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 |  This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC |
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This will be a blog for my writing, maybe with (too much) personal thrown in. I am hoping it will be a little more interactive, with me answering questions, helping out and whatnot. If it falls this year (2024), then I may stop the whole blogging thing, but that's all a "wait and see" scenario. An index of topics can be found here: "Writing Blog No.2 Index"  Feel free to comment and interact. |
| Some Nineteenth Century Slang More trivia! So… you want to write a story set in Victorian times (the era based on the reign of Queen Victoria of England, not the Australian state or Canadian island) or a little earlier, but are having problems getting the dialogue sounding authentic, and not just a Simpsons approximation of said language. As such, here’s a couple of lists of words to help spice up your 1876 romance story between the lady of the manor and the groundskeeper (though maybe Lady Chatterley’s Lover got there first)… Let’s start with British (or originally British) words or phrases: bags o' mystery: sausages balderdash: spoken nonsense barking at a knot: a waste of time (think “flogging a dead horse”) blazes: an expletive, related to “hell" bow wow mutton bad tasting meat (nautical expression that was also found in port towns) butter upon bacon: something that is extremely extravagant chuckaboo: someone who is a good friend. church bell: a woman who talks constantly and loudly and never stops cop a mouse: get a black eye dollymop: a woman who dabbled (only dabbled) in prostitution dratted: equivalent of saying “damn” nowadays fly rink: a bald head foozler: someone who tends to mess things up, or is so clumsy things get damaged. gigglemug: a person who always has a smile on their face. grinning at the daisy roots: died and been buried half rats: tipsy, slightly drunk kill the canary: take a day off by pretending to be sick mutton shunter: a police officer, equivalent of the modern “pig” poked up feeling embarrassed rain napper: umbrella sauce box: person’s mouth sell a dog: tell a lie some pumpkins: if something was some pumpkins, it was quite impressive strumpet’ a prostitute, or someone who dressed/ acted like a prostitute take the egg: win (a prize or an argument) tarnation equivalent of modern "damnation" as an expletive up the pole: so drunk you need a pole to keep you upright whooperup: a person who sings loudly even though they do not have a good singing voice wooden spoon: a stupid person And now let’s look at US words and phrases: absquatulate: take leave, disappear (a person) acknowledge the corn: confess, especially confess to a lie afeared: scared boodle: a crowd of people. bully: well done (by early 20th, used sarcastically) chirk: cheerful conniption: tantrum coot: idiot doggery: cheap drinking establishment, equivalent to a “dive” guttersnipe: homeless child who lived on the streets hornswoggle: cheat (usually a verb, sometimes a noun) mosey: move slowly and/or lazily mudsill: a member of the working class; in some areas, an uneducated person Philadelphia lawyer: a person believed by everyone to be almost inhumanly intelligent picayune: something small or frivolous pony up: pay a debt ramstuginous: rambunctious ride out on a rail: force to leave town tuckered out: exhausted vamoose: leave quickly wake snakes: raise a ruckus And there we go, a quick-fire 50 slang terms from the Victorian era (and before). Now, many of the British ones did find their way across the pond, but very few went the other way. But if you are setting a story in this time frame, maybe some of these words could help you. |
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