Tag: Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

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…..

Bouncer

The dictionary defines this as “a large man or woman”, which is interesting insomuch as that using the word bouncer as a slang for door staff is thought to originate from a novel by Horatio Alger called The Young Outlaw. I was hoping that instead the word evolved from inns and pubs using large men to ensure order at their establishments, but unfortunately I can’t find any evidence of that…..

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…..

Book-Keeper

I really like the definition of this term, not anything about accountants, but “one who never returns borrowed books”. As a side issue, there’s a small debate about why book-keeper is hyphenated, with a few people suggesting that in this case it would really be bookskeeper, which is a clunky term, hence why a hyphen developed. This interested me, and going back to the late seventeenth century, the word is usually spelt book-keeper. There must be a whole field of study about the evolution of the hyphen, which I suspect is more intriguing than it might at first sound. I do need to get out more…..

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…..

Blue Pigeons

The dictionary defines this as criminal slang for “thieves who steal lead off houses and churches”, or to “fly a blue pigeon” means committing the same crime. An irritating and heinous crime which has unfortunately taken place over the last few centuries, although I’ve found some references to this phrase in the late eighteenth century which refers to “fly a blue pigeon” as meaning deceitful behaviour. The blue refers to the old nickname for lead and although I can’t find much evidence of this phrase in literature or the media, if it was a criminal phrase then I assume it would have mostly been spoken.

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…..

Blue Flag

I’ve never heard of this phrase, but the dictionary defines it as “he has hoisted the blue flag; he has commenced publican, or taken a public house, an allusion to the blue aprons worn by publicans”. Other dictionaries at the time also referred to it as being a name for those becoming fishmongers, for the same reason of the blue aprons. The term now is better known for representing clean beaches, but I like the phrase, which was used between the mid-eighteenth and mid-nineteenth 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…..

Blue Devils

The dictionary defined this as “low spirits”, although it’s today more commonly used in reference to military regiments and sporting teams which have taken on the nickname. However, its original meaning of depression and feeling down is still in usage, more commonly today just as ‘the blues’ and is where the term ‘blues music’ came from. There’s a theory that the original ‘blue devils’ came about from the hallucinations which came after withdrawing from alcohol, although that isn’t entirely certain.

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…..

Black Book

The dictionary defines this as “he is down in the black book, ie, has a stain in his character. A black book is kept in most regiments, wherein the names of all persons sentenced to punishment are recorded”. It seems that this was also true on a wider scale, court books and punishment books in academia were also often black.

Today, the phrase seems to have shifted somewhat, normally being used to refer to a list of secret contacts, rather than a list of people who should be punished. I prefer the old meaning, there’s something more sinister about having a book full of people who have committed misdemeanours. Perhaps Hike Norfolk should have one….

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…..

Bishop

This is a cocktail of sorts according to the dictionary, “a mixture of wine and water, into which is put a roasted orange”. It’s a drink that Samuel Johnson enjoyed, so it dates back to at least the seventeenth century. Interestingly, the drink still seems to exist today, although rum has been added into the concoction of red wine, water and an orange. I can’t see it catching on at JD Wetherspoons, but it’s right up Nicholson’s street…..

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…..

Birds of a Feather

The meaning given by the dictionary is “rogues of the same gang”, so this is one of those phrases that has for some reason remained in usage over the centuries, although it’s not just about rogues and criminals now. Although, perhaps, the TV comedy Birds of a Feather perhaps did revert to the rogues usage. The phrase dates back to at least the sixteenth century and it was used widely and commonly in print, unlike some of the other phrases in this dictionary which I still wonder if the author made up.

The Bath Chronicle posted a long epistle (their word, not mine) to ‘a friend in the country’ in December 1774, which included the lines:

“What a strange revolution – we us’d all together, to flock to one place, like birds of a feather. And pass the long evening, in chat or at play, when a thousand soft amorous things one might say”.

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…..

Billingsgate Language

This is according to the dictionary, “foul language or abuse from the market where the fish(er)women assemble to purchase fish; and where, in their dealings and disputes, they are somewhat apt to leave decency and good manners a little on the left hand”. There was historically another similar term, although it had the same meaning, of ‘Billingsgate Discourse’.

Billingsgate Market was once the fish market which was in operation near to the Tower of London from around the sixteenth century until 1982. At that stage it was moved to a site near to Canary Wharf, although the area only became built up as a commercial district later on. The term Billingsgate for offensive language persisted throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, although I’m not sure it’s very common today.

Although this reminds me of the fisherwomen who came to Lowestoft over the last few decades, who received a reputation in parts for their direct language. The same principles no doubt applied back in Billingsgate…