Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 203

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….

Marriage Music

This definition by Grose is quite charming, it’s “the squalling and crying of children”. This beautiful phrase is first recorded as being used in the late seventeenth century and it lingered on until the later part of the nineteenth century. So, the next time I hear the children of friends crying, I will think of this….