What is a draggletail?

Ms Draggletail, age 4


I have always loved the word 'draggletail.' I can’t recall exactly where I first read it, but it was definitely in high school, and I feel like it may have been used in a Dickens novel or some such. It stuck with me, but I never get to use it.

The word means “slattern,” and more specifically it is a harlot who allows her raggedy dress to drag through the mud – hence “draggle-tail.” Now, I am not calling myself a dirty slut, by any means, but I like to think I’m a fun girl who doesn’t mind if her dress gets a little dirty now and then. I am pretending the word has a sassy connotation to it, rather than simply a sad, derogatory implication. It may well be that in fact it’s a purely derogatory noun, but I choose not to use it that way in my little blog.