The Regency

In the lead-up to the launch of my debut book, I realized that I have a lot of family and friends who may want to read my book but have no knowledge whatsoever of the Regency period. So, I put together a fast-and-loose set of definitions for some of the most common Regency terms, trying to equate them to modern-day events wherever possible. I'll keep adding to it as more words come up, so leave a comment if there are any that I missed!

stays: Regency-era corset.
French pox: before the French were known as surrender monkeys, they had a reputation for syphilis. Really, the British and French should be nicer to each other.
protector: a high-class mistress has a dedicated 'protector' who pays her upkeep in exchange for sex (or 'conversation', if you prefer to believe that). So, Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, if he had just bought Julia Roberts a house rather than marrying her.
ton: a French word, short for haut ton, which is basically the English aristocracy. You can only be part of the ton through birth. If you are a dude who makes an insane amount of money, you could marry your daughter to an impoverished baron who needs the funds - you still wouldn't be accepted in the ton, and she would be smirked at all her life, but her son would be accepted. Awesome plan, right?
foxed: drunk (see: end result of my launch party).
Gretna Green: a town on the Scottish border famed for its quickie marriages, since it was easier to marry in Scotland than in England. Like eloping to Vegas, only with less gambling/neon lights/Elvis and more haggis.
your grace: a duke or a duchess is called 'your grace'; all other nobles (marquesses/earls/viscounts/barons, in that order) are called 'my lord'. Oh, and an earl's wife is called a countess, and a marquess's wife is called a marchioness. Aren't you sad that the US got its independence?
bluestocking: a woman who likes studying, reading, and learning things. Clearly she must be shunned.
ape-leader: a spinster, usually over the age of thirty (shut your mouth about my age) - at that point, a woman was 'on the shelf' and likely wouldn't marry. Supposedly called an ape-leader because the afterlife punishment for failing to marry and procreate is to lead apes in hell. Awesome!
rake: sort of a cross between a manwhore and a metrosexual.
gentleman's club: a place where men could go to eat/play cards/discuss politics. Men visiting London could live at their club rather than renting a house. So, it's a cross between the YMCA (sans swimming pools and Village People) and a hot nightclub (sans strippers or women of any kind). White's and Brooks's are two of the most famous.
demimonde: another French word, describing the world inhabited by high-class mistresses and courtesans. They were some of the most famous women of their day, and everyone knew who they were - but well-bred ladies pretended they didn't exist. It's like if we all knew who the Kardashians were, but we weren't allowed to talk about them incessantly.
manroot: I'm confident you'll figure this out in context.
Newgate: a freaking awful prison in London (although all prisons were probably freaking awful then). It housed everyone from debtors to murderers, and sometimes their families too. Jailers extorted prisoners, demanding money for everything from food to fresh air.
toilette: the general act of getting ready (clothing, hair, etc.). The most famous courtesans/actresses, particularly in the years preceding the Regency, would invite men to watch their toilette - not in the dirty pornographic way that isn't appropriate for this blog, but rather in a sort of reverse striptease.
reticule: a handbag. In the era before my beloved Marc by Marc Jacobs, when people had nothing better to do, a lot of women made their own bags.
set-down: a blistering insult meant to trim someone's sails/cut them down to size. My fave!
cut/cut direct: worse than a set-down. A cut involved pretending not to see someone you knew. A cut direct was done by staring at someone, then refusing to acknowledge them. Pretty much considered the most humiliating thing ever, although clearly these people had never seen Carrie.
fast: daring. A woman was 'fast' if she dampened her chemise so that her gown clung to her body, or if she wore drawers (which were still scandalous during the Regency; it was more appropriate to go commando back then).
Mayfair: the most fashionable neighborhood in London during the Regency (and still one of the most expensive today).
rustication: if someone was out of money, or in disgrace, they usually went to their estate in the country to 'rusticate' (like a rustic).
toad-eating: sucking up or trying to curry favor.
marriage mart: all the events of a London social season added up to a marriage mart, in which mothers were hell-bent on ensuring their daughters didn't become ape-leaders, and men were either looking for brides or trying to avoid it all by chilling at their clubs.
on dit: a French word for a bit of gossip. The English sure did like their French words, even when they were at war with France off and on for centuries.

Like I said above, I'll keep updating this list as I get questions, so leave a comment if anything isn't clear. And anyone who comments on any blog post between now and Sunday, 1/22/12, at 11:59pm PST is entered to win one of three free copies of Heiress Without a Cause!

One of my relatives read HEIRESS WITHOUT A CAUSE last night and called me to tell me he was halfway through. I was flattered that he actually read it -- given that I've known him my entire life, I was hoping he'd shell out $3.99 for it, but reading it was a bonus. And he seemed to enjoy it, although he did say there were fewer submarines in it than the stuff he normally reads (note to self: create a heroine who is into submersibles). Anyway, he mentioned that he'd had to look up more words with this book than anything he's read in a long time. "Ton" was the hardest, since a Google search for "ton" won't easily turn up an explanation on English upperclass society, but there were all sorts of words that flummoxed him ("flummoxed" included, although I don't think I used it in HEIRESS). And that led me to wonder...how do readers approaching their first Regency romance understand what the heck is going on? I read my first Regency almost twenty years ago, so I can't remember a time when I didn't know the difference between a curricle and a phaeton, or that a marquess is ranked higher than a viscount.

What words or social customs did you find confusing when you first started reading Regencies? Anyone who comments on my blog between now and Sunday, January 22nd, at 11:59pm PST will have a chance to win one of three Nook copies of HEIRESS WITHOUT A CAUSE - so have at it! Tell me what words I should define for new Regency readers, and I'll enter you in the drawing. I'll also post my definitions on Sunday, and hilarity shall ensue.

And by the way, "the ton" is short for "haut ton", a French phrase that the English used to describe their aristocratic class -- the dukes, earls, barons, and other titled people and their families who were part of the "upper ten thousand". It's sort of like a cross between the 1% and being a Hollywood A-lister, except you are born into it and can't rise into it (unless you were extremely, absurdly wealthy, and even then it would take a couple of generations and some great marriages before your family would be accepted). So Suri Cruise would be haut ton, but that upstart Snooki would never be invited to anything.