Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
Share on Facebook
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 GILES

 

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, as may he gathered from the regular Billinsgate or St. Giles's answer - "I may be a whore, but can't be a bitch."
 
CALF-SKIN FIDDLE  A drum. To smack calf's skin; to kiss the book in taking an oath. It is held by the St. Giles's casuists, that by kissing one's thumb instead of smacking calf's skin, the guilt of taking a false oath is avoided.
 
CROOK YOUR ELBOW  To crook one's elbow, and wish it may never come straight, if the fact then affirmed is not true - according to the casuists of Bow-street and St. Giles's, adds great weight and efficacy to an oath.
 
GIBBERISH  The cant language of thieves and gypsies, called Pedlars' French, and St. Giles's Greek: see ST. GILES'S GREEK. Also the mystic language of Geber, used by chymists. Gibberish likewise means a sort of disguised language, formed by inserting any consonant between each syllable of an English word; in which case it is called the gibberish of the letter inserted: if F, it is the F gibberish; if G, the G gibberish; as in the sentence How do you do? Howg dog youg dog.
 
GILES'S or ST GILES'S BREED  Fat, ragged, and saucy; Newton and Dyot streets, the grand head-quarters-of most of the thieves and pickpockets about London, are in St. Giles's Giles's parish. St. Giles's Greek; the cant language, called also Slang, Pedlars' French, and Flash.
 
GOOD MAN  A word of various imports, according to the place where it is spoken: in the city it means a rich man; at Hockley in the Hole, or St. Giles's, an expert boxer; at a bagnio in Covent Garden, a vigorous fornicator; at an alehouse or tavern, one who loves his pot or bottle; and sometimes, though but rarely, a virtuous man
 
GOOD WOMAN  A nondescript, represented on a famous sign in St. Giles's, in the form of a common woman. but without a head.
 
GREEK  St. Giles's Greek; the slang lingo, cant, or gibberish.
 
GYLES, or GILES  Hopping Giles; a nick name for a lame person: St. Giles was the tutelar saint of cripples.
 
HOPPING GILES  A jeering appellation given to any person who limps, or is lame; St. Giles was the patron of cripples, lepers, etc. Churches dedicated to that saint commonly stand out of town, many of them having been chapels to hospitals. See GYLES.
 
WHITECHAPEL  Whitechapel portion; two smocks, and what nature gave. Whitechapel breed; fat, ragged, and saucy: see ST. GILES'S BREED. Whitechapel beau; one who dresses with a needle and thread, and undresses with a knife. To play at whist Whitechapel fashion; i.e. aces and kings first.