Chapter SHOE-GOOSE to SHULWAURS of S by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

SHOE-GOOSE to SHULWAURS

SHOE-GOOSE, s. This ludicrous corruption of the Pers. siyah-gosh, lit. ‘black-ear,’ i.e. lynx (Felis Caracal) occurs in the passage below from A. Hamilton. [The corruption of the same word by the Times, below, is equally amusing.]

[c. 1330.—“… ounces, and another kind something like a greyhound, having only the ears black, and the whole body perfectly white, which among these people is called Siagois.”—Friar Jordanus, 18.]

1727.—“Antelopes, Hares and Foxes, are their wild game, which they hunt with Dogs, Leopards, and a small fierce creature called by them a Shoe-goose.”—A. Hamilton, i. 124; [ed. 1744, i. 125].

1802.—“… between the cat and the lion, are the … syagush, the lynx, the tiger-cat. …”—Ritson, Essay on Abstinence from Animal Food, 12.

1813.—“The Moguls train another beast for antelope-hunting called the Syah-gush, or black-ears, which appears to be the same as the caracal, or Russian lynx.”—Forbes, Or. Mem. i. 277; [2nd ed. i. 175 and 169].

[1886.—“In 1760 a Moor named Abdallah arrived in India with a ‘Shah Goest’ (so spelt, evidently a Shawl Goat) as a present for Mr. Secretary Pitt.”—Account of I. O. Records, in Times, Aug. 3.]

SHOKE, s. A hobby, a favourite pursuit or whim. Ar.—shauk.

1796.—“This increased my shouq … for soldiering, and I made it my study to become a proficient in all the Hindostanee modes of warfare.”—Mily. Mem. of Lt.-Col. J. Skinner, i. 109.

[1866.—“One Hakim has a shoukh for turning everything ooltapoolta.”—Confessions of an Orderly, 94.]

SHOLA, s. In S. India, a wooded ravine; a thicket. Tam. sholai.

1862.—“At daylight … we left the Sisipara bungalow, and rode for several miles through a valley interspersed with sholas of rhododendron trees.”—Markham, Peru and India, 356.

1876.—“Here and there in the hollows were little jungles; sholas, as they are called.”—Sir M. E. Grant-Duff, Notes of Indian Journey, 202.

SHOOCKA, s. Ar.—H. shukka (properly ‘an oblong strip’), a letter from a king to a subject.

1787.—“I have received several melancholy Shukhas from the King (of Dehli) calling on me in the most pressing terms for assistance and support.”—Letter of Lord Cornwallis, in Corresp. i. 307.

SHOOLDARRY, s. A small tent with steep sloping roof, two poles and a ridge-piece, and with very low side walls. The word is in familiar use, and is habitually pronounced as we have indicated. But the first dictionary in which we have found it is that of Platts. This author spells the word chholdari, identifying the first syllable with jhol, signifying ‘puckering or bagging.’ In this light, however, it seems possible that it is from jhul in the sense of a bag or wallet, viz. a tent that is crammed into a bag when carried. [The word is in Fallon, with the rather doubtful suggestion that it is a corruption of the English ‘soldier’s’ tent. See PAWL.] 1808.—“I have now a shoaldarree for myself, and a long paul (see PAWL) for my people.”—Elphinstone, in Life, i. 183.

[1869.—“… the men in their suldaris, or small single-roofed tents, had a bad time of it. …”—Ball, Jungle Life, 156.]

SHRAUB, SHROBB, s. Ar. sharab; Hind. sharab, shrab, ‘wine.’ See under SHERBET.

SHROFF, s. A money-changer, a banker. Ar. sarraf, sairafi, sairaf. The word is used by Europeans in China as well as in India, and is there applied to the experts who are employed by banks and mercantile firms to check the quality of the dollars that pass into the houses (see Giles under next word). Also shroffage, for money-dealer’s commission. From the same root comes the Heb. soref, ‘a goldsmith.’ Compare the figure in Malachi, iii. 3: “He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; |and he shall purify the sons of Levi.” Only in Hebrew the goldsmith tests metal, while the sairaf tests coins. The Arab