The Latin phrases used in The Enlightened saga come directly from the Vulgate, a fourth-century translation of the Bible. It was revised in 1592 and is still in use today as the official Roman Catholic version of the Latin Bible. Unless otherwise specified, all the rest comes from a collection of eighteenth-century slang as defined by A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, Second Edition. It was first published in London in 1788, is available online, and is really fun to flip through. It is interesting to see what phrases are still in use today and the many that are not. It is also a fantastic resource if you are in need of another good word for whore. Just beware - according to the Dictionary, there are multiple, different kinds of whores.
Click on the phrase to see the definition
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(Dutch) Dutch apple pie
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(Dutch) Thank you
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Black Watch (Smithsonian): The British 42nd (Highlands) Regiment of Foot. THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION: A VISUAL HISTORY, DK Publishing, 92 (2016). This particular regiment fought in both the Revolutionary War and the French-Indian War, known in the 18th century as the "Seven Years’ War."
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(Dutch) Stay inside. Hurry up!
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A “cooler” is a woman. A “cool lady” is a female follower of the camp who sells brandy. “To join giblets” is what a man and woman who cohabit, without being married, do. It also means to copulate.
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(Dutch) The woman has had a nightmare.
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A woman of doubtful character
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(Genesis) Forgets what you did
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(1 John 4:14) And we have seen and testify.
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(Merriam-Webster Dictionary) a woman's light triangular scarf that is draped over the shoulders and fastened in front or worn to fill in a low neckline
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(Merriam-Webster Dictionary) A usually-decorated heavy cloth (as of canvas) used for a floor covering
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(Dutch) God damn!
(Bad, very bad. Blasphemy in Holland is a big, big no no)
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(Dutch): Very good; well done
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(Dutch): Good night
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(Urban Dictionary) When a person’s neck does not break when hung, instead the muscles in the back and neck tear. This causes the victim to spasm in agony while suffocating to death.
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(Scottish slang): Be quiet
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(Scottish slang): Serves them right
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(Dutch): Hold courage, Little Mate.
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(Dutch) I want my mother.
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(Dutch) I don’t want to go.
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(Daniel 2:22) He revealeth deep and hidden things.
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(Dutch) Yes
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(Dutch): Chickens
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(Dutch) Come on.
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(Dutch): Ass
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(French) Lift ass
(Refers to the part of Musical Chairs, known in the eighteenth-century as “Trip to Jerusalem,” when the players stand up from the chairs while the music plays. The game was also known as “Level-Coil.”)
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(Dutch) Sweetest
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“Lobster” is a nickname for a soldier, from the color of his clothes. The lowest sort of thief, who borrows or hires clothes to appear in [court], are called “Mounters",” from their mounting particular dresses suitable to the occasion.
(These are two separate terms combined for purposes of the novel.)
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A “Tory” is an advocate for absolute monarchy and church power. According to THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION: A VISUAL HISTORY by the Smithsonian, the term refers to the British Parliamentarian party that represented the upper class. DK Publishing, 68 (2016). As with the other two phases, the term was used in revolutionary America to refer to anyone loyal to the British crown.
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(Dutch) Term of endearment of father to son meaning “little mate”
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(Scottish-Gaelic) Mother
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(Dutch) Term of endearment that translates to “my dearest”
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(Dutch) Term of endearment that translates to “my poopie”
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(Dutch) A nightmare, derived from the idea that bad dreams were brought by a night horse
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(Dutch) No
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(Dutch) An exclamatory phrase that literally translates in English to “not to prunes” or “not to chew”
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(1 John 4:6) We belong to God. Who does not belong to God does not hear us.
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(Merriam-Webster Dictionary) The state of being homesick
(The phrase also refers to those suffering from post-traumatic shock disorder (PTSD), though during the War, the surviving doctors’ journals seem to indicate that this a more modern definition.
For purposes of this book series, although both definitions are applicable to Savvy, the term will be used to describe PTSD.)
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(Merriam-Webster Dictionary): A small bag carried by a person.
(In the eighteenth-century, a woman’s pocket was a pouch with an attached belt tied under her petticoat, accessible by an opening in the seam. Unlike a modern pocket, it was not sewn into the garment.)
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A man governed by his wife, is said to live in Queen Street, or at the sign of the Queen’s Head.
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(Merriam-Webster Dictionary) Of, relating to, or constituting the permanent standing military force of a state
(In the context of The Enlightened Series, the British soldiers)
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Clothing
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To live familiarly with a family with which one is upon a visit
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Never, there being no saint of that name
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(Dutch) Treasure
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To wear (chiefly applied to irons, setters, or handcuffs)
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A low, mean fellow, employed in all sorts of dirty work
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Figuratively used to signify a surly fellow. “Scurvy” means contemptible or despicable (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).
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A thief who snatches women’s pockets
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(Dutch) Term of endearment meaning “sweet”
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(Britannica Dictionary) Originally a slice of thick bread, used as a primitive form of plate for eating and for slicing meat
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State, dress
In a sad trim: dirty
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(Dutch) You are his lady.
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(Revelations 22:5) Night shall be no more.
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(Merriam-Webster Dictionary) Informal dress
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A rude, uncouth young fellow
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(Dutch) When will you have a girl?
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Baggage is heavy baggage; women and children. Also, a familiar epithet for a woman.
Wanton (Merriam-Webster, 3): lewd, bawdy
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(Dutch) Be quiet
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(Merriam-Webster Dictionary) Archaic term used to express sorrow or lamentation
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(Dutch) Good night
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(Ex: He has a white feather) He is a coward
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(Dutch) I say!