Jan 11, 2019
We use a lot of slang names for parts of the body, but many of these terms have very old origins. A shnozz, another name for your nose, dates back to the 1940s. You may have heard some people refer to your mouth as a rattle-trap. This term originated in the 18th century and is especially applicable to someone who won’t stop talking. The clapper is a 17th-century word for your tongue and refers to how it moves back and forth like the clapper inside a bell.
Dew-beaters is 19th-century slang for your feet, alluding to someone knocking the dew off the grass as they walk. The word was also once used to mean a pioneer or an early riser—namely someone who started their day before anyone else. And sometimes after a big meal, you might have a case of the trillibubs, mid-1700’s slang for a bloated belly.