| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
| |
| BILLINGSGATE |
| |
| |
| was the London fishmarket of the seventeenth century, where, it was said, the fishwives used the foulest, most colorful, and most profane English of all. Many Americans no longer know the term, but to those speakers of English who do, billingsgate still means profanity or obscenity—the foulest and most abusive imaginable. | 1 |
| |
| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
|
|
