|
My
Brother Sam is Dead Vocabulary-
Period Slang: Used in Camp or in the Field
Adjutant:
an officer who acts as military assistant to a more senior
officer.
Beetle-Headed:
Dull, Stupid.
Brown
Bess: A soldier's fire-lock (musket). "To hug Brown Bess"
is to carry a fire-lock, or serve as a private soldier.
Chicken-Hearted:
Fearful, cowardly.
Cur:
A cut or curtailed dog, disabled from chasing game. Figuratively
used to signify a surly fellow.
English
Burgundy: Porter (wine).
Flip:
Small beer, brandy, and sugar.
Fusillade:
A discharge from a number of firearms, fired simultaneously
or in rapid succession. A rapid outburst or barrage: a fusillade
of insults.
Gill:
One gill is equal to 1/2 cup of liquid. Soldiers were allowed
a gill of Rum per day when on fatigue, and at no other time.
Grog:
Rum and water. "Groggy" or "Groggified" is to be drunk.
Ground
Arms: To stack firearms on the ground.
Hook:
To steal. "My shirt was worn so I headed out of camp to hook
one."
Huzza:
Said to have been originally the cry of the huzzars or Hungarian
light horse; but now the national shout of the English, both
civil and military; to give three cheers being to huzza thrice.
Jack
Tar: A sailor.
Lobster(Back):
A British soldier, from the color of his clothes (Red).
Loggerhead:
A blockhead or stupid fellow, also a double-headed, or bar-shot
of iron.
Neck
Weed: Hemp. Used as rope in the time period.
Pottage:
A thick soup. Rod: A measurement of width, 16.5 feet is a
rod.
Sallied:
Usually means to breakout or depart.
Scaly:
Mean, sordid.
Surly:
Unfriendly, crabby, grumpy. Used to describe someone of that
nature: "Major Williams was a surly fellow."
Sutler:
A sutler or victualer is a civilian who sells provisions to
an army in the field, in camp or in quarters.
Tattoo:
A beat of the drum, or signal for soldiers to go to their
quarters, and a direction to the *sutlers to close the tap.
* A sutler or victualer is a civilian who sells provisions
to an army in the field, in camp or in quarters.
Trainband:
Local Militia. Volunteer soldiers formed to protect townships.
Vanguard:
The foremost position in an army or fleet advancing into battle.
Period
Slang: Used in Everyday Life
Anvil:
A heavy steel faced iron block.
Breeches:
Trousers ending above the knee.
Ciphering:
Transforming a message into secret code via math.
18-21-14 = R-U-N
Cholera:
An acute infectious disease of the small intestine, caused
by the bacterium Vibrio Cholerae.
Commissary
Notes: A Commissary is a store or market for military personnel,
so a Commissary Note is a certificate given in lieu of currency
for use in the store.
Drover:
One that drives cattle or sheep to market.
Forage:
The act of looking or searching for food or provisions.
Fusillade:
A rapid outburst or barrage: a fusillade of insults.
Hardtack:
A hard biscuit or bread made with only flour and water.
Hogshead:
Any of various units of volume or capacity ranging from 63
to 140 gallons.
Hundredweight:
100 pounds.
Jerked
Beef: Long slices or strips of beef dried in the sun or near
a fire.
Johnny
Cake: Cornmeal bread usually shaped into a flat cake and baked
or fried on a griddle.
Leggings:
Tight, form-fitting trousers that extend from the waist to
the ankles.
Loft:
Unpartitioned room overlooking another room.
Pallet:
1. A fire shovel; 2. A bed of straw
Papist:
A Roman Catholic
Plowshare:
The cutting blade of a plow.
Populace:
The general public; the masses. A population.
Pound:
Unit of money- equivalent to twenty shillings sterling
Powder
Horn: Where you kept your gun powder
Scrip:
A piece of paper representing or acknowledging value, such
as a receipt or certificate, given in lieu of currency.
Seining:
To catch or fish with a net.
Sloth:
Aversion to work or exertion; laziness.
Shilling:
A coin worth one twentieth of a pound.
Thatch:
A house roof made with a plant material (such as straw).
|
