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Online Gutenberg Library: Early 19th century expressions

mikejee

Super Moderator
Staff member
For anyone interested in slang around 1800, gutenbeg have just made available online the " 1811 dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue", originally by Frances Grose, but this is a later modified 1811 edition. Some of the phrases are just as we might use them today, otherts are not relevent, but there are some quite interesting ones not known (to me) today:

Abess or Lady Abess- a bawd, mistress of a brothel
Cream pot love- such as young fellows pretend to dairymaids to gte cream and other good things from them
Gluepot - a parson
Good women - A nondescript , from a well known sign showing a women without a head
gotch gutted -pot bellied

Though i am mystified what the "Green sickness" could be - disease of maids occasioned by celibacy
The book is available from https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5402
Mike
 
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