#james ware

The interviewer asked Bret on what Owen thought of being teamed-up with Koko B. Ware and the outfits they wore.

More #Victorian #slang for drunkenness and a curious oath sworn at #HighgateHill

To have been in the sun, according to James Ware in his Passing English of a Victorian Era, was to be drunk, as both drink and exposure to the sun produce a red face, a good example, he asserts, of direct satire by indirect means. Sun over the fore-yard was a naval expression denoting that someone was dead drunk, perhaps the result of swallering a sailor, drinking and getting drunk on rum. A…

More #Victorian #slang celebrating Shulleg Day, sit-down suppers and the impossibility of driving six omnibuses through Temple Bar

According to James Ware in his Passing English of a Victorian Era, there were compensations to be had from a spell of wet weather. Pavement were rudimentary and soon turned into a sea of mud, heralding the arrival of Shulleg Day. To prevent their long dresses from dragging in the mud, women would hitch them up, revealing a glimpse of ankle and lower leg to onlookers. Shulleg is a mangling of…

More #Victorian #slang involving failure, a thrilling climax, and a London #raileway station with a dubious reputation

According to James Ware in his Passing English of a Victorian Era, to see the elephant was to see something out to its conclusion. This colourful phrase owes its origin to the world of the circus where the final and most thrilling act, designed to send the spectators home happy and begging for more, involved an elephant. Rail travel boomed in the mid-19th century and new lines and stations…

More #Victorian #slang including a word derived from a Music hall hit, scrumping, safety matches, and chips

According to James Ware in his Passing English of a Victorian Era, sapper was music hall slang for a gay, irresistible dog, derived from the chorus of a song popularised by Therese, a famous Parisian music hall cantatrice. It went, “rien est sacré pour un sssapeur”. She came over to appear on stage in London in 1866. Is the language someone uses indicative of their social status? I raise the…

More Victorian #slang including pig months, pie shops, and podsnappery

What is a pig month? According to James Ware in his Passing English of a Victorian Era it was any of the eight months without an R in their name when it was said to be safe to eat pork. Pork is a common ingredient in pies. One of the first pie shops in London was established by Henry Blanchard, probably from around 1844. There all manner of pies could be purchased, ranging from fruit to meat to…

Mangled foreign phrases and the real-life forerunner of Sherlock Holmes - more #Victorian #slang

Not the cheese, according to James Ware in his Passing English of a Victorian Era, meant not satisfactory. According to Dr Brewer, it came from the Persian and Hindu word for a thing cheez, but others thought it was a corruption of the French phrase, ce n’est pas la chose. The Irish preferred not up to rap, the rap and abbreviation of rapparee, good for nothing, the name given to worthless base…

Some obnoxious surnames and more #Victorian #slang

Our language has lost some marvellous words along the way. Mawwormy was an adjective used to describe someone being picky or the act of fault finding. It owed its origin to a character in Isaac Bickerstaffe’s play of 1769, The Hypocrite. Perhaps being mawwormy is to call a dog that is reluctant to fight a meater, one that only bites into meat. Advertising has long made its mark in popular…