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While slang is usually inappropriate for formal settings, this assortment includes well-known expressions from that time, with some still in use today, e.g., blind date, cutie-pie, freebie, and take the ball and run. [2] These items were gathered from published sources documenting 1920s slang, including books, PDFs, and websites.
This is a list of idioms that were recognizable to literate people in the late-19th century, and have become unfamiliar since.. As the article list of idioms in the English language notes, a list of idioms can be useful, since the meaning of an idiom cannot be deduced by knowing the meaning of its constituent words.
5. Muffin walloper. Used to describe: An older, unmarried woman who gossips a lot. This colorful slang was commonly used in the Victorian era to describe unmarried old ladies who would gossip ...
vagina (slang) bender: derogatory expression for a gay man, referring to the act of bending over to permit buggery. an expression for a binge drinking spree. bespoke (esp. of apparel) made to the customer's specification (US: custom-made, tailor-made) pret. of bespeak bill The Bill=the police (slang, poss. from Old Bill)
Chambers Slang Dictionary (by Jonathon Green, Chambers Harrap Publishers, ISBN 978-0-550-10439-7), 2008 previously Cassell Dictionary of Slang (Cassell Reference, 1998; last edition 2006, ISBN 978-0-304-36636-1) Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (by Eric Partridge and Paul Beale, Routledge, 2002, ISBN 0-415-29189-5)
An idiom is a common word or phrase with a figurative, non-literal meaning that is understood culturally and differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest; i.e. the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words (although some idioms do retain their literal meanings – see the example "kick the bucket" below).
There are also many words in Modern English that bear little or no resemblance in meaning to their Old English etymons. Some linguists estimate that as much as 80 percent of the lexicon of Old English was lost by the end of the Middle English period, including many compound words, e.g. bōchūs ('bookhouse', 'library'), yet the components 'book ...
The words in brackets are implied in the Old English by noun case and the bold words in brackets are explanations of words that have slightly different meanings in a modern context. Notice how what is used by the poet where a word like lo or behold would be expected.