greengage
(ˈgriːngeɪdʒ)
Also 9 green-gedge.
[f. green a. and the surname Gage (see quot. 1759–65).]
1. A variety of plum of roundish shape, green colour, and fine flavour. Also attrib. in greengage plum, greengage tart.
| 1724 R. Bradley New Improvements of Planting & Gardening (ed. 4) 222 Queen Mother; Green Gage, Violet. 1759–65 Collinson in Hortus Collinsonianus 60, I was on a visit to Sir William Gage..he told me that..in compliment to him the Plum was called the Green Gage; this was about the year 1725. 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 220 To preserve Green Gage Plumbs. 1802 Forsyth Fruit-trees ii. 13 The Green Gage Plum is of an exquisite taste, and eats like a sweatmeat. 1813 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XXXV. 232 The Cadiz plum, or green-gedge. 1891 C. T. C. James Rom. Rigmarole 105 The question of a greengage-tart for dinner. |
2. Rhyming slang. (a) the stage (cf. green n. 14 b); (b) pl. wages.
| 1931 Even. Standard 19 Aug. 10/1 We speak of..the stage as the ‘green-gage’. 1931 ‘G. Orwell’ Coll. Essays (1968) I. 71 Greengages, meaning wages. 1932 P. P. Rhyming Slang ii. 20 Greengages,..Wages. 1964 Guardian 2 Mar. 7/6 The money? Greengages we call it, greengages—wages. You'll be surprised. In a lot of places it's a fiver a night. |