Hy Lit’s Unbelievable Dict. of Hip Words 39: tasty – Approval; you are being agreeable about something you dig.
1974		‘P.B. Yuill’ Hazell Plays Solomon (1976) 19: Very tasty [...] I’m glad I left the dirty raincoat at home.
2010		L. Berney Gutshot Straight [ebook] A très tasty silk dress the same shade as her eyes.

2. sexually alluring, attractive; of an object, salacious; also used adverbially (see cit. 1989).

1891		Sporting Times 3 Jan. 1/3: She was tasty enough to make any heart burst.
1895		‘’Arry and the [...] Lady Cyclists’ in Punch 15 June 285/3: One tasty young thing wos in tears.
1896		Tresor & LeBrunn [perf. Marie Lloyd] Among My Knick-knacks 🎵 Every picture that I find / Of a rather tasty kind / I put it in my drawer among my knick-knacks.
1904		Sun. Times (Perth) 31 Jan. 1/1: The tasty rag-tackers mashed two master mariners.
1905		‘Doss Chiderdoss’ ‘A Polyglot Policeman’ Sporting Times 1 Apr. 1/4: There’s the parlour-maid at number six, a tasty joint from France.
1910		Sun. Times (Perth) 12 June 2nd sect. 9/1: They Say [...] That the bio man threatens to show no more tasty-tart films [...] That private views of Parisian hot stuff happenings won’t even be seen through smoked glasses.
1945		(con. 1923) R. Westerby Mad in Pursuit 50: H’m, he’s going to be quite tasty in a couple of years.
1958		F. Norman in Sun. Graphic 20 July in Norman’s London (1969) 18: It is generally thought that the young birds are very tasty indeed!
1962		R. Cook Crust on its Uppers 34: She wasn’t looking a bit tasty.
1977		S. Berkoff East in Decadence and Other Plays (1985) 57: Tasty verily.
1980		T. McClenaghan Submariners I iii: He’s a tasty bit of skin, eh, sir?
1980		T. Lewis GBH 145: ‘I’d have to be blind not to realise how tasty she was’ .
1986		Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 10: tasty babe – someone with extremely good looks, either male or female.
1989		M. Amis London Fields 93: Half the time she’s coming on dead tasty. And I mean sorely in need of it.
1996		J. Cameron It Was An Accident 93: Jesus Nicky, only the best bit of . . . ’scuse me Nicky she ain’t only the tastiest looking bird in town.
2002		J. Cameron Hell on Hoe Street 7: I got the sweetest tastiest chick in the borough.
2012		(con. 1943) G.S. Manson Coorparoo Blues [ebook] ‘What’s she look like then?’ ‘Very tasty’.
2024		J. Meades Empty Wigs (t/s) 146: After high tea I went to find the tasty young dish.

3. of a person, smart, sharp; often as tasty geezer; or prob. criminal; thus tasty villain, a known criminal.

1910		Sun. Times (Perth) 19 June 2nd sect. 10/3: He fought a hot 10 rounds with Jimmy Walsh, a ‘tasty’ Bostonian.
1937		T. Thursday ‘Little Boy Blooey’ in Ten Story Sports July 🌐 A guy laboring under the tasty title of Ape Anderson, the champ of the state.
1974		‘P.B. Yuill’ Hazell Plays Solomon (1976) 24: Some of the tastiest villains in London had promised faithfully that I’d wake up with my knees nailed to the floor.
1998		M. Newall ‘Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knyght’ in Indep. Weekend Rev. 26 Dec. 1: With many tasty geezerez gotte up in good geare.
2005		(con. 1960s) Guardian Weekend 2 Apr. 23: Reggie Elms was a tasty geezer.
2007		N. ‘Razor’ Smith Raiders 236: Chucky knew his way around a gun and had been trained in unarmed combat [...] so he was a bit tasty.
2018		Times 15 Sept. 🌐 Here they come, the mythical London criminals — a little bit tasty, cheerful, forgivable, well-dressed, great with the one-liners.

4. of a thing (usu. some form of criminal plan), valuable, worthwhile.

1944		T. Thursday ‘Twin Lose or Draw’ in Popular Sports Spring 🌐 Instead of grabbing my usual seventy-five per cent, plus all expenses, which are always tasty, I merely took fifty per cent.
1980		A. Payne ‘All Mod Cons’ Minder [TV script] 3: Oh yeah, very tasty ...
1997		N. Barlay Curvy Lovebox 125: Tasty, goes Lendon thinkin’ through the balance sheet.
2001		J. Stahl Plainclothes Naked (2002) 59: ‘How much you say she’s holding?’ Tony whispered [...] Mac explained that he didn’t know for sure, but it looked like a tasty wad.
2012		F. McCarthy ‘Some Protection’ in Crime Factory: Hard Labour [ebook] The bread crumbs had been easy when Mac had run a tasty job in his old career.
2015		I. Welsh Decent Ride 35: If somebodyt offers ye a wee tickle n it looks tasty, then aye.

5. extreme, excessive.

2013

T. Black ‘Eat Shit’ in Killing Time in Las Vegas [ebook] Miami Mike carried two Buds back from the bar, he swayed a little — nights with old Eddie from the block could turn pretty tasty.