1700s slang from the London underworld

The words

Francis Grose collected the slang of London's taverns, gaming houses and thieves in 1785. Much of it was cant, the private speech of the underworld.

rumRUM NAB, a good hat. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

Fine, good or valuable. A rum nab is a good hat.

sapscullSAPSCULL, a simple fellow; sappy, foolish. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

A simple, foolish fellow.

to bubbleTo BUBBLE, to cheat. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

To cheat someone.

to bamTo BAM, to impose on any one by a falsity; also to jeer or make fun of any one. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

To fool someone with a lie, or to make fun of them.

to kick the bucketTo kick the bucket; to die. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

To die.

to go snacksSNACK, a share; to go snacks, to be partners. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

To share the takings; to be partners.

bene coveBENE COVE, (cant) a good fellow. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

A good fellow; someone you can trust.

to peachPEACH, to impeach; called also to … squeak, or turn stag. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

To inform on your accomplices.

cullyCULLY, a fop or fool, also a dupe to women. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

A fool or dupe; someone easily cheated, especially by women.

mortMORT, a woman, or wench, also a yeoman’s daughter. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

A woman.

queerQUEER, or QUIRE, base, roguish, bad, naught, or worthless. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

Bad, base or worthless. A queer coin is a counterfeit one.

rhinoRHINO, money, (cant) (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

Money.

bone boxBONE BOX, the mouth. Shut your bone box; shut your mouth. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

The mouth.

a quizQUIZ, a strange looking fellow, an odd dog. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

An odd-looking fellow; an eccentric.

peepersPEEPERS, eyes; single peeper, a one eyed man. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

The eyes.

to humbugHUM, to hum, or humbug, to deceive, or impose on one by some story or device. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

To fool someone with a story or a trick. A humbug is the trick itself.

down in the dumpsDUMPS, down in the dumps, low spirited, melancholly. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

Low-spirited; gloomy.

to tipTIP, to give, or lend; tip me your daddle, give me your hand. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

To give or hand over. Tip me your daddle: give me your hand.

in quodQUOD, Newgate, or any other prison; the dab’s in quod, the poor rogue is in prison. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

In prison.

to twigTWIG, to twig, to observe; twig the cull, he is peery, observe the fellow, he is watching us. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

To notice someone, or to watch them closely.

How people cursed, and the softer words they said instead, from the same dated sources.

zoundsZOUNDS, an exclamation, an abbreviation of God’s wounds. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

A shocked oath, worn down from “God’s wounds.”

odd’s plut and her nailsODD’S PLUT AND HER NAILS, a Welch oath, frequently mentioned in a jocular manner. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

A Welsh oath, “by God’s blood and the nails,” said as a joke by people who had no idea what it meant.

a damme boyDAMME BOY, a roaring, mad blustering fellow, a scourer of the streets, or kicker up of a breeze. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

A loud, swaggering street brawler, named for the oath he never stops swearing.

to rap out a volleyRAP, to rap, to take a false oath, also to curse; he rapped out a volley. (Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785)

To swear a string of oaths in one breath.