heartlings

heartlings

1. (obsolete) An exclamation used in addressing a familiar acquaintance.
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:

     My will! ’od’s heartlings, that’s a pretty jest indeed!

• “heartlings”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

• Earthlings, earthlings, latherings, slathering