Questions tagged [nineteenth-century-english]
For questions about English in the 19th century (1801 to 1900)
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What would actual victorian swears sound like?
Holmes tore it open, and then with a bitter curse hurled it into the grate.
With a bitter curse I shook my fist at it as I gazed.
“With an oath Miss Winter darted forward,
“That will do,” said he, ...
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Meanings of "carriage" in Enola Holmes
The following conversation takes place near the beginning of the movie Enola Holmes
Mycroft: We didn't send for you silly girl, we sent for the carriage.
Did you at least bring it?
Enola: The ...
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What does 'haply' mean in Keats's 'Ode to a Nightingale'?
The following line occurs in Keats's poem 'Ode to a Nightingale':
And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne
It seems to me that 'haply' means either, as Merriam-Webster says, 'by chance', or, ...
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What does 'pards' mean in Keats's 'Ode to a Nightingale'?
John Keats's 'Ode to a Nightingale' contains the line "Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,".
Away! away! for I will fly to thee,
Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,
But on the ...
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Was “who’s she, the cat’s grandmother” common in Scotland? [duplicate]
My mother’s retired Scottish nanny, who was born in 1888, and grew up near Ullapool, on Loch Broom, would say this. She also took care of me when I was a child. She would correct me when I spoke of ...
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5
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Origin of the word "blackbirding" for a type of slave trade
I read about blackbirding on Wikipedia and tried to figure out why it is called blackbirding. I could not find anything in that article about its etymology, just this simple introduction:
The owners, ...
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At a 2:40 rate — slang for high speed
I've run across the phrase "at a 2:40 rate" in mid-19th Century sources. The context suggests that it means "at high speed," but I'd like to know the derivation. If it means a mile ...
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1850s English equivalent to "Ladies and Gentlemen" for introducing an act to a working class crowd?
I'm working on a script for a story set in 1850s London and in it my main characters visit a music hall.
I had originally been planning on including some background monologue to the effect of "...
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3
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Meaning of 'purpose' in this passage from Dickens
From A Tale of two Cities, chapter 2:
Reins and whip and coachman and guard, however, in combination, had read that article of war which forbade a purpose otherwise strongly in favour of the argument,...
- 721
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"learned" vs. "learnt" in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
I have seen the answers to this question, yet I am not entirely sure how to interpret the difference between "learned" and "learnt" in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Alice says &...
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What does "get on" mean in this sentence from Walden?
In the first chapter of Walden, Thoreau writes:
I cannot but perceive
that this so-called rich and refined life is a thing jumped at, and I do not get on
in the enjoyment of the fine arts which adorn ...
- 1,758
3
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'As that they may have the trouble of saying as little as possible'
There is a quote from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which is as follows:
“It would look odd to be entirely silent for half an hour together, and yet for the advantage of some, conversation ought ...
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In Indian English, did the word 'griffin' ever mean newcomer or novice?
I recently came across a definition in the dictionary Hobson-Jobson. It's basically a big collection of English words and anglicizations used or found in India. The entry that's been stumping me is ...
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What do 'flat-chested' and 'unromantic' mean when speaking of a house?
I am quoting from the Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Six Napoleons, by Arthur Conan Doyle:
In half an hour we had reached Pitt Street, a quiet little backwater just beside one of the briskest ...
- 775
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Who is Augustus De Morgan's "New Zealander"?
Augustus De Morgan's A Budget of Paradoxes (1863–1867) contains several references to an apocryphal "New Zealander," without explanation. What's the in-joke here? I grok from context that ...
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