Regency Reader Question
In Georgette Heyer’s novel, “The Grand Sophy”, the heroine goes to a backstreet, crooked moneylender, Goldhanger by name, and recovers Hubert’s pledge ring and $500 pound note. Upon leaving, she calls him a “turnip dressed in white to scare little boys” [sic] to which he replies, “turnip”, … “TURNIP?”, … [sic] in astonishment, implying that she has called him something really nasty. I am curious to know what the cant meaning of “turnip” is, if it has one.
| Source of Question | Reg Rom Book |
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Thanks for the question, Ed, and for being a Regency Reader!
Georgette Heyer is noted infamous for inventing her own slang as a trap to would be imitators (here is another blogger writing on this very topic) but in the case of the word turnip, there is a long history of it being used as an insult.
An interesting article from “Grammar Girl” suggests turnips were often considered “food of the poor” or fed to animals, and that morphed into its association with dullness and stupidity. Shakespeare was known to use turnip as an insult, as was Dickens. In almost all references I found, it was meant to insinuate someone who was an idiot/stupid.
The The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue’s only mention of turnip is in combination with “pated” (turnip-pated) meaning white or fair haired. It could be that because the moneylender (which I must add is an oft cited example of Heyer’s antisemitism) is dressed in white, Heyer was a making a play on words to call him turnip because of the color white and because he was stupid.
I searched all the other available cant dictionaries from the era and beyond and found no other mentions of turnip as a particularly nasty phrase, so I think perhaps Goldhanger’s shock is meant for comedic effect. Think about it…a young lady of quality comes to your office, makes threats, pulls a gun on you, and then calls you something ridiculously tame for an insult. Its funny, right?
That’s my two cents. Any other readers have different insights, share them in the comments below.
We love the interesting Reader Questions you ask, so keep them coming!
