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Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - Barron's Booknotes
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GLOSSARY
ARGUS
A King of Greece who had a hundred eyes, and only closed two at a time to
sleep.
BALLAST-LIGHTERS
Barges that carried gravel or sand to sailing ships, to weigh them down if
they had no cargo.
BARNARD'S INN
Originally, one of the Inns of Chancery, a series of buildings around
courtyards where lawyers lived and studied. However, by this time
Barnard's was no longer a place to study law.
BATTERY
A place where artillery guns were set up. Dickens is referring to the old
battery at Cliffe Creek, which was a ruin.
BED-FURNITURE
The cloth draperies around an old four-poster bed.
BLACKING WARE'US
The shoe polish factory where Dickens worked as a boy. He probably stuck
this in as a private Joke.
BOTANY BAY
The port in Australia where transported convicts were delivered.
BRIDEWELLS
A famous prison at Bridewell was torn down in 1863. Bridewell became a
slang term meaning any prison.
BRITANNIA METAL
A cheap alloy which looks like silver if it's polished.
CALENDAR
The Newgate Calendar, a five-volume collection of biographies of famous
criminals.
'CHANGE D The Royal Exchange, where the merchants' insurance
company, Lloyd's of London, had its offices.
COAL-WHIPPERS
Men who helped load coal into barges.
COMMERCIALS
Travelling salesmen.
COVENT GARDEN
An area of London, near the Opera House and the fruit-and-flower markets,
which was in Dickens' time known for prostitution.
CRIB
Slang for a place to shelter.
CUT
A deliberate social snub.
DOUBLE GLOUCESTER
A cheese which is made in especially big blocks.
FLIP
A punch mixed of beer, liquor, and sugar, stirred with a hot poker.
FLUEY
Fluffy or dusty.
GRINDER
A private tutor for rich men's sons.
HAMMERCLOTH
A cloth covering the coachman's seat.
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