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Thursday, February 5, 2009

Can you talk Civil War?

In Use by 1850
Slang:
absquatulate, verb, meaning to abscond, by 1830
cracking, adj, great, by 1830 (adv use by 1870)
doggone, v, (Am) by 1830 (adj/adv use by 1855, doggoned by 1870) kerfuffle, n, (Brit) disturbance, commotion by 1830
katzenjammer, n, hangover [German: tomcat’s howling—cm]
by 1855:
bird, n, man ("woman"by 1915); bud, n, (Am) buddy; card, n, (Am) humorous person; bungle, v, pay; rummy, n, drunk; shenanigan, n, (Am).
by 1860:
beef, verb, as in "beef up"; biz, n, (Am); bust, v, (Am) raid; caught, n,
pregnant; comeuppance, n, (Am); knuckle-duster, n, (Am); lulu, n; pay dirt, n (Am); plug-ugly, n, (Am) tough, hood; sellout, n, (Am); sporting house, n; welsh, v.
by 1865:
buttonhole, v, corner, dressing-down, n; mousetrap,v; reb, n; sandman, n; shebang, n; skedaddle, n/v; up-and-up, n; working girl, n.

Insults:
featherhead, n, by1835
foozle, n, bungler by 1835 ("instance of bungling" by1890; verb use by 1870)
no-account, adj, by1845
hair-splitter n by1850 (hair-splitting by 1830)
skeezix, n, arch. rascal by 1850 [and in use as recently as 1990s---comic strip-cm]
snollygoster, n, shrewd person by 1850

Phrases:
following by 1830, all nouns:
beat a dead horse; blue streak; dead duck (Amer); Dutch uncle; eat humble pie; gone goose (as in dead duck); here and how; jumping-off place; open secret; still and all; trigger finger; upper crust.
by 1840:
better half; clarion call; fine-tooth comb; hook, line and sinker; Occam's razor; tinker's damn; vital statistics; Sunday-go-to-meeting (adj, Am).
by 1850:
exact science; free lunch; hell on wheels; lock, stock and barrel; bitter end; chamber of horrors; hot potato; last straw; old guard; set piece; two cents.
by 1860:
blowhard, n (Am); cheapjack, n, purveyor of cheap goods by 1855, (adj use by 1865); crybaby, n (Am); dope, n; twit by1855 ; guttersnipe, n; weak sister, n.
by 1865:
crackpot, n; gamey, adj; pinheaded, adj (smarty, smart aleck, n (Am)

Interjections:
by 1840:

ouch (American); begorra; thunderation (Am); yep/yup.
by 1850: my word, no siree; yes siree; prosit (toast to health) (Latin via German—cm) sh; shucks; so long.
by 1860: aw; gee whillikins (gee whiz by 1885); lordy; whillikers; upsy-daisy.
by 1865: mazel tov.

Professions or Duties
by 1855: forty-niner, n; occupational, adj; road agent, n; scrimshander, n.
by 1860:
bar girl, n; caretaker, n; contortionist, n; costumer, n; doorman, n; enumerator, n census taker; gas fitter, n; mixologist,n (Am); ragpicker, n; railsplitter, n; shantyman, n lumberjack; shipping clerk, n; shirtmaker, n; stationmaster, n.
Hope this doesn't sound like so much flumadiddle! (by 1855, nonsense )

2 comments:

  1. Hi Tammy,
    Love this blog and will add it to my blog roll at http://jessicajamesblog.com (Life in the Past Lane)
    I write mostly about Civil War as well.
    (writefromthepast(at)yahooDOTcom)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Jessica,
    Glad you like it.
    I have your blog also on my list.

    ReplyDelete