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Jim Lewin received a stack of old magazines at his used bookstore that included some issues of The Flapper from the 1920s. A July 1922 issue contained “The Flapper’s Dictionary,” a glossary of hot slang terms of the time, which he posted in its entirety. Here’s a small sample:
Absent Treatment—Dancing with a bashful partner.
Airedale—A homely man.
Alarm Clock—Chaperone.
Anchor—Box of flowers.
Apple Knocker—A hick; a hay-shaker.
Apple Sauce–Flattery; bunk.
Barlow—A girl, a flapper, a chicken.
Bank’s Closed—No petting allowed; no kisses.
Barneymugging—Lovemaking.
Bee’s Knees—See “Cat’s Pajamas”
Bell Polisher—A young man addicted to lingering in vestibules at 1 a.m.
Ask your grandmother (or great-grandmother) if she remembers some of these words. Some I know from watching old movies, and my own mother gave me “mad money” before I went on a date. Link -via Boing Boing
The Bodleian Library is publishing a new edition of the first English language dictionary of slang, which has been out of print for 300 years.
Originally entitled A New Dictionary of Terms, Ancient and Modern, of the Canting Crew, its aim was to educate the polite London classes in ‘canting’ – the language of thieves and ruffians – should they be unlucky enough to wander into the ‘wrong’ parts of town.
With over 4,000 entries, the dictionary contains many words which are now part of everyday parlance, such as ‘Chitchat’ and ‘Eyesore’ as well as a great many which have become obsolete, such as the delightful ‘Dandyprat’ and ‘Fizzle’.
Here are some examples to whet your appetite:
Cackling-farts, c. Eggs.
Farting-crackers, c. Breeches.
Grumbletonians, Malecontents, out of Humour with the Government, for want of a Place, or having lost one.
Mutton-in-long-coats, Women. A Leg of Mutton in a Silk-Stocking, a Woman’s Leg.
You can view the definitions of Arsworm, Bumfodder, Dandyprat, Humptey-Dumptey, and many more at the Bodleian Library link.
Link, via The Centered Librarian.
The Art of Manliness has a glossary of manly terms used over 100 years ago. Some terms survived well into the 20th century; I’ve used “a month of Sundays” myself. Others are strange but maybe you can guess the meanings, as in “Shut your bone box, you saucebox, or my bunch of fives will give you a fizzing blinker!” Link -via Boing Boing
A recent poll asked Americans what the most annoying phrase they’ve heard is, and 47% of respondents answered “whatever”. It is believed that this is the actual phrase they found annoying, and not just a dismissive response to the question.
Other candidates for most irritating phrases: “you know” netted 25 percent of the vote; “it is what it is” got 11 percent; “anyway” got 7 percent; and “at the end of the day” ended the day with 2 percent.
Some geographic tendencies also emerged. “Whatever,” for example, is more loathed in the Midwest – where it annoys 55 percent of respondents – than it is in the Northeast, where it bothers 35 percent.
Link -via Simply Left Behind
(image credit: Flickr user Shiny Things)
