So how many of you will be celebrating the end of this (pretty awful) year with nanty narking?
Hmmm. I'm not seeing a lot of hands going up. Perhaps I should define my terms.
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According to Passing English of the Victorian era: a dictionary of heterodox English, slang and phrase by James Redding Ware (1909), nanty narking is a bit of slang dating from 1800 meaning "Great fun." Although the entry references Life in London: Or, The Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, Esq., and His Elegant Friend Corinthian Tom, Accompanied by Bob Logic, the Oxonian, in Their Rambles and Sprees Through the Metropolis by Pierce Egan (1821), I am unable to find nanty narking within its (digital) pages.
My hardcopy of Green's Dictionary of Slang provides the same brief definition and reference, so I'm going to just give it up at this point. My nanty narking on Dec. 31 will probably consist of watching a movie and then heading to bed early with hopes of a better tomorrow. How about you??
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| Back when, they were serious about their nanty narking. (From Egan's Life in London) |
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