billingsgate
noun
Did you know?
Billingsgate Has Origins in a London Fish Market
From its beginnings during the time of the Roman occupation, the Billingsgate fish market in London, England, has been notorious for the crude language that has resounded through its stalls. In fact, the fish merchants of Billingsgate were so famous for their swearing centuries ago that their feats of vulgar language were recorded in British chronicler Raphael Holinshed's 1577 account of King Leir (which was probably William Shakespeare's source for King Lear). In Holinshed's volume, a messenger's language is said to be "as bad a tongue … as any oyster-wife at Billingsgate hath." By the middle of the 17th century, billingsgate had become a byword for foul language.
Synonyms
- abuse
- fulmination
- invective
- obloquy
- scurrility
- vitriol
- vituperation
Example Sentences
Word History
Billingsgate, old gate and fish market, London, England
1652, in the meaning defined above
billingsgates
noun
Synonyms & Similar Words
- abuses
- vitriols
- scurrilities
- insults
- obloquies
- criticisms
- vituperations
- fulminations
- curses
- invectives
- blackguardisms
- epithets
- slurs
- revilements
- vilifications
- profanities
- imprecations
- reprimands
- belittlements
- maledictions
- blasphemies
- swearwords
- polemics
- execrations
- rebukes
- aspersions
- excoriations
- disparagements
- expletives
- opprobriums
- tirades
- castigations
- diatribes
- reproofs
- chastisements
- harangues
- put-downs
- broadsides
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- praises
- acclaim
- commendations
- compliments
- congratulations
- applauses
- felicitations
- endearments
- blarneys
- flatteries
- soft soaps
- overpraises
- adulations