Hope your week goes well!

Credit: With many thanks and credit to Mark Anderson at Andertoons.

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On the subject of colourful expressions, I happened upon A Dictionary of Victorian Slang, published in 1909. You can get a flavour of it from the Preface:

“Here is a numerically weak collection of instances of ‘Passing English’. It may be hoped that there are errors on every page, and also that no entry is ‘quite too dull’. […] ‘Passing English’ ripples from countless sources, forming a river of new language which has its tide and its ebb, while its current brings down new ideas and carries away those that have dribbled out of fashion. Not only is ‘Passing English’ general; it is local; often very seasonably local.” 

You can consult the dictionary here.

A couple of examples I particularly liked can be found below. I was also surprised by how many entries are still in use today, and by the extent of influences from other languages and cultures. Enjoy!

• Afternoonified
• Behindativeness
• Collie shangles
• Faire Charlemagne
• Gigmanity.