Word Archaeology: dundrearies

This word, first used about 1861, refers to long, flowing sideburns. In the United Kingdom, these were known as “Picadilly weepers”. In the United States, they got their name from Lord Dundreary, a character in Our American Cousin – a play by Tom Taylor that is otherwise best remembered as the show Abraham Lincoln attended at Ford’s Theatre the night of his assassination.

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Wes Platt

Lead storyteller. Game designer and journalist. Recovering Floridian.

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