Australian Dopers - Origin of "have a squiz"

[buns3000]

I’m wondering whether anybody can explain the expression “have/having a squiz”. I always understood “squiz” was short for “Squizzy Taylor” but have no idea who he was anyway. I also can’t see how that could be rhyming slang for any word meaning “look at”. What gives?

[hawthorne]

Taylor was a Richmond gangster in the 20s. He had a droopy eyelid - I assume that’s why he was called Squizzy, rather than his name being the origin of the term.

[hawthorne]

From World Wide Words:

DEKKO Subscribers in Australia and New Zealand contributed more
words of similar meaning to this slang term mentioned last week,
whose meaning is “look”. One from Australia was “squiz”, which is
often said to be a blend of “squint” and “quiz”. For all we know,
it might be, though the only certainty is that it comes from
nineteenth century Devonshire dialect.

[Cunctator]

We were told the same Squizzy Taylor origin at school.

Unfortunately it’s one of those phrases that one doesn’t hear very often nowadays.

[Bernard_Marx]

@Cunctator

We were told the same Squizzy Taylor origin at school.

Unfortunately it’s one of those phrases that one doesn’t hear very often nowadays.

In my job, “Squizzy” is the mandatory nickname for anyone whose surname is Taylor.

[Fortean]

though the only certainty is that it comes from nineteenth century Devonshire dialect.

Entirely anecdotally… I know of this expression, and have used it on occasion, and may have got it from my Dad, who comes from Devon. FWIW.

[hawthorne]

Thanks, Fortean. The first citation from the OED is an Australian one from 1916 (Dennis, The Sentimental Bloke), so some confirmation of the West Country origin is good.