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…..

Bang Up

This phrase is defined by the dictionary as meaning “Quite the thing, hellish fine. Well done. Compleat. Dashing”, which is interesting perhaps as it’s almost the sort of term that could be used today in modern slang. Indeed, there are still references made to “bang up good”, although I’m not sure whether that’s a continuation of the older term or by chance it has been reintroduced. I like the idea that it’s a phrase that has been in use for centuries though.

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…..

Baker-Kneed

This is a phrase that seems relatively common during the seventeenth and early eighteenth century and it appears frequently in newspapers and books. The dictionary gives the definition as “one whose knees knock together in walking, as if kneading dough”, in what today would I guess more commonly be referred to at knock-kneed. The knock-kneed term seems to date only from the late eighteenth century so this is perhaps when the two phrases switched in common usage.

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…..

Baker’s Dozen

The book defines this as “fourteen, that number of rolls being allowed to the purchasers of a dozen”. This is instantly intriguing because of the fourteen rather than thirteen and usually I’ll tell myself that I need to get out more, but under the current climate, that isn’t happening.

The meaning of the phrase dates back to when bakers were under a legal duty, and wanted to avoid local humiliation of being put in the stocks or worse, to ensure that they sold the right weight of bread. So, it was easier to add something extra to ensure compliance, so when selling in a larger volume to wholesalers they’d put extra bread or rolls in. Buyers of something smaller would usually be given an extra piece of bread as well, along the same principle.

So the thirteen and fourteen are both logical, bakers would put one or two extra loaves in depending on their experience at ensuring that they were compliant. It appears that during the nineteenth century the Baker’s Dozen started to be defined more as thirteen rather than fourteen, perhaps for reasons of economy. But, it’s an interesting evolution of the phrase and how meaning can shift over time.

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…..

Badgers

The dictionary defines this as “a crew of desperate villains who robbed near rivers, into which they threw the bodies of those they murdered”. Used as slang in the criminal fraternity, I can’t imagine that this was ever very common. It’s perhaps something which used to keep communities in fear as the books I’ve looked at suggest that the murder rate was relatively low in the eighteenth century. It’s an intriguing phrase though….

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…..

Autem

Not particularly a vulgar word, but this word was used between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries as a slang word, and rather informally and negatively, for a church. It’s not known, but the word may have been derived from Yiddish and the phrase ‘autem bawler’ is another word for a parson.

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…..

Avoir du Pois Lay

This is a pretty niche phrase, meaning “the stealing of brass weights off the counter of shops”. It’s so niche, it’s another phrase that must have been incredibly localised, as I can’t find any mention of this term in old newspapers or books, nor any logic to how it evolved. But I like that there’s a specific phrase for it, perhaps there should be one for stealing beer glasses from pubs…..

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…..

Arsy Yarsey

This rather lovely little term used in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries simply means to fall head over heels, deriving from arsy-versy used from as early as the sixteenth century which had a wider meaning of topsy turvy or back to front. I’m not sure that this term ever appeared much in print, I’m guessing that it was used more in the vernacular.

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…..

Ark Ruffians

The dictionary defines this as “rogues who, in conjunction with watermen, robbed, and sometimes murdered, on the water, by picking a quarrel with the passengers in a boat, boarding it, plundering, stripping, and throwing them overboard.”

I’m unsure whether the author simply made this up, as there is no mention of this in any UK or US newspaper that I can find. Nearly every Internet search of the term just brings up the dictionary itself, so if this was a phrase then it wasn’t very widespread. It would be interesting though if this practice did take place, something akin to highwaymen on the rivers.

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…..

Apple-Pye Bed

This is of course an expression still in use today, the practice of doubling up sheets so that someone can’t get into bed. The dictionary notes that “it’s a common trick played by frolicsome country lasses on their sweethearts, male relations or visitors”.

I was also intrigued at the spelling of the word pye, I thought that had gone out of use earlier than it had, it was still persisting in the nineteenth century given the above graph. For those fascinated by the evolution of language, there are two distinct possibilities of how this term came about. Some thing that it’s from an apple pie turnover, where the pastry is folded over. Others say it’s from the French nappe pliee, which is a folded sheet.

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…..

Anabaptist

The traditional meaning of this word is to describe the religious movement that believes baptism is only relevant and meaningful if it’s done by free choice. So being baptised as a baby wouldn’t count, as it wouldn’t be a conscious decision of behalf of the child.

Anyway, that’s not the slang meaning, which is “a pickpocket caught in the fact, and punished with the discipline of the pump or horse-pond” according to the dictionary. This ‘caught in the fact’ is interesting, not a phrase I’ve heard before, but it seems to be a common nineteenth century alternative to ‘caught in the act’. The link is that if a criminal is ducked into water for his crime that this is like a new baptism, hence the use of the word anabaptist.

I’m not sure how common the usage of this word was, nearly every mention on-line is from the dictionary itself, with no obvious usage in earlier newspapers. Given that we don’t tend to punish criminals by chucking them in water any more, I can’t see this being a word brought back into usage.