My famiky and I were talking about insults our parents used and we didn’t understand how they were insulting, ie.When my mother saw an ugly women she would say, “how unfortunate” and we would giggle
50+ Old Fashioned Insults We Should Bring Back
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Afternoon Farmer
A laggard; a farmer who rises late and is behind in his chores; hence, anyone who loses his opportunities.
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All Hat and No Cattle
An empty boaster; a man who is all talk and no action.
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Blunderbuss
A short gun, with a wide bore, for carrying slugs; also, a dumb, blundering fellow.
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Cad
A mean fellow; a man trying to worm something out of another, either money or information.
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Chatterbox or Clack-Box
An excessive, incessant talker or chatterer. “Clack-box” is the more derisive variation.
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Chicken-Hearted
Cowardly, fearful.
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Chuckle Head
Much the same as “buffle head,” “cabbage head,” “chowder head,” “cod’s head” — all signifying stupidity and weakness of intellect; a fool.
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Cow-Handed
Awkward.
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Death’s Head Upon a Mop-Stick
A poor, miserable, emaciated fellow. He looked as pleasant as the pains of death.
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Duke of Limbs
A tall, awkward fellow.
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Dunderhead
Blockhead.
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Fop, Foppish, Foppling, Fop-doodle
A man of small understanding and much ostentation; a pretender; a man fond of show, dress, and flutter; an impertinent: foppery is derived from fop, and signifies the kind of folly which displays itself in dress and manners: to be foppish is to be fantastically and affectedly fine; vain; ostentatious; showy, and ridiculous: foppling is the diminutive of fop, a fool half-grown; a thing that endeavors to attract admiration to its pretty person, its pretty dress, etc. In composition it makes fop-doodle, a fool double-distilled; one that provokes ridicule and contempt, who thrusts himself into danger with no other chance than a sound beating for his pains.
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Fribble
A trifler, idler, good-for-nothing fellow; silly and superficial.
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Fussbudget
A nervous, fidgety person.
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Gadabout
A person who moves or travels restlessly or aimlessly from one social activity or place to another, seeking pleasure; a trapesing gossip; as a housewife seldom seen at home, but very often at her neighbor’s doors.
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Gasser
Braggart.
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Gentleman of Four Outs
When a vulgar, blustering fellow asserts that he is a gentleman, the retort generally is, “Yes, a gentleman of four outs,” that is, without wit, without money, without credit, and without manners.
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Ginger-Snap
A hot-headed person.
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Go-Alonger
A simple, easy person, who suffers himself to be made a fool of, and is readily persuaded to any act or undertaking by his associates, who inwardly laugh at his folly.
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Go By the Ground
A short person, man or woman.
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Gollumpus
Large, clumsy fellow.
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Greedy Guts
A covetous or gluttonous person.
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Grumbletonian
A discontented person; one who is always railing at the times.
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Heathen Philosopher
One whose buttocks may be seen through his pocket-hole; this saying arose from the old philosophers, many of whom despised the vanity of dress to such a point as often to fall into the opposite extreme.
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Milksop
A piece of bread soaked in milk; a soft, effeminate, girlish man; one who is devoid of manliness.
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Minikin
A little man or woman.
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Mollycoddle
An effeminate man, one who malingers amongst the women.
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Nigmenog
A very silly fellow.
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Nincompoop
A fool.
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Ninnyhammer
A simpleton.
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Poltroon
An utter coward.
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Rascal
A rogue or villain.
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Rattlecap
An unsteady, volatile person.
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Ruffian
A brutal fellow; a pugilistic bully.
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Rumbumptious
Pompous, haughty.
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Sauce-Box
A bold or forward person.
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Scalawag/Scallywag
A rascal.
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Seek-Sorrow
One who contrives to give himself vexation; a self-tormentor; a hypochondriac.
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Scamp
A worthless fellow; a rascal.
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Scoundrel
A man void of every principle of honor.
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Shabbaroon
An ill-dressed shabby fellow; also, a mean-spirited person.
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Skinflint
A miser; a covetous wretch, one who, if possible would take the skin off a flint.
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Slug-A-Bed
Parasite; one that cannot rise in the morning.
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Sneaksby
A mean-spirited fellow; a sneaking, cowardly man.
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Spoony
Foolish, half-witted, nonsensical; it is usual to call a very prating shallow fellow, a “rank spoon.”
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Stingbum
A stingy or ungenerous person.
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Unlicked Cub
A loutish youth who has never been taught manners; from the tradition that a bear’s cub, when brought into the world, has no shape or symmetry until its mother licks it into form with her tongue; ill-trained, uncouth, and rude.
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White-Livered
Cowardly, malicious.
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Word Grubbers
Verbal critics; and also, persons who use hard words in common discourse.
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Wrinkler
A person prone to lying.