The CBB :: View topic - What does "four-flusher" mean?

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#1: What does "four-flusher" mean? Author: Maeve, Location: Romania

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 8:15 am
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Maybe this should go under the language/dialects thread or maybe it's been discussed before, but what does "four-flusher" mean, as in Evvy's "rubber-necked four-flusher"? Or what is it an allusion to? I've never read or heard anything like this anywhere else. (Not that I really understand the rubber neck part either...) Any slang mavens out there know?

#2: Author: Caroline, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 8:45 am
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I think it's something to do with cheating at cards.... Ahh - here's the wikipedia version:

Quote:

Four Flusher is a pejorative term for a person who makes empty boasts or who continually lies.

The term four flushing traces its origins to the game of Poker during the 19th Century. Four flushing originally referred to a person who would bluff that they had a flush - a poker hand comprised of five cards all of one suit (hearts, spades, clubs or diamonds) - when they only had four cards of one suit.

HTH

#3: Author: jennifer, Location: Taiwan

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 8:46 am
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A searched pulled up this

http://archives.stupidquestion.net/sq91902fourflusher.html

My understanding of 'rubber necker' is someone who is gawking at a spectacle of some sort - picture a person craning their neck to get a good view of something.

#4: Author: Maeve, Location: Romania

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 8:50 am
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Thank you both Smile

So, did Evvy not understand what she was saying then? Or did she simply mean to be pejorative in a kind of general way, not quite realizng that she was calling everyone a cheat. liar, etc

#5: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 10:02 am
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That's interesting. I always make a note of (don't ask why...) when card games are mentioned in EBD and this is another one for the collection.

#6: Author: Lisa, Location: South Coast of England

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 10:05 am
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Maeve wrote:

So, did Evvy not understand what she was saying then? Or did she simply mean to be pejorative in a kind of general way, not quite realizng that she was calling everyone a cheat. liar, etc

Hmm, I wonder if it was EBD who didn't realise what she was saying ... I have taken it that to EBD this was 'typical American' slang so she just gave it to Evvy to say to show she was a bit different! Rolling Eyes

For years, I read it as 'flour flusher' Embarassed

Edited to attempt to make some sense of my sentence construction!

#7: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 10:27 am
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Lisa wrote:

For years, I read it as 'flour flusher' Embarassed

I did exactly the same thing...I think it's a sort of optical illusion with the alliteration and all the vowels!

#8: Author: Lottie, Location: Humphrey's Corner

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 10:30 am
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Lisa wrote:

I thought that was probably what had happened, too.

#9: Author: Maeve, Location: Romania

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 10:38 am
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Lisa wrote:

Quote:

Yes, the thought crossed my mind too, which was why I thought of putting this query under the thread "Languages/Dialects that EBD got wrong." Wink

#10: Author: Liz K, Location: Bedfordshire

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 12:23 pm
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Thanks for this - I've been puzzled for years to know what "rubber-necked four flusher" was.

I can sleep at nights now. Embarassed

#11: Author: Chris, Location: Nottingham

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 1:17 pm
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My SLOC and I always call those people in cars who slow down and gawp at accidents on the road, especially the other side of the road, "rubber neckers". Drives me mad!

#12: Author: Caroline, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 2:13 pm
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I wonder if EBD got the term four-flusher from e.g. the Elsie books or other US / Canadian literature of that era - What Katy Did or Anne of Green Gables or the like? Anyone know if it was used in any of these?

I'd think she was using it a general American-ish pejorative rather than knowing the exact meaning...

#13: Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 5:50 pm
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My opinion is that she lifted it from Wodehouse:

Quote:

Mr. Coston called Mr. Dawson a pie-faced rubber-necked
four-flusher.

-Psmith, Journalist

In other words, she's not using first hand American slang, but a British parody of American slang.

#14: Author: Mel, Location: UP NORTH

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 7:10 pm
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I love it. She probably thought it was safe i.e. not too rude if Wodehouse used it!

#15: Author: jennifer, Location: Taiwan

Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 5:36 am
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It definitely doesn't show up in AoGG or the Katy books, or any other early books I can think of - I would guess that slang based on gambling with cards would *not* be considered ladylike, or appropriate for kids books.

#16: Author: bethany, Location: Liverpool (mostly)

Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 11:33 am
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Lisa wrote:

For years, I read it as 'flour flusher' Embarassed

Up until I read this I had thought it was 'flour flusher' Embarassed

I am not sure that I will be able to change >15 years of reading and read it correctly now though...

Thanks for educating me Smile

#17: Author: Caty, Location: New Zealand

Posted: Sun May 06, 2007 1:17 pm
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Caroline wrote:

I wonder if EBD got the term four-flusher from e.g. the Elsie books or other US / Canadian literature of that era - What Katy Did or Anne of Green Gables or the like? Anyone know if it was used in any of these?

I'd think she was using it a general American-ish pejorative rather than knowing the exact meaning...

I came across it this year somewhere, but it may have been in Wodehouse. It certainly wasn't in any of the American classics though.

#18: Author: RoseCloke, Location: Camping in my housemate's room. Don't ask.

Posted: Sun May 06, 2007 5:20 pm
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For some reason every time I read the phrase, I thought of ducks. Not the yellow variety - the green and grey drake variety Shocked

Not quite sure why though.

I should imagine that Evvy had probably picked it up from her father - it's the sort of thing I could envisage a businessman saying, especially if someone actually had cheated/lied Very Happy

#19: Author: Elle, Location: Peterborough

Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 9:38 pm
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Lisa wrote:

For years, I read it as 'flour flusher' Embarassed

Me too

#20: Author: Rosalin, Location: Swansea

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 9:22 am
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RoseCloke wrote:

For some reason every time I read the phrase, I thought of ducks. Not the yellow variety - the green and grey drake variety Shocked

Not quite sure why though.

Me too. I really don't understand why but I'm glad I'm not the only one. I was beginning to worry about the way my mind works.

#21: Author: RoseCloke, Location: Camping in my housemate's room. Don't ask.

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 9:27 am
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Lol... I think that's a common occurance on this board Very Happy

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