#costermonger

Have you ever visited London and come across a handful of colorful characters dressed head-to-toe in black outfits completely ‘blinged’ out with mother-of-pearl buttons?  Probably in a parade or at a charity event?  Well, if you haven’t, then you’ve missed a wonderful treat … and tradition.

Pearliesbegan in London in the early 1800s as ordinary “costermongers” or street vendors.  The name…

An introduction to Victorian London slang

Have you ever wanted to talk like a Victorian Londoner – not a posh one, but a street kid with plenty of 19th century attitude? Well, I’m now going to teach you how to talk like a London urchin circa 1851. I’m using various sources but Mayhew’s London published that year is where I’ve picked up most of the terrible language that follows!

If I said you were flatch kanurd – I’d have meant you were…

Verdict Of The Week (3)

On the thoroughfares near Blogger Towers we have poles with lights on top. In the days before austerity the lights used to come on just before dusk and would be extinguished shortly after dawn. Nowadays they seem to come on when it is light and go off halfway through the night, rendering them of little use to the carousing pedestrian. But they are of use to beast, or at least dogs, serving as a…

smell of fish in apple juice bottle– costermonger

(52 characters incl. spaces)

#micropoetry

/ˈkästərˌməNGɡər,-ˌmäNGɡər/

noun  British dated

a person who sells goods, especially fruit and vegetables, from a handcart in the street.

(ˈkästərˌmə ng gər. Noun.)