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An 1821 novel that is jam-packed with slang of that era is Life in London by Pierce Egan [1]. The book was popular in the 19th century, and two of the protagoni

An 1821 novel that is jam-packed with slang of that era is Life in London by Pierce Egan [1]. The book was popular in the 19th century, and two of the protagonists were the source, a century later, of the names of the cartoon characters Tom and Jerry [2]. It’s a cleverly written work and I enjoyed reading it a few years ago, but the density of the slang and topical references can make it difficult to parse today. An excerpt: ‘Tom’s box at the Opera caused many a languishing eye and palpitating heart to wander towards its elegant owner. His stroll through the Theatres caused a different sensation among another class of females, and no lures were neglected to decoy and entrap him. In the Parks, Tom was the GO among the “goes!” His peep into the Stews were merely en passant; and the knowing, enticing, Mother Dish-up’s something “new” was tried on in vain to “have the best” of our Hero only for a single darkey! Upon his descending into the Hells, if he did not prove himself as troublesome an inmate as the dramatic Don Giovanni, or possess the icy qualities of Signor Antonelli, the fire-eater and hornpipe-dancer upon red-hot iron bars, he nevertheless had found out the secret, —which, if it did not altogether prevent him from being scorched a little, yet saved him from being burnt to death! At Newmarket, Epsom, and Doncaster Races, Tom was viewed as the tulip of the turf. He not only took the shine out of the Prime Ones at Tattersal’s, but his nod for decision of judgement was the fiat of taste. In showing himself at the Fives-Court, all the peepers of the Fancy were on the stretch to ogle his beau-ideal form and appearance.’ [3] [1] https://archive.org/search?query=title%3A%28Life%20in%20London%29%20AND%20creator%3A%28Pierce%20Egan%29%20AND%20mediatype%3A%28texts%29 https://archive.org/search?query=title%3A%28Life%20in%20Lond... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry#History [3] https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_505pL_b9D2IC/page/n111/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_505pL_b9D2IC/page/n111/mo...

smatija 3y ago
En passant is today still commonplace among chess players - it means "in passing" and it "describes the capture by a pawn of an enemy pawn on the same rank and an adjacent file that has just made an initial two-square advance" [1]. Tattersal reminds me of a character in Malazan book of the fallen series of novels, I wonder if it's a reference. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/En_passant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/En_passant
savef 3y ago
Are you American? Could you talk about some of the phrases and wordplay in here which didn't make sense to you? As a British person, this reads very easily, to the point that I'm shocked it's over 200 years old.
- Max_Mustermann 3y ago
  As a non-native reader it seemed pretty clear to me as well. I guess knowing some French and having read a lot of fantasy novels helps.
- tkgally 3y ago
  Here are some of the references in that passage that I would have had difficulty explaining before reading this book, and some I still cannot define: the GO among the “goes!”; the Stews; Mother Dish-up’s; for a single darkey; the Hells; the Prime Ones at Tattersal’s; the Fives-Court; the Fancy; and the significance of Don Giovanni and Signor Antonelli in (apparent) reference to gambling. This meaning of “Hell” is defined in the linked dictionary: “a fashionable gambling house.” I learned “the Fancy” when I read this and other books by Pierce Egan, as it’s a term he often used to mean boxers. While I understood immediately that the “class of females” in the Theatres meant prostitutes, I might not have picked up on that if I hadn’t read this and other books from the Regency period.
  - crazygringo 3y ago
    I second all of those. I'm American as well, and they're all similarly gibberish to me.

smatija 3y ago

En passant is today still commonplace among chess players - it means "in passing" and it "describes the capture by a pawn of an enemy pawn on the same rank and an adjacent file that has just made an initial two-square advance" [1]. Tattersal reminds me of a character in Malazan book of the fallen series of novels, I wonder if it's a reference. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/En_passant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/En_passant

savef 3y ago

Are you American? Could you talk about some of the phrases and wordplay in here which didn't make sense to you? As a British person, this reads very easily, to the point that I'm shocked it's over 200 years old.

Max_Mustermann 3y ago
As a non-native reader it seemed pretty clear to me as well. I guess knowing some French and having read a lot of fantasy novels helps.
tkgally 3y ago
Here are some of the references in that passage that I would have had difficulty explaining before reading this book, and some I still cannot define: the GO among the “goes!”; the Stews; Mother Dish-up’s; for a single darkey; the Hells; the Prime Ones at Tattersal’s; the Fives-Court; the Fancy; and the significance of Don Giovanni and Signor Antonelli in (apparent) reference to gambling. This meaning of “Hell” is defined in the linked dictionary: “a fashionable gambling house.” I learned “the Fancy” when I read this and other books by Pierce Egan, as it’s a term he often used to mean boxers. While I understood immediately that the “class of females” in the Theatres meant prostitutes, I might not have picked up on that if I hadn’t read this and other books from the Regency period.
- crazygringo 3y ago
  I second all of those. I'm American as well, and they're all similarly gibberish to me.