A1. An expression meaning “first-rate.” Derived from Lloyd’s “Registry of Shipping,” in which letters denote the quality of a ship’s hull, and figures that of its equipment. A vessel registered A1 is of the first class in all respects.
Abbey Laird. An insolvent debtor who in former times sought the sanctuary of the precincts of Holyrood Abbey against arrest.
Abbey Road. From the ancient abbey of the Holy Virgins of St John the Baptist in St John’s Wood.
Abbotsford. The name given by Sir Walter Scott to his residence on the banks of the Tweed, from the poetical assumption that the abbots of Melrose must have forded the stream hereabouts in olden times.
A.B.C. Girls. Waitresses at the depots of the Aerated Bread Company Limited.
Aberdeen. From the Celtic aber, estuary, confluence; the town at the mouth of the Dee.
Abernethy Biscuits. From the name of the baker who introduced them. Their connection with Dr Abernethy was repudiated by the great physician himself.
Aberystwith. The town at the mouth of the Ystwith.
Abigail. The generic name for a waiting-maid, in allusion to the handmaid who introduced herself to David (1 Sam. xxv. 23). Its popularity during the second half of the seventeenth century may be accounted for 2by the fact that the maiden name of Mrs Masham, the waiting-woman of Queen Anne, was Abigail Hill.
Abingdon. A corruption of Abbendon, the town of abbeys, being a place famed for religious houses far back in Anglo-Saxon days.
Abingdon Street. From the ancient town residence of the Earls of Abingdon.
Abney Park. From Abney House, now a Conservative Club, the residence of Sir Thomas Abney, Lord Mayor of London. Dr Isaac Watts passed away at Abney House in 1748.
Abode of Love. See “Agapemonites.”
Abolitionists. The party sworn to the total and immediate abolition of slavery in the United States.
Above Board. Open, not playing an underhanded game. The owners of the gaming-tables on a race-course unsuspectedly regulated the issue of the spinning hand on the board by means of a treadle.
Abraham Newlands. Bank of England notes, so called from the signature they bore early in the last century.
Absinthe. From the Greek apsnithion, wormwood.
Absquatulate. A Far-West Americanism. A squatter who suddenly left his claim was said to have absquatulated.
