He sports a Nescio; he pretends not to understand any thing. After the senate house examination for degrees, the students proceed to the schools, to be questioned by the proctor. According to custom immemorial the answers MUST be Nescio. The following is a translated specimen:
Ques. What is your name?—Ans. I do not know. Ques. What is the name of this university?—Ans. I do not know. Ques. Who was your father?-Ans. I do not know. This last is probably the only true answer of the three!
Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.
Negroe’s Heads * NettledNathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang
John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes