Home
Membership
Can you guess the meaning of Victorian slang?

Can you guess the meaning of Victorian slang?

Do you know your mutton shunter from your orf chump? We put historians Michael Wood, Rana Mitter and Catherine Nixey to the test and asked them to guess the meanings of eight forgotten slang terms from the Victorian era…

A man in Victorian dress holding a cane jumps on a beach

Rhiannon Davies

Published: April 6, 2023 at 1:53 PM

Save

The Victorians had a rich variety of slang terms – many of which seem incomprehensible to use today.

If you could be transported back in time to walk the streets of 19th-century London, would you know what to say if a street hawker implored you to try their bags o’mystery? Or what if a kindly passer-by pointed out that you’d gotten something on your daddles?

We asked historians Michael Wood, Rana Mitter and Catherine Nixey to put their heads together and try and tease out the meanings of eight slang terms that have fallen out of favour.

Watch the video to see how they fared. And, if you think you could do better, take our Victorian slang quiz below.

Related content

Explainer | What was life like for ‘ordinary’ Victorians?
On the podcast | Everything you ever wanted to know about the Victorians, but were afraid to ask
Quiz | Would you be able to speak in National English?

Want to see this content?

This page contains content provided by Riddle. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Riddle may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow Riddle and its required purposes.

Accept and continue

Authors

Rhiannon DaviesFreelance journalist

A former BBC History Magazine section editor, Rhiannon has long been fascinated by history and continues to write for HistoryExtra.com. She has appeared on the award-winning HistoryExtra podcast, interviewing experts on a variety of subjects, from Lucy Worsley discussing Agatha Christie to Sir Ranulph Fiennes on the perils of polar exploration

Visit us on Twitter