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Captain Grose & others: Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue 1811
Project Gutenberg.
Subtitled:
A DICTIONARY OF BUCKISH SLANG, UNIVERSITY WIT, AND PICKPOCKET ELOQUENCE. UNABRIDGED FROM THE ORIGINAL 1811 EDITION WITH A FOREWORD BY ROBERT CROMIE COMPILED ORIGINALLY BY CAPTAIN GROSE AND NOW CONSIDERABLY ALTERED AND ENLARGED, WITH THE MODERN CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS, BY A MEMBER OF THE WHIP CLUB. ASSISTED BY HELL-FIRE DICK, AND JAMES GORDON, ESQRS. OF CAMBRIDGE; AND WILLIAM SOAMES, ESQ. OF THE HON. SOCIETY OF NEWMAN'S HOTEL.
I downloaded this for research into the period for the magic pirate novel and ended up reading if from beginning to end rather than dipping in. If you know the terms you can look up their meaning. As most dictionaries, it's in alphabetical order, however it doesn't work backwards. To someone looking back from the distance of 200 years the terms are mind-boggling and often hilarious or, occasionally, jaw-droppingly literal. ('WINDWARD PASSAGE. One who uses or navigates the windward passage; a sodomite.')
It's a brilliant contemporary insight into the period being a mixture of low slang, thieves' cant and 'Buckish' slang by which it seems that Regency Bucks felt they could talk about lewd subjects in front of their mothers, sisters and sweethearts without giving away their meaning. I'm pretty sure most mothers, sisters and sweethearts were wise to what was happening, of course, though they may not have followed everything, and perhaps that's just as well.
EXAMPLE. There are a number of words for male parts and female parts – some lewdly descriptive, others slightly whimsical. 'Sugar stick', for instance being defined as: 'the virile member' (along with prick, but not cock or dick which did not seem to hold that meaning then). Hey, those of us who write in this period need to know! It shows that different contributors used different wording because the definition of 'arbor vitae' is simply 'penis' as is: 'gaying instrument' (gay being then unconnected with homosexuality, of course), 'pego' (the penis of a man or beast), 'plug-tail', 'Thomas' or 'Man Thomas', 'tickle tail', 'whore pipe' and 'doodle' (a child's penis), but surprisingly no mention of 'pizzle'. There are even more lurid descriptions of female anatomy, most of which we would see (from this distance) as being extremely pejorative, as no doubt they were then. There are few words which the dictionary will not spell out in full but the female one consistently gets four stars (****) and is referred to as 'monosyllable'. When we get to M we get: 'Monosyllable. A woman's commodity.' That doesn't however prevent the authors from listing: 'black joke', 'bottomless pit', 'brown madam' or 'Miss Brown', 'Buckinger's boot', 'bun', 'Eve's custom house', 'Miss Laycock', 'Mother of all saints'... and I've still only got as far as M. A woman's commodity is described as 'the private parts of a modest woman, and the public parts of a prostitute.'
Interestingly the other words considered too lewd to spell out in full were sh*te and t**d. It took me a while to get the latter. Turd, of course. Which obviously ranked up there with **** as a word that could not be spelled out even in a dictionary of the vulgar tongue. Vulgar goes only so far, obviously. And speaking of tongues: 'To tip the velvet; to put one's tongue into a woman's mouth.' Sometimes it's a little coy:
'ARMOUR. In his armour, pot valiant: to fight in armour; to make use of Mrs. Philips's ware. See C—D—M', however when you get to the word you do find it spelled out in full: 'CUNDUM'. (see below for full explanation.)
There are terms for things I never expected (or wished) to see terms for:
DILBERRIES. Small pieces of excrement adhering to the hairs near the fundament
THOROUGH COUGH. Coughing and breaking wind backwards at the same time
DUMB WATCH. A venereal bubo in the groin
And there are explanations which reveal a lot about the obscure origins of phrases still in use:
THINGUMBOB. Mr. Thingumbob; a vulgar address or nomination to any person whose name is unknown, the same as Mr. What-d'ye-cal'em. Thingumbobs; testicles.
METTLE. The semen. To fetch mettle; the act of self pollution. Mettle is also figuratively used for courage.
DAM. A small Indian coin, mentioned in the Gentoo code of laws: hence etymologists may, if they please, derive the common expression, I do not care a dam, i.e. I do not care half a farthing for it.
It's not so much that some of the terms surprise me in themselves... it's just that I'm surprised there are terms for some of the things. And some of the explanations are funnier than the terms themselves. Some are just plain euwww... and others are an education. Many are bodily functional or specifically thieves' cant. Some are still in use, though with altered or mangled meanings. All in all this excellent – if quirky – dictionary gave me some great words and phrases to use in the novel, plus some to steer well clear of. Thanks Captain Grose.
As promised I'm leaving you with this:
'CUNDUM. The dried gut of a sheep, worn by men in the act of coition, to prevent venereal infection; said to have been invented by one colonel Cundum. These machines were long prepared and sold by a matron of the name of Philips, at the Green Canister, in Half-moon-street, in the Strand. That good lady having acquired a fortune, retired from business; but learning that the town was not well served by her successors, she, out of a patriotic zeal for the public welfare, returned to her occupation; of which she gave notice by divers hand-bills, in circulation in the year 1776. Also a false scabbard over a sword, and the oil-skin case for holding the colours of a regiment.'
Download for free from Project Gutenberg if you want more eye-watering glimpses into life 200 years ago as not mentioned by Jane Austen. Right now I'm going for a little lie down in a darkened room.
Project Gutenberg.
Subtitled:
A DICTIONARY OF BUCKISH SLANG, UNIVERSITY WIT, AND PICKPOCKET ELOQUENCE. UNABRIDGED FROM THE ORIGINAL 1811 EDITION WITH A FOREWORD BY ROBERT CROMIE COMPILED ORIGINALLY BY CAPTAIN GROSE AND NOW CONSIDERABLY ALTERED AND ENLARGED, WITH THE MODERN CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS, BY A MEMBER OF THE WHIP CLUB. ASSISTED BY HELL-FIRE DICK, AND JAMES GORDON, ESQRS. OF CAMBRIDGE; AND WILLIAM SOAMES, ESQ. OF THE HON. SOCIETY OF NEWMAN'S HOTEL.
I downloaded this for research into the period for the magic pirate novel and ended up reading if from beginning to end rather than dipping in. If you know the terms you can look up their meaning. As most dictionaries, it's in alphabetical order, however it doesn't work backwards. To someone looking back from the distance of 200 years the terms are mind-boggling and often hilarious or, occasionally, jaw-droppingly literal. ('WINDWARD PASSAGE. One who uses or navigates the windward passage; a sodomite.')
It's a brilliant contemporary insight into the period being a mixture of low slang, thieves' cant and 'Buckish' slang by which it seems that Regency Bucks felt they could talk about lewd subjects in front of their mothers, sisters and sweethearts without giving away their meaning. I'm pretty sure most mothers, sisters and sweethearts were wise to what was happening, of course, though they may not have followed everything, and perhaps that's just as well.
EXAMPLE. There are a number of words for male parts and female parts – some lewdly descriptive, others slightly whimsical. 'Sugar stick', for instance being defined as: 'the virile member' (along with prick, but not cock or dick which did not seem to hold that meaning then). Hey, those of us who write in this period need to know! It shows that different contributors used different wording because the definition of 'arbor vitae' is simply 'penis' as is: 'gaying instrument' (gay being then unconnected with homosexuality, of course), 'pego' (the penis of a man or beast), 'plug-tail', 'Thomas' or 'Man Thomas', 'tickle tail', 'whore pipe' and 'doodle' (a child's penis), but surprisingly no mention of 'pizzle'. There are even more lurid descriptions of female anatomy, most of which we would see (from this distance) as being extremely pejorative, as no doubt they were then. There are few words which the dictionary will not spell out in full but the female one consistently gets four stars (****) and is referred to as 'monosyllable'. When we get to M we get: 'Monosyllable. A woman's commodity.' That doesn't however prevent the authors from listing: 'black joke', 'bottomless pit', 'brown madam' or 'Miss Brown', 'Buckinger's boot', 'bun', 'Eve's custom house', 'Miss Laycock', 'Mother of all saints'... and I've still only got as far as M. A woman's commodity is described as 'the private parts of a modest woman, and the public parts of a prostitute.'
Interestingly the other words considered too lewd to spell out in full were sh*te and t**d. It took me a while to get the latter. Turd, of course. Which obviously ranked up there with **** as a word that could not be spelled out even in a dictionary of the vulgar tongue. Vulgar goes only so far, obviously. And speaking of tongues: 'To tip the velvet; to put one's tongue into a woman's mouth.' Sometimes it's a little coy:
'ARMOUR. In his armour, pot valiant: to fight in armour; to make use of Mrs. Philips's ware. See C—D—M', however when you get to the word you do find it spelled out in full: 'CUNDUM'. (see below for full explanation.)There are terms for things I never expected (or wished) to see terms for:
DILBERRIES. Small pieces of excrement adhering to the hairs near the fundament
THOROUGH COUGH. Coughing and breaking wind backwards at the same time
DUMB WATCH. A venereal bubo in the groin
And there are explanations which reveal a lot about the obscure origins of phrases still in use:
THINGUMBOB. Mr. Thingumbob; a vulgar address or nomination to any person whose name is unknown, the same as Mr. What-d'ye-cal'em. Thingumbobs; testicles.
METTLE. The semen. To fetch mettle; the act of self pollution. Mettle is also figuratively used for courage.
DAM. A small Indian coin, mentioned in the Gentoo code of laws: hence etymologists may, if they please, derive the common expression, I do not care a dam, i.e. I do not care half a farthing for it.
It's not so much that some of the terms surprise me in themselves... it's just that I'm surprised there are terms for some of the things. And some of the explanations are funnier than the terms themselves. Some are just plain euwww... and others are an education. Many are bodily functional or specifically thieves' cant. Some are still in use, though with altered or mangled meanings. All in all this excellent – if quirky – dictionary gave me some great words and phrases to use in the novel, plus some to steer well clear of. Thanks Captain Grose.
As promised I'm leaving you with this:
'CUNDUM. The dried gut of a sheep, worn by men in the act of coition, to prevent venereal infection; said to have been invented by one colonel Cundum. These machines were long prepared and sold by a matron of the name of Philips, at the Green Canister, in Half-moon-street, in the Strand. That good lady having acquired a fortune, retired from business; but learning that the town was not well served by her successors, she, out of a patriotic zeal for the public welfare, returned to her occupation; of which she gave notice by divers hand-bills, in circulation in the year 1776. Also a false scabbard over a sword, and the oil-skin case for holding the colours of a regiment.'
Download for free from Project Gutenberg if you want more eye-watering glimpses into life 200 years ago as not mentioned by Jane Austen. Right now I'm going for a little lie down in a darkened room.
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