Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(UK Und.) an undertaker.

1859		Matsell Vocabulum 50: land-broker An undertaker. ‘The cove buys land for stiff uns,’ the man purchases land for dead people.
1882		Dly Dispatch (Richmond, VA) 1 Nov. 3/3: A ‘land-broker’ or ‘death-hunter’ is an undertaker.

a prostitute.

1604		Shakespeare Othello I ii: Faith, he to-night hath boarded a land carrack; If it prove lawful prize, he’s made forever.
1629		W. Davenant Albovine III i: grim: Well, gentlemen, I must be furnished too. cuny: With a mistress? grim: Yes, enquire me out some old land-carack.

(US) a prostitute.

1834

Ely’s Hawk & Buzzard (NY) Sept. 6 n.p.: The first time Bob ever cruised after a land frigate, he was in my company.

a criminal vagabond, subsisting on pilfering and often disguised with fake sores and similar blandishments.

c.1367–86		Langland Piers Plowman (B) XV line 214: For he nys noght in lolleris ne in londleperes heremytes.
1578		H. Lyte (trans.) R. Dodoens Historie of Plantes 348: Land-leapers, rogues, and ignorant asses [F&H].
c.1580		Polwart Invectiues Capitane Allexander Montgomeree and Pollvart in Parkinson (Poems) (2000) IX line 31: Land lowper, licht scoipper, raggit rowpper lyk a revin, Halland shaiker, drawcht raiker, bannock baiker beshitten.
1586		T. Newton Tryall of a Man’s owne Selfe 113: Whether he have suffered Palmesters, [...] Vacabundes, Landleapers, and suche like, Cozening makeshifts, to practice their cogging trickes, and rogish trades.
1621		R. Burton Anatomy of Melancholy (1893) I 367: Let Mariners learn Astronomy; Merchants’ Factors study Arithmetick [...] Landleapers Geography.
1646		J. Howell Familiar Letters II (1737) 3 Mar. 405: I had occasion to be, as the Dutchman saith, a Landloper, and to see much of the world abroad.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Land lopers, [...] vagabonds lurking about the country, who live by pilfering.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785].
1822		(con. early 17C) W. Scott Fortunes of Nigel I 41: It is such land-loupers as you that [...] bring reproach on our whole country.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue [as cit. 1785].
1848		Bartlett Dict. Americanisms.

a wandering tramp, a vagrant.

1622		Bacon Henry VII (Spedding) vi 133: Thirdly he had been from his childhood such a wanderer or [...] landloper, as it was extreme hard to hunt out his nest and parents [F&H].
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Land-lopers or Land-lubbers [...] Vagabonds that Beg and Steal about the Country.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: land lubbers, vagabonds lurking about the country, who live by pilfering.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785].
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue [as cit. 1785].
1838		R. Nicholson Cockney Adventures 13 Jan. 86: ‘Yer land-lubber,’ said the tar, ‘what d’ye mean by pitching yer keel against my craft?’.
1848		Bartlett Dict. Americanisms.

1. a highwayman, a wandering thief, a gypsy.

1608		Dekker Lanthorne and Candle-Light Ch. 8: Moon-men [...] The Cabbines where these Land-pyrates lodge in the night, are the Out-barnes of Farmers & Husbandmen (in some poore Village or other) who dare not deny them.
1632		D. Lupton London and the Countrey Carbonadoed 36: Land-pirates use to sel that which is none of their own: heere comes many Horses (like Frenchmen) rotten in the ioynts.
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Land-pirates c. Highwaymen or any other Robbers.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1826		Westmorland Gaz. 11 Nov. 3/3: The land pirate [...] crammed [the money] into Richardson’s waistcoat pocket and they parted.
1835		London Standard 15 Sept. 3/4: [from Charleston Courier] [headline] Murel, the Great Western Land Pirate Murel is the chief organiser [...] of this lawless band.
1862		W. Middlesex Advertiser 18 Jan. 2/4: A Land Pirate. Catherine Danby, an old Irishwoman, was [...] charged with plundering various butchers’ shops.

2. in fig. use of sense 1, any form of individual who deprives others, e.g. of rights, land.

1769		Oxford Jrnl 19 Aug. 3/2: Timothy, the Redresser of Grievances, desires the Public [...] to take Care how to deal with the Noted Land Pirate that has lately incroached into the Barony of Iveragh.
1826		Westmorland Gaz. 23 Dec. 2/5: We shall not scruple to show him up as the hired advocate of [...] anything that militates against the laws of our country [...] We shall keep our eye steadily on this land pirate.
1837		Ripley Transcript (MS) 30 Nov. 2/4: Take notice, all ye [...] Corn crackers, Yankees, Flat Heads [...] Land Pirates or what not, that if anyone has squatted on my improvements [...] I will row you up salt creek.
1839		John O’Groat Jrnl 4 Jan. 4/5: The tars called the woman to them [...] ‘How much do you owe this land pirate?’ [i.e. a landlord] The woman told him the amount and Jack [...] paid the bill.

3. a thieving prostitute.

1801

C. Dibdin Yngr Song Smith 133: He is a father to us all, and when we receive our prize money, and goes into port, tells us to take care of the land pirates, the ladies, because he says as how they are too deep for us unthinking tars.

a term of abuse.

1596		Shakespeare Merchant of Venice I iii: There be land-rats and water-rats, land thieves and water thieves, – I mean pirates.
1609		Dekker Gul’s Horne-Booke 19: The Duke’s Tomb is a Sanctuary, and will keepe you aliue from wormes and land-rattess, that long to be feeding on your carkas.
1673		W. Davenant Siege IV i: I am fall’n below myself To talk to such a land-rat.
1827		Berks. Chron. 8 Dec. 3/4: Rejoice, then, ye rogues of every degree, whether land-rats or sea-rats whatever ye be.
1865		T. Archer Pauper, Thief and Convict 88: Yes, the land rats [i.e. pimps and whores] are always hungry and are always waiting for Jack.

see under shark n.

(US) a large US automobile, e.g. Licoln Continental or Imperial LeBaron, typically manufactured 1950s to mid-1970s.

2017

T. Pluck Bad Boy Boogie [ebook] The old bruiser had a suicide knob bolted to the wheel and drove the land yacht in slow, sweeping curves.

(UK Und.) a graveyard.

1859

Matsell Vocabulum.

Scotland.

1824		Pierce Egan’s Life in London 12 Dec. 366/1: A plaid woollen cap, like those with which the smacksmen from the Land o’ Cakes protect their pericraniums.
1827		Australian (Sydney) 11 July 4/2: [T]he report is current of a ‘game chicken’ — a hardy, chubby [...] Scot, ‘frae land of cakes and Johnny Groat’s’.
1830		Marryat King’s Own II 277: ‘Here’s to the Emerald Isle.’ ‘And here’s to the Land of Cakes,’ cried Stewart.
1842		Western Times (Exeter) 9 Sept. 2/6: Her Majesty’s visit to the land o’ cakes has set the natives a-dancing.
1846		Bell’s Life in Sydney 10 Oct. 3/1: A rough carrotty-headed looking gentleman, whose tongue smacked smacked strongly of the musical brogue of the Land o’ Cakes.
1846		D. Corcoran Pickings from N.O. Picayune 65: John Wilson, ‘fra the land o’ cakes’ [...] an ardent admirer of the poetry of his countryman, [Robert] Burns.
1848		Sam Sly 30 Dec. 4/1: The face of this son of the land o’ cakes is very florid, and of a remarkably soft and pleasing expression.
1856		Bell’s Life in Sydney 19 Apr. 3/2: Miles (who comes from the ‘land o’ cakes,’ and is proportionately partial to [...] cockie leekie).
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 69: A party of ‘guns’ arrived from Scotland [...] if it were not for an accident that befell their ‘wire,’ they would have stayed longer in the ‘land o’ cakes’.
1877		‘The Land o’ Cakes’ in National Songs of Scotland 6: The land o’ cakes, the land o’ cakes, / O mony a blessing on it.
1884		G.R. Sims in Referee 5 Oct. in Ware (1909) 165/2: It was my firm intention when I returned from my little Scotch tour to write glowing accounts of the scenery of ‘the land of cakes.’.
1895		‘Banjo’ Paterson ‘The Great Calamity’ in Man from Snowy River (1902) 171: Let Saxons jaw / Aboot their great concerns, / But bonny Scotland beats them a’, / ‘The land o’ cakes and Burns’.
1895		Mirror of Life 21 Sept. 10/2: Though born upon the rolling sea, the land o’ cakes can claim / His origin.
1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 108/1: Dew o’ Ben Nevis (Lond. and Min. Taverns). A fortunate name discovered by a Scotch distiller to distinguish his whiskey. [...] ‘Twa o’ bennevis’ (the ‘e’ pronounced short) is a common request, always complied with in the hard-working land o’ cakes.
1909		Aberdeen Herald (WA) 15 Mar. 8/2: Two Scotchmen [...] en route from the Land o’ Cakes.
1917		Cairns Post (Qld) 3 July 4/7: Who has not heard the men from the land o’ cakes say ‘The Real Mackay’ when anything appeals to them.
1927		Gloucester Citizen 16 July 4/2: The variety of scenery [...] will confront the newcomer to Scotland and make him wonder why he never visited the Land o’ Cakes before.
1934		Eve. Teleg. (Dundee) 27 Dec. 9/1: [advert] ‘Land o’ Cakes’ Products for New Year and Festive Tables.
1943		Eve. Teleg. (Dundee) 22 Feb. 4/1: [advert] From the Land o’ Cakes you get, also, the best Biscuits.
1950		Aberdeen Jrnl 24 Nov. 1/7: It was our poet Burns who hailed Scotland as the Land o’ Cakes.

(US black) Harlem, New York City; thus the black district of any city.

1944		Cab Calloway New Hepsters Dict. in Calloway (1976) 257: land o’darkness (n.): Harlem.
1944		‘Jiver’s Bible’ in D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive.

(US black) India.

1945

D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 7 Jiuly A7: This, the Land of Many Squatters, had by the Land of Many Squinters.

(US black) China.

1945

D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 7 Jiuly A7: This, the Land of Many Squatters, had by the Land of Many Squinters.

(S.Afr. gay) the anus.

2003

K. Cage Gayle.

Ireland.

1812

Spirit of Irish Wit 170: ‘By the pow’rs, Pat [...] let us be off for the Land of Potatoes’.

the vagina,, the female genitals.

1748

Spy on Mother Midnight II 34: I could not disentangle myself, and all my Petticoats hung down, and and left my Lover a full View of the Land of Promise.

1. (Aus.) America.

1826		Mass. Spy 6 Sept. n.p.: The land of ‘wooden nutmegs’ and horn gun-flints.
1842		Congressional Globe 8 July Appendix 636: The cargo consists of almost everything you could comprise in the extensive term of ‘Yankee notions.’ with perhaps the exceptions of wooden nutmegs and hams.
1902		Bulletin (Sydney) 2 Aug. 13/1: Rude man is interested to observe that the fat woman of Sydney block has ‘stowed her bingey’ – per aid of the new Yankee ‘straight-fronted corset,’ a high priestess whereof, with the most lovely twang ever heard, lately arrived from the land of the wooden hams, on a fat-compressing mission.
1903		Bulletin (Sydney) 16 July 9/1: The Land of the Wooden Nutmegs begs to tell the Russian Bear – / ’Tis wrong to harry mortals as a hound would hunt a hare.
1906		Gadfly (Adelaide) 14 Feb. 5/2: [A] visiting American, who appears to know all about the game, opines that they are too mean. This shrewd voyager from the land of the wooden ham, of the ‘rake off,’ and the political ‘boss,’ declares that until the importers are ready to hand out large sums to establish huge campaign funds and buy their politicians, they can never hope to ‘rule the roost’ and gull the people of Australia.

2. (US) New England, spec. Connecticut.

1837		Philadelphia Visitor Dec. 187/1: ‘Here comes an owl-fish, I reckon,’ shouted a merry wight of a tar, from the land of wooden nutmegs.
1838		Ladies’ Companion May 31/1: The good old land of wooden nutmegs, and horn gun-flints, blue laws, and clock pedlars, never gave birth to a more honest soul, than Obed Ordway.
1871		New Englander Apr. 268: I had been taught to regard Connecticut as a land of wooden nutmegs and leather pumpkin-seed.

(Aus.) the United States.

1900

Bulletin (Sydney) 29 Sept. 24/4: Yankee papers print a lot re ’Murkan negro ‘Majah’ Taylor’s challenge to the world’s cyclists [...]. Failing biz. at home Taylor talks of coming out here. Sprinting is his game, and there isn’t a man in the land of twang who can come near him.

(N.Z. prison) a prostitute.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 105/2: lands for bags n. a prostitute.

(US black) a prison farm.

1942

D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam Star-News 31 Jan. 16: ‘I just copped a trilly from the land where rocks grow’.

a phr. addressed to ‘the man at whose door the glass stands long, or who does not circulate it in due time’ (Grose 1785).

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Who has any Lands in Appleby? a Question askt the Man at whose Door the Glass stands Long.
1725		New Canting Dict. n.p.: Who has any Land in Appleby? a Question ask’d the Man, at whose Door the Glass stands long.
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.