Francis Grose; Grose by name and gross by nature.
Think of 18th Century dictionaries and we tend to think of Dr Johnson. I prefer the somewhat wittier, more bawdy compilation of slang which went under the title of 'The Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue' (‘vulgar’ in the sense of ‘commonly used’ or vernacular language, rather than necessarily something ‘uncouth’ or ‘smutty’). The compiler was Francis Grose, a man with a surname which barely did justice to his enormous girth. Indeed he was so rotund that reportedly his servant had to truss him up in bed in order to keep the bed clothes round his vast stomach.
He was born in Broad Street, St Peter-le-Poer in London and was baptised on 11 June 1731. He was to die of a stroke on a trip to Ireland on 12 June 1791. In between he filled in a life of riotous good living, was an inn-keeper, raconteur, soldier, an antiquarian, a lexicographer and a draughtsman. He was himself one of seven children born to a Swiss immigrant, and went on to have ten children of his own with his long suffering wife Catherine Jordan whom he married in 1750. Six of the children lived to adulthood, the eldest becoming the Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales.
Grose published various tomes on antquities, under the name Antiquities of England and Wales (1773–1787) and A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons (1785–1789).
In 1785 Grose published his slang Dictionary. It went on to be re-published in 1788 and a third edition appeared in 1798. Whereas there had been many such books before, they tended to be based upon a very narrow section of the underworld – slang used by thieves and pick-pockets for example. Grose went to extremes to wander the streets picking up slang words from all walks of life, in drinking dens, or down at the docks, or in the slums of the city. He was aided and abetted by his side-kick Tom Cocking. His opus was supplemented by A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local Proverbs, and Popular Superstitions (published in1787). Some 3,500 words were listed in the dictionary, many of them appearing for the very first time. It must be added that Dr Johnson in his 1755 Dictionary was typically dismissive of slang words, which he referred to as cant, claiming that they were “unworthy of preservation”
Maybe, but thanks to Grose they have been preserved. Some have stayed popular, others have evolved and changed their original meaning, and others remind us what a rich seam of humour abounds in the English language.
Some which I like, or recognize, or have never come across before but are worth repeating, are as follows (persons of a shy or delicate nature may prefer to look away now).
abbess , “a bawd, the mistress of a brothel”;
academy or pushing school , “a brothel”;
apple dumplin shop (also Cupid’s Kettle drums) – “an ample cleavage”
bitch, “a she dog or doggess; the most offensive appellation that can be given to an English woman, even more provoking than that of whore.”
bundletail, “a short fat woman”;
covent garden nun , “a prostitute”;
dandyprat “a puny man” (also arsworm)
go-between ( a pimp or bawd)
gold finder (one who cleans toilets).
Gollumpus (a large clumsy fellow)
Grumbletonians people who are constantly dissatisfied with life
hopper-arsed “a man with a protruding backside”
thingumbobs, nutmegs, gingambobs, plug tails, lobcocks – all words for male genitalia
madge, doodle-sack, gigg, notch – female equivalent
bumbo , “brandy, water and sugar; also the negro name for the private parts of a woman”;
scotch warming pan , “a wench, also a fart”;
scourers , “riotous bucks who amuse themselves with breaking windows, beating the watch and assaulting every person they meet”;
rum dubber, a thief who picks locks
rushers, “thieves who knock at the great houses in London, in summer time, when the families are gone out of town, and on the door being opened by a woman, rush in and rob the house”;
riding St. George , “the woman uppermost in the amorous congress, that is to say the dragon upon St. George”;
molly: A miss Molly , “an effeminate fellow, a sodomite.” Other words for silly or effeminate men: twiddle poop, fribble and tony;
Rude terms for an unattractive woman or one with low morals might be trugs, toad eaters, sosse brangles, queans, hedge whores, gilflurts or laced mutton;
to blow the grounsils, “to lie with a woman on the floor”;
bunter, “a low dirty prostitute, half whore and half beggar”; bum fodder, “soft paper for the necessary house” (i.e. toilet paper); to roger, “to lie with a woman.” billingsgate language: “Foul language, or abuse. Billingsgate is the market where the fishwomen assemble to purchase fish; and where, in their dealings and disputes, they are somewhat apt to leave decency and good manners a little on the left hand.” polt (a punch in the face), potato trap (a mouth),
poisoned (pregnant).
smack (to kiss, which developed into a ‘smacker’).
Smack the calves skin “to kiss the book” i.e. the Bible
Smack smooth “level with the surface, everything cut away”
Smart money “money allowed to soldiers or sailors for the loss of a limb or other hurt received in the service”
snap the glace (break the shop windows),
snabble (to riffle or plunder)
smush (to snatch)
blue ruin, cobblers punch, crank, diddle, frog's wine, heart's ease, lightening and drain – were all words used to describe gin.
and finally one which evokes a time gone by, when men were men, and never left the dining room for anything as trivial as a call of nature:
Vice-admiral of the narrow seas (one who urinates under the table into the shoes of a fellow diner).
Mr Grose, we remember you today, for the world would be a poorer place without you. Thanks to the Gutenburg Press copies of the 1811 version of the book are available in digitised form at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5402/5402.txt.
