Nicola here. I don’t visit Twitter/X much these days unless it’s to see videos of cute animals but one other thing that I do enjoy on there is finding out about the meaning and origin of unusual words. There are a number of accounts on Twitter that explore this and often come up with some fascinating stuff. Today, I’m going to take a look at where a few special Georgian and Regency words come from and ask you to nominate some of your own favourites.
The latest Twitter sensation arose over the words whutterwick-fuffing. This turns out to be a Scottish phrase that is a collective noun for weasels. So, if you were to see a gathering of these little mammals (which I did a few years ago when I was out walking the dog) that is how to refer to them. Always useful to know!
Whilst on the subject of collective nouns, I came up with a couple of surprising descriptions for Regency characters. The first was that
a group of barons is known as “A thought of barons,” which gives the impression that they would be studious, thorough types. This doesn’t really match the ideas of aristocrats around the gambling table (see below!) However, I then read that this could also be taken to mean a pensive or brooding baron, which is much better for a hero!
Also very appropriate is a “frost of dowagers.” The rather chilly reception a young debutante might receive, the quelling look such as that given by the Dowager Lady Grantham, fits this description perfectly!
A famous anecdote about the origin of a word is that of the sandwich. In 1762, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich requested the servants bring him roast beef placed between two slices of bread so that he did not need to leave the gambling table in order to eat. This form of food had been eaten previously but not given a specific name. From this point, though, Sandwich’s friends decided they would also have “the same as Sandwich” and eventually people simply asked for a sandwich. Out of respect for Lord Sandwich it is important to point out that he also held various political and other appointments, and there are some suggestions that he actually requested the food at his desk so that he did not need to break off from his work. Thus, the sandwich would have been the original working lunch rather than a gambling snack!
From food to clothes, and the spencer, which in Regency times was a woollen coat. Like the sandwich it
took its name from a person, in this case George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, whose tailcoat was burned by hot coals leaping out from the fire. He had the damaged “tails” of his coat cut off, inadvertently starting a new fashion trend in the process!
Moving on to transport and we find the cabriolet, a carriage with one horse and a folding hood that can cover its two occupants, one of whom is the driver. Imported from France to England in the 1790s, the cabriolet was originally a two-seater driven by its owner, with a platform on the rear for a groom to stand on. This name comes from a goat! Cabriole describes the leap of a goat as its bounces down a rocky mountainside. Thus, riding in a cabriolet, fast, light and prone to accidents, was likened to bounding around like a goat! Not great for those who suffer motion sickness. On the back of your cabriolet you might have your “tiger” perching; apparently the grooms were given this name as they often had black and yellow livery.
Back in the ballroom, you might well encounter a dandy. In Scottish slang this derived from a dandilly, a word that originally meant a
pet, in the sense of someone who was petted and had a big fuss made of them. By the end of the 18th century, it had come to mean a man of fashion, wit, style and elegance. A dandy could also be a “pink of the ton” which derived from the association of the colour pink with vitality, youth and masculinity. It wasn’t until the mid-twentieth century that pink became a female colour.
Lets end on a Christmas note! The bauble derives from the French for a small toy or a little ornament or trinket. Although the word “bel” in the title comes from the French and suggests that baubles were beautiful, they became known for being a bit cheap and shoddy. Before the word was adopted for Christmas tree ornaments, it described a jester’s sceptre with its carved head and bells!
I could go on! What is wonderful to me is that so many of these words and phrases are still in usage or at the very least familiar to us today, and so many of them also go back centuries and have such interesting derivations. Do you have any favourite – or least favorite – words? (Incidentally another blog topic, those disappearing letter “u”s!)
How delicious, Nicola. A frost of dowagers is perfect, but it’s impossible to resist a whutterwick-fuffing of weasels!
A frost of dowagers was my favourite as well, Mary Jo! It’s the perfect description.
That was a neat post, Nicola. I also liked a frost of dowagers!
One word that seems overused on social media these days is obsessed. In writing, I can do without the words smirk and mewl. I don’t have a favorite word unless you count chocolate. I like my daughter’s favorite word which is fortuitous.
LOL, I think we can definitely count chocolate as a favourite word! I like fortuitous too. Mewl isn’t great, even for kittens, and smirk is on my list too along with moist.
Your comment about “obsessed” led me to go and look up its origin which I rather like – from the Latin meaning “besieged.” We are certainly under siege from social media these days…
Great post, Nicola! I love words. Especially odd and unusual ones. On Facebook I usually post a word each day, and try to find less common ones. Then my friends might comment, either guessing what the word means, making a joke, or actually defining the word. This all started completely by accident, but I’ve been doing it for years now, and really enjoy it. One of my favorite words is petrichor.
What a great thing to do! I will check out your “word a day” posts. Both the word and the smell petrichor are excellent, aren’t they!
Three sheets to the wind, is one of my favorites, but the phrase, in his cups, I only heard once. Dandy is used, too. The recent exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was called, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. It was a cultural and historical exhibit of Black style over three hundred years through the concept of dandyism.
That sounds a brilliant exhibition, Pat. I would have loved to see that. I must see if there is anything online I can look at. Three sheets to the wind comes from sailing, doesn’t it? It’s very descriptive!
Nicola, here is a YouTube link for The Met, showing the exhibit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx2OCPXU4QU
Thank you, Pat, that is terrific. How I wish it would tour over in the UK! I will also look out for the book that it’s based on which sound fascinating.
Loved this post, Nicola. I read Pride and Prejudice, but I was never really immersed om the Regency world until the momentous day a friend handed mea grorgette Heyer’s The Devil’s Cub – and life was never the same. I’m compulsive, so I immersed myself, even absorbing some Rejgency cant. I often find myself at sizes and sevens. And one more thing: I didn’t realize that the Spencer originated with men’s clothing. I had only come across a Spencer being worn by a woman. Who knew?
Thank you, Binnie! Regency cant is so descriptive, isn’t it! I love it too. The information on the derivation of spencer surprised me as well. I’d always wondered where it came from as it sounded like a surname. Perhaps when ladies saw Lord Spencer’s coat, they thought the style would look better on them!
Lovely post, Nicola. Add me to the list of those who love a “frost of dowagers. I knew a few of these, but not all. Thank you.
Thanks, Anne! It is the perfect description, isn’t it. I used to think my aunt-in-law was a frost (although technically she isn’t a dowager) but that was before I got to know her well!
Word origins are great. Never heard of a frost of dowagers before but it is apt, I like it.
As for a favourite word I have always liked gravitas, something almost onomatopoeic about it, but a word that I find teeth-grindingly annoying is the regency word ninnyhammer, it actually makes reading Georgette Heyer a little trying for me.
I see what you mean about gravitas! It has an excellent weight to it.
I went to look up ninnyhammer, as it struck me as exactly the sort of Regency cant Georgette Heyer might have made up! I was surprised to find though that it was originally from the 16th century, ninny from the word innocent and hammer possibly from being hammer-headed and therefore a bit stupid. So I like the derivation but the word itself is irritating!
What a fun and interesting poat, Nicola! I love word origins.
I also loved Frost of Dowagers….perfect description and three sheets to the wind was always one if my favorites.
Oh, there are so many that I like, but I will only mention a few.
Some of my favorite cant expressions are “the outside of enough”., doing it too brown,
Top of the trees, and dressed to the nines.
Like so many others, Heyer was my introduction to Regency language and it was such fun discovering them.
Jane, I hadn’t realised that the outside of enough derives from Jane Austen! I’ve always loved doing it too brown because my grandmother used to say it, so evidently it was still in usage in early 20th century England. Dressed to the nines sounds so modern to me; I had no idea it was first used in the early 1700s. I love all these phrases, thank you!
Yes, I am constantly surprised at how much slang we use that seems so modern and yet it goes back at least a couple 100 years! I can’t remember what word it was used in a historical novel that i thought, “that’s so modern” then i looked it up and lo and behold…used as far back as the 1600’s. What a shock!😊
Oh my how did that emoji get so gigantic?
LOL! Something in the settings does that. Spreading the joy!
I wonder how many mothers-in-law or stepmothers might come under the title of “a frost of dowagers.” What a great expression!
Ahem… I think my mother might have qualified!
My maternal grandmother definitely! A smile or laugh never crossed her lips!
A great fun post!! All my favourites come from Georgette Heyer too. I love all the cant in the books. One that has always stuck with me is ‘to stick his spoon in the wall’ which apparently means to die though I have no idea why!!
Love a frost of dowagers, my grandmother was definitely one of that group.
Here in Ireland we have many old sayings, none of which will come to mind at present of course but it’s mostly used as sarcasm.
Loved this!
It’s great that we all know someone who would have qualified to be part of a “frost of dowagers”!
My favorite word is serendipity which would have been known in Regency since it came from Horace Walpole taken from the story “The three princes of Serendip”. Originally it meant success through good luck, but if you read the story, it means success from education and wisdom (the princes were able to track a lost horse because of their education and horsemanship.)
Thank you for reminding us about serendipity, Char. I’d love to invent a new word in a book that then got taken up into general usage. I think I’ll reread the novel now as well.
Nicola,
What a fun post!
Whutterwick-fuffing could be a collective noun for our current politicians!
One could spend hours looking up words and expressions;it is so easy now to wander the internet finding gems. One wonders what inspired some of these gems.
“Sticking a spoon in the wall” is actually a translation of a French slang expression, similar to “kicking the bucket”. It does seem very ,very strange. Similar expressions are found in German . Whatever would be the origins of these expressions?
I love the word “rapscallion”. Just trips off the tongue!
Haha! Yes there is a lot of whutterwick-fuffing in politics.
Sticking a spoon in the wall is a very odd expression!
I love that rapscallion developed from the word rascal, which is rather fun.
I’ve enjoyed these comments so much. So many great words! I always laugh at the phrase “no better than she should be” which I’ve seen used in historicals and even into the 20th century books.
Thanks, Karin! Yes, that’s a funny one. I remember my grandmother saying that as well!