New Canton of Mont-Saint-Aignan, Normandy, France jobs added daily. Compared to modern "standards" this is mild, however in the 1800s the swearing part would have been "God damned," not "fool." He was mean enough to hunt bears with a hickory switch. The duel that took the life of the legendary American naval hero Stephen . Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Bathers at the beach, 1897. You just asked me if Matt Damon was still stuck in space. 76. Its probably derived from tallow ketch, literally a barrel of fat.. Rawheel: newcomer; an inexperienced person. In the 1840s it settled down a bit, and began to see service in the role that it was obviously born to play, which is as a synonym for fiddle-faddle, folderol, or flapdoodle. Probably a shortened form of lunkhead, which arose in the U.S. about 1852. Well send you our daily roundup of all our favorite stories from across the site, from travel to food to shopping to entertainment. As much as this seems to describe our present-day presidential contests, it actually describes an election more than two hundred years past. It was so dry the bushes followed the dogs around. He knows as much about it as a hog does a hip pocket in a bathing suit. In you lived in a country town in Colonial-era New England and . These old-fashioned put-downs have a flair that modern insults lack theyre clever, nuanced, descriptive, and quite amusing (at least to the issuer and those who overhear, if not to the receiver!). Bluebelly: from the early 1800s in the U.S. South, a derogatory term for a northerner; a Yankee. By the late 1940s, thanks to the burgeoning interstate highway system in the U.S., the term had taken on the opposite meaning fast as a reference to a heavy foot on a vehicles accelerator. His singin was enough to make a she-wolf jealous. Wheres the fun in that? Bigmouth: a person who talks too much, usually about something another doesnt want discussed. Rumbumptious Pompous, haughty. VASPKIT and SeeK-path recommend different paths. Dude: a fastidious man; fop or clotheshorse. Panhandle: to beg. Origin obscure, but possibly from traditional association of yellow with treachery or the yellow sashes that were part of a soldados uniform. Jupiter! or the words "God-damned." And it should never, ever be confused with wapper-jawed (having a crooked, undershot, or wry jaw). 30. He couldnt track a bed-wagon through a bog hole. Above One's Bend - Out of one's power, beyond reach. A leasing is an old word for an untruth or falsehood, making a or a leasing-maker a liar. The ill-fated attempt failed after it was clear that Jeffersons vision of liberty was for whites only and that the tacit support of two Frenchmen in Philadelphia could not deliver a fleet to liberate the slaves. What was slang for "absentminded" or "empty headed" before "space cadet"? . In the 16th century, lubberwort was the name of an imaginary plant that was supposed to cause sluggishness or stupidity, and ultimately came to be used as a nickname for a lethargic, fuzzy-minded person. (Wandoughty is an old word for impotence. Thanks for sharing. What was slang, profanity and swearing like in the 1800's. Update the question so it focuses on one problem only by editing this post. He couldnt hit the ground with his hat in three throws. 1 (2001), pp. People still do, but I think it has less shock value now than in 1800. The loon that means a crazy, foolish or silly person comes from the Middle English loun. Originally, this loon, which entered English in the 1400s, meant a lout, idler, rogue, and later this negative definition was extended to mean a crazy person or simpleton., English is a Germanic language like Scandinavian (from the Angles early raids on England = Anglish), but with heavy French (from Latin) influences starting from the Norman invasion, so loon/lunatic have been around a while it seems whichever route one takes. Mulatto. No, our storehouse of insults could surely use replenishing, and for this restocking operation theres no better place to go than the slang of the 19th century a time of truly colorful and entertaining verbiage. From 1846, based on an earlier (1785) expression be nuts upon (to be very fond of), which itself arose from the use of nuts for any source of pleasure (c. 1610). Then, in a completely other source I found this: Fiddleheaded: inane; lacking good sense; possessing a head as hollow as a fiddle. Arose c. 1854; American slang. Foolish, half-witted, nonsensical; it is usual to call a very prating shallow fellow, a rank spoon.. The adjective appeared in 1853; the noun followed in 1884. Both candidates suffered personal attacks; Adams, for his perceived lack of masculine virtues, Jefferson for rumors that he had fathered children with one of his slaves and, enamored with French revolutionary ideas, had plans to install a Bonaparte-like dictatorship in America. A list of some of the funniest curse words not in use today. (Americas, originally) a term used to refer to a person who is born from one white parent. The adjective nutty, i.e. The 1800 election saw America's first contested presidential campaigns: Thomas Jefferson vs. John Adams. Shes so ugly, shed make a freight train take a dirt road! Swearing and Cussing - 19TH Century style : Always worthwhile to search our past posts prior to asking: Unless somebody produces a written diary from that era, or a serious survey/questionnaire that reported how often people from Tennessee and N. Caroline swore and blasphemed in the 19th century, the answer will be "We don't know". Saddling geese is a proverbially pointless exercise, so anyone who wastes their time doing itnamely, a saddle-goosemust be an imbecile. The issues in the campaign included whether the federal government could be trusted (Adams Federalists were known as the party of big government). Some of them I knew so gave me a good laugh. A discontented person; one who is always railing at the times. When Laurence Sterne (author of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy) met the Scottish writer Tobias Smollett (author of The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle) in Italy in 1764, he was amazed by how critical Smollett was of all the places he had visited. Let's bring 19th-century slang back! This isnt always a bad thing no one is jonesing for Tubular! and Groovy! to resurrect from the 1980s and 60s, respectively. The Founding Fathers were known as producers of lofty tracts about political theory. He's so mean he'd steal a fly from a blind spider. ", A bungler, or one who does things clumsily, Example: "God, Karen you are such a foozler. And Florida? All are worthy of a revival. Clydesdale: A big all-American boy. Alexandria (Virginia) Gazette, 11 Sept. 1830. "Thompson's colt," a reporter in the Saint Paul, Minn., Globe of Nov. 20, 1882, wrote, "was such an infernal idiot, that he swam across the river to get a drink.". The election was thrown into the House of Representatives. Library of Congress Spy-Glass, July 1840, O folly, fudge, and flummadiddle! ITHAKA. So it is possible a person in 1800 could insult someone by asking "Are you sure you are not the son of a whaling captain?" The word ultimately comes from the Italian buffare, "to puff the cheeks," a comic gesture, which . Could a subterranean river or aquifer generate enough continuous momentum to power a waterwheel for the purpose of producing electricity? People have always used race, religion, ethnicity, sexual interests, level of intelligence, or place of origin to insult another person, along with references to body parts.