Friday, July 19, 2019

Victorian-era phrases about teatime

I am constantly amazed at the kindness of readers who send along articles, photos, and videos they think I might enjoy. A recent treat comes courtesy of Kris H., who found an article in Open Culture about a 1909 dictionary titled Passing English of the Victorian Era: A Dictionary of Heterodox, English, Slang, and Phrase by J. Redding Ware.

Kris noted quite a few tea-related phrases are included. Some of the ones I found:

Bull — A teapot with the leaves left in it for a second brew. ("Here you are, mate; here's a bull for you.")

Daisy-five-o'clocker — A charming five o'clock tea.

Knife and fork tea — Vulgarisation (sic) of high tea.

Muffin-wallopers — Scandal-loving women, chiefly spinsters, who meet over a cup of tea.

Put the miller's eye out — To use too much water in making grog or tea.

Those are just a few of the fun tea terms I found, and if you'd like to check them all out, click here and type "tea" in the "search inside" search bar. (And special thanks to Kris for sharing this!)

5 comments:

  1. You are sharing a wide variety of information this week, aren't you? Those terms are indeed new to me, and I'm going to check out the site for others. ("Muffin-wallopers" - I love that!)

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  2. These are fabulous! I am already enjoying the book and can see myself returning to it again and again.
    The PREFACE states: It may be hoped that there are errors on every page, and also that no entry is 'quite to dull'. :)
    Also shared was that O.K. comes from 'orl kerrect' (All Correct) was started by Vance, a comic singer. Fascinating!
    I AM BEYOND EXCITED TO SHARE I JUST FOUND A REPRINT ON WALMART DOT COM FOR $12.00!!! I ordered one for myself and one for my sister :)
    Here is the link:
    https://www.walmart.com/ip/Passing-English-of-the-Victorian-Era-A-Dictionary-of-Heterodox-English-Slang-and-Phrase-9781290395984/53539871?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227044343761&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=99921652817&wl4=pla-88764485577&wl5=1013701&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=53539871&veh=sem&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrJrCw-fE4wIVEvDACh3fVAKjEAYYAiABEgKCIvD_BwE

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    Replies
    1. Heather, I'm so glad you liked this too! I should have know that with your love of history, this would be right up your alley. (And hopefully it'll give you a bit of quiet R&R with no more earthquakes!!!)

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  3. Muffin wallopers is too funny.

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