Green’s Dictionary of Slang

see galloping dandruff under galloping adj.

one who is easily annoyed, unable to take a joke.

1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang. in McLachlan (1964) 231: carry the keg a man who is easily vexed or put out of humour by any joke passed upon him, and cannot conceal his chagrin, is said to carry the keg, or is compared to a walking distiller.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

one who poses as something but lacks the expertise to back the image; also attrib.

1822		Egan Life and Adventures of Samuel Hayward 69: As an ‘Actor of all Work’ on the great theatre of the world [...] his ambition prompted him to attain something more than the character of a walking gentleman.
1827		W. Clarke Every Night Book 75: The walking gentlemen, to run away with rich wards.
1831		Satirist (London) 27 Nov. 266/3: The lines most difficult to fill up in a theatre, says C. Kemble, are juvenile tragedy and walking gentlemen.
1842		W.H. Maxwell Rambling Recollections of a Soldier of Fortune 219: A number of meritorious soldiers like myself were permitted to exchange the sword for the plough-share, and become members of that respectable portion of the Connaught community, usually designated ‘walking gentlemen.’.
1844		John Bull 22 June 392/2: The merest commonplaces of modern plays and novels [...] a toad-eating captain [...] a couple of ‘walking gentlemen’.
1850		Life in Boston & N.Y. (Boston, MA) 27 Apr. n.p.: The lover or ‘walking gentleman’ [...] who dresses faultlessly, defies his grouty old uncle, makes love gracefully [etc].
1882		Bristol Magpie 14 Sept. 3/2: For me no ‘walking gent,’ forsooth.
1887		Bulletin (Sydney) 22 Oct. 14/3: Apparently the [Shearers’] union is beginning to suffer from the ‘walking gentleman’ sorrow, also from too little practice and too much theory.
1894		Mirror of Life 10 Feb. 11/4: sententious old lady: ‘And what part do you play in the great drama of life?’ Ragsley: ‘Walkin’ gentleman’.

(UK Und.) an unmarried female beggar, often accompanied by a child, who claimed to be widowed and begged for her and her offspring’s keep.

c.1566		Harman Caveat for Common Cursetours in Viles & Furnivall (1907) 67: These walkinge Mortes bee not maryed: these for their vn-happye yeares doth go as a Autem Morte, and wyll saye their husbandes died eyther at Newhauen, Ireland, or in some seruice of the Prince. [...] Manye of these hath hadde and haue chyldren.
1592		H. Chettle Kind-Harts Dreame H1: About Hampshire there wandered a walking Mort, that went about the Countrey [...] and would sing sometime to serue the turne.
1608		Dekker The Belman of London D4: TheWalking Mort sayes shee is a widow, whofe husband dyed either in the Portugal voyage, was slayne in Ireland, or the Low Countries, or come to his ende by fome other mis-fortune, leauing her so many small infants on her hand in debt, whome not being able by her honest labour to maintaine, she is compelled to begge.
1641		R. Brome Jovial Crew II i: See, in their rags, then, dauncing for your sports, / Our Clapper Dugeons and their walking Morts.
1669		W. Winstanley New Help To Discourse 136: Walking Morts, are such as pretend themselves Widdows, travelling about from County to County, making laces upon staves, Beggars tape, or the like, they are subtil Queans, hard hearted, light finger’d, cunning in dissembling, and dangerous to meet, if any Ruffler or Rogue be in their company.
1834		(con. 1737–9) W.H. Ainsworth Rookwood (1857) 163: Morts, autem morts, walking morts [...] with all the shades and grades of the Canting Crew, were assembled.
1861		(con. 15C) C. Reade Cloister and Hearth (1864) II 33: Come with me to the ‘rotboss’ there, and I’ll show thee all our folk and their lays [...] ‘Rufflers,’ ‘whipjalks,’ [sic] ‘dommerars,’ ‘glymmerars,’ ‘jarkmen,’ ‘patricos,’ ‘swadders,’ ‘autem morts,’ and ‘walking morts.’.

a rural thief who steals fowls, then hawks them from door to door.

c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions n.p.: Walking Poulterer, one who steals fowls & Hawks them from door to door.
1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn).
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

a hawker of pamphlets, gallows confessions, popular songs and similar materials.

c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions n.p.: Walking Stationer, a Hawsker of Pamphlets.
1788		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd edn).
1790		J. Freeth ‘Whipcord, or the Walking Stationers’ Political Songster 88: Reuben and Moses, two poor walking stationers.
1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (3rd edn).
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1816		Liverpool Mercury 1 Nov. 7/3: Mr. J. Clarke, formerly [...] walking stationer, copperplate printer [...] but now, alas! [...] printer’s devil!
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1856		Grantham Jrnl 23 Feb. 4/5: Elizabeth Brown applied for an order in bastardy on Wm. D. Jenning,a ‘walking stationer’.
1863		London Standard 29 Sept. 4/5: The curious poet, David Love, or ‘the walking stationer,’ could not visit the mighty goose fair of Nottingham without [etc.].
1879		Sheffield Dly Teleg. 7 Oct. 8/1: I saw a veritable walking stationer’s shop going from door to door vending his wares.
1886		Notts. Guardian 27 Aug. 11/5: ‘Jacky Turner,’ the walking stationer [...] had no difficulty in selling his papers.

(W.I.) a local train.

1921

H.A. Franck Roaming through the W.I. 414: in the island dialect a local train is a ‘walkin’ train’, and all Jamaican trains fall into this category .

(S.Afr. prison) a warder.

1963

L.F. Freed Crime in S. Afr. 106: A ‘walking tree’ is a prison warder.

(US) anyone who, despite substantial problems in their life, is still able to function.

1998

D. Hecht Skull Session 280: Their parents and brothers and sisters are walking wounded, there’s a hole in their lives.

a general excl. of surprise, excitement, alarm etc.

1923

J. Manchon Le Slang.