Such Language! Part 33

 

More wonderfully wordful wackiness, courtesy of the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (a copy of which can be downloaded from Project Gutenberg so that you can embark on your own wordy wanderings.

Blowsabella: A woman whose hair is dishevelled, and hanging about her face; a slattern. (My brother called me Blowsabella when we returned from our walk on the shore this morning; tomorrow, I shall wear a bucket over my head when we take our walk and it will serve him right.)

Whapper: A large man or woman. (Uncle Ambrose is quite the whapper, but has a heart to match.)

Fogram: An old fogram; a fusty old fellow. (Unlike his brother, however, Uncle James is the veriest old fogram.)

Hog Grubber: A mean, stingy fellow. (Based on bonnets Aunt Alice wears, I suspect Uncle James is also a dreadful hog grubber.)

Spiflicate: To confound, silence, or dumbfound. (Poor Mama was utterly spiflicated when Mr. and Mrs. Awffle crashed her dinner party and told her they were certain she’d forgotten to send them an invitation.)

Inching: Encroaching. (I don’t think I’ve met a more inching family than them.)

Glimflashy: Angry, or in a passion. (Cant.)  (Papa was so glimflashy over their temerity that he told the butler to set a separate table for them in the corner of the dining room.)

Any new favorites here? I rather think 'spiflicate' should be more widely known and used, myself.

Such Language! Part 32

More wonderfully wordful wackiness, courtesy of the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (a copy of which can be downloaded from Project Gutenberg so that you can embark on your own wordly wanderings. Enjoy!

Coker: A lie. (Henry told his tutor the most frightful coker about why he was unable to do his lessons yesterday: he claimed that all the ink in the schoolroom had been drunk by the giant octopus that lives in the ornamental lake.)

Sit upon thorns: To be uneasy, impatient, anxious for an event. (And now Henry is sitting on thorns waiting for his tutor to come up with a suitable punishment for both lying and shirking his schoolwork.)

Nocky Boy: A dull simple fellow. (I don’t suppose one can call Henry a nocky boy for coming up with such an elaborate story, but the temptation is there.)

Aground: Stuck fast, stopped, at a loss, ruined; like a boat or vessel aground. (Sir John may not be completely aground, but from what I hear the bailiffs are circling.)

One of the Faithful: A tailor who gives long credit. (My brother heard as much from Sir John’s boot-maker, who is not one of the faithful.)

Here and Thereian: One who has no settled place of residence. (However, being such a here-and-thereian has allowed Sir John to reduce expenses by going from house party to house party.)

She Napper: A woman thief-catcher.

This last selection from Mr. Grose’s dictionary stopped me cold, then set my mind a-teeming. The fact that there was a slang name for such a person makes one wonder if it wasn’t all that uncommon… Anyone smell a new series? 😊

Such Language, Part 31

More wordly wonderment and wackiness, with some help from the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. What's your favorite word this week?

Hugger-mugger: By stealth, privately, without making an appearance. (Lady Alice Lonesley is so shy that she only wanted to invite three people to her come-out ball, but the marchioness would not hold such a hugger-mugger affair.)

Sneaksby: A mean-spirited fellow, a sneaking cur. (Never invite Sir James Haynoose to dine when it’s raining; he’s such a sneaksby that you’ll find your umbrella stand is empty after he’s left.)

Clapper claw: To scold, to abuse, or claw off with the tongue. (The last time he did that, though, Mama so clapper-clawed him that he didn’t appear in public on cloudy days for an entire month.)

Jobation: A reproof. (He richly deserved that jobation, for he also absconded with my French silk parasol.)

Pickle: An arch, waggish fellow. (My aunt always buys jolly Uncle Frederick green waistcoats because he’s such a pickle.)

High water: To have plenty of money. (As he frequently loses buttons from laughing too hard, it is good that it is high water with them.)

Sparkish: Fine, cheerful. (But with buttons or without, we love the sparkish old gentleman.)

Also sparkish is some recent happy writing-related news: What Lies Beneath, my World War I young adult fantasy, is a finalist in the North Texas RWA chapter’s Carolyn Readers Choice Award, in the Specialized category (along with one of my first writing friends, Janet Raye Stevens, and her time travel mystery-romance Beryl Blue, Time Cop.) Very excited!

And also, if you have a moment, do stop in at Lady Catherine's Salon on Facebook, a group for lovers of Regency romance, where I'm guest-hostessing this week. So far we're talking about being history lovers, what we collect, Regency fashions, and more. Come say hello!