Fillin' the Pudding-House!: Regency Slang
I love words, slang included! But my students never want to teach it to me, so I’m constantly behind the times.
Case in point: The other day, I was picking up my son when we saw his friend walking home. I stopped and rolled down my window. “Do you want a ride?” I asked.
“I’m chillin’,” his friend said.
Very good! I myself like to sometimes be…chillin’. But, um, will he be chillin' inside the car? Or outside of it?
“He’s fine,” my son translated. “He doesn’t want a ride.”
I pretended to know this and drove away. I now use "I'm chillin'" in place of "no, thank you" in all professional situations.
Since I’m woefully ignorant of modern slang, I thought I’d look up some Regency slang (omitted from Austen’s novels, but I’m sure she used it). Won’t my students be awed when I break out with these 18th century gems?
Your Personal Regency Slang Dictionary
Inexpressibles: This referred to men’s breeches because they were so tight-fitting and revealing.
We have so many words to sexualize women and their clothing—Isn’t it interesting that this word is about men’s scandalous clothing instead of women’s? I like picturing Lydia in the ballroom, saying, “Hot dawg! Pass me the smelling salts, Kitty. Wickham just walked in his inexpressibles.”
To tie one’s garter in public: To do something extremely shocking
It says a lot about the limitations on women at the time that tying her garter in public was the most shocking thing a woman could have done.
Bacon-faced: Having a pudgy, unshaven face. Like a pig.
Geez. I guess people have always been cruel.
Balls!: An off color exclamation, short for ballocks
Teenagers today say, “Balls!” and…this is not at all what I thought the origin was. Pretty sure teens don’t know they’re quoting late 19th century British slang, either. (They’re not that far off, though. The meaning of both balls and ballocks is exactly what you think it is.)
Pudding-house: stomach
How fun is that one? “Well! I think there’s room in the pudding-house for one more slice of cake.”
Leech: doctor (and medicine was called leech-craft)
This word dates back as early as 1150. “Leech” may have been used to refer to doctor first, with the worm taking the name later, since doctors used leeches so commonly in their practice. The name was not derogatory, so it’s totally fine to call your doctor a leech and to ask how their leech-craft is going.
Drive unicorn: To drive a vehicle with three horses, one in front of two others
I just liked the way this one sounded. I’ve been having trouble working it into everyday conversation, though.
Deuce: a mild oath, similar in meaning to “devil” or “cursed”
This is a late 17th century word that comes from rolling a deuce, or two, in dice, the lowest possible roll. Because it's the unluckiest roll, you say it when something bad happens: Elizabeth had a deuce of a time convincing her mother she didn’t want to marry Mr. Collins.
Ace of Spades: a widow
The Ace of Spades is the death card, hence its reference to a widow. How did one unlucky playing card become a symbol of death? One theory is that, in medieval times, blacksmiths stamped their armor and weapons with the Ace of Spades as a mark of quality. Since weapons and armor are linked to war and death, the spade became the mark of death.
Another theory is that it originated in the 1700s when Queen Anne extended the stamp tax to include playing cards. The manufacturers were required to mark the Ace of Spades with an ornate duty stamp to show the tax had been paid. People began forging these Ace of Spade stamps, and if caught, they were executed—another ominous association for the symbol.
Or there’s the theory that it literally looks like a grave digging shovel.
Whatever the reason, it became another name for a widow.
Your Personal Regency Thesaurus
Some words had so many slang phrases to describe them! The following are all words for…
Being Drunk: a trifle disguised, ape-drunk, malt above water, bosky, drunk as a wheelbarrow, eaten Hull cheese, foxed, top-heavy, tap-hackled, properly shot in the neck, jug-bitten
“Eaten Hull cheese” stood out to me, so I looked it up. In the 17th century, Hull was a town in England known for its strong ale called Hull Cheese.
Being in debt: in quite deep, in low water, Dun territory, on the rocks, haven’t a sixpence to scratch with, never a feather to fly with, pockets to let, rolled-up, run quite off one’s legs, cleaned out, cucumberish, under the hatches, river ticket
(Was everyone in debt because they were drinking so much?)
A prostitute, a mistress, or a woman who is willing to have sex outside of marriage: barque of frailty, Bird of Paradise, bit of muslin, convenients, Cythereans, started in the petticoat line, prime articles, Paphians, peculiar, light o’ love, light-skirts, lady-bird, Haymarket ware (low class prostitutes), Incognitas (high class prostitutes), adventuress, baggage
I looked up a couple of these:
Cytherea is the legendary birthplace of Aphrodite (Roman name Venus) the goddess of love. Cytherea formerly referred to the planet Venus, as well, until that got nixed because of the word’s sexist connotations.
Paphos was an ancient city in Cyprus known for worshipping Aphrodite.
And, of course, we should definitely have a word to insult a woman who doesn’t want to have sex with you.
A woman shocked by sex and nudity: strait laced
This comes from the tightly laced corsets.
In the interest of equality, here are a few words to make fun of men.
A fashionable man (because obviously we have to look down on women who have sex, women who don’t have sex, and men who like shopping): exquisite, dandy, coxcomb, tulip, Pink
Thanks for reading! Your challenge is to successfully incorporate any one of these (or a new one!) into a comment below…hopefully not by calling anyone bacon-faced.
Click here for more posts on Regency history and daily life.
These websites were useful when writing this post:
Comments