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barbermonger
Mar. 10th, 2010 07:22 ambarbermonger (bar-bur-MON-gur) - n. (obs. slang) a fop.
Given it appears in King Lear (II.ii), it's safe to assume it's specifically Tudor slang. Said appearance is probably also the only reason it's still in Webster's International. Like most slang, origin is obscure, though I suspect hairstyle has something to do with it.
ETA: The Historical Thesaurus to the OED gives 1605 as the only year of use for this , which is the approximate time Lear was written. Shakespeare's coinage, never picked up on?
---L.
Given it appears in King Lear (II.ii), it's safe to assume it's specifically Tudor slang. Said appearance is probably also the only reason it's still in Webster's International. Like most slang, origin is obscure, though I suspect hairstyle has something to do with it.
ETA: The Historical Thesaurus to the OED gives 1605 as the only year of use for this , which is the approximate time Lear was written. Shakespeare's coinage, never picked up on?
---L.
