Masher

I caught a programme on BBC iPlayer about the old music-hall tradition (I think it's dropped off iPlayer now, I'm afraid, so I can't link to it). Not only has the tradition itself disappeared, but so have words that were inextricably linked with music hall.

 

One of the enthusiasts in the programme mentioned the word masher, a typical member of the music-hall audience. She said that mashers were 'toffs' ie well-to-do young men who came mainly to look at the women. The OED's definition of masher corroborates this: "A fashionable young man of the late Victorian or Edwardian era, esp. one fond of the company of women; a dandy". The OED describes the word as originally US slang. By the end of the Victorian era (1901) a masher had become "A womanizer; a man who makes indecent sexual advances towards women, esp. in public places". Judging by the TV programme on the music halls, plenty of such mashers could be found in the audience of the music hall.

 

There are a few synonyms of masher, or womanizer, in the dictionary: Lothario, philanderer, Romeo, stud, tom-cat, vieux marcher (specifically an elderly one). There are also the related words lady's man (or ladies' man) and poodle-faker. There isn't a word in English for a female equivalent, interestingly. I suppose coquette and flirt are the nearest. Flirt could once (18th and 19th centuries) also apply to men, while the verb 'to coquet' or 'to coquette' (defined as 'to act the lover' in Johnson's dictionary) was also once (18th century) used of both sexes.

Comments

[John]

My sense is that "masher" was in slang use in the US through the early to mid 20th Century, but by the '50s, it had effectively vanished. While I've heard it used in old films shot in, or about the first half of the Century, I've never heard it in actual "live" use.

[Virtual Linguist]

Thanks, John. I'm surprised it was around that late.

[Jemmy Hope]

I've always liked 'poodle-faker', also 'lounge-lizard', though it doesn't have quite the same meaning. Then there's 'coureur de dames', I guess that's one for use "devant les domestiques".

[John]

Good ones, Jemmy.

My own memory goes back to the early Fiftiesa and I can't recall hearing "masher" except in old films, specifically slapstick comedies.

[Virtual Linguist]

Thanks, Jemmy. I forgot to mention lounge-lizard (I did once post on it here: http://virtuallinguist.typepad.com/the_virtual_linguist/2009/03/lounge-lizard.html#tp ). I'd never heard of coureur de dames, so thanks for that one.

[Jemmy Hope]

The French, it seems, now shorten 'coureur de dames' to 'coureur'. Here's an interesting piece about the 'non-equivalence' of French descriptive terms for men and women -
blogs.com/sedulias_translations/2008/04/french-nouns-ma.html

[Virtual Linguist]

Thanks, Jemmy, but I can't get the URL to work.

[Jemmy Hope]

Hmm, something missing.
I've since remembered that 'coureur' for womaniser was not in the posting I tried to link to, but was a was used of sleazy old Dominique Strauss-Kahn in an article I read.
Should anyone still wish to read the piece it's copied at -
http://jemmyhope.blogspot.com/search?q=Sedulia
with a link to the original. It makes a serious point in a not too serious fashion.

[Virtual Linguist]

A very interesting post, Jemmy. Well worth reading. Don't know if it's just me, but I can't see the link you refer to.

Your post reminds me that there are absolutely hundreds of words in dictionaries - OED and slang dictionaries - which mean 'whore', including nun, kitty, dolly, mackerel, goose, mystery and very many other words. I often give a talk to community groups entitled 'Is English a Man's Language?'. Here's a summary from one group's website: http://www.ewell-probus.org.uk/programme/2011/Language.htm

[Jemmy Hope]

Sorry, the link is not in the text but at the end of the post. I checked and it does work.

[Virtual Linguist]

Oh yes, sorry Jemmy, my fault - I was looking in the wrong place. Very good and funny piece.