Tidbits from 19th Century Words

Generally I share tidbits based on locations today I'd like to do something a little different. Recently I reposted a list from chapters of a book of Americanisms or what might be referred to as slang. Today I'd like to share some of these words and their meanings from the 1848 Americanisms by John Bartlett

AHEAD. Originally a sea-term. Farther onward than another. —Johnson.
This word has now become very common, and signifies forward, in advance.
Our banks, being anxious to make money for their stockholders, are probably right to drive ahead, regardless of consequences, &c.—JV. Y. Com. Adv. Nov. 29,1845.

Bellowstop. "When egg was beaten in it [flip], it was called bellowstop; partly, perhaps, from its superior quality and partly from the greater quantity of white froth that swelled to the top of it."—Joel Parker, Centennial Address, 1873.

This next one is kinda fun since it's the same word with two different meanings. However when I was researching my book 19th Century Carriages & Wagons I discovered that the wagon was labeled that way because of the lady's hat.
CALASH. (Fr. cale‘che.) A two-wheeled carriage, resembling a chaise, used in Canada.
CALASH. A covering for the head, usually worn by ladies to protect their head-dresses when going to evening parties, the theatre, etc.

DAB, or DABSTER. One who is expert in anything; a proficient. A vulgar colloquialism in England and America.
One writer excels at a plan, or title-page ; another works away at the
body of the book; and the third is a dab at an index—Goldsmith.
He’s sich a dabster at a plough,
Few match’d him high or fan—Essex Dialect Poems.

Most people would tend to think this one is more modern but it's not.
ELBOW-GREASE. Persevering exercise of the arms, exciting perspiration ; hard rubbing—Glossaries of Brockett and Carr.
These were the manners, these the ways,
In good Queen Bess’s golden days ;
Each damsel owed her bloom and glee
To wholesale elbow-grease and me.—Smart, Fable 5.

Here's one that when I was growing up had a very different meaning.
FAGGED OUT. Fatigued; worn out.

This makes sense but something I haven't seen before.
GAL-BOY. In New England, a romping girl; called also a tom-boy.

HANGER-ON. A dependant; one who eats and drinks without payment.—Johnson.
They all excused themselves save two, which two he reckoned bis friends, and all the rest hangers-on.—L'Estrange.

Here's a fun one for us writers to read:
ILLY. A word occasionally used by writers of an inferior class, who do not seem to perceive that ill is itself an adverb, without the termination ly.

Obviously I could go on and on however, I'll simply post a link to the index from my blog. Americanisms or American Slang


Lynn A. Coleman is an award winning & best-selling author who makes her home in Keystone Heights, Florida, with her husband of 40 years. Lynn's newest novel "The Shepherd's Betrothal" is the third book in her Historical St. Augustine, FL. series.
Check out her 19th Century Historical Tidbits Blog if you like exploring different tidbits of history.

The Real McCoy

Today we have a guest blogger, Lyn Cote shares with us about "The Real McCoy." Thanks Lyn, for stepping in.

Historical Research is My Kind of Fun!

I have a Masters in American History and my idea of fun is to spend hours deep in the back of a library or in the heart of a local museum. On a trip to Florida, my husband and I managed to stop at the Lincoln Library in Springfield, Illinois, the Chickamauga Battlefield in Georgia and finally Andrew Jackson’s estate, The Hermitage, near Nashville. (Can you believe that the wallpaper hung in that antebellum house is still on the walls? No peeling and still looks good--AMAZING!)

Using Authentic Language

It is always so interesting to research the language of a time period. For example, I had wanted to use the phrase “the real thing,” in my latest book, The Baby Bequest, but after some research, I discovered that phrase came into use much later than when this story takes place. I don’t like to use phrases that aren’t historically grounded.

The Real McCoy

So I substituted “the real McCoy,” and discovered that this phrase came into use because of Elijah McCoy, an African-American born in Ontario, Canada, in 1844, the son of runaway slaves. Educated in Scotland as a mechanical engineer, Elijah McCoy settled in Detroit. Unable to get a job as a mechanical engineer because of racial prejudice, he worked for the railroad as an “oiler.”

You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down

While working there, he invented a cup that would regulate the flow of oil onto moving parts of industrial machines, first the train engine. This invention distributed oil evenly over the engine's moving parts. He obtained a patent for this invention, which allowed trains to run continuously for long periods of time without pausing for maintenance.
The term “real McCoy” refers to Elijah’s oiling device. It became so popular that people inspecting new equipment would ask if the device contained “the real McCoy.”
How about that?

For more information, go to http://www.biography.com/people/elijah-mccoy-9391300

So that’s what makes me smile.

Finding out something I never knew before and usually it’s so much more than I expected!

Have you ever visited a national historic site or a particularly interesting small museum or local historical site? Please share what you learned or what surprised you.--Lyn

PS: My upcoming historical is BLESSING, the second in my “Quaker Brides” series about a family who works for abolition and equal rights for all in mid-19th century America. Also if you drop by my website and subscribe to my enewsletter, I’ll send you a PDF copy of “Old Family Recipes.” 15 Love Inspired Historical authors (including me) put together our old favorite family recipes and the stories behind them. LynCote.com

Americanisms And Western Slang

Right from the beginning, as soon as pilgrims from England and other parts of Europe hit North American shores, the language began to evolve. 

Many words were borrowed from Native Americans and immigrants from other European countries. New words created explained the early pioneers encounters with unfamiliar landscape, weather, animals, plants, and living conditions. Also, the change of diet with different foods available.

An Americanism was and still is any word or expression originated in the United States. That included variations of any foreign words, a pronunciation slant, and old words revised with different meanings.

People from across the pond referred to American dialect as an insult. It was considered barbaric for more than a century after the Revolutionary War. Besides their dress in not keeping up with the latest London fashions, an American could be recognized by words and phrases as simple as reckon, bureau (chest of drawers), lightning rod (for whiskey) or bamboozle.

Yet Americans considered their version of the English language as a badge of pride, another form of

western slang

independence from the mother country. Speech constituted both an aggressively conscious or subtle way to rebel and be part of the ongoing revolution.

Language changes around the uniqueness, individuality, and independence of each generation. 

As pioneers migrated out west, the vernacular eroded even more into the slang and lingo that provided some of the charm and character of that era.

Westerners stood apart from Englanders and easterners with references to ranching or mining terms. 

beef jerky

Their talk incorporated the lifestyle. Some common cowboy jargon included hornswoggle and jamboree, jerky and jawbone credit, and gotta high-tail it outa there, to name a few. Some good sources can be extracted from period newspapers, books, and memoirs.

Writes Kathy Weiser of Legends of America, “Ironically, after centuries of forming our ‘own’ language, the English and American versions are once again beginning to blend as movies, songs, electronics, and global traveling bring the two ‘languages’ closer together once again.”

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Does your family or citizens in your region speak certain words or phrases uniquely your/their own? From what source did they originate?

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