Medieval Sayings/Vocabulary

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  • Medieval Sayings/Vocabulary

    I couldn't find it -- but I remember someone posting a site full of Medieval sayings and slang. Could someone plz post it again? I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

  • #2
    Re: Medieval Sayings/Vocabulary

    This doesn't really answer your question, but if you are discussing Medieval expressions it's worth noting that the primary so-called Anglo-Saxon expletives are not Anglo-Saxon at all. The words we now use, which you'll recognize from their early form - cunte, bugger, fokkinge, crappe, etc. - arrived from the area of Europe including Holland at the end of the middle ages. English, or Englisc, had no such expletives up to that time and the only swearing people did was in the context of taking an oath.
    "Friends make the worst enemies." Frank Underwood

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    • #3
      Re: Medieval Sayings/Vocabulary

      I'm writing a story set in Medieval England (circa 1455) right now, & my next project might be set around that time as well, so I'm kinda in the same boat as the OP.

      I've looked around online and haven't found too much vocab that's really useful. Specifically, I was looking for an old English slang term for homosexual... "dandy" doesn't seem quite old enough to me. "Sodomite" doesn't sound quite right either. "Buggerer" is a bit too harsh for what I need, but I might have to go with that.

      For general dialogue, what I'm doing is using words that SOUND old: scoundrel, brigand, lad, etc...

      I've also found going over some Shakespearean language sites helpful.

      "Trust your stuff." -- Dave Righetti, Pitching Coach

      ( Formerly "stvnlra" )

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      • #4
        Re: Medieval Sayings/Vocabulary

        Was this it?

        http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html

        It has oodles of info - such as a side-by-side translation for Chaucer:

        http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sourc...olog-para.html

        Good luck !

        Mac
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        • #5
          Re: Medieval Sayings/Vocabulary

          Can't go wrong by making it sound Shakespearian .... During Chaucer's time the language wasn't as recognizable.

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          • #6
            Re: Medieval Sayings/Vocabulary

            Hi, I'm historian of the Middle Ages =)

            Important is, in which social strata your story takes place. Are you writing about royalty, nobles, knights , so they will use a LOT of terms in Ancient French or Normand! (I don't know when your story takes place).

            As for the 15th cent. this would be "Middle English", there should be dictionnaries around, but be careful. Some words are really not recognizable anymore and perhaps you'll have (both of you) to settle for something "sounding" old, but is not older than 19th, 18th cent. perhaps.
            People reenacting Middle Age stuff on markets do that.

            The medieval term for "homosexual" "homosexuality" is Sodomitic / Sodomy (from the biblical term Sodom and Gomorra, you know) this was absolutely common. If you was accused with it, even a peasant knew what this was about. It was among the deadliest sins. Another french term is Bougrerie (because of a so-called heretical sect from Bulgaria)

            Hope to have been of a little help.

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            • #7
              Re: Medieval Sayings/Vocabulary

              How about molly? Or Restoration libertine?

              Have you ever looked at the encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender & queer culture?


              http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences...gdom_01,2.html

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              • #8
                Re: Medieval Sayings/Vocabulary

                I'd always heard that "crap" derived from Thomas Crapper, inventor of the flush toilet.

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                • #9
                  Re: Medieval Sayings/Vocabulary

                  Originally posted by VanceVanCleaf View Post
                  Hi, I'm historian of the Middle Ages =)

                  Important is, in which social strata your story takes place. Are you writing about royalty, nobles, knights , so they will use a LOT of terms in Ancient French or Normand! (I don't know when your story takes place).

                  As for the 15th cent. this would be "Middle English", there should be dictionnaries around, but be careful. Some words are really not recognizable anymore and perhaps you'll have (both of you) to settle for something "sounding" old, but is not older than 19th, 18th cent. perhaps.
                  People reenacting Middle Age stuff on markets do that.

                  The medieval term for "homosexual" "homosexuality" is Sodomitic / Sodomy (from the biblical term Sodom and Gomorra, you know) this was absolutely common. If you was accused with it, even a peasant knew what this was about. It was among the deadliest sins. Another french term is Bougrerie (because of a so-called heretical sect from Bulgaria)

                  Hope to have been of a little help.
                  I'd heard the term "sodomite" but not "Sodomitic".... Thanks!

                  Yes, I'm sprinkling in words that SOUND old to the modern ear, but are still understood.

                  "Trust your stuff." -- Dave Righetti, Pitching Coach

                  ( Formerly "stvnlra" )

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Medieval Sayings/Vocabulary

                    Chaucer died in 1400. It has been a long time since I looked at his works, but I am pretty sure that they include many expressions of swearing by the various parts of the body of Christ and God: God's hooks (from which we get gadzooks); Christ's nails; and a good many others of a similar sort. This tradition of swearing by parts of the bodies of God and Christ continued in Shakespeare's time, when 'sblood (God's blood) was common.

                    As for sexual terms, they did, in fact, exist. In The Canterbury Tales, queynte was the cvnt. Swyve was to fvck. I'm going on memory here, guys, and it has been over 40 years since I read this stuff. You should be able to find some help with the right kind of Google search.

                    "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Medieval Sayings/Vocabulary

                      Originally posted by ComicBent View Post
                      As for sexual terms, they did, in fact, exist. In The Canterbury Tales, queynte was the cvnt.
                      Funnily enough in Chaucer's time the 'queynte' word was also used for 'quaint'.

                      It seems that in at least some branches of the family tree they were originally the same word!! ('Quaint' used to just mean attractive - the modern idea of 'old fashioned but attractive' came later)

                      It makes as much sense as the 20th Century usage of 'dick' as being part of the male anatomy as well as a personality trait ... so why shouldn't 'queynte' !?

                      Mac
                      New blogposts:
                      *Followup - Seeking Investors in all the wrong places
                      *Preselling your film - Learning from the Experts
                      *Getting your indie film onto iTunes
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                      • #12
                        Re: Medieval Sayings/Vocabulary

                        Delon22,

                        May be juvenile, but the well researched 2008 Newbery Medal winner GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES! VOICES FROM A MEDIEVAL VILLAGE, published in 2007 by Cambridge Candlewick Press, and written by Park School of Baltimore librarian Laura Schlitz, might give you a good background into medieval voices and dialogue. Her collection of plays, designed to be read or performed by children, contains 22 monologues and dialogues that accurately reflect the written and spoken language of the Middle Ages. Topics covered include: the way of life in a medieval village and towns; a structured social caste system; farming techniques; medieval pilgrimages; and the crusades. Your local library should carry the book. Good luck with the script.

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