The battle of the Vulgar
12 August 2003. Inspired by .
Fans of Eric Partridge and his life's work may already be aware of Project Gutenberg, the fantastic archive of publicly available documents and film, including everything from the Lunar Landing to the The Memoirs of Napoleon and maths lessons from Lewis Carroll. Its latest e-tome, however, is of particular interest to the linguistic flaneur: The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Captain Grose et al.
It's really most 'bang up' (see dictionary) but among the treats is this mysterious entry:
"HUGOTONTHEONBIQUIFFINARIANS. A society existing in 1748."
What did they meet about? Why in 1748? And what made them stop or go underground? Google helps me not. I suggest a reconvening of the society immediately to explain all. Who's with me, fellow Hugotontheons?
(found via Interconnected)