come upon the town

English

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

(UK, obsolete, euphemistic) To become a prostitute; to turn to prostitution.^[1]
- 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter VIII, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 144:
  To be sure, it would have been more for the advantage of conversation had Miss Lydia Bennet come upon the town; or, as the happiest alternative, been secluded from the world, in some distant farm house.
(US) To receive public charity; to have one's living supported by public funding.^[2]
Synonym: come upon the parish
- 1879, Historical Celebration of the Town of Brimfield, Hampden County, Mass, Clark W. Bryan Company, page 65:
  While Brimfield people have never been very rich, they have been prudent and thrifty, and there have been very few so poor as to come upon the town for support.
- 1912, Ada Harriet Kepley, A Farm Philosopher, Worman's Printery, page 149:
  The daughter had children and they all three came upon the town for support, for they would not work.
(US) To make one's debut in town society; to become (known as) a man or woman about town.^[3]

^ 2014, V. Jones (editor), Pride and Prejudice, →ISBN, page 398.
^ 1877, John Russell Bartlett, Dictionary of Americanisms, 4th Edition, page 135.
^ 1895, William Dwight Whitney (editor-in-chief), The Century Dictionary, Volume II, page 1121.