Guest Post ~ Kickstarter Campaign for A New Look at Old Words, by Catherine Thrush

New on Kickstarter

When I first came across a reprint of a book written in 1860 by John Camden Hotten called A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant and Vulgar Words. I thought to myself, oh my God! This is exactly what I need!  At the time, I was writing my first historical fiction pirate novel set in the early 1700s and I was looking for colourful and authentic language to salt the dialogue of my pirate crew.

The book was perfect. Not only was it about history, it was history. I ordered it on the spot and waited impatiently for it to arrive. When it did finally appear, I read the introduction and the entire -A- section with excited interest.

However, when I sat down to write with the book next to me, a problem arose. To use a dictionary, one must know the word one wants to look up. I knew the definition, not the word. For example, I wanted a colourful name for a black eye. The only way to find what I wanted would be to read the entire book.

Undaunted, I embarked upon a nine month project to categorize all the words so I could find them quickly and easily when and if I should need them. That was a number of years ago. Recently it occurred to me that this might be a useful resource for other writers and fun for any lexicographers, linguists, or lovers of old words. So after some spit and polish, here it is.

This is not a book of the namby-pamby, hoity-toity words one would expect to hear in the London drawing-rooms of the 1600s through 1800s. This is the street slang, the flash patter of seamen, street-sellers, Gypsies and thieves. As Carl Sandburg once said, "Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands and goes to work."

A few of my favourite words to give you the flavour:

DIMBER DAMBER: very pretty; a clever rogue who excels his fellows; chief of a gang. Old cant in the latter sense. ─English Rogue.

KILKENNY CAT: a popular simile for a voracious or desperate animal or person, from the story of the two cats in that county, who are said to have fought and bitten each other until a small portion of the tail of one of them alone remained.

LITTLE SNAKES-MAN: a little thief, who is generally passed through a small aperture to open any door to let in the rest of the gang.

SUCK THE MONKEY: to rob a cask of liquor by inserting a straw through a gimlet hole, and sucking a portion of the contents.

KISS-ME-QUICK: the name given to the very small bonnets worn by females since 1850.

BY THE HOLY POKER AND THE TUMBLING TOM!: an Irish oath.

The organization process was subjective to say the least. I had to make a lot of decisions on what should be included where. I aimed for being inclusive rather than exclusive, in the hopes of making finding the perfect word as easy and as natural as possible. I also wanted to avoid being stuffy or formal, while still being informative and useful. I think the original coiners of these words would appreciate that. These words are a lark, I hope I've made learning about them fun as well.

Of course, being an author and an artist, I couldn't resist adding a few paragraphs of commentary and an illustration for each chapter.

While this book started out as a convenience to improve my work as a writer, it turned into a labour of love. Over the course of organizing this book I've come to adore these words. Some are lyrical, a few are frightening, many are funny, and all of them give us a glimpse into life – both the good aspects and the bad – in the 1600 and 1800s. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Catherine Thrush

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About the Author

Catherine Thrush is a San Jose, California based writer and illustrator. Her book, A New Look at Old Words is now on Kickstarter.  Her as-yet-unpublished historical fiction novel/screenplay Lady Blade has won numerous awards including 1^st in Category from The Chaucer Awards, and the Emerging Talent Award from the Monterey County Film Commission. To learn more follow her blog and find Catherine on Facebook and Twitter 
@CatherineThrush.