Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
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The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue dates from 1811 and this is probably the only full, uncensored and searchable version of this dictionary on the internet. All the original crudities have been restored and it offers an interesting perspective on Common English from the time of the Regency and Jane Austen.

Select a letter or type a word and click Find. Searches are automatically wild-carded and clicking on words in the first column will look for all occurrences of that word, or related word.

Example:You click A and one of the results is ARSE. If you now click on ARSE the full list of related content will be displayed.

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  

 

Entries releated to FAN

 

BRAT  A child or infant.
 
CAFFAN  Cheese.
 
CASH, or CAFFAN  Cheese; See CAFFAN.
 
CHIT  An infant or baby.
 
FAN  To beat any one. I fanned him sweetly; I beat him heartily.
 
FANCY MAN  A man kept by a lady for secret services.
 
FANTASTICALLY DRESSED  With more rags than ribands.
 
FEET  To make feet for children's stockings; to beget children. An officer of feet; a jocular title for an officer of infantry.
 
FLICKING  Cutting. Flick me some panam and caffan; cut me some bread and cheese. Flick the peter; cut off the cloak-bag, or portmanteau.
 
GAMES  Thin, ill-shapped legs: a corruption of the French word jambes. Fancy gambs; sore or swelled legs.
 
HALBERT  A weapon carried by a serjeant of foot. To get a halbert; to be appointed a serjeant. To be brought to the halberts; to be flogged a la militaire: soldiers of the infantry, when flogged, being commonly tied to three halberts, set up in a triangle, with a fourth fastened across them. He carries the halbert in his face; a saying of one promoted from a serjeant to a commission officer.
 
LIGHT BOB  A soldier of the light infantry company.
 
LULLABY CHEAT  An infant.
 
MARTINET  A military term for a strict disciplinarian: from the name of a French general, famous for restoring military discipline to the French army. He first disciplined the French infantry, and regulated their method of encampment: he was killed at the siege of Doesbourg in the year 1672.
 
PAP  Bread sauce; also the food of infants. His mouth is full of pap; he is still a baby.
 
PICKANINY  A young child, an infant. NEGRO TERM.
 
SAINT MONDAY  A holiday most religiously observed by journeymen shoemakers, and other inferior mechanics. a profanation of that day, by working, is punishable by a line, particularly among the gentle craft. An Irishman observed, that this saint's anniversary happened every week.