Anne here, with a fun little quiz for a change of pace.
How good is your knowledge of Regency slang? Do this quiz —you'll need a pen and paper — then check your answers and come back and tell us how you went.
1) An ape leader is:
a) Someone recently returned from Africa
b) A champion boxer
c) The leader of a pack of dowagers
d) An ageing spinster
2) "Doing it much too brown" means:
a) Overcooking the dinner
b) Trying too hard to make a false story convincing
c) Having too much to do with the stables
d) Failing to balance the colors you're wearing.
3) Blue Ruin is:
a) An alcoholic drink ie. gin
b) A tragic story
c) A house that's listed for demolition
d) A man too far gone and collapsed in drink
4) A rum cull is:
a) A suspicious man
b) An alcoholic drink
c) A drunken rower
d) A selection process whereby two out of every five are removed.
5) A hum is:
a) A sound made by bears
b) A false rumor
c) A dance step
d) A fastening for a corset
6) A barque of frailty is:
a) A bamboo-hulled pleasure boat
b) A simple-minded person
c) A ship in a bottle
d) A woman of easy virtue
7) A nonpareil is:
a) A leader of fashion (male)
b) Someone shunned by society
c) A ban, something forbidden
d) A fool
8) To be castaway means:
a) To have eaten too much cheese
b) To be lost in the worst part of a city
c) To hang out frequently at the docks
d) To be drunk
9) Which one of these is NOT a term for being drunk:
a) to be shot in the neck
b) to have eaten Hull cheese
c) to be jug-bitten
d) to give a tinker's damn
10) To be in dun territory means:
a) To be on your enemy's land
b) To be lost in the worst part of a city
c) To be in debt
d) To be in friendly territory
I hope you had as much fun doing this as I did making it up.
To get the answers and check your score, click here. Don't forget to come back and tell us how you went.