A quiz: Regency Slang with Food & Drink

Anne here, and for your entertainment here's a fun little quiz, all about Regency-era food and drink, and some slang expressions using them. You'll need a pen and paper to note down your answers, check them via the link at the bottom (the answers are on my website, so don't panic), then come back and tell us how you went. Above all, have fun.

1)   A squab is :— 
        a) a sour-tempered lady
        b) a bad bet
        c) a young pigeon 
        d) an oatcake 

2) A fudge is:—
        a) a false rumor 
        b) a flattering compliment 
        c) a bribe
        d) a newcomer

3) A bumblebroth is:—
       a) a sweet made from honey
       b) a long-winded sermon
       c) a soup made of leftovers
       d) a tangled situation

4) To be a trifle cucumberish is:—
        a) to feel ill and slightly green
        b) to be short of money
        c) to be cold and distant
        d) to be a little drunk

5) Pitch the gammon means:—       
        a) to lie or play a trick on someone 
        b) to ask for a loan   
        c) to pay a lavish compliment
        d) to trip and almost fall

6) To eat Hull cheese means :—
        a) to win on the races
        b) to be drunk 
        c) to eat bread and dripping
        d) to travel by boat

7) If you are in plump currant, you are:—
        a) feeling too full
        b) feeling ill
        c) feeling good 
        d) feeling a little bit drunk

8) To call someone a mushroom means:—
        a) they are a moneylender
        b) they are social climbers 
        c) they are French
        d) they have many children

 

 

 

9) To be swimming in lard means:— 
        a) to be slow and ponderous
        b) to be very fat  
        c) to be sycophantic
        d) to be very rich 

 

10) If someone is dished up:—
        a) they are broke 
        b) they have lost a fight  
        c) they have been arrested
        d) they are presented at Court

11)  Lobscouse is:—
        a) sauce for a lobster patty
        b) a man who cheats
        c) a stew made of salt beef, onions and biscuits 
        d) a drink made of gin, brandy and a raw egg

 

12) To make a cake of yourself means:—
        a) to dress up very fancy
        b) to make a fool of yourself 
        c) to eat too much
        d) to wear too much powder and rouge

 

Now you have noted down your answers, click here to check them. Then come back and tell us how you went. Did you have fun with this? Is there another topic you'd like a quiz on? Let me know.

Comments

[Rhonda Hinman]

I only missed Hull cheese, this was fun, but confirmed I read too many Regencies! Thanks

[Anne Gracie]

No such thing as too many regencies, Rhonda. Thanks for playing.

[Janice]

I was 11 for 12 also. Lobscouse does not sound at all appetizing!

[Sue McCormick]

I got 9; I had never heard of lobscourse, so I learned something there. I am ashamed of missing number 4 because I DID know that – just having a senior moment.

As usual, I had great fun with this! Thanks Ann for these lovely games.

[Ellie Wilson]

I missed lobscouse, too, i cannot remember seeing that word before. Did Heyer ever mention it? Thanks for a fun game, Ann.

[Anne Gracie]

Well done, Janice. No, it doesn't sound very appetizing, I agree.

[Anne Gracie]

Glad you enjoyed it, Sue. I have fun making up the alternatives.

[Anne Gracie]

Ellie, I can't remember whether Heyer used it or not, but it's certainly in Grose's 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, which is where I get some of my slang.

[Ronda Fermino]

Well, it was fun ... but I didn’t do that well ~ lol ~ I got only 5 out of the 12 questions.😆
I did, however, learn some new terms ... like “lobscouse” and “Hull cheese”.

[Mary T]

Only had one wrong - lobscouse was new to me. Didn't know Hull cheese either, but I "guessed" correctly. I love these quizzes Anne - keep them coming.

[Susan Allan]

I got them all but then some of them are still in use - swimming in lard, pitching the gammon etc. Far too many reads of my favourite Georgette Heyer of course!

[Elizabeth]

I got 11

[Samantha]

9/12, never heard lobscouse! :)

[LynS]

Only half, but it was fun to see old slang. It must have been even harder for people to learn English then.

[Beverly Abney]

Since Regencies are my favorite kind of historical romance, I always enjoy your quizzes. I missed three this time though. Never ran across lobscouse that I can recall. I should have done better, though.

[Pamela DG]

I knew 5. Looks like I need to read more Regencies!

[Lee]

I got 10, but I'd never seen lobscouse before (so glad none of the characters I've read about had to eat that. Yuck!) and I confused pitching the gammon with throwing the hammer. Eh. Not bad ~

[SUSAN WARD]

I got all of them but looking at the replies Lobscouse seems to have thrown most of them. This particular dish is more common in the Liverpool area of England and was most made by the poorer elements of people as a filling and cheap meal. Its still made today and Liverpudlians as the residents of Liverpool city are called are very proud of their regional dish.

[Lynne Connolly]

I've had scouse (I live near Liverppool). It's very nice. It's not made with biscuits (ugh), it's made with dumplings.
And yes, people from Liverpool are known as scousers because of the dish.

[Lynne Connolly]

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/24961/proper-scouse.aspx

[Cheryl]

Clearly, if I were ever to time travel, the Regency period is not where I should go.

[Joanna]

Got them all. Lobscouse isn't that the origin of Scousers for Liverpudlian? Got the rest from reading Georgette Heyer.

[Kathy K]

9/12 for me. Missed 4,5, and 11. Thanks! This was fun.

[Kareni]

This was fun! Thank you, Anne.

[Suzi Love]

Yes, I also hadn't heard of Lobscourse. Great quiz.

[Anne Gracie]

Ronda, thanks for coming over to Word Wenches and playing. 5 correct answers is good. The people who got really high scores have been reading Georgette Heyer for years.

[Anne Gracie]

Well done, Mary — and I'm glad you enjoy the quizzes. I'll keep doing them for as long as I can think up suitable topics.

[Anne Gracie]

Susan, there's NO such thing as "too many reads of my favourite Georgette Heyer." Well done on the perfect score.

[Anne Gracie]

Well done, Elizabeth

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks Samantha — there are comments below that indicate it's still well known to people in the north of England today.

[Anne Gracie]

Lyn, I don't know about that — today's slang is impenetrable to some native speakers and across generations, it changes so quickly. Thanks for playing.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks for playing, Beverley. I go to some trouble to make up cunning alternatives to the answers, so don't blame yourself. I'm very glad you enjoy the quizzez — thanks for saying so.

[Anne Gracie]

Oh dear, Pamela — reading more regencies? What a hardship. LOL Thanks for playing.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks Lee. According to my source (Grose's 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue) Lobscouse was a dish eaten mostly at sea. Though some of the commenters below say it's still a common dish today in the north of England.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks for that info Susan. Very interesting. According to Grose, (Grose's 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue) it was a dish often served in the navy, so that would fit, too.

[Anne Gracie]

Lynne, my source was Grose's 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue -- who called it "a dish much eaten at sea" — and in that case "biscuits" would refer to ships biscuits, not the sort of biscuit we eat today with a cuppa. My guess is that dumplings came in when fresher ingredients were to hand — ie on land — and given that many old references to sea biscuits are also often accompanied by the adjective "weevilly" it's not hard to see why dumplings would be preferred in the land version.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks for that link, Lynne

[Anne Gracie]

LOL Cheryl. I think it's be fun. And slang everywhere is tricky for visitors.

[Anne Gracie]

Hi Joanna -- yes, according to some of the commenters here, it is the origin of "scousers". I got it from Grose's 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue -- who called it "a dish much eaten at sea" and gave the ingredients.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Kathy — glad you enjoyed it.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks Kareni.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Suzi — yes, Lobscouse flummoxed a lot of people.

[Patricia Franzino]

I got 7 correct. Lobscouse was completely unknown to me. I loved the quiz.

[Vicki L]

Glad to know I'm not the only one that Lobscouse was a total leap into the dark to answer!. My other miss was #5...where I went the wrong direction. When I saw the answer, I went DUH! But 10 for 12 isn't bad. As usual, I enjoyed the quiz.

[Janet Gahagan]

I got them all right!! This is a first. I'm doing my happy dance.

[Binnie Syril Braunstein]

Very fun post, Anne. I got 7 out of 12. Although I must admit that when I saw the word "Squab" my mind focused not on food but a carriage ride with an aristocrat leaning against the "squabs" with me. I don't think I recall the other quizzes you cited on your website. I will definitely check them out.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Binnie, yes I had to avoid all suggestion of the carriage kind of squab. :) If you search for Quiz on the word wench site some of them should come up. Otherwise you can find them on my website and try not to look at the answers before you do the quiz.

[Anne Gracie]

Congratulations, Janet -- that's a great result.

[Anne Gracie]

Vicki, half the fun for me is trying to come up sneaky misleading alternatives. But you did very well. Thanks for playing.

[Mary M.]

I live for your quizzes, Anne. Loved this one!

[Anne Gracie]

Glad you enjoyed it, Patricia. Lobscouse threw a lot of people.

[Anne Gracie]

I'm so glad, Mary. I do enjoy making them up. Thanks.

[Lola Gaunt]

9 out of 12, love this, need more quizzes like this.

[Constance]

Hull cheese threw me for a loop, while the others came pretty easily, but the best part for me, Anne, were the other possible answers you used. What fun you must have had putting this together! Very clever word play on so many of them--congratulations!

[Margot]

I got 7/12 right. I should always go with my gut reaction first as it was much more accurate. Your alternative choices threw me as they were also so perfect. Love these words and yes if any of us had to go back to that time we most certainly would be given a new name which could be in your next quiz. What would we be called?

[Anna]

10/12 for me. I also missed lobscouse (sounds appalling!) and #5 (I fell for "lavish compliment"). So lovely to see that there are so many other Heyer fanatics in the world!

[Teresa Broderick]

I loved this Anne. Great fun. I got 10 right. Hadn't heard of Lobscouse and should have gotten the cucumberish one.

[Jane Nelson]

I only missed two, 4 & 5. That was fun!

[Cathleen]

I missed the “cucumberish” one. Enjoyed this!

[Karin]

I missed 3 of them. I luckily guessed correctly on lobscouse and Hull cheese, but was wrong on feeling cucumberish and pitching the gammon, which I thought I knew the answers to. I guess I've been misunderstanding the books where I saw those terms. Most of the Georgette Heyer slang I've picked up via context, I've never tried to look up any words in her books.
I do love these quizzes, and they tell me how much time I've spent reading Regency historicals!

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Lola, glad you enjoyed it.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks so much Constance —yes, coming up with the alternatives is the best part for me in making up these quizzes. I am, naturally, trying to trick you all with plausible-sounding possibilities. *g*

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks for playing, Margot, and yes following your gut response is probably the best guide. Glad you enjoyed it.

[Anne Gracie]

Anna, according to some of the UK commenters here lobscouse is still eaten today in Liverpool and those who have eaten it find it delicious. The recipe they showed me, is not quite the same as the list of ingredients in the 1811 source that I used. Mine was a naval dish, and fresh ingredients weren't exactly a feature of sailing ship menus.

[Anne Gracie]

Well done, Teresa — I think by now, with all the discussion of lobscouse in the comment stream, everyone will remember it forever! LOL

[Anne Gracie]

I'm pleased you enjoyed it, Jane. Thanks for playing.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Cathleen. I've used “cucumberish” before in one of these quizzes — it's such a great piece of slang, and the meaning so unlikely.

[Anne Gracie]

Karin, I also learned all my Heyerish terms from reading in context, and I think you probably haven't misunderstood them at the time. I also work pretty hard in these quizzes to try to trick you. ( I probably should apologize for that but I won't *g* )
I'm very pleased you enjoy the quizzes. I will make more in the future, but I've run pretty low on the terms used by Heyer and others, so now am also looking things up in dictionaries of slang. Thanks.

[Mary D]

That was great fun! Thank you. I too missed lobscouse although I did wonder if it had something to do with Scousers. Couldn't work back from that though. So it's been very interesting reading through the comments and learning. I've missed your other quizzes but will head there directly. If like to learn more about clothing, maybe carriages/transport, and games and/or entertainment would be great too so they're my suggestions for possible future quizzes. But let's face it, we love the Regency world so whatever you do, we'll be happy.

[Anne Gracie]

"more about clothing, maybe carriages/transport, and games and/or entertainment"
Mary, thanks so much for those suggestions. I've noted them down in my list of possible quiz topics. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[Elizabeth Brown]

I anly missed 2. # 4 & 11. Entertaining quiz

[Sue Millard]

this stew is said to be the reason that Liverpool people are known as Scousers. Whereas people from the other side of the Mersey (like me) are known as Plastic Scousers.

[Sue Millard]

As a Merseysider I knew this word from an early age. Scouse is the Liverpool version of Lancashire Hotpot and Liverpudlians are known as Scousers.

[Judy Goodnight]

9 out of 12- not bad! This was fun.

[Elizabeth Connell]

What a great brain teaser - thanks! I got 9 right and was surprised since I read and write Regency.

[Eugenia Parrish Author]

This was such fun! Since I'm not a big Heyer reader, I was curious as to how badly I'd do. The only one I felt sure of was the first one -- squab always sounded so tasty. And I seem to remember a book where a man grabbed a bunch of pigeons in New York and impressed his friends with "squab". I would assume they'd never tasted the real thing. I got four wild guesses right, so five out of twelve. Not too bad, better than I expected!

[Anne Gracie]

Well done Elizabeth. Thanks

[Anne Gracie]

Glad you enjoyed it, Judy

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks for playing, Elizabeth

[Anne Gracie]

I've never tasted squab either, Eugenia. Glad you enjoyed my little quiz.