Since I am a writer, language captivates me, especially in the way it relates to a culture. With three teen aged sons living at home I get to hear a lot of the slang they encounter.  I never cease to be fascinated by the terms that come up, and how often I haven’t a clue what they are referring to. Since every era has its own unique slang, I thought it would be interesting to share some Regency era slang from time to time.  Since it is April Fool’s Day, I thought you might be interested in calling out a fool in a Regency appropriate way.

   A Fool

• Addle Pate. 
• Ben.   
• Buzzard  
• Chaw Bacon. A countryman. A stupid fellow.
• Clod Pate. 
• Clunch
• Cod’s Head   
• Dummie: A wooden man. A fool.
• Gudgeon. One easily imposed on. from the fish of that name, which is easily taken.
• Gull. A simple credulous fellow, easily cheated.
• Ignoramus. 
• Jack Adams. 
• Jacob
• Jolter Head: A large head; metaphorically a stupid fellow.
• Loggerhead  
• Lout: A clumsy stupid fellow.
• Mud  
• Nick Ninny, Nickumpoop, or Nincumpoop, Ninny, or Ninnyhammer
• Nickin,  Nikey, or Nizey. A soft simple fellow: also, a diminutive of Isaac.
• Nocky Boy  
• Noddy 
• Nokes 
• Paper-scull
• Pig-widgeon
• Ralph Spooner 
• Sapscull
• Shallow Pate
• Simkin
• Simon: Sixpence. Simple Simon; a natural, a silly fellow; 
• Simpleton: Abbreviation of simple Tony or Anthony, a foolish fellow.
• Tom Coney
• Tony   

To Describe a Fool Plainly

• Beetle-headed 
• Benish
• Bird-witted: Inconsiderate, thoughtless, easily imposed on.
• Buffle-headed: Confused, stupid.
• Cakey
• Chuckle-headed
• Clumpish
• Cork-brained
• Fat Headed. 
• Leatherheaded  
• Mutton-headed
• Sammy
• Sappy
• Squirish
• Windy

 To Describe a Fool more colorfully

• A poor honey: a harmless, foolish, good-natured fellow.
• A hubble-bubble fellow: a man of confused ideas, or one thick of speech, whose words sound like water bubbling out of a bottle
• He is no burner of navigable rivers: he is no man of extraordinary abilities; or, rather, he is but a simple fellow.
• He is a young chub, or a mere chub:   a foolish fellow, easily imposed on: an allusion to a fish of that name, easily taken.
• His garret, or upper story is empty, or unfurnished:  He has no brains, he is a fool
• He is like a rope-dancer’s pole, lead at both ends: a saying of a stupid sluggish fellow.
• Pudding-headed Fellow: A stupid fellow, one whose brains are all in confusion.
• He was rocked in a stone kitchen:   his brains having been disordered by the jumbling of his cradle.
• Sleeveless Errand: A fool’s errand, in search of what it is impossible to find.

Quoted from:   Grose, Captain (Francis). (2004) Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1811 ed. Ikon Classics