A listing of 18th Century slang compiled by Leon Bienkowski and posted to the Revlist in 11 installmentslast posting in June, 2000:
The
terms listed below were mostly gleaned from Partridges Dictionary of Slang
and Unconventional English. There is a bit of a nautical bent to this list
because of my own peculiar specialty, but there should be plenty of amusing and
useful terms for everyone.
Your underly industrious servant,
Lee Bienkowski
A
Abbess - a woman
who is a brothel keeper
Abraham-sham - a
feigned illness
Academician - a
whore
Cast up one's
accounts - to vomit
Admiral of the
Blue - a publican
Admiral of the
Narrow Seas - a drunk who vomits into a neighbor's lap
Adrift -
discharged
Adzooks! - an
expletive
Air and exercise
- a flogging at the cart's tail
Akerman's hotel
- Newgate prison
All Nations - a
mixture of drinks from unfinished bottles
Amen-curler - a
parish clerk
Amidships - the
belly
Anatomy - a very
skinny person
Bring one's ass
to an anchor - sit down
Anne's fan -
thumbing one's nose
Talk like an
apothecary - talk nonsense
Apple-dumpling
shop - a woman's bosom
Hang an arse -
to hold back
Arse upward - in
good luck
Ask bogy - an
evasive reply
Avast! - Stop!
B
Not to know B
from a bull's foot - to be ignorant
Bacon-faced -
full-faced
Bacon-fed - fat
and greasy
Empty the bag -
to tell everything
Heavy baggage -
women and children
Bagpipe - a
long-winded talker
Bailed man - a
man who has bribed the press gang for immunity
Baked
exhausted
Banbury story nonsense
Bark at the moon
- to agitate uselessly
Barnacles
spectacles
Barrel fever -
ill health caused by excessive drinking
To grin like a
basket of chips - to grin broadly
Bear - a very
gruff person
Beer-garden jaw
- rough or vulgar language
Bring to one's
bearings - cause to see reason
Drink like a
beast - to drink only when thirsty
Beau-Nasty -
finely dressed but dirty
To go up a
ladder to bed - to be hanged
Beef-head
idiot
Beggar-maker - a
publican
Belly-gut -
greedy, lazy person
Bender - a
sixpence
Bird-spit - a
small sword
Bit of red - a
soldier
Black arse - a
kettle
Black cattle - a
parson
Give a bottle a
black eye - empty a bottle
Blashy - rainy
weather
Blood and
'ounds! - an exclamation
Blue as a razor
- extremely blue
Blue stocking -
a learned woman
Blue tape gin
Shift one's bob
- to move or go away
Bog orange - a
potato
To marry old
boots - to marry another man's mistress
Bosom friend - a
body louse
To have some
guts in one's brains - to be knowledgeable
Brandy-face - a
drunkard
Brattery - a
nursery
In bad bread -
in a disagreeable situation
Break-teeth
words - words hard to pronounce
Gold bridge - an
easy and attractive means of escape
To be stabbed
with a Bridgeport dagger - to be hanged
Broganeer - one with
a strong Irish accent
Brown cow - a
barrel of beer
Brown George -
ship's biscuit
Buck fitch - an
old lecher
Like bull beef -
big and grim
Bull calf - a
big clumsy fellow
Bull's eye - a
crown piece (5 shillings)
Bung one's eye -
drink heartily
Bung upwards -
on his face
Butter-bag - a
Dutchman
Buttock-ball - a
dance attended by prostitutes
C
Calfskin fiddle
- a drum
Cant a slug into
your breadroom! - have a drink!
Caper - to be
hanged
Captain
Copperthorn's crew - all officers
Captain Grand -
a haughty blustering man
Captain Tom -
leader of a mob
Cat-sticks -
thin legs
Caterpillar - a
soldier
Caulker - a dram
Chalk - to
strike someone's face
Chatter-broth
tea
Christened by a
baker freckled
Cinder-garbler -
a female servant
Cite stage - the
gallows
A house of civil
reception - a brothel
Clapper-claw -
to thrash someone soundly
Clicker - one
who shares out the booty
Closh - Dutch
sailors
Coach wheel - a
crown piece
Cock and pie! -
a mild oath
Coffee-house - a
water-closet
Cold cook - an
undertaker
Comb-brush - a
lady's maid
Comb one's head
- to scold
House of commons
- a privy
Condiddle - to
steal
Conveyancer - a
thief
Cool crape - a
shroud
Corinth - a
brothel
Make a great
harvest of a little corn - much ado about nothing
Corporation - a
large belly
Cotswold lion -
a sheep
Country-put - a
silly rube
Covent Garden
ague VD
Crab lanthorn -
a peevish fellow
Crinkums VD
Crown-office -
the head
Cucumber - a
tailor
Cut throat - a
dark lantern
Swear like a
cutter - swear violently
D
The dam of that
was a whisker - a great lie
Dangle in the
sheriff's picture-frame - to be hanged
Dasher - showy
harlot
Drunk as Davy's
sow - very drunk
Deadly
nevergreen - the gallows
The devil among
the tailors - a row or disturbance
Devil-drawer - a
bad artist
The Devil may
dance in his pocket - he is penniless
Diddle gin
Gone to the Diet
of Worms - be dead and buried
Dilly - a coach
Dog Booby - an
awkward lout
Enough to make a
dog laugh - very funny
Dog-vane - a
cockade
Dog's portion -
a lick and a smell
Dog's soup
water
Go dot and carry
- a person with a wooden leg
Double Cape Horn
- be cuckolded
Roby Douglas
with one eye and a stinking breath - the breech
Draggle-tail - a
nasty, dirty slut
Draws straws -
to feel sleepy
Drury Lane
vestal - a whore
Duke of limbs -
a tall awkward fellow
Dull-swift - a
stupid fellow
Die dunghill -
die cowardly
Drunk as an
emperor - regally drunk
Dustman - a dead
man
Dutch concert -
everyone plays or sings a different tune
Dutch feast -
the host gets drunk before the guests
E
Earwig - a
malicious flatterer
Ensign-bearer -
a drunkard
Eternity box - a
coffin
Expended
killed
To have fallen
down and trodden upon one's eye - to have a black eye
F
Hove no-one's
face but one's own - to be penniless
Facer - a glass
full to the brim
Make faces - to
beget children
Faggot - a man
hired to appear on a muster-roll
Fallen away from
a horse load to a cart load - to become fat
Fantastically
dressed - very shabby
Fegary - a prank
Fiddler's money
- all small change
Fiddlestick's
end nothing
Finger-post - a
clergyman
Fire a gun -
introduce a subject unskillfully
To have been fed
with a fire shovel - to have a big mouth
Fish-broth -
salt water
Flag of defiance
- a drunken roisterer
Flag of distress
- the cockade of a half-pay officer
Flap with a fox
tail - a rude dismissal
Flapdragon VD
Flash the
gentleman - pretend to be a gentleman
Flash it away -
show off
Flats and sharps
weapons
Flawed drunk
Flay the fox
vomit
Flump - an
abrupt or heavy fall
Fly in a tar box
- nervously excited
Foreman of the
jury - one who monopolizes a conversation
Foul a plate -
dine with someone
Frenchified -
infected with VD
Frig-pig - a
fussy trifler
Froglander - a
Dutchman
Full as a goat -
very drunk
Fustilugs - a
dirty slattern
G
Gallied -
hurried, vexed or over-fatigued
Gallows
enormous
Game pullet - a
young whore
Gammon
nonsense
Gardy-loo - Look
out! (Garde leau)
Gaskins - wide
breaches
Gentleman in red
- a soldier
Gentleman's
companion - a louse
Melancholy as a
gib cat dispirited
Give one's head
for washing - to submit to be imposed upon
Glass-eyes -
person wearing spectacles
Glorious -
ecstatically drunk
Glue-pot - a
parson
God permit - a
stage coach
Golden grease -
a bribe
To find fault
with a fat goose - grumble without cause
Play old gooseberry
- play the devil
Gospel-shop - a
church
Gotch-gutted -
pot-bellied
Grapple-the-rails
whiskey
Green-bag - a
lawyer
Greenwich goose
- a Greenwich Hospital pensioner
The cat's uncle
gringog - a grinning idiot
Groggified
tipsy
Ride grub -
ill-tempered
Guinea-gold
dependable
In the gun
tipsy
Gundiguts - a
fat pursy fellow
Gut-foundered -
extremely hungry
H
Half an ounce -
a half crown
Half seas over -
half drunk
Hand like a foot
- clumsy handwriting
Hang-gallows
look - a villainous appearance
Hanktelo - a
fool
Swallow a hare -
to get exceedingly drunk
Under hatches
dead
Young hemp - a
graceless boy
Hempen bridle -
a ship's rigging
Hen-frigate - a
ship bossed by the captain's wife
Herring-gutted -
tall and very thin
To be on the
high ropes - be very angry
Study the
history of the four kings - to play cards
Old hock - stale
beer
Hog in armor - a
finely dressed lout
To drive one's
hogs to market - to snore
Holiday - a spot
left unpainted
It's all honey
or all turd with them - they're either friends or bitter enemies
Off the hooks
peevish
Hopper-arsed -
large bottomed
Send for a horse
ladder - send on a fool's errand
Horse's meal -
food without drink
I
Irish apricot -
a potato
Irrigate - take
a drink
Itchland
Scotland
J
Jack Adams - a
fool
Jack in an
office - an imperious petty official
Jack of legs -
an unusually tall person
Jack Weight - a
fat man
Jakes - a privy
Jaw-me-down - a
very talkative fellow
Die like
Jenkin's hen - die unmarried (Scottish)
Have been to
Jericho - be tipsy
Jerrymumble - to
shake
Going to
Jerusalem - to be drunk
Jimmy Round - a
Frenchman (from Je me rends)
Be laid up in
Job's dock - be treated in hospital for VD
You are Josephus
Rex - you're joking
K
Kerry security -
breath the oath and keep the money
Kicksees
breeches
Kill-devil rum
One of King
John's men - a small man
Clip the King's
English - to be drunk
Knob - an
officer
Knock-down -
strong liquor
L
Laced mutton - a
whore
Ship the white
lapel - be promoted from the ranks
Lazy as the
tinker who laid down his budget to fart - very lazy
Cut one's leg -
become drunk
Lay one's legs
upon one's neck - run away
Lie with a
latchet - tell a great lie
Light-timbered
weak
A line of the
old author - a dram of brandy
Little house - a
privy
Live lumber -
passengers in a ship
Live stock -
body vermin
Looking glass -
a chamber pot
Lotman - a
pirate
Louse-land
Scotland
Lumping
pennyworth - a great bargain
M
Mab - to dress
carelessly
Mag chatter
Maltoot - a
sailor
Man-a-hanging -
a person in difficulties
Married to Brown
Bess - enlisted in the army
Mauled -
exceedingly drunk
Make mice-feet
of - destroy utterly (Scottish)
Milk the pigeon
- attempt the impossible
Load of mischief
- a wife
Who put that
monkey on horseback without tying his tail? - a very bad horseman
Monkey's
allowance - more rough treatment than money
Mopus - a dull,
stupid person
Morris - to
decamp
Mourning shirt -
a dirty shirt
Look like God's
revenge against murder - look very angry
N
Eat one's nails
- do something foolish
Navel-tied - to
be inseparable
Born on Newgate
steps - of criminal extraction
Nip-cheese - a
purser
Dead as a nit -
quite dead
Make a bridge of
someone's nose - pass the bottle past someone
He numbers the
waves - he's wasting time
O
Oaken towel - a
cudgel
Give one his
oatmeal - to punish
Off the hooks
crazy
Old Robin - an
experienced person
Open
lower-deckers - to use foul language
Overshoes, over
boots completely
Take the owl -
become angry
P
Paddy-whack - an
Irishman
Cut's one's
painter - send a person away
Palette - a hand
Paper-skull - a
fool
Parleyvoo - the
French language
Parson Palmer -
one who slows passing the bottle by talking
Make a
pease-kill - to squander lavishly (Scottish)
Penny
lattice-house - a low ale-house
To drop off the
perch - to die
Peter-gunner - a
bad shot
Peter Lug - one
who drinks slowly
Pintle-merchant
- a whore
Piper's wife - a
whore
Tune one's pipes
- begin to cry
Piss more than
one drinks - said of a braggart
Pitt's picture -
a bricked up window
When the
plate-fleet comes in - when I get my fortune
Plump currant -
in good health
Pontius Pilate -
a pawn broker
Popper - a
pistol
Prattle-broth
tea
Princod - a
plump, round person (Scottish)
Alter the
property - disguise oneself
Prow - a bumpkin
Public ledger -
a whore
Pudding-bellied
- very fat
Pump ship
urinate
Punch-house - a
brothel
R
Rabbit hunting
with a dead ferret - a pointless undertaking
Rag-water - bad
booze
Rammaged - tipsy
(Scottish)
Rapping
perjury
Red-letter man -
a Catholic
Remedy-critch -
chamber pot
Repository a
jail
Rib-roast - to
thrash
Ride as if
fetching the midwife - to go in haste
Ride the
forehorse - to be early
Cry roast meat -
boast of one's good fortune
Roast-meat clothes
- holiday clothes
Rocked in a
stone kitchen - a little weak-minded
Rogue in spirit
- a distiller
Royal image - a
coin
Rum gagger - one
who tells false sea stories of hardship
Loose in one's
rump wanton
Rusty guts - a
blunt, surly fellow
Buy the sack -
become tipsy
S
Saddle the wrong
horse - lay blame on the wrong person
Saddle one's
nose - wear spectacles
Salamugundy - a
cook
Salt eel - a
thrashing with a rope's end
Sandy - a
Scotsman
Sauce VD
Sawney - a
Scotsman
Sawny - to whine
Scald - infect with
VD
Scandal-broth
tea
Scarlet horse -
a hired horse
School of Venus
- a brothel
Scotch casement
- a pillory
Sea-crab - a
sailor
Sea-lawyer - a
shark
Settler - a
parting drink
Shab-rag - very
worn
Shake a cloth in
the wind - be hanged
To have been dipped
in the Shannon - to be very forward
Shapes - a name
given an ill-made man
Keep sheep by
moonlight - hang in chains
Sheep's head - a
very talkative person
Shifting ballast
- soldiers aboard ship
Shiners money
Make children's
shoes - to be occupied with trivia
Shreds - a
tailor
Shut-up house -
land headquarters of a press gang
Sick of the
idles - a very lazy person
Silver-cooped -
deserting for the merchant service
Sky-blue gin
Snabbled -
killed in battle
Smart as a
carrot - very smartly dressed
Go a snail's
gallop - move very slowly
Soldier's bottle
- a large bottle
Solo player - a
very bad musician
Sot-weed
tobacco
The Sovereign's
parade - the quarterdeck of a man-of-war
Spanish
trumpeter -a braying donkey
Spoil pudding -
a long-winded preacher
Squire of the
placket - a pimp
Stiff-rump - a
haughty person
Take a stink for
a nosegay - be very gullible
Stoupe - to give
up
Strip-me-naked
gin
Sunburnt -
having many children
Surly boots - a
grumpy person
Surveyor of the
highway - a reeling drunk
In deadly
suspense hanged
Keep a swannery
- to boast
Purser's swipes
- small beer
Swizzle liquor
T
Tallow-breeched
- having a large bottom
Tears of tankard
- liquor stains on a waistcoat
Tea-voider - a
chamberpot
Thornback - an
old maid
Three skips of a
louse - worth little or nothing
Tickle-pitcher -
a drinking buddy
Tiff - thin or
inferior liquor
Tilly-tally
nonsense
Tilter - a small
sword
Swill like a
tinker - drink immoderately
Make dead men
chew tobacco - keep a false muster
Tol-lol - pretty
good
Tongue enough
for two sets of teeth - a very talkative person
Blast your
toplights! - Blast your eyes!
Topping man - a
rich man
Pay one's debts
with the topsail - run off to sea leaving unpaid debts
Tripes and
trillabubs - nickname for a fat man
Trunkmaker-like
- more noise than work
U
Untwisted
ruined
The Urinal of
the Planets Ireland
V
Vaulting school
- a brothel
W, X, Y, Z
As wise as Waltham's calf - very foolish
Wamble - an uneasiness in the stomach
War-caperer - a privateer
Water bewitched - weak beer
Water in one's shoes - a source of
annoyance
You have been to an Irish wedding - you
have a black eye
Whigland Scotland
Whisk - an impertinent fellow
Whister-clister - a cuff on the ear
Whither-go-ye - a wife
Wife in water colors - a mistress
Windy conceited
Wrapt in warm flannel drunk
Yea-and-Nay man - a Quaker
Znees - frost