Period glossary

By common consent the longest palindrome (i.e., a word or phrase that reads the same forwards as backwards) is Napoleonic, namely, Able was I ere I saw Elba.

A nickname given to Napoleon III. It was the name of the workman whose clothes he wore when he contrived to escape from the fort of Ham, in 1846. “If Badinguet and Bismarck have a row together let them settle it between them with their fists, instead of troubling hundreds of thousands of men who … […]

It has been suggested that the French word “bistrot” dates back to 1812 and the invasion of Russia. Whilst on campaign, the French hussars of the Grande Armée took to frequenting the taverns along the route, in search of food and a bit of fun. The bar's Cossack clientele, keen to avoid the company of […]

During the height of the Napoleon scare, 1803-1805, when the Camp de Boulogne was in full swing and Napoleon really seemed to be about to invade the British Isles, propaganda in Britain painted Napoleon as the devil incarnate. They called him Boney, which itself became corrupted to Bogey and Bogeyman, as the following nursery rhyme […]

A nickname for Napoleon III. The word is compounded of the first syllables Bou[logne], Stra[sbourg], Pa[ris], and alludes to his escapades in 1836 and 1840. (E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898)  The term/criticism was invented by Victor Hugo in the poem Châtiments published in 1853. Napoleon III was the subject of a […]

The expression 'close run thing' derives supposedly from Wellington's remarks after the very late victory at Waterloo. The expression is widely used – even in the title a book (Allan Mallinson, 1999). What the generalissimo actually said was 'it has been a damned nice thing', as related by Thomas Creevey (1768-1838), a Whig MP, who […]

According to Captain John Pasco, Flag Lieutenant on Victory, the famous signal was given as follows (Dispatches and Letters of Nelson, ed. N. Nicolas, 1845, vol. VII, p. 150): 'His Lordship came to me on the poop, and after ordering certain signal to be made, about a quarter to noon, he said, 'Mr Pasco, I […]

A ship 'armée en flûte' is one which has no guns on it at all.