The Thirty-Nine Steps (51 page)

shay-cart
NOUN
a shay-cart was a small cart drawn by one horse
“I were at the Bargemen t’other night, Pip;”
whenever he subsided into affection, he called me Pip, and whenever he relapsed into
politeness he called me Sir; “when there come up in his shay-cart Pumblechook.”
(
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens)

shilling
NOUN
a shilling is an old unit of currency. There were twenty shillings in every British
pound
“Ten shillings too much,” said the gentleman in the white waistcoat
. (
Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens)

shines
NOUN
tricks or games
well, it would make a cow laugh to see the shines that old idiot cut
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

shirking
VERB
shirking means not doing what you are meant to be doing, or evading your duties
some of you shirking lubbers
(
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson)

shiver my timbers
PHRASE
shiver my timbers is an expression which was used by sailors and pirates to express
surprise
why, shiver my timbers, if I hadn’t forgotten my score!
(
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson)

shoe-roses
NOUN
shoe-roses were roses made from ribbons which were stuck on to shoes as decoration
the very shoe-roses for Netherfield were got by proxy
(
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen)

singular
ADJ
singular means very great and remarkable or strange
“Singular dream,” he says
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

sire
NOUN
sire is an old word which means lord or master or elder
She also defied her sire
(
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott)

sixpence
NOUN
a sixpence was half of a shilling
if she had only a shilling in the world, she would be very lilkely to give away sixpence
of it
(
Emma
by Jane Austen)

slavey
NOUN
the word slavey was used when there was only one servant in a house or boarding-house
– so she had to perform all the duties of a larger staff
Two distinct knocks, sir, will produce the slavey at any time
(
The Old Curiosity Shop
by Charles Dickens)

slender
ADJ
weak
In slender accents of sweet verse
(
The Prelude
by William Wordsworth)

slop-shops
NOUN
slop-shops were shops where cheap ready-made clothes were sold. They mainly sold
clothes to sailors
Accordingly, I took the jacket off, that I might learn to do without it; and carrying
it under my arm, began a tour of inspection of the various slop-shops
. (
David Copperfield
by Charles Dickens)