A Glossary of Slang

baize – a coarse, woolen material resembling felt

balmy on the crumpet – crazy, insane

barnbrack (barmbrack) – a spice cake-like bread usually made with currants

blackavised – dark faced, to have a dark complexion, swarthy

blottesque – blotted or blotchy

blotto – drunk

blue devils – to feel sad or depressed, to be in low spirits. e.g., I had the blue devils after losing the game.

box coat – a large, loose-fitting overcoat worn by coachmen

brick – good sort, good sport

broomsquire – a professional broom maker

buck – a dandy, a smartly dressed or handsome individual

buffer – old man, old codger

bunk – to tell someone angrily to go away–scram!; to dash or sprint away (“done the bunk”–to escape, run out on [something/one])

cabinet particulier – a private room, usually associated with a restaurant and having a sofa or hidden bed, set aside for trysts by lovers and those having extra-marital affairs

Cardigan – an artilleryman from the Cardigan regiment of the Royal Garrison Artillery reserves

carry the banner – tramp

cheeking – taunting or jeering at

cheese it – stop!, stop it!, look out!

chit – derogatory term for a small or frail woman

cicerone – a sightseeing guide

clemming – consumptive, emaciated; necessitous, in want, pinched; in shoemaking, the binding together of soles

clergyman’s daughter – slang for a prostitute or woman with loose morals

cockchafer – the beetle Melolontha melolontha

contango – A technical term from the British Stock Exchange referring to the postponing of a transfer of stock. More colloquially, it refers to the last day to negotiate a financial arrangement before accounts are settled. In slang, it refers to the day of reckoning or the last judgement.

Corner – to corner the market on something, to gain a monopoly

cozy corner – an arrangement of built-in seats situated in a room’s corner or next to a fireplace

crammer – a person who helps students cram (intensively study) for examinations

crack up – talk up, praise, laud

Crikey – an exclamation equivalent to Oh My! or Well Then!

croaker – doomsayer, complainer

cropper (come a cropper) – a hard fall (esp. from a horse); usually used in “come a cropper,” meaning to come to ruin or to fail miserably

crossing – a fight, especially a clandestine prize fight

cut it or cutting it – escape, take off, take a vacation

dead-and-alive – dead quiet, dull, sleepy

dog cart – a two-wheeled vehicle of often simple design and decoration drawn by a smallish horse or a pony

doss – a bed or to sleep. Also see on the doss.

doss house – a cheap lodging house. Also see on the doss.

down – to be critical

drugget – a floor covering made of a coarse fabric

fallalish – pertaining to an article of clothing or piece of dress that is excessively showy or fancy (from fallal)

fast – extravagant, wild

Fieldfare – a thrush, Turdus pilaris, related to the European blackbird. In summer it has a brown breast, brown back, white underwings, and grey head. Its winter plumage is mainly grey in color.

finnan haddie – smoked haddock

fizz – champagne

flash – showy, gaudy, vulgar

footle – nonsense; to talk nonsense or to waste time

French – to be French is to be disingenuous or unserious

frou-frou – the rustling or swish of a dress or gown

fuddled – to become befuddled or drunk

furze – also known as gorse or whin. A shrub, Ulex europeaeus, which grows 4 feet in height and bears yellow flowers

gallipot – a small, covered earthenware pot

gas – boasting; idle or nonsensical talk

gibbous – humpbacked; convex; used to describe the moon when its phase is more than half but less than full

gloaming – twilight or dusk

gorse – see furze

gradley (graidley) – thoroughly, greatly

grangerised – adding material (especially pictures) collected from other sources to an existing book; extra-illustrated

greenwood – a form of woodworking which uses freshly-cut wood and specializes in bending the wood into curved shapes for chairs, bows, and ornamental objects; a vivid green wood used in making ornamental objects

grig – grasshopper or cricket. Often seen in the phrase “merry as a grig,” meaning ecstatic or jumping for joy.

got the chuck – fired from a job, discharged from a position, dismissed

got the hump – put out, annoyed, irritated. e.g., He has got the hump over it.

hanger – a copse or wooded area on the side of a steep hill

hap – luck; happenstance

heart-whole – not in love

heliograph – a device which sends messages (usually in morse code) by means of flashes of reflected sunlight

highball – whiskey and water (Am Eng)

hoarding – a display case or area to place advertisements or advertised products; a wooden fence or barrier

hook it – escape, run away, get away

hop the wag – play truant from school

hoyden – a boisterous girl or young woman

hummock – a knoll, small hill, or mound of earth

hussar – a light cavalryman

Ichabod – an exclamation equivalent to “By God!,” “How terrible!,” or “What a shame!” Usage is derived from the biblical name in 1 Samuel, meaning no glory or the glory is gone.

isinglass – a gelatin made from fish, usually sturgeon

jackdaw – a crow

jipper – to baste; meat broth, gravy, drippings

josser – a fool, a fellow

juggins – a simpleton

jump – liveliness

jumping jesus – a zealot or fanatic

Keep your hair on! – a command not to get excited, equivalent to “Keep your hat on!”

kip – place to sleep

kipping – sleeping

knut – an idle upper-class man-about-town

kopje – Afrikaans word for a small hill, especially one with steep sides

limber – horse-drawn, two-wheeled wagon used to transport artillery pieces; the action of transporting artillery pieces in a limber; the driver of a limber

linctus – in medicine it refers to a medicinal preparation or mixture

leash (of animals) – three or threesome

lorgnettes – opera glasses

mahout – in India, an elephant driver

mar – a cripple

miry – swampy, muddy

moithered – to be agitated, flustered, or perturbed, especially by a noisy crowd

mumchance – silent, dumbstruck

munge – to chew or chop into a mixture; to get into or cause a bad situation, to make a mess of things

nap – a form of the card game whist

nasty jar – a bad or sticky situation

Nebuchadnezzar phase – a drunken episode, a drinking bout. Derived from the name given the largest container of champagne–a Nebuchadnezzar–which held 20 quarts or 15 liters

nesh – frail; tender, especially as regards susceptibility to the cold

Night-jar – a bird, Caprimulgus europaeus, with gray-brown plumage and white wings. Also known as the goatsucker.

nuclear spot – central location

oast – an oven for drying hops or malt

off his chump – insane, crazy

off his onion – mad, crazy

on the doss – on the tramp, vagabondage

osier – a small willow tree whose branches are often used in basket making, Salix viminalis

padding the hoof – walking

palanquin – in India, a sedan chair used by British colonials, especially women, of rank. It was either carried by men or set atop an elephant.

paling – a fence, specifically the upright components of a fence–especially wooden pickets

pantechnicon – a furniture moving truck

peg – a soup kitchen, a place where free meals are given out

pettish – peevish

pipe off – lose interest in something, especially a lover

pippin – an outstanding person; a variety of apple

pother – to bother or worry; a fuss, confusion

Pooterism – a middle-class obsession with respectability and class distinctions; social pretentiousness, pettiness. The term is derived from Charles Pooter who is the main character in The Diary of a Nobody (1892) by George and Weedon Grossmith.

rag – a rowdy event or celebration; a prant; the act of teasing or scolding

ragger – someone who is noisy or riotous; a conspicuous troublemaker

razzle-dazzle – a spree, to go carousing; to womanize

reach-me-down – used, as in a reach-me-down piece of clothing; equivalent to hand-me-down

repining – chagrin; regret; bitterness; yearning

rinking – roller skating

roly-poly – a pudding made by rolling jam within a sheet of suet pastry which is then baked

sack – cheap wine

satinette – gin

scorching – speeding, racing; exceeding the speed limit in a motor car

scraper – a boot scraper

screwed – drunk, intoxicated

semi-classical – a euphemism for semi-nude, often used when describing art

settle – a bench or chair with a high back

shambles – a slaughterhouse or butcher shop

shandy-gaff – a combination of ale and ginger beer

shaping – working oneself into a state of excitement over something; preparing

siphon – short for siphon bottle, a bottle holding aerated or soda water

skilly – a concoction of three parts oatmeal stirred into three and one-half buckets of hot water. It was a staple of the diet in workhouses.

skittle – a form of ninepins; one of the pins knocked down in the game

slavey – a maid of all work

slinging my hook – running away, escaping. Also hook it.

sluice – a wash, to bathe

snuggery – a comfortable, cozy, snug room or place

spasammy – offhand, casual, cavalier

spavined – deteriorated, in disrepair; in medicine it refers to swelling

spike – the casual ward of a workhouse

spoil-five – a card game probably of Irish origin. After an initial bet, each player is dealt five cards and seeks to win three of five tricks. The winner gets the pot. If no one wins, the game is called “spoiled” and a new initial bet is added to the existing pot before the next deal.

stash it – Royal Navy slang for “be quiet”, eqivalent to “stow it”

stashing it up – causing a commotion or tumult

sticking – hockey

stylograph – a fountain pen which has a point instead of a split nib

sub – an advance on one’s pay

taken the knock – to be betrayed or jilted by a lover

tiled – included in, covered with guilt or responsibility; in the same situation. e.g., We are all tiled in this mess.

toerag – a bum or vagrant

tommy – food

top-hole – first class, first rate, the very best

tosh – rubbish, nonsense

trap – a two-wheeled carriage often pulled by a pony and called a “pony trap” or a “pony and trap”

trump – an outstanding person

tumbled – to get to the bottom of, discover the truth of, concluded the facts of a mystery or situtation. e.g., He tumbled to the truth of the matter.

wag his pow – to wag one’s tongue, to babble, to jabber, to rattle on

wagonette – a four-wheeled, horse-drawn carriage often having facing benches or seats in the rear

What priced head have you? – roughly means “How severe is your hangover?”

whin – see furze

white satin – gin

wrangler – a debater; at the University of Cambridge, one of those who have attained the first grade in the second (until 1909 in the first) part of the examination for honors in mathematics. Until 1909, the student attaining the highest marks was called the senior wrangler.

yarning – inextricable

zenana – in India, the apartment set aside for women in the household

(Courtesy of The Institute of Edwardian Studies)

ARISTOCRATIC SLANG

deevie – divine

expie – expensive

fittums – What a perfect fit!

indy – indigestion

man-man – a royal personage

nightie – nightgown

teagie – tea gown