Aimee sends the following delightful euphemisms to add to the collection:
“I was reading a ‘Dictionary of Euphemisms’ and came across these:
Hemp Quinsy or Hempen Fever: death by hanging.
Hemp Widow: a woman whose husband was hanged
Hempshire Gentleman: the man who was hanged.”
Those are actually really pretty.
I just remembered an old Irish expression, which I read in “The Giant O’Brien” by Hillary Mantel:
“Dancing in the sheriff’s picture-frame.”