A 1788 dictionary of vulgar slang

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/03/08/a-1788-dictionary-of-vulgar-sl.html

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“box the Jesuit?”
You mean “beat the Bishop?” or “punch the Pope?”
I think that basically survived, what with the Chuch view on onanism and the phalic nature of liturgical head-gear.

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“A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen as you are toss’d with.”

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C**T? Really? There are some words that even this dictionary won’t touch.

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We used to have book in the house that when I was a kid. My favorite expression was shitting through your teeth which meant to vomit.

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All’s Well That Ends Well

“A most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality.”

Coriolanus

“Your abilities are too infant-like for doing much alone.”

45 is reincarnated from the Bard’s time!

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Does it have “■■■■■?”

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My final project for my Master’s degree was to create a library exhibit on the history of English language lexicography and this was one of the items I used to detail the early history. It’s a fascinating read and it was a lovely little reminder to that time.

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I wish to learn more about the art of wheedling.

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My first wonder is if the word is related to the modern word “wheeling”, as in wheeling and dealing.

I see using sex to sell alcoholic beverages is a time honored practice. Lets get a bottle of the ol’ strip me naked for the girlfriend the exact same way kids of Burbon street buy panty melters for their girls.

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The idea that the Catholic clergy were sex-crazed hypocrites (monks/priests/bishops/cardinals shagging nuns, etc.) was a staple of Protestant anti-Catholic propaganda. Grose’s dictionary defines abbess (the head of a convent) as slang for ‘A bawd, the mistress of a brothel’.

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Stop vilifying “■■■■■!”

:wink:

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This is nearly useless to me. Where is the dictionary of vulgar 2018 slang? I guess BoingBoing will get around to posting that in 230 years. #disappointedinboingboing

See “trumpery”, defined as “an old whore”. Foresight or prophecy?

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You did just invent a definition, didn’t you?

I find it amusing that “box the Jesuit” immediately follows

box the compass-- To say or repeat the mariner’s compass, not only backwards or forwards, but also to be able to answer any and all questions respecting its divisions. sea term

I love titles of this era, to whit: the expansions of the most brief title made in a most agreeable fashion; to which are appended one or more marginally or completely unrelated works, as a bonus and incentive to the dear reader.

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A modern version?

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The answer is within the question, bottle-head :wink:

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