barrikin, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

barrikin n.

[Fr. baragouin, an incomprehensible or alien language, itself f. Breton bara, bread + gwîn, wine or gwenn, white, referring to the astonishment of Breton soldiers at the sight of white bread (Roulin in Littré Supp.) and thus transferred to describe bizarre, unintelligible speech]

1. (also barrakin) unintelligible language.

1851		Mayhew London Labour cited in Dublin Mag. June 509: There’s nothing o’ that sort among us; the rich has all that barrikin to themselves.
1859		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. 3: Barrikin jargon, speech, or discourse; ‘We can’t tumble to that barrikin,’ we can’t understand what he says. Miege calls it ‘a sort of stuff’.
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor I 15/1: We can’t tumble to that barrikin.
1867		Berks. Chron. 7 Dec. 7/1: The Language of Costers. We’ve a slang, sir, and it is only know to ourselves. It puzzles the Irish and bothers the Jews [...] ‘tumble to your barrikin’.
1873		Sl. Dict.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 6: Barrikin, coarse language, used by roughs in applauding their party in a contest.
1900–10		Stephens & O’Brien Materials for a Dict. of Aus. Sl. [unpub. ms.].
1973		(ref. to 1890s) ‘Gloss. of Larrikin Terms’ in J. Murray Larrikins 201: barrikin: coarse language used in support of your own side.

2. a hawker’s sales patter; used as a nickname in cit. 1859.

1859

G.A. Sala Gaslight and Daylight 31: Joe Barrikin, of the New Cut, who sells us our cauliflowers.

3. chatter.

1881		Newcastle Courant 9 Sept. 6/5: Some high barrikin passed between them.
a.1909		press cutting in J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 20/2: Let ’em say what they like, and howl themselves dotty. Their barrikin only makes ’em thirsty and when they’ve got hot coppers through chucking the barrikin out too blooming strong, they go in for a little quiet booze themselves, make no error.