The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

Do you know your abbess from your elbowshaker? Originally printed as a guide to street slang for men of quality, this reference guide will enrich your vocabulary with vulgar witticisms fashionable more than 200 years ago.



The avowed purpose of this dictionary was to give men "of fashion" an insight into the inappropriate language of the street. Read in modern times it is by turn uproariously funny and deeply confusing and yet certain truths have remained—the need for the mot juste has not diminished. Many of the words should be brought back into common parlance forthwith: we have no term for the "admiral of the narrow seas," one who from drunkenness vomits into the lap of the person sitting opposite to him. We have perhaps less use for a word for "dobin rig" or "Stealing ribbons from haberdashers early in the morning or late at night; generally practised by women in the disguise of maid servants." Learn how the Georgians and early Victorians would insult each other and find out how some of today's words and derivations have come about in this quirky little volume.