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In 1993 Cassell commissioned Green to create a new dictionary, this time broadening the focus to include slang terms from approximately 1500 onwards, but without citations. The first edition of the single-volume Cassell's Dictionary of Slang appeared in 1998. [5] Cassell immediately commissioned a sequel with full historical quotations as in ...
The Gin Craze was a period in the first half of the 18th century when the consumption of gin increased rapidly in Great Britain, especially in London. Daniel Defoe commented: "the Distillers have found out a way to hit the palate of the Poor, by their new fashion'd compound Waters called Geneva, so that the common People seem not to value the ...
Willy-nilly is an English-language idiom and a slang which describes an activity, an action or event that is done in a disorganized, unplanned, or vacillating manner. [1] [2] [3] The term is derived from Shakespearian expression "will ye, nill ye", which is a contraction that means “whether one wants to or not.” [4]
Slang dictionaries have been around for hundreds of years. The Canting Academy, or Devil's Cabinet Opened was a 17th-century slang dictionary, written in 1673 by Richard Head, that looked to define thieves' cant. [1] A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew, was first published c. 1698.
The Italian term maccherone, when figuratively meaning "blockhead, fool", was apparently not related to this British usage, though both were derived from the name of the pasta shape. [ 5 ] Author Horace Walpole wrote to a friend in 1764 of "the Macaroni Club [ Almack's ], which is composed of all the travelled young men who wear long curls and ...
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Porter is a style of beer that was developed in London in the early 18th century. [1] [2] It is well-hopped and dark in appearance owing to the use of brown malt. [3] The name is believed to have originated from its popularity with porters. [4] Porter is a type of ale. [5] [6] [7]
The introduction acknowledges that slang is an ever-changing language with new slang terms emerging all the time. It also recognises that some service slang has made its way into civilian use. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] [ 18 ] Examples of this include the old naval terms, "Talking bilge" (nonsense) and "A loose cannon" (an unorthodox person with the ...