cry carrots and turnips
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Probably referring to the vegetables which spectators would pelt at the person drawn on the cart.[1] Green's Dictionary of Slang suggests that the term is of onomatopoeic origin.[2]
Verb[edit]
cry carrots and turnips (third-person singular simple present cries carrots and turnips, present participle crying carrots and turnips, simple past and past participle cried carrots and turnips)
- (slang, obsolete) To be taken through the streets on a cart while being whipped, as a punishment for certain crimes. [18th c.]
- 1895, H. B. Marriott Watson, “Of a Meeting at Fulham”, in The Chap-Book: Semi-Monthly, Chicago, I.L.: Stone & Kimball, page 483:
- I had a mighty queer adventure in communion with that foul toad, Titus Oates, whom I afterwards rejoiced to see crying carrots and turnips, with all London looking on.
Usage notes[edit]
- The term has not been in current use since the 18th century, but has occasionally appeared since then in historical fiction.[1]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “to cry carrots and turnips” under “turnip, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
- ^ Jonathon Green (2024) “cry carrots (and turnips)”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
