> And "I've been had"?
OED has for HAVE v sense 15c:
c. To get the better of, outwit, take in, deceive, 'do'. slang.
1805 G. HARRINGTON New Lond. Spy (ed. 4) 26 (Farmer) Ten to one but you are
had, a cant word they make use of, instead of saying, as the truth is, we
have cheated him. 1847 DE QUINCEY Sp. Mil. Nun Wks. 1862 III. 65 The good
seņora..was not..to be had in this fashion. 1879 M. E. BRADDON Clov. Foot
xviii, There's not a real diamond among them. If you've advanced money on
'em, you've been had.
For what that's worth.
The first OED citation is a subordinate one -- in "1805 G. HARRINGTON New
Lond. Spy (ed. 4) 26 (Farmer)", Farmer is I assume a reference to Stephen
Farmer's _Slang and Its Analogues_, itself citing a work which is presumably
itself an imitation of Ned Ward's _London Spy_ which I think came out in the
1790s. (I've a copy of that in Loughborough but not here.)
Farmer's dictionary is available online via the Internet Archives (in five
volumes -- search for "Farmer dictionary" under TEXTS) ...
volume 3 -- slangitsanalogue03farmuoft
Here's the entire entry in Farmer:
HAD
Verb (colloquial). i. To cheat ; TO TAKE-IN ; TO DO. See BE.
1805. G. HARRINGTON, New London Spy (4th Ed.) p. 26. Ten to one but you are
HAD, a cant word they make use of, instead of saying, as the truth is, we
have cheated him,
1825. EGAN, Life of an Actor, ch iv. ' He's not to be HAD,' said Gag, in an
audible whisper.
1878. HATTON, Cruel London, bk. II., ch. v. 'They have HAD me, bless you,"
said Brayford, ' the men who have limbed you.'
1889. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 8 Feb. Not to be HAD so easily, my good man.
1889. Answers, 23 Feb., p. 196, c. 2 But even these fellows, sharp as they
are, have been caught napping lately in a humorous way. Those who have HAD
them have been young fellows with friends inside the Stock Exchange,
1891. N. GOULD, Double Event, p. 161. HAD me nicely once at cards.
1891. Licensed Vict. Gaz., 23 Jan. I never felt so wild in my life. I'm no
fool, you know, and I began to think I was being HAD a bit.
1891. J. NEWMAN, Scamping Tricks, p. 58. I was nearly HAD.
1892. Illus. Bits, 22 Oct., p. 14. c. 2. Oh, mebboy, Oi wasn't t' be HAD
that way. Oi always kape resales spishully Gov'- ment wans. Oi got it safe
and cosy in me pocket-book.
Robin
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