Fancy Man
“A man kept by a lady for secret services.”
Category: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
Regency Word Wednesday
Ewe
“A white ewe; a beautiful woman. And old ewe, drest lamb fashion; an old woman, drest like a young girl.”
Regency Word Wednesday
Emperor
“Drunk as an emperor, i.e. ten times as drunk as a lord.”
Regency Word Wednesday
Red Rag
“The tongue. Shut your potatoe trap, and give your red rag a holiday; i.e. shut your mouth, and let your tongue rest. Too much of the red rag (too much tongue).”
Regency Word Wednesday
Rebus
“A riddle or pun on a man’s name, expressed in sculpture or painting, thus: a bolt or arrow, and a tun, for Bolton; death’s head, and a ton, for Morton.”
Regency Word Wednesday
Cow-Hearted
“Fearful.”
Regency Word Wednesday
Contra Dance
“A dance where the dancers of the different sexes stand opposite each other, instead of a side by side, as in the minuet, rigadoon, louvre, etc. and now corruptly called a country dance.”
Regency Word Wednesday
Top Ropes
“To sway away on all top ropes; to live riotously or extravagantly.”
Regency Word Wednesday
The Crack or All The Crack
“The fashionable theme, the go. The Crack Lay, of late is used, in the cant language, to signify the art and mystery of house-breaking.”
Regency Word Wednesday
Gooseberry
“He played up old gooseberry among them; said of a person who, by force or threats, suddenly puts an end to a riot or disturbance.”
Cora Lee, Regency Romance Author 