Well, gentle readers, our foray into the hidden languages of the Victorians is coming to a close. We have seen the two most important and widely used hidden languages - that of the fan and of flowers - and seen the suprising usage of the humble glove. There are also languages of the handkerchief, the parasol, the postage stamp, and the calling card (Folding the upper right corner meant the card had been left in person, not by way of a servant. Folding the upper left corner meant congratulations, folding the lower right corner meant goodbye. Folding the lower left corner signified condolence). Apparently, there was also a language developed around a gentleman's top hat; however, I cannot locate any information on this.
So we see that the Victorians found many ways of saying things without ever actually saying them, as it were. Whether or not this was a good thing, it does make for some mighty interesting research.
We shall not be leaving the world of Victoria behind us - the next post (hopefully tonight) will be on a great Victorian era princess.
5 comments:
So basically, the Victorians were completely and utterly insane in every way imaginable. If one were to stumble on a rock, it would be taken as a sign that they would very much like to have tea and crumpets that evening, unless of course they tripped on their left foot. That meant that their great-aunt had just contracted a rather nasty cold.
Its all very interesting I must say. I shall look forward to the princess post.
What I don't get is, how is it any better to say something "secretly" or whatever with fans or flowers when you could just say it outloud (since everybody who speaks the language of the fans knows what you're saying anyway), thereby only having to master one language (English)? On the other hand, that eliminates the potential for so much hilarious confusion...
It it isn't very refined to say "you have soup on your cumberbund and i'd like to kick you" out loud. It just isn't done!!
Aww, but it's so fun... Actually what would be hilarious is to master the language of the fan, for instance, and then "speak" so rapidly (with elaborate gesticulating, of course) that your guest can't keep up, gets nervous and confused, and leaves. That would work too.
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