billingsgate

American  

[bil-ingz-geyt, -git] / ˈbɪl ɪŋzˌgeɪt, -gɪt /

noun

1. coarsely or vulgarly abusive language.

   Synonyms:

   vulgarity, scurrility, invective, vilification, vituperation

---

Billingsgate ¹ British  

/ ˈbɪlɪŋɡzˌɡeɪt /

noun

1. the largest fish market in London, on the N bank of the River Thames; moved to new site at Canary Wharf in 1982 and the former building converted into offices

---

billingsgate ² British  

/ ˈbɪlɪŋzˌɡeɪt /

noun

1. obscene or abusive language

---

Etymology

Origin of billingsgate

First recorded in 1645–55; originally the kind of speech often heard at Billingsgate, a London fish market at the gate of the same name

Explanation

Billingsgate is rude, abusive language. If a political debate is becoming nasty and insulting, it's good to have a moderator who will demand an end to the billingsgate. The British term billingsgate is less familiar in the U.S. — but it's a great way to refer to a particularly coarse form of verbal abuse. It comes from London's Billingsgate Fish Market, a 17th-century open-air market where ill-mannered fishmongers hollered raucously, haggling over prices using rude and vulgar language. The word can be used for any kind of foul-mouthed vituperation: "No arguing about sports rivalries at my birthday party! It always turns into pure billingsgate!"

Example Sentences

And there, some say, he also goes in for union-busting and Bowery billingsgate.

From Time Magazine Archive

Mrs. Huxley was rebuked because she, her husband and some other delegates had shown their disgust at the billingsgate of the pro-Communist intellectuals, who formed a majority of the stacked meeting.

From Time Magazine Archive

The best Baedeker of billingsgate and other U.S. lingua frank since Mencken.

From Time Magazine Archive

Nonsmokers, who used to say mildly, "Would you mind not smoking?" have moved up to billingsgate.

From Time Magazine Archive

The prolongation of the billingsgate in the contest between Cleon and the sausage-seller grows wearisome to modern taste; but the portrait of the Demagogue is for all time.

From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 2 by Mabie, Hamilton Wright