Most people swear. A little, or a lot. Intentionally…or one just slips out. But how did people in the Regency curse? Were they all really running around saying “God’s teeth” or “Damnation”.
According to this article two of the most common were:
Bloody: Difficult to define etymology or definition, it was an extremely common oath as early as the 18th century and continued into the 19th century.
Bugger: Referring to anal intercourse, this was used nonliterally and similar to bloody, as an oath commonly uttered for a variety of occasions.
But then we have a raft of other popular terms:
Adventuress: Euphemism for prostitute or wild woman
Ass, asswipe: Same as used today
Balls: shortened from ballocks, this was used in the 19th century
Blazes: Euphemism for hell or the devil
Bugger: Referring to anal intercourse, this was used nonliterally and similar to bloody, as an oath commonly uttered for a variety of occasions
Clap: VD, from 1700s on
Cocksucker and cockteaser: Used at least by mid 1800s.
Damn: A powerful swear word used broadly but considered very naughty
Deuce: A late 17th century alternative to Devil.
Devil: Same as damn.
Frig/frigging: Another way to say the f word
Lawks!: An alternative expression to saying Lord, originating in the mid 1700s.
Lor!: An 1835 euphemism for Lord!
Shit-fire: A hot, violent fellow (late 16th century)
Shit-sack: A dastardly fellow (originated around 1769)
Whirlygigs: testicles
Zounds!: An exclamation meant to be an abbreviation of God’s wounds
The words above are taken from the Grose Dictionary of Cant, The Writers Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800s (1993) and Swearing: A Social History of Foul Language, Oaths and Profanity in English (1998).
The latter book also explains the history of several, still popular curse words, revealing their history is well ahead of the Regency era and therefore would have been in play:
Piss, shit, fart, f-word, C U Next Tuesday, turd, arse, cock, prick
Looking for more Regency slang, cant, and terms? We have a Regency Lingo page for you here.
Read more:
Here is a short list of swear words: http://improvisedjaneausten.blogspot.com/2017/01/swear-words-used-during-regency-period.html
Ella Quinn has compiled a thorough list of oaths for gentlemen and ladies here: https://ellaquinnauthor.wordpress.com/2018/05/03/regency-trivia-swearing/
If you are looking for slang for anatomy, sex acts or the like, check out Jessica Cale’s post: Riding Saint George: Regency Sex Terms You Won’t Find in Austen | Dirty, Sexy History
Here is a bit about the history of swearing: https://wordwenches.typepad.com/word_wenches/2011/03/mind-your-language-a-very-short-history-of-swearing.html
