Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyts New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Flirtation
I assisted at the birth of that most significant word flirtation, which dropped from the most beautiful mouth in the world, and which has since received the sanction of our most accurate Laureate in one of his comedies. ChesterfieldThe World. No. 101. (Lady Frances Shirley referred to. Poet-Laureate, Colley Cibber.)
Ye belles, and ye flirts, and ye pert little things, Who trip in this frolicsome round, Pray tell me from whence this impertinence springs, The sexes at once to confound? WhiteheadSong for Ranelagh.