Here are some old words and phrases to amaze your friends and the audience when talking about the seventeenth century in Living History and elsewhere.
| Word/Phrase | Meaning (using C21 terms) |
| Affect | Pretend falsely |
| Affront | Insult |
| Affray | Attack, disturbance, riot |
| Ague | Fever – particularly malaria in C17 |
| All of a dudder | Shivering and shaking |
| Anon | At once |
| Apothecary | Druggist, Chemist, Pharmacist |
| Ay | Yes |
| Baffle | Foils the plans of |
| Bedlam | Madhouse |
| Betimes | Early, soon |
| Blackguard | A body of criminals or vagrants ( became Blagard – criminal) |
| Board | Daily provision (food and drink) |
| Boards | Table (made of boards) |
| Bolts | Shackles, fetters |
| Bravery | Fine clothes |
| Buss | Kiss |
| Buttery | Store room for wine, beer, casks, bottles, pewter etc |
| Butler | The servant in charge of the buttery, person who serves wine, beer etc |
| Buxom | Plump and good looking |
| Betwixt | Between |
| Caitiff | Wretch, villain |
| Calf Lolly | Idle simpleton |
| Calling | Name, station in life, profession |
| Carrion | Decaying flesh |
| Censured | Pass sentence on |
| Certain | Constant, reliable |
| Character | Handwriting |
| Clay brained | Speaks for itself |
| Coif | Linen cap for women |
| Cousin (or Coz) | Term used of all close kindred |
| Crave | Want, seek, beg |
| Crotchets | Whims, fancies |
| Cry you mercy | Beg your pardon |
| Cunning | Skill, knowledge, smart, devious |
| Cur(s) | Dog(s) |
| Dalliance | Flirting |
| Dandy Pratt | Insignificant Person |
| Deflaterhose | A type of men’s breeches (early C17) |
| Dislike | Express an aversion to |
| Divers | Many |
| Divines | Clergymen |
| Dizzy | Foolish |
| Dog Apes | Baboons |
| Dog- bolt | A wretch |
| Doom | Sentence, judgement |
| Falling band | Separate collar |
| Foppish Lout | Overdressed, ostentatious person |
| Forms | Reflections, ceremonies |
| Forsooth | In truth, indeed |
| Forswear | Deny, repudiate |
| Forsworn | Perjured |
| Foul | Ugly |
| Frieze | A thick material for coats |
| Fry | To a child ‘young fry’ |
| Furnish’d | Dressed, equipped |
| Gentle | Well born, honourable, courteous |
| Gentleman | Owner of land or property earning £50 or more per year |
| Gentlewoman | Most usually the wife or widow of a Gentleman |
| Gillyflower | Fragrant flower – usually carnation, stock or wallflower, |
| Go your ways | Go away |
| God buy you | God be with you – (now Goodbye) |
| Good faith | In truth |
| Gown | A long coat worn over all clothing – often open at the front |
| Gruel | A cheap food made by boiling oats with water or milk |
| Handkercher | Handkerchief |
| Holds | Cells |
| Hose | Breeches (from Tudor – doublet and hose) – becoming stockings |
| House of Profession | Brothel |
| Hoyden | A rude or ill-bred woman or girl |
| Husband | Housekeeper (hence also as a verb – to look after) |
| Husbandry | Cultivation of the soil |
| Hussy | Immoral, wanton (usually preceded by little – or light – ) |
| Huswife | Housewife |
| Idle | Useless and foolish (e.g. ‘in idle price’) |
| Imposthume | A swelling containing pus or an abcess |
| Jerkin | Waistcoat |
| League | About 3 miles |
| Lisp | After a foreign accent |
| Lunch | A meal of a hunk of bread and cheese (North English – Tudor) |
| Luncheon | A drink or snack in mid-morning |
| Lusty | Vigorous |
| Manchett | A loaf of best quality bread |
| Mardle | Gossip |
| Mark | The sum of 13s 4d |
| Mark | Pay serious attention to, take note of |
| Marry | To be sure of, indeed |
| Mauther | Girl (still used in Norfolk) |
| Mawkish | Derived from ‘Mawk’ an old word for maggot – nauseating, sick making, having no appetite |
| Mercer | Textile merchant |
| Mercy | Beg forgiveness |
| Name | Reputation |
| Napkin | Handkerchief |
| Naughty | Wicked |
| Neckerchief | A separate cloth around the neck and shoulders |
| Nice | (affectedly) fastidious, refined |
| Nuncheon | A drink or snack in the afternoon |
| Paint | Apply cosmetics |
| Palsie | Shaking fit, tremor, paralysis |
| Pantler | The servant in charge of the pantry and bread |
| Physic | Medicine, cure |
| Pick purse | Pickpocket |
| Place | Office, station, position of authority, safe home |
| Ply | To urge, work upon, persuade |
| Posset | Hot drink of milk curdled with wine, beer or brandy |
| Pox | To curse you (literally to cause you to get the pox (syphilis)) |
| Practices | Plots, deceit, conspiracy |
| Prithee | I beg you |
| Puny | Inferior, petty, underdeveloped |
| Raw | Inexperienced, uncooked, uncultivated, sore or sick |
| Receipt | Recipe |
| Russet | A type of woollen cloth (also the colour) |
| Sack | Fortified wine |
| Searsed | Sifted |
| Shifter | Con man |
| Sirrah | Form of address used to inferiors or expressing contempt |
| Stuff | Dress material |
| Tapster | Person serving drink |
| Tarry | Wait |
| Tawdry | Cheap and pretentious finery |
| Thankee | Thank you |
| Troth | In truth, indeed (by my troth – truly) |
| Yeoman | Owner/tenant of a small property/land earning >£6 per year |
| Villain | Low born rustic, wicked scoundrel, lower servant |
| Wainscot | Wooden panelling |
| Whiles | While |
| Winsom | Attractive, handsome |
| Worm’s nest | Decayed fresh, a corpse |
| Worsted | A type of wool cloth |
| Wrangling | Arguing |
| Zounds | An oath |
Some Suitable Expletives and Insults
Abate your noise you rebel dogs!
Bid you go preach in a crab tree!
Come and fetch the colours which they lost!
Hell and devil confound you sir!
Rogues to your King and Country!
The devil take you sir!
The sons of Puritan bitches!
Traitors!
Villains!
Where are the Scots, you rogues, whom you hired to fight against your King?