They Would Not Have Said That! Words that Didn’t Exist in the Regency Era

George Goodwin Kilburne, The Letter

When one decides to write Jane Austen Fan Fiction, it is perhaps prudent to use words which Jane Austen herself had access to in her era. One finds themselves eschewing contractions, remembering that “awesome” meant “inspiring awe or dread”, writing out “one and twenty,” and absolutely prohibiting the use of the most beloved “okay.”

I personally try to avoid words that Austen didn’t use herself (which you can check using free online texts like Project Gutenburg), but when in doubt I usually check Etymonline, a free online dictionary that gives the history and meaning changes of words. Some words we use today had significant meaning changes since Austen’s time! I feel an extra sense of responsibility to use words correctly when writing JAFF because Austen brought up meaning drift herself in Northanger Abbey:

“Not very good, I am afraid. But now really, do not you think Udolpho the nicest book in the world?”

“The nicest—by which I suppose you mean the neatest. That must depend upon the binding.”

“Henry,” said Miss Tilney, “you are very impertinent. Miss Morland, he is treating you exactly as he does his sister. He is forever finding fault with me, for some incorrectness of language, and now he is taking the same liberty with you. The word ‘nicest,’ as you used it, did not suit him; and you had better change it as soon as you can, or we shall be overpowered with Johnson and Blair all the rest of the way.”

“I am sure,” cried Catherine, “I did not mean to say anything wrong; but it is a nice book, and why should not I call it so?”

“Very true,” said Henry, “and this is a very nice day, and we are taking a very nice walk, and you are two very nice young ladies. Oh! It is a very nice word indeed! It does for everything. Originally perhaps it was applied only to express neatness, propriety, delicacy, or refinement—people were nice in their dress, in their sentiments, or their choice. But now every commendation on every subject is comprised in that one word.”

“While, in fact,” cried his sister, “it ought only to be applied to you, without any commendation at all. You are more nice than wise.“

“Nice” has changed in meaning significantly over the centuries:

nice (adj.)

late 13c., “foolish, ignorant, frivolous, senseless,” from Old French nice (12c.) “careless, clumsy; weak; poor, needy; simple, stupid, silly, foolish,” from Latin nescius “ignorant, unaware,” literally “not-knowing,”… The sense development has been extraordinary, even for an adj.” [Weekley] — from “timid, faint-hearted” (pre-1300); to “fussy, fastidious” (late 14c.); to “dainty, delicate” (c. 1400); to “precise, careful” (1500s, preserved in such terms as a nice distinction and nice and early); to “agreeable, delightful” (1769); to “kind, thoughtful” (1830).

Recalling The Past 1888 by Carlton Alfred Smith

On the other hand, some words simply didn’t exist. For me, the most challenging is “sibling.” I find myself desperately wanting to write it as my fingers cramp from spelling out “brothers and sisters.” But alas, it did not come into being until 1903! Similarly, one must avoid “staff” (as in the servants at Pemberley) because that term didn’t migrate from the military “staff-sergeant” until the 1850s.

How about slang? We know that Jane Austen wasn’t making a vulgar joke when she said this about Dick Musgrove in Persuasion:

He had, in fact, though his sisters were now doing all they could for him, by calling him “poor Richard,” been nothing better than a thick-headed, unfeeling, unprofitable Dick Musgrove, who had never done anything to entitle himself to more than the abbreviation of his name, living or dead.

The joke here is most likely that “dick” meant “common man”, like in the modern phrase “every Tom, Dick, and Harry”, as the very earliest known use of the modern slang meaning was in 1891. Richard means “strong in rule,” which doesn’t seem to suit poor Dick at all!

There are some surprises, because Anne was “electrified” by Mrs. Croft’s words in Persuasion and that word had existed with the modern meaning since 1745!

Then there are words best understood by engaging with a touch of medical history. When Mr. Woodhouse refers to Mr. Perry as “bilious” in Emma, he’s referencing the Humoral theory of medicine, something that was falling out of favour but would not be completely dismissed until germ theory came around in the 1850s. This system was based on the belief that humans had four vital fluids that must be kept in balance (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile) and was the reason that bleeding was used for so long as a primary medical treatment.

As an interesting aside, the word “sanguine” meaning “cheerful” also comes from Humoral theory, as those who had a higher balance of blood were supposed to be happier!

The best thing is that in better understanding words and their meanings in the Regency era, you can better comprehend Austen’s works! For example, in Mansfield Park, was Maria sent to a different country or to “the country” within England?

It ended in Mrs. Norris’s resolving to quit Mansfield and devote herself to her unfortunate Maria, and in an establishment being formed for them in another country, remote and private, where, shut up together with little society, on one side no affection, on the other no judgment, it may be reasonably supposed that their tempers became their mutual punishment. (Ch 57)

The meaning of “country” is more vague in Austen than it is today. According to Etymoline:

mid-13c., “(one’s) native land;” c. 1300, “any geographic area,” sometimes with implications of political organization, from Old French contree, cuntrede “region, district, country,”… Also from c. 1300 as “area surrounding a walled city or town; the open country.” By early 16c. the word was applied mostly to rural areas, as opposed to towns and cities. Meaning “inhabitants of a country, the people” is from c. 1300.

I’m pretty certain that what this sentence means is another “county (as we might say today)” or shire, other than Northamptonshire, within England. I don’t think Maria was sent off to Ireland or France!

What words have you noticed have a different meaning in Austen’s works and time period?

More:

Austen Quotes and the Problem with Wit

How Jane Austen Uses Names

Imagining Jane Austen’s Heroines (with period portraits)

Could Mr. Bennet have Saved Enough for Decent Fortunes on his Income?

Did Mr. Darcy want his Friend Bingley to Marry His Sister?

Darcy Smiles a Lot Actually (even before Pemberley)