Hello, dear readers—we’re back! And since it’s September and the start of a new school year, a vocabulary lesson seemed appropriate for the day…courtesy of that wonderful (if frequently risqué!) 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Enjoy!
Bam: To tell a falsehood; also, to make fun of. (“Little Agatha was sure her older brother must be bamming her when he said it was hailing boiled sweets, but she ran to the window to see just in case.”)
Dew beaters: feet. (“Dearest Clara thought the idea of a picnic in the country just splendid, but after walking three miles uphill to the apple orchard with a heavy basket, her dew beaters felt otherwise.”)
Quiz: A strange-looking person. (“My cousin Ezekiel would be much less a quiz if he didn’t comb his hair from the back of his head and wear purple socks with his knee-breeches.”)
Rantipole: A rude, romping boy or girl (“Can you believe it? Hugh called me a rantipole, so of course I was forced to knock him down and put a handful of sand down his back.”)
Tongue enough for two sets of teeth: Description of a talkative person. (“Angelina is a sweet girl and very jolly, but her having tongue enough for two sets of teeth can be wearing on the ears.”)
Tuft-hunter: one who courts the acquaintance of nobility. (“Miss Pursnip is such a tuft-hunter that she carries a tiny copy of DeBrett’s Peerage in her reticule to record sightings of earls and viscounts as she walks in Green Park.”)
French cream: brandy: so called by the old tabbies and dowagers when drank in their tea. (“Aunt Mehitabel ask her bosom friend Lady Murgatroyd if she’d take some French cream in her tea, and now they’re trying to balance Mama’s best silver teaspoons on their noses.”)
Bam: To tell a falsehood; also, to make fun of. (“Little Agatha was sure her older brother must be bamming her when he said it was hailing boiled sweets, but she ran to the window to see just in case.”)
Dew beaters: feet. (“Dearest Clara thought the idea of a picnic in the country just splendid, but after walking three miles uphill to the apple orchard with a heavy basket, her dew beaters felt otherwise.”)
Quiz: A strange-looking person. (“My cousin Ezekiel would be much less a quiz if he didn’t comb his hair from the back of his head and wear purple socks with his knee-breeches.”)
Rantipole: A rude, romping boy or girl (“Can you believe it? Hugh called me a rantipole, so of course I was forced to knock him down and put a handful of sand down his back.”)
Tongue enough for two sets of teeth: Description of a talkative person. (“Angelina is a sweet girl and very jolly, but her having tongue enough for two sets of teeth can be wearing on the ears.”)
Tuft-hunter: one who courts the acquaintance of nobility. (“Miss Pursnip is such a tuft-hunter that she carries a tiny copy of DeBrett’s Peerage in her reticule to record sightings of earls and viscounts as she walks in Green Park.”)
French cream: brandy: so called by the old tabbies and dowagers when drank in their tea. (“Aunt Mehitabel ask her bosom friend Lady Murgatroyd if she’d take some French cream in her tea, and now they’re trying to balance Mama’s best silver teaspoons on their noses.”)
4 comments:
Yeah more slang words to confuse my family and friends! There really is no slang like old slang. Thanks for the list!
Let us know which ones you use. :)
I have to admit reading the Vulgar Tongue is such a guilty pleasure! Glad to see I'm not the only one enjoying it.
I wouldn't even be offended if someone called me a dimber mort!
Enjoying your house party.
It is a wonderful read...but definitely requires some judicious choosing of slang suitable for Nineteenteen.!
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