Call someone a “wonder wench” these days and you may be met with a confused look, followed by a smack in the face.

But if you know your history, you that this compliment actually refers to someone who is a “sweet heart.”

Here are some other long-forgotten phrases that might be fun to bring back:

• Curglaff: The shock felt in bathing when one first plunges into the cold water.
   
• Spermologer: Someone who is up on current news, a gossip monger ... what we would today call a columnist.
   
• Beef-Witted: Having an inactive brain, thought to be from eating too much beef.
   
• With squirrel: Pregnant.