
LIFE IN LONDON -
A SLANG DICTIONARY
Michael Grant
Taken from Grose's Dictionary
of the Vulgar Tongue, 1823 edition, edited by Pierce Egan,
here are a few of the prime terms from Life in London so that you too can patter
the flash like a true Corinthian!
Abigail |
a lady's waiting maid.
|
Bang up |
quite the thing. Well done.
Complete. Dashing. |
Blunt |
money |
Bosky |
in the cant of the Oxonians,
being tipsy. |
Bottom |
a polite term for the
posteriors. Also, in the sporting sense, strength and spirits to support
fatigue. |
Bunter |
a low dirty prostitute, half
whore, half beggar. |
Chaffer |
tongue. |
Chaffing |
to talk aloud.
|
Charley |
a watchman. |
Conk |
the nose. Also a thief who
impeaches his colleagues. |
Corinthian Path |
Regent Street. |
Crib |
a house. To crack a crib: to
break open a house. |
Cyprian |
a prostitute. From Venus,
the Cyprus-born goddess. |
Daffy |
gin. Also known as blue
ruin, Old Tom, max, flash of lightning, jackey. |
Dipper |
a pickpocket.
|
Duce |
two-pence. |
Dunagen |
a privy. |
Dustman |
to let the dustman get hold
of you: to fall asleep. |
Fancy |
one of the Fancy means a
sporting character that is either attached to pigeons, dog-fighting, boxing
etc. |
Flash |
knowing. |
Flat |
an honest man.
|
Fly |
knowing. Acquainted with
another's meaning or proceeding. |
Fogle |
a handkerchief.
|
Glim |
a candle. |
Heavy wet |
beer. |
Holy Land |
the well-known region of St
Giles parish, London . |
Isle of Bishop |
port wine and roasted
oranges and lemons. |
Ivories |
teeth. How the swell flashed
his ivories; how the gentleman showed his teeth. To sluice the ivories; to
drink. |
Knight of the Thimble |
a tailor. |
Knowledge box |
the head. |
Macaroni |
an Italian paste
of flour and water. Also, a fop. |
Mauleys |
boxing gloves.
|
Miller |
a boxer. |
Nob |
the head. |
Ogles |
the eyes. |
Panny |
a house. The prigs frisked
my panny and nailed my screws; the officers searched my house and seized my
picklock keys. |
Phiz |
the face. |
Prad |
a horse. The swell flashes a
rum prad; the gentleman sports a fine horse. |
Rattler |
a coach. |
Scran |
food. |
Slavey |
a servant of either sex.
|
Spoony |
foolish, half-witted,
nonsensical. |
Swell - termed a swell. |
a gentleman, but any
well-dressed person is emphatically. |
Tonic |
a halfpenny.
|
Uncle |
a pawnbroker. |
Pour imprimer, passer en mode
paysage
To print, use landscape mode
© Michael Grant - CERAV
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