20 Amusing Slang Phrases From the 1910s

Few things are as humiliating as overindulging, becoming peloothered, and then dealing with the woofits the next day. Anyone who was a beezer in the early 1900s would understand this without a second thought, but you might need some help.

Discover 20 vibrant slang expressions from the 1910s.

1. Againster

We all have that one person who thrives on playing the devil's advocate. Today, we might call them a naysayer or a contrarian, but in the early 1900s, they were known as an againster.

2. Annie Oakley

An Annie Oakley referred to a complimentary ticket for a show or sports event. The term, as per the legendary sharpshooter, was reportedly popularized by baseball figure Ban Johnson.

“One day, a man was brought to him,” she recounted in a 1922 newspaper interview, “who had lent out his baseball pass. Ban Johnson examined it, covered in small holes, and joked that the man must have been letting me use it for target practice.”

3. Bean Ball

Sticking with baseball, a bean ball was a pitch aimed directly at the batter’s head. Being beaned by anything—whether a shoe, a fist, or otherwise—meant you took a hard hit to the head.

4. Beezer

During the 1910s, the term beezer could mean either a clever individual or a nose. While the exact origins of both meanings are uncertain, the former is thought to have Scottish roots.

5. Bosher

The Oxford English Dictionary notes that James Justinian Morier’s 1834 novel Ayesha, The Maid of Kars helped popularize the term bosh—derived from the Turkish word for “empty” or “worthless”—among English speakers. Victorians used it as a noun or exclamation to mean “nonsense.” The term bosher, which emerged later, referred to someone who spoke such nonsense.

6. Chucklesome

It’s downright chucklesome that a group in Poland once confused a croissant in a tree for a fearsome creature. (In simpler terms, it’s hilarious.)

7. Conchie

Conchie was a (sometimes mocking) shorthand for conscientious objector, widely used in the UK during World War I. The term also applied to those who declined to fight in World War II.

8. Flivver

The term flivver served as both a noun for an inexpensive car or aircraft and a verb for traveling in one. It could also broadly describe any kind of failure, whether an object or a person. Quite versatile for a word with unclear origins.

9. Hipe

In World War I, soldiers often referred to their rifles (or any firearm) as a “hipe.” Some believe the term originated as a generic exclamation used by officers instead of arms during drills—a theory that seems less odd when you consider how hut became so widespread in military and football contexts.

10. Imshi

World War I troops were also known to yell “Imshi!” to tell someone to leave—a term borrowed from the Arabic word meaning “go away!”

11. Jake

In the 1800s, a jake referred to “a country bumpkin or fool,” according to the OED. By the 1910s, however, it had evolved into an adjective meaning “fantastic, admirable, or great.” Australians and New Zealanders embraced more colorful variations like jakeloo, jakealoo, and jakerloo.

12. The Life of Riley

In the early 20th century, someone enjoying a carefree, happy existence was said to be living the life of Riley. The commonality of the surname makes it difficult to identify the specific Riley or Reilly behind the phrase (a problem shared by the real McCoy). One theory traces it to an 1880s song by Irish vaudeville performer Pat Rooney titled “Is That Mr. Reilly?” The chorus celebrates the titular Reilly—a self-described “man of renown”—with these lines:

“Is that Mr. Reilly, can anyone tell?Is that Mr. Reilly that owns the hotel?Well if that’s Mr. Reilly they speak of so highly,Upon me soul, Reilly, you’re doing quite well.”

While this song doesn’t explicitly use the phrase the life of Reilly, an older Irish folk tune does. In it, Willie Reilly faces execution for supposedly kidnapping Colleen Bawn (a name with several variations), who saves him by declaring her love and insisting that running away to be with him was her choice. The pair presumably enjoy a happy ending.

13. Lunker

In modern meme language, any creature that surpasses size expectations—whether a rabbit or a newborn—might be dubbed an “absolute unit.” It’s also known as a lunker.

14. Meller

In the 19th century, Americans often referred to melodrama as “mellerdrammer,” which was later abbreviated to meller. Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone exemplifies 21st-century meller at its finest.

15. Monkey Parade

In the late Victorian period, young singles in London’s East End would gather in large numbers to walk up and down Bow Road, socializing and mingling—earning the road the nickname “Monkey’s Parade.” By the early 1900s, this tradition spread to other areas, and any similar gathering became known as a “monkey parade.” British author Edwin Pugh vividly depicted a monkey parade in his 1914 collection The Cockney at Home: “It’s a spot where Suburbia’s finest gather nightly to flirt. Typically, it’s a major street. The lads and lasses exchange winks and smiles, breaking hearts with pinpoint accuracy from a distance.”

16. Napoo

Among the slang created during World War I, French phrases mangled by British soldiers are perhaps the most amusing. Il n’y en a plus or il n’y a plus—meaning “there is no more”—turned into napoo. It referred to something (or someone) that was done for or deceased, much like kaput. Sadly, the term napoo itself is now napoo.

17. Peloothered

Peloothered was an Irish expression for drunk, possibly stemming from blootered, an earlier term with the same meaning. James Joyce portrayed the character Tom Kernan as “peloothered” in Dubliners. (Kernan admits to the charge.)

18. Saltash Luck

According to the OED, any “pointless or unrewarding activity that leaves you soaked” could be called Saltash luck. In Saltash, a riverside town in Cornwall, UK, fishermen “would wait by the ferry … for hours, only to catch colds,” as noted in Rick Jolly’s Jackspeak: A Guide to British Naval Slang and Usage. 

19. Up to Putty

And if you return empty-handed after a fishing trip, you might say your efforts were “up to putty” or simply “upter”—early 1900s Australian slang for “useless” or “ineffective.”

20. Woofits

Numerous vivid historical terms describe feelings of depression or unease. One such term is woofits, which could result from overindulgence in alcohol or lack of sufficient rest.