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These obscure bride-related words make you sound smart as you catch or dodge the bouquet.
1. BRIDELOPE
No relation to the jackalope, this is, as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it, “The oldest known Teutonic name for ‘Wedding’.” Bridelope can also mean the bridal run, in which the bride proceeds to her new home, with or without tin cans attached to the car.
2. EPITHALAMIUM
This is a poem written specifically for a bride and groom, wishing them the best. The word epithalamium is derived from Latin and has a rare variation used in an 1802 letter by Thomas Twining: “He will epithalamise you in person, I suppose.”
3. WEDDINGER
Going to a wedding? Then you’re a weddinger. This term can also refer to everyone in the wedding, including the bride and groom. A use in George Vaughan Sampson’s 1802 book Statistical Survey of the County of Londonderry is characteristic: “After a few days' carousal among the groom's friends, the weddingers move towards the bride's country.”
4. MOTHER'S PRIDE
The silly world of Cockney rhyming slang is always ready with a synonym: mother’s pride is a nice one for bride.
5. AND 6. TOWEL SHOWER AND GREENBACK SHOWER
Towel shower is a regional variation of bridal shower found in the Northern U.S. The Dictionary of American Regional English records an example from back in 1900: “On Monday a ‘towel shower’ was given ... About 40 ladies were present, each bringing a dainty towel, hemstitched or embroidered ... t the close of the afternoon all surrounded the bride and showered them upon her.” On the other hand, a greenback shower involves giving the bride money.
7. AND 8. MORGANATIC AND LEFT-HANDED
A morganatic marriage is a predecessor of today’s prenups: The union involves a member of the nobility and a common person, with the understanding that the commoner will never inherit any of that sweet royal cash. A left-handed marriage means the same, apparently because the left hand was offered ceremoniously in such unions.
9. CALLITHUMPIAN
This term has several meanings, and they’re all boisterous and exuberant. Often, the word applies to merrymakers who are celebrating a noisy holiday such as New Year’s or July 4. But other times, a callithumpian parade is making a racket for a wedding—but not always in support. A description in an 1848 Bartlett book of Americanisms describes a strange scene: “Callithumpians ... On wedding nights the happy couple are sometimes saluted with this discord by those who choose to consider the marriage an improper one, instead of a serenade.”
10. BROOSE
Now here’s a strange Scottish custom which nonetheless must have been entertaining: Broose, since the 1700s, has referred to a horseback race (involving young fellas) from the site of the wedding to the happy couple’s home. The winner would obtain a colorful handkerchief for winning the broose. Sometimes the race is by foot.