(fool, idiot): FromSawney, aScots variant of the personal nameSandy.
sawney (countable anduncountable,pluralsawneys)
- (countable) Afool, anidiot.
- (UK, thieves' cant, obsolete, uncountable)Bacon.
1820,John Bull, volumes1-2, page363:Tyrrell, another boy, confirmed their testimony, and said, on one occasion, when they had stolen a heart, liver, and lights, the prisoner said, "go out, one or two of you, and see if you can get a bit ofsawney!" (meaning a bit of bacon).
1851,Henry Mayhew,London Labour and the London Poor, published1861:If a boy comes to the house on a night without money orsawney, or something to sell to the lodgers, a handkerchief or something of that kind, he is not admitted, but told very plainly, ‘Go thieve it, then.’
1861,The old Roman well, volume 1, page62:A man came in as she spoke, and drawing a large piece of bacon from his pocket, flung it down upon the counter.
'How much d'ye want for it?' said the lodging-house keeper, weighing it with his eyes.
'Sixpence.'
'Sixpence for a bit ofsawney! (thieved bacon). We can't give more than fourpence in this shop, my buffer.'
sawney (comparativemoresawney,superlativemostsawney)
- foolish,stupid
- (bacon):1873, John Camden Hotten,The Slang Dictionary
