What would be a CW era term for

[BelleBlackburn]

ditzy or scatterbrained?

 

[ole]

Loosely wrapped?

 

[ole]

Twitterpated?

 

[Nathanb1]

Flighty.

 

[BelleBlackburn]

I have got to look up twitterpated...keep them coming.

 

[John Winn]

Addled.

 

[BillO]

Ledlie.

 

[East Tennessee Roots]

ditzy or scatterbrained?

After Chickamauga Lincoln said "William S. Rosecrans was confused and stunned, like a duck hit on the head."

 

[Lnwlf]

After Chickamauga Lincoln said "William S. Rosecrans was confused and stunned, like a duck hit on the head."

Yeah. I always liked that one.

 

[Lnwlf]

I wonder if there is a mid 19th century thesaurus available somewhere.

 

[Lnwlf]

Yes indeed! Not Roget's but from 1856.

http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011541540 Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases

 

[AndyHall]

A useful tool for writers is Google ngram, that tracks the use of words or phrases in books over time:

https://books.google.com/ngrams

You can also search for words and phrases in old newspapers, like at the LoC:

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

These tools can give you a good idea when certain words or phrases came into common use. One caveat is that you have to choose your search terms carefully -- for example, the phrase "Civil War" does not necessarily refer to the conflict of 1861-65.

 

[Brendan]

"Nimenog" - n., "a very silly fellow," is one of my favorites from the 1860 dictionary of New York street slang (itself my favorite dictionary), The Rogue's Lexicon:
https://archive.org/details/cu31924073798740

 

[Cumpston1862]

ditzy or scatterbrained?

McClellan

 

[Nathanb1]

flibbertygibbet

 

[Patrick H]

flibbertygibbet

I never heard this one before, but I like it. Now I just need to figure out how to drop it into an appropriate conversation sometime.

 

[Tumbleweed]

The only time I have heard the word fibbertygibbet used was in the movie The Sound of Music. I don't think I've ever read it anywhere.

 

[BelleBlackburn]

The only time I have heard the word fibbertygibbet used was in the movie The Sound of Music. I don't think I've ever read it anywhere.

I used it in my book because it was so cool.

 

[BelleBlackburn]

A useful tool for writers is Google ngram, that tracks the use of words or phrases in books over time:

https://books.google.com/ngrams

You can also search for words and phrases in old newspapers, like at the LoC:

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

These tools can give you a good idea when certain words or phrases came into common use. One caveat is that you have to choose your search terms carefully -- for example, the phrase "Civil War" does not necessarily refer to the conflict of 1861-65.

Thanks, Andy. Those look like great references.

 

[BelleBlackburn]

Ledlie.

That one has some interesting history.