Chapter Slug-abed to Snakes in his Boots of S by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Slug-abed to Snakes in his Boots

Slug-abed (A). A late riser.

“The buttercup is no slug-abed.”- Notes and Queries (Aug. 11, 1894, p. 1118, col. 2.).

Slumland The localities of the destitute poor who dwell in the slums.

“Not only have we the inhabitants of Slumland to deal with, but a steadily growing number of skilled and fairly educated artisans.”- Nineteenth Century, December, 1892, p. 888.

Slums “The back slums”- i.e. the purlieus of Westminster Abbey, etc., where vagrants get a night's lodging.

Sly (Christopher). A keeper of bears and a tinker, son of a pedlar, and a sad, drunken sot. In the Induction of Shakespeare's comedy called Taming of the Shrew, he is found dead drunk by a lord, who commands his servants to put him to bed, and on his waking to attend upon him like a lord, to see if they can bamboozle him into the belief that he is a great man, and not Christopher Sly at all. The “commonty” of Taming of the Shrew is performed for his delectation. The trick was played by the Caliph Haroun Alraschid on Abou Hassan, the rich merchant, in the tale called The Sleeper Awakened (Arabian Nights), and by Philippe the Good, Duke of Burgundy, on his marriage with Eleanor, as given in Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy (pt. ii. sec. 2, num. 4).

Sly-Boots One who appears to be a dolt, but who is really wide awake; a cunning dolt.

“The frog called the lazy one several times, but in vain; there was no such thing as stirring him, though the sly-boots heard well enough all the while.”- Adventures of Abdalla, p. 32 (1729).

Sly Dog You're a sly dog. “Un fin matois.” A playful way of saying, You pretend to be disinterested, but I can read between the lines.

Sly as a Fox (See Similes .)

Slyme (Chevy). In Martin Chuzzlewit, by Charles Dickens.

Small Small by degrees and beautifully less. Prior, in his Henry and Emma, wrote “Fine by degrees,” etc.

Small-back Death. So called because he is usually drawn as a skeleton.

“Small-back must lead down the dance with us all in our time.”- Sir Walter Scott.

Small Beer “To suckle fools and chronicle small beer.” (Iago in the play of Othello, ii. 1.)
   He does not think small beer of himself. He has a very good opinion of number one.

“To express her self-esteem [it might be said] that she did not think small beer of herself.”- De Quincey: Historical Essays.

Small-endians The Big-endians of Lilliput made it a point of orthodoxy to crack their eggs at the big end; but were considered heretics for so doing by the Small-endians, who insisted that eggs ought to be broken at the small end. (Swift: Gulliver's Travels.)

Small Hours of the Morning (The). One, two, three, four, etc., before day-break. A student who sits up all night, and goes to bed at one, two, three, etc., is said to work till the small hours of the morning, or to go to bed in the small hours of the morning.

Smalls In for his smalls; Passed his smalls - his “Little-go,” or previous examination; the examination for degree being the “Great-go,” or “Greats.”

Smart Money Money paid by a person to obtain exemption from some disagreeable office or duty; in law it means a heavy fine; and in recompense it means money given to soldiers or sailors for injuries received in the service. It either makes the person “smart,” i.e. suffer, or else the person who receives it is paid for smarting.