A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

DICTIONARY

OF THE

VULGAR TONGUE

1811

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1811

DICTIONARY

OF THE

VULGAR TONGUE.

A DICTIONARY OF BUCKISH SLANG,

UNIVERSITY WIT,

AND PICKPOCKET ELOQUENCE.

UNABRIDGED FROM THE ORIGINAL

1811 EDITION WITH A FOREWORD BY ROBERT CROMIE

COMPILED ORIGINALLY

BY CAPTAIN GROSE.

And Now Considerably Altered And Enlarged, With The Modern Changes And Improvements,

By A Member Of The Whip Club.

Assisted By Hell-Fire Dick, And James Gordon, Esqrs. Of Cambridge; And William Soames, Esq. Of The Hon. Society Of Newman's Hotel.

A History of Erotic Literature

Erotic literature today is associated with Fifty Shades of Grey or internet pornography, but erotic fiction has existed for centuries. Erotic literature comes in many forms, including novels, poems, memoirs, such as Casanova’s Histoire de ma Vie (1822) and manuals, such as the Kama Sutra. It covers a range of taboo subjects such as sadomasochism, homosexuality and prostitution whilst often being satirical and socially critical. Erotic literature is loosely defined as fictional and factual accounts of human sexual relationships which have the power to or are intended to arouse the reader sexually, indicating why the genre has historically been so controversial.

Erotic literature was not considered a huge problem before the invention of the printing press because, due to the costs of producing individual manuscripts, there was a limited readership. Early erotic poetry in Ancient Greece by Sappho of Lesbos, or Ovid for example, was only read by a select few. During the Renaissance, erotic poetry, such as Shakespeare’s sonnets, often circulated as a manuscript and therefore had a limited readership. That is not to imply that people never had a problem with erotica. Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron (1353) depicted the lechery of monks and the seclusion of nuns and was banned in many countries. Erotic literature was often censored and destroyed on the grounds of obscenity and was mainly criticised by the ecclesiastical courts. In England, after the Reformation, the church lost much of its power to the Crown which licensed every published book and prosecutions of books for their erotic content were rare.

The first conviction for obscenity in England was in 1727 when Edmund Curll was fined for disturbing the King’s peace with his work, The Venus in the Cloister, or The Nun in Her Smock. This set the precedent for other legal convictions. Prosecutions in the later eighteenth century were rare and often related to mixing seditious and blasphemous material. John Wilkes’ and Thomas Potter’s An Essay on Woman (1763), based on Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Man (1733-34), featured parodies on Pope’s work, such as A Dying Lover to his Prick (based on Pope’s A Dying Christian to his Soul). The work was the only erotic work to ever be read out in full in the House of Lords before being declared obscene and Wilkes being deemed an outlaw. The Obscene Publications Act (1857) made the sale of obscene material a statutory offence and gave the courts the power to seize and destroy offending material, but it did not define the obscene. Therefore, the work affected by it changed. The Act was originally against works that were written to corrupt others and focused on overt erotica, but this changed and the focus moved onto works which affected someone who was open to corruption, rather than focusing on the writer’s intent. It led to many high profile seizures and the targeting of renowned classics by authors such as D.H. Lawrence, James Joyce and medical textbooks by Havelock Ellis. The Act changed again in the 1950s to focus on pure pornography.

Despite its torrid legal history, erotic literature has a diverse past with a huge authorship. In the seventeenth century John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647-1680) was notorious for his obscene verses. His reputation as a libertine meant that his name was often used as a selling point by publishers of collections of erotic verse. Michel Millot’s and Jean L’Ange’s L’Ecole des Filles (1655) concerned the sexual education of younger naïve women, by an older, experienced woman which was a popular theme in erotic literature. The novel was hugely popular and was even mentioned in Samuel Pepys diary where, in an often censored passage, he records masturbating over the work. A unique work during this period was Sodom, or the Quintessence of Debauchery (1684), a closet play by John Wilmot 2nd Earl of Rochester, which focused on buggery and homosexuality. Edmund Curll’s Merryland books were also a peculiar version of English erotic fiction where the female body (and sometimes male form) were described in terms of a landscape.

The rise of the novel in the eighteenth century gave writers a new platform for erotic literature. John Cleland’s Fanny Hill (1748) set a high standard for literary smut. This period was a high point for English erotica, after which it declined in the 1750s with the introduction of romanticism, however the genre stayed popular in Europe. One French genre was influenced by the translation of Arabian Nights and involved the transformation of people into various objects which were then used in sexual relationships. Denis Diderot’s Les Bijoux Indiscrets (1747) tells of a magic ring which is used to get women’s vaginas to reveal their intimate sexual histories. In the late eighteenth century, novels such as 120 Days of Sodom (1785) by Marquis de Sade, from whom sadism is derived, explored sadomasochism and influenced sadist and masochistic novels later in the genre.

Victorian erotica was often written by hacks, but interestingly featured curious forms of social stratification. Social distinctions between a master and his servant were never forgotten or ignored, even during sex. There were also often significant examples of sadomasochism, perhaps due to the public school culture and the emphasis on flagellation as a form of corporeal punishment. Novels were often written under pseudonyms or anonymously, for example The Lustful Turk (1828) by Rosa Coote. Erotic poets included George Colman the Younger and Algernon Charles Swinburne who wrote twelve eclogues on flagellation. There was also a rise in clandestine erotic periodicals, such as The Pearl which contained collections of erotic tales, songs and parodies. Another important European erotic work was Venus in Furs (1870) by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. He brought the world’s attention to masochism and this fetish was named after him.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century erotic literature became more cultured and was associated with the Decadent Movement, of which Aubrey Beardsley’s Yellow Book (1894-97) was an influential work. There was also a rise in pioneering homosexual novels, such as The Sins of the Cities of the Plain (1881) and Teleny or the Reverse of the Medal (1893). Erotic literature remained prolific well into the twentieth century and included works, such as Alter of Venus (1934), Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer (1934), Paulina Rénage’s Story of O (1954) and Anais Nin’s Delta of Venus (1978). It has continued in its popularity and diversity since then and remains a popular genre within modern day society.

PREFACE.

The merit of Captain Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue has been long and universally acknowledged. But its circulation was confined almost exclusively to the lower orders of society: he was not aware, at the time of its compilation, that our young men of fashion would at no very distant period be as distinguished for the vulgarity of their jargon as the inhabitants of Newgate; and he therefore conceived it superfluous to incorporate with his work the few examples of fashionable slang that might occur to his observation.

But our Jehus of rank have a phraseology not less peculiar to themselves, than the disciples of Barrington: for the uninitiated to understand their modes of expression, is as impossible as for a Buxton to construe the Greek Testament. To sport an Upper Benjamin, and to swear with a good grace, are qualifications easily attainable by their cockney imitators; but without the aid of our additional definitions, neither the cits of Fish-street, nor the boors of Brentford would be able to attain the language of whippism. We trust, therefore, that the whole tribe of second-rate Bang Ups, will feel grateful for our endeavour to render this part of the work as complete as possible. By an occasional reference to our pages, they may be initiated into all the peculiarities of language by which the man of spirit is distinguished from the man of worth. They may now talk bawdy before their papas, without the fear of detection, and abuse their less spirited companions, who prefer a good dinner at home to a glorious UP-SHOT in the highway, without the hazard of a cudgelling.

But we claim not merely the praise of gratifying curiosity, or affording assistance to the ambitious; we are very sure that the moral influence of the Lexicon Balatronicum will be more certain and extensive than that of any methodist sermon that has ever been delivered within the bills of mortality. We need not descant on the dangerous impressions that are made on the female mind, by the remarks that fall incidentally from the lips of the brothers or servants of a family; and we have before observed, that improper topics can with our assistance be discussed, even before the ladies, without raising a blush on the cheek of modesty. It is impossible that a female should understand the meaning of TWIDDLE DIDDLES, or rise from table at the mention of BUCKINGER'S BOOT. Besides, Pope assures us, that VICE TO BE HATED NEEDS BUT TO BE SEEN; in this volume it cannot be denied, that she is seen very plainly; and a love of virtue is, therefore, the necessary result of perusing it.

The propriety of introducing the UNIVERSITY SLANG will be readily admitted; it is not less curious than that of the College in the Old Bailey, and is less generally understood. When the number and accuracy of our additions are compared with the price of the volume, we have no doubt that its editors will meet with the encouragement that is due to learning, modesty, and virtue.

DICTIONARY

OF THE VULGAR TONGUE.

ABBESS, or LADY ABBESS, A bawd, the mistress of a brothel.

ABEL-WACKETS. Blows given on the palm of the hand with a twisted handkerchief, instead of a ferula; a jocular punishment among seamen, who sometimes play at cards for wackets, the loser suffering as many strokes as he has lost games.

ABIGAIL. A lady's waiting-maid.

ABRAM. Naked. CANT.

ABRAM COVE. A cant word among thieves, signifying a naked or poor man; also a lusty, strong rogue.

ABRAM MEN. Pretended mad men.

TO SHAM ABRAM. To pretend sickness.

ACADEMY, or PUSHING SCHOOL. A brothel. The Floating Academy; the lighters on board of which those persons are confined, who by a late regulation are condemned to hard labour, instead of transportation.—Campbell's Academy; the same, from a gentleman of that name, who had the contract for victualling the hulks or lighters.

ACE OF SPADES. A widow.

ACCOUNTS. To cast up one's accounts; to vomit.

ACORN. You will ride a horse foaled by an acorn, i.e. the gallows, called also the Wooden and Three-legged Mare. You will be hanged.—See THREE-LEGGED MARE.

ACT OF PARLIAMENT. A military term for small beer, five pints of which, by an act of parliament, a landlord was formerly obliged to give to each soldier gratis.

ACTEON. A cuckold, from the horns planted on the head of Acteon by Diana.

ACTIVE CITIZEN. A louse.

ADAM'S ALE. Water.

ADAM TILER. A pickpocket's associate, who receives the stolen goods, and runs off with them. CANT.

ADDLE PATE. An inconsiderate foolish fellow.

ADDLE PLOT. A spoil-sport, a mar-all.

ADMIRAL OF THE BLUE, who carries his flag on the main-mast. A landlord or publican wearing a blue apron, as was formerly the custom among gentlemen of that vocation.

ADMIRAL OF THE NARROW SEAS. One who from drunkenness vomits into the lap of the person sitting opposite to him. SEA PHRASE.

ADRIFT. Loose, turned adrift, discharged. SEA PHRASE.

AEGROTAT, (CAMBRIDGE), A certificate from the apothecary that you are INDISPOSED, (i. e.) to go to chapel. He sports an Aegrotat, he is sick, and unable to attend Chapel. or Hall. It does not follow, however, but that he can STRUM A PIECE, or sport a pair of oars.

AFFIDAVIT MEN. Knights of the post, or false witnesses, said to attend Westminster Hall, and other courts of justice, ready to swear any thing for hire.

AFTER-CLAP. A demand after the first given in has been discharged; a charge for pretended omissions; in short, any thing disagreeable happening after all consequences of the cause have been thought at an end.

AGAINST THE GRAIN. Unwilling. It went much against the grain with him, i.e. it was much against his inclination, or against his pluck.

AGOG, ALL-A-GOG. Anxious, eager, impatient: from the Italian AGOGARE, to desire eagerly.

AGROUND. Stuck fast, stopped, at a loss, ruined; like a boat or vessel aground.

AIR AND EXERCISE. He has had air and exercise, i.e. he has been whipped at the cart's tail; or, as it is generally, though more vulgarly, expressed, at the cart's a-se.

ALDERMAN. A roasted turkey garnished with sausages; the latter are supposed to represent the gold chain worn by those magistrates.

ALDGATE. A draught on the pump at Aldgate; a bad bill of exchange, drawn on persons who have no effects of the drawer.

ALE DRAPER. An alehouse keeper.

ALE POST. A may-pole.

ALL-A-MORT. Struck dumb, confounded. What, sweet one, all-a-mort? SHAKESPEARE.

ALL HOLIDAY. It is all holiday at Peckham, or it is all holiday with him; a saying signifying that it is all over with the business or person spoken of or alluded to.

ALL HOLLOW. He was beat all hollow, i.e. he had no chance of conquering: it was all hollow, or a hollow thing, it was a decided thing from the beginning. See HOLLOW.

ALL NATIONS. A composition of all the different spirits sold in a dram-shop, collected in a vessel into which the drainings of the bottles and quartern pots are emptied.

ALLS. The five alls is a country sign, representing five human figures, each having a motto under him. The first is a king in his regalia; his motto, I govern all: the second, a bishop in pontificals; motto, I pray for all: third, a lawyer in his gown; motto, I plead for all: fourth: a soldier in his regimentals, fully accoutred; motto, I fight for all: fifth, a poor countryman with his scythe and rake; motto, I pay for all.

ALTAMEL. A verbal or lump account, without particulars, such as is commonly produced at bawdy-houses, spunging-houses, &c. Vide DUTCH RECKONING.

ALTITUDES. The man is in his altitudes, i.e. he is drunk.

AMBASSADOR. A trick to duck some ignorant fellow or landsman, frequently played on board ships in the warm latitudes. It is thus managed: A large tub is filled with water, and two stools placed on each side of it. Over the whole is thrown a tarpaulin, or old sail: this is kept tight by two persons, who are to represent the king and queen of a foreign country, and are seated on the stools. The person intended to be ducked plays the Ambassador, and after repeating a ridiculous speech dictated to him, is led in great form up to the throne, and seated between the king and queen, who rising suddenly as soon as he is seated, he falls backwards into the tub of water.

AMBASSADOR OF MOROCCO. A Shoemaker. (See Mrs. Clarke's Examination.)

AMBIDEXTER. A lawyer who takes fees from both plaintiff and defendant, or that goes snacks with both parties in gaming.

AMEN CURLER. A parish clerk.

AMEN. He said Yes and Amen to every thing; he agreed to every thing.

AMINADAB. A jeering name for a Quaker.

AMES ACE. Within ames ace; nearly, very near.

TO AMUSE. To fling dust or snuff in the eyes of the person intended to be robbed; also to invent some plausible tale, to delude shop-keepers and others, thereby to put them off their guard. CANT.

AMUSERS. Rogues who carried snuff or dust in their pockets, which they threw into the eyes of any person they intended to rob; and running away, their accomplices (pretending to assist and pity the half-blinded person) took that opportunity of plundering him.

ANABAPTIST. A pickpocket caught in the fact, and punished with the discipline of the pump or horse-pond.

ANCHOR. Bring your a-se to an anchor, i.e. sit down. To let go an anchor to the windward of the law; to keep within the letter of the law. SEA WIT.

ANGLERS. Pilferers, or petty thieves, who, with a stick having a hook at the end, steal goods out of shop-windows, grates, &c.; also those who draw in or entice unwary persons to prick at the belt, or such like devices.

ANGLING FOR FARTHINGS. Begging out of a prison window with a cap, or box, let down at the end of a long string.

ANKLE. A girl who is got with child, is said to have sprained her ankle.

ANODYNE NECKLACE. A halter.

ANTHONY or TANTONY PIG. The favourite or smallest pig in the litter.—To follow like a tantony pig, i.e. St. Anthony's pig; to follow close at one's heels. St. Anthony the hermit was a swineherd, and is always represented with a swine's bell and a pig. Some derive this saying from a privilege enjoyed by the friars of certain convents in England and France (sons of St. Anthony), whose swine were permitted to feed in the streets. These swine would follow any one having greens or other provisions, till they obtained some of them; and it was in those days considered an act of charity and religion to feed them.

TO KNOCK ANTHONY. Said of an in-kneed person, or one whose knees knock together; to cuff Jonas. See JONAS.

APE LEADER. An old maid; their punishment after death, for neglecting increase and multiply, will be, it is said, leading apes in hell.

APOSTLES. To manoeuvre the apostles, i.e. rob Peter to pay Paul; that is, to borrow money of one man to pay another.

APOSTLES. (CAMBRIDGE.) Men who are plucked, refused their degree.

APOTHECARY. To talk like an apothecary; to use hard or gallipot words: from the assumed gravity and affectation of knowledge generally put on by the gentlemen of this profession, who are commonly as superficial in their learning as they are pedantic in their language.

APOTHECARY'S BILL. A long bill.

APOTHECARY'S, or LAW LATIN. Barbarous Latin, vulgarly called Dog Latin, in Ireland Bog Latin.

APPLE CART. Down with his apple-cart; knock or throw him down.

APPLE DUMPLIN SHOP. A woman's bosom.

APPLE-PYE BED. A bed made apple-pye fashion, like what is called a turnover apple-pye, where the sheets are so doubled as to prevent any one from getting at his length between them: a common trick played by frolicsome country lasses on their sweethearts, male relations, or visitors.

APRIL FOOL. Any one imposed on, or sent on a bootless errand, on the first of April; which day it is the custom among the lower people, children, and servants, by dropping empty papers carefully doubled up, sending persons on absurd messages, and such like contrivances, to impose on every one they can, and then to salute them with the title of April Fool. This is also practised in Scotland under the title of Hunting the Gowke.

APRON STRING HOLD. An estate held by a man during his wife's life.

AQUA PUMPAGINIS. Pump water. APOTHECARIES LATIN.

ARBOR VITAE. A man's penis.

ARCH DUKE. A comical or eccentric fellow.

ARCH ROGUE, DIMBER DAMBER UPRIGHT MAN. The chief of a gang of thieves or gypsies.

ARCH DELL, or ARCH DOXY, signifies the same in rank among the female canters or gypsies.

ARD. Hot. CANT.

ARMOUR. In his armour, pot valiant: to fight in armour; to make use of Mrs. Philips's ware. See C—D—M.

ARK. A boat or wherry. Let us take an ark and winns, let us take a sculler. CANT.

ARK RUFFIANS. Rogues who, in conjunction with watermen, robbed, and sometimes murdered, on the water, by picking a quarrel with the passengers in a boat, boarding it, plundering, stripping, and throwing them overboard, &c. A species of badger. CANT.

ARRAH NOW. An unmeaning expletive, frequently used by the vulgar Irish.

ARS MUSICA. A bum fiddle.

ARSE. To hang an arse; to hang back, to be afraid to advance. He would lend his a-e and sh-te through his ribs; a saying of any one who lends his money inconsiderately. He would lose his a-e if it was loose; said of a careless person. A-e about; turn round.

ARSY YARSEY. To fall arsy varsey, i.e. head over heels.

ARTHUR, KING ARTHUR, A game used at sea, when near the line, or in a hot latitude. It is performed thus: A man who is to represent king Arthur, ridiculously dressed, having a large wig made out of oakum, or some old swabs, is seated on the side, or over a large vessel of water. Every person in his turn is to be ceremoniously introduced to him, and to pour a bucket of water over him, crying, hail, king Arthur! if during this ceremony the person introduced laughs or smiles (to which his majesty endeavours to excite him, by all sorts of ridiculous gesticulations), he changes place with, and then becomes, king Arthur, till relieved by some brother tar, who has as little command over his muscles as himself.

ARTICLES. Breeches; coat, waistcoat, and articles.

ARTICLE. A wench. A prime article. A handsome girl. She's a prime article (WHIP SLANG), she's a devilish good piece, a hell of a GOER.

ASK, or AX MY A-E. A common reply to any question; still deemed wit at sea, and formerly at court, under the denomination of selling bargains. See BARGAIN.

ASSIG. An assignation.

ATHANASIAN WENCH, or QUICUNQUE VULT. A forward girl, ready to oblige every man that shall ask her.

AUNT. Mine aunt; a bawd or procuress: a title of eminence for the senior dells, who serve for instructresses, midwives, &c. for the dells. CANT. See DELLS.

AVOIR DU POIS LAY. Stealing brass weights off the counters of shops. CANT.

AUTEM. A church.

AUTEM BAWLER. A parson. CANT.

AUTEM CACKLERS, AUTEM PRICKEARS. Dissenters of every denomination. CANT.

AUTEM CACKLETUB. A conventicle or meeting-house for dissenters. CANT.

AUTEM DIPPERS. Anabaptists. CANT.

AUTEM DIVERS. Pickpockets who practice in churches; also churchwardens and overseers of the poor. CANT.

AUTEM GOGLERS. Pretended French prophets. CANT.

AUTEM MORT. A married woman; also a female beggar with several children hired or borrowed to excite charity. CANT.

AUTEM QUAVERS. Quakers.

AUTEM QUAVER TUB. A Quakers' meeting-house. CANT.

AWAKE. Acquainted with, knowing the business. Stow the books, the culls are awake; hide the cards, the fellows know what we intended to do.

BABES IN THE WOOD. Criminals in the stocks, or pillory.

BABBLE. Confused, unintelligible talk, such as was used at the building the tower of Babel.

BACK BITER. One who slanders another behind his back, i.e. in his absence. His bosom friends are become his back biters, said of a lousy man.

BACKED. Dead. He wishes to have the senior, or old square-toes, backed; he longs to have his father on six men's shoulders; that is, carrying to the grave.

BACK UP. His back is up, i.e. he is offended or angry; an expression or idea taken from a cat; that animal, when angry, always raising its back. An allusion also sometimes used to jeer a crooked man; as, So, Sir, I see somebody has offended you, for your back is up.

BACON. He has saved his bacon; he has escaped. He has a good voice to beg bacon; a saying in ridicule of a bad voice.

BACON-FACED. Full-faced.

BACON FED. Fat, greasy.

BACK GAMMON PLAYER. A sodomite.

BACK DOOR (USHER, or GENTLEMAN OF THE). The same.

BAD BARGAIN. One of his majesty's bad bargains; a worthless soldier, a malingeror. See MALINGEROR.

BADGE. A term used for one burned in the hand. He has got his badge, and piked; he was burned in the hand, and is at liberty. Cant.

BADGE-COVES. Parish Pensioners. Cant.

BADGERS. A crew of desperate villains who robbed near rivers, into which they threw the bodies of those they murdered. Cant.

BAG.