Or: dose of clap / dose of the claps / old dose , a gonorrhoeic infection. Not to be confused with clapped out , an expression of the 1960-70s meaning worn out, exhausted. See gonorrhea for synonyms. Etymology: From the 16 th century French word clapoir , a swelling in the groin symptomatic of gonorrhea.
Quotes:
(1) Captain Francis Grose defines clap in his Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811): ' A venerealtaint. He went out by Had'em, and came round by Clapham home; i.e. he went out a wenching, and got the clap.'
(2) Oscar Wilde (Terry Gilliam) and Jim (John Cleese) entertaining A Royal in Oscar Wilde, Too (1973), a Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch.
-- Oscar: ' Your Majesty is like a dose of the clap.'
-- Jim: ' Before you arrive is pleasure, after you leave is a pain in the dark.'
(3) R. Reisner & L. Wechsler. Encyclopedia of Graffiti (1974): ' V.D. is nothing to clap about.'
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