Sunday, 27 November 2011

Talking Trash Through The Ages

A lerrycometwang is a fool, a simpleton. An abstractionist is a pickpocket. A gollumpus is a large, loutish, uncoordinated person. A cakey-pannum fencer is a street-seller of pastries.

History is full of silver-tongued scoundrels. So if you find yourself in a 19th-century battle of wits, best not to bring a dagger to a musket fight. Jonathon Green's new book, 'Green's Dictionary of Slang' is a 6,200-page lexicon spanning more than half a millennium.

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