Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US) no go, unsuccessful.

1839		N.O. Picayune 21 Apr. 2/4: Though his grey-headed rival tried to win, it was n.g. (no go!) [DA].
1841		Flash (NY) 26 Sept. n.p.: Many a threadbare sucker parted with his last shilling, in fruitless endeavours to enthrall her. All was N.G.
1869		C.G. Leland ‘Hans Breitmman’s Christmas’ in Hans Breitmann’s Party 31: Ve maked anoder serenity mid ledders plue und red: / ‘Our Leader lick de repels! N. G.’ (enof gesaid.).

2. (orig. US) no good.

1880		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 3 Jan. 14/4: ‘There he is [...] the viper who said I was n.g’.
1885		C.F. Lummis letter 10 Jan. in Byrkit Letters from the Southwest (1989) 248: A dozen of these trips were n.g. (‘no good’).
1895		J. London ‘And ’Frisco Kid Came Back’ in High School Aegis X (4 Nov.) 2–4: I made up me mind dat de adoption scheme was N.G.
1899		‘Pot’ & ‘Swears’ Scarlet City 453: He named several others. I put N.G. to all their names.
1903		A. Binstead Pitcher in Paradise 7: Clearer, less prejudiced judgements than mine have declared it to be N.G.
1909		Coshocton (OH) Daily Times 27 Aug. 8/7: The Town was No Good, he said – strictly on the Blink. Yes, it was N.G.
1918		A.W. Scherr diary 27 Feb. 🌐 Went out in P.M. to do more landscape sketching – Supper N.G.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 412: Fish and taters. N. g. Ah!
1926		Wood & Goddard Dict. Amer. Sl.
1934		B. Appel Brain Guy (1937) 1: None of his horses had come in. The numbers’d been n.g.
1944		D. Runyon Runyon à la Carte 164: I mark him N.G.
1956		J. Thompson ‘The Flaw in the System’ in Fireworks (1988) 134: N.G. from credit bureau. N.G. from two other accounts.
1960		J. Gielgud letter 25 Feb. in Mangan John Gielgud’s Letters (2004) 260: I am rather dreading discussing the Larry situation. I gather his N.Y. play is N.G.
1969		S. Greenlee Spook who Sat by the Door (1972) 74: N.G.; no good.