FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Quiz about Victorian English Slang Familiar or Not
Quiz about Victorian English Slang Familiar or Not

Victorian English Slang, Familiar or Not Quiz


These words are from "A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant and Vulgar Words," published in London, 1859. Some are oddly modern, some just odd. Victorian slang on the left; modern definition on the right.

A matching quiz by littlepup. Estimated time: 3 mins.
  1. Home
  2. »
  3. Quizzes
  4. »
  5. Humanities Trivia
  6. »
  7. English
  8. »
  9. Varieties of English

Author
littlepup
Time
3 mins
Type
Match Quiz
Quiz #
384,017
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Easy
Avg Score
9 / 10
Plays
765
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 98 (4/10), FlicksBuff (10/10), elisabeth1 (4/10).
(a) Drag-and-drop from the right to the left, or (b) click on a right side answer box and then on a left side box to move it.
QuestionsChoices
1. Bamboozle  
  Deceive, make fun of or cheat a person
2. Casting up one's accounts  
  An effeminate man
3. Get it on the cross  
  Vomiting
4. Varment  
  Be fired from work
5. Get the sack  
  Steal it
6. Fence or fencer  
  Shams for profane oaths
7. By golly or gol darn it  
  A purchaser of stolen goods
8. Molleycoddle  
  The mouth
9. Potato trap  
  A thief's warning when he hears footsteps
10. Shoe leather  
  Naughty boy





Select each answer

1. Bamboozle
2. Casting up one's accounts
3. Get it on the cross
4. Varment
5. Get the sack
6. Fence or fencer
7. By golly or gol darn it
8. Molleycoddle
9. Potato trap
10. Shoe leather

Most Recent Scores
Mar 22 2024 : Guest 98: 4/10
Mar 19 2024 : FlicksBuff: 10/10
Mar 19 2024 : elisabeth1: 4/10
Mar 02 2024 : slay01: 7/10
Feb 29 2024 : HumblePie7: 8/10
Feb 23 2024 : Guest 5: 1/10
Feb 14 2024 : Guest 81: 6/10
Feb 07 2024 : Guest 168: 10/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Bamboozle

Answer: Deceive, make fun of or cheat a person

The Online Etymology Dictionary traces it back to 1703, from either a Scottish or French origin. It was definitely slang, though. George Campbell, a Scottish professor writing on rhetoric in 1840, suggested not using words that betrayed "frivolous humour" in their origin, such as "transmogrify, bamboozle, topsyturvey," etc.
2. Casting up one's accounts

Answer: Vomiting

Casting up one's accounts, meaning to add them up, is a regular part of bookkeeping. For example, from an 1836 "Concise Treatise on Commercial Book-keeping":"Posting from the Journal into the Ledger, and casting up the Ledger accounts..." A description of vomiting could begin "casting up" (meaning tossing or throwing up) and end "one's breakfast," or whatever.

In this case, an unexpected ending from another context with another meaning of casting is attached because, well, just because it's funny.
3. Get it on the cross

Answer: Steal it

Apparently there's nothing Biblical behind the saying. According to the "Dictionary of Modern Slang," cross is a joke because it's "the opposite of square. 'To get anything on the Cross' is to obtain it surreptitiously." The Online Etymology Dictionary traces the use of square to mean "fairly, honestly" back to the 1570s. A carpenter's square was useful to make corners true and square, so such a slang meaning seems logical. Cross as the opposite of square doesn't seem quite so obvious, but apparently it made a good joke at the time.
4. Varment

Answer: Naughty boy

I think of a varment as a genuinely wicked and useless adult who won't leave the area, but the "Dictionary of Modern Slang" explains with an example: "'You young varment, you!' you bad or naughty boy. Corruption of vermin." Either spelling, varment or varmint, seems to show up frequently in 19th century writing. Dictionary.com says the origin of varmint goes back to 1530-40 and agrees that it's a variant of vermin. There seems to be a dictionary distinction between vermin, referring to little bugs, and varmints, referring to animals or people, but none of them are what one wants around.
5. Get the sack

Answer: Be fired from work

This is another one that sounds modern to me, but an 1823 London slang dictionary by John Badcock also says it means "a discharge from a regiment or employment." The Online Etymology Dictionary dates it to 1825, but says it's possibly earlier in French and Dutch, and suggests it has to do with handing the workman a sack to carry away his tools. How final and sad!
6. Fence or fencer

Answer: A purchaser of stolen goods

The "Dictionary of Modern Slang" mentions it's "old cant" even in 1859, yet it seems so modern to me. The Online Etymology Dictionary says it goes back to 1700 or before, and uses the meaning "of such transactions taking place under defense of secrecy." An 1823 London slang dictionary by John Badcock's 1823 slang dictionary says a fence receives "stolen goods, stolen Bank-notes, &c.; giving about 15s. in the pound for the latter, or less for larger sums, and small payments for other property." Both genders took part and sold their goods as far away as Holland. Sellers were said to be "off to the fence" or "gone a fencing."
7. By golly or gol darn it

Answer: Shams for profane oaths

These were sounding childish when I was growing up, though I think profane oaths in general were losing their punch, compared to scatalogical and sexual ones. The Online Etymology Dictionay says "golly" goes as far back as 1775: "In Gilbert White's journal; he refers to it as 'a sort of jolly kind of oath, or asseveration much in use among our carters, & the lowest people.'"
8. Molleycoddle

Answer: An effeminate man

I'm familiar with the word meaning to spoil or over-indulge someone. The "Dictionary of Modern Slang" says it means "a man who caudles amongst the women, or does their work." Caudles? Seems to mean to treat tenderly, according to Jane Austin, or is also a warm drink for the sick. I get the general gist: a mollycoddle likes the gentleness of women rather than the rowdiness of men.

A story in "The Poor Churchman's Quarterly," 1837, has a young girl complain of the cold, and her older brother encouragers her on by saying, "Don't be a Molly-coddle." So I guess a woman could be effeminate too.
9. Potato trap

Answer: The mouth

Seems straight forward: the mouth is good for trapping potatoes. The "Dictionary of Modern Slang" adds that it's "a Hibernicism," or in other words an Irish witticism. Either that's merely explaining the geographical source of the joke, or is a mean jab at the Irish and their dependence on potatoes for nutrition, especially not funny right after the famine in 1845-1852 when the potato crop failed.

Not sure which, but I suspect it's the meaner interpretation, knowing how the Irish were treated.
10. Shoe leather

Answer: A thief's warning when he hears footsteps

This would seem to be based on hearing the sound of shoe leather on the floor or road approaching, though it could possibly imply using shoe leather to escape, or a little of both. It was apparently common. In a French dictionary of slang by Albert Barrere, 1889, he translated "Donnez-la" to English as "look out! 'shoe leather!'"
Source: Author littlepup

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ponycargirl before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
Related Quizzes
1. Body Slang Very Easy
2. Ye Olde Quiz Very Easy
3. Dude, Don't Diss My Teenspeak! Easier
4. Gobbledygook Easier
5. Kiwi Speak Average
6. South African Lingo Average
7. Kilted Kangas Speak Their Language Average
8. Maori Words in Everyday Use Average
9. South African Slang Average
10. Why In The World Do We Say THAT? Average
11. Kiwi Terminology Average
12. Pirate Slang Average

3/29/2024, Copyright 2024 FunTrivia, Inc. - Report an Error / Contact Us