spotted adj.
known by the police, under surveillance.
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Acc. Trial Isaac Rabbins 1: Isaac, You have been spotted before, How came you to go so far from your own Home now? [OED]. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Autobiog. (1930) 293: You’re spotted – you are like to be found out. | |
| N.Y. Herald 25 May 2/6–3/1: There are but few of the notorious counterfeiters or pick pockets [...] who ever enter New York without either being immediately arrested, or so effectually ‘spotted’ as to prevent the accomplishment of their rascality. | |
| Wkly Varieties (Boston, MA) 3 Sept. 6/2: Brown, keeper of a shebang, No. — Union street [...] is ‘spotted’ by the police, who will soon shut him up. | |
| , | | Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. |
| (con. 1840s–50s) London Labour and London Poor III 438/1: I have been transported, and am a ‘spotted man,’ with whom the police can do as they like. | |
| Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 6/1: [We] thought it would be best to stay about this distance from Doncaster in case we might be ‘spotted’ [...] by some London ‘cop’. | |
| Vancouver Island and British Columbia 416: The slang in vogue in the mining regions is imported mainly from California, and is often as expressive as it is original. [...] When the conduct of any one renders him likely to a whipping or something worse, he is ‘spotted.’. | |
| Sl. Dict. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Bulletin (Sydney) 18 Apr. 17/1: It is very foolish in them keeping the article, as they cannot possibly make use of it without being ‘spotted,’ as there is not another like it in Sydney. | |
| Sex (1997) Act I: The police have got you spotted. | |
| ‘Blackmailers Don’t Shoot’ in Red Wind (1946) 78: We got you spotted. You were tryin’ to peddle some phony letters to the Farr twist. |
SE in slang uses
In compounds
1. (also spotted baby, spotted duff) a a boiled pudding based on flour, cinnamon, raisins, nutmeg, eggs, milk and suet; an alternative recipe uses plums.
| Sl. and Its Analogues. | |
| Sporting Times 8 Nov. 1/5: The Staff of the Sporting Times on a Car Representing a Visit to Shifter [...] in Holloway Castle. Banner of Toke. Banner of Streamy. Banner of Duff. Banner of Spotted Baby. Banner of Thick. Banner of two Doorsteps [...] Banner of Oh Don’t it Niff. | |
| Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 231/2: Spotted dog (Street Boys’). Plain plum-pudding – a potted dough. The dog here is one of the pronunciations of dough – the ‘h’ being removed and the ‘g’ made hard. [...] Spotted duff (Street, 19 cent.). Another shape of spotted dog. | |
| Lichfield Mercury (Staffs.) 26 Mar. 2/7: We made a glorious ‘spotted dog’ pudding yesterday. | |
| Western Dly Press 19 Sept. ‘Spotted dog’ — a fine pudding for the colder days: . | |
| Derby Dly Teleg. 19 Dec. 5/5: [advt] Whether it’s for Spotted Dog, Dumplings, Roly-Poly [...] or Pie Crust —Be sure to ask for Stillmore Shredded Suet. |
2. (also spotted) a currant loaf.
| Sl. and Its Analogues. | |
| ‘Blue Ribbon’ 🎵 She’d a slice o’ spotted, an’ a cup o’ thick. | |
| Nottingham Eve. Post 16 Jan. 6/2: Can any seafaring reader tell me where currant pudding got the name ‘spotted dog’. |
3. a sailor’s stew.
| (con. 1899) Shanghaied Out of Frisco 186: Skilly (Spotted Dog) — A grotesque mixture of pounded sea biscuit with small lumps of meat (the ‘Spots’) and grease scrapings from the cook’s copper. |
4. see spotted pup
a plum pudding.
| Sl. and Its Analogues. |
a plum pudding.
| press cutting in Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era (1909) 231: A penny’s worth of spotted leopard is not a bad way of filling up the space of the internals, though spotted leopard may make you have to squander some rhino in pongelow. |
(US) rice with raisins.
 | Town Talk (Alexandria, LA) 2 May 6/1: The average man invited to eat ‘spotted dog’ would turn up his nose [...] he is making a mistake. ‘spotted dog’ is a staple woodman’s desert of baked rice with raisins and cinnamon. | |
| Great Bend Trib. (KS) 2 July 3/4: Rice has a lot of names [...] if it has raisins in it, it becomes ‘spotted pup’. |