froligozene (Tudor–Stuart) rejoice! be happy!
fleshment (Shakespeare: King Lear 1605) excitement from a first success
felicificability (1865) capacity for happiness
macarism (mid 19C) taking pleasure in another’s joy
maffick (1900) to rejoice with an extravagant and boisterous public celebration
kef (1808) a state of voluptuous dreaminess, full of languid contentment (originally used to describe the effects of opium)
MAKE ‘EM LAUGH
We can’t all be a grinagog (1565), one who is always grinning. But the contrast is all the better when we do finally get to see the funny side:
cachinnate (1824) to laugh loudly and immoderately
winnick (Lincolnshire) to giggle and laugh alternatively
snirtle (1785) to laugh in a quiet or restrained manner
popjoy (1853) to amuse oneself
goistering (Sussex) loud feminine laughter
HA HA BONK
Humour is often cruel. At the heart of slapstick is a series of jokes that amuse only those who set them up:
press ham (US college slang 1950s) to press a bare buttock against a window and shock passers-by
squelch-belch (Winchester College 1920) a paper bag of water dropped from an upper window onto people below
to catch the owl (late 18C) to play a trick on an innocent countryman, who is decoyed into a barn under the pretext of catching an owl: when he enters, a bucket of water is poured on his head
tiddley-bumpin’ (Lincolnshire) tapping on a window pane with a button on a length of cotton secured to the frame by a pin (a device used by boys to annoy neighbours)
pigeon’s milk (1777) an imaginary article for which children are sent on a fool’s errand (traditionally on April 1st)
squashed tomatoes (1950s) a game that involves knocking on a door and then rushing away as the homeowner answers it (also known as knock down ginger (England and Canada), ding-dong ditch (US), chappy (Scotland), dolly knock (Ireland))
WORD JOURNEYS
jest (13C from Latin and French) a deed or exploit; then (15C) idle talk
engine (13C from Latin via Old French) contrivance, artifice; then (14C) genius
frantic (14C) insane
negotiate (16C from Latin) ill at ease; not at leisure
to have a chip on one’s shoulder (US 19C) of a custom in which a boy who wanted to give vent to his feelings placed a chip of wood on his shoulder in order to challenge any boy who dared to knock it off
TWIDDLE-DIDDLES
Body language
Keep the head and feet warm,
and the rest will take nae harm
(1832)
In the developed world these days, one of the greatest concerns is being overweight, whether you are an adult or a child. But the evidence of language is that not being thin is hardly a new thing. Nor are people’s reactions:
fubsy (1780) being chubby and somewhat squat
flodge (Banffshire) a big, fat, awkward person
ploffy (Cornwall 1846) plump; also soft and spongy
pursy (Scotland) short-breathed and fat
fustilug (1607) a fat sloppy woman
five by five (North American black 1930s) a short fat man (i.e. his girth is the same as his height)
CHUBBY CHOPS
It’s not just the whole but the parts that get labelled. In the UK people talk about bingo wings for flabby upper arms, a muffin top to describe that unsightly roll of flesh above tight jeans, a buffalo hump for an area of fat in the upper back and cankles for ankles so thick that they have no distinction from the calf. Over the pond recent slang is just as critical:
bat wings flabby undersides of the upper arms
banana fold fat below the buttocks
chubb fat around the kneecaps
hail damage cellulite (from its pitted similarity to the effects of hail)
MODEL FIGURES
So it must be reassuring to some that being skinny can also attract unfavourable notice (especially when combined with height):
windlestraw (1818) a thin, lanky person
straight up six o’clock girl (US black 1940s) a thin woman
slindgy (Yorkshire 1897) tall, gaunt and sinewy
gammerstang (1570) a tall, awkward woman
stridewallops (Yorkshire) a tall, long-legged girl
flacket (Suffolk) a girl, tall and slender, who flounces about in loose hanging clothes
NAPOLEON COMPLEX
The awful truth is that from the playground onwards, people who don’t meet the average have always had to put up with mockery. Luckily, vertically challenged role models from Alexander the Great to Napoleon have often had the last laugh:
youfat (Ayrshire 1821) diminutive, puny
gudget (Donegal) a short thick-set man
dobbet (Cornwall) a short, stumpy little person
pyknic (1925) short and squat in build, with small hands and feet, short limbs and neck, a round face and a domed abdomen
endomorphic (1888) being short but powerful
NIP AND TUCK
So in the short term what can you do to change things? Wear platform shoes. Go on a diet. Or consider having some ‘work’ done:
pumping party (Miami slang 2003) illegal gatherings where plastic surgeons give back street injections of silicone, botox, etc.
rhytidectomy (1931) the surgical removal of facial wrinkles
roider (US slang 2005) someone who injects illegal steroids to enhance his body
reveal party (US current slang) a party held to celebrate successful cosmetic treatment, especially cosmetic surgery or dentistry
MAKEOVER
Then again, you could just pop down to the salon and have a less final and painful sort of revamp:
whiffle cut a very short haircut worn by US soldiers in the Second World War
farmer’s haircut (US slang 1984) a short haircut that leaves a white strip of skin showing between the bottom of the hair and the tanned portion of the neck
follow-me-lads (mid 19C) curls that hang over a woman’s shoulder
krobylos (Ancient Greek 1850) a tuft of hair on top of one’s head
acersecomic (1612) one whose hair has never been cut
FACE FUNGUS
Ever since William the Conqueror passed a law against beards, facial hair has gone in and out of fashion. After the return of the heroic soldiers from the Crimea in the 1850s, the hirsute look became wildly popular:
dundrearies (1858) a pair of whiskers that, cut sideways from the chin, are grown as long as possible (named after the comic character Lord Dundreary in the popular Victorian play Our American Cousin; these excessive sidechops, popular with gentlemen perambulating the centre of the capital, were also known as Piccadilly Weepers)
burke (c.1870) to dye one’s moustache
bostruchizer (Oxford University c.1870) a small comb for curling the whiskers
THREADBARE
From five o’clock stubble to the pudding ring (Florida slang), a facial decoration made up of a moustache and a goatee, many men cherish their beards because it’s the only kind of hair they have left:
pilgarlic (1529) a bald man (referring to a peeled head of garlic)
skating rink (US current slang) a bald head
egg-shell blonde (New Zealand 1949) a bald man
Better such terms as these than being fingered for having a brillo (UK playground slang), a merciless expression for the style of a middle-aged male who is attempting to fluff up every hair to disguise his ever-expanding pate.
SNIFFER
air can do only so much to frame a face. You can’t escape the features you’ve been given, especially that one in the middle:
simous (1634) having a very flat nose or with the end turned up
proboscidiform (1837) having a nose like an elephant’s trunk
macrosmatic (1890) having a supersensitive nose
meldrop (c.1480) a drop of mucus at the end of the nose
A WORD IN YOUR SHELL-LIKE
Even the highest in the land have to learn to live with the particular shape of their auditory nerves:
FA Cup (UK playground slang 1990s) a person with protruding ears
leav-lug’t (Cumberland) having ears which hang down instead of standing erect
sowl (Tudor–Stuart 1607) to pull by the ears
PEEPERS
Eyes are more than mere features, they are extraordinary organs we should do our very best to look after:
saccade (French 1953) the rapid jump made by the eye as it shifts from one object to another
canthus (Latin 1646) the angle between the eyelids at the corner of the eye
eyes in two watches (Royal Navy slang) of someone whose eyes appear to be moving independently of each other as a result of drunkenness or tiredness or both
especially if there’s only one of them …
half-a-surprise (UK slang late 19C) a single black eye
seven-sided animal (18C riddle) a person with only one eye (they have a right side and a left side, a foreside and a backside, an outside, an inside and a blind side)
CAKE HOLE
The glabella (Latin 1598) is the gap between the eyebrows, and the philtrum (Latin 17C) the groove below the nose. But though the mouth below attracts such crude names as gob, gash and kisser, its features and actions are more delicately described:
wikins (Lincolnshire) the corners of the mouth
fipple (Scottish and Northern) the lower lip
fissilingual (b.1913) having a forked tongue
bivver (Gloucestershire) to quiver one’s lips
mimp (1786) to speak in a prissy manner usually with pursed lips
GNASHERS
An evocative Australian expression describes teeth like a row of condemned houses. In this state, the only cure is to have them out and replaced with graveyard chompers, a Down Under phrase for false teeth, intriguingly similar to the Service slang dead man’s effects. But dental problems persist from the earliest night-time cries onwards:
neg (Cornwall 1854) a baby’s tooth
shoul (Shropshire) to shed the first teeth
laser lips; metal mouth; tin grin (US campus slang 1970s) a wearer of braces
gubbertushed (1621) having projecting teeth
snag (Gloucestershire) a tooth standing alone
CHEEK BY JOWL
What face would be complete without all those interesting bits in between?
joblocks (Shropshire) fleshy, hanging cheeks
bucculent (1656) fat-cheeked and wide-mouthed
pogonion (1897) the most projecting part of the midline of the chin
prognathous (1836) having a jaw which extends past the rest of one’s face
… not to mention other decorative surface additions:
push (Tudor–Stuart) a pimple
turkey eggs (Lincolnshire) freckles
christened by the baker (late 18C) freckle-faced
BOTTLING IT
Having broad shoulders has generally been seen to be a good thing, both literally and metaphorically. Other shapes are for some reason considered less reliable:
bible-backed (1857) round-shouldered, like one who is always poring over a book
champagne shoulders (c.1860) sloping shoulders (from the likeness to the bottle’s shape)
Coke-bottle shoulders (Royal Navy slang) shoulders possessed by those individuals who are unwilling to take responsibility in any matter (after its rounded shape)
SINISTER
Most of us are right-handed. Once again, it’s the odd ones out who get noticed, and not kindly. Left-handed people have been variously described as molly-dukered , corrie-fisted and skerry-handit (Scotland); car-handed, cack-handed and cowie-handed (North East); kay-fisted, kibbo, key-pawed and caggy-ont (Lancashire); cuddy-wifter (Northumbria); kay-neeaved or dolly-posh (Yorkshire); keggy (East Midlands) and Marlborough-handed (Wiltshire); while awk (1440) is an old English word which means ‘with or from the left hand’ and thus the wrong way, backhanded, perverse or clumsy (hence awkward).
PAWS
But all hands are carefully observed, both for how they are and for what they’re doing:
pugil (1576) what is carried between the thumb and two first fingers
yepsen (14C) as much as the cupped hands will hold
gowpins (Yorkshire) the two hands full when held together
quobbled (Wiltshire) of a woman’s hands: shrivelled and wrinkled from being too long in the washtub
clumpst (1388) of hands stiff with cold (hence clumsy)
rope-hooky (UK nautical jargon late 19C) with fingers curled in (from years of handling ropes)
… right down to the detail of specific digits:
lik-pot (Middle English 1100–1500) the forefinger of the right hand
mercurial finger (Tudor–Stuart) the little finger (as in palmistry it was assigned to Mercury)
flesh-spades (Fielding: Tom Jones 1749) fingernails
gifts (UK slang b.1811) small white specks under the fingernails, said to portend gifts or presents
lirp (1548) to snap one’s fingers
fillip (1543) a jerk of the finger let go from the thumb
vig (Somerset) to rub a finger quickly and gently forwards and backwards
JOHN THOMAS
Further down are those parts often described as ‘private’, but subject also to any number of other euphemisms and nicknames:
twiddle-diddles (b.1811) testicles
melvin (US slang 1991) to grab by the testicles
be docked smack smooth (mid 18C) to have had one’s penis amputated
merkin (1617) counterfeit hair for women’s private parts
hinchinarfer (late 19C) a grumpy woman (i.e. ‘inch-and-a-halfer’ referring to the length of the disgruntled woman’s husband’s penis)
BUNS
The Ancient Greek-derived word callipygian (1646) has long been used to describe shapely buttocks, while in US slang badonkadonk indicates a bottom of exceptional quality and bounce. Unfortunately, rather more ubiquitous are displays of a less appealing kind:
working man’s smile (US slang) a builders’ bottom
LEGS ELEVEN
Below that, it’s good to have shapely stumps and elegant plates of meat, whatever the individual components look like:
prayerbones (1900s) the knees
baker’s knee (1784) a knee bent inwards (from carrying a heavy bread-basket on the right arm)
Sciapodous (1798) having feet large enough to be used as a sunshade to shelter the whole body
hallux (1831) a big toe
NOISES OFF
Cock-throppled (1617) describes one of those people whose Adam’s apple is largely developed; noop (1818) is Scottish dialect for the sharp point of the elbow; and both axilla (1616) and oxter (1597) are names for the armpit. But perhaps the oddest words of all are those describing the noises that bodies can make:
yask (Shropshire) the sound made by a violent effort to get rid of something in the throat
plapper (Banffshire) to make a soft noise with the lips
borborygmus (1719) the rumbling, gurgling, growling sounds made by the stomach
WORD JOURNEYS
handsome (1435) easy to handle; then (1577) convenient; then (Samuel Johnson 1755) beautiful, with dignity
fathom (Old English) the span of one’s outstretched arms
shampoo (18C from Hindi) to massage the limbs
complexion (from Latin) woven together; then (14C) the bodily constitution, the combination of the four humours
cold shoulder (from Medieval French) relating to a chateau guest who was served a cold shoulder of beef or mutton instead of hot meat, as a not-so gentle hint that he had overstayed his welcome
PRICK-ME-DAINTY
Clothes
Under greasie clothes,
are oft found rare virtues
(1666)
Even if you’re not, as the Australians say, as flash as a rat with a gold tooth, yo
u can still make time to be well turned out:
prick-me-dainty (1529) one that is finicky about dress; a dandy (of either sex)
pavisand (Kipling: Simple Simon 1910) to flaunt opulent or expensive clothing or jewels in a peacock-like fashion
flamfew (1580) a gaudily dressed female, whose chief pleasure consists of dress
sashmaree (Yorkshire) an elderly female conspicuous for the quaintness of her finery
UNMENTIONABLES
Not that all clothes are inherently smart:
cover-slut (1639) a clean apron over a dirty dress
orphan collar (US b.1902) a collar unsuitable to the shirt with which it is worn
stilt (Lincolnshire) to pull down and re-knit the feet of worn stockings or socks if the legs are still good
coax (UK slang mid 18C) to hide a dirty or torn part of one’s stocking in one’s shoes
apple-catchers (Herefordshire) outsized knickers (as one could use them for harvesting apples)
SKIMPIES
Garments that leave less to the imagination often attract greater interest:
banana hammock (US slang) a very brief men’s swimsuit
pasties (strip club jargon 1961) coverings worn over the nipples of a showgirl’s or topless dancer’s breasts (to comply with legal requirements for entertainers)
I Never Knew There Was a Word For It Page 29