Category: Random Posts

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

Gapeseed

This sounds like a word that has recently been made up, a beautiful term which is defined by the dictionary as “sights; any thing to feed the eye. I am come [sic] abroad for a little gapeseed”. More widely, it’s something which is worth seeing, something of note, or indeed, someone who is looking at such an interesting thing.

The word was first used in the late sixteenth century, combining the two words ‘gape’ and ‘seed’. ‘Gape’ is actually from the Norse word ‘gapa’ meaning a wide opening, and of a similar derivation to the word ‘gap’, which evolved into something like ‘an open-mouthed stare’ and ‘seed’ is from the Germanic word ‘saed’ meaning to sow.

It is though another word seemingly lost to the English language, now fallen out of usage.

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

Gamon and Patter

This is defined by the dictionary as meaning “common place talk of any profession; as the gamon and patter of a horse-dealer, sailor, etc”. The phrase is more commonly known as ‘gammon and patter’ with the first word coming from ‘gammin’, meaning nonsense or partly untrue, and there’s another phrase ‘gammon and spinach’ which means the same. The second word is also interesting, it’s from ‘Paternoster’, meaning the Lord’s Prayer, which got corrupted into ‘patter’, meaning to recite, talk or babble.

The phrase has now, perhaps sadly, fallen nearly entirely out of usage over the last 150 years.

 

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

Gallipot

This is a lovely word that I’ve heard before, but I never knew its meaning. It’s defined by the dictionary as “a nickname for an apothecary”, although today it means a small pot which is used by apothecaries and that was its original meaning as well. The word origin is thought to be middle English and around the fifteenth century, simply a combining of the words ‘galley’ and ‘pot’, with galley being in reference to the boats which brought them over from where they were produced in the Mediterranean.

There’s a Gallipot Inn in Hartfield, which is on Gallypot Street, and I rather like that pub name.

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

Galligaskins

The dictionary defines this simply as “breeches” and although the term was meant more broadly to mean trousers, it was originally specifically the loose and wide trousers which were popular in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. It is suggested that the word derives from ‘grechesco’, meaning the way things are done in Greece, and apparently this style of trousers derives from the old Greek style. I’m not sure quite how this evolved into the current word, but most dictionaries seem to give the same derivation.

This is one of those words which has now fallen entirely out of usage, but it does have a rather beautiful nature to it.

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

Galimaufrey

This hodgepodge of a word is defined by the dictionary as “a hodgepodge made up of the remnants and scraps of the larder”, something which would be familiar to many families today. It’s from the French word ‘galimafrée’, which is a stew that uses various ingredients depending on what people had available at the time.

The word is more commonly spelled as Gallimaufry and it has remained in use over the decades.

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

Furmity (or Fromenty)

This sounds like quite a jolly word and it’s defined as “wheat boiled up to a jelly. To simper like a furmity kettle: to smile, or look merry about the gills”. I prefer the smile element to this definition although this is sadly no longer in common usage, but the culinary meaning survives to this day, usually now spelled as ‘frumenty’.

The meal was usually a dish for the poor, wheat boiled up with some milk or broth and it doesn’t sound entirely delicious, although there are now modern variations with some more exotic ingredients (not least including rum). The word comes from the Latin ‘frumentum’, meaning grain and this dish was usually the starter in medieval English feasts. I think I’d prefer a prawn cocktail to be honest….

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

Frog’s Wine

A lot of thought was put into the definition of this word in the dictionary, it’s listed solely as “gin”. Back in the early part of the eighteenth century, gin was causing all manner of problems in society, in a similar way to how Stella exists today. A ‘gin craze’ had developed and Parliament was forced to pass a series of laws to try and control how much was being drunk, with some success as its usage had fallen by the end of the century. I’m not sure of the etymology behind ‘Frog’s Wine’, but it was a derogatory slang term.

This is all a handy excuse to use one of my favourite images, Gin Lane by William Hogarth.

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

Frosty Face

This not very politically correct term is defined by the dictionary as meaning “one pitted with the small pox”, which also doesn’t suggest a great deal of understanding for the afflicted. The usage of this phrase has shifted since the late eighteenth century, it later became a more generic term for those with a pot-marked face, then more recently it means someone with an unfriendly or hostile look.

Even in the early part of the twentieth-century there were smallpox outbreaks in the UK, a disease that caused great fear in communities and was dangerous particularly to children. Fortunately, this is one of the diseases that has since been eradicated.

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

Friday-Face

The dictionary definition for this sad phrase is “a dismal countenance. Before, and even long after the Reformation, Friday was a day of abstinence, or jour maigre. Immediately, after the restoration of King Charles II, a proclamation was issued, prohibiting all publicans from dressing any suppers on a Friday”.

I’m not sure I fully understand the context of “dressing a supper”, but dressing used to mean preparing, so I assume it meant that food couldn’t be served at all. It was also men loyal to Cromwell who were puritans, so many were relieved when King Charles II was restored to the throne. Friday was though a fast day for Catholics, which is still seen today with fish being a popular dish on Fridays as that wasn’t banned.

It could have been a ‘Wednesday face’ and ‘Friday face’ though if John Wesley would have gotten his way, he wanted fasting on both of these days. The Wednesday fast would have represented the Betrayal of Christ and the Friday fast would have represented the Death of Christ.

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

Freeholder

The dictionary says “he whose wife accompanies him to the alehouse”. I’m not sure that I can add much here, although there’s something that reminds me of the Andy Capp cartoon series. I have no idea about the logic behind this word, unless it means that it’s something done by the wealthy, or freehold land-owners.