A Helpful Book

[Jules362]

When I first started seriously reading about the Civil War, I frequently bumped into terms....words, that I had never heard before, not always related to the war, and couldn't always figure out from the context what they meant.

A couple of years ago I ran across a book titled "Everyday Life in the 1800s: A Guide for Writers, Students and Historians." I ordered it, and it has been most helpful with the problem. It's about 300 pages of explanations, not only of different words, but also household tips for the period, costs such as postage, stagecoach etiquette, swear words and words that were taboo, euphemisms, hair styles for men and woman both, western slang phrases...a lot of information that many authors often don't bother to explain.

Some are amusing. For example, referring to someone whose bark is worse than their bite was "more gurgle than guts." Then there's the reference to a fast gunfighter, who "could draw quickern' you can spit and holler howdy." And my personal favorite describing someone who is very angry...."mad enough to swallow a horn-toad backwards." Funny the things one remembers. The older folks among us probably remember Tennessee Ernie Ford, and I recall hearing him on TV one time talking about someone who was surprised by something and expressed it by saying the person was as "surprised as a stomped on horn-toad."

I was thinking such a book might be helpful for people who are not yet familiar with a lot of 19th century expressions, and even interesting to those who have been around a while.

I would think Amazon might have it if you're interested.

Jules