1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
Picture London in 1811: a city of gaslit streets, pickpockets, brothels, and universities where the learned were just as foul-mouthed as the criminals. This is the dictionary that chronicled their secret language. Compiled by Captain Francis Grose with contributions from a "member of the Whip Club," "Hell-Fire Dick," and Cambridge scholars, it documents the slang of thieves, sex workers, soldiers, and street hustlers alongside university wit and fashionable vulgarisms. Every entry is a small act of rebellion against polite society. Want to know what a "Mug" was (your face, in case you're wondering) or how 19th-century Londoners described their most private anatomy? Here, finally, is your guide. This isn't a dry historical document; it's a working lexicon of a world that polite history tried to erase, filled with dark humor, crude wordplay, and the eternal human impulse to make language work for the marginal and the mischievous.
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“GALLEY. Building the galley; a game formerly used at sea, in order to put a trick upon a landsman, or fresh-water sailor. It being agreed to play at that game, one sailor personates the builder, and another the merchant or contractor: the builder first begins by laying the keel, which consists of a number of men laid all along on their backs, one after another, that is, head to foot; he next puts in the ribs or knees, by making a number of men sit feet to feet, at right angles to, and on each side of, the keel: he now fixing on the person intended to be the object of the joke, observes he is a fierce-looking fellow, and fit for the lion; he accordingly places him at the head, his arms being held or locked in by the two persons next to him, representing the ribs. After several other dispositions, the builder delivers over the galley to the contractor as complete: but he, among other faults and objections, observes the lion is not gilt, on which the builder or one of his assistants, runs to the head, and dipping a mop in the excrement, thrusts it into the face of the lion. GALLEY FOIST.””
— Francis Grose
“MARE'S NEST. He has found a mare's nest, and is laughing at the eggs; said of one who laughs without any apparent cause.””
— Francis Grose
“HUGOTONTHEONBIQUIFFINARIANS.””
— Francis Grose
“ADMIRAL OF THE NARROW SEAS. One who from drunkenness vomits into the lap of the person sitting opposite to him. SEA PHRASE.””
— Francis Grose
“CATCH FART. A footboy; so called from such servants commonly following close behind their master or mistress. CATCH””
— Francis Grose
“BORN UNDER A THREEPENNY HALFPENNY PLANET, NEVER TO BE WORTH A GROAT. Said of any person remarkably unsuccessful in his attempts or profession. BOTCH.””
— Francis Grose
“BED. Put to bed with a mattock, and tucked up with a spade; said of one that is dead and buried. You will go up a ladder to bed, i.e. you will be hanged.””
— Francis Grose
“BEAST WITH TWO BACKS. A man and woman in the act of copulation. Shakespeare in Othello.””
— Francis Grose
“BEARD SPLITTER. A man much given to wenching.””
— Francis Grose
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Grose, Francis. 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Lex, lex-books.com/book/1811-dictionary-of-the-vulgar-tongue-e5fc0bea-e3d5-4804-9236-26e7f9a4b852.Grose, F. (n.d.). 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/1811-dictionary-of-the-vulgar-tongue-e5fc0bea-e3d5-4804-9236-26e7f9a4b852Grose, Francis. 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/1811-dictionary-of-the-vulgar-tongue-e5fc0bea-e3d5-4804-9236-26e7f9a4b852.
