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- Title
Slammakin ‘Slovenly Female’ and Irish.
- Authors
Breeze, Andrew
- Abstract
The article discusses the origin of the word "slammakin," meaning "slovenly female, slattern," commonly used in the 18th and 19th centuries. The author uses the "Oxford English Dictionary (OED)" and Irish dictionaries to analyze the etymology of the words "slammakin" and "slámóg," suggesting that the word is derived from the Latin word for "flame" and came into the English language from Irish. Also discussed is the character Mrs. Slammekin in the 1727 opera "Beggar's Opera," by John Gay.
- Subjects
ETYMOLOGY; ENGLISH etymology; IRISH Gaelic language; ENGLISH language dictionaries; OXFORD English Dictionary; BEGGAR'S Opera, The (Opera); GAY, John, 1685-1732; LANGUAGE &; languages -- Dictionaries
- Publication
Notes & Queries, 2011, Vol 58, Issue 3, p368
- ISSN
0029-3970
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/notesj/gjr102