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? 😊

No Slang Like Old Slang...Unless It's New! Part the Six

With school back in session, it seems like an appropriate time to call class into session at NineteenTeen and spring a quiz on you all: it’s time to play “No Slang Like Old Slang…Unless it’s New, the Nineteenteen game where you have to identify whether a word or turn of phrase was used in the 19th century, or has a later (20th century) origin. I’ll post the answers in the comment column...and don’t worry, this won’t count toward your final grade. 😊 Answers are in the comments section.

Pick up your pencils…and GO!

1. Ripsnorter: something of exceptional strength, someone of remarkable qualities. (The raspberry cordial our stillroom maid makes is such a ripsnorter that no one under the age of twenty-one at our house is ever served it.)

2. Wreak havoc: Create chaos or devastation. (That rule was established after my younger brother sneaked a thimbleful and wreaked havoc in the pantry.)

3. Rush one’s fences: To act precipitately. (His parents wish that Herbert would stop rushing his fences and proposing to girls after the second dance.)

4. Rush Hour: A time of day when traffic is at a peak. (The cleverest young men dine at their clubs in St. James’s on Wednesdays to avoid the rush hour traffic around Almack’s.)

5. Hocus-pocus: Nonsensical words used by magicians as an incantation preceding a trick. (My younger brother is much dismayed by the fact that no matter how often he mutters “hocus pocus” when riding his pony, he does not in fact transform into the Duke of Wellington on Copenhagen.)

6. Hang out: A place where one is accustomed to spend much time. (It is monstrously unfair that my brothers practically live at Brooks's, but that my friends and I are not allowed anywhere to hang out.)

7. Viewpoint: A person’s way of looking at an issue, or a physical place from which to look at a scene. (Of course, from our parents’ viewpoint that is probably a blessing, as we are much more likely to hatch nefarious plots together.)

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Don't forget that the answers will be posted in the comment section. So how did you do?