Sifting years of research, I do my best to present 18th century England in all its bestial beauty. Here I'll post some of my favorite references.
A Pocket Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
By Captain Francis Grose first published in 1785, this little book has been a great source for euphemisms of the period, slang, nicknames, shorthand and all sorts of day-to-day stress-easing turns of phrase.
A few standouts:
Cull: a man, honest or otherwise, though a low term often used to describe the patron of a brothel. Offensively mild, 4 out of 10.
Diddle: gin. Being 1735 falls straight in the heart of the "gin epidemic," there were more nicknames for gin than almost anything else. Formally called Geneva, other nicknames include blue lady, juniper water, jackey, max, sangree, heart's ease and make shift (possibly where we get the phrase!) many of these being invented to encode talk of gin manufacture, which was increasingly (and ineptly) regulated.
Duke of Limbs: a tall, awkward, ill-made fellow.
Hood-winked: originally meant blinded about the eyes by a handkerchief or other ligature.
Garret: meaning attic or upper story, figuratively used to mean the head.
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