Merry widow
Although the phrase is famous because of Franz Lehár“s international sensation Die Lustige Witwe in 1905, it had been a cliché for hundreds of years. The first dictionary citation is in 1567, with the same sense of an amorous widow that it continued to have up to the present. Someone said that Shakespeare should have followed up The Merry Wives of Windsor with “The Merry Widows of Windsor”. (The sense of a strapless corset with garters attached is from Lana Turner wearing one in the 1952 movie of the operetta.)
Mews
A group of stables in the city or town, typically with rooms above, built around a yard or along an alley.
Molly house
Establishments for homosexuals in the 18th and 19th centuries. These establishments were typically coffee houses, taverns or simply private rooms where only male homosexuals met, frequently for sex. At the time of this story, homosexuality was a capital offense, i.e., if one were found guilty, you would be tried and hanged. Very little is written or known about “sapphic pleasure houses,” or houses for female homosexuals although they certainly did exist. Surprisingly, while there are many records of men being put to death for the crime of buggery, sodomy or “unnatural intercourse”, there is no record of any woman in England, Scotland, Ireland or Wales, being executed for the crime of lesbianism as it was not considered a crime.
To the left is an 1800s illustration of a “molly.”
On a side note: A modern swear word one frequently hears (particularly in the UK) is “bugger”. It is the equivalent of our “fuck” although having the meaning of anal fucking. I have frequently heard this from the mouths of innocents and wondered if they realized what they were saying.
Mule
As a soft shoe or slipper, often made of velvet, 1565. (Both sexes could originally wear mules around the house, by the way — they were particularly recommended for men suffering from gout.)
Nob, A
A leader, a head man
Novels [popular]
Even though Jane Austen’s novels and Walter Scott’s Waverly stories of the Scottish border were indeed published during the 1811–1818 period of the Regency, they were published anonymously so nobody could curl up in the parlor with Miss Austen’s new novel. The authorship of Austen’s books was not known until after her death in 1818; Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published posthumously, in fact. The earlier books were attributed to “A Lady of Quality”. Scott was a well-known high-brow poet who didn’t want the literary establishment to know he also wrote popular novels to make lots of money, and although some people suspected, he didn’t come clean until 1827. After the first one, by “Anonymous”, the rest were by “The Author of Waverly”. (“Sir Walter Scott” was an anachronism until 1820 when he received a baronetcy for his poetry.)
Officer’s honoraria
In Captain Duncan Everleigh’s time, officers bought their commissions in the military as it was seen to guarantee a better quality of man (it being assumed, rightly, the lesser classes could not afford such). A Captaincy in the cavalry such as Duncan had, might go for as much as the equivalent of $5,000.00 in today’s currency, plus he had to supply himself with horses, uniforms and weaponry. They also did not receive pay as it was considered inappropriate for gentlemen to receive money for their military service. What they received was what could be considered interest on the amount of money they had invested in their commission. This was termed an “honoraria”. It was rarely enough to live on in any but the most Spartan manner. Gentlemen officers of this era regularly supplemented their honoraria with private funds to maintain the standard of living in which they were raised. Surprisingly, prize money was not considered “salary” and therefore there was no stigma attached to receiving such.
Orgasm
1936 in the modern sense. Before that, it had to be qualified — sexual or venereal orgasm.
Prad cove
Horse dealer
Peek-a-boo
Surprisingly, as early as the 1590s as a children's game.
Peregrinations
Technically, peregrinations means a long, meandering journey. Used in Husband for Hire, it refers to the long legal convulsions that accrued when a titled estate reverted to the Crown.
Physic
A medicinal concoction especially a cathartic or a purge used to hasten the evacuation of the bowels or humors or to spur a phlegmatic constitution. Some of these were every bit as bad as the condition which they purported to cure. For example this warning from A New Medical Dictionary, Containing An Explanation of The Terms In Anatomy… 1817 by Robert Hooper “Narcotic cathartics such as tobacco, hyocyamus, and digitalis. This order is never given but to the very strong and indolent, and to maniacal patients, as their operation is very strong.”
Pigeon-livered
A coward
Pub
This clipped version of “public house” for a tavern was recorded as underworld slang about 1860 but wasn’t fully acceptable until 1890.
Ratbag
A general term of abuse; scum; an undesirable person
Rowlandson, Thomas
(born July 1756, Old Jewry, London, Eng.—died April 22, 1827, London), English painter and caricaturist who illustrated the life of 18th-century England and created comic images of familiar social types of his day, such as the antiquarian, the old maid, the blowsy barmaid, and the Grub Street hack. His characters ranged from the ridiculously pretentious, with their elaborate coiffures, widely frogged uniforms, and enormous bosoms and bottoms, to the merely pathetic, whose trailing handkerchiefs expressed their dejected attitudes. Many of his illustrations were licentious https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Rowlandson_erotic_engravings
Rum doxy
A beautiful woman
Rum prancer
A fast horse
Sad dog
A wicked, debauched fellow
Sex
1929 as a synonym for “sexual intercourse”, as in “have sex”, “sex before marriage”, “great sex”, etc. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the first known use of the word in this sense was by D.H. Lawrence. Before that, the only noun usage was in phrases like “the female sex”.
Sneaksby
A mean spirited fellow, a sneaking cur
So-so
This synonym of “mediocre” or “passable” looks like 20th-century slang, but the first recorded use as an adverb was in 1530 and as an adjective (soso wine) in 1542. (In 1768, Fanny Burney described a disappointing party as “so so-so“.)
Spunk
British vulgar slang meaning semen.
Square cove
An honest man
Too high in the instep
A person overly impressed with his own consequence; pompous; arrogant; snobbish; pretentious
Traveling chariot—also referred to as a “post-chaise” when fitted for more than two people.
Note the 19th-century illustration of a traveling chariot with passengers. It looks like the gentleman is leaning out the window of the chariot exhorting the postilions (the men in red coats riding the two horses on the left) to whip the team to greater effort. These vehicles were the “ultra-lights,” the Ferraris, of their day. Very wealthy people such as Eleanor owned their own vehicle(s) along with teams of horses that were temporarily stabled at various posting inns along the routes. The less wealthy could hire one of these vehicles complete with the horses and postillions though the quality of the horses varied wildly depending upon the wealth of the owner of the posting house. The traveling chariots were commonly painted yellow.
Below is a scene painted in 1881 by Samuel Waller (1850-1903) titled “Success”. The scene is that of the survivor of a personal duel and his seconds assisting the rather shaken looking young man into his chariot. In the background you can see a figure huddling over another prone on the ground. (One assumes the doctor and loser of the duel?) The painting was presented in 1894 by Sir Henry Tate to the Tate Museum http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/NO1551 Note the two pos
tillion riders and the optional elevated seat in the rear for grooms or extra passengers.
Upper story: The head
There will be at least 3 novels in the Heirs & Spares series, if you’d like to be notified when Patricia has a new release, or to be included in launch party events, join her Regency group at: http://eepurl.com/dcJVCn
About Patricia A. Knight
Patricia A. Knight is the pen name for an eternal romantic who lives in Dallas, Texas surrounded by her horses, dogs and the best man on the face of the earth – oh yeah, and the most enormous bullfrogs you will ever see. Word to the wise: don’t swim in the pool after dark.
Patricia loves to hear from her readers and can be reached at http://www.patriciaaknight.com.
Other books by Patricia A. Knight:
The Heirs & Spares Series
A Husband for Hire
Lessons for a Lady (coming soon)
Verdantia Series
Hers to Command
Hers to Choose
Hers to Cherish
Hers to Claim
Hers to Captivate
Stand Alones
Adam’s Christmas Eve
Undertow
We often update our books when grammar errors are found, so please let us know if you’ve found one at: [email protected]
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Did you love A Destitute Duke? Then you should read A Husband for Hire by Patricia A. Knight!
Lady Eleanor Russell needed a husband. Immediately. With no male heir, when her father died, the vast family estate would revert to the Crown. But no man would choose an unattractive, outspoken, independent, spinster of mature years as a bride—so she'd buy a husband.An impoverished third son of aristocratic birth, Lord Miles Everleigh, tall, elegant and immensely handsome, relied on wealthy widows to clothe, house and feed him. In exchange, they received a charming, accomplished companion, both in and out of the bedroom. But this lifestyle wore away a man's self-respect; he was not the male whore his step-brother had named him. When Eleanor "bought" Miles as a husband, she never intended to lose her heart. When he accepted her proposal, Miles never imagined he'd want more from Eleanor than her money.
Read more at Patricia A. Knight’s site.
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