Well, I hope even if you weren't courageous enough to post your answers to our quiz that you enjoyed trying to figure out what these common words and phrases* from the 1800's meant.
Here are the answers:
1) Acknowledge the corn - to admit the truth; to confess; to acknowledge one's shortcomings
2) Allow - to admit; to be of the opinion
3) Beans - anything, something, nothing
4) Boodle - a crowd of people
5) Coot - an idiot; a simpleton; a ninny
6) Didoes - to cut up didoes was to get into mischief
7) Not one's funeral - not one's business; not one's concern
8) Gum - lies; exaggerations or as a verb: to dupe someone
9) Humbug - a deception; a hoax; an imposter
10) Jonathan - the American people
11) Peart - fresh and happy; sprightly
12) Plum, plumb - entirely; completely
13) Pull foot - to leave in a hurry
14) Sam Hill - euphemism for the devil
15) Snore - euphemism used by New Englanders for the word "swear"
16) Squatter - one who settles on land without proper title
17) Surrey - a large, boxy, open family vehicle having two long seats facing forward and frequently, a fringed, canopy top
18) Tow path - a wide path along a canal, where a horse, mule, or team of such walked at the end of a long line, towing a canal boat
19) Wheelwright - one who made or repaired wagon, coach, or carriage wheels
Bonus: Sutler - a merchant/private contractor appointed by the government to supply the troops with such civilian goods as pastries, canned meats, books, tobacco, toiletries, and so on
* All these definitions and more can be found in The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800's by Marc McCutcheon.
