In the singular form the lexicon of a particular subject is all the terms associated with it. The lexicon of a person or group is all the words they commonly use. As a plural noun, a lexicon is an alphabetical list of the words in a language or the words associated with a particular subject. To distinguish lexicon from a dictionary, it is an alphabetical list of the words in a language or the words associated with a particular subject.
These examples are a mix of what one might hear upon the lips of the aristocracy, as well as examples of Cant used upon London’s streets and those terms used by farmers and like in the country.
doctor – milk and water, with a little rum and nutmeg; also the name of the composition distillers used to make spirits to appear stronger than they were
doctors – loaded dice
Doctors’ Commons – where the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts met; south of St. Paul’s Cathedral; marriage licenses were issued and wills written there
Dog Latin – Barbarous Latin, such as was formerly used by the lawyers in their pleading
doing it much too brown – overdoing it, so that it is no longer credible
Don – head of a college at Oxford or Cambridge; another name for a “tutor”
done up – ruined by gaming and extravagances
dot and go one – to waddle: generally applied to person who have one leg shorter than the other, and who, as the sea phrases are keen to say, go upon an uneven keel; also a jeering appellation for an inferior writing-master or teacher of arithmetic
Double First – the title given to the person who received first prize in both the classics and in mathematics honor exams at Oxford
Dowager – a title given to a widow of rank;
The widow of a peer, eg the Dowager Countess of Somewhere. The term was not added to a woman’s title unless and until the new (male) holder of the title married. For example, if the new Earl of Somewhere, the son of the late earl, is a young man when he inherits the title and has no wife, his mother continues to be styled Countess of Somewhere. When he marries, his wife takes that title and his mother becomes the Dowager Countess. The term is also sometimes used informally, and disparagingly, to refer to an older woman of the upper classes.
dowry – the monetary settlement the woman brings to the marriage
doxies – female beggars, wenches, and whores
drag – a private stagecoach; usually pulled by four horses
dragoon – cavalrymen who rode into battle on horseback and then dismounted to fight; shot a pistol that send out a “flame” like a dragon
dragooning it – a man who occupies two branches of the same professions, is said to dragoon it, because like the soldier of that denomination, he serves in a double capacity; such as a physician who furnishes the medicines and compounds his own prescriptions
dram – a glass or small measure of any spirituous liquors, which, being originally sol by apothecaries, were estimated by drams, ounces, &c.
draw someone’s cork – punch in the nose and cause to bleed
drawers – long underpants; originally were two separate leggings tied together at the waist; generally knee length
drawing room – room used for after-dinner gatherings; usually large enough for informal dancing, a pianoforte, etc. (see comment below)
dressing for Supper – Supper was a formal meal; ladies and gentlemen don their best clothing for dinner.
drive unicorn – drive a vehicle with 3 horses, one in front of the other two
dropsy – having fluid build up in the joints in such diseases as diabetes or emphysema
drum – A party. Also, follow the drum, meaning to follow the army. For example, a woman who joins her soldier husband wherever he is posted is said to follow the drum.
drummer – a jockey term for a horse that throws about his forelegs in an irregular manner
duck legs – short legs
ducks and drakes – skipping stones across the surface of a river, lake, etc.
dudgeon: a feeling of offense or resentment; anger
duds – clothes
Duke Humphrey – to dine with Duke Humphrey was to fast. In old St. Paul’s Church was an aisle called Duke Humphrey’s walk (from a tomb vulgarly called his, but, in reality, belonging to John of Gaunt) and persons who walked there, while others were at dinner, were said to dine with Duke Humphrey.
dumb-founded – silenced on a subject
dun territory – in debt
(This post went up early, and several of my followers saw it then. One of them was LordBeariOfBow. Brian assures me the correct term is “withdrawing room,” not “drawing room.” I told him in Regency novels, the “withdrawing room” was the room set aside for the ladies to see to a torn hem or their personal needs during a ball. He was kind enough to send me these links to illustrate his point. I bow to his British heritage…
Here’s some interesting links to the ……….room. the last of the 3 is the most interesting to my mind.
http://virtuallinguist.typepad.com/the_virtual_linguist/2011/09/drawing-room-and-parlour.html
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drawing%20roomhttp://www.wordwizard.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=22704
Other Sources:
Every Woman Dreams... 