E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Chivy or Chivvy.
Slang for the face Much slang is due to rhyme, and when the rhyme is a compound word the rhyming part is sometimes dropped and the other part remains. Thus Chivy [Chevy]-chase rhymes with “face,” by dropping “chase” chivy remains, and becomes the accepted slang word. Similarly, daisies = boots, thus: daisy-roots will rhyme with “boots,” and by dropping “roots,” the rhyme, daisy remains. By the same process sky is the slang for pocket, the compound word which gave birth to it being “sky-rocket.” “Christmas” the slang for a railway guard, as “Ask the Christmas,” is, of course, from the rhyme “Christmas-card”; and “raspberry” the slang for heart, is from the rhyme “raspberry-tart.”
