Words, Then and Now

In doing research for my “Lambton Then, Lambton Now” articles, I spend a bit of time looking through old newspapers in Trove. This provides a constant source of useful old words that have faded away. Words like “doit” and “bawbee”, both of which mean a small denomination coin. So now if my wife inquires if I have any cash in my wallet, I can reply with “not a doit or bawbee to found there dear”.

But as well as old words, I occasionally find a phrase that seems new, but is actually old. Up until last week I would have said the phrase “all the rage” is relatively modern, but here it is in this 27 June 1874 article with the exact same meaning we have 140 years on.

Billiards seem to be all the rage here at the present time.