Church-bellĪ nickname given to a close friend. in club-life is one of the more ignominious names given to champagne by men who prefer stronger liquors.” 13. Cat-lapĪ London society term for tea and coffee “used scornfully by drinkers of beer and strong waters. “Are you going to put lace over the feather, isn't that rather butter upon bacon?” 12. Forrester cites The Golden Butterfly: "I will back a first-class British subject for bubbling around against all humanity." 11. Bubble AroundĪ verbal attack, generally made via the press. “Adroit after the manner of a brick," Forrester writes, "said even of the other sex, 'What a bricky girl she is.'” 10. Bow wow muttonĪ naval term referring to meat so bad “it might be dog flesh.” 9.
Nineteenth-century sailor slang for “A riotous holiday, a noisy day in the streets.” 8. Low London phrase meaning “to thrash thoroughly,” possibly from the French battre a fin. This phrase originated in London in 1882, and means “perfect, complete, unapproachable.” 6. The 'bag' refers to the gut which contained the chopped meat.” 5. Bags o’ MysteryĪn 1850 term for sausages, “because no man but the maker knows what is in them. Thieves used this term to indicate that they wanted “to go out the back way.” 4. “He’s very arf’arf’an’arf," Forrester writes, "meaning he has had many ‘arfs,’” or half-pints of booze. Arfarfan'arfĪ figure of speech used to describe drunken men. AfternoonifiedĪ society word meaning “smart.” Forrester demonstrates the usage: "The goods are not 'afternoonified' enough for me.” 2. "‘Passing English’ ripples from countless sources, forming a river of new language which has its tide and its ebb, while its current brings down new ideas and carries away those that have dribbled out of fashion." Forrester chronicles many hilarious and delightful words in Passing English we don't know how these phrases ever fell out of fashion, but we propose bringing them back. "Thousands of words and phrases in existence in 1870 have drifted away, or changed their forms, or been absorbed, while as many have been added or are being added," he writes in the book's introduction. In 1909, writing under the pseudonym James Redding Ware, British writer Andrew Forrester published Passing English of the Victorian era, a dictionary of heterodox English, slang and phrase.
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