Victorian Slang of the Week

Faze–to disturb the composure of, disconcert, daunt, 1830

I admit, this isn’t really slang.  At least it doesn’t show up in either of my slang dictionaries, but when I first read it in Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889) I was shocked.  I always thought this word was a 20th century creation, but apparently not.  So it’s today’s slang, because it is to me!  The definition comes from my computer version of Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary

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