British slang circa 1900

Casey Karp

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Working on a novel set in 1902, and made the mistake of having someone referred to as a "prat". Turns out that usage of the word dates from the mid-1900s. Can anyone suggest a British slang term that would have been in use at the turn of the century that means essentially the same thing: a stupid, useless idiot?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 

Roxxsmom

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Working on a novel set in 1902, and made the mistake of having someone referred to as a "prat". Turns out that usage of the word dates from the mid-1900s. Can anyone suggest a British slang term that would have been in use at the turn of the century that means essentially the same thing: a stupid, useless idiot?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

There's always the term "ass." I believe it's been used as a comparison to a donkey for a very long time. I don't know when Americans started using it to mean the rear end, though, nor when the British started to use the term "arse."

This is what etymology online has to say about the word, though the unabridged OED (which I lack access to on my home computer) is a better source.

http://etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=ass

Maybe "booby" also? That one has also been in use since well before the 20th century.

http://etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=booby

Note, I'm not British, so I don't know which terms would have been in widest use for fool or idiot in various parts of the UK at the time of your novel. I've run into both "ass" and "booby" in British novels that were written earlier in the 20th century, however.
 
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mccardey

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Reading a few books that were printed in your place of choice around that time is always a fine way to start (if you haven't already). Plus it's a great excuse for all those extravagances that you (might) be in the habit of committing at the Second Hand Bookstore. Or is that just me?

ETA: Also, there was a thread about this sort of thing not long ago that might be of interest.
 
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Casey Karp

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Thanks, Mccardy, I had forgotten about that thread. Re-reading now.

For those of you about to exclaim, "There's no such thing as universal British slang, you prat!" yeah, I know. To clarify, the character is an upper-middle class Londoner. So I wouldn't be using Cockney, rural, or any of the other 99,000 dialectical variations that undoubtedly existed at the time...
 

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Reading a few books that were printed in your place of choice around that time is always a fine way to start (if you haven't already). Plus it's a great excuse for all those extravagances that you (might) be in the habit of committing at the Second Hand Bookstore. Or is that just me?

ETA: Also, there was a thread about this sort of thing not long ago that might be of interest.

This is always a great suggestion.

And of course, choice of insult will vary with region within a country, and with social class, gender (of both insulter and insultee) and so on.

I was going to suggest the word "dork," but according to etymology online, that only dates to the 1960s and is an Americanism (possibly derived from the slang term dick). Which means that the title of Chet Raymo's book, The Dork of Cork, is anachronistic.
 
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Marlys

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A few possibilities (all checked in OED for pre-1900 usage): clot, muggins, duffer, chump, dunderhead, pinhead, ignoramus, dolt, numbskull, chucklehead.
 
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Casey Karp

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Some great suggestions there, Marlys. I like chucklehead too, but I don't think it's quite the right word for this scene. I'll audition some of the others, though. Thanks!
 

neandermagnon

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Thanks, Mccardy, I had forgotten about that thread. Re-reading now.

For those of you about to exclaim, "There's no such thing as universal British slang, you prat!" yeah, I know. To clarify, the character is an upper-middle class Londoner. So I wouldn't be using Cockney, rural, or any of the other 99,000 dialectical variations that undoubtedly existed at the time...

Maybe read something by Aleister Crowley. He was upper middle class, not technically a Londoner but hung around London a lot (and is reputed to haunt Atlantis Bookshop which is off Tottenham Court Road in London) and he wasn't one to mince his words. In fact, he usually went well out of his way to shock people and was witty and good at insulting people. So IMO given your description, he's a good resource of use of language for this time, place and social class.

ETA: and he was a young man at the time you're talking about

ETA#2: also, because Crowley's works range from eccentric to downright peculiar to stuff that's probably not going to be interesting or engaging to anyone who's not into pagan/occultist ways of life, I'd recommend "the confessions of Aleister Crowley, an autohagiography" and be warned about his sense of humour.
 
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MAS

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Cork-brained idiot?