A friend gave me the Forgotten English calendar for 2003 last Christmas, and I’ve been enjoying several of the words. On Saturday September 28, the word of the day was nannick, which means “to play idly, to fidget.” However, I saved that day’s page not because of the word, but because of the tidbit about the date, as quoted in its entirety below.
On this date in 1801, Britain’s first census was begun. Eighty years later, a follow-up survey was conducted in which residents were asked to furnish their “rank, profession or occupation.” Verbatim responses, as preserved by the London Genealogical Society, included:
- Aritifical scone-maker
- Decayed publisher
- Emasculator
- Rust attendant at lavatory
- Proprietor of midgets
- Beef-twister
- Separated from head
- Fatuous pauper
- Fifty-two years an imbecile
- Examiner of underclothing
- Knocker-up of workpeople
- Supposed to be a lady
- Sampler of drugs
- Hand in Hartley’s Jam
- Turnip shepherd
- Gymnast to house painter
What do you tell people when they ask you what you do?