More lexigraphic levity and
laughter, courtesy of the 1811 Dictionary
of the Vulgar Tongue. Enjoy!
Mulligrubs: Low-spirited, having an imaginary sickness. My sister has a thorough case of the mulligrubs since she
found out that she wasn’t invited to the Duchess of Glubley’s ball.
Sing small: To be humbled, confounded, or abashed: to have little
or nothing to say for one’s self. She’s having
to sing small now after she told all her friends that the duchess’s son had
asked her to open the ball with him.
Low tide: When there is no money in a man’s pocket. I had planned to buy you a splendid birthday
gift, but alas! It is low tide with me this month.
Peery: Inquisitive, suspicious. Rich
young Miss Colquhon’s guardian is so excessively peery that no one may dance
more than once with her at any ball in a given week.
The Go: The dash. The mode. He is quite the go, he is quite
varment, he is prime, he is bang up, are synonymous expressions. Young Mr. Mortimer thinks himself quite the
go, but I fear none of his more fashionable friends share his opinion.
Ribroast: To beat. My
grandmother gave Papa such a ribroasting at chess once that he still winces at
the sight of black-and-white tiled floors.
Altitudes: The man is in his altitudes, i.e. he is drunk. Uncle Seymour may have retired from mountain-climbing
years ago, but he regularly achieves his altitudes at his club of an evening with the help of the brandy decanter.
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