billingsgate
Coarse verbal abuse
Billingsgate is foul, abusive language—the kind of crude insults and profanity associated with the rough speech of fishmongers.
The word comes from London's Billingsgate fish market, long notorious for the coarse language of its vendors.
The debate devolved into billingsgate.
The term is now somewhat literary and old-fashioned.
Cruel or violent treatment
- vitriolBitter, scathing criticism
- foul languageObscene or vulgar speech
- coarse languageObscene or crude speech
- vulgar languageCoarse or obscene speech
obscenity · profanity · cursing · swearing · scurrilous · tirade · harangue · scolding
Retail seafood outlet
- ThamesLondon's river
- wharfShip docking structure
- portersThose who carry baggage
- seafoodMarine creatures as cuisine
traders · auction · fishmongers · docklands · East End · City of London · Tower Bridge · London Bridge
Of the Middle Ages
- wardProtected person; division
- charterFounding organizational document
- TudorSixteenth-century English ruling family
- ElizabethanOf late 1500s England
antiquity · archaeology · heritage · excavation · Stow · Monument · restoration · Saxon
abuse
Cruel or violent treatment
- vitriolBitter, scathing criticism
- foul languageObscene or vulgar speech
- coarse languageObscene or crude speech
vulgar language · obscenity · profanity · cursing · swearing · scurrilous · tirade · harangue · scolding · berating
fish market
Retail seafood outlet
seafood · traders · auction · fishmongers · docklands · East End · City of London · Tower Bridge · London Bridge · Southwark
medieval
Of the Middle Ages
- wardProtected person; division
- charterFounding organizational document
- TudorSixteenth-century English ruling family
Elizabethan · antiquity · archaeology · heritage · excavation · Stow · Monument · restoration · Saxon · Norman
billingsgaterefined language
Polished, cultivated speech
civil discourse · diplomatic language · sweet talk · honeyed words · soft words
billingsgatepraise
Expression of approval
commendation · compliments · acclaim · applause · adulation