This is a list of the Word of the Day posts. Please note that this page is being worked on. A list of just the titles with links to the definitions will be coming soon…as soon as I figure out how to code it correctly. If you are looking for specific WotD posts, such as vehicles or terms used for male characters, click on the specific subcategory on the menu down and to the right.

If you find an error on this page, I’m most likely testing. Ignore the girl behind the curtain.

Apples roasted and put into strong ale.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Words. Cant.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Cowardly, malicious.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The magazine, or warehouse, where stolen goods are secreted.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Those, who fabricate counterfeit passes, licenses, and certificates for beggars.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A seal.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A stupid fellow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Turnpike gates.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Mead and ale sweetened with honey.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To lie rough; to lie all night in one’s clothes: called also roughing it. Likewise to sleep on the bare deck of a ship, when the person is commonly advised to choose the softest plank.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A peg in the heel of a shoe, taken out when it is finished. A person leaving any liquor in his glass, is frequently called upon by the toast-master to take off his heel-tap.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Effects, furniture; stock in trade. To seize one’s kittys; to take his sticks.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Left-handed.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A man who is a great keeper or rider of hobby horses; one that is apt to be strongly attached to his systems of amusement.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

Encroaching.

Merriam-Webster

To move by small degrees : progress slowly (the long line of people inching up the stairs).

A coach drawn by three horses.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A sword. (Spanish)

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

By stealth, privately, without making an appearance. They spent their money in a hugger mugger way.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To catch the; a trick practiced upon ignorant country boobies, who are decoyed into a barn under pretense of catching an owl, where, after divers preliminaries, the joke ends in their having a pail of water poured upon their heads.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Foolish. A windy fellow; a simple fellow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A grief, or pickpocket; also one that associates with them.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

All in a pucker; in a dishabille. Also in a fright; as, she was in a terrible pucker.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

False dice.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A hundred thousand pounds.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

One who parts easily with his money, or bleeds freely.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A feint, pretence, or shift.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A small quantity over and above the measure, usually given by hucksters dealing in peas, beans, and other vegetables.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Silly. Crazed.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Beggars who ply coaches. CANT.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Now rogues and rascals, formerly yeoman’s servants.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Prosperity.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

May you all have much sunshine this weekend.

London. Cant.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Beer, egg, and brandy, made hot.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A foundling. Cosset colt or lamb; a colt or lamb brought up by hand.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The head. I’ll smite your costard; I’ll give you a knock on the head.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A dram.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To humbug. To deceive, To tell lies. What rum gamon the old file pitched to the flat; how finely the knowing old fellow humbugged the fool.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

I gave him a good chivey; I gave him, a hearty scolding.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A maypole.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Twenty shillings. CANT.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A strange-looking fellow, an odd dog. OXFORD.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The constable’s assistants, watchmen, etc.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To rob. To heave a case; to rob a house. To heave a bough; to rob a booth. CANT.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Newgate, or any other prison. The dab’s in quod; the poor rogue is in prison.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A blunt surly fellow: a jocular misnomer of resticus.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A privy. A water closet.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A married man that keeps a mistress, whom he visits only at night, for fear of discovery.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

None of our heroes, of course…

The lungs.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To pick a pocket.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Angry, or in a passion. CANT.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Ale in which wormwood has been infused, or ale and bitters drunk warm.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

An endearing word: as, My dear nug; my dear love.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

A bankrupt.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Full-faced.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A Yorkshire dolly; a contrivance for washing, by means of a kind of wheel fixed in a tub, which being turned about, agitates and cleanses the linen put into it, with soap and water.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To tip any one the double; to run away in his or her debt.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A spoil sport.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Legs. Queer pins; ill shapen legs.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Dice that run low.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To bully.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

An allowance settled on a married woman for her pocket expenses.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A weak silly fellow easily imposed on. To pigeon; to cheat. To milk the pigeon; to attempt impossibilities, to be put to shifts for want of money. To fly a blue pigeon; to steal lead off a church.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To drink up. To empty a glass or pot.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Almost drunk.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Going out in the night in search of intrigues, like a cat in the gutters.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

JACK KETCH. The hangman; DERRICK and KETCH.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

An insolent fellow in authority.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A sharper, or cheat. A child in the mother’s womb.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A poor hackney parson.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A farthing, a small bowl serving as the mark for bowlers. An instrument for pulling off boots.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A monstrous or canine appetite.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To boil. Pot wobbler; one who boils a pot.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Eyes. Single peeper, a one-eyed man.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A spying glass; also a looking-glass. Track up the dancers, and pike with the peeper; whip up stairs, and run off with the looking-glass. CANT.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Strong ale.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A dexterous fellow at stealing silver tankards from inns and taverns.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A young apprentice; also a sharp trick.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A jolly host. CANT.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Wine, or any other good liquor. Rum boozing welts; bunches of grapes. CANT.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

It won’t gee; it won’t hit or do, it does not suit or fit.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The garret, or upper story.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Hush the cull; murder the fellow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A young lass.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A coach. Rattle and prad; a coach and horses.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Drunk.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Pirates, vagabonds.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A coach, cart, or other wheeled carriage.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A halfpenny.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Said of a person who has long been called, and at length answers, Coming!

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

LOL. But Christmas is here! Hope you have a merry one!

Musicians of the lower order, who in most towns play under the windows of the chief inhabitants at midnight, a short time before Christmas, for which they collect a christmas-box from house to house. They are said to derive their name of waits from being always in waiting to celebrate weddings and other joyous events happening within their district.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

He is gone to the land of nod; he is asleep.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The head.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The monosyllable.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

White or fair-haired.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A lewd woman.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Any thing stolen. He has made a good speak; he has stolen something considerable.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A clerk, scribe, or hackney writer.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

:D

It was quiet a hollow thing; i.e. a certainty, or decided business.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A counterfeit old coin.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A jail bird, a person used to being kept in a cage; also, in the canting sense, guineas.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To give any one a pair of gloves; to make them a present or bribe. To win a pair of gloves; to kiss a man whilst he sleeps: for this a pair of gloves is due to any lady who will thus earn them.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A confusion, a hurry, an unnecessary to do about trifles.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Hanged.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A covetous miserable fellow, a miser; also the name of a famous bear mentioned by Ben Jonson.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Slightly different from the way we use it today.

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

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Simple.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Beggars, or highway spies, who traverse the road, to give intelligence of a booty; also rogues ready to snap up any booty that may offer, like privateers or pirates on a cruise.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Take a hearty drink.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Strong ale.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Handcuffs.

-From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Blear-eyed, one whose eyes have a running humor.

-From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A woman or wench; also a yeoman’s daughter. To be taken all-a mort; to be confounded, surprised, or motionless through fear.

-From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Strong beer, or other liquor.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A cod of money: a good sum of money.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A gamester, one who rattles Saint Hugh’s bones, i.e. the dice.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Thieves. Clever tradesmen; good thieves.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To rifle or plunder; also to kill.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A bubble, gull, or silly fellow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Bond, pledge, oath, and keep the money.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Household furniture.

Also: Pops or pistols. Stow your sticks; hide your pistols. CANT.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Breeches.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Any kind of lace.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

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.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A widow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Wigsby; a man wearing a wig.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

But of course!

One who steals fowls, and hawks them from door to door.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

There’s just something about the phrase…one who steals fowls…

Secured, fixed. He offered me a decus, and I nailed him; he offered me a crown, and I struck or fixed him.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Rejected by a woman who has encouraged one’s advances.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A tricking woman, who encourages the addresses of a man whom she means to deceive and abandon.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A prostitute.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

An inn-keeper. Cant.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Mr. Wicket from The Earl of Her Dreams was a bluffer.

A tradesman who sells goods to young unthrift heirs, at excessive rates, and then continually duns them for the debt. To ferret; to search out or expel any one from his hiding-place, as a ferret drives out rabbits; also to cheat. Ferret-eyed; red-eyed: ferrets have red eyes.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A stout trencher man; one who has a good appetite, or, as the term is, plays a good knife and fork.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To scold; chiefly applied to women. His wife rung him a fine peal!

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A fool.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

An eye. The cove has a queer lamp. The man has a blind or squinting eye.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A thirsty fellow, a sot.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To beat: as, He nulled him heartily.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Oatmeal and water, or milk; a mess much eaten in the north.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Gin.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A light one-horse chaise without a head.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Insignificant talk: generally applied to women and children.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Let in.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Rude, unmannerly, filthy.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Prisoners.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

One of those phrases that sounds too modern.

Merriam-Webster

A domestic cat; especially : an old female cat.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A cat: mawkin signifies a hare in Scotland.

The head. To mill his cannister; to break his head.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A sixpence. The kiddey tipped the rattling cove a tanner for luck; the lad gave the coachman sixpence for drink.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A volatile, unsteady, or whimsical man or woman.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The canting or slang language.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Counterfeit sleep: cats often counterfeiting sleep, to decoy their prey near them, and then suddenly spring on them.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A foolish grinning fellow, one who grins without reason.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Proud, stately.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Old Mr. Grim; death.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Apt to shed tears.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A chamber pot.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Feet. Cant.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

He is like a rope-dancer’s polo, lead at both ends; a saying of a stupid sluggish fellow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Stiff, prim, formal, affected.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A fiddler.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To play truant. To lay a man trigging; to knock him down.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The point at which schoolboys stand to shoot their marbles at taw; also the spot whence bowlers deliver the bowl.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Note: taw is the game of marbles

Low-spirited, having an imaginary sickness. Sick of the mulligrubs with eating chopped hay.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The monument erected on Fish-street Hill, London, in memory of the great fire in 1666.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A bottle, or two-quart pot.

-From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A dram served upon credit.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Port wine.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Brandy.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Another name.

Brandy or other spirituous liquor. Cant.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A house to lie in: also a lodging.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A mean stingy fellow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Great. A two-handed fellow or wench; a great strapping man or woman.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A seven shilling piece.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A housebreaker. CANT.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A house. A bob ken, or a bowman ken; a well-furnished house, also a house that harbors thieves. Biting the ken; robbing the house. CANT.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

One who is easily tricked out of his property; a term used by gaolers, for prisoners who have money and bleed freely.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

An effeminate looking fellow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A shilling.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

That part where the loaves have touched the oven.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A comical or eccentric fellow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Word of the Day is back!

Intimate. They are as thick as two inkle-weavers.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A collector of the window tax.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Coin, money.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

An answer to the offer of any thing inadequate to the purpose for which it is proffered, like offering a bandbox for a seat.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

In the suds; in trouble, in a disagreeable situation, or involved in some difficulty.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The sect or disciples of Lodowick Muggleton.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

In honor of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

A trick. A pleasant jig; a witty arch trick. Also a lock or door. The feather-bed jig; copulation.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A smart jemmy fellow, a fopling.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

How cute is fopling?!

Ears or wattles. See wattles.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Ears. (Cant)

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The head; also a cheat or thief.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A term used by thieves, when they are disappointed in the value of their booty.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To work for the dead horse; to work for wages already paid.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Clothes.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To tip one the wink; to give a signal by winking the eye.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A shop. Any quantity of goods. As, plant the swag; conceal the goods. Rum swag; a shop full of rich goods. CANT.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Intriguing with a variety of women.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A talkative boy.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Round-faced, chubby.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Shoes.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Legs.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

An affected or conceited coxcomb.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Money in general.

Also: To polish the king’s iron with one’s eyebrows; to look out of grated or prison windows, or, as the Irishman expresses them, the iron glass windows. Iron doublet; a prison.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Plump. A fubsey wench; a plump, healthy wench.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Comely, handsome. IRISH.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

Bombast language. Red fustian; port wine.

Merriam-Webster

High-flown or affected writing or speech; broadly : anything high-flown or affected in style

To be cagged. To be sulky or out of humour. The cove carries the cag; the man is vexed or sullen.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Bits and scraps of provisions. Bad meat.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Part of the wick or snuff, which falling on the tallow, burns and melts it, and causing it to gutter, thus steals it away.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Drunk.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Stockings.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A house. To do a panny: to rob a house. Probably, panny originally meant the butler’s pantry, where the knives and forks, spoons, etc. are usually kept. The pigs frisked my panny, and nailed my screws; the officers searched my house, and seized my picklock keys. CANT.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Counterfeited.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Teeth. (Sea phrase)

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

At a pinch; on an exigency.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A rich man.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Giddy, hare-brained.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To call out; the coves sing out beef; they call out stop thief.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Married.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Young thieves.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A married man; i.e. possessed of a woman for life.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

One whose wife usually fetches him from the alehouse.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Half a crown. Cant.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To kick out a hind leg; to make a rustic bow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

Demy-rep - An abbreviation of demy-reputation; a woman of doubtful character.

Merriam-Webster

See: demimondaine - a woman supported by a wealthy lover

One who has commonly a purse full of gold. Goldfinches; guineas.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

Persons lately raised to honours and riches from mean stations.

Merriam-Webster

One that has risen suddenly (as from a low position to wealth or power) : especially : one that claims more personal importance than is warranted

Strong beer.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To make water.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The maundering or pert replies of servants; also talk or palaver in order to amuse one intended to be cheated. Pattering of prayers; the confused sound of a number of persons praying together.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Drunk.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A good fire in winter.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To talk. To patter flash; to speak flash, or the language used by thieves. How the blowen lushes jackey, and patters flash; how the wench drinks gin, and talks flash.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To conceal in the hand. To paum a die: to hide a die in the palm of the hand. He paums; he cheats. Don’t pretend to paum that upon me.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Whisky and small beer. IRISH

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A tailor

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Don’t take your clothes there!

A tell-tale, or one incapable of keeping a secret

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A trifling, fiddle-faddle fellow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Figuratively used for trifling.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Idle discourse, scandal, women’s talk, or small talk.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Stolen. (cant)

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The youngest officer in a regimental mess, whose duty it is to skink, that is, to stir the fire, snuff the candles, and ring the bell.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A woman’s under-petticoat. It’s all Dicky with him; i.e. it’s all over with him.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Another dickey/dicky.

A sham shirt.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Dickeys have a long honored tradition!

A loitering place, or gossiping shop.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Drunk as an emperor, i.e. ten times as drunk as a lord.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

One who alters figures on bank notes, converting tens to hundreds.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Cash, money. Can you tip me any quids? Can you lend me some money?

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A drunkard.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

One whose tongue runs twelve score to the dozen, a chattering man or woman.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Bad drink.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

An old saw; an ancient proverbial saying.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A horse. Welsh.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A rich fellow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Money. (cant)

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

To mend, or patch; likewise to do a thing in a bungling manner.

Merriam-Webster

To make or put together roughly or hastily — often used with together or up (cobble together an agreement) (cobble up a temporary solution)

Asking or begging. CANT

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The drippings of liquor on a man’s waistcoat.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Ha!

Crutches.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A wife.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Heh.

A prison: perhaps from tribulation.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A foolish fellow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

Provision. Rum prog; choice provision. To prog; to be on the hunt for provision: called in the military term to forage.

Merriam-Webster

Food, victuals

Merriam-Webster

A light one-horse carriage made with two wheels in England and with four wheels in the United States : a small cart or truck for short transportations of heavy materials

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A one-horse chaise.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

Lawless robbers and plunderers: originally soldiers who served without pay, for the privilege of plundering the enemy.

Merriam-Webster

Pirates, plunderers

To loiter or saunter about.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Used in many fun and odd ways today. Too many to list.

Thin-legged.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A cunning fellow, under the mask of simplicity.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Ingenious.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

I like this. “He is nacky.”

Stupid.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Nothing like a good insult on a Monday morning…

1811 Vulgar Tongue

An impudent whelp; a saucy boy.

Merriam-Webster

A young boy or girl

A blackguard, a rascal, a term of reproach. Mill the bloody bugger; beat the damned rascal.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To pawn or sell to a receiver of stolen goods. The kiddey fenced his thimble for three quids; the young fellow pawned his watch for three guineas. To fence invariably means to pawn or sell goods to a receiver.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Fencing seems like such a modern day Law & Order term, doesn’t it?

To tell or discover. He whiddles; he peaches. He whiddles the whole scrap; he discovers all he knows. The cull whiddled because they would not tip him a snack: the fellow peached because they would not give him a share, They whiddle beef, and we must brush; they cry out thieves, and we must make off. Cant.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

An informer, or one that betrays the secrets of the gang.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Drunk. (Irish term)

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day. Tell someone they are getting candied up.

Merriam-Webster

Unsteady, staggering, or foolish from the effects of liquor : fuddled

1811 Vulgar Tongue

Almost drunk. Tipsey (sic)

Because it’s almost St. Patrick’s Day.

The head, jolly nob, napper, or knowledge box; also a wig.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

This definition also provides us with so many other words for head!

1811 Vulgar Tongue

Your wits are gone a woolgathering; saying to an absent man, one in a reverie, or absorbed in thought.

Merriam-Webster

Indulgence in idle daydreaming.

A favorite word for Regency-set romances.

Money given to hush up or conceal a robbery, theft, or any other offense, or to take off the evidence from appearing against a criminal.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Somehow I don’t think it would fly in a Regency book, historically accurate or not.

Feet. To shake one’s trotters at Bilby’s ball, where the sheriff pays the fiddlers; perhaps the Bilboes ball, i.e. the ball of fetters: fetters and stocks were anciently called the bilboes.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Another cute one.

Out of use, To nab the rust; to be refractory; properly applied to a restive horse, and figuratively to the human species. To ride rusty; to be sullen; called also to ride grub.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

One of those words that sounds more modern than it is.

Drowsy.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Loquacious, not able to keep a secret.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A kiss with a loud smack; also a bite.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The knowledge box, the head.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Merriam-Webster

A thin sharp face.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A long thin face.

The art of shoemaking. One of the gentle craft: a shoemaker: so called because once practiced by St. Crispin.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Also practiced by Joshua McShaver in The Earl of Her Dreams.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

Sots who are continually sipping.

Merriam-Webster

Alehouse keeper.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

Liquor.

Merriam-Webster

To drink liquor especially by habit or to excess.

Tricks and devices. Quirks in law; subtle distinctions and evasions.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A fiddler.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

As a tormenter of the catgut myself, I find this doubly amusing.

A drummer.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Heh.

He was in his birth-day suit, that is, stark naked.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Couldn’t get away from those birthday suits in Regency times either!

Rogues of the same gang.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Those birds have been around for a while.

A spoil-sport, a mar-all.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Yup, to be confused with addle pate. Not sure which one is worse though!

The first woman seen by a man, or man seen by a woman, on St. Valentine’s day, the 14th of February, when it is said every bird chooses his mate for the ensuing year.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!

A coachman. CANT.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

An upholsterer.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

I’m not sure whether to laugh or shudder.

An honest, rough, blunt sailor.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Another one that doesn’t seem as if it fits at face value…

The sheriff’s picture frame; the gallows or pillory.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Cant sometimes has a great way with images…

Very weak punch or beer.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

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

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Beat all to a todge: said of anything beat to mash.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A man of intrigue.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A great lie.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A necessary. A leathern conveniency, a coach.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Leathern (from the free dictionary) = Made of leather; consisting of leather; as, a leathern purse.

Free Dictionary

A blockhead; a dolt.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A dull, heavy booby.

*Similar to addle pate.

A contraction of yesterday.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Rich, in good circumstances. To warm, or give a man a warming; to beat him. See chafed.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

So you want to be warm, but not be warmed…

Fair faced

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

I was sure when I first saw this that it would be an insult!

To put in one’s oar; to intermeddle, or give an opinion unasked: as, To be sure, you must put in your oar!

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Still in use!

An alehouse where beggars are harboured.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Originally beggars of the genteel kind, but since used for beggars in general.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The mouth.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

An ancient game like hazard, played with dice: probably so named from the silence observed in playing at it.

Free Dictionary

A game of hazard played with cards in silence.
or
A silent, stupid person.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A fellow who goes about by the water side picking up coals, nails, or other articles in the mud. Also a duck.

Wikipedia

A Mudlark is someone who scavenges in river mud for items of value, especially in London during the Industrial Revolution. Poor peasants would scavenge in the River Thames during low tide, searching for anything of value.

A fool, or thick-skulled fellow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A silly fellow. A dupe. To stand mouth; i.e. to be duped.

A noisy fellow. Mouth half cocked; one gaping and staring at every thing he sees. To make any one laugh on the wrong, or t’other side of his mouth; to make him cry or grieve.

Free Dictionary

One who scrapes together money by mean labor and devices; a miser. “Misers are muckworms.” –Pope.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A miser.

The parson’s mousetrap; the state of matrimony.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Rings, watches, or any toys of value.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Small patches worn by ladies: from the French word mouches.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A girl, or wench.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The gallows. He napped the king’s pardon and escaped the morning drop; he was pardoned, and was not hanged.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A kind of annual fair in the west of England, where farmers usually hire their servants.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A maid servant, particularly a housemaid.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A squinting wench.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

LOL!

Terms used by printers: monks are sheets where the letters are blotted, or printed too black; friars, those letters where the ink has failed touching the type, which are therefore white or faint.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A coat, or petticoat.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A shirt, smock, or sheet. CANT.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Gold. A mint of money; common phrase for a large sum.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To endeavor at impossibilities.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A Christmas gambol: raisins and almonds being put into a bowl of brandy, and the candles extinguished, the spirit is set on fire, and the company scramble for the raisins.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

One who eats at the same mess, companion or comrade.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A woman’s commodity.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A chamber pot.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Found this funny. There’s a reason the dictionary has vulgar in its title.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

Almost drunk.

Merriam-Webster

Warmed and relaxed by or as if by liquor.

(Other definitions obviously apply!)

1811 Vulgar Tongue

Over-modest or backward in speech.

Merriam-Webster

Not plain and straightforward : devious (a mealymouthed politician)

A baker.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A gardener.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Merriam-Webster

A strict disciplinarian : a person who stresses a rigid adherence to the details of forms and methods

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A military term for a strict disciplinarian: from the name of a French general, famous for restoring military discipline to the French army. He first disciplined the French infantry, and regulated their method of encampment: he was killed at the siege of Doesbourg in the year 1672.

The squalling and crying of children.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

The knees. To bring any one down on his marrow bones; to make him beg pardon on his knees: some derive this from Mary’s bones, i.e. the bones bent in honour of the Virgin Mary; but this seems rather far-fetched. Marrow bones and cleavers; principal instruments in the band of rough music: these are generally performed on by butchers, on marriages, elections, riding skimmington, and other public or joyous occasions.

Merriam-Webster

A bone (as a shinbone) rich in marrow: plural - KNEES

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A knowing man.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A horse racer, or jockey.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A rake, a debauchee.

Free Dictionary

In the army, a soldier who feigns himself sick, or who induces or protracts an illness, in order to avoid doing his duty; hence, in general, one who shirks his duty by pretending illness or inability : someone shirking their duty by feigning illness or incapacity

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A military term for one who, under pretence of sickness, evades his duty.

Whimsical, capricious

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A bawd: from the French maquerel. Mackerel-backed; long-backed.

Free Dictionary

A pimp; also, a bawd.

Those who lose a game of whist, without scoring five, are said to be lurched.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Live lumber; soldiers or passengers on board a ship are so called by the sailors.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Too much.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A word to use when you are stuffed with turkey.

Thieves who steal wet linen. Cant.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To go will lullies on Friday!

Wet linen. Cant.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Food of all sorts.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

LOL. Happy Thanksgiving!

1811 Vulgar Tongue

To leap, to run away. He loped down the dancers; he ran down stairs

Merriam-Webster

An easy usually bounding gait capable of being sustained for a long time

—Not necessarily Regency related. But it’s a good word.

An opening, or means of escape. To find a loophole in an act of parliament; i.e. a method of evading it.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

This word goes in the “this word was used back then?” category.

Merriam-Webster

Lout, idler : a crazy person : simpleton

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A country bumkin, or clown.

Merriam-Webster

An awkward brutish person

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A clumsy stupid fellow

A voracious appetite.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A good one to use on Thanksgiving!

A long-legged person.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

An awkward, ignorant fellow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A large, clumsy fellow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Great. A long price; a great price.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A lazy, idle drone.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Heh.

Mother’s loll; a favourite child, the mother’s darling,

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A blockhead, or stupid fellow. We three loggerheads be: a sentence frequently written under two heads, and the reader by repeating it makes himself the third. A loggerhead is also a double-headed, or bar shot of iron. To go to loggerheads; to fall to fighting.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A spunging house; a public house kept by sheriff’s officers, to which they convey the persons they have arrested, where they practise every species of imposition and extortion with impunity. Also houses kept by agents or crimps, who enlist, or rather trepan, men to serve the East India or African company as soldiers.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A scheme, a mode. I must fight that lock; I must try that scheme.

Character. He stood a queer lock; he bore but an indifferent character. A lock is also a buyer of stolen goods, as well as the receptacle for them.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A dish much eaten at sea, composed of salt beef, biscuit and onions, well peppered, and stewed together.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To be in bad loaf, to be in a disagreeable situation, or in trouble.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A term used by sailors, to signify all landsmen on board their ships.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

LOL.

A little boy who gets into a house through the sink-hole, and then opens the door for his accomplices: he is so called, from writhing and twisting like a snake, in order to work himself through the narrow passage.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A small dark cell in Guildhall, London, where disorderly apprentices are confined by the city chamberlain: it is called Little Ease from its being so low that a lad cannot stand upright in it.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A young chimney-sweeper.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A slovenly fop; one finely dressed, but dirty.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Seriously…it’s in the dictionary as a phrase used then…I’m not making this stuff up…

Merriam-Webster

Of sufficient quality : meeting an applicable standard

Additionally…

Also can mean a shrewd or sharp person.

Merriam-Webster

A groom in livery.

Additionally…

In novels, you may read a tiger as the servant who rides in the back of a curricle and takes the reins after his master exits.

Merriam-Webster

The feeding, stabling, and care of horses for pay : livery stable : a concern offering vehicles (as boats) for rent

Merriam-Webster

The distinctive clothing or badge formerly worn by the retainers of a person of rank : a servant’s uniform : distinctive dress : garb : an identifying design (as on a vehicle) that designates ownership

Merriam-Webster

fib : pretentious nonsense

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A fib, or falsity.

Merriam-Webster

An impressive, pompous, or fashionable air or display : a person dressed in the height of fashion : a person of high social position or outstanding competence

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A gentleman. A well-dressed map. The flashman bounced the swell of all his blunt; the girl’s bully frightened the gentleman out of all his money.

To drink before a journey.

–Cut from the definition of liquor from the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

It depended who was saying this, as to what it would mean.

As in “a lion of the ton” - something someone in society might say:
A person of outstanding interest or importance

–Definition from Merriam-Webster

Used in cant - something a person on the street might say:
To tip the lion; to squeeze the nose of the party tipped, flat to his face with the thumb. To shew the lions and tombs; to point out the particular curiosities of any place, to act the ciceroni: an allusion to Westminster Abbey, and the Tower, where the tombs and lions are shown. A lion is also a name given by the gownsmen of Oxford to an inhabitant or visitor. It is a standing joke among the city wits to send boys and country folks, on the first of April, to the Tower-ditch, to see the lions washed.

–Definition from the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Tailors.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Heh.

To get a man into a line, i.e. to divert his attention by a ridiculous or absurd story. To humbug.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A familiar appellation used to a little boy.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A dram of brandy.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

I’m sure you can see why I picked this one. Have a great weekend!

A prison, confinement.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Duke of limbs; a tall awkward fellow.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A diminutive man or woman: from Gulliver’s Travels, written by Dean Swift, where an imaginary kingdom of dwarfs of that name is described.

Merriam-Webster

Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Lilliputians or the island of Lilliput : often not capitalized a : small, miniature : petty

I love Swift…

A phrase used by thieves when the officers or turnkeys are examining their countenance. As the traps are taking our likeness; the officers are attentively observing us.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Gin. A flash of lightning; a glass of gin.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A man with a red fiery nose.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Heh.

Swift in running. A light-heeled wench; one who is apt, by the flying up of her heels, to fall flat on her back, a willing wench.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Thievish, apt to pilfer.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A parasite, or talebearer.

Merriam-Webster

A fawning subordinate : toady

To beat; also to wash, or to paint slightly over. I’ll give you a good lick o’ the chops; I’ll give you a good stroke or blow on the face. Jack tumbled into a cow terd, and nastied his best clothes, for which his father stept up, and licked him neatly.–I’ll lick you! the dovetail to which is, If you lick me all over, you won’t miss–.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Heh.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A whim of the amorous kind, out of the common way.

Merriam-Webster

craving; specifically : sexual desire

Spare diet.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

To make a leg; to bow. To give leg-bail and land security; to run away. To fight at the leg; to take unfair advantages: it being held unfair by back-sword players to strike at the leg. To break a leg; a woman who has had a bastard, is said to have broken a leg.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Gives a whole new meaning to telling someone to “break a leg!”…

To play least in sight; to hide, keep out of the way, or make one’s self scarce.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

An ancient ceremonial said to constitute a military marriage. A sword being laid down on the ground, the parties to be married joined hands, when the corporal or serjeant of the, company repeated these words:
Leap rogue, and jump whore,
And then you are married for evermore.
Whereupon the happy couple jumped hand in hand over the sword, the drum beating a ruffle; and the parties were ever after considered as man and wife.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

Apt to blab; one who cannot keep a secret is said to be leaky.

Free Dictionary

Apt to disclose secrets; tattling; not close. [Colloq.]

Lazy people frequently take up more than they can safely carry, to save the trouble of coming a second time.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

This is SO me when carrying groceries…

A nick-name for an attorney; from the name of a writ.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

Thin, slender. A lathy wench; a girl almost as slender as a lath.

Free Dictionary

Like a lath; long and slender. A lathy horse, all legs and length.

Merriam-Webster

A source of or quest for amusement or adventure (thought life was a lark) (entered the race on a lark).

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A piece of merriment. People playing together jocosely.

Highwaymen.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Arg, matey!

Beating. I’ll lace your jacket handsomely.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

The head.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Light or lewd women.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A tavern drawer. To cut a dash: to make a figure.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

One returned from the East Indies with but a moderate fortune of fifty or sixty thousand pounds, a diminutive nabob: a term borrowed from the chicken turtle.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

I keep wanting to say kebab when I see this…

Free Dictionary

A person or thing of a sort that there is no other such; something extraordinary; a thing that has not its equal. It is given as a name to various objects, as to a choice variety of apple, a species of medic (Medicago lupulina), a variety of pottery clay, etc. : model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal.

Merriam-Webster

A person or thing without an equal

Merriam-Webster

having no equal : an individual of unequaled excellence : paragon

Free Dictionary

Something of unequaled excellence; a peerless thing or person; a nonesuch; — often used as a name.

Merriam-Webster

A person of great wealth or prominence

Wikipedia

…can also be used metaphorically for people who have a grandiose style or manner…

Free Dictionary

One who returns to Europe from the East with immense riches: hence, any man of great wealth. “A bilious old nabob.” –Macaulay.

The head. (See nob)

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

More hog than gentleman. A saying of any low pretender to precedency.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A great eater.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A coachman.

A footman: from the variety of colours in the liveries and trimming of gentlemen of that cloth.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A taylor or stay-maker.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A taylor.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A highwayman.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A false evidence, one that is ready to swear any thing for hire.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

A bully.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

It’s the Knight fortnight!

A toy-shop, a nick-nack-atory.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

For some reason nick-nack-atory makes me want to sing Mary Poppins tunes…

A jocular method of hobbling or bothering a troublesome teller of long stories: this is done by contradicting some very immaterial circumstance at the beginning of the narration, the objections to which being settled, others are immediately started to some new particular of like consequence; thus impeding, or rather not suffering him to enter into, the main story. Kittle pitchering is often practised in confederacy, one relieving the other, by which the design is rendered less obvious.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Love this.

A dancing-master, so called from his kit or cittern, a small fiddle, which dancing-masters always carry about with them, to play to their scholars. The kit is likewise the whole of a soldier’s necessaries, the contents of his knapsack: and is used also to express the whole of different commodities: as, Here, take the whole kit; i.e. take all.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Disposition, principles, humour. Of a strange kidney; of an odd or unaccountable humour. A man of a different kidney; a man of different principles.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

To coax or wheedle. To inveigle. To amuse a man or divert his attention while another robs him. The sneaksman kidded the cove of the ken, while his pall frisked the panney; the thief amused the master of the house, while his companion robbed the house.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A little dapper fellow. A child. The blowen has napped the kid. The girl is with child.

The word kid is not anachronistic to the time period.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

Breeches. A high kick; the top of the fashion. It is all the kick; it is the present mode. Tip us your kicks, we’ll have them as well as your lour; pull off your breeches, for we must have them as well as your money. A kick; sixpence. Two and a kick; half-a-crown. A kick in the guts; a dram of gin, or any other spirituous liquor. A kick up; a disturbance, also a hop or dance. An odd kick in one’s gallop; a strange whim or peculiarity.

1811 Vulgar Tongue

When a person has perplexed his affairs in general, or any particular business, he is said to have made a fine kettle of fish of it.

Merriam-Webster

A bad state of affairs : mess : something to be considered or reckoned with : matter (books and discs… were two very different kettles of fish — Roland Gelatt)

1811 Vulgar Tongue

A punishment in use among the Dutch seamen, in which, for certain offences, the delinquent is drawn once, or oftener, under the ship’s keel: ludicrously defined, undergoing a great hard-ship.

Merriam-Webster

To haul under the keel of a ship as punishment or torture : to rebuke severely

Teeth. How the swell flashed his ivories; how the gentleman shewed(sic) his teeth.

–From the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Money in general. To polish the king’s iron with oneR