Category: Books

The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the Coronavirus crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored…..

Crank

Defined as “gin and water”, a combination which isn’t that commonly seen today. However, this was a better option than drinking gin neat, as had been the want in the eighteenth century, solely because the touch of water would bring out some of the flavours from the gin. Lemons and limes were relatively rare in the UK at the end of the eighteenth century and ice wouldn’t have been an option either. The habit of chilling drinks became more common throughout the nineteenth century, with ice becoming easier to acquire later on during the century, which proved to be the next evolution in alcoholic drinks.

Incidentally, I don’t know the origins of the word ‘crank’ in this context, but another archaic meaning of the word is “weak or shaky”, or indeed with relation to ships “liable to fall over”, so perhaps that’s where this came about with reference to drinking too much gin…..

The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the Coronavirus crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored…..

Cramp Words

Not quite as cheery as some previous definitions, this is defined as a term used in the criminal world meaning a “sentence of death passed on a criminal by a judge. He has just undergone the cramp word; sentence has just been passed on him”. There are a series of other terms related to this, such as “cramping day” which is when the execution took place and “cramp laws” meaning laws that could lead to the death sentence if broken. The terms were used from the early eighteenth century until it slowly faded out of use. Newgate Prison also became known as “Cramp Abbey” and this term was then used as a generic term for any prison.

And, the fading out over time of the “cramp words” phrase.

The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the Coronavirus crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored…..

Conny Wabble

This is defined as “eggs and brandy beat up together” and the dictionary adds that it has Irish origins. This is a beautifully crafted phrase, of which the origins seem to have been lost, but it is also spelled ‘conny wobble’. It’s primarily a breakfast drink, which I can’t say would appeal much to me if it arrived instead of coffee at some hotel breakfast.

The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the Coronavirus crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored…..

Conger

This is defined as “to conger; the agreement of a set or knot of booksellers of London, that whosoever of them shall buy a good copy, the rest shall take off such a particular number, in quires, at a stated price; also booksellers joining to buy either a considerable or dangerous copy”.

This was an arrangement amongst booksellers, which were nearly all in London, to jointly finance the production of a book and they purchased shares to that effect and also agreed to purchase a certain number of copies for their shops. This agreement took hold in the early eighteenth century and lasted until around the middle of the nineteenth century. The subscription model was the other way of funding expensive books, such as encyclopaedias, where purchasers would subscribe in advance to help fund the cost of production and printing.

The conger agreement was financially very useful to the booksellers and they fought to retain permanent copyright for everything that was produced. Eventually, the courts started to decide that this made books more expensive for the general public and that excessive power was being retained with the sellers. The principle of copyright was extended and the conger model started to face away as competition increased.

The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the Coronavirus crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored…..

Comus’s Court

A little bit niche perhaps, the dictionary defines this as “a social meeting formerly held at the Half Moon tavern in Cheapside”. This London pub operated from at least the mid-seventeenth century until 1817, by which time it had become known as the New London Tavern. It’s so niche as to not really be relevant to most of its readers even at the time, but it does paint a picture of what London was like at the end of the eighteenth century.

The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the Coronavirus crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored…..

Coliander or Coriander Seeds

Defined in the dictionary simply as “money”, I don’t have much to add to this, although it’s slightly intriguing that the word used to have two forms of spelling. The root of the word is from the Greek ‘koriannon’, so the change from the ‘r’ to an ‘l’ must have been a confusion as the word evolved into English, but there are written references to its spelling as coliander for nearly 1,000 years.

As an aside, the use of the word ‘coriander’ has been relatively common in texts for nearly 300 years, albeit with a more recent surge in the usage over the last few decades.

Back to the meaning as money, Green’s Dictionary of Slang states that “seeds provide a form of growth necessary for life, thus figurative synonymn with money”, although this seems a bit convoluted as there are many different seeds and why would coriander be singled out?

The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the Coronavirus crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored…..

Cold Pig

This cheery little phrase is defined as “to give cold pig is a punishment inflicted on sluggards who lie too long in bed: it consists in pulling off all the bed clothes from them, and throwing cold water upon them”. The phrase was relatively common in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, then started to fade away and instead meant damaged or returned goods. The phrase is still used today by some shops who use the term to mean seconds or returns, but the original definition of cold water seems to have been lost.

The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the Coronavirus crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored…..

Cold Burning

The dictionary definition probably says as much as needs saying (writing) about this…

“A punishment inflicted by private soldiers on their comrades for trifling offences, or breach of their mess laws; it is administered in the following manner: The prisoner is set against the wall, with the arm which is to be burned tied as high above his head as possible. The executioner then ascends a stool, and having a bottle of cold water, pours it slowly down the sleeve of the delinquent, patting him, and leading the water gently down his body, till it runs out at his breeches knees: this is repeated to the other arm, if he is sentenced to be burned in both”.

Most references to this bizarre punishment seem to derive from this book, but given some similar other goings-on, I imagine it was probably a real thing and not made up by the author in the way some entries perhaps are.

The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the Coronavirus crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored…..

Cod

Defined by the dictionary as “a cod of money; a good sum of money”, this word originally meant a small bag, container or pouch from the old English ‘codd’. So, perhaps, the phrase came from that origin, ‘a container of money’. As an aside, the fish likely took its name as it looked similar to an old leather pouch, although the word ‘cod’ seems to have had tens of meanings over the centuries.

The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the Coronavirus crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored…..

Clover

I’ve heard this phrase before, but never quite worked out where it came from. The dictionary defines it as “to be, or live, in clover; to live luxuriously. Clover is the most desirable food for cattle”. I hadn’t given much thought to cattle particularly liking clover, although that explains the phrase. It dates from at least the end of the seventeenth century and since apparently nibbling on clover is as good as it gets for cows, hence why the saying moved across to people.

There’s an American phrase meaning exactly the same, which is ‘to live in high cotton’ or to ‘live in tall cotton’, although this doesn’t seem to have derived from the clover phrase.